United Dragons

by Calista Lambrechts

  “O-Of course. Forgive me. I am Carlaylin Thorel, this is my companion, Terrowin Belanos.”

  Nicolas’ eyes widened.

  “Thorel? Now that most definitely sounds conversant to me.”

  “Perhaps, for I’m sure everyone knows the legend of Bliss Thorel.”

  I said it with a bit of pride, for… well, I don’t complain coming from a line of legendary folk.

  “And her daughter you are?”

  “Yes, mister… Matthews?” I was fairly uncertain of his title, because I didn’t want to upset our upgraded hermit.

  “Please, do call me Nicolas. No formalities are needed. Bliss… Wait, who is your father? I must know, for I have encountered Bliss many times before…”

  Nicolas seemed eager to know, very eager. He practically jumped out of his skin. He just simply had to know.

  “Cassius was his name,” I said softly, somewhat forlornly with a sense of deep and long longing. It was no lie that I missed my father greatly, despite the fact that I had spent so little time with him. You see, Thomason killed him about a few months ago and Cassius never knew I was his daughter until I finally told him on his death bed. Thank the dragon lords he believed me, but what good does it do now?

  The moment I said my father’s name, Nicolas’ eyes turned soft and somehow a little bit downcast. After a moment of searching my face, studying it, he leaned forward and embraced me greatly, folding me deeply in his arms. From my kneeling position I lowered to sit on my knees, for I knew this was going to be a long conversation.

  “Yello?” I yelped the moment he did. I said no more afterwards, for this was awkward enough as it was. I barely knew the hermit and now he was embracing me as if I were his own. Terrowin looked just as surprised, but after a while he tried to look away because this was getting one step too awkward.

  “Uh, Nicolas?” I said after a while of intensive love.

  “Oh!” Nicolas finally realized, coming to his full senses once again.

  “I am sorry, Carlaylin, but I must have you know… ” he paused, almost at a loss for words as he forced back the tears laying shallow in his eyes, “I never knew…” he tried to take a deep breath, trying to collect himself as it seemed the past was too overwhelming, “he…”

  “What is it?” I asked gently, resting my hand on his shoulder in hope of comforting the old man. With a grim smile and a sigh he warmly grasped my arm, still resting on his shoulder.

  “My girl… my heir… my granddaughter.”

  My smile fell and my eyes slightly broadened. I was at a loss for words. I was mesmerized.

  This simply cannot be! Or can it? No! But…? I thought, my mind in endless rambles.

  Looking at Nicolas’ face, I could see my father staring back at me with those same kind eyes. I had been too dull, too reluctant to even notice it.

  My lips began to quiver unwillingly. My body trembled and I could feel the tears lying shallow in my eyes. A tear rolled down my cheek as my eyes darted around until finally falling to the ground. I grasped my hands together, pressed them on my chest and rested my chin on them. I sniffed.

  “No… no… I…” I tried to deny it, but why couldn’t I?

  “Carlaylin… What a beautiful name for my beautiful grandchild... Oh, how I wish I knew my son had a child… better, a striking daughter with a striking will and a heart of courage.”

  I raised my gaze, still unable to smile. I felt broken… but perhaps not broken, but… repaired.

  Nicolas’ smile shone like these of a thousand stars, and so did his heart, for a noble one it was indeed.

  “Let me see your hand…” Nicolas said, noticing that I won’t be able to say anything for a bit. Not to mention that he may remember the whole struggle with Thorodan’s self-centred fire ball. He gently took my hand in his. I didn’t fight back, but I wasn’t completely for it either.

  “A mistake, my child. Yet, nothing to be ashamed off… different from the last one, I see?” his words were kind, but somewhat unnerving… how the hell did he know?

  “After all, frost is nothing compared to fire.”

  It’s official. From downcast, this man had lifted me to fear. And from fear he directed me to disbelief. I was in a blender of mixed emotions. With my hand still in his, he raised his other hand and gently hovered it over mine. I could see white sparks piercing through the bandage holes before fading. He released my hand. I was quick to unbind it, only to notice most of the burns to be gone. It was still a bit red, but a great most of it was gone.

  “How…?” I was at a loss for words.

  “There’s more to wizardry than you might think. Cassius could do it… I presume you can.”

