Common Cause

Devin and Alleania bicker as they wait for the demon-possessed Dragon, before putting the wizard's plan into motion.

11.

Common Cause

 

“There seems to be no end to the Goblinoids.”   Devin said to Alleania from their ledge.    They were about 30 feet above the Main Highway, at the end of one of House Ar’Rilla’s secret passages.   

“Thankfully they cannot see us from this vantage point.   We used this spot as a point to spy on the Main Highway.    It seems to me that the air is fresher up here, but as I don’t need air to survive, I am only speculating.”   Alleania responded, watching Devin with a remaining bit of suspicion.  

He nodded, “Yes, I noticed a slight current of air - there probably is a small hole to the surface letting fresh air in.”

For a moment there was silence and finally the Vampire spoke, “You really aren’t Devin, are you?”

“Matron, to be completely honest with you - I am not sure who I am right now.   I have memories of Devin’s life, but information in my head that is from… well, I don’t really know.   From ‘elsewhere’ is all I can tell you.   The other entity seems to have also been a wizard, but he was vastly more powerful than Devin… or should I say ‘I’ was.”

“What was this other being’s name?”

“I don’t know.   In fact, very little personal information from that side is available to me.    I just seem to have data that he knew.   I knew about your family on the surface.    I know your daughter Aurei’s story, for example.   I know her adopted father’s name was Gamel Bugley and that she was raised in a town named Westmark.”

“But you didn’t know that before you ‘died’ and then awoke with this new being possessing you?”

“No, I don’t believe Devin… excuse me, I keep referring to myself as someone else-   I don’t believe I had that knowledge before this new entity joined me.”

“You said you believed in Yesh.   I know Devin wouldn’t have done that.”

“Certainly not, Matron.   He sought power through controlling demons.    That is why he… that is why I died.   Yet since this joining with this other being, I have ‘seen the light’ and I embrace the logic of worshipping him.    I honestly think he could forgive the Devin side of me of my sins.”

“But can I forgive him?”  Alleania asked rhetorically, “You do realize it would be simple to just bite you right now and either kill you or turn you into a minion of me.”

“Yes, I realize you could do that, Matron.   But I know you won’t.”

“How do you know that for certain?”

“Because your daughter and sister believe in Yesh too.   You crave to have them accept you.   I also know that you are secretly protecting followers of Yesh in our city.   Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.    I commend you for it, actually.”

“That doesn’t mean that I am a follower, Devin.”

“I know that.   You don’t think he’d accept you, do you?”

“I’m a vampire, you fool, of course he wouldn’t!”

“Well, I made pacts with demons and he accepts me.”

“You don’t know that, wizard!   You are possessed!   Perhaps Yesh accepts he that possesses you and is merely using you as a tool.    Then he will sacrifice your worthless body for the greater good.”   Her voice was raised slightly in anger.

“You may be right, Matron.”  He responded calmly, which seemed to frustrate her more, as he wasn’t satisfying her desire to condemn him.

“So you really don’t mind dying?”   She asked with a frown.

“No, not after seeing how evil Devin… or I… was.    I think if this being was to leave me and restore me as Devin, back alive again, I would probably poison myself.    I never knew what it meant to sacrifice for others, Matron.     All I did was evil and selfish.   Even my own family grew to despise me, and they were certainly cruel, heartless people.   Yet I outdid them.    You see, I don’t blame you for hating me.   I deserve it, and it is my hope that by killing the Dragon, though it will kill me in the process, that maybe I could make up for a small part of the evil I have done.”

“You would have to sacrifice yourself a dozen times to take my hatred of you away.”

He nodded gravely, “I remember a few of my misdeeds toward your family, but not all of them.”

“Then allow me to refresh your memory.” She hissed, and then proceeded to recount killings, dirty tricks, thefts and schemes that brought harm or misfortune on House Ar’Rilla, both when Alleania was a young woman and after she returned to the Underdark following Chal’s death.

