Tales of the Lorekeepers 01 - Rise of the Red Dragon

statue, frozen in time. His face had no expression on it and his skin was a ghastly white, traced with darkened and corrupted blood vessels.
    Uther asked the men with him to withdraw from the tent and find his brother, leaving him alone with the two heroes. He did not know the nature of the dark forces gripping the bodies of his friends, but he had a feeling Myrddin would be the only one able to help them. For the next hour, he sat between them, his sword across his knees, praying to God that he would save these two young men whose lives had been unfairly cut short. For a long time, the man who would father a hero cried and wept, for this night should have been one of celebration, not of mourning.
    Behind him, unseen by his mortal eyes, Angeline hovered a few feet above the ground, also praying and weeping. “You should have warned me,” she said.
    Her complaint was addressed to another mysterious being, one who remained unseen even by the little fairy. Even though she could not perceive his physical form, she felt him in the tent, along with her and the humans. A deep, solemn voice replied.
    “You know very well I cannot intervene in your affairs, Angeline,” it said.
    “He’s only a boy. He is still new to this, and he doesn’t yet understand all the dangers of his new role. You could have told me the Yfel had given magical powers to their own man.”
    The voice did not answer.
    “I could have trained him properly, taught him how to fight a sorcerer,” continued the fairy. “If only I had warned him of things to come, maybe he could have avoided a direct confrontation with our enemy.”
    “You did your best, Angeline. The rules are very strict.”
    “Sometimes I hate this world and its rules. Right now, they don’t make one bit of sense to me.”
    “Yes, I know you are not keen on following them. I must warn you that you are walking a very fine line. Be careful of the choice you make, for the consequences could be harmful to you and others.”
    Angeline looked up at the sky, her eyes filled with tears, as well as anger toward this being, who did not seem to see the tragic side of the night’s events.
    “So what if I broke a rule or two?” she said. “I would do it again. Who are we to ask others to sacrifice themselves for the safety of our world? Is it fair to pluck beings from other worlds and bring them into our own, just to repair our mistakes or protect our way of life? Tell me!”
    “It is not your place to question us, nor to question what is fair or unfair, fata. We all have our reasons for the things we do.”
    Abruptly, the unseen being left the tent. Angeline knew she was now free of its presence, for she no longer had goose bumps covering her skin. She did not know much about this creature, who was like an overseer to her, but the more she interacted with it, the more she hated this being.
    “If Sam dies, I will find you,” she whispered.
    As she pronounced these words, Uther opened his eyes and raised his head. He turned around, looking at the empty tent behind him. For some reason, he could have sworn he had heard something, a murmur in the wind. He slowly turned back to the bed where Samuel lay.
    For some inexplicable reason, maybe because of the shivers he felt down his neck, Uther was convinced something or someone was there, a presence that might or might not be friendly. His guts told him not to worry, but his experience cried out for caution. He was putting a hand on the hilt of his sword when the tent flap suddenly flew open.
    “Brother!” called Ambrosius. He looked down at the two bodies beside his sibling. “My God, what has happened here?”
    Myrddin quickly followed and, upon seeing Samuel lying in the bed, pale and motionless, he cried out the name of the Lorekeeper and threw himself by his side.
    “There was this man,” Uther started to explain. “I don’t know who he was, but I can assure you that he was not from this world. He could very well have been a demon of some sort, or an ancient, dark spirit. Samuel fought him bravely, but paid the ultimate price for it.”
    Myrddin turned around to look at the two brothers, his eyes filled with tears for his friend.
    “He’s not dead yet, we have to help him!”
    “Are you sure he’s still alive?” asked Ambrosius.
    “Yes! The fairy is telling me Samuel is in a place between life and death, struggling to hang on. We have to do something.”
    “A fairy told you that?” said Uther, looking around the tent and