“Bruto,” I whispered through lips that felt too large. It reminded me of when I had been stung by a bee. A warm muzzle pressed against my cheek and Bruto blew warm air against my neck. At least he was alive.
“Miss!” someone yelled.
Why was everyone yelling? Couldn’t people be quiet?
“Miss open your eyes!”
“What happened to her?”
“It looks like a bear tore into her.”
“Tanya?” a familiar voice asked.
I tried to open my eyes, but the fatigue from blood loss and dehydration from the stupid beast tearing apart my canteen didn’t let me regain consciousness.
“Heal my horse,” I whispered before submitting to the darkness.
* * *
Warm magic swirled around me, creating butterflies of blues and purples like a whirlwind of sunshine. I spread my arms and danced with them, laughing at their silly flying. They landed on me as I fell backwards onto grass so soft it felt like a down filled bed. The butterflies settled along my skin and then a light blue one landed against my cheek in a soft caress.
“Tanya,” it whispered, “wake up.”
My eyes shot open and I found a wooden ceiling above me instead of the blue sky. I wiggled my fingers and toes, rotated my ankles and wrists, and then turned my head to the side the butterfly had landed on.
Luke smiled at me and brushed away a strand of hair that had fallen across my face when I turned. “It’s good to see you awake.”
I sat up, but it hurt immensely and I fell back onto the bed clutching my side. “What? Where?” I couldn’t form a full sentence. It hurt to speak.
“Easy, Tanya. You’re safe with me,” he assured me as he poured something into a cup. “Your horse brought you to the center of town and you both collapsed. You’re lucky that colt was able to bring you all the way here before he collapsed from exhaustion.”
I would have to thank Marcov.
He slid his arm under my shoulders and gently lifted me up. I was surprised at his strength. I wasn’t a heavy woman, but he held me as though a child. “Here, drink this.”
I tried to take the cup, but had no strength in my hands. He held the cup up to my lips and tilted it so I could drink it. The mixture was bitter and smelled like rosemary. I finished it all and instantly felt rehydrated. “Thank you.”
He lowered me back down and then sat in the chair beside the bed I was on. “What happened?”
“We were on our way when this huge beast attacked us. I’ve never seen anything like it before.” I closed my eyes and whispered, “I didn’t think I was going to survive the night.”
“It seems coincidence led you straight to me,” he said. “Or perhaps the gods just wanted us to have dinner together again.”
I felt awful and yet he made me smile. “How’s Bruto?” I asked him instead of responding to his statement.
“He’s perfectly well. He had a few cuts and some bruising, but he is back to perfect health. You on the other hand still have some healing to do.”
“I don’t want to inconvenience you anymore than I already have,” I told him and tried to sit up again.
“Stop moving. You’re not inconveniencing anyone and if you get up now you’ll only delay your healing.”
I lay still and looked at the strange warlock beside me. He was an anomaly to me. No other man would have spent the effort to tend to me when he hadn’t previously known me. Not without compensation at least. “How long have I been asleep?”
“One day.”
“With your permission, I would stay here another night and then I can pay you for the room and board and any medical supplies you had to use.”
He folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in the chair. “Did you know it’s considered rude to offer to pay a warlock for healing you?”
No. “I did not.”
He smiled and said, “Well it is, but since you didn’t know, I will overlook it this once.”
“How long will it take for me to heal?” I asked him. I needed to continue on my mission.
“You had told me that you weren’t in trouble yet, but here you are torn up by a warden of the king. What is your mission?”
“Warden of the king? What are you talking about?”
“Answer me and I will answer you,” he countered.
“Swear you won’t tell anyone and that you won’t try to stop me from continuing on my mission?” I asked him softly.
His eyes widened. “I swear.”
“My sister and I have always been trouble for our king. We were orphaned as children and survived by stealing and selling things we had stolen. We also played a lot of pranks on the King’s guards because our father used to be one of them and we got away with it more often than not. However, as we grew older the king became less forgiving. We became respectable women and have been selling the vegetables we grow and keeping relatively to ourselves.
“Well I keep to myself. My sister is searching for a man, but has very high standards. She was summoned to see the prince and I didn’t think anything of it until the following day when the leader of a local religious fanatic group approached me to see my sister. Then I heard she was locked up for attacking the prince. According to the king, my sister tried to kill the prince and now the only way to save her is to complete this ridiculous mission that the king assigned to me. I think he did it because he knows I will fail and then my sister and I will both be out of his hair for good.”
“What’s the mission specifically?” he asked me softly.
“I was getting there,” I said with a sigh. I didn’t want to tell him because I felt like he would interfere with my mission. Yet, he hadn’t shown any ill will towards me and I had made him swear not to stop me. “The King ordered me to kill a dragon and bring him back its head.”
