Connery stood on the deck of the ship watching his breath. It was getting steadily colder the farther north they went. The small thief figured that the ship was only a day or so from the Northern Iceberg. He shoved his hands inside the heavy coat he had been given and sighed. Black armored knights flanked him on both sides making sure he was watched at all times. Connery's right ear twitched at the sound of feet shuffling in his direction. He could smell Scorn before the Pestilence Dragon even neared him.
"I will watch the thief," he rasped from beneath his cowl. "You are dismissed." The knights all saluted and walked away.
During their brief stop in Horam, Miraje had picked up Scorn and informed the Demon Dragon of the change in circumstances. The Dragon had insisted on accompanying them. Connery hadn't liked it, but he had adjusted his plan to suit it. At this time, however, he was finding it hard not to vomit from Scorn's decaying stench.
"You are bothered by my presence, Dragon Knight," observed Scorn. "Good."
"What do you want, Scorn?" asked Connery. "I've already told your cronies where the Aura is located. Have you come to finish me off?"
"On the contrary, boy," replied Scorn. "I just wish to speak with you. Be assured that I will kill you, eventually, but only after I have the White Dragon's Aura in my hands." A chuckle came from beneath the cowl. "You are known to be a trickster, thief. If there are any traps awaiting us at the cave, I want you to be the first to intercept them."
"Gee, I didn't know you cared," mumbled Connery. He turned his head and looked up at the Demon Dragon. "Since we are being so conversational, Scorny, mind if I ask a question?"
A blistered hand suddenly shot out and grabbed Connery by the neck. "I think not, Dragon Knight," he hissed. "Don't even try to play your word games with me." He lifted Connery into the air, walked over to a pair of knights, and dropped the thief on the deck. "Take him below to the others. He's had enough air."
The two knights took Connery by the shoulders and escorted him below deck to the brig. The cell door was opened, and Connery was tossed inside. He landed with a thud next to Itise and Alleia. The knights laughed and closed the door. The small thief rolled off of his head and back on to his rear with a groan. "Ow."
"So, how was the fresh air?" asked Itise.
"Ha, ha," replied Connery sarcastically. He shifted his body into a sitting position and crossed his legs. "You two better get ready. We'll be at the Iceberg by tomorrow."
Alleia padded over to him. "Okay, smart guy. Are you going to let us in on your big plan yet?"
The thief shook his head. "Sorry, kiddo. Need to know basis. Just be ready to act when I tell you." He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "Let's get some sleep. We're gonna need all the energy we can get tomorrow."
Alleia sighed and curled up next to him. Itise slid into a corner and pulled his legs up to his chest. "Why do I have this sinking feeling all of a sudden?" he asked no one in particular.
"Start moving, Dragon Knight!" ordered Miraje. The Shadow Knight was in his dark armor with his sword drawn. He pointed the weapon at Connery. "Take us to the cave and no tricks."
Connery stared down Miraje for a moment. He finally averted his gaze and started into the snow covered plains. Miraje, Arguile, Scorn, and ten black knights followed after him. Alleia landed on his left shoulder and dug her claws into it, and Itise was to his right. Connery looked over his shoulder at his foes and made the mental note that none of them held his Spear.
That means it's still on the ship, he thought. I'll worry about that later. First, I have to ditch those goons.
The trek to the Cave of the White Dragon took a little less than an hour. As they neared the entrance, Connery could not help but remember the last two times he had been there. The first time they had fought a large demon left by Ziatoch, and the second time they had battled one of Ziatoch's lieutenants. And if things were going to proceed as the thief hoped, they would soon be facing two Demon Knights and one Demon Dragon.
"I gotta remember never to come back here again after today," muttered Connery. "Too many bad memories."
"What?" asked Alleia.
"Nothing," Connery replied with a shake of his head. "Almost time," he told her in a whispered voice.
The thief stiffened when he felt a sword tip between his shoulder blades. "What's the hold up, Dragon Knight?" asked Miraje.
Connery raised his hands above his head. "Ruby placed a shield around the entrance. I need to use my Crest to lower it." He looked over his shoulder at the double of his friend. "May I?"
He was answered by a kick to the back. The thief fell forward, and Alleia was thrown from his shoulder. "Make it quick," ordered Miraje.
