The Broken Sword - Chapter 16

Part 3 : Dragon Blood

Chapter 16

Sensations. Sound. Light. Colors. It all came flooding in to him, driving away the dark shadows that had tormented him until they were so far removed that he could no longer remember what it had been like for him. He looked around, seeing without recognizing anything. Then, slowly, things began to make sense; patterns began to form in the myriad shapes and rainbows of colors.

He sat up, a shuddering gasp of breath entering his lungs. How had he gotten here? Where was here? Who was he? Who was the beautiful woman standing in front of him that filled him with a sense of familiarity?

"Sleep," she said, waving her hand at him, "and remember."

He felt his consciousness ebb. Dimly he was aware of his head landing back on the ground, then the darkness reclaimed him. It was different that time though, this time he dreamed and in his dreams he remembered who he was.

---

Alesha stumbled, dropping to one knee from where she walked beside Kelnozz. They were walking in the small park that surrounded the Well. Thus far only a strange looking creature had emerged from it, but Kelnozz had dispatched it instantly with a swift cut from his blades. Now he stooped to help his wife, wondering what could cause her to trip on even ground.

"Something just came across," she said, letting him help her.

Kelnozz glanced at the Well, but saw nothing. "What do you mean?"

"Powerful magic was used to summon a soul from the realm of the dead," she explained. "With the rift between realms, those powerful enough to do so can now break the rule of death."

Kelnozz cursed. "Do you know where or who?"

Alesha shook her head. She could feel the soul that had come across, and it was one that was familiar to her, but she did not know who. "Every time the rift grows wider. Soon the dead will return of their own accord... it must be stopped!"

Kelnozz nodded, agreeing whole-heartedly with his wife. He stared at the Well, not seeing it but instead lost in thought as he wondered what or who might have come back to the realm of the living.

---

Vanya studied her surroundings carefully. Somewhere nearby was the prey she stalked. She had caught its scent earlier and followed the trail the hooves of the stag left through the hard packed ground with ease. She had once tracked a mountain goat through the ridges of the nearby Periphery mountains, tracking was little more than a game to her.

She slipped around a few rocks that looked to have been long ago thrust up from within the earth and fought the urge to smile her satisfaction. Ahead of her less than a hundred yards the stag drank from the small stream that ran from the nearby mountains and emptied into a pool a few miles away. From there it ran underground, she knew, but had never dared to try and follow it.

She drew her powerful bow back, sighting along it and preparing to loose. Moments before she let go the deadly arrow the buck lifted its head in alarm. It looked about and crouched, ready to bolt. Vanya paused, knowing that if it caught sight or scent of her it would flee ere her arrow could cross the distance. With patience and strength greater than her athletically thin frame should have allowed she held the great bow fully drawn and steady.

Something crashed into the deer then, hurtling out of the air and tumbling it to the ground in a flurry of talons, teeth, and wings. Vanya scowled and relaxed her bow, walking forward with no desire for concealment. The struggle stopped almost as quickly as it had begun, with the deer slain and the airborne predator tearing into its side and pulling a dripping scrap of flesh from it with its teeth.

"Sloppy," Vanya said to it, speaking in elvish. "The deer knew you were coming, it smelled you or sensed you, and nearly bolted."

The beast that was sating its appetite on the deer looked at her and snorted. It chomped through flesh and bone loudly, then swallowed the gruesome meal. It shook its head and pointed a bloody talon at her accusingly.

"No, Regnar, it did not know of me. I was downwind of it," she refuted. "You may have won, but you're still getting sloppy."

The small dragon snorted again, staring at her with a challenging look in its eyes. Finally Vanya relented and smiled. "I said you won, you overgrown lizard, now move, I'm hungry!"

Grinning with a smile a mother would be challenged to love, Regnar moved off of the fallen deer and let Vanya approach it. She drew a dagger and cut into its stomach, letting its organs spill out. She reached in up to her elbow before grinning triumphantly. She pulled the stag's still steaming heart free from its chest. The elven girl tossed it up into the air, where Regnar caught it in his mouth and swallowed it down with scarcely any time spent chewing.

