The Final Storm Read Free Page A

see,” he said, “even in the most glorious places in Alleble, the enemy’s black touch can be felt! I see below me a place empty and barren, save for memories of pain, despair, and . . . Paragor’s treachery!”
    “Nay, m’lord! That is the site of our King’s greatest victory!”
    “But Paragor remains. He has brought evils out of legend into his service and amassed at least an army to match our own.”
    “King Eliam defeated death!” Lady Merewen said sternly. “Who shall stand against the one who rose again?”
    Kaliam and Lady Merewen searched each other’s eyes and in the silence found hope. In the moonlight, they embraced.
    Suddenly, a storm of arrows whistled into the nighttime air from the battlements. Alleb Knights scrambled into action below.
    “What is there?” Lady Merewen asked.
    “A dragon!” Kaliam said. “Ridden by a servant of the enemy.”
    “But why would he send a single dragon rider?” Lady Merewen asked. “Against our defenses, that is madness.”
    They watched the creature, black against the moon, streak from the sky. Heedless of the hail of arrows, it dove down over the fountains, and then soared almost straight up. It seemed to climb forever. Until, barely visible, it dropped something jet black from its talons.
    The object crashed down upon the wide balcony near the Guard’s Keep. Kaliam leaned over the window ledge and gaped down at the balcony. A chill came over him, and he felt his heart falter. “Antoinette,” he whispered. “It is what she saw in her vision.”
    Far below, the pristine white marble altar upon which King Eliam sacrificed his life had been smashed. Lying in the countless fragments of marble was a sinister black stone.
    Many voices cried out then from below, and more volleys of arrows whistled into the sky from the battlements. “They come again!” someone roared.
    Kaliam and Lady Merewen looked up. The sky was filled with innumerable dragons flying almost wingtip to wingtip! They began to break formation and rapidly descend. Again they dove low before surging up above the tallest turrets of the castle.
    As the Alleble archers’ arrows found their marks, dragons crashed bodily into the castle walls or slammed to the cobblestone road.
    But countless survived, and dark stones fell from the sky like a deadly black hail. They smashed through thatched roofs, cracked walls, and crushed the few Alleb Knights who could not find shelter. When the barrage ended, Alleble’s streets filled with frenzied activity as knights raced from door to door, and Glimpses awakened by the commotion sought to find out what had occurred.
    An enormous Glimpse warrior dressed in black fur stormed into Kaliam’s chamber. He had a tremendous hammer in one hand and a large black stone in the other.
    “What devilry is this?!” Mallik demanded.
    Kaliam grabbed the huge stone. Red markings were gouged into the diameter of the stone.
    “A new weapon of the enemy?” Mallik snorted, brandishing his hammer. “It is so like him to attack without warning while we sleep!”
    “No, Mallik,” Kaliam replied, looking up from the stone. “It is not a new weapon but rather his oldest and most favored . . . fear. Since his exile, Paragor has chosen his battles, attacking our weaker allies and waylaying our diplomatic missions. But always, he has known his limitations. The attack on Mithegard was different. The armies of King Ravelle were many and skilled, and yet Paragor attacked. Then, with the aid of the ancient evils, he brazenly conquered Clarion and crippled Yewland! These that drop on us now are The Stones of Omen. Paragor has declared his rule over all The Realm. Soon . . . he comes to claim his throne.”

4
    CALL TO ARMS
    T he morning sun glinted off the tips of a thousand spears as a caravan of many Glimpses marched out of the west toward Alleble. It was not an invading army from Paragory, and it was not all soldiers. But even so, the advancing multitude caused Kaliam great dread as