 
The Cursed Lands

## Book One of The Dragon God Chronicles

### by Timothy L. Cerepaka

Published by Annulus Publishing

Copyright © Timothy L. Cerepaka 2017. All rights reserved.

Contact: timothy@timothylcerepaka.com

Cover design by Lou Harper (http://louharper.com/Design.html)

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***

Chapter One

**S** arzen Alnem pulled his leather coat more tightly around his body, shivering involuntarily. His breath was visible in the cold air, while his hands felt cold even with the thick leather gloves he wore. His golden sword, which was sheathed at his side, made kneeling on the stone floor awkward, but he always carried his sword by his side, at least since it was given to him by High Priest Renuk upon joining the Order, anyway.

_Still,_ Sarzen thought, rubbing his cold nose, _I wish it wasn't so cold. Maybe I should have asked Helnia if I could borrow some of her Raugus beads._

But then Sarzen shook his head at the thought. _No. It's a frivolous use of a resource that we're running out of. Besides, the Warrior Priests of old used to worship in the snow during the winter; I think I can learn to deal with a cold temple._

To take his mind off the cold, Sarzen looked up at the altar before him. It was about half his height and made of an ancient wood that was said to no longer exist in the land of Yores. No one knew for sure how old the altar was; High Priest Renuk had told Sarzen that it had been created by the founder of the Warrior Priests in order to give them a place upon which to worship the Dragon Gods.

It was a beautifully carved altar, a work of art in its own right. Every inch of its surface was covered in reliefs that depicted the Dragon Gods themselves. The reliefs were incredibly detailed; up close, Sarzen could see the tiny ridges in the Dragon Gods' brows or scorch marks on their scales from their battle with the One of Shadow. Written across the top of the altar was the motto of the Warrior Priests, written in the ancient Dragon God language known as Yenu, which Sarzen could read because he had been taught the language when he first joined the order five years ago:

To serve the Dragon Gods and to protect the people from evil.

Despite his fealty to the Dragon Gods, Sarzen couldn't help but chuckle bitterly. The Dragon Gods had not been seen in Yores in over 500 years. No one knew where they were or if they would ever come back.

_And how many of the people even want to know where they are?_ Sarzen thought. _Even within the Order, few seem to care about finding them. It's sad, because we could use the wisdom of the Dragon Gods right about now to help us solve our problems._

Then Sarzen heard a boot scraping against stone. He tensed and reached for his sword automatically, just as he had been taught over the years, before a familiar voice said, "Hold, Sarzen. No need to draw your sword. It's just a friend."

Sarzen recognized the voice immediately. Relaxing, he took his hand off the hilt of his sword and looked over his shoulder to see an old man standing at the entrance to the Sanctuary. The old man wore a thick, old fur coat and large boots and gloves to keep his body warm, with a sheathed knife in a belt around his waist. The large hood of his coat made his frail head look even tinier, like it had been shrunken by magic.

"High Priest Renuk," said Sarzen, standing up and dusting off his knees as he turned to face the High Priest. "I did not hear you enter. I was—"

"Meditating on the Altar, yes?" said Renuk. "Always a good thing to do whenever you are troubled or worried. It is how the Dragon Gods speak to us."

Sarzen nodded. "Yes, but I didn't expect to see you here today. I thought you would be studying the Holy Books in order to prepare for the Dragon Festival next week."

"I probably should be," said Renuk. He shrugged and gave Sarzen a familiar sly grin. "But you know, the Dragon Gods have never punished anyone for not delivering a perfect speech to the public, so I thought I would take the afternoon off."

Sarzen shook his head. "High Priest, sometimes it feels like I'm the Priest and you're the Acolyte."

"I'm just young at heart, Sarzen, my son, that's all," said Renuk. "By the way, what has been troubling you recently? You usually are not meditating at the Altar at this time of day."

Sarzen rubbed the back of his neck. "It's the political situation."

Renuk raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean," said Sarzen. "It's just that... well, the Elect Council still hasn't come to an agreement on how to deal with the Draymens situation."

"Ah," said Renuk. He stroked his chin. "Is that all?"

Sarzen hated it when Renuk said that, because that always meant that Renuk knew what was _really_ bothering Sarzen and he wasn't going to let Sarzen get away with being vague.

So Sarzen said, in a disgruntled voice, "Helnia and I had an argument about it earlier. Again."

"Helnia..." Renuk stroked his chin again. "She's your sister, right?"

"Yes, sir," said Sarzen. "My twin sister, actually, though she couldn't have been more different from me if she tried."

"What was your argument about?" said Renuk.

"How to handle the situation," said Sarzen. He jerked a thumb at his shoulder. "I think we need to find the Dragon Gods and get their help in driving off the Draymens, but she thinks we can just use magic to defeat them. The argument got... heated."

"I presume it got violent?" said Renuk.

"No... sort of," said Sarzen. "There was yelling and name calling. Also, she threatened to set me on fire with her magic. That was where it ended."

"Sibling rivalries," said Renuk. "Ah, I remember when I was young, my brother and I would fight all the time."

"You have a brother?" said Sarzen in surprise.

"Had a brother," said Renuk. "He died ten years ago, but I still remember our fights. He always won because he was always stronger than me."

"I'm sorry to hear about his death," said Sarzen. "I didn't know he died."

"It's fine," said Renuk, waving off Sarzen's concern. "Siblings always fight. It's part of what being siblings is all about."

"I guess you're right," said Sarzen. "Still, isn't it frustrating, to see so many people disbelieving in the Dragon Gods, instead of coming to them for help in saving our land? I mean, the Warrior Priests are down to fifty people now, when all of the old writings say that at its peak the order had five thousand people."

"I agree, it is sad," said Renuk, "but at the same time, I've come to the conclusion that you cannot force anyone to believe in the Dragon Gods. You can still serve them even when no one else does."

"Yeah, I know," said Sarzen. His shoulders slumped. "But do you think Yores will ever return to the Dragon Gods?"

"'Ever' is a big word," said Renuk. "There's no telling what the future may hold for our society, though I doubt it will be any good unless we can defeat the Draymens quickly. And, of course, there is also the fact that our Raugus wells are drying up."

"That's what I'm worried about as well," said Sarzen. "The old legends say that it was the Dragon Gods who gave us Raugus in the first place. If we could find them, then we could restore our resources and fight against the Draymens."

"Even I don't know where the Dragon Gods are," said Renuk. "The legends say they left us years ago, going beyond the Cursed Lands where no human can get them."

"Maybe we _could_ find them if we just put some effort into it," said Sarzen. He frowned. "But, of course, our people would rather stubbornly cling to their pleasures rather than put in the work of finding the gods who gave us our land in the first place."

"It is, indeed, a grim situation, but as I said, you cannot force anyone to believe," said Renuk. "It is much better to focus on your own life than on the lives of others."

"Is that really the way of the Warrior Priests, though?" said Sarzen. "Because to me, that sounds like withdrawal, like we're saying that society has won."

"Think of it however you like," said Renuk with a shrug. "It is simply the way my predecessor did it, the way his predecessor did it, and the way I do it. What you can do is keep in practice, keep praying to the Dragon Gods, and never lose faith or hope."

Sarzen felt like that was easy for Renuk to say, but he didn't say that aloud because he didn't want to disrespect the High Priest so flagrantly. He just said, "I know. I've done all that, and keep doing it. And still society keeps getting worse."

"There's not much else I can tell you," said Renuk. "I've only shared with you what I have been taught. You are still very young, so I doubt most of it will make sense to you until you are older and have some more experience."

Sarzen frowned again. That was something Renuk always told him, probably because it was true. Sarzen was still an Acolyte, though he would graduate to Warriorhood next year, once he finished his studies.

Even so, Sarzen couldn't help but feel a little powerless, all things considered. His sister Helnia didn't feel the same way as he did, but then, she wasn't a devoted follower of the Dragon Gods, either. Of course, thinking about Helnia just made him annoyed, because he was reminded again of their fight earlier that day. He didn't know where Helnia was, but he knew he would have to make up with her later.

That was when Sarzen heard another scraping sound, what sounded like bone scraping against stone. He looked around the Sanctuary, first at the stone statues of the Dragon Gods on either side of the room, then at the tapestry along the wall behind the Altar depicting the Dragon Gods fighting the One of Shadow, and finally, at the Altar itself.

But as far as Sarzen could tell, only he and Renuk were in the Sanctuary at the moment. Yet Sarzen was sure that he had heard someone else in the room with them, even if he couldn't see them at the moment.

"High Priest, did you hear—" Sarzen abruptly cut himself off when he heard that same sound again, of bone scraping against stone. He looked up at the ceiling, but there was nothing on the ceiling aside from a few hanging ornaments meant to help praying Warriors focus on their meditations.

"Did I hear what?" said Renuk. He held up a hand to his ear. "I am an old man, Sarzen. My hearing isn't as good as it used to be, so if I did not hear anything, that is why."

"A scraping sound," said Sarzen. He kept looking around, trying to spot what he heard. "Like a claw against stone."

"A scraping sound?" Renuk repeated. He also looked around, but unlike Sarzen, he did it slowly and somewhat skeptically. "I do not see anything in here. Was it, perhaps, a mouse? We've had mouse troubles recently, you know. It makes me wish we had a cat; I know that Widow Ell has some cats, so maybe I can ask her to let us borrow a few to deal with the—"

All of a sudden, Sarzen heard the sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath. Before he could respond, something leaped out of the shadows of the pews, something large and quick, and slashed at Renuk.

Renuk cried out in pain as a sword tore across his chest, cutting straight through his fur coat and sending him falling to the floor in pain. Renuk collapsed into a heap, blood rapidly bleeding from his chest as he clutched the wound and gasped for air.

Sarzen was too shocked to respond. He just looked at Renuk's assailant, dread rising up his spine as he got a good look at the attacker.

The assailant wasn't human. He was humanoid, to be sure, but not human. He had long horns rising out of the top of his head, which curled back like the horns of a ram. He was about the same size as Sarzen, but his skin was a sickly pale gray, which made him look more like a walking corpse than a living being. When he looked at Sarzen, he was wearing a mask that resembled a snake's face, his eyes a purplish black that made Sarzen feel sick just looking at him.

Although Sarzen had never seen this particular being before, he recognized his species from the stories he'd heard from survivors from the plains: He was a Draymens assassin, which meant that the city of Ars had finally been entered by the Draymens.

***

Chapter Two

**T** he Draymens assassin carried a long, thin sword made of bone in his hand. The sword's blade was covered in Renuk's blood, along with bits of fur from Renuk's fur coat. The assassin looked at Sarzen with amusement, holding his sword as if he was planning to stab Sarzen, too.

That was when Sarzen finally remembered his own sword. He drew it immediately, but also clumsily, because he was in such a hurry to defend himself. He almost dropped his sword before he got a good grip on it and held it in front of him defensively, though the assassin hardly seemed afraid of him.

Sarzen didn't know what this Draymens was doing here. The Draymens people—more like monsters, really—had not yet made it into the mountains. All reports had indicated that the Draymens were either on the border near the Cursed Lands or else in the plains at the foot of the mountains, where they were attacking and killing innocent Yoresian men, women, and children alike. The Draymens were said to be a powerful and ruthless force, so powerful that even the Yoresian Army had been unable to fight against them effectively.

But Sarzen had always thought that the Draymens would never make it up here. Yet there was no mistaking the assassin standing before him for being anything else. The assassin was identifiable due to his bone sword; the Draymens had been said to use weapons made out of bone, though no one knew if the bones were human bones or bones belonging to other creatures.

Regardless, Sarzen would have to kill this monster quickly. If this Draymens had somehow entered the mountains, then there was a good chance that the rest of its people were going to join it at some point; besides, it had just attacked Renuk, and Sarzen, as a Warrior Priest, could not let that crime go unpunished.

Yet Sarzen didn't attack right away. Although Sarzen had received plenty of training as a swordsman during his five years as an Acolyte, he had never been in actual combat before. Acolytes were not allowed to participate in actual combat unless they received permission from the High Priest or it was in self-defense. Renuk hadn't given Sarzen permission to fight, but he thought he could justify this under self-defense if he survived long enough for it to be an issue with the rest of the Order.

Still, Sarzen kept his distance. He watched the Draymens assassin carefully, remembering how tricky the Draymens creatures were said to be. He was going to make sure that he didn't lower his guard long enough for the assassin to attack him.

The assassin, for its part, didn't seem threatened by Sarzen. It raised its sword up to its mouth and then licked the blood off of its blade with a long, disgusting green tongue, all the while making a moaning sound, like it was enjoying a nice treat.

"Delicious," said the assassin, lowering the sword. "Then again, human blood is always delicious."

Sarzen felt his stomach churn, but he still asked, "Wait, how can you speak Yoresian? I was told the Draymens don't speak our tongue."

"Learned it from some human slaves," said the assassin. He licked his lips. "I told them I would spare their lives if they taught me their language. They really did believe me, right up until the moment I took their heads off with my sword."

Sarzen felt bile rising in his throat, but he pushed it down and said, "So all the rumors about Draymens cruelty I heard were true. You really are monsters."

"Monsters?" said the assassin. "Is it monstrous to kill your enemies in war? I think not."

"Who are you?" Sarzen demanded. "And how did you get up here? The Mountain Guard would have reported if a Draymens had gotten past the gates."

"Do you really think I'd tell you that?" said the Draymens assassin with a snort. "Of course not. But you must know that I am the harbinger of what is to come." He leaned forward, his dark eyes glittering with glee. "I want you to tell the rest of your people that your days are nearly over. Soon, your gates will be knocked down, your cities burned to ash, and your people slaughtered like cattle. And you won't even lift a finger to stop it."

Sarzen bit his lower lip. "What do you mean, you want me to tell the rest of my people about this?"

"I mean I intend to let you leave this Sanctuary alive," said the Draymens, pulling back. "Someone needs to deliver this message to your leaders, after all. Unfortunately, it cannot be me, since I doubt your leaders would listen to me."

"What about High Priest Renuk?" Sarzen said. "Why did you attack him?"

The assassin glanced at Renuk, who was still lying on the floor moaning in pain. "You mean this old human? I was given orders to kill him. So I did."

"That's it?" Sarzen said. "You really are an assassin, aren't you?"

"I just follow orders," said the assassin with a shrug. "Does that really make us so different? You also follow orders, do you not?"

"Shut up," Sarzen snapped. He lowered his sword, aiming its tip at the assassin's chest. "I'm not going to let you leave. I'm going to kill you here and then drag your body to the Elect Council so they can know that the gates have been breached."

"You don't have to fight me, you know," said the assassin. "As I said, I will let you leave unharmed if you will just go and tell your leaders that the days of your people are numbered. You don't have to make this complicated, you know."

"It became 'complicated' when you attacked Renuk in front of me," said Sarzen. "Anyway, I'm done talking. I'm going to kill you here and now!"

Sarzen ran at the assassin, who didn't move from his position near Renuk. Sarzen thought that the assassin was perhaps taken aback by Sarzen's own initiative; at least, that's what Sarzen would think, since he hadn't actually attacked someone like this before and wasn't sure what the usual response to being attacked was.

But when Sarzen slashed at the assassin, the Draymens raised his bloody bone sword and blocked the blow. He didn't appear to even put any effort into it; even though Sarzen was putting all of his strength into forcing the Draymens back, the assassin stood his ground, a look of boredom on his face.

"Is this the best you've got?" said the Draymens. "I've heard many stories about the great Warrior Priests, but you are hardly a challenge."

The Draymens assassin suddenly pushed back. Sarzen staggered backwards, almost tripping over his own feet, but managed to regain his balance just as the Draymens lunged forward with his bone blade aimed for Sarzen's hands.

Sarzen, however, deflected the assassin's attack. He swiped at the assassin, but his opponent ducked and easily avoided the attack. The assassin then tried to stab Sarzen in the stomach, which Sarzen managed to dodge, but the assassin's blade still cut through Sarzen's coat and managed to break his skin slightly.

Sarzen immediately brought his sword down on the assassin's head, but the assassin melted into shadow, causing Sarzen's sword to miss entirely.

Pulling his sword back, Sarzen looked around the room, trying to spot the assassin. He wasn't sure where the assassin could have gone; there really wasn't anywhere to hide. Yet he'd just seen the assassin literally melt into the shadow. He was trying to remember if he had ever heard any stories about Draymens that could do that and recalled a few stories about Draymens hiding in the shadows and striking from the darkness when their enemies least expected it.

_But I didn't know that they_ literally _hid in the shadows,_ Sarzen thought, whipping his head this way and that to try to spot the hiding demon.

That was when Sarzen heard bone scraping against rock and looked to the left just in time to see the assassin's bone sword coming at him. Sarzen ducked, allowing the sword to pass by overhead, and then struck at the assassin, who was standing just a few feet away from him.

This time, Sarzen's blade struck home, cutting through the assassin's abdomen. The assassin shrieked in pain, a sound that made Sarzen flinch.

That was when Sarzen realized that the shriek had just been a distraction, because the assassin brought his sword directly down on Sarzen's head. Sarzen raised his golden sword and managed to block the attack, but now the Draymens assassin was forcing him down. Although the assassin was very thin, he was incredibly strong, forcing Sarzen down to the floor on his knees.

Sarzen gritted his teeth, doing his best to hold back against the Draymens, but the assassin was too strong for him to push back. He wished he knew where the assassin was getting this strength, but then he remembered that Draymens were said to have superhuman strength, so he shouldn't have been as surprised as he was.

Still, Sarzen gathered all of his strength and forced the Draymens back, but it was no use, because the Draymens just increased its own strength and forced him down even lower.

Sarzen looked up into the assassin's eyes. He saw a gleeful, murderous look in them, like the assassin had apparently decided to kill Sarzen rather than spare him. The assassin's eyes looked more like the eyes of a beast than a person, which actually scared Sarzen a little.

"Come now, human," said the assassin, his voice mocking. "I have you right where I want you. If you give up, I might just let you live."

Sarzen gritted his teeth again. "N-Never. You... attacked my High Priest."

The assassin sighed. "Very well, then. I will simply—"

The assassin didn't get to finish his sentence, because at that moment a strangled, pained yell came from nowhere and then High Priest Renuk—his coat extremely bloody—came out of nowhere, a dagger in hand, and drove the blade straight into the side of the assassin's body.

The assassin shrieked in pain again. He lashed out with his hand, hitting Renuk in the face and causing him to fall back onto the floor, but removing his hand from his sword turned out to be a mistake, because it meant there was less pressure keeping Sarzen down.

With a yell of triumph, Sarzen pushed up, shoving the assassin backwards, who nearly lost his balance. Rising to his full height, Sarzen slashed at the assassin, cutting a thick wound down his chest and causing the assassin to actually drop his bone sword in pain.

Sarzen swung his sword again, this time aiming for the assassin's neck, but then the assassin ducked, allowing Sarzen's sword to go over his head. But instead of attacking again, the assassin staggered backwards, clutching his bleeding wound and glaring at Sarzen.

"You... won this one, human," said the assassin in a panting voice. "But you still won't be able to save your precious city from us..."

The assassin sank into the shadows of the floor, leaving behind a few droplets of his gray blood where he'd been standing mere moments ago.

But Sarzen had no time to worry about that right now. He ran over to Renuk, who was now lying on the floor as still as a rock.

Kneeling over him and taking him into his arms, Sarzen said, "High Priest! Are you all right?"

Renuk's fur coat was stained red with blood, while his skin had grown incredibly pale. His pulse was so weak that Sarzen was certain that the High Priest must have already died between the time he attacked the assassin and the time he hit the floor.

But then Renuk's eyes flickered open and he looked up at Sarzen. But there was little life in Renuk's eyes, like he was just barely clinging to life despite his earlier attack on the assassin.

"Sarzen..." Renuk said, his voice dangerously weak. "I am sorry... I won't make it..."

"Don't say that," said Sarzen. Tears started to well in his own eyes, but he did not wipe them away. "I'll get help, a healer. Someone who can close your wounds."

Sarzen was about to stand, but Renuk grabbed his wrist. Renuk's old hand felt cold and slippery, but his grip was surprisingly strong, causing Sarzen to look down at him again.

"No, my son, it is too late," said Renuk, his voice so weak that Sarzen had to strain his ears to hear him. "I can already feel my life... slipping away..."

"No, you're wrong," said Sarzen. "I'm going to get help and—"

Renuk suddenly coughed loudly, actually coughing up blood. Sarzen felt blood flick onto his face, though his tears washed away most of it.

Renuk looked into Sarzen's eyes and said, "Serve... the Dragon Gods always. Preserve... the... Order..."

Then Renuk stopped speaking. His pulse—which had been weak just seconds before—was nonexistent now. His head tilted backwards and he stopped breathing.

All Sarzen could do was lower his head and cry.

***

Chapter Three

**H** elnia Alnem stood in the streets of Ars, the capital of Yores, playing with the beads on her necklace. She knew she shouldn't have been doing that; today was a solemn ceremony, one that required the utmost silence and seriousness. But ever since she'd become a mage, she'd picked up the habit of playing with her magical beads whenever she got nervous.

Not that anyone seemed to notice. On both sides of the street, the throngs of people that usually filled the streets of Ars stood in silent reverence, their heads bowed and their hands folded before them. Only a few crying babies could be heard, but they were quickly silenced by their mothers, who would take them indoors or feed them in order to quiet them.

Helnia was amazed at how silent everyone was. Most of the time, the streets of Ars were loud and bustling as people traded, merchants hawked their wares, and the sounds of other things that were typical of a big city. It was a very sharp contrast to Helnia's quiet, small hometown of Iswor, a small town in the plains where everyone knew everyone and where the most noisy things were the braying of horses or the mooing of cattle.

Or, at least, that was how Iswor had been, before the Draymens destroyed it and forced Helnia, her brother Sarzen, and their parents to flee to Ars for safety. That had been ten years ago, yet Helnia still had vivid memories of seeing houses destroyed, corpses of men who had fought against the invaders lying everywhere, creeks dirtied and dried up, and women and children fleeing. She also remembered her last memory of her parents as they lured the invading Draymens away from the survivors, her parents who were probably dead now.

The reason Helnia thought about all of this was due to what happened just a couple of days ago. According to what Sarzen had told her, a Draymens assassin had somehow managed to break into the Dragon God Sanctuary and slay High Priest Renuk in cold blood. Sarzen had tried to save the High Priest, but had failed and Renuk had died.

That had been two days ago. Today was the day of Renuk's funeral. And Sarzen would be helping the other Warrior Priests carry Renuk's casket to the graveyard where Renuk would be buried along with the previous High Priests.

Though everyone was silent right now, Helnia sensed a deep sense of fear and dread in the people. She saw it in the way some people gripped their hands together tightly, the way others would occasionally glance at each other or up the street, a deep sense of fear and dread that Helnia had experienced back in Iswor when the Draymens were first spotted coming up the plains toward their town. She knew that the other survivors of Draymens attacks—and there were many in the city of Ars, especially from the last ten years when the attacks increased in number and ferocity—were probably feeling the same way.

_The people of Ars always believed it couldn't happen to them,_ Helnia thought, brushing aside a strand of her long, dark hair. _They believed their gates and their guardsmen would protect them. Looks like they were wrong._

Not that that thought brought any joy into Helnia's heart. She had hoped that Ars would stand against the Draymens, but it was plain now that no city, no town, no village in Yores was safe from those monsters. She was just grateful that her brother had survived his encounter with one; most people didn't.

Helnia remembered how Sarzen had looked on the day that he had told her about the High Priest's death. He had looked totally shattered. He hadn't been crying, but he had spoken in a monotone very unlike his normal, optimistic way of speaking. He had sounded like he had already emptied himself of all emotion, though Helnia knew that he would likely be grieving the High Priest for a long time.

_Renuk was the closest thing to a grandfather Sarzen ever knew,_ Helnia thought. _Now I wish I had gotten to know him a little more._

Helnia was not a Warrior Priest; in fact, she didn't care much for the Warrior Priest Order, because they had always seemed like a throwback to an era that no longer existed. She hadn't said that to Sarzen, of course, but it was the main reason she had never interacted with Renuk very much. She did find herself wondering whether Sarzen would stay in the Order or not after this; she supposed he probably would, unless the Order collapsed due to a lack of leadership, though that was unlikely.

All of a sudden, the sound of a blaring horn swept through the street. A few murmurs among the people followed, which Helnia caught and understood to mean that it was the horn of the funeral procession about to make its way through the street.

Raising her head just slightly, Helnia saw the funeral procession at the end of the street. There were four Warrior Priests—wearing the traditional Warrior Priest armor, including the dragon head-shaped helmet that concealed their faces—carrying between them a large, black casket with elaborate carvings of the Dragon Gods on its surface. Behind the casket were the other members of the Order, though unlike the casket carriers, they wore black robes of mourning rather than traditional Warrior Priest armor. But that didn't mean they were unarmed; Helnia caught a glimpse of a sword tip peaking out from underneath the robes of a young Warrior Priest, who hastily covered it up before anyone else noticed.

The procession moved slowly down the street, none of them saying a word. Although the helmets of the pallbearers made it impossible to see their faces, Helnia spotted Sarzen quickly; he was at the front right of the casket, identifiable thanks to the golden sword at his side. None of the pallbearers or other Warrior Priests looked at the people as they passed; they kept their faces fixed straight ahead on the path before them. But Helnia wished she could see Sarzen's face; she wanted to know how he was feeling right now.

The funeral procession soon passed Helnia. She noticed a handful of people uttering short, simple prayers to the Dragon Gods under their breaths. Helnia couldn't hear them, since the people were muttering and murmuring, but she got the general gist. They were praying for Renuk's soul and for the city's protection from the Draymens. Helnia sympathized with their prayers, but she did not say a prayer herself because she didn't worship the Dragon Gods, unlike her brother.

_Where are the Dragon Gods now, I wonder?_ Helnia thought. _Will Sarzen keep serving them, even after Renuk's death? Or will he stop?_

Once the funeral procession passed and turned down the corner of the street, the silent crowds on either side of the street broke apart. Some went after the procession, most likely to attend the funeral itself; others went to work or to their businesses, while still others returned to their homes. A handful stayed on the streets, still praying to the Dragon Gods, seemingly unaware of the fact that everyone else was leaving.

Helnia herself intended to go to the funeral, because she wanted to be with Sarzen and give him support in this hard time. She was just about to walk down the street and follow the procession to the place where Renuk's body would be laid to rest when a familiar voice behind her shouted, "Helnia!"

Helnia paused and looked over her shoulder to see a tall, muscular man in a simple brown tunic and jerkin running toward her, his long black hair flowing behind him. He came to a stop next to Helnia, putting his hands on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath, his bead necklace hitting against his chest.

"Rothel?" said Helnia, looking at the man in confusion. "Where were you?"

Rothel Oran—a close friend of Sarzen—stood upright and wiped the sweat off his forehead, which amazed Helnia, because it was so cold out that she didn't know how anyone could work up a sweat in this weather. "I slept in. I forgot about the funeral procession, but tried to get here as quickly as possible when I remembered."

"What?" said Helnia. "I thought you were somewhere in the crowd with everyone else. You mean you didn't see the procession at all?"

"I didn't," Rothel said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Like I said, I slept in. I'm really sorry. I should have been here for Sarzen, but—"

Helnia sighed in exasperation. "How could you possibly sleep in on a day like today? Were you up all night partying or something last night?"

Rothel held up his hands sheepishly. "I'm just a heavy sleeper, that's all. I forgot about the procession last night and only remembered it when I overheard a couple of guys talking about it outside my house."

Helnia just shook her head. She supposed she shouldn't have been very surprised; for as long as she'd known Rothel, he'd always had the bad habit of being late to important events. She had hoped he would at least make it to this one, but apparently he had not.

"Did you see Sarzen?" said Rothel, glancing down the street in the general direction that the procession had gone. "I heard he was one of the pallbearers."

Helnia turned and started walking down the street; she didn't want to be late for the funeral. "Yes. I don't know if he noticed your absence, though."

Rothel immediately began walking beside her, saying, "Where are you going?"

"The funeral, obviously," said Helnia. She glanced at Rothel. "Where else?"

"I'm coming with you, then," said Rothel. "Maybe Sarzen won't realize I didn't see the procession if I go to the funeral."

Helnia frowned as they walked past a merchant selling apples. "Were you invited? I don't remember Sarzen mentioning you."

"I was," said Rothel indignantly. "I'm one of his best friends, after all. Why wouldn't he invite me to the funeral?"

"Never mind," said Helnia, shaking her head. "I suppose if you are invited, then you are invited. Let's just try not to be late for it."

"I won't," Rothel said, giving her the thumbs up. "I have all my business in order today, so we don't need to worry about any interruptions or anything like that."

"I should hope not," said Helnia. Then she looked at Rothel again, this time more curiously. "By the way, what kind of business do you do, anyway? I don't remember you ever telling me about it."

"Oh, I just run errands around the city for various people," said Rothel, waving off Helnia's question like it was irrelevant. "I make good money doing it. It's nothing you need to worry about."

Helnia nodded and decided not to ask any more specific questions about Rothel's job because she didn't want to be distracted from getting to the funeral. "Right. Well, I'm glad you got everything in order, anyway. Maybe we won't be late for the funeral."

"Yeah," said Rothel as he and Helnia stopped to allow a horse-drawn carriage to cross the street before them. He shook his head. "I just can't believe what happened, though. A Draymens in Ars? That's never happened before."

"I know," said Helnia as she and Rothel crossed the street and resumed heading toward the funeral. "But Sarzen saw it. He even showed me the bone sword that it used to kill the High Priest."

"I've heard rumors that the Elect Council is already increasing security around the city," said Rothel. "They're trying to find out how that Draymens got in."

"Sarzen also told me that the Draymens said that he was just the first of many Draymens that were going to invade the city," said Helnia. She shivered as a strong, freezing gust of wind blew through. "That must mean that the assassin knows how to get them into the city under our noses."

"He could have just been lying," said Rothel, stepping over a shallow puddle as they turned the corner and began walking down the next street, which would take them directly to the graveyard. "The Draymens are supposed to be master liars and deceivers, after all."

"I don't think so," said Helnia. "If he got in without being noticed like that, then it stands to reason that other Draymens could do the same thing. Besides, it was only a matter of time before the Draymens decided to try to conquer Ars and the other mountain cities; they've already basically got the plains, after all."

"I know," said Rothel. He scowled. "Want to bet the odds of the Elect Council actually _doing_ something to deal with the Draymens for a change, instead of getting into dumb political arguments with each other that get nowhere?"

Helnia chuckled bitterly. "Expecting the Elect Council to give a damn about the people or the nation is like expecting water not to be wet. They will probably just ignore it and focus on business as usual."

"I don't know," said Rothel. "The mood in the city is anger and frustration at the Elect Council for allowing this to happen. In my neighborhood, there was a man going around trying to get people to sign a petition to get the Elect Council to do something. This Draymens attack might just be the straw that breaks the back."

"Really?" said Helnia. "Well, maybe there is hope for the nation after all. And here I was thinking that the people were just going to sit down and take it."

"Yeah," said Rothel. He went silent for a few seconds as they walked before he said, "And the Raugus wells are draining pretty rapidly, too."

"Don't remind me," said Helnia, rubbing the beads around her neck, which were warm with the Raugus energy she had put inside them before leaving her apartment earlier today. "That's all any of the other mages talk about nowadays. But the Elect Council is the only group that can approve of a search for new Raugus, and since they're lazy and useless, I'm not sure that will happen anytime soon."

"Right," said Rothel. "I heard from a friend in the Yoresian Army that we don't have enough Raugus to defend Ars against a Draymens invasion of the mountains. Hardly a reassuring thought."

"I've heard the same and think it is true," said Helnia. She sighed. "I doubt the Elect Council believes it, though. They will continue to believe that we can deal with the Draymens right up until the moment they knock down the gates, flood the city, and put their heads on pikes."

"The appearance of that Draymens in the Sanctuary _would_ explain all the reports I've heard about increased Draymens activity near the foot of the mountains," said Rothel. "Supposedly, large Draymens raiding parties have been clashing with the Army's soldiers over the past couple of months. I've heard there have even been sightings of Draymens that use Raugus."

"You mean, like, Draymens mages?" said Helnia, looking at Rothel in astonishment. "That's impossible. Draymens can't use magic."

"That's just what I've heard from other people," said Rothel. "I haven't actually seen it myself."

Helnia shook her head. "What is this world coming to?"

"I ask myself that question every day," said Rothel with a shrug. "And I still don't have the answer to it."

***

Chapter Four

**H** elnia and Rothel reached the Ars City Graveyard, which was a large, well tended to plot of land located on the west side of Ars. Here there stood rows upon rows of gravestones and tombs containing the corpses of the people who had died here long ago, with some of the older gravestones and tombs going back to the founding of Ars itself, all surrounded by a metal fence that separated the graveyard from the rest of the city. The graveyard was usually pretty empty, aside from the grave keeper or visitors who came to visit the graves of their beloved departed.

But today, the graveyard had more people than usual. The entirety of the Warrior Priest Order was here, plus a handful of people that had followed the funeral procession in order to pay their respects to High Priest Renuk. Helnia could already see that Renuk's coffin was placed over the grave, but it had not been lowered, probably because the funeral was not over yet.

Helnia and Rothel reached the rest of the mourners very quickly. There weren't any seats in which to sit, so everyone was standing, including the pallbearers, who had removed their helmets and stood around the grave with their heads bowed, perhaps praying to the Dragon Gods.

Now Helnia could see Sarzen's head. Not his face, since his head was bowed low, but she could see his messy brown hair, especially when the wind blew it. He didn't look up or say anything; in fact, all of the mourners were silent at the moment.

Helnia and Rothel took up a couple of spaces on the right side of the grave, but due to how thickly the people were gathered around it, they couldn't see it as clearly as they would have liked. Or, at least, Helnia couldn't, since she was rather short, but Rothel was about a head taller than her and so could see the grave pretty easily.

That was when Helnia heard footsteps behind her. Thinking it was just another funeral guest, she looked over her shoulder to see who it was and was shocked at what she saw.

Walking up to the people standing around the grave were two people she recognized but had not expected to see here. One was a tall and strapping middle-aged man with graying dark hair, a handsome smile on his face. He wore a fancy dark suit, in contrast to the simple robes worn by the other mourners, and seemed to be in a better mood than everyone else, based on the way he walked tall. Walking beside him was a woman in her thirties who wore clothes much more suitable to the occasion; a dark, fur dress that probably kept her warm.

Helnia was shocked because she recognized the man as Agon Cyra, a member of the Elect Council, and the woman walking by his side as his secretary, Patia. Helnia had seen Agon Cyra a few times before, usually at public events or festivals in the city. She had not, however, expected him to show up to this funeral, because the Elect Council and the Warrior Priest Order had never been on particularly good terms with each other, especially recently.

Agon and Patia took spots next to Helnia and Rothel, though Helnia wasn't sure if she should say anything or not. She glanced at Rothel, but Rothel had bowed his head and folded his hands just like the Priests and didn't seem to have noticed one of the members of the Elect Council just walk up to them without warning.

That made Helnia wonder if she should say anything to Agon or not. It wasn't like she knew him, after all, but at the same time she was wondering what a member of the Elect Council was doing here. Was he really here just to pay his respects to Renuk? Or did he have another reason to be here?

As it turned out, however, Helnia did not have to broach the question, because Agon glanced at her and said, in a low voice, "Sad day, isn't it?"

Helnia blinked, but said, making her tone as low as his, "Yes, it is. Did you know Renuk?"

Agon shook his head. "No. We spoke a few times, of course, but we never knew each other very well. I'm merely here as the Elect Council's representative to the funeral."

"Oh," said Helnia. "I didn't know that."

"It's just customary, that's all," said Agon. "The Elect Council has always sent a representative to the funeral of the High Priest. Even though not very many people believe in the Dragon Gods anymore, we still carry on this tradition due to cultural inertia. Right, Patia?"

Patia nodded. "Yes, sir."

"So you're just here because it's traditional, then," said Helnia.

"Yes," said Agon. He glanced at Helnia again, this time with a more curious expression on his face. "Did you know him, per chance? You aren't wearing a Warrior Priest's robes of mourning, I see."

"No, but my brother is and he was the one who saw him die," said Helnia. She gestured at Sarzen, who was just visible through a gap between the people in front of her. "I came to be here with him."

"Really?" said Agon. His eyes darted to the necklace around her neck. "And you are a mage, too. Most mages don't think very highly of the Warrior Priests, but your brother became one anyway."

Helnia shrugged. "We're twins, so Sarzen doesn't have to listen to me. I never opposed or supported him in the matter. He probably wouldn't have listened to me even if I told him not to join the Order."

"Indeed," said Agon. "I don't think the Order has much time left, to be honest. With the death of Renuk, the Order will likely never rise again, at least to its former levels of glory. He was its last, best chance for revival and he screwed it up."

Agon sounded genuinely sorry about that, which surprised Helnia. Then again, Agon seemed to be the only member of the Elect Council who had any real respect for the Order, so she shouldn't have been surprised.

Before Helnia could say anything else, she felt a nudge at her shoulder and looked at Rothel, who gestured with his head toward the coffin. That was when Helnia realized that the funeral ceremony was starting; a man in white robes—probably Renuk's successor, though Helnia didn't know enough about the Order to be able to identify the man—stood in front of the coffin, his hands folded over his waist and a look of sorrow on his middle-aged features that fit in perfectly with the grim expressions of the other Warrior Priests.

"Gathered friends, we are here today in order to put to rest the body and soul of our great High Priest, Renuk Tekia," said the man, his voice deep. "His murder came unexpectedly and without warning, but a Warrior Priest knows that death can always come that way. Still, that does not change the fact that his death has hit us all very hard or that it will be difficult to adjust to our new lives without him. All of us were mentored or trained by Renuk in some ways; and for a few of us, he was the father we never had."

Helnia glanced at Sarzen, who stood away from the coffin with the other pallbearers, his head still down. But she knew what he was thinking; he had been one of the Warrior Priests who had seen Renuk as a father, so he was probably taking this harder than most.

The man in the white robes was still speaking. "Renuk was a great defender of the traditions of the Order and an even greater teacher who could explain the Order's lore and teachings to anyone. Thanks to him, the Order—though small—has remained strong and faithful to the traditions handed down to us by our forefathers, traditions defended with their very lives in some cases. The Dragon Gods have no doubt created a good place for Renuk in the Secret Heavens, where he is likely already learning the secrets of the Dragon Gods that eluded him during his time on this world."

Tears ran down the faces of many of the Warrior Priests, but they were silent tears because they were men trained not to let their emotions get the best of them. Agon wasn't crying, but he did have his head bowed like he, too, was praying to the Dragon Gods.

"But his manner of death was not merely tragic," the man in the white robes continued. "It was also a sign of things to come. Now that one Draymens has managed to enter Ars, it is likely that even more will follow. The coming months will be some of the darkest yet for the city and for the Order, a darkness not known since the foundation of Yores. Renuk would want us, the Warrior Priests, to remain strong, however, and not to lose faith, no matter how dark the future may be."

Helnia wondered if it was appropriate to use the occasion of someone's funeral to talk about this stuff, but the other Warrior Priests weren't saying anything, so she supposed it was not worth worrying about.

"As members of the Warrior Priest Order, we will need to stand strong, not just for Renuk, but for all of Yores," said the man in white robes. "That is what Renuk would have wanted. He would have told us to put our faith in the Dragon Gods and to continue to pray for their blessing to return to our lands, which is what we will need in order to survive."

Then the man in white robes spread his hands. "Now, it is time to lower the casket into the ground. pallbearers, come forward, please."

The four pallbearers, Sarzen included, walked back over to the coffin. They then gradually began to lower it into the ground using a series of pulleys and ropes, while the rest of the Order and the other guests watched them do it.

Helnia sensed that this was the end of the funeral, which took her by surprise, because she hadn't realized it would be so short. She glanced at Rothel, who was also staring at the lowering coffin, and then at Agon and Patia, who were now muttering among themselves about something she couldn't hear.

_I should go talk to Sarzen,_ Helnia thought. _He will need my comfort, I think._

Before Helnia could go forward, however, she felt a tug on her left elbow and looked down to see that it was a young boy—no older than eight—standing behind her. He wore a flat hat on his head and clutched what looked like a letter in his right hand, but Helnia had no idea who he was or where he came from.

"Sorry, miss," said the young boy. "Are you Helnia Alnem?"

"Yes, I am," said Helnia. She frowned. "Who are you?"

"A messenger," the young boy replied. He held up the letter to her. "I was given this letter to deliver straight to you."

"A letter for me?" said Helnia in surprise as she took the folded paper. "Who sent it?"

"I don't know," said the young boy with a shrug. "I was just told to deliver it to you by a man I didn't recognize. Do you have a tip?"

Helnia dug through her purse and gave the young boy a few copper coins. The boy took the coins, smiled at them, and then pocketed them in his coat before turning and running back toward the exit.

Helnia would have thought that rude, but since the boy had already said that he didn't know who had asked for the letter to be delivered, she didn't get annoyed. She just unfolded the letter, looked at the name at the top, and covered her mouth with her hand:

It was a letter from her parents.

***

Chapter Five

**S** arzen walked through the Halls of the Elect, right behind the new High Priest, Carnus Suchan, and his second-in-command, Zomo Letka. This was the very first time that Sarzen had ever visited the Halls before; due to his status as a lowly Acolyte, Sarzen had never been able to go on these kinds of trips, even though he had always wanted to go on this trip. But Carnus had decided that, because Sarzen had nearly completed his Acolyte training already, he could come along to the meeting with the Council. That Sarzen had also been the last person to see High Priest Renuk and fight that Draymens assassin was another reason Sarzen had been brought along; that way, the Council could ask him about the assassin if they wanted.

That was why Sarzen and the others were here today, a week after Renuk's funeral. Carnus had been promoted to High Priest just a few days ago and was now going, along with Sarzen and Zomo, to meet with the Elect Council regarding the issue of a possible Draymens invasion of the mountains.

Apparently, the news of the Draymens assassin's attack on the Sanctuary had caused a sudden change in the attitude of the people of Ars toward the Draymens invasion. Now they were demanding action against the Draymens, a sentiment that Sarzen shared, because he knew just how cruel and vicious the Draymens could be and he wanted something done about them before they invaded the city, too.

Sarzen hoped that the Elect Council would actually listen to them this time, because so far the Elect Council had been more or less ignoring the problem of the Draymens invasion, even though many towns and villages in the plains had already fallen to the might of the Draymens.

_Something tells me they won't, though,_ Sarzen thought, scowling as they walked past the statues of past Elect Council members that stood on both sides of the Halls. _They're too cowardly and selfish to do what is necessary to protect the mountains._

Sarzen then found himself wishing that Helnia and Rothel were here with him. While he trusted Carnus and Zomo to handle the Elect Council well, he was still nervous about meeting them. He had seen Councilman Agon at the funeral, but Agon had left before Sarzen could speak with him. That was good; Sarzen always felt nervous around government figures, even if he hadn't done anything wrong. It was just a flaw of his, something he struggled with often, but doubted would ever go away.

_At least Agon attended the funeral,_ Sarzen thought, following Carnus and Zomo up a short flight of stairs. _Better than nothing, I suppose._

Last week, Sarzen had stayed after the funeral to talk with Helnia and Rothel, who both offered their condolences for Renuk's death. In particular, he had appreciated Helnia's condolences, because he had not expected her to be so thoughtful, given how she didn't like the Warrior Priests very much.

But Sarzen had noticed Helnia holding a letter. He asked her about it, only for her to brush off his question with a dismissive, 'Oh, it's nothing. Just a letter from an old friend,' but Sarzen knew Helnia well enough to know when she was lying. That letter was far more important than she let on, but Sarzen had been so distracted and busy over the last week that he hadn't had time to spare it much thought. He decided that he would ask Helnia about it in better detail later, after the meeting with the Council.

After a few more minutes of walking, the three Warrior Priests reached the doors to the Council Chamber, where the Council was. They were large, silver doors that had engravings of the Dragon Gods on their surface, which Sarzen thought was ironic, given how almost nobody on the Council actually worshiped the Dragon Gods anymore. It was another reminder, to him, of how hypocritical the Council was, though he soon forgot about it as Carnus pushed open the doors and they entered.

The Council Chamber was large and round, much nicer than the Sanctuary. The floor was clean marble, while the ceiling and walls were a fine oak that looked like it had been aged to give it a finer appearance. Two large windows stood at the other end of the room, which provided an amazing view of the city of Ars and the surrounding mountains. Thick carpets hung from the walls, tapestries that displayed images of the Dragon Gods and the city of Ars, beautifully woven tapestries that almost made Sarzen gasp at their beauty. There was not a speck of dust anywhere in the room; it was like dust was not allowed to be in here, as if the Elect Council was too good to get dirty.

In the center of the room was a round, wooden table around which sat the ten members of the Elect Council. Sarzen was not familiar enough with the Council to recognize each member, but he had no trouble identifying Agon, who sat on the far side of the table in the traditional violet robes of the Elect Councilmen.

On the table itself was a map of Yores, plus a variety of books, papers, and other things that had probably been used during the Elect Council's discussions on important matters. Sarzen suddenly felt even more nervous than before, especially when the eyes of the Councilmen shifted over to him and the other two.

"Ah, Warrior Priests," said Agon, who appeared to be speaking for the rest of the Council. "We are pleased to see that you have arrived on time."

_They don't look particularly pleased to see us to me,_ Sarzen thought, but he didn't say anything, partly out of nerves, partly because he had been told not to speak during this meeting unless spoken to due to his status as an Acolyte.

Agon shuffled some papers together and said, "Priests, will you need seats? This meeting might be very long and you would be far more comfortable sitting than standing."

"No, it is fine," said Carnus. "We will stand. Part of the Warrior Priest lifestyle is learning to deal with adversity."

"Adversity?" muttered one of the other Councilmen. "Is that what you call standing nowadays?"

"Oh, I understand," said Agon, before Carnus could respond to the rude Councilman's remark. "Stand or sit as you feel led. We can have a discussion about our next course of action either way."

"Fine," said Carnus. He gestured at himself, Sarzen and Zomo. "I am High Priest Carnus, while this is my successor, Zomo, and one of our Acolytes, Sarzen. You may remember Sarzen as the one who fought the Draymens assassin that killed Renuk."

"Yes, I remember," said Agon, nodding along with the other Councilmen. "I assume you've brought him here due to his experience with fighting Draymens?"

"Yes," said Carnus, nodding. "Normally, we do not bring Acolytes to these sorts of meetings, but Sarzen is an exception, though he will not speak unless spoken to. Isn't that right, Sarzen?"

Sarzen nodded. He couldn't make eye contact with Agon or any of the other Councilman, because his nerves were getting the best of him. He didn't know if the Elect noticed his nerves or not; he hoped they didn't, because it would be embarrassing if they did. "Yes, High Priest."

"I see," said Agon. He glanced around at the other Elect for a moment before looking at Sarzen, Carnus, and Zomo again. "We have been discussing how to best deal with the Draymens threat, ever since we heard that Renuk was assassinated by a Draymens assassin. This recent attack has highlighted how important it is for us to talk about this important issue, because we do not know how much time we have left before the Draymens attack the city with a true army."

"I see," said Carnus. "That is very, very good. What solutions have you come up with to defeat the Draymens? Do you have any ideas yet?"

The Elect all looked at each other, like they were unsure if they should tell Carnus what they had thought of. That either meant it was a crazy idea or a bad one, or possibly both, and Sarzen couldn't decide what was worse.

"We are... divided on the issue, to put it mildly," said Agon.

"Divided?" repeated the Elect from before, the one that had made the rude comment. He pushed back the brim of his hat, showing his dark eyes underneath it. "We are stalled completely."

"What do you mean?" said Carnus in surprise. "Why are you so divided?"

"Because we cannot agree on the best method of dealing with the Draymens menace," said Agon. "That's why."

"Why?" said Carnus. "What methods have you come up with?"

"Half of us want to fortify the borders by adding more trained soldiers to act as guards," said Agon, "while the other half want us to search for the Dragon Gods."

"The Dragon Gods are long gone," the rude Elect from before muttered. "There's no point in looking for them."

"They are still our best chance at defeating the Draymens, though," said another Elect, a slightly younger man who was nonetheless balding. "Our armed forces have already proven to be incapable of stopping the Draymens on their own. The Dragon Gods, on the other hand, were the ones who originally drove the Draymens from this land in the first place; surely they could do it again, if we could find them."

All of a sudden, a loud argument erupted between the various Elect. Their loud, angry voices blended together in the Chamber, making it nearly impossible to tell what anyone was saying, at least until Agon bashed the table with a gavel loud enough to cause everyone to go silent and look at him in surprise.

"Do you see?" said Agon to Sarzen and the others. He gestured at his fellow Elect. "We are too divided on the matter to be able to make any decision on this. And if we cannot agree on what to do next, then we cannot do anything about the Draymens threat."

