A burst of light forced the chest’s lid open. The light beamed high into the sky, and then moved outward in every direction. Farrah turned to look to the chest. Marric’s eyes widened. Ash broke his contact with Marric as the light reached them. The ground rumbled beneath their feet.
Ash turned to look at the chest. It was open. But, there was something else in the chest. It was not the dragon’s heart he had placed in it weeks ago. The heart had laid below the top of the chest and could not be seen unless you looked down into it. This however, was a large oval shape - similar to an egg, an egg of red - a blood red with waves of black spiraling their way down the egg’s shell.
Marric reached for Ash. Ash took his brother’s hand and drew it across his shoulders. The brothers stumbled their way towards the chest. Farrah took Ash’s right arm and pulled it over her back. “Lean on me,” Farrah whispered. “I’ve got you.”
Ash nodded and replied, “You do.” They continued to walk towards the chest.
“How is it an egg?” Marric asked. “I thought you put the dragon’s heart in the box?”
Ash looked at the egg, then to Euan, and then back to Marric. “I did. I put the heart in the Hope Chest after the jar you gave me broke,” Ash said.
The four of them gathered around the chest, each feeling a mixture of excitement and confusion. Ash turned to look around the camp. He knew there were still soldiers out there. He had seen them run off into the woods with the wounded. Marric had taken an arrow to save him from one such soldier hiding in the shadows. Ash looked back at the blood red egg. It moved. Farrah jumped. Marric inched closer, and as he did, it cracked. “It cracked!” Marric exclaimed.
“It’s hatching,” Farrah said pointing at the egg.
Ash looked to Euan. “How did this happen, Euan? How did I place a heart in the chest and get an egg in return?” Ash asked.
Euan looked at the egg, then to Ash, “You’re finally asking the right questions,” Euan replied with an extra wide smile.
“Good. Now, I’m waiting for an answer, Euan.”
“It’s a kind of magic,” Euan replied.
“Not good enough,” Ash said, as he stared intently at Euan.
“Good. It shouldn’t be,” Euan said as he peered over at the hatching egg.
It rocked gently in the chest as a slimy, scaly nose forced its way through the shell. It chirped. Its nose knocking against the shell. Its tongue slipping out to taste the air.
“If I’m being honest with you, Ash, I didn’t know this would happen. I had hoped it would, but it was you who made it happen. The magic of my mother made this box, so that hope would be the magic that sealed its contents and kept it safe. Your hope in seeing Farrah again. Your hope in the goodness of your childhood friend, and your hope in that the act of killing a pregnant dragon would save your people. All came together in just the right way, at just the right moment to allow for the possibility of this transformation. But even that did not guarantee this outcome,” Euan said as he motioned to the hatching egg.
The baby dragon snapped its jaws at the air - testing them. It pressed itself forward, arching its back upward. The shell cracked where its back had pressed against it. Two tiny wings emerged, wet and slimy. It waved its wings up and down to free them of the shell and the amniotic fluid. It was getting darker and it was hard to see the color of the baby dragon, but it appeared to be a mixture of dark crimson and ruby red, with black markings and wings.
“If this was an unlikely outcome, Euan, then how did it happen?” Ash asked.
“Love. The love you have for Farrah and Marric. And, it would seem their reciprocation of that love was strong enough to make the transformation and ultimately open the chest,” Euan said.
“What will happen to the baby dragon?” Ash asked.
The hatchling chirped and snapped, while waving its wings in the air. Farrah reached for it. It flicked its tongue into the air and moved its head under her hand. Ash smiled at her. She reached inside the chest to pick up the baby dragon.
“I think he likes you,” Euan said to Farrah.
“Can humans raise a dragon?” Ash asked, as he moved towards Farrah and took the hatchling from her hand. “It’s actually kind of cute. Nothing like its ferocious mother. But, it looks so much like her,” Ash said as he stroked its head. The hatching nipped at his finger then ran up his arm to sit at his shoulder. His tongue flicking Ash’s ear. He flinched and giggled. Farrah smiled at him, as did Euan, and Marric.
