WHITE DRAGON
Part Seven
By Arthur
Prophesy of Goron
On the grey dawning of deaths morrow will arise an army
of terrible visage.
Mages will rise to battle but only the true heart will
succeed where blood does but fail.
Where mortal man lays waste, only the valliant will rise
above all evil to fly with the followers of 'The Way'.
On their return to the citadel, the group had adjourned to their apartments to rest and get a little further sleep. When Bragill opened his eyes he saw that the morning had turned to a dismal greyness of an oncoming storm.
The dank sultry heaviness of the outside weather gave Bragill a feeling of depression and only the feel of the warm talon of Galland on his chest gave him any comfort. Bragill looked across the large room towards where Matise and Con-Rad lay on their bed.
Matise lay on his back, legs spread open and with one arm under the head of Con-Rad as the other boy lay on his stomach with half his naked body covering Matise in a gesture of closeness. The two foreheads were lightly touching as the boys breathed the same breath while Con-Rad's arm lay across the chest of Matise.
The attitude of the new found friends brought a small smile to Bragills lips as he pushed back against his Soul's body to feel his heat.
"An image to behold my sweet Brae"
"Yes, my Soul, I would wish it never to be otherwise."
"These are not good times, my Brae, but I'm sure that they will have enough love to survive most dangers."
The two lay watching the other boys in their innocence as they lay entwined together on the bed.
"What can we do about the Wizard of Gestan, my Galland?"
"At this stage we can only wait and see what he has planned. We are evenly matched in the air except for the added advantage of the Claw you have, but on the ground we are at a great disadvantage until we can form an army for Matise to lead."
"Where can we get such fighting men Galland, the populace are mainly farmers and well down trodden by the Wizard over the years, they will be to afraid to rise up."
"Then we will have to send word farther afeild and hope that we can raise a force from those who still have the stomach to fight."
"Will we have the time before the Wizard strikes again?"
"I don't know my Brae, we will just have to do the best we can and if needs be we will have to try to hold the Wizard from to much destruction until the army is raised."
"Those two look so well matched, my Soul."
"Yes, they will have a new strength by being so close. Con-Rad will be the power for them both I feel, but Matise will have a hidden strength when it is needed. There is an aura about Matise that will serve him and Con-Rad well in the trials to come."
Both heard the call in their minds as they looked at the two boys still asleep on the far bed.
"Great Praedor, there is a gathering on the fields of Bevan."
Bragill and Galland rose as one at the mind send of the guard. Galland was the first to send out his query.
"What is the gathering?"
"It would appear to be an army of farmers, Mighty Goron."
"Farmers? why would they rise to make an army? is the Wizard in attendance?"
"Not that has been seen Mighty Goron, it is just the farmers of many districts and in large numbers."
"Would you guess the numbers?"
"Mayhap 5000 Mighty Goron."
"How are they armed?"
"With only the tools of the farm, sythes, axes, pitch forks and the like."
"Is there a sighting of the Black Dragons?"
"Only three fly far above the army."
"Keep a watch, We will send others to watch over the gathering."
Galland rose to his full height and lay a gentle talon on Bragills shoulder.
"You know that as sworn protectors of the mortals that we Dragons can not attack them and we have no army to send them home?"
"Yes, it appears that the Wizard is testing us, but why Farmers?"
"To see if we will break our covenant to protect them. Go awaken those two and we will discuss what must be done."
Bragill moved towards the pair on the bed as Galland lowered his head in thought.
The plains of Bevan spread out before the ranks of the rag tag army. They stood rigidly shoulder to shoulder, grown men, women, youths and girls, no reason could be seen in the blank faces as they stood waiting for none knew what.
They had risen on this bleak grey morning to a need to gather their tools and trace their steps towards this plain of barren rock and ash ridden dust. Those with the sharp sythes stood out in front and formed the first ten ranks. Behind them came rank upon rank of those men and women holding their long handled pitch forks as though they were heavy spears. No sound emitted from their throats, no shuffling of nervous feet just more than 5000 rigid figures standing like shallow breathing tree stumps.