"You mean you can't agree on anything at all?" said Carnus. "This is ridiculous. We need a decision now. We have no idea when the Draymens will attack. It may be that they will attack tomorrow or even in the next hour. We can't waste any of that time arguing."

"We know," said Agon. "But that doesn't change the fact that we can't agree on anything."

"That's because the plan of finding the Dragon Gods is ridiculous," said the rude Elect, folding his arms across his chest. "No one knows where the Dragon Gods are. We have only scattered myths and legends from long ago that say they went beyond the Cursed Lands, but that is hardly specific, so we cannot expect to try to find them. Even if the Dragon Gods are still out there somewhere, it will likely take a long time for anyone we send to find them, time that could be better spent fortifying our borders and keeping the Draymens out."

"But that won't help us actually defeat the Draymens for good," the other Elect, the balding one, said. "Remember, the Draymens have almost complete control over the plains. If we just build up our defenses, but don't send out troops into the fields to deal with them, then all we will succeed in doing is pushing back the Draymens invasion to some other point in the future. Only the Dragon Gods could help us defeat the Draymens once and for all."

"Again, you're assuming we can actually find the Dragon Gods in the first place," said the rude Elect. "Or in a timely manner. It may be that if we send out someone to search for the Dragon Gods that, by the time they return, Yores will be destroyed or under the rule of the Draymens and all of us will be dead."

The balding Elect opened his mouth to argue the point further, but Agon raised a hand and said, "Enough bickering. We have already gone over this discussion many times and are still no closer to coming to an agreement on it than we were before."

"How else do you expect us to come to an agreement if we can't talk about it?" said the rude Elect. "Because we also can't simply sit with our backs to each other and hope that the other guy will give up on his opinions and agree with us."

"High Priest Carnus," said Agon, looking at Carnus, "do you understand our problem? Can you help us with it, if possible?"

Carnus stroked his chin. He looked uncomfortable with being asked for his advice on the matter, a feeling Sarzen understood, because Carnus had only been the High Priest for less than a week, yet he was now being asked to give his input on such an important decision. It made Sarzen glad that he wasn't the High Priest, because he was certain he would not have been able to give a good answer that would satisfy all of the Elect.

"It is a difficult dilemma," said Carnus. "I see the pros and cons of both ideas. While I would personally like to seek the Dragon Gods, I realize that it may not be a very practical plan. On the other hand, our soldiers, as strong as they are, have already failed to beat back the Draymens invasion; it may be that they cannot."

None of the Elect looked happy with Carnus's words. No surprise there; Sarzen himself didn't like how indecisive Carnus sounded. He wished Carnus would make a decision, something that might help break the tiebreaker between the two sides of the Elect, but it was pretty clear that Carnus would not be able to do that.

But now that Sarzen was thinking about it, a solution suddenly came to mind. He opened his mouth to say it, but then he remembered that he wasn't supposed to speak unless spoken to, and since no one had spoken to him yet or asked his opinion on the matter, he wasn't sure he should share it.

But it seemed like such a good idea to him, so he said to Carnus, "High Priest, may I speak with the Elect? I have an idea that I would like to share with them."

Carnus looked at Sarzen with a little surprise, but also relief, like he was glad that Sarzen wanted to take the glares from the Elect off him. He nodded and said, "Very well, Sarzen, you may share your ideas with the Council."

Sarzen nodded in gratitude and then stepped forward. The eyes of the Elect were now on Sarzen, causing him to feel even more nervous than before. His hands felt sweaty under the watchful eyes of the Elect, which just made him feel even worse, even though he didn't think the Elect noticed his sweaty hands.

"Sarzen Alnem," said Agon. "What is it that you wish to share with us?"

"Spit it out already," said the rude Elect in a snappy tone. "There's no need to stand there and look awkward."

"Yes, sir," said Sarzen quickly, perhaps hastily, but he kept speaking because he didn't have any choice now. "I was thinking about the, uh, the two choices you are debating: Either find the Dragon Gods or increase the security around the borders of the mountains and city."

"Yes, those are our two choices," said Agon. "What of it?"

"I was thinking that, maybe, you don't need to pick just one," said Sarzen. "That the two choices aren't mutually exclusive."

The Elect exchanged puzzled but intrigued looks with one another, though a few looked deeply skeptical about Sarzen's suggestion.

"Elaborate, young one," said Agon. "What do you mean that they are not mutually exclusive?"

"I mean," said Sarzen, scratching the back of his neck, mostly out of habit than anything, "you could increase the border security and also send a small team beyond the Cursed Lands to find the Dragon Gods; that way, the mountains will be safe and protected from the Draymens invaders, but we will also have a team who might succeed in finding the Dragon Gods."

"Interesting idea, boy," said the rude Elect; Sarzen wished he knew his name, because he was getting tired of thinking of him that way. "But that would be more expensive and difficult than just picking out one. We can't spare any soldiers on a quest to find gods that may no longer even exist, not even just a handful of soldiers. We'll need every man we can find to defend the mountains from the Draymens threat."

"Then don't send any of your soldiers," said Sarzen. He put a hand on his chest. "Send me and some of my fellow Warrior Priests, plus a mage or two. That way, you don't need to worry about losing any precious soldiers, but you will still have people seeking out the Dragon Gods. You won't even have to pay us to do it."

Sarzen was surprised at his own willingness to volunteer. He hadn't even been planning to do it. The words just came out of his mouth without him even thinking about it. He heard Carnus and Zomo make surprised noises behind him; evidently, they hadn't been expecting him to say that, either.

The Elect quickly looked at each other, as if to ask if they had all heard the same thing. It was both amusing and yet at the same time bizarre how Sarzen had managed to take the Elect by surprise like this; it made him feel a little less nervous around them, knowing that they had not been expecting him to say that.

Then a hand fell on Sarzen's shoulder and he looked over it to see Carnus standing behind him. Unfortunately, Carnus wore a very disapproving expression on his face, which made Sarzen's satisfaction turn to dread.

"Elect, please excuse us for a moment," said Carnus. "Sarzen and I need to talk for a few seconds."

Carnus's grip tightened around Sarzen's shoulder and he dragged Sarzen to the other end of the room, near the doors and away from the Elect. Zomo followed, an equally somber expression on his face, with his hands in the folds of his robes.

"What was that?" said Carnus, taking his hand off Sarzen's shoulder and looking at him severely.

"What was what?" said Sarzen, though he said it more out of nervousness than anything, since he knew exactly what Carnus was talking about.

"Volunteering to search for the Dragon Gods without my approval," said Carnus. He glanced at the Elect, who were apparently now in deep discussion over what Sarzen had said. "I didn't know you were going to do that."

"I didn't, either, High Priest," said Sarzen, rubbing the back of his neck. "It surprised me just as much as it surprised you. I apologize for not warning you in advance."

Carnus sighed in exasperation. "You should have told me. Now the Elect Council is going to assume that I agree with your plan or that I knew about it in advance."

"I don't understand what is so bad about it," said Sarzen. "Not to disrespect you, High Priest, but I am willing to search for the Dragon Gods, especially if that will save our people from the Draymens."

"The problem is that, as Councilman Galo said, no one knows where the Dragon Gods are," said Carnus. "Even the Order does not have any definitive records on the matter. We have the same myths and legends as everyone else."

"Plus, the Order is small enough as is," said Zomo, his voice soft. "Sending off a few of our bravest and brightest on a mission that has no guarantee of success—especially in light of a possible Draymens invasion of Ars—seems, to me, like a foolish decision, even if the Dragon Gods are out there somewhere."

"Zomo is correct," said Carnus. "As much as I would like to see the Dragon Gods again, I don't want to waste any lives on that quest without guarantee of success."

"That is why I volunteered to lead it," said Sarzen, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. "If necessary, I can put together a team who could do it myself. You don't need to spare anyone else."

"You are just an Acolyte, Sarzen," said Carnus. "You aren't even a full Warrior Priest yet. These types of quests have traditionally been led by a full Warrior Priest, not an Acolyte like yourself."

"I know my history, High Priest," said Sarzen. "But no one else has volunteered to do this, so that's why I want to lead it."

Carnus and Zomo exchanged skeptical looks. Then Carnus said, "Even so, you should have known ahead of time how we would respond."

"Like I said, I didn't even know I'd do it myself," said Sarzen. "But please, listen and think. The people of Yores have never defeated the Draymens before. A thousand years ago, when our ancestors first came to this land, the Dragon Gods were the ones who drove the Draymens out and gave Yores to us. Do you not think they would be willing to do it again?"

"But the people are lost and astray," said Carnus. "Few truly believe in the Dragon Gods anymore. That is why they left in the first place; our ancestors grew proud and didn't think they needed the Dragon Gods anymore."

"I might still be able to convince the Dragon Gods to help us," said Sarzen. "I just need to find them. That's all."

"You know, High Priest, I think that Sarzen has a point," said Zomo, before Carnus could respond. "The Dragon Gods are said to be merciful and forgiving. It may be that Sarzen, if he approaches them with humility and a sincere desire for forgiveness, may be able to bring the Dragon Gods back or at least help us regain their blessing, if nothing else, which might be all we need to defend our land from the Draymens."

Carnus frowned, like he was annoyed that Zomo was taking Sarzen's side on this matter. "That may be true, but at the same time, I am still wary, especially in light of Renuk's death. The Warrior Priests need to stay together; we cannot separate, not even for a brief time."

"What if it is to find the Dragon Gods, though?" said Sarzen. "I agree that Warrior Priest unity is essential, but we can still be united as one even if we are on opposite sides of the world. Besides, you know me well enough to know that I would never give up or create disunity in the Order for no reason."

Carnus scratched the side of his head, a habit he did whenever he was thinking hard about a decision to make. Sarzen wished he could peer inside Carnus's mind and see what he was thinking, but all he could do was wait while Carnus considered the idea.

Finally, Carnus nodded and said, "All right. I approve of this plan. But we must also speak about it with the Elect, so let us go back over to them and see if they will agree to it."

So Sarzen, Carnus, and Zomo walked back over to the table where the Elect were seated. The Elect appeared to have finished discussing the idea, because they were no longer talking. But Sarzen couldn't tell what decision or consensus they had come to on the issue, if any.

"All right," said Carnus as he, Sarzen, and Zomo stopped in front of the table. "The Warrior Priest Order supports Sarzen's plan to lead a team to seek out the Dragon Gods. Have you Elect come to a decision on the matter yet?"

"We were just about to vote on it," said Agon. He looked at the Elect. "Is everyone ready to vote?"

The Elect nodded their heads, though the rude one—Galo, Sarzen remembered his name was—looked disgruntled, as if they had already voted on the subject and he was dissatisfied with the results.

"All in favor of increasing border security and sending a team of people, led by Sarzen Alnem of the Warrior Priest Order, to find the Dragon Gods to help us defeat the Draymens?" said Agon.

Sarzen expected no one to raise their hands, but to his surprise, almost the entirety of the Elect Council, including Agon, raised their hands in affirmation. Only Galo did not raise his hand; he kept it down by his side.

"And against?" said Agon.

Galo raised his hand, but he still didn't look happy, probably because he knew that he had been outvoted.

"It appears that we have voted nine to one in favor," said Agon. He looked at the Warrior Priests. "Therefore, you Warrior Priests should get started on forming the team that will find the Dragon Gods, as well as figuring out the travel details. The Elect will provide your team with whatever resources they will need, so you need not worry about that."

"Thank you, Councilman Agon," said Carnus, bowing along with Sarzen and Zomo. "We will return to the Sanctuary and inform the rest of the Order of your decision. Sarzen, Zomo, come."

Carnus turned and left the room, with Sarzen and Zomo following closely behind. Sarzen felt relieved that the Elect had agreed to his plan, but at the same time, there was a small sense of dread rising up his back, because he had no idea what lay beyond the Cursed Lands and he hoped that he and his team would be able to handle it.

_We must,_ Sarzen thought as they passed through the open doors and into the empty hallway again. _And with the aid of the Dragon Gods, we will._

***

Chapter Six

**N** ot long after, Sarzen, Carnus, and Zomo returned to the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary was located on the other side of the city, near the large border walls that had been built ages ago when the Dragon Gods first gave these mountains to the Yoresian people. It was a beautiful building, said to have been one of the first built by the ancient Yoresians in order to give honor to the Dragon Gods and a place for the Warrior Priests to stay. It had a white stone exterior and looked somewhat like a castle, albeit smaller and humbler than most.

But as they entered the Sanctuary's walls, passing beyond the open gates, Sarzen could not help but notice just how quiet and empty the place felt. Ever since Renuk's death, the Sanctuary had been even quieter than usual, like a thick smog hung over the place, choking any life and enthusiasm and conversation out of the Warrior Priests. Granted, the place was never very loud or exciting, due to how few Warrior Priests lived here, but things just seemed depressing, which was why Sarzen found it hard to return.

Upon their return, Carnus called a quick meeting of the Order in the hall where the Altar was kept and where Renuk had been killed. Carnus explained to the others how their meeting with the Elect Council had gone and what they were going to do in response to the Draymens attack. Most of the Warrior Priests were surprised at hearing that a team would be sent to search for the Dragon Gods and that Sarzen would lead it, but as far as Sarzen could tell, no one objected to it. A few of them even looked happy, perhaps because if the mission was successful, then they would be the first generation of Warrior Priests to see the Dragon Gods in 500 years.

Carnus also said that they were likely going to send out the team sometime within the next two weeks and that, in the meantime, the Warrior Priests would pray to the Dragon Gods for guidance on the matter. When he dismissed the meeting, Sarzen heard all kinds of speculation and discussion from the others about who would be picked to go on the mission and what kind of dangers and threats existed beyond the Cursed Lands.

But Sarzen didn't stick around for any of it. He just retired to his room, which was located on the east side of the Sanctuary where the Acolytes were supposed to stay during their training. The other Acolytes, however, did not go with him and just stayed with the rest of the Order speculating and discussing, but that was fine because Sarzen wasn't in the mood to think about this. He was just too overwhelmed with nerves to talk about it and wanted to rest for a while to calm his mind.

So when Sarzen entered his room and closed the door behind him, he made his way over to his small, but warm and comfortable, bed in the corner of the room. He was just about to lie down on it and go to sleep when a voice behind him suddenly said, "Hey, Sarzen! Been waiting for you. How'd the meeting with the Elect go?"

Sarzen whirled around to see his friend, Rothel, sitting on a chair near the door. Sarzen at first wondered how he had missed Rothel until he realized that the chair was set behind the door.

Rothel sat leaning back against the wall, his hands folded behind his head and a necklace of magical beads around his neck. He wore his usual brown tunic, though he also had a heavy wool coat on, probably because it was cold today.

"Rothel?" said Sarzen. "What are you doing here? How did you get in?"

"You left the door unlocked," Rothel said, gesturing at the closed door. "And I wanted to speak with you, so I just decided to hang out in your room until you returned, because I knew you'd be here sooner or later."

Sarzen scowled. "Without my permission?"

"Hey, you're my best friend," said Rothel. He sat upright. "I didn't even touch your things. Trust me, I just sat here for the entire time. I promise."

Sarzen made a mental note to check on his possessions later to make sure that Rothel hadn't actually messed with them, but for now, he said, "Why are you here? What do you want to talk about?"

"The meeting with the Elect," said Rothel. "I want to know how it went. How are we going to deal with the Draymens threat?"

Sarzen told Rothel, in brief terms, what the Elect Council and the Warrior Priests were going to do about the Draymens threat. Rothel listened well, but when Sarzen mentioned that he was going to look for the Dragon Gods, a look of surprise and intrigue appeared on Rothel's face before it was replaced by his usual calm expression.

"So you are going to search for the Dragon Gods?" said Rothel. "Is that it?"

"Yes," said Sarzen, nodding. "I am going to lead a team to find them beyond the Cursed Lands. We're going to try to convince them to return to Yores and help us defeat the Draymens."

"Who's going to be on the team?" said Rothel.

"We haven't decided yet," said Sarzen. "We won't actually be leaving for a couple of weeks, because we need to get the travel details figured out and everything."

"I see," said Rothel. "Do you know how you will go about picking your teammates?"

"Not sure yet," said Sarzen with a shrug. "I think High Priest Carnus will make the final decisions on that. I doubt I will get much say in it. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I don't know, I was just thinking that maybe I could come along," said Rothel. "I wouldn't mind helping to find the Dragon Gods. Sounds like fun."

Sarzen looked at Rothel in surprise. "Why do _you_ want to help find the Dragon Gods? I never took you as a very strong believer in them."

"I'm not, admittedly," said Rothel. "But you are my friend and I want to support you. Besides, I sense that the mood in the city is just going to get worse and worse in the coming months, whether there's a Draymens attack or not. I think the mood in your group will be a lot more hopeful."

Although Rothel spoke as freely and casually as ever, Sarzen thought that Rothel wasn't being exactly honest about his reasons for wanting to join the team. Rothel appeared to have another reason for wanting to come along on the quest, but what it was, Sarzen didn't know. He doubted it was anything wrong, however; he would worry about it later, maybe, when he'd gotten a chance to take his nap and rest his mind.

"And why don't you want me to come, by the way?" said Rothel. "We're friends, right? Are you against traveling with your friends or something?"

"No, no, it's just..." Sarzen trailed off for a moment, thinking, before he came up with a reason. "It's just I don't know how helpful you would be on the journey. And I don't want you to get hurt, either."

Rothel smiled and tugged at his necklace. "I'm a mage, Sarzen. I can do all sorts of crazy magic tricks. You know how useful mages are. I'm sure I have a spell or two that would prove invaluable for the trip."

"Well, I can't argue with that," said Sarzen. "Mages are always useful for these kinds of trips. Speaking of mages, I wonder if Helnia would like to come along, as well."

"Eh, I doubt it," said Rothel. "She doesn't seem like the kind of woman who'd enjoy traveling across the vast, unfriendly wilderness in search of gods she doesn't even worship."

"You've got a point," said Sarzen. He scratched his chin. "Still, Helnia will need to know about this sooner or later, so maybe I will go and ask her if she'd like to come later. Ever since we escaped the destruction of our hometown in the plains, we've never lived very far apart from each other and I'd like to make sure that she at least knows about this, if nothing else."

"Aye," said Rothel, nodding. Then he hesitated, looked around, and said, "Sarzen, can I tell you something?"

Rothel's secretive behavior puzzled and intrigued Sarzen, causing him to say, "Sure, Rothel. You can tell me anything. I'm your friend."

"Okay," said Rothel. He tugged at a strand of his hair as he said, "When I came to the Sanctuary earlier today, I overheard a couple of your fellow Warrior Priests talking about the murder of Renuk."

"Yeah, I know," said Sarzen. "Everyone's been talking about it."

"But they weren't just talking," said Rothel. "They thought... well, they thought _you_ murdered Renuk."

Sarzen stared at Rothel in shock. "Me? Why? What made them think that?"

"Because you were the only person to witness Renuk's murder and you didn't have any proof of the assassin's existence," said Rothel. "At least, that's what I heard them saying. I didn't stick around and listen too closely, however, because I was trying to get to your room."

"What a ridiculous theory," said Sarzen. "And what do they mean, 'no proof'? I showed everyone the Draymens' bone sword, the exact weapon used to kill Renuk. Humans don't use bone swords, only Draymens do, and I can't fake one myself even if I tried."

"That may all be true, but they seemed pretty convinced that you could have easily faked it somehow," said Rothel. "I, personally, don't believe you murdered Renuk, but some of your fellow Warrior Priests are at least playing around with the theory. Just thought you should know."

Sarzen frowned. He sat down on his bed and rubbed his forehead, trying not to let his emotions get the best of him. "I can't believe it. Why would any of my fellow Warrior Priests suspect _me_ of murder? They know how close I was to Renuk. It must be their grief over Renuk's death distorting their minds or something."

"Probably," said Rothel. "I wish I knew what to say to make you feel better, Sar, but this is just what I heard. I don't know how widespread it is among your fellow Warrior Priests, so it might not be anything worth worrying about."

"It is if they start spreading it among the others," said Sarzen. "Tell me, Rothel, do you remember who was talking about it?"

"No," said Rothel, shaking his head. "I'm not very familiar with the Warrior Priests, aside from you and Renuk, plus I didn't actually see them. I just heard their voices coming from a room I passed; I didn't stay long enough to hear what else they were talking about."

"This is bad," said Sarzen. "But like you said, maybe I don't have to worry about it. Maybe it's just speculation. I doubt they will act on it, because they don't have any real proof to back it up."

"Yeah, that's probably all you have to worry about," said Rothel. "I just wanted to make sure you knew about it so that, if anything comes of it, it won't come as a surprise."

"I hope it's all I will have to worry about," said Sarzen. "Because I do not want the rest of the Order to suspect me of murder. That would be horrible; it might even make Carnus decide not to let me lead the team."

"Agreed," said Rothel. "Anyway, I think I need to go. Remember to mention me to the High Priest so that I—"

There was a sudden, sharp knock at the door, causing both Sarzen and Rothel to look at it.

"Who's there?" Sarzen called.

"Zomo," said the voice, which was slightly muffled behind the door. "I have come to deliver some important news to you, Sarzen. May I come in?"

Sarzen and Rothel exchanged curious, but slightly worried, glances. Sarzen hoped it had nothing to do with the theories that he murdered Renuk, but he got up and walked over to the door anyway, since he couldn't just ignore it.

Opening the door, Sarzen saw Zomo standing in the doorway. Zomo did not seem to be armed, nor did he carry any shackles with him, which meant that he was probably not here to arrest Sarzen, which helped him to relax a little.

But Zomo did look serious, and when Sarzen opened the door, he said, "I am sorry for coming to your quarters like this, but the news I just heard needed to be delivered to you right away and I volunteered to do it."

"It's fine, Zomo," said Sarzen. "What is the news, anyway? Was there another Draymens attack?"

Zomo shook his head. "No. But Renuk's grave..."

A sense of dread went up Sarzen's spine, causing him to say, "What about Renuk's grave? What happened to it?"

Zomo looked Sarzen straight in the eyes and said, "It has been dug up and Renuk's body is now missing."

***

Chapter Seven

**M** aybe Helnia should have told Sarzen about the letter that she'd received in the graveyard last week. Maybe she should have told him that it was from their parents, that it was the very first letter she'd received from them since their demise ten years ago. After all, they were Sarzen's parents just as much as they were hers. If the situation had been reversed, she would have wanted Sarzen to show her the letter, the first clue hinting toward the survival of their parents.

But Helnia hadn't. Sitting on her bed in her apartment on the west end of the city, Helnia looked over the letter again. It was crinkly from having been folded, but the ink was still quite readable. She guessed the letter had been written a few weeks ago, but she had no way of knowing for sure, since the letter writer hadn't dated the letter.

Even though Helnia had already read the letter dozens, if not hundreds, of times over the last week, she read through it again one more time as she looked at it:

Kerina and Namil Alnem

Dear Helnia,

You might be shocked to receive this letter from us. It has been ten years since you and Sarzen fled our hometown after it was destroyed by the Draymens. We know that you and Sarzen believe that we died, that we were killed by the Draymens, but we are, in fact, still alive.

We wish we could have contacted you earlier than this, but until recently, we've been unable to sit down and write a letter to you or Sarzen, much less have it delivered into Ars. Due to the sensitive nature of our current location, we cannot go into very much detail about where we are and why we have not contacted you two since our separation ten years ago.

But things are changing in Yores, changing fast, and the time for our family to reunite has come. Please come to Ferro's Pass, which is located at the center of the Cursed Lands, in two weeks' time in order to meet us. Make sure to bring Sarzen with you so he can meet us as well.

From, your parents.

Helnia still wasn't sure it was real. It just seemed too... convenient, for want of a better word. She wanted to believe that it was real, that it really had been written by her parents, that they had somehow managed to send it to her, despite apparently being far away from Ars.

Yet Helnia had her doubts. Why did their parents send her a letter just now, rather than at some point before? Sure, their letter said they hadn't contacted her or Sarzen due to the 'sensitive' nature of their location, but that wasn't a good enough reason for why their parents hadn't contacted them for ten years. That was why she hadn't told Sarzen about this letter yet; she didn't want to get his hopes up, only for it to turn out that this letter was a fake or part of some weird practical joke or whatever.

On the other hand, Helnia couldn't think of anyone who would try to trick her like this. Why would someone go through all of the trouble of writing a fake letter from her parents, having it sent to her, and even giving her specific instructions regarding where she should go if she wanted to see her parents again? It made no sense.

But Helnia had managed to confirm some of the letter's details, such as Ferro's Pass, for example, which Helnia had discovered after a trip to the Ars Magical Library. She had found it mentioned in a book on the lore and myths of the Cursed Lands. It was said to be a place in the Cursed Lands, far away from Yores. Supposedly, it had been named after a mage named Ferro, the first—and only—human to travel the Cursed Lands and live to tell the tale. The Dragon Gods were said to have led the ancient Yoresians over the Pass and were also said to have taken the Pass to leave this world after the Yoresians got rid of them.

How much of that was true, Helnia didn't know, and the book couldn't tell her, either, because it was merely a record of myths and not a book of history. Still, the book had said that Ferro's Pass was definitely real, even if no one knew for sure what it was like.

_Our parents might be there,_ Helnia thought, her hands closing around the letter, like a precious pearl. _Waiting for Sarzen and me to see them again. To reunite with them, for the first time in ten years._

Ten years... it certainly didn't seem that long ago, when Helnia thought about it. Sometimes, she still had dreams and nightmares about the Draymens attack on their old hometown. She sometimes could still hear the screams and cries of agony from the villagers who had been unable to escape, as well as the unnerving clicks that came from the Draymens' mouths. To this day, Helnia hated anything that made clicking sounds, because it always brought back memories of that attack.

But if the letter was real, then Helnia would have to go. She didn't know how, because the Cursed Lands were said to be full of Draymens; plus, the book had indicated that Ferro's Pass was incredibly far away from Yores, too far for her to simply walk to. She would need a horse, at least, to travel the distance in decent time, and that was assuming she avoided Draymens attacks on the way there.

_I can't do it,_ Helnia thought. _Not on my own, anyway. But where could I find people who would be willing to make that journey with me? I'm not rich, so it's not like I can hire help; besides, I think most people would rather stay here in Ars than go out on a quest to a dangerous land to meet people who may or may not actually be my parents._

Sighing, Helnia put the letter down on her bed. It seemed like the only way to know for sure whether this letter was actually written by her parents was to go to Ferro's Pass, but she simply did not have the resources to make that trip on her own right now. She fingered her necklace, thinking about how she would surely run out of Raugus if she were to try to make the journey, even if she carefully conserved it.

_What else am I supposed to do, though?_ Helnia thought. _I can't just sit here and wait. If this letter really is from our parents, then I need to figure out how to get there. Even if that means giving up everything I have, it would be worth it. If only..._

Helnia's thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock at the door. She looked up suddenly, staring across her room to the door, which was now being knocked on rather incessantly by whoever was on the other side.

"Coming!" Helnia said, rising to her feet and making her way over to the door as quickly as she could. "Please be patient!"

Opening the door, Helnia peered out and said, "Yes?"

Standing in the doorway was a scared-looking young child in a thick winter coat. The child looked homeless; dirty hair, tears in several places on his coat, and a rather thin face, like he hadn't gotten enough to eat. He almost looked like Sarzen when he had been a boy, except if Sarzen had been homeless and didn't have any parents.

The young boy looked up at her with big, frightened blue eyes. He actually took a step back when Helnia opened the door, as if he was afraid that she might attack him.

"Hello?" said Helnia, looking down at the young boy uncertainly. She smiled, trying not to scare the boy. "Who are you?"

The young boy gulped and sniffled, like he'd just been crying recently. "My name is Tez and I need help. Fast."

"Help?" said Helnia. She peered out the door and looked up and down the other apartment doors on either side, but there were no other adults in the area at the moment. "What do you mean? Where are your parents?"

"My mommy is in trouble," said the young boy with a sniffle. He brushed some tears out of his eyes. "She's being attacked by some mean men and needs help right away! Can you help her, please?"

"Your mother is in danger?" said Helnia. "Why didn't you get the law enforcers?"

"I just ran away because I got scared and needed help," said the boy. He sounded like he was on the verge of tears. "Please help. Mommy isn't strong and can't defend herself."

"Listen, I will try to contact one of the local law enforcers and see if I can get his help," said Helnia as she turned to go back into her apartment. "I shouldn't be—"

The boy suddenly grabbed the hem of Helnia's purple mage robes, causing her to look down at him in surprise. He now looked like he was in complete despair, as if he was about to jump off a bridge and needed her to convince him not to.

"But there's no time!" said the boy. "If you don't help mommy, she'll get killed! And you need to help. Mages are good people. Mommy told me so."

Helnia hesitated. She wasn't a vigilante and certainly didn't like fighting criminals or crooks, even when they were attacking someone. She knew that there were potential legal issues involved in that kind of stuff and she didn't want to get stuck in something that she would regret.

On the other hand, the young boy seemed really earnest and she couldn't ignore his very sad-looking eyes. She was reminded of herself and Sarzen, because they had also lost their parents at a young age (though not nearly as young as this boy). And if she really was the only help that the young boy could find, then didn't she have a moral obligation to help him?

So Helnia nodded and said, "Okay, Tez, take me to your mother. If she's in danger, we have no time to lose."

-

Helnia—clad in her winter coat, with her magic necklace hanging from her neck—followed young Tez down the street. Helnia tapped her necklace, ready to cast a spell to save Tez's mother as soon as they saw the men attacking her.

Tez himself seemed oddly less sad than he had been just seconds ago. Maybe it was because he had help now, which meant that his mother was going to be safe, or maybe it was because he knew he needed to lead Helnia to where his mother was if they were going to save her. Either way, Helnia was glad he was less depressed, because she wasn't good with sad children.

"So where is your mother, Tez?" said Helnia as they ran down the street.

Tez jumped over a water puddle in his path as they ran. "This way, Miss Helnia. Just around the corner and into this alley."

Tez reached the alley before Helnia, dashing inside it and vanishing from Helnia's view in an instant. It surprised Helnia, because she doubted Tez could handle whoever his mother's attackers were, but she increased her speed so she could keep up with Tez and soon turned a corner into the alley, saying, "Tez, where are—"

Helnia stopped when she saw that the alleyway was entirely empty. Aside from some frozen water puddles and a few discarded papers, the alley was empty. She looked to the left and to the right, but she did not see Tez, his mother, the attackers, or anyone else here.

"Tez?" said Helnia. She raised her voice. "Where are you?"

No answer.

A warning siren sounded in Helnia's mind. She took a step backwards briefly, instinctively thinking that this was a trap, but then she caught herself. While the situation seemed odd, that didn't mean that something bad was about to happen. Maybe Tez was hiding behind that large dumpster over there, which looked big enough to hide a small boy like him. Besides, she was confident that, with her magic beads, she was going to be all right, regardless of what was going on here.

So Helnia walked into the alleyway, very carefully keeping her eyes and ears open for any possible traps. Again, she didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but the alleyway was pretty dark, which made it hard to see, though she could see enough to know that she was all alone here.

As she walked, Helnia said, in a low voice, "Tez, Tez, are you there? Where are you? Is this some kind of joke? Because if it is, I'm not laughing."

Still no response, but Helnia was about to reach the dumpster. She thought she heard movement on the other side, so that was probably where Tez was hiding. She decided that she was going to be the one to spook him, rather than give him the opportunity to spook her.

So Helnia carefully approached the dumpster. She tapped one of her beads, causing a small fireball to appear in her hands, the magical aura around it protecting her hand from getting burned. She carefully walked up to the dumpster and stopped, listening for a moment, but she did not hear the sounds of anyone else on the other side.

But Helnia knew she had heard some movement there, so she jumped over to the side of the dumpster and said, "Got you!"

But, instead of seeing Tez crouching behind the dumpster, Helnia saw a cat, which hissed at her and ran away before she even realized what it was doing. Aside from the cat, there was nothing else on this side of the dumpster.

"Huh?" said Helnia, blinking in confusion. "Where—?"

She suddenly heard movement behind her and whirled around just in time to see a heavy bat coming toward her face.

Helnia ducked at the last minute, allowing the heavy wooden bat to pass by overhead. She jumped backwards, putting herself out of the bat's reach, and saw that the bat was being held by a woman she didn't know. The woman wore dark clothing that fitted her form quite well, making her look like a living shadow. Only her eyes—a striking green—were visible in the slit in her mask.

That was all Helnia could see, however, before the woman attacked her again. The woman ran at Helnia and swung her bat, which Helnia again dodged.

But as Helnia dodged it, she tapped her necklace and cast a telekinesis spell. She ripped the bat out of the woman's hands with the spell and threw it away out of her reach.

As soon as the bat was torn out of her hands, the woman drew a long, sharp knife from her side and jumped at Helnia with it held above her. She slashed at Helnia, but Helnia tapped her necklace again and created a thin, invisible barrier that caused the knife to bounce harmlessly off its surface.

The barrier, however, existed for only a second, but it was enough time for Helnia to back away and put some distance between her and her assailant. Helnia was panting and sweating already; while she had received some combat training as a mage, she had never been as good at fighting at Sarzen and got exhausted far more quickly than him in a fight.

The woman advanced on Helnia, but more slowly now, no doubt because she didn't want to walk straight into another one of Helnia's spells. That only served to make her look even more threatening, however, rather than less.

Still backing up, Helnia tried to think of which one of her many spells would be useful in this situation. She ran her fingers along her beads until she thought of a spell that might possibly be useful here.

So she tapped her necklace and fired a blast of water from her hands, but the woman in the dark clothing dodged it and ran at Helnia. The woman was fast, moving fast enough that she was able to close the gap between her and Helnia in seconds, and slashed at her again.

Again, Helnia tried to dodge, but thanks to how quickly the woman in dark clothing moved, she wasn't fast enough. The woman's knife cut through Helnia's right arm, tearing through the coat and actually cutting her skin, but Helnia was already moving to the side, so she managed to avoid getting anything deeper than a flesh wound.

Still, the wound hurt and it bled, forcing Helnia to cover it with her hand as she staggered away from her assailant. Her assailant advanced on her again, but Helnia just tapped her necklace.

Then Helnia jerked out her hand and sent a wave of ice snaking across the ground toward the woman. The woman tried to jump out of the way of the incoming ice, but she was too slow and the ice got her feet, making her stuck to the ground. The woman desperately tried to tug her feet out of the ice, but the ice was too thick for her to break on her own.

As for Helnia, she had staggered as far away from the woman as she could. Her heart was beating fast and she was so out of breath that when she hit the other side of the alley, she just leaned against it, panting and trying to catch her breath. She winced at the pain in her arm from where the woman had slashed her and made a mental note to have a doctor to look at it as soon as she could.

For the moment, Helnia carefully watched her assailant. The woman had stopped trying to free herself from the ice; at least, she was not pulling her legs free anymore. Instead, she was now focused on smashing apart the ice with the metal handle of her knife, and she appeared to be making progress, based on how much ice she was smashing.

Gritting her teeth, Helnia said, "Oh, no you don't. You're not getting away that easily."

Helnia reached for her necklace, but before she could touch any of her beads, she heard a voice say, "Helnia?" and looked to the left to see Tez standing not far from her. The boy was staring up at Helnia with a mixture of surprise and anger, like he had not expected to see her here.

"Tez?" said Helnia. "What... what are you doing here? You should leave. This woman is dangerous."

"This woman?" said Tez. "You mean my mom?"

Helnia was almost too shocked to react when she heard that, but then she heard the shattering of ice and looked back over at her assailant. The woman had finally succeeded in shattering her ice shackles and was running toward Helnia again, moving far too fast for Helnia to keep up.

Before Helnia could cast another spell, her assailant slammed the butt of her knife over Helnia's head hard enough to knock her out in one blow.

***

Chapter Eight

" **H** elnia?" said a familiar voice through the fog of unconsciousness that covered Helnia's mind. "Helnia, are you awake? Helnia, can you hear me? Helnia?"

Helnia groaned. She didn't want to get up. Her head hurt, her arm hurt... every part of her body seemed to hurt. She felt the hard gravel of the street under her, which was nothing like her nice bed back home.

But now that Helnia was actually thinking, she found it impossible to go back to sleep. So she gradually opened her eyes until she found herself staring up at the dark, cloudy sky visible through the gap between the two buildings on either side. The clouds looked as white as snow, which was how Helnia knew that it was probably going to snow soon.

The sky wasn't the only thing she saw, however. Kneeling over her was a familiar friendly face, the face of a middle-aged old woman wearing a thick wool cap, her hair as gray as rock. The old woman looked extremely worried, but then she smiled when she saw Helnia awake.

"Oh, Helnia, I am so glad you are awake," said the old woman with a sigh. "How do you feel? Are you cold?"

Helnia nodded. "Yes, a little."

"A little?" said the old woman in a disbelieving voice. "Young woman, I know you are healthier and younger than me, but you have been lying out here in the cold for who-knows-how long. I'm surprised your blood didn't freeze in your veins."

Helnia blinked. She was trying to remember the old woman's name until it suddenly came to her. "It's... fine, Grandma Deri. My head hurts, though, and my arm, too."

Grandma Deri looked at Helnia's arm. "You mean the one with the bandages on it?"

Helnia frowned. "Bandages?"

She raised her right arm and saw that it was indeed bandaged. "Huh?"

"You must have gotten a bad wound at some point," Grandma Deri remarked. "And it must have been sometime fairly recently, because you certainly didn't have bandages on your arm yesterday, when I last saw you."

Helnia blinked again. Grandma Deri was the headmistress of the magical school that Helnia worked at. It was how Helnia earned her living; in fact, that was where she'd gone to school when she and Sarzen had first arrived in Ars ten years ago, which was another reason she worked there.

Grandma Deri technically wasn't her real grandmother; Helnia's paternal and maternal grandmothers had died a few years before Helnia was born. Grandma Deri was only called that by everyone because of her age and how much she cared about her students and teachers at her school. Even people who didn't go to or work at the school called her Grandma, she was just that well-known.

But all of that was irrelevant right now. Helnia sat up, but slowly, because her head was hurting. She put a hand on her forehead and said, "Grandma, what happened?"

"I was about to ask the same of you, Helnia," said Grandma Deri, who Helnia noticed was wearing her favorite blue-and-black coat. Her old face peered out from her hood in concern. "You look like you got into a fight, and used some Raugus while you were at it."

Helnia grabbed her necklace and pulled it away from her neck. She was dismayed to see that some of the beads were a dead gray, which made her feel terrible, because that meant she'd need to buy more Raugus, a resource that was becoming scarcer and scarcer by the year.

"Do you remember anything, Helnia?" said Grandma Deri. "Anything at all?"

"I—" Helnia was about to say no, but then, without warning, all of her memories rapidly returned and she said, "I was attacked."

"Attacked?" said Grandma Deri in surprise. "By who?"

"A woman," said Helnia. "Her young son—he was maybe about seven or eight, I don't know—lured me out here and I was jumped by a woman. I tried to defend myself, but then she knocked me out."

"Knocked you out?" said Grandma Deri. She whistled. "You are lucky that she didn't kill you. Who was she?"

"I don't know," said Helnia, shaking her head. "I didn't even get her name, so I don't know if she is a known criminal or what."

"Did she rob you?" said Grandma Deri. "Do you still have all your possessions?"

Helnia immediately felt the pockets of her robes and coat, only to discover that they were as empty as they had been when she left her apartment. "They didn't steal anything from me because I didn't have anything to steal."

"Of course you have something to steal," said Grandma Deri. She pointed at Helnia's necklace. "That's a fifty bead necklace full of Raugus. It's a popular item for thieves in Ars to steal. But I'm surprised they left it; most thieves who jump mages usually steal their bead necklaces and then sell them on the black market to make a profit."

Helnia looked at Grandma Deri in surprise. "How do you know so much about the behavior of Arsian thieves, Grandma? I didn't think you knew so much."

"When you're as old as me, you forget where and how you learned so much," said Grandma Deri, though it was with a wink and a mischievous smile. "But anyway, you should thank the Dragon Gods that you didn't get killed or robbed. Most mages aren't as lucky as you."

"That may be so, but I don't feel lucky," said Helnia. She rubbed her head. "Actually, I feel stupid, because I was lured out by the woman's son. I should have seen this coming."

"Don't get so upset about it," said Grandma Deri, patting Helnia on the shoulder. "We all make mistakes sometimes. Best thing you can do is learn from your errors and try not to repeat them."

"Thanks, Grandma," said Helnia. "But what are you doing here? I thought you were at the school today."

"Why, I was coming to meet you," said Grandma Deri. "I have some important news for you from your brother, Sarzen."

"Sarzen?" said Helnia. "What is it? Is he safe?"

"He is, Helnia, he is," said Grandma Deri. "But he soon won't be, I fear, if he goes to the Cursed Lands, like he intends."

"Sarzen is going to the Cursed Lands?" said Helnia in surprise. "Why? There's nothing out there."

"Because he is going on a quest to search for the Dragon Gods," Deri explained. "He spoke with the Elect, who agreed to send him and a team of mages and Warrior Priests to cross the Cursed Lands and find the Dragon Gods, who might be able to help us defeat the Draymens once and for all."

"Have they left yet?" said Helnia.

Grandma Deri shook her head. "No. The decision was just made a couple of hours ago and it still isn't public knowledge yet. I was only informed of it because I have a friend among the Warrior Priests who told me to tell it to you, because he thought you might be interested in knowing what your brother is about to do."

Helnia couldn't believe what she was hearing; it was almost too good to be true. "The team of mages and Warrior Priests you mentioned, have they been chosen or not?"

"Not yet, as far as I know," said Grandma Deri. "But I imagine they will pick out the members for the team very soon, because I understand they want to get this team sent out as soon as possible."

Helnia stopped paying attention to Grandma Deri after the first sentence, however. She scrambled to her feet, ignoring the throbbing pain in her head, while Grandma Deri also rose with her, though more carefully due to her age.

"Helnia, what's the matter?" said Grandma Deri in surprise. "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"I need to go to the Sanctuary," said Helnia. "I want to talk to Sarzen about joining his team."

"You want to go with him?" said Grandma Deri in surprise. "Why?"

_Because I want to see our parents again,_ was Helnia's real motivation, but aloud she said, "Because I've already lost my parents and don't want to lose him, too, not if I can protect him at any rate."

"But what about your attackers?" said Grandma Deri. "Shouldn't you report your attack to the law enforcers? Surely they must know about this."

"It's not a big deal," said Helnia, dusting off her coat, which had gotten dirt over it when she fell onto the street. "I wasn't killed and they didn't steal anything or hurt me very badly. Maybe I'll report this to the law enforcers later. Thanks, Grandma. See you later."

Before Grandma Deri could respond, Helnia was off, heading out of the alley and then turning down the street in the direction that would eventually take her to the Sanctuary. She intended to take as many shortcuts to the Sanctuary as she could; she was not going to miss this opportunity to see her and Sarzen's parents.

***

Chapter Nine

One week later...

**S** arzen started when the cart upon which he rode hit a bump in the road. He grabbed the edges of his seat, hanging on for dear life, only to realize that they were still descending the mountains and had yet to reach the plains. But from his current position on the cart, he could see the plains below, which stretched out for as long as the eye could see. He couldn't even see the Cursed Lands yet; they were too far away, though according to the maps he'd consulted, they would reach the border between Yores and the Cursed Lands in a week if they kept up their current pace.

"Awake?" said Helnia, who sat behind him down in the cart's bed. She was sitting against a large crate of food, playing with her necklace, the beads of which glowed with magical power.

"Yeah," said Sarzen, nodding. He rubbed his eyes. "I didn't even realize I'd fallen asleep at all."

"You've always been that way," said Helnia with a chuckle. "But you do seem really tired, though."

Sarzen didn't argue that point. Ever since he'd volunteered to go on the quest for the Dragon Gods, Sarzen felt like he'd gotten maybe two hours of sleep altogether over the last week. He had been so busy picking out helpers and allies to bring on the quest, figuring our the route they'd take, getting supplies and vehicles in order, and many other things besides. Granted, the government had aided in some of it, but Sarzen had still been directly involved in most of the preparations, which often meant working late into the night trying to figure out how much food and water and medicine they'd need to take on their trip. It didn't help that they'd left early in the morning, hours before the sun came up, so they could make good ground on the first day of the journey, meaning Sarzen didn't get nearly as much sleep as he normally did.

Looking around, Sarzen realized that he was the only one who had fallen asleep. The train of wagons—six in all, each one burdened with boxes of food, water, medicine, clothes, equipment, and a variety of other supplies—that was going down the path from the mountains to the plains had not stalled. The drivers were still wide awake, steering the horses in the right direction, while the defenders of the wagons kept an eye out on all sides around them in case of an attack from ambushers.

On the wagon directly behind theirs was Rothel, who was going on about a rousing story of his to a woman—one of the drivers—who looked like she was barely paying attention. It was good to see Rothel in high spirits; Sarzen had chosen to take him along because he was a mage whose magical abilities would no doubt come in handy at some point during their journey.

Because they wanted to keep the mission tight, Sarzen had been limited to picking out only five Warrior Priests and ten mages. Their basic plan was to head to Ferro's Pass, which was located in the center of the Cursed Lands, and avoid as much conflict as they could, resting only in places that afforded natural defense and only traveling as long as the sun was up. That meant avoiding Draymens raiding parties and forces; while Sarzen was confident that he and his team could defend themselves, the point of the mission was to find the Dragon Gods, not fight Draymens, which would only waste time and energy that could be better spent achieving their goals.

The reason they were heading to Ferro's Pass was mostly based on Helnia's advice. She had told Sarzen that the Dragon Gods had likely gone through Ferro's Pass at some point, assuming they had crossed the Cursed Lands as all of the legends said. Because they didn't have any other clues to go by, Sarzen had agreed that they should go there.

But Sarzen had to admit, he had been surprised when Helnia had appeared in the Sanctuary and asked him if she could come along. He was at first hesitant to bring her with him, since he didn't want to put her in danger, but Helnia had been very stubborn and he eventually relented. Besides, Helnia wasn't entirely helpless; he had seen her use her magic before and knew that she could handle herself in a fight. Still, there was a reason Sarzen had put Helnia in his cart with him and that was to make it easier to defend her in case of an ambush.

Not that Sarzen had been given complete rein over who to pick, however. While the government had approved of Helnia and Rothel, the Elect had picked out a handful of their own men to join the expedition. Sarzen saw one of them right now; a red-haired woman in her early thirties, who sat on the cart behind Rothel's. She wore a large, warm purple coat, along with a hood that made her look very mysterious. She was petting a little white monkey in her lap, which was her pet.

She was Misma Henos, a mage who worked for the Elect and who had also been in the Yoresian Army before the Elect ordered her to join the mission. Despite having fought in the Army, Misma acted more like a prim and proper noble lady than a soldier, though Sarzen had been informed that her magical prowess in a fight was legendary.

For that matter, Sarzen didn't understand how she could be a mage when she didn't have a bead necklace. Nor did he understand why Misma had brought along her little pet snow monkey; she had assured him that it could take care of itself, but Sarzen was still skeptical about bringing along what was essentially another mouth to feed. So far, the little snow monkey—named Icicle—had not misbehaved, but Sarzen still would have preferred to leave it back in Ars instead of bringing it along.

"What are you looking at, Sar?" said Helnia, causing Sarzen to look down at her again. "You seem distracted."

"Just Misma's monkey," said Sarzen. He got up from his seat next to the driver's cart and hopped down into the bed of the cart, where he then sat opposite Helnia. "I don't understand why she brought it along. It won't be of much help in a fight. I doubt it can even hunt."

Helnia looked at Sarzen in surprise before raising her head to get a good look at Misma. "That's not just a monkey, Sar. That's a Raugian."

"A what?" said Sarzen with a frown.

Helnia lowered her head and looked at Sarzen again. "A Raugian. That means it's a type of animal that can generate and channel Raugus energy."

"I thought only humans could use Raugus," said Sarzen.

"We're the only species, aside maybe from the Draymens, who have managed to harness its power and turn it into a teachable discipline, but we can't generate Raugus ourselves," said Helnia. "Some animals, like snow monkeys, can; they can generate a tremendous amount of Raugus energy, if you feed and raise them right."

Sarzen scratched the back of his head as the cart bumped underneath them. "I didn't know some animals generate Raugus. Can these same animals also be used like beads to channel magical power?"

"Of course," said Helnia. "But most mages don't use Raugians because those types of animals don't share their Raugus very easily. It usually takes years of training and bonding with a Raugian before it will choose to share its power with you; even if you raise a Raugian from infancy, it still requires a lot of work to get it to trust you with its energy."

"Does that mean that Misma is a powerful mage?" said Sarzen.

"It means she has way more discipline and training than me," Helnia admitted. "I've never had the patience for working with a Raugian. Beads filled with mined Raugus energy are a lot easier to use. Still, when you have a Raugian on your side, it can give you access to more Raugus energy than most mages normally have access to."