She dug around inside it some more, then pulled free one of the tenderloin straps of meat from the deer. Paying no attention to the blood or the extremely raw state of the meat, she bit a chunk of it off and chewed, savoring in the taste of it. Regnar dove back in as well, feeding as though he was starving.

They gorged themselves on the carcass, eating beyond the point of satiety in Vanya's case, and just barely curbing the appetite of Regnar. Little remained of the deer, however, save for its skin and a pile of bones. With their meal finished both of them looked as though they had visited a slaughterhouse. Vanya chuckled and stripped off her simple leather clothing before wading into the small stream to wash herself off. Regnar jumped in behind her, splashing her with the cold water as he played in the water.

Vanya laughed, caught off guard by the playful dragon, and splashed him back. In moments they were both glistening with water and totally heedless to anything but their wrestling in the water.

While Vanya stood several inches over six feet tall as many elves did, she possessed a frame that spoke of a solidness that could not be questioned. As with the bow, her strength seemingly surpassed even that which her body should have allowed her. Regnar, on the other hand, was a dragon. He was over a dozen feet long, but the sinuous tail made up nearly half of that length, and his neck another three feet of it.

"Um, excuse me..."

Regnar leaped out of the stream and into the air at the words. Vanya jumped as well, landing by her discarded clothing and weapons and rolling through them. She came to one knee with her bow drawn and an arrow knocked, pointing at the source of the noise.

The source of the noise was an elf with wide opened eyes. He kept glancing nervously at where Regnar floated in mid-air, beating his wings easily to keep his position. Mostly he stared at Vanya, impressed as he was with her nudity. Nudity was far from uncommon, given the warmer climates he was accustomed to, but he still felt as though he was intruding.

"I'm looking for someone, I meant no intrusion," the elf said, holding his arms up in the air peacefully. One arm ended not in a hand, but rather in twin barrels.

"Who are you?" Vanya asked, not relaxing her stance in the least. Then, as an afterthought she added, "and who do you seek?"

"I am Bobocateya Risingmoon, Prince of the Elves. I seek Elvanshalee, Mistress of these lands. Do you know her?"

"I know her," Vanya said. "but I know of no Prince. I have heard of your father though, but know that he does not rule us."

Bobo smiled nervously. "My apologies. I meant to say that I am the Prince of the Elves of Innowendyn and of Thoragloorin. Elvanshalee rules here."

Vanya relaxed, letting her bow go slack but keeping the arrow knocked. "Why do you seek her?"

"My King has made me vow to reveal my reason only to her, it is of great importance."

Vanya scowled. She turned to Regnar and saw that he had dropped down some and was on the verge of landing. Regnar usually had a good sense of strangers, so she trusted the dragon's instincts. She stood up and walked closer to the strange elf. "What happened to your hand?"

Bobo looked down at the reminders of his time spent in the navy. "It's a long story," he said, shrugging.

"And your eyes?" Vanya continued, reaching out and twisting his head so that he was staring straight at her.

Bobo let her move his head, silently surprised at her strength. Her beauty was instantly evident and it stirred his blood to look upon her, even though he saw things differently now. He could still tell that she was shapely and able to take the breath away from any man fortunate enough to look upon her.

"That's a longer story."

"Elvanshalee is several hours away, I will take you there, and it will give you time to tell me your stories," Vanya said, letting her hand fall from his face.

She turned, presenting her back to him and went to her clothing. With a innocent lack of modesty she bent over and picked up her items, putting them on with not idea of the effect she was having upon the visitor. Bobo did his best to look away but found himself unable to do so, so amazed and impressed was he by the images she unwittingly offered him. A quick glance to the small dragon convinced him that nothing seemed amiss and that his blatant staring would not be taken rudely.

A few minutes later Elvanshalee turned back to face him and saw him adjusting himself as though he was uncomfortable, then noticed the flushed look upon his face. Uncertain as to why, she merely shrugged and walked past him. "Come," she said, "and tell me of yourself."

