The Kiss From a Dragon

by C. D. Pennington

  “That’s okay love,” Cerana took Esteri’s hands in her own. They were warm, another indication the medicine was having an effect. “We were both stressed, I think. And with all that you have had to go through, it’s understandable that you get upset. There is nothing at all to forgive.”

  Esteri smiled that beautiful smile, and as quickly as that, the sisters were best of friends again. They never fell out for long, for which Cerana was grateful.

  “She still isn’t back,” Esteri confirmed what Cerana had feared.

  Cerana forced a smile. “Let’s give it until lunchtime. If she still isn’t back, I think I’ll go search for her. What do you think?”

  “Lunchtime?” Esteri beamed at her. “It’s gone lunchtime, lazy bones! What time did you get to sleep last night?”

  Cerana was shocked; she had been out for hours! Well, she had needed it, and this might give her the strength she needed to go search for their missing sibling.

  “Gosh, I thought it was breakfast time!” she said. “Esteri, I fear I must leave to go look for her. I would take you with me, but I don’t think you are strong enough yet for that.”

  “I know, you’re right,” Esteri agreed. “I would love to come with you, but I will be a burden. I’m better off here.”

  “You must promise me that you will be careful here on your own. I will aim to be back as soon as possible, but I cannot guarantee how long I will be gone.”

  “I will,” Esteri said, solemnly.

  “If what happened the other night had not happened, I would be much happier about leaving without you, but it does still concern me despite nothing going on since.” Cerana wanted to be honest with her sister - she needed her to understand the dangers.

  “I know, C.”

  “You need to lock the doors and keep the windows and shutters closed, at all times.”

  “I will.”

  “And do not open the door to anyone unless you are sure it is me or Jana, if she happens to make her way back whilst I am out.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “I should get ready to go then.” Cerana decided there was no time like the present.

  “Let me make you some food first,” Esteri suggested. “You’ll need to keep up your strength for the trip.”

  Cerana’s stomach rumbled as if it heard Esteri’s words. She put her hand to her tummy. “I guess I can’t argue with that!” she said.

  Esteri laughed and disappeared off into the kitchen, her golden hair swinging behind her. Cerana made her way to the bedroom to change. She was not looking forward to this trip but was still anxious to get going, to hopefully find some answers. However, she knew deep down that the chances of finding her sister, wherever she may be, were slim. Jana could potentially be anywhere in Evorene by now.

  Where the hell are you, sister? What has happened to you?

  CHAPTER 22 – No Escape

  Try as she might, Jana just could not reach the knots that bound her ankles together. She had been squirming around on the floor for some time now – how long she could not say - trying to reach any knots within reach. But there were none. Her captors had not returned to her since her initial interrogation, and that seemed like days ago now. Their confidence in her inability to escape was justified. They had done a real job on her, and escape seemed impossible.

  She had given up trying to struggle herself free a long time ago. The bare skin on her legs and arms where the ropes were tied was chafed and sore from her initial struggles, and now it hurt every time she moved, so excessive struggling was painful.

  They had tied her in such a way that she just could not get to any of the knots. She had become completely demoralised as she knew that escape from the ropes was impossible.

  Her whole body ached from being tied up for such a long time. There was not a single comfortable position she could find; it seemed that every way she moved aggravated some part of her body, and her jaw was stiff and uncomfortable from being forced open. It was only sheer exhaustion that had allowed her to get any sleep at all. Still, she had only managed short, occasional naps and her tiredness was adding to her distress and irritation at being left alone down here.

  She was hungry, thirsty and in pain. Her last meal was at the inn the night before she was taken, and they had only allowed her a mouthful of water since her capture. Her injured ankle was beginning to trouble her again, but there was nothing she could do to ease her pain. It was only a small consolation that her ankle had not caused her more discomfort so far, which was surprising but welcome in this dark chamber. It would have been far more discomforting for her if she had had to deal with the constant pain from her foot as well as the impossible predicament she was already in.