He was eerily still for a moment and then he walked out of the building we were in, letting the door slam shut behind him. “Okayyy,” I said to the empty room. What was that about? Why did he just leave?
I lay there staring at the ceiling as the light faded to night and then Luke finally returned. His clothes were singed and his face was covered in streaks of dirt and soot. “Did something catch fire?” I asked him with worry.
“No, something exploded,” he mumbled.
“Are you okay?”
He looked at me quizzically and then smiled. “I’m unharmed, thank you for your concern.”
“Can you help me to the outhouse?” I asked him.
“My apologies, I shouldn’t have left you alone, especially not for so long.” He picked me up with one arm around my back and one under my knees and carried me out of the building.
“This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.”
“Never had a man carry you before?” he asked me with a smirk.
“No,” I answered honestly.
He frowned down at me. “You are an anomaly to me,” he whispered.
“How so?” I asked indignantly. I thought I was pretty normal.
“You’re beautiful and kind, have a sense of humor, are courageous, and yet you have no suitor and seem not to have had one previously. Most men I know would offer you their right arm just for a chance to court you.”
I felt embarrassed, I was never embarrassed. “The place I grew up in is small and I’ve known the men there my entire life. Most don’t view me the way you do due to my past. And perhaps you won’t view me the same after another day with me.”
“I find that very hard to believe,” he said. “Perhaps you pushed away these men and scared them into believing they had no chance with you.”
“Well, I was planning to leave that town anyways,” I said honestly.
“Why?”
“To find a place with more men who were able to court me.”
“Hm.”
“Are you going to tell me what you were talking about? I told you what my mission was and then you just left without saying anything.”
“I apologize for that, it w
as very rude.”
“Yes, it was.”
“The Warden of the King is a beast that is controlled by the King. It’s given more intelligence than a normal animal and it grows to be much larger than its brethren. The bear you fought was your King’s warden. It’s quite impressive that you defeated it.”
It hadn’t seemed very intelligent when I fought it. “So, the king sent it after me? Why?” I wondered. Surely, he didn’t think I could kill a dragon so why send the bear too?
“Obviously he doesn’t want you to finish your mission.”
“That makes no sense,” I whispered. “He can’t think that I would be able to defeat the dragon. And even if he did, why send the warden? Why not just kill me at the castle? He probably would have been able to provoke me into doing something that would cause my execution.”
Luke stopped walking and stared at me in disbelief. “What?”
“Well, it’s happened before,” I whispered in embarrassment.
“Your king has threatened to execute you?”
“He kindly revised the punishment so that I could keep my head attached to my body.”
“What punishment did he give?” he asked quietly.
I stepped out of his hold and while still holding on to his shoulders to regain my balance I said, “The list is quite long due to the number of times he has revised a punishment for me and I’d rather not recall all of them right now.” I took a few tentative steps and was happy to see that I could walk on my own, although very slowly. I made it to the outhouse and back to Luke without falling.
“Tanya, you’re not ready to face a dragon alone.”
“I have no choice.”
“You do.”
“I’m not going to let my sister die...” I started
He held up his hand. “I didn’t suggest that. Let me help you.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“It’s not your mission.”
“Yes, but I’m offering my help.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t want to be responsible for your death!” I yelled at him.
People looked at me questioningly, but then continued on their way. Luke took a step closer to me, closing the gap between us. “If I let you go and discover you died, I will feel responsible for your death.”
“It seems we are at an impasse then,” I whispered, feeling his nearness affect me in a way that few men had before.
“Do you want to die?” he asked me. “Is that why you won’t let me come?”
“Of course not,” I snapped at him. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“What happens if you go back to the King with the dragon’s head? After sending his warden, do you think he will just let you and your sister go?”
“That was the deal. He would let us leave his territory.”
“What other reasons would your king have for trying to kill you and your sister?” he asked me.
“There are none,” I insisted. “We caused him a lot of trouble before, but I’ve been diligent about behaving the last five years.”
“There must be something else.”
I shrugged. “When you think of it, let me know.” I started to head towards the stables, but Luke picked me up again and carried me back towards the building I had woken up in. “What is this place?”
“This is my home,” he responded.
Oh. Oh no. “Is there an inn nearby? You must have one with vacancy and…”
“I’m not letting you sneak off again. Plus, I am the best healer in town at the moment, so you’re stuck with me.”
The door opened on its own and shut behind us without him touching it. Magic. “Must be nice to move things without touching them,” I mumbled.
He smiled broadly. “It’s very convenient.” He set me down and set his hand against my forehead.
“What are you doing?” I asked him softly. My head was tingling and soon it spread throughout my body.
“Taking away your pain.”
“I didn’t say I was in pain.”
“I know, but I could tell.” He dropped his hand and sat down in a chair facing me. “So, what’s your plan for defeating a dragon?”
“I was going to study them for a little while to try to find a weakness and then exploit it to take one down.”