Bobo followed, whistling to summon his steed, a magnificent warhorse that had been brought over from Innowendyn. "There's not all that much tell, really," he said, stalling as he tried to gather his thoughts.

Vanya stopped and stared at him. "Which is it?"

Bobo looked at her blankly, not understanding. She sighed in exasperation. "First you tell us it is a long story, then you tell us there's not much to it. Well, which is it?"

Bobo laughed self-consciously. Here was a girl only a few years younger than him but with a naivety and innocence about her that indicated she was far from worldly. He remembered well how agile she was and how easily she had drawn the powerful bow upon her back and settled it on his chest, however.

"I lost my hand while sailing a while back. Fighting pirates, actually. Our priest died so I had to sear the wound shut. Unable to heal it, I made the best out of it that I could, rigging this device over it."

"What does it do?" Vanya was full of questions and eager to learn.

"Think of it as a pair of magic wands. They create great noise, like a thunderclap, and strike out at whatever I point it at, hitting with the force of a sling wielded by a giant," Bobo explained.

Vanya nodded, it sounded like magic to her. "My mother probably has things that do that, she is a great sorceress, you know."

Bobo nearly stumbled as he led his horse beside her. Her mother? Did that mean...

"Who is your mother?" He asked neutrally.

"Elvanshalee," she answered, paying no special attention to the question.

Bobo nodded, no longer surprised. He was curious, however, for he had been told that Elvanshalee had no interest in men or in mating. What, he wondered, might have changed that?

"And your father, is he here as well?"

Vanya was quiet for a moment then shrugged. "No, I do not know of him. My mother refuses to speak of him. It is just her, me, and Regnar here. Sometimes we have strange visitors though, people I do not know. One I do know is Lynngar."

"Lynngar?" Bobo asked, struggling to keep up with her chatter. "Who is he?"

"A friend of ours. He taught me how to hunt, Regnar too, actually, except Regnar doesn't use a bow or daggers like I do."

"Is Lynngar an elf then?" Bobo wanted to know more about this man, especially if he might end up having to deal with him.

"No, he's a human, or an ogre. Or something, I'm not sure. I've never seen a human man, actually, just read about them and heard from my mother."

Bobo nearly stumbled again. What had gotten himself in to? "What do you mean, a man or an ogre? How tall is he?"

"Taller than me by a head, very strong too. He almost always wears plate armor with a tint of blue in the metal. He claims it's mithril, forged by dwarves ages past, but I've never seen a dwarf either. Little creatures like that? Seems like a fantasy to me."

Bobo chuckled. "Oh, dwarves are real enough. Not so little either. Better than half of our size and just as strong or stronger. Fierce warriors too, as well as able smiths and craftsmen."

"By the way, I'm only half elf," he continued, smiling at the look of excitement in Vanya's eyes. "I'm part human too, my mother is a human."

"That's not supposed to be possible! How neat!" Vanya nearly clapped her hands in excitement.

"The rules don't seem to apply where my mother and father are concerned," Bobo said somewhat mysteriously.

Vanya nodded emphatically at that. "My mother has told me stories of them, she seems to think that they're like that too."

"What's his story? Is he a pet or your mother's familiar or something?" Bobo changed the subject, waving towards where Regnar was flying nearby, keeping an eye on them.

"Regnar? He's... my friend, I guess. I've never really thought about it. He's just always been there, we've sort of grown up together," she answered, her lips pinched as she tried to remember anything other than the normal day to day life they lived.

"Last person I knew of to grow up with a dragon as a companion was someone special," Bobo said, lost in thought at the possibilities that were occurring to him.

"Oh yeah? Who was that?" Vanya asked, looking at him anxiously.

"What? Oh, sorry, I thought you would have known. It was the last, and current, King of the Elves. Luingirth, a blue dragon, no less, is his companion. They are bound to one another in ways that I do not understand. Although Loo spends far more time with Garrick lately on what Garrick calls 'hunting' trips."

