Dragon Tide Chronicles: Dawn Rising

Chapter 67: The Last Lines Drawn

Chapter 67: The Last Lines Drawn

We reach a huge, circular room in the temple, and Alexander stops walking.

“This is it.” He says quietly.

Huh? What is?

“The Sealing Stone Chambers. The Grandfather Dragon, when he sealed Ramok and himself away, he created these sets of stones. The blue ones,” He indicates the ones on his left, “Would be used to either tighten the seal on him, or release the Grandfather Dragon. As for the red ones…” The realization of what he is saying hits me immediately.

“So if we use the red seal stones… we’ll be able to seal away Ramok forever?”

Alexander shakes his head. “No. For maybe a hundred years, maybe more. But not forever.  Ramok’s seal can’t hold forever. The seals may only give us a day, we don’t know. But what I do know, is that we need all the help we can get, and right now, the Grandfather is the only one possibly strong enough to put an end to this, once and for all. Take the red seals, I’ll take the blue.”

I nod my head, and as I take them, I notice an eerie feeling about them, words of Chaos inscribed on them in red.

“So… how are we going to get in there? The Demon Shaft or whatever it’s called?”

Alexander sighs a bit. “Just so you know, I think it’s important that you know this… but Ramok isn’t evil… at least, HE isn’t.”

I give him a confused look. “Huh? What are you talking about Alexander?”

He sighs deeply. “Ramok, never was the true villain. It’s what is controlling him. That, Danica, is the true enemy.”

What he is saying slowly dawns on me. “You mean… he’s… possessed? By what?”

Alexander eyes me carefully. “A Dialadect. Not a demon, a Dialadect. Dialadects are beings that are cursed to have eternal life, but at the cost that if they are killed, they have no afterlife. After death, they are damned to nothingness. We don’t know how it got into Ramok, but we know that Ramok is far past saving. The only option we have is to put him out of his misery. All that really is left is a shell.”

No longer as enthusiastic as I was, I just nod. “So… how do we get into the Demon Shaft?”

He smiles rather grimly. “We go to the Sealed Grounds.”

Feltatus City…

We are gathered around a meeting table, a big one at that. Countless fairy generals are looking at the complex map we have put up, displaying Alesia, the Dragonling Isles, and the Chaotic Desert. I point out all of the known movements of the Gem and Insurrection armies, and Elizabeth looks up at me, concerned.

“But how would we get troops to the Chaotic Desert? Our navy is strong, but no match for air forces… of that magnitude! What are you planning, David? I’d like to know, in fact I think everyone here would like to know.”

I take a seat. “Sit, and I’ll tell you. My plan will take a while to explain in the absolute detail. Well? I’m waiting.” I cross my arms, and prop my feet on a footstool, looking very much carefree to the unobservant person. However, I am FAR from carefree. We have one day left before Alexander makes his move to stop Ramok, and we need to be in coordination. Otherwise… it won’t matter if they activate the emergency seals. The chaos energy of a civil war would absolutely destroy the seal. We CANNOT afford to waste time debating.

Reluctantly, Elizabeth and the generals take their seats, looking very anxious. I huff in small pleasure, eager to begin. I’m beginning to take after Alexander, he just loved to make us antsy about our missions.