Chapter 2
The End
“By mid day, the clouds threatened to smother the land, providing a downpour a little too late. It was a welcome sight, for Verdräskinn had found enough food among the root cellars to take him home, but the water was gone. The rivers were dry, which made no sense.
“Kävedet, also called the ‘Two Waters’ was the great spring at the heart of the forest. A spring which fed the spiderweb of rivers throughout the Andle.
“It deeply puzzled the Dragon Lord. Debris could be found along the riverbeds near the village, but the great waters should have pushed such annoyances aside.
“The rain fell hard and fast, kicking up ash like puffs of smoke—popping as it doused the last of the forest embers.
“Too weak to change to his true form and fly home, Verdräskinn followed the riverbed towards the mountains. Get to higher ground, he told himself. Leave the charred lands behind. In time it will heal. In time the animals will return and…
Stumbling back against the dragon chair, Terrin collapsed to the ground, his face turning frightfully pale. “‘No!’ he gasped. ‘What have you done, brother. What…have you done!’
The bard stared through the audience, locked onto the invisible landscape. “Homeward Peak the woodsmen called it. The last great ridge of the southern most part of the forest. A landmark that showed you where you’d been…and reminded you that home was close. A peak so high, you could nearly see the whole of the Andle Forest on a clear day.
“Verdräskinn had spent countless nights perched upon this spot, looking out across the landscape, guarding over his domain.
“Not a single tree was left. Exposed stone and woodland stubble lay before Verdräskinn, as far as his eye could see. Storm clouds rolled across the sky like a blanket, hiding the barren land in shame from the sun.
“In the distance, he could see the heart of the forest.
“Kävedet.
“His home.
Terrin collapsed to his knees, hands gripping the arm of his chair.
“Without the lush covering of the forest trees, the mountain jutted up from the valley like a broken corpse, bones protruding where the flesh of foliage once lay.
“…and no water flowed from the spring.
“Brann had destroyed more than home and family.
“The black dragon had destroyed the world."