"Interesting," said Sarzen. He scratched the stubble on his chin. "If snow monkeys and other animals can generate Raugus energy, why don't we just use them instead of worrying about the Raugus wells drying up?"

"Because you can't just take Raugus energy from a Raugian, like how you can drain a well," said Helnia. She sounded a little offended at the thought. "A Raugian has to choose to share its energy with you, and sometimes even a trusted Raugian won't always share its power with you. It's not unheard of for Raugians to cut off their power to their mages in mid-battle, either because the Raugian got scared or it was wounded or it decided to abandon its mage for whatever reason. It's not a particularly stable energy source, to put it lightly."

"Ah," said Sarzen. "How do Raugians generate energy, anyway? I thought it was impossible."

"No one knows," said Helnia. "Some of the oldest legends state that the Dragon Gods created the Raugians with that ability, but again, no one knows for sure. But it is definitely an established magical fact; I work with a teacher in my school who has a pet night cat that is a Raugian."

"Uh huh," said Sarzen. He stretched his arms and leaned back. "Well, then I guess that Icicle might not be as much of a dead weight as I thought. I wonder what kind of powers it has, though."

"I don't know, because I don't know Misma very well," said Helnia with a shrug. "Hopefully we will never have to figure out, though, because that would mean we're fighting for our lives."

Sarzen nodded, but didn't say anything else because he had suddenly started thinking about Renuk's grave again. He wished he hadn't, because every time he thought about it, it just made him feel angry and powerless, because he still did not know who had raided it.

And not only had someone raided it, but that same someone had stolen Renuk's corpse, too. Sarzen had seen the dug up grave and empty coffin himself. He had spoken with the grave keeper, who said that he had not seen or heard anyone in the graveyard the night before. The law enforcers of Ars had spent the last week searching for anyone who might have anything to do with the terrible crime, but they had yet to arrest anyone and had been unable to locate Renuk's corpse. The head of the law enforcers had assured Sarzen that they would spend as much of their time as they could searching for Renuk's corpse or the thief who had stolen it while Sarzen and the others were away, but Sarzen feared that the law enforcers would not be able to find the corpse or the thief in the city.

_The Draymens probably stole it,_ Sarzen thought. _Maybe even that same assassin who killed Renuk two weeks ago._

Now, Sarzen did not have any proof that the Draymens had stolen Renuk's corpse, but he had heard tales about Draymens digging up human graves to eat the rotted corpses within. He had never seen that himself, of course, but he worried that that might have happened to Renuk's corpse. He could see them doing it as a psychological tactic; if they could break into the city and kill Renuk, that was one thing, but to break in again and steal his corpse right from under the inhabitants' noses? That was something else.

Sarzen gripped the handle of his sword. He had almost decided to stay behind, instead of heading out on the quest, so he could aid the law enforcers and Warrior Priests in the search for Renuk's corpse. But Sarzen had volunteered to go on the quest, which was more important in the long run, and he did not want to entrust this dangerous quest to anyone else. Still, just the idea that the thief was still out there, doing who-knows-what to Renuk's corpse, was enough to make Sarzen burn with anger. He made a mental note to personally kill whoever had stolen Renuk's corpse if he was ever lucky enough to run into that person.

All of a sudden, their cart's driver looked over his shoulder and said, "Warrior Priest Sarzen, we have nearly reached the gates. We will be entering the plains soon."

Snapped out of his thoughts, Sarzen looked up at the driver and said, "What? Oh, good. Glad to hear it. When will our next stop be?"

"In the village of Ohm," said the driver. "That's about two hours away from the gates. We have already sent messengers ahead to announce to the villagers to prepare for our arrival."

"Good," said Sarzen. "Keep an eye out for any Draymens raiding parties. Now that we're about to enter the plains, we are going to be in Draymens territory, and they are known to attack caravan wagons, especially large ones with lots of supplies like ours."

"Yes, sir, Warrior Priest," said the driver, nodding.

The driver turned his attention back to the road, while Sarzen looked at Helnia and saw that she looked rather pale. She was playing with her necklace again, like she was nervous.

"Helnia, are you worried about the Draymens?" said Sarzen.

"Sort of," said Helnia. "It's just that the plains... it's been ten years since we've visited them."

Sarzen nodded. Ever since he and Helnia escaped from their destroyed hometown, they had lived in Ars. Neither of them had left the mountains, not even to visit other towns, because the trauma of the destruction of their old town made them too afraid and distrustful of the plains to return. Sarzen knew that they would have to do it, of course, but that didn't mean he was going to enjoy the three day journey through the plains, however necessary it was.

"We'll be fine," said Sarzen. "As long as we keep our wits about each other and don't do anything stupid, I think we should cross the plains without any trouble."

Helnia didn't look entirely convinced about that, but she didn't argue the point. She just resumed playing with her beads, a look of worry on her features. Sarzen glanced back down the next two carts; Rothel was still telling his story to his driver, while Misma was now feeding her pet monkey, Icicle, a piece of bread as a treat.

After a few more minutes of travel, their caravan train finally arrived at the gates. The gates were large and wide, made out of ancient steel, but despite their age, they still held up and had yet to be breached by the Draymens. The gates towered above them, their forms blocking the rising sun and casting long shadows upon their path, but Sarzen hardly felt worried. He had seen those gates before, from back when he and Helnia had first arrived in the mountains, but it had been years since he'd last seen them and they didn't appear to have changed much in those ten years.

Standing on either side of the gates were two armored guards of the Yoresian Army. They were large, muscular men wearing the usual gray armor of the Yoresian Army, both armed with shields and swords that were currently sheathed at their sides. The two guards did not move to meet the caravan, however; instead, they just sat there and watched as the caravans drew closer and closer to the gates.

Eventually, the caravan stopped in front of the gates, at which point the two guards approached the caravan in the front. Sarzen's cart was the second cart, so he couldn't hear what the guards were saying to the driver of the first cart. But the longer they talked, the more a sense of dread filled him, as if he was about to hear bad news.

The two guards made their way past the first cart toward Sarzen's. Based on the expressions on their faces visible through the visors of their helmets, Sarzen could tell that they did not have good news.

"Are you Sarzen Alnem, the Warrior Priest in charge of the expedition to find the Dragon Gods?" said one of the guards, who had a scar on his left cheek.

"Yes, I am," said Sarzen, nodding. "Why do you ask? Do you have news to share with me?"

"Yes," said the guard. He gestured at the gates with his sword. "There have been reports of increased Draymens activity out in the plains. Also, roving bands of Draymens have been spotted close to the mountain's foot, a few of which have even come close to the gates, though they always stay just out of our reach."

"We expected that, guard," said Sarzen. "Don't worry; we'll be fine."

"That is not all that we need to tell you about, however," said the guard. "In addition to the roving bands of Draymens, there have also been reports of Draymens using human slaves to lure travelers into a trap."

"What do you mean?" said Sarzen.

"Beware of any humans you see in the plains who claim to be survivors of a Draymens attack," said the guard. "Many of them are really just human slaves working for their Draymens masters to capture and kill any unaware travelers."

"So we shouldn't stop for anyone we see on the way there, then," said Sarzen.

"Exactly," said the guard. "We've received many reports about that tactic. It appears to be a new tactic that the Draymens are using to kill unaware travelers."

"All right," said Sarzen. "I understand. Is that all?"

"That is all," said the guard. "We will now open the gates for you and your caravan. But again, we must stress that you remember not to aid any human 'survivors' you come across. Tell them to go to the gates to the mountains if they need help and just keep going."

"Right," said Sarzen. "Thanks for the warning. We'll keep it in mind on our way out."

The two guards nodded and went back over to the gates. A few minutes later, the gates opened wide, allowing the sunlight to spill in from the plains. The light was almost too bright after traveling in the darkness of the mountains for the last several hours, so Sarzen had to hold his hands above his eyes to protect his vision as the caravan passed through the wide-open gates. Once they were on the other side, the gates shut closed behind them.

Lowering his hands, Sarzen looked around as the caravan made its way down the rough road that led from the gates to the plains below. He did not see any Draymens anywhere, but he remembered how Draymens raiding bands were said to be able to come seemingly out of nowhere without warning. He kept his hand on the handle of his blade and glanced at Helnia, who was no longer playing with her necklace anymore, though she didn't look exactly relaxed.

"Here we are," said Sarzen as the cart bumped along. "Back in the plains for the first time in ten years."

"Yeah," said Helnia. She brushed back some of her dark hair. "It looks just like how it did all the way back then. Except... what is that?"

Sarzen looked in the direction in which she was pointing and saw a large cloud of smoke on the horizon. And it was getting bigger even as he looked at it.

***

Chapter Ten

**U** nfortunately, they were not able to determine the cause of the smoke from a distance. As a result, they had to keep going forward, because the smoke appeared to be coming from somewhere along the path up ahead, even though nearly everyone believed that the smoke was likely from a fire started by the Draymens. But because they'd already mapped out a path from the plains to the Cursed Lands, they just followed the road that way, though Sarzen gave orders to everyone to keep their weapons out or magic ready, just in case this turned out to be an ambush.

But, even though the smoke cloud looked large from a distance, it was hours before they actually reached the source of the cloud. Thanks to the flatness of the plains, the source of the smoke became increasingly obvious the closer they drew to it: It was a burning wooden cart, very much like the ones they drove, though it had been smashed and burned so badly that it was barely recognizable as a cart.

That was just from what they saw from a distance. As they drew closer to the cart, Sarzen spotted burned boxes, blankets, and even what appeared to be corpses, all strewn around the site of the destroyed cart. There were no Draymens in sight, but Sarzen and everyone else were on the defensive, ready to fight the moment a Draymens showed itself.

Upon reaching the smoking remains of the cart, Sarzen leaped out of his cart and was soon joined by Rothel, who was no longer smiling or talking. They were also joined by three of Sarzen's fellow Warrior Priests and, after telling the other people in the carts to stay in the caravan and not do anything, they made their way to the destroyed cart.

Up close, the cart looked even worse. It was like someone had dropped a gigantic fire ball on it; half of the cart was ashes, while the half that wasn't looked like it would turn into that stuff if a strong gust of wind blew through. It was hard to tell what kind of supplies that the cart had carried, though based on the scent of meat mixed with the smoke, Sarzen guessed that it had been moving pork or beef before it was destroyed.

"How long ago do you think this thing was attacked?" said Rothel as the five of them stopped before it. "It looks recent."

"Based on the smoke, I'd say it was probably destroyed last night," said Sarzen, scratching his chin as he looked down on the cart's remains.

He glanced at a corpse lying near them. He walked over to the corpse, though he didn't get too close because the stink of smoke and decay coming from the body. Looking at it from a distance, Sarzen noted that the corpse appeared to be a man, but that was the only detail he could make out, because the fire had burned off any other identifying features.

"What happened to him?" said Rothel in disgust.

"Obviously burned to death, probably while trying to escape," said Sarzen. He shuddered. "I can't imagine what it must have been like. Reminds me of the time when the Draymens attacked our hometown, though the corpses I saw back then were not nearly as badly burned as this one."

"Think there are any Draymens around here?" said Rothel, looking around. "Or do you think they've already left?"

"They've probably already left," said Sarzen. "If they were still here, I think they would have attacked us by now."

Rothel shook his head. "I've heard all about the brutality of Draymens, but this is the first time I've seen it up close. Absolutely horrific."

Sarzen was about to say that he agreed when, all of a sudden, he heard movement somewhere. He looked around, trying to identify the source of the sound, but then he heard movement again and looked over to the destroyed remains of the cart. He saw movement—just very slight—in a large pile of ash; the movement was so slight that Sarzen would have simply dismissed it as a product of his imagination if he had not seen it move again.

"Rothel," said Sarzen, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword. "We're not alone."

Rothel looked at Sarzen in confusion. "Not alone? What do you—"

All of a sudden, something exploded out from the pile of burning ash among the remains of the cart and flew toward Sarzen and Rothel. Sarzen and Rothel separated, running in opposite directions as the thing crashed into the ground where they had been standing mere moments before.

Coming to a stop, Sarzen whirled around to see a strange, round smoking ball lying on the ground. It looked like a boulder, but then it started to move. Short, but stout, limbs extended from its sides; large feet pushed it up into a standing position; and a small, round head rose from its massive bulk.

Sarzen had never seen anything like this creature before. It looked vaguely like a mole, except without the claws. It was twice as tall as Sarzen and its skin looked as thick and rough as stone. Its dull, gray eyes made it look dimwitted, especially when it looked at Sarzen and Rothel, like it was trying to figure out who they were and why they were here. Smoke rose from its form, though the smoke was already thinning.

"What the heck is that thing?" said Rothel in shock.

"No idea," said Sarzen, shaking his head. "But I will distract it while you get the caravan away from here."

"And leave you to fight this thing alone?" said Rothel in disbelief. "Sorry, but—"

The giant creature seemed to have lost all interest in Sarzen and Rothel, because it turned its attention to the caravan and began lumbering toward it. The horses pulling the carts shrieked and whinnied, forcing the drivers to struggle to keep them calm, so Sarzen just ran at the creature and slashed its back with his sword.

Sarzen's sword just glanced off the creature's hide, but the creature stopped and looked at him anyway. An angry scowl crossed its simple features and it raised its massive hand to bring down on Sarzen's head, but Sarzen ran out of the way in time to avoid its fist, which smashed into the ground and sent dirt flying everywhere.

"Just go!" Sarzen shouted at Rothel. "We can't afford to lose the caravan!"

Rothel looked reluctant about leaving Sarzen alone to deal with the creature, but he nodded and then ran back toward the caravan, already shouting at the drivers to get the horses moving.

But Sarzen stopped paying attention to Rothel, because the giant—which he assumed was a Draymens, even though he had not seen this particular kind of Draymens before—was now lumbering toward him, its face still etched in a scowl. Sarzen had to run to keep ahead of it, but even though he was smaller and faster, the Draymens was bigger, so each step it took allowed it to cross three times as many steps as Sarzen.

_Just got to keep it away from the caravan long enough for them to get away,_ Sarzen thought, glancing over his shoulder at the pursuing Draymens. _Though it would be nice if I could figure out how to actually kill it, too._

All of a sudden, Sarzen heard something flying through the air above. He looked over his shoulder in time to see a large chunk of earth flying toward him. There was no time to dodge, so he dropped to the ground just as the earth flew over him and crashed into the ground before him.

Gasping in surprise, Sarzen felt a tremor in the earth and looked over his shoulder again just in time to see the Draymens stand above him and bring both of its massive fists down on him. Sarzen, however, managed to roll out of the way, dodging the fists as they crashed into the earth.

Rolling back to his feet, Sarzen held his sword before him defensively as the Draymens pulled its hands off the ground and looked at him. The creature was starting to look impatient, as if it was losing its patience with Sarzen.

"What, are you just going to stand there and stare at me all day or are you actually going to fight me?" said Sarzen.

The Draymens grunted and lumbered toward Sarzen. It hurled its fists at him, but Sarzen dodged them both and struck the creature on the knee. But his sword merely scrapped across its rocky surface and he jumped backward to put some distance between himself and the Draymens.

_I need to figure out how to pierce its skin,_ Sarzen thought, walking backwards as the Draymens turned to face him again. _As long as its skin remains rock solid, my sword will never even tickle it._

That was when Sarzen caught a glimpse of the Draymens' underside; it looked fleshly and unguarded, oddly enough. Then again, the creature was rather short and stout, which, combined with its violent nature, meant that getting close enough to strike its underside would be a difficult feat to accomplish.

_I'll have to do it somehow, though,_ Sarzen thought, redoubling his grip on his sword. _If I don't do it, then this will be a very short quest._

So Sarzen ran toward the Draymens. The Draymens briefly looked surprised, as if it could not believe that Sarzen was coming toward it, but then its surprise turned to anger again and it raised its fists once more and brought them down on Sarzen once he got within its reach.

But at the last second, Sarzen slid underneath the Draymens. He slashed at its underside, his sword cutting through its soft flesh, and he emerged on the other side, where he rose to his feet and ran as the Draymens fell to his hands and knees, crying out in pain as its underside bled a strange gray blood that made Sarzen sick just by looking at it.

Yet the Draymens somehow managed to rise back to its feet anyway, despite the obvious pain it was in, and turned around to face Sarzen. The Draymens took a step toward Sarzen, but it was clearly in too much pain to be as threatening as it was before.

So Sarzen raised his sword to have another go at it, but the Draymens ran at him again, this time much faster than before, even though it was wounded and shouldn't have been able to move very quickly. It was upon Sarzen in seconds, but instead of smashing him with its fists, it picked him up in one hand and threw him to the side.

Sarzen crashed into the earth, knocking the breath out of him and causing him to gasp in pain. He was dazed from the impact and he thought he felt something break in his body, but he couldn't pinpoint where the pain was coming from or what had broken.

Shaking his head, Sarzen felt more tremors in the earth and looked up just in time to see the Draymens above him again. It raised its fists once more and this time, Sarzen knew that he wasn't going to be able to dodge them.

But then Sarzen heard a shout and a lightning bolt flew overhead and struck the Draymens in the chest. The impact of the lightning bolt sent the Draymens staggering backwards, clutching its blackened chest, while Sarzen looked in the direction that the lightning bolt had come from and saw Helnia running toward him. He didn't see the caravan, but he assumed that they must have gotten away by now.

Sitting up, Sarzen rubbed the back of his head as Helnia stopped beside him. She was touching the beads on her necklace, which Sarzen realized must have been the source of the lightning bolt.

"Sarzen, are you okay?" said Helnia. "Can you still walk?"

Sarzen nodded and slowly began to rise to his feet, still rubbing his aching head. "Yes. The ground is soft, so the impact wasn't as bad as it could have been. Where are—"

"The others are safe," Helnia interrupted. "I just came to help you because I knew you wouldn't be able to handle this Draymens on your own."

"Hey, I had it covered," said Sarzen, still rubbing the back of his head. "Just a few more minutes and I would have had it—"

A roar of anger interrupted Sarzen, causing him to look over at the Draymens. Its chest was blackened and smoking slightly, but aside from that, its thick, stone skin seemed to have protected it from the worst of the lightning bolt. It was now eyeing both Sarzen and Helnia very carefully, as if trying to predict their moves before they made them.

"Well, now that you're here, you might as well help me with your magic," said Sarzen. He raised his sword and pointed at the Draymens' underside. "The Draymens' underside is undefended, its only weak point as far as I can tell. I've already hit it once, but I think I will need to hit again to take it down for good."

"All right," said Helnia. She tapped one of her beads, which glowed blue. "I'll cover you while you go in for the kill."

"Good idea," said Sarzen.

He ran toward the Draymens. The Draymens took a step toward him, but a water ball flew through the air and struck the Draymens in the face, causing it to cover its face with its huge hands in surprise.

That left an opening for Sarzen to exploit. He shouted at Helnia, who lobbed another water ball over his head, only this time it splashed underneath the Draymens, turning the ground beneath it into slippery mud. The Draymens slipped slightly, but soon regained control of its balance, but Sarzen just dropped to the ground again and slid along the mud underneath the creature. As he slid underneath it, Sarzen slashed and stabbed at the Draymens' underside, his golden sword going deep into the Draymens body before he yanked it out and pushed himself out from underneath the creature.

As Sarzen rose back to his feet and ran again, the Draymens fell to its hands and feet, which splashed in the mud underneath it. This time, the Draymens didn't look like it was going to recover from that anytime soon, because it was now heaving and shuddering, like it was throwing up, and appeared completely incapacitated by Sarzen's attack.

Still walking backwards away from the Draymens, Sarzen gave Helnia the thumbs up and shouted, "Good job, sister! I think we did it!"

Unfortunately, Sarzen spoke too soon, because the Draymens rose to its feet again and turned around to face him, seemingly ignoring the blood now gushing from its underside. But there was a different look in the Draymens' face now; it was one of pain, but also sadness, like it had just heard some depressing news.

Sarzen took up a fighting stance, raising his sword before him defensively, but the Draymens didn't approach him. It just raised one of its large, fat fingers and pointed at him, breathing in and out as it did so.

"It... isn't over... yet," the Draymens said, its thick accent making its words hard to understand. "The One... will rise again..."

The Draymens' eyes rolled into the back of its head and it crashed forward onto the earth, where it did not move again.

***

Chapter Eleven

**H** elnia sat in the back of the third cart in the caravan, panting and sweating, clutching her chest, which was tight from her fight with the Draymens. She knew that that would have happened; she wasn't nearly as athletic or strong as Sarzen, so she didn't handle fighting as well as he. Even though she hadn't done much except cast a few spells, just the effort of jumping out of the cart and running to help Sarzen had taken a lot out of her. It didn't help that she'd been stressed out over Sarzen's well-being and safety during the fight, either.

Sarzen sat opposite her. While he was panting and sweating even more than her, he didn't seem nearly as painfully exhausted as her. He just wiped the sweat off his face with a rag and took a swig of water from the flask at his side. His sword, rather than being sheathed, was lying on its side between them. It was covered in the Draymens' ugly gray blood, but Sarzen had said he was going to clean it off soon. Helnia wished that he would clean it off now, because Draymens blood smelled awful and made her wish that she had been born without a nose.

But at least the Draymens _was_ dead. About an hour ago, when the Draymens had fallen down dead, Sarzen had checked its corpse and discovered that the wounds he had inflicted on it had been the cause of its death. It had been bewildering to hear it speak those two sentences in Yoresian, but at the same time, it was possible that the creature might have learned how to speak Yoresian from human slaves, just like the one that had killed Renuk.

They had left the body out in the plains, because it was too big to carry and they didn't have the right tools to dig a grave for it. But Sarzen, before they left, had prayed a brief prayer to the Dragon Gods to keep the souls of the departed safe. It had actually been quite a beautiful prayer, even though Helnia didn't think it would actually help much.

As for the other members of the team, they were all just glad that Sarzen and Helnia were okay. Rothel, in particular, had treated them both like they were his children, checking them over to see if they were hurt and asking them if they were okay. Both were fine, though Sarzen said that every bone in his body ached like he'd been beaten with a club. Misma had applied some healing magic to the two of them, because Misma apparently was good with healing magic, and now they were still on track to reach the town of Sinmo, the largest plains town that had not yet fallen to the roving bands of Draymens. Once they got there within the next three days, they would then head to the border between the Cursed Lands and Yores, which they would then pass through to reach the Cursed Lands themselves and eventually Ferro's Pass.

But, though that was good news to know, Helnia was thinking about what the Draymens had said before it died. It had mentioned something about the One, but Helnia was not sure what it had referenced. It could have just been saying something to scare Helnia and Sarzen, but that didn't make any sense to her.

Her thinking must have showed on her face, because Sarzen said, "Thinking about what that Draymens said?"

Helnia nodded. "Yes. His last words... I didn't understand them."

"I did," said Sarzen. "Unless, of course, he was talking about something else, but I doubt it."

"How?" said Helnia in surprise. "He was incredibly vague."

"Yes, but I know what the 'One' is," said Sarzen. "So, Helnia, you know the story of Yores, don't you? How the Dragon Gods drove out the Draymens and gave this land to us?"

"Of course," said Helnia. "Everyone does. It's not exactly a secret."

"But did you know that the Draymens have—or, I should say, had—a god of their own?" said Sarzen.

Helnia shook her head. "No, I didn't. I thought the Draymens were just mindless beasts that lived only to destroy."

"That's not an entirely inaccurate assessment of them, but they are capable of worship," said Sarzen. "They called their god the One of Shadow. He was said to be a cruel, bloodthirsty god that demanded unconditional and mindless support from his followers in exchange for allowing them to live in Yores. He demanded things like child sacrifice, butchery of people suspected of blasphemy, and other abominable crimes lost to history from his followers, which they always gave him in exchange for his protection and blessing."

Helnia felt sick just thinking about that. "That's horrible. What happened to him? Is he still around or did he leave with his worshipers?"

"The One of Shadow fought the Dragon Gods for control over Yores, but the Dragon Gods overcame him and killed him in battle," said Sarzen. "They then cast his body underneath the mountains upon which Ars and the other cities are built, where he will never rise again."

"Do the Draymens still worship him, then?" said Helnia.

"It seems so," said Sarzen. "They believe he will come back someday to return Yores to them."

Helnia shuddered. "How do you even know about this? It's awful to even think about."

"High Priest Renuk taught me about what the Draymens believed when I joined the Order," said Sarzen. He took another swig of water and sighed. "It was part of the Yoresian history lessons I had to take. But I always thought it was just history; I never imagined I would hear a real life Draymens say what that one said to us."

"So that Draymens was warning us about the return of the One of Shadow," said Helnia. She started playing with her beads again. "But that won't happen, right? If the One has been dead for a thousand years, I doubt he will just come back to life abruptly."

"Of course," said Sarzen with a snort. "The Draymens are delusional. They aren't capable of thinking like you and me. They believe in lies because that's what they've been taught to believe. It's just a statement of faith, one that has no basis in reality whatsoever. They're just saying it to scare us."

"I hope so," said Helnia. "But I can't shake the feeling that there might be more to it than we think."

"Don't let the Draymens get into your head," Sarzen said. "You know how deceptive they can be. If they can plant doubt and fear into your mind, then they win. You must not let their lies infect you."

Helnia nodded again. "You're right. I need to stop worrying. Even dead gods don't come back to life."

But despite what Helnia said, she still couldn't calm down entirely. The Draymens were bad enough on their own; if their own god was protecting and leading them again... well, Helnia did not want to think about it.

-

The next three days were largely uneventful after that encounter with the Draymens. As a result, they made excellent progress, covering large distances when the sun was up and resting well at night. They established a schedule for lookouts at night, rotating among the Warrior Priests, mages, and drivers during the night in order to make sure that no Draymens bands attacked them while they slept. This was important because Draymens were known to attack at night more often than during the day, but no one in the party saw any Draymens at night. Even so, everyone kept their guard up, whether during the day or during the night, because that first Draymens attack had put everyone on guard.

Although they did not run into any roving bands of Draymens, they did see the work of the Draymens. They came across more destroyed carts or signs of fighting between humans and Draymens. Sometimes they came upon human corpses; other times, they found dead Draymens, though there were fewer dead Draymens than dead humans. They never touched the bodies, however, and only stopped long enough for Sarzen and the other Warrior Priests to pray for the souls of the departed, though Helnia found it depressing how apparently no one had bothered to actually bury the corpses.

Nor did they run into any survivors or refugees fleeing Draymens raiding parties. On one hand, that was good, because it might have meant that the Draymens might not have destroyed any villages recently; on the other hand, it may have been that the Draymens had instead become much more thorough in their killing of the villagers and townspeople.

Either way, Helnia was glad when the walls of the town of Sinmo were spotted early in the morning on the third day, but didn't allow herself to relax until the afternoon, when they reached the main gates of the town.

Although not as large as the gates of the mountains, the gates of Sinmo were still quite big, created from wrought iron metal. They had scratches and dents along their surface, evidence of failed attacks by Draymens raiding parties, but they did not see any Draymens near the town at the moment. Instead, two guards, armed with swords and shields, stood at the gates, looking attentive and alert. They watched as the caravan drew closer, at first raising their weapons like they thought it might be a threat, but then lowering them when they saw that the party was not made of Draymens.

The carts came to a stop and Sarzen jumped out of his cart, showing more energy than Helnia had at the moment. But Helnia moved over to the edge of the cart anyway, peering over the side to watch as Sarzen approached the guards.

"Hail, guards of Sinmo," said Sarzen, holding up a hand in greeting. "I am Sarzen, an Acolyte of the Warrior Priest Order, part of the expedition sent to find the Dragon Gods. I assume you received the message from the Elect about us?"

"Yes," said one of the guards, nodding. "We have been expecting your arrival for a week now. We have orders from Mayor Ascarla, the mayor of the town, to bring you to his home, while your horses will be put in sheds and your supplies will be replenished."

"Great," said Sarzen. "We will only be staying in Sinmo for a day, however, because we are trying to reach the Cursed Lands as quickly as we can."

"Understood," said the guard. "Now allow us to open the gates and let your caravan inside. We will also take some of you to the Mayor's home in order to meet with him and discuss the recent Draymens attacks."

"Recent Draymens attacks?" said Sarzen. "Has Sinmo been under attack recently?"

"Yes," said the guard. "More so than usual, and though we've been successful in fighting them off, they are getting bolder and bolder. But that is for Mayor Ascarla to tell you about, not me."

Helnia didn't like hearing that the Draymens were becoming bolder. She looked to the left and to the right, but still didn't see any Draymens anywhere. Yet she had a feeling that they were somewhere just beyond her range of vision, as if they were hiding and waiting for just the right moment to strike.

But maybe it was just a feeling, and nothing more.

Sarzen jumped back into their cart and the guards opened the gates, allowing the caravans to enter the town at a slow and steady pace.

Helnia had never been to Sinmo before, so she did not know what to expect. As they entered the town, she noticed that the houses and buildings were, on average, significantly smaller and less extravagant than the houses and buildings of Ars. But that did not mean they looked rundown or terrible; on the contrary, the houses looked fairly nice, except for the ones nearest the walls, which had roofs that looked like they had been hastily patched up from attacks. Most likely, that was evidence of the Draymens attacks that the guard had mentioned.

Helnia also saw the people of Sinmo. Most were busily going about their day, working, running errands, standing on the streets talking to each other, kids playing and laughing. Most didn't pay much attention to the caravan as it went through the streets, though Helnia caught more than a handful of people watching them carefully, as if making sure that these travelers were not dangerous.

Another thing that Helnia noticed was how nearly all of the men were armed. They carried old swords sheathed at their sides, or occasionally an ax hanging from their belt. Back in Ars and the other mountain cities, most people were unarmed because of the relative safety of those places, but here in the plains towns, the people usually carried weapons. But these didn't look like swords that were just for self-defense; they looked like the kind of swords used by soldiers, which Helnia realized was most likely due to the constant Draymens attacks that Sinmo suffered. Perhaps the men of the town were all part of a militia whose job was to defend Sinmo and support the soldiers who protected it.

Also, Helnia did not see any mages, which was a shame, but not unexpected. There weren't many mages down in these plains towns, primarily because most of the Raugus wells on the plains were dry and it was very expensive to have Raugus energy transported from the mountain wells down here, especially because the Draymens attacks became more frequent. Still, Helnia had thought she'd see at least a few, because Sinmo was one of the few plains towns that still had its own Raugus well. She wondered if they had been killed during a Draymens attack, though they could have just as easily have been elsewhere in the town at the moment.

As soon as they entered the town, however, they were greeted by a tall man in a leather jerkin and wearing chain mail who called himself Hols. He said that he was Mayor Ascarla's assistant and that he would take Sarzen and a few of the others to the Mayor's house. He also had brought along some of the Mayor's servants, who would lead the others to the stables where the horses would be kept.

Because Mayor Ascarla only wished to speak with a few members of the party, Sarzen could not bring everyone, so he picked Helnia, Rothel, and Misma to come with him to meet the Mayor. Thus, their cart was diverted from the others and taken down a different path to the Mayor's house. Helnia wasn't really in the mood to meet anyone—she was more interested in sleeping in an actual bed for the first time in three days—but she did not object to coming along with the others, mostly because she felt safer with Sarzen, Rothel, and Misma than apart from them.

The Mayor's house was located near the center of Sinmo, away from the walls. It looked mostly identical to the other houses, except unlike the others, it was two stories and had a fence around it, complete with a gate that was much smaller than the town gates. A beautiful flower garden had been planted in the front of the house, but Helnia was not much of an expert on flowers, so she couldn't identify the varieties growing there, though she thought they looked pretty just the same.

Disembarking from the cart, Helnia, Sarzen, Rothel, and Misma were led up to the front door by Hols, who was armed just like every other man in this town. He even whistled as he walked, like he was in a good mood, though Helnia didn't understand what he was so happy about.

Opening the door to the house, Hols entered, gesturing for the others to follow him. The four of them followed Hols into the house, closing the door behind them as they entered.

Upon entering the house, they were greeted by Mayor Ascarla's maid, who took them to the living room. They were supposed to stay here until Mayor Ascarla came to see them, which they were assured would be very soon.

The living room was a medium sized room, with two sofas and a scattering of chairs here and there. The maid sat Sarzen and Helnia down on one sofa, while seating Rothel and Misma down on the other. The sofas were very soft, much softer than the wooden carts that Helnia and the others had been riding in for the last three days. In fact, they were so soft that Helnia would have slept on them if she had had the time, but then the maid returned, this time carrying a tray full of tea, which she placed on the coffee table between them. She told them they could have as much tea as they wanted, which Helnia and Misma gratefully accepted, though Sarzen and Rothel declined to take any.

But Helnia took only one or two sips of her cup before Mayor Ascarla himself entered the room. He was a tall, gray-haired man wearing battle armor, making him look like one of the soldiers, though he looked a lot more refined than the soldiers did, probably due to his status as the Mayor of Sinmo. He also had a long gray mustache that aided in his regal appearance, with not a hair out of place.

"Greetings, travelers from Ars," said Mayor Ascarla. He took a seat in a chair in between the two sofas and immediately put his hands together, which seemed to be a habit of his to keep his hands in place. "My name is Ascarla Loviand and I am the Mayor of Sinmo. I have been told that you four are the travelers from Ars that the Elect sent to find the Dragon Gods."

"That's right, Mayor," said Sarzen. "I'm Sarzen, this is my sister Helnia, this is my friend Rothel, and this is Misma, who works directly for the Elect. The rest of our team is putting up the horses in the stables and replenishing our supplies for the rest of the journey south."

"Ah, I see," said Mayor Ascarla. "So you are the ones who are going to find the Dragon Gods, then."

Helnia detected a hint of skepticism in Ascarla's voice, though Sarzen apparently didn't, because he said, "Yes. The old legends state that the Dragon Gods went beyond the Cursed Lands after our ancestors drove them away. We believe that if we can find them, they will be able to save our land from the Draymens."

"Yes, I am aware of the old legends," said Ascarla, his tone somewhat snobbish. "It's one of the first things I learned in my history classes when I was just a young child. I do wonder, though, how you managed to convince the Elect to send you on this mission, given how no one knows where the Dragon Gods are."

"Because finding the Dragon Gods is our best bet at defeating the Draymens once and for all," said Sarzen. "But that's irrelevant. The guards at the gates told us that there have been some Draymens attacks recently and that you could tell us more about them."

"Ah, yes," said Ascarla. He took a sip from his own cup of tea before continuing. "Yes, in recent weeks we've seen more Draymens attacks than normal. Thanks to the walls protecting us, the Draymens have never been able to actually break into the town just yet, but it seems like every raiding party has been bigger than the last."

"We didn't run into any raiding parties on our way here, but we were attacked by one Draymens that looked kind of like a golem," said Sarzen.

"Probably a Rounder," said Ascarla in disgust.

"A what?" said Helnia, her teacup hovering halfway between her mouth and her plate as she looked at Ascarla.

"It's what we call those types of Draymens," said Ascarla. "Big, ugly rounded creatures that look like living rocks. Is that an accurate description of the one that attacked you?"

"Yes," said Sarzen, nodding. "We managed to kill it, but it was still difficult to do."

"They are annoying due to the fact that their hides are practically impenetrable by normal weapons," said Ascarla. He shook his head. "Thankfully, most raiding parties only seem to have one or two at a time, but I shudder to think about how difficult it would be to stop an entire party of Rounders."

"So how many people have they killed over the last several weeks?" said Sarzen. "Has it been a lot?"

"Oh, about two hundred warriors, plus twice as many injured," said Ascarla. "And, though Sinmo is larger and stronger than most plains towns, that is still a heavy burden on our fighting forces. It's why we've distributed swords to every man of fighting age in this town; it's the only way we can get the numbers we need to defend our homes from those monsters."

"How awful," said Helnia, shaking her head. "I can't believe that so many people need to be armed."

"It's not a problem, madam mage," said Ascarla. He glanced at his own sword. "The people of Sinmo—and I include myself among them—are more than happy to protect our lands and our homes from anyone who seeks to invade us. But we will still need help."

"Is that why you wanted to speak with us?" said Sarzen. "Because you need backup?"

"More or less, because you are some of the first travelers associated with the Elect to come here in many months," said Ascarla. He rested his teacup on his plate and sighed. "We've implored the Elect to send backup, even just a few dozen more soldiers, but they have ignored our every request for aid. I was hoping that you might be able to speak to the Elect for us on that matter."

"I'm sorry, but we're not going to be in contact with the Elect for a while, because we're heading toward the Cursed Lands and do not know when we will return," said Sarzen. "I'm afraid there's not much we can do to help you or your people."

"Actually, I am going to send a letter back to the Elect today to let them know that we've arrived safely in Sinmo," said Misma, who was petting Icicle, which was curled up in her lap like a cat. "They asked me to send them a message once we arrived here, though, of course, I haven't had a chance to do that yet."

"Madam mage, will you please mention that we require reinforcements here in Sinmo?" said Ascarla, turning to look at her with pleading eyes. "We need as much aid as we can get."

"Don't you have any mages?" said Helnia, causing Ascarla to look at her again. "Sinmo is supposed to have the largest Raugus walls in the plains. Why do you not have any mages who can take advantage of that to defend the town?"

"We did have mages, but many have been killed or kidnapped by the Draymens and we've been unable to train more to replace them," Ascarla said. "We have only a small handful of mages now, but they cannot defend the entire town by themselves. That is why we need reinforcements, especially mages, who could potentially turn the tide of war or at least make it costly for Draymens raiding parties to attack our town."

"Kidnap?" said Helnia. She leaned forward, looking at Ascarla in curiosity. "Did you say that the Draymens are kidnapping human mages?"

"Yes," said Ascarla. "We don't know what they do with their kidnapped victims, because most of their attacks happen during the night and it becomes impossible to track them down after we beat them back. We think they are using their victims as slaves, but we are not sure."

"So the Draymens are building up their slave empire, it seems," said Rothel in disgust. "The bastards."

"That they are," said Ascarla. "But again, we've been unable to spare even one person to search for the slaves. Given how close we are to the Cursed Lands, it's possible that they have taken the slaves out of Yores entirely, which makes rescuing them even more difficult."

"That's not good," said Sarzen. He looked at Misma urgently. "Misma, you need to ask the Elect to send backup to Sinmo. The people here need help."

Misma just sipped from her tea, seemingly without a care in the world, while her little snow monkey looked up at her in confusion, as if wondering why she had stopped petting it. Helnia was under the impression that Misma wasn't exactly happy about the pressure she was receiving from Sarzen and Ascarla, even though their requests seemed reasonable to Helnia.

"I will consider it," said Misma finally. "If the Elect refuse to give you aid, there may be a good reason for it."

"A good reason to allow these monsters to conquer our homes and kill our women and children?" said Ascarla in shock. But then he shook his head and said, in a calmer voice, "Excuse me for my outburst, madam mage. I was just... I hoped you would have enough empathy to understand our plight."

"I do understand it," said Misma. "But that doesn't mean I –or the Elect—have to do anything about it."

Helnia was taken aback by Misma's cold response. Granted, Misma did not exactly have a reputation for being a kindhearted lady, but just refusing to promise to do anything about the Draymens attacks on Sinmo seemed like a new low to Helnia.

"Then why are you even here?" said Ascarla. "Why did you even come on this journey if you aren't going to show sympathy for the plight of your fellow Yoresians?"

"Because the Elect told me to," said Misma. "Nothing more, nothing less."

Ascarla apparently couldn't think of a reply to that answer. He just looked down into his tea, as if he was truly without hope now. Helnia felt sorry for him, even though she barely knew the guy, because she knew what it was like to lose your village to Draymens and she would not want to wish that fate on anybody else.

But then Sarzen stood up and looked down at Misma with a stern face. "Misma, I want you to mention the plight of the people of Sinmo in your letter to the Elect and ask for backup."

"You can't force me to do it," said Misma, meeting Sarzen's stare with her own cold glare. "So you can say whatever you want, but it won't do you much help."

"Actually, it will," said Sarzen. He folded his arms across his chest. "Because if you don't mention their plight in your letter, I will not let you leave with us for the Cursed Lands. That means that the Elect will not be able to keep tabs on what we're doing."

Misma's eyes widened, as if she had genuinely not seen that coming. "You can't be serious. The Elect ordered me to join your team. I am supposed to come with you. That's part of the deal."

"No one says I have to uphold it, especially if I have reason to believe that someone like you might just slow us down," said Sarzen. "And it isn't like Ascarla or anyone else in Sinmo would object to me leaving you here. Right, Mayor?"

Ascarla nodded. "Yes, Acolyte. A mage like her would be useful to have around, for sure."

"What if I just choose to leave Sinmo and go back to Ars on my own?" said Misma. "After all, Ascarla doesn't have any authority to detain me here."

"You could try, but I doubt you'd make it far before the Draymens got you," said Sarzen. "It's difficult enough to cross the plains when you travel with allies; as a solo traveler, I doubt you'd even survive long enough to see the mountain gates."

Misma pursed her lips and appeared to be trying to come up with a good argument against Sarzen's. Her pet monkey looked up at her again, though this time it seemed to be trying to see what her response would be, rather than wondering why she wasn't petting it anymore.

Finally, after several seconds of silence, Misma nodded and said, "Okay. I will mention the problems that the people of Sinmo are currently facing in the letter. I will even throw in a mention about Mayor Ascarla's need for backup, too."

Sarzen smiled. "Good. How does that sound to you, Mayor?"

"It sounds very good to me," said Ascarla, who was now smiling even wider than Sarzen. "It would be especially good if I had a chance to look at the letter before it is sent out; you know, just to ensure that you are not merely saying this to placate us."

Misma looked annoyed, but when Sarzen looked at her again, she grudgingly said, "Fine. I will let you read it before I send it to them. But don't waste time, because I want to send out the letter before the sun goes down."

"Of course," said Ascarla. "I would never delay a call for reinforcements unnecessarily."

"Then it's settled," said Sarzen. He yawned. "Now, I think that is all we need to talk about. So, Mayor Ascarla, could you have one of your servants show us where we need to stay for the night? We are very tired after many long days of travel and I think we would all like to see where we are going to spend the night."

***

Chapter Twelve

**T** he party was given a place to stay in a local inn, called the Horse's Bridle. It was a rather large inn, larger than you'd expect to find in a town the size of Sinmo, and each member of the expedition was given their own room. Each room, from what Helnia could tell, was identical to every other room; a simple twin bed, plus a bath tub and sink and a dresser in which to put their clothes. Helnia's room also had a window, with a red curtain that she pulled in front of it to protect her privacy. Sarzen's room was next to hers, while Rothel's room was next to his, which put all three of them close enough together to be able to help each other in case something happened. Misma's room was opposite hers, which Helnia had only noticed because she had bumped into Misma earlier when she was leaving her room.

Before he left, the servant who had taken them to the inn told them that Ascarla was going to have a dinner at his house later tonight and that they were all invited. Helnia and the others accepted it, mostly out of politeness and also because they were hungry and looking forward to whatever Ascarla was going to serve.

That was why Helnia—instead of taking a nap—was now resting in the warm water of her room's bath. Neither she nor any of the other members of the expedition had bathed at all during their trip from Ars to Sinmo, and they had no way of knowing if they would ever have a chance to do that again once they left this town, so Helnia was going to take advantage of her bath tub as much as she could.

The hot water felt nice against her skin, especially when she used her brush to scrape off the dirt and grime that had accumulated over the last three days of travel. But soon, Helnia's thoughts drifted to her and Sarzen's parents and the letter they had sent her.

Helnia had brought the letter along with her before they left Ars. It was in her bag, which was on her bed at the moment and which she could not see due to the shower curtain around her tub. She had not looked at the letter or even mentioned it to Sarzen or anyone else since leaving Ars. She supposed that she should have, but at the same time she still had her doubts about its authenticity and did not want to get Sarzen's hopes up that their parents might still be alive.

_But what if they_ are _still alive?_ Helnia thought. _If we survive our journey into the Cursed Lands, there's a very good chance that we might see them at Ferro's Pass. Shouldn't I tell Sarzen about the letter ahead of time just so he won't be shocked if we see them?_

Helnia scrunched her hair and brushed more dirt out of it. She wished that she didn't have the letter, because normally she never kept secrets from Sarzen. Or, at least, not important ones like this, the kind that could potentially change the way they looked at the world forever. She wondered briefly if Sarzen was keeping any secrets from her before dismissing that thought.

_Maybe I need to sleep on this some more,_ Helnia thought. _In the morning, I'll read the letter again, and if I think it's real—_

Helnia's thoughts were interrupted by a creaking of the floorboards nearby. She froze when she heard the sound. At first, she thought that maybe she had heard a floorboard creaking from the next room over, because the walls of the inn were not particularly thick, but then she heard the creak again, which was very clearly coming from the other side of her tub's curtain. The curtain was too thick to see through, however, so Helnia had no idea who was on the other side.

Nor did she want to know. Fear rose inside her as she realized that she was naked and unarmed in her tub. She didn't even have her Raugus beads; she had placed them on the dresser when she had undressed because she hadn't wanted to bring them into the tub with her. Now, however, she was starting to realize just how dumb a decision that had been.

Helnia didn't know how someone could have entered without her knowledge, because the door and window were closed, but that didn't matter. Helnia grabbed her brush and held it with both hands. It was a pathetic weapon, but it was also the only thing that Helnia had that she could even use as a weapon.

The floorboard creaked again, almost making Helnia jump, but she caught herself and stayed as still as possible. She listened intently, trying to hear any other sounds, but whoever was on the other side of her curtain was being very quiet.

_I should scream,_ Helnia thought. _That way, Sarzen, Rothel, and the others will hear me and will come to my rescue._

But Helnia couldn't find the courage to scream. She feared that if she screamed, the person who had sneaked into her room would just kill her and leave. With the door to her room locked, it would take Sarzen and the others precious seconds to break in, seconds Helnia might not have.

Helnia bit her lower lip. As frightened as she was, Helnia realized that she would need to defend herself. She came up with a plan: She would stand up, rip open the curtain, and hit the stalker over the head with her brush. She would then jump out of the tub and run to the door, unlock it, and escape while shouting for help. It was a risky plan, but it was also her only real chance of survival.

So Helnia slowly but surely rose from her tub, water running down her dripping wet body. The floorboards stopped creaking, but even though Helnia was fairly tall, she could not see over the curtain. Nor did she want to; she wanted to make sure that the person who had broken into her room didn't know that she knew that he was there.

Helnia was cold in the air with her wet body, in contrast to her feet and ankles in the warm water. She shivered, but didn't go back into the tub. She just held the brush by her side, grabbed the side of the curtain, and yanked it back.

There was no one on the other side.

Helnia looked around her small room, even looked up at the ceiling, but she was all alone in her room. The door was still closed, as was the window, and her things and clothes were still on her bed where she had left them. Her necklace hadn't moved from its current position on the dresser, either.

Shivering again, Helnia thought, _Was I just hearing things? Was I just letting my nerves get the best of me?_

Helnia grabbed a towel hanging off a nearby hanger and wrapped it around her body. Hesitantly, she stepped out of the tub, still gripping her brush like a knife, and looked around, even though there was nowhere for anyone to hide.

_It must have just been my imagination,_ Helnia thought, relaxing slightly. _I've been so tense ever since we left Ars that I'm starting to hear—_

A loud _crash_ caused Helnia to jump so high that she nearly bumped her head against the ceiling of her room. She dropped her towel and slipped on her own wet feet and fell onto the floor, which was cold and hard against her wet, naked skin. She immediately realized that she was in a vulnerable position and expected to get attacked or even killed by her attacker.

But when she looked around, expecting to see a Draymens assassin jump out of nowhere and attack her, she still didn't see anyone in here but herself.

_But I heard a crash,_ Helnia thought, hesitantly pushing herself up on her elbows. She grabbed her towel and held it against her body, though it wasn't of much use in keeping her warm now. _Where did it come—_

That was when a muffled scream pierced the air, which Helnia soon realized was coming from outside her room, possibly from the room opposite hers. The room, that is, that held Misma.

Helnia scrambled to her feet, drying off her body with her towel as best as she could. She didn't have time to get dressed, so once she was sufficiently dry, she tossed her towel to the side, slipped on her mage robes to hide her nakedness, and grabbed her beads. She ran over to the door and, after fiddling with the lock, opened it, but she could not run out into the hall because there were already a lot of people standing out there. All of them were other inn guests or people who were part of the caravan traveling to the Cursed Lands, but they were crowded together so closely around the door to the room opposite hers that Helnia couldn't even step out in the hallway.

"What's going on?" said Helnia to a young woman, probably about her age, standing close by. "I heard a scream and a crash."

"We did, too," said the young woman in a distressed voice. "The men are trying to open the door to that room, but—"

"Out of my way!" said Sarzen as he pushed through the small crowd of people. "Let me at it!"

The people parted, allowing Sarzen to stand in front of the door. Helnia gripped her doorway with one hand, her beads in the other, as she watched Sarzen draw his sword and slash the doorknob off the door with a single strike of his blade before he kicked in the door and ran inside.