Devin listened respectfully, nodding at the events he could recall, and reacting with horror and disgust with those he knew nothing about.    The Vampire spoke for a quarter of an hour, as the Goblinoid army slowly marched up the Highway.

When she finished, she was seething with barely contained rage, and her lovely eyes glowed brilliant red.

“Your hatred is well-placed.”   He told her calmly, “I commend you for not tearing my throat out in retribution.”

“Only the current situation keeps that option at bay.” She warned darkly.

“I will give you one more reason to hate me, then.   My contribution to my own condemnation, I guess.   It is something Devin did that you do not know about.    You see, he had a great hatred for Chal, as he felt that Chal had more status and power as a wizard than he did.   So Devin… and I guess I should say, ‘I... paid a vampire lady to seduce him and then bite him.    She did, but Chal’s servants tracked her down and killed her.    He never told you that he had been turned into a vampire, but after his mistress was killed, he was no longer under her control and became his own master.”

“You were responsible for Chal’s vampirism?”  She growled, trembling with rage.

“Yes, those memories of Devin I can access.   You see, not only was Devin jealous of Chal; he also greatly lusted after you.   He thought Chal would try to bite you and you would kill him, then he could try to win you.    But Chal was much more powerful than Devin knew and when he learned that Chal had impregnated you, his desire for you turned to hatred.    That is why he worked so hard to destroy your family when you returned to the Underdark.    He felt spurned.”

“I would NEVER have even considered such a worm as you as a suitor.”   She spat out with disgust.

He took her remark stoically, “I think he knew that you were far out of his league.”

Alleania shook her head, “We need to change the topic of discussion, Devin, for I am entertaining thoughts of killing you - regardless of the dire situation."

“Alright, Matron.    Let’s discuss our plans, then.   If you manage to get the Gem of the Oscinate off of the Dragon, I’d recommend that you flee with it down a smaller side passage.   That way the Dragon won’t be able to pursue you, as he is too large to fit down most of the side passages.    I hope my stabbings will cause such a serious bleeding that he won’t be able to pursue you.   Ideally, I will kill him before he consumes me, but we should work out plans if that doesn’t occur.”

“I hope he kills you, Devin.    But only after you sever a vein or artery in his throat.”

“That is my plan, Alleania.    Suicidal attacking.   Maybe watching me die will help you see that Yesh can use even the most evil of men for the greater good.”

“Show me the swords you plan to use to kill the Dragon.”

He pulled off his backpack and pulled forth two Drow short swords, both which dripped with an oily substance.

“Poison.” He told her, “I don’t think it is strong enough to kill the Dragon, but it may aid in his death.”

Alleania just stared at him for a long moment, before finally saying with a sigh, “I can’t help but feel strong hatred for you, Devin.   Deep loathing that desires to be revenged.”

“If somehow I survive the Dragon, I’ll let you kill me as you see fit - after we get this anti-magic removed as well as the demon cast out of Synomenia.”

“I’ll take you up on that, Mage.   If the Dragon or Demon doesn’t kill you, then I will.”  Alleania said harshly.

There was a long quiet, until Devin suddenly began to stand up.

“What?”   The Vampire Matron asked.

“The sound of the Goblin army has faded.    They have passed!   I can hear a rumbling sound coming up the passage and the air seems to be growing hotter and fouler, even with the current of air we are under.”

“The Dragon?” She asked, leaping up and for the moment forgetting her hatred of the wizard.

“I’d guess he was very near.”   Devin replied as the ground seemed to tremble slightly.    The rumbling sound - like that of distant thunder- grew much louder.    From somewhere in his jumbled mind, the knowledge of the cause of the sound came to him.   “Matron Alleania, that is the sound of the breath of a Great Dragon!”

“How would you know this?”   She asked with disdain, but he could see more than a bit of fear in her eyes.

“That which has taken control of me - he knows of the sound.    It is the breathing of a Great Dragon as the air it takes in passes over the organ in the back of its throat that produces the gaseous vapor.   This vapor immediately ignites upon contact with air, producing the Dragon’s fire.”

