Tales of the Lorekeepers 01 - Rise of the Red Dragon

to the throne saw that Myrddin was still peaceful and smiling, as if his life was in no danger at all.
    “Tell me,” he asked the young boy. “Is any of this true?”
    “Every single word.”
    “Then tell me, Myrddin. What happens once Vortigern finds the underground pool and opens up a hole in the ground?”
    “Then both dragons will be free to leave their cell and take flight in the Briton sky.”
    “God have mercy on us,” whispered Ambrosius.

CHAPTER 14

    Malloy was vigorously tugging on the ropes that tied his hands behind his back, hoping to loosen the knots and free himself. He had been doing so for over an hour now, without much success. Still he persisted, because it was the only thing he could do. He had no intention of waiting around for Morghan to come back. Surely the advisor had schemed a dark plan for their demise, and he did not want to find out what it was.
    After they had been separated from Ambrosius, Myrddin and Samuel, the guards had brought the rest of the group to the eastern part of the plateau. Here, the area was covered with dozens of soiled tents, most of them hastily put together and flimsy looking. This was probably the place where the king’s guards and the officers were sleeping, away from the brewing rebellion below. A little farther away from this camp was a long wooden post. Since any attempt to build a cell had been done in vain, the officers had opted for this simple solution. The post was in fact a frail-looking tree, from which they had lopped the branches and removed the bark, so the ropes would not tear apart over time. Malloy and his companions were tied to this tree, forced to sit down next to it in the dark, freezing mud.
    Malloy wished he knew what was happening to the others, the ones who had been brought to Vortigern. Unfortunately, they were on the other side of the hill, and it was impossible for him to guess what their fate had been.
    He renewed his effort to free himself of the restraints around his wrists. He had to be careful in doing so, since there were no walls around them to prevent the guards from spotting him. Two warriors were sitting about fifty feet from them, drinking mead and placing bets on what would happen to their prisoners.
    Up above, in the late afternoon sky, dark clouds of the gathering storm were now hiding the sun. Malloy thought that it was most likely flirting with the peaks of the mountains to the west at this hour. Soon the dim daylight that filtered through the clouds would be replaced by the night’s darkness. Within the last hour, the air surrounding the region had grown heavy with humidity and charged with the electric effervescence of a major thunderstorm. The cold wind was now blowing with more strength, violently rocking the few trees, their sinister shadows dancing on rocks like the dried-up hands of an old sorcerer.
    A storm was undoubtedly in the making, thought the warrior. One that would be remembered for a long time.
    While he kept working on the knots, he looked at the two soldiers guarding them, as well as others who were passing by, sending disgusted looks in his direction. He recognized a few of their faces, but did not see anyone he knew well. They were simply people he had fought with, Britons with whom he had stood side by side, facing cruel foes. He felt betrayed that they would change their attitude toward him so quickly. In less than a week, he had gone from friend to foe.
    “What do you suppose they will do with us?” asked Kaleb.
    “I don’t know,” answered Darroch. “They will probably kill us in the morning, simply to make an example for anyone thinking of rebelling against Vortigern. I imagine we will be strangled, drawn and quartered.”
    “Well, that doesn’t sound very appealing,” said Kaleb. “Why would they even arrest us to begin with? We did nothing wrong yet. We simply obeyed the orders and brought young Myrddin back, did we not?”
    “Well,” replied Malloy, “you also came back with the rightful king, a sworn enemy of Vortigern. What did you expect?”
    “I don’t know. I must admit, it never really crossed my mind,” answered Kaleb.
    “I’m sorry you found yourself in this mess, my friend,” said Malloy.
    “I came of my own free will, did I not? Besides, someone has to show this army their leader is an imbecile.”
    “Keep your filthy mouth shut, you traitorous dog!” shouted one of the guards, who passed by them, before joining the others at the table.
    “Why don’t