“Remember when your, our, father wouldn’t let you have a pet wolf. Well, now you’ve got a pet dragon. King Alric is going to love this,” Marric said, with a chuckle.
“I’m sure he would! It belongs in the wild doesn’t it, Euan? What is it? A he or a she?” Ash asked.
“Dragons can be raised by humans. They can also be trained. There have been a few instances throughout history when human and dragon have lived together and served one another. It will not be like a dog or a horse, Ash, Farrah, Marric. It is more like a person. It will be unique. It will have its own will, and personality. He can be a great partner to you and your kingdom, Ash, or be its undoing. Dragons are not to be trifled with. But, I think you’ll be fine. He seems to like you, too.” Euan said. “And, it’s a she. All dragons are born female and remain so for six months before adopting their gender,” Euan smiled slyly.
Marric reached his hand out to Ash. “Can I?” he asked motioning toward the baby dragon.
“Depends. You can’t have its heart, Marric,” Ash replied. “This business with my father ends now. Tonight.” Ash’s eyes were tight and focused on Marric.
“Justice must be done for what he did to my mother, Ash. For what he did to me…I…”
“It will be, Marric. Brother, I’ll see to it. We’ll speak with father. He’ll acknowledge you as his son, but you’re going to need to accept the punishment for colluding with Hylaen soldiers. You won’t be put to death, but neither will he. And, then we will all begin to move forward, together,” Ash said, as he looked to each of them.
Marric was silent. He knew he had no choice but to accept his brother’s offer. He was lucky to still be alive, let alone to have the promise that he would remain so considering his treasonous actions. Marric nodded his head in agreement.
“He won’t like this. I doubt he’ll even agree to it, but I put my trust in you, brother,” Marric said.
“He will. This will be my kingdom someday. That’s something he has never let me forget. It’s time I started acting like it. He can either acknowledge his mistake publicly on his own terms, or he’ll be exposed, then I’ll leave with Farrah and the dragon and never come back,” Ash said.
“But how is running away acting like a king, Ash?” Farrah asked.
“I won’t have to. My father may be intolerable and domineering at times, but he loves me. And, after my mother’s death I’m all he has left. He won’t want to lose me. And, our being together offers him new opportunities politically, or at least he’ll believe it does. Then, there’s the dragon. If I stayed, we would have a dragon as an ally rather raiding the country side. There’s far too much for him to lose by not agreeing to my terms,” Ash said, as he handed Manic the hatchling. “Here, you can hold her.”
Marric carefully accepted the baby dragon into his hands. He had to move his hands quickly to keep up with the hatching as she ran across his hands in circles. “What will you call her?” Marric asked.
“Why not call him Yew, after my mother?” Euan suggested.
“That’s not bad…” Farrah replied.
“Marric, you mother’s name was Josephine. That doesn’t seem quite fitting for a dragon, but what about Sephine if she stays female and Seph if it becomes a male?” Ash asked.
“I like it,” Farrah offered.
“Me too,” Euan said with a smile.
“I… That’s… Thank you, Ash. But, you don’t have to,” Marric said as his eyes glistened in their wetness.
“I know. But, I think it’s a fitting
way for us all to move forward together,” Ash said with a big smile.
Farrah scowled at Marric. “I hope your time in the dungeon is long and miserable and that they piss in your food for all that you’ve done. But, once you’ve been properly punished, I promise to tolerate you,” Farrah said.
Ash, Farrah, and Marric felt a gentle breeze blowing from the east. It made the hairs on the back of their necks stand up. Ash looked to Euan, but he was no longer there. The four of them started back towards the castle. They were each badly beaten, and in some ways broken, but together they held each other together as they walked through the forest away from the battle ground. Sephine nestled herself on Ash’s shoulder as they walked. As the moon was almost at its zenith, they came across an abandoned farmhouse. There were scorch marks along the fields and a broken yolk attached to a plow. The owners must have fled after they were attacked by Sephine’s mother in the spring.
“Let’s rest here for the night,” Ash suggested.
“Oh, thank the gods,” Farrah replied.
Marric nodded in agreement. They were each exhausted and eager to sleep. They bolted the door and braced the window shutters before finally allowing themselves to fall asleep. Ash knew that tomorrow was to be a new day; a new beginning for his family. A family that had grown where it had almost been lost. He silently thanked Euan for all his help. He wondered to what extent he and his ancestors had really been involved in his family’s history, but that was an answer to be sought at another time. He looked over to Marric lying on a rug on the floor. He was fast asleep. It reminded Ash of those nights so long ago, on the rare occasions when they didn’t get caught or sneak back to their beds, but instead fell asleep on the floor after many a scary story told by Marric. Brother, he thought and smiled. Ash felt Farrah roll over to her side. She was fast asleep. He caressed her hair and kissed her head. “Good night,” he said softly.
And then, just as he was about to close his eyes, Sephine bolted across the floor and pounced on a mouse. She pinned it with her claws as she ripped into it with her teeth. She made short work of the tiny rodent. Ash shook his head. Just born a few hours ago and she’s already eating mice, he thought to himself. “Good night, Sephine,” Ash said. The baby dragon chirped and then Ash, unable to keep his eyes open any longer, closed them tightly.
COMING SOON…
Book 2 of Tales from The Emerald Isles
The Shadowed Emerald
CHAPTER 1
Marric sat cross-legged in the center of the room surrounded by the stone walls of the castle keep. These accommodations far exceed the King’s original punishment, the oubliette. A tall narrow cylinder hung from the edge of the castle ramparts that offered no room for Marric to sit or kneel. Ash, his brother, had secured him a more comfortable arrangement. Marric knew that deal had cost his brother something. The king had long since made his choice about him; Marric was a mistake from another life - a time before Queen Madeline and Ash.
Ash bargained spiritedly to save Marric’s life during his trial for treason. Ash told of how he ultimately fought against the soldiers of Hylaen, even though he had brought them here in the first place. Ash lied, or rather omitted Marric’s regicidal motive, and focused on how he sacrificed himself to save the prince’s life, an ultimate act of loyalty to the crown. The king sentenced him to one year in the oubliette with regular meals and appropriate clothing as weather permitted; this was all an act, a front for the public. The oubliette was open to the elements on all sides. It hung from an extended rampart, essentially dangling in midair. Food and water were sent to him multiple times each day, but it didn’t always make it into the cage. It often fell to the ground hundreds of feet below.
Marric slowed his breathing. His eyes were closed. He could feel the air. Being in the oubliette gave him time to practice manipulating air. He had learned how to warm the air and wrap it around him, a trick that kept him from freezing to death on quite a few cold nights. Now, he wondered if he could focus the wind even further. If he could warm the air swirling around his body and move it below him. He wondered, could he lift his body off the floor? The back of his neck began to warm. He continued to focus on the air while adding the element of fire. The air was fast and formless. It longed to fill a space and move throughout it. Marric’s black tunic began to wave in response to the growing energy surrounding him. He heard Sephine calling out as she flew outside of the castle. She made a sound that was somewhere between a coo and a chirp when she was happy. She grew so big, so quickly, he thought to himself.
“That bloody beast will rip your world asunder,” said a voice that seemed to echo about the whole room.
Marric opened his eyes as he rose to his feet surveying his chambers. “Who said that?” Marric asked.
“The crimson reign befell the land
And all the people were devoured by its maw.
For the reign it came from azure plains and
For many never knew such death before.”
Marric looked around the room. His head snapping from left to right and then from back to front. It couldn’t be Euan, could it?
“Euan? Is that you?” Marric asked.
“Euan? No. I am not, nor have I ever been called Euan,” said the voice echoing around the room.
Marric felt a warmth on the back of his neck. A curious feeling since he was no longer enveloping himself in warm air. He reached his right hand back to feel his neck. It was no warmer than the rest of his body.
“What is going on here?”
“Here going, there be nothing, because you can go…nowhere,” said the voice once again. Its words echoing throughout the room. “You are a prisoner in a gilded cage. You would be so much more if you knew the truth of your potential, young Master Cleric.”
“Then show yourself and speak to me face to face. Are you too afraid to show yourself? Coward. You are not Euan. He at least has the courage to show his face,” Marric replied with a wave of his hand.
“Courage is a curious thing,” said the echoing voice.
The air in front of Marric began to take on the same appearance as the air between fire and smoke - a kind of clear smoke-like wave filled the space before him. The air smelled of ozone, and from the translucent waves appeared a tall, slender woman wearing a black linen dress. It gathered low on her chest, revealing just enough of her slender, yet curvy figure to draw one’s attention, but not to distract. The dress was loose and fluid across her body and fell just before her ankles where she wore black sandals that tied in a crisscross fashion to her calf. Her hair matched the blackness and fluidity of her dress. It was long and wavy. Her eyes, a strong amber color, a mixture of yellow and gold, with a soft yet piercing intensity, were locked on his blue-gray eyes.
“You’re a woman. I thought you were a man… Your voice…” Marric said tilting his head from side to side.
“Yes. I am a woman. As you can see,” said the tall dark woman with a voice as light and sweet as the golden honey reflected in her eyes; she twirled around, splaying her hands outward, as if revealing her entire self to him.
“Would you prefer it if I were a man?” she asked with a slow forming smile.
“I…I. No. That’s not what I mean…It’s just that your voice, earlier, before you appeared…your voice was lower, deeper, it echoed across the entire room,” Marric replied as he ran his hand through his long brown hair.
“I mean, my dear, I could be a man. I can be whatever you desire…Whatever makes you most comfortable,” said the woman as she ran the back of her hand across Marric’s dark brown beard. “But, that is not why I’m here. This is my preferred form. I am a spirit. Sounds like you’ve met another like me. Euan, you said before.”
“Yes. I think he is a nature spirit. He said his mother was a tree. But, he never came out and said it as you have. Why are you telling me this? What is your name?” Marric asked as he stroked his beard.
“I am Ciara. Ciara Aurnia. Nice to meet you Marric Larutte. Well, nice to meet you in perso
n. I’ve been watching you for quite some time; Bastard son of King Alric Larutte. Well, you are actually the first-born son of King Alric … but you already knew this. You remember him coming to play with you as a child, before…”
“Yes. I am well aware of this, Lady Aurnia. What is your point? Are you the spirit of bastard children? Or perhaps of annoying reminders of one’s tragic past… that’s it, that’s why you look the way you do. You’re sweet and seductive in a subtle way. You draw people in with this appearance and then you cut with words that dredge up dark memories. Wonderful job. I have no need of such a spirit in my life. Euan is annoying enough, but at last he brings value. He teaches, and guides, and infuriates, but that’s a trade-off worth making. I see no value in you save for a pretty face and a sweet-sounding voice. Leave me,” Manic replied with wave of his right hand.
Ciara smiled slowly. The corners of her mouth stretching wide, yet her eyes remained unchanged and fixed upon Marric. She suddenly broke into laughter.
Great. Ash gets the good spirit and I get the crazy one, Marric thought to himself.
“Oh, hahaha, I am far from crazy. You on the other hand … hahaha. You would dismiss me as if I were a common servant. You could no more make me leave than you could dismiss the air from this room, you poor insolent child. Do not mistake my interest as need. You are most suited to my needs, but you are not the only one. I come offering you purpose and perhaps, even some power… if you are willing to take it,” Ciara said as she brushed the back of her hand across Marric’s check.
“I-”
“Don’t speak. You’ve said enough.”
Before Marric’s eyes she vanished into a kind of translucent smoke-like series of waves. He smelled the same accompanying smell of ozone as she disappeared.
“What was that all about?” Marric asked.
Hope Chest Page 8
