Keepers of the Crown

by Lydia Redwine

  He stood in the dragon keep with arms folded across his chest. The morning was just beginning to yawn and stretch, the blush of dawn was slowly creeping across the heavens to brush the tops of the trees. Something still coiled inside of him. Something that had formed while in the nightmare. But he had managed to summon the dragons and thus felt some sort of spark within him.

  At least, enough of a spark to look forward to training. “I can prove a point, you know,” he seemed to be saying to the dragons though they didn’t turn to him. “A point to a girl who can summon an army of birds at her will.” He did not wish to impress her for the reason of pursuing her but...if he could not be better, then what would Leviathan think of him? “She’s just a girl,” he muttered.

  Just then, three rocs appeared overhead with wings spread wide as they glided downwards into the keep. Arria was perched on the back of one. The one Riah knew was Gamgee. The other two were even smaller birds who didn’t seem as experienced or wise as Gamgee. They were certainly younger and more colorful. One was a rusty color of red with rich brown feathers scattered at various places. The other was gray. A gray which was nearly silver.

  When the rocs landed, Riah found that the red eagle had amber eyes and the gray one the color of ice blue. Riah expected Arria to leap off of Gamgee and wish him a cheerful good morning, but she did not even appear as she had when Riah had first met her. Instead of wearing comfortable clothing as she had done previously, she was clad in form-fitting leather, a black cape and was laden with weapons from her shoulders to her ankles. “Goodmorning,” Riah said dully.

  Arria simply threw him a sheathed sword. “We will spar first.”

  She did not tell him that she was going to assess his basic skills, but Riah pretty well figured it out by the time she was having him throw knives at makeshift prey that her bird friends were dropping from above. Riah kept stealing glances at the three creatures which continued to circle above them. “The red one is called Took, and the gray one is named Buck. They are brothers.”

  “Wheredid youeven get them? I never even heardofrocs until I camehere.Maybementionedin a storyonce.” Riah asked. Arria gave him a look as if to tell him to keep throwing.

  He hurled another knife, just barely missing a falling false prey. When he hit the next one in the neck, Arria replied with, “Icametothem.Orrather...Leviathan broughtmeto them. I learned about their histories. Most of them came from over the sea. From the Other Lands. Surely you’ve heard more than mere tales.”

  “Some.”

  After Riah’s next throw, Arria opened a pack, and they consumed a midday meal in which Riah didn’t even try to engage Arria in conversation. Instead, he kept his eyes trained on the cluster of dragons at the end of the keep. They were sleeping, mostly, or basking in the sun. Every now and then they would shift their powerful bodies and raise their wings as if perking their ears. They still fascinated him and would always do so as far as he knew. They were wisps of myth and legend come to real life.

  Words Leviathan had said entered his mind. “Neither Shadow Bearer nor Shedim will ever allow a human like yourself or any other to rule over them. To command them. But dragons may let you.”

  Arria finished before Riah and stood up with hands braced on her hips. “There is not much more I can do as far as your combat skills go. You were taught well. The dragons are another matter.” Shebrushed off a piece of dirt which had landed on her shoulder. “I have never commanded dragons, but I assume the starting point is much like that of commanding rocs. You must earn their trust and then reveal that you are in charge and are their sole authority. Aside from that, well, I guess Leviathan is to come back any day now.”

  Only now did her keen gaze lock with his. Riah stood to his feet beside her as he glanced towards the dragons for the hundredth time. “How would you suggest I go about that?”

  Arria shrugged. “That is up to you.” She then began to walk towards Gamgee, Took, and Buck. “I will return in a day or two to conduct some more social training. Until then, you are on your own.”

  “On myown.Great,” Riahmurmured. Hedid not protest, however, when Arria mounted Gamgee without a goodbye and was lifted into the skies. A moment later, the young rocs, too, soared away.

  Riah paced the dragon keep for a lengthy period of time. He did not mutter angrily at the seemingly impossible prospect of having these creatures go to war for him. But when a thought dawned on him, he halted, gazed at the creatures, and then left the keep.