"There it is," Vanya said, distracting him. They were emerging from the edge of the mixed forest they had been walking through and could see a tower rising above another stand of trees ahead of them.

"Impressive," the Prince said, admiring the architecture with his keen vision.

"Is it?" she asked, studying it herself as though for the first time. Finally she shrugged. "I've never seen anything else so I'll have to take your word for it."

Bobo chuckled at her naivety. "There are so many different buildings in the world, and I've only seen a sample of them myself. Perhaps one day I can take you on a tour."

"How fun!" Vanya said happily.

Bobo smirked and looked at his youthful guide. Well, roughly as youthful as he was, he supposed, but her manner spoke of an innocence he had lost at half his age. He found himself envying her.

---

They continued on, entering the smaller woods surrounding the tower and then standing before the double doors that admitted entry. The tower was large. Bobo stared up at it, impressed with the size of it. He had not seen a tower of such dimensions since he had left Thoragloorin.

Vanya stepped up to the door and touched it, pausing a moment as she whispered something even he could not hear with his elven trained hearing. The doors parted, swinging towards them, and spilled out a warm golden light from within.

"Come, I'll introduce you to mother!" Vanya said, walking happily forward. Regnar landed behind him, sending a small swirl of dust around him with his wings.

Glancing back and smiling a little warily, Bobo followed Vanya in. The doors shut behind Regnar once he had entered. Vanya walked into the main chamber of the tower, walking through a foyer of sorts and into what resembled a very well appointed sitting room. Nothing of it spoke of excess, but it was very naturally and tastefully, and not to mention expensively, decorated. The decorations all shared a common theme, they boasted an interest, or perhaps an obsession, with dragons.

Vanya headed directly for a wide stone staircase that led up to the next level of the tower. The passageway at the head of the stairs curved around the outer wall of the tower, with three doors on their right as they walked. The second door Vanya stopped at and opened. She stepped inside and Bobo turned to follow but a cross between a growl and a chirp from behind him stopped him in his tracks. He looked back at Regnar and saw the dragon shake its head from side to side. Bobo raised an eyebrow, then turned back around. The door was open but Vanya had moved so that it was blocking his view of her.

She rounded the door and stepped back out a moment later, drawing a surprised, and somewhat rude breath from Bobo. She had changed from her leathers into a simple light cloth skirt. Her stared for what seemed like a long moment at her near nudity, ogling her as he had done outside, but this time at extremely close range. He blushed, realizing what he was doing but she had already walked past him, not noticing his behavior in the least. Behind him he heard the chirping noise again and heard an impatient slap of a foot on the stone floor.

Bobo turned back at the dragon, holding up his arms innocently. "What?" he asked quietly. The Regnar snorted and nodded his head past Bobo. Bobo grinned and turned, hurrying after the delicious form of Vanya as she walked towards the next set of stairs.

The top few stairs had runes carved into them. Runes that, Bobo realized, were faintly glowing. As he passed them he felt a faint tingling feeling flow through him. His eyes narrowed at the perceived magic, and he reached within himself, feeling that his own magic he had recently been taught to call upon, was unaffected by it. At the top of the stairs he saw a raised dais that took up the entire center of the floor. Standing on one extended section of it, behind a lectern and a pair of smoking braziers, stood a woman equally as beautiful as Vanya, but with golden hair and eyes. She was chanting quietly, controlling some rolling clouds within the pit in the middle of the room.

Bobo's eyes were torn from the sorceress somehow, in spite of his male interest in the magical glyphs tattooed on to her nude body. How could the room have a pit, he wondered? Staring at it he realized that the dais was some three feet above the floor level, and it dropped away in the middle of the room those same three feet. A pentagram was traced onto the floor, allowing for whatever was summoned or experimented with to be contained.

The rolling clouds flashed and spat out angry forks of lightning. They never passed the barrier of the pentagram, but it seemed that they vied against the sorceress for control. Vanya turned to stare at him anxiously, but Bobo knew better than to do anything to disrupt her. He smiled in her direction and Vanya visibly relaxed.

