by L. R. Flint
She sat on the ground on the other side of Arrats and they began a hushed conversation, their words too soft for me to hear over the noises from the bartering crowds. I gave up on my eavesdropping and leaned back against the short, stone wall that rose behind me, relaxing in surrender to the calming heat of the sun and the hazily distant murmur of the crowds. I tilted my head back and gazed up into the strip of blue sky, watching birds and clouds slip by on lazy winds. The time we spent in the marketplace trying to attract customers was by far the most boring activity I had ever engaged in; it was not too bad once we found a buyer, but lately we had been losing contact with them, so we had to spend more time looking and less time selling.
~ ~ ~
Ekaitz ran back through the cornfield to Arrats and me. He had left us behind a minute ago, saying he would wait at the edge of the field. “Hurry up, you guys. I found something.” Arrats looked at me with a bored expression plastered on his face.
“Shall we?” he muttered. This was the seventh possible place for a relocation we had come upon that day and the three of us had been growing rather discouraged by the poor selection.
“I will race you,” I offered.
“Go,” the two of us charged toward Ekaitz who, at first, had a startled look on his face, then turned and led us on to his discovery.
The cellar of a long since demolished inn lay before us, appearing suddenly as we approached it through the screen of corn husks. Directly in front of us a short flight of stone steps descended ten feet into the ground; further down the cellar split to both sides and formed a large ‘T’. Around the base of the inn, rotten beams of wood formed random heaps that had long since been overgrown by deep grass and, underfoot, we could hear broken pottery crumbling into even smaller shards.
“All we need is a roof and a makeshift wall for winter so that we do not have to heat the entire thing.” Arrats and I nodded, it was a good plan; with the entire structure underground it would take even less effort to heat during the cold months and in our position that was a definite bonus.
~ ~ ~
We arrived back at the shack a few hours before sundown to find Eskarne there, waiting impatiently for us. Whenever she heard we were moving she would follow us to find our new home. Whether or not we told her of our plans, she always remained faithful in her self-designated responsibility of knowing our whereabouts.
Eskarne stood beside the door of the hut, looking murderous. “Why would you not let me go with you?” she growled before any of us had the chance to say a word.
“There was nothing of great interest,” I defended. “We found a cellar, put up a wall and ceiling, and now we are back. End of story.”
She mumbled a few incoherent words then said, “But then, you would enjoy doing something incredibly boring like that—would you not?”
Eskarne helped gather our scarce belongings and accompanied us to the cellar, where we convinced her to stay for supper. Once the food was gone we lounged around the fire and told stories in the dim moonlight, as we usually did when we had visitors.
“Once, in times long forgotten, and in a land which many now believe no longer exists,” Ekaitz began mysteriously, “on a beautiful summer night, the heavens dripped tears of starlight. Within the next week a mythical race began to appear. They were called unicorns. The unicorns were white as snow, their eyes like starlight, and their manes and tails as liquid silver.”
“Do you have to go through the description?” Arrats interrupted.
“I already did, and besides, it is part of the tale.”
“Just shut up and listen,” Eskarne whispered. Ekaitz had always been able to mesmerize people with his voice as he told stories, whether he had only thought of them at that moment or had been reciting them for years. Anyone who knew him well though, had heard this story before so Arrats was able to fight off the spell and sprinkle his criticism on the unfolding tale.
Ekaitz continued, “Many people believed that the unicorns had been sent as a blessing from on High. Wherever the unicorns went they brought prosperity, health, and good luck to the inhabitants of the land, and in their wake was peace. Any unclean or poisoned water touched by the horn of a unicorn became pure and was deemed holy.
“The peace brought by the presence of the beautiful race was not to be long lived, however; one day a dark warlord appeared with his legions of mortal warriors and where the unicorns left goodness and peace, the evil warlord brought death, pain, and misery. The warlord had killed and laid waste to all living things whence he had come, but still his bloodlust was unsated.
“According to rumor the warlord’s bloodlust came from his lack of life. It was said that he had been cursed by the Ancients to roam the lands, bloodless and lifeless, and yet undead. In the accursed warlord’s anger against the Ancients, he had sworn to devour everything which brought peace and happiness to any living thing. The unicorns fought valiantly, but in the end their leader realized that they would perish entirely if they did not leave. The leader did not have the strength to return with his people so he stayed, and with the last of his strength turned himself into a human and disappeared amongst the races of men. So it was that the unicorns left, knowing that one day they would be called back to fulfill their destiny.
“In the absence of such power and wonder the warlord did not notice the loathed spark of hope remaining in the humans, so he left with his legions to track down and slay the unicorns. In his haste to leave, the warlord had overlooked the strange man who slipped quietly away from the deserted encampment of his prey; as the sentinel of the unicorns, the man would wait for the time when his race should return.
“The legend of the unicorns was passed on from generation to generation, telling of the wonders they brought. Somehow—though no one is quite sure of the details—the unicorns will one day return and with them all the wonders they brought at their first visit.”