“What if you couldn’t find a weakness? Men have been fighting dragons as far back as our history goes. If they’d found a weakness don’t you think they would have told others?”
“Maybe they didn’t tell others because they didn’t want everyone knowing how to kill dragons since then it would not be an incredible act and instead one done by everyone.”
He smiled and said, “You continue to surprise me, Tanya.”
“Well, we’ve only just met. I’m sure I’ll surprise you a time or two in the future as well.”
“So you think we have a future together?” he asked with a smirk.
I opened my mouth and then closed it. “You seem set on inserting yourself in my mission, so obviously we will have more times together,” I finally managed to say.
“I’m not inserting myself. I’m helping you,” he said indignantly.
“Why can’t you take a moment to see it from my view?” I asked him, leaning my back against the wall behind me. “If you were going to fight a dragon, would you want me to come with you?”
“That’s different,” he said.
“How? Because I’m the woman? Both of us have equal chances of dying.”
“Not true. You’re far more likely to die than I am.”
“First of all, that’s rude. Secondly, how do you know that? You don’t know what my fighting abilities are. I killed the warden.”
“You’re right I don’t know your fighting abilities, but I do know that I can protect myself with a magic shield and you cannot.”
He had me there. “But I won’t run out of magic power,” I countered sounding like a petty child.
He smirked again. “Let’s just say that won’t happen to me.”
Why was he so confident in his abilities? I looked at him more closely and felt fear clawing at my chest. His cloak wasn’t a plain grey cloak like I had thought, but had thin intricate stitching all over it. Around his neck hung a crystal that glowed with stored magic energy and on his finger sat a ring with the head of a lion and an amber colored stone said to contain fire magic that only one man wore at a time. He was the Chief Warlock, the highest-level warlock and the leader of them all. He was the one people called when they had a demonic beast slaughtering troops and in one swoop he killed it. I had heard many stories about Luke, but he was so unimposing that I hadn’t put it together.
“He’ll know if you help me,” I managed to whisper. “He’ll kill my sister before I make it back once he hears about me even speaking to you.”
“Then I’ll kill him,” he said nonchalantly.
“You can’t kill a king.”
“I defend the peace and a king who punishes children, sends women on ludicrous missions, and who would murder someone is not helping with the peace of the nation.”
I was so screwed. I climbed off of the bed and started stretching.
“What are you doing?” he asked me.
“Stretching my sore body.”
“You’re afraid of me,” he whispered and then sighed loudly. “I should have known you didn’t realize who I was when you weren’t afraid of me.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” I snapped at him and then lowered my voice. “I’m afraid of what the king will do if I associate with you any further.”
“I don’t think he will do anything because he will be afraid of me confronting him.”
“I can’t risk it,” I whispered. “I can’t risk him executing my sister before I complete this mission.” I looked up at him and then ran as fast as I could towards the door. I jerked on the handle, but it wouldn’t budge.
“You can’t run away from me,” he whispered.
&
nbsp; “Please,” I begged him without turning around. “Please let me go. Please let me save my sister. She’s all I have. I have nothing else and if she dies I don’t think I can survive it.” I had barely survived my parents’ and Oma’s death.
The door opened and I ran without waiting for a response from him. Bruto nickered at me and pawed at his stall door. I went into the tack room and felt relief flood through me because all of my things were stacked together. It took me longer than usual to get him saddled and my things on because of the pain I still felt and I kept glancing at the door, half expecting to see Luke walk in and truthfully half wanting him to.
I checked Bruto’s leg and body and smiled appreciatively at him. “You’re all healed up boy!” He nudged me and I grimaced in pain. “I’m not so healed yet.” I mounted him and set off out of the town. People stopped what they were doing to watch me with obvious shock on their faces. Had they not expected me to leave so soon?
I glanced back at the town and Luke’s house, but he wasn’t anywhere in sight. I took a deep breath for courage and continued heading north. Bruto practically pranced as we jogged away from Clinba.
CHAPTER FOUR
As I grew closer to Mlira, the sound of roaring dragons grew louder and more constant. I traveled in the forest instead of the road to keep out of sight of the dragons that flew by overhead. They were enormous, much bigger than I ever dreamed they could be. I left Bruto under the cover of trees, but didn’t tie him in case he needed to run away. He didn’t like being left, but he obeyed and I made my way to a small cluster of rocks that looked out over the valley below where the dragons gathered.
I crouched between two rocks which gave me safety should a dragon fly over and try to attack me and looked out over the valley. It went on as far as I could see; an ocean of grass and flowers, and it was filled with more dragons than I could count. There were so many dragons! They screeched and roared and walked around in seemingly random patterns. The babies stayed with what I guessed to be their moms and aside from that, they didn’t group up much. In fact, if another dragon got close to them they would attack that other dragon. Did they have a hierarchy? Did they have families aside from mother and baby?
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