"Kren" Part Sixteen: "Goldfire" Spoilers

 

Koppa bowed his head wryly.

“It was a miracle, of course,” he said. “And like all miracles, it took a lot to set it up so it could work.

“You may remember tales of the wizard Dunwolf, of course? Well, while Bharek was busy launching his attack against Morg City and the South, Dunwolf had formed a small company who travelled to the East with a different plan. He knew, you see, that this new push into the Free Lands was finally too strong for the weakened South to resist, that the Ogre Horde could very well overwhelm us all at last. Even if we survived, Bharek always found a way of coming back. So he decided this company must travel to the East, to Thoravil itself, and strike down the Black Lord where he sat on his dark throne.”

Kren looked appalled.

“Shyreen’s Shit!” he breathed. “What made him think they could do that?”

“What, indeed?” Koppa raised his eyebrows and sat back, clearly enjoying Kren’s reaction. “Dunwolf himself had never been powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with his old master through the centuries. And he was growing old, while Bharek was being preserved by his cursed armor, the Blackmight. But now he thought he knew where he could find the Goldfire.”

“The Goldfire? What’s that?”

“I’m not surprised you never heard of it. It was a powerful talisman, lost for ages and nearly forgotten. But now he thought he had it traced at last. With his young apprentice, as well as Taryn – General Taryn, as he was then – and the warrior Roth and the scholar Korm – both Morgs, like you – and a handful of brave men, they journeyed to the ruined city of Worthin, where the dragon Drang sat on his hoard of desolation. Here they hoped to find the Goldfire.”

“Now, Drang I’ve heard of,” Kren acknowledged. He looked skeptical. “But from what I have heard, entering his nest would be nearly as hopeless as walking through Thoravil’s front door.”

“Nearly, but not quite,” Koppa conceded. “In the end, the fire-drake was slain, but after a terrific struggle in which it was thought that Roth was lost.”

“But they got this Goldfire doohickie, eh?”

“No; that’s the pity of it. Before his death Drang revealed that nothing like it was in his hoard. Now, dragons never lie. They’re so powerful that the race never learned how, and a dragon knows what’s in his pile to the last penny. Even though the beast was destroyed, the company was left in despair.”