Chapter 15: Augustus

I was surrounded by darkness. It was thick and oppressive, weighing down on me as if it were a physical thing. I tried to call out for someone, but the darkness stole the sound of my voice. The silence around me was deafening.

I saw movement in the darkness. As I watched, a figure began to approach me. I could see him as clear as if he were in daylight. He was the same man who had appeared to me in my dreams once before. He was clad in black flowing robes with scarlet trim. The symbol of an open eye had been stitched into the chest. His long raven hair was tied back into a single braid.

He was the Magus Dred.

He stopped a few feet away from me and began to speak. His voice fluttered between clarity and inaudibility.

"... my gift? You are... one I seek... coming for... you."

He then took a single step towards me, and I felt something on my shoulder. I quickly came awake, my hand instinctively grabbing for the sword at my side.

I saw a servant standing beside me, stepping away from me in terror. It took me a second to realize that he had been the one who had put his hand on my shoulder.

"I'm terribly sorry to disturb you, sir," the servant of the castle said to me, though his eyes were nervously staring at the sword I held in my hand. I was gripping the hilt so hard my knuckles were white. "I came to inform you that the king is ready to see you now."

I quietly nodded and returned my blade to its sheath. The servant couldn't get away from me fast enough, giving me one more anxious look over his shoulder as he left the room.

After I had informed everyone except for Tasmine about our meeting with the king, I couldn't bear to return to mine and Gianna's room. I was still plagued by the memories of what I had done to Tasmine earlier that morning. So I went to the castle's library to read, but more importantly, to hide. I had flipped through some books detailing the history of this world, skimming through pages here and there. I must have fallen asleep, which was how the servant found me when he came to retrieve me.

I closed the book I had been reading and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. I could feel a headache growing in my skull. I had too much on my mind, too many events going on that seemed to be spiraling out of my control. I was only fifteen years old, how could I possibly deal with everything that was happening to me?

A servant, a different one than the one I had scared half to death, escorted me to the throne room. As I walked in, I was immediately overcome by the enormous size of the room. It seemed to be three times as large as any of the other castle's rooms, and almost all of the other rooms in the castle were huge. Tapestries lined the walls and thick stone pillars ran down the room's center. A throne made of stone sat on a dais at the far end of the room, a red carpet running down the center of the room, ending at the dais. The rest of my friends were already there, lined up in a row facing the throne. The servant escorted me to the far end, to stand next to Gianna. She looked up at me and gave me a worried smile.

"Where were you? I thought you were coming back to the room?" she whispered.

"I decided to go to the library," I told her, only briefly meeting her eyes before I looked away. I couldn't stand to look at her. I was afraid she would see my tortured soul behind my eyes.

"You should have told me, I would have come with you."

"I wanted to be alone," I replied.

She started to say something else, but a door to the side of the throne opened. Three men emerged from the door. The first one had blond hair so bright it was very nearly golden. The second one had silvery white hair, almost the color of Val's. The third had reddish-brown hair, like copper. All three were tall and had athletic builds. One of them stood on one side of the throne, the other two stood on the other. Their eyes looked over us briefly.

The door the three men came out of opened again and a servant emerged. He held the door open as he announced, "King Augustus, ruler of the southern lands!"

Everyone around me kneeled and looked to the floor, so I did the same. I saw someone come out of the door and I looked up slightly, just enough to get a glimpse of the king. My jaw dropped open in surprise, and I quickly returned my stare to the floor. The man who was coming out of that door, the man who was King Augustus, was the same man I had met with earlier that day, the one who claimed to be an advisor to the king.

"Rise," the king commanded us as he sat at his throne. We all rose to our feet and I couldn't help but stare at the king in disbelief.

The king saw my stare and smiled. "My apologies for my deception, Lucas. I needed to hear your story, and I did not wish my station to color your telling of the tale."

I nodded, thinking to myself that it was not only a wise decision, but it was also very shrewd of him. I found myself respecting the king already, since I had no idea the entire time I was speaking with him that morning that he was royalty.

"Before we begin to speak of the course of action that we should take, I believe that full introductions are in order. I have heard your names and know something about each of you, but not all of us know each other. So let me begin by introducing Benthor Battlestone, dwarven warrior of the Stonetower Clan of dwarves."

Benthor nodded deeply to the king.

"Tasmine Glittermist, former apprentice of my friend, the wizard Altholos."

Tasmine curtsied and said, in a shy, quiet voice, "I am honored, your majesty."

"Valandaria, dark elf assassin." He hesitated a moment as he regarded her. "I was told that you have forsaken your allegiance to Dred and have thrown your loyalty in with Lucas. My servants and guards have watched you closely since you arrived, and I believe that you could possibly be telling the truth. I will be perfectly honest with you, however, when I say that you are still not completely trusted."

Val gave a thin smile and replied, "I am certainly used to that."

"Atheria Honorblade, a Guardian of the light elves of Quelanas."

Atheria bowed before the king, her face remaining cool and impassive.

"Gianna, daughter of Kathia, of the farming village of Burcel."

Gianna curtsied awkwardly, trying to immitate the way Tasmine had done so. When she straightened again, her face was burning red. But the king smiled kindly at her and nodded his appreciation at her effort.

"Lucas King, who will be the center of much of our discussion today. He hails from a place called Earth, but there have been theories raised that he was born here, fathered by none other than the Magus Dred himself."

I bowed to the king. When I finished, the king looked to the three men who stood to the sides of his throne.

"These three men are trusted allies. The golden-haired one is Lock, the silver-haired one is Sawyar, the copper-haired one is Sheperd." The king paused for a moment before adding, "They are dragons."

"Aren't they kinda small ta be dragons?" Benthor asked.

"The oldest of the dragons can alter their shape to appear as humans," the one named Lock told the dwarf.

As I looked at the three men, I saw that the silver-haired one, the one named Sawyar, was staring at Gianna curiously. Gianna was paying him no attention though, she was completely focused on the king.

"Now that we all know who we are, let us discuss matters at hand." The king leaned back in his throne, and his face became serious. "The Magus Dred is after Lucas, and he will stop at nothing to get him. However, he apparently needs him alive. That does give us one advantage in that he cannot simply send assassins after him. However, we do not know why he wants Lucas or for what purpose. That is our primary disadvantage. It will be difficult to create a plan based on motives that we know nothing about.