Breath of the Titans: The False Titanbringer: Complete Trilogy Page 5

  Tyrosh cried, jerking against the Titan that now held her. Reggie had been torn apart by the other constructs as the elves were being chained and herded from the city. The Titans began to drag the elves away, taking the impotent dragon in the opposite direction towards Heart.

  They had been traveling for days, and were headed deep into the Great Wyrm Desert. Already, they had passed the skeletons of ancient Wyrms blasted from the earth and killed in Dalanar's heroic sacrifice for the people of the world. Tyrosh had stood next to one of the claws in her younger days, her head barely reached the first knuckle. In the distance she could see another skeleton, rising from the dry crusty earth like a mountain. She could even see the wing nubs. They were the vestigial bits left of the magnificent dragon's wings. All wyrms lost them when they gave into their dragonhunger. Once they started burrowing deep within the earth for precious metals and jewels their wings lost their majesty. The ribs spilled out onto the sands, looking like a jumble of sticks from this distance.

  She pulled herself together long enough to wonder why the world would fall apart like this.

  Chapter Eight

  That's how Nord found his young nephew the next morning. He sat staring into the fire's coals as it died down. Nord waved, drawing Lov's attention from the burning embers.

  "Anyone home?" He asked taking a seat next to the young half-elf.

  Lov smiled at him and said, "My mother's alive."

  Nord smiled, happy to see his nephew in better spirits. "I'm sure she is, Lad. I've seen that mad woman bring herself out of worse situations than what we saw."

  Lov looked directly at his uncle and began to ask questions. Ones that had never occurred to him before last night. It was as if a spell had lifted, a veil removed.

  "Why has my mother never told me any stories about her adventuring?" Lov all but demanded. He didn't mean to ask so forcefully, but his hunger continued to push him.

  Nord frowned, not sure how to react to his nephew's attitude. "I'm not really sure, Lov." He said, stirring the coals of their dying fire. "I can't attest to someone else's motives. What I can attest to is what she asked of me. She asked me not to tell you any stories of our adventures. At the time it seemed silly, but who was I to argue with a young mother." He shifted a bit, trying to get more comfortable. "Not to mention, your father tended to stick up for her a bit more when we were younger." He smiled lovingly at his nephew. "You really mellowed both of them out."

  Lov considered his next question, thinking over last night. He quietly asked, "What's a Wyrm?"

  Nord shuddered, past wars running rampant through his mind. Fighting wingless dragons deep in the earth. "They're the ones who want to destroy the world. A thousand years ago, the Tuthan, a lizard-like people from across the world, attempted to bring death and destruction to everything. It had been a terrible war of earthquakes and volcanoes. It morphed the face of the world, leaving a scarred continent that your own great grandfather gave his life to save.

  "Wyrms were what manipulated the Tuthan in order to shatter the world. They're dragons twisted and consumed by their own greed. The Wyrms convinced the Tuthan that their hunger could be fulfilled if they broke the world and its people. Reshaped the planet and its people in their own image.

  "Dalanar was the dragon who saved us." Nord felt his eyes fill with tears. "You see, the Wyrms fight us by manipulating our reality." He took a deep breath, readying his mind to dredge up one of his first battles. "For instance, they can shape the very matter of this world. You'll charge at them, sword in hand, only to have it disappear."

  "How do you fight that?" Lov asked, unable to picture any defense to that kind of assault.

  "Me? I think I grabbed a stone club and just bashed its head in before it got me. But you beat them by making your reality more real." He pointed at Lov. "You have this power, as does every other living thing in this world. Remember, whatever happens to you in this world, only happens because you let it.

  "Dalanar gave his life reshaping reality for this, the world he loved. He calmed the raging tempest that thousands of Wyrms sent. He froze the mountains and landslides they forced upon us in their tracks. He forced the Wyrms to turn aside while he kept the armies that fought beside him safe. Heart was built where he died. In a last heroic act, he poured his will upon the earth and shaped the beautiful city that lies there. All over the course of this one battle, the great Wyrms tried to force their reality upon us. We watched the world outside of where we were protected be reshaped over and over." He shook the old battle from his head. "Dalanar sacrificed himself though. In a last tremendous burst of power, he pushed us all through a...I'm really at a loss of words here, Lov. I experienced ten lifetimes in that short minute of Titanic power. We, who were protected came to where the desert now starts to turn green. In the distance, we saw a temple rising from the land, and everything near it was green with vibrant life. We were hundreds of miles away, yet we could spot the towering shape.

