The sparkling jade tree snakes and dark blood drinking Nlaphas slithered a bit slower as the jungle began to cool. The jungle was in the sweltering midst of its dry season, but a single dark cloud was slowly covering the sky and casting a dark shadow on the thick jungle canopy. That the obviously rain laden cloud was floating low over the high and rocky Mearc mountains without first wetting the burned out plains on the other side and indeed, was continuing on without letting a drop of moisture fall was strange to say the least. As strange as it seemed to the denizens of the jungle, the view from above the clouds was considerably more strange.


A mountain top flew through sky. It looked like someone had cut off the top of a mountain a little below the tree line and had set it on a magic carpet made of thick black clouds to send it sailing through the skies. High above where the trees still grew, strange creatures that were half giant hawk and half horse, with wings the colors of the rainbow and riders wearing the dark blue and black full plate armor of a knight, stalked around the peak like sentinels before a castle gate. In the area that they roamed, if you looked twice and luck was on your side, you could make out holes that peppered the mountain. The holes seemed minuscule in comparison to the monstrous mountain, and small compared to its guardians, but they were large enough for a man to crawl into, as indeed many already had.


Deep inside this airship of rock Initiate Rurik Bloodshatter stood, with four other mages and their ranking officer, in a small cavern lit by torches and the five glowing cloud crystals that they were manning. The crystals had enough magical energy to keep the airship aloft and concealed, with all its arcane systems running, for more time than it would take for them to complete their mission and return home, but if they had needed more energy when they engaged the enemy, none wanted to be without a means to augment the crystals� power.


�Any of you ever even seen a dragon before?� asked Lieutenant Bur, as he checked on the flow of torch-smoke that traveled from all over the ship, through interlocking metal pipes that had challenged and frustrated the blacksmiths of Plexia for months, to the crystal rooms where it was converted to the thick smoke-screen that kept them well hidden. Bur had been a back-line defender in the slaughter at Baralos, and considered himself a veteran compared to his raw recruit charges. The fact that all the mages manning the cloud crystals were mere initiates reflected the fact that almost all the spell casters had died in the war with the dragons, and of those who remained many were involved in other parts of the airship.


�My sister�s family was at Aackarock when they attacked.� said Initiate Klaus putting his hand on Initiate Adrienne�s shoulder while everyone else shook their heads in recognition of the powerful memory that had been evoked.


The surviving citizens of Aackarock were few, in spite of some advanced warning and that no adult dragons, which are far more powerful than their bipedal hatchling young, participated. Soon the airship would be flying in skies rumored to be traveled by thousands of adult dragons. Rurik shuddered.


�Somehow, my niece, here, made it out. The tales she�s told of the hatchlings running down from the mountains and smashing the city with sword and flame gave all of us nightmares.� said Klaus. Adrienne wore a blank, stoic look on her face, as if trying desperately to forget a wound that had not yet healed. The awkward silence that followed was broken when the sealed room was suddenly filled by the Captain�s voice.


�This is Captain Nelson;� his voice magically echoed throughout the massive rock caverns of the airship, �in approximately one hour we may be engaging the enemy. I don�t have to tell you that we are mankind�s last hope. All the resources of the kingdoms of Lillanth, Krussia, Plexia, Transica, and Morax- the entire production of all of man- for over a year were devoted to building this ship and the ultimate weapon we carry. Though we�ve lost many in this war, and more lives may be lost on this mission, those sacrifices will not be in vain. It is the honor of The Victory to be delivering the weapon which will wipe our enemy from the face of the earth. Not only,� the Captain was cut off as a loud explosion rocked the airship, �What the devil!?! Where did they come from... everyone to battle stations! Give us full power!�


The mages rushed to their crystals, where they began to chant, purple energy streaking from their hands to the crystals. Another explosion, louder, rocked the ship and dislodged part of the ceiling, sending Lieutenant Bur sprawling into unconsciousness and filling the room with dust. Rurik left his post and tried to rush over to attend to the Lieutenant, but Adrienne stepped away from her crystal and into Rurik�s path.


�I know a healing spell that will only take 5 minutes!� shouted Rurik as he tried to move past Adrienne.


