Tales of the Lorekeepers 01 - Rise of the Red Dragon

for his men to remove the boulders blocking the path.
    One of the soldiers working on the latest barricade removed a large rock, then suddenly stopped and looked at the soldier kneeling next to him.
    “Can you feel that?”
    “Yes.”
    Vortigern immediately made his way to the front.
    “What is it?” he asked eagerly.
    “Here,” said the first soldier, stepping aside. “Come closer to the opening, my lord.”
    Vortigern handed him the torch and knelt down where the soldier had been. Without wasting a moment, he peered into the black hole. At first, he did not notice anything. He had thought he would hear a distant growl or maybe a deep and hollow breathing sound, like that a sleeping dragon would make. He even thought he might feel some heat on his face.
    Instead, he felt a moist and chilly breeze. He looked up at the soldier next to him, then back into the hole again. There was a large body of water behind this last wall of rock. This was the pool where Llud had confined the two dragons. It had to be.
    “Good job,” he said, standing up and retreating, so the men could finish clearing the way.
    Soon the path was clear again, the rocks having been pushed aside to allow the king and his officers to pass through. On the other side of this last obstacle, they only had to walk for another ten feet before they emerged into an enormous cave. As more men came through the opening, the torches they were carrying gradually revealed the vast underground chamber they had just discovered. Up ahead, just twenty paces from where they stood, was the shore of an underground lake.
    One of the officers ordered some men to spread out on the shore, so they could get a better view of the place. As they did so, more of the water became visible, but still, they could not see the end of the lake—or the roof of the cave, for that matter. Their steps echoed loudly, as if a giant were walking inside the mountains, accompanied by the incessant clanging of their metal gear. No more than five minutes later, two hundred men stood at the edge of the lake, peering into the darkness.
    Complete silence engulfed the cave, disturbed only by the hiss of the flames dancing at the tips of the torches. Not one man dared to speak, for fear of awakening the forgotten evil. Vortigern stood at the edge of the lake, the water licking the tips of his leather boots. The surface was smooth as a mirror, reflecting the light from the torches.
    “Can you feel it, men?” said Vortigern. “Can you feel the presence of those two ancient beings? They’re here, all right. The boy told us the truth. Can you feel the energy of their eternal clash filling this cave? Tonight, brave men, our destiny awaits! Tonight, we shall …”
    The king paused before he could finish his sentence. A ripple was moving soundlessly toward them. As it reached the shore, lifting the water a few inches and splashing the king’s boot, a second wavelet emerged from the darkness, followed by a third.
    Something hidden was disturbing the water. Something that was aware of their presence.
    “Here they come,” whispered Vortigern, smiling like a madman in the face of danger.

    Ambrosius was pacing rapidly around the table. Night had fallen over the camp, and Myrddin had lit a few oil lamps in the tent. Outside, the weather was quickly turning into a loud and violent thunderstorm, with the wind threatening to blow the tent away and lightning flashes sending shadows flaring across the walls, followed immediately by thunder that sounded like the sky being torn apart.
    Samuel was sitting at the wooden table, unsure what to do. Now was not the time to marvel, but it almost felt surreal to be held captive in a tent, along with a boy who would become Merlin and the man who would be Arthur’s uncle in a few years. Of course, they would have to get out of here first and survive the next few hours if that was to happen.
    Samuel stood up and started exploring the tent. It was remarkable how much stuff this Morghan had with him, even in this time of war, when the army kept moving from one area to the other. Samuel thought of how many men it must take simply to transport all of this junk—men who could be used for something else, like carrying provisions or weapons.
    There were also several cabinets full of texts, and more were spread out on tables or scattered over the ground. Samuel inspected a few of them. They were books about the history of the Britons, tales of ancient wars and stories of