  Hope was hard to come by for Jana at the moment. However, she did still take some small comfort in the fact that she was still alive, and so far, her captors had shown her no real violence or threat to her life. Jana could see that Tavlor had little in the way of intelligence, but Pelan seemed almost frighteningly bright for a thug. It was clear they had not planned to kill Alleran, such was the reaction from Pelan as his brother had murdered him. Maybe Pelan, who was undoubtedly the leader, was trying to figure out the best course of action to take with her, and they had no intention of killing her too. Bound on the hard floor, this was about all Jana could hope for.

  Her concern was that she was the only witness to the murder of her friend. She could implicate them both, and she guessed this was the reason she was kept as their prisoner. She had no idea whereabouts they were holding her, but she figured that as they had been drinking at the inn at the village - and known by the innkeepers - they must be reasonably local to Mallam.

  Surely by now, Cerana would know she was missing, and she knew her sister well enough to know that she would come looking for her. If Cerana asked questions in the village - and better still if she went to the inn - surely someone would realise the link between her disappearance and the thugs that had groped her and taken a beating because of it? Hope grew inside her as she pondered, but her concern was still that if she could think of this possible outcome, Pelan was unlikely to have overlooked it. His brother Tavlor would possibly be stupid enough to bring her back to where they lived, but would Pelan be that careless? It was doubtful. As soon as someone worked out the link, their property would be the first place they would look.

  So I must be somewhere else, she thought. But probably not far from the village. Oh, Cerana, please find me. Bring me back to you and Esteri so I can look after our sister.

  Her thoughts were interrupted as the sound of heavy footsteps from above echoed through the dark room. Someone was coming. What will they do to me this time? Her heart rate soared, and a small struggle against her bonds quickly ended as the ropes bit into her sore skin. The footsteps stopped directly above her, just where the hatch should be.

  But the hatch did not open.

  She held her breath, heart pumping hard. Nothing. Had she imagined it? Dreamt it? Surely not.

  Her eyes darted across the dark ceiling, searching for any clues as to the owner of the footsteps. Then suddenly the hatch swung open, but this time no beam of light shone down into her prison. Maybe it’s night-time, she thought. She heard the scraping of the ladder being dragged to the opening and lowered onto the floor, and as a dark figure began to descend, a small yellow glow began to give some light to the room.

  Helpless on the floor, Jana’s eyes widened in horror as her visitor reached the bottom of the ladder and turned to her, the light from the candle he held casting hideous shadows onto the evil, glass-eyed face of Tavlor Corr.

  “Ello my sweet,” he sneered, his yellow teeth appearing even more grotesque in the dim light from the candle. Ignoring the pain, she tried to wriggle away, but her ropes held her tight. She screamed but was silenced by the gag. She wept, but no-one was there to comfort her. Only the thug Tavlor, who was quite possibly the last person in the realm she wanted to see right now.

  “Where d’ya think you’re off to, t
hen?” he mocked as she tried to squirm away. “Did a good job with you, din’t we? All tied up like a little wiggly worm. Pelan wouldn’t let me see you, but he ain’t here now.”

  Jana thrashed wildly on the floor, moaning into the cloth that silenced her.

  “Struggle all ya like. You ain’t goin’ nowhere, missy. You’re all mine now.”

  Jana screamed again, but it was all from her throat. No-one outside this room would be able to hear her.

  Tavlor sat the metal candle-holder on the floor and lurched over to her. As he approached, he pulled a knife out of his belt.

  Jana shook with fear, eyes bulging. She screamed into the gag. Clenching her fists behind her back, she summoned all the strength she could muster, and foolishly tried to break away from the cruel ropes once more. But her efforts were met with the same result as every other time she attempted to escape: pain and helplessness.

  He darted behind her and lifted her upper body from the floor. His breath stank as he shoved his face over her shoulder, his glass eye gleaming in the dim candlelight. He was breathing hard. Tavlor pressed the knife to her throat, and as he firmly held her body to his, she could feel him shaking.

  Jana stopped wriggling, and she panted breathlessly. Fear had fully taken over her, and she trembled with terror.

  “It’s a shame I have to do this,” he hissed into her ear. “But I can’t let you live, can I?”