Connery slowly got back to his feet and brushed the snow from his pants. He reached beneath his gray tunic and pulled out the White Dragon's Crest. None of his captors had been able to touch it, so he had been able to retain it. He touched the Crest and was surrounded by a white flash. The White Dragon Knight stood before the cave entrance in his full armor with an ethereal white glow around him. Connery carefully pushed at the invisible shield in front of the entrance. Sensing the power of the White Dragon, the shield disappeared immediately.
The glow around the Dragon Knight faded, and he turned to his keepers. "The shield is down. We can continue."
"Good," rasped Scorn from within his rags. "You first, boy."
Alleia reclaimed her perch on Connery's shoulder as he entered the cave. He glanced to his right and noted how far away Itise was. The other young man was less than ten feet away, but he was flanked by two knights. Connery nodded to himself and returned his attention to his surroundings.
The cave had not changed at all over the years. The caverns were still made from walls of ice and rock that glistened like diamonds. Connery could see the cave's guardian monsters lurking about in the distance. The beasts were giving the strange party a wide birth and not causing any trouble. The cavern walls began to spread out more with other passages visible along them. The path also took on a slight angle, which indicated descent. The thief made a quick glance around the room. It was now or never.
He suddenly stopped and threw out his hands. "Stop!" he shouted. "There's a trap here! Stand back, and I'll disarm it." He lowered his arms and grasped the Crest. "Get ready," he told Alleia through clenched teeth. "Link yourself with me and cause a cave-in using your power over the cave." Alleia made a small nod and closed her eyes.
The ethereal glow appeared around them, except this time it was much brighter. Connery felt Alleia take a firm grip on the Crest's powers and release them all over the cavern. The whole area suddenly started to shake violently. The first of the stalactites started to fall, and Connery flew into action. He grabbed Alleia in his hands and darted towards the knights guarding Itise. The White Knight heard cries from both Demon Knights and Dragon, but ignored them all the same. With one smooth slide tackle, Connery took out both knights around Itise.
The White Knight scrambled back to his feet and pushed Itise forward. "Start running!" he shouted. Good sized boulders were now falling all around the group.
Connery winced as he heard an energy discharge behind him followed by an inhuman roar that probably belonged to Scorn. An extremely large boulder crashed down next to the fleeing friends. Holding Alleia in his left hand, Connery grabbed Itise with his right one and forced them all to the ground. He pulled his white trench coat over all of them and concentrated on blending in with the cave floor.
"Keep very still and don't make a sound," he warned his companions quietly.
Soon after, the cave-in stopped. There were several explosions behind the hidden trio along with a series of angry shouts.
"You fools!" thundered Scorn. "How could you let this happen?"
"Us?" shouted Miraje and Arguile. "What about you?" accused Miraje. "You said you had everything under control!"
"Enough of this pointless bickering!" snapped Arguile. "That little bastard is probably already half way to the Aura by now. Can you sense that damn Aura at all, Scorn?"
There was a pause. "Yes," said the Pestilence Dragon, finally. "It is in this direction. Come."
Connery waited until all the footsteps were out of earshot. He loosed a long breath and got to his feet. The floor seemed to move for a moment, and then the three of them were standing all alone amidst the rubble.
"Have I ever said you were crazy, Connery?" asked Alleia.
The White Knight smiled down at her. "Not lately." He took several steps towards a nearby passage. "Come on, you two. Ruby gave me instructions to where she hid the Aura in here."
"We'd better hurry," suggested Itise. "The other's already have a head start on us." Connery was still smiling. "What?" asked Itise.
"No they don't," chimed the White Knight. "They're heading for the old location of the Aura. Ruby told me that when she moved it, there would be some residual power traces at the old spot. Scorny's going the wrong way." He nodded at the passage ahead. "We want to go this way."
The other two followed the White Knight down the tunnel. Sensing who Alleia was, the remaining cave guardians did not harass the trio. It was not much longer until Connery stopped at a small pool of ice. He looked from side to side once before driving a white boot through it. A beam of white light burst up from the ice and hit Alleia. She let out a surprised cry when the beam hit her.
"Ahhhhh! What is this thing doing to me?"
Connery would have gladly told her if he could only see her. The white beam had been replaced by a white glow that was slowly spreading throughout the whole tunnel. Connery squeezed his eyes shut as the glow went over him.
"Somebody get me out of here!" screamed Alleia. That was when Connery felt the teleportation magic spirit him away.
Scorn suddenly stopped running. The Demon Dragon slowly looked back in the direction he had just come from.
"What's the matter, Scorn?" asked Miraje.