�We don�t have 5 minutes! Get back to your post, solider!�, shouted Adrienne over a thunderous roar, as the room lurched again and the torches fell from the walls, magically extinguishing themselves as they dropped, leaving only the purple glow of the crystals to light the room. Adrienne pushed Rurik back to his post, �We need power not medics! Get back to your post, this mission is too important!� Adrienne turned back to her crystal and Rurik to his. Rurik willed all his power into the crystal, but his eyes and his mind kept creeping to his wounded commander in the corner. The airship lurched again and again, but the mages continued to man their crystals, as the airship was buffeted by explosion after explosion. With a thunderous roar the airship seemed to move out from under its crew, and a falling rock smashed Rurik into unconsciousness.




The next thing Rurik knew, stabbing pain was warmly receeding from his head.


�Get up Rurik�, said a woman�s voice. The smell of dust, and sweat was reminiscent of a tomb and an arena.


Rurik wiped the blood from his eyes to find Adrienne standing over him, dimly illuminated by the glowing crystals and a glowing blue pendant dangling sinfully from her neck.


�Oh God�, moaned Rurik- surprise had been The Victory�s greatest weapon and with it gone so soon- he couldn�t help but imagine the extinction of his race, �It�s over, we�ve failed.�


�No, we haven�t.� said Adrienne, as behind her Klaus worked with a wrench to repair some device on the far wall that was slowly filling the room with a trickle of smoke.


�Don�t you remember, we were attacked- it�s all over, mankind�s as good as dead.�


�Listen.�, said Adrienne, as she held up a finger to silence Rurik.


�I don�t hear anything�, said Rurik, tilting his head to listen.


�Exactly. If they aren�t attacking anymore it means we fought them off. We�ve broken through.� said Adrienne as she helped Rurik to his feet.


�We�ve won then...� , a look of disbelief spreading across Rurik�s face as he braced himself against the wall to compensate for legs which were attempting to prove their seditious nature.


�Not exactly�, said Adrienne bringing Rurik down to earth, �look at your shield ring.� The mages who manned the cloud crystals had been issued rings of anti-magic, which would repel magical energy, because if cloud crystals were damaged they could release a burst of magical energy lethal to their caretakers. The genius of the rings was that while they blocked harmful magics and raw magical energy, healing magic could pass by the protection and a mage wearing the ring could still cast spells. Rurik looked down at his ring and found that its jewel had turned from its normal green to black. �I�m pretty sure�, explained Adrienne, �that the Dragons hit us with a spell that should have been instant death for all aboard. And if that�s true only those of us down here with these rings stood a chance, I�m also fairly sure that we�ve still got the spell cast on us and that at some point the protection the rings afford us is going to fail.�


�Then, we�re all going to die?� asked Rurik, with a hint of panic in his voice. Rurik was a young man, even compared to the other Initiates and though he knew intellectually that The Victory�s unlikely annihilation of the Dragons was mankind�s last chance, the fires of youthful immortality had burned within his breast, until now.


�Going to?� said Adrienne, �Look around.� Klaus, Adrienne, and Rurik were the only ones standing. �Everyone else is already dead. We died with them when the Dragons cast their death spell. The time we�ve got left is to avenge the deaths of our crew-mates and ourselves. If we can somehow activate the weapon...�


�If we haven�t been boarded.�


�You were out for over 10 minutes, I think if we�d been boarded we would have heard from the enemy by now.� Adrienne was cut off by the sound of something scraping against the hatch in the ceiling.


�What�s that?� asked Rurik as the three survivors took up positions around the ladder that lead down from the hatch, daggers drawn.


�I don�t know�, said Adrienne as he readied a fireblast spell in her free hand, �but it doesn�t sound good.�


The scraping stopped and something began to slowly turn the creaky wheel that unsealed the hatch. Rurik wiped the sweat from his eyes and turned his blade over in his hand. The wheel began to squeak and Klaus cursed under his breath. There was a mournful sigh of resistance from the hatch as it slowly opened inward.


�Who�s there!� shouted Adrienne.


�A friend! A friend!� came the reply. A portly man in ashen robes began to descend the ladder. �I�m one of the good guys.� he proclaimed as he looked down and saw the grim and grimy mages with their weapons drawn and spells readied. With his lack of scales and tail, it was instantly obvious that this overweight man was definitely not a dragon.


As he came to bottom of the ladder he surveyed the room,� So you three are all that�s left then, eh?� �Yes, sir.� said Klaus, respecting the man�s archmage medallion. �How did you survive?�


The archmage stroked his charcoal gray beard, on his hand was an ring with a darkened gem that was identical to the ones that the initiates wore. �I crafted all the anti-magic rings and I kept one for myself. We�re all that�s left on the ship. I cast a spell of divination when the battle ended and this is the only room on the ship where life still dwells.�


�They didn�t board us then?� asked Rurik.


