Rone urged the gnome to move closer with his thoughts, but the gnome refused. Instead, pulling them back from the room and outside of the cavern completely.
To Rone's surprise, there was no mistaking where he stood now. It was Thornbriar village, his home. Rone urged the gnome to leave, to take him from this place so he wouldn’t have to see it. But the vision held firm, as they moved through the streets and came to stand before the great Willow that sat in the town center.
Rone could feel the Willow reaching out for him with its mind, but he hesitated to listen after what happened before. Somehow the gnome sensing this linked their minds with the tree anyway. Even without Rone’s consent, and the willow flooded him with its own thoughts and emotions. Rone learned it had been the Willow that had led the Bark Gnomes to him. It had felt his turmoil during his last commune and sent them to help him.
With all it had witnessed and felt over the past few weeks, the Willow knew Rone was the only one left that could stop the spread of the poison. The great willow revealed while it was too late for Agnar, there was still time to save the Crystal River. And in doing so, all the places its waters touched.
In its final days, the Willow had been reaching out through nature's roots to any who would listen. Desperately searching for Rone and hoping he was had not met the same fate as those in Briarthorn.
Rone explained with his thoughts that he was trying and that he would do all he could to stop the poisons spread. Rone couldn’t help but cry as the Willow thanked him and began to fade out of his vision.
He could see as it moved away from him that its once beautiful green limbs, now stood bare and empty. All its strands had fallen away, and its large trunk was now brown with decay. He knew it would not last until he returned, and he cried even more at the thought of its passing.
When the vision had finally faded completely, and Rone’s mind had returned to the clearing next to the pond. The Bark Gnome stood and pointed towards a spot underneath the staircase.
With a sharp whistle and the wave of its hand, the vines and briar bushes that lined the walls of the cavern rolled away, revealing a secret tunnel hidden on the other side.
Excitedly, Rone realized this was the tunnel from his vision. The Bark Gnome had shown him a secret path to the lair of Draconis. The golden SkyFae said to guard the Heart.
Rone bowed low to thank the little gnome for his help. Who only responded by nodding, then turned and walked back into the trees before disappearing completely.
Seconds later, as Rone retrieved LightVein from the ground and once more called forth, it's magic. All traces of the gnomes that had been watching them from the forest were gone as well.
Rone hurriedly explained what he had seen in his vision to the others. Then they gathered their gear and hurried into the tunnel that would lead them to their goal.
Rone still was not sure what would happen when he reached the dragon's lair, but he knew he had to try anyway.
Far too much had already been lost for him to allow it to continue. He couldn’t let the deaths of his friends and his home to be in vain.
Far from the caves Rone and his companions now passed through, Zannith Daltorea stood inside the ruins of Grey Ridge Keep. He was hovering in almost a trance-like state over a silver bowl filled with the blood of his sister.
He had hoped Katrina would live up to her end of the deal, but he did not believe in leaving anything to chance.
He knew that if she failed, or something happened to her. He would need another way of tracking his nephew.
Gru’Nak watched as Zannith moved back from the table and headed toward the door of the keep. He couldn’t help but wonder about the smile that now spread across the mages face.
Zannith smiled because he knew if all went well, by tonight, the heart would be on its way back to Agnar, and to him.
He could barely contain his excitement as he thought about what that meant for him. Once he had the heart in his hands, all Earthera would bow to him. And those that refused would be washed away in a sea of blood and flames.
33
Following the markings, he had seen while communing with the Bark gnome. Rone and his companions were able to quickly make their way through the winding maze of passages that led to the dragon’s lair.
Arriving in half the time, it would have taken them on the surface. They now found themselves standing at the entrance to Draconis’s chamber.
Rone and the others peered inside, searching for any sign or sounds of movement. They saw nothing from the viewpoint of the door but could hear what sounded like the sleeping breaths of a giant. Resonating in a steady rise and fall of rushing air that echoed inside the massive room.
A modest opening in the ceiling of the chamber allowed the mid-day sun to illuminate the room partially. Giving the grey stone of the floor and walls, the eerie appearance of glowing golden orange.
Rone was still listening to the heavy sounds of the breathing when a voice echoed through the cave. It was deep and raspy, with a tone that could only be described as ancient. It vibrated through the caverns as if the stone itself had been the origin of the voice.
“Well, are you going to linger in that cave all day? Or come in where I can see you? It’s rude to linger outside one's door and not announce yourself, HoloFae.” Rone looked at the others then motioned for them to wait while he stepped inside.
As he made his way into the chamber, he got the full view of the magnificent SkyFae he believed to be Draconis. The beast’s golden scales glistened in the light of the sun, as it poured in through the opening in the ceiling of the cavern.
He was larger than any creature Rone had ever seen, stretching some seventy feet from nose to tail. The large claws of his front feet intertwined like giant fingers beneath the dragons resting head.
His eyes were the size of shields as they watched Rone almost dismissively. The dragon never even raised up from his resting place, instead, seeming to be content at the moment to merely speak with Rone.
As Rone’s eyes scanned the full length of the dragon, he suddenly felt a terrible chill crawl up his spine. Because he realized the dragon wasn’t lying on straw, or even the cold stone floor. He was resting on top of an enormous pile of bones.
Every type of bone Rone could imagine was among this pile. From Orc to Fae, human to animal, it appeared to be centuries worth of death piled neatly together and made into a bed for the dragon to slumber upon.
Rone instinctually placed his hands on the hilts of his swords in case they should be needed. An act that only caused the dragon to smile. Showing rows of massive teeth, each one nearly as long as the blades Rone carried.
“There is no need for that yet HoloFae. It’s been a long time since I had a visitor, let alone five. Tell me, the wolf at my door. Did you bring him as a gift for me? A snack or perhaps an offering?”
“I did not! He is my friend and companion. I would die to protect him, as he would do the same for me.”
The dragon’s eyes narrowed, and he smiled again, causing another chill to run down Rone’s spine.
“Well now, aren’t you the curious one. You come to my home with a SolFae, a LunaFae, and a DokalFae. As if that wasn’t enough, you tell me you are friends with a blink wolf as well. My, my, this is shaping up to be a most exciting day.
Tell me little HoloFae, which great house do you represent? And how many are even left now? It must be desperate times if the oh so self-serving DokalFae need rely on the other Fae races as travel companions.”