But just as Sarzen went inside, he let out a gasp and said, "By the Six Names of the Dragon Gods!" prompting someone outside of the room to shout, "What is it?"

Helnia, however, was so terrified that she had to see it herself. She pushed past the people around her and ran into the room, thinking to provide her brother with backup, but when she saw what Sarzen had seen, she came to a stop and felt sick.

Lying on top of a writing desk, the quill still in her hand, was Misma. And she was dead, a knife sticking out of the back of her head, blood leaking out of her wound.

***

Chapter Thirteen

**H** ours later, Sarzen and Rothel stood outside the Horse's Bridle, watching as the workers from the Sinmo graveyard moved Misma's shrouded corpse out of the inn. They would have moved her corpse out of the place much sooner, but Sarzen had ordered the place evacuated in order to search for the killer, though they had failed to find Misma's killer. They watched as the grave keepers placed Misma's corpse into the back of a cart, which was then wheeled away to the morgue, where it would be kept until they could contact her family and get funeral arrangements.

It was late evening now, with the sun starting to set in the distance. Their dinner with Mayor Ascarla had been postponed due to these events and nearly everyone at the inn was shaken up. Sarzen had even seen a few of the inn's guests pack up and leave, most likely to search for a safer place to stay for the night. Sarzen and his friends were not leaving, but Sarzen understood their motivations nonetheless.

"This is awful," said Rothel. He was watching the cart bearing Misma's corpse be taken away. "I wish we had been fast enough to save her."

Sarzen nodded. He was thinking of Helnia now, who had been the first person to enter Misma's room after him. She had thrown up upon seeing Misma's corpse and was now back in her room, though Sarzen had assigned one of the Warrior Priests to watch over her. He didn't think she was in danger of being killed, but he hadn't believed Misma was, either, and look what happened. He hated seeing Helnia like that, which made him all the more determined to catch the killer, whoever he was.

"I wonder who did it," said Sarzen. He could not get the sight of Misma's corpse out of his eyes. "Who could have sneaked into her room and murdered her like that and escaped without being seen?"

"Maybe the Draymens?" said Rothel. "They've already displayed an ability to sneak in and out of any room via the shadows. I wouldn't be surprised if one of them did that to Misma."

"That's a likely explanation," said Sarzen. He rubbed the back of his neck. "But why her? She's not in charge of this mission. I am. I'm a more logical target for assassination."

"Because she's a powerful mage and a subordinate of the Elect, I guess," said Rothel. "Draymens don't like human magic. Wouldn't surprise me if they want to pick off all our mages so we'll be easy for them to crush."

"Do you think that means that they are going to attack Helnia next?" said Sarzen, glancing up at the second floor of the inn, where Helnia's room was located. "She's a powerful mage, too, albeit not as powerful as Misma."

"Who knows?" said Rothel. "Whatever is going to happen next, we will need to keep our guard up. The Draymens will use whatever they can to take us down."

"You're right," said Sarzen, resting a hand on the hilt of his golden sword. Then he looked around again. "By the way, where is Misma's Raugian? You know, the little monkey?"

Rothel frowned. "I don't know. I didn't see it in her room. Maybe it ran away when she was killed?"

"Where could it have gone, though?" said Sarzen. "The window to her room was closed. And I didn't see it escape through the door that we forced open, either."

"Maybe she let it out before she died," Rothel suggested. "You know, to let it get some exercise and stuff."

"I doubt it," said Sarzen. "I'm no expert on Raugians, but Helnia made it seem like a mage never parts with their Raugian very easily."

"Maybe the assassin stole Misma's monkey," said Rothel. "Raugians are pretty rare, after all. They might try to sell it on the market, get a good price. Raugians are in high demand on the black market."

Sarzen looked at Rothel curiously. "How do you know that Raugians are in high demand on the black market?"

"I have my, uh, ways," said Rothel, though Sarzen noticed that Rothel was deliberately not looking him in the eyes. "But seriously, the monkey could be anywhere and I don't see why we need to find it."

"It might hold a clue to the identity of Misma's murderer," said Sarzen.

"Do you think it can talk or something?" said Rothel, looking at Sarzen skeptically.

"No," said Sarzen, shaking his head. "But the fact that it is missing is significant, in my opinion. If we can find it, we might be able to figure out who killed Misma and why."

"Are we just going to stay here in Sinmo until we find her murderer?" said Rothel, scratching the back of his head. "I'm not against bringing a murderer to justice, but we still have our own quest to fulfill; you know, finding the Dragon Gods so we can save our country and our people from destruction."

"Yes, we will still have to leave tomorrow, no doubt," said Sarzen. "But we will also need to contact the Elect and let them know about Misma's murder. If we cannot investigate it, then maybe they can, at least."

"Wasn't Misma writing a letter to them when she died?" said Rothel. "Or, at least, she was supposed to write a letter, wasn't she?"

"She was," said Sarzen. "But I don't think she finished it. She was killed while holding her pen. The paper was covered in her blood, so whatever she might have written was totally ruined."

"Do you think the killer murdered her so that she could not finish that letter to the Elect?" said Rothel. "She was supposed to ask for reinforcements for Sinmo in the letter, after all. If the Draymens killed her, I can certainly see why."

Sarzen's eyes widened. "You're right. But if the Draymens don't want us calling in reinforcements, then does that mean that they are going to—"

Sarzen was interrupted by the sudden ringing of bells in the streets. He and Rothel looked around wildly for a moment before they spotted an armored man, riding a horse, running through the streets ringing a large brass bell. The man was also shouting, but it was hard to understand what he was shouting at first, due to his distance and the visor covering his face, but as he drew closer, Sarzen could understand what the man was shouting.

"Draymens!" the man shouted as he rode past them, the bell ringing wildly as he passed. "Draymens spotted at the northern gates! Everyone get into your houses and await further orders from the Mayor!"

All of the people in the street—of which there were few, due to how late it was—immediately went back into their houses or into the nearest building, which told Sarzen that this was a standard procedure for the people who lived here when Draymens attacked. A handful of the men, however, drew their swords and ran after the man on the horse, probably to go join the defenders at the gates.

Sarzen looked at Rothel. "Rothel, get the others. We need to go to the gates and help defend the town from the Draymens before they can enter the town and kill everyone."

-

Rothel gathered everyone else on the caravan team, except for Helnia (who was still too ill to help) and a Warrior Priest and a mage, who Sarzen ordered to stay at the inn to protect Helnia. Even though they needed every help they could get, Sarzen didn't want to leave his sister undefended, not after the murder of Misma.

After that, Sarzen and Rothel led the team to the northern gates, which were closed shut, but they could hear the sounds of battle on the other side. They climbed up the walls, where they found a soldier—most likely the captain, based on the red collar of his armor—watching a battle brewing below.

Down by the gates were dozens of Draymens. They looked kind of like humans, except with flesh like leather and short, stubby bat-like wings. But they didn't move like humans; they moved more like beasts, crawling on all fours and only standing up on two feet to attack the men who were beating them away from the gates. Watching all of these Draymens gave Sarzen flashbacks to the time when Iswor, his hometown, had been destroyed; he recalled seeing a group of Draymens very much like these ones attack the village's defenders.

The men below were fighting valiantly, slashing and stabbing at every Draymens they could reach, but Sarzen could tell that the men were having a difficult time fighting in the dark. In sharp contrast, the Draymens had little difficulty moving around and attacking; as Sarzen watched, one Draymens gouged out the eyes of an unlucky soldier, while another Draymens stabbed the soldier it fought in the chest.

But Sarzen didn't join the fight just yet. He ran up to the captain and said, "Sir, what is going on here?"

"It's the Draymens," the captain explained, running a hand through his hair as he looked at the battle below. "They just appeared out of nowhere five or ten minutes ago. We don't know where they came from, but we're trying to fight them off."

"Let us help fight them off," Sarzen said, gesturing at himself and his teammates. "We have some mages who can use their magic to take down multiple Draymens at once."

"But aren't you with the party meant to find the Dragon Gods?" said the captain. "You should be back at the inn where you're staying so you don't risk your own lives to defend a town that isn't yours."

"We'll be fine," said Sarzen. "This is clearly a planned attack, which means you are going to need all the help you can get to stop it before they overrun you. Just let us help."

The captain hesitated for a moment before nodding and saying, "All right. You can help. But be careful; the Draymens are cunning foes and they will cut you down without hesitation."

"We know," said Sarzen.

He turned around to face his party. "All right. Mages, you stay up here and attack the Draymens from a distance with your spells. My fellow Warrior Priests, you join me down on the battlefield. And everyone, fight without fear, for the Dragon Gods are on our side today!"

The mages immediately took up spots on the walls, while Sarzen and his fellow Warrior Priests ran down the stairs to the street below.

They burst through the gates, which were then slammed shut behind them before any Draymens could sneak through, and ran toward the scene of the raging battle. Sarzen, being in the lead, reached the battle first, coming upon a Draymens that did not seem to notice him until he swung his sword at it and slashed through its skin.

The Draymens let out a roar of pain and fell, but before it could get back up, Sarzen stabbed his sword straight through its head.

Pulling his sword out of the now-dead Draymens, Sarzen was about to go and search for more when another Draymens ran at him. It jumped toward him, forcing Sarzen to jump to the side to avoid its claws. As soon as the Draymens landed, Sarzen attempted to stab it, but it moved out of the range of his sword quickly and avoided his blade.

But Sarzen was not about to let it get away. He ran after the Draymens, which had stopped and was now facing him. He slashed at it, but it dodged his sword and swiped at him with its claws. Sarzen tried to dodge, but its claws still scrapped against his armor anyway, the impact sending him staggering backwards in surprise before he regained his balance in time to block its next blow with his sword.

Then Sarzen pushed back against the Draymens, sending it staggering backwards. He slashed at its chest, but it fell onto its back, causing his sword to miss. The momentum of his sword caused Sarzen to stagger forward and he tripped on the Draymens' outstretched foot, crashing face first onto the ground.

Instantly, the Draymens was on top of him, clawing at his armor and trying to tear apart his back. Sarzen couldn't reach it, but he did roll to the side, causing the Draymens to fall off his back. He got back to his feet, snatching his sword as he rose, and turned to face the Draymens as it retreated away from him. He almost thought it was running away, but then he heard a shriek and looked over his shoulder in time to see another Draymens jumping toward him.

Sarzen slashed at it, hitting the Draymens in the face and causing it to crash into the ground. But then he heard yet another shriek and had to jump to the side to avoid the first Draymens he had been fighting.

Backing up, Sarzen watched as the two Draymens rose to their feet and turned to face him. They started to advance on him, causing Sarzen to say, "Two on one? Now that's just not fair."

But the two Draymens clearly didn't care about fairness, so Sarzen redoubled his grip on his sword and was just about to fight the Draymens when he felt something grab his ankle.

Looking down, Sarzen saw that it was a third Draymens, this one lying close to the ground. It had somehow sneaked up on him without him noticing, but as soon as he looked down at it, it yanked him to the ground and he fell on his side, though he managed to maintain his grip on his sword before he hit the ground.

Still, the fall had taken Sarzen by surprise and the other two Draymens let out shrieks of triumph and dashed toward him like mad beasts. They quickly surrounded Sarzen, slashing and clawing at his face, forcing him to cover his face with his arms in order to protect it. Not that it did him much good, however, because he was now in a defensive position, rather than an offensive one, and he knew that it was only a matter of time before the Draymens killed him.

All of a sudden, however, a loud, burning fire came out of nowhere and struck one of the Draymens in the face. The Draymens let out a cry of pain as it staggered away, while its two comrades also ran away, no doubt scared by the fire based on how quickly they fled.

Sarzen lowered his arms, confused, before he looked up at the walls and noticed one of the mages waving at him. He gave the mage a thumbs up before he realized that Rothel was not standing among the other mages, even though Rothel was a mage himself.

Rising to his feet, Sarzen looked around the battlefield, trying to find Rothel. But it was too dark; while bursts of magical energy from the mages on the walls occasionally lit up the area, by and large Sarzen couldn't see much of anything, much less Rothel. But of what he could see, he realized that they weren't winning. He spotted a lot of corpses on the ground, corpses that looked mostly human, while spotting only a handful of Draymens corpses.

_Not good,_ Sarzen thought. _These bastards must have brought reinforcements to bolster their ranks. They knew the town wouldn't be able to provide enough fighters to beat them off at this time and they also knew that this was their only chance to destroy Sinmo before the town got reinforcements from the Elect._

Despite the meager odds of success that Sarzen and his allies faced, he knew they had no choice but to fight, so he raised his sword and was about to run into battle again before he heard a flap of huge wings, followed by a roar that did not belong to any of the Draymens.

Looking up at the sky, Sarzen saw a large creature flying toward them. Its white scales reflected the light of the moon, revealing a jaw full of sharp, knife-like teeth, wings like snow, and claws that looked capable of shredding flesh as easily as paper.

At first, Sarzen was not sure what he was looking at until it was close enough for him to see:

It was a dragon, one that looked just like the Dragon Gods themselves.

***

Chapter Fourteen

**T** he dragon swooped down into the battlefield. Sarzen was going to go and fight it, thinking it a threat to the humans, but he stopped when saw the dragon pick up a Draymens with its mouth and chomp it in half before spitting out its remains from its jaws. It then swiped at another Draymens with its claws, instantly tearing off its head in one blow.

The sudden appearance of the dragon had captured the attention of the other fighters on the battlefield. The human fighters just stared at the dragon in amazement, while the Draymens either fled into the shadows or moved to fight it. The Draymens that fled were the smart ones; every Draymens that attempted to fight the dragon ended up getting killed in short order.

Sarzen just stood there, his sword in hand, staring at the dragon as it tore through the ranks of the Draymens. He wasn't sure if it was going to come after him and the other humans next or if it was actually on their side. He wished he knew where it had come from; that way, he could have determined whether it was a friend or foe.

As a result, Sarzen was too distracted by the dragon's sudden appearance to notice a Draymens sneaking up on him, at least until he heard a screech behind him and turned around in time to see the Draymens slashing at him with its claws.

Belatedly, Sarzen raised his sword to defend himself, but the Draymens slashed his arm. Its claws cut through his skin, causing him to drop his sword as he cried out in pain. Blood flowed freely from his arm, but he did not have the luxury of feeling the pain because the Draymens slammed its shoulder against his chest, knocking him onto his back.

Then the Draymens hopped on him, its weight pinning him to the ground. He smelled its awful, hot breath in his face, which made him gag, but the Draymens wrapped its claws around his throat and started to squeeze. He suddenly found that he couldn't breathe, and even worse, he was unable to push the Draymens off of him or rise to his feet. He looked into the Draymens' dead gray eyes and saw nothing but hate and knew his life was about to end.

But then a dragon roar exploded overhead and the white claw of the dragon swooped out of nowhere and slammed its claw into the Draymens. The Draymens flew off of Sarzen's body, its claws scratching across his neck as it let go of him. Sarzen gasped in pain and felt his neck, which was now bloody, but it felt like a flesh wound.

Sitting up, Sarzen looked over his shoulder. The dragon now stood above him, towering over him like a giant, and it held in its claws the Draymens that had been trying to kill Sarzen. The dragon grabbed the struggling Draymens in both claws and tore it in two and then tossed both bloody halves aside.

Gasping for breath, Sarzen scrambled to his feet, picking up his golden sword again as he did so, and turning to face the dragon. He thought, for a moment, that the dragon was going to try to kill him next, so he wanted to be ready to protect himself if necessary.

But to his surprise, the dragon did not attack him. It just stared down at him with its silver eyes, its wings rising out behind it and reflecting the moonlight streaming down from above. When Sarzen looked into the dragon's eyes, he saw an intelligence that he had not been expecting to see. In fact, there was something very familiar about the way the dragon looked down at him, like he had seen this particular dragon before, but Sarzen was sure that he had never seen this dragon in the past because he had never seen a dragon in person in his life before.

"Who are you?" said Sarzen. "Are you a servant of the Dragon Gods? Have you come to deliver a message to us? Did they send you to aid us? Please answer."

The dragon just stared at Sarzen for a few seconds before suddenly flapping its wings and taking off into the sky above. Sarzen looked up to follow its course, to see where it would go, but when the dragon flew into the moon, it disappeared into the moonlight, like it had never existed at all.

-

The battle was over. According to the captain who Sarzen had spoken to before the battle, most of the attacking Draymens had been killed off. Some had escaped, but given how roundly their forces had been trounced, it was unlikely that the Draymens would attack again anytime soon.

Of the human fighters, five had been killed, while another ten had been wounded and required medical treatment, medical treatment that they were able to receive from the mages in Sarzen's caravan. Of the human fighters who had been killed, they were all confirmed casualties of the Draymens; the dragon had not attacked or killed any of the humans, which confirmed Sarzen's theory that the dragon had been an ally and not an enemy.

As for where the dragon went, no one knew. Sarzen asked Mayor Ascarla—who had come to the gates after the battle to see how it had went—if he or anyone else in Sinmo had seen the dragon before, but Mayor Ascarla told him that no one had ever seen such a creature in Sinmo ever. That made its appearance even more inexplicable... and miraculous.

Because that was what Sarzen was convinced it was: A miracle of the Dragon Gods. As he lay in his room in the inn, with his arm bandaged and the wounds on his neck already healed by the magic of one of his mages, Sarzen knew that the dragon had been a servant of the Dragon Gods.

He knew this because the old legends stated that the Dragon Gods had many lesser dragons working for them as servants. Many of these lesser dragons were said to be the offspring of the Dragon Gods, though some were simply creations designed to carry out the will of the Dragon Gods. During his training as a Warrior Priest, Sarzen had heard many stories of the lesser dragons appearing miraculously to help turn the tide of battle for the Yoresians; in particular, he recalled the story of the First War, in which the Yoresians had to defend their newly-conquered land from the neighboring country of Maler. They had succeeded thanks only to the timely aid of the Dragon Gods' servants.

But it had been years since the last appearance of a lesser dragon. The last time a lesser dragon had come to the aid of the Yoresians was 500 years ago, just before the departure of the Dragon Gods. Most Warrior Priests believed that the age of miracles ended once the Dragon Gods left, which was why no lesser dragon had been seen since then.

_But maybe it isn't,_ Sarzen thought excitedly. _Maybe the Dragon Gods haven't entirely abandoned Yores after all. Maybe this is a sign that our quest isn't entirely fruitless. I wish High Priest Renuk was still alive to see this; he would have been praising the Dragon Gods all day and night for this obvious miracle._

That was when Sarzen heard a sudden knock at the door to his room. He raised his head and said, "Yes? Who is it?"

"It's me," said the familiar voice of Rothel on the other side. "Can you let me in? I heard you were injured."

Sarzen slowly rose from his bed and carefully made his way over to the door to his room, making sure not to move his arm too much. He opened the door and saw Rothel standing in the doorway, but Rothel looked a little different from how he usually did. He looked harried and worried, as if he had just awoken from a nap and was trying to catch up on all of the news he had missed while sleeping.

When Rothel looked at Sarzen's arm, he grimaced and said, "Ow. That looks bad."

"Oh, it's nothing," said Sarzen, shaking his head. He stepped aside and said, "Just come in. I didn't see you after the battle."

Rothel stepped inside, allowing Sarzen to close the door as he said, "Yeah, sorry about that. I chased a Draymens away from the main battlefield and got lost in the darkness of the night before finding my way back to the town. Kind of embarrassing, I know."

Sarzen frowned as he walked back over to his bed and lay down on it. Resting his arm beside him, Sarzen said, "You mean you didn't see the dragon?"

"No, I didn't," said Rothel. "But I heard all about it. I heard it was as white as moonlight and that it slaughtered all of the Draymens."

"It didn't kill all of them," said Sarzen. "Some escaped. But yes, it did help us. I think that's the only reason we won. If the dragon hadn't intervened, the Draymens would have killed us instead and possibly destroyed Sinmo, too."

"That's pretty amazing, isn't it?" said Rothel. He shook his head. "Man, I wish I could have been there to see it. Where did it go?"

"Uh, it flew into the moon," said Sarzen, mimicking the dragon's flight with his hand. "And disappeared. It's like it became one with the moon."

"One with the moon?" Rothel repeated. "That sounds like something straight from a Dragon God story."

"That's because I think it is from the Dragon Gods," said Sarzen. "You might not know this, but the appearance of those lesser dragons was always a miracle in the old stories. They always appeared at the last moment to render aid to the Dragon Gods' loyal followers in their darkest hour and their appearance always turned the tide in the favor of the Yoresians."

"So are you saying that a miracle happened tonight?" said Rothel.

Sarzen nodded eagerly. "Yes. A genuine miracle, the kind that hasn't been seen in Yores for five hundred years. And I was a witness to it; me, a mere Acolyte who isn't even a full Warrior Priest yet."

"Lucky you," said Rothel. "I wish I could have seen it. I bet it was amazing."

"It was," said Sarzen. "I believe it is proof that the Dragon Gods know of our quest and want us to succeed. They sent one of their servants to aid us in battle. In the old stories, they only ever did that to their loyalest of followers, the ones they most wished to see succeed."

"So do you think we're destined to succeed in finding the Dragon Gods, then?" said Rothel.

"Absolutely," said Sarzen. He sat up again, even though he shouldn't have, because he was so excited that he couldn't rest. "There's no room for doubt anymore. The Dragon Gods clearly want us to find them. It is, if not our destiny, then at least our purpose."

Rothel, however, did not seem to share Sarzen's excitement. He just leaned against the wall, his arms folded over his chest, a frown on his face, like he was thinking of something.

"What's the matter, Rothel?" said Sarzen. "Don't you think this is great? Aren't you glad to know that our quest isn't going to be in vain after all?"

"Yes, I am," said Rothel, though his tone contradicted his words. "But... I'm still thinking about Misma's murderer. I suppose we can definitely say it was a Draymens now, considering the Draymens attack happened after it."

"Yes, most likely," said Sarzen. "But who cares? Her killer needs to be brought to justice, true, but we can do that after we find the Dragon Gods. Perhaps the Dragon Gods will even be able to help us; with their infinite knowledge and wisdom, they will most certainly be able to help us pinpoint the location and identity of her killer, assuming he wasn't killed in tonight's battle with his fellow Draymens."

"Maybe," said Rothel. "But we still haven't found her monkey, either."

"So what?" said Sarzen. "We can find it later. Who cares if we lost a stupid monkey? What matters is that we have been blessed by the Dragon Gods themselves. Isn't that amazing?"

"Yes, but at the same time, I think the monkey might be important," said Rothel. "I just find it strange that it vanished on the same night that its owner was killed. I think that Misma's killer probably stole the monkey."

"Maybe, but again, who cares?" said Sarzen. He glared at his bandaged arm. "I wish I was feeling better already, because then I'd get up and resume the quest right away."

"By yourself?" said Rothel skeptically.

"You know what I mean," said Sarzen. "I want to find the Dragon Gods _now_ , not later. I wonder what they are doing right now. Do you think they are possibly watching us even as we speak?"

"Perhaps," said Rothel with a shrug. "I don't know. I'm not much of an expert on the Dragon Gods, unlike you."

"Oh, I'm no expert, either," said Sarzen. "That's why I'm still an Acolyte, after all. But we will find them and be able to ask them that question for ourselves soon enough."

"Yes," said Rothel, who didn't sound excited about that. "I cannot wait. It will be interesting."

Sarzen frowned. "Rothel, you don't sound very excited about meeting the Dragon Gods, even after we have proof that they are aiding us. What's the matter?"

"Nothing," said Rothel, though he didn't meet Sarzen's gaze. His shoulders slumped, as if he had just thought of something very depressing. "It's nothing. I'm just tired from the battle tonight, that's all."

"You shouldn't be," said Sarzen. He put a hand on his chest and looked up at the ceiling. "Think about it. Our quest is not futile after all. And this is even before we have entered the Cursed Lands; think of what awaits us in the same lands where the Dragon Gods are said to have traveled!"

"Yes, it will be quite interesting, I'm sure," said Rothel. "Now, if you will excuse me, I need to retire to my room and rest. I have had a long day and would like to be up bright and early tomorrow morning."

"Good idea," said Sarzen, "because we are leaving first thing after breakfast. I cannot wait to tell Helnia about it; I'm sure she will be interested to hear about the lesser dragon that helped us."

Although Rothel nodded, Sarzen could tell that his friend was still nowhere near as excited about this miracle as he. But before Sarzen could ask him what the problem was, Rothel left the room, closing the door behind him quickly.

Sarzen frowned, but then shook his head. _Oh, well. It doesn't matter. Rothel is just tired, like all of us. I should get a good night's sleep, too, so I will have plenty of energy for tomorrow._

***

Chapter Fifteen

**E** arly in the morning, Helnia got up and, opening the door to her room, peeked out into the empty hallway. She looked up and down, but did not yet see anyone else in it. Of course, it was very dark due to the fact that the sun had yet to rise, but Helnia was still glad that no one else was up yet, because it meant that she would have all the time in the world to do what she wanted.

She pushed open the door to her room slightly, just enough so that she could slip through. She wasn't a very large woman, so she didn't need to open her door very much.

She tiptoed across the hallway to the door to Misma's room. She jiggled the doorknob, which was, surprisingly enough, unlocked. Helnia had thought that the door would be locked in order to keep people from entering it, but perhaps the innkeeper had forgotten to lock it before he went to bed last night.

_Oh, well,_ Helnia thought with a smile as she opened the door just enough for her to sneak in. _Looks like the luck of the Dragon Gods is on my side this morning._

Helnia entered the room and closed the door behind her. Then she leaned against the door and closed her eyes. She smelled Misma's dry blood from last night, along with the smell of the chicken soup that Misma had had for dinner, but that wasn't what Helnia was looking for. She was feeling for something, something she'd thought she'd sensed the night before, but hadn't noticed or understood until just a few minutes ago when it suddenly clicked in her mind and forced her to get up.

_Where is it, where is it, where is it..._ Helnia thought.

Suddenly, Helnia found it: A weak, but noticeable, trace of Raugus energy.

Opening her eyes, Helnia looked around the room. She grimaced when she saw the dried blood on Misma's writing desk, some of which covered the surface of the paper upon which Misma had been writing her letter to the Elect. The rest of the room, however, was almost entirely identical to Helnia's.

There was a reason Helnia had sneaked in here. Late last night, while she'd tried—and failed—to sleep, she'd had a dream. In that dream, she had seen Misma's little pet monkey dancing around before it turned into pure Raugus energy and flew away. It had been a strange dream, one she didn't understand until she remembered feeling a trace of Raugus energy in Misma's room the night before, when she had entered it after Sarzen. The reason she remembered that was because it did not make sense.

Raugus energy was not something that existed independently. It always existed in something else, whether that be in the earth, where it was naturally found, in the beads that Helnia and other mages wore, or in the Raugians. You could not simply feel it in the air unless it had been used recently.

Therefore, Helnia had come to the conclusion that someone had used magic in Misma's room; not just some, but a lot, because if Helnia could feel even a small trace of the stuff from the night before even now, then that meant that a lot of Raugus energy had been used.

The reason it didn't make sense to Helnia was because Misma certainly couldn't have cast a spell, because she had been stabbed in the back of the head and dead before she could do that. Besides, the beads of Misma's necklace were colored, not grayed, which was a sign that Misma had not cast any spells prior to her death.

That begged the question: Who, then, _had_ used the spell?

Helnia's current theory was that the spell had been cast, not by Misma, but by another mage. That meant that the murderer was a mage, because Draymens could not use Raugus and therefore could not cast spells.

It was a grim thought, but it was the only logical explanation. She believed that a mage had broken into Misma's room and killed her with a spell before fleeing before anyone could see her. The killer likely would have gotten away with it if Helnia had not sensed the trace Raugus energy in here.

_The only question is, who killed her?_ Helnia thought. _And why? Why would a mage kill a fellow mage? We're a small profession as is. It did not help anyone but maybe the Draymens, but no respectable mage would ever aid the Draymens._

That was why Helnia had gotten up so early this morning. The question had been burning in her mind since the dream and she was not going to be able to rest until she got some answers. At the very least, she would try to find some evidence that might help her figure out what happened.

Now she needed to pinpoint the trace of Raugus energy she'd sensed. Sensing Raugus energy was not something most people could do; even most mages struggled with it. But Helnia had always been able to do it easier than most, though she had never tried to sense a trace of Raugus energy that was this weak before. She hoped she would be able to find it.

That was when Helnia felt it. It was coming from underneath Misma's bed. That was odd, because it indicated that the attacker must have come from Misma's bed. Rubbing the back of her neck, Helnia walked over to the bed, though she only carefully approached it, just in case it turned out to be a trap of some kind.

Misma's bed was still made up, with not even a pillow out of place. The Raugus energy was stronger here, so Helnia got on her hands and knees. She tried to look under the bed, but it was so dark that she couldn't see a thing, so she tapped her beads and summoned a tiny ball of light in her hand; not big enough to illuminate the whole room, but large enough to illuminate the underside of the bed and let Helnia see what was underneath.

Helnia caught a glimpse of white before something moved away and out from under the bed. Helnia jumped to her feet and tried to look over the side of the bed at the thing she'd seen, but then she heard scrambling across the floor and moved her light to her side of the bed, where she saw a long, white tail disappear just as she shone a light on it.

Turning her light this way and that, Helnia tried to find the thing she'd heard moving around, but with the room so dark and the light so small, she was able to illuminate only a portion of the room at any one time. So Helnia reluctantly increased her light, making it brighter and brighter until it was large enough to illuminate the whole room quite easily.

Finally, Helnia saw it. Hiding in the corner of the room, its eyes wide with a mixture of fear and confusion, its hands covering its small head, was none other than Icicle, Misma's pet snow monkey. Its big, frightened eyes reflected Helnia's light like a mirror, but Helnia felt sorry for it.

"Icicle?" said Helnia. She was whispering, even though she had no reason to. "Is that you? What are you still doing here? I thought you had disappeared."

Icicle didn't respond. It was shivering, like it was cold or afraid; probably the latter, because it looked like it thought she might attack it.

"You don't need to be afraid," said Helnia in a soft voice. She held out a hand. "I know you are probably scared and confused after the death of Misma, but you can trust me. I won't hurt you. Promise."

Icicle didn't come any closer to her, nor did it look any more reassured. If anything, it appeared even more skeptical and afraid than before.

Helnia decided to get closer, so she took a step toward it. Just a simple, easy step; she didn't want to make any sound moves and cause it to run away or even attack her.

But apparently, even that simple, nonthreatening step was too much for Icicle, because he ran away behind the writing desk before Helnia even realized it.

"Hey," said Helnia. She tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice, but she found that difficult. "Don't hide from me. Come here."

Helnia walked over to the writing desk and bent over to look around the corner. Icicle looked up at her suddenly, fear etched across its simian features.

"Hey, little guy," said Helnia. "There's no need to hide. I know you're scared, but I won't hurt you. I just want to help find out who killed your master."

Helnia did not know if Icicle understood her words or not; she had heard that snow monkeys were some of the smartest animals in the world, almost as smart as humans. But she also knew that they couldn't speak Yoresian or any other human language, so she didn't expect it to respond. She hoped that it would understand her tone, at least.

But then Icicle bared its teeth. They weren't very big, but they were sharp. Helnia recalled learning, in her studies as a mage, that snow monkeys had razor sharp teeth, which they could use to tear out the throats of their captured prey.

That was why Helnia backed away, because she also remembered hearing stories of wild snow monkeys killing unwary humans. She put a hand on her neck, but still kept an eye on Icicle, which had not moved from where it hid behind the desk.

"All right, I see you don't trust me," said Helnia, "but that doesn't mean you need to be afraid of me, you know. I'm not going to harm you."

Unfortunately, the snow monkey did not seem to hear her, because with a hiss it leaped out from behind the desk at her.

Helnia let out a small "Eek!" and stumbled to the side, allowing the monkey to go flying past her. It crashed into the floor, but quickly scrambled back onto its feet and turned to face Helnia, but Helnia was quicker. She tapped her necklace and jerked her hand toward Icicle, sending out a long vine that immediately wrapped around Icicle, tying its arms and legs together against its body.

Icicle fell onto the floor and struggled to break the vine, but it was too thick for its small body to break. Nor could it reach the vine with its teeth, because one of the vines was around its neck and held its head up.

As for Helnia, she was sweating again and her heart was beating. She leaned against the writing desk and put a hand on her forehead as she tried to calm herself down. She had been lucky that she had managed to stop the snow monkey before it got her, but now she worried that someone might have heard the sounds of fighting and was going to come and investigate them.

But no one came through the door and Helnia did not hear anyone walking down the hallway outside, so she relaxed and then looked down at Icicle, who was still struggling to free himself.

Starting to lose her patience, Helnia walked over to Icicle and bent over him. She kept her distance, even though Icicle was unable to attack her, because she didn't want to have her throat torn out.

"Okay, Icicle, I'm done playing nice," said Helnia. "I still don't want to hurt you, but I also don't want to waste time playing around like this. Do you understand?"

Icicle stopped struggling and glared up at her. It snarled, baring its pointy little teeth again, but with its limbs tied together, the monkey wasn't much of a threat.

"Okay, I see you don't understand," said Helnia. "Well, I'm just going to hold you like this until you calm down. If that makes you uncomfortable, then so be it."

Icicle, again, just snarled. It would have looked cute, maybe, if its teeth hadn't been so sharp.

But then it suddenly wriggled, rolling back and forth so suddenly that Helnia fell backwards onto her behind.

But somehow, Icicle loosened the vines constricting it, because it managed to bite through them and then tear them apart with its now free arms. Helnia held up her hand to cast another spell to protect herself, but Icicle jumped to its feet and sprinted toward the window, which Helnia realized was open. Icicle leaped through the window, causing Helnia to jump to her feet and run over to the window to see where it was going.

But when Helnia reached the window and poked her head out of it, she did not see Icicle anywhere, not even when she jerked out her hand to illuminate the streets. It was like Icicle had simply vanished into thin air.

***

Chapter Sixteen

" **Y** ou look tired, Helnia," said Sarzen the next morning, as their caravan trundled across the road, the town of Sinmo disappearing into the distance behind them. "Didn't get enough sleep last night?"

Helnia started. She had been dozing off, even with the occasional bump in the road, and looked around for a moment before she looked at Sarzen. "Huh?"

"I said, you looked tired," said Sarzen. "Long night?"

Helnia blinked before she finally understood what Sarzen was asking, and nodded. "Yes. I did not get as much sleep last night as I normally do."

"Was it because of Misma's murder?" said Sarzen. "Did you worry someone might get you?"

"I think it was just the stress," said Helnia. She pushed a few strands of hair back behind her ear. "Seeing Misma's body like that was... awful, to put it mildly."

"I understand," said Sarzen. But then he suddenly smiled and looked out to the east, where the sun was slowly rising over the horizon. "But I slept great anyway, even though I had a hard time getting to sleep at first. Probably because I was so excited about the miracle that had happened during the battle last night. I even dreamed about it."

"You did?" said Helnia.

"Yeah," said Sarzen. "It was really amazing. More than ever, I am convinced that our quest is destined to succeed. The Dragon Gods must want us to find them. I just know it."

Helnia yawned, though it was more out of exhaustion than boredom. "Well, I hope so. It sure would make our quest easier."

"Yeah," said Sarzen. "I'm not even afraid of the Cursed Lands anymore. In fact, I can't wait until we reach them; I'm willing to take on whatever challenges await us there, because I know that with the Dragon Gods on our side, we can't lose."

Helnia felt a little annoyed at Sarzen's upbeat attitude, mostly because she didn't feel exactly upbeat herself. Still, she said, "I just hope we don't lose anyone else along this quest. Misma's death was bad enough; I worry that someone else will die along the way, too."

"I wouldn't worry about it," said Sarzen, waving off her concern. "I believe we have the divine protection of the Dragon Gods now. And as long as we are careful, we should be fine." Then he suddenly looked at Helnia, as if he'd just remembered something. "By the way, did you hear anything last night?"

Helnia instinctively tensed, but only for a moment before she realized what she was doing. Then she relaxed and said, "What do you mean? Like a mouse or something?"

"No," said Sarzen, shaking his head. "Really late last night—heck, it might have been really early in the morning, I don't remember, because I was half-asleep when I heard it—I heard movement in Misma's room. I even thought I heard an animal snarling."

"Oh," said Helnia. "Do you think you actually heard anything or was it just a trick of your sleepy mind?"

"I went to Misma's room to check this morning, but I didn't see anything out of place or different from how it looked the night before," said Sarzen. He scratched the back of his head, a frown on his face. "Yet I am sure I heard something. I asked around, but no one else heard or saw anything. Maybe it was just a really loud mouse or something."

"Maybe," said Helnia, trying not to look guilty in order to avoid making Sarzen suspicious. "Maybe you were half-dreaming and heard things in your dream that you thought you heard in real life."

"That's possible," said Sarzen, "But it seemed too real, realer than any dream I've ever dreamed before. Then again, I didn't have any time this morning to investigate as much as I'd like, because we had to leave so early, but I doubt it was anything important."

Helnia nodded, but privately she was glad that Sarzen didn't know. She considered telling him about what she'd seen last night, but at the same time, she was hesitant to do it because she didn't want him thinking she had been up to no good. Besides, Helnia still didn't quite understand everything that had happened herself. She hadn't had much time to figure out why Icicle had reappeared in Misma's room at such a late hour. And until she understood it, she did not feel the need to mention it to Sarzen. She felt bad about it, because it was the second lie she had told him, but like the letter from their parents, Helnia felt that it would not be good to get Sarzen's hopes up or make him think things that might not be very helpful to him at the moment.

At least, that was how she rationalized it.

"Anyway, our next stop is the Cursed Lands," said Sarzen. "That should be about a four day journey from Sinmo. Did you get your magical beads refilled before we left?"

Helnia nodded. She gestured at her colored beads and said, "Of course. I took advantage of Sinmo's stores to fill up all my beads. I also got several bottles of extra Raugus in case we run out."

"Good thinking," said Sarzen. "We probably won't be near another Raugus well for a long time. The Cursed Lands aren't supposed to have any Raugus, right?"

"Right," said Helnia. "Some legends do say that the Cursed Lands have some Raugus, but if it does exist there, it is buried deep underground where most people can't reach it. So we'll have to be very careful about conserving our Raugus supplies during the next leg of our journey; we won't be able to refill our stores if we run out."

"Right," said Sarzen. "But I'm sure it won't be long before we find the Dragon Gods. We'll find them so fast that we won't have to worry about running out of Raugus. And once they return to Yores, they will be able to refill the wells and we will never have to worry about running out of Raugus again."

Sarzen spoke so happily and with such confidence that Helnia wanted to believe him, but she didn't. She just leaned back against the side of the cart, pulling her coat more tightly around her body to keep warm in the cold morning air, and hoped that the next four days would not be too exciting, because she was getting tired of it already.

-

Helnia's wish was granted, because the next four days went by surprisingly uneventfully. The days were calm, the nights were quiet, and they were not attacked by any Draymens. They did not even see any Draymens, not even at night. Sarzen claimed that that was because the Draymens were afraid of them, as news of the miraculous appearance of the lesser dragon at Sinmo had no doubt already spread among the Draymens, but Helnia had a feeling that there was another reason for the lack of attacks. It was especially odd because the Draymens were supposed to be more numerous near the border between Yores and the Cursed Lands, yet they saw none at all on their way there.

Just because they did not see any Draymens along the way did not mean that they did not see evidence of Draymens activity. More than once, they passed a destroyed village that reminded Helnia of their own hometown. Sometimes they would also come across the skeletal remains of humans or horses that had been slain by the Draymens, which Sarzen and the other Warrior Priests would always pray brief prayers over, even though most of these remains had been dead for a long time. But Helnia did not say that aloud, because she knew how important praying for the spirits of the departed was for the Warrior Priests.

They did not run into only dead humans, however. They also ran into living humans, refugees or survivors from recent Draymens attacks. These humans were always headed north, their ultimate destination often being Ars or the other mountain cities. There wasn't much that Helnia and the others could do to help them get there, because they were headed in the opposite direction, but they did occasionally give them a portion of their food or water supplies, as those were always the most important things that the survivors lacked.

These survivors also brought news with them of Draymens activity. And all of them shared the same news: The Draymens were becoming more and more violent. Not only were the Draymens destroying towns and villages, but they were also poisoning the groundwater or even rivers and lakes. Draymens were also starting to leave one or two of their own behind in the ruins of destroyed villages, who would attack any human who came to investigate or stay in the ruins for any reason. It was depressing to hear, especially because it sounded like there was no real organized resistance against the Draymens.

But all of these survivors were always happy to hear that Sarzen and the others were searching for the Dragon Gods. Even the survivors who admitted to disbelief in the Dragon Gods were supportive of their quest, especially after Sarzen told them about the 'Miracle at Sinmo,' as he had taken to calling it. Seeing the depressed and frustrated faces of the survivors turn to smiles of joy and hope made Helnia feel as confident and joyful as Sarzen at times, especially whenever she saw happy children.

One of these survivors—an old man who had a long, gray beard—actually asked Sarzen if he had heard of someone called 'the Draymens Slayer.'

It was near the end of their third day on the road, after they had left Sinmo. It was late in the evening, when the sun was about to set. They had run into a small group of survivors—the aforementioned old man, his son and his son's two children, a boy and a girl—and had agreed to let the survivors camp with them for the night, especially after the old man and son revealed that they had served in the Yoresian Army and had managed to take their old swords with them from their village before it was destroyed.

As they usually did at night, the carts were brought together in a circle, forming a barricade that would keep out any Draymens or wild animals at night. They also started a small fire, both to provide light and to cook dinner, and the traveling party and the survivors started to talk about recent events.

That was when the old man, whose name was Juren, had asked the earlier question. Juren was sitting on the other side of the fire across from Sarzen, his gray beard tangled and messy, and had been listening to Sarzen tell the story of the Miracle. Helnia had been sitting off to the side, playing with Juren's grandchildren, Isa and Yema, while their father, Cehre, watched.

"Who?" said Sarzen through a mouthful of chicken.

"The Draymens Slayer," said Juren. He looked at the Warrior Priests and mages. "Have none of you heard of him before?"

Helnia turned away from Isa and Yema—who were now rolling a ball between themselves, laughing all the while—and said, "No, we haven't."

"How odd," said Juren. He stroked his beard, a thoughtful look on his face. "All survivors know of him. He's a living legend, even though most have never seen him. I have, though. He's the reason me, my son, and my grandchildren survived the destruction of our village."

"Really?" said Sarzen. "None of the survivors we have run into have ever mentioned a Draymens Slayer to us."

"Eh, I suppose most are more interested in finding a safe place to call home than in talking about living legends," said Juren. "Well, the Draymens Slayer is a man who slays Draymens. He travels around the plains, going to villages and towns under siege by the Draymens and defending the people in fighting them off. He also protects survivors who are trying to reach Ars or other towns and cities that haven't been destroyed by Draymens."

"Who is he?" said Rothel, who was sitting up in one of the carts, his legs dangling over the side of the cart. "What's his real name, I mean?"

"No one knows," said Juren. "He appeared in the plains about ten years ago, wielding an ax made of light. No one knows where he came from or who he really is, but he has made it his mission to destroy the Draymens. He's acted where the Elect have failed; as a result, he's considered the Hero of the Plains, though he is better known as the Slayer."

"How successful has he been?" said Sarzen.

"Very," said Juren. "By himself, he's been unable to save any village or town; however, he has helped many, many survivors safely reach larger towns like Sinmo or even the mountain cities. He's a friend to the friendless and an enemy to the Draymens."

"Have the Draymens tried to stop him?" said Sarzen.

"Yes," said Cehre, causing Helnia to look over at him. Unlike his father, Cehre was young, probably in his late twenties at most, though based on the scars on his face, he looked much older than that. "It is known that whenever the Slayer appears, the Draymens drop whatever they are doing to try to kill him, even if that means letting their prey escape. They always fail, though."

"He saved us only a couple of days ago, after we had to flee our own village," said Juren "Cehre, the kids, and I were fleeing from the Draymens, but they managed to catch up to us anyway. Cehre and I fought with our swords, but we were almost overwhelmed, and would have been had the Slayer not appeared."

"He came out of nowhere," said Cehre. "Like a sudden ray of light, he appeared and attacked the Draymens. He killed them all before they even knew what was happening, and after he finished, he gave us directions to Sinmo. He even gave Isa and Yema that ball they are playing with, because they had to leave their toys behind when we fled from our village."

Helnia looked at Isa and Yema. The two kids looked much like their father, except smaller and, in Yema's case, more feminine. They were still playing with the small wooden ball, pushing it back and forth between each other like it was the funnest game they had ever played, and did not appear to be paying attention to the conversation.

"This Slayer, what does he look like?" said Sarzen.

"He looks much like you, actually," said Juren, pointing at Sarzen, "except older, with longer hair and green eyes rather than brown. Green eyes much like the eyes of this young mage over here."

Juren gestured at Helnia when he said that. "He didn't wear armor, but he did wear a silver cloak, which seemed to act like a kind of flexible armor. I saw one Draymens slash him, but its claws didn't even tear the cloak, despite hitting it."

Helnia and Sarzen exchanged brief but significant glances. The description of the Slayer sounded to Helnia much like a description of their father. Their father had looked like an older version of Sarzen and had green eyes, green eyes which Helnia had inherited from him. Helnia remembered the letter from their parents that was packed with her other possessions in one of the carts.

_Could the Slayer be our own father?_ Helnia thought. _He did die ten years ago, which is the same time that the Draymens Slayer is said to have appeared. Maybe our father didn't die at all and instead became the Slayer, but if so, where is our mother?_

"He sounds like a great man," said Sarzen. "Tell me, where is he now?"

"I don't know," said Juren. "The Draymens Slayer goes where he wants. Most likely, he's protecting a band of survivors from the Draymens somewhere. Why? Do you want to meet him?"

"Yes, of course," said Sarzen, "because I think I know who he might be."

"You do?" said Cehre. "Who do you think he is?"

"A servant of the Dragon Gods, of course," said Sarzen. "You said he has an ax of light, yes?"

"Yes, I did," said Juren. "Is that significant?"

Sarzen nodded. "Yes. There are legends that speak of a Warrior of Light who lived a thousand years ago and wielded an ax made of light, which he used to slay the Draymens and protect our ancestors. If this Slayer is the same, then it is yet another example of the Dragon Gods' desire to save Yores."

Helnia had thought that Sarzen was going to say that he thought the Slayer was their father, but she supposed she shouldn't have been surprised. Ever since the Miracle at Sinmo, Sarzen had become convinced that all of the old legends and myths were true and that it was only a matter of time before they saw all of them. Helnia had been doubtful, but considering how similar the Slayer and the Warrior sounded to each other, she wondered if his theory was more based on the facts than hers.

"Well, perhaps he is," said Juren. "The only problem is that he never has anything good to say about the Dragon Gods. At least, he did not say anything nice about them when I met him."

"What do you mean?" said Sarzen. "What did he say?"

"He said that he was disgusted at how the Dragon Gods were not helping us," said Juren with a shrug. "That's about all he said, but I received the impression that he was not a very big fan of the Dragon Gods, to put it lightly."

"Well, I'm sure he will be a great ally anyway, if we can find him," said Sarzen. "He sounds like a potential ally in the fight against the Draymens. I must admit, though, that I don't like his distrust of the Dragon Gods, but maybe, if we ever run into him, I will be able to convince him that they are not as bad as he thinks they are."

"You can try," said Juren, "though I do not know how successful you'll be, because he seemed to really hate the Dragon Gods a lot."

Helnia brushed back a strand of her hair as she thought about the Slayer. She wondered if he might know about their parents; perhaps he was working with them to defeat the Draymens. That was assuming that her parents were trying to stop the Draymens at all. The letter did not say they were, but it seemed like a logical assumption to Helnia, seeing as she didn't know what else her parents could be doing right now.

"Anyway, it is starting to get late," said Sarzen with a yawn. "I think that we should all get some rest. Rothel, will you be staying up tonight to stand guard?"

"Yes," said Rothel, nodding. "I'll take the first shift."

"No, I will," said Cehre, holding up a hand. "I want to protect my children and grandfather. Besides, I don't think I will be able to get any sleep tonight; I'm too awake."

"Very well, then," said Sarzen. "Rothel can take the second shift. Anyway, good night. Let the Dragon Gods give us all great dreams and restful sleep."

***

Chapter Seventeen

**I** n the morning, Juren, Cehre, and the children left camp, following the directions that Sarzen had given them that would take them to Sinmo. He had also give Juren a letter with his signature on it, to show to the guards protecting the town so they would know that they were genuine survivors and not spies working for the Draymens.

Sarzen and the others also broke camp at the same time. The caravan immediately continued heading south, the temperature growing warmer and warmer by the hour. In fact, it became so warm that they had to take off their warmer clothes and put on looser and cooler clothes, though Sarzen kept his armor on just in case they were attacked, as did his fellow Warrior Priests.