The Pestilence Dragon didn't bother to respond to the Shadow Knight's query. Instead, he turned around and started walking back. With every step he took, Scorn started growing in size. The tattered rags fell away to reveal deathly, gray scales. A tail shot out behind him, and a pair of wings sprouted from his back. The cavern floor began cracking from the stress, and the walls started vibrating from the strength of the Demon Dragon's steps.
"Your aura will be mine, White Dragon," he growled as he continued his transformation.
Alleia opened her eyes and looked around. Her next breath caught in her throat when she saw that "around" was almost a couple of hundred feet below her. The White Dragon of Althena looked down at her new body with complete awe. Sleek, snow white fur covered layers of pearl white scales. A pair of brown stripes ran up and down her back joining at the end of her snout. She gingerly reached up and touched the two white horns rising out of the sides of her head.
"Wow!" Alleia rumbled. The White Dragon jumped at the sound of her own voice.
Alleia spread her feather tipped wings and flapped them lightly. What could only be described as a toothy grin appeared on her face. "This rocks!" she roared.
"Hey, Alleia!" came Connery's voice from below. The dragon tilted her head down and saw the White Knight waving up at her.
She lowered herself down to his level. "Connery! Check me out!" The force of her roar blew both the thief and Itise back ten yards. "Oops. Sorry, guys," she said in a lower tone.
Connery picked himself up and brushed the snow from his coat and armor. "It's okay, Alleia." He stopped walking towards her as the ground started shaking. "Can you fly?" he asked quickly.
Alleia flapped her wings again. "No problem." She crouched down on all fours. "Climb on guys." Connery and Itise quickly scurried on to her back. The White Dragon felt her charges grab handfuls of her fur. "Hold on tight!" and she launched herself into the clear blue sky.
Moments later the mountain behind them exploded, and the Pestilence Dragon flew high into the air. Alleia chanced a quick glance behind her. "That jerk!" she cried. "He just put a huge hole in my new cave!"
She was about to turn and chase after Scorn, but Connery's words stopped her. "Wait a sec, Alleia. You're going to get your chance against him, but you need to lose Itise and me first."
"What should I do?" asked the Dragon of Althena.
"Get us over the ship," he shouted. "I need to get my Spear."
Alleia banked left towards the ship they had arrived on. "You two gonna be all right?"
She felt Connery pat her back. "Don't worry, kid. The Demon Knights are still in the cave. We can handle their goons no problem."
"Speak for yourself," interjected Itise.
Connery laughed. "Don't worry, Itise. Just follow my lead and you'll be just fine." Alleia heard Itise groan.
The ship was now in sight. "Take us in low, and we'll jump off!" Connery told her.
"Right!" Wings pulled in close, Alleia swooped down just in front of the ship. Connery made a loud whoop and jumped from her back. The whoop was followed by a scream from Itise, who had probably been pulled along by the small thief. The White Dragon allowed herself a small grin before looping around back towards her cave.
Hovering above the large hole in the mountain was all two hundred fifty plus feet of the Pestilence Dragon. She could see the muscles rippling under the demon's death gray scales. Scorn roared in anger and flew right at her. Now, Alleia had never taken part in a battle such as this, but she still had experience. Using her Aura, she drew upon the memories of all the White Dragons of Althena before her. Despite the seriousness of her current situation, Alleia shed a single tear as she accessed the memories of her father.
Even though she had never met Nall, Alleia suddenly felt very close to the spirit of her father. And it just so happened that his memories supplied the tactics she needed. Scorn was large and very powerful, but Alleia was smaller and faster. That, combined with the fact they were fighting on her turf, gave the White Dragon the advantage. Brief flashes of her father battling a bigger and stronger Ziatoch showed her that agility, used wisely, could beat a larger foe. The first time Nall had faced Ziatoch, the former White Dragon of Althena had used his smaller size to tire out and beat the Green Dragon.
"Thanks for the pep talk, dad," whispered Alleia.
The two dragons were heading right for each other. At the last second, Alleia barrel rolled right and propelled herself north. She didn't even bother to see of Scorn was following. His continuous roar of anger told her everything.
Alleia mentally looked over a few of the choice "phrases" she had learned from Connery and shouted back at Scorn. "Time to play Follow the Leader, you scaly bastard!"
She flapped her wings hard and led the Pestilence Dragon on a chase across the snow covered plains. Wind pressing her fur flat against her body, Alleia soared over the snowy plains with Scorn hot on her heels. She banked left, increased her altitude, and flew towards the mountains. Alleia closed her eyes and stretched out with her senses. She became one with the elements around her. She could feel the snow and the wind as if they were extensions of her own being.