  Tears forced up the back of my throat at the sound of his name and new realization.

  “He could? Why didn’t he use it to save himself?” I snapped, eyes tearing up.

  “It can only be used on others.”

  “I did! But it didn’t help… nothing did…” I closed my eyes tightly, trying to hide from the cruelty of reality.

  Besides, I absolutely hated Terrowin to see me like this. I wanted to tell him to go away and give us a sec, but it was already too late. Besides, I don’t have the heart. So, because of this situation, I tried not to cry, succeeded, but all that came were tears.

  Don’t, Carlaylin, I thought to myself, Not in front of Terrowin.

  “You’re still young and you only have so much power. Using it once can exhaust your power supply for quite the time.”

  My thoughts were directed to the time I saved Terrowin from a deadly poison… I absolutely despised the fact that I couldn’t have saved both my father and Terrowin.

  If only I had enough… Damn, this magica thing takes way too long to regenerate! Yet, perhaps I never even had enough to save a full grown man in the first place… I’m sorry, Dad.

  “Ugh, I hate this!” I spat out the words as I threw it at my companions, slamming my fist against the ground in a fury. My eyes were red and swollen, the tears gone, replaced by anger. I would’ve stayed like that if Nicolas hadn’t rested a kind hand on my hand. I looked up and saw a slight smile, a loving one.

  Oh, granddad, at least I still have you, I thought, only now realizing what I had just gained what I thought I had never had in the first place.

  “Hi, granddad,” I said with a weary voice and a weak grin.

  “Hello, my child.”

  CHAPTER 20

  INTERMISSION

  CARLAYLIN

  NIGHTFALL. WE TREADED AWAY from Thorodan on an efficient pace. Justin and Nemtris should be about done and awaiting us at the crossroads. There should be an inn to rest for the night. I get it. No, liquor for me. I needed to clear my head without the use of fine brewed beer.

  I best keep Terrowin away from it too… I wasn’t used to seeing him stuck with this problem. And being without liquor for more than a few days, he’s bound to grab the first bottle he sees.

  On our journey through the thick forest of shining lights, Nick – I mean Nicolas – regaled us with his tales. He told us that he was once one of the wealthiest men in Ysellian. His manor was far greater than the one of Terrowin’s. Not only that, but it resided within the upper districts, near the king’s palace in Hayley no less. If anything, it was considered a new edition to the palace. Nicolas was well-renowned and rich beyond measure. He told us of his close relationship with his son, Cassius. Their bond was unbreakable.

  Of course Cassius had to leave his home, for the duty of the empire called his name. One of the best he was in the king’s legion, until finally placed beneath the guidance of Rowan.

  Anyways, this meant that Nicolas had to spend a lot of lonely nights at home, chiefly in front of the warm lighted hearth with a good book or two. It made me think of when I was little, reading my favourite book on Millicent’s rocking chair in front of the warming fireplace.

  His wealth was widespread, known about throughout the entire land, which may not always be a good thing. Mercenaries from a far land
travelled to Ysellian and apparently snuck into ole Nicolas’ vaults.

  He heard them and tried to stop them, but at the last second one hit him over the head with a large boulder and threw him out the window with a crash. Nicolas’ wealth was stolen, but not only that… but his sanity. And perhaps even his dignity by anyone who saw it happening.

  The money was taken, the house was sold due to auction and Nicolas became a hermit… Sad thing is that he still would’ve had the house if only he hadn’t forgotten the fact that he actually had one. That’s right. The knock sent him into a temporary memory loss. He had completely forgotten that he was once one of the richest men ever to walk Ysellian and even the fact that he had a large house. A mansion, if you will.

  Now it appeared his memory, and his sanity, was restored with yet another hit. I was glad. Really I was. I still had someone left in my family and that was perhaps one of the greatest things to know.

  It got even better when he mentioned I had an uncle! Cassius had a brother, about the same age if not older. Fargo was his name. He lived in Krea, which was great! Now we actually had a place to stay. I sent him a note through the use of a pigeon and so we communicated, making last arrangements and so.

  Nicolas told us that he could remember most of his hermit days, only back then his mind were clouded like never before. He told us that he had felt like a madman, being restricted to no more than ‘nic’ and animal-like behaviour as though he was raised by a pack of night wolves, which, most surprisingly, had some truth to his past.

