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Out in the strait, a storm raged that had not let up for days. With a great thunderclap, lightning struck the water just yards from Karn’s vessel, while waves thrashed the boat without mercy.
Karn had tried waiting out the storm but even now, it showed no sign of coming to an end. With the war breaking out in the Greater Realms, he had decided he could wait no longer and braved it. Fortunately however, he was now quite close to Bellasaire.
Then in the midst of the crashing waves, the gale and the torrential rain, he heard a high–pitched shriek and a gangly winged creature dived straight for him. It looked like a small black dragon, except it had an awkward, skinnier build and its tail was segmented with a sharp stinging tip on its end.
As it dived at him, it leveled out and swung its stinging tail under its body. Karn steadied himself as best as he could on the rocking boat and lunged forward, grabbing hold of the creature’s tail just above the stinging tip. The creature panicked and tried to shake him off so it could fly away but he was too heavy.
Keeping his grip on its tail with one hand, Karn grabbed a knife from his belt with the other and hacked off the stinging end, along with the next three segments of the tail. Then, ignoring its shrieks of pain and anger, he yanked the thing down farther, grabbed it by the neck and dispatched it.
“What the hell would a wyvern be doing out at sea?” he muttered as he flung the carcass overboard.
He watched as it bobbed in the waves for a moment and then sank into the depths.
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Rain pelted the beach where he brought his boat in but the thunder and lightning had not followed him. Around him, dense shrubbery came down to the soaked sand while farther up the coast, he saw the faint lights of a small town.
It was unlikely that it was occupied by Aracean forces but Karn didn’t feel like taking any chances. He had studied a map of the area before he had left Ensari and had decided that he would take a short cross–country route to reach Shaala’s palace at Bellasaire, which was several miles inland, rather than approaching it from the nearby town.
After a couple of hours’ travel, using the road between Bellasaire and the nearby town for the last leg of his journey, he was in sight of the palace. At the point where he reached it, mountains rolled down before him into a wide valley but because it was dark and the rain was still falling heavily, he couldn’t see much of it.
However, he had no difficulty seeing Shaala’s palace rising into the sky. It was an enormous tower, much larger than he had imagined by far. He then remembered what Queen Heptapshu had said before he had set out from Ensari, that it had once been the stronghold of Gammoroth, one of the fallen mages in the first great war. After the remaining mages of the order had driven him from it, it had stood abandoned for many long years. The locals never ventured near it because of superstitious beliefs and even now, they still feared it.
Seeing it with his own eyes, Karn couldn’t blame them. It wasn’t the most inviting of places and he had half a mind to turn around himself. He wondered what kind of person would choose to make their home in such a place but he kept going despite his misgivings.
At the base of the enormous stone structure, several steps led to a modest timber door, the only visible entrance, and it opened as he jogged towards it. Light poured out from inside the building and Karn saw a woman standing there.
She was beautiful, he thought as he got closer, with dark soulful eyes and thick dark hair that cascaded around her face in waves and curls. Under a silken dress, he couldn’t help noticing how womanly she was, although he tried not to dwell on this. He had come to see Shaala to discuss the possibility of her aiding Ensari and her allies, not to give her lingering gazes.
“Oh, come in!” Shaala said, guiding him with a slender arm placed upon his shoulder. “You must be soaked. Let me take your cloak for you.”
She took him inside and closed the door.
Karn handed his cloak to her without argument. He was surprised despite himself. Shaala seemed very down to earth, not at all how he had expected her to be. “Thank you.”
“Come,” she told him, leading him to a tall stairway. “I must take you to your room and give you some dry clothes.”
“I’m Shaala,” she added in case he was wondering. “As you no doubt already know. What’s your name?”
“My name’s Karn. Karn Zell.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Karn,” Shaala replied, favoring him with a smile.
“Likewise,” Karn said, returning the smile as best he could. But it was a poor imitation.
He then followed Shaala up the stairs, heading for the highest floors of the tower.