Bobo lost track of the time, but he remained as motionless as possible watching the sorceress, whom he correctly assumed was Elvanshalee, struggle in a contest of wills with the storm cloud. Bobo guessed, again correctly, that the clouds represented an air spirit or elemental, a magical entity she had called forth to do her bidding. Finally the clouds faded away and departed, and both the smell of electricity and the feeling of magic in the room faded to a faint background murmur he was barely aware of.

"So he finally sent you." It was a statement, not a question, and not something that Bobo felt he was supposed to respond to.

Vanya looked surprised. She glanced at Bobo and then back at her mother. "Mother, this is..."

"I know who he is, Vanya, I know well who he is," Elvanshalee said. She stepped out from behind the lectern and approached him, looking him over carefully.

"Well Prince, you've the look of your mother, but the eyes of your father," she said, circling him slowly. "You've got some hidden secrets too, I think."

Bobo returned her gaze, letting her stare into the depths of his eyes. "Vanya and Regnar, leave us, the Prince and I must speak."

He heard an impatient snort from both the dragon and the elven woman, but he never looked away from Elvanshalee. He heard them descend the stairs, but otherwise waited patiently for Elvanshalee to continue.

"I don't approve of your mother," she said at last, turning and walking over to a hook on the wall from which hung a diaphanous cloak. She put it about her shoulders and turned back to face him. "She is a human in possession of far more power than she should have. Her race has fallen from their former glory, she should not have what she has."

Bobo smiled, "I suspect that, if she had a choice right now, she would agree with you and gladly give it up."

"She comes from another world, and that perhaps is her saving grace," the elven sorceress continued as though Bobo had not spoken. "That and she has, at least, the wisdom of being a woman."

"But you are who you are and that is no fault of your own. I only hope, for your sake and for that of the elves, that your human nature does not pull you down," she finished.

"I've come for the hilt," Bobo stated, tiring of her game.

"I know that too, otherwise why would he have sent you? I told him when you were born I wanted nothing of the elven peoples. I chose seclusion for myself, a separation from the fools of the world that would seek to rule and to destroy it." Elvanshalee paused, studying the twin barrels on his arm. She looked up at him again and spoke, "you are a half-breed in many ways, it seems."

Bobo resisted her taunt. He had been told that Elvanshalee would be difficult. She would be impressed only with discipline and strength. "This was the gift of a pirate. He lay dead and I grew stronger because of it," Bobo said, raising his arm up.

Elvanshalee ignored him again. "Now tell me, Prince, why should I give you the hilt? What is to stop the lot of you from bringing Bavorish back and casting the world into darkness?"

"The dead refuse to sleep," Bobo said roughly, losing some of his patience. "When slain they may lay there as is proper, or more likely they may rise again undead and evil. And what's worse, they hate the living."

"They often do," Elvanshalee smirked. "What caused this sundering with the world of the dead?"

Bobo shrugged, "My mother believes it happened when she brought me back. The portal between worlds was week already, and that final act severed it."

Elvanshalee stopped pacing and stared at him angrily. "You were dead?" she spat out.

"Nearly, we retook Thoragloorin and in doing so I was grievously wounded, she had to pull me back from the underworld." Bobo stated. "Yamara kept my body alive and my father gave some of his strength to help while my mother pulled my departing soul back."

Elvanshalee scowled. "I had hoped Yamara would be smarter than that, but she is human as well, I forget. You should have died, Prince, and you should still be dead."

"Perhaps, but as I am not, I now seek to set things right. I need to hilt to do that."

Elvanshalee turned away and headed back to her lectern, pocketing some expensive magical paraphernalia. The way her hips swayed through the translucent material of her cloak was no longer able to divert Bobo's attention, however. She turned back and fixed him with a challenging stare.

"It matters not, I no longer have the hilt," she said.