We sat in silence for a short time after Ekaitz finished his tale. He had become rather good at crafting simple stories into entrancing legends, using only his voice and emotions, and leaving his audience in awe or wonder with their minds strolling along the paths of a far different land.
“I wonder if it is true,” Eskarne mused.
“Koldobika said it was,” Ekaitz and I said in unison.
“What about the warlord? He is said to be following the unicorns to whatever lands they cross, so wherever they go, he will follow,” Arrats said.
“And we will all be doomed,” Ekaitz said with a comically cheery tone to his voice.
When we had run out of tales, Eskarne and I began a series of duels that would last long into the night. I called each of us a blade from Lietha, the magical plane of existence in which beings able to use magic could create things, and then make them manifest in the physical world. The edges of our blades were purposely dulled so that we would not accidentally kill each other.
~ ~ ~
Hours later we still fought on in the dim moonlight and flickering light of the fire, until Arrats called to us, saying that we needed to get some rest before sunup. Eskarne took an unexpected swipe at me and I barely jumped out of the way before her sword whistled through the air, only inches from me. “Hey, that was illegal,” I growled, caught unaware.
“Says who?” she asked sweetly.
“Me. Why?”
“You are so weird.” We sent our swords back to Lietha and walked over to Ekaitz and Arrats, who immediately stopped talking once we were within clear hearing range. Guilty smiles spread across both their faces. “What are you up to?” Eskarne queried.
“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Ekaitz said, trying to look innocent while leaning back on his elbows, his legs stretched leisurely before him. As was usual of her, Eskarne grumbled something in return which sounded like ‘loser’.
“Actually, we were just talking about Izotz,” was Arrats’ reply.
“Will you let me in on your little secret?” she asked.
“What do you think, Ekaitz?
” the older boy asked, speaking slowly in an effort to tantalize the girl.
“Oh, I do not know—she will probably warn him.”
“About what?” I asked and then said, “I do realize that my birthday is approaching.” The boys began searching for a new topic since they no longer had anything of interest to say. I shrugged in apology to Eskarne. “I think I spoiled your secret.”
She rolled her eyes. “Why do you three even have these crazy little trials?”
“I told you both that we should never have said a word to her.” Arrats began defending himself the moment her nagging began.
“Hmm.” Eskarne sat down next to me. “What do you have to do this year? You are turning fifteen, right?”
I nodded. “Save a D.I.D.” A questioning look crossed her face, but before I could clarify, Arrats interrupted.
“Say nothing.”
Jokingly, I whispered in her ear, “It has changed since Arrats was my age.” She scowled at Arrats, having believed me.
“What?” he asked, since he had not heard my comment.
“Oh, nothing,” I said, and though it was obvious he did not believe me, he put the subject to rest. Eskarne stood and announced that she should be leaving, but that she would see us sometime in the morning. We said our farewells and she left, turning back to wave before disappearing entirely into the darkness.
3 DREAMS AND VISIONS
Arrats, Eskarne, Koldobika, and two others (a girl and a man—neither of which I recognized) stood in the middle of a huge field of lush, knee-length grass. The four of them stood in companionable silence for a while; they were waiting for something, who—or what—I was not certain, but apparently it was important enough that they could stand there nigh on forever, merely waiting.
Two women walked across the field of grass toward them, one with tanned skin, long, brown hair and serpentine wings. The other had skin so dark it was nearly black, and a clean shaven head; though it was quite unusual to see a woman without hair, she was still rather beautiful. Both women looked to be in their twenties but it was obvious that the darker of them was the more battle-hardened. The Lordly man stepped forward and greeted the newcomers, but I could not hear a single word that was spoken.
The day passed and night fell over them, but still they stood there, patiently waiting. The stars above began to dance as if in joy, apparently having sensed what was expected to happen. The stars began creating scenes from some long forgotten history and moved from one scene to the next so fast that there was no time to gather any details. Light filled the land as the sun lifted over the horizon and the stars left, still dancing across the heavens in a bright, silvery blur.
A figure strode purposefully across the fields toward the group and raised a hand in greeting, as he neared them; his back was turned to me, so I could not recognize him and he never turned in my direction. The nobleman bowed solemnly and shimmered for a moment, as if immaterial. Those waiting quickly surrounded the newcomer, greeting him as a long-lost friend whose return had made them overjoyed. He stepped to the girl and pulled her into a hug, whispering something before he pulled away.
The sun slipped fully beyond the horizon and the stars returned in haste, descending in a spiraling funnel of light. The falling stars encircled the young man whose return had been so anxiously awaited and when the orbs of light eventually ascended, he held in his hand a sword which emanated their light. Once back in the heavens the stars returned to their designated places and remained still, leaving the sky looking lifeless after their wild dancing.
~ ~ ~
I sat up and leaned against the wall of the cellar; the stone was cool against the bare skin of my back and it helped to wake me up. As I sat there, my mind drifted to thoughts of Koldobika and the awesome creatures of magic he had told me of, some of which were the dragonfolk. The dragonfolk were a unique race, they had the body of a human, the wings of dragons, and green eyes with vertical slits for pupils. If they chose, they could transform themselves into true dragons, although when that happened there was no chance of regaining their half-human form. While I thought of the dragonfolk, I eventually became drowsy and fell back into the embrace of sleep, though my thoughts did not stray far.
