Legends of the Dragonrealm, Vol II - By Richard A. Knaak Page 0,211

again.

The Seekers who came here have been taken care of. You will think of them no longer. It was the first voice, but there was no sign of the dragon form.

It will not be needed for this short time. You will listen, Dru Zeree of the Vraad. A wind picked up as the being spoke. I have removed the one called Darkhorse from this place and returned it to its own domain. It should have never come here. It does not belong.

“He did nothing to harm you!”

A strong gust blew a cloud of dirt into Dru’s face, blinding him and causing him to choke for a few seconds.

It… he… has not been harmed. We have merely placed him where he should be. His presence was only one more catalyst for chaos in something we have been commanded to preserve.

“You interfere quite easily for something that isn’t supposed to interfere!” the Vraad snapped. Darkhorse had aided him, had saved him several times. To be so carelessly removed was unfair to the ebony creature.

I leave you the elf, Vraad. That is all I can do for you. That your kind have breached their boundaries is a matter of importance. I must study what can be done to return things to what they were. If the Vraad are to succeed, they must follow the path set by the old ones.

Dru could not resist one more barb before his benefactor departed. “Things as they were? Complete collapse of your masters’ hopes is all that remains if you steer things back that way. We’re entering this world at this very moment. It’s too late to turn things back!”

A mocking laugh made the embittered sorcerer start. He knew it was not the laugh of the servant he had been speaking to. He knew which of the entities now enjoyed his discomfort.

It will be easier than you think!

He was alone in his mind again. Around him, the wind died abruptly, a sign that the guardians had abandoned him.

A moan behind him reminded Dru that he had been promised someone who could guide him.

“You… you are not an elf or one of those monsters, are you?”

The Vraad turned to his new companion. “Obviously not, as you can see.”

She was slighter than the dead female he had seen earlier, but identical in appearance otherwise. Her hair was bound back. Her eyes scoured his form, at last resting on his visage. Dru doubted that it was because she found him attractive.

“You are Vraad.”

He looked at her with renewed interest. “How did you know that?”

The elf rose, doubling the distance between them as she did. Loathing coated her words. “We thought we had left you behind forever! Now all of our work is for nothing! There’s nowhere left to hide! No hope of turning this insane sorcerer’s experiment in our favor!”

A knife materialized from her left hand. She had moved so quickly, Dru would have almost sworn it was magic.

“I will still get the satisfaction of killing you, though!”

XIII

I’VE GIVEN UP my future… and for what? The imbecilic child of an outsider!

Gerrod knelt behind a ridge on the outskirts of Melenea’s domain. She could not possibly know he was so near, not if his calculations based on his brother’s work were correct. This region would be in the midst of one of the greatest instabilities existing, nearly as great as the area where the fool Dru Zeree had vanished. Already, the hooded Tezerenee had caught glimpses of a ghostly elsewhere that he knew had to be the shrouded realm intruding into Nimth. Would that his father’s so-called Dragonrealm would fully overwhelm the decaying world. Then, at least that problem would be solved.

It would still not solve the Vraad problem concerning colonizing a land that Gerrod felt wanted nothing to do with his kind… and that was likely why he had finally, in the hours since his last words with his mother, chosen to stay clear of the city. Missing the cross-over had likely cost him his life, yet he had not cared enough to abandon his plan to rescue Zeree’s daughter.

There were more reasons than that. A matter of honor probably held as much sway as his insane fear of the land beyond the veil. His progenitor had questioned his abilities, and like any good Tezerenee, he had fallen into the trap of honor. He had gone out to redeem himself even if it meant his end.

Gerrod swore under his breath. He could go around and around with his reasons, some