  When he had returned, he had with him a sheet of old, tan fabric, several bottles of paint, and a plethora of brushes. “If I paint them, take some interest in them, I might be off to some start. At least, they haven't eaten me yet, so that is a sign.”

  He scanned his eyes over the cluster of creatures before alighting on the one he sought. “Zoka first.” The one with stars in her eyes that splayed her years of wisdom.

  With a piece of charcoal, he sketched her fist. The sketch was rough but brought about the general shape. Finding the right shade of white for Zoka’s wings and scales was easy enough, but her eyes...the colors were too numerous and brilliant. They had been fashioned by a higher power and could not be painted now. They would need more time.

  So Riah focused on the intricate design of her scales and how her wings would fold to her sides peacefully when she was not in flight. He noticed her protective nature over the other five and how she would shoot them glares if their commotion became too disruptive.

  Riah became so engrossed in his project that he did not notice the looming figure of the black dragon with gold-rimmed eyes until he was quite close. Riah nearly jumped right to his feet but managed to remain still by clenching his muscles.

  The unnamed dragon tilted his head as if he were examining the painting. The dragon then glanced in the direction of Zoka, seeming to understand. Riah felt a small flicker of satisfaction in his chest.

  Riah cast a glance at the bottle of black paint before eyeing the unnamed dragon to his right. He noticed that the dragon’s ink-dipped wings and raven form could not be matched with a simple black. He decided then that he would paint Zoka with a rising sun beyond her and his dragon with a star dazzled night behind him. And the others...their paintings would come soon.

  Riah selected four colors: scarlet, blue, white, and yellow. Mixed, they would produce the hundreds of shades of a sunrise. Mixed with white, the darker tones would become light and airy like the sky above him. And when he painted the dragon now lying beside him, he would paint a dark sky heavy with blinking stars.

  Riah was in the keep until dusk painting that sky behind Zoka. He had not yet touched her eyes. No, he would return to those some other time. He sighed with immense satisfaction when he stroked his brush one more time over her scales. He had touched the tips of her wings with just enough of the yellow so that it would appear the sun was shining on her.

  Much earlier that day, five of the six had flown off to hunt their meal. But the unnamed dragon of the night remained at Riah’s side for the entire day. Only now that the others had returned and gathered around Riah to peer at his work did the dragon lift into the skies. The first stars were beginning to appear.

  Riah stood and stepped back so that he might examine his work. As he did so, Zoka nudged him with her head as if to say she was quite pleased. Riah nearly laughed at the sight of the five creatures surrounding his painted canvas. They seemed curious, somewhat bewildered, but very much interested.

  “Iwillpaint allofyou,” hesaid. Somewings twitchedand, low, gurgling sounds fell from the creatures’ mouths. “But for now,” Riah continued as if speaking to himself. He did not finish the sentence aloud. Instead, he gathered his supplies and walked towards the fortress.

  “Enter, eat, sleep,” he said. The day had been long. It had stretched into hours of inner peacefulness he hadn’t felt in too long. He left the painted canvas behind. This prospect did not scare him. He knew, somehow, that they would not disturb the painting.

  As Riah was enteri
ng the fortress, he glimpsed the unnamed dragon gracefully gliding in the sky far beyond where the fortress was positioned. Pines rose to a navy and pink sky in the last gasp of dusk.

  A smile tugged at his lips and he felt… “I could stay here and never rule anything. I could have friends that would stay. Home...I would have a home.”

  Adria braced a hand against the wall and reached her stiff

  fingers into the already bloodied bowl of water. She lifted the tatteredclothandhandedit toMista. “Here, usethis,” sherasped out.

  The Shadow Bearers had long since gone, leaving them in a room so furnished, it seemed fit for the queen herself. One four-poster bed, wide windows, and a roaring hearth. And... roses upon roses upon roses in vases and scattered about sills and floors.

