The Chronicles of the Dragon Key: The Gathering for the Key

By Candus M. Hess

At more than 400 years old, Vertrimyre is the longest lived wizard in history. Hes seen and experienced many, many events throughout his long years. Now his experience and knowledge tell him that danger lurks on the horizon. Because of a hidden prophecy fore-telling the fall of man, Vertrimyre must find the answers that can stop the evil that is spreading across the land.

Demons are rumored to be roaming in the world of man. The only thing that can kill a demon is dragon fire. The problem is there are no more dragons on Drastenon.

The answer revolves around a crystal key that has been broken into three pieces and hidden in three secret places, a female child born with immense power within her, and the courage of a few brave people.

Vertrimyre knows they may never return from this journey; that it will be neither easy nor safe. First they must find the missing pieces of the key and the child because everything hinges on that.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Oct 6, 2010
• ISBN: 9781426941375

Candus M. Hess

CANDUS M. HESS has had a passion for writing since high school. I has been her life long dream to be an author. Her imagination was sparked in her teens and it was then she decided that she wanted to make people see books the same way she does. Her motto is, “Imagination is a powerful thing and can transport you to places you’ve never been before”. She lives in Bartlett, TN with her husband Matt, two children Kristen and Shayne and three grandchildren Talia, Connor and Chloe.

Book preview

Chapter One

Vertrimyre, the oldest wizard in history, stood in his tower watching the dark clouds, heavy with rain. He had studied the stars for as long as he could before the storm obscured his view. He knew that danger was coming, but what it was exactly he couldn’t see. He had heard the reports of killings by strange creatures, although none had actually seen what they looked like. The stories told of gruesome carnage. Entire families left massacred, with nothing but remnants of their bodies left for proper burial. Farms completely destroyed and entire herds of livestock left in various states of decimation. Some of the tales were pretty hard to believe, but he knew that in his life he had seen some things that were pretty impossible to believe.

He had seen written histories of a time long past. It was written that over a thousand years ago there was a band of mages that called themselves The Circle of the Seven. They were the most powerful mages of their time. Mages, wizards, and sorcerers were more common back then. The histories told of a time when dragons roamed freely across the land. Men had come to the Guild and asked the Circle to intervene with the dragons on their behalf. Even though the dragons had an entire continent of their own, they would come and make lairs and feed on cattle and men alike. When the Circle approached the Dragon King Draguth, the king declared war on mankind.

He sent forth his minions to blot out the sky with their chamois wings and fiery breath. They reined terror and destruction on the world of man, almost obliterating what they called civilization. The Circle realized they had no chance of winning the war with the dragons, as they had already tried everything they knew, collectively, to try and stop them. Nothing was working. Mourtiky, one of the elder wizards, came across an ancient spell that allowed them to form a dimensional gate. They could get the dragons through the gate and into a different world; the only drawback would be that it could kill them all.

They would have to form a key for the gate to open. In making the key it would take a part of their life force to power it. All seven in the Circle agreed that this was the only way and set about creating the most powerful spell known to majick. What they had not counted on was being in such a weakened state from casting the spell. The dragons picked an auspicious time to attack the wizard’s guild. By the time the Circle had completed the key and said the spell to open the gate, most of the majick users were dead or dying. Once the gate opened, what remained of the Circle started helping to push the dragons towards it.

Battling the dragons took vast amounts of energy from the remaining members of the circle and slowly even their great power was being tested. They were being drained past the point of exhaustion and were even dying while casting spells. When at last the great king Draguth was being forced into the gate, he used the last of his strength to curse the key. He knew what the Circle had created. He himself was born of majick, and so he knew what the key was. With the last of his own great strength gone he could not withstand the gates pull, so he too was gone from the world of man.

Mourtiky was the sole surviving member of the Circle. He took the key and broke it into three pieces. He sent three of his most trusted men to find places to hide them. He put a spell on the men he sent out, sorry that he had sent them to their deaths. Once the keys had been hidden the men simply dropped dead where they stood. They would serve as silent sentinels to protect their piece of the key into eternity.

