Gatekeepers Book 3: Redemption

A few minutes before the white light engulfed the Rogue’s Castle, Perla had just gotten herself inside the cockpit for the ancient weapon. The dark interior lit up when she closed the hatch behind her as numerous lights of different colors blinked into existence. It was very similar to an airplane cockpit. Perla squeezed herself into a small, leather chair that was so old it was on the verge of falling apart. The only opening in the hatch was a small, horizontal vent directly in front of Perla’s eyes that allowed her to see outside.

“Are you inside the cockpit yet, Perla?” Zero’s voice rang out.

Surprised by the sudden voice, Perla held up her left hand and looked at the golden bangle hanging from her wrist. A handful of colored crystals were set into the gold, and a blue crystal glowed softly in the dark cockpit.

“Yeah, Dad,” she answered. “I’m inside. Everything seems to be working as it should be.”

“Good. I assume you remember how to operate it?”

Perla snorted in amusement. “After your three-hour lecture on its mechanics earlier? I’ll be fine.”

Perla tapped on the rusted keyboard placed in front of her before flipping a few switches above her head. A low whine filled the air as the cockpit shuddered violently. With a loud beep, a transparent screen manifested in the air before the vent. Crosshairs lined up with one another while Perla stared out through the vent with an intense gaze. She found that she was able to see clearly over a much greater distance than her eyes would normally allow. Her eyes soon found Dragonspire Castle, and beyond that, Rogue’s Castle. A heavy fog, courtesy of Boreta and her family, filled the space around Rogue’s Castle. Despite the fog, Perla was still able to clearly see Rogue’s Castle and its occupants outside.

“Remember, we’re only firing off a warning shot to start with,” Zero reminded her.

“I’m aware of that.” Perla lifted her right hand and grabbed a metal key hanging from a leather strap wrapped around her wrist. Placing the key in a slot next to the keyboard, she slowly twisted the key. A loud alarm blared out, and most of the cockpit’s lights began flashing a crimson light. Ignoring the alarm, Perla continued to tap on the keyboard. A pale blue light slowly traveled up the length of the weapon, which began vibrating from the magic power being poured into it.

“We’re all set,” Perla announced. Grabbing the blue goggles hanging around her neck, she snapped them over her eyes before tapping a green crystal on the bangle. “King Theravor?” she asked as the crystal lit up. “I’m ready to fire away whenever you give the order.”

“You can fire the weapon whenever you’re ready,” Theravor’s voice answered. “Vertex and his team have already carried out their assignments, so there’s no need to wait any longer. As soon as you fire it, make sure to start preparing for the next shot.”

“Understood.” Perla ended the communication before leaning back in the chair. She took a deep breath to steady herself. I’m the one starting this off; I might as well start things with a bang. Smiling slightly to herself, Perla returned her attention to the task at hand. The entire weapon glowed with a bright blue light. She flipped a few more switches before grabbing a lever set next to the chair. Realizing that she should probably let her comrades know what was about to happen, she quickly tapped on all the crystal in her bangle. Perla gripped the lever handle tightly.

“Firing the Plasma-Tech Gorgon Cannon!” she cried in a loud voice, pulling the lever backwards.

The very air crackled with sparks of magical energy as Vinkex endured the sudden blast of white light assaulting Rogue’s Castle. A long, continuous peal of thunder blasted his eardrums, threatening to deafen him. A few seconds slowly passed before the light faded away and the thunder died down. It grew eerily quiet as the fog that was blown away by the blast began rolling back in.

Vinkex cautiously raised his head and looked around. Quite a bit of the fog had dispersed, allowing him to see his surroundings clearly. Smoke rose above the walls on the south side of the courtyard, and a smell like burning fur assailed Vinkex’s nostrils. With a single flap of his wings, Vinkex flew up and landed atop the courtyard walls so he could observe what laid beyond. What he saw rendered the ancient dragon speechless.

More than half of the islands attached to the Rogue’s Castle had disappeared entirely. A few lengths of the black chains that held the islands together hung limply from the main island. The metal of the broken chains still glowed red-hot as droplets of the smoking, molten metal fell to the ground far below. Vinkex could tell that whatever attack caused these unbelievable results missed his location by a wide margin, but the power of the attack was so incredible that sparks of magic energy still flashed through the now-empty space. However, neither the missing islands, broken chains, or the power of the blast unnerved Vinkex as much as what he saw next.

Standing out ominously from the fog swirling around them, hundreds of stone statues in the shape of dragons hovered in the air. Uneasy, Vinkex flapped his wings and approached the closest statue to examine it closely. The detail to the statue was incredible; each and every scale of the dragon’s body stood out perfectly, and its wing skin hung loosely between the spines. The expression on its face showed pure shock and surprise. Something about the statue was disturbingly familiar to Vinkex as he continued to stare at it. With a start, he realized he recognized the statue. It was one of his generals, Tornec, the father of Corax.

“Father!”

Vinkex whirled around at the sudden cry and noticed Corax was flying straight at him. Corax stopped just before the statue and gingerly touched its face.

“What happened to him?” Corax questioned in a hushed voice. Vinkex remained silent while he turned his gaze in the direction of Dragonspire Castle. A vein stood out from his forehead scales as he quietly hissed.

“What the hell did Theravor dig up?” he muttered to himself. Raising his right hand, he held it in the direction Dragonspire Castle should be. A large ball of dark red light appeared on his palm, crackling with magic power. With a grunt, Vinkex fired the magic bombshell through the air. Even with the fog jamming his senses before, the aftereffects of such a large discharge of magic power from the blast left strong traces of magic hanging in the atmosphere, making it even harder to detect anyone’s magic. Not to Vinkex’s surprise, the bombshell self-detonated before hitting anything.

