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The BloodVaine EpicChapter 67: The Ultimate Sacrifice
As the teleharm ended Caimlin turned to his men. There were five hundred and some, ready to start the uprising. They had been well fed and were fully healed from the earlier battle. It was only a matter of time now.
Suddenly the dungeon door swung open and in strode the strangest man Caimlin had ever seen. He was naked to the waist, with a broad chest and a tall staff. His eyes, each a different color, glinted like his turquoise medallion as he stared at Caimlin, over his bushy brown beard. It was Drock of course, but there was more to his strangeness then his normal apparel. Somehow, his skin had been bleached white!
“I don’t believe it.” the stranger said. “You men have been held here all this time by a handful of Crusaders! Are you certain you’re Dragon Masters?”
“Who are you?” Caimlin demanded.
“The name’s Drock.” Drock extended his hand, “Lord Drock to be precise, but no one calls me that. I got a teleharm from here a while back saying something about a usurper and a sleeping wizard. I came as soon as I could.”
“Well I didn’t call you. It must have been one of my men. Why is your skin....I mean…”
“Ah, that’s from the whale. They may be the fastest way to travel by sea, but their digestive juices do a number on your skin. Now, all of you get upstairs and into the armory. Those Crusaders won’t be asleep forever.”
The troops thundered out of the dungeon and Caimlin turned to Drock.
“What about Del Grakken? Did you find him?”
“I don’t know. If he was on the first floor, I did. I haven’t been further up though.”
“Maybe we should take a look.”
When the two men found Del Grakken he was laid out on a table in the potions room. A Crusader was bending over him, applying salve to his burnt skin.
“Del Grakken.” Caimlin whispered.
He would have slit the usurper’s throat in a second, but fate intervened. A sudden light flashed through the room, blinding everyone for a second. It was magic and it came from the dark wizard who had just materialized between Del Grakken and his assailants. Drock had never met BloodVaine, but one look in the wizard’s bright blue eyes told him that he meant trouble.
“Run!” said a voice in Caimlin’s head. “Take your men to the Neverwood now!”
Caimlin didn’t hesitate.
BloodVaine spoke. “Thank you for teleharming me Del Grakken. Those Dragon Masters will not leave this land alive.”
The dark wizard began his first spell, but he wasn't fast enough. Suddenly Drock was on top of him, pummeling him with a hurricane of blows, each fist aided by magic. BloodVaine hadn’t expected this. Sorcerers don’t usually fight with their fists, after all. But the BloodVaine wasn't that bad at fist fighting himself and Drock suddenly found himself flying through the air as BloodVaine blasted him back with a beam of magic. Drock grabbed his staff, BloodVaine drew his mansemune and battle was joined.
Meanwhile Caimlin was driving his men, in no particular order, toward the Neverwood.
“If it’s just a wizard I think we could take him.” Caimlin looked at the soldier puffing beside him, “After all, there's five hundred of us and…”
“Quiet, soldier.” Caimlin snapped, “BloodVaine could freeze all of us in an instant. Now keep moving!”
Caimlin looked over his shoulder at the Fire Breathing Fortress. It was completely covered in darkness, like a black fog or smoke that clung the building. Within the darkness Caimlin could see blue flashes of light, like lightning in a thunder cloud. The sight made him uneasy. He knew that the light belonged to Drock, but how long could the sorcerer hold out? With growing dread he spurred the troops onward, until they finally reached the Neverwood.
“Get inside!” he cried, “but stay together.”
Caimlin didn't like the Neverwood, but BloodVaine was far worse. He turned back one last time to look at the Fire Breathing Fortress. That was when it happened. An enormous CRACK filled the air, stirring the birds in the Neverwood and momentarily deafening the soldiers. Caimlin starred in shock at what followed. The crack may have been deafening but what it accomplished at the fortress was far more devastating.
The fortress had never been the same since Reno escaped. It was tilted hard to one side and looked like it might topple over at any minute. Now, however...it was gone. The magical blast had destroyed it. The towers and walls crumbled as though they were made of sand.
So it was that as the last of the Dragon Masters left their homeland, many wondered if there would be anything left to fight for after the war was over. And as Caimlin turned his face to the trees, he whispered these words into the evening air.
“Goodbye Drock. May your soul find its rest.”
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