The Broken Sword

"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.

Chapter 17

"Good riddance," Elvanshalee muttered, sinking back down into her chair. She looked over at Vanya and Regnar and saw them both staring at her. "What?" she demanded.

"Is he really that bad? That powerful and dangerous?" Vanya asked. Regnar nodded his head up and down, echoing the question.

Elvanshalee sighed. "He is not that bad, no. He is dangerous, but he does not yet realize it I do not think. His power he does not fully grasp either, but it is not as great as he thinks it is. At least not yet."

"What about all that half dead stuff you were talking about. Is he really half dead?"

"I can't be certain, I am no necromancer or priest. There is something to his claims, that much is certain, and given his mother's area of specialty, it would not surprise me if he were. He may have been right in that he is the only person that can hope to retrieve the hilt from where it is safeguarded," Elvanshalee admitted thoughtfully.

"Pity he'll never make it there to find out," she continued, sighing.

"Why not?" Vanya asked, alarmed. Regnar's head popped up at the statement as well.

"The orcs that sometimes threaten our lands? That is where they make their camp, around the lair that once housed the dragon they worshipped as their leader and God," she told her. "There are hundreds of them, and they are no easy army to bypass."

"You've got to warn him!" Vanya said, hopping to her feet. "He'll be killed!"

"If he is stupid enough to stumble into a camp of orcs he deserves to be killed," Elvanshalee huffed. "But I shall do no such thing. My oath is to keep the hilt safe from recovery from anyone. I will do nothing to interfere with that."

"Well then I will!" Vanya said, walking briskly across the room and heading up the stairs toward her room. Regnar and Elvanshalee both watched her go, somewhat surprised.

"The door is over there, daughter," Elvanshalee said, pointing towards the door out of their tower, "if you're so adamant about warning him."

"Mother, Bobo was right... sometimes you really are a bitch!"

Elvanshalee's shocked expression was lost on Vanya, who was already heading up the stairs again. Regnar hissed, chuckling in a sibilant fashion. Elvanshalee glared at him, making his reptilian lips drop back into a neutral expression.

Vanya came back down the stairs shortly, dressed again in her leathers and having her adventuring equipment strapped on. Additionally she also had a few extra pouches and sacks filled with what gear she felt she might need for a longer outing than usual.

"I'll be back after I've found him and warned him," she said rebelliously.

Elvanshalee nodded, somewhat sour-faced. "He only just left, you're faster than anyone in the wilderness, you should be able to find him quickly."

Vanya clenched her fists and looked to Regnar for support, who only looked away innocently pretending he was not paying any attention to what was going on. "Well, maybe I'll stay with him and help him. After all, I'm an elf too, and if everybody is in danger then he could use all the help he can get!"

Elvanshalee stared at her for a long moment, her thoughts and emotions conflicting within her. "Very well," she finally said. "But go with her, Regnar, and do your best to keep one another safe."

"Will you still not help?" Vanya asked, her voice softening into almost a plea.

Her mother just shook her head. "My part in this was done many years past. Others have picked it up, and it seems that this is to be your first test."

She stood up and walked closer to her, reaching out and rubbing the back of her hand against her cheek affectionately. "You were only newly born but I made an oath to you. I told you that your life would be filled with harshness and toil, but that I would prepare you for it. I have done all that I can to make you ready. Go now and take up what is yours. The skills, powers, and talent that are your birthright will allow you to gain knowledge and understanding to better yourself. What you have on you is yours, but take also with you my respect and love, though it will do you no good to shield you from that which you will face."

Elvanshalee smiled sadly, then turned away. "Return here only when you feel you have found yourself. You are always welcome, but nothing remains here for you except for a place where you can hide from the world and from yourself."

Elvanshalee, still facing away, walked away to the stairs and back up them. Tears ran down Vanya's face, but she stood still as well. Her mother had passed her stubbornness along to her, after all. Finally she turned and headed for the doors. Regnar fell in behind her, silent as always but thoughtful.

