Page 87 of Killian
“Chand, tell me. What happened?”
“You want to know?” Egann shouted. “I will tell you. Egidius is dead!”
Killian sucked in a shocked breath and waited for Chander to dispute Egann’s words, but the Arch Lich swallowed thickly instead.
“Both Egidius and Jael are dead,” Chander stated, his pewter eyes both furious and sorrowful.
Around Killian, leaders appeared, and Egann was forced to repeat the solemn news. It was doing nothing to temper his fury. Unsure whether to first seek or offer comfort, Killian stood helpless as he thought of the once-cranky wizard who’d learned through loss after loss the importance of opening himself up to family. Egidius was as loved as any other person in the room, and now he was gone. So was his beloved son.
By the time Kaedan returned and everyone was gathered, including his familiar, the Grand Warlock was weeping as he coaxed people into chairs. Killian flopped into a tall chair.
“Arch Wizard Egidius of Giles is gone,” Kaedan said, his voice tight. “He did not die alone. Jael of Giles and many other people within Castle Giles have perished. Others were wounded, but I have healed them.”
A missive popped up in front of Kaedan’s face, and he unrolled it quietly. Then he cleared his throat.
“Fate has been swift,” Kaedan remarked. “Arch Wizard William Vadimas has been picked as Egidius’s successor. I will inform him and his family that they must see to their people first. We will worry about arrangements for funeral pyres and formally adding the new ruler of the Circle of Wizards as soon as is feasible.”
Egann slammed his fists on the table. “Why are you not angry, Kaedan? It takes nothing more than a slight offense to have you shouting down the rafters. But here we are. A dragon has found the castle of a Council leader. Castle Giles is not so far from any of our homes. Who will be next? Will my people suffer the loss of another Magus Superus?”
“I did not say I wasn’t furious, Egann. But yelling will not bring Egidius back. We must focus on what we can do.”
“Yes, people are hurting, and we must help,” Kalthekor said.
“The survivors need a place to sleep. What of the new Arch Wizard? It would be safer, perhaps, to build a new castle elsewhere,” Conley remarked.
Egann hopped to his feet. “Tell me where we are safe, Reverent Knight. Is it not your duty to ensure we are unharmed? Or am I mistaken?”
“Egann, I understand your fear and anger,” Killian said, his own emotions twisting as his heart refused to accept whathad happened. “We share your feelings, but we must remain calm. Our job is to aid those on this side of the veil. Fate gave us that duty. She will care for the dead.”
“Yes, we remain calm. We sit here on our arses. We make our plans. Then a dragon comes along and destroys everything we’ve built. These pitiful beasts are burning everything around us, but yes, let’s accept that we have no choice. That our duty is to the living only. Do not mourn the dead. Fate planned this. Well, she is either a bitch of a goddess or we are fools to be at the mercy of dragons.”
“Egann, calm yourself,” Drystan stated firmly, his blue eyes narrowing at the enraged mage. “The choice is to tend to our people or give in to the festering emotions the dragons want us to embrace. I am sure they would love a war with far more casualties than they can manage now. We will not fall into their plans. We are better than that.”
“Says the man who was a dragon himself. The Emperor of these foul creatures. How do we know you are not telling them where to find us? They conveniently found our trail, but until now they have burned villages alone. It took a century and a half to find a giant castle when we have many?”
“Do not accuse me and my mate of having anything to do with marauding dragons,” Conley warned, slowly rising to his feet. “We were murdered by the same men who started these attacks. Why would they have our loyalty? Chand offered us a second chance. Think you we are so foolish as to waste it? I cannot say why or how they plan their attacks. But know this—if I could stop it, I would not hesitate.”
“I cannot abide another meeting where we are satisfied with no retaliation,” Egann cried. “How do I explain our indolence to my people?”
“It is not indolence to decide not to engage in a war which will kill many innocent people,” Kolsten stated.
“We are dying anyway,” Egann shouted. “Kaedan, do you care? Do you? Each day you have your meetings where we tally the dead and worry about how many apples they want at the next dance. Where is the leadership? Why must we continue to suffer such torments while you sit on your arse in front of the fire munching on cakes?”
With his teeth clenched, Kaedan shoved his chair back, and it scraped loudly across the wooden floor. His shoulders lifted as he sucked in a deep breath. Then he locked his furious navy gaze on Egann’s red face.
“You will not prod me into a senseless war,” Kaedan bit out. “I did not ask to be preyed upon by dragons. None of us did. My people have no appetite for battle. What about the rest of you? Do your people want to take up arms and hunt dragons? How do we tell friend from foe? Do we kill any that cross our path? What of the druids? They are intrinsically tied to dragons now. How many lives will you sacrifice? How much loss will you suffer to keep from feeling the fear and pain inside you now?”
“We are stronger than them,” Egann shouted.
“Do you think we don’t know that?” Chander demanded. “We cannot be in every village at once. Their attacks are sporadic, and they are not working together. These are dragons with no leadership. Rogue pockets of festering evil. They leave behind destruction, then disappear again. We have burned the pyres of many dragons, Egann. They still keep coming.”
“Kaedan, we live on the land of our ancestors. No one knows that better than you. If the answer is not to fight, we must go somewhere they are unwilling or are unable to follow,” Lorcan said. “My people have suffered persecution long before dragons became an enemy. It is why we traveled so much and so far.”
“Lorcan, only a vast ocean would stop a dragon,” Aristos replied.
Killian swallowed thickly and worried. His life was already straddled between a dragon court and The Council. What if more separated him from Dravyn?
“Humans have traveled the globe,” Egann pointed out. “It was not too many decades ago they found various land masses. Perhaps we should contact them and learn if we would be welcome elsewhere.”
