The lair was finally in sight.
It sat in the center of a small, circular dip at the top of the mountain, surrounded by rocky walls. From the outside they could see a few doors and windows on the second floor. It looked like a gate once stood in the main entrance, now just an opening, enough for a dragon to fit through.
"Think they'll just let us in the front door?" Cara wondered aloud.
"Can you do that barrier... thing... again?"
"What barrier?"
"You know, the thing with the dragon, and the fire, and, you know."
Cara realized what she meant and closed her eyes and glowed blue for a moment then nodded. "Oh yeah. That. Yeah, I got you."
"Good, because I think we should go right in."
Morrigan led on. Sandril followed her into the crater, Cara followed after convincing herself she could do the spell again.
Cara stepped into the lair's doorway first, staring inside, it was quiet and the breeze coming in and brushing against her was icy. The first time her shield failed and she wanted to quit right then and there, but she didn't, and the second time the shield remained, blue like before, she had to wonder as Morrigan and Sandril stepped inside with her, if it would ever be a different color. It wasn't that she didn't like blue, it just seemed like she should be able to change it as she liked. They had to move very slowly, but they were in no hurry to delve into the unknown.
"Looks ancient," Morrigan said, the silence had been making her ears ring, had given her the uncomfortable feeling she was being watched.
"Yeah it..."
The shield broke and Cara took a knee and strained her eyes from a splitting headache. Morrigan tried to comfort her, put a hand on her shoulder.
"You're doing great."
"Not really."
"What happened?"
Cara shook her head and rose, she stood as strongly as she could. The shield pulsed stronger than ever.
"There we go," Cara said proudly. "I think I finally have it," and she led on.
They went up the stairs under the glass pane. Hearing no whispers, or flapping wings.
Cara's shield maintained down the cracked stone hallway on the second floor of the lair. Covac and Maev were in the shadows, expecting them at the end of their journey. They continued, even after noticing the giant monsters in the dark, golden and dark eyes, not menacing, just as they were. They stopped at a distance where they were pretty sure they couldn't snatch out and get them at any moment. Morrigan was terrified, her heart was skipping beats and that made her even more anxious. She spoke first, once again, because the silence was slowly driving her mad.
"Where's my father?"
Covac wanted to say something, and it was as if Maev knew exactly what it was, her low growl corrected his course.
"One of the King's bastards?" The dragon lord rasped.
"His name is Leyden," Morrigan had to keep talking, it was the only thing stopping her from crying.
"There is nobody here by the name, young one," Maev said, and Morrigan believed her, because her voice made her want to.
"Will you lower the barrier?" Covac asked.
"Why should I?" Cara asked. Morrigan saw the fascinated glint in her eyes. She was glad to be there.
"If we wanted you dead, we would kill you after much deliberation, and it would not be a stab in the back. A code I believe your kind would benefit from."
"I can keep it up as long as I like," Cara doubled down.
Covac reared back and sent an unbelievably powerful blast of fire into the shield wall and when it broke their ears rang and their bones were weak. Then the lord calmed himself and returned to his seated position at a respectful distance. Sandril hid behind Morrigan's legs, afraid to bark or make a sound of any kind.
"Now tell me. Why have you come?"
Morrigan's eyes glistened like jewels and Maev's motherly instincts put her in a position of empathy, she wanted to protect the girl. She hadn't been ruined by war.
"I was just, afraid to be alone. Now I'm not really sure." She wished she was a small child again, she wanted to sleep in a warm blanket.
"Your spirit is admirable. Was your mission not to free Erimon?" Maev asked, she tried to look kind, but she knew that was not an easy feat to something so much smaller than her. "Was that your father's mission?"
Morrigan nodded.
"I do hope he didn't venture into the caves."
"Why would you care?"
"I understand the question. Historical records are full of the biases of those who write them."
"What do you mean?"
"Are you aware, child, that my kind once lived in peace with the elves? For more than a thousand generations?"
Morrigan didn't respond, Cara remembered how sparse the records had been, the idea of some kind of a cover up had crossed her mind.
"When humans came to Suil'nua, what you now call Dim-Eden, they were not allowed a seat on the empirical council. For a while, this was fine, and understandable."
Covac stared to a place they couldn't see, back in time. "Then one man rallied an army, he was a charismatic and skilled soldier."
The Elven King Wodin argued with Erimon frequently. He wore shiny silver armor and a crown on his blond head. Erimon dressed like the people, because he was for the people. Wodin decried Erimon's Militia, and the man himself to his face. And Erimon led a hundred men to the docks, he commandeered several ships with the intention of sailing to the Council Tower on the island of Bulree. The dragons stopped them, they swooped down and burned the ships, but it backfired. Erimon stood there for a long while, staring at the ashen battlefield, he lost many men. So he went alone.
He gave his impassioned speech to the council in the white stone tower, to the three elves and the dwarf in robes of black and white. He said the dragons were reckless, that they were reverting back to their true and savage nature, and the Councilors showed concern as they deliberated. They sided with the human, saying the alliance with the dragons had never been on stable ground, and joined Erimon's war effort against them. He became a symbol to his people.
Wodin found Covac and Maev atop Siladrin, the King did not want to fight. He did not want his people to suffer through war and told the dragons to leave the island. Instead, Covac convinced Wodin he needed to live, to tell of the human's betrayal to anyone who would listen.