  "As we approached, we saw a city had formed, as if cut from the very land itself. Beautiful and smooth as polished stone. Life sprang, trees and flowers, vines and bushes, they were everywhere. And walking amongst them, were the ogier. Our brothers and sisters of the earth, they are the ones that keep Heart green. Without them, it would be nothing but bare stone."

  "At the heart of the city was a jewel, the Breath of the Titans. The Titans were created to be servants of the Titanbringer. Their duties were to include helping our warriors get back to farming. The Wyrms had fallen back in defeat, unable to shatter Dalanar's reality."

  Nord smiled at his nephew, "That was a sad time, but it's heartening to remember where you come from."

  Lov roared in frustration. "I don't know what you mean!" He all but screamed, glaring at his uncle.

  Nord's face grew cold and distant, a look unfamiliar to the young half-dragon on his uncle's face. "You will learn one day that you need to be careful who you yell at. As it is, we both have had a rough few days. What with your father dying, and your mother's whereabouts unknown," Nord's voice lowered in pitch, becoming quieter and more menacing, "and our city, our home, ransacked like a well stuffed larder. Jewels and precious metals collected. Everyone healthy enough having their ears cut off and being dragged away. I can only assume they're being sold as slaves. Probably to the orcs, they love elf slaves." Nord came back with a start. "But there's nothing we can do until we have more intelligence. Which is why we're going to meet my friend, Jaxon." He finished, brushing off his hands and walking to where they had set the horses and mule to graze. He pulled the last of the deer out.

  They started their journey with a lot of meat, but with the pace Nord had set, Lov's appetite had picked up. Not unexpected from one so young. He tossed a piece to Lov and tore into his own chunk.

  "We should reach there in a couple hours, if we continue at a hard pace." He sighed wearily as he chewed. "I don't know about you, but something other than deer meat sure sounds good."

  Lov nodded, agreeing that deer meat was getting old. Nord grabbed the pack mule's reins, and they mounted their horses, taking off towards Hobton.

  Chapter Nine

  They left the open hillside and hit the road headed into the town. The ground flattened out, as if someone had rolled a rolling pin along the hills, leaving a long wide avenue that passed through the center of a town. The two soon passed tiny houses with thatch roofs and small wooden doors. They approached a group of women sitting on chairs in front of what Nord assumed was one of their homes. They were drinking tea and eating a small picnic of sandwiches.

  "Excuse me, ladies" Nord said as he pulled up his horse. "Would any of you happen to know where I could find my friend, Jaxon?"

  The women all gave him appraising looks, sizing up the large giant before them. "And who are you to him to be asking?" One of them asked boldly. She appeared older with white curly hair, and a figure that screamed grandmother.

  Nord smiled his best charming grin at her, "Why, Old Mother, I'm an old war buddy o
f his. I haven't seen him in many years, so I wanted to pay him a visit."

  They eyeballed him some more. The old one held up a finger to him, "Just a second, we must confer."

  With that, they dismissed Nord and Lov. The women huddled together, whispering furiously to each other. Lov caught snatches of what they were saying.

  "Tall one looks cute..."

  "...but if it will help us find Jaxon a wife..."

  "...young one looks like he need a couple good meals in him."

  One of the women, darker of skin than the others roared out, "Just because he's dark skinned doesn't mean he's evil!"

  Nord had enough of it. He stepped forward, towering over the table imposingly. "Ladies, are you going to help us or not?"

  The old one gave a slight huff, then turned from the other women, looking up at the elf. "Fine, I guess we can help you." She pointed across the road to a stone house, where a figure looked to be working on the roof. "There he is, it looks like his roof sprang a leak again."

  Nord thanked the women and made his way over to his friend. Jaxon knelt on his roof, lovingly patting mud and sod onto it. He didn't seem to notice Nord or Lov as they rode up to his house. "Hey Ja-xon!" Nord shouted, causing his friend to give a start.