The glazed and sightless eyes stared unwaveringly forward, waiting. Far above the mass of poorly clothed and badly fed ranks a small group of dark dots hovered watching. The large leader kept his vigil over the mass of mortals so that his master could view them through his eyes.
The heavy dark grey clouds threatened the scene with harsh rain that would eventually turn the arid plain into a quagmire of mud making it very difficult for any mortal to move freely in its sucking morass. The conditions did not even cross the mind of the Wizard of Gestan as he watched over the gathered wretches through the eyes of his Black leader.
"Well mighty Praedor, lets see how you handle this without your dragons and with no army."
The thought brought a wicked smile onto the wizened face as it stood before the open portal of the castle he had taken over for his own use many years before. The true nature of the Wizard of Gestan could only be seen when he was alone and not required to project his image of a young boy for others.
The true self of the Wizard showed an old man with bent back and rheumatic hands, the features were well wrinkled by time and his many sessions of the dark arts of his chosen life. The black ebony eyes stared into the far distance as his mind set his traps for the unwary.
The black cowel of his gown was thrown back on his shoulders to reveal his hairless scalp with the blue veins running an intricate pattern under the bare skin
The Wizards visage projected evil incarnate and those who knew him, which was few indeed, as the Wizard needed no familiar nor friend to win his prizes of power.
The only colour to break the drabness of the Wizards surroundings was a small dense green stone set into a glowing brooch of gold that sat above his heart, bringing a stark contrast to the black cloth of the gown.
"Don't hurry Praedor, there is time enough for your end and time is what I have until the ends of the earth."
The Wizard continued his ruminating as he stared through the eyes of his Black Dragon, high in the sky above the army on the plains of Bevan.
At the first gentle touch of Bragills hand on his shoulder, Matise's eyes blinked open but the first thing he saw was the beautiful face so close to his eyes and the tender touch of a smooth forehead against his own. Matise pursed his lips and gave the sweet face a kiss of welcome before he realised that this vision was not the cause of his wakefulness.
The startling flash of their joining the night before and the rush of lust filled love being injected into Con-Rad's tightness brought an immediate reaction in Matise's loins. The weight of the soft body laying on his own only went to increase the need for the young Wizard Healer. Their bond had been sealed in the only way they wanted it to be and the issue from the young Wizard still lay between them like a glue of love cementing them forever to one another.
The sound of Bragill's voice brought Matise to the here and now.
"Come Matise, we have to talk, the Wizard of Gestan has raised an army of farmers and we need to make plans."
Matise nodded his understanding and reached again with his lips to awaken his new companion and lover. Con-Rad stirred in his half sleep as the lips touched his own and with a smile of recollection opened his eyes to see the face of his lover beside him which he promtly, albeit a little sleepily, returned the soft kiss.
"Did you sleep well my reborn heart?"
"Yes my saviour but now we have things of more import to attend to, Bragill waits for us."
Con-Rad turned his head away from the one vision he wanted to wake to every morning for the rest of his life and looked up at Bragill as he stood over them with a tender smile on his face.
"Lord Praedor, I thank you for your many kindnesses."
"Come Con-Rad, I'm just Bragill, we are friends and friends don't use all that title thing, besides you have a title of your own so we are equals in all but lovers."
Con-Rad smiled gently at Bragill as he tried to pry himself apart from the cement holding him and Matise close. At a thought from Bragill four redheaded riders entered the room with large grins and waited for their instructions.
"Perhaps you would like to go with Matise to bathe, these riders will attend to everything you will need."
Matise whispered in Con-Rad's ear and an immediate blush came over his cheeks as Matise chuckled softly.
"Yes Bragill, I think it would be timely."
"Good, then we will talk when you have become a little more.....ahhh...presentable."
Bragill chuckled at the renewed blush on Con-Rad's cheeks. The two boys parted and rose from their love nest and as they were lead away by the redheaded riders they linked their arms and seemed to meld into one another as they walked.
