The Coming Storm

Eleazar desperately searches for Aurei while the Necromancer's Guild unleashes destruction upon King's Reach.

9.

The Coming Storm

 

 

Eleazar could not help but feel very uneasy upon reflecting on Aurei’s mood that evening.    She seemed so somber and grim, and though the prospects of a battle with the undead of the Necromancer’s Guild on their home soil was not something uplifting to think on, she still usually lived in the moment and enjoyed life as it was given to her.  

 

Looking around, he was surprised to see that she wasn’t with the other ladies around the bride.   She had been gone far too long to just drop off a garland crown in her room.    Something was wrong.   

Excusing himself from the men, he got up and hurried across the courtyard into the royal quarters, then upstairs toward the guest quarters.   Halfway up the stairs to the second story, the loud, frantic ringing of church bells from somewhere in the palace stopped him in his tracks.  

 

For a moment he just listened and then, remembering the palace chapel, he raced up the stairs.   He was nearly at the top of the stairwell to the second floor when he heard the dreaded sound of trumpets being sounded long and with a sense of urgency that told him without a doubt that some force was attacking the city.  

He had to find Aurei.  

 

Servants were running all around now, but he continued up the stairs to the third floor, where the guest quarters and the chapel were located.   Through the thick stone walls, he could hear the sounds of thunderous roars from some terrible beast, joined with horrified screams and shouts.

 

As he continued up the circular stairwell, he suddenly plowed into a young servant girl coming down the stairs at the same speed that he ascended.   She was knocked down hard onto the stairs, her eyes wide in fear for a moment as she saw his red glowing eyes.

“It’s alright!”   He assured her, “I’m sorry, you must take care, something is attacking the city!”

She looked as if she was going to either faint or become hysterical and he gently grabbed her shoulders as he helped her to her feet.

“Are you alright, child?”

“Y-Y-Yes sir…  Y-Y-You’re S-S-Sir Eleazar the Knight, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Your lady -Duchess Bugley- they took her!”

“Took her?!   Who?!   Where?!” 

“At the other end of the hallway near the chapel.   Two Drow; a man and a woman, she was wearing strange armor.   They were talking for a moment, then the man cast a spell and they vanished.   He looked like he was a wizard.”

 

“Did she go willingly with them?” He was squeezing her arms too tightly, terrifying the already scared girl, so he loosened his grip some and tried to speak calmer so as to not frighten her more.

“I-I think so; she didn’t seem happy, but they weren’t holding her or anything like that.”

“And you said she was wearing armor - strange armor?”

“Yes, not like any I’ve seen.”

“Did you hear anything that they were saying?”

“No, they were on the other side of the hallway.”

Suddenly there came a loud roar from somewhere outside of the castle followed by the distinct rush of air that indicated a roaring fire.  

Through the walls, he was able to make out several people screaming ‘Dragons!’.

He took the hand of the girl in the stairwell, “Listen to me, sweetheart; there are Dragons attacking the city and they will try to burn down the palace.   I want you to run downstairs and find some of the adults if you can, but whatever you do, you must get out of this building.   Head toward the lake and hide.   Hurry now, and tell the others to do the same!   Go, child, and may Yesh protect you!”

 

She immediately did as he said, running full tilt down the stairwell.  

Eleazar raced up the rest of the stairs and came out onto the third floor to find it ablaze.   Servants were racing every which way, all hysterical in fear.

“GET OUT!   GET OUT OF THE BUILDING!  DRAGONS ARE ATTACKING!   GET OUT, FLEE!   HURRY!” He yelled as he ran down the hallway toward the chapel.    It was engulfed in flames, and empty, so he didn’t pause but burst into Aurei’s room.  

It too was burning, but through the flames and smoke, he saw her dress laying on the bed, on fire.   Franticly he looked around, and was relieved to find her armor was gone.   

 

His mind spinning, he ran through the connecting door to his room to find it also beginning to catch fire.   His armor, thankfully, was near the door, and he scooped it up in a bedspread and pulled it out of the room.   In the hallway he quickly began putting on his plate armor, uncaring about undressing in the midst of the chaos.   In record time he had his chainmail arming doublet on and was finishing his leg armor when nearly all of the wedding party came running up the stairs.

“We’re under attack!”  Aeric yelled from down the hall, “An armada of Guild ships, I counted at least six!   Several huge red Dragons, burning everything in sight and probably a score of Wyverns!”

“All of your rooms are on fire, hurry and pull your stuff out!”   He called to his friends.

“Where’s Aurei?”   Zeatt asked as she ran down the hall.