Mourtiky wrote a prophecy with a description of the key, why it was used and how it had been hidden. The spell that went with the key was hidden within the scroll he wrote the prophecy on. Only when the key was found and bound would the spell appear. Knowing that the dragon king had cursed the key, he foretold of a child that would be born to fulfill the prophecy. Since he did not know where the pieces were, all he could do was give the directions the riders went. He knew he was close to death so he used the last of his energy to protect his room in the guild. It was a time spell and would keep the room preserved for centuries.

Vertrimyre was over four hundred years old and had kept having a recurring dream. So after a hundred years he decided it was time he found out why. He had found the room about ninety years ago, after he had located the site of the old citadel, and began to dig. When the ruins were found it revealed a tomblike enclave that had been buried deep under dirt and debris from over a thousand years. The spell was still potent, even after all that time, but it had deteriorated. Even so there was still a wealth of knowledge and history to be found and researched.

He later found a bookshelf that had an additional spell put on it. When he finally figured out what the spell was and reversed it, he discovered the bookcase swung outward and revealed a cache behind it. Inside there was a scroll; it too had a spell on it. It must be something extremely important to have the kind of spell protection it had. It took him another sixty or so years to open the scroll and see what was inside. He was not prepared for the prophecy Mourtiky, the prophet, foretold.

Vertrimyre read of a possible breach in the fabric between the underworld and the world of man. The demon overlords, there were nine for the nine levels of hell, where extremely powerful. They would lead an invasion into the world of man and prepare it for the Dark Lord’s return. The only thing that was said could kill them was dragon fire, but there were no more dragons left on Drastenon. The scroll went on to list some of the events to look for, and what it would require for man to prevail. Vertrimyre had seen some of the signs already, but had nothing to tie them together. Now he did and the outlook was grimmer than even he could imagine.

He set about trying to find anything he could on the whereabouts of the three pieces of the key. After all his research, all he had was a vague location in the Scalwejha Mountains. Not much to start a quest to save all life with, but it was all he had. The prophecy also foretold of a girl-child who would be born with a small red birthmark in the shape of a dragon curled upon itself. She would harbor immense power in her young body, but she would also have an innocent wisdom to temper her use of that power. Only innocence and power could put the key together and bind it, thus opening the gate to the dragon world.

It also told of the spell that Draguth had put on the key. Draguth knew the value we place on our children and used that knowledge to curse the key. He said that only a child, pure and powerful, could present the plight of man to the dragon king, for that could be the only reason man would come to those they had betrayed. Draguth believed that he had offered man his benevolent protection and all he had received in return was nothing but their treachery. He said upon entering the gate that the day would come when dragons were all that could save this world.

If the child made it before the king without succumbing to the dragon fear, and asked the dragon king for help, then they would help, but he believed that man to be unable to do naught but lie and deceive. The child would die horribly if she harbored any doubt or impure thought, thus man would doom himself. Vertrimyre knew that the key would have to be found, as well as the child. The binding of the key, finding the spell that accompanies the key, opening the gate and approaching the dragons were the only things left to do, but first things first. He would pray to the one God that this quest be fruitful.

He needed to go to the mages guild in Khandek. He was to meet Elvajha, Queen of the Elves, as she was on her way from the Isle of Rathje on some urgent business concerning her people. She would be escorted to the Dawould tribe once her ship anchored. He decided that gathering the elements he would need for this kind of quest might be in order, so he started thinking of people who would have the best chance at completing it. He would send a missive to Taulin Montouri asking him to have his son, Dorneth, bring her to Khandek. He had heard that he was bonded to a plains wolf. Their tracking skills were legendary and he would be a valuable asset on this journey.

Elvajha would insist on joining simply because she would see the similarities between her people’s problems and his own. He would search out Thordric Hammerforge and his young friend Mykal. That young man had become the most renowned sword master seen in decades and had mastered every type of weapon ever created. Thordric was a dwarf, and understanding the things that lived in dark places was not new to them. He thought of Nysa Lanae next.