*****

Bobo had made good time. He was nearly seven miles from the tower before he had the first inklings of being watched. He cast about him, searching without showing that he was aware, but still could not be certain. It was not magic that was after him, that much he knew, but it was something.

Having a sudden inspiration he glanced up into the sky. The sun had nearly settled behind him, but that only made it easier for him to see. He was able to pick up the reptilian form of Regnar with ease, even though he was far away. If Regnar was nearby, then so too was Vanya.

The half-elven Prince spun around, his twin barrels pointing in the direction where he thought he sensed pursuit. His cutlass was in hand as well. He stared into the forest for long moments, searching for any movement or any telltale signs of life beyond that of the forest itself. The forest, he realized, was abnormally full of life. Not more than he had ever witnessed, but it reminded him of how he imagined some of the ancient woods on Innowendyn would look to him now.

I glance into the sky to check on Regnar and Bobo could not help but gasp aloud in shock. He looked again into the woods and his amazement was complete.

"Vanya, come out, I know where you are and I would not harm you or your... or Regnar," he told her, determined to get to the bottom of the mystery he had just uncovered.

Vanya stepped out, catching him off guard. He had known where she was, but in spite of that he still had not seen her, so well had she blended into the tree and the bushes. She walked towards him, hands at her sides peacefully.

"I don't want to hurt you either, Bobo. I'm sorry about my mother, but you don't have to worry about her anymore. Now it's just the three of us," she said.

Bobo glanced up again and saw Regnar rapidly approaching. He stepped off to the side and let the dragon land roughly, so tightly did he have to tuck his wings in to avoid some branches. He snorted and looked at them, glaring at Bobo for a moment.

"What are you?" Bobo asked, looking at both of them alternately.

"What do you mean?" Vanya asked, cocking her head the same way Elvanshalee had done in her casting room. Bobo ignored the similarity.

"I do not see things as you do, nor as any elf does. I see the spirit and the life force of a person. Yours and Regnar's is the same, what does that mean?"

Vanya looked at Regnar, and he at her. They looked back to Vanya and Vanya had a lot expression on her face. "I don't know..."

Bobo looked at them again, hoping for something to occur to him. It did not. "There is more to both of you than it seems. Fair enough, the same can be said of me. But let me tell you this, such similarities I have only seen in people who are very closely related."

Vanya gasped. "Related... but he's a dragon and I'm an elf!"

Bobo shrugged, "That is what I see, perhaps there is more to you then either of you know."

Regnar huffed loudly, echoing Vanya's confused and disbelieving thoughts. "Just think about it," Bobo said. "Not now, perhaps, but later. For now tell me, what brings you to me?"

"Um, well," Vanya trailed off, having trouble dismissing the revelation at the moment. "I, er, we came to help you. The lair is surrounded by orcs, hundreds of them. They once worshipped the dragon that lived there. We came to tell you of it and to help you get passed them."

Bobo frowned. "How will you help me get past them? We are only three and they are many."

"They're only orcs!" Vanya said, smiling for the first time in hours. Her smile reminded Bobo of a similar expression on Regnar's scaly face and it nearly sent shivers down his spine.

"Indeed," he muttered. "Well let us be off then, we can learn more there than we can here."

*****

It had taken them several days of traveling across the harsh sands to reach the tribal lands. The dry heat made traveling miserable for Bobo, but in stoic fashion he endured and did not complain. Vanya and Regnar seemed unfazed by the heat. Regnar in particular bore up under it almost playfully. Bobo scowled at the antics of the two at times, but refrained from commenting. The brightness of the pale golden sand and the sun bothered his eyes as well, further testing his mood.

But now they stared across several sand dunes at the distant camp, noting the orcs that wandered about on patrol. Dark skinned and haired, they wore light colored robes and armors woven from tough desert fibers.

"Mother says there is around 300 of them here," Vanya said, laying in the sand beside Bobo so as to avoid showing any silhouette.

Bobo grunted. He rolled onto his back and stared up at the sky, seeing shifting essences blow with the night winds instead of the clear sky and stars that Vanya and Regnar would see. "They worship a dragon here too?" He asked thoughtfully.

