Gatekeepers Book 3: Redemption

“Is everything in place?” Theravor questioned his group of war advisors. The advisors were a group of elderly dragons from the four royal families who’d experienced countless fights claiming the new territories discovered through the Leygates. It wasn’t often that their experience was called upon, so they were quite thrilled when Theravor reached out to them.

One of the elderly dragons, dressed in purple and yellow robes, stepped forward and dipped his head. “All of our plans and preparations have been set in place.” The advisor tapped the floor with the tip of the walking stick he carried. “Now all that’s left to do is to wait for the enemy to show up.”

Theravor dipped his head at the advisors. “I appreciate you all for getting together and assisting me on such short notice.”

The first advisor flicked his tail dismissively. “Think nothing of it. We’re happy to lend our king a helping hand in a time like this.”

“Your experience is greatly appreciated. I wouldn’t have been able to develop such a sound plan alone.”

A soft beeping sound suddenly filled the air. Theravor glanced down at a large golden gauntlet that had been placed on his left forearm. Seven different crystal prisms, each a different color of the rainbow, were set in the top of the gauntlet. A blue one towards the end was emitting a soft light as the beeping continued. Theravor tapped the crystal twice with a talon, and the beeping stopped immediately.

“Theravor, this is Zero,” Zero’s voice spoke through the glowing crystal. “Our scans have picked up on the Rogue’s Castle closing in from the southwest. We’ve also detected a smaller unit of dragons with high levels of magic closing in from the north, as well as a large group of dragons approaching from the southeast.”

Theravor glanced at the advisor, who nodded his head. “Thank you for the update,” Theravor said, turning back to the crystal. “Is everything ready on your end?”

“That’s right!” another voice energetically cut in when Zero tried to speak. “The cannon is up and ready to go!”

“Be quiet, Perla!” Zero snapped. “We can’t be certain that this transmission is being compromised!”

There was another beeping noise, higher in pitch than the last one, as the purple crystal next to Zero’s blue one lit up. Theravor double tapped that one.

“Did I overhear sensitive information being spoken of on the transmission?” Boreta’s voice questioned. “Well, rest assured, Zero. I just put up the Territory spell across the entirety of the battlefield, so there’s no need to worry about anyone eavesdropping.”

“Thank you, Boreta. Perla, if you have nothing else to do, go get in the cockpit and wait for the order to fire.”

“Oh?” Theravor was surprised to hear this. “I thought you’d be the one in charge of the weapon, Zero.”

“Nah, I have something else I’ll be using during the battle. I think you’ll find it quite impressive once I go to the front lines.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s a secret. You’ll have to wait and see,” Zero responded gleefully.

Puzzled by Zero’s secretiveness, Theravor eventually dismissed the issue and moved on. If he’s as excited as his tone would imply, he must be quite confident in it. “Very well. I hope it impresses me as much as you hope, whatever it is.” Theravor placed a talon on the orange crystal on the other side of the gauntlet and held it there until it also lit up.

“This is Vinzgar,” a voice stated. “What is it that you want, Theravor?”

“Just checking in on how you’re doing,” Theravor replied. “Is the Killwing family ready for action?”

A snorting sound came through the crystal. “Yes, we are. I’ve placed squadrons in the positions you and the advisors specified. The rest are on standby just outside the battlefield.”

The red crystal next to the orange one lit up at that moment. Theravor double tapped it before the beeping could even start.

“Are the Stormfang troops ready, Drax?” Theravor questioned.

“They’re all geared up and in position, father,” Drax’s voice responded. “But are you sure about the placement of our forces? I’m not sure if it will be effective...”

“Don’t doubt the experience the advisors have to offer,” Theravor scoffed. “They’ve faced more battles against intelligent monsters from the Leygates than we can imagine. Trust their judgement.”

There was a pause before Drax responded. “Alright, father.”

“The scan shows the castle is drawing closer at a quick pace,” Zero’s voice spoke. “ETA is five minutes.”

Theravor let out a long sigh. “It’s finally about to start, isn’t it?” he muttered to himself. They’d only been preparing for the battle for about half a day, but it felt like days have passed since he’d returned from taking down Vinkex’s storm barrier. Theravor held the gauntlet close to his mouth before speaking again.”

“Everyone, you know what you need to do,” he announced shortly. “Don’t make mistakes, and if you do, improvise by following your instincts. And one last thing: leave Vinkex alone. He’s my opponent.”

“Copy that,” Zero replied.

“Ready at any time,” Boreta added.

“Let’s get this over with already,” Vinzgar commented. A noise like a few bones cracking came through the crystal, followed by a relieved sigh. “I might be able to work the rust from my joints during this fight.”

“Don’t keel over yet, Vinzgar,” Drax advised in a light tone. “We can’t have you falling over dead before the battle ends.”

“I’d say the same to you!” Vinzgar snapped. “Don’t get yourself killed tonight, Stormfang brat.” With that, Vinzgar’s orange crystal stopped emitting light, and he spoke no more.

“Everyone!” Theravor suddenly stated, raising his voice to a soft roar. “Remember, our objective is not to kill the enemy forces! Incapacitate them with whatever skills you have at your disposal. I will personally take care of Vinkex, so do you best to follow your orders to the letter!” After finishing his statement, Theravor tapped the three glowing crystals and ended the communication.