  "Why you son of a motherless dragon!" The halfling roared, jumping from the roof and landing in front of Nord. His friend barely came up to Nord's belt, and he wore a dark blue knitted cap. He wore it all the time, even as a child. Nord leaned in to Lov and whispered, "It's because of his thinning hair." His other clothes were plain and serviceable, showing many signs of repair.

  Jaxon grabbed his friend in a hug, and the giant elf knelt down to accept it. "It's been near on fifteen years since I left your company! You never write or visit, I was starting to think you were dead!"

  Nord laughed apologetically, standing back up. "Sorry, Jaxon, not dead, but I may as well of been. They've had me patrolling the orc border for nearly ten years now. You don't get many vacations from a posting like that." He winked at the little man, "Nothing like our days on the Cursed Isles, eh?" He said, leaning over his friend to poke him between his ribs.

  "Gods above man, don't mention that horrible place! I only stopped having nightmares last year!" Jaxon turned to Lov. The top of his head barely came to the young one's shoulder.

  "Well as I live and breathe. You are the spitting image of your father." He winked at Lov. "Well, minus the scales and all that. It's shocking how much of him is in your face though." He said, grabbing Lov's cheeks and turning his head from side to side.

  Lov pulled his head out of Jaxon's grip and eyed the little man before him. Jaxon had a kind face and a large smile. Lov could see laugh lines on his cheeks, and his arms hung well past his knees. He was dressed simply. Dirt covered the front of his shirt where he had wiped the mud off his hands.

  "You knew my father?' Lov asked tentatively.

  "Aye, and your mother too. Your dad and Nord, here took me under their wings, so to speak." He smiled up at his tall friend, "He's saved my bacon plenty of times." Jaxon said, jumping to smack his tall friend on the back of the head. Nord snorted. Jaxon continued, "Though most of the time it was him that got us in trouble in the first place."

  Now Nord feigned hurt. "Who, me? I'd never lead people to trouble."

  It was Jaxon's turn to snort. "Sure, I guess it was some other seven foot tall elf that led us into a great Wyrm's lair saying, and I quote 'Come on, live a little'. I still don't know how that damn dragon didn't eat you."

  Nord gave a laugh, then seeing his nephew's confused face told him, "Another story for another time." He turned back to Jaxon, "Truth to tell old friend, I wish this was a purely social visit, but our people are in trouble. Something-"

  Lov interrupted, "It was the Titans."

  Nord continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, "Something or someone took the council and most of the free elves and chopped their ears off."

  Jaxon furrowed his eyebrows, thinking. "That sounds like the same practices the orcs used to use when they drove elves to the slave markets."

  Nord nodded, "Yes, it does, but I don't think the orcs did it, it was too clean an act for them."

  "I'll take your word for it, friend, you were usually pretty good at tracking this kind of crap." He walked toward the front door, calling out behind him, "If you two want dinner, you'll need to take baths. I won't have your stink in my house." He pointed at a shed in the back of the yard. "There's a tub in there. Be liberal with the soap, Nord. Remember, your stink sticks to you since that one Tuthan witch cursed you."

  Nord laughed, following Jaxon into his home. It was a beautiful house on the inside. Stone and wood carvings covered entire walls from floor to ceiling. Dragons and mermen. Great Wyrms and orcs. His friend had carved their adventures into his home. Nord swelled with the feeling of love, knowing that this was a friend he could ask anything of.

  "At least I was never as big of a sucker as you. I remember that cute little thing who almost gouged your eyes out. You fell for her story so hard!" Nord said, chuckling.

  "How was I supposed to know she was a member of the thieves' guild?" Jaxon asked innocently. "Besides, she had such pretty eyes, and the way she moved those hips!"

  "We were on a street called ‘Murderer's Row’ for the love of the gods!" The tall elf exclaimed.

  Lov laughed at the two of them. As he laughed, he felt his hunger push away. Guess you can fight it off with love and laughter, he thought. The young man finally relaxed enough to think over what the fairy had told him. Tonight he planned on attempting to master fire.

  Jaxon turned down a hallway and pointed to the back door. "Don't forget, be liberal with the soap!"

