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and he had the urge to tear the coward apart limb by limb. However, he settled himself, and turned to look out over the ocean once more.
    “Tell me of the disappearance of magic that you spoke of,” he said.
    Ez’Rah told him what the dragons knew, how the war of the dark elves had ended, and how one called Kellallea ascended to the heavens and became a goddess, taking with her all magic in the process.
    Kellallea , the name was all too familiar to Reshikk, for she had been one of the elves responsible for his imprisonment. When the gods decided to no longer interfere with the world they had created, Reshikk and the ancient dragons had set out to destroy the elves. The father of dragons secretly blessed them with powerful abilities, like the greens’ acid venom. And because of the dragon god’s interference, the elven gods granted great magic to the elves, so that they might have a chance to defend themselves against the ancients. A great war ensued, and the ancients were defeated. Once again the treaty of the gods was ratified, and Reshikk, the last survivor, was banished to his underground prison. Many eggs survived, but they were stripped of their God-given abilities, and became the lesser dragons that now roamed the world.
    Reshikk had been spared as part of the truce, but the father of dragons told him that he would one day be freed to exact his revenge.
    Now, that day had come.
    “Go now and tell the others to prepare the birthing chambers,” said Reshikk.
    “Yes, my lord.”
    When Ez’Rah had left, Reshikk raised his horned-head to the sky and gave a roar that could be heard for miles around. “Father of dragons! You have freed me from my eternal prison. I will avenge the ancients, I will bathe the world in fire. In your name I shall enslave the lesser races, and once again the glory of your destruction shall be known!”
    Reshikk, my son.
    “Father,” said Reshikk in reverence. “I cry to hear what has happened to our kind. How is it that I have finally been freed?”
    There is a new elven goddess, and she has broken the pact of old. Now, because of her folly, the gods are free to effect the mortal world once more. I name you my champion.
    “What would you have me do?”
    Gather my children to you, plant your ancient seed, and build an army the likes of which have not been seen in an age.
    Reshikk grinned to himself. “As you wish, Father, so shall it be done.”

Chapter 7
Tortured Souls
     
     
    Aurora Snowfell wanted nothing more than to die. She stood between Zander and Azzeal wishing that she could find the strength to draw her sword and attack the dark elf necromancer, but she could not move against her master. He turned to her, his dark tattoos swirling about his face in sharp-edged patterns. The dark lines flowed with his smirk, causing it to appear unnaturally long. He continued the speech to the lich commanders without skipping a beat.
    “—I want them all. Every last man, woman, and child, dead.”
    She ground her teeth and a pensive breath escaped her with a growling shudder. Try as she might she could not even speak out against him and his atrocities. He eyed her, and cocked his head as if listening to a whispered secret. Their eyes met, hers burning with impotent rage, and his silently laughing. “Right you are, Lady Snowfell.” He straightened. “The infants as well. Slay them all!”
    Aurora shook with pent-up emotion, the conflict causing a fire in her gut that burned like the sun. She reveled in the pain—she deserved it. Death should have come to her long ago on the snowy fields of Volnoss. Rather than lead her people with Azzeal and the elves into battle and certain death—honorable death—she had betrayed the elf. Now he stood beside her, doomed to the same fate, that of a lich under the control of a dark elf. She knew not the fate of her people, and she didn’t want to know. As Chieftain of the Seven Tribes, Aurora had ordered all able-bodied men and women into battle,