by Joseph Lallo
As she stared at the totality of the information, a solution stared back at her. All of this had a familiar ring to it. A color . . . a texture to the events that she'd become sensitive to. She knew that the assassin had been sent for the sword, and that he likely still held it. That much was not a mystery. The mystery was where he could be found, and it was one of which she'd spent decades frequently in the pursuit of a solution.
She didn't have the time for that. She needed progress quickly. Some sort of step forward. The reports of the escape held clues. The horses were missing. The armor was missing. There had been looting. Not unheard of, save for the destruction of the black carriage. That was an act of vengeance. Only one group sought weapons, armor, and revenge. The Undermine. Trigorah stood and stalked out to her waiting Elites.
"Saddle up, men. We are heading east," she ordered.
#
The first rays of the sun stirred the two travelers. They were both near-frozen, spared a complete blanket of snow only by their proximity to a thickly-needled pine tree. Great mounds of the white stuff surrounded the tree and buried the lower third of their bodies. Myranda managed to get her numbed limbs beneath her and roll off of Myn. Even after being healed, Myn had lost too much blood to last the long, cold night alone. She would have surely died if not for the impromptu blanket in the form of the unconscious body of Myranda. The dragon hoisted herself to her feet and released a mighty blast of fire. Instantly, the warm blood surged through her body, bringing new life to cold muscles. A second blast brought her strength and comfort back to normal.
The brief blasts of warmth that Myn had created did little to restore feeling to Myranda's icy fingers. She gathered together the only wood available, green boughs broken free by the powerful wind. Some of the snow was pushed aside to provide an appropriate place to start the fire, but she knew that she had little chance of sparking a flame. She had no tools to do so, and the fresh wood would be slow to light. The cold had robbed her of nearly all dexterity, and she knew that if she didn't get feeling back into her legs soon, she never would. She looked pleadingly to Myn.
"Fire. Please understand me, Myn. Just this once I need fire," she said.
The dragon looked back innocently.
"Here, feel. Heat does not return so easily to me as it does to you," Myranda said, placing a hand on Myn's neck.
The little creature pulled away from her icy touch and glared at the offending limb. She traced the arm back to Myranda's face, then back at the hand. When she looked to her face again, there was understanding dawning in the young creature's eyes.
"Yes, yes. I am very cold, I need fire," she begged again.
Myn's chest puffed up as she made ready to blast a third column of flame directly at Myranda. She pulled quickly away.
"No, no! Not me! There! The wood!" she said, gesturing desperately.
Myn furrowed her brow as she looked doubtfully at the wood. When she looked to Myranda again, she saw the face reserved for when she has done something right, so she knew what to do. A blast of fiery breath directed at the wood did in a moment what would have taken ages for Myranda to do. She held her hands over the fire as Myn sat next to her in the warm glow.
"Well, Myn. I suppose this makes us even. I have saved your life, and you've saved mine. Once I get a bit more feeling in these frost-nipped digits, I will give you the reward I know you are waiting for. I am going to give you the best scratching you've ever had," she assured her friend.
After a few minutes a strong tingling came to her nearly frostbitten fingers. Though it was painful, she welcomed it, as it meant her hands had not been damaged by the cold. As soon as the painful sensation subsided enough, she gave Myn what she wanted. The dragon drank in the joy as her companion stroked lovingly at her head. In truth, through the thick scales, she could barely feel it, but she loved it just the same.
Myranda continued to indulge her friend until her hand was exhausted. Even so, the dragon looked at her as though she was a criminal for stopping. Her offense was short-lived, as a sound and a scent drew her attentions to the woods. She was off in a flash. Myranda had managed to take most of the chill from her body by the time Myn came back with what had been a moderately sized wild turkey.
"That is quite a catch! What are you going to do with all of that . . . oh . . . oh my . . ." she said, turning away from the gruesome answer to her question.
