United Dragons

by Calista Lambrechts

  Not even settling down for a cup of tea or beer or anything, I searched a whole four months for answers and now I finally had them.

  Well, most of them anyway. There was one unfortunate thing that I had to except though. I couldn’t travel by night. It was simply just too dangerous, even for me.

  Soon the sun would set beyond the mountains and doom everyone without shelter daring to wander the Forest of Lights by nightfall. I knew what was best and picked up the pace.

  I was rather anxious.

  “Master!” Someone called from afar. I didn’t slow down and just kept on walking, almost as though ignoring it, whereas in truth, I wasn’t.

  I heard the hurried footsteps of someone rushing towards me, needing to see me proximately.

  I knew exactly who it was.

  I had neither concern nor hesitation.

  The person slowed down and joined my pace the soon as he got close enough.

  With a smile, yet an expression of eagerness, he walked next to me, but soon showed a frown of apprehension.

  “Are you okay? You’re badly hurt!” I kept my gaze on the path up ahead.

  “Yes, Justin, I am fine.”

  Justin Quinn: my newly recruited apprentice, an elf from the Wisdomtree realm. What? I received that privilege the moment I took the place as the new Wizard of Elements. Right after Murray was killed, that is.

  Justin had nice blonde hair and green eyes. I couldn’t quite tell his exact age since elves could live up to a few hundred years.

  Besides, I don’t think I wanted to find out. Might be dangerous for my conscience.

  “You sure?” Justin asked concerned.

  “Yes, Justin,” I replied with a sigh.

  There was a moment of silence as we walked down the uneven forest roads, enjoying the sound of the fading birds and the growing crickets.

  “Do you have the answers you were looking for?”

  “Yes, I’ve got them.”

  “That’s great! What’s the next step of the plan then?”

  I froze in my tracks and stared out in front of me for a while before responding. I narrowed my eyes in thought.

  “It will be getting dark soon. We need to find shelter.”

  “Of course, but we’re miles away from the nearest settlement. We’ll never make it before nightfall.”

  “Then I guess we will just have to use the natural recourses of the forest available to either build or find a shelter.”

  Before Justin could say anything in return, I pressed two fingers against my lips and whistled. A loud roar emerged from the far side of the forest, sending lots of different species of exotic birds fluttering from their trees and escape into the dusky sky.

  Justin’s expression turned to shock and fright, for he knew what lay beyond those trees. I, on the other hand, took it calmly.

  Before I knew it, or Justin could run and take cover, a large Siberian tiger dashed into sight. Justin gave a girl-like yelp and backed away, tempted to hide behind my legs. The tiger ran closer and pounced on me, leaving me pinned to the ground by its giant furry claws. He was truly very heavy and left me breathless.

  I stared at this magnificent beast and said, “There’s my boy!”

  The tiger licked me joyfully across my face. I couldn’t help but laugh, pleading, “No! Stop! It tickles!”

  I couldn’t stop laughing and tried pushing him away until he finally decided to climb off himself. I noticed his long tail to be wagging. I stroked him on his head, absentmindedly scratching behind the ear, which turned out to be a fatal mistake.

  The tiger stomped on my foot, leaving me to bite in a scream with a twitching eye and lips pursed into a tight thin line. That was a complete accident! I never meant to scratch him there in the first place!

  I already knew the dangers of it…

  Anyways, this was no strange animal, but either Ramses, my most loyal and obedient pet tiger. Murray trusted me enough to give him to me.

  Ramses had proven his loyalty to Murray and that was why I trusted him enough not to bite my head off when I slept.

  Justin bit at his trembling fingernails. He was scared, but I didn’t blame him. He did have a reason to be. Even though he had met Ramses before, Ramses answered to absolutely no one but me and therefor tried to take a few bites out of him last time I looked.

  Poor boy had been scarred for life ever since. As long as I didn’t give Ramses the chance to attack and enough food to keep him fed, I was sure Justin would be just fine… I pray.

  I climbed onto Ramses’ back and grasped the thick hairs on his neck.