  Chapter Ten

  Lov felt like a new person after his bath.

  Even Nord could see it as he looked at his nephew in the brightness of the sunset. Lov's scales drank in the light, while at the same time reflecting it. It reminded Nord of a sunset reflected by the waves of a lake. Lov rushed across the yard and into Jaxon's house, all but bursting through the door.

  "Whoa, slow down there, Buddy!" Jaxon chided him, turning from his pantry. He shook his head disappointedly. "Looks like we'll have to hit the pub for food tonight." He said, as Nord ducked through the door.

  "What's that?" Nord asked, shaking the last of the water from his hair, "I thought all you halflings thought about was food."

  "That gives offense, sir!" Jaxon said, drawing his shoulders back and stretching his spine. "We also like gardening, getting good and drunk, and of course, smoking our pipes!"

  Nord waved his hand in front of his face as if fanning smoke away. "I forgot you smoked one of those god awful things!" He complained sarcastically.

  "Hmph!" Jaxon walked over to Nord and pushed his finger into his chest. "Seems to me I remember someone trying to talk me into sneaking into a Wyrm cave for some dragonweed!" Lov struggled not to laugh as Jaxon stood on tip toe to reach Nord's chest.

  "You know you enjoyed that stuff as much as I did!" Nord argued back.

  "It's not the point!" Jaxon said leading them out the door. Jaxon and Nord continued this argument all the way to the pub before Lov roared at them.

  "Enough!" he said, shoving them through the door.

  A young curvy lady met them at a counter. The Green Dragon was a tight run ship. One of Jaxon's relatives had bought it from the previous owner when he became too old to run it properly.

  Now, Jaxon came here almost every night. A free meal was a free meal after all. It also helped that the place was kept clean and orderly, the portions were generous, and the staff all knew his name.

  "Evening, Jaxon." The curvy barmaid addressed him. She had eyes the color of golden wheat in the sunlight. "Who are your friends?" She asked curiously.

  "Don't go getting yourself in trouble, Anna." He pointed at Nord. "That one's old enough to be your great grandfather's daddy." He pointed to Lov, "And this one seems to still be a bit wet behind the ears when it comes to women.
"

  "Hey!" Lov defended himself.

  "What'll it be, boys?" she asked with a chuckle.

  "Just calling it as I see it, you young whipper snapper!" He turned to Anna. "Make it two meads and one coffee."

  Lov blushed, the scales of his cheeks growing darker, and stared at the table. His hunger flared for a moment, burning to show Jaxon. What he'd show he didn't know, but he felt something building.

  "Enough teasing him, Jaxon, I seem to remember a few girls cute as her leading you around by the nose." Nord teased his friend.

  "My warning was as much for him as for her!"

  Lov couldn't help but laugh again, it seemed his uncle and this man were close, but he wondered why his parents had never spoken of him.

  "How do you know my parents?" He asked Jaxon directly.

  Jaxon looked to Nord, "Seems he has the look of Amon, but the temperament of his mother."

  Lov snarled, "Don't talk about me like I'm not here!"

  Jaxon gave a start. "Are you okay there, Lov?"

  Lovonian struggled not to snap again. He mastered his glare, forcing himself to smile. He felt shocked at how his dragonhunger had taken over momentarily.

  "My people have just been mutilated, possibly dead or sold into slavery. My father is dead, my mother missing. No, I'm not fine, I'm the farthest thing from fine." Lov's voice sounded cold and angry. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes, and calming himself. "I'm sorry, Jaxon. I'm just tired, and I don't like being talked about, but not to."

  Jaxon clapped him on the back, "All is well, my young friend. I remember puberty."

  Lov blushed again and prompted Jaxon, "My parents?"

  Jaxon got a distant look on his face. "How I met your parents. Actually, I've known your mother longer than I've known your father or Nord. I'm sure you've heard of Gendry, our Titanbringer?"

  Anna arrived with their drinks, placing three large mugs before them. Lov picked his up and smelled it gingerly. A hearty bold smell filled his nostrils. It was rich and delicious. Eagerly, he took a drink, and promptly sprayed Jaxon with a shower. The bitter taste was unexpected. Jaxon wiped his face as Lov attempted to stutter out an apology.