Chapter 13: Siege

"How can that be?" I asked, my voice rising in near-anger. "I'm from Earth! I can't possibly be his son!"

"No?" Altholos asked, his voice calm. "Have you not always had an interest in stories of swords and magics? Played games set in worlds much like this one? Did it ever occur to you that perhaps your interest was because they reminded you of your heritage, of your home? All your life you have read tales of the fantastic, and you have dreamed of worlds where such things are a reality. Your mind was telling you what you were not consciously aware of, that you were from such a world."

"This can't be," I said. "It's impossible!"

"How do you even know that Dred has a son?" Val asked. "I was with him for several years, and he never once mentioned it to me."

"Do you remember when one of his lieutenants, a werewolf named Claude, was killed during a raid into these territories?"

Val nodded. "I remember very well. Claude was trusted by Dred with many things."

"What you and Dred did not know," Altholos continued, "is that he was not killed immediately. He was captured and taken away to be interrogated. I was the one who did the interrogation. Most of what he told me were lies and falsehoods. The few pieces of truths he gave me were useless, information that we already knew. The one thing he did tell me that was of any use was that Dred had confided in him that he had an offspring, and that he would do anything at all to bring this offspring before him.

"When I heard that Dred wanted Lucas found and that he wanted him alive, it made me realize that Lucas was his son. It all made sense to me because of something else that happened, about fifteen years ago."

"What happened?" Gianna asked.

"A woman came to me one night, carrying her infant son. She told me that her husband, the infant's father, was evil, and that she feared for her son. She asked me if I could hide the son away from him somehow, hide him someplace where his father would never find him. I knew of the dimensional portals that exist in our world, even back then. And so I led her to one of them and sent her through. She returned a short while later. She told me she left the child in the place that was at the other end of the portal. I later found out that on the next day, she killed herself. I never did find out what happened to the infant's father, though when Dred came to power, I wondered if the two were connected at all. With Lucas coming here through a dimensional portal and Dred's interest in him, I believe that the two are initimately connected."

I sat there silently after he had finished, my thoughts in turmoil. I didn't want to believe what the wizard was telling me, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Why didn't my parents have any more children after me? Maybe because they could never have children in the first place. And why would two adults with so little time to devote to raising a child, have one to begin with? Perhaps my parents found me, left behind by a mother who had come through a dimensional portal from this world.

"I find this all so hard to believe," I finally said, my voice low and somber.

"I have told you what I believe you have a right to know," Altholos told me. "I am sorry, but you needed to hear these things."

"Knowing what you know now," Atheria quietly said, "do you really think you should return to your home?"

"I..." I began. "I don't know. It's all so confusing. I'm not sure what I should do."

"I think he fears you," Altholos spoke up. "I think he is afraid that you will kill him, if not simply overthrow him. He can surely sense that there is something different about you, that your upbringing in an advanced world has changed you. And I think he is afraid that you can use your knowledge to destroy him."

"I don't know, maybe," I replied. "I just don't think..."

A sudden screech sounded outside. It was loud and it seemed to vibrate off the very walls of the keep. Altholos and Atheria were on their feet in an instant, running over to the windows. Benthor, Gianna, and I were slightly slower to get on our feet. Val remained sitting, and she looked worried.

"Dragon!" Altholos reported, gazing out the window. As I ran over to get a look for myself, something gigantic flew past the window, its shadow blocking out the sunlight as it flew by.

"It's a red!" Atheria shouted out. "One of Dred's!"

"No, it's blue," Altholos replied.

Val was standing up from her chair now, and she looked even more worried. "You are both right. There are two of them."

I was at the window and was able to see for myself that Val was correct. Two dragons, one red, the other blue, flew in the sky around the tower. One of them screeched again, and the tower shook once more.

"I hear something else," Atheria said. "It sounds like... drums."

"War drums," Benthor stated in sudden understanding. "The Magus has got some ground soldiers down there."

"He's right!" Gianna cried out. She was standing at the other end of the tower from the rest of us, looking out a window. Tasmine rushed over to join her. "I can see an army down there. I think they're hobgoblins. They have a catapult."

"What?" Altholos demanded. He broke away from the window he had been at with the rest of us and ran over to Gianna and Tasmine.

"We need to get out of here," Val said. "They will bring the tower down around us, and I do not wish to be here when they do."

"If we leave, we will be walking right into them," Atheria replied.