"What?" Bobo exploded, stunned by her proclamation. "You swore to protect it and keep it from those that would use it! How could you break such a thing! You know what is at stake!"

"Be silent, Princeling," Elvanshalee hissed, walking towards him and towards the stairs, a menacing and powerful look in her eyes. "I know where it is, and you need not worry about anyone laying claim to it. That anyone includes me. It rests in a place where it is beyond this world."

Bobo's eyes widened. "You let it leave Viconia?"

Elvanshalee looked at him in a new light, tilting her head slightly as she appraised him. "Perhaps there is hope for you, Prince, you seem to possess a quick mind."

"No, I did not let it leave Viconia, it is merely beyond where any living person may reach it."

Bobo's unnatural eyes squinted as he tried to make sense of her words. "Tell me of your eyes, what made them as they are?" Elvanshalee asked him, seemingly changing the topic abruptly.

Bobo opened his mouth and then snapped it shut. He was getting annoyed with her, but he knew better than to let her get the best of him. "Magical fire and a trip to the world of the dead. I still see, but not as I once did. My vision is shadowy during the day, and at night I see the very life of the world around me."

"Stay with us tonight, then tomorrow I will tell you where the hilt is at so that you may return to your father and tell him your quest is doomed but the world is safe," Elvanshalee said, her tone somewhat mysterious. Bobo stared after her as she began to descend the stairs.

"The world is not safe without that hilt. The sword must be reforged and Bavorish must be let out of it so that the portal can be restored!" Bobo spat out angrily at her.

Elvanshalee turned, golden eyes on fire with anger, and spoke in a powerful and low voice. "I was there when he was defeated. I fought Ancaruin, ready to lay down my life. My brother was killed, Princeling, as was yours. You and I, there is no blood between us but yet we are still kin, that reason alone is why I allow you to speak to me thusly, now respect your elders and tell me no more of things you think I have no idea of!"

Bobo stared after her as she turned and continued down the stairs. He waited a moment and then followed after her, his cheeks red and a rebuttal hot on his lips. He reigned himself in as he walked, knowing that no matter how passionate he may have been, passion alone would not sway her.

She stopped at the first doorway Bobo had passed on the way up the stairs. "You may stay in here tonight," she told him, opening it up and gesturing in. "Refresh yourself if you wish, I will be downstairs with the others."

Elvanshalee turned and left, her golden tresses floating around her shoulders with the movement. Bobo watched her leave then shook his head and looked into the room. With a shrug he headed into it and shut the door behind him. A water basin was filled with fresh water already. The rest of the room looked neatly made and functional, even a bit cozy for one used to the wilds. Bobo shook his head again and went to the basin.

---

"Vanya, be careful with that man, there is more to him than you realize," Elvanshalee said quietly to her daughter.

"Mother, he told me who he is and why he has the funny eyes and hand, what more could there be?" Vanya asked, sitting in a most unladylike manner upon a couch.

"His mother and father are the two most powerful people alive short of the Gods," Elvanshalee explained, hands on her hips as she faced her. "And still Bobocateya managed to get himself killed. It was only their unique abilities that allowed him to be brought back, and in doing so they made the world no longer safe for the rest of us."

Vanya's eyes widened. She glanced upwards, wondering if Bobo was some sort of terrible monster capable of destroying them all.

"Take great care, especially you, Regnar," Elvanshalee continued, "that when you eat you do not consume any animals uncooked or that is whole. At least not until this matter is put to right."

"What happened?" Vanya asked. Regnar sneered and dropped his head to the floor unhappily.

"The dead can find no escape from this world to the next, they roam searching for a chance to return to the world of the living. They can do this in any body that has no soul, meaning any recently slain," She explained.

"Bobo told you all of this?" Vanya asked, once again reappraising the half-elven man she had just met.

"He did not need too, it is simple necromancy. Something I care little for, but anyone who studies magic must learn some of it, even if it is only to ward against it."