"Ahh my Brae, such love."
Bragill turned towards his Soul and with a smile laid his hand on the down turned head of Galland who, without thought, shimmered and became human as he wrapped Bragill in his arms, pulling his head down onto his shoulder as he gently rubbed his bare back all the way down to the tender globes that made his blood boil.
At the first touch of those loving hands, Bragill rested his head willingly on the offered shoulder and sighed with contentment.
"We can't do anything now my Brae, there are things that need to be thought out before the Wizard gets impatient and starts to make more trouble."
With a soft nod of his head Bragill stepped back away from the warm embrace and offered his lips for a final caress from his Soul before turning back to the task that awaited them.
When Matise and Con-Rad had returned and the redheads had laid out a small meal for them, Bragill and Galland, still in his boy form, began to relate what the Wizard had done on the plains of Bevan. At the ending of the report Matise sat back with his arm on the shoulder of Con-Rad to think through the conotations of the Wizards plan.
After a short time Matise looked over at the others.
"I can only think of three reasons for his plan. First, it is a trap, but I see no reason for it. Second, it is to see if we can form a land army to fight and this also is not the reason as he must already know we have no army. That leaves only the third reason and that is, the Wizard is trying to coerce us into making a quick and mayhap fatal judgement."
A broad smile came over the face of Galland as he listenmed to the reasoning of Matise.
"Yes matise, I knew I had picked the right man for the army, your reasoning is sound as it is how I see the problem as well."
"So great Goron, what should be done?"
"You are the Commander of the field Matise, you tell me?"
Matise lifted one eyebrow at Galland as he contemplated further on the problem.
"Well as I have no one to command I suppose it is I that should go to the plain of Bevan and see for myself what is going on there."
"Why would you go alone Matise, if the Wizard saw you alone he would send the farmers against you and you would be lost."
"That is true Galland, but I see no other way than to appear as he expects. we at least will know his intent."
For the first time Con-Rad spoke up.
"He will not go alone mighty Galland, if it is his time then it is my time also. We go together or not at all."
"As I thought, very well I will have two Bronzes take you, my Brae and I will be overhead with a few more Bronzes in case the Wizard has something else for us."
At the finality of the decision the small group rose and made their way towards the doors where the guards waited. Galland spoke to the guards and as one they agreed to carry the extra boys to Bevan and would stay as they had avowed, with Galland and Bragill overhead as protection.
The flight to the plains of Bevan took just over an hour to complete and once there the group saw the assembled masses as they stood shoulder to shoulder with their pitiful weapons.
Matise and Con-Rad were deposited on a small hillock by the two Bronzes that had flown them here. The knoll was about 300 meters from the army of farmers and a little higher than the crest of the ridge they stood on. Below them was a long flat, grassless area of broken plain.
The wind had increased in velocity as the threatening black mass of water laden clouds approached. Matise and Con-Rad stood with their backs to the wind as they faced the army. Matise had donned his armour and now stood like a silver beacon on the dark arid knoll. Con-Rad was dressed in his plain brown robe, his feet bare to the coldness of the wind as it whipped around his ankles, lifting the bottom of his gown in small swirls.
In a gesture of almost total ease, Con-Rad leaned on his old wooden staff as he waited for his new heart to make his plans.
"Well my Saviour, here we are and there they are, let's wait to see what the Wizard will do when he hears about us."
"Yes my Heart, let him make his move as he would."
The pair of lovers stood alone on the knoll watching the unmoving mass on the crest of the ridge. Time slowed its beat as they waited patiently for any movement to signal the intent of the Wizard.
At the first clap of thunder from the laden clouds overhead, the massed army began to move enmass towards the two solitary boys on the knoll. Matise straightened his stance and drew from its scabbard the bright blade of his fathers sword, his only heirloom from his family.
"My Saviour, we only strike to defend ourselves."
"There will be no need of bloodshed my Heart."
"What do you mean my Saviour?"
"The rains come, wait and you will see, trust me my Heart."