As they traveled through the plains, Sarzen hoped that they might run into the Draymens Slayer before they reached the Cursed Lands. He'd been fascinated by the description of the Slayer that Juren had told him. To Sarzen, the appearance of the Slayer was proof that great things were happening in Yores, that their quest was destined for success. Even the fact that the Slayer was apparently not a fan of the Dragon Gods did nothing to dampen Sarzen's enthusiasm; in fact, he was so enthusiastic that he began to hum an old hymn of the Dragon Gods under his breath.

But it wasn't until they finally reached the border between Yores and the Cursed Lands that Sarzen finally understood just what awaited them on the next leg of their journey.

The border between Yores and the Cursed Lands was not a smooth transition between the plains of Yores and the land of the Cursed. As they drew closer to the border, the earth turned from green grass to a rockier dirt surface, with fewer and fewer tufts of grass to be seen anywhere. Water also became more of a scarcity, with puddles becoming smaller and smaller until soon Sarzen no longer saw any at all. They also came upon the remains of more corpses, humans killed by Draymens, which forced them to keep their guard up, because the Cursed Lands were said to have even more Draymens than Yores, since that was where the Draymens lived.

The Cursed Lands themselves became more visible the closer they drew to the border. Sarzen could see that they were much hillier than the plains of Yores; there was even what appeared to be a huge mountain somewhere in the distance, though it was too far away for Sarzen to make out in any great detail. The Cursed Lands appeared rockier and sandier than the plains of Yores, with a few large boulders scattered here and there for good measure.

There were no towns or villages this close to the border. Nor was there a wall or anything else to separate Yores from the Cursed Lands or keep the Draymens out. The reason for that was that the Dragon Gods themselves had originally been protection enough for Yores. The Dragon Gods' mere presence had been enough to keep the Draymens too scared to cross the border, in addition to some of the Dragon Gods' servants, who had been said to travel up and down the huge border between the two lands, killing any Draymens they came across or turning back any human travelers foolish enough to try to cross into the land of the Draymens.

But now, with the Dragon Gods and their servants gone, there was nothing to stop the Draymens from entering Yores or humans from entering the Cursed Lands. Indeed, no human would ever want to travel there under ordinary circumstances, because all of the Holy Books said that the Cursed Lands were completely inhospitable for humans, which was why the Dragon Gods had forbidden travel to that place.

Though Sarzen would never admit it, his fear and nervousness grew as they drew closer to the border. He believed that the Dragon Gods would protect them, but at the same time, he knew that they were almost in Draymens territory now. Even though neither he nor any of the others had seen any Draymens since leaving Sinmo, Sarzen knew better than to let his guard down when they were almost in the Draymens' country. He also advised the others to keep their guards up, including Helnia and the other mages.

They finally reached the border between Yores and the Cursed Lands in early evening, just as the sun was starting to set on the horizon. They stopped in the middle of a small canyon on the border, because they thought it would provide them with cover for the night and would be easier to defend than sleeping out in the plains. As usual, they arranged their carts in a loose circle that provided them some protection from possible attacks and, after a quick but filling dinner, went to sleep, except for Sarzen, who volunteered to take the first watch.

Sitting on the hard wooden surface of the cart, Sarzen rested his sword and its sheath on his shoulder. The moon and stars in the sky above provided some light, enough that he could see that there were no Draymens nearby, but it seemed to him that the moon and stars were darker here than they were up north. He recalled the stories that High Priest Renuk used to tell him, about how the skies of the Cursed Lands were darker than the skies of Yores, dark skies which made even the sun seem dim and weak.

_Since we're on the border, it's only logical that we would start to see the dark skies of the Cursed Lands,_ Sarzen thought. _But I shouldn't let myself get distracted. I must keep an eye out for any threats._

But the canyon was quiet tonight, except for the snores coming from the camp behind him. It seemed like nothing lived in here, not even a mouse, though given how dry and hot the place was even at night, that didn't surprise him.

_I bet the Dragon Gods are protecting us,_ Sarzen thought with a yawn. _That's how we were able to make it from Sinmo to the border in four days without any trouble. I almost wonder if it's even necessary to have a watch anymore; after all, no one has attacked us at night ye—_

A tiny scratching sound interrupted Sarzen's thoughts. Instinctively, he drew his sword from its sheath and stood up, holding his sword in both hands as he looked around the area. Yet he did not see anything, which made him wonder if he had been hearing things.

Suddenly, Sarzen heard a flapping of wings and looked up to see a small bat swoop by overhead. It flew away up toward the sky and soon left the canyon, the sound of its wings flapping fading away into the distance as it flew farther and farther away.

_Must have just been that bat,_ Sarzen thought, lowering his sword with a sigh. _At least it wasn't a Draymens; that would have been—_

All of a sudden, the cart upon which Sarzen stood shook violently. Surprised, Sarzen lost his balance and fell over onto the ground, landing on his right shoulder and crying out in pain.

But then Sarzen heard movement nearby and looked up to see a metal blade—reflecting the dim light of the moon and stars above—coming directly toward his face.

Instinctively, Sarzen raised his sword and deflected the metal blade before it could stab him in the face. He rolled to the side and back to his feet, but bit his teeth to keep from screaming from the pain in his right shoulder. It was so bad that he was forced to hold his sword in his left hand as he looked at the being who had tried to kill him.

It was a Draymens, one wearing a black cloak and black bandages wrapped around its face. It looked humanoid, save for the small wings rising from its back, and its bestial golden eyes that made Sarzen sick just looking at them. The Draymens carried a strange-looking curved sword, more like a large knife than a sword, its blade rusted and jagged along the edge.

"Everyone!" Sarzen shouted as loudly as he could. "Draymens attack!"

Sarzen heard movement from behind the ring of carts, but he stopped paying attention to it when the Draymens ran toward him. It swung its blade at his face, forcing Sarzen to raise his sword and deflect it again. He tried swiping at the Draymens, but it nimbly jumped backwards, avoiding the attack while making a strange scratching sound that might have been laughter.

In any case, Sarzen didn't go after it because he didn't think he could keep up with it. He was right-handed by nature, so being forced to use his left hand was awkward and made him feel less confident about taking on the Draymens. He hoped to end this battle quickly by hitting his enemy in the right place.

The Draymens, however, seemed to understand the advantage it had over Sarzen, because it quickly leaped forward on the offensive again. Thus, Sarzen was forced to play defense, blocking every one of the Draymens' furious strikes, but never finding an opportunity to strike back. His shoulder hurt as he moved, but Sarzen had to ignore it in order to focus on his survival, because he knew that one false move would mean his death.

Because the Draymens was on the offensive, Sarzen was forced back away from the carts where his friends were. But he had no time to worry about that, nor did he have time to worry about the sounds of battle he now heard coming from the carts, likely an indication that this Draymens was not alone and its allies were attacking Sarzen's friends. He was focused almost entirely on blocking the Draymens' blows, which were coming faster and faster and becoming harder and harder to block.

_Dragon Gods, give me strength!_ Sarzen thought, though his thoughts were not as clear as he'd like because he was so focused on staying alive.

The Draymens' next attack came seemingly out of nowhere. Without really thinking about it, Sarzen moved out of the way and slammed his sword against the Draymens' hand. The Draymens immediately dropped its sword, its eyes briefly widening in surprise before Sarzen stabbed his sword into its throat.

Blood gushed from the Draymens' throat as Sarzen's sword tore through it. The Draymens nonetheless pulled backwards, but that was the last action it did before it collapsed onto the ground, the blood from its throat staining its black cloak.

Sarzen would have taken this moment to rest, but then he heard a scream, a scream that sounded exactly like Helnia's, coming from the circle of carts.

"Sister!" said Sarzen.

He turned to climb back into the circle, but then he heard claws scrapping against the ground and looked over his shoulder to see another Draymens coming at him. This one looked similar to the one he just killed, except it had bird-like claws for feet and carried two of those weird curved swords in both hands.

Sarzen whirled around just in time to block the Draymens' double blades, but the Draymens hit so hard that he was almost knocked down to his knees. He pushed back against the Draymens, however, and slashed at it, but it just jumped backwards out of his reach.

"Come here, you damn beast," said Sarzen as he walked toward the Draymens, his anger burning through his mind as he followed it. "Fight like a man, why don't—"

Another sound of claws against stone caused Sarzen to look to the left. A third Draymens, identical in appearance to the other two, was running toward him. Sarzen raised his sword to block its attacks, but the Draymens was quicker, slashing at his hand and making him drop his sword.

Sarzen grunted in pain, holding his now-bleeding hand to his chest as he staggered away from the two Draymens. The Draymens, both making sinister clicking noises now, began to advance on him. And without a sword of his own, Sarzen was at their mercy, which was why he was backing up; he thought that if he could get back into the circle of carts, he might be able to get another sword from the supplies.

But then Sarzen tripped over a rock and fell on his back. He cracked his head against the stone floor of the canyon and his head spun, but he shook his head and looked up just in time to see the two Draymens surround him. There was no way he could escape them now; he just looked up as they raised their swords above their heads, ready to start tearing into him.

Before either Draymens could finish him, he heard boots running against the ground and then a shining, bright ax slashed straight through the neck of the nearest Draymens, sending its head flying into the darkness as its body collapsed.

The remaining Draymens let out a shriek of surprise before the ax took its head off, too; in fact, the ax moved so fast that Sarzen almost didn't follow it. The now-headless Draymens fell onto the ground nearby, blood leaking out of its neck, while Sarzen just stared at it in shock.

Then he heard a voice above him say, "Are you hurt, young man?" and looked up to see who had saved him.

The man standing above Sarzen appeared to be in his middle-age, though his exact age was hard to determine in the darkness of the night. He wore a flowing silver cloak that looked just like the shining rays of the moon, while he held a large, glowing ax in his right hand. His green eyes reflected the light from his ax, making it look like he had Raugus energy flowing through his body.

Sarzen could not help but gape in surprise at his savior. "The Draymens Slayer? Is that you?"

The man did not smile or chuckle. He simply said, "I see you've heard of me. And based on the fact that you have not tried to run away, you're clearly not afraid of me, either."

Sarzen blinked several times before he found the words to speak again. "Why would I be afraid of you? You hate the Draymens just as much as us."

"Because, unlike you, I don't care much for the Dragon Gods," said the Slayer. "But that's irrelevant at the moment. Can you still stand?"

Sarzen sat up, rubbing the back of his head. He winced and looked at his bloodied hand and felt his aching right shoulder. "No. My shoulder feels broken and my hand is bloody."

"We will have to get you healed up," said the Slayer. "But first, I must help your friends kill the rest of these damned—"

The Slayer was interrupted by something large and hairy bursting out from the cart circle. It moved too fast for Sarzen to see it in detail, but he instantly knew it was a Draymens because he caught a glimpse of it. It was coming straight toward him and the Slayer, but Sarzen would not be able to dodge it in time.

As it turned out, he didn't need to, because the Slayer grabbed him by the collar and hauled him out of the way of the large Draymens just as it barreled past them. The large Draymens stank of sweat and mud as it ran past, but it did not stop or turn around to face them. It just kept running into the darkness, but as it fled, Sarzen noticed that it had someone with long, dark hair tossed over its shoulder, but the Draymens was gone before he could get a good look at who it was.

Panting, Sarzen looked up at the Slayer. "What the hell was that?"

The Slayer opened his mouth to respond, but then someone shouted, "Sarzen!" and he looked over his shoulder to see Rothel and the other members of the party rush out from the circle toward them. They all looked like they had just been in a huge fight, though aside from a few scratches and bruises, none of them seemed to suffer any serious injuries.

"Rothel?" said Sarzen. He slowly rose to his feet with some assistance from the Slayer. "What happened?"

"Draymens," said Rothel as he and the others came to a stop before Sarzen and the Slayer, which was when Sarzen noticed the cut across Rothel's left cheek. Rothel looked at the Slayer. "Who is this?"

"I'll explain later," said Sarzen. "What did the Draymens do?"

"They came from nowhere," said Rothel. "They appeared in the middle of the camp and started attacking. Luckily no one got killed, but many of us got hurt and some of our supplies got destroyed."

"Is that?" said Sarzen. "But I thought I saw one of the Draymens running away with someone on its shoulder. Who was it?"

Rothel bit his lower lip, like he had some very bad news that he did not want to share with Sarzen but which he knew he had to anyway. "It was Helnia. She was kidnapped by the Draymens."

***

Chapter Eighteen

**S** arzen didn't even wait for Rothel to explain. He just turned around and ran after the Draymens, but he didn't get very far before the Slayer grabbed him by the collar, causing him to jerk to a stop.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" said the Slayer in annoyance. "Going to walk right into their trap?"

"Trap?" said Sarzen, looking over his shoulder at the Slayer in confusion. "Whose trap?"

"The Draymens," said the Slayer. "Common Draymens tactic. Kidnap someone from an unsuspecting group of naïve travelers—such as you guys, for example—and then draw the rest of the travelers into a trap in which they will all be slaughtered and no one will be permitted to escape. I've seen it happen way too often during my years slaying Draymens and I'm not about to let you walk right into it."

Sarzen yanked his collar out of the Slayer's grasp, but didn't run after the Draymens. "I don't care. She's my sister. I have to save her. No one else will. I can take care of myself."

"Injured and weaponless?" said the Slayer in mock astonishment. "My, I didn't know the Dragon Gods taught their followers how to win like that. Then again, you probably believe that the Dragon Gods will protect you even if you act like an idiot, right?"

Sarzen scowled; he didn't want to admit it, but the Slayer had a point. "Then what am I supposed to do? Wait for the Draymens to let her go? There's no telling what they'll do to her."

"Oh, they'll probably kill her, rape her, and then dump her corpse on the road as a warning to anyone else who might try to cross into the Cursed Lands," said the Slayer. "And in that order, too. The Draymens are more methodical than you might think."

"By the Dragon Gods," said Sarzen, while his friends exchanged worried and shocked looks at the Slayer's blunt words.

"But if you're lucky, then she'll just become a slave," said the Slayer. "If she's pretty enough, she'll probably become the personal pleasure slave of some Draymens chieftain. If I were you, I'd pray to the Dragon Gods to make your sister ugly; those pleasure slaves never last long and their deaths are always very painful."

Sarzen just stared at the Slayer in shocked silence. He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to find the words to respond, but he was so shocked that he just couldn't say even one word.

"Um, Sarzen?" said Rothel, causing Sarzen to look at him. Rothel was looking at the Slayer. "Who is this man?"

"I'm who survivors call the Draymens Slayer," said the Slayer. "You may have heard of me."

"You mean you are the _actual_ Slayer?" said Rothel in surprise. "Did you save Sarzen from these Draymens?"

"That I did," said the Slayer. He rested his glowing ax on his shoulder. "Not that he has thanked me for it, I might add. Then again, the Warrior Priests are hardly know for their gratitude, even though that is supposedly one of the virtues they preach."

The Slayer's sarcastic tone finally caused Sarzen to find the words to speak. "Shut up."

The Slayer looked at Sarzen in amusement. "Shut up? Is that the best comeback you've got? I'm disappointed."

"You don't understand," said Sarzen. He looked out into the darkness into which the Draymens and Helnia had vanished. "Helnia is my sister. I must save her, especially if the Draymens are going to treat her the way you said they are. She's the only family I've got left after our parents died a long time ago."

"I know what it's like to lose family, young man," said the Slayer, his tone suddenly softer. "But that doesn't mean rushing headlong into a trap. But for what it's worth, I don't think your sister is actually going to be killed, not unless she tries to escape, anyway."

"What do you mean?" said Sarzen, looking at the Slayer in hope. "I thought that the Draymens always kill their victims."

"Not recently," said the Slayer. "In recent years, the Draymens have been kidnapping mages. Your sister was one, right?"

"How did you know?" said Sarzen in surprise. "I didn't tell you that."

"I've been following you guys for a while now," said the Slayer. "You can learn a lot just by observing. Anyway, like I said, the Draymens have been turning mages into slaves for some reason, rather than killing them outright. I suspect it's to weaken our defenses, because mages are the single biggest threat to the Draymens and they know it."

"Wait, you've been following us?" said Rothel. "When? Why? And for how long?"

"Since Sinmo," said the Slayer. "I heard on the grapevine that the Elect had sent some people to find the Dragon Gods, so I decided to follow you and see if you guys were the real deal. I was the reason you weren't attacked by any Draymens after Sinmo, by the way; I killed the ones tailing you, though I guess I didn't get them all."

"You mean we were being followed by Draymens and we didn't even know?" said Sarzen.

"Of course," said the Slayer. "Don't feel too bad, though. The Draymens are sneaky and most people don't realize when they're being followed until it's too late. Even I have been jumped a few times, though I have enough experience with them now to know when the bastards are following me."

"Still doesn't explain _why_ , though," said Rothel.

"Probably because they know about your quest," said the Slayer. "They were probably hoping to slaughter you all in one night to keep you from finding the Dragon Gods."

"You mean we are on the right track after all?" said Sarzen. "Do you know where the Dragon Gods are?"

"No," said the Slayer bluntly. "And I don't care to know, either. But the fact is that the Draymens remember who drove them out of Yores the first time and they don't want a repeat of that."

"But they kidnapped Helnia, rather than kill us," said Sarzen. "Why would they do that?"

"Probably because I helped you," said the Slayer. He hefted his ax. "They really don't like me very much, because I'm one of the few humans who regularly takes them on and not only survives, but beats them soundly."

"Where did they take her?" said Sarzen. "Do you know?"

"I don't know the exact location, but I imagine they probably took her across the border into one of their slave towns," said the Slayer. "That's usually where they take human slaves."

"What's a slave town?" said Rothel, tilting his head to the side in confusion. "I've never heard of that."

"They're towns that are filled with human slaves and usually ruled by a small family of Draymens," said the Slayer. "There aren't many in Yores, though their numbers are growing. I've seen a few myself. They're about as nice as they sound."

"Then we must find this slave town and invade it," said Sarzen. He grimaced at the pain in his hand, however, before he could move and held his hand close to his chest.

"Ah, you need that healed," said the Slayer.

Before Sarzen could respond, the Slayer pointed his ax at Sarzen's hand. A small, but bright yellow light enveloped Sarzen's hand for a second before it faded, revealing that Sarzen's cut had been healed and his hand no longer hurt.

"What?" said Sarzen. He turned his hand over, checking every inch of it to make sure it was still his hand. "What... how did you do that? Are you a mage?"

The Slayer shook his head as he lowered his ax by his side. "No. My ax merely has the ability to heal minor wounds. If you had been stabbed in the head, for example, I wouldn't have been able to heal that."

"You mean that your ax doesn't use Raugus?" said Rothel in surprise. "At all?"

"Yes," said the Slayer. "It's very convenient that way."

"Impossible," said Rothel. He tugged at his own necklace of magic beads. "You can only use magic if you are wearing a necklace with magic beads full of Raugus energy. Your ax must have some Raugus flowing in it or something."

"No, it doesn't," said the Slayer, shaking his head. "It's just the way it works because it was created by the Dragon Gods themselves."

"Then that means that you _are_ the Warrior of Light from the old stories," said Sarzen, clapping his hands together in excitement. "Right?"

"No," said the Slayer in a deadpan voice. "I never said the Dragon Gods _gave_ me this ax. Just that they created it."

"Where did you find it, then?" said Sarzen. "The old stories say that the ax was lost after the Draymens were driven out of Yores."

"Where I found it is none of your business," said the Slayer. "If you keep asking me about it, I'm just going to leave you and your friends here to save your sister yourself."

"Okay, okay, I won't ask more questions about it," said Sarzen, though secretly he was already making plans to interrogate the Slayer about it later, after they saved Helnia. "But are you implying that you are going to help us save Helnia?"

"Yes," said the Slayer, nodding. "As much as I hate the Dragon Gods, I hate the Draymens even more. If they took her to a slave town, then that is even more reason to help you."

"Oh," said Sarzen. "I'm happy you're helping, but at the same time, I didn't think you wanted to help the Dragon Gods."

The Slayer shrugged. "I don't care one way or another if you find the Dragon Gods or not. The fact that the Draymens hate and have been trying to stop you is reason enough for me to ally with you, however briefly. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, after all."

Despite the grim situation, Sarzen could not help but smile. "Good. Then let's leave quickly. Maybe if we are quick, we will be able to catch up with the Draymens before they reach the slave town where they are taking Helnia."

***

Chapter Nineteen

**H** elnia's eyes opened. She immediately found herself staring into light streaming in from a window, causing her to cover her eyes with one hand to shade them from the light. She blinked her eyes rapidly, her eyes which were starting to tear up thanks to the light.

_By the Dragon Gods, why do I feel like I hit my head against a rock wall?_ Helnia thought. She rubbed the back of her head. _I feel like I didn't get any sleep last night._

Then Helnia suddenly felt a cold draft blow through a crack in the nearby wall, causing her to shiver involuntarily, which was how she discovered that she was naked.

Well, not actually _naked_ , but she was no longer in her mage's robes. Instead, she was wearing a very skimpy, sleeveless shirt, along with a pair of rough leather pants that had a lot of holes in them. She sat up, wrapping her arms around herself as she attempted to retain as much heat as she could, but her new clothes were just not sufficient to keep her warm.

Helnia looked around at the room she had awoken in. It was more like a small shack than a room; in fact, as far as Helnia could tell, that's exactly what it was. The walls were made of old, almost rotten wood, though the door appeared to be made of sterner stuff. The floor was dirt, with only some hay to sleep on, hay that clung to Helnia's body and hair. She pulled a piece of muddy hay out of her hair and looked at it in disgust.

_What am I doing here?_ Helnia thought. _Where am—_

Then Helnia suddenly remembered. She and the others had been ambushed by the Draymens during the night. They had tried to fight them off, but one of the Draymens grabbed her and ran. The last thing Helnia remembered was screaming for help before being hit over the head with something thick and heavy. That explained why her head hurt, at least.

But that didn't explain where Helnia was. Or what happened to her clothes. Even her shoes were missing; she was now barefoot, a sight that made her shudder because she hated how her feet looked.

_Don't panic, Helnia,_ Helnia thought as she started to feel her neck. _As long as you have your necklace, you should be able to—_

Helnia froze. She did not feel her necklace on her neck.

It was gone. Her necklace—her only method of defense—had vanished.

No, not vanished. Stolen. Someone had stolen it from her. And she knew who: the Draymens. Most likely, they had taken away her necklace when they kidnapped her. They had probably taken it from her so she couldn't save herself from them.

The knowledge that Helnia was alone and vulnerable almost made her cry. But she did not allow herself to. She just shivered again from another cold draft and pulled her legs up to her chest as she tried to stay warm.

_This can't be happening,_ Helnia thought, rocking back and forth on the ground. _Where is Sarzen? And Rothel? And the others? Where am I? Are they even still alive or did the Draymens kill them?_

Helnia looked up at the door. She stood up to open it, because she was going to try to escape and find the others, but then the door opened on its own.

Standing in the doorway was the ugliest Draymens Helnia had ever seen in her life. He was short and bulky, with a pig-like face that was sickening even just to look at. He wore patched together battle armor and smelled like crap, carrying a sword at his side that was as short and bulky as him.

Helnia instinctively backed up against the back wall of the shack, her heart beating fast and sweat starting to accumulate on her face despite the cold. Her feelings of defenselessness and vulnerability spiked and she thought she was just going to die there and then from fear alone.

The Draymens did not seem to notice. He just entered the shack, making low snorting noises, and that was when Helnia noticed the chains in his hands.

Before Helnia could react, the Draymens grabbed her arm and forced her down on her hands and knees. Too scared to do anything, Helnia just lay there on the ground while the Draymens clamped heavy, tight shackles on her wrists and ankles and neck and connected them with the chains he carried in his hands. The stink of his body was right in Helnia's nostrils the whole time, but she did not throw up or say anything because she was afraid that the Draymens would harm her if she did.

Once the Draymens finished, it stood up and yanked on the chain. Helnia stood up reluctantly and said, her voice high with fear, "What are you going to do with me? Where am I?"

The Draymens either did not understand what she had said or did not care to answer, because it just turned around and walked out of the shack. It yanked the chain again, causing Helnia to stagger after him and then stand upright as she followed him, being careful not to trip over the rocks poking out of the ground.

Now Helnia finally got to see where they were: It was a town of some sort. In every direction, she saw dozens of small, one-room shacks that looked just like her own. They all appeared to be built out of similar materials, though a few looked so old and decrepit that they would probably fall over if a strong enough gust of wind blew through at the right moment.

Nor was Helnia the only human in the place. She saw other humans wearing clothes similar to hers; men, women, and children of a variety of ages. Some of them were carrying large boxes that appeared to be full of rocks on their backs, while others were being led along like dogs by other Draymens. Even the little children were being forced to carry large boxes of supplies; Helnia watched as a little boy, who couldn't have been older than six, set down his box for a moment, perhaps tired from the work, only to be slapped in the face by his Draymens master so viciously that he fell onto the ground and did not get up again, though none of the other humans came to see if he was okay.

That was when Helnia realized where she was: A Draymens slave camp. She was looking at other human slaves and their Draymens masters.

_But if this is a slave camp and I am being held here against my will, then doesn't that mean that_ I'm _a slave, too?_ Helnia thought.

Instantly, Helnia reached for the collar around her neck and tried to pull it off, but it was too thick and heavy for her to even budge. Her slaver, however, noticed her fruitless attempts to remove her collar and yanked her chain again, causing her to almost stumble over her feet before she regained her balance and resumed following the Draymens, this time more quietly than before.

When Helnia looked up at the sky, she saw that it was much darker than it should have been, as if it was perpetual evening here. She was in the Cursed Lands, but she didn't know how deep into them or how long she had been here. Nor did she know where Sarzen and the others were. She hoped they would be able to save her, because it was obvious that she would not save herself.

None of the human slaves Helnia and her slaver passed spoke to Helnia. They didn't even meet her gaze or look at her. Helnia assumed that that was because of their own masters; perhaps they were afraid that if they acknowledged her existence, their masters would beat or even kill them.

Helnia's own 'master' (she hated thinking of him that way) barely paid her much attention. He just led her through the narrow dirt 'streets' of the camp until they arrived at what appeared to be a work site of some sort. The camp was located on a hill and at the bottom of the hill were hundreds of slaves, armed with picks, excavating rocks from the earth and placing them into carts, which were then pulled away by even more slaves, though where they were being transported to, she didn't know.

Helnia was surprised when she saw it. She had assumed that the Draymens were little more than dumb beasts, uncivilized barbarians who could only kill and destroy, but this was clearly a complicated quarry system, something she would expect a human warlord to come up with. It made her question her own assumptions regarding the intelligence of the Draymens, but it also made her wonder what the Draymens were using the mined rock for. Were they building something? If so, what?

Helnia did not have much time to ponder those questions, however, because her 'master' yanked her chain again, leading her down the hill to the nearest group of slaves who were breaking apart rock. The ground was rough and uneven, with sharp rocks sticking out of the dirt, which Helnia felt with every step. It made her jealous of her master's boots, which looked thick enough to protect his feet from getting cut up by the rocks.

None of the slaves working looked at Helnia or her master as they approached, most likely because they were too busy chipping away at the stone in the earth to focus on anything else. Helnia's master stopped walking and then scooped up an old pick from the ground. He turned around and forced the pick into Helnia's hands, which she took reluctantly, because she could tell, just by the way her master glared at her, that if she refused she would be killed there and then.

The pick was heavy and awkward in her hands, but Helnia had no time to think about that, because her master pointed sharply at the rocks that the other slaves were chipping away at. Then he mimed the movements of the slaves, which was how Helnia understood that he was trying to tell her to start working.

Because she had no other choice, Helnia obeyed. She walked over to stand beside another female slave, who appeared similar to her in age, but before she could begin to start chipping away, her master detached the chain from her collar. The thought that her master was not going to oversee her work made Helnia feel hopeful for a few seconds until he attached the end of her chain to the collar of the slave working next to her. That was when Helnia noticed that all of the slaves working alongside her were chained together by the neck, probably to keep them from escaping.

Then Helnia's master slapped Helnia on the back, which Helnia took as her cue to start working. She hefted her pick in her hands and began to strike it against the rock; since she wasn't very strong, her blows barely made a dent in the rock, but when she looked over her shoulder and saw her master now walking away, she relaxed somewhat, because it meant he wasn't going to be standing there watching her every move, ready to harm her if she got too lazy.

So Helnia returned her attention to the rocks before her and resumed hitting them. It was hard and difficult work; the only good part was that the heat her body generated from the work kept her warm, though she was never quite as warm as she wanted to be, especially whenever a gust of wind blew through and made all of the slaves collectively shiver.

"So," said the female slave next to Helnia, a young woman who had short, dirty brown hair and a lot of scars and scratches along her face, "are you the new slave?"

"What?" said Helnia. She briefly stopped hitting the rock to look at the other slave. "The new slave?"

"Yeah," said the slave, who still worked at her own rocks as she spoke. "Last night, Chizze and his raiding party returned with a young female mage with long dark hair in tow. At least, that's what my brother, who was working the night shift, told me; I didn't see it myself, but you seem to fit the description he gave me."

"So I've only been here since last night?" said Helnia. She sighed with relief. "Oh, good. I thought—"

She heard the cracking of the whip before she felt a hot, leather whip strike her in the back. Helnia cried out in pain and fell to her hands and knees, tears of pain flowing from her eyes. She wiped away her tears and looked over her shoulder to see another Draymens standing above her, this one carrying a whip. It was growling and glaring at her and, even though it hadn't said a word, Helnia understood why it was angry.

Despite the pain she was in, Helnia rose to her feet, picked up her dropped pick ax, and resumed chipping away at the rock. She heard the whip-wielding Draymens leave after a few seconds, but she didn't dare slow down or look over her shoulder, lest she give him an excuse to whip her again.

"Sorry about that," said the female slave. "The Draymens don't like it when we stop and chat. But we can work and talk; I don't think they care if we talk, as long as we do what they tell us to."

Helnia blinked away the tears in her eyes. "Y-Yeah, okay. How long do we keep working?"

"Until the sun sets," said the slave, raising her voice to be heard above the sounds of hundreds of picks striking against rock every minute. "And sometimes, if you anger the Draymens, they make you work until morning, but that's usually when they want to kill you."

"So we're going to have to work all day?" said Helnia in surprise. "We don't get any breaks?"

"Just a quick, five minute break at around lunch so we can get our one meal of the day," said the slave without looking at Helnia. "But sometimes we don't even get that much, at least if the Draymens are pissed off about something. Just be grateful with whatever they decide to give us; slaves who complain about their food usually get their tongues ripped out."

Helnia's eyes widened, but when she glanced around at the other slaves, she noticed that a few did seem to be missing their tongues. It made her want to touch her own tongue, even though she knew it was still there.

"What's your name, by the way?" said the slave. "I'm Aroda."

"Helnia," said Helnia. "Helnia Alnem. What's your last name?"

"Don't have one." said Aroda, still without looking at Helnia. "Used to, but the Draymens took it away along with my freedom. They'd take my life, too, but so far they've decided that I'm more valuable alive than dead. No idea how long that will last, though. You never can tell with these bastards."

"Um..." Helnia was not sure how to respond to that, so she said, "Where are we? I was unconscious when I was brought here."

"Reck," said Aroda. "A slave town near the border of the Cursed Lands. There are about five hundred slaves here, plus a few dozen Draymens who make sure we don't escape or slack off."

"Reck," Helnia repeated as she struck the rocks with her pick. "I've never heard of this place."

"Few have," said Aroda. "The Draymens generally don't tell anyone about their slave towns. That way, no one can save us and interrupt our work."

"Why?" said Helnia. "What are they building with all of this rock?"

"Who knows?" said Aroda with a shrug. "They don't tell us. They just have us work and move the stuff outside of the village to other parts of the Cursed Lands." Then she leaned in a little closer to Helnia and whispered, "Don't tell anyone I said this, but I personally believe it's just busywork. They just want us to work until we drop dead. The rock probably doesn't actually go anywhere. It's just a way to punish us for the crime of being human."

"Can we escape?" said Helnia in a whisper. "Is it possible?"

"No one has ever escaped Reck," said Aroda as she resumed striking the rock in front of her. "Every slave who has attempted to escape has been killed, usually in awful ways. Most of us just try to keep our heads down, work, and not attract attention from the Draymens."

"But wouldn't you like to be free?" said Helnia.

"Yes, but I also like living a lot, too," said Aroda. She glanced around nervously for a moment. "Besides, you shouldn't talk like that. The Draymens generally don't understand what we're saying, but they still know whenever someone is plotting to escape. Usually, they kill them before they can put their plan into action."

"You mean there's no chance of escape at all?" said Helnia.

"More or less," said Aroda. "Besides, where would you go? We're in the Cursed Lands. This isn't Yores. We have no towns to flee to, no one to help us. Even if we escaped, we'd just die of thirst or hunger out in the wastes."

Helnia was about to respond to that, but then she thought better of it. She did not know if she could trust these people with knowledge of her mission to find the Dragon Gods. Aroda seemed like an honest woman, but at the same time, Helnia did not feel like that was information she could just carelessly toss out like that.

So she said, "I just don't like being a slave. That's all."

"Who does?" said Aroda with a snort. "It's awful. But what can you do? The Draymens are stronger than us. We can't beat them, even if we rose up in rebellion against them. Maybe if we had our magical necklaces, we could beat them, but we don't, so we can't. Anyway, we should stop talking about them like this; I'd rather not go without lunch today."

"What are you two talking about?" said a male voice ahead of Helnia, causing her to look up to see who had spoken.

It was another slave, who stood on the opposite side of the rocks they were striking. He was a man, but was so thin and weak-looking that Helnia almost thought he was a woman. Though he was dressed in the same slave clothes as everyone else, he had a certain air about him like he thought he was better than everyone else or like he knew something that everyone else didn't.

"Nothing, Lach," said Aroda. Her tone became noticeably sharper when she addressed him. "It's none of your business."

Lach smiled. No, he didn't smile; it was a smirk, a creepy one at that, which made Helnia wish that she could run away from him. He just shrugged and resumed striking his rock, saying, "Well, I thought I heard you complaining about our masters. But you surely weren't doing that, were you?"

"I said, it's none of your business," said Aroda. Her tone was now as sharp as a knife, but Lach didn't seem to notice or care. "I was just explaining the town to Helnia. She's new, so she doesn't know all the rules or what it's like to live here."

"Right," said Lach, his creepy smirk never leaving his face. "Let me guess, you were telling her how awful our masters are, right?"

"Maybe I was," said Aroda. "What of it?"

"Well, it would be rather... problematic for you if someone were to go and report those comments to the Draymens, wouldn't you agree?" said Lach. He snickered. "I don't think they would be very happy to hear us talking about this stuff. They expect us to work, not complain."

Aroda suddenly stopped striking her rock and looked up at Lach with a mixture of fear and anger on her face. "You wouldn't."

"When did I say that _I_ would do that?" said Lach. "You really need to stop being so paranoid, Aroda, though I admit it is funny."

Aroda opened her mouth to say something, but then one of the slave masters—who happened to be walking by their line of slaves—suddenly shouted and struck Aroda in the back with a club. Aroda fell to her knees, gasping in pain, leaning on her pick, while the slave master resumed walking past.

"Aroda, are you okay?" said Helnia, looking at her in worry.

A chuckle caused Helnia to look back at Lach. He hadn't stopped breaking apart his rocks, but he was chuckling as though he'd just heard a great joke.

"Why are you chuckling?" said Helnia. She gestured at Aroda, who was still gasping for breath. "She was hurt by one of the slavers. That's not funny at all. She's one of us."

"One of us?" said Lach. He chuckled again, a sound that made Helnia's temper rise despite herself. "How quaint a thought. I can tell you're definitely an idiot."

"An idiot?" said Helnia. Then she realized that she'd stopped breaking the rock and immediately resumed working before one of the slavers noticed.

"An idiot," said Lach. He rolled his eyes. "And under-educated, too, apparently, even though you are a mage. Typical Yoresian education, I guess. Makes me glad I no longer live there."

"I don't understand," said Helnia. She was starting to sweat and get tired from the work, but she still wanted to talk to Lach. "How is showing concern for my own people stupid?"

"Because we deserve whatever the Draymens do to us," Lach replied. He was still smirking, which made Helnia wonder how he managed to keep such a creepy expression even while he spoke and worked.

Helnia was so surprised by what Lach said that she briefly stopped using her pick and looked at him in disbelief. "We deserve to be slaves punished with hard labor?"

"Sure," said Lach. There was no sarcasm in his voice. "You know the history between the humans and Draymens, right? Or don't they teach that to our mages anymore?"

"They still do," said Helnia, feeling defensive for some reason. "The Draymens used to live in Yores before the Dragon Gods drove them out and gave the land to us."

"Unjustly, I might add," said Lach. He stopped his work briefly to look at Helnia, though instead of smirking he was frowning in anger. "Our ancestors slaughtered thousands of innocent Draymens who were just trying to live their own lives and preserve their own culture, all under the direct orders of the Dragon Gods. We took their land unjustly and our historians never focus on that fact."

Helnia blinked. "Be that as it may, I don't see the problem. That's typically how invasions work. If our ancestors hadn't done that, we wouldn't be around today."

"Maybe we _shouldn't_ be around," said Lach. He resumed his work. "When I was captured by the Draymens, I learned all about how terrible their lives have been in the Cursed Lands since they were banished here by the Dragon Gods. They've never had enough food, water, or anything else, so they've been plotting their defeat of us so they can retake their old lands and the resources within. And rightfully, I might add."

"So what?" said Helnia. "We won. They lost. Yores is ours. If they wanted it, they should have defeated us."

"Typical Yoresian parochialism," said Lach, shaking his head. He smirked again. "That's why I'm glad that the Draymens are invading Yores. We've been so cruel and unfair to them that it is only just that the sins of our forefathers come back to haunt us."

"What?" said Helnia. She no longer broke the rocks with her pick; she just stared at Lach in disbelief. "You mean you _like_ being a slave? You _like_ towns and villages being destroyed and survivors being forced to flee with only the clothes on their backs?"

"Sure," said Lach. "Don't you feel it? It's justice. It's history righting itself. We like to see the invading Draymens as the villains, but maybe they're the heroes and _we're_ the villains."

Helnia's hands shook. She was remembering when she and Sarzen fled their hometown as Draymens ravaged it, remembered the fear she felt as she saw the homes and buildings go up in flames. "So we should be punished because of what our forefathers did? We don't deserve to live in our lands because our ancestors took them by force?"

"Yeah," said Lach, nodding. "I know it offends your sense of entitlement, but Yores isn't really ours. We come from somewhere else. So I don't lose any sleep when I hear about towns being destroyed and survivors fleeing with nothing but what they were wearing; it's just the weak finally overthrowing the strong, the oppressed rising up against the elite."

"I was one such survivor, Lach," said Helnia. "My brother and I had to flee our hometown ten years ago. Our parents didn't make it. Do you think we deserved that, even though we had never done anything to the Draymens before they attacked us?"

Lach snorted. "Sure. The fact that you didn't directly harm the innocent Draymens doesn't mean that you didn't indirectly harm them by living on _their_ land. My only problem is that the Draymens who destroyed your town apparently weren't thorough."

Helnia dropped her pick. She ran at Lach, but before she could get her hands around his throat, her chain tightened and she came to an abrupt halt only a few feet away from her spot. She was nowhere near close enough to choke Lach, but he had nonetheless taken a step back, a look of fear on his face for a moment before his creepy smirk returned.

"These chains are really tight, aren't they?" said Lach, tapping his own chain. "Good thing, too, because you were just about to display some of that old human rage that makes me realize just how happy I am at the destruction of our people."

Helnia was so angry that she could barely talk. She picked up her pick, but then Aroda grabbed her arm and said, "Helnia, stop, before the slaver comes and notices that we're not working."

Even though she didn't want to, Helnia stepped back. She remembered too well what it was like to get whipped in the back and she was not interested in going through that again. She even looked up and down the line of slaves, but did not see any slavers who might have seen her try to attack Lach.

"Yeah, you'd better listen to Aroda," said Lach. "Not that it makes much of a difference, really. The slavers have a tendency to abuse us slaves even when we haven't done anything. But I'll let you think that won't happen to you."

With that, Lach returned to striking the rocks. Helnia imagined splitting his skull open with her own pick, but because she did not want to get into trouble with the Draymens, she also resumed her work.

But Helnia wasn't really focusing on the rocks. She was just hoping that Sarzen and the others would find and rescue her as soon as possible, because she wasn't so sure that she would be able to survive very long out here by herself.

***

Chapter Twenty

**B** ut no one appeared in Reck to save Helnia or any of the other slaves that day. Instead, Helnia worked all day long, just as Aroda said, getting a very short break to eat some slop for lunch. The slop tasted awful, like muddy water, and even after having a full bowel of the stuff, Helnia did not feel any fuller than she did before. In fact, she felt hungrier than before and found it harder to concentrate, which earned her another whipping when one of the slavers determined that she was intentionally being lazy.

Night didn't bring any rest. Though Helnia's tiny shack was protected from the elements, it was still uncomfortable to sleep in. The hay was not much of a bed and even less of a pillow and the cracks in the walls allowed cold air to blow through. She couldn't close the window, either, so no matter how much she curled into a ball, she was unable to keep herself warm. That her clothing was thin and didn't cover all of her body made it even worse, so she was forced to put some hay on her, though it was too little to make any real difference in comfort.

The next morning was even worse. Helnia was so groggy and in such pain from yesterday's labor that she was missed the alarm. As a result, she received another lashing, this one actually drawing some blood, but she did not get a chance to rest, because she was sent back to work with Aroda and the other slaves immediately afterwards. Lach still worked opposite her, but he did not say a word to her all day. He just smirked when he saw Helnia limp over to Aroda's side and chuckled when Helnia broke the fewest amount of rocks of the day, missing the quota of ten broken rocks a day. That didn't earn her another lashing—thankfully—but it did mean that she was not going to get anything to eat until the day after tomorrow.

And when that day ended, there still wasn't any sign of Sarzen, Rothel, or anyone else. During the night, Helnia would think she would hear someone she knew walking outside her shack, but every time she looked out the window, she'd only see one of the Draymens slavers patrolling the streets to make sure that none of the slaves were awake.

As a result, Helnia was beginning to despair. She had been informed that her bead necklace was probably still in tact, but it had probably been taken to the small cluster of houses just beyond the town's borders, where the Draymens slavers lived. But no slave was ever allowed near those houses unless summoned by the Draymens or worked there as the personal servants of the slavers; and even then, the slaves who worked there had no contact with the slaves who lived in the town, so they couldn't coordinate an effective rebellion.

Helnia tried to fight off the despair, but with each passing day, her spirit became weaker and weaker. Every day became more and more monotonous; she even stopped talking to Aroda, who was the only slave she considered a friend. Helnia once even cried herself to sleep, but she didn't do that often because the Draymens slavers had zero tolerance for tears from the slaves, even tears shed at night when no one was working.

It was on the fifth night after Helnia's kidnapping that she was lying on the floor of her shack. She was just lying there; she wasn't even trying to sleep. It was partly because she was so tired, but also because today, she'd suffered a particularly brutal whipping from a Draymens due to the fact that she'd somehow lost her pick during lunch. Her back burned with pain and it was covered with dried blood; the pain was so bad that she couldn't even close her eyes.

_I'm so exhausted that I can't even sleep,_ Helnia thought. _I can't take any more of this punishment. Sooner or later, I'm going to die, unless Sarzen and the others get here. But they might only just be in time to bury my corpse._

Tears welled up in her eyes against her will. She sniffled and brushed the tears from her eyes, but she stopped that quickly because she just didn't have the energy not to cry. After all, she'd already been punished today; it wasn't like getting whipped a second time would make much of a difference.

So Helnia just let the tears flow from her eyes. She punched the earth and then shivered as a cold breeze flowed through the open window.

_I need help,_ Helnia thought. _Someone... anyone... help._

She looked up at the ceiling, which was too dark to see. She wondered if the Dragon Gods were listening. She had not thought about them very much since her first day here. She technically didn't even really worship them; she never saw any reason to.

_But maybe, just maybe, I should pray to them this one time,_ Helnia thought. _What do I have to lose? It isn't like my situation could get any worse._

So Helnia closed her eyes and prayed a brief prayer to the Dragon Gods. The last time she'd prayed to the Dragon Gods had been nearly twenty years ago, when she had been four-years-old. She recalled being taught how to pray by a retired Warrior Priest in her hometown, an old man named Chen. It had been the last thing old man Chen had taught her, because he passed away the next year. Perhaps that was how Helnia remembered the prayer, even though it had been two decades since she last prayed it.

Silently, Helnia prayed this prayer:

O Dragon Gods,

Lords and saviors of humanity

Defenders of goodness and truth

Your servant is alone, shattered, and on the verge of death

Aid me, O Dragon Gods, aid your suffering servant

Remember the covenant you made with your people

And do not let your servant continue to suffer.

That was it. Even just praying that prayer was almost more than Helnia could handle. She had no idea if the Dragon Gods had heard that prayer or not. Sarzen would tell her that they had, but she didn't have the kind of faith that Sarzen did. She wasn't sure she had any faith at all, but she hoped that the Dragon Gods might still feel friendly enough to humanity in general to at least consider her request, especially since she used a prayer that was said to have been written by the Dragon Gods themselves.

That was when Helnia heard a scratching sound outside. She raised her head, wondering what it was, and looked up at the window. She did not see anything, but then a small, white bird flew through the window and landed on the ground before her.

It was a beautiful little bird and, despite the darkness of the night, Helnia could see it quite well, because its body generated a bright glow. It had a silver beak and amazing golden eyes, golden eyes that looked up at her curiously.

That was when Helnia noticed a small letter tied around its leg. Despite her exhaustion, Helnia reached over and undid the string around its leg. Taking the note, she unfolded it and read it by the bird's small glow:

Helnia,

If you get this letter, it's me, Sarzen. We know where you are and we're planning to break you out. I can't give you any details in case this letter somehow lands in enemy hands, but don't lose hope.

From, Sarzen.

Helnia blinked back the tears that were coming from her eyes, tears that were actually tears of joy rather than tears of sadness. She looked at the bird and sniffled, hoping that the bird would confirm that it was actually from Sarzen and that this wasn't just some kind of sleep-deprivation induced hallucination.

The bird just gave a small chirp and flew away, but Helnia did not care. She looked at the letter again and then looked up at the ceiling.

_Maybe the Dragon Gods were listening after all,_ Helnia thought.

And for the first time in five days, a smile appeared on her lips.

***

Chapter Twenty-One

**T** he chirping of a bird caused Sarzen—sitting in the darkness of the night in the hills surrounding the slave town known as Reck—to look up. The Slayer's pet bird, named Shine, was flying through the sky back toward their camp.

The Slayer, who sat on the edge of the camp with his head down like he was asleep, suddenly looked up. He raised his hand and Shine landed on it. Shine immediately started chirping at him, noises that made no sense whatsoever to Sarzen, but the Slayer looked like he understood every word the bird said.

All around Sarzen, the other members of the caravan were starting to stir. They lay on the carts or on the ground, sitting up and rubbing their eyes as they looked over at the Slayer, who was still listening to what Shine was telling him.

"Is the bird back?" said Rothel with a yawn. He was lying on the cart behind Sarzen, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head. "Already?"

"Looks like it," said Sarzen, whispering because he did not want to interrupt the Slayer's conversation with his pet bird.

But secretly, Sarzen was almost too excited to sit still or lower his tone. For the last five days, Sarzen and the others, with the aid of the Slayer, had crossed the border between Yores and the Cursed Lands and traversed the dangerous, rocky terrain. They had had to move slowly and carefully, avoiding paths and roads that the Draymens might walk upon, but more than once the uneven ground would cause a wheel on a cart to break. Thus, they spent a lot of time repairing their damaged carts, which had slowed down their journey considerably.

And, of course, there was the problem that they did not know exactly where Helnia had been taken. So they had ambushed and kidnapped a lone Draymens they had stumbled upon drinking from a creek, who told them about the nearest slave town of Reck, where captured mages were often taken. The Slayer had then killed the Draymens, mostly because they did not have any way of easily transporting it and they did not want it to escape and warn its fellow Draymens of their arrival.

When they found Reck, Sarzen had first wanted to charge headlong into the town and kill any Draymens they ran into. He thought that one sudden, abrupt attack would take the Draymens by surprise and make it impossible for them to mount an effective defense.

The Slayer, however, had shot down that suggestion almost immediately by pointing out that the Draymens were far craftier than they appeared and that they only had about a dozen people versus the three dozen or so Draymens that their scouts had spotted in the town. The Slayer had argued that it made more sense to observe Reck for a few days and then form a plan based on what they learned before they rushed into anything.

The Slayer's argument made sense, so Sarzen accepted it, but at the same time he also wanted to get into contact with Helnia and let her know that they were going to rescue her. That was when the Slayer told Sarzen about Shine, his small pet bird that came out of nowhere. Sarzen thought that Shine might be a Raugian, due to how its feathers glowed with power, but the Slayer insisted that the little bird was yet another gift of the Dragon Gods and that it would be able to deliver a message to Helnia with only basic instructions from Sarzen.

