Dragon Magus 3 by King DB

Author:King, DB
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-12-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Cyrano was waiting for Raphael outside the inn. The captain had a worried look on his face.

“There you are!” he cried as he spotted Raphael emerging through the opened screen doors. “We’d better go to Janan right away.”

“Why? We’re not late, are we?” Raphael asked. “Didn’t she say an hour after dawn? Dawn just arrived.”

Cyrano pointed wordlessly up at the Defiant Citadel. Raphael looked skyward, and he couldn’t stop the gasp of surprise that fell from his lips.

Cast against the early morning sun, a chimera’s massive, shapeless form roiled and writhed above the Defiant Citadel. Gray, featureless tendrils coiled and spiraled from the creature’s body as it circled the floating fortress, hanging back just beyond the curtain walls of force.

A chimera! But that only means that one of the Grand Principalities is here! Raphael thought.

“It’s Huo Xian. The Thirteenth Chimeric Grand Prince,” Cyrano said. “He arrived this morning, with a small entourage riding that thing. Janan’s none-too-happy to see him, and Premier Matsumoto won’t be too impressed either. If things go badly, a fight could break out.”

Raphael looked at the chimera again. Huo Xian’s was called Tian Mo. All across the curtain wall battlements, Hell Drakes armsmen with bows and spears and mages with readied spells faced down Tian Mo. If the chimera attacked, many Hell Drakes would die, even if they did eventually manage to overwhelm and slay the creature.

And then there was Huo Xian, the vain, mercurial, and murderously violent Grand Prince. At their last meeting, Huo Xian had been trying to kill him, Eliza, and Fenix. Raphael had managed to convince the Grand Prince to change his mind, only for Sylvia to swoop in, rip off the lower half of his silken robes, and force him to flee, crying in shame and anger.

“Do you know what he wants?” Raphael asked.

“You, actually.” Cyrano clenched his jaw. “He arrived an hour ago, stormed into Janan’s command center, and started asking for you by name. Should we gather the others? If he really wants a fight, we’ll give him a fight.”

“No, Cyrano.” Raphael shook his head. “A battle against someone as powerful as him can only end badly. Let’s go find out what he wants.”

They made their way hurriedly toward Nihako’s city hall. Ginerva joined them along the way. Surprisingly, the mage had Gabriella in tow as well. Dark rings clouded the bottom of the princess’s eyes, and she was pale with fatigue and worry.

“Raph!” Gabriella cried. “It’s about Sylvia. I can’t heal her!”

“Is there anything you can do for her at all, Gabby?” Raphael asked, trying to decide if he should turn around, roust Shiomi out of bed, and fly immediately to Lucia City with Sylvia.

“Some of the Hell Drakes mages skilled in Time Magic cast a stasis spell on her, so that she won’t get worse, at least for now,” Gabriella said. “But stasis spells last only a day or two at most. After that, they can’t be cast on her again for another week or so.”

“We’d better go meet Huo Xian first,” Ginerva chimed in.

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