Theravor stood there motionlessly for a moment as he looked out at the starlit sky on the other side of the stained glass. His hands curled into tight fists as a black silhouette loomed on the horizon.

Mark my word, Draycos. I will save you.

What is this?

Vinkex was standing atop the highest point of Rogue’s Castle so he could watch their destination draw closer. The night was well lit from the stars above, and there hadn’t been a cloud in sight. However, the second Vinkex took a moment to blink, he opened his eyes and saw a thick wall of fog had suddenly appeared before him. The fog cloud rolled over the foremost of the flying islands and continued to creep forward until it reached the castle. A gust of chilly air assaulted Vinkex’s face as the fog reached him and continued on past him. The fog wasn’t so thick that it reduced visibility to zero, but it was thick enough that Vinkex couldn’t make out the edge of the archipelago.

Vinkex held out one hand and watched the fog drift between his fingers. This is obviously an enchanted fog, but what is its purpose? And who created it. Closing his eyes, Vinkex expanded his senses outwards as he attempted to locate the position of Balara’s magic, but he was met by an unexpected result. What little magic he could detect was faint and fuzzy, too weak to pinpoint their exact locations.

“Damn it all,” Vinkex growled as he opened his eyes. He glared defiantly at the fog while it floated around him. “They’re jamming our senses with this fog.”

“Sir Vinkex!”

Glancing down in the direction of the voice, Vinkex noticed that the elites of each general’s troops that he had asked for were gathered in the courtyard below. One of them, a silvery grey dragonoid wearing an ornate, silver-trimmed green chestplate and holding a large, conic silver lance over one shoulder with the same ornate design as his armor, waved his free hand at Vinkex.

“Sir, I don’t think we can go through with your original plan with the fog like this,” he called up at Vinkex. His green gauntlets flashed in the weak light. “We can’t move about recklessly like this.”

Vinkex snorted. He jumped off the tower and fell to the ground, landing on both feet before the group of elite troops and sending up a large cloud of dirt. Standing up straight, he towered over the group. A few of them cowered back, but the silvery dragonoid didn’t yield. He was the son of the general Tornec who Vinkex had spoken with during the strategy meeting. His name was Corax. As a combat-specialist, Vinkex found his skills to be quite impressive for modern-day dragons, so Vinkex did have a small amount of respect for the young dragon. Corax’s dark green underbelly scales and wing skin reminded Vinkex of the foliage in the forests he and the rest of dragonkind inhabited before fleeing to the sky. Vinkex personally found it soothing to gaze at and enjoyed having Corax in his presence.

“Obviously, we can’t go with our initial plan,” Vinkex spat. He paused for a moment to take a deep breath, looking up at the fog. The tip of his tail tapped the ground at a steady rhythm and bore a hole in it before he eventually sighed.

“I may have been too hasty with our plans and ended up underestimating the current Dragon King and his cohorts,” Vinkex admitted. “The exhilaration from finally being freed from the thousand-year-old seal rushed to my head and led me to make some errors in my judgement.”

Corax shrugged indifferently. “If you say so. But what are we going to do now?”

Vinkex eyed Corax intently, somewhat displeased with the young dragon’s lack of formality. His tail twitched in annoyance a few times before he decided to let it go for the time being. “To be honest, our options are limited right now,” Vinkex responded. “Not only is this fog limiting our sight, but it’s also preventing us from accurately detecting magic. It will be hard to perform any coordinated attacks without risking friendly fire.”

“So what do we do?”

“Be quiet while I try to think of an answer.” As he tried to brainstorm usable strategies, Vinkex realized something was off. He quickly scanned the courtyard, but there was nobody else present except for him and his group.

“Where are Río and Balara?”

“Huh?” Several dragons raised their heads and looked around the courtyard with surprised expressions.

“This is odd,” Corax stated slowly as he glanced around. “They were with us just a few moments ago.”

Where are they? Out of habit, Vinkex attempted to sense their magic, only to be stymied by the magic-jamming fog. He let out a low growl filled with annoyance. “Where in the world could those two have wandered off to at such a crucial time?” he hissed, stomping the ground. “It’s not like them.”

Everyone near Vinkex nervously stepped away from the ancient dragon as Vinkex’s tail tapped the ground more violently than before. Cracks radiating from the ground he stomped on and the displeased look on his face made it very clear to everyone to give their leader more space.

Corax, on the other hand, didn’t move from his spot as his body suddenly grew tense. He gave the air a sniff before his eyes widened in alarm. Every scale on his body stood up slightly as he growled intensely.

“What is it?” Vinkex demanded, noticing the sudden change in Corax’s demeanor.

“Something feels wrong,” Corax answered in a hushed whisper.

“What are you going on about?!” Vinkex roared. “Spit it out already!”

“Something really bad is about to happen!!” Corax suddenly screeched, his voice growing louder and louder with each word

Something out of the corner of his eye caught Vinkex’s attention, and Vinkex froze on the spot as he finally noticed a slight change occurring in the fog. A faint sound like static swelled up from the surrounding air as each and every fog particle glowed in a very dim, pale blue light. Small sparks of electricity jumped from one fog particle to the next periodically. Vinkex’s eyes widened in shock at first before the shock quickly faded into fury.

“What the hell did that Dragon King do?!” he roared at the top of his lungs as a bright flash of white light suddenly engulfed the entirety of the flying archipelago.