�No�, answered the archmage, �as far as I can tell they figured they wiped out the crew so they decided to let us drift. Even if they did decide to board us we�ve got strong force fields over all the entrances, it�d take anyone quite some time to break through.�


�Sir�, said Adrienne �can we still activate the weapon?�


�Yes we can.�, said the archmage �but we�ve got a more pressing problem. The crystals here and in all the other rooms have sufficient power for us to finish the mission, but two rooms over one of the crystals has been cracked and is threatening to set off a chain reaction with the other crystals in that room which could destroy the ship. I need the three of you to come with me so we can protect the other crystals in that room and prevent the chain reaction.�


�We better hurry�, said Adrienne as she began to climb the ladder ,� it doesn�t take very long for the energy level of a crystal to reach a critical level.�


The four of them rushed down the half-lit hallway above the crystal rooms as fast as the fallen debris and dead bodies would let them. Before long the archmage pointed out a hatch in the floor exactly like the one that they had crawled out of and into the hallway.


�That�s the room.� said the archmage.


�I thought you said two rooms over.� said Adrienne, the tension and anxiety in her voice unmistakable in spite of her smooth and even speech.


�It is two rooms over, Initiate.�, said the archmage, �We already passed a hatch that was buried by rubble like the one that lead to your room.�


Klaus reached down and turned the wheel on the hatch. As soon as he finished turning it, a terrible gale force sucked the hatch open.


Without saying a word Klaus, Adrienne, and Rurik forced their way down the ladder against the wind, which it soon became apparent was flowing into the damaged crystal, which was split in half. Six bodies ringed the ladder, the previous caretakers of the crystal had died cowards. As massive amounts of magical force were thrown off by the broken crystal, physical matter flowed into it so that there was very little air in the room. They had to work quickly. Rurik rubbed his ring, which was starting to get warm, as the three of them chanted the incantation to set up shields around the four undamaged crystals. Soon green shields visibly glowed around crystals, protecting them from the magical overflow.


Rurik climbed up the ladder, pulling against the magical winds, and was shortly followed by Adrienne, but Klaus stopped when he reached the hatch.


�That crystal�s going to explode soon, someone has to stay behind to keep the shields strong.�, shouted Klaus as he began to close the hatch with himself inside.


�No!� screamed back Adrienne, but �It�s the only way� was the only response she got as Klaus shut the hatch. As Rurik turned the wheel that sealed the chamber they could hear Klaus�s incantation being shouted through the thin air and solid stone ceiling. The floor bellow them began to warm as the energy output from the crystal reached reality bending levels. As soon as the wheel had been turned all the way and the hatch was sealed there was a muted thud as the crystal exploded and Klaus joined the ranks of the martyrs who had already made the ultimate sacrifice that day.


�What next, chief?�, asked Adrienne as she cast an angry glare at the archmage.


�Listen, I�m sorry he died, but he knew what he was doing and I didn�t order him to sacrifice himself.� said the archmage who looked very uncomfortable with the command that had been dropped into his lap.


�I understand,� said Adrienne, �let�s just make sure he didn�t die in vain. What now?�


�The key to the room with the weapon,� said the archmage, looking up at the ceiling,� the captain always wore a copy around his neck. We should be able to find it in the Command Chamber.�


The archmage turned and lead them down the low and narrow corridors. Now that the imminent danger was gone Rurik had a chance to survey the once proud Victory. Corpses with the faces of friends were everywhere, and the straight and precise caverns that had been carved had collapsed into rugged and dangerous caves. He was pulled away from his sad observations by the suddenly painful warmth of his ring.


�Sir?�, said Rurik nervously.


�Call me Benjamin.�, answered the archmage.


�You made these rings, do you know why mine keeps getting warmer?�


�It means the protection is wearing out�, answered Benjamin, �we must hurry.�


They were traveling continually higher in the mountain and as they went the damage continued to worsen. Soon they came to a door emblazoned with the crest of the Unified Kingdoms, but when Benjamin tried to push it open it stood fast.