  “Come on, Justin. Let’s go,” I ordered with a loud and proud tone to be sure he heard. Justin never dared to ride with me on Ramses’ back.

  Keeping his distance, Justin wandered on behind us, his gaze studying the surroundings with great awe. The forest was as beautiful as it was deadly.

  I watched as the last rays of evening sun shined at its brightest through the tall trees before finally disappearing and fading into darkness, giving the three moons their chance to make an appearance. Ah, I knew them well: Trivet, Sylvestes and Benicia. Terrowin had once told me all about them and now they were as beautiful as ever, sitting up high in the heavens above, using the stars as their thrones.

  It wasn’t long until the dark sky spread its shining stars all across the night sky, like an artist’s canvas. As we were going deeper into the forest, the forest-gloom grew heavier and the forest-silence deeper. I was getting anxious the more I heard noises of the night’s nocturnal scavengers.

  I wasn’t frightened on my last journey, but from experience I learned to be. I even made a few signs that I pasted on various trees throughout the forest, reading:

  WARNING: No night dwellers. Beware of werelizards - especially if you possess special magical abilities! These guys love the taste of you indeed so!

  It wasn’t a pleasant night back then, but I had learned to forget about it… mostly.

  Time passed by quite rapidly and left us in the middle of the night sooner than expected. Well, can’t say that I didn’t enjoy myself. Riding a large tiger as though it were a horse really worked up quite the excitement – especially when he tried to pounce on my friend back there! It then quickly turned into a bull ride.

  Hearing some wolves howling in the unreachable distance managed to rush me on and made my heart skip a beat. As time flew by, I soon found Justin to be leading the path. It took didn’t take us long to stumble across a little inn in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing but the dark forest and bustling fauna.

  The lights were still on and gave quite the warm aura, but yet something didn’t feel quite right. Something was off.

  Ramses came to a stop, giving me a chance to exam this small inn. Justin, on the other hand, paid no attention to caution and continued forth with a smile of relief firmly planted to his lips. He was soon found rooted in his tracks, looking back over his shoulder, questioning my decision to stop.

  “Well? Come on!”

  I pursed my lips into a straight line, narrowing my eyes.

  “Uhm… okay…” I was hesitant, but those cute pleading eyes of his got the best of me. They always did.

  Swiftly, I dismounted and stroked Ramses on the head, careful to steer clear of those ears of his. The last thing I wanted was another sore foot irritating me for the next few days. I stared into Ramses’ big brown eyes and reassured him, “Stay here. I promise I’ll be back soon.”

  With that I left my mammal friend and followed Justin from behind, observing the sounds of our footsteps trudging the earth.

  I must say, a grin spread across my lips as we approached it. The temperature outside was just right. It was neither too cold nor too warm.

  Nothing but a slight breeze blew through the trees and caressed my bare skin.

  Crickets chirped happily for their last few weeks before winter would arrive, but it wasn’t a problem for me. I was rather fond of the cold winters brought to Ysellian. The air always
seemed so cold, fresh and pristine. Even though the freezing air did burn, I never hesitated to take a deep breath.

  I still remembered the old days when I still worked at the inn for a bastard named Olaf. On cold mornings I would rush to put on my jacket and escape to the stone streets, both my hands in the pockets of my jacket as I stared at the soft snow spread across the sidewalks, some, still pure and white, falling from above. Even though the frigid weather, it did nothing to the people still meandering the streets. Carriages still continued their way down the boulevards and passed the Sleeping Dragon’s inn. Ah, those were the days, now long behind us…

  Still lost in thought, I suddenly snapped out of my dreaming gaze, only to remember this place. I knew it looked familiar!

  As Justin approached the door, ready to knock, I leapt forward and yelled, “Justin, no!”

  Unfortunately, a trap caught me first, made me yelp and sent me flying into the air, now staring at the world from an upside down perspective.