A dragonlady with red-brown hair stood on a mountain cliff, the visible land below was covered by a huge forest and in the distance was a city which appeared to be a grey smudge surrounded by a wall. Because of the distance the wall seemed a mere thread. Above the enormous city hung the glowing orb of the moon, it was huge and looked as if it were floating in the sky, rather than far off in the heavens, as it should have been.
The dragonlady was looking intently at a small, perfectly round globe held in her hands, roughly the size of both her fists placed together. As she looked at the glowing orb she smiled and then looked over to her right and to the edge of the forest that also swept to the sides of the cliff and down around the mountain she stood on, covering the ground for miles in every direction. She held the globe into the air and it disappeared, just as swords did when sent back into Lietha.
She jumped into the sky, her wings keeping her aloft on waves of air and flew toward the distant city. Once she reached the city she landed on the wall and the city could easily be recognized as Caernadvall. The Wall was so tall that few of the buildings could be seen through the low cloud that rested above the rooftops. The moonlight reflected off the top of the clouds and the zenith of a single towering spire that rose from the West Castle, located far to the North of the woman’s position.
The dragonlady waited atop the Wall for a while and then Koldobika flew up from the darkness toward her, held aloft by his own set of wings. The dagger I had given him was secured in his belt. “They found your hiding place?” the woman asked, to which Koldobika nodded his reply. “I got your message.” She smiled reassuringly and they flew back to the mountain ledge where she had been looking into the depths of the globe.
“He is the one with dark, brown hair, taller than the other two, and goes by his birth name,” Koldobika said, as he settled on his own feet atop the cliff. The dragonlady raised an eyebrow in surprise, as he continued, “I think his parents must have accidentally let it slip upon occasion, and when they died he decided to give himself that name in memory of them.” The dragonlady nodded in agreement with his assumption. “I do not know when the day will come—but you will know. Just keep an eye on him.”
“Alright.”
“Farewell, Alaia.” Koldobika handed her a green crystal, which she slipped into a pocket in her robe. “Good luck.” Then he walked into the forest and disappeared, already having returned his borrowed wings to Lietha.
The dragonlady, Alaia, flew back to Caernadvall and glided to the ground, landing silently on her feet in the midst of a plentiful cornfield. She held a hand out before her and a black cloak appeared, hanging from it. She wrapped the cloak around her shoulders and lifted the hood so that her face was hidden from sight; the last thing to disappear behind the cowl was the eerie glow of her green eyes, the telltale mark of the majority of the magical races. Alaia gave a quick look around, assessing the area, before she turned and made her way to a mound of crates stacked at the back of a stone building where she slipped into a small space between two of the large, wooden boxes.
Hours passed and the scene changed to that of morning; three older boys walked a distance from the disheveled pile of crates and around the building, making their way into the streets of the city. Once the humans were a safe enough distance away, Alaia stood and followed them, a bit curious of the sprawling city around her. The boys led through the slowly filling streets and into the thick of a market which brought so many traders and buyers that the people passing through the area were nearly at a standstill. The boys found a place to sell their catches and the dragonlady wandered about the vicinity, doing her best to not make it obvious that she was following anyone.
She waited, sometimes patiently and sometimes not, while the humans went about their business, and followed
them on a twisting, turning, and often overlapping, tour of Caernadvall. As evening approached they finally settled down at a site different from the one she had found them at. She watched silently as they ate and entertained one another, long into the dark hours of night. Eventually it was decided that rest was needed and the humans split up, retiring to the places they called home.
Once finished hunting beyond the Wall, Alaia made her way to its top, where she sat looking at the vast display of the surrounding lands. To one side was the sea of low-hanging clouds covering the enormous city, while on the other side was an ocean of rolling treetops—the leafy canopy of the forest that hid within its reaches the wealth of the magic kingdoms.
After a long time spent in contemplation, she walked to the outer side of the Wall and stood with her hands clasped behind her, likely thinking of something left behind in order to take the assignment she was on. A silent tongue of magic fire interrupted her thoughts, shooting toward her like a streak of lightning and she raced back across the Wall, leaping from its edge and into the darkness below.
The instant feeling of being unable to stop herself mid-fall terrified Alaia and she could feel her lungs restricting in fear. It was almost like the feeling of claustrophobia, with the walls closing in around her with no escape, but now she could not see the wall that was speeding toward her, and at one point it would just appear, right at the end. And so the ground did: suddenly.
~ ~ ~
I sat up in the dark, sweat dripping down my bare back. A minute later I heard a loud thud and a deep grunt from the direction of the Wall. No way, I thought. I quickly untangled myself from my blanket and grabbed my shirt, pulling it over my head as I climbed the stone stairs out of the cellar and saw something green and glowing over at the foot of the Wall. Curious, I jogged over to where I had seen the eerie lights. I heard something move but the person I saw before me remained still. “Alaia?” I asked.