�Behind this door is the Command Chamber, but apparently there�s also a good deal of rock.� Benjamin ineffectually pushed up his baggy sleeves. �If you two could push on it, I�ll cast the Strength of Gralth�mhan upon you.�


Rurik and Adrienne set themselves against the door and grunted and groaned as the wood bent slightly inward under their hands and Benjamin chanted an arcane incantation that neither of them could understand. The door didn�t move, however, as Benjamin stopped chanting and started swearing. Rurik�s knees began to shake, he was pushing with all his might as Benjamin began to chant again. Almost imperceptibly, Adrienne was muttering. There was a bright flash of blue and the door suddenly began to move. Slowly, but surely, the door was swung open.


Benjamin was beaming and Adrienne had a foul look on her face as they walked into the Command Chamber. All the top ranking officers were there, gloriously decomposing. The giant crystal orb in the center of the room, that had provided a 360 degree view of the outside skies, was shattered. Benjamin was making his way towards the middle of the large chamber as Adrienne moved off to the side and Rurik continued to lean against the door, regaining his strength.


�Victory anh grabblech� came some gibberish from a station near Adrienne.


�Communications from the outside!� shouted Rurik, filled with hope by the best news there�d been since the attack. As Rurik and Benjamin rushed towards Adrienne, she reached down and lifted the strange device emitting the noise from the dead communications officer�s severed hand and pulled the glowing green stone from it, bringing silence.


�What the Hell did you do that for?� asked Rurik, suddenly seeing a traitor in Adrienne.


�They�re miles away, they can�t help us.� said Adrienne holding up the green glowing crystal, �This on the other hand can help us.�


�You don�t know what you�re talking about.� said Rurik, getting in Adrienne�s face.


�No, she�s right.� said Benjamin, calming Rurik down, �Any help would be too far away to do us any good, but with this working crystal we can recharge our shield rings.�


�They can be recharged?� asked Rurik, �Why don�t we just do that ourselves, or why didn�t we do it from the crystals.�


�Because,� explained Adrienne, with contempt dripping off her tongue �The energy we can directly produce is in too raw a form to recharge an artifact and trying to recharge the rings from the cloud crystals would be like trying to fill a tea cup with a Tsunami.�


�Exactly�, agreed Benjamin, backing Adrienne up, �and although most of the magical items on the ship had their power wiped out during the Dragons� attack, this little crystal is in perfect condition. The communications must have had extra shielding. Hand me the crystal.� Adrienne handed the green glowing crystal to Benjamin, who held it between his thumb and index finger. Again Benjamin chanted in phrases known only to higher ranking mages, and the green crystal slowly faded to black as Rurik felt his ring go from uncomfortably warm to room temperature. �Of course it�s not permanent, but it�ll let us last longer.�


Benjamin turned and headed back towards the middle of the room, this time Adrienne and Rurik followed. Captain Nelson was found lying face first on the floor- all the blood had drained out of him.


�Look away.� demanded Benjamin. �No man, should see his Captain like this.�


Adrienne and Rurik complied without objection. There was quiet snap.


�I�ve got the key�, said Benjamin, �Next we need to go get the scroll to activate the weapon, come on�


Benjamin lead the way again, taking them to a door opposite the one they had entered and back down into the bowels of the airship. It was impossible to gauge how much time had passed in the ever dark mountain, but Rurik was getting anxious. It felt like they should be almost to their target.


Going deeper into the mountain was easier than when they had ascended and soon they came to a great oaken door with runes inscribed in blood across it. �This is the room with the scroll. We don�t have time to go get the key, we should be coming upon the Dragon�s capital of Kobakar shortly.� Benjamin motioned towards a hole that had been made in the wall perpendicular to the rune covered door, �The wall is hollow, someone is going to have to crawl through and open it from the other side. Do either of you know the water generation spell?�


�I do�, answered Rurik.


�As do I�, answered Adrienne, �I should go, I�m a bit more experienced in spell casting.�


�It�s not a difficult spell, and if anything should happen in there you two are probably more experienced and more likely to be able to complete this mission with one less person, since you have more training, Adrienne.�, responded Rurik, �I should go.�


�You�re right,� answered Benjamin indicating Rurik , �you should go, it�ll be a tight fit. After you�re about 20 feet in you should cast the generate water spell into the wall on your right and it should transmute the rock wall into water.�


�How�s that work?� asked Rurik, who didn�t know that the generate water spell could do such a thing.


