Scourge of the Dragons Read Free Page B

you
dead?”
    “Your aunt is under the impression that my
cousin knows why the dragons are scourged. She suspects that he is
trying to subvert her wishes.”
    “Are there any elves that are not related?”
Wrotan asked with a bewildered look on his face.
    “We do live longer and have fewer children
than humans. You’ll find that when an elf is granted a position of
power, their friends and family are often elevated with them.
Sometimes out of their own schemes, other times because people
promote them to look good in the eyes of another, few times they
are granted their title because they deserve it,” Obrin
replied.
    “Who is this?” Alandra asked.
    “Wrotan saved us from the dungeons and
killed Corin in the process. His adopted father was an old friend
of mine. You can trust him.”
    “He killed Corin? We are all as good as dead
if we stay with him. Torin won’t rest until his brother is
avenged.”
    “He put up a decent fight, but it wasn’t
something I couldn’t handle. I doubt he’ll do any serious avenging
anytime soon,” Wrotan said.
    “What have you two gotten yourselves into?”
Hadrin asked as he turned to his father and Erlkan.
    “Not now, we need to get to the Citadel of
the Night. Even with Wrotan, Alandra, and her soldiers, we are not
safe here,” Obrin replied.
    The elf Captain sighed as she nodded. There
was no denying the potential danger they would be facing if the
rest of the elves loyal to the Empress were to find them. Wrotan
kept his hand on the hilt of his sword as they exited from the
woods. There was no sign of anyone following, but that could change
at any time. The Citadel of the Night was atop one of the taller
mountains within the evening realms. By the hunter’s estimation, it
would take a few days just to reach the base of the mountain. He
fell in behind the Prince as they set off toward their destination.
Alandra and her warriors hesitated a moment before following the
others. Wrotan was unsure whether or not they could be fully
trusted. He couldn’t help but feel that it was dangerous to bring
their opponent’s niece along.
    *
    Finrul patted the sun dragon on the head. He
could see the bewilderment in the majestic creature’s eyes.
Melisandre had contacted the magician as soon as the scourge had
started to affect the dragon. He been fortunate enough to have seen
how the night dragons reacted to the scourge, but it did little to
help him with the sun dragons. Their reaction to the scourge was
unpredictable and, at times, dangerous. Many of the lesser sun
dragons had been significantly weakened. The Empress’ theory that
the scourge was created by the night elves to bring down the sun
dragons seemed to fit well with the situation. Finrul always tried
to stay out of any squabbles between the elves, but if the night
elves were really sabotaging the sun elves he would have no choice
but to side with the sun elves. It would be a shift from the usual
rivalries among elves, but not completely unheard of. The magician
sighed as he looked down at the dragon. All of his attempts to
reverse the spread of the scourge had failed.
    “Any news?” Melisandre asked as she
approached.
    “Nothing at all. They are still getting the
negative effects of the scourge and it continues to spread. I’ve
done everything I can and, much like with the night dragons, it has
had no success,” he replied.
    “We must be missing something. Is it
possible they enlisted the help of a human?”
    “I cannot tell for certain, but I would not
be surprised. The humans that have embraced magic have done so in
such different ways than the elves. We elves do not need to worry
about our longevity as they do. It is possible that, in seeking a
longer life, they unlocked some of the secrets of death.”
    “Are the humans capable of such a
thing?”
    “There is a wide gap between what some
humans deem acceptable and what elves see as an abomination. I
cannot guarantee that this is a human driven scourge, but it