“How did Aesa stop the creature in your time?” I ask, as we come to the most important part of the old King’s tale.
How I might kill the Black Dragon now, in my time.
“To understand how Aesa stopped the Usurper, you must first understand the Two Rings of the Anderlen family. Ancient treasures, said to have been made from the time when our people were still united in our power, the Two Rings were identical, made of semi-precious stones in a pattern of five, bound by a snarling dragon surrounding them all.” He nods to my ring now, still on my finger.
“The Gold Ring was given to the Firstborn in the Anderlen family; the Silver Ring, to the Secondborn. Both rings were only ever given to Bloodwalkers, however; if a generation passed with no Bloodwalker younglings, the rings were saved until there were some. They came as aunit with four others; four gold rings for the Firstborn Bloodwalker’s harem, and four silver rings for the Secondborn’s harem as well.”
“I’ve seen one of Hedda’s drakes rings,” I say, as I finally understand what Emil Beck had. “It was black, not gold.”
“The Golden Rings turned black, after Hedda created the Black Dragon, by some taint of the magic she wielded, which infected them. Before that, they were gold.” King Örn Magnussen watches me, dire. “These two sets of rings are ancient magic, which bond their harems together through resonance. Not only that, but the two master ringsresonate with each other, as well—keeping the bearer of one alive if threatened with dire circumstance, while the other is hale. Those who wear the master rings are bonded in their lives. A way of preserving their family lineage when battle came calling—to keep Bloodwalker siblings alive and able to pass down their magic to younglings later, once battle had left.”
“Are you saying that so long as Aesa and Hedda both wore their rings, neither of them could ever truly die?” I inhale now, astonished.
“It was something that in all her calculations and preparations to create the Black Dragon, Hedda overlooked.” King Örn Magnussen nods now, as a deep awareness takes his eyes. “She was so used to the resonance of the Two Rings, which she and Aesa always wore, that she forgot to take them into account when she made the creature. It was the only way Aesa could work the rituals she did to bring down the beast. Because, thanks to the Two Rings’ resonance, her sister’s soul had not been pulled entirely into the beast when she died; thus, she never completely finished its creation. It was a critical error; one Aesa used to draw Hedda’s soul back out of the creature, along with all her drakes during our last battle, trapping Hedda’s drakes inside their dead bones, and Hedda herself into a Soulstone. All of it, I imprisoned in the last remaining cathedral at Seerselen, after I put the Black Dragon to rest. Then sunk it beneath the ground—so none would ever find them.”
“So you were the one who put all of Hedda’s creationary items in that altar atUnhaemmerten,” I say, as so much suddenly makes sense.
“All the ones I could find, though there are more which she hid elsewhere, undiscovered.” He nods as his vivid eyes pierce me. “If you have been to Seerselen, however, then Hedda’s black soul and those of her dead drake-wights have been freed. Beware: they will seek this place, as the Black Dragon regenerates itself. For this location holds the sacred energy they need to re-do the rituals, and re-imbue themselves into the Usurper’s flesh, to bring it back to full power again.”
“Some part of Hedda’s soul is still tethered to my ring, isn’t it?” A conundrum sweeps me now as I glance down at it. “That’s how Aesa was able to call her sister back out of the Black Dragon. Its creation incomplete.”
“Hedda and her drakes are bound far more to the black rings, though, whose power they used to create the Black Dragon.” King Örn Magnussen warns me. “Whoever wears those rings has a deep connection to the souls of the Five, fully bonded as a group with all the Five’s malicious intent behind them.”
“Are you saying that whomever wears the black rings has been infected by the souls of the Five?” I say, my eyebrows lifting.
“Infected, influenced.” He nods. “Call it what you will, but the souls of the Five are not truly gone. A part of them is forever bound to those rings, thanks to the Black Dragon’s creation. The Five battled the goodness inside themselves and lost to their evil. Some part of that evil remains in the black rings, still. And whomever wears them now, calling forth the Black Dragon once more. Be warned.”
“What do I do?” A strange urgency grips me now as I sense the sun about to rise aboveground. Like a fairytale, I feel like the spell that led me here tonight is about to break, now that our conversation is nearly over. “How do I follow in Aesa’s footsteps and kill the Black Dragon, once and for all?”
“You do not follow in Aesa’s footsteps, young Bloodwalker.” King Örn Magnussen seems tired now, as something about him begins to wane, insubstantial. “For she was unsuccessful in completely killing the beast.You create your own way, you and your drakes, with the knowledge you have gained here tonight. For I am but a ghost; I cannot counsel you upon the course of the future, or the ways you must take. But carry the silver rings with you now; give them to your drakes. They will bond you together as a group, far more in your power than you could ever have imagined. Use that; be aware of the resonance of the Two Rings, and factor it into your plans, as Hedda did not. For the time is coming soon, when you will need to face the Dragon of All Souls. Bind your loved ones close, so it is not your souls that are stolen. Else, watch the world fall, as Hedda’s creation rages again. Complete in its ancient destruction.”
As King Örn Magnussen says these last words, his form begins to flicker. His golden eyes regard me one last moment; as he gives a tired sigh, a powerful wind sweeps the nowhere space.
I’m thrust back by that wind, out of the mirrors. Not before I watch the ancient King dissipate, however, carried away by those ancient Void winds.
Only his burning gold eyes are left.
Until those, too, pass away into the Void.
20
FIRST
Ihead back to my drakes after speaking with King Örn Magnussen. His soul has departed this world; I feel how the silver triptych mirrors in the vault are empty, now that he’s said all he needed to. The four silver rings gripped in my fist, I walk the ancient halls with my head full of memories and ancient horrors. For the first time in ages, however, I feel the hope that lights inside my chest.
As Aesa’s Truthstone flares upon me.
Because Aesa and her drakes did all they could to provide help for the ones who would come after them, battling the Black Dragon. I will not squander it; Iwillhonor them as I clench those silver rings in my fist.
And head back to my drakes with purpose in every stride.
I make it back to find everyone has dispersed. As I close my eyes, I feel for each of my drakes through our Bloodbonds; sensing I was in no danger, Ström and Baldur have headed back to the library to continue studying Hedda’s scrolls and combing the stacks for anything useful. Mikkel is with Lærke, cooking up a storm for all of us in the kitchens, since busy dragons get hungry.
Bjorn is nearby; I feel out for him along our bonded connection, then move through our room to an adjacent bathroom area I’ve not explored much. I’ve only been in it to use the magically plumbed toilet and have a brief shower in a warm sluice of water that pours down one wall.
As I continue through that area now, then traverse a short hall, I come into a luminous underground paradise of hot pools, steaming in the chill air. My eyebrows rise as I marvel at the plethora of vines and trees growing here; though I can still see stone in the gargantuan hall, the glowing nature down here has devoured the entire space, like a rainforest.
It’s steamy and damp like a rainforest, too, as little lizards and glowing moths flit about everywhere. As I maneuver through the trees and step over enormous roots, which dig down into the floor, I finally find Bjorn.