  It was rather unpleasant, knowing all your blood was rushing to your head. Hanging from a rope attached to a tree was the last thing I’d expect on a night such as this. Well played…

  Justin was pretty startled and ran to my side, but was caught by a bear trap before he could reach me. It sent him falling to the ground. His face screwed up with unimaginable pain as the spikes dug its way deeper into his ankle.

  I could almost feel his pain, and I’m not afraid to say that it sent a nasty shiver running down my spine.

  “Hang on! I’ll be right there!” I shouted anxiously and raised my gaze to face the tree’s branch. I noticed my brand new sword to be dangling from my belt and tried to reach for it. It took me quite a few tries since my vision struggled to adjust, but I soon managed to grab it.

  Regrettably, as seconds passed by, my gaze became blurrier and a bit hazy and my attempt to cut the rope became harder. Justin clutched his leg in agony, trying to pull himself free so now and then, but it was of no use. He wasn’t strong enough to succeed. I feared for my little weakling apprentice.

  “Almost…” I said, aiming for the rope, but I still couldn’t manage to cut it. I bit down on my lower lip and tried to reach for it one last time, saying, “Just a little bit…”

  By now it looked as though the rope had turned double and I just couldn’t find the right one to cut.

  All the blood rushing to my head wasn’t good for my efforts. I found it difficult to stay conscious, but unfortunately I couldn’t hold out for much longer. My body went numb, I dropped my sword and saw black.

  CHAPTER 3

  WHEN YOU KNOW YOU’VE MESSED UP

  JUSTIN

  DARKNESS WAS ALL I SAW when I figured that something was terribly wrong. My heart was fluttering about in my ribcage like a bird pleading to be set free.

  I didn’t go blind, did I? Was I dead? Was I cursed?

  I twist and turned, but soon enough did I see the faintest sign of light, and I was relieved.

  Light swept underneath my eyelids.

  Slowly, but surely, I opened my eyes, waiting for my vision to adjust properly, but it didn’t take longer than a few seconds. As I sat up straight, pain struck my left ankle. I winced, but managed to compose myself.

  Oddly, I found myself sitting in a rather comfortable little room, upon a single bed situated against the wall.

  Even stranger, there was a bandage bound around my wounded ankle, speckled in stains of dark crimson.

  Still lost deep in thought, there was the sudden sound of footsteps walking down a wooden floor. I was set on full alert. Whoever it was, was working on my truest apprehensions and anxieties.

  I looked art the door.

  An old woman appeared at the door. She approached me, keeping an elegant posture. She looked fairly young for a woman of her age.

  Her tousled hair was thick, white and curly of age and she wore nothing but a silky red dress alongside a pitch-black earrings and the same coloured necklace. I must admit, the air felt rather unsettling all of a sudden. Cold maybe.

  The woman approached with a warm grin settled on her lips.

  “Ah, I see you are finally awake. How do you feel?”

  I was nonchalant as I merely stared at her. My heart was in my throat. I struggled to find my words.

  The woman realized that I wasn’t about to grace her with some fluent and easy-going conversation. She took it upon herself to break the silence for me, stepping closer to my bed.

  “Please do forgive the unfortunate incident. I do believe it was the hunters in hope of catching a fair prize again.”

  I bought the explanation, perhaps only because my mind dwelled on different matters.

  “W-Where is she?” I stuttered, gulping unnoticeably.

  The woman gave a rather innocent frown as she thought to herself.

  “Who?”

  Even though I was quite frightened, I managed to muster all the courage I needed to explain.

  “My master, Carlaylin Thorel. It would be impossible not to have seen her dangling from that tree!”

  The strange woman nodded in understanding.

  “Ah, Carlaylin. She is resting in a room nearby.” I was suspicious, for it sounded as though this woman knew Carlaylin quite well. A sudden image of Carlaylin trying to stop me from knocking on the door flashed in front of my mind’s eye. Only now did I notice the rat so busily gnawing at my stomach…

  “Do you know her?”

  She nodded, placed both her hands behind her back and straightened herself.

  “Yes. She was the one that gave me that concussion, knocking me out cold and all.”

  She was biting some anger in between her teeth.