"With my life."
Matise turned towards Con-Rad and let his lips brush lightly over the offered lips before him.
"All that is mine is yours my Saviour."
As Con-Rad laid a hand on the arm of Matise, he raised the old staff high and with a speed that was almost unearthly, drove it into the hard ground at his feet. The staff took on a life of its own as it vibrated and a pale blue light began to shimmer around the edge of it.
A crashing of thunder was heard as the staff glowed and then with a force not natural to the weather, the downpour of rain began. Where the two boys stood the ground remained dry and arid but within minutes the shallow valley to their front was awash with the heavy rain.
The farmer army came onwards but as they began to set their mutitude of feet onto the flat plain the rushing water turned to a thin mud, then, as more feet strode downwards it became thicker and thicker until the quagmire of the plain began to entrap the feet of the struggling farmers.
The crest of the ridge disappeared in the hail of rain as more and more of the ragtag army foundered on the plain until only those twenty or so in the lead could make any headway, it was not long before the leaders also became trapped in the mud about them, their legs now encased to the knees in the heavy clinging morass.
The ranks to the rear kept moving forward until they could move no further and the army was a writhing mass of mud covered arms and legs.
"Con-Rad, my Saviour, how?"
"My teacher told me never to face the Wizard head on but to use the auspices of nature to do our bidding. It is the one thing the Wizard has no control over as he is part of the dark arts and is not of a true nature to call on the powers of earth and sky."
"Does that mean he can't defeat you?"
"Yes he can defeat me if I was to face him directly, I do not have the power like my teacher had to beat him, unless the truth of my teacher were to come true."
"What was the truth he told you?"
"I'm not sure, it was in the form of an ode."
"Tell me the ode, mayhap I can make sense of it."
"Perhaps later my Heart, now is not the time, see above us."
Matise looked up towards the dark glowering clouds and saw the three Black dragons swooping down towards them. They came with their heads back and talons pushed forward in an attitude to grasp the two boys on the knoll. It was evident they had been instructed to capture the boys and not use their aura's to harm them.
Con-Rad pulled the staff from the ground with ease and then lifted it horzontally, high above his head, the blue haze around the shaft still glowed in the grey light about them. The two smaller Black Dragons faultered in their flight and with an almost human cry, folded their wings and crashed lifeless to the ground. The larger Dragon slowed his dive at the unexpected happening, which turned out to be his final undoing as Galland and Bragill appeared throught the dense clouds and the seering blast of white light from the hand of Bragill struck the Dragon between the wings, making his dive towards the mud covered ground, his final act.
The farmer army below the boys had stopped its struggle with the morass that held them and just stood in mindless inactivity as the scene with the Black Dragons unfolded. At the demise of the dragons and the stopping of the army, the boys began to relax until a hollow voice nearly shook the very ground they stood on.
"YOU WOULD STAND AGAINST ME, APPRENTICE. BE WARNED LITTLE ONE AND THAT PRECIOUS LOVE OF YOURS ALSO, WE WILL MEET SOON AND THEN YOU WILL KNOW MY POWER. SAVOUR YOUR SMALL VICTORY LITTLE ONES FOR IT SHALL BE SHORT LIVED."
There was no body or wrath of mist this time, just the disembodied voice in the rain soaked air. Con-Rad turned to Matise as Bragill and Galland landed close to them.
"Well my Heart, it looks as though the Wizard of Gestan is not happy with us."
"No, my Saviour, it appears not. Galland, Bragill, it appears we have to work quickly to form some kind of army to fight this Wizard."
"Yes Matise, come both of you, mount behind Bragill and we will return to the citadel to form our plans."
Galland lowered his wing for the two boys to climb up and then, with a mighty thrust of his legs, they were airborn and on their return journey, the Bronze guards in close attendance.
The hapless army of farmers still mired in the field of mud, stood with glazed eyes totally unfeeling of the rain that still poured from the dark sky. They were in the hands of the Wizard now and nothing could be done for them by the group above.
TO BE CONTINUED: