“What real battle?” asked Niger. “What are you talking about?”
“The invasion that is coming,” answered Gorgi. “You really need to learn more about these prophecies. A massive army is coming from across the seas. Over a million men will seek to annihilate all life, not just in Fakara, but in Khadora and Omunga as well.”
“Nonsense,” blustered Niger. “These are tales that you spinning. Nowhere in the world is there such an army.”
“You call them tales,” Gorgi shook his head, “but the prophecies are real. You may not believe in dragons, but I can tell you right now that the Bone Mountains and the Giaming Mountains are full of them. The Fakarans are sending all their women and children to the eastern coast to safeguard them.”
“There are dragons to the east?” Niger asked anxiously.
“Lots of them,” nodded Gorgi. “I am on my way to the Bone Mountains to find the King of Dragons and battle him. Oh, why bother. You can’t possibly understand what I am trying to tell you. You probably have never seen a dragon.”
“Oh we have seen them,” frowned Niger. “They infest the Fortung Mountains in the west. That is why we were heading east. Is there no place safe any more?”
“According to the prophecies,” replied Gorgi, “there is only one place that the dragons will not go, that is until the King of Fakara is crowned.”
“Where is that?” asked Niger.
“Vandegar,” answered Gorgi. “It is said that the dragons will avoid Vandegar. It is forbidden for them to approach it. But on the day when the King of Dragons is defeated, the new King of Fakara will ride the King of Dragons, and he will fly to Vandegar to gather all Fakarans to prepare for battle against the evil horde from across the sea. That is when the real fighting will begin.”
“Vandegar?” frowned Niger. “That place is a dust bowl. There is nothing to eat there.”
“I heard that the Fakarans are sending wagonloads of food there to feed the people,” shrugged Gorgi.
“Why would they do that?” questioned the leader. “There are likely to only be Jiadin there.”
“As I said before,” answered Gorgi, “the Fakarans want the Jiadin to join with them for this great war that is coming. They must feel that they have to keep you alive until then. At least that is what I think.”
“Is this true?” asked Niger. “Have you seen any of these food caravans?”
“I saw one when I left the new city of Meliban,” nodded Gorgi. “Of course, many Jiadin are electing to just join with the Fakarans now. You could do that as well. I know that you and your men would be welcomed.”
“We are fighters,” Niger shook his head. “We have no use for cities.”
“Then Vandegar is your only hope,” replied Gorgi, “unless you each plan to fight the King of Dragons alone.”
Niger looked up and stared at the distant peaks of the mountains to the east. He sighed and shook his head.
“I think we will continue east for a while to see if what you say is true,” declared Niger.
“Understandable,” nodded Gorgi. “Many men must learn things the hard way. Let me ask you a question, Niger. If you find dragons, and I am sure that you will, will you return to Vandegar or fight them.”
“Fighting dragons is not a fair fight,” Niger shook his head. “If you have told the truth, we will turn towards Vandegar and sample the Fakaran food, but we are not going to live in any city.”
“And if the day comes when the King of Fakara flies to Vandegar,” probed Gorgi, “will you join with him to defeat the evil hordes?”
“I find your prophecy hard to believe,” chuckled Niger. “I cannot imagine an army so large, but the Jiadin were born to fight. If your king flies to Vandegar on a dragon, then I will believe your tall tales.”
“Fair enough,” smiled Gorgi. “I have a large sack of food near my log. I am not going to need it where I am going. You are welcome to take it with you to Vandegar.”
“You are leaving now?” asked Niger as Gorgi started walking to his horse.
“I am,” nodded Gorgi. “It is time for me to try my hand at slaying a dragon. Good luck to you and your men, no matter what path you take.”
The Jiadin watched the tribesman leave. They quickly returned to devouring the clova.
“Do you believe his tales?” asked Jaker. “I think it is a bunch of nonsense.”
“It might be,” mused Niger, “but I wonder what the point of it would be. I do know that Brakas was working for someone overseas. So were those strange magicians that hung around Grulak. And we did see dragons in the Fortung Mountains. There is just enough truth to his tales to cause me to wonder. That is why we are continuing to the east. I want to see for myself if dragons exist in those mountains. Perhaps it is just a ploy to keep the Jiadin from seeing what the Fakarans are up to.”
Suddenly, one of the Jiadin pointed skyward and shouted. Everyone looked up and saw the dragon circling overhead. As they scrambled for their horses the dragon swooped down and hovered over the trees just to the east of the campsite. It belched short bursts of fire into the air and roared loudly.
The Jiadin did not dare enter the forest or they would have to pass directly under the dragon. They raced across the ford and galloped to the west. The dragon swooped down on the fleeing Jiadin shooting long tongues of flame that heated the backs of the riders.
The dragon circled overhead and occasionally swooped down, its huge talons just barely missing a rider on each attack. After a while, the dragon gave up the attack and flew eastward. The Jiadin raced onward for another five minutes before finally coming to a halt.
“I guess that answers the question about the eastern mountains,” sighed Niger. “That fool Gorgi is going to die. No man can fight those beasts.”
“I’ll take my chances at Vandegar,” interjected Jaker. “Even if there is no food, that is better than being eaten alive.”
Niger nodded and looked up to scan the sky. “To Vandegar, men. Let’s hope Gorgi was right about the food.”
* * *
Mistake and MistyTrail sat near Tamar as he guided the ancient elven scout ship across the calm waters.
“Have you thought any on how we are going to get back into the temple?” asked Mistake.
“I have been thinking about it constantly,” nodded MistyTrail. “Haven’t you noticed me shivering?”
“Me, too,” admitted Mistake.
“You did it once,” interjected Tamar. “Why not do it the same way?”
“The last time was an accident,” frowned Mistake. “We really were lucky to escape with our lives.”
“It wasn’t luck,” MistyTrail shook her head. “I know that Kaltara was watching over us. I hope he does so this time, too.”
“We should have brought Tamar’s men with us,” frowned Mistake. “At least we would have a better chance.”
“I don’t think so,” MistyTrail disagreed. “I think what helped us last time was the small number of people in our party.”
“There is wisdom to that, MistyTrail,” smiled Tamar. “Often a small group can succeed where larger ones fail. Still, I worry about just the three of us. Neither of you are capable of wielding a two-handed sword with any precision. I wish we had worked harder on that before the lessons stopped.”
“I could ask Emperor Marak for help,” suggested Mistake. “I am sure that he would help us.”
“I am sure that he would as well,” nodded MistyTrail, “but I fear that he would offer to come with us.”
“What is wrong with that?” asked Tamar.
“He is the Torak,” answered MistyTrail. “The world cannot afford to lose him on the Island of Darkness. Besides, he does not have enough time to do everything that must be done to prepare for the invasion. I think we should tell him what we are doing, but not ask him for help.”
“You are right,” agreed Mistake. “How are we going to get the king out of the cell? Should we try the same trick we tried the last time?”
“What did you try the last time?” asked Tamar.
“We entered the temple through a second-story balcony,” explained Mistake. “After we got to the ground level, Eltor acted like a Motangan guard and made believe that MistyTrail and I were his prisoners. We marched through a long corridor of cells that was loaded with krul guards, those big ape creatures that I told you about.”