“So it is close?”

“VERY close!   I need to get down to the highway before it arrives.    You should take the form of a bat or a vaporous cloud - something that won’t attract the attention of the demon controlling the Dragon.    Is there any way to get down to the Highway from this ledge?”

Alleania had just opened her mouth to reply, when her eyes nearly popped out of her skull and she let out a high-pitched scream, pointing behind him as she staggered back against the rock wall of the ledge.

Devin spun around to see what had terrified her, dreading what he would find.

His fears were justified.

It was the Great Dragon.

It was much, much larger than he had ever dreamed.    It was crawling forward like a cat stalking an unaware mouse.    It completely filled the wide highway passage as it inched forward in a space far too enclosed for comfort.    Had it not been controlled by the demon, it certainly would not have put itself in such confinement.  

Huge black and red bat-like wings were folded tightly across its back and its entire form was covered with bright red scales, each the size of a large shield.

The front claws were the width of a man and twice as long.   But most terrible was the huge head at the end of a neck that spanned twenty feet.    Its head was level with the ledge they were on and it saw them, regarding them with mild amusement.

A terrible yellow glow came from the pupil in the midst of the Dragon’s blood red eyes, telling of a powerful demonic force controlling it.    The Dragon grinned hideously, revealing thousands of sharp teeth, each the size of a longsword.    Its face was probably 15 feet wide.

“WELL, WELL, WELL!” The voice of the Demon boomed out of the mouth of the huge Dragon, “WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE?    TRYING TO HIDE, ARE WE?”

Devin felt all the blood drain into his feet at the sound of the voice.    Arrogant, confident of its power and invincibility, and gleeful in evil, it was not at all threatened by their presence, but was casually curious.   

Behind him, Devin heard the flapping of wings and knew that Alleania had taken to bat form.    He hoped the demon had not seen her transformation.

“WELL?!   WHO ARE YOU?!”   The Demon shouted, growing quickly impatient.

Devin felt something seem to open up in his head, like a doorway casting light into a darkened room.    Then he knew who it was who had taken his body, and that he was no longer Devin at all, but the ironically named Drake - a Watcher- that used all that remained of Devin’s physical form.   It all became clear.

Devin/Drake laughed in the face of the demon-controlled Dragon for a brief moment, and the action stunned the beast.

“YOU DARE LAUGH AT ME?!”   The voice shook the rocks around him with rage.

“I do more than that you worthless groveling earthworm!   I spit upon your majesty and defy all of your power.    You have met your doom!”   He held up his swords, covered with poison, so the great beast could see them “See?   With these I shall slay you!”

The Dragon was dumbfounded for a moment at the ridiculousness of the statement and the Drow’s bravado. 

“FOOL!   YOU HAVE NO MAGIC AND NO MUNDANE WEAPON SHALL PIERCE MY SCALES!”

“Never-the-less, I shall kill you.”   Devin/Drake replied calmly.

The Demon controlled Dragon stared banefully at the wizard for a moment then grinned again, “I TIRE OF THIS FOOLISHNESS, TINY ELF!    THE INSOLANCE!    IT IS ALMOST HUMOROUS!   BUT I TIRE OF YOU.   YOUR DOOM IS UPON YOU, BUFFOON!”

The Dragon drew back slightly from the ledge and opened his huge mouth.    With cruel slowness, it drew in breath to breathe fiery death upon the Drow wizard.    There would be no escape for him from the blast, trapped on the ledge as he was, so the Demon took pleasure in extending the dread of the wizard.

But it was exactly what Drake had anticipated.    He could feel Devin’s heart racing with instinctual terror, but he did not hesitate.    With a loud shout, he threw Devin’s body forward, across the short distance, into the mouth of the inhaling beast, with his swords spread wide as he tumbled into the Dragon’s mouth.

Reviews

[Elina]

"She asked with distain..." This should be "disdain."

[Eddie Davis]

Thanks, Elina, I always seem to get disdain misspelled as distain.