The closer they came to the mountains, the deeper the snowdrifts became. Alleia suddenly had an idea. The White brought her wings in close and dove for the snowdrifts. A quick look back confirmed that Scorn was following. Alleia stopped her descent and was flying just fifty feet from the ground. Scorn roared yet again.
"Will you shut up, already!" she shouted back at him. To bring home her point, Alleia summoned a series of snow geysers. The pillars of snow shot straight up and slammed into Scorn's underside. Alleia tipped her left wing and spun around to face Scorn.
The geysers were repeatedly hitting the Demon Dragon and literally juggling him. Alleia finally released a roar of her own as she passed him. The White Dragon banked left once more, wrapped her tail around Scorn's neck, and flew straight for the nearest mountain. At her current speed, the mountainside came up fast. Alleia went vertical just feet from the mountainside and put all her strength into swinging her tail. The still dazed Scorn didn't even have time to breathe as Alleia slammed him into the mountain.
The impact of the Demon Dragon on the mountainside caused an instantaneous avalanche. Alleia leveled out above the mountain and watched with contained glee as Scorn was swallowed up by the snow. Just to be on the safe side, the White Dragon took a deep breath and released a cone of ice from her maw. She made sure to cover the entire area of the avalanche in a very thick sheet of ice.
"That should hold him for a while," Alleia told herself. "Time to get the boys and get out of here." With a flick of her tail and a flap of her wings, Alleia turned and headed back to the ship.
A minute later she landed next to the vessel. Connery and Itise were waiting for her on the deck. Bodies of black armored knights were scattered all around the ship. Connery was standing there with his Spear across his shoulders, and Itise was pacing back and forth nervously. As soon as Alleia touched down, both of them ran to her.
"Alleia!" cried Itise. "Thank the Goddess!" He stopped at her right hind leg and started climbing up. "Let's get out of here before those two Demon Knights show up!" Alleia gave him a helping claw on to her back. The boy thanked her and took a firm grip on her fur.
Connery, using his enhanced agility, jumped on to Alleia's back and seated himself next to Itise. "Where's Scorn?" he asked.
"Taking a snow and ice bath," replied the White Dragon of Althena. "He never laid a claw on me," she bragged triumphantly.
She could hear Connery chuckle. "Well, do you wanna to go for round two?"
Alleia thought about it for a second and shook her head. "Not really. I think Scorny's gonna be really mad when he's free again. That, and I don't think he'll fall for the same trick twice." She did her best to frown. "Considering I've never really done this before, I don't think I'd stand a chance in a real fight."
"Good choice," agreed Connery. "Let's get a move on." Without another word, Alleia launched herself and her passengers into the sky.
"Where are we going now?" asked Itise.
Alleia fell into a steady rhythm of flapping and soared through the air at an unbelievable speed. "I can sense what direction my mom's in," she told her friends. "I think it's time we went back to Vane."
Connery ruffled her fur. "Alleia? Have I ever told you that you're almost as smart as I am?" He started laughing.
"Well, women do know best," she countered.
"Ha!" cried Connery. "Give her a pair of big wings, and she thinks she's all grown up. You know, Itise, I think all women, no matter what species, have the genetic code for arrogance."
"What's a genetic code?" questioned Itise.
"I'm gonna tell mom and Carla you said that," warned Alleia.
"So what?" snapped Connery. "I'm not scared of those two."
And so the White Dragon Knight and the newest Dragon of Althena continued their playful bickering as they flew through the sky towards the magic city of Vane.
Miraje and Arguile slowly walked out of the White Dragon's Cave and back to the surface of the Northern Iceberg. The Shadow Knight huffed as he scanned the landscape. The mountain behind them shook violently, and a furious roar soon filled their ears. It was not long before Scorn landed in front of the cave.
"She beat you," said Miraje flatly. "Didn't she?"
"Quiet, mortal!" roared the Demon Dragon. There was a swirl of gray mist around Scorn, and he soon reappeared in his human form. "I underestimated the White Dragon," he snapped from within the folds of his cowl. "I will not make the same mistake twice."
"So what do we do now?" asked Arguile. His Blood Armor rippled. "We've lost both the Dragon and the Dragon Knight."
Miraje reached into the pouch at his side and produced the green sphere. "We still have what is most important, my friend," he stated. "Lord Kole will over look the loss of the other two as soon as he sees the Green Resurrection Stone."