  I was speechless.

  Their history might not have been the friendliest and I began to worry… Consider this a constant worry. What? I can’t help myself!

  Next thing she might have it out for me as well. You know, the friend of my enemy is also my enemy… that notion.

  The woman leaned in closer to whisper, “You might be wondering about those traps.”

  I slightly leaned backwards and tried to avoid too close contact.

  “Y-yes,” I stumbled on my own words, but managed to keep myself relatively unruffled.

  “If I might say, no hunter dares place their traps near my inn – the Lost Inn. Instead it was I. As you might have noticed, this inn has been rather quiet since it is quite a distance from any ordinary village. Therefor I had those traps set up to injure my patrons. It leaves them no choice but to stay and relish my warm hospitality until they recover. They pay and might even tell others. And so the word of my wonderful establishment spreads…”

  “W-Why are you t-telling me all this?” I asked with knitted eyebrows, feeling rather uneasy and threatened in her presence. I mean, seriously! Either this woman had lost her mind or she was just asking for an arrest warrant!

  “Well, since I’m going to kill you anyways, I figured that I might as well tell you. To be honest, I’ve been dying for a bit of conversation.”

  My heart skipped a beat and my eyes had never been wider.

  “What?!” I yelped, my voice a little too high, a little too sharp.

  “Problem? Point is, I have run out of deceased cadavers to experiment on and I am in dire need of more. Besides, any friend of Carlaylin’ is an enemy of mine.”

  There it is! I told you! I just knew it…

  The thing that really rattled me was that she still kept that sweet smile.

  Instinctively, I jumped up, feeling as my body trembled in peril.

  “You don’t have to do this,” I pleaded, “I-I’ll pay you! Here.”

  I hastily dug into one of my pockets in search of a single pouch filled with silverleafs.

  “Take them all!”

  The woman scowled at me and refused to accept my generous offer, pushing the bag away the soon as I showed it to her.

  “I don’t accept your silver.”

  “What? You can always go to the bank in Suntaria
, Krea, Morrowburg or Hayley to exchange them for real Ysellian arcons. I hear you can gain quite a few artums with each six arcons!”

  The woman remained silent and kept nonchalantly staring at me with those cold-hearted eyes of hers. Her stare was cruel and made me disconcerted, leaving me in an unimaginable state of panic.

  Who the hell doesn’t accept bribes?!

  “It’s not my fault I’m an elf!”

  The necromancer gave an uncaring sigh and rolled her eyes.

  “Yes, I know!” I frowned and narrowed my eyes as I scanned the room.

  “The ears gave me away, didn’t they?” I received no reply but only a shove that sent me falling back to the bed.

  “Tell me - I heard your master hates it when certain people close to her suffers. Is this true?”

  “Yes, she does rather hate it.” I spoke without thought. The woman gave a crooked half-smile, certainly an indication of some sinister idea.

  “And you are her apprentice?” I couldn’t help but give a proud grin.

  “Yes, indeed I am! Justin Quinn! Possibly the first, too!”

  Her sinister smile still didn’t disappear. I then realised my juvenile actions. I gave a sigh and slumped my shoulders with a miserable expression. I was rather slow today. If anything, I just set alight the fire to my own suffering… Goodness.

  “I should really stop answering you.”

  The woman shrugged, “It would probably be best.”

  CHAPTER 4

  THE WONDER OF FLYING RATS

  CARLAYLIN

  I TRULY SEE WHY ONE shouldn’t wander without the proper knowledge of one’s whereabouts. One moment you’re strolling aimlessly towards lost buildings, only to be hanging from a tree by the next.

  I can honestly say that I felt relatively light-headed and my head kept spinning, giving me no opportunity to think clearly.

  I blame the blood trying to subside after realising the mistake of rushing to my head. The strangest thing was that I now sat on a single bed, rubbing the back of my head to sooth the agony. I studied my surroundings and noticed the carpeted floors and the cabinet and bookcases against the walls. It was still dark by the looks of it as I stared at the window across the room.