Book 1 | Agent 34 and the Desert of Beasts

Chapter 25 | A Helpful Foe

The elves stopped in their tracks as Braunick's army was visible over the horizon. Climbing off his horse, Fáolar walked over to the three elves who were going to the Zena. "This is our stop. When the battle starts, we will ambush them the best we can from behind. And, Wímad, don't hurt yourself while flying them over."

The gold dragon chuckled as he walked over to Fáolar. "I won't. It hurts to fly, but if it is what I must do, then I must do it."

Green scales glittered in the sky, and a roared sounded. "Is that who I think it is?" Wímad said, looking upwards.

All of a sudden, Venon landed in front of all of the elves of Ilrenia and roared softly.

"Venon! I thought I killed you!" Wímad roared, getting into a defensive position.

"Wímad, I am sorry. I have seen how power-driven Paöminar has become, and I regret my actions of working with him. Will you ever forgive me? Is there anyway I could make it up to you?" Venon said, and lowered his head closer to the ground.

Wímad it thought over a little, and Agent 34 and the rest of the elves already knew how Venon could help them.

"See that army over there?" Wímad motioned his head towards Braunick's army on the horizon. "We must get over it to get to the Zena, and we cannot go around it or through it. We were attacked by veroms on our journey here, and it damaged my wings. Might you fly us over to the Zena and aid us in battle?"

Venon nodded in agreement. "As you wish, Wímad. Who might I be transporting?"

"Could you carry the two gem-wielders and their guide? I can try to follow you in flight from behind," Wímad explained to the green dragon. "I most likely wouldn't have made it to the Zena with them on my back. I would've crashed halfway there."

Venon snorted, and lowered his side towards the three elves. "Climb aboard!"

Agent 34 climbed onto Venon's green back, then Ismara, and then Arenia came on last. Agent 34 positioned himself between two claws that stuck out of the dragon's back, and wrapped his arms around the one in front of him.

"Wímad," Fáolar approached the golden dragon. "Can he take the women and children of Ilrenia so they do not have to fight?"

Wímad grunted, and nodded his head. "Venon, can you carry some children and a few women that cannot battle Braunick's army?"

"I can." Venon said, and lowered his body towards the villagers of Ilrenia. Children and women all climbed up the green scales onto Vernon's back, and positioned themselves in between a spike sticking out of Venon's back, like Agent 34 had done.

"Ready?" Wímad asked Venon, and the green dragon nodded. "Let us go then."

The two dragons took off from the ground, leaving the men of Ilrenia behind them. Wímad weakly flew behind Venon, and they continued to head east towards the Zena.

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Agent 34 heard a voice from behind him say. He twisted in his seat to see a worried Ismara behind him. She grasped her green sword tightly, and stared down at her father's men sorrowly.

"I think they will be just fine," Agent 34 replied. "Fáolar is a strong man. He fought Braunick and won."

"He fought Braunick and fleed, Agent 34. He didn't win, Braunick did. Braunick definitely won that battle," Ismara argued. "He barely escaped with his life and the crown. He hid the gems for the safety of Renya, each gem is too powerful."

"Still, very few ever escape Braunick, Ismara. Fáolar will be just fine." Agent 34 said.

Ismara didn't say anything after that, just stared into the sky as they ascended into the clouds.

Vernon turned his head as close as he could to where Agent 34 and the rest of the elves sat. "I will need you to whisper once we get close to the army. If you need something, scratch my back. I will fly nonstop to avoid detection, so the flight will take about a day."

Ismara and Agent 34 groaned under their breathes, but didn't complain other than that.

Arenia, hearing this, said to them, "You think this is long? I have journeys that take weeks."

"We would already be at the Zena by now if it wasn't for all those setbacks," Ismara said. "I just hope that we reach it before the battle begins."

"Ismara, you know how to spellweave?" Arenia asked, and Ismara nodded. "Well, you could before you had the gem, correct?"

"Yeah, I was pretty strong in spellweaving, too." Ismara explained.

"Well, wouldn't you be even stronger with the gem?" Arenia said.

Ismara raised an eyebrow, then she realized what Arenia meant. "So I can do powerful spells that only spellweavers that have been trained for years can do now?" 

"Possibly, but I wouldn't risk it—the harder spells can kill you if you do not perform them correctly, or if you are not strong enough to do it." Arenia explained.

"What are the harder spells?" Agent 34 asked, interrupting their conversation.

Ismara and Arenia turned to look at him, each of them with shock stricken faces. "34, you couldn't do them," Ismara said calmly. "It's things like teleporting objects, stunning other people's minds for a short period of time, morphing your body, and altering memories—"

"Altering memories?" Agent 34 interrupted. "That's what Braunick did to me!"

"Yeah, yeah. We know." Arenia groaned.

"Is there a way to get my memories back?" Agent 34 asked Ismara and Arenia.

"Possibly," Arenia suggested. "To do it, we have to enter Braunick's mind and steal them back. Only the most powerful spellweaver in the land could do it."

"We have to find someone to do it!" Agent 34 begged. He was excited at the idea of finally getting to figure out who his family was, his friends, and why Braunick would ever steal his memories.

"Agent 34, we don't even know if Braunick took your memories for sure. You don't remember anything other than waking up in a desert." Arenia said. She was trying to get his crazy idea out of his head.

"Well then I'll go check." Agent 34 said, and grabbed Ismara's sword out of her hand. The hilt of her sword doubled as a wand.

Muttering a spell, he directed his mind towards Braunick's.

Suddenly, Agent 34 saw Braunick's face flash before him and he blacked out.