Book One -- A Gathering of Dreams

Chapter Eight:  Fury and Whispers

            In the hall waiting for Bleys and Singh to emerge, Saphir had been close to Karambi, sensing her strange connections to shadow.  Finally Saphir started to question her, when she proved unyielding and stubborn in her responses and unwillingness to commit.  Saphir snapped at her and walked off.

            Toeval adorned himself in chainmail, after showering.  He comes down to the front lawn where everyone is waiting and the dragons are gathering. Singh and Bleys emerge.

            They discuss and confirm next steps. The heroes decide to move chaosward, knowing that Nero can find them if he wants to. Time to wake the dragons. Karambi rides Tlak. She greets him and takes his chin in her hand and they silently seem to talk.  Saphir picks up on the "buzz" of their interaction in what seems like a negotiation of a limited partnership.

            Singh asks if Karambi knew more of Chaos than she and her companions.  Karambi affirms that she does.  Karambi says that we should come to the King of Chaos bearing gifts.  We debate on what gift to you get for the man who wants to undo everything??

            Saphir suggests a ruin of a copy Amber Shadow.  But Bleys warns that the Lord of Chaos could use anything given him as a deadly tool against Amber. Saphir realizes this, but seems pleased that this implies that the Princes and Princess of Amber possess a power that he would want.  Saphir wants some power in their pocket when they get there.

            Off they go, Singh leads the way towards a shadow with Dragon's Teeth that grow armies -- skeletal armies -- as they have learned that Lord Of Chaos likes those too.  In leading on the shadow shift, Singh seriously falters, seemingly the novice (which she isn't) causing others concern for her.  Karambi seems close by and at the ready.  But as Singh shifted the sun down and the moon up she seems to steady out.  Others take notice of this but can only surmise and guess at what goes on within her.

            The shift evolves with a caravan off in the distance.  A second moon appears.  The sea is off to the left.  There is a strong scent of magic in the air.  Lots of magic in the air, and in every thing -- plant, rock, and river.  They start moving towards the ruins a place reeking of death, betrayal... Rown, Orin and Plat (three of the dragons) get nervous.  Then Tlak and Karambi disappear -- fading into shadow.  But somehow still there, Saphir senses.  They get hit with the pungent smell of rotting flesh.  Toeval moves the dragons into fighting formation.

            Up from the water launches an enormous serpent, decayed with holes in it, bones sticking out or uncovered by flesh, dead ships can be seen in it.  It's putrid!  It is huge and lurches at them.  And breathes out decayed putrid snotty sludge that hits Zert, who falters.  Saphir attempts to move Shrek in dive towards the beast, but vectoring across Zert to maybe help Singh.  But Shrek is staying in formation, so Saphir does only thing he can -- he flings Dathos (his sword) at the Serpent's head and hits it in the eye.

            Singh jumps to the isle as Zert is going down, Ekin and Loddik helping. As the battle rages on in full earnest, the dragons and their riders are breathing and striking.  Toeval eventually signals the dragons to surrender formation and be as effective as they can.  Meanwhile as they pile up strikes, breathing and damage on the main head, more heads begin to emerge and join the fray.  Many more heads!!

            Ekin, and Toeval do some great flying dodging and striking as their dragons' breathe and dodge in graceful coordination. Some of the dragons get hit, with one injured and down.  Saphir with Shrek, come up from behind and rip at its neck.  Saphir jumps onto its spine and climbs to its eye.  Getting Dathos, ripping into its head and down into its cranium.  Then leaps back out, into open air, where Shrek, as if planned, fetches him form the sky.  Much to Saphir's relief!

            The fight has continued and escalated -- more heads attacking, dragons everywhere and an incredible sense of luck in the air.. in the very shadow itself!  Singh is on the isle, past the menagerie, and is getting teeth as the rest fight.

            Feeling soooo lucky, Saphir takes Shrek under arcing the attention of the heads as they focus on the dragons and the moving behemoth body arcs in that direction as well.  Saphir and Shrek dive, and eventually reached the massive underbelly.  He rams into it and drives towards its inner belly hacking and slicing all the way, and holding his breath.

            Eventually he reaches the center and finds a heart of sorts, but it's more a sphere of white glassy energy substance.  After testing it a little, Saphir strikes with Dathos and shatters it into soap like residue.  He flees fast and gets to Shrek as the huge body is sinking fast.  They make good their escape.

            They surface and find the others.  Singh has been eagerly gathering as many of the teeth as she could before Ekin nagged her into leaving. The Serpent's heads drop into the water, dead.
 

            Nero awoke, walked around for awhile, found a woman sitting in a dead tree, very pretty.  Nero gave  her a flower, and said "I am Nero.  Will you join me for a walk?"

            She said yes, and said that she owed him something for bringing her brother to her.

            Nero said, "Take me to the ruler of the garden."

            She answered, "If you were in the ruler's presence you wouldn't survive."

            Nero said, "You don't know the nature of beings such as I."

            She said she did and that she insinuated that she was really beyond that.

            Nero asked, "What can you do for me then?"

            She somehow let Nero know that she was ruler for the dead.

            So Nero said, "I want to see my father."

            She said that will cost you.

            He responded, "But you owe me a favor."

            She said it will still cost you your life, which Nero said is yours anyway if
you are death.

            She took him into a folding time/space journey -- went to some hill where
everyone had a place to keep reliving some part of their lives. Found Eric fighting a major battle of amber.

            Nero said, "I am your son and need your advice."

            Eric seemed to believe this.  Nero explained that some big threat was going to destroy Amber.  Eric said that always happens every few hundred years.  Eric didn't have much to add that would be helpful but Nero noticed the jewel around his neck.

            When he reached for it, it started pulsating more, just as Nero had been
discussing his strange circulatory system.  So Nero figured that it was tied into his current condition somehow.  Nero asked Death if he could take something out of this place.

            She said "You can only take out of here what you are willing to leave."

            He said "What?  What's the price?"

            "Your life," she replied.

            "You already have that!"  Eric yelled,  "No!  Wait  Don't..."

            She froze him/everything and clarified, "Once you die, you won't come here.  You will just cease to exist!"

            Nero said, "...It's a deal."

            She responded, "its a deal, young Nero."

            So he grabbed the jewel.

            Eric yelled, "No, wait!" then disappeared.  Everything disappeared.

            Nero concentrated on the jewel and walked back through the garden and on pattern.  Next thing he knew, he was severely exhausted and woke up with his guard on a beach of a small village that they had stopped off at.

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