The residual energy and the infernal fog is preventing me from being able to locate anything. Vinkex felt his anger rising as he glared provocatively at the fog. Almost half of the Rogue’s Castle grounds had been demolished, and all the fighters hit by the blast had been petrified.

Vinkex had vastly underestimated his opponents, and now he was paying the price for his hubris. Realizing that losing his cool would only play into Theravor’s hands even more, Vinkex took a slow, deep breath to calm himself. As he exhaled a black cloud of smoke, a sinister smile played across his lips.

So, this is what kind of game Theravor wants to play? Fine; two can play at this game.

“It appears that everything went according to plan with the Plasma Cannon,” Theravor commented from his perch atop the highest peak of Dragonspire Castle. He held his right hand in front of his right eye, staring through a circle formed from his index and thumb talons. Enhancing his vision with some magic, Theravor clearly spotted several dozen stone statues suspended in midair off in the distance before the fog came swirling back in. A few moments later, a large red orb of magic power flew out of the fog cloud and passed far to the left of Dragonspire Castle before exploding like a firework.

“I’m amazed that the two of you managed to fulfill my modification request of the old Plasma-Tech Cannon,” Theravor continued, lowering his right hand and shaking his head in amazement. “I didn’t expect you to pull it off. Making it destroy all non-living objects while petrifying any living organisms to render them unable to move is fantastic.”

“Oh, it’s nothing that fitting a cracked fragment of a gorgon eggshell over the cannon barrel and adding a few spells couldn’t fix,” Boreta’s self-satisfied voice floated through the gauntlet on Theravor’s left arm. “Then again, that fragment is a priceless magic research item. If it comes back to me with so much as another crack in it after this is all over, there will be retribution.”

Theravor laughed heartily at Boreta’s dark comment. “I promise to take full responsibility if something damages it, Boreta. I’d owe you that much, at least, considering how much effort you’ve put into the battle already.”

It was true. Boreta’s contributions to this civil war were no small matters. Not only had she provided a gorgon eggshell from her personal vault to aid in the cannon’s last-minute modifications, but she’s also casting a large-scale Territory spell, Primordial Mist, that’s blanketing the entire battlefield with a heavy fog. The fog jams the enemies’ magic senses and reduces visibility for them at the same time.

“Hey, why is Boreta getting all the praise?!” another voice snapped. It was Zero’s. “I’m the one who repaired the ancient weapon, remember?”

“Sorry, sorry!” Theravor laughed. “You deserve credit in this matter too, Zero! This wouldn’t have been possible without your mechanical skills.” Theravor paused for a moment before continuing. “Reothad, Vinzgar, and Vertex. How is it going on your end?”

“So far, so good,” Vinzgar’s voice answered, his respective crystal glowing as he spoke. “We managed to separate Balara and Río from Vinkex thanks to Vertex’s Planetary magic. We’re about to engage them.”

“Good.” Theravor spotted the figures of hundreds upon hundreds of dragons rising from the ground around Rogue’s Castle and gathering in one spot near the center. “It appears that the enemy has regained their wits and are about to start their assault. This is where the real battle begins. Everyone, be on guard and stick to the plan.”

“Speaking of which, Theravor, I’m afraid I’m going to have to disregard that last order of yours.”

The voice that said that was Zero. Several gasps of shock and surprise came through the other open transmissions. Theravor was so shocked by Zero’s sudden announcement that he lost the ability to speak for a few seconds. After regaining his composure, Theravor held the gauntlet close to his face and stared at Zero’s crystal.

“May I ask why you’re unable to follow my order, Zero?” Theravor questioned in a low, dangerous growl.

Zero, apparently unperturbed by the grave tone in Theravor’s growl, gave a soft chuckle.

“Don’t you remember what I told you earlier? I have something I’d like to show off during this battle.”

“Ah, that’s right.” Theravor recalled Zero’s odd behavior during the earlier transmission. Thinking hard about it for a moment, Theravor eventually sighed.

“Alright, Zero. Have it your way. But, by the Origins, if this surprise of yours is not beneficial for us on the battlefield, I will be forced to punish you for your behavior.”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that!” Zero gleefully replied. “This will most certainly aid us in this battle.” With that final comment, the light from Zero’s crystal faded away.

As soon as the light from Zero’s crystal disappeared, Theravor’s ears picked up on a very faint sound to his rear. It sounded like the sound of a far off explosion. Perplex, Theravor twisted his neck around and peered off into the skies behind Dragonspire Castle.

What was that sound? It came from the direction of the Vizards’ home islands....

As concern began creeping upon Theravor’s conscience, he spotted a faint flash of dim, golden light. Narrowing his eyes, he spotted the flash again, this time much closer and brighter. A fraction of a second later, something smallish and golden sped right past him, missing Theravor by a hair’s breadth. Letting out a startled growl, Theravor gripped the castle spire tightly as strong wings buffeted him and threatened to knock him loose. Spinning back around, Theravor saw the golden object flying towards the group of enemy dragons now flying out of the front of Boreta’s Primordial Mist and heading for Dragonspire Castle.

Was that Zero?! Shock and surprise momentarily froze Theravor to the spot while he observed the flying golden object jet towards the enemies. Theravor had only gotten a glance at the thing as it flew past him, but it looked like it had been Zero wearing some odd golden armor and carrying a large lance in one hand. Holding his right hand up to his eye, Theravor enhanced his vision again so he could clearly watch the ‘Unidentified Flying Object’ in action.