by Lexy Wolfe
Weaponless, Doom ran to Tiwaz while the wyvern occupied the dragons. He examined her, frowning when he saw blood in her hair on the back of her head where she’d struck a rock, unwillingly reminded of the day he had met her. Despite expecting death at the claws of the draconic pair, he grabbed the first cloth-like thing from his backpack, folding and pressing it against the wound. Her expression twitched in reflexive reaction to the pain.
Once the wyvern was dead, the pair of dragons grumbled conversationally to each other. After several tense minutes listening to the pair of four-legged, two-winged reptilians, Doom grumbled under his breath, “Just kill us and get it over with, would you?”
“You would be dead already if that was our intention,” the ruby-eyed dragon pointed out, its tones hostile. It flapped its wings once, the gust of wind blowing the hood of his cloak back and revealing his face. “Why have you come here, youth?”
A little unnerved that the dragon spoke, Doom hesitated. Assured that Tiwaz’s wound was simply unfortunate and not critical, he turned to look at the pair, then lowered his eyes with respect. “My companion and I seek sanctuary within Dragons Gate. We are fleeing slavery from a magic user who thinks we are dead. At least, he believes that right now.”
The green-eyed, stone-grey mottled dragon settled itself like a lazy feline. “I told you coming home for a little while was a worthy cause.”
“Is that so?” The ruby-eyed one, patterned in shades of brown to black, sat primly. It wrapped its long tail around its legs, the spiked tip twitching. He looked past Doom to Tiwaz. “She is a pink skin. Why do you fuss so much over the small fleshling? You are born of a higher breed.”
Doom puzzled over the latter statement before the meaning behind the question registered. He growled, the spikes on the back of his neck rising. “She is my friend.”
“So?” the ruby-eyed one replied.
“So? So?! I thought dragons were an honorable race!” the gromek shouted, both dragons’ heads pulling back in surprise as they regarded him. He did not cower when the ruby-eyed dragon narrowed its eyes with a growl. “If someone saved your life, would you not help them in return?” Doom knew the foolishness in criticizing creatures that could kill with a thought as easily as a flick of their tails. But he could tolerate no more questioning of his protection of Tiwaz.
The grey dragon rumbled in amusement, still lying on its side. “I told you, my dear brother.” It made a shooing gesture with one forepaw. “Go. I will attend to them.” The brown dragon snorted, turning away. He crouched then sprang into the air, kicking up dirt and dust as he pumped his wings to get airborne, then vanished. The grey dragon turned to Doom. “Go on. Attend to your companion. She does not seem to be doing too well. Not unexpected. Even we dragons find tangling with wyvern filth challenging.”
Uncertain whether he could trust the dragon or not, Doom knelt by Tiwaz where could watch it from the corner of his eye. He examined her, looking for more injuries. “I do not understand. Not that I am not grateful, but why aren’t you killing us, Dragon?”
The dragon’s rumble of laughter was unnerving. “Kill you? Whatever for? You amuse me. As does your little friend.”
As the dragon spoke, he lifted Tiwaz’s shirt to see bruises over broken ribs begin to vanish. With a sigh, he began to unlace her bracers to replace the bandages he knew were blood-soaked again. The moment he exposed one of her wrists, the glyphs writhing wildly, the dragon suddenly loomed over them, its teeth bared in barely contained rage. “What is this? Who put runic symbols on her flesh?! Such an act is forbidden by divine law, agreed to by even the most selfish of gods. Who dared such an atrocity?”
Doom raised his arm to protect his face from the dragon’s spittle-inducing fury. He explained as he bared Tiwaz’s other wrist to let the dreadful, unhealing wounds air. The symbols seemed to twist and coil more wildly than he’d ever seen them, like snakes aware of being in the proximity of danger and unable to flee. “Our former master, Alimar the Black. We broke our physical shackles, but those…I do not know. She said he told her nothing but a god could remove them. I am loathe to believe anything that bastard ever said as truth.”