  He told me that he found out about Cassius’ death and my mission when the kingdom’s national hermit-catchers kidnapped him. It’s a prevalent business, donating stray hermits to the needy and selling them at popular buy-two-get-one-free merchant stalls spread throughout the world.

  They stuffed him into the back of the van and intended on shipping him off to the far land of Ruthai, coincidentally the same place those marauders that stole his wealth came from. There he heard all in order to catch up on all that had happened. The coachmen were real gossip girls when it came to world danger and politics.

  Politics as in, we take your country or we kill you all in a life-threatening battle concerning death dragons to help us win, but probably backfires and we all die. Ysellian is wonderful, isn’t it?

  Nicolas chewed his way through the iron door and sprinted off on all fours before the coachmen could notice. I so enjoyed his tales, but the path was only so long.

  It wasn’t long until we reached the crossroads where the others were waiting. Justin stood by Nemtris’ side and Ramses kept pacing around, waiting.

  “RAMSES!” I yelled with great delight and with a deep breath and dashed forward, Ramses mimicking. He jumped on me and I snuggled him like there was no tomorrow. I received bonus licks this time, too. Terrowin formally approached the others, Nicolas frozen on the spot, mesmerized by this gigantic Siberian tiger that looked like it was tasting me before the big meal.

  “Have you gotten what you’re after?” Nemtris asked sombrely, nose in the air.

  “No less,” Terrowin answered. Nemtris nodded.

  “Do you have the fire?” Terrowin asked with a raised eyebrow, keeping his hopes up for the best. With a superior smile, Nemtris solemnly replied with, “No less.”

  Terrowin wanted to grin with a job well done, but of course it was never the end for Nemtris and she went on, reaching the climax of her point, “After your little girlfriend tried to kill me!” Terrowin failed to fight back a careless sigh.

  “Firstly, if you must know, she’s not my girlfriend. Secondly, it was never her intension to kill you. It had to be done to send you to the Realm of the Void. Not to mention quickly or you would object to her methods.”

  Nemtris’ eyes sparked with anger. Her arms remained folded, her lips pouted. After another while of intensive staring, Nemtris clicked her tongue and brought a glass jar into sight. It swirled with the dark fires of Tarauntis. It looked like a resemblance to pure darkness, pure death, itself. It was astonishing…

  Nemtris carelessly tossed the jar to Terrowin who, fortunately, caught it just in time before it could smash to the ground.

  “I hope you hooligans are happy!” she exclaimed as she walked away, standing aside and making for the inn, located at the north-eastern end of the crossroads.

  Terrowin approached me, but seemingly as I was still a little busy with Ramses, pinned beneath his big fluffy paws, he had no choice but to try and interrupt our little reunion.

  “Carlaylin…”

  “Huh?” I asked, not particularly focusing much. What? I was busy.

  “If you’re done…” Terrowin stated with a smile, clearing his throat and looking away. That grin looked like it could be pinned to his lips for a while.

  “Oh!” I snapped back into reality and tried pushing Ramses off my person, trying to gesture indirectly to keep his stance, still slightly fighting off a few licks. I couldn’t blame Ramses. I was a person easily to be longed over, I must admit.

  “Oh, yes. Err, quite done. Report, soldier!”

  I was up and ready, standing tall and proud, ignoring the tiger slobber drenched all over my adventurer’s clothing. Terrowin gave a single chuckle at my little undertaking and kindly said, “We have to go.”

  I raised my eyebrows and shot my gaze toward the lone inn standing opposite of me. I squinted my eyes to try and read the hanging sign. ‘The Bouncing Monkey’ it read. Something told me that I found it more suiting than I was supposed to be, but you can’t really blame me. The exterior looked promising and calm.

  I gave a smile with eyes fixed on the inn.

  “Of course. Hey, Nick, let’s-” I paused in a moment of sudden shock.

  “What?” Terrowin asked with a frown, curious to see what bothered me – what managed to interrupt my chain of thought. Even Terrowin knew that if something broke me from my thoughts, it must be excruciatingly horrible. In this case it was. The lack of parental guidance…

  “Where’s Nick? By the dragon lords, where is he?!” I yelped in a panic. I was bewildered, my eyes flickering across the scene with the intention of finding the poor hermit, but I found no clue as to where he might have gone. My panic even had Nemtris frozen in track at the porch of the inn. All eyes were on me.