“Gone!   She rang the chapel bell - to warn us, I guess.   A servant saw her with a Drow man and woman at the end of the hall, minutes ago.   The man was a wizard and teleported them out somewhere.”

“Drow?!”  Zeatt said as she pushed open the door to her room to find that her room was completely engulfed in flames.

“Don’t go in there, Matron!”   Eleazar grabbed her as she started into the inferno.

“Who were they?”  She asked, looking on in horror as her belongings burned.    “Could they have been Khord and Sophia?”

“No - the servant said the man cast a spell and was dressed as a wizard.   Khord is not a spell caster.”

“Did she go willingly?”

“Yes, apparently; she had time to suit up and the servant said she was not bound.”

“Who could they have been, Eleazar?”

“I don’t know, Matron, but we’ve all got to get out of here immediately, or we’ll all die in the fire.”

Around them, their friends were frantically trying to save the belongings that they brought with them.   Aeric and Alis were the most fortunate, for they had placed their stuff collectively in a large suite that was to be their bridal suite, and it was located at the very end of the hall and had not yet caught flame.   

 

Following Eleazar’s lead, the newlyweds dragged their stuff out into the hallway, threw modesty to the wind and quickly undressed and then donned their armor.   

Zeatt assisted the bride, who was crying at the destruction of her wedding day.  

Eleazar, having finished with his armor, helped his friend with his armor pieces.

“Aeric, where are the King and Queen… and St. Kinnis?”

“The three of them, as well as Sir Alvis, are on the second floor, at the royal quarters."   

Pectros, Lute, Luke and Thorm were braving the flames to rescue articles from each of the guest quarters as Rori, Siris, Brandi, Krys and Leah stood by shaking and crying in fear.

Suddenly from the backstairs, Sir Alvis appeared, with Helke, his Ice sword, drawn.

“Does everyone have all their belongings out?”

“Alvis, my room is engulfed.”  Zeatt answered, and he nodded and went over to the doorway, pointed his sword and a moment later an arctic hurricane wind roared into her room with such force that the flames were extinguished, with the smoke pushed out of the window.

“Stay here, Zeatt, and I’ll see if I can find anything salvageable.”

“Careful!” She warned with a hand on his arm, “It has burned for a few minutes, the floor may be unstable.”

 

He nodded, and carefully went inside.    A minute later he returned with her Rod of Flaying, Gauntlets of Ogre Strength and, to her great relief, the Book of Yesh that the Queen had given her the day before, completely undamaged.

“Praise God!” She said, weeping as she clutched the book to her.  “Thank you, my dear friend.”   She said to Alvis, who smiled slightly. 

But the Knight Commander wasn’t done, and a few moments later he pulled a smoldering bedspread covered with all the pieces of Zeatt’s armor, much of it very hot to the touch, but undamaged.  

Alvis’ hands had been burnt in the retrieval, but a quick spell from Zeatt healed him while he spoke to the others, “Haroldris is mustering everyone at the Royal Lake - there are shallow caves there that may provide some protection while we counter the attack.   Are we all accounted for?”

 

“Aurei is gone.”   Zeatt said with great emotion and she quickly recounted the information Eleazar had provided while quickly changing into her armor after Alvis had cooled it down with a short blast from his magic sword.

 

“There is a Vampire Lord,” Alvis told them, “he serves the Lich Morbis Noctunus; he is a powerful wizard.   His name is Chal.”

 

Zeatt gasped, “Chal?!   Chal?!   What is his surname?  Do you know?”

“Darrilla, I think… why? What is it?”   He gently grabbed the Drow matron’s shoulder.

 

She looked as if she had seen her own death, “Not Darilla, Alvis.   D’Ar’rilla.   The ‘D’ means ‘house of’.   House of Ar’rilla.”

 

“Ar’rlla?!”  Both Alvis and Eleazar exclaimed at the same moment.

“Yes.” Zeatt said, swaying slightly in disbelief, “Chal Ar’Rilla was the brother of the father of my daughter Sophia.   But more than that, he was Aurei’s father!”

 

“Father?!”  Eleazar exclaimed, “But didn’t he die during the raid against the Faesidhe?”

“He was injured, this I know.   He could have been a Vampire; in the Underdark it is difficult to know.   But you said there was a female Drow with him.”   She turned to Alvis, “Do you know if he had a mate?”

 

“When I was taken before Soric, I saw all of the Masters of the Grave one time, assembled in the throne room of Soric back in Aeropolis before they moved their base.   Chal asked me many questions about the Drow in Aeropolis."   