“Your former master knows his art intimately well, if he could create such intricate patterns that obscure his crime from divine senses, though not from physical ones.” The dragon mastered its fury and spoke more calmly, its confusion plain. “If she believes only a god can lift them, then why does she not pray for deliverance from this evil? I do not know a single god who would allow this atrocity to remain. She must be aware they are killing her.”
“What? Killing her? No.” Doom stared in shock. “No, it can’t be possible.” He looked at the woman’s pale face, his shaking hand touching her hair. “It has been too long. She has had them since Alimar stole us from our families ten years ago. She has survived…so many horrible things done to her. She nearly died more than once just in the past few months since we got away. She can’t be…”
The dragon exhaled, its warm breath bathing the two in a metallic, sulfur-y smell that was oddly calming. “She is very strong, unusually strong for any mortal. That she is still alive is remarkable, really. Even the longest lived things would not last beyond five years of such heinous defilement. Normally. Nevertheless, runic magic was never meant to be placed on living things. The energy they serve as conduits for is typically too disruptive to living flesh.”
“Then why now?” Doom begged. “If all they did was stop her from using her own magic, why would they be killing her now?”
“They have always been killing her,” the dragon replied, its voice gentle for him but still holding a seething fury at the situation. “Her own magic has been fighting back, as a body fights infection. Unfortunately, as strong as she is, utterly untrained in her natural gifts, her endurance is nearing its end.” It lowered its head, bumping Tiwaz’s arm as it sniffed her. “She might last until spring. But that is being optimistic.”
“Spring?” he whispered. “Is that why you didn’t tell me about the glyphs, Ti? Why you tried to hide them from me? Is that why you kept trying to convince me to abandon you so I wouldn’t find out?” Shaking with emotion, Doom yelled his grief to the heavens, then slammed his fists into the ground once.
Spent, he gathered her in his arms, shoulders slumped in defeat. “If you’d have told me,” he whispered, “I could have kept my last promise to you. I could have found some way to free you of this. Found some god. Any god. One who would have listened to free you.” He drew in a deep breath, then exhaled. “So I wouldn’t lose you.”
Studying the heartsick gromek, the dragon said with great reticence, “I could remove the glyphs.”
Doom looked up sharply, the spark of hope rekindled. “Is that why Alimar hated dragons? You are as powerful as gods? You can help her?”
The dragon heaved a sigh. “I have the ability, but I cannot remain here long enough for her to awaken. I have been here overlong as is. The effort would make returning here impossible for some time, and leaving to return later would hinder my ability to effectively remove all taint from them.”
“Why would you need her to be awake?” Doom wondered. He felt as though he was missing some important fact and hating the feeling of ignorance.
The dragon stretched its wings and folded them back. “She must agree to repay me for removing them. To be honest, I would be more than willing to remove them because their existence is beyond criminal. But, I am aware that she has been quite adamant in refusing charity and I would never betray that desire. And before you so gallantly offer to stand in her stead, she must agree to this. You will have other obligations,” it stated enigmatically. Before he could utter a word, the dragon asked, “Tell me, young one. Is she an honorable being? Would she repay a debt you agreed to on her behalf?”
Doom snorted at the question. “To have these things removed? I think she would do anything short of selling her soul to lose them. Her honor is her life. Reclaiming it is what nearly killed her and allowed us t
o escape slavery.”
“Very well, then.” With great care, the dragon scooped the unconscious woman into its large hand-like paws. As it spoke in a low rumble, Tiwaz flinched, moaning, but remained unconscious. After several minutes, she quieted.
Satisfied, the dragon handed her back to Doom just as gently as it had picked the woman up. “The tainted magic has been removed.”
“Thank you,” Doom said humbly, holding his friend tight against him. “Tell me, Dragon, is there a way to restore her memories?” When the massive creature tilted its head in puzzlement, he explained, “She had suffered an injury during her capture that robbed her of all memories of her past. Not even the potions Alimar forced on her healed that. She doesn’t even know if she is truly human or just looks like one.”