So Sarzen, using what little paper they had brought along with them from Sinmo, had jotted down a quick note and tied it to Shine's leg. From what Sarzen could see here, Shine's leg was bare, so he assumed—hoped—that Shine had successfully delivered the note to Helnia, which meant that she was still alive.

Finally, the Slayer stood up, placed Shine on his shoulder, and walked over to Sarzen. His expression, as usual, was grim, but he did not seem depressed.

Unable to stand the suspense, Sarzen stood up and said, "What did Shine find, Slayer? Is Helnia all right? Is she still alive?"

The Slayer stopped and nodded. "Yes. Shine delivered the letter to your sister without any problems."

"How is she?" said Sarzen. "Is she okay?"

"Shine said she looked like she was in terrible pain," said the Slayer, "but she wasn't dead or dying."

Sarzen sighed in relief. "Thank the Dragon Gods. I was sure they would have killed her by now." He put a hand on his sword's hilt. "Let's go in now, while the Draymens are asleep."

"Hold on," said the Slayer, "we don't want to move too hastily. Like I said, these slave towns are always well-protected in order to make sure that the slaves don't escape and that no one tries to free the slaves within."

"But this is the perfect time to attack," said Sarzen. "The Draymens—"

"Are probably still awake," said Rothel, causing Sarzen to look at him. Rothel was sitting up in his cart now, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Remember, Draymens love the darkness. If we attack now, they'll have the advantage."

"Rothel is right," said the Slayer. "Draymens know how to fight in the shadows better than humans. Attacking now would be foolish even if it gave us the element of surprise."

"Then when should we attack?" said Sarzen. "During the day, when they will all be awake?"

"Yes, if we want to make sure we stab the Draymens and not each other," said the Slayer. "One thing I've learned in my experience as a Draymens Slayer is that you never pick a fight with them at night. That's why they always attack towns and villages at night; they have no problem taking advantage of their natural strengths and using them to eliminate their enemies."

Sarzen bit his lower lip. "What if I just sneaked into the town and freed Helnia myself? We don't need to save everyone. We really just need to save Helnia."

"How good are you at stealth?" said the Slayer.

"Bad," said Rothel, before Sarzen could answer. "When we were teenagers, he tried to sneak out of the Sanctuary to hang out with me, but ended up making so much noise that the deaf caretaker of the Sanctuary caught him and dragged him back to his bed."

"Hey, he didn't actually hear me," said Sarzen in annoyance. "I just knocked over that statue of the Dragon Gods and he felt the vibrations in the floor."

"You're still pretty clumsy, though," said Rothel. "Not really a master of stealth."

"I figured as much," said the Slayer. "Sarzen makes so much noise when he walks that I sometimes can't even hear myself think."

"I'm right here, you know," said Sarzen.

"I know," said the Slayer. "Doesn't change the fact that you couldn't sneak into a sleeping deaf house without awakening everyone inside it."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" said Sarzen, throwing his arms up into the air. "Just sit back and continue to let the Draymens treat my sister like dirt?"

"Of course not," said the Slayer. He gestured at the small bird on his shoulder. "Shine did not merely deliver that note to Helnia. I also had him do a quick overview of the town's defenses in order that we might be able to plan our next attack."

"Really?" said Sarzen. "Did he find out anything important?"

The Slayer nodded. "Yes. I think we now have enough information to come up with a useful, workable plan to save Helnia. And the rest of the slaves, too."

"We're going to save all of them?" said Rothel. "I thought we were just going to save Helnia."

"She's our main focus, but the other slaves are in the same boat as her," said the Slayer. "I've made it my mission to defeat the Draymens and protect humanity from them. I've never freed a whole slave town before, but if I can, I will."

Sarzen folded his arms across his chest. "Fine, then. I'm not against saving everyone else, just as long as we save Helnia, too."

"Of course," said the Slayer. "We just need to be smart about it. Despite their bestial nature, the Draymens are very sly. Besides, we won't just have to worry about the Draymens opposing us."

"Who else is there?" said Sarzen. "Do the Draymens have allies we don't know about? Another species that is against humanity and the Dragon Gods?"

The Slayer smiled a grim smile. "Yes. You may have heard of them. They're called humans."

"Humans?" said Sarzen. He glanced at the others, who all looked as confused as him. "I don't understand. Why would humans work with Draymens?"

"I'm talking about the slaves," said the Slayer. He sighed. "Draymens slavery is cruel. It isn't just about physically punishing the enslaved. It's also about shattering the minds and wills of the slaves and making them loyal to the Draymens, no matter how badly the Draymens treat them."

"But doesn't every slave want freedom?" said Sarzen. "If I were enslaved, I know I would."

"You'd think so, but many simply give into despair, due to the fact that the Elect has failed to send anyone to liberate them," said the Slayer. "Quite a few slaves tend to think that the Draymens will eventually conquer Yores, so they side with them in order to ensure their own survival. They've been known to aid Draymens in enslaving and killing even more humans."

"Willingly?" said Sarzen.

"Very willingly," said the Slayer. "Smugly, in fact. I've met more than few slaves like that in my time. In fact, I was nearly assassinated by one such slave, back when I first started my battle against the Draymens. He tricked me into believing that he wanted freedom and then almost slit my throat in my sleep after I 'saved' him from his master."

"Do you think the slaves of Reck will fight against us?" said Rothel.

"Possibly," said the Slayer. "I've never been in the Cursed Lands before, nor have I visited this particular slave town before, so I don't know for sure whether these slaves would fight for their masters or not. Optimistically, I would like to say that they would simply step aside and let us kill their masters and free them, but it is equally possible that the slaves will pick up their tools and fight us in defense of their masters."

"And there's at least three hundred slaves in that town," said Sarzen. His shoulders slumped. "That's equivalent to a large squadron in the Yoresian Army. In comparison, we have less than a dozen mages and Warrior Priests between us."

"Exactly," said the Slayer. He looked up at the sky night, like he was thinking about what to do next. "I still think we can do it, but again, we will have to be careful."

"I wish we had known all of this before we left Ars," said Rothel, brushing back some of his long hair. "We didn't even know that slave towns existed."

"That's because the Elect have been making sure that no one in the mountains knows just how bad things have gotten in the plains," said the Slayer. "There are at least five slave towns in Yores and most likely ten times that many in the Cursed Lands, based on what I've heard from those few slaves lucky enough to escape. And no one has come to save them, except for me."

"Why would the Elect do that?" said Sarzen. "I know they can be very lazy, but this just seems dangerous, as if they don't care about the survival of their own people at all."

"I don't know their reasons for it," said the Slayer. "But I do know that they haven't helped. If the Elect actually did choose to send the Yoresian Army to free the slaves and defeat the Draymens, they could solve the problem easily."

The Slayer sounded bitter about the Elect's refusal to help. Sarzen understood that, mostly because he was beginning to feel that way himself. He had never had much respect for the Elect in the first place, but if they were knowingly refusing to help the people, then that meant that they were enemies of the people of Yores. That just made Sarzen all the more anxious to find the Dragon Gods; he had a feeling that the Dragon Gods' aid would be needed for more than just killing Draymens.

"Anyway," said the Slayer, his tone suddenly brightening, "that's a discussion for another time. For now, we need to focus on making plans to invade Reck... and I think I know just the way to do it."

***

Chapter Twenty-Two

**E** arly the next morning, Sarzen crept carefully toward the slave town of Reck, walking doubled over and hoping that none of the Draymens or slaves would see him. Of course, no one _should_ see him, since one of the mages—a man named Pral, who was very quiet and methodical—had cast an invisibility spell over Sarzen. The spell, according to Pral, made Sarzen invisible to everyone but Pral himself, but it would also only last thirty minutes. It could have lasted longer, but Pral had insisted on the thirty minute time limit in order to conserve Raugus.

_Thirty minutes should be more than enough time to do what we need to do,_ Sarzen thought. _As long as I don't waste time, we should be okay._

The plan that they had spent all night working on was this: Sarzen, under the invisibility spell cast by Pral, would sneak into the houses where the Draymens lived, which were separate from the rest of the town. He was supposed to enter the biggest house, the one that was two stories tall, because that was where the vault full of the belongings of the captured slaves was kept.

By breaking into the vault, Sarzen would grab as many Raugus necklaces as he could and bring them out to the slaves. Since many of the slaves in Reck were once mages themselves, the Slayer had theorized that they might be willing to side with Sarzen and the others if they were given their necklaces back. That would also increase their side's numbers, which would make it that much easier to destroy the Draymens and free the other slaves.

Of course, even with his invisibility spell, that did not mean it would be easy for Sarzen to enter unseen. That's why Rothel and two of Sarzen's fellow Warrior Priests were going to make a distraction in the town; they were going to try to draw the attention of the Draymens away from the houses so that Sarzen would have as much time as he needed in order to find and open the vault.

Sarzen desperately wanted to go and see Helnia instead, but he understood that there was no point in going to see her right now if he did not first empower the slaves to rise up against their masters. Besides, he would be seeing her again soon enough, so he put his worry about her out of his mind and focused on his mission at the moment.

He reached the houses on the outskirts of the town. Unlike the one-room shacks in which the slaves slept, these were larger and nicer, more like the houses in the villages and towns back in Yores. They looked sturdier and appeared to have multiple rooms, with doors that were locked with heavy metal locks that looked like they had been stolen from someone else; at least, Sarzen had a hard time imagining that the bestial Draymens could ever construct even something as simple as a lock.

Sarzen crouched low next to a tool shed. He could have gotten closer, much closer, to the Draymens' houses without being seen, but just because he was invisible did not mean that he was intangible. Pral had warned him that people could still touch and feel him even if they could not see him, so Sarzen was keeping his distance for now in order to avoid being touched and found out.

The houses looked empty. Sarzen did not see any Draymens through the windows or outside. It appeared that the slavers were out today, most likely awakening the slaves for the day's work. If so, then breaking in and opening the vault would be very easy.

But Sarzen did not yet approach the houses. He glanced back in the direction of the shacks. He was waiting for Rothel and the others to start the distraction; they had not said what their distraction would be, but Rothel had told Sarzen that he would know it when he saw it. Sarzen hoped so, because he was getting impatient waiting for the sign. He could feel the time limit on the spell rapidly ticking away.

All of a sudden, Sarzen heard a loud shout from the slave town and several of the shacks near the opposite end of the town—the end farthest away from the Draymens' homes—collapsed in a big cloud of dust and dirt.

Then, without warning, the doors to the houses burst open and a dozen Draymens, each one armed with whips and clubs, ran out of the houses. They stopped and looked around in confusion for a moment before the tallest among them pointed toward the scene of the collapsed shacks and the shouting, at which point the Draymens ran toward it, growling and grunting under their breath all the while.

_That must be the distraction,_ Sarzen thought. _Now's my chance._

Sarzen rose and ran over to the middle house, the one that Shine had identified as the location of the vault. Thanks to the fact that the Draymens who lived there had left the door open, Sarzen didn't even have to mess with any locks. He just dashed through the doorway and stopped, looking at the house's interior before he went in any further.

While the houses didn't look very nice, their interiors were even worse than he thought. The walls were old and moldy, with a few holes in them. They also had dried stains on them, stains that were either blood or something else; Sarzen didn't try to identify them.

Not only that, but the house smelled awful. It was a thick, musty stink that forced him to cover his nose; it smelled like a horse had gone to the bathroom in here and no one had bothered to clean up after it. Sarzen had always known that the Draymens didn't care much about cleanliness, but this was just sickening.

But Sarzen could not allow the stink of the house to make him leave. He would have to go in deeper and find the vault. He did not know its exact location in the house, so he would need to do some exploration. He doubted it would take him long to find it, especially if Rothel and the others kept the Draymens distracted, but he still had to be quick; by his calculations, he only had about twenty minutes left before the spell wore off.

The problem was finding where the vault was located in the house. Sarzen tried to think of where he would put a vault containing the weapons and equipment of the slaves if he were a Draymens, but unfortunately he couldn't put himself in the shoes of those monsters.

_I'll just search this floor and the next until I find it,_ Sarzen thought. _It shouldn't be that hard; it's probably really big and easy to spot._

So Sarzen resumed walking deeper into the house, keeping his steps as quiet as he could. Of course, he soon discovered that he wasn't any good at that, and besides, there wasn't anyone else in the house except him, so it didn't matter if he made a lot of noise, so he just started walking normally.

But the deeper into the house Sarzen went, the more he wanted to turn around and leave. He found skulls—human skulls—lined on the walls. The stench from before, which he now identified as the stench of a rotting human corpse, was worse than ever. He even stepped in some kind of sticky puddle of some kind of liquid on the floor, something he didn't try to identify due to how awful it smelled.

In the living room, Sarzen did not find the vault, but he did find the source of the stench: A rotting corpse that was covered by a white sheet. He was glad that he couldn't see the corpse itself, which appeared to be the corpse of a young woman, because he knew it would make him throw up. Nonetheless, he didn't stay long, because the stink of the corpse would make him throw up by itself.

So Sarzen climbed the creaky, rickety stairs up to the next floor as quickly as he could. The farther up the stairs he went, the weaker the stink became, although given how strong it was even from a distance, Sarzen was sure that the stink had sank into the house's walls and foundations. He wondered how the Draymens could possibly live like this... and what kind of ghoulish things they did with that corpse.

But soon, Sarzen forgot all about that when he reached the second floor. Unlike the first floor, it had no rooms; instead, it was one, giant wide-open room, with boxes and furniture scattered everywhere. It seemed odd to Sarzen that the Draymens would have boxes and furniture; he wondered if they had stolen it from some humans. Things like chairs and tables didn't seem like something that Draymens would build on their own, but he supposed it was possible they could have, given how simple the furniture looked.

In any case, Sarzen spotted the vault. It was large, easily two or three times as large as himself, and it was completely unguarded. Sarzen checked and did not see any guards protecting it or anything else.

_I have been blessed by the Dragon Gods today,_ Sarzen thought, smiling as he walked over to the vault as quickly as he could. _Then again, the Draymens probably don't_ need _to have guards to defend the place, since they live here already._

Upon reaching the vault, Sarzen crouched down in front of the tumbler lock. He wish that he knew the combination to unlock it. But even if he did, it would have been difficult to input, because the numbers on the lock's dial were old and worn out. That confirmed Sarzen's theory that the vault had been stolen by humans, likely a long time ago, but it did not help him figure out how to undo the lock.

_I should have seen this coming,_ Sarzen thought. _And I cannot force the Draymens who live here to tell me, either, since I'm the only person in the house. That means that I need to come up with a way to break this lock fast._

Sarzen considered breaking the lock with his sword, but then rejected that idea. It would not work; as strong as Sarzen was, he didn't have the strength necessary to break the lock, even with his sword. He would only succeed in damaging his sword, and as a Warrior Priest, he could not allow any unnecessary damage to happen to his sword.

So Sarzen became lost in thought over the issue before he heard footsteps creaking across the floor behind him. He immediately looked over his shoulder just in time to see a heavy wooden bat coming directly at his face.

Without thinking, Sarzen ducked and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the wooden bat before it hit his face. Rolling back to his feet, Sarzen drew his sword from its sheath and held it before him as he turned to look at his assailant.

To his surprise, his attacker was not a large, powerful Draymens who could have killed him with that blow. Instead, it was a young, scared-looking little slave girl, probably no older than seven. She wore the same clothes that all of the slaves did and she was incredibly skinny, but she also had a bunch of scars and bruises across her face, like she was regularly beaten. Her hair was messy and short, too, making her look almost like a really feminine boy, but it was her voice that tipped Sarzen off to her gender.

"Who's there?" said the girl. Her voice was so scared and so high that Sarzen almost could not understand it. "I heard you! I heard someone in here! Where did you go? I almost hit you."

Sarzen bit his lower lip. He had thought that the girl had somehow seen him at first, but the fact that the girl clearly did not know where he was meant that she had relied more on her hearing than her eyesight. In fact, now that Sarzen looked, he realized that the girl was blind; her eyes were cloudy and dark.

The girl wielded her bat like a sword, but she looked very pathetic. Sarzen realized that she must have been a personal servant of one of the Draymens. She had been left here when her masters went to check on the distraction and she clearly believed it was her duty to take down any intruders who broke into this place.

"Come out!" the girl shouted, waving her bat around so crazily that Sarzen was afraid she might actually hit herself. "I'm not afraid to break your skull! I'm not afraid of anything!"

Sarzen had to suppress a chuckle. Despite the girl's obvious tininess, she had a lot of bravery. But he was still unsure if he should reveal himself or not; maybe if he stayed quiet and still long enough, she'd decide that she had heard nothing and would leave on her own.

The girl eventually lowered her bat. She stared blankly into nothingness, like she was listening for any sounds, before shaking her head and muttering, "Maybe I didn't hear anything. But I thought I heard someone checking on the vault..."

The girl walked up to the vault and ran her small hand across its surface. "It's still closed. Maybe it was nothing."

The girl removed her hand from the vault's surface. "I shouldn't worry. No one else knows the combination aside from me and master. The treasures are safe."

Sarzen's eyes widened. This girl knew the combination for the vault? He would have praised the Dragon Gods there and then for giving him such a lucky break, but Sarzen didn't want to reveal himself just yet. He needed to get the girl to give him the combination or perhaps somehow convince her to open the vault herself, though he thought the former would be easier to do than the latter.

"I should go back to my room before master returns," said the girl. She suddenly sounded far more worried and afraid before. "Master doesn't like it when I leave my room, even to defend the vault from intruders. I don't want another beating today."

"Then maybe you won't," said Sarzen, "if you help me."

The girl jumped like she'd just been stung by a wasp. But to her credit, she didn't drop her bat. She just pointed it this way and that, holding it before her like a ward against evil, and said, "Who's there? Who said that?"

"I did," said Sarzen. His voice caused her to look at him, even though she still couldn't see him. "But I'm not your enemy, so you can lower your weapon."

"Who are you?" said the girl. "You don't sound like a Draymens. You speak Yoresian too well. Are you one of the slaves? Did you break into here? If so, I'm going to stop you."

The girl raised her bat again, but Sarzen said, "No, no. I'm not a slave, though I am a human. I'm here to free you and the other slaves. I'm with a group of people who are here to save everyone."

To Sarzen's surprise, the girl hesitated. "Are you... are you the Draymens Slayer? I've heard of him. He's supposed to have killed a lot of Draymens."

"No, I'm not him, but I am working with him," said Sarzen. "If you put down your weapon and help me, I can assure you that you will not have to serve your 'master' ever again."

The girl hesitated again, but her hesitation lasted shorter than before, and she said, "How do I know you're telling the truth? You can't free me or anyone else. Master won't allow it."

"Your master isn't here at the moment," said Sarzen. "Even if he was, it wouldn't matter. Humans shouldn't be slaves. We should be free."

The girl lowered her bat, but then she took a step to the side. "You're scaring me. I'm going to get master and tell him about you, even if he beats me for it. Maybe he will beat me less if I tell him about you sooner."

Sarzen immediately stabbed his sword into her path, causing the girl to jump away from it in fear. "No. I can't let you leave and tell him about me. No one is supposed to know that I'm even here. This was supposed to be a secret mission."

"Well, you're not doing a very good job of that, are you?" said the girl, but her voice trembled. She was clearly too afraid to try to get past him, which was good, because he needed her to stay here.

"Only because I _chose_ to reveal myself to you," said Sarzen. "Anyway, I need you to undo the lock on the vault. I heard you mention that you know the combination."

"Why? So you can steal the treasures?" said the girl.

Sarzen raised an eyebrow. "Treasures? I was told that the objects in that vault were the belongings of the slaves."

"Master says they're treasures that belong to him," said the girl. "He also told me that lots of humans would like to steal these treasures, which is why we must protect them."

Sarzen frowned. "And you believe him? You don't think your master was lying to you?"

The girl suddenly looked down. "I... I don't know. Master says I'm supposed to believe him. I've never felt inside the vault myself, but... I just believe what he tells me."

"What about your parents?" said Sarzen. "Where are they? Are they slaves, too?"

"They're dead," said the girl. She still didn't look up. "After I was born, they were killed by master. He said they would have mistreated me. So he raised me to be his servant."

Sarzen put a hand over his mouth. He had not expected to hear that; in fact, he had never heard of Draymens raising young children to serve them from birth. But it did explain why she was so loyal to her master, even though he clearly abused her; she must have thought of him as her father figure, a disturbing thought for Sarzen.

But Sarzen did not have time to think about that, because the time for his spell was still ticking and he had no idea when the Draymens would return.

So he lowered his hand from his mouth and said, "My parents were killed by the Draymens, too, but I was older than you when that happened. Still, even without knowing your parents, I can tell that your master lied to you, because if he truly cared about you, he would not have beaten you."

The girl flinched, even though Sarzen had not raised a hand against her. "He beats me because I disappoint him. I deserve it."

"Do you?" said Sarzen. "I don't think you. I think your master just beats you because he hates you."

"Hates me?" said the girl. "Why?"

"Because you're human," said Sarzen. "The Draymens hate us. They want to destroy us, no matter what. There is nothing any of us can do to make them like us, even if we lived kindly and honorably. He beats you because he hates you and can get away with it."

"You don't know my master," said the girl, though she sounded a little doubtful. "He's... he's not nice, but—"

"But he's cruel," said Sarzen. "Listen, girl, I know you've never known anything else but your master's wrath. But if you help me, I can ensure that neither he nor anyone else lays even one finger on you ever again."

The girl hesitated. She seemed to be considering his words, though with her eyes so blank, he found it hard to read her mood. He prayed to the Dragon Gods that the girl would listen; if she didn't, he knew he would have to do something about her so she wouldn't call for help.

"If..." the girl hesitated; she sounded like she was afraid of someone overhearing their conversation if she kept talking. "If I help you, my master will beat me."

"If you help me, I will protect you from your master," said Sarzen. "I can do that. You can't see me, but I'm strong and I carry a sword. Your master wouldn't stand a chance if he came after you while I'm with you."

The girl did not respond to that. She was clearly still thinking about everything he'd said. For a moment, Sarzen was worried that she might reject his offer and run away and tell her master about him.

Finally, the girl lowered her bat to the floor. "All right. I believe you. I don't want to be beaten anymore."

Sarzen sighed in relief. "Good. I will make sure that neither your master nor his friends harm you. Now, I need you to open the vault for me. If we're going to free the other slaves, we will need to get all of their possessions to them, and fast."

***

Chapter Twenty-Three

**H** elnia wished that she had known ahead of time what Sarzen and the others' 'distraction' was going to be. It would have saved her a lot of grief.

The day began like every other day. Helnia awoke in her shack, feeling awful and tired and in pain, but this time she didn't get up right away, because one look at the weak light streaming through the window of her shack told her that the day's work had not yet began. That meant she would have time to sleep, but now that she was awake, there was no way she was going back to sleep even if she closed her eyes.

But neither was Helnia going to get up and walk around. She decided that she would just lie there, pointlessly staring at the ceiling of her shack, until one of the Draymens slave masters came and dragged her to the quarry. She half-hoped that they would just kill her and be done with it, but she knew that that was just her depression speaking. Intellectually, she knew that Sarzen and the others were going to rescue her today, but she did not know when they would. She hoped it would be soon, because her aching hands and back did not want to go back to work today.

Helnia would have thought that the little glowing bird that had delivered that letter to her last night had just been a dream or hallucination, but she held in her hand the letter that the bird had given her. She had fallen asleep reading it over and over again, even when she didn't have the light to read it by.

Helnia looked at the tiny letter and squeezed her hand around it. It was the only bit of hope she had so far, but her cynical side told her that Sarzen and the others would not be able to save her and that she should not get her hopes up.

_I guess we'll see today if the Dragon Gods heard my prayers last night or not,_ Helnia thought.

All of a sudden, Helnia heard loud shouting—the other slaves, based on their Yoresian accents—followed by the sounds of shacks crashing and collapsing into the ground. Despite her exhaustion and pain, Helnia sat up. She heard screams and shouting outside, as well as cursing, so she rose to her feet unsteadily, using the back wall for support, and then peeked out the window of her shack.

Helnia saw slaves running in the streets outside, screaming and shouting like it was the end of the world. Some of them were screaming for help from the masters, while others were simply shouting incoherently. It was incredibly chaotic and for a moment Helnia did not understand what had frightened everyone so much until she spotted the shattered remains of a group of nearby shacks.

Where there had once stood a dozen shacks was now a large pile of wood and dirt. It looked like a bull had run through and knocked them all to pieces. Granted, it wasn't exactly difficult to knock down these shacks, but seeing so many destroyed at once was unusual, so Helnia understood why everyone was so afraid and confused.

_How did that happen?_ Helnia thought. _Is someone attacking the town?_

Helnia knew she couldn't find the answers to her questions here, so she ran over to the door of her shack, pulled it open, and stepped outside.

Just as Helnia exited her shack, Aroda—who looked alert and awake, no doubt due to all of the noise—ran up to her and said, "Helnia! What's going on?"

"I don't know," said Helnia, putting a hand on her head and looking at the destroyed shacks. "It looks like the shacks were attacked, but I don't know who attacked them."

Just as Helnia said that, three figures suddenly appeared on top of the heap of collapsed shacks. Thanks to the dust that had arisen from the collapse of the shacks, it was difficult at first to see who they were, but when a gust of wind blew away the dust cloud, Helnia could not help but gasp.

Standing atop the ruins of the collapsed shacks were Rothel and two of the Warrior Priests. All three of them held their swords out, though Rothel was also touching his Raugus necklace, which was glowing with the energy within. Helnia did not see Sarzen among them, but that was fine because she knew that she was about to be saved either way.

"Who is that guy?" said Aroda, staring up at Rothel and the Warrior Priests with interest. "He's rather handsome."

"That's Rothel," said Helnia. "He's one of my friends. And those two Warrior Priests with him are also friends of mine, though I don't know them very well."

Aroda looked at Helnia in surprise. "What are your friends doing here? Are they going to save us?"

Helnia opened her mouth to reply, but then Rothel—in a much louder voice than usual—shouted, "Slaves of Reck, stop running around in confusion! You do not need to be afraid, for we are here to rescue you from your enslavement!"

Rothel's voice sounded strange to Helnia. It sounded authoritative and powerful, kind of like what Helnia always imagined a king would sound like. His voice boomed across the area, perhaps even across the whole town, which Helnia assumed was due to his magic, though she suddenly realized that he was no longer touching his necklace.

Helnia certainly wasn't the only one to listen to Rothel's commands. The other slaves—who had been running around like headless chickens—came to an abrupt halt and looked over at Rothel and the Warrior Priests with confusion on their faces.

"Who the hell are you?" shouted one of the slaves. "Were you the one who destroyed our shacks?"

"That we did, but only as part of a greater plan to free all of you," said Rothel. "Please do not be angry with us."

"But one of those shacks was my home," another slave said in a sad voice. "And the slave masters are not going to give me another."

"You won't need one if you listen to us," said Rothel, "because today we are going to free every man, woman, and child in this town. For good."

The slaves all exchanged puzzled looks with one another. Some of the slaves began muttering among themselves, but only one of them—the one who had lost his shack—had the courage to ask, "Who are you people? How will you free us from the Draymens?"

"My name is Rothel Oran, a mage of Ars," said Rothel, putting a hand on his chest. He gestured at the other two Warrior Priests. "And these are my companions and allies, Sehn and Kiloa. We are from the city of Ars and are part of a special group of people tasked by the Elect Council of Yores with finding the Dragon Gods, who will save us all from the Draymens once and for all."

"Find the Dragon Gods?" said the slave incredulously. "Impossible. They're gone and will never come back."

"Perhaps, but that's not relevant right now," said Rothel. "What matters is that we are taking a short break from our quest to save all of you, because we cannot tolerate seeing Draymens hold our fellow Yoresians as slaves in these terrible conditions."

"Wow, he talks pretty impressively," Aroda muttered under her breath to Helnia. "Handsome and a good speaker. Those are two qualities hard to find in one man."

Helnia ignored Aroda's muttering in order to focus on Rothel and the others. She watched as the other slaves began muttering among themselves again, this time with more hope in their voices.

"Not only will we free you all, but we will also return your belongings that were stolen from you by the Draymens, so that you will be able to flee this place safely," said Rothel. "As we speak, one of our own is currently attempting to break into the vault where your belongings are being kept. Once he retrieves them, you will be able to defeat your masters and free yourselves and we will help."

More mutterings among the slaves. There was no mistaking it this time; many slaves were starting to believe Rothel's words. Even Helnia, who had no reason to doubt him, found herself listening to him with more interest than usual. She wondered why he could speak so well and so authoritatively; as far as she knew, Rothel was merely an ordinary mage, just like her, and had no special powers beyond what most mages had. Perhaps he was just a better public speaker than she'd known.

But then a loud, harsh laugh broke out from somewhere nearby. It was so sudden that Helnia jumped and looked around for it, as did the other slaves. Rothel, Sehn, and Kiloa just looked around as well.

Then Helnia spotted him. Moving toward Rothel and the others like some foul, loathsome creature that had emerged from under a rock was Lach. He was laughing to himself, his movements as slimy and unnatural as a snake. His thin, gangly form stopped at the base of the shacks, his smirk visible even from a distance.

"What are you laughing about?" said Rothel. He sounded flustered, which broke the authority in his voice. "Did I say something funny?"

Lach was laughing almost too much to respond, but he finally gained control over his laughter long enough to say, "Oh, every word you said was gold. And I can't believe that the rest of the slaves were dumb enough to listen. Then again, considering how dumb we humans are, I shouldn't be surprised that we'd listen to liars like these idiots."

"Liars?" said Rothel. "We're not lying. We're serious about saving all of you."

"Yeah, we don't want to be saved, thanks," said Lach, rolling his eyes. "Or rather, we shouldn't be saved. We should just be glad that the Draymens decided to make us their slave laborers, instead of killing us outright, as we deserve."

"Deserve?" said Rothel. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm just saying that we humans have been pretty bad to Draymens over the years," said Lach, "so enslaving us is just payback. And frankly, I think it's a little pathetic how many of us want to be free. Not so happy about oppression now that _we're_ on the receiving end of it, huh?"

Rothel looked at a total loss for words, as did Sehn and Kiloa. That wasn't good; Helnia could already see that the other slaves, even including Aroda, were starting to look doubtful themselves, as if they were starting to believe Lach's words. Helnia even found herself starting to doubt that Rothel and the others could save them, but she caught herself before she let her doubt get the best of her.

"But... but slavery is wrong," said Rothel. "Draymens shouldn't enslave humans."

"Well, humans shouldn't take land from Draymens, either," said Lach with a snort. "Now, Mr. Rothel or whatever your name is, unlike you and every other slave in this place, I know my place. I know that this is just what we deserve. We are reaping what our ancestors sowed a thousand years ago. Sorry if you can't accept that."

"I don't understand," said Rothel. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"It's no joke," Lach said. "I'm just more, well, _aware_ than you, I guess. Unlike everyone else, I'm not blinded by pro-human bias. I have enough objectivity to recognize that we deserve everything that's happened to us so far. Sorry you don't understand that; I guess you're just that stupid."

Even Helnia, who was already too familiar with Lach's bizarre beliefs than she liked, found herself disgusted by his words. She wanted to punch him out, though given her current emaciated state, she doubted she'd be able to hurt him much.

At that moment, the sound of clinking armor could be heard, causing Helnia to look down the street. Her spirits fell when she saw a dozen armed Draymens rushing down the street toward the crowd of assembled slaves, snorting and grunting in anger.

The slaves immediately scattered. Some ran back into their shacks, slamming the doors shut behind them, while others fled behind or between other shacks. Helnia stepped back into the doorway of her shack and Aroda joined her, but the Draymens paid no attention to the slaves. Their attention was instead on Rothel, Sehn, and Kiloa, who jumped off the collapsed pile of shacks onto the streets and faced the Draymens with their swords in front of them.

The only slave who wasn't panicking at the sight of the Draymens was Lach. He just stepped into the shadows between two shacks, still smirking as he folded his arms across his chest and watched the Draymens advance. Helnia wanted to strangle him, but she also didn't want to put herself in the middle of the inevitable conflict between the Draymens and her allies. She just watched as the Draymens surrounded Rothel, Sehn, and Kiloa, effectively cutting off all avenues of escape for those three.

"Looks like your friends are about to be slaughtered," Aroda said. She sighed. "A shame, too, because I was hoping to get to know the handsome one a lot better after this."

Helnia clutched the door frame in worry. She knew that Rothel was a good fighter and Sehn and Kiloa probably were, too, since they were Warrior Priests, but at the same time she knew just how vicious and cruel these Draymens could be. She watched as the Draymens waved their own weapons and growled and spat at Rothel, Sehn, and Kiloa, who had backed up against each other so their backs wouldn't be exposed to their foes.

Right before the Draymens could attack, however, a sudden fire bolt came out of nowhere and struck one of the Draymens in the back of the head. The Draymens immediately collapsed, the hole in the back of its head smoking, as the other Draymens looked at their fallen comrade in surprise.

But that was all they got to do before, without warning, more fire bolts came, these ones coming from several directions at once. They came from between shacks and with every fire bolt shot, Helnia caught a glimpse of the other mages who traveled with the caravan, tapping their necklaces and sending fire bolts flying at the Draymens.

Not every fire bolt hit its mark, but the sudden magical attacks caused the Draymens to break ranks. Some turned around to try to defend themselves with shields, while others tried to retreat, only to be cut down by Rothel or one of the Warrior Priests. One Draymens was struck in the knee by a stray bolt and, before it could get back up, was beheaded by Rothel, who was moving so fast that he appeared to be floating rather than walking.

In less than five minutes, all twelve of the Draymens were dead. Some were beheaded, while others had smoking wounds in their hearts or heads, and still others had had their chest cut open by Rothel, Sehn, and Kiloa. Some of the nearby shacks had caught fire as well, including the pile of shacks collapsed by Rothel and the others, but none of the slaves had gotten harmed in the middle of the brief but furious battle.

"Whoa," said Aroda, staring at the Draymens corpses lying on the ground. "Handsome _and_ ruthless." She looked at Helnia again. "You don't mind if I have some of him, do you?"

Helnia was about to ask what she meant by that, but then she noticed that the slaves were starting to come out of hiding now that the fighting was over. But the slaves came out hesitantly; poking their heads out the windows of their shacks, cracking open the doors of their shacks to peek outside, or walking out into the open carefully, as if they expected to be shot down the second they showed themselves.

The slaves were not the only ones coming out of hiding. As Helnia watched, the mages who had picked off the Draymens from a distance were also emerging from their hiding spots, making their way over to join Rothel, Sehn, and Kiloa. Among them was a man Helnia didn't recognize, who carried a glowing ax at his side and had a cute, tiny bird on his shoulder, a bird that Helnia recognized as the one that had delivered Sarzen's letter last night to her.

Rothel gestured at the dead Draymens that lay all around them. "Slaves of Reck, do you see these dead monsters? Do any of you now doubt that we can free all of you from your masters? That we can ensure that these beasts never take your freedom from you again?"

This time, Helnia saw no doubt or skepticism on the faces of any of the slaves. Quite a few were starting to cry in happiness, especially the older men and women who had been slaves the longest. Even Helnia could feel tears starting to come, tears that she had not realized she'd been holding in.

Then Rothel pointed at the man with the glowing ax. "This man is known as the Draymens Slayer, who some of you may have heard of. He will lead you out of this town to a safe place in Yores. You must follow him and do whatever he tells you, because he has experience fighting the Draymens and knows how to defend people from them."

The Draymens Slayer. Helnia remembered the old man Juren telling her and Sarzen about that man. She leaned in closer, trying to see if he looked like them, but he was too far away for her to identify him. She thought that his eye color was similar to Father's, but it was almost impossible to tell for sure.

In any case, Helnia was so happy about this that she was starting to feel hopeful again. She still didn't see Sarzen among them, but she thought he might be the one trying to break into the vault with all their possessions. It was the only explanation she had for why he wasn't here; otherwise, she was sure he would have been alongside Rothel fighting and killing Draymens.

But then Helnia sensed something nearby. It was an odd feeling, like the weather had changed, but when she looked up at the sky, she didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

She looked at Aroda. "Aroda, do you feel anything wrong?"

"Wrong?" said Aroda. "Like what?"

"Like... we're being watched," said Helnia. "It's hard to describe."

"It's probably nothing," said Aroda. "We're about to be freed, so we shouldn't worry. I'm sure nothing bad will—"

A rumbling sound from above—like thunder—interrupted Aroda. Helnia immediately looked up at the sky and saw a vast, dark cloud coming toward them.

And the cloud had two glowing, purple eyes within its mass that glared down at them all.

***

Chapter Twenty-Four

**H** elnia had never seen anything like this cloud before. It moved with a definite purpose, as if it was a living creature and not merely a cloud being blown about by the wind. It was huge, easily four or five times taller than Helnia, and deep rumbling sounds came from within it that made the hairs on her arms stand on end.

Helnia wasn't the only one to notice the coming cloud. Rothel, the Slayer, and the others were looking up at it, while the slaves scattered again in fear. Some closed the doors of their shacks, others pulled their heads back in from their windows, and still others hid behind their shacks again. The cloud did not increase its pace; it simply kept floating toward them as if it was taking a casual stroll through the woods.

"What the hell is that?" said Aroda, though her voice was a whisper, as if she feared that speaking too loudly might draw its attention to them. "A Draymens?"

"I don't know," said Helnia, her tone matching Aroda's. "It's... I've never seen anything like it. Maybe it's a spell cast by a Draymens sorcerer, but I'm not sure. All I know is that it is a threat."

The cloud rumbled closer and closer, until soon it covered the entire area. It was so dark that it almost completely blotted out the few rays of the morning sun that were rising, making it look like night again. Rothel and the others held their weapons before them, even though the cloud was too high in the sky for them to attack.

Then, without warning, tendrils descended from underneath the cloud toward Rothel, the Slayer, and the others. The tendrils came down quickly, but Rothel and the others began attacking them. The mages fired fire or lightning bolts at them, while Rothel, the Slayer, and the Warrior Priests began slashing at them with their swords.

But none of their attacks were very effective. They managed to destroy a handful of tendrils, but more grew to replace them and those that hadn't been destroyed lashed out at the group. The group scattered, but a Warrior Priest got slapped in the back so hard that he hit the ground and immediately stopped moving, though it was hard to tell if he was dead or simply unconscious.

Rothel and the others, meanwhile, were doing their best to avoid getting killed or harmed, but it meant they were no longer organized enough to form a resistance against the cloud.

Helnia was trembling despite herself. She wanted to go and help, but without her necklace, she was useless. She glanced at Aroda, who looked even more frightened than her. In fact, Aroda had actually retreated into the shack, her hands over her head as if that would protect her against such a powerful creature.

"Aroda, there must be something we can do," said Helnia. "That thing will kill my friends if we don't stop it."

Aroda shook her head. "No. If we try to fight it, it will kill us. It must be an ally of the Draymens, probably meant as their last resort in the event of a successful slave rebellion."

Helnia bit her lower lip, but she had to admit that Aroda had a point. The cloud, whatever it was, was clearly a powerful beast. It was just as clearly intelligent; as Helnia watched, it distracted one of the mages with one of its tendrils before stabbing him directly in the chest and causing him to fall onto the ground in a rapidly-widening pool of his own blood.

_It's only a matter of time before it kills them all,_ Helnia thought, her heart aching at the thought. _And what's to stop it from killing us, too? Maybe it will make an example of a few slaves to discourage anyone else from trying to rebel._

It may have been dumb, but Helnia couldn't just stand here and watch. She ran out from the safety of the shack, ignoring Aroda's calls to come back. She picked up a rock as she ran, her only weapon, as pathetic as it may have been.

But the cloud must have somehow known that Helnia was going to attack it, because it immediately sent one of its tendrils at her. Helnia hurled her rock at it, but her aim was terrible and the rock missed.

The cloud's aim, however, was better. It hit Helnia in the chest, which was like getting punched by a professional fighter, and Helnia's weak body immediately collapsed under the impact. She fell onto the ground and gasped in pain. The blow had been so painful that she couldn't even stand up.

But the cloud was not finished with her yet. It raised its tendril above her, the tip sharpening into a needle, and then brought it down on her chest.

Right before the tendril could pierce her chest, however, a golden sword came out of nowhere in between the tendril and her chest. The tendril bounced off the sword, but then the sword slashed through it entirely, immediately dissipating it. The cloud rumbled above, which almost sounded like it was making a surprised grunt.

Helnia didn't care about that, however. She just looked to the right, wondering who had saved her, and saw someone she never thought she'd see again: Sarzen. His face was covered in sweat and he was panting as if he had run a marathon, but he still looked ready to help.

"Brother?" said Helnia in shock. "Is that really you?"

"Sure," said Sarzen, flashing her a smile. "What, did you think I wouldn't save you? You know I'd never lie to you."

Helnia could not help but smile in return. "Thanks. I thought I was a goner there."

"Yeah," said Sarzen. "Are you okay? Can you stand?"

Helnia pushed herself up on her elbows and shook her head. "I think so, but that cloud's attack was hard. It almost killed me."

"Maybe you'll feel better wearing this," said Sarzen as he pulled something out of his pants' pockets and held it out to her.

Helnia gasped again. It was her necklace, with every bead attached and not a single one missing. She snatched it from Sarzen's hands and immediately put it over her head. And, even though she had not yet cast a spell, she already felt better right now than she'd felt all week. It was like taking a deep drink of cold water after a long day of traveling through a blazing hot desert.

"My necklace," said Helnia, clutching the beads around her neck. She looked up at Sarzen again, this time in confusion. "But how did you get it? The Draymens stole it from me."

"Where do you think I was this whole time? I was getting your necklace," said Sarzen. He held out a hand. "Now, do you think you will be able to help me beat this cloud or do you need to rest?"

Helnia did not hesitate to take Sarzen's hand. He helped her to her feet, and for the first time since being kidnapped, Helnia did not feel afraid.

"Where did this thing come from?" said Sarzen, looking up at the large cloud.

"It just came from the sky after Rothel and the others killed the slave masters," said Helnia, gesturing at the corpses of the Draymens slave owners on the ground. "We don't even know if it is associated with the Draymens or not."

"I've heard of something like it," said Sarzen. "In the old legends, it was said that Draymens sorcerers could conjure monsters that looked like clouds to destroy their enemies. I didn't think they were actually real, though."

"Sure seems like all of the old legends are turning out to be a bit more than just legends, though, doesn't it?" said Helnia. She shook her head. "Regardless, I don't know how we can beat it. It's got everyone on the run. Even the Slayer hasn't been able to beat it."

"Don't worry," said Sarzen. "I've got a plan, but we're going to need to distract it, though only for maybe five minutes."

"Five minutes?" said Helnia. "Why? What's your plan?"

Sarzen smiled. "You'll see. But again, if we don't distract it, it might figure out what we're doing, so let's attack it. Do you feel like you can fight?"

Helnia felt her chest, where the cloud had hit her, but nodded. "Yes, if your plan will work."

"Good," said Sarzen. He raised his sword and turned toward the cloud. "For the Dragon Gods!"

Sarzen ran toward the cloud, screaming at the top of his lungs, but Helnia did not move. She just tapped her beads and conjured a fireball in her hand, which she lobbed at the cloud.

The fireball hit the cloud head on, but it did no real damage that Helnia could tell. The cloud, however, must have felt it, because it immediately launched a tendril at her, this one shaped like a knife.

Helnia jumped forward, narrowly avoiding the tendril, and rolled back to her feet. But she immediately winced; her back hurt and rolling across it turned out to be a mistake. But she quickly forgot about her pain as the tendril came back at her, moving fast.

Tapping her beads again, Helnia held out her hands and waved them in a circle. A glowing shield of energy appeared between her and the tendril and, when the tendril struck, it bounced harmlessly off its surface.

Then, lowering the shield, Helnia unleashed a burst of flame at the tendril. The flame—bigger and stronger than the fireball—tore through the cloud's tendril, immediately vaporizing it.

Helnia had no time to celebrate that victory, however, because the cloud sent another tendril at her. Once more, Helnia formed a magical shield, but this time the tendril went over the shield and would have gotten her if she had not jumped backwards in time. The tendril slammed into the ground where she had been standing previously, but ripped itself out of the dirt and came at her again, this time almost too fast for her to dodge.

Still, Helnia managed to jump out of the way and then fired a lightning bolt at it. The lightning bolt cut through the tendril, dissipating it instantly.

Panting and sweating, Helnia brushed back some of her loose hair, but she didn't have much time to relax. The cloud rumbled, causing Helnia to think that it was going to send another tendril at her again, but this time, it flashed purple briefly and a purple lightning bolt exploded from its mass toward her.

Instinctively, Helnia conjured a shield just in time to block the attack. But when the purple lightning struck the shield, the shield exploded and the impact of the explosion sent Helnia flying. She hit the ground and rolled for several feet before coming to a stop. Dazed and in pain, Helnia felt her necklace again to make sure that it was still there, before she heard another rumble and looked up to see that the cloud was preparing to fire another lightning bolt at her.

Helnia pushed herself upright, but she was too slow. The cloud shot another purple lightning bolt at her, which Helnia—too desperate to summon another shield—counted by firing a blast of lightning at it. Her light collided with the cloud's lightning and there was a massive explosion that forced her to cover her eyes to avoid getting blinded.

But when the light of the explosion faded, Helnia lowered her hands, only to see that the cloud was still floating above her. The explosion hadn't even harmed it, which was making Helnia wonder that they would ever beat it.

At that moment, however, Helnia heard the sounds of people walking. She immediately whipped her head to the right, even though she knew how dangerous it was to turn her attention away from the cloud, and saw the slaves marching toward the cloud.

It looked like nearly all of the slaves in Reck. Old, young, male, female... even though they all wore rags and looked as thin as sticks, there was something about the way in which they walked that made them look like an impressive fighting force. There was definitely fear evident in their eyes, but she doubted that any of them would run away.

But Helnia didn't understand why until she noticed that each and every one of the slaves was wearing a Raugus necklace, much like her own. And the beads on each necklace were full of glowing Raugus energy.

"Helnia!" Sarzen shouted. He was standing on the other side of the battlefield, fighting off a tendril with his sword. "Grab a hold of something! Quickly, before it's too late!"

Helnia didn't know why Sarzen told her to do that, but she trusted him enough to listen to him. So Helnia ran over to the nearest shack and ran inside it, but she didn't close the door. She just grabbed the door frame and looked outside to see what was going to happen next.

The slaves of Reck were still marching toward the cloud. The cloud finally seemed to have noticed them, however, because it had stopped attacking Sarzen, Rothel, and the others. It was now turning to face the slaves; well, perhaps 'face' wasn't the right word, since the cloud had no face to speak of, but Helnia could not think of a more accurate word to describe the cloud's movements.

_They're going to be slaughtered,_ Helnia thought.

She was about to go out and try to distract the cloud from the slaves, but from across the battlefield, Sarzen shot her a hard look, a warning that clearly said, _Stay where you are._

Deciding to trust Sarzen, Helnia didn't leave the shack. But she could not help but watch with anxiety as the cloud began to drift toward the slaves, but the slaves had already stopped and were glaring up at the cloud. A few were trembling in fear, but the slaves looked surprisingly firm and resolute; perhaps it was due to their strength in numbers or something.

Then, before the cloud could attack them, the slaves raised their hands and tapped their beads. All at once, their necklaces glowed brightly, a powerful and beautiful sight in itself, illuminating the firm expressions on each face.

And then, as one, the slaves jerked their arms forward in a movement that Helnia recognized instantly: It was the action of a mage unleashing a wind spell.

All of a sudden, a huge burst of wind roared from the crowd of slaves. It was huge and loud, sounding like a tornado concentrated into a small area, and it went straight toward the cloud. The cloud tried to avoid it, but it was too slow, and the wind struck the cloud head on.

The cloud rumbled, but this time its rumble sounded like a creature moaning in pain. The purple eyes that Helnia had seen inside it before flashed in anger, but it was a pointless gesture, for the wind from the slave mages was tearing through its dark form like a knife through butter.

The roaring of the wind blocked out every other sound in the area; in fact, Helnia could barely even hear herself think. Her hair whipped about her face, even though she was not in the path of the wind attack, and she gripped the door frame as hard as she could. Her shack shook all around her, threatening to collapse, while other nearby shacks also shook under the pressure of the wind. One of them even outright collapsed, but Helnia was too busy staring at the huge attack on the dark cloud to care.

The dark cloud had clearly given up trying to fight back by now and was instead focused on maintaining its cloud form. But it was no use; the combined wind spells cast by the slave mages was too much for it. The wind tore through its cloudy form without mercy, dissipating the nimbus without mercy.

Finally, after several seconds of powerful winds battering against its body, the dark cloud completely dissipated, allowing the first rays of the morning sun to fall across the town.