  Jana squealed and whimpered, shaking her head violently as the blade pressed against her throat.

  “Pelan thinks he can just ship you off, and that’ll be the end of it. But I can’t take that risk. You saw me kill that bloke you was with, and no-one else knows.”

  Jana gulped hard as she realised his intentions. Her worst fears had come true.

  “So I figure it like this,” he continued. “I get rid of you, then no-one can say it was me who killed him. Dunno why Pelan didn’t think of this before. Maybe he’s stupid, can’t see it proper. But I can. It’s simple, ain’t it?”

  She hardly dare move because of the knife at her throat, but she could hold back her tears no longer. She cried hard, panting into the gag.

  He suddenly let go of her, and unable to support herself, she crashed back to the floor, hitting her head hard. Her senses swam, and stars appeared in her eyes, but she quickly recovered to see Tavlor stood over her, the knife gripped in his hand.

  She had no idea why he let her go, but Jana took her chance. Sheer instinct took over her, and she tensed her upper body and lifted her feet off the ground, up as far and hard as she could. Miraculously her plan worked - as she brought her feet up, she kicked him hard between the legs.

  “Aaaarrrggghhh!” he yelled, instantly dropping the knife and doubling over in pain.

  Jana squirmed away as he convulsed on the floor, holding himself between his legs, moaning and grimacing. She thrashed her legs around as hard as she could in a futile attempt to distance herself from him. But in doing so, Jana knocked over the candle that Tavlor had placed down. It came away from its metal holder and rolled over towards one of the clumps of straw on the ground. Jana watched in horror as the candle settled and almost instantly, the dry straw took flame.

  Still groaning, Tavlor made it to his knees, looked up, and saw the small flame in the straw. “Shit!” he yelled, jumping to his feet with a groan and hobbling over to the straw, one hand held to his painful manhood. “Fucking bitch!” he sneered, stamping on the flames and putting them out.

  The room went dark again.

  She heard Tavlor groan and curse as he looked around in the gloom for his knife.

  Jana knew he would not make the same mistake again. She closed her eyes and slumped back to the floor. The flicker of hope from the extinguished flame had gone out inside her, too.

  CHAPTER 23 – The Search Begins

  Clouds loomed heavy over Barnesbay, threatening to drop their load of rain at any moment. But as Cerana made ready for her departure, it managed to remain dry. Even so, rain was likely, so she wore a dark green woollen cloak with the hood down, for now. Underneath the cloak, she wore a tan leather jerkin on top of a white linen shirt, along with black leather breeches and knee-length boots, also in leather. She had made all the leather garments herself, and Esteri had made the shirt. She strapped her trusty dagger to her thigh – Cerana wanted to make sure she was prepared for any eventuality, but hoped not to use any weapon.

  “Remember, do not open that door for anyone,” she reiterated to her youngest sibling. “Not until we return, anyway.”

  Esteri hugged her hard and kissed her cheek. “Come back to me, sister. Both of you.”

  “I will. And I shall do everything I can to find Jana and bring her back safely.” They broke their embrace and Cerana mounted Winter, her trusty mare. “You are sure you know how much medicine to give yourself? And when?”

  Esteri rolled her eyes. “Go, Cerana!” she smirked. “You’ve told me a hundred times!”

  Cerana laughed. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “Ride safe, C. Bye-bye.”

  “Bye.” Cerana gave Winter a gentle nudge of her heel, and they were away, Esteri waving at her from the front door. Cerana did not look back.

  She had decided not to go to the Mallam Mountains straight away. Instead, she would head for Otterley and Alleran’s apothecary shop. It had dawned on her that if Alleran had returned himself, it would narrow down her search for Jana as she would have surely headed home from leaving him. If he was not there, it would mean that neither of them had returned, so she would then travel to the mountains and search there.

  Cerana was not sure if she wanted Alleran to be there or not. Would it be better if he was? If so, he would be able to tell Cerana when he last saw Jana, and which way she was heading. If not - and they were both missing – the search area widened significantly. But then, perhaps they were still together, looking out for each other. As she rode north, her mind came up with so many eventualities that she began to confuse herself, so she tried to concentrate on simply getting to Otterley, where she would find the first answer to a long list of questions.

