Meric the Storyman: Rega and the Dragonstones
Chapter 30: To Dragonlair

He knew that Verdi died when his wyverns returned with the news. The reports also mentioned information about a human wizard being killed. Now it was time to proceed with the real attack.

“We have been summoned.” he told them all. “Now it is time to show our queen that evil shall reign in the land!”

A loud cheer came from the dragons, giants, orcs, goblins and ogres. Then they were off to battle.

She regained her senses. On top of her and below her were piled dead orcs and goblins. She used what little strength she had to get free of the pile.

Once free, Kiram went in search of food. She was in a large network of caves. Apparently, it had been recently active; the now-empty cave reeked of the stench of animals and unwashed bodies.

She would eat and when she felt better, she would try to find out where she was. Then she would somehow get back to Makloran and report to Cirrick.

Lobaki had been silent since seeing Nomis go down. The old wizard had saved them. Rega and his friends made it safely to the entrance. They filled their water-skins with water from the last barrel. The remaining water would be left behind for the horses.

Doman told them to remove everything from the horses. The extra weight could prove to be fatal. He then walked up to each one, whispering something in their ear.

After the horses were ready, they walked to the opening. As they neared it, the sand started to take shape turning into two large elemental creatures. Rega opened the pouch with the Dragonstones, taking one out to show to the elementals.

“We are to deliver these to the Council. Please let us pass.” said Rega.

In response, the elementals went back into the sand. The group then entered the opening.

The passageway inside the opening went directly northeast. It was dark, so they broke out some torches. The temperature, though, was very refreshing.

“Doman, what did you tell the horses?” asked Dexir.

“I told them not to wander off. I also told them that we had left them food and water and would return for them soon.” said the half-orc.

The group continued for several more hours. Since there wasn’t an overbearing, draining heat like they found in the desert, they didn’t have to rest.

Then they began to hear it. Coming from up ahead was beautiful music. Rega knew it had to be coming from Dragonlair. As they walked, the music brought back memories to Rega. He thought about his mother and father. He remembered life in his old house. His mentor, Milrop also came to mind. He was like a second father to Rega.

The others also had memories come back to them which were pleasant. Doman thought about his mother, Latala, and even that mischievous raccoon, Roderic. Stice and Lano thought about their mother, father and the tobacco farm near Leafbourn. Certi and Ardi each had thought about their early life in the forest. Dexir thought about his uncle, Zastin.

The music had the greatest effect on Lobaki. The young wizard finally let the tears flow for her fallen master, Nomis. The one-time High-Wizard had taken her in and given her a gift that few others would have. She knew a bond had been formed between the two of them.

Then the music stopped, but not the thoughts.

They traveled for almost another hour before they felt the fresh air. Up ahead, Rega could see where the passageway forked into two different directions. The northern passageway of the two led to an open chamber. The other turned southeast, away from Dragonlair.

As they entered the passageway going north, a voice called out to them from the adjoining passageway going southeast.

“Rega. Dexir. You made it!” said the voice.

They party turned to look. Coming from the other passageway was none other than King Motagula followed by the gnome leader Rega had met. Behind them was a great army of elves and gnomes. Dexir also saw a small group of dwarves and promptly pointed them out to his friend.

The King came up to shake their hands. “I wasn’t going to miss this event. I’m just glad I made it on time.” said the elf.

The gnome leader directed the army to continue on down the passageway Rega and his friends had just come from. He then walked up to the thief.

“Glad to see you, human.” he said, smiling.

“Get the greetings over with.” came a booming voice from the north passageway. “We have important business.”

Greetings quickly ended, they entered Dragonlair.

When the first pairs of good dragons were placed on Dacarn, they were all set down at what is now called Dragonlair. These dragons decided early on to investigate the rest of the world to see if any other intelligent creatures were to be found.

During their travels, they found a variety of creatures, both humanoid and non-humanoid. One of the bronze dragons almost lost his life when he met one of the early red dragons.

These ten dragons decided to form the first Council of Dragonlair. Each pair was to go find their own abode, raise their young and report back on every third full moon.

The dragons each went out and found a home which pleased them. On every third full moon, they would return to compare notes. Sometimes, due to the female being pregnant, only the male of the pair would show. Eventually, the children were brought along.

After many years, the dragons finally decided that there only needed to be one representative from each group present. It didn’t matter if the representative were male or female. They just needed to do it because it was starting to get too crowded.

Most of the dragons did not leave the land around Dragonlair. Some of the oceans were too difficult to cross on a regular basis. Because of this, much of the information discussed dealt with the nearby land they were living in.

During this time, some of the more intelligent humanoid groups had grown sufficiently in their population. The dragons could no longer ignore them. The Council made a motion to seek out the leaders and learn about their nature.

They had some amazing successes. Dwarves, elves and gnomes readily accepted them. In fact, the silver Council member, Wassla, was presented with some beautiful red and blue gems from the dwarves. These humanoid leaders were eventually brought to Dragonlair and offered the chance to be Council members. All accepted.