"They did, a great blue dragon that your father helped kill a long time ago."

"Oh," Bobo said, sounding slightly chastised. After all, if Kelnozz had taken part in it, shouldn't he remember?

"Shortly after that he met my grandmother," Vanya continued, sounding a little distant as she remembered what her mother had taught her. "That was before Narellin captured and destroyed her. From their meeting was born Darakor."

"Of course!" Bobo said, remembering now what he had been told. It had only been told to him once, and never discussed since. Whether that was out of emotional angst or a concern for how his mother would feel he did not know. "Your mother, on the other hand, was Narellin and ... Jethallin's daughter. That was her name, wasn't it? Your grandmother?"

Vanya nodded. "Yes, it was. Your father saved her in the end, when her own son sacrificed her to bring back Ancaruin into the world." She paused and looked over at Bobo, smiling somewhat sadly. "I know the story and the names," she said softly, "but I do not know the people."

"Well and good," Bobo replied, "for what I gather tells me it was a time of hardship and of loss. We live in a better time... unless of course I can not get that hilt back to Thoragloorin."

Bobo met her gaze, seeing mercurial things in her eyes with his mysterious vision. "Besides," he said, grinning mischievously in a way that would have reminded anyone who had known him of Kelnozz, "we're making our own adventures and stories to be told for centuries now! Someday your grandchildren will hear of how you saved the life of a foolish elf prince that thought to slip unnoticed through a tribe of bloodthirsty orcs!"

Vanya laughed softly, then rolled over to stare at the camp again. Bobo studied her a moment longer, seeing the exotic life energies within her move and flare with each breath and movement. There was something different and special about, he just had no idea what it was. Yet. He planned on sticking around and finding out.

Regnar landed none too gracefully behind them, spraying sand over both of them. Bob scowled and turned, seeing the grinning dragon sitting happily behind them. He had returned from his scouting mission, apparently.

"Is the lair still in the middle of the camp?" Vanya asked. Regnar growled and nodded. He reached down and started drawing lines in the sand outlining the tents, the buildings, and the overall layout of the orc city.

"You know, every other dragon I have met can talk, why can't you?" Bobo asked, suddenly realizing he had never heard the diminutive dragon speak.

Regnar looked at him and shrugged. He opened his mouth and made a strangled noise that wavered in pitch and octave, but was not recognizable as speech. He shrugged his reptilian shoulders, sending his wings out and buffeting up some sand with the movement.

"I don't think he's old enough yet for his throat to take the proper shape and control. Or at least that's what mother says," Vanya said, answering as best she could for the dragon.

Bobo nodded, rubbing the sand out of his eyes and turning to spit out what the dragon had accidentally kicked up. He stopped then, realizing something.

"You're a dragon!" He gasped. "With a heavy blue tinting to your scales... similar to the one that Kelnozz, Garrick, and Luingirth defeated!"

"Yeah, so?" Vanya asked, not understanding where he was going.

"You can be our diversion! Get the orcs' attention and keep them busy. Their ancestors worshipped your kind, no doubt they will remember, seeing you, and if nothing else be confused long enough for us to get in the lair!"

Regnar looked to Vanya, who stared at Bobo open mouthed. Either she was impressed with the idea or outraged at the unnecessary risk to her lifelong companion. Bobo turned to look at her and smiled triumphantly. When he saw her mood darkening he realized he might have misinterpreted her.

"Wait! It's a good plan! He can fly and get away from them quickly if they turn out to be aggressive. And even if that happens they'll still be distracted so we can get into the caves," Bob pushed on, trying to make them see the light.

Regnar huffed, clearly not impressed at the thought of being used as a distraction or as bait. Vanya shook her head and sat up. "Absolutely not! Come up with something better, that's just too dangerous. Orcs can see in the dark almost as well as we can, and they have more than just swords and axes, they have bows and even some siege engines. They've had to fight off dragons before that tried to come and claim the horde that was supposedly left behind. They've had to fight off adventurers too."