The powerful jaws of the dragon, who just minutes before had been as gentle and loving as a kitten, now made short work of the prey, tearing great pieces of meat away and eating them in greedy gulps without chewing. A few more swallows and the bird, bones and all, had all but disappeared. It was this seldom-seen side of her friend that disturbed her. She often forgot that the dragon was a wild animal. When the snapping and crunching had ended, Myranda ventured a peek at the very satisfied creature. The dragon licked the stray drips of blood from her maw with a few deft swipes with her long tongue.
"You've something to learn in the way of table manners," Myranda said.
She looked at the odd scattering of leftovers from the primal meal. As disgusted as Myranda was at the spectacle of the creature eating, it had not been enough to make her forget that she hadn't eaten the day before. She smirked. In the past it was not at all uncommon for her to skip a day or two between meals. The opportunities to eat were often few and far between. Her time in this rather austere place of learning had managed to spoil her nonetheless, as she had become accustomed to the luxury of a daily meal.
The smile faded from her face as she turned her eyes to the south. It had taken the hours from noon to nightfall to find this place, and that was on a good night's sleep and with fear speeding her stride. The return trip would take twice as long, even ignoring the thick blanket of fresh snow.
The hungry girl's gaze turned to the leftovers beside Myn once more. Among the mangled feathers and other debris was a shred of meat. Myranda plucked it from the snow and, in a decision motivated more by hunger than good sense, deemed the sorry morsel edible. By the time she had stripped away the feathers and other less than appetizing parts from the meat, it was barely enough to fill her palm. She skewered it on a pine bough and held it over the fire. Myn watched her friend with her usual curiosity before disappearing into the woods once more.
"Don't stray too far," she said more to herself than the dragon. "After this mouthful is savored we need to head back to Wolloff's."
With a bit of time to spare while the meat heated, she let her mind wander. The spell she'd managed to cast had muddied her thoughts more than a night collapsed in freezing cold could repair. The lingering cobwebs led her mind in slow, meandering circles around a fleeting concern. Something about the battleground she'd passed through to reach this place. It didn't seem like Myn was involved in that first clash . . . but someone must have been. Someone who could take four well equipped soldiers before . . . before what? And why were there soldiers in Ravenwood to begin with?
The smell of burning food brought her thoughts back to reality. It seemed she had daydreamed just long enough for her food to leap from one side of edibility to the other. The meager chunk of meat was now a charred piece of sinew dangling from the end of the stick. Left with little recourse she took the piece into her hand and surveyed it with a frown before trying her best to gnaw off a bite to choke down. It was like chewing on leather. The crunching footsteps of Myn's return made her decide that it was better to go without than to risk whatever damage she might do to her stomach by swallowing the shriveled wreck. As if to add insult to injury, Myn carried with her another fresh kill.
"Another one?" Myranda said with a frown, spitting the taste from her mouth and tossing the glorified piece of charcoal aside. "Aren't you full yet?"
The dragon marched up and dropped her prize in front of Myranda.
"What are you doing? If you are going to eat it take it over there. I don't want to see that sight again," she requested.
The dragon just nudged the meal a bit closer with he
r snout and plopped down, staring expectantly at Myranda.
"Is . . . Is this for me? You little angel!" she proclaimed, throwing her arms about the Myn's neck and hugging her warmly.
The little dragon reveled in the attention, even after the hug had ended, as Myranda rained loving praise down on her while she prepared the meat. Just the sound of Myranda's voice brought joy to her heart. It was, after all, the first sound she had heard in life, and to hear it lifted by happiness and gratefulness was more than enough payment for services rendered.
Getting the turkey ready to eat without the aid of a knife proved to be quite a task, one further complicated by arms and legs still clumsy from a night in the freezing cold. Soon enough, though, she was savoring the tantalizingly fresh meat. She pulled whatever parts seemed warm enough to eat away and eagerly devoured them while the rest of the bird cooked. Before long, she had taken the edge from her hunger and then some. She was shocked by how good it was. Even the meals she ate at Wolloff's were generally composed of meat that was far from its prime. This was a meal fresher than even a king could enjoy. A final bite convinced her that the age-old phrase was wrong. Eat like a king? Ha! Eat like a dragon! She threw the leftover meat to Myn, who snapped it up quickly.