Covac and Maev rushed to the capital to fortify it, to give the loyal Elves enough time to leave, the catapults arrived soon after. Erimon in front, directing the barrage of flaming boulders. The walls were strong, there were many dragons, the battle took months. Even with the combined forces of the humans, and dwarves, and elves from elsewhere. The war took thousands of lives, the dragons eventually retreated, with the enemies at their doorstep.
--
Cara, with her arms folded before her, shook her head.
"Were the Goblins and Orcs to be the vanguard of your return?"
Covac growled low as he often did.
"Our numbers were decimated in the war, Erimon had the help of all the elves from the crystal isles, of the dwarves, the elves loyal to us were not in great enough numbers. We needed allies."
Morrigan looked like she felt queasy, she had never been particularly interested in history, hadn't studied it as extensively as Cara, but she felt nothing but hatred for her king.
"I challenged him to single combat."
At the base of the mountain, Covac fought Erimon face to face. And Archymides fought Reav, he had once been Erimon's Lieutenant, just as Reav remained Covac's. Archymides slashed Reav's eyes and the big beast thrashed about. Covac abandoned his fight with the deceiver. He put down a wall of flame to ensure their escape.
"Reav was wounded, at that point, preservation was more important than revenge for the lies. At first."
Covac hung his head, shame was apparent. He was a warrior, through and through, the defeat had destroyed him, not just his hold on the kingdom, not just his friendships, himself, he wished it had killed him, though he never spoke about such feelings directly.
"We retreated here, into what had once been a great watchtower. Here we were dormant for decades, planning..." He couldn't say exactly what he'd hoped to achieve.
"Midir, our first, was born years after the goblin war. Mindin, much later," Maev said.
"Erimon... This is all so hard to believe."
"It makes you question your view of him does it not?"
Morrigan couldn't really say if she ever had a good or bad opinion of the King, she'd been in her own world for a long while.
"Where was the Queen in all this?" Cara asked. Still not totally convinced.
"I do not know her mind. Only that when the Gobins invaded, she fled to Balirand."
Reav and Mindin entered. Reav was incensed at the sight of them.
"They still live?!"
"Calm yourself. They are peaceful," The Queen said calmly.
"Tread carefully, Mother, they are not without power," Mindin said, nearly growling.
"Magic all of us but Reav have now seen."
"Onto more important matters. What did you learn of the capital?" Covac asked.
"It's burning," Reav said plainly.
Morrigan's face showed worry, she turned to Cara who was also surprised by the news.
"I think there has been an uprising," Mindin added.
All attention turned to the adjoining room, the one in complete darkness.
"Let me out!"
It was a while before anyone commented on it.
"He lives?" Morrigan asked. Surprised to hear a familiar voice.
"There will be a time for him to die. Vengeance is the only way to end it."
"I lived in Baile Mor," Morrigan stopped almost as soon as she began, she wasn't sure if she should continue, but she did. "I watched Goblins burn my home and kill my mother and sister, did they deserve to die for your vengeance?"
"This war has shown the futility of revenge," Maev interjected. "Revenge brings no one back, it just takes more from people."
They heard the raspy grumble from Covac and Maev knew she had him in thought.
"What I need now, more than anything. Is to see to the body of my son. I must send his soul to the beyond."
Morrigan realized the one she had been bleeding was Midir, the resource had a father, a mother.
"Then you need Erimon alive more than ever," Morrigan said, her thoughts coming quickly.
The look in Covac's eyes asked her why.
"Leverage." Cara had caught on, she had a similar plan come to mind. "Keeping the King alive can help in more ways than one now."
"Are humans always so indirect? Speak!" Covac ordered out of frustration more than anything.
"We can use him as bait."
Covac sighed, they still weren't saying anything that helped him but at least they were getting closer.
"Send him in, return him. Let him try to resolve the situation. While he's keeping the people in the capital busy you can perform this ritual of yours."
"Hm," Covac grumbled. "Not an out of the question idea."
Covac nodded into the dark room and Mindin went. And then Morrigan saw something that took her breath away. Two male elven guards escorted the king into the throne room. Cara teased her, though she recalled the words choking her when she first saw an elf herself.
"Have you never seen them before, Morrigan?"
Morrigan shook her head, and nearly stumbled when one of the creatures with golden skin and golden hair smiled and nodded at her. It wasn't that she found them beautiful in a strictly attractive way, it was that they were so unlike any person she'd ever seen in her short life.
The King looked his rescuers over and was unimpressed. "They sent two teenagers and a mutt?"
Cara bowed, "The mutt's done most of the work actually, sir."
Sandril barked happily and proudly.
Erimon turned to Covac and his nemesis looked at him like he wanted to swallow him whole there and Erimon took the hint. "I'll go along with it, is all I wanted to say," Erimon said, and Morrigan thought he might piss himself.
"We were never giving you a choice," Covac reminded him.
The Dragon Lord turned to his new allies.
"Reav will take you three down. I'll take him."
The guards pulled Erimon back into the dark while Reav looked like he wanted to protest but did not.
"We should be there with you," Maev said, putting her head to Covac's.
"If things go wrong, it's better to have you here."
Maev ran a wing across his back with succor.