"At one point a very pretty Drow lady came out of the shadows in the hall and went up to him and spoke something private to him.”  

“I remember that after this he said, ‘Alleania wishes to know if you know of Matron Zeatt.’   I remembered it because I managed to conceal knowledge of you from them.”

 

“Alleania.” Zeatt said, her voice seeming to come from far away, “Are you sure that was the name?”

“Yes, I’m certain; she was a tall, rather well-endowed Drow lady, quite striking, but definitely a Vampire, though I got the feeling that she was one of Chal’s lieutenants.”

 

“My sister… Aurei’s mother.   I never found her body when the carriage washed off the road.   Yesh, preserve her!”  Zeatt slumped back against the hallway wall.

 

Eleazar went over to them, “Aurei’s parents?   Are you saying Aurei’s parents are Vampires and have taken her with them?”

Zeatt shrugged, but the horrified look in her eyes told him all he needed to know.

“They’ll take her to Soric… as a prisoner.”   He punched the wall with his fist, smashing a hole in the wood with strength enhanced by his belt of giant strength.

 

“Why would they take her fully armed, then?”   Alvis asked,

“Soric doesn’t allow any prisoners into his presence that are not chained.   Aurei wouldn’t have gone willingly with them as a prisoner.   Something’s going on.”

 

There came a loud explosion from somewhere in the Palace that shook the whole building.

 

“What was that?”  Siris shrieked as she struggled to get her chainmail shirt that Lute had rescued from their room over her pregnant belly.

 

“I don’t know, but we’ve got to get out of here right now!”   Alvis suggested and there was no choice but to agree.  

 

Scooping up their salvaged items, they hurried down the stairs together, urging servants still in the building to join them as they fled.  

 

Eleazar felt as if his soul was torn from him; he had to help defend the city, yet Aurei needed him desperately.   But he had no way to get to her.  

 

As they raced out a side entrance, they beheld a scene out of the worst of nightmares.   Three huge red Dragons soared overhead, blasting buildings throughout the city with fire, while around them a multitude of Wyverns attacked anyone on a roof or parapet.   

The city was all in flames, filling the sky with red light, while half a score of huge black airships hovered overhead, allowing the Dragons to destroy as much as they could before the undead forces on board went into action.

 

They raced across the burning courtyard, joining groups of servants and townspeople running toward the large artificial royal lake that bordered the Palace on the west edge of the city.  

Dragons and Wyverns swooped down around them, occasionally snatching someone up from among the refugees. 

 

There came a loud roar from the north of the palace as they ran; they turned to the sound, to find that the Tower of Wizards was being attacked by two of the three Dragons.   The tall tower, though made of stone, was somehow engulfed in magic flame and seemed about to be consumed.    On the roof of the tower, a single figure dressed all in white stood with a white glowing staff in his hands.  

He was Colais, Archmage of the tower and the Royal Wizard.   A Dragon inhaled deeply, and directly in front of the wizard released a huge cone of fire that engulfed the man.  

 

All who beheld the sight screamed in horror, but when the flames ended, Colais still stood, unharmed, as he shot a bolt of energy at the Dragon.   The arcane blast hit the great wyrm and it screeched in pain, but still continued its attack.  

A Wyvern swooped in with its claws extended, intending to snatch the wizard off the tower, but at the last minute, a shimmering sphere of light covered him and the Wyvern veered off, avoiding the protective shell.

But the tower was about to fall, and shifted terribly, causing it to tilt sharply.   The sphere of light disappeared, and Colais slid dangerously to the edge, but did not topple over.  

Getting to his feet, he surveyed the situation as the two Dragons banked around for another attack.    With his white staff held over his head, the Archmage called out in a booming voice, “Draco ignis absumere lucem!” and leapt off the tower, into the mouth of the Dragon, as he brought his staff down on the beast’s nose, breaking it in half.

 

There was a massive explosion of light that knocked to the ground, all those running for the caves.   The blast consumed the Dragon, and Colais, as well as two wyverns who were soaring nearby.  

The wizard tower fell with a roar from the force of the blast and even the nearest Guild airship shook violently, listing to one side and sending several undead falling from a great height to the ground below.  

“Yesh, take his soul!” Zeatt cried upon seeing the wizard’s sacrifice.

Jumping to his feet, Eleazar helped those around him stand and they continued on toward the caves, thankful that the blast had momentarily paused the attack.   Again he wondered about Aurei and wished desperately that he could be with her, helping her.  

“Preserve her, Lord Yesh the Merciful,” He said in a whisper to his God as he led the people toward safety.