  The only thing was...they had yet to see the queen. Had yet to see their own mother. Even in Mirabelle, they had not seen her. Adria clenched her eyes against the memory. Shards of ice flying in every direction from the castle built at Imber Fel’s center. Her arms still bore scars of those which had pierced her.

  Mista had tried to count them to distract herself. Adria hadn’t listened. Her younger sister was climbing into the bed despite hating it for all its elaborate comforts. “Maring us with injuries and then providing the amenities to heal ourselves is just the sort of game we should have expected,” Adria thought.

  Mista was still crying. The silent sort of crying where tears streamed down her face but no noise was made. Adria’s heart twisted in her chest. Her hands shook as she reached for the rag from Mista to apply it to her own wounds.

  Her lower lip was split as was her head, she felt. But she could still think. Or...had she imagined it?

  Mista’s hand was at her arm, and her eyes were wide. “I saw her too.” Cam and Fiera were here. And they were going to die. “But we have to help,” Mista was whispering as if she had read the dreadful thought in her older sister’s eyes.

  “I know. But we do not know where they are.”

  “That’s why I left your ribbon in the hall. So they could find us.”

  Adria turned to Mista, her eyes wide and hopeful. “But it will only show where we have been. Not where we have gone.”

  Mista shook her head. “Remember when we would play those games at home where we would write the room we were in with little dots and marks to indicate directions?”

  Adria nodded. “A game we never even told Grandfather or our parents about. Because...sometimes, we went into the ballroom.”

  Mista nodded. “Well...that’s what I did. And even if our mother does find it, she won’t know what it means.”

  “Brilliant,” was all Adria could say. She tried to smile, but another thought lighted in her mind and then waned and flickered like a flame above a candle. “If Cam and Fiera can find us...without being caught.”

  Cam’s eyelids fluttered open. What had awakened her?

  Her eyes swept the expanse of the room, oversleeping persons among cloaks and weapons. The window was still cracked open with the thorns of Ilea’s doing slowly melting away into shadow upon the ground. Where Ilea had gone, Cam did not know for sure. Somewhere to recover from the magic. But everyone was inside now in the tiny room Ilea had locked by binding thorns over the walls. Cam saw nothing to arouse suspicion.

  Then footsteps on stone reached her ears. Her first thought was of the ghostly child. She scrambled into a dark corner as the door was thrust open. But it was a familiar face. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Fiera bent before her, something blue in her hand. A ribbon. Cam reached forward, her shaking fingers recognizing the pattern of stitches. “Adria…” she breathed.

  “I found it in the hall,” Fiera whispered. Cam’s eyes widened. “Why did you go into the hall? We barred the doors for a reason!” she hissed.

  Fiera clamped a hand over Cam’s mouth. “Do you want to find our sisters or not?” Cam nodded. “Good. Because we should go before anyone wakes up and tries to stop us.”

  Cam peered at the ribbon, her mind working to decipher themeaning. “Brilliant,” shebreathed. “Andwenever toldSilva.”

  “Iknow,”Fiera replied, herlipssplittingintoa grin.Pride glimmered in her eyes. “Don’t wrack your brain too much. It’s the northwest wing four floors up. Though they had to use more straight vertical lines than usual since…”

  “Since our homewas never this large,” Cam finished. She locked her gaze with Fiera’s. “Let’s just hope they haven't been moved.”

  Cam listed the tasks ahead of them in her mind. She listed them as they were done, noting their progress and the ones still left ahead. One: deal with the thorns barring them inside. Two: leaving without their comrades noticing. Three: getting up four flights of stairs in the castle where Shadow Bearers roamed. Cam shuddered in the stairwell and edged closer to Fiera who had borne a mask of determination. Cold air passed through the tunneled as if the fortress itself was breathing down their necks. Cam’s fingers tightened around Fiera’s.

  “Almost there…”

  The door to the room they reached was barred. One room in seemingly hundreds that lined the halls. All with doors equally sealed. Doors that could open at any second to reveal enemies beyond. Cam took in a deep, shuddering breath. “This better be the right one.” According to what was written on the ribbon, it was. Fiera reached forward and placed a steady hand on the knob. And turned. The gasps of the two figures beyond rippled the air.