"Well, now. We have slept. We have eaten. Let us be on our way!" she said.
Her legs were the things most affected by the long cold night and did not serve her quite as well as she would have liked. She nearly fell to the ground twice while kicking snow onto the fire to extinguish it. As a result, she had to stick to traveling where the snow was thinnest, taking wide circles around the now-towering drifts that the blizzard had dumped into her return path. Luckily, the snow was thick and heavy, with only the top few inches thin enough to sink into. Otherwise, even the shallow valleys between drifts would swallow her up to her waist. After a few minutes of walking, her legs finally seemed to remember how to handle the snow, and walking became less of a conscious affair. It only then that she noticed how Myn was acting.
The usually jovial beast seemed more and more spiritless with each passing moment. Her tail, normally alive with twisting and curling, hung down behind her, dragging a faint line in the snow. Every few steps she would draw in a long, slow breath through her nose and look about longingly. Myranda grew concerned. Myn had never acted this way before. For all appearances, she seemed to miss someone. But who?
"What is it, little one? Who do you miss? Was it the one the soldiers were fighting?" Myranda asked.
The duo was passing through the site of the first battle. The snow was much deeper, with only the very tops of the grave markers visible. Myranda lifted a helmet from one of the improvised memorials and showed it to the dragon.
"Did these men take it from you, the thing you miss so much?" she asked, showing Myn.
The beast's eyes locked onto the armor piece, fury burning behind them. She clamped onto the helmet with her teeth and shook it viciously. Her teeth scraped at the intricate enamel and the pressure of her jaws dented and bent the thick metal plates. She continued to thrash it about while walking until she came to a seemingly random patch of snow. She dropped the helmet and pawed at the fresh white powder madly.
"What are you doing?" Myranda asked, further confused by her companion's strange behavior.
More than two feet of digging later, the snow took on a pink tint. She buried her snout in it and inhaled deeply. After a second sniff she raised her head again, sorrow behind her eyes. She offered a long, soulful call, halfway between a howl and a moan. It was the first sound that Myranda had heard the dragon make, aside from a few hisses and grumbles. This was different. There was a voice behind it, pouring out sorrow. This was not just a mindless creature. This was a thinking, feeling being.
After a pause, with her head hung low, she locked her gaze on the helmet again. Puffing out her chest, she unleashed a burst of flame longer and hotter than Myranda had ever seen her muster. She then snatched the blackened and sizzling piece of armor out of the wet pit of melted snow and continued to gnaw and shake it, as though she was punishing it for her sorrow. Even when they began walking again, she continued her catharsis.
#
The sky was rosy with sunset when the two found their way to the door of the tower. No doubt due to some mystic meddling, the building and the area around it seemed wholly unaffected by the night of snowfall. Myn was fairly exhausted from her wrestling with the helmet, but refused to release it from her mouth. When Myranda pushed the door wearily open, she was greeted by a slow, deliberate clapping from Wolloff.
"Congratulations, lass. You risked your life, passed out, and nearly starved and froze, but you managed to bring back a meaningless animal safely," he said.
Myranda came inside, stomping the snow from her boots.
"And what is this?" he asked, shocked at what he saw.
"What?" Myranda asked, looking down.
Myn had followed her inside and positioned herself between Myranda and Wolloff. She dropped the helmet heavily to the floor and bared her teeth in a fearsome snarl.
"I draw the line at letting the beast use the front door," he said angrily.
"Well, tell her so," she said, in no mood to apologize.
"I am not the one that trained her," he said.
"Neither did I," came her reply. "She was only a few days old when I came to you and if I had been training her since then, I think you might have noticed."
