The Second Prophecy (Part 1 of the Dragdani Prophecies) by R. Alan Ferguson

ARROGANT SMILES FROM YOUR
FACES!” shrieked Ulicoth furiously.
    “ The Prophecy says otherwise,”
said Delsani.
    “ Ah, yes,
your Prophecy. It is complete rubbish. How foolish can you be old
man? It was fake,” Ulicoth taunted, gleefully smiling.
    “ You would
say anything to distort the truth. We do not believe your lies,”
replied the old Wizard.
    “ I n that case you, may ask your
King Jastark, for when he heard the truth he was so shocked he lost
his head,” said Ulicoth, with a loud menacing laugh that filled the
very air itself. The Wizard-Elf could hear raised voices coming
from below.
    Delsani, on
the other hand, did not need to wonder, for he knew exactly what
Ulicoth had meant by that rant. He knew that the only way of
insuring the death of a Wizard-Elf was to cut off their head. His
heart sank at the thought of his dear friend meeting that horrible
fate.
    “ Here he is,
and here is the truth. I do hope that it’s not too hard for your
simple minds to understand,” said Ulicoth sarcastically, he looked
at John’s body and said, “Jump.”
    The body
jumped off of the balcony, hit the gravel slope and was sliding
down when dust rose up and made it so they could not see what was
coming closer to them.
    The King’s
carcass had reached the bottom of the mountain, and Delsani had run
over to it to see that he was right; the Wizard King was dead. The
Wizard’s heart split and sank somewhere near his ankles. He bent
down and took the sword Yeluilat, so he could return it to its
rightful place in the main hall of the Towers of Telian. And with
tears beginning to fill his eyes, he took out his wand from his
pocket pointed it at John’s body and quietly said, “Infero.” An
orange spark shot from the tip of the wand and John’s body was
engulfed in flames. Moments later, it had turned to ashes. Delsani
bent low over John’s ashes, took out two small vials and filled
both. Then he took his place back among the army of the
alliance.
    “ We still
greatly outnumber the two of you,” shouted Bacnil.
    Again Ulicoth
laughed. “You do remember what happened when you challenged Kilamen
do you not? Let me remind you. She ripped through your pathetic
attempt to defeat her, and she wasn’t even trying. So just imagine
what two of us could do if we really wanted to. Besides, we still
have a few friends that you haven’t met yet. Shall I introduce you?
The first is someone of which I am sure almost all of you know by
reputation. Come forward and make your presence known, my old
friend.”
    Suddenly
there came a blood-curdling roar that gripped all of the alliance
with fear like they had never felt.
    “ Dragon!”
shouted Avelan fearfully.
    “ Fall-back!”
shouted Bacnil, “as far and as fast as your legs may carry you!”
Nearly all ran scattering over the fields like frightened helpless
children, which is exactly how most of them felt.
    Except
Delsani. He stood firm.
    Bacnil and
Avelan had seen this and ran back to the Wizard. “What do you think
you are doing?” said Bacnil. “We should go before –”
    He was too
late. A gigantic black Dragon had already come from behind the
mountains and was almost on them.
    “ It’s
Cellock,” said Delsani.
    “ How can it
be? He perished while fighting Lanisic at the last battle of
Salith’s reign? It was said that the brothers died together,” said
Avelan, trying not to believe his own eyes.
    “ That I
believed as well, but clearly he survived,” said the Wizard
confidently. “He’s been hiding for over six hundred years, waiting
for Ulicoth’s call to arms.”
    The Dragon
was getting ever closer to them, and Avelan had his bow in his hand
and an arrow set on the string.
    “ Go and join
the others, both of you. I will stay here, for there is something I
know I can do,” said Delsani assertively. He saw that the archers
who had run had stopped short and had already shot a wave of arrows
at the great beast. But Cellock was too quick; he dodged
all.
    The