  Cam and Fiera dove in, closing the door behind them. Before their eyes could grow accustomed to the warm light of the warm, warm bodies crashed into them. Cam heard her name. She heard Fiera’s. Tears sprang to her eyes. She clutched at the body in front of her.

  One blissful moment of crying...and some laughing before she pulled back to look at them. Both wore patches of bruises their cheeks and necks. And Adria’s arms… “What did they do to you?” she demanded in a breathy voice as her fingers traced the markings etched into her sister’s flesh.

  Adria only shook her head, tears stinging her eyes. “I was gone too long. Far too long,” Cam thought. And then aloud, she said, “We’ll take you from here. I promise.”

  “I fell from Caelae like a teardrop into the aby ss. I watched the wings of gold and sapphire flash above me. It would be the last time I would see color so brilliant…

  My wings blaze black; a filthy ruin of a regal princehood.”

  -Lucius

  Twenty-One

  Awarm body pressed into Cam’s side. She leaned into Peter. The outside air at the top of the ledge was chilling, and they had been crouched here for entirely too long. Cam felt the aching in both her lower back and in her legs. She straightened her spine and tried to contain her groan at the stretch.

  Two days now. Two days since they had left the fortress. Fiera had told the rest of their company that Silva would probably begin looking for them soon.

  No mention of their sisters. Not even to Peter. Cam had not told him about finding Adria and Mista. “Soon,” she told herself. “No reason to put you in further harm.” Ilea had formed more thorns on the wall facing shadows beyond measure. Shadows that seemed to create an excluded location high enough to see down to the front gate of the fortress but far enough from the gate that they couldn’t be detected.

  Still, there were the ravens. And when they soared over their hiding spot, Cam would seal her eyes shut, willing the creatures to not see them. And there the company had stayed, hiding in nests of thorns that blended so well with the shadows that they were practically invisible.

  Both Cam and Peter were bent on their knees and peering over a ledge of rock. The ground beneath them was stone scattered in rose petals and pebbles. Nothing moved but the wind. And even the wind seemed to be something dead. Something waking from a long sleep. Cam was holding in her own breath while counting Peter’s.

  “You didn’t try to stop me,” she whispered aloud, the sound as faint as she could make it. Peter turned, his eyes holding question. “From going into the cities. From coming here first
,” she said as she returned his gaze.

  Peter swallowed. “I wasn’t going to make that mistake again.” Cam would have smiled if not for their present circumstances. Her attention was snapped to the figures appearing below. Peter had already jerked forward. It had been hours that they had been here, waiting for something to happen. Anything to happen.

  A figure was wavering before the gate, flanked by several other figures all wearing tattered, black robes. Their faces, Cam could not see. And beyond them were emerging several more figures. They were bearing flags. The banners were made of the same tattered cloth they wore and seemed ancient. As if they had been buried for centuries. And perhaps they had. Each flag was green and bore a different symbol.

  Cam shuddered, recognizing each of the symbols to be a snake in a different form. And there were enough of them to count up the cities. Cam counted them again to ensure where exactly these people had come from. “Shadow Bearers,” Cam mused. “What else?” Her eyes trailed from those who were dismounting the birds to the figure standing at the gate ahead of everyone else. Female, Cam presumed by the pure feline bend of her body as she twisted her neck to stretch it. She was draped in a black gown embellished with chains.

  And she was speaking. But not in words that Cam knew. “Why does every place have to have its own language?” Cam cursed. And even if they had brought Ilea with them, they might not be able to understand what was being said. The tongue of those in Mingroth could have very well changed in the time since Ilea had been there.

  The woman was turning to address several Shadow Bearers standing directly behind her and to those who were still approaching. The woman waved a hand, and the mass of creatures parted. To reveal yet another figure.

  She recognized him.

  The boy she and Ilea had seen upon their arrival here. He