by Sarah Hite
He turned back to Ania, who had retreated to the tree line. Stone was at her side; Lukair was squatting in front of her. He asked her something and she responded quietly. Whatever they said had been too quiet for the others to hear. He stood shortly and glared at his brother.
The dark-haired youth stepped toward them. “Are you all right?” he asked. She nodded but said nothing. Coming over, he set his sword down and knelt beside her, opposite of Stone. “I take it you’re not really going to Sal Den.” It was not a question. She still did not answer, but he was going to let her take her time. When she had told him that her mother was ill, she had sounded concerned, but as he looked at her, he could tell there was more bothering her than her companion’s behavior.
He looked up when Lorex raised his voice. “We need to keep moving.” He began to say more but Lukair stopped him.
“I know that,” he said, glaring at the older boy. “But we aren’t going anywhere until she does; and keep your voice down.”
They continued to argue over when they would continue traveling for another minute until Stone finally grumbled something under her breath. She climbed to her feet and joined her brothers. Standing there, just to the side, she listened to them argue, her arms crossed. After another minute she interrupted them. “Would you two stop it? You’re acting like children! What would Father think?”
They stopped and looked at her. Lukair sighed and nodded. He knew she was right. He turned back to Lorex and suggested. “Why don’t you go on? We can follow when she’s ready.”
Lorex glared out at the surrounding landscape. “We are supposed to stay together… and keep moving,” he said stubbornly.
Stone punched him in the stomach. “Why do you have to be such a jerk?” She was clearly not happy with him as she turned and stalked back to Ania. Tyanna had remained quiet. She waited until the siblings had finished their argument and approached Lorex. She spoke quietly and he seemed to listen. Finally, he nodded and said, “Fine, we’ll do it your way. We’ll keep going and meet you there.” He turned to leave; as he walked off he looked back at his younger siblings. “Stone,” he demanded.
She shook her head, saying, “No. I’m staying with Ania.” He grumbled, but walked away. Tyanna shot Lukair a worried glance, which switched to Ania momentarily before returning to him. She slowly turned and followed Lorex down the road.
Lukair turned back to the girls and gasped as he saw Ania. She was sitting in the exact same place she had been moments before, but now she wore the same stone-faced expression as he the day she spent in their home. Stone waved a hand in front of her face; she received no response. “Not again,” Lukair complained.
“This has happened before?” the other boy asked with a concerned tone.
“Twice now, in two weeks.” Lukair sighed and walked a few paces away. The other boy followed him. “She wasn’t going to Sal Den, was she?”
“No. Our father asked us to do something for him, since he can’t do it himself. Ania was helping us.”
The dark-haired boy was quiet for a moment. Then he raised his hand and said, “I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Cainen, but everyone calls me Flame, and I wasn’t really going to Sal Den either.”
Lukair took his hand and introduced the rest of the group, apologizing for Lorex’s actions. Then he asked, “If you weren’t going to Sal Den, then what are you doing out here?”
“Believe it or not, I was waiting for you.” Before Lukair could ask what he meant, Stone called them back over. Ania had pulled her knees to her chest and had a hand wrapped around them; she was holding her head with the other. She shook herself and looked up. “What happened?” she asked a little shakily.
“You kind of left,” Stone told her, unsure of how to put it. Lukair looked down at her. “It’s happened before,” he said a little sadly.
She did not answer, but changed the subject instead. “We should get moving.” She picked herself up and started to walk away, but looked back at Flame and asked, “Are you coming?” The boys exchanged glances and Lukair shrugged. “We could use your help keeping Lorex in line.”
He thought a moment, then said, “I’ll come… but on one condition.”
“What’s that?” Ania asked. He smiled and said, “We walk, you ride.” He untethered the horse and brought the stallion over. Lukair agreed. He was concerned about her and did not feel she should be walking right now. After both Lukair and Stone pressed her, she finally agreed, and Flame helped her into the saddle.
They caught up to Lorex and Tyanna within an hour. Lorex was not too pleased with having Flame come along, but Tyanna was open to the suggestion and he was out-voted. Flame took the rear with Lorex in the lead. Ania walked along with Stone and Lukair. She had dismounted after they had reached the others, insisting that she was fine. As they walked, Tyanna studied Flame’s sword. He had thrown the scabbard over his shoulder so that the sword hung across his back.
