Page 22 of The Emerald Dragon Prince
“What do we do now?” I asked Emmerich as Gildur created a doorway to take Saoirse back into the magical world.
There was a sudden, bright light as the doorway opened. For half a second, I felt calm and content. I wanted to rush through the doorway into the magical world so I could return to the castle, birth my egg, and live in peace and accord for the rest of my days. But the doorway quickly closed, leaving all of us in the same confused and conflicted state we were in before.
“We have to find a way to end this battle immediately,” Osric answered me.
Emmerich and I both turned to face him as he shifted to sweep all of us with a look. Osric glanced past us to his frozen army as well. Everyone within sight was still paused, their bodies stretched and extended in battle poses. Even those closer to us, like Bronnen and Nikkos, were as still as statues, looks of concern and panic on their faces.
“Now that we know Nazeing is fighting on Freslik’s side, it changes everything,” Osric went on, his voice heavy with defeat. “That bastard has already turned my army against itself. If we let the battle continue, good men will die needlessly. It has to end.”
“What can we do to end it but fight?” Leo asked, looking like he was ready to continue and win the war all by himself.
“We can surrender,” Osric said in a low voice.
The effect of his words was immediate and strong.
“What? No!” Obi shouted, his eyes wide. “We can’t just give up.”
“I’m ready to fight if you are, cousin,”Argus said, still managing to find humor in the situation as he smirked at Osric.
“Are we certain surrender is the best option?” Azurus asked. “Surely, there are other things we can try.”
A flicker of movement where there shouldn’t have been any caught my eye. I turned to seek out what it might have been, but all I saw was the statue version of Nikkos with Bronnen and a few others behind him.
I narrowed my eyes and studied Nikkos more intently. He was breathing. I could see the gentle rise and fall of his chest, even though the rest of him was frozen completely. As I continued to stare, he blinked.
I caught my breath and glanced at Emmerich, wondering if he’d seen the same thing. If Nikkos wasn’t completely paused, it had to mean he had some sort of magic in him. He could be another magnifier for Nazeing.
Another thought struck me. Nazeing was an omega. If he was powerful enough to turn an entire army against itself and to use someone who had lost their magic as a magnifier, maybe he could disguise himself so completely that not even someone like Emmerich, who had known him in the past, would recognize him.
I glanced back at Nikkos, who was still breathing. A surge of excitement laced with panic swirled around me. Was it possible the darkest sorcerer of all time, the traitor in our midst, was actually in our midst at that moment and had heard our entire conversation?
“Whatever decision we make,” Rufus was saying as my attention turned back to my brothers and their mates, “we have to make it now. The pausing spell is already breaking.”
My excitement deflated a bit. Rufus was right. All around us, the soldiers were beginning to twitch and breathe and blink. There was nothing special orsuspicious about Nikkos. Everyone was moving ever so slightly now.
“You cannot surrender,” Diamant said, as if continuing an argument that had begun when I wasn’t paying attention. “What good would it do?”
“It would stop this battle,” Osric answered right away. “It would spare the lives of good men who have been tricked into turning against each other.”
“And it would convince Freslik that you believe yourself to be defeated,” Emmerich said. I felt a sense of cleverness and cunning from him through our stretched bond that told me he sensed something deeper in Osric’s plan.
Osric grinned at him. “Precisely,” he said.
Another sweep of surprise hit the rest of us.
“You intend to allow yourself to be captured so you can find a way to fight against Freslik from the inside,” Argus said, nodding sagely.
“It’s too risky,” Tovey said, shaking his head. “Father will have you thrown in the dungeon and guarded.”
“He’ll put a chain around your neck, like the one he used with Argus, because you’re…you’re a dragon, right?” Obi asked, gazing at Osric in awe.
“He likely will,” Osric said. “But fortunately for me, I have strong allies who will remain united apart from Freslik and his pet sorcerer. You can follow shortly behind me, find a secret way into the castle, and both rescue me and bring an army to subdue Freslik with you.”
Nikkos twitched, which was even more of an indication that the pausing spell was failing.
“There isn’t time to debate it,” Osric said, starting forward through his men. “I will walk into Freslik’s camp before this spell breaks. He’ll be surprised to see me there,offering myself for surrender, and he’ll order the battle to stop.”
We launched into motion, following him through the softening soldier statues. It felt strange to walk through the unfinished battle.
