The Elder's Curse Andrew Walbrown (red scrolls of magic .TXT) 📖

him that things were not going as planned. At first, Ulam was not sure if Amantius understood, but as soon as he saw his foster-brother start shuffling away from the Matriarch, he knew his message was received.

“She is going to kill us if you do not continue the spell,” Ulam said as his eyes drifted towards the Matriarch.

“She does not look happy,” Mazargo agreed with a deep sigh. “Very well. Whatever happens, happens.”

Mazargo closed his eyes and resumed his spell, the words slipping through his lips little more than whispers. As he spoke the powerstone began to shine with the same intensity as before, glowing so brightly Ulam had to look away. A dull ringing noise like the hollow vibration of a broken brass bell filled his ears, echoing off the nearby cliffs. The side closest to the powerstone grew warmer and warmer, as though he was sitting beside the burning embers of a fire. This sensation was none too pleasant for Ulam, conjuring memories of the blazing inferno in Silverwater where he danced with death. Just when he thought he could no longer withstand the charring feeling on his flesh, the powerstone shattered into thousands of fragments, spreading all across the glade. In an instant the meadow returned to its previous state; the incessant ringing gave way to the songs of crickets, while cool air caressed Ulam’s mossy skin. What little amber light that remained slowly faded away, replaced with the silvery embrace of the moon once again.

“Did it work?” Kona said, her gentle voice magnified by the prevailing calm.

Ulam’s eyes shifted to the Matriarch, remembering how easily she had tossed him in the caverns. We better hope so.

“How do you feel?” The Matriarch asked with hope in her eyes.

The Elder sighed, a grimace still stretched across his pain-stricken face. “The same.”

Ulam exchanged a panicked glance with Amantius, both instantly recognizing the spell had failed. But before Ulam could climb to his feet his foster-brother was already running for the entrance to the caverns.

“Run!” Ulam bellowed as he pulled Mazargo off the ground before fleeing.

Suddenly everything became chaos; a blur of lilac and emerald set to a cacophony of roaring dragons. Kona and Nilawen, having been closest to the Matriarch at the onset and not expecting things to take a turn for the worse, were captured right away. Ulam sprinted after Amantius, but before his foster-brother could reach the cave entrance the Matriarch corralled him with her long yellow-scaled tail, constricting him like a colossal python. With that egress blocked, Ulam pivoted and dashed the other way, heading straight for the Elder.

As Ulam dashed across the glade he saw a flash of white and gray fur fly into the air as Mazargo’s robes were caught by one of the Matriarch’s sharpened claws. She then turned her attention to Ulam, who was the last remaining member of the party to be captured. He was using the Elder’s stone-covered back legs as a shield, hoping that being in such close proximity to the blind dragon would give the Matriarch pause. But she did the opposite; instead of lingering at a distance as Ulam had hoped, the Matriarch charged, roaring in a terrifying display of draconic rancor as she made her approach.

“Come out from behind him!” The Matriarch demanded as she stomped around the Elder. “The longer you avoid me the harsher your punishment will be!”

Ulam cursed as he ran to the other side, only dodging one of the Matriarch’s grasping claws by mere inches. She tried a few more times to snag him as Ulam continued to make laps around the Elder, the latter remaining perfectly still during the charade. Ulam ran around the statuesque dragon over a dozen times until his legs buckled from exhaustion, causing him to fall underneath one of the Elder’s rock-covered eyes. An instant later the Matriarch appeared in front of him, a vengeful look dominating her face.

“After centuries of waiting,” she began, putting her face close enough that Ulam could smell the flames in her breath, “we finally had the powerstone in our possession only to watch a fraudulent mage destroy it! All of you have doomed the Elder to die!”

“It isn’t our fault!” Amantius shouted from the back. “We were only sent to retrieve the stone, not disenchant it! That was Mazargo’s duty!”

“Under normal circumstances your words would have hurt Mazargo,” the Mwai replied, “but Mazargo realizes his death will soon be upon him, so he does not deny these very plausible allegations.”

“Silence!” The Matriarch snapped before returning her attention to Ulam. “There will be no escape for you; you are cornered. Step away from the Elder now and I will make all your deaths quick and painless.”

Ulam hesitated. He knew a quick, painless death was a bargain considering they failed to heal the Elder. At the same time, though, he could not willingly step forward. An unconquerable will to live prevented him from doing so, an instinct that was a cornerstone of his very being.

As Ulam continued to stall, the Matriarch’s tail moved, bringing Amantius closer. A sudden flash of moonlight struck one of his eyes, the reflection coming from something behind the dragoness. At first, Ulam thought one of the spikes on her tail had produced the glare, but when he finally turned his head to see, he realized the culprit was the handle on his enchanted axe. Until that moment he had forgotten that Amantius had taken the weapon from him during their scuffle over the powerstone, thinking it was safer in his possession until the gem was disenchanted. In retrospect, Ulam believed that was probably true, but now that the powerstone was destroyed he saw no reason why his axe should not be returned to him. He concluded that was their only hope of surviving, because if the axe could cut through the enchanted black marble sentinels in Kuruk’s Tower, then the blade could possibly pierce dragon scales as well.

With a whistle between his tusks, Ulam grabbed Amantius’ attention, intending