***

Chapter Twenty-Five

**T** he slave mages ceased their wind spell as soon as the last of the cloud vanished. As a result, the powerful winds abruptly ended, causing the wind in the air to return to normal.

Sarzen—who had embedded his sword into the earth to keep himself from flying away—tore his sword out of the earth and looked around briefly. He expected the dark cloud to reappear or maybe for more Draymens to attack, but he did not see any other threats in the area. It looked like they had finally won, a thought that made Sarzen sigh in relief.

Then he heard someone shout, "Sarzen!" and he looked up to see Helnia running toward him. She wasn't the only one coming over to him; Rothel, the Slayer, and the other Warrior Priests and mages who had aided in the freeing of the slaves were also coming over to him. All of them looked relieved at their victory, as did the slaves, who had lowered their hands and looked tired, probably because it had been a while since any of them used magic.

"Is everyone okay?" said Sarzen, looking around at his friends as they approached. "Is anyone hurt or dead?"

"Sehn was killed, as was Pral," said Rothel, his voice bitter at their lost. "Aside from them, however, I don't think we lost anyone else."

Sarzen rubbed his forehead. "We will have to bury their bodies later. For now, I think we can safely say that we won."

"Yes, but how?" said Helnia, scratching the top of her head. She looked back over at the slaves in confusion. "Where did the slaves get all of those necklaces from? And how did they all know how to cast wind spells?"

Sarzen was about to answer, but then he heard two small feet running toward him and looked over in the direction of the slaves in time to see Pula—the girl who had been the personal servant of one of the slavers—running toward him. She skidded to a halt several feet away from him and the others, a look of worry and hesitation on her face.

"Invisible Man, are you okay?" said Pula. She sounded out of breath; she had probably been frightened by the slaves' wind attack on the dark cloud, Sarzen realized.

"Yes, I am," said Sarzen, nodding. "And it was all thanks to your help. Had you not done what I told you to do, we'd all be dead right now."

"What did this girl do?" said Helnia. "And who is she? I've never seen her before."

"Her name is Pula," said Sarzen. "She was the personal servant of one of the slave masters. I managed to convince her to help me."

"How did she help, though?" said Rothel. He looked at Pula skeptically. "She's such a small, skinny thing. Is she secretly a powerful mage in disguise or something?"

Pula blushed, while Sarzen said, "No, but she is the main reason we were able to distribute those necklaces among the slaves so quickly. She also helped in convincing a good majority of the slaves to help us in defeating the Draymens."

"I still don't understand how," said Helnia.

"Do you remember how most of the slaves in this slave town are captured mages?" said Sarzen. "And what do all mages have to carry in order to use their magic? Raugus necklaces. When I went to the vault where possessions stolen from slaves are kept, I found tons of necklaces, all of which were full of Raugus energy because the Draymens had not used them."

"I see," said Rothel. "You and Pula took the necklaces and then gave them back to the slaves in exchange for their aid in defeating the Draymens."

"Just like we planned," said Sarzen, "although I will admit that the huge dark cloud was unexpected. Still, we managed to beat it, and it looks like that was the last weapon these Draymens slavers had. So I think we can safely say that the slaves of Reck are free."

Helnia shook her head. "What a brilliant plan, brother. I didn't think you could think up something like that."

Sarzen shrugged. "What can I say? I'm smarter than I look. All of those years spent in training as a Warrior Priest weren't for nothing, you know."

"It was a brilliant move, I agree," said the Slayer. "But we shouldn't celebrate just yet, I think."

"Why not?" said Sarzen. His belly growled and he rubbed it. "I'm hungry and in the mood for food. Why not throw a celebration?"

"Because the Draymens are going to know about this sooner or later, probably sooner," said the Slayer. "The slave towns are all connected, due to the fact that the Draymens are always trading slaves between each other. It's a big part of why the Draymens have been so effective; they keep in contact with each other all the time, which helps to spread news among the horde."

"So you think the Draymens will know about this?" said Sarzen.

"Of course they will," said the Slayer. "And once they do, they will be furious. I expect them to push up the dates of their attack on Ars, assuming they haven't already attacked the city, and will probably also increase the numbers and ferocity of their attacks on unsuspecting travelers in the plains of Yores."

"Why?" said Sarzen. "Was Reck an important slave town to them or something?"

"Probably not, but this is the first time humans have freed a slave town," said the Slayer. "And inside Draymens territory, too. This has _never_ happened before. Even I haven't ever succeeded in freeing a whole town full of slaves, though I've freed individuals before."

"Does that mean we are going to be enemy number one on their list?" said Rothel.

The Slayer nodded. "Most likely. They may very well just drop everything to kill all of you. The Draymens are hardly a forgiving sort; they hold grudges. I should know, given how every Draymens in the Cursed Lands dreams of killing me."

"Great," said Helnia, shaking her head. "As if our quest wasn't hard enough already, now we're definitely going to find it impossible to get to Ferro's Pass."

"So what?" said Sarzen. "As long as the Dragon Gods are on our side, it doesn't matter what the Draymens do or what they want. They will never be able to defeat us."

"I hope you're right," said the Slayer, "because if you aren't, then don't be surprised when you find yourself fighting for your lives."

Before Sarzen could respond to that, two slaves walked up to them. One of them was a young woman, with dirty brown hair and several scars and scratches on her face, while the other was an elderly man who wore a necklace around his neck.

"Helnia!" said the woman. She ran up to Helnia and actually hugged her. "I thought you were going to get killed, you silly girl! I don't know how you managed to survive against that thing."

"Thanks for the concern, Aroda," said Helnia as Aroda let go of her. "But the real praise should go to the slaves. They're the ones who saved the day, not us."

"But we could not have done it without your aid, travelers," said the elderly man, his smile revealing his crooked teeth. "Had you not retrieved our necklaces, we would never have gained our freedom from the Draymens. For that, we must thank you."

"You are welcome, elder," said Sarzen. "But I must apologize, because I don't know your name."

"Elum," said the elder. "I am the 'leader' of the slaves, for want of a better word, mostly because I have been in this town longer than any of the other slaves. I came to thank you brave travelers for rescuing us, even though you did not have to."

"It's fine, Elder Elum," said Sarzen, waving off the elder's praise. "It's what the Dragon Gods would have wanted. They would never have tolerated seeing their people under the dominion of the very creatures they drove from our lands in the first place."

"The Dragon Gods, eh?" said Elum, though he didn't sound pleased. "I didn't know anyone still worshiped them. Most of us slaves don't think much of or about them anymore."

"Yes, we believe in them," said Sarzen. "That's the whole reason we are even here. We're trying to find them in order to save Yores from the Draymens."

"So you think you can find the Dragon Gods, even though no one else ever has?" said Elum. "Interesting. You remind me of another young man I met some ten years ago, who also had been on a journey to find the Dragon Gods. He and his wife were very kind, despite being unable to free us from Reck, even though they promised to return with the Dragon Gods eventually."

"A young man and his wife?" said Sarzen. "Odd. I didn't know anyone else searching for the Dragon Gods."

"What did they look like?" said Helnia, looking at Elum with more interest than Sarzen thought this subject warranted.

"They looked much like you two, though older," said Elum. "They were a fine couple, much braver than anyone else I have met. They almost revived my faith in the Dragon Gods."

Sarzen suddenly understood Helnia's interest in the couple, because now a theory was forming in his mind about their identity. But he hesitated; he didn't want to look foolish and say the wrong thing.

Still, Sarzen said, "This couple, did they mention having any children?"

"They did, actually," said Elum. "They said they had twins, a boy and a girl, about fourteen-years-old, who were in Ars. I specifically remember asking them about it, because I thought they would make good parents and I was curious if they had any children of their own."

Sarzen's heart was beating fast. Questions ran through his mind so fast that he did not know which one to ask first.

But he didn't need to ask any questions, because Helnia said, "Where did they come from? I mean, they were from Yores, yes?"

"Of course," said Elum. "They said they came from a small village that was destroyed by the Draymens. They said that they had sent their children to Ars with relatives because it was too dangerous to take them where they were going."

"Where were they going?" said Helnia. "Did they say?"

"They said they were going to Ferro's Pass," said Elum. "Said they believed that they might find clues to the Dragon Gods' current location there."

"Are they still alive?" said Sarzen, though his voice trembled slightly despite himself. "Have you seen them since?"

"No," said Elum, shaking his head. "I don't know if they are still alive or not. I always assumed they were probably killed by the Draymens; the Cursed Lands are crawling with those beasts and I don't think that a couple, even one as nice as they, could survive very long against them."

"So they might still be out there?" said Sarzen.

"Possibly," said Elum. "They were smart, to be sure, so it's possible they may have managed to avoid getting killed by the Draymens. But I doubt they've found the Dragon Gods; if they did, they surely would have returned by now. That's why I assume they're dead, because the Dragon Gods still haven't returned."

Sarzen and Helnia looked at each other again. Even without exchanging one word, they knew what the other was thinking. It wasn't magic; it was just based on a shared understanding that existed only between siblings.

The couple that Elum spoke of was none other than their long-dead parents.

***

Chapter Twenty-Six

**A** fter that discussion, the topic of conversation turned to what they needed to do next.

Because it was likely that the Draymens would send some of their own to investigate the lack of contact from Reck, they came up with a plan to move the entire slave population out of the Cursed Lands and back into Yores. The Draymens Slayer volunteered to lead them back into Yores, because a group of freed human slaves, even mages, was a ripe target for any wandering bands of Draymens raiders and the Slayer had a lot of experience in helping survivors reach safe havens. Sarzen accepted that, even though he would have appreciated the Slayer's aid in reaching Ferro's Pass, because his knowledge and experience in dealing with Draymens made him an incredibly valuable ally.

By 'the slaves,' that meant all the slaves, including little Pula and Helnia's friend, Aroda. Pula wanted to stay with Sarzen, but he told her it would be too dangerous for a young girl like her to travel with them and that she would be safer in Yores. But he did promise to see her again as soon as they returned with the Dragon Gods, which seemed to calm her down a little.

Almost all of the slaves were accounted for, except for a man known as Lach, a man who Helnia spoke of with bitterness for some reason. It was assumed at first that he had somehow gotten caught in the crossfire during the battle in the village, but when his body was not found, that theory was quickly discarded. Nor had anyone seen him leave the village, although they assumed that he must have, because that was the only explanation for his absence.

As for Sarzen and the others, they buried their dead just outside of the town. Sarzen would have preferred to bury their dead friends back in Yores, but they were not heading back that way and they were not going to return to Yores for a long time, so it did not make any sense to bring the bodies with them. Sarzen just prayed over their graves that the Dragon Gods would protect their souls, which was all they could do for them at the moment.

After that, Sarzen and the others raided the Draymens slave owners' houses and took as much supplies as they could in order to refill their own depleting supplies. Unfortunately, they didn't find very much; it seemed like the Draymens did not need much in the way of food and water, and what they did find wasn't very suitable for human consumption. Nor did they find much extra Raugus, except for a handful of necklaces that belonged to slaves who had perished at some point and which thus belonged to nobody.

They didn't stay in the town long, because there was no telling when the Draymens' reinforcements would arrive. So, the next morning, the slaves, led by the Slayer, began their journey back north to Yores, while Sarzen and the others resumed heading south in the general direction that would take them to Ferro's Pass.

As usual, Sarzen and Helnia sat in the same cart together, which was being pulled along by one of the horses. Rothel was in the cart directly behind theirs, his hands folded behind his head and his eyes closed like he was taking a nap, though everyone else was wide awake just in case of Draymens attack.

Helnia looked much better than she had the day before. She had gotten rid of her slave clothes in exchange for an extra set of clean mage's robes that she had packed among their supplies before they left Ars. She had also managed to wash her hair with the water basins they'd found in the Draymens' homes, though her skin was still rough and she had several scars on her face that Sarzen knew would not go away anytime soon.

She also looked a lot more tired than usual, even after eating a large breakfast this morning. She was leaning against the side of the cart, her chest rising and falling with each breath, but she obviously didn't want to sleep, and Sarzen knew why.

"Our parents survived," said Sarzen. He looked up at the dark sky above them and shook his head. "Can you believe it, Helnia? They survived."

"I know," said Helnia, though she didn't sound very enthusiastic, probably because she was so tired. "It's a miracle."

"For certain," said Sarzen. "I thought that they had died in the destruction of Iswor. Yet, if Elum is telling the truth, then they didn't die. They came here to search for the Dragon Gods; perhaps they even took the same path we are taking."

"Maybe," said Helnia. "But they might still be dead. There's no way to know for sure."

"Father was always strong," said Sarzen. "Mother was, too, in her own way, even if she lacked his physical strength. They're both no doubt still out there somewhere, searching for the Dragon Gods even as we speak."

"Why haven't they found the Dragon Gods, then?" said Helnia. "If they're still out there, that is."

"No one ever said it would be easy to find them," said Sarzen. "The Dragon Gods have been missing for five hundred years. And if they don't want to be found, I bet they have ways of making sure of that."

"Does that mean our quest will suffer similar failure?" said Helnia. "Do you think we're doomed to never find them?"

"Of course not," said Sarzen. "We've already seen many signs that the Dragon Gods are with us, such as the Miracle at Sinmo. Maybe they weren't with our parents, but they are with us. I am sure of that."

Helnia nodded, though she still looked dispirited. But Sarzen attributed that to the fact that she had been enslaved for five days; given time, he was sure that she would come around and be just as excited as him, if not more so.

"This quest has been amazing so far," said Sarzen, sitting back and rubbing the back of his neck. "Now there is a chance that not only will we find the Dragon Gods, but we might also be reunited with our parents. I can barely believe it myself."

"Let's not get too excited now," said Helnia. "We still have a long journey ahead of us. If we get too excited, we might get cocky, and that would spell the end of us."

"I won't get cocky," said Sarzen. "Besides, what's wrong with getting excited? The news that our parents might still be alive is the best news we've heard in years. There's no telling what other good news awaits us further along our journey."

"I hope you're right," said Helnia. "Our next stop is Ferro's Pass, isn't it?"

"Yes," said Sarzen. He grabbed his pack lying on the floor of the cart and, opening it, pulled out a map of the Cursed Lands that he had had a scribe copy from a book before they left Ars.

Unfurling the map, Sarzen looked it over. "Okay, we are right here, not far from the border. Ferro's Pass looks to be a few days' journey south from here. It doesn't look like there's much between here and Ferro's Pass, so unless we get ambushed by a bunch of Draymens at some point, the rest of the quest ought to be uneventful."

Helnia nodded, but then frowned. "Will we make it, though?"

"We can defend ourselves from the Draymens," said Sarzen as he folded up the map and put it back into the bag. "I have no doubt of that."

"I'm talking about our supplies," said Helnia. "I checked them before we left Reck. We still have enough to last us for a few weeks, but at our current rate of consumption, we might run out before then." She stroked her necklace. "In particular, our Raugus stores are getting low. I think our fight with the Draymens in Reck used up a lot of it."

"It's not a big deal," said Sarzen. "We'll find the Dragon Gods before long and they will be able to replenish our supplies."

"But what if we don't find them before we run out?" said Helnia. "The Cursed Lands don't have an endless supply of food, water, and Raugus. It isn't like we can just stop at a town and load up on supplies, given that any town in this land is probably full of Draymens that would rather slaughter us than help us."

"We just need to be smart and careful with our supplies until we can find a place to refill," said Sarzen. "And we can always hunt; part of the training we Warrior Priests undergo involves learning how to hunt and make your killed animals into something edible."

"I haven't seen any edible animals around the Cursed Lands since we got here," said Helnia. She glanced up at the sky. "Not even a simple sparrow we could shoot down and cook. I'm pretty sure that nothing exists in these lands except the Draymens, and I doubt they taste very good."

"You have a good point, but I'm sure we'll figure out how to replenish our supplies," said Sarzen. "Perhaps we can attack some Draymens towns or camps and steal supplies from them. Even Draymens have to eat, don't they?"

"Do they?" said Helnia, looking at Sarzen skeptically. "I've always assumed they just dine on their hatred of us."

"They eat humans, though," said Sarzen.

"Dessert," Helnia answered.

"Whatever," said Sarzen, shaking his head. "Just have faith, Helnia. Have faith that the Dragon Gods will provide. They always do, in the end."

"I suppose you have a point," said Helnia. She glanced over her shoulder back in the direction of Reck. "What about the Slayer? I didn't get a chance to speak with him before we left. Did he say who he was?"

"No, he didn't," said Sarzen. "He didn't answer any of our questions about his personal life or give us his real name. I think he's just a very private person. Why do you ask?"

"It's just that I thought..." Helnia trailed off, like she was a little embarrassed to admit this. "I just thought that he might be Father."

Sarzen blinked in surprise. "The Slayer? Our Father? Why would you think that?"

"Because he looked just like Father," said Helnia. "Same hair color, eye color, face... it's almost eerie, like he's Father's long-lost twin brother or something like that."

"Father was an only child," Sarzen pointed out. "And the Slayer didn't recognize us. He didn't act like he was a long-lost relative. He treated me pretty much like a stranger or an acquaintance at best, and he didn't show any special concern for you, either."

"Yeah, I know," said Helnia. She sighed. "It's still strange, though. Maybe it's just a coincidence."

"I don't believe that anything is a coincidence on this quest," said Sarzen. "But I understand. I miss Father, too, and Mother as well. That's why I am hopeful about what Elum told us. If he's right, then we might see our parents again after all."

"Hopefully," said Helnia. "I also hope that the slaves make it back to Yores safely. I fear that the Draymens might decide to go after them, because they're such a large, vulnerable group."

"As long as they have the Slayer to defend them, they should be fine," said Sarzen. "We need to worry about ourselves, because we're a bigger target than the slaves due to the fact that we freed them in the first place."

"Right," said Helnia. She stretched her arms. "I just hope that, whatever awaits us at Ferro's Pass, we can handle it."

"I'm sure we can," said Sarzen. "Just have faith, sister. Just have faith."

-

Despite Sarzen's reassurances to Helnia, the air among the caravan was tense. Everyone had to remain alert and awake almost all the time, because they did not know when or if they would be attacked by Draymens again. Even Helnia, not much of a fighter, would join in the night watches for when they camped at night, using her magic to create a light that would hopefully keep the Draymens away.

Nights in the Cursed Lands were almost nothing like nights in Yores. In Yores, the moon and stars usually shone during the night, but in the Cursed Lands, there was no such thing as the moon or stars. That made every night dark... very, very dark. The darkness of the night amplified every sound; Sarzen would often be jolted awake by the sound of crunching leaves or the swish of a sleeping horse's tail, only to discover that the sound was not the herald of a Draymens attack on their group.

The land itself became harsher the farther south they traveled. It became rocky and uneven, very unsuitable for horses or carts. More than once, the wheel of a cart would pop off or break, forcing them to stop to repair it. They usually used the supplies of wood and nails on the cart, but sometimes they had to use magic for particularly bad accidents. And the fact was that they did not have all of the Raugus in the world to use, so Sarzen always regretted having to use it on something as mundane as fixing a broken wheel.

Speaking of the horses, they needed more food and water than the humans. At first, they were able to provide the horses with sustenance, but as they journeyed deeper and deeper into the Cursed Lands, it became harder and harder to find streams or creeks at which they could water their beasts of burden. The Cursed Lands seemed incredibly dry; it was possible there may have been water somewhere deep beneath the surface, but they had neither the tools nor patience nor time to focus on digging a well and bringing that water to the surface.

Despite all of this, however, Sarzen kept his hope and faith alive. He told himself that it was not so bad, that the Draymens had yet to find them, and that it was possible that they might reach Ferro's Pass without running into any Draymens at all. It seemed unlikely, but then, the Cursed Lands were supposed to be very large, so perhaps it was so large that the Draymens would be unable to track them down. That's what Sarzen told himself and it was a theory he repeated to the others whenever he heard them worry about being attacked.

More than anything, the news that their parents might still be alive excited Sarzen. For ten years, he had just assumed that they were dead and that they would never seem them again. But now, there was a possibility—however slight, however remote—that their parents were not only alive, but actively seeking out the Dragon Gods.

Sarzen was just stunned at how he and his sister were undertaking the very same quest that their parents had taken without even knowing it. It made Sarzen feel certain that this quest was destined for success, that no matter what kind of dangers and troubles stood between them and the Dragon Gods, that they would succeed.

That was why Sarzen kept his spirits up. His faith that everything would work out one way or another convinced him that he needed to keep his chin up and never fall into despair. He wished that he could share this excitement with Helnia, but she seemed moody ever since they left Reck, though again he guessed it was because of her time as a Draymens slave. As far as he knew, she was not suffering from any long-lasting injuries, but she probably was suffering from some serious psychological damage. He remembered how young Pula had been so scared to do anything that might anger her master and he wondered if part of that fear had been instilled in Helnia during her time as a slave.

_Probably not,_ he thought. _Helnia wasn't a slave nearly as long as Pula, plus she's much stronger, mentally-speaking, than Pula. I'm sure she's just going through a temporary phase; she'll probably be better after a few days of travel._

They did not run into any Draymens towns or settlements on their journey south. In fact, the Cursed Lands felt totally uninhabited, as if they had been abandoned long ago. They did, however, pass the ruins of strange altars rising from the earth, altars that did not look like anything that the Draymens made, but there was nothing to indicate what these altars were, where they came from, or what their purpose was. The only thing they noticed about the altars was the powerful sense of evil and wrongness emanating from them. Even though they could not see any Draymens around the altars, they always made a point to not camp until the altars were out of their line of sight.

On the third day of their journey from Reck, they stopped to have lunch for the day. As usual, they went off the main path and formed a protective circle with the carts. The horses were taken away by a handful of Warrior Priests to eat some of the gray, dead grass that poked through the earth, while everyone else sat and ate. Except for Helnia, who insisted that she wasn't hungry. She just took a nap in the cart.

So Sarzen ate lunch with Rothel. Rothel looked rather long-faced today; despite eating his favorite ham sandwich, he looked as though someone had just told him that his mother had died.

"Why the long face?" said Sarzen, sitting down in the cart next to Rothel.

Rothel looked at Sarzen with a start, as if he had just awakened from a long sleep. "What? Oh, it was just... I was thinking of the people we lost to that cloud back in Reck. They were lost under my control. It's my fault they died."

"Oh," said Sarzen. "You don't need to be so hard on yourself. I mean, there was nothing any of us could have done to save them. That creature was unlike anything any of us have fought before; if Pula and I hadn't rallied and armed the slaves, we would have all been goners."

"Perhaps," said Rothel. He tip a sip of water from his flask, though his expression didn't change. "I think it may also be because of this land. The Cursed Lands are a terrible place. Evil permeates the air; it's unnatural."

Sarzen shuddered. "I know. None of the old stories about the Cursed Lands accurately capture how evil it feels. I understand why the Draymens want to leave it; it's not a good place."

"Indeed," said Rothel. "I find it strange that the Dragon Gods would go through this place, but I guess they didn't stay long. They just passed through on their way to who-knows-where."

Sarzen nodded, but frowned. "Is there something else bothering you? You don't seem to be telling me everything."

Rothel just kept chewing up his sandwich before swallowing and saying, "It's the events that have happened recently. Like the theft of Renuk's corpse and the assassination of Misma. We still don't have any answers for those events."

Sarzen scowled at the mention of the theft of Renuk's corpse. "Don't remind me. If I ever find out who stole his body, I will personally behead them. I won't even hesitate."

"It is a disgusting act for sure," said Rothel. "But it feels like part of something much bigger. Don't you sense it? It's like we're being guided along by someone, or maybe something, else and we don't even know it."

"I always thought that the Dragon Gods are guiding us to an extent," said Sarzen. "But you're not referring to them, are you?"

"No, I'm not," said Rothel. "And I think it may be tied to why we've not been attacked or even seen any Draymens since Reck. I think the Draymens want us to reach Ferro's Pass."

"Why?" said Sarzen. "Why would they want us to do that? If we reach Ferro's Pass, then we could cross it and possibly find the Dragon Gods."

"Maybe it isn't the Draymens who want us to do it," said Rothel. "But someone else, like the One of Shadow that they worship."

"The One is dead, though," said Sarzen. "All of the legends state that he was killed by the Dragon Gods. He's not a threat anymore."

"That Draymens said he was going to rise again, though," said Rothel. "Remember? The one we fought shortly after we left Ars. It said that the One was going to rise again."

"It was probably just saying that to discourage us," said Sarzen. "Besides, how could it possibly know whether that will happen? It's not like the Draymens can see the future."

"You're right," said Rothel. "I'm just worrying about nothing. But I do wonder about Ars."

"What about Ars?" said Sarzen.

"I'm worried that the Draymens might have already attacked it," said Rothel. "We haven't heard from them in two weeks. Of course, it isn't like we have any way of contacting them, but I fear that we may be too late, that even if we find the Dragon Gods, Ars and the other mountain cities might fall by the time we get back."

"That's possible," Sarzen said. "The Draymens did not give us a timeline for when they would attack, but hopefully they will be more focused on trying to capture us than attack Ars."

"I hope so, too," said Rothel. "But I'm thinking about what the Slayer said, something he told me before he led the slaves out of Reck."

"What did he say?" said Sarzen.

"He said that the Elect is intentionally not helping the people," said Rothel. "That they are allowing the Draymens to ravage Yores. That's why the Draymens have been able to cause so much damage; it's because the Elect want them to."

Sarzen shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I know the Elect aren't exactly the most... moral individuals, but that sounds too crazy to be true. Why would the Elect want the Draymens to kill their fellow countrymen? It makes no sense."

"I don't know why," said Rothel. "I just know that that is what the Slayer theorized. He may be wrong, but at the same time, his theory would explain why the Draymens haven't been stopped yet."

Sarzen rubbed his forehead. "Do you think... that the Elect might somehow be connected to Renuk's death?"

"Maybe," said Rothel. He shook his head. "I don't know. There is far too much happening, stuff none of us even understand. From now on, we'll need to be more careful than ever."

"Right," said Sarzen. "But we're almost to Ferro's Pass. Once we cross it, we should be safe."

"Assuming the Draymens even allow us to cross it," said Rothel, "which I doubt they will."

"We'll handle whatever obstacles the Draymens put in our path," said Sarzen, punching his fist into his other hand. "No matter what."

"Yeah," said Rothel. "Let's hope that the Dragon Gods are with us, because I have a feeling we'll need their blessing more than ever very soon."

***

Chapter Twenty-Seven

**T** here was no doubt in Helnia's mind now: Their parents were still alive and they would be at Ferro's Pass. Hearing Elum talk about their parents' own quest to find the Dragon Gods had only cemented that thought in her mind.

Helnia had still yet to share the letter from their parents with Sarzen. She thought about it, she considered it, but in the end she still had some doubt about its authenticity. But truly, it was because she did not want to betray Sarzen's trust; if he knew that she had had that letter from their parents the entire time and she had not even mentioned it to him, she doubted he would be very happy about it.

Then again, if their parents really were at Ferro's Pass... then it was likely that the letter would come out. Either way, Helnia would not be able to keep the letter secret from Sarzen forever. She thought she should just show it to him now and get it over with, but she hesitated. Perhaps it was because a part of her, deep underneath her confidence, thought that their parents might not be in Ferro's Pass; thus, there would be no reason to share a fake letter with Sarzen and get his hopes up.

_It might not matter if our parents aren't actually there, though,_ Helnia thought.

They were riding through the Cursed Lands early in the morning. Helnia glanced at Sarzen; he seemed very excited, based on the way he tapped the floor of the cart with his fingers and even bounced a little. The map of the Cursed Lands was laid out on the floor between them, held down by a few rocks at each corner, and it wouldn't be long now, according to the map, before they arrived at Ferro's Pass.

Indeed, it was about five minutes later that the cart driver shouted, "I see Ferro's Pass!" which caused Helnia and Sarzen to stand up and look in the direction in which the driver was pointing.

Far ahead, visible under the weak sunlight of the Cursed Lands, was a large pass. It looked like a god had dragged a giant sword through the earth, tearing it apart and connecting the first half of the Cursed Lands with the second half. Ferro's Pass was enormous, much bigger than Helnia expected; she thought that an entire army could fit comfortably within it with room to spare for half an army more.

But the Pass was not empty. Inside the Pass, situated right in the center where it took up the entire space, was a large, shrine-like structure. It looked like a mixture between a shrine and a castle, with tall turrets rising from the center and dozens of smaller buildings scattered around it. Its gates had been smashed off their hinges long ago; they lay on the earth, rusted and covered in dirt, creating a large opening through which their caravan could safely pass through.

There were no Draymens around it, but that did not mean anything; there could just as easily be Draymens hiding somewhere inside. Helnia rubbed her hands together, but Sarzen didn't look at all nervous. He was just smiling, smiling as brightly as if he had just been told the best news in the world.

"There it is," said Sarzen. He looked at Helnia with a smile. "Our destination. Once we pass through, we'll be that much closer to finding the Dragon Gods."

"Yeah," said Helnia. She rubbed her arm. "But what is it? I didn't know Ferro's Pass had a castle on it."

"I'm not sure, but I recall reading about some of the legends regarding Ferro's Pass," said Sarzen. "According to the legends, that is not a castle; rather, it is an old worship site to the One of Shadow, built ages ago, even before the Dragon Gods came, as a place for the Draymens to worship their god. It is called the Shrine of the One. Supposedly, Draymens committed all kinds of butchery and debauchery inside it, even sacrificing their own children to please the One."

Helnia gulped. "Uh, that doesn't sound good."

"Agreed, but don't worry, the legends said the Draymens abandoned it after the One's death," said Sarzen. "There have been no sacrifices or worship services held there since the One's death a thousand years ago. Therefore, I doubt we'll come upon any scary or dangerous rituals inside."

Helnia didn't respond to that. She just peered closer at the Shrine, trying to see if she could spot anyone—their parents in particular—somewhere around or near the Shrine. But she did not spot any movement or figures among the ruins of the Shrine; it appeared to be totally abandoned.

_Maybe they're inside it,_ Helnia thought as she and Sarzen sat back down in the cart. _Waiting for us to arrive, waiting to see us. I wonder what they will say when they see us._

She glanced at Sarzen. He looked like he just wanted to jump out of the cart and run the rest of the way to the Shrine on foot, but he stayed where he was. He was now humming what sounded like a Warrior Priest hymn under his breath, though Helnia did not understand why.

_Maybe Sarzen won't be angry with me about not telling him about the letter once he sees our parents,_ Helnia thought. _He will probably forgive me. He is a very forgiving person._

Helnia glanced at her bag, where she kept the letter. The letter was currently buried deep beneath her possessions in that bag, but Helnia opened her bag and pulled the letter out—but without Sarzen noticing; he was too busy looking at the incoming temple to pay attention to what she was doing. She slipped the letter into her robes, intending to show it to their parents once they saw them again.

It wasn't much longer before they reached the Shrine of the One. Up close, the Shrine was enormous; not quite as large as the buildings of Ars, but bigger than any structure that they had seen in the Cursed Lands yet. It towered above them, the windows in its upper floors staring down at them like the displeased eyes of a judgmental god. Helnia did not see anyone in the windows, but it still felt like the Shrine did not want them to enter. The horses whinnied nervously, while everyone stayed alert, keeping their eyes and ears open for any traps.

But before the first cart could pass under the huge arch of the Shrine, Rothel suddenly said, "Hey, stop!"

The caravan came to an abrupt stop, the clacking of horse hooves against stone instantly going silent.

Sarzen looked over his shoulder in annoyance. "What? Did you see something, Rothel?"

Rothel shook his head. "No. But I think we should send a scout ahead first."

"Why?" said Sarzen.

"To look out for any traps or ambushes," said Rothel. He gestured at the huge Temple. "This is exactly the kind of place where Draymens would set a trap for us. We're not even sure what the interior is like. It makes sense to send someone in to make sure there aren't any unpleasant surprises waiting for us."

Sarzen sighed, but said, "Fine. I'll do it."

"You?" said Rothel. "But you're the leader. You need to stay here."

"No, it's fine," said Sarzen as he stood up. "I can protect myself just fine against the Draymens. Besides, I doubt there are any traps in there, so I don't think I will get harmed."

"You shouldn't go in alone," said Rothel. "I—"

"I will go with you," said Helnia, interrupting Rothel. She stood up. "With my magic, we should be able to protect ourselves no matter what awaits us."

Rothel frowned. "I was going to volunteer to come, too, you know."

"Yes, but someone needs to stay out here and protect the caravan in case the Draymens attack," said Helnia. "You're a better fighter than me, so I think you should do it."

Rothel didn't look pleased with this arrangement, but he nodded and said, "Fine. But please be careful; we have no idea what is in there and we can't afford to lose both of you."

Sarzen jumped over the side of the cart and landed on the ground with ease, while Helnia climbed over the side a bit more carefully and joined him on the ground.

"Don't worry, Rothel," said Sarzen, waving off Rothel's concerns. "We're not looking to pick a fight with the Draymens. Just make sure they aren't in here; and if they are, we will leave them alone and come back here to warn the rest of you."

Sarzen looked at Helnia. "Are you sure you feel up to this? You still haven't fully recovered from your time as a slave."

Helnia looked up at the Shrine. She felt the letter against her leg in her pocket, close to her money bag. She still did not see anyone in the windows, but if the letter was true, then their parents were in there somewhere, waiting for them.

"Yeah, I'm up to this," said Helnia. "My injuries won't slow me down. I had one of the other mages heal most of my wounds with magic, so I should be okay."

"All right," said Sarzen. He rested his hand on the hilt of his sword and looked back toward the Shrine, a look of determination on his face. "Then let's go."

-

The interior of the Shrine was pitch-black. The Cursed Lands were already perpetually dark, but at least they had a sun, even if it was weak and unimpressive, but the Shrine had nothing. No torches on the walls to illuminate the interior; it was more like walking into a cave than a Shrine, though there weren't any bats or anything like that.

Helnia held up her hand, which glowed with Raugus energy. But she kept the light low, partly to save Raugus energy, partly to not catch the attention of any Draymens that might be hiding in the shadows somewhere up ahead. Then again, any light, no matter how weak and concealed, would likely attract attention in this place, given how dark it was. But neither were Helnia and Sarzen going to enter this place without at least a little light; that would be pure suicide, no matter how you looked at it.

The sounds of their footsteps echoed off the floor and walls, which meant that this place was even bigger than they first imagined. Helnia still couldn't see much; she couldn't even see the walls. But part of her was happy about that, because she sensed an evil in this place, a deep evil she couldn't explain. It was an evil that was even different from the general evil atmosphere of the Cursed Lands, as though this place was the source of the evil itself.

Neither Helnia nor Sarzen spoke. As a result, Helnia could hear her own heart beat in the darkness; it sounded as clear as day. She worried that the Draymens might also be able to hear it, but at the same time, she knew that it wasn't loud enough for anyone other than herself to hear. That did not stop her from putting a hand on her chest, however, to try to silence her heartbeat.

Helnia moved her hand this way and that, trying to illuminate the place better. Every now and then, she'd catch a glimpse of something in the shadows; the lower half of a broken statue, a discarded, snapped sword lying on the ground, gouges in the flooring that looked like they had been carved by monsters, even dried stains on the stone floor that may have been human blood, perhaps from sacrifices to the One from so long ago. It all made her sick to the stomach just to look at; based on Sarzen's expressions whenever he saw them, he felt the same way.

The darkness felt heavy around Helnia, but she did not let herself get scared. She focused on going forward with Sarzen, never looking to the left or right.

A sound—metal being dropped against stone—caused Helnia to jump so badly that she nearly turned off her light. Sarzen, however, drew his sword from its sheath and held it before him in defense.

"What was that?" said Helnia in a hiss of a whisper, her heart beating faster than ever as she looked everywhere for the source of the sound.

"I don't know," said Sarzen in an equally low whisper. "It sounded like someone dropped something. Did you drop anything?"

Helnia shook her head. "No, I didn't. Do you think maybe it was something dropped by a statue? Perhaps an ancient statue's hands giving away from old age and dropping whatever it was holding?"

"Maybe," said Sarzen. "It would explain why—"

All of a sudden, a soft, green light appeared in the distance. It was at the top of a staircase, a tall staircase that looked like it was going to crumble if you stepped on it. The light glowed softly and probably would have been unnoticeable under normal circumstances, but in the pitch black darkness of the Shrine of the One, it was almost blinding in its brightness.

"A light?" said Helnia. She looked at Sarzen. "Do any of the legends mention a light in the Shrine?"

Sarzen shook his head. "The old legends don't talk much about the Shrine, because it was abandoned very early on and our ancestors never entered it when it was in use. But I don't like that light."

"Neither do I," said Helnia. "Do you think we should ignore it?"

Sarzen lowered his sword. "I'm not sure. On one hand, it might be something dangerous, maybe even lethal. On the other hand, it might be nothing and we could avoid falling into a potential Draymens trap if we ignore it."

"So we should just ignore it, then," said Helnia.

Right as she said that, the light grew suddenly brighter. It became so bright that Helnia had to cover her eyes to protect her vision, but then the light dimmed, allowing her to lower her hand and see what had happened.

The light had become bright enough to show more of the Temple's interior. On the stone floor in front of them was a large, red arrow pointing at the staircase, with a simple message written underneath it in the same red paint: _ENTER._

"That is not ominous at all," said Helnia, rolling her eyes. "And most certainly not a trap."

"Right," said Sarzen. "Whoever set this trap must not be very smart. They must think we're stupid or something. I doubt our parents fell for this trap when they went through here."

Helnia bit her lower lip. She felt the letter in her pocket and then looked up at the staircase again. She saw no one standing around the light or within it, but she wondered if this was something their parents had set up for them. They had said they were going to meet her and Sarzen in Ferro's Pass. If this was their way of letting Helnia and Sarzen know they were here...

Helnia looked at Sarzen again. "I think we should investigate the light."

Sarzen looked at Helnia like she was crazy. "Why? It's obviously a trap."

"Because..." Helnia tried to think of a good excuse. "Because if the Draymens are behind this light, then we should do something about it. I doubt they will just let us and the others pass through here even if we avoid it."

"It would make it easier for the caravan to travel through here if we deal with whatever traps the Draymens have left for us ahead of time," said Sarzen, stroking his chin. "Okay. We'll go up there and investigate the light. But be careful; if this is a trap, like we think, then we might be in for the fight of our lives soon enough."

Helnia nodded and the two of them walked over to the staircase, which they then began to ascend. The staircase held under their weight, despite its old age, and they kept their eyes upward, looking at the light as they drew closer and closer to it.

When they reached the top of the stairs, Sarzen entered the room from which the light came first, and then Helnia followed. She immediately looked around at their surroundings and gaped in awe at what she saw.

The room was massive; not quite as big as the last room they had been in, but still very big. The ceiling was high and vaulted, with a few holes here and there, like the ceiling had been knocked in at some point. The walls were covered with strange paintings of creatures, perhaps Draymens, engaging in all kinds of obscene acts; child sacrifice, cannibalism, and far more disturbing things. There was some kind of text underneath the paintings, maybe the written form of the Draymens language, but Helnia could not read it, nor did she want to, because she had a pretty good idea what the text said, if the paintings were anything to go by. Strange statues were built into the walls near the ceiling, like evil spirits looking down upon them from above.

But the most noteworthy part of the room was the gigantic statue in the middle of the chamber. It wasn't merely the size that made it noteworthy; no, what made it noteworthy was the fact that it looked brand new, if unfinished. The stone appeared to have been freshly mined and, unlike the rest of the Shrine, it did not give an appearance of neglect or age.

The statue itself looked like a monster from a child's nightmare. Its face resembled that of a snake's mixed with a rat's, while it carried a huge sword in its hands, a sword at least as tall as Sarzen if not taller. The statue was carved with thick armor, armor that had the same grotesque paintings as the ones on the walls. Its eyes looked disturbingly realistic, even though they were made out of the same stone as the rest of its body. It had a horned helmet carved into its skull, horns that looked as sharp as knives.

"By the Dragon Gods' many names," said Sarzen, staring up at the statue in astonishment. "That's the One."

"The One?" said Helnia. "Do you mean the One of Shadow?"

"Yes," said Sarzen. "At least, this statue fits the description of him in the old legends. But I've never actually seen a picture or statue of him before; it is supposed to be blasphemous to make a statue or picture of the One, hence why all statues of him were destroyed when our people came to Yores. Perhaps this one survived the purge somehow."

"It didn't survive the purge," said Helnia. "It is clearly from _after_ the purge. Look at how clean it is; it's practically new."

"But if it's new, then who made it?" said Sarzen. "The Draymens?"

Helnia did not know the answer to that question. She just looked at the source of the light, which was coming from the base of the statue. The source of the light was difficult to see, due to how bright it was now, but it soon dimmed until it was clear enough to see what was creating it:

It was Icicle, Misma's pet snow monkey. It was sitting at the feet of the statue, its eyes wide with what appeared to be curiosity. Its tail waved through the air, moving like a snake, but Icicle did not look like he was going to come close to them.

"Is that... Icicle?" said Sarzen. "Misma's monkey? What's it doing here?"

"I don't know," said Helnia. "The last time I saw it, it ran away. I thought it was still in Yores."

"Maybe it got lost," said Sarzen.

"Lost by crossing the border and traveling deep into the heart of the Cursed Lands?" said Helnia in a skeptical voice. "A more reasonable theory is that Icicle is the one behind all of this stuff that we've gone through so far."

"More reasonable, perhaps, but no closer to the mark than the 'it got lost' theory," came a voice from somewhere above. "Which, by the way, is outright false."

The voice was coming from a Draymens that was hanging from a hole in the ceiling with an animalistic grin on its face. This Draymens was tall, same as Sarzen in height, with long, curling horns rising from its head. It wore a snake-like mask on its face and its pale gray skin looked very sickly from the green light from Icicle. It had no weapons that Helnia could see, but that did not mean it was not dangerous.

The Draymens dropped from the ceiling, but when it landed on the floor, it did not make a sound. It didn't even fall right; it seemed to fall like a leaf, even though it was clearly heavier than any leaf.

Sarzen immediately drew his sword and ran at the Draymens. He didn't even explain what he was doing. He just dashed toward the Draymens, yelling loudly and angrily.

The Draymens just sank into the shadows, narrowly avoiding Sarzen's blade, which cut through empty air. Sarzen staggered forward, but immediately regained his balance and started looking around for the Draymens, as did Helnia, who had tapped her necklace and was prepared to cast a spell to defend herself.

"Up here, humans," said the Draymens' voice from above. "I'm not hiding."

Helnia and Sarzen looked up. The Draymens now clung onto one of the statues built into the walls near the ceiling, well outside of Sarzen's reach. Helnia could probably hit him with a spell from here, but she had a feeling that he was expecting that and would likely counter it.

The Draymens smiled. "I see you remember me, Warrior Priest. I thought you might forget, but I guess you humans have a better memory than I thought."

Helnia looked at Sarzen in surprise. "You've met this Draymens before? When?"

Sarzen's scowl grew deeper. "In Ars, when he infiltrated the Sanctuary and killed High Priest Renuk."

Helnia gasped. "You mean this is the same Draymens who killed Renuk?"

"Indeed," said the Draymens. He gingerly touched his side and grimaced. "The wounds you inflicted onto me have healed, but... not as well as I'd like. I still have scars from where the High Priest stabbed me, but it is all worth it for the cause."

"What are you doing here?" said Sarzen. "Why don't you come down and fight like a man, you beast? Let's finish what we started in the Sanctuary."

The Draymens snorted. "Do you think I'm so foolish as to fight you directly? We Draymens _do_ learn from our mistakes, you know. We're not like you humans, who seem to just repeat the same mistakes over and over again expecting different results. I suppose that is why the One referred to you as the Mad People in the old stories."

"It's about honor, murderer," said Sarzen. "But I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Honor is as foreign a concept to you Draymens as love and hope."

"Love and hope?" said the Draymens. "Who needs such ideals? We Draymens will win sooner or later. Your quest for the Dragon Gods is about to come to a very gruesome end. That much I can assure you."

"I'm sure you believe that, but that doesn't make it true," said Sarzen. "We have the Dragon Gods on our side. Our quest will succeed and we will drive you and your people from Yores once and for all."

The Draymens chuckled. "That's assuming your own leaders even support you."

"Of course they do," said Sarzen. "The Elect voted to send us. We wouldn't be here if they hadn't."

"The Elect merely wanted you out of the way," said the Draymens. He smirked. "They knew your quest would be a foolish one, so they decided to send you to your deaths."

"What?" said Helnia in shock. "What are you talking about? The Elect Council serves the people of Yores. They're not perfect, but—"

"A total, though comforting, fiction," said the Draymens. He shook his head. "The Elect Council stopped serving your people long ago. They are now allied with the Draymens. And, with their help, Yores will fall and your people will be slaughtered like lambs."

"No way," said Sarzen. "The Elect don't work with you. You're lying."

"Have you ever wondered why the Elect have done so little to stop my people from invading Yores?" said the Draymens. "Have you ever stopped and considered that the Elect have _chosen_ to be slow and inefficient in stopping us? That they have intentionally chosen to hand the plains—and, soon, the mountains—over to us?"

Helnia's heart sank into her stomach. "If that's true... if that's true... then that means that our hometown..."

"Was sacrificed to us, yes," said the Draymens, nodding. "The Elect refused to save your hometown and the hundreds of other towns and villages that we have destroyed. It was not that they were slow or that we overwhelmed them with numbers or whatever the official excuse is. Under the agreement they struck with us, we have free rein of the plains, and soon, the mountains, as well."

"How long have they been working with you?" said Sarzen. His voice shook, as if he was holding back his tears.

"Eleven years," said the Draymens. "You see, the Elect are not like the rest of your people. The rest of your people have forgotten the Dragon Gods and live their lives as if the Dragon Gods do not even exist; the Elect, however, worship a different god, a better one."

"They do?" said Sarzen. "Who is this god that they worship?"

Helnia pointed at the statue of the One in front of her. "It's the One of Shadow, isn't it?"

The Draymens' smirk became even wider. "Smarter than you look, female. Yes, they are worshipers of the One. They're not quite as faithful as us, but the One does not turn away worship from anyone, even from the descendants of the people who slaughtered his servants. In that way, he is wise, much wiser than us."

"Impossible," said Sarzen. "Why would any human worship the One?"

"For power, of course," said the Draymens. "The Elect believe that the One will grant them godhood if they serve him. Many of the old stories do say that the One could grant godhood to his most loyal and faithful of followers. And since humans are particularly drawn to power, it is easy to see why they support him."

"But how will they get godhood from the One?" said Sarzen. "He's dead. He was killed in battle by the Dragon Gods a thousand years ago. He isn't coming back."

The Draymens shook his head. "That's where you're wrong. The One _will_ rise again. Look at that statue a bit more closely."

Although Helnia did not like taking her eyes off the Draymens, she nonetheless looked over at the statue of the One more closely than before. So did Sarzen, although he looked even less happy about it than she did.

At first, the statue looked pretty normal, but then Helnia sensed something from within it. It felt like the statue was radiating Raugus energy, but it was a darker feeling, as if the Raugus was polluted. Helnia had never felt anything quite like it before.

That was not the only anomaly she noticed. The statue was glowing slightly; in fact, it was the real source of the green light that Helnia and Sarzen had seen before, not Icicle. It was a very faint light, but it was visible and obvious now that she noticed it.

"That statue will be his new body," said the Draymens. "Once the ceremony is complete, it will transmute from stone into flesh. His soul will enter the body and it will be impossible for you humans to stop us."

The Draymens gestured at the paintings and text on the walls. "Look at these paintings, at these words. These are part of the ritual that will restore our great god to life. It is an ancient spell, one that took many centuries for my people to rediscover, but with it, we shall prosper and crush you under our feet."

"No," said Sarzen. "That can't be true."

"But it is," said the Draymens. "If you wish to remain skeptical, that is fine. Soon, however, you will see the One rise again and you will know that I am telling the truth."

All of a sudden, the paintings and text on the walls began to glow the same green light from before. Helnia and Sarzen jumped, but nothing attacked them. The lights merely became brighter and brighter, until soon they totally illuminated the entire chamber.

"What if we stop you before you succeed?" said Sarzen, looking up at the Draymens again. "If we kill you before the ritual is finished, will that end it?"

"No," said the Draymens. "In order to do that, you'd need to destroy the statue itself. That statue, by the way, was built from the rocks mined from Reck and other slave towns, though your freeing of the slaves was too late, because the statue is essentially complete already. All that needs to be done is the ceremony itself."

"Then I'll destroy the statue," said Helnia. She reached for her necklace. "A strong enough spell should be enough to shatter the—"

All of a sudden, Icicle lunged at her and landed on her chest. It clawed at her neck, making Helnia think it was going to rip out her throat, but then Icicle grabbed her necklace and snapped it off.

Beads full of Raugus energy went flying everywhere as Helnia shoved Icicle off her. The beads clattered against the stone floor, going in every direction. Helnia tried to scoop up a few, but they went out of her reach too fast for her to get them.

