Champions of Serenity :Gathering the Circle

Chapter 43

Dreybrenic felt the chains of the spell he cast on Dina snap open and fall off. Rage filled his entire body as he had thought she was dead. That rotten little town of Savine and everyone in it would pay and pay dearly.

Yelling for a company of his personal Elite guard, Dreybrenic ordered out his black dragons as mounts. Though so much occupied his thoughts at the moment, he knew that he could not allow this betrayal to pass. With a few terse orders he had his own gear, and mount readied. The energy almost crackled about him in his wrath as he took his seat on the mammoth black dragon he rode. Nearly three times the size of the rest he’d bred, it was particularly vicious and even he was barely able to control it. Yet it was quite powerful, and far more suitable to his needs. Taking to the saddle with a soft spoken word, and a touch of magic, he brought its head about, and forced it to launch into the sky… Souls would suffer tonight…

The early morning gossip was on the sudden closing of the Giant’s Club and it had the village wondering why. Of all the barmaids, only Jena had remained and she was getting her family together to leave as soon as possible. Their wagon was filled; all that remained was gathering together the children and loading them aboard. Jena wasn’t talking about the reasons for the closure and her hurried departure, which added to the gossip.

Young Tamin, the shepherd, ran into the town square. His face was grimy, stained with tears; and he was cradling what was left of his favorite lamb. “He’s a’ comin’ and He ’as ’is dra…” Flecks of spittle flew from his mouth as his lips revealed a few missing teeth. Almost every head in the village turned towards the commotion young, innocent Tamin created.

In a bar that was as bright as a new sun, a trail of fire cut a swath through women, children, and men, ending at Tamin. Jena screamed as the largest dragon picked her up, silencing her forever with a sound like that of a melon cracking open. The morning which had started so peacefully was now filled with terror.

With a groan, half of the Giant’s Club came crashing down around a swooping, fire breathing dragon. One of the Elite fired flaming arrows into the casks of beer stored at the bar in the now open inn. The explosion drove the running people to their knees, raining burning pieces of wood in a large area. This was the first building to fall, but not the last. Fiery arrows flew from the backs of the dragons as flames flared from the mouths of the mounts. The Elite had joined the battle.

Dreybrenic laughed as he allowed his dragon to eat random children plucked from the dying of the doomed town. When the captain of his company reported Savine destroyed, Dreybrenic nodded and made one more pass over the ruins.

“Let this be an example to all who would harbor enemies of the Emperor.” Dreybrenic said as he cast a curse on the very land of Savine. For the next hundred generations Savine would smolder and kill any who tried to clean up the ruins or settle near them.

Back in Hades, Dreybrenic found Chaos waiting for him. “I see you took the dragons out for a little exercise. Kill anyone interesting?” Chaos said as he helped himself to some wine.

“The town of Savine,” Dreybrenic replied, getting some wine. He was getting tired of having Chaos always checking up on him, but he didn’t have the power yet to do anything about it. He also lacked the grace Chaos had when doing things that made exterminating an entire town look merciful. “What brings you here?”

“I came to inform you that you have failed to stop the prophecy from coming about. Now you must do all in your power to stop the heroes, something you are not even remotely ready for. But you are who I have in place, so you will have to do. What do you plan to do next?” Chaos looked over the top of his goblet to see his servant’s face turn almost purple in suppressed rage. Some of the other gods were beginning to fear the amount of power Dreybrenic was attaining, but Chaos wasn’t one of them. He had made Dreybrenic, he could unmake him, and it was in his nature to do just that if things got out of hand.

“I plan on finding that Demon Elf and torturing her until she wishes she were dead. That is what I plan on doing next.”

“Then you are a fool, and I will find someone else to do my bidding.” Chaos said simply and stood as if to go.

“What do you mean? She’s the one who leads them; isn’t she the one to attack?” Dreybrenic said, knowing that he had allowed his anger to cloud his better judgment. He was still stinging from having her escape him as Dina.

Chaos looked at him a moment and picked up his goblet again. “No. There are others who haven’t yet joined up with the group. Those are the ones to find and stop. Kill them now, and there is still a chance we will be able to stop all of the prophecy from coming to pass.”

“Who are they?” The avid hunger with which Dreybrenic latched on to this one saving grace told Chaos more than anything else. “I will send men after them as soon as I know where to go.”

Shaking his head, Chaos set the goblet down and started to pick over a tray of sweets a servant brought him. “No, you must go yourself. I believe you are planning on going to the capitol, Meckadon, soon?” When Dreybrenic nodded, Chaos continued. “Make it sooner than later. And listen to rumors, perhaps you will find them first and perhaps not. It is the thief and the Wer that you seek. I will give you one more chance. If you fail me, it will be the last thing you ever do.” Dreybrenic shivered, remembering his creation and the power that Chaos held.

“I will not fail you, Master, not this time.” When Chaos left, Dreybrenic sent his servants flying to prepare his trip to Meckadon. He didn’t fear much, but that tone in Chaos’s voice was enough to cause him to cringe.

Shægnek looked up from her work and frowned. What was her brother up to this time? This wasn’t how things were supposed to be going. The prophecy was fulfilled; the Circle was supposed to be able to gather in peace.

Finishing the scroll she was writing, the goddess called for Serenity to come and watch at the window for a few moments. If Dreybrenic was successful, Serenity’s prophecy might not be truly fulfilled and this wouldn’t be the right time.