  Terrowin took it upon himself to search the area with a single gaze whereas I leaped about, practically pulling my hair out. Those eyes of his scanned his surrounding area and, by sheer luck, his inherited instincts kicked in. Somehow he could sense Nick and the path he took.

  “There… This way!” He pointed us off into the right direction and we dashed in after gramps. It led us off into the opposite direction of the inn and down the western path. For a few minutes, that hermit was fast. Fortunately, we found him wandering about, going further down the road. His eyes were fixed on a… yes, a butterfly.

  “What an illuminating mixture of colour… how fascinating!” Nicolas said to himself as he followed the fluttering creature further down the earthen path. On and on he went until not he, but we, noticed a towering drop at the end of the path. It was the drop of a cliff, leading down to where the River Roth flew at the foot of it. Its waters were shimmering under the starry sky.

  “Wait, Nick! No!” I called out in urgent warning, but it was too late. As I called, Nick’s foot slipped off a loose rock and was sent tumbling down the cliff alongside some rolling boulders skidding off the steep slope. Terrowin, Justin, Nemtris and I halted at the edge of the drop, looking down with broadened eyes. Beyond the sound of the last rolling stone pebbles, there was the faint desperate cry of, “Niiiiiiiiiic!”

  Nemtris sank her head into the palm of her hand, Justin pulling away and sucking air in between his teeth, for he could only imagine the hits Nick took. Meanwhile, Terrowin sighed loudly with frustration at the return of the hermit’s former self. I leaned over the edge to look down, eyebrows raised. No more came from me.

  I shot a look at Justin. I received a smile of understanding.
<
br />   “Don’t worry. I’ll go get him.”

  Like the flexible little elf he was, Justin ran off into the vegetation and used acrobatics to find Nick that was busily being carried off by the strong river stream.

  “Hey, what’s this?” Terrowin asked as he picked up a slab of stone that was formerly pinned into the muddy earth at the side of the rode.

  “Give me that!” I grabbed the stone slab from his hands and studied it. “A tablet?” Both Nemtris and Terrowin leaned in closer to see. The rim was hammered with ancient and complicated patterns. In the middle there were words carved into the stone. It wasn’t English, but in the tongue of the dragon. ADULL I recall. I decided to read it out loud for my non-Drachem buddies breathing down my neck.

  “It reads that in order to enter the cave of the lost city of the water dragon, one must first climb the lighthouse to prove purity of heart. Okay… This doesn’t sound too complicated. I need the exercise.”

  “There’s something in fine print…” Terrowin pointed out. Yes, the fine print. Why does one always miss that part?

  “No magic allowed or entrance will be declined,” I read. My lip curled back in complete and utter disgust. I was disappointed by the ‘No Magic’ policy, but there was something else. Something far worse that set me off.

  “We find a freaking tablet miles away from the path we’re actually supposed to be taking and it speaks of precautions that may be fatal to our quest to find Marinius… ”

  I was heartbroken. My grip on the tablet tightened as a spark of momentary fury glinted in my eyes. I was so enraged that my hands started glowing red as a sign that I might summon fire any moment now. It wasn’t only the rage, but the sheer confusion and disbelief of the situation.

  Standing at the edge of a tall cliff, I yelled, “Who the hell planned this adventure?!” hearing as my voice echoed off into the night, the silhouettes of startled birds flying off into the starry night sky.

  After the drama everyone settled down at the inn and had a good night’s sleep. It was only I that had an unnerving dream. I dreamt of the wrath of Nemtris and the power of the undead she released upon me. Even though I was the Wizard of Elements, the army was just too overwhelming. It reflected her fury, her deepest rage when I told her the truth about Murray. I ended up gasping myself awake at the light of dawn when some reckless skeletal warrior tried to choke me. Even though I was awake, I could still feel those cold bony fingers wrapped around my neck and pressing down until I couldn’t breathe anymore. It was intense. I give you that. That morning I really steered clear of Nemtris, especially after the idea that we both knew what I did to her back at Elimor.