There were some problems. Apparently, the orcs and goblins had already been contacted by some of the evil dragons. It was too late to convince them to switch to the good side.

The evil dragons themselves were also a problem. They had multiplied faster than the good dragons, so there were more of them out in the land. It was thus decided that it was time to control their population.

During this time, another race arrived on the land. This new group, called humans, was also investigated. They watched as the human population grew. When the time was right, the gold Council member, Tosal, paid a visit. He successfully convinced their leader to fight on the side of good.

The dragons had always been able to do magic. It was magic, however, that seemed to be their downfall.

Elves and gnomes had magical abilities. The newly arrived humans had them as well. The Council felt there would be no problem in trading magical secrets, since they were all on the same side.

The humans had many spells that affected the weather. They were simple sailors, so this type of magic was invaluable to them. The dragons, on the other hand, showed the human wizards how different parts from evil dragons could be used for magical purposes. They were taught spells dealing with fire and other arcane matters.

These human wizards learned fast, with some of them gaining more magical power than the dragon leaders. The dragons ignored it for now. Humans were very a short-lived race, compared to elves, dwarves or even the dragons.

Their plan to control the evil dragon population was successful. The remaining evil dragons went into hiding so that the dragon hunters couldn’t find them. The plan had a side effect. Evil dragon parts for the wizards were no longer easily available. The humans soon discovered that good dragon parts worked just as well.

Thus, the dragons on the Council felt it was time to break away from the humanoid affairs. This led to the creation of the Dragonstones.

Rega was in awe. Thirty-six elder and numerous younger dragons were looking right at him. Except for the newly-opened area made for the humanoids just arriving, thirty-one non-Council members had formed a circle around the five Council members. These five circled the Dragonstone stand.

Soliat spoke again. “Welcome to Dragonlair, Rega of Ractah. We all know about the success of your mission and are in your debt. Even Effron.”

As one, the five Council members bowed their heads to the thief. The other dragons on the outer circle did the same. Rega, knowing it was time, took out the miniature bag of holding. He walked up to Soliat and offered the gems to him.

“The honor is yours, Rega.” the silver dragon said, pointing a silver claw to the stand.

Rega walked up to the stand. He saw the five different dragon claws, each one matching the color of one of the Council members. He was at first unsure where to place each Dragonstone when the poem Soliat told him came to mind.

Copper of the desert, likes the sapphire that is blue. thought Rega to himself. He placed the Sapphire on the copper claw.

Brass chose the topaz. He lives in the desert, too. He placed the Topaz on the brass claw, flashing Effron a dirty look.

Bronze has the emerald. He inhabits near lakes and seas. He placed the Emeraldstone on the bronze claw.

Silver dwells in mountains. He chose the ruby. He placed the Ruby on the silver claw.

Gold covets the diamond. He can live anywhere. He placed the final gem on the gold claw.

Rega was then compelled to complete the rest of the poem out loud, “These Dragons and their stones, forms the Council of Dragonlair.” When he said the last word, the Dragonstones began to glow.

Soliat came up to him. “Very well done, my friend. You have just invoked the first phase of releasing their spells.” he said. “Now, have a seat by your friends. It is time for us to do our part.”

Rega looked back to his friends. They had all been given seats while he had been placing the Dragonstones on the stand. There was an open seat between the gnome leader and King Motagula.

When Rega was seated, the outer circle of dragons started singing. The five Council dragons joined in soon after that.

This was the song they had heard in the passageway. The words were in dragon language, so Rega couldn’t understand them. The same memories came to mind again, but even more intense this time. In addition, a total feeling of pure goodness went through everyone’s body.

While the dragons were singing, Rega looked around at those seated. He saw his friends. He saw King Motagula. He spent a few seconds looking at the dwarven king, noticing that he was not wearing the ornate crown. He also saw Fokar and a group of other men and women in robes. Looking closer, he saw one of the women in robes, sitting next to Lobaki, was Marissa.

Marissa glanced over at him and smiled before looking back at the Dragonstones.

Rega turned to look at the Dragonstones again. They glowed with a fierce bright light. He could no longer make out their outline.

Then, the copper Council dragon walked up to the stand. The rest of the other dragons stopped singing. He started singing a solo.

Each of the other dragons on the Council came up and sang solos as well. When they were through, all of the dragons started singing together again.

This had a startling effect on the Dragonstones. The light grew even brighter and then each gem cracked in two pieces. The spells were finally being released.

The dragons stopped singing. All thirty-six of them bowed low to the ground in anticipation.

The released magic went to work. Rega watched as each of the Dragonstone halves started changing. Having seen this happen several times before, he knew that the gems were transforming to more dragons. When they were finished, seven more gold dragons, two silver, and one bronze stood where the gems had dropped.

It was not over. The stand also started changing. Four of the five claws on it grew into dragon legs. The last claw changed into a dragon head. The color of this dragon matched the color of the stand base. It was a platinum dragon.

“Welcome to our world, King of all Good Dragons.” said the gold Council member.

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