The Forgotten Bond

Striking the ground with a thunderous crash, the body of the dragon burst into flame consuming the warrior. Flesh melted away from his face and his copper hair became a flashing halo of fire before it burned away, but the charred bones of his face remained twisted into a silent scream of agony. A hot wind blew from the East, and the blackened warrior crumbled to ash, his nightmare visage carried away and scattered in a cloud of billowing smoke.    

Grinning with the ecstasy of battle lust, Gelmisil searched the sky for the flash of silver that would be Sendrilea's mount, but a haze of gray smoke hung like a veil in the sky obscuring his vision. Ashes swirled before him. The last remains of his vanquished enemies. He was the High Lord and King of the Gul Dar Lathan, none could stand in the face of his wrath and vengeance. Cruel laughter shook his body, as he waved and sent the ashes reeling away from him.    

The giant gold dragon beneath him, shuddered and slowly glided to the ground. The slight jarring of the dragon settling on the ground, startled Gelmisil from his musings.    

"Korlum, what is it. Were you harmed in the battle?"    

The dragon's head drooped and he drew a long ragged breath.    

No. But sorrow has overcome me. I mourn for our sons, Gelmisil Dor Alaurieth.    

Gelmisil frowned and tried to urge Korlum back toward the sky. Korlum was speaking nonsense.    

"Our sons are not dead, only our enemies."    

Korlum landed on the ground near the burning wreck of the slain dragon. The heat of the fire seared Gelmisil's lungs.    

Your rage has blinded you and made you a fool. The blood that stains your lance is that of Baldisan. And the flesh that clings yet to your sword is Elmoru's, my son.    

Shaking his head, Gelmisil ushed his knees roughly into the golden sides of the dragon.    

"No. I am Gelmisil Dor Alaurieth. Protector and Defender of the Gul Dar Lathan. High Lord of the lands and King of my people. I am the Destroyer of the Enemy and Salvation of the People."    

Korlum did not respond. Stretching his neck along the ground, he laid his massive head beside the dead dragon and inhaled the drifting smoke.     

Gelmisil climbed from the dragon's back and bent down to stare at the shimmering amber eyes.    

"Do not waste your weeping for the enemy, Korlum. We must ride to battle and complete the battle in victory."    

Sighing, Korlum raised his head and regarded Gelmisil with the fathomless mirrored facets of his lidless eyes.    

My heart is heavy with sorrow, Gelmisil Dor Alaurieth, enough to weep for a thousand years, but Gelmisil elathan Korlum, a dragon sheds no tears.    

Gelmisil paled. Not since the day of his bonding had he been called Gelmisil elathan Korlum. The day he heard the voice of Korlum in his mind for the first time. Knowledge had been imparted with the name and a choice. He had made his choice and all other options and knowledge had been shut away from his consciousness. But now at the mention of the bonding name, memories pushed against the wavering surface of his mind. Gelmisil elathan Korlum. Gelmisil elathan Korlum. Gelmisil elathan Korlum. The name echoed through his mind like the chant of a human priest. A summoning to call back the knowledge that had been lost.    

Unbidden, the face of the dragon warrior came to him. The hair of shining copper, so like his own. The amber eyes of the king given as a legacy to his son. Baldisan, the first born son of Gelmisil. The shed blood of the enemy that had fed his battle frenzy had been his own.    

Gelmisil, I cannot weep, but through our bond, you must weep for us both. As King, weep and mourn for your people and my own.    

"No!" Gelmisil screamed. "I will not give you the tears of the King!"    

You have destroyed your people, you have deserted your kingdom. Only you remain to fulfill the oath.    

Gelmisil shook his head.     

"I have fulfilled the oath, I have brought the Gul Dar Lathan to the land of final exile, the land of death."    

No, Gelmisil elathan Korlum, I speak of the oath of bonding.    

The bonding name again. It tore at his heart and seared his soul. Gelmisil elathan Korlum. Gelmisil, tears of Korlum.    

Bitterness and despair, sorrow and hopelessness, anger and hatred; emotions both foreign and familiar warred within the High Lord and King of the Gul Dar Lathan for mastery. As he gazed out over the battlefield, smoke and ash swirled about him, stinging his eyes, urging him to weep. He looked to the heavens. Never again would the Gul Dar Lathan rise again to rule the land and the skies. His heart failed him. He would fulfill the oath, the destiny he had chosen on the bonding day.    

A glint of silver in the distance pierced the haze. A hardness closed over his heart.    

"You are wrong, Korlum. I am not the last. My queen still lives."    

Leave it be. You can end it now. The queen does not matter.    

"I will not be denied my vengeance. She has brought this destruction to pass. As King, I must avenge my people."    

To postpone your destiny is a dangerous thing, Gelmisil. You hoped to avoid it by fleeing and it pursued you and destroyed your people. I fear what may happen if you delay it to seek vengeance.    

"What does it matter if more evil falls upon my people? They are dead and gone. I fear no curse and if my curse falls upon the queen, so be it. It would bring me pleasure."    

Gelmisil, do not do this.    

Gelmisil climbed back upon Korlum.    

"Come, Korlum. Our queens await us."     

Continued ...