�It�s a technicality of the side effect�, answered Benjamin, � the wall the door is set in is magic proofed, and will send a deadly feedback if you don�t cast your spell far enough away from it, but the interior wall isn�t and will be susceptible to magical attack. Don�t worry, it�ll work.�


�All right, hero�, sneered Adrienne at Rurik, � you can go, but if you don�t make it don�t bother coming back.� And with that vote of confidence Rurik began to squeeze his body into the space inside the wall.


The going inside the wall was easy at first because there was light from the outside coming through the hole, and the way was fairly clear, but soon Rurik found himself stepping over and ducking under obstacles as he began to feel more and more claustrophobic.


***


Benjamin and Adrienne sat down to wait.


�Is there a reason that you�re giving him such a hard time?� asked Benjamin.


�Is there a reason I shouldn�t be? All I�ve wanted since those scaly bastards killed my parents was to get revenge.� ranted Adrienne. She opened her left eye extra wide and put her right index finger immediately in front of it. She tapped her eye repeatedly with her finger nail and caused Benjamin to shudder. There was the hollow sound of a glass eye. �Ever since they took my eye I�ve thirst for their blood. So I joined the mages guild, and they put me to work on a minor part of what they promised would be the ultimate weapon without telling anyone what exactly it even was, and now the three of us are mankind�s last hope. And to top it off the main obstacles to us completing this mission are our own security measures.�


�There�s good reason for the security.� said Benjamin, with a look of concern in his eyes, �The weapon we�re carrying is the newly enchanted sword of Bloodshatter. If we activate it above the dragon�s capital it will cause a wave of hellfire to build up inside all the dragons everywhere and they will all be destroyed. However, if the enemy captures the weapon and manages to activate it over Graldon, the capital of Lillanth, we will all be destroyed.�


�My God�, said Adrienne, apparently awed by the notion of a spell so powerful that it could eradicate a race forever. �I just thought this was a spell that would destroy their capital and buy us some time, not destroy all dragons. How can anything be so powerful?�


�Perhaps you recall�, answered Benjamin �the tale of how Barkatari Bloodshatter the Fifth lead the colonization of the Barbary Isle.� �Yes, all those snakes,� she said recalling a favorite children�s tale, �I seem to recall him fighting a mystic battle that rid the isle of the Eire snake.�


�Yes,� furthered Benjamin � he found the snakes� gigantic Mound in the south where he used the Sword of Bloodshatter to called on the souls of the unforgiven dead to rain wrath upon the snakes. The snakes that had plagued that island for centuries were eradicated in a blink of an eye. The spell he cast so many centuries alone by sheer force of will and divine might we have been able to reproduce today after much research. You see every creature has a place in this world that is mystically at that species center. For the snakes it was the Mound, for the Dragons it is their political capital and for humans it is Graldon, where Bloodshatter built the first city. Now, the souls of the unforgiven dead are an awesome force to wield and have the power enough to wipe even the most powerful from this world, however, however something as powerful as that can only be directed, never truly controlled. If we unleash them over just any spot of land they will devastate everything for 50 miles and even the earth will be barren for 50 generations, but if we unleash them above the mystic home of any species they will take the opportunity to wipe out all members of that species regardless of the wishes of those who summoned them. So you see, we had to be very careful testing it...�


�Testing it?!?� Adrienne had a look of shock and disgust suddenly plastered on her face, �Why would you ever use such a spell if you absolutely didn�t have to? Why bother to test it?�


�We had to know if it would work, and we had to know if we could accurately identify the mystic home of different creatures; I�m sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but there are no more squirrels.�


***


The interior of the wall had narrowed and Rurik had to shuffle sideways. He knew he still had another ten feet to go. He could feel rock pressing against his back and rock scraping against his face, but he knew he couldn�t stop. He couldn�t betray his ancestors. Rurik had always tried to play down the fact that he came from the line of Bloodshatter. A hundred generations before him the legendary Barkatari Bloodshatter had lead his forces against the demons of the plains and won the lands of all the human kingdoms, which ushered in the age of cities and civilization. The magical sword of Bloodshatter was the most holy of religious relics and the line of Bloodshatter the most respected ever since. If Rurik didn�t succeed now, then the lives of his ancestors had all been in vain, as all that they had fought and died to build and protect would be torn down.


***


�It�s quite a risk to take then�, asked Adrienne ,�isn�t it?�


�Not when you�re in the position we�re in- our armies are all dead on their feet. I was at Malston when the twenty thousand fought.� said Benjamin, twisting his own uncomfortably warm ring.