“May I see it?” Tyanna asked, referring to the sword once they had gotten underway. Using both hands he pulled it free and over his head. He warned her that the sword was heavy and handed it over. She underestimated the weight of the sword and nearly dropped it. He turned to his horse and taking a rag from his saddle bag, carefully wrapped the blade. Together they carried the sword.
“It’s beautiful,” she said. The sword was made of a metal she had never seen. It was twice as sharp as an ordinary blade, but the blade did not shine like metal, even highly polished. The handle of the sword was not metal or wood. It had a dull shine and a dragon design was carved into the cross guard. Down the middle of the blade was a set of strange runes. They were beautifully carved, but the text itself was harsh. It read:
Kelt Ania’ Kelt Tiall
She gave it back to him and took point. Seeing that he was free, Ania dropped back. She had decided they could trust him and thought he should know what they were doing, so she told him the story—some of which he had already guessed. He had been in Pycan gathering more supplies when the alarm rang. He quickly packed the supplies and set his horse down the road. After he had left town he spurred the horse into a gallop. When he arrived at the fork, and had not pass them on the road, he had set up camp in order to think of what to do next, only to be questioned by soldiers.
Lorex heard them talking and barked at Ania to be quiet. She glared at him but did as she was told. However, she slowed her pace so that they would be able to talk freely. When they were far enough from the others, she apologized for Lorex’s rudeness, and explained that he was being cautious. He reintroduced himself, since she had not heard him before, and then told her that his horse was named Ardál. He then explained that he had always liked and respected dragons and wanted to learn more about them.
“I wanted to know about the Dragon Guard,” he said. “Everyone knows something about dragons, but no one knows about the men who protected them.” Ania smiled. “I have been in Altera for months and haven’t really learned anything new about the Guard… or dragons. At least, not until I arrived in Pycan a few days ago. In the last three days, I have learned more about the Guard than I have in the last twenty-three years.” He was quiet for a moment before adding, “I saw the Guard save the egg while in Pycan, and I saw you leave.
“You mean you knew what we were doing?” she asked surprised.
He nodded, “I thought I could help.” Helping them would give him the opportunity to learn more about the Guard. “It wasn’t right of the Duke to steal the egg,” he said.
Ania, secure in the feeling that he was on their side, informed, “We’re mainly going to the mountain to pick up something that will help us; something the dragons left behind, I guess.”
Late into the afternoon, they were deep inside the foothills near Pycan Mountain. After another hour they came to the path that would lead them to Pycan Peak, where the old complex was located. It began to drizzle while they climbed the mountain. It put Ania in a good mood, because she liked the rain. Lorex, however, did not. He bega
n to complain constantly. A little later, Ania thought she heard thunder and turned southwest. She smiled, “Don’t look now, Lorex,” she said with mild spite, “we’re in for it now.” Stone groaned when she saw the storm while Lorex let out a curse. Lukair simply shrugged and Flame smiled; he too enjoyed the rain, storms particularly. He watched the sky as it turned dark and un- friendly. Thunder sounded in the distance. “Perhaps we had better climb as far as we can before the trail is washed out,” he suggested, lifting his voice over the rising wind.
They climbed the trail as quickly as they dared. The sky was growing darker and thunder crashed behind them; the storm was coming on quickly. Before long it was almost too dark to see; however, as lightning lit up the sky, they could see enough to continue. Visibility dropped down to zero as the rain hit. The rain was very cold and came down in sheets; it quickly washed out the trail and soaked the group thoroughly.
Ania was freezing and knew the others had to be as well, she was also afraid the egg would get too cold; it had already been without a decent heat source since leaving the Keep. She stopped and took off the pack. The mud quickly rose around her boots. She set the pack on her boots in an effort to keep it out of the mud, and then she took off her cloak. She put them back on in reverse order, hoping the cloak would trap some of her body heat. Lukair saw her stop and went to see if she needed help, only to help free her from the mud, which was now over her toes.
The sun had set while the storm raged, and it was difficult to see in the dark. Still, they were able to see the complex and were sure that most of the buildings were in need of serious repairs. The only thing they could tell that was in decent condition was the perimeter wall and two or three buildings. Ducking inside the nearest building, they found themselves in the kitchen, with provision storage in the rear. A large pot still hung over the fireplace and there were wooden crates of supplies scattered around the structure. Tyanna and Flame broke down the crates they could find and started a fire. Stone found a smaller pot in one of these and set it outside to gather water to boil. Ania took the egg out of her pack and laid it by the fireplace to warm it. Lorex picked up his bow and said he was going hunting. Stone asked to join him; she wanted to collect more wood and did not want to get lost.
The other four teens sat by the fire and began to talk. Ania watched the egg, occasionally reaching out to feel its surface and trying to gauge it internal warmth. “You really do care for them, don’t you?” he asked her. She looked up at him. Nodding yes, she said, “The people of Pycan owe them a lot. It is only right.”
They were silent for a while, and then Lukair asked him about his family. Flame shook his head. “I don’t know who my father was,” he said. “My mother rarely talked about him; she would only say, ‘He was a good man.’”
“She hasn’t told you anything about him?” Ania asked.
“When I asked her, all she would tell me was that he was a farmer and that this sword,” motioning toward it, “was his. She gave me this pendant, too, though I don’t know what it means—the writing, I mean. The language it’s written in… I’ve never seen it before.” He took the pendant out from under his shirt and showed it to them. It was about the size of a large coin and a good deal thicker. There was a dragon engraved into the front, its tail twisting about itself. The back was covered in runes. Both the dragon on its front and the runes on the back were the same as the markings that decorated his sword.
“A loner like you?” Tyanna said mockingly. “I wouldn’t take you to know different languages.”
Flame smiled, “Well, just to sum it up, all I know about my father was that he was a farmer who for some reason owned a sword, and that he left his sword and pendant for me when he left, as my inheritance.”
Tyanna then went on to tell him all about her relationship with her father. She told him how he had taught her how to fight and throw blades. When she finished, Lukair made a crack about her father teaching her grammar, to which she threw a stick at him. Flame turned and asked Ania about her family. “I hear your family is a bit of a mystery,” he said.
Tyanna agreed, “Come on, Ania. All I know is that you live with your grandfather.”
Ania remained quiet. She really did not want to talk about her family; they were really a mystery to her as well. Finally, she took a deep breath and answered quietly, “I live with my grandfather because my parents died when I was very young. My mother died not long after my fifth birthday, and my father shortly after. I never really knew them.”
Lukair had known she was an orphan; he was also sure she did not know the cause of her parents’ death. He did not know who they were, but he did know that guardsmen all over Altera respected them—although he did not know exactly why himself. Tyanna looked at the floor, sorry she had pushed the topic, but Flame looked at her and gave her a knowing and understanding smile. His mother had died only a few years ago, and he had never met his father.
The door opened just then and Stone dropped a pile of wood by the wall and sat down. After a short time, Lorex brought in a several freshly cleaned rabbits. Stone started these to cook in the fireplace and then went to see what kinds of spices may have been left and which might still be good. After the rabbits were finished, they ate in silence and shortly went to sleep. Flame volunteered for the first watch.
Scout
It was very cold, too cold, when Ania woke early the next morning. She rolled to her feet and looked at the fire. It had gone out. She ran to the egg and checked it, only to discover that it was freezing. Fearful the egg had cooled too much, she took whatever scraps of wood she could find and restarted the fire.
“Lorex!” she yelled bitterly, waking everyone else. She took the egg and rolled it closer to the fire; it was small and would not last long. Lorex came through the door as she was just beginning to stand. She jumped on him before he had a chance to close the door. “Why didn’t you keep the fire going?” she yelled. He glared at her without answering. She glared back, “It was your job to keep the fire going; you were on watch!”
His eyes narrowed. “Look, I’m cold, I’m tired, and I’ve been up half the night,” he spat. “We ran out of fire wood, and I wasn’t going to get myself lost for a stupid egg!” He stormed past her without giving her a chance to say more.
She scowled at him and threw on her cloak. “Lorex,” she said angrily, “if this dragon dies—” She did not finish her threat; instead, she stormed out slamming the door behind her. Flame grabbed his bow and cloak, and then ran out the door after her, calling, “Ania, wait! You shouldn’t go alone!”
Ania had not gone far, a thick fog had rolled in over-night and she could not see more than a few feