The Dragon Gods Box Set

by Resa Nelson

  At night, the serpent slept next to her. On the third night of her captivity, the sound of the serpent’s tail thrashing against the leaves on the ground woke her out of a fitful sleep. But the sound of men’s voices and the glow of torchlight in the forest around the clearing convinced Ling to pretend to be asleep while keeping her eyelids cracked open.

  “There she is,” a man’s voice said. He sounded old and wizened, like a father.

  “I should have brought a knife to carve its heart out!” a young man said. He sounded like a boy who could be the same age as Ling.

  “That’s not why we came,” the old man said. “We came so you can see what you’ll be facing. And the prize you’ll win when you succeed.”

  Ling wondered for a brief moment whether the boy meant to face her or her serpent friend—and which one he considered to be a prize.

  This makes no sense. Everyone says the serpent demands a maiden. Everyone I’ve ever known says the beast needs a maiden to keep its hunger satisfied. Why are these men here?

  “Remember,” the old man said. “Your brother faced the serpent on the fifth day. We must give it time to become fond of the girl. It has a soft heart, and time with her makes it grow weaker. But now you see the beast with your own eyes, and you know what you are up against. Soon enough you’ll defeat it, and then you will prove yourself as a man and earn a wife.”

  The serpent hissed louder and charged a few steps toward the voices.

  Under a night sky of bright stars, Ling saw shadows moving behind the trees.

  “She’ll be yours soon,” the old man said. “It’s best to go home for now.”

  Despite an unseasonably warm night, Ling felt chilled.

  I didn’t recognize those voices. They must be from a distant village that my people know nothing about. They talk as if this is some rite of passage. But somehow, they’ve tricked my people into sacrificing girls like me.

  When the voices disappeared and the serpent appeared satisfied, it returned to Ling’s side.

  “Dear friend,” Ling whispered to it. “Please help me in any way you can.”

  * * *

  Now, Ling pulled against the gnawed spots on her bonds where the serpent had chewed.

  She saw shadows move among the trees.

  Ling recalled what the men said: in some past year, the boy’s brother had faced the serpent on the fifth day. That meant he’d stolen whatever maiden had been brought as a sacrifice to the serpent. Instead of capturing a bride, he’d taken one before the serpent could set her free. She counted the days since the people from her village had tied her up and left her here.

  With a start, Ling realized today was her fifth day of captivity.

  Her sister Luan and some Po woman would be no match for the man and his son. What if those strangers brought others with them to witness the boy’s feat?

  Those men have tricked my village for years. What are the chances they’ll let Luan live to go back and tell everyone what they’ve done?

  They would kill Luan and the Po woman. Even if the women set Ling free, the men might track them and kill them all. Even if the women returned home, the men might come and take Ling. They might attack the village and kill Ling’s family and neighbors.

  Tugging at her bonds, Ling took heart when the frayed rope around her hands gave way a bit.

  “Leave now!” Ling shouted. “I can free myself. I’ll catch up with you. I’ll find you. But you have to save yourself first!”

  The serpent dragon ran out of the cave on its short stumpy legs.

  Luan moaned, still out of sight.

  The serpent dragon stopped and lifted its head. Its tongue searched the air.

  “No!” Ling shouted at her friendly beast. “That’s my sister. Ignore her, please!”

  Ling heard a loud snap in the forest followed by the thud of a body falling to the ground. For a terrified moment, she wondered if the men had come from an unexpected direction and caught her sister in their grasp. “Luan?”

  Luan charged out of the trees, even though her face was fraught with terror. She yelled with fear but determination. Holding a dagger in a hand raised above her head, Luan ran at the serpent.

  The creature ran to place itself between the still-bound Ling and her sister. It hissed at Luan.

  “No!” Ling screamed. “Don’t hurt it!” Then to the beast, she shouted, “Don’t hurt my sister!”

  Ignoring her, Luan launched herself at the serpent dragon and stabbed at its shoulder. The pointed blade glided off the animal’s scales until it found a soft spot between them and sank into its flesh.

  The serpent dragon shrieked but then aimed its open jaw full of tiny sharp teeth at Luan’s exposed throat, a short strike away.

  Luan’s piercing scream made Ling tremble.

  The serpent dragon pinned Luan to the ground and opened her throat.

  Luan stared wide-eyed at the sky and gurgled as if trying to speak her final words. Moments later, her body relaxed, void of life.

  The serpent dragon heaved off of Luan’s body and dragged itself to Ling’s side. When it rested its head in her lap, Luan’s blood ran from its mouth and stained Ling’s clothing. The serpent closed its eyes and strained to take ragged breaths.

  Ling felt stunned, as if she were lost inside a nightmare. Her most loyal friend had killed her sister. And her sister had mortally wounded the beast that would have done anything to save Ling’s life and keep her safe.

  Familiar voices shouted from the mountain trail above the clearing.

  The boy and his father! They’ll be here soon!

  Frantic with fear, Ling pulled even harder at her bonds, desperate to break them. So focused that she shut out every sound and sight around her, Ling gasped when someone said her name. She looked up to see a strangely tall Far Eastern woman just steps away. It took Ling a moment to realize who she must be.

  The cousin of the Po Dynasty.

  The tall woman leaned down and pulled the dagger out of the body of the serpent dragon. She wiped its blood off on the legs of her pants and then used the dagger to slice through the ropes, freeing Ling at last.

  The men’s voices called out again, but when Ling looked up, she saw no one.

  Ling tried to stand, but spending several days tied up left her body weak and numb.

  The tall woman tucked the dagger under a belt. After lifting Ling to her feet, the tall woman hauled Ling over her shoulder and carried her out of the clearing, away from the men who might kill them.

  CHAPTER 9

  Frayka knew when she came awake that she’d been knocked out for a short time. She startled awake at the sound of Luan’s screams. Frayka scrambled to her feet and looked toward the sound to see Luan attack the serpent dragon. By the time Frayka made her way to the edge of the clearing, the beast had left Luan bleeding on the ground and collapsed next to Ling.

  While the sound of men shouting from the slope above the clearing worried Frayka, she noticed that Ling responded to the same sound with fright.

  In her homeland or any other country, Frayka would have assumed the men had come to help.

  But her time in Zangcheen and the Wulong Province had convinced Frayka that life as she had come to know it might as well be turned upside down here. Frayka had been captured by a strange man who assumed he could make her his bride, a notion that would be laughed at in her homeland.

  She’d been sent to hide among concubines for her own safety. Not only was the idea of women acting as concubines ridiculous and unheard of among Northlanders, but hiding for one’s safety was equally absurd.

  And now the Po Dynasty—the family of Frayka’s own blood—used her in an attempt to take advantage of her portents instead of respecting them as a gift that Frayka would gladly share.

  Except for GranGran and TeaTree, everyone in the Far East appeared to perceive women as animals. Or worse than animals. Northlanders treated their animals better than Far Easterners treated their women. How had one place in the world gone so mad
?

  Striding toward Ling, Frayka saw the girl lost in grief and fright.

  There’s no time to waste. Those men could be upon us any second. And what are they likely to do to us?

  Frayka wasted no time. “Ling,” she said. When the girl looked up, Frayka took her dagger out of the serpent’s body and sliced through the frayed roped that bound Ling. But when the girl tried to stand, she struggled.

  Across the years, Frayka had learned when to fight and when to fall back. This drained girl had no fight left in her.

  In a heartbeat, Frayka thought of a good place to hide. She raised Ling to her feet and then over Frayka’s shoulder. Although short and slim, Ling’s weight might be manageable now but would become overbearing before long. Knowing she had a short time to reach their hiding place, Frayka held Ling’s legs close to her chest. Steadying herself under the girl’s weight, Frayka made her way out of the clearing toward a place where she believed they would be safe.