�We were surprised weren�t we? I heard tales of at least forty-thousand catching them with their guard down.�


�Yeah, that�s what we had to tell everyone. The truth is it was one adult dragon.�


�One adult and forty-thousand hatchlings?�


�No, just one adult against twenty thousand of our best troops. It was a massacre.�


�Good Lord, I knew we were in a bad position, but I never imagined.�


�My ring�s warming up again.� said Benjamin, taking the key to the weapon room from his pocket. �Maybe I better give you this, since I may not have long to go.� Benjamin handed the key to Adrienne.


***


Rurik had gone as far as he could, the interior had closed to such a small width that he could go no farther. It wasn�t certain that he was 20 feet away from where he started, but he prayed that his attempt at valor wouldn�t lead to his death from magical feedback and soon he was casting the water generation spell that most mages were taught in their first year. Normally the spell would supply a mage with enough water for a day, but now, as he focused the target of the spell as inside the rock wall before him, the wall began to shimmer. Was he not far enough away? As soon as he asked himself the question Rurik got the answer, as the wall melted away to reveal the head of a giant dragon.


Rurik gasped audibly, nearly choking on the sulfurous air. No one had ever been so close to an adult Dragon and lived to tell the tale. Panic stricken, Rurik began to shuffle as fast as he could back to the hole where he had entered, but suddenly he realized that the Dragon�s eyes were closed and it wasn�t moving. Perhaps it was asleep.


Rurik moved closer. Not only was it not moving, but it wasn�t breathing either. Dead? Upon closer inspection of the Dragon, Rurik found that its head was the most intact part of its body. Rurik gingerly climbed over the head, he could see now that the Dragon was clearly deceased, but Rurik�s every move shuddered with the terror he was feeling. The beast�s long mangled corpse, most of its scales having been somehow ripped off, wound far back into the large open chamber. Much of the creature�s blood had been spilled on the floor and Rurik found himself sloshing through pools of it. There was a giant hole in the floor through which the clouds and some of the ground over which the airship was flying could be seen, which the Dragon must have come through. There was a small pedestal between the hole and the door over which a scroll was suspended in a magical shield.


Rurik walked past the corpses of mages who had guarded the scroll, their bodies perfectly intact; but lifeless, and as Rurik opened the door he felt the airship come to a slow stop.


�You aren�t going to believe this.� Rurik said as Benjamin and Adrienne walked into the scroll chamber.


�Ah, I see the trap worked.� said Benjamin as he surveyed the Dragon corpse, �Although I don�t think the plan was for the body to stay inside.� �What�s happened?� asked Adrienne.


�See that entryway?� asked Benjamin as he pointed to the gaping hole in the floor which only the blind could miss. �Well the Dragons should be able to sense the magic coming from the scroll here, and the hole was unguarded from the outside, because we cast a field of anti-life on it. So that a Dragon would come flying in to investigate the strong magic it sensed, and would be instantly stricken dead as it passed through the hole. A good idea, and I see it worked, but I think the dragon was supposed to fall back through the hole, not make it up and inside like this one did.�


�We�ve stopped; and are hovering over the target right now, we need to activate the weapon as soon as possible. Let�s just get the scroll so we can get this over with. Don�t fail us again, Archmage. � said Adrienne as she eyed the Dragon uneasily.


Benjamin ignored Adrienne�s last comment and walked up to the pedestal and put his hand on its flat top. The green shield around the scroll faded away and Benjamin plucked it out of the air.


�There, now all that needs to be done is to activate the weapon.� said Benjamin as he handed the scroll to Adrienne. Rurik was at the door, ready to continue on, but Benjamin started to walk over towards the hole in the floor.


�Just a second.� said Benjamin as he walked to the edge of portal.


�Is it a divining pool?� yelled Rurik to him, anxious to know what Benjamin had seen in the swirling clouds.


�No,� said Benjamin standing on the edge, �but... Good Lord, something�s�


Benjamin was cut off as Adrienne shoved him through the portal. As Benjamin hit the anti-life field, all his flesh was separated from his bone and a bleached skeleton fell through the clouds.