"Then how did you get her to bring that food back for you? Don't tell me you just asked," he said.
"No, I didn't even ask her. She did it on her own . . . How did you know about that? Did you follow me?" she asked.
"No. Distance-seeing. While you were off on your fool's errand, I looked up the appropriate spell so that I could keep an eye on you. You were only a day or so away, so it was child's play. You say that the dragon decided to bring you food of its own accord?" he said, eying the creature curiously.
"She did," Myranda said.
Wolloff rubbed his chin as he looked at the dragon, who looked as though she would tear him to pieces if he took a step closer. He reluctantly allowed Myn to stay inside, with the stipulation that she behave herself. Myranda assured him that she would so long as he did the same. When Myn was satisfied that Wolloff was of no real concern, she fetched the mangled helmet, brought it to Myranda's feet, and commenced the destruction.
"You brought that from the battleground, as I recall," he said.
"Yes," she said.
"It--what's left of it, that is--looks like an Alliance helmet. A fancy one at that. I must remember to inform Caya. Troop action this far north is rare, and this deep in the forest is rarer still. I don't like it," he said.
There was very little instruction that night, with Myranda retiring gratefully to her bed soon after he prepared a meal for her. Evidently Wolloff felt that her experiences in rescuing the beast were lesson enough.
#
The weeks that followed passed much as those before had--with one notable exception. Myn, who was protective before, was now overprotective and always by her side. For the first two weeks, she didn't leave Myranda for even a moment, not even to hunt. She was worried for her health, but Wolloff dubiously assured her that after a big meal, a dragon could go months before eating again. In time, the dragon did leave, but only long enough to satisfy her hunger. At all other times, she was with Myranda, chewing and clawing at the helmet and watching Wolloff like a hawk.
The first order of business in terms of instruction was the addition of a spell that could be of greater use to her than any she had learned to date. It was more difficult to cast and was not always appropriate, but given enough time to do its work, the spell could heal even the direst of wounds. Wolloff called it the healing sleep, a spell that put the recipient into a deep slumber and drew upon their own spiritual strength to continuously cure whatever damage or disease was ailing the body. Myranda had difficulty testing such a spell. She could not use it on herself, and Wolloff would certainly not
allow her to test it on him. She did cast it on Myn once, with great success. Unfortunately, the creature, upon waking, made it quite clear she did not like being forced into sleep, likely remembering when Wolloff had done it when they first met.
It was just past the end of the third month of training, the midpoint, before they were interrupted again. Spring should have come, but this far north, and in the Low Lands in particular, the only indication of this was a sprinkle of rain mixing with the snow occasionally. Such a storm was passing through toward the end of the daily training session in the tower when a commotion could be heard in the main room down stairs. The sound alone was enough to put Myn on guard.
"Wait here. I will see what has happened," Wolloff instructed.
The wizard clutched the amulet and cautiously descended the stairs. Myranda waited anxiously at the top of the flight, Myn standing rigidly in front of her, still clutching the chewed-up helm in her teeth. After an eternity of silence, Wolloff's voice rang out from below. It was filled with desperation and concern.
"Come quickly!" he yelled.
She rushed down the stairs. When she reached the bottom, she was met with a terrible sight. It was Caya. The once proud warrior was at death's door. Blood was dried over a dozen wounds, and still ran from a half-dozen more. She looked as though she had ridden the whole night through without rest, soaked to the skin from the freezing rain and muttering, as though she had something important to say, but no words would come.
Myn looked over the battered woman. Normally she would view any human as a threat to her precious friend, but somehow she seemed to know that this was different. This was serious.
"I will tend to the more serious wounds. You put her into the healing sleep," Wolloff ordered.
Caya put her hand on the wizard's shoulder.
"No sleep!" she commanded. "No time."
The two healers did their best to close the wounds and undo the damage that had been done. As her strength began to return, Caya spoke.