  * * *

  Not long after Frayka hauled Ling out of the clearing, a father accompanied by his oldest and youngest sons came upon the remains of Luan Lu and the serpent dragon that killed her. They paused, unsure at first of what they saw.

  “No!” the youngest son cried out. “Who killed her?” Too distressed to say anything more, he turned his face away from the gruesome sight and paced away from it.

  His older brother took a step toward the death site and pointed at Luan Lu’s torn throat. “That had to be done by the serpent.”

  “No!” the youngest son said. “He cared for her, just like we trained him to do. Why would he turn on her?”

  The father placed a firm hand on his eldest’s shoulder to keep him from taking another step. “Wait,” the father said. “Let’s see what the surroundings can tell us.”

  The eldest son stood still. “Our serpent lies there.” He pointed at the creature’s dead body. He then leaned forward and squinted. “I see a puncture wound over its heart. Something stabbed it but left no weapon behind.”

  “Maybe she thought she was in danger,” the youngest said, still pacing. “Maybe she thought she had to defend herself to keep from getting killed.”

  “No,” the father said. He circled the scene, keeping a good distance from the bodies. “Look at the ropes that bound the girl. The fraying shows how our serpent gnawed at it to free her. She knew the gentleness of the beast. But see the clean cuts through the frays?” He crossed his arms and took a long look around the clearing. “Someone else came here. Someone came armed with a dagger.”

  The youngest came to a halt and looked at his father. “A dagger? Who would want to kill the girl and the serpent?”

  “That might not have been the intent,” his oldest brother said. “When I claimed my bride, the serpent turned against me. It took Father and Uncle to catch the serpent and hold it still until I showed it that I meant the girl no harm. But serpents are faster than you think. This one almost had me by the neck before I knew what was happening. Maybe something like that happened here.”

  “The only people who knew she was here are the ones who brought her,” the father said. He pointed at the ground. “Look at those footprints. See how much larger they are than the girl’s feet. And see how they point toward her village.”

  Incensed, the youngest son hurried to the place where the footprints dented the soft grass, darkened with stains of blood. He compared his shoe to the footprint. “It’s a large man that came for her. We have to make him pay!”

  “How?” The oldest brother wiped sweat from his forehead. “By telling him that we’ve been deceiving his village for the past 20 years?”

  “No,” the father said. “We’ll tell them we were traveling to visit a hermit aunt when we came across this brutal scene. We’ll say we saw footprints leading to their village. We’ll take the girl’s body to them so they can bid her a proper farewell. That way they’ll know they have a killer among them without our having to make any accusations.”

  “But what about me?” the youngest son said. “My life is ruined!”

  “Not at all,” the father said. “When we get home, we’ll tell the story of how we found the girl and the serpent murdered. And how you were the one clever enough to study the surroundings and determine what had happened. Your brother and I thought it best to return home, but you convinced us to go the village instead.” The father joined his youngest son’s side and clapped a hearty hand on the boy’s shoulder. “It will be an unusual way for you to become a man, but a man you will be.”

  “But my bride is dead.”

  The father smiled. “After we deliver the girl to her village, you can pick a new one.”

  “Capture a bride?” the eldest son said. “But what if they protest?”

  The father wrapped his arm around his youngest son’s shoulders and pulled him close. “Who could deny rewarding the fine young man who brings their daughter home?” Giving the boy a hearty clap on the back, the father said, “Now pick up that girl from the ground. You’ll be the one to carry her.”

  CHAPTER 10

  Frayka hurried away from the clearing and retraced her steps. Although shaken by the sight of Luan’s death by the serpent dragon, Frayka reminded herself that she’d seen worse.

  Tall and strong because of her Northlander blood, Frayka felt the weight of Ling Lu across her shoulders and through her back but carried her steadily until the path ran alongside a stream. When Frayka heard the voices of the men behind them, she decided the time had come to see if Ling could stand on her own two feet. Frayka eased the girl back to the ground.