“I see. That is worrisome, given she will start displaying several of the traits those evil things had repressed, just as your maturity had been repressed by enchantments on your shackles. The spells binding you must have only been on your physical shackles, as I sense none of the poison she bore.” The dragon suddenly looked amused. “I am given to wonder if your former master has any idea the die he cast for himself.” The dragon rose, stretching much as a cat would, then preparing to take flight.
“Wait!” The dragon paused, looking over its shoulder at Doom. “Please, at least tell me if Tiwaz is human. So when she wakes up I can—”
The dragon looked thoughtful, wings relaxing slightly. “Magic is a strange thing, youth. There are nearly as many energies as there are colors in the rainbow, sounds that can be heard, and tastes in the air, individually and combined. Many thousands of years ago, high elves ruled all the other races and the land itself. The fractures are the result of the many enslaved races breaking the magical chains of their cruel masters. The Western Empire, Southern Wildlands, Northern Territories, Eastern Kingdoms, even the tiny Crossroads where they all meet, are but a small number of them.
“Magic is weak in the Eastern Kingdoms because the humans who live there renounced magic and the rest of the world beyond, blaming it for the high elves rule. It is tamed in the Western Empire. However, in the north and south, the heart of the land beats with its pulse. In the north, so long as you are in harmony with the land, it will stay in harmony with you. But, in the south, it is wild, violent, and merciless. Any from the outside who stay too long will be consumed by the land if they do not yield to it and allow it to change them.
“Is she human? The easiest answer is no, simply because she was native to the Southern Wildlands, and little remains what it was originally within its domain. Removing the constraints allows her to live, but those glyphs were like a dam holding back a mountain lake that had grown to be a sea. Not even I know what I have released, save that it should not kill her.”
Doom nodded. “I suppose that will have to do.”
“Be assured, I will someday collect my debt from her.” The dragon turned to leave again, then paused as though remembering something nearly forgotten. “Oh, and as long as you bring no harm to the draconic denizens here, you both are welcome to take shelter within Dragons Gate. At least until your destiny calls you.” Before he could question the ominous addition, the dragon sprang aloft, then vanished in a flash of light as the previous dragon had done.
“Doom?” Tiwaz whispered weakly as he maneuvered to pick up her dropped backpack without putting her down.
“Shhh,” he soothed. “I’m here. Everything is fine.” She nodded slightly and passed out again.
DOOM WALKED UNTIL he nearly tripped over his own feet in exhaustion. He leaned on a tree by the clearing he stumbled into. A nearby, spring-fed pond poured into a stream, bubbling soothingly. Before them lay an ancient tree. Uprooted during its youth, it thrived where it had fallen atop an up-swell of bedrock. Lush grass covered the protected depression between tree and rock.
His eyes followed the topography and he realized that the slope continued to rise beyond their position. “The foothills of Dragons Gate,” he said to his unconscious friend with relief. “Oh, thank gods.” He laid Tiwaz on the thick grass, took out their sleeping mats, then shoved the backpacks in the narrow space between the tree trunk and the ground. Making her bed first, he put her on the more comfortable space, covering her with his much bigger and heavier cloak.
He put his own sleeping mat on the rise and inclined beside Tiwaz under the shelter of the old tree. Holding her hand in his, he closed his eyes, allowing himself to give into exhaustion at last.
“Doom!”
Tiwaz’s alarmed shout startled the gromek awake. He sat up and hit his head on the tree so hard the leaves rustled. He fell back for a moment, holding his head and swearing colorfully under his breath. Her agonized sound as she held her ribs drew him out of his own misery as she flopped back. His hand on her brow calmed her. “Relax, Ti. I’m here.”
Eyes dazed and glassy, she struggled to get her bearings. Her hands clutched his tunic, focusing on him. “Doom, are you hurt? Wyverns are too stupid to realize they’re dead when you’ve killed them.” She grimaced, putting one hand to her aching head. “I missed the artery to bleed it faster and broke my sword on its spine, damn it.”