Rurik was in shock, �What... you...�


Adrienne grabbed the blue pendent that was hanging around her neck and pulled it off. Small lacerations began to form in Adrienne�s skin and something seemed to be crawling beneath her flesh. Suddenly, Adrienne�s face split open and in it�s place was the face of a hatchling dragon. �All too easy human, all too easy.� The hatchling crawled out of the human flesh it had been wearing and began to advance on Rurik.


Rurik, who had been dumb-struck and motionless while the transformation was taking place bolted out the door and began running through the mountain�s winding caves. He could hear the hatchling gaining behind him, but he couldn�t run any faster with all the debris that was blocking his path.


�You shouldn�t run, human. You�re only delaying the inevitable. The time for your species has passed.�


Rurik didn�t answer, he was too terrified and out of breath. Rurik quickly summoned up an energy bolt to send at his pursuer, but he was too nervous and the spell fell apart.


�You run now,� said the hatchling in a raspy voice that was eerily similar to the one it had used in its Adrienne disguise, �and I have no time for this. Even if somehow you survive to make it off this ship and back to your home you�ll be dead within the year. This weapon of yours is mankind�s last hope. I think I�ll just go and destroy it.�


Rurik stopped. The Hatchling wasn�t chasing him anymore. Everyone who worked on the ship knew the room where the weapon was stored and they weren�t far from it. Rurik turned back on his tracks and followed the fastest route to the weapon�s room.


When he got there the door was already open. Rurik rushed inside to see the Hatchling, scroll in hand, standing next to the altar on the far side of the room. In the middle of the room was the Sword of Bloodshatter, it�s blade imbedded in a rock of pure clear crystal.


Without saying a word Rurik rushed forward and before the Hatchling could stop him, Rurik had the Sword of Bloodshatter free. As Rurik began to approach, wielding the sword that was his birthright, the Hatchling opened its mouth and let forth a burst of fire. Rurik held up the sword instinctively to block the flame and the magic of the sword protected him. The Hatchling let loose with another eruption of flame, and again the sword protected Rurik. Rurik advanced on the inhuman creature and as it fired burst after burst of flame at him with no effect, fear filled the Hatchling�s eyes. Rurik backed the beast up against a wall and with one thrust, plunged the sword deep into the creature�s chest. There was a low humming sound that came from the sword, and a subtle smile spread across the Hatchling�s face, just before the magic of the sword disintegrated it, leaving only the magical scroll that it had been holding.


Rurik leaned down and picked up the scroll. Finally, the end was in sight. Rurik closed all the doors to the chamber, returned the Sword of Bloodshatter to its crystalline resting place, and began to read over the scroll so he�d be able to cast its spell. Piece of cake, the scroll only took time, reading, and the Sword of Bloodshatter, to erase from the earth the race that keeps it�s capital below.


Rurik smiled for the first time in a long time and began to cast the spell that would destroy the Dragons. As soon has he started he heard footsteps through the ceiling. They had been boarded. Rurik said a silent prayer as he continued to cast the spell that he wouldn�t be found before he could finish the final act of his young life. As he neared the end of the spell he heard a pounding at the door. They had discovered the weapon chamber; Rurik continued with the spell in the even measured voice that was required for spell casting. The pounding at the door got louder and louder- the boarding party was using some sort of battering ram on the door, and the magic that kept it closed could only hold out so long. Rurik finished with the spell as the pounding on the door became deafening. �Let the door come flying down,� said Rurik to the door that was warping with each blow,� it�s not going to do you any good anymore. You�re too late.�


The floor beneath the sword began to open up, to make a portal like the one in the scroll chamber, while the Sword of Bloodshatter, and the crystal stone that held it hovered in the air.


The door behind Rurik shattered. A tall bearded man with the crest of the Unified Kingdoms emblazoned on his chest rushed through the door.


�What have you done?!?� shouted the soldier. �The airship came flying over the Mearc mountains, we tried to find out what you were doing but we couldn�t get a response!�


As Rurik looked down in shock through the portal in the floor that was now at it�s full size he could see the city of Graldon, the capital of Lillanth, Rurik�s hometown, trough the clouds.


�Tell me, what have you done?� bellowed the soldier, with sweat pouring down his face.


�My God,� said Rurik in a voice barely above a whisper, he could make out the King�s Castle through the clouds, �while we were unconscious...they must have turned the airship around.... they turned the ship around.�


A red bolt of pure energy shot out of the sword and set the capital ablaze, the spell�s full effects began to take effect and Rurik collapsed to the floor. It was finally, once and for all, the end.


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