  Ling clung to Frayka’s arm to steady herself and then took a few tentative steps. The gravelly ground crunched beneath her feet. She held up her head with confidence and nodded at Frayka.

  The light dimmed with the setting sun. Both women turned and looked at a sudden glow that emerged from the trees a far distance behind them.

  They’ve lit torches. And now we know where they are.

  Ling Lu spoke quietly in Far Eastern and pointed at the glowing light.

  Frayka didn’t understand her words but gleaned the girl’s concern. Frayka gestured for Ling Lu to hurry down the path, recognizing the bend ahead. Within a short time, they arrived at the place where Frayka and Ling’s sister Luan had seen a mountain deer seemingly appear out of nowhere. Frayka approached the rocky wall and examined its surface until she saw the few ledges jutting out that would help them climb toward the top edge, dotted with weeds and new pine growth. She laced her fingers together with her palms upward and knelt to offer Ling Lu a boost.

  Ling Lu looked at Frayka in confusion.

  Faint light illuminated the path’s bend that they had just turned.

  Frayka picked up one of Ling’s feet and placed it in her hands. Frayka then stood, boosting the girl up.

  With a muffled cry of surprise, Ling Lu reached out in desperation and clung to the rocky wall. But then she appeared to gain understanding and reached up to find a new handhold when Frayka lifted her even higher.

  Relief washed over Frayka when Ling Lu transitioned her full weight to the rocky wall, leaving Frayka’s hands empty. She shifted her weight, looking for her own handhold.

  The gravelly ground crunched beneath her feet.

  Frayka turned her attention to the ground. She squinted in the ever-dimming light and leaned down.

  We left footsteps. All the men have to do is follow them to know where we are!

  Frayka ran back to the bend in the path, taking care to stay out of the way of the approaching light. Satisfied that the men would notice nothing but the sound of their own voices as they continued to talk, Frayka used her hands to erase the women’s footprints while stepping backwards.

  With her every step, the light coming from around the bend glowed stronger and the men’s voices came closer.

  When she reached the rocky wall, Frayka scrambled up to the top while the men, oblivious to her presence beyond the light of their torches, came into view.


  Once on top of the wall’s downward sloping plateau, it delighted Frayka to see Ling Lu lying face-first on that surface with an expression revealing that she knew they were safe. On quiet hands and feet, Frayka crept to settle next to her, expecting the men to pass by without incident.

  The rough edge of the plateau stood black against the torchlight below, which halted instead of continuing down the path.

  A heavy thud startled the women.

  One man groaned as if pained while the other chattered without seeming to take a breath.

  Ling Lu listened intently. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. Looking at Frayka, she whispered, “Luan!”

  Frayka could think of only one possible meaning.

  The thud. It sounded as heavy as a body. Did they bring Luan’s body with them?

  Frayka divided her attention between trying to read the changing expressions on Ling’s face to the torchlight below their plateau. She’d expected them to keep walking, and then she and Ling Lu could take off in the opposite direction to seek shelter for the night, even if it meant going back to the serpent dragon’s cave.

  What if the men planned to spend the night here?

  They startled her with an unexpected burst of laughter.

  Ling Lu’s expression hardened into hate.

  After several more minutes of lively conversation, one of the men let out an exaggerated groan as if straining under a heavy weight.

  He’s picked up Luan’s body again. He must have dropped her so he could rest. Or to make the other man carry her.

  Finally, the torchlight traveled away from the edge of the plateau and toward the path headed for Ling Lu’s village.

  With the plateau still illuminated, Ling Lu crept toward its edge.

  No! They’ll see her!

  Frayka grabbed onto Ling’s clothing, but the girl kicked her away and scrambled up the slanted plateau. Staying low, she peered over its edge. In the fading torchlight, Ling Lu’s face looked grim and determined.

  When the torchlight had all but disappeared, Ling Lu crawled over the plateau’s edge and dropped out of sight.