"It is no matter, he will leave tomorrow, returning to his homeland never to return. We will be safe here for quite some time, I suspect," Elvanshalee dismissed it with a wave of her hand, turning and heading to a large chair with several books piled on a wooden table in front of it.

"You are wrong," Bobo said evenly as he descended the stairs. He stood in front of them, staring mostly at Elvanshalee but occasionally his eerie gaze would settle on Vanya or Regnar.

"If the dead are not forced from this world then you are far from safe. Your magic can defeat them, for a time, but they do not sleep. They do not rest. They do not stop. Kill one and 5 take their place, kill those five and a hundred will come after them. This is not about your safety here, this is about everyone's safety everywhere!"

"You're the one who caused it to happen, not us," Elvanshalee said, sitting forward in her seat with her hands on the sides of her chair ready to stand.

"That's not important, now is it? I had no choice in the matter, I was fulfilling the quest given to me by my King. I was to help restore Thoragloorin, and in doing so I knew my fate was sealed. That my companions summoned my mother and father to bring me back as I was passing is beyond my control," Bobo stated. His voice had gotten even calmer and smoother, but it was tightly controlled in a manner that bespoke just how deathly serious he was.

"And you," he spoke directly at Elvanshalee, "have no right to lie to her about the seriousness of this situation. Protect her as you feel is your right, but do not tell her that things will be all right when you yourself insist that the world is doomed because you will not help us reclaim the hilt of that sword!"

"Are you finished, boy-Prince?" Elvanshalee said, standing up and appearing to tower over Bobocateya even though she was his height.

"I haven't even started you arrogant bitch," he replied smoothly, staring her down.

Elvanshalee cracked a dangerous smile, "If you were anyone else I would strike you down where you stand, boy. Out of respect for your parents, fools that they may be, I will not."

"Go ahead and try, but make it count the first time," Bobo challenged her.

Elvanshalee's fingers curled slowly into fists, then she straightened them out at her side. She began to raise them up when Vanya leapt to her feet from the couch, "Mother, stop! He is our guest and an important man!"

Air spun around rapidly in a tight circle surrounding Bobo. Ten feet away Vanya felt nothing of the miniature cyclone, but in moments Bobo was hidden from view by the force of the vortex. Lightning spat out within it, striking within at an unseen target they all knew to be the elven prince. The air receded, leaving the room unfazed. Bobo remained, but he was kneeling on one knee. He stood up slowly, smoke rising from his clothes but no signs of damage apparent.

Elvanshalee snarled and waved her fingers too quick to follow through an intricate pattern. Flames from nearby braziers erupted and lanced out at him, striking his raised arm that he held defensively in front of him.

"I said you have one chance," Bobo growled, throwing his arm out and negating the lances of fire. "Now it's my turn. Or you can agree to help me!"

"I already told you of it, what more do you want?" Elvanshalee spat, furious and ready to pummel him with her fists if need be. She had no idea how he had fought off her magic, but she sensed that it had drained him to do so and he would be unable to do it much longer.

"Tell me where it is and what defense you had put in place."

"In the great desert to the west, where a great blue dragon once laired, lays an underground cavern. It is there, guarded by the elements and powerful magics that prevent anything that lives from approaching it," she told him.

"Think you can pass that, Prince? Why the trip there alone might do you in!" She jibed, knowing that he would be able to make it but still angry enough to belittle him.

"Easily. You forget, I already died, I'll find a way if anybody can."

Elvanshalee glared at him a long moment longer then finally turned to glance at her daughter. She turned back to Bobo and spoke, "My offer is rescinded, leave this tower now or I will lash out at you again. You and I both know you can't fight off much more of my magic."

Bobo stared at her, calling her bluff for a long moment. "The lair of the great dragon Nordan and my father slew?" Elvanshalee nodded. "Pray I am not destroyed, for I may be the only one in the world able to retrieve it."

Bobo turned and walked to the door, showing no surprised when it opened before him without him touching it. He glanced back at Vanya and Regnar, nodding to each, then he passed beyond the threshold and was gone.

Continued in Chapter 17

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