He could not help but laugh in utter relief, more at the odd look she gave him. “Gods, Ti, I have never been happier to have you back to normal.” She frowned in confusion, closing her eyes as he stroked her hair out of her eyes. “You always worry about me before yourself. You damned near got killed when it threw you off.”
“A stupid, novice mistake. I forgot where I was,” she admitted. “There aren’t rocks in arena sands.” She looked back up at him. “You are unhurt?”
“Only casualties are your sword and my quarterstaff. I can easily make a new quarterstaff. You are going to have to make do with a knife for now.”
She shook her head, sitting up with effort, her arms around her tender ribs. Green eyes scanned the clearing their shelter faced. “Where are we?”
“The foothills of Dragons Gate,” he replied. He chuckled at her stare. “Yes, I carried you the whole way. I would have gone farther if I wasn’t about to fall over.”
“But the wyvern how did you kill it? You can take their head off and they’ll keep going until they’ve lost enough blood.” She narrowed her eyes at his hesitation, reaching out to turn his face towards her, searching his eyes. “I suppose you have a reason to hide the answer from me.” She lay back on her sleeping mat with a grimace. “But you are alive and unhurt. That is what matters.” He started to speak when she interrupted. “I am sorry about your staff. I know you liked it a lot.”
“My staff? What…? Oh.” He chuckled. “A warrior would worry about weapons. It’s fine, honest. It was just a good stick. I’m sure there is something out here I will be able to find as a suitable replacement.” He took the water skin from his belt, taking a long drink from it. “You really fought those things? I do not remember this.”
“Maybe five or so years ago. You were with your trainer a lot then. Alimar would give me healing potions when you were not there to bind my injuries.” She said, sensing his frown. “I refused to allow anyone but you to touch me, and that was one thing he could not make me yield to, no matter what. He was not willing to let me escape him through death. And he could not punish you for my disobedience before I would have died from my injuries.”
“I see.” Without a word, he unlaced her bracers, then slid both off at once. She sat upright when cool air brushed across the bandage-free skin. He put his hand between her head and the low ceiling of their shelter. Not that she would have noticed, staring at her horribly scarred but otherwise unmarred wrists.
“The glyphs are gone?” she whispered. “But how?”
“A dragon. It did not tell me its name, but it was the color of grey stone and had very green eyes.” He added with great reluctance, “I agreed to you owing it a debt in exchange for removing them. It said it would return one day for you to repay your debt.” She said nothing, just staring at her wrists. Concerned, he t
ouched her shoulder. “Ti?”
Slowly, a tear rolled down her cheek. Then another. And another. She sounded choked as she spoke. “I am…really…free.”
“Yes, you are really free, my beloved friend.” He pulled her against him, holding her tight as she cried, stroking her hair and back. “I understand now,” he murmured. “Why you kept hinting I should abandon you. Why you threw yourself into every fight even if it could have killed you.”
He stroked her hair gently. “You didn’t want to tell me what those glyphs were doing to you. You didn’t want to tell me they were killing you because I would have attacked Alimar and he would have punished me worse for it.” Her sobs only increased at his gentle words. He held her more tightly. “I hope you can forgive me.”
She managed to get her crying under control, pulling away to rub her eyes impatiently before looking up at him in confusion. “I do not deserve an apology. I kept secrets from you. We are supposed to trust each other.”
He chuckled weakly, rubbing the tears from her cheeks with his huge thumb. “Not because you did not trust me. Because you knew me well enough to know I would have done something Alimar would have punished me for.” He looked down in shame. “You suffered this burden alone because of me.”
She turned his face back towards her with a gentle hand. “I suffered it willingly because you gave me reason to fight to live.”
“It is the past,” he stated after taking a deep breath and exhaling. “Now we both have a future to look to.” Watching her with confusion as she got up and, despite the pain of her barely healed injuries, she moved her sleeping mat closer to his. Understanding, he lay back and let her curl against him, putting his arm around her protectively. “You are not mad about owing a debt to a dragon?” he asked.