She is a healer, sister to The Tower of the White Healers. If he asked it of her, she would go without question. Her self appointed protector Faroun Sydnor would also follow. Faroun was a woodsman, and despite his tall, lanky frame, he could travel like a ghost. He would make a welcome addition to this party. He knew that he would need more, but the One God always provided what was needed. Now that he had that done, he would focus on sending someone out looking for the child. He knew she would be young, but he was sure that she would already be among them. She would be identified by her birthmark, but more importantly by her power. Vertrimyre was sure she would be manifesting it in some way.

He thought of Nysa again. With her powers of empathy she would be able to discern more from people than they would volunteer. He would include this in the missive he sent to her and ask her to search out the child for him.

He sent out all the messages he needed to send and decided to start his search for more information on the location to the missing pieces of the key. The reading was slow as most of it was written in a language that had not been spoken since before he was born. Majick users tended to live longer than normal men and women. A gift of the majick was longevity, it gave you longer to harness it and be one with it that way.

Vertrimyre couldn’t begin to guess why he had been blessed with living so much longer than anyone else. He stood tall for a man of his advanced years with only a slight stoop to his shoulders, a waist length beard and hair that was as white as pure driven snow. He had a wizened face and piercing blue-green eyes that could see right through you to the core of the person beneath. He once again thought of Nysa and how she loved to tease him about his fascination with the color blue. She always said he looked like a peacock in the robe he was currently wearing. That thought made him laugh out loud and Annoni, his servant and friend of many long years, looked at him like he was losing his mind.

Several hours later, when the light moon was fully in the sky, he stood up to stretch his back. He had poured over everything he could find in his vast library. His desk was piled high with scrolls and history books that told of strange occurrences of majick. The key being as powerful as it is would leave traces of majickal energy that would cause some of the things he had read about. He decided to go to bed and start again in the morning. On his way down the spiral staircase, his mind kept going back to a passage he had read in one of the prophecy scrolls. The passage stated that if the demon lords ever acquired a gatekeeper, the balance in all the worlds would be disrupted. If this child was their gatekeeper, he had to find her and fast. He stood and stretched one last time and headed for his bed.

Vertrimyre’s sleep was troubled and not at all restful. He saw in his dreams the end of man. When he awoke the next morning he replayed the dream in his head. He knew that dreams were not set in stone; they were only an image of what could come to pass. There was a chance to stop the evil that was growing across the land; he just had to get things moving in some direction as soon as possible.

He pulled a cord and somewhere a bell sounded. Almost out of thin air his servant, Annoni, appeared.

You never cease to amaze me the way you pop up so silently. I still haven’t figured out how you do it. Said Vertrimyre laughing all the while. I’ll eat up here as usual and read my correspondence while I eat.

Annoni held out a tray with all the scrolls and envelopes on it and pointed to the table where lay Vertrimyre’s usual breakfast fare. Fruits with fresh milk and honey cakes. All he could do was smile and say thank you. As he grabbed the missives and sat down, he watched his servant from beneath lowered lids. Annoni was the best friend Vertrimyre had ever had. He had started out as a servant, but after twenty-odd years he had become more. He had not spoken a word since thanking Vertrimyre for hiring him.

I will be leaving shortly for Khandek, would you please pack my things.

Annoni grabbed a plain looking carpetbag and started putting things into it, but this was no ordinary bag, it was a wizard’s bag. He was efficient in his movements and placed all manner of things inside. Ingredients for potions, clothing, foodstuffs, scrolls and a few odds and ends he thought the master might need. He came up to Vertrimyre and held the bag out for inspection.

After all these years old friend, do you think I need to check behind you? There was a twinkle in his eyes and laughter in his voice. Annoni looked shocked that he was being teased, but his expression disappeared as soon as it appeared.

"I would like to set some things straight before I leave. This may be a journey I do not return from. If something happens to me the castle is yours, with one exception. The tower keep will be sealed with majick and only a highly skilled wizard can open it. If someone comes let them try, if they survive you judge whether or not they are worthy of my legacy. No one knows me better than you and I know in my heart that you would not allow my life’s work fall into unscrupulous hands. If you feel they are worthy, and consent willingly, the room will allow entry. If, however you feel they are unworthy and deny entry, the room will re-seal itself. The tower