As for Icicle, he jumped back over to the statue of the One and climbed up onto its head, well outside of her or Sarzen's reach. The snow monkey smirked and stuck out its tongue at Helnia and Sarzen, as if taking satisfaction in their defeat.

"Now, now, you can't do that," said the Draymens. "Icicle made sure of that. The resurrection of the One will proceed as scheduled... no matter the cost."

"So Icicle is working for you?" said Sarzen. "How did you get a Raugian on your side?"

"Icicle is not a Raugian," said the Draymens. "Like me, he is a Draymens, but in disguise. See?"

A shadow suddenly passed over Icicle's form, making his body look like a silhouette before it vanished.

Standing in Icicle's place was a short, ugly, monkey-like Draymens. Its tail was forked, while its teeth were pointed and sharp, like knives. Its eyes were a dead gray, but they somehow looked beastly and animalistic just the same. Icicle chuckled, which was like rattling bones in an empty room.

Sarzen looked too surprised to respond to that, but something clicked in Helnia's mind and she looked up at the assassin. "Did Icicle kill Misma?"

"Of course," said the Draymens. "We did not want Misma sending that letter for reinforcements from the Elect. Sinmo has been a thorn in our side for a long time; we were _supposed_ to crush it after her death, along with you, but then that annoying lesser dragon appeared out of nowhere and ruined everything."

"But if the Elect are on your side, why would it matter if Misma sent that letter?" said Sarzen. "Wouldn't the Elect simply ignore it?"

"Perhaps, but we did not want that letter to fall into the wrong hands," said the Draymens. "It might have raised awareness of the true threat that we Draymens pose to your people, which could have led to your people demanding action from the Elect, if not taking it on their own. That we could not allow."

"Why did you even allow us to get this far, then?" said Sarzen.

"Because you proved more competent than we first thought," said the Draymens. "A miscalculation on our part, but one we intend to correct here. Though it isn't all bad; now that we have you here, you will make perfect human sacrifices for the ritual."

"Human sacrifices?" said Helnia. "What do you mean?"

"In order for the One to be fully resurrected, we must spill the blood of two humans on the statue," said the Draymens. "They must be two related humans, a brother and sister ideally, though any sibling pair will do. We originally intended to kill you two somewhere along the way and drag your corpses here, but we can work with you if you are still alive."

"Why us?" said Sarzen. "Why not just pick out any two random siblings? Why go through all of the trouble of manipulating us like this?"

"Because you two have an... interesting connection with the One," said the Draymens. "I don't understand it myself, but the Elders have discovered that you two are closer to the One than even we Draymens are. They told me that you are Children of the One."

"What does that mean?" said Sarzen. He put a hand on his chest and grimaced. "What are Children of the One?"

"You don't need to know that," said the Draymens. "Truthfully, I have no idea what your real connection to the One is. The Elders did not see fit to tell me. They just told me to make sure that you two are brought here one way or another; they weren't especially picky about how I did it, so after Sinmo, I made sure you got here unharmed."

Helnia felt her neck. She felt both defenseless and scared. She looked at Sarzen, who looked just as confused as her, and she realized just how powerless they really were now.

Then Helnia suddenly remembered something and looked up at the Draymens. "The letter from our parents. Did _you_ write it?"

The Draymens smirked. "Yes. I forged it myself, because forgery is one of my special talents. It was the only way I could figure how to make you come along with your brother on this quest, and it worked beautifully, if I do say so myself."

"Letter from our parents?" said Sarzen, looking at Helnia in confusion. "What letter from our parents?"

Somewhat sheepishly, Helnia took the letter out of her robes and handed it to Sarzen. Sarzen took the letter, unfurled it, and quickly glanced it over before looking up at Helnia again.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" said Sarzen. He did not sound hurt, but he sounded disappointed, made more pronounced by the disappointment visible in his eyes.

"Because she didn't know if it was real or not," said the Draymens. "Like the good sister that she is, she did not want to get your hopes up only to dash them against the rocks. She's smart that way, though still not smart enough to realize just how much I fooled her."

"I wasn't trying to lie to you," said Helnia. She felt her neck starting to heat up from embarrassment and found it hard to meet Sarzen's gaze. "I just... I just wasn't sure if it was real or not."

Sarzen did not respond. He just looked at the letter again and then looked up at the Draymens. "Are our parents dead, then? Did they never make it past here?"

"Your parents are still alive," said the Draymens. "Unfortunately, I don't know where they are. They came this way ten years ago, seeking the Dragon Gods. We tried to kill them, but they escaped and continued on past Ferro's Pass."

"They're still alive?" said Sarzen. He sighed in relief. "Amazing. I thought for sure they were dead."

"They should have been," said the Draymens, a trace of bitterness in his voice. He traced a finger along a scar above his left cheek, a scar that Helnia had not noticed before. "But it doesn't matter. I imagine they must have perished on the other side, because they have yet to return with the Dragon Gods. Or perhaps they ran into some other obstacle along the way that kept them from completing their quest; in any case, you will not live long enough to see them again."

"You can't stop us from running away," said Sarzen. He turned to leave. "Come on, Helnia! Let's get out of here before—"

He was interrupted by the entrance to the room closing shut. Sarzen ran over to it and started banging his fists on the door, but the stone wall was too thick and firm for him to even dent. Helnia doubted she could have broken it even with her magic.

"Did you really think I would be dumb enough to let you two just run away, after all of the work I did to get you here in the first place?" said the Draymens. "Not to mention I have stopped your friends from being able to intervene as well. It's just you two, me, and Icicle, exactly the way I want it."

Sarzen whirled around and held up his sword. Helnia, being entirely defenseless now, walked backwards until she was behind Sarzen. She wished she had thought to bring a weapon of her own, but her only weapon, her necklace, was destroyed and useless.

"If you want to sacrifice us to your god, then you will have to fight us both," said Sarzen. "And, since I already beat you once, there's a good chance I can do it again."

"When did I ever say I would fight you myself?" said the Draymens.

The Draymens raised one of his hands and snapped his fingers.

On the other side of the chamber, opposite Helnia and Sarzen, a portion of the wall slid to the side, revealing a dark, hidden chamber. Then footsteps could be heard coming from the chamber, footsteps that sounded almost human, but Helnia believed it was probably yet another Draymens.

So Helnia held up her arms before her defensively, even though she couldn't fight very well without her magic. Sarzen redoubled his grip on his sword, turning his focus on the footsteps that grew louder every second.

Finally, something emerged from the secret chamber, but it was not merely some _thing_ , but someone. It was an ancient, old-looking human, who looked like he had just been dug out of a grave.

Helnia couldn't believe her eyes. It was High Priest Renuk and he was walking again.

***

Chapter Twenty-Eight

**H** igh Priest Renuk looked awful. His robes and coat were covered in dirt and grime, as well as being ripped in several places. His head lolled to one side and he moved unnaturally, like he was a puppet being controlled by a greater, invisible unseen force. Even from a distance, the stink of decaying flesh was intense, causing Helnia to gag and cover her nose and mouth. Sarzen just grimaced, which made Helnia wish she could be as strong as him.

"I see you recognize him," said the Draymens. He glanced at the corpse. "Or his corpse, at any rate."

"What did you do to his body?" said Sarzen. The rage in his voice was barely contained.

"Reanimated it using the dark essence of the One," said the Draymens. "It is under my control now. It is a useful spell, and quite fun, too, because most humans totally lose their courage when they see the walking dead shambling toward them."

"This is disrespectful," said Sarzen. "How could you desecrate the High Priest's grave like that? Why did you do this?"

"For leverage," said the Draymens. "I can already tell that my little ploy has shaken your courage to its very foundation. Now I wonder: Do you have the courage and conviction necessary to kill your beloved High Priest, or will you let him tear out your throat and turn you into a corpse like him?"

"I will defend my sister and myself against any and all threats," said Sarzen. "Even if that means killing the man who was basically my second father."

Despite Sarzen's brave words, even Helnia heard the tremble in them. The Draymens was right: This ploy had shaken Sarzen. Whether it had shaken Sarzen enough to make it impossible for him to fight the corpse or not, Helnia did not know, but she had a bad feeling about this just the same.

"In any case, even if you do defeat him, it won't matter," said the Draymens. He licked his hand in anticipation. "You will still be trapped in here, with me and Icicle. Both of you will die one way or another. At this point, the only question is 'how,' not 'if.'"

"Helnia," said Sarzen under his breath, causing her to look at him. His back was still to her, no doubt so he could keep an eye on the reanimated corpse of Renuk. "While I fight the corpse, gather as many of the dropped beads as you can."

"But I can't make my necklace without the proper tools," said Helnia.

"Just do it," said Sarzen. "Magic is the only way we will stand a chance in here, so just grab as many as you can so you can fight with magic."

Helnia was about to object, but then she thought about it and nodded. "Okay. I see your point. I'll grab as many as I can."

"Good," said Sarzen.

Suddenly, Sarzen ran toward the reanimated corpse, screaming loudly. Helnia didn't wait; she immediately got on her hands and knees and started scooping up as many of the beads as she could. She put them into the pockets of her robes, but then she heard movement before her and looked up to see Icicle lunging toward her from the statue of the One.

With a yelp, Helnia ducked, allowing Icicle to soar over her head. Icicle crashed into the floor, while Helnia crawled away from him as quickly as she could, grabbing beads all the while. But she could hear Icicle already recovering, so she turned around just in time to see him coming at her again.

Helnia reached for the beads in her pockets, but Icicle was quicker. He leaped onto her chest, screeching like a demon straight from the pits of hell, and forced her down onto her back. He started clawing at her robes and face, but Helnia grabbed him around the neck and began to wrestle with him.

Even though Icicle was much smaller than Helnia, he was much stronger. It reminded Helnia of when she would wrestle with Sarzen when they were very young, only those times had always been for fun. Icicle was literally trying to kill her.

And, even though Helnia was not very strong, her self-preservation instincts kicked in and a jolt of adrenaline shot through her body. With a yell, Helnia threw Icicle off her. Icicle hit the floor and scrambled back to his feet, but Helnia, this time, was faster.

She pulled out a fistful of beads from her pockets and squeezed. Her hand suddenly glowed with heat and energy and she pointed her fist at Icicle.

The Draymens monkey had just enough time to snarl, revealing row upon row of tiny sharp teeth, before he utterly exploded into flame. Icicle screeched in pain as the fire consumed his form and he immediately fell onto the floor where he continued to screech in pain.

Helnia increased the power of the flame, watching as it went from orange to white in seconds. She felt the Raugus rapidly draining from the beads in her hands, so she grabbed more beads and added more energy to her spell, until soon Icicle was so consumed by the fire that it was literally impossible to see him through the flames.

Eventually, Icicle stopped making any noise at all, so Helnia stopped the flames, which died as soon as their connection to her beads was cut off.

Where Icicle had been mere moments ago was a small, smoking pile of ash on top of a partially-melted, blackened spot on the floor. The stink of burning rock was awful, but Helnia felt relieved that he was dead nonetheless.

Then Helnia heard metal cutting through flesh and looked up. Sarzen was now engaging the Renuk corpse in combat, but the corpse moved far quicker and more gracefully than it should have been able. Though Sarzen had managed to land a few blows on it, the corpse was doing a good job at dodging his attacks. It wasn't attacking just yet, but Helnia figured that the puppet was just looking for an opening to take advantage of, or maybe it was trying to wear him down and then strike him when he slipped.

Helnia looked at the beads in her hands. They didn't have enough Raugus energy left to do much, so she'd need to find more beads so she could help Sarzen. She crawled on her hands and knees across the floor, trying to find more beads, but it seemed like they had all disappeared in the chaos of her fight with Icicle.

Then she spotted one just a few inches away, so she reached over to grab it, but then a clawed foot came out of nowhere and smashed the bead under foot.

Helnia looked up. The Draymens assassin was standing above her now, a demonic grin on its face.

"You're feistier than I expected, mage," said the Draymens assassin. "I didn't expect you to kill Icicle, but I never liked him much anyway, so it wasn't much of a loss. Shouldn't be very difficult for me to kill you myself."

The assassin backhanded Helnia across the face. Helnia hit the floor, her senses briefly shaken as she cracked her head against the stone. Thus, she was unable to stop the assassin from grabbing her neck and raising her off the floor, its smirk as wide and demonic as ever.

"You mages are utterly useless without your spells," said the Draymens assassin, "which is why, of course, we Draymens will ultimately win."

The Draymens assassin suddenly threw Helnia to the side. Helnia crashed at the base of the statue and, before she could get up, the Draymens kicked her in the face and then slammed his clawed foot against her chest. His clawed toes dug into her chest, poking through her robes and causing her to groan in pain as the claws cut through her skin.

Helnia grabbed the assassin's leg, trying to shove him off, but he was far stronger than her and didn't even seem to be trying to hold her down. He just looked down at her with an amused expression on his face.

"It won't be long now before the puppet kills your brother," said the Draymens assassin. "I should probably wait until he's dead, because the ritual requires both of you bleed on the statue at the same time, but it is probably more logical to kill you now so I can help the puppet, because it seems to be having more difficulty dealing with your brother than I thought."

Helnia did not respond to that because the Draymens' pressure on her chest made it almost impossible for her to speak. She grabbed his leg and pushed back as much as she could; it wasn't much, but the Draymens must not have expected it, because he actually did fall off her.

Desperately and before the assassin could regain his balance, Helnia tightened her grip around the few beads in her hand that she had managed to grab. She felt the Raugus energy flow through her, but it was weak due to how much she had used already.

But it was enough. Helnia jerked her hand forward, unleashing a blast of fire at the assassin. The Draymens assassin had no time to dodge; the fire struck him in the face, causing him to shriek in pain as he staggered away.

Helnia would have followed up the blow with another spell, but her beads were out of Raugus energy, so she tossed them to the side and, scrambling to her feet, ran away. She needed to get as far away from the statue as possible in order to make it harder for the assassin to get her.

Sarzen was still fighting Renuk's corpse. Helnia could tell that Sarzen was already starting to tire; his attacks were sluggish, and even when they did land, they left only minor scratches or cuts, nothing that actually stopped or slowed down the reanimated corpse.

Renuk, on the other hand, was still as fast as ever. He dodged Sarzen's sword strokes and took advantage of the openings that Sarzen left open with a few well-placed punches. Though his blows couldn't have been very strong, they nonetheless caused Sarzen to stagger whenever they landed. Helnia could tell that Renuk was trying to get Sarzen's neck. She caught a glimpse of its teeth and saw that they were sharp, much sharper than they had been prior to his death, perhaps having been altered by the Draymens' dark magic.

_I have to help,_ Helnia thought.

She pulled out her money bag, which clanked with the coins inside it, and shouted, "Sarzen, duck!"

Sarzen immediately did so, which also helped him dodge a punch from Renuk. The corpse looked briefly surprised by the sudden movement, but then Helnia hurled her money bag at its face.

The bag struck the corpse right in the face, causing it to stagger backwards, but it did not get a chance to recover. Sarzen rose and, in one, smooth stroke of his sword, beheaded the corpse. Renuk's head flew and landed on the floor several feet away, while its corpse collapsed into a heap, where it did not even stir.

Lowering his sword, Sarzen leaned on his blade as Helnia ran over to him. At first, Helnia thought Sarzen was suffering from some kind of wound, but as she drew closer, she realized that he was crying. Tears were running down his face, tears he was doing his best to avoid showing by keeping his face down.

"Sarzen, are you okay?" said Helnia. "You're crying."

Sarzen wiped away his tears and looked up at Helnia. He looked both exhausted and sad, but he was now obviously holding back his tears. "It's nothing, Helnia. I'm fine. Just tired from fighting."

Helnia could tell he was lying. She knew he was crying because he had essentially been forced to kill his High Priest. It may not have actually been the Renuk they had known, but that didn't change the fact that Sarzen had killed it anyway.

But Helnia also did not say that aloud. She knew her brother well enough to know that he would not appreciate it very much if she voiced her observations aloud. She would wait until later, after they got out of here, to mention it if it became relevant.

"What about you?" said Sarzen. "Are you okay?"

Helnia nodded. "Yes, but I don't have my necklace anymore."

"Well, I'm just glad to hear that you aren't hurt, at least," said Sarzen. "But where is the—"

A deep growl echoed off the walls of the chamber, causing Helnia and Sarzen to look over in the direction of the statue of the One.

The assassin was standing at its base. His face was no longer on fire; however, his skin was melted and congealed in several places, one of his eyes even being melted closed. Part of his mouth had been burned open, showing the bone underneath, though the bone looked more black than white for some reason. Wisps of smoke rose from parts of his face.

But what was most disturbing about the assassin's face was that he was not even grunting in pain. It was as though his face had not actually melted and burned, although his one good eye twitched in pain every now and then.

"What happened to his face?" said Sarzen in shock.

"Your sister," said the assassin. He winced. "Her fire magic was... painful, to put it lightly. But I will recover. The Elders say so."

"Who are the Elders?" said Sarzen.

The assassin spread his arms. "Our leaders. The Elders of the One are the oldest and wisest among us. They have access to the darkest arts of the One, for they were his disciples. They fled Yores after the One's death, but returned when the Dragon Gods left. They are the ones who discovered the spell that can bring the One back to life."

"Well, it doesn't matter who your leaders are," said Sarzen. He brandished his sword. "We're going to kill you and make sure that you never resurrect your monstrous god ever again."

"It's over, assassin," said Helnia, brushing aside some strands of hair that had gotten in front of her face. "Icicle is dead and your puppet is defeated. You're going to join them both soon enough."

The assassin cracked a smile, which looked even worse on his melted/burned face. "Ah, such arrogance. You humans have no idea what dark powers we Draymens have at our command, dark powers granted to us by the One's spirit. Such arrogance will be your downfall."

The assassin placed his long, spidery fingers on his forehead and closed his eye. He appeared to be concentrating, but Helnia had no idea what the assassin was doing until she noticed his body beginning to change.

His limbs became large and bulkier. His body also grew in bulk, becoming even thicker than Sarzen, but it was muscle, not fat. He grew taller and taller, until he soon towered over them both. Twin bat wings grew out of his back, wings that flapped once or twice as if to get the kinks out of them.

Within seconds, the assassin had completely transformed. Gone was the skinny, human-like monster that had existed just moments before; in its place was a hulking beast that more closely resembled the statue of its god than any human being.

"By the Dragon Gods," said Sarzen, staring at the assassin's new form in fear. "What is that?"

The assassin lowered his hands, a grin on his face, which was still as burned and melted as ever. "This is the form that I will use to crush you, of course. Be quick, because I am faster than I look."

The assassin's voice was deep and booming now. Sarzen held up his sword, but before either he or Helnia could react, the assassin moved.

That was it. The assassin just took one step forward, but somehow crossed the length of the room in the blink of an eye. Helnia started, while Sarzen slashed at the assassin, but his sword just bounced off the assassin's knee as uselessly as if he had tried to hit him with a twig.

Then the assassin knocked the sword out of Sarzen's hands and grabbed both him and Helnia with his massive hands. The hands tightened their grip around Helnia's waist so tightly that she gasped for air, air she could not get. She and Sarzen struggled to break free, but the titan's grasp on their bodies was so tight that it was impossible.

Once more, the assassin took a step backwards and they were suddenly back in front of the statue. The assassin slammed both Helnia and Sarzen against the base of the statue, the impact almost knocking them both out.

"Now," said the assassin, his foul breath streaming over them, "it is time to make you bleed in order to complete the ritual. Once it is finished, the One will rise again... and it will be all thanks to you."

***

Chapter Twenty-Nine

**T** he titan opened his mouth. A long, sharp shadow streamed out of his massive maw, moving almost like a snake toward Sarzen and Helnia. Sarzen kept trying to break free, while Helnia did not, probably because she was too tired and injured to fight. But Sarzen still had a desire to fight, even though it was incredibly obvious that he was not going to be able to free himself or Helnia.

The shadow tongue sharpened as it drew closer. Sarzen realized that all it needed to do was cut their cheeks and cause a drop of blood from each to fall onto the statue's base, which would complete the ritual and cause the One to rise again. But neither Sarzen nor Helnia could avoid the tongue; it was drawing closer and closer and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

_Dragon Gods, please save us,_ Sarzen prayed silently, watching as the shadow tongue advanced. _Please give us a miracle. Anything will do. Anything at all._

The shadow tongue split into two when it was about halfway toward them. One half made its way over to Sarzen, while the other made its way to Helnia. Sarzen just prepared himself for the inevitable pain from the cut, closing his eyes so he would not have to see what the results of his failure would be.

That was when a loud roar—the roar of a dragon—pierced the air. It was an incredibly spine-tingling roar, so loud that it caused Sarzen's eyes to fly open, though that was about the only movement he could make, because a fear swept through him at the sound of the roar, a fear he had never felt before. Helnia also looked shocked and fearful, too stunned to move.

But not nearly as much as the assassin. A deep fear, as if his very life was in danger, crossed the assassin's face. His shadow tongues froze when they were only inches away from Sarzen and Helnia's faces; in fact, the assassin's entire body had frozen, like he had been stuck out in the middle of a blizzard overnight.

"No..." said the assassin in a low voice. "That roar... it can't be..."

All of a sudden, a dragon as white as snow tackled the assassin, sending them both rolling across the floor away from Sarzen and Helnia. Sarzen immediately sat up, rubbing his chest, while Helnia gasped for air and coughed several times.

"What the heck was that?" said Helnia, panting between each word. She looked over at the dragon. "A dragon?"

"It's the Miracle," said Sarzen in excitement. "The Miracle at Sinmo. Remember about the lesser dragon I told you of? The one that saved Sinmo from the Draymens?"

"That's the same one?" said Helnia in surprise. "What's it doing all the way out here in the Cursed Lands?"

"I don't know," said Sarzen. "But I think... I think the Dragon Gods sent it. They heard my prayer and sent him to save us again." He looked up at the ceiling. "Thanks again, Dragon Gods. You are as faithful and quick to answer our prayers as ever."

Then Sarzen heard another crash and looked to see the fight between the dragon and the assassin. The two were now circling each other, but the dragon had already dealt significant damage to the assassin. The assassin had long, jagged claw marks on his chest, which were bleeding profusely, and he was even limping. The dragon, on the other hand, looked unharmed, even regal, its white scales reflecting the green light that glowed along the walls.

"So..." said the assassin, his voice full of anger and pain. "The son of Errat appears again. You thwarted us at Sinmo and seek to do the same here? I should have foreseen this."

The dragon did not respond. It just snorted smoke from its nostril and clawed the floor, as if showing that it was not afraid of the assassin.

"Son of Errat?" Sarzen muttered. "Impossible."

"Who is Errat?" said Helnia. "I've never heard that name before."

"Errat is one of the Dragon Gods," said Sarzen. "The highest Dragon God, in fact."

"You mean this lesser dragon is his son?" said Helnia in surprise. "I didn't know the Dragon Gods had children."

"Legend says that they used to have many children, but they were all slain in the battle with the One, and they refused to procreate again in order to avoid the heartache of losing their children," said Sarzen. "But if the assassin is telling the truth, then this is no mere lesser dragon servant. It's another ancient legend come to life."

All of a sudden, the son of Errat breathed a stream of silver fire at the assassin. The assassin jumped to the side to avoid it, but he was too slow and part of his body got hit by the fire, causing him to cry out in pain and stagger to the side.

The dragon immediately ran toward him. It lashed out with its claws, slashing across the assassin's face, and then following up the blow with a smack from its wings. The assassin fell onto his back and the dragon jumped on him, trying to tear out his throat, but the assassin somehow managed to hold back the dragon's teeth, although it looked like it took all of his effort.

"What should we do?" said Helnia. "Do you think the dragon can beat him on his own?"

"Perhaps, but I hate sitting around doing nothing," said Sarzen. He rose to his feet. "Stay here. I'm going to get my sword back and help the son of Errat."

Before Helnia could protest, Sarzen ran around the statue back toward his sword, which lay on the other side of the chamber. He reached his sword quickly and picked it up just as he heard a cry of pain—this time sounding like it came from a wounded beast—and looked over his shoulder.

The situation of the battle had changed. The dragon's left wing was wounded; it even looked broken, the way it hung from the dragon's shoulder. The dragon itself was lying on the floor like it had been knocked down mid-flight; Sarzen had no idea how the tide of the battle had changed so quickly, but he knew that he had to act quickly if he was going to save the dragon.

Holding his sword with both hands, Sarzen ran toward the battle. He was quick, crossing the chamber faster than ever before, and reached the assassin before he could finish off the dragon.

With a yell, Sarzen slashed at an open wound on the assassin's thigh, the closest wound he could hit. His sword sank into the assassin's thigh, causing the assassin to cry out in pain for the first time so far.

But the assassin did not fall. He swept a large hand at Sarzen, but Sarzen yanked his sword out of the assassin's thigh and ducked, easily dodging the hand.

The assassin growled in anger, clutching his wound, but then there was another roar from the dragon and the dragon appeared again. Though its wing was still as damaged as ever, the dragon nonetheless managed to sink its claws into the assassin's shoulders and then sink its teeth into the assassin's neck.

And, with a final yank, the dragon tore through the assassin's throat, sending gray blood splattering everywhere. The assassin roared in pain, staggering backwards before he fell on his hands and knees. The assassin clutched his throat with both hands, but there was no way he could stem the blood flow or close the wound in time to stop it from bleeding out.

Sarzen and the dragon stood side by side, staring at the assassin as he desperately tried to stop his throat from bleeding out. It was a hideous, pitiful sight, especially when Sarzen smelled the blood, which was like rotten fruit.

"It's over, assassin," said Sarzen. "You've lost."

Sarzen expected the assassin to fall down there and then, but instead, he looked up at them. The assassin's eyes were aflame with madness, madness and hate, as if those two emotions alone were keeping him alive even when he should have died by now.

"The One..." the assassin could barely speak. "... will rise... again..."

The assassin tried to stand up, causing Sarzen and the dragon to get into fighting positions, but then Helnia shouted, "Sarzen, dragon, move!"

Without thinking or asking why, Sarzen and the dragon jumped apart. The assassin briefly looked confused before shocked horror and understanding rippled across his face, which Sarzen did not understand until he heard the sound of something tall and heavy tipping over.

That was when Sarzen saw the massive statue of the One—so detailed and well-constructed, a product of years of effort and work, mostly by human slaves—fall over onto the assassin. The statue not only crushed the assassin under its weight, but also shattered upon impact, its limbs and head falling off its torso. Its body cracked in half, while the head rolled away and came to a stop just a few short feet away from the main body. The green lights on the walls suddenly died, causing the room to return to its normal darkness, aside from the glowing white light from the dragon's scales.

The assassin was now dead. And with the statue of the One also destroyed, it was obvious that his god was going to stay that way, too.

Panting and sweating, Sarzen looked back over at Helnia. She was standing where the statue had stood mere moments ago, her chest heaving up and down.

"Helnia?" said Sarzen. "How... how did you knock the statue over?"

Helnia smiled a tired smile and held up a tiny bead in one hand. "Found a bead full of Raugus energy. Cast a tipping over spell. Then I let gravity handle the rest."

Sarzen could not help but smile at Helnia's explanation. "Thanks."

Then Sarzen looked up at the dragon. The son of Errat had not left. It still stood on the floor, but it was not looking at Sarzen or Helnia. It was looking at the remains of the statue that lay upon the corpse of the assassin; unless Sarzen's eyes were playing tricks on him, he thought that the dragon looked relieved, a feeling that Sarzen understood very well, given what almost happened.

"Great son of Errat," said Sarzen, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He could barely stand due to how tired he was, but he made an effort not to sit down and rest just yet. "Thank you for coming to aid us in our time of need. Had you not shown up when you did, the One of Shadow would have returned and all hope would have been lost."

The dragon looked at Sarzen. Its brown eyes were very familiar, even though Sarzen had never looked into its eyes before. They reminded Sarzen of someone he knew, though he couldn't think of who at the moment.

The dragon did not seem like it was going to leave anytime soon, so Sarzen said, "Great son of Errat, did the Dragon Gods send you? Where are they? Why have they not returned? I hope it is not too much for me to ask these questions of you, for I am just a humble Acolyte, but I must know the answers and you are the only one who can give them to me."

At first, the dragon looked like it was about to leave, but then it made a sound that sounded kind of like a sigh. Its white scales glowed even brighter, their brightness totally engulfing the dragon and obscuring its whole form from sight.

But the light was bright only for a few seconds. A couple of seconds later, the light faded, but the dragon was no longer standing there.

Instead, there stood before Sarzen a normal human man wearing a necklace of Raugus beads around his neck. He had long dark hair and his brown eyes looked at Sarzen with a mixture of regret and resignation, as if preparing himself to do what he had avoided doing for so long.

Sarzen was shocked to see the person standing before him. He couldn't believe his eyes; it had to be a trick. It was the only explanation.

Still, Sarzen managed to find the courage to say, "It can't be... Rothel?"

Rothel Oran, Sarzen's best friend and one of his traveling companions on the quest to find the Dragon Gods, smiled apologetically. "Yes, it's me, Sarzen, and I owe you and Helnia a big explanation for why I didn't tell you my true nature sooner."

***

Chapter Thirty

**S** arzen still did not believe his eyes. He looked at the assassin's corpse, but now he thought it might also be an illusion. He looked over at Helnia; she looked just as astounded by this revelation as he.

"I see that you're surprised," said Rothel. "Not that I didn't expect you to be."

"You can't be real," said Sarzen. "You're just... no."

"I'm real," said Rothel. He patted his chest. "This isn't an illusion. Everything I've said and done so far is one hundred percent real."

Sarzen put a hand on his forehead. He was starting to feel lightheaded from the revelation. Of course, it might also have been that the adrenaline from the fight was almost gone, so maybe he was just getting tired, but regardless, Sarzen felt like he had walked into a dream, a dream that seemed far too realistic to be a mere dream.

"How?" said Helnia, who had walked over to them by now. "Rothel, how did you become a dragon? Shape-shifting isn't possible, even with Raugus."

Rothel smiled. "That's because I _am_ a dragon. More specifically, I am half-dragon. My father is Errat, one of the Dragon Gods, and my mother is human. I'm a demigod."

"You're really the son of Errat?" said Sarzen. The words felt weird coming out of his mouth, but he had to say them anyway.

"Yes," said Rothel. "I'm also much older than I look. I'm about a thousand years old, give or take. I don't really remember."

"You don't remember?" said Helnia. "How can you not remember your own age?"

Rothel rubbed the back of his head. "Because my memory was taken away from me, that's why. I remember my true nature, but there is a lot about my past I don't remember."

"Okay, hold up," said Sarzen, holding up his hands. "Start from the beginning. And by 'the beginning,' I mean your birth."

"All right, because I do owe you both an explanation," said Rothel, folding his arms over his chest. "A thousand years ago, shortly after the Dragon Gods killed the One and drove his followers out of Yores, Errat, my father, fell in love with a human woman who was said to be the most beautiful, kind, and gentle woman in the world. She returned the love and they had me, their only child."

"But the legends say that the Dragon Gods didn't want to have children after their children were killed by the One," said Sarzen. "How can you exist, then?"

Rothel chuckled. "Even the Dragon Gods can sometimes be swayed by their passions, Sarzen. My father could not help himself, but when I was born, he treated me like his own son just the same. The other Dragon Gods weren't exactly thrilled about that, however, but I never interacted with them much."

"So you've lived in Yores for a thousand years?" said Sarzen.

"Not exactly," said Rothel. "I left Yores with the Dragon Gods five hundred years ago and only returned within the last ten, shortly after you two lost your hometown to the Draymens."

"Then that means you know where the Dragon Gods are," said Sarzen excitedly. "Right?"

Rothel shook his head. "No, I don't."

"What?" said Helnia. "How can you have gone with them but not know where they are?"

"As I said, my memory was taken away from me," said Rothel, tapping the side of his head. "For whatever reason, my father sent me to live in Ars, but he also took away my memory. That's why I volunteered to come on this journey; I want to find my father and the other Dragon Gods and find out the truth about why I was sent here, away from them."

"But..." Sarzen put his hands on his head. "Why did you not tell us this sooner? I thought you were my best friend."

"I am, but I just didn't think it would be wise to reveal my true nature to you or anyone else," said Rothel. "I sensed that I was not supposed to reveal my true nature to anyone, which I think has something to do with the reason I was sent here. But now I don't see any reason to hide it from you two."

"Where is the rest of the caravan?" said Sarzen. "Are they still okay?"

"They're still outside of the Temple," said Rothel. "They saw me transform, so they know my true nature as well. I told them to stay put, because I didn't think they would be very helpful in a fight against that assassin."

"Are you even really a mage?" said Helnia. "You're wearing a necklace."

Rothel grabbed his necklace and tugged on it slightly. "This? It's a fake. My body generates Raugus energy on its own, which allows me to perform many different spells, including several that you can't. I only wear the necklace so no one notices me casting spells without it and realizes what I truly am."

"You mean that was you back in Sinmo?" said Sarzen. "You were the Miracle?"

"Indeed," said Rothel. "That's why I 'disappeared' during the fight. It's because I had transformed. It was the first time I'd done that in a while; you see, I rarely transform because I don't want to draw undue attention or suspicion to myself."

Sarzen didn't want to believe any of what Rothel said, but when he thought about it, it actually made a lot of sense. He had always thought there was something different about Rothel, something that set him apart from every other person Sarzen had ever known in his life. He had not, however, expected that his best friend in the world was a son of a Dragon God, much less the son of the most powerful Dragon God of them all.

"Why didn't you use your power to help save the plains from the Draymens?" said Helnia. "It would have been useful to have a dragon on our side."

"Because I saw how your people treated the Dragon Gods," said Rothel. "Most of your people no longer even believe in them anymore. I thought that I might be attacked if I just came out and told them the truth."

"Did you know that the Elect are actively working with the Draymens to destroy Yores?" said Sarzen.

Rothel's eyes widened. "They are? I had no idea. I mean, I always suspected they were up to no good, but I didn't realize they were actively working with the Draymens to undermine the country."

"That's what the assassin told us," said Helnia. She pinched her nose, no doubt due to the stink coming from the assassin's corpse. "He explained it all. And he would have killed us if you hadn't stepped in at that moment."

"I knew there was something wrong when you two did not return quickly," said Rothel. "I actually thought you might have been killed, but thankfully I found you just in the nick of time."

Sarzen suddenly broke into a smile. "I can't believe it. I'm friends with a son of the Dragon Gods. This is yet another sign—maybe even proof—that the Dragon Gods truly are with us."

"Do you think they sent me here to help you find them?" said Rothel.

"Perhaps," said Sarzen. "We won't know until we find them and ask them ourselves, but that doesn't matter. Whatever your mission is, you can still help us find the Dragon Gods. Once we find them, we can find out why they took your memory away and sent you among us."

"Good," said Rothel. "I thought you were going to be angry at me for not telling you about this sooner."

"I'm not angry," said Sarzen. "You saved us, after all. Had you not intervened, the One of Shadow would have risen again, and we would all surely have died then."

Rothel nodded and glanced at the shattered statue. "You're right, but I doubt this will be the last we will see of the Draymens. They will likely regroup and try to resurrect their god again. The Draymens do not give up easily."

"That's why we will find the Dragon Gods before they succeed," said Sarzen, punching his fist into his other hand. "And I think that, with your help, we can do it."

Rothel nodded again, while Helnia said, "What about our parents? The letter that I had was fake."

"Our parents are probably still out there somewhere," said Sarzen. "Remember, the assassin said they crossed Ferro's Pass. If we just keep heading south, we will find them eventually, I'm sure."

Though Sarzen said that, deep down he had his doubts about their parents' survival. The way he saw it, they would either find their parents alive and well... or find their bodies, most likely left rotting in the open by whoever had killed them. He did not say that aloud, however, because he didn't want to make Helnia depressed.

"What about Ars?" said Rothel. "You said that the Elect are working with the Draymens to destroy Yores, didn't you? How can we warn the people about this before Ars and the other mountain cities are destroyed?"

"Someone needs to head back to Yores and tell the people about this," said Sarzen. He stroked his chin in thought. "But it will be a difficult journey back, whoever chooses to undertake it. The Draymens are going to want to kill every last one of us, especially once they learn that we stopped their god's resurrection. I can't do it, because I need to keep going to find the Dragon Gods, but someone still has to do it."

"I can," said Helnia, causing Sarzen and Rothel to look at her. She looked determined. "I'll take one of the carts and head back through the Cursed Lands back to Yores. Then I'll go to Ars and tell as many of the people about the Elect's betrayal as I can."

"No way," said Sarzen, shaking his head. "I will not allow it. You're too weak and defenseless. You'd be killed before you crossed the border."

"Sarzen, I will be fine," said Helnia. "I need to do it. We have some extra Raugus necklaces in the supplies, so I can take a couple of those with me so I don't run out of Raugus. Because it will just be me and a couple of others, we should be able to make it back to Ars very quickly."

"But what if you are attacked along the way?" said Sarzen. "Even with the Dragon Gods looking after us, I don't want you out of my sight."

Helnia looked Sarzen straight in the eyes with more strength than he'd ever seen in her before. "Sarzen, I appreciate your concern, but I have to do it. I've already put a lot on the line already to save the country. If I have to put my life into danger again, then I'm willing to do it. Plus, I have students at the school where I work; I'd do anything for them, even if that means sacrificing my own life. Please understand."

"Helnia makes a good point," said Rothel. "Splitting up the party is not usually a wise idea, but someone has to warn the people about this, and she's the only person aside from yourself who truly understands the dangers that our country faces. She's the most qualified person, aside from yourself, to raise the alarms and hopefully avert a catastrophe before it happens."

"Also, there's the fact that the Draymens need both of us in order to resurrect the One," said Helnia. "If we're separated, then it will be much harder for them to bring back their god."

Sarzen bit his lower lip. The idea of being separated from Helnia, even if it was for a good reason, was painful to him. He hated being apart from her, even now knowing that their parents were probably still alive somewhere, but at the same time, he couldn't deny the logic and reason in her argument.

So Sarzen nodded and said, "All right, then. Helnia, you and a couple of the other guys can head back to Yores, while the rest of us will continue our journey south to find the Dragon Gods."

But even as Sarzen said that, he found himself wishing that he hadn't. He sensed that Helnia and he would be stronger together, united as one, rather than separate.

_But just because we may not be together physically doesn't mean we cannot be together spiritually,_ Sarzen. _We are both going to work toward the same goal: The rescue of our nation from the threat of a powerful enemy. Let us hope we both succeed._

***

Epilogue

**C** ouncilman Agon Cyra walked through the halls of his mansion, a scowl etched across his features. At his side, his assistant, Patia, did her best to keep up with him, but his legs were longer than hers and she had to take two steps to match his every one. Not that Agon noticed or cared. He was too angry to pay attention to such tiny, insignificant details.

As he stormed, Agon glanced down at the letter in his hands, the letter he had received a few days ago. He was tempted to rip it up and throw it into the fireplace, but he also knew that that would achieve nothing. He would have to bring it with him to the meeting that he was going to, if only so he could make sure that his angry rants at his allies would be based in fact rather than fancy.

"Sir Councilman, why are you up so late?" said Patia, sounding out of breath as she tried to keep up with him. "It is well past your bedtime and you have an important meeting early in the morning with the rest of the Elect."

"I am aware of that, Patia, but it is an emergency," said Agon. "It should not take me very long, but I must ask that you do not enter with me no matter what. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir Councilman," said Patia in a breathless voice. "Of course, Sir Councilman."

Soon, they arrived in front of a large wooden door that was locked tightly. Agon undid the lock and then entered, closing the door behind him before Patia could ask how long he was going to be in there. He also made sure to lock the door again, just so that Patia or anyone else would not be able to interrupt him.

Turning around, Agon touched his necklace and created a ball of light, which he divided into four smaller balls. He sent the balls of light into four glass tubes hanging from the ceiling, immediately illuminating the room.

It wasn't a very large room; there was only enough room for one person to enter and stand, mostly due to the six tall mirrors that stood in a semicircle before the entrance. The mirrors all showed his reflection, which let Agon see his own angry scowl. He would have thought he looked ugly if he cared, but right now he was too angry to care about how he looked.

"Elders, I am here," said Agon, the anger rippling through his voice. "I hope I am not late for this meeting."

There was no answer. Agon almost thought that the Elders had simply decided not to attend the meeting (even though they had been the ones to call it, the bastards) when he saw movement in the mirrors.

His reflections started to change. They became darker and less human-like; they grew fangs, wings, and horns, their skin becoming as pale as the skin of corpses. His reflections changed so drastically until soon Agon would not have believed that these were his reflections if he hadn't seen them already.

"Councilman Agon Cyra," said one of the reflections, the middle one. "As impatient as always."

"That's because I am important man who doesn't have all the time in the world to waste on pointless meetings, especially so late at night when I am normally asleep," said Agon. "I don't know how you Draymens view things, but among humans, it is considered the height of rudeness to call a meeting late at night and then to be late for it."

"We see time... differently than you humans," said the Elder. "We have longer lifespans, measured in centuries rather than decades. Our sense of time is not quite the same as yours."

"Regardless, I am very much tempted to walk out of here now and leave you with nothing for this offense," said Agon. He raised up the letter, however, so that all of the Elders could see it. "And I would have done that, if I had not received this letter with news from Ferro's Pass. What is the meaning of this? How did those two brats escape alive? They were supposed to be sacrificed."

"They had help from a son of Errat," said the Elder in the mirror to his right. "They also smashed the statue of the One of Shadow, meaning we will have to begin the resurrection process anew and construct a brand new statue."

"What?" said Agon. "This is ridiculous. I was told that the One would be resurrected _tonight_. Are you telling me that ten years of work was wiped out in a single night? Perhaps I and the rest of the Elect should rethink this alliance, which has already caused us more trouble than help anyway."

"It would be unwise for you to do so," said the Elder in the middle mirror. "We have agreed to spare you and the others only because you have sworn allegiance to our god. If you reject our alliance, it will be the same as if you had spat on the One's grave, in which case you would not be allowed to leave this room alive tonight."

"I know," said Agon. "But still, this is a huge setback. How can we possibly recover from this? And if Helnia returns to Ars and tells everyone about our plan, then the people will revolt and kill us. Trust me, the people already distrust us; they just need a reason to revolt against our rule."

"It is a setback, certainly," said the Elder in the mirror to his left. "But it is not unrecoverable. It will take the young woman sometime to return to Ars, even if she does not delay, perhaps two weeks at the least. What do you think a good propaganda campaign among the people of the city could do in that time?"

"Quite a bit, I imagine," said Agon. "Are you suggesting we discredit her before she gets here?"

"It is surely what we would advise," said the Elder in the mirror to his right. "Humans are emotional, easily persuaded creatures. You can even use some of the One's dark magic, or at least what little we have chosen to share with you. By the time she gets here, the people of the city will think her crazy for suggesting that the Elect are actively conspiring with the Draymens to destroy their city and their country."

Agon bit his lower lip. "I admit I did not think of that. It could be helpful in diverting attention from the truth. But it won't matter if Sarzen finds the Dragon Gods."

"We already have servants working on that," said the Elder in the mirror directly in front of him. "They are going to set a trap for the young man to walk into. We will not let him escape, unlike his parents. We have learned from our previous mistakes."

"So you aren't completely incompetent, then," said Agon sardonically. "Wonderful. I thought at first that I was dealing with talkative beasts, but evidently you have all the answers already."

"We would not be the Elders of the Draymens if we did not have all the answers," said the Elder in the mirror to his left. "Unlike you humans, leadership among the Draymens is chosen on the basis of knowledge and experience, rather than charisma and deceit."

Agon ignored the jab. "But even if we stop them both, the fact is that the One cannot come back to life if that statue is destroyed. It will take a long time to build another one, and by then the Dragon Gods might return, at which point we may as well hang up our hats and call it quits."

"You give up far too easily in the face of adversity, Councilman," said the Elder in the mirror directly in front of him. "There are other ways to bring back the One and we are already putting the next plan into motion. We had simply considered this method to be the easiest, but even the best laid plans can sometimes fall apart, as those two humans proved."

"You mean the plan can still be salvaged?" said Agon. "How? I demand to know so I can tell the other Elect about it in the morning. They will be interested in knowing."

"It is unimportant for you to know," said the Elder in the mirror directly in front of him. "All you need to focus on is making the propaganda campaign to discredit the young woman. Do you think you will be able to do it?"

"Yes," said Agon, nodding. "It is how I have consistently won every election; when someone runs against me, they always end up losing, both politically and personally."

"Excellent," said the Elder. "Meanwhile, we will focus on keeping the young man and the son of Errat from going any farther. They must not be allowed to find the Dragon Gods, because that is the only thing that will absolutely ruin our plans."

"I agree," said Agon. "Do you know where the Dragon Gods are, per chance? How likely is it that Sarzen and his friends could actually find them?"

The Elders in the mirrors all exchanged brief but significant looks, as if Agon had just asked a sensitive question. Agon wished he understood what the looks meant; despite working with the Elders for ten years, he still had a hard time deciphering their inhuman facial expressions at times. He'd learned the hard way that Draymens facial expressions did not always mean the same thing as human facial expressions even if they were otherwise identical. That was part of the reason why he did not trust the Elders; even though they both served the same god, Agon never knew exactly what the Elders were thinking at any given time. He wondered if they felt the same way about him.

Then the Elders looked at him again and the Elder in the left mirror said, "No, mostly because we would rather not. Such knowledge... would be unwise for even us to have. Some knowledge is dangerous in many ways, both subtle and blatant."

"More riddles," said Agon. "Why can't you just speak plainly to me for once?"

"Because it amuses us," said the Elder in the mirror to his right. "Remember the Hierarchy, Councilman. First was the One, second the Elders, third the Draymens, and fourth the humans. It is the right of the superior to deceive and mock the inferior, for that is what the One himself decreed when he first came into this world."

Agon scowled, but he could not argue with that. He had been taught that same lesson when he had first pledged allegiance to the One ten years ago, mostly because it had given him an excuse to behave however he liked toward his fellow humans. That the Elders were using it on him, however, embarrassed him far more than he'd like to admit, but it did not make his faith in the One waver. He just made a mental note to find a way to turn the tables on the Elders at some point; they may have been his superiors, but that didn't mean that he tolerated being embarrassed, even in private.

"Now, all of us know what we must do," said the Elder in the mirror directly before him. "In the morning, you must inform your fellow Elect of what we discussed. We will immediately begin working on our part of the plan and we expect you Elect to do the same in Yores."

"Of course," said Agon. He raised his right hand and touched his left shoulder. "Until the day the One returns."

"And all shall be in shadow once again," said the Elders as one.

Then Agon's reflections returned to normal, but Agon did not stay to look at them. He unlocked the door and left the room immediately, already thinking of what lies he would spread among the city's population to ensure that they would not believe Helnia's warnings once she arrived.

Continue in _The Hymn of the Dragon Gods_ , now available here!

***

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Other books by Timothy L. Cerepaka

Prince Malock World:

The Mad Voyage of Prince Malock (https://www.books2read.com/u/mdEEE4)

The Return of Prince Malock (https://www.books2read.com/u/47wBa4 )

The New Era of Prince Malock (https://www.books2read.com/u/ba5V6b )

The Coronation of Prince Malock (https://www.books2read.com/u/bPNeRm)

Mages of Martir:

The Mage's Grave (https://www.books2read.com/u/mZ8pyb)

The Mage's Limits (https://www.books2read.com/u/mlGQB3)

The Mage's Sea (https://www.books2read.com/u/3L8pw3)

The Mage's Ghost (https://www.books2read.com/u/47QNA3)

Two Worlds:

Reunification (https://www.books2read.com/u/mKv8B3)

Alliance (https://www.books2read.com/u/3knPWb)

Allegiance (https://www.books2read.com/u/31wYM4)

Retaliation (https://www.books2read.com/u/bo1v9m)

Desinence (https://www.books2read.com/u/31dP6b)

Tournament of the Gods:

Gathering of the Chosen (https://www.books2read.com/u/bo0d13)

Betrayal of the Chosen (https://www.books2read.com/u/4AnRkb)

Invasion of the Chosen (https://www.books2read.com/u/38PWr3)

Ascension of the Chosen (https://www.books2read.com/u/m0vK0b)

The War-Torn Kingdom:

Kingdom of Magicians (https://www.books2read.com/u/38DeDV)

Kingdom of Heirs (https://www.books2read.com/u/mZwEn5)

Kingdom of Dragons (https://www.books2read.com/u/3kZYyG)

Kingdom of Gods (https://www.books2read.com/u/mqzX6v)

Kingdom of Demons (https://www.books2read.com/u/m0zEQV)

Standalones:

The Last Legend: Glitch Apocalypse (https://www.books2read.com/u/bQ1d6b)

***

About the Author

Timothy L. Cerepaka writes fantasy as an indie author. He is the author of the Mages of Martir fantasy novels, the Two Worlds science-fantasy series, and the Tournament of the Gods fantasy novels. He lives in Texas.

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