  The town seemed a lot quieter than when she had first visited to seek out the apothecary. From her own experience of the decline of her leatherworking business, she was well aware that times were hard and gold was difficult to come by, but what struck her as most odd was the rate of decline in general. There had not been any tax rises in recent years, which was the usual reason for trade slumps, so the actual reason was a mystery to her.

  Cerana was able to ride Winter almost up to the shop this time, such was the relative quietness of the town. Alleran’s building was still quite filthy from the outside, but she did not expect it to have improved any in terms of cleanliness, so she was not disappointed. The door still creaked as she opened it, but this time a small bell chimed as the door was pushed inwards, which she did not remember from before. Hearing the bell, Alleran’s assistant Darmon emerged from the back room. When he realised it was Cerana in the shop, he seemed quite surprised to see her.

  “Oh, Miss Proudstone! Am I glad to see you!” Darmon sounded chirpy, but had a slight scowl on his young face, as if irritated by something. Cerana opened her mouth to greet the boy, but before she could speak, he continued. “I need you to give a message to Alleran for me if you would be so kind. It is quite urgent. Oh, how is your sister?”

  Cerana’s shoulders sagged. She knew straight away that Alleran had not returned, and she could not help feeling a wave of dejection. “So he’s not here then, I assume.” It was more of a statement than an enquiry.

  “Of course not,” the boy replied curtly. “He is with you, isn’t he? With your sister?”

  “No, he isn’t,” she said glumly.

  Darmon looked shocked. “Oh. Where is he then?”

  “I don’t know. That’s why I’m here. I was hoping he might be here.”

  “He hasn’t been back since he went to see to your sister,” Darmon told her.

  “When
exactly did you last see him?”

  “Err, a good few days ago now. He left in a hurry, very early in the morning. He seemed anxious, nervous even.”

  Cerana realised this must have been when he came to them with news of Esteri’s condition following his research. So, this meant that if they did leave the mountains, they did not return here first as was planned. Cerana’s fear was growing by the minute. Of course, there was nothing to say that they even did reach the mountains, but that was where Cerana decided she must search next.

  “Okay, thanks.” She turned and walked towards the door.

  Darmon scurried after her. “Excuse me, Miss Prou-”

  “If he does return,” Cerana interrupted him, “tell him to go to Esteri as soon as he can. And if my sister is with him, tell her to go home, I will return soon.”

  The boy was perplexed. “The sick one?” he asked.

  “No! The other one!” snapped Cerana.

  “Oh. You have another sister?”

  “Yes!” he was irritating her now. “Jana, she is missing too. They left my house together days ago, and neither have returned. That’s why I am here.”

  “Oh,” he said again. “I see. Do you think they are in trouble?”

  “Ugh!” Cerana felt exasperated with the boy. “Just tell them, please. I must go.”

  She stormed to the door and slammed it behind her. She instantly felt guilty for taking out her frustrations on the young man, but in his youth, she felt he was not fully appreciative of the severity of the situation. Pausing, and contemplating whether to go back inside and apologise, a handsome ginger cat trotted past her. It turned, regarded her with a scowl and hissed at her. She decided not to go back in. Instead, she walked swiftly away from the door, making the cat scamper away.

  Winter - her faithful mount - was waiting for her return. Stroking the mare’s velvet neck, Cerana climbed into the saddle, and they continued their journey.

  Cerana left Otterley via the main western road, which she figured would have been the way Jana and Alleran would have made for if returning from the mountains. Once away from the town, there was only one path until she hit an intersection. As she was not that familiar with this area, she was grateful for a wooden signpost giving directions at the junction. Although she could see the tips of the mountains of Mallam straight ahead to the east, the intersection was making her chose either north or south. North was signposted KINGHAM and HAGAST. South said SOUTHSTORM and OREGAL. She had been to Kingham before and remembered it was on the border of the mountains she was seeking, so she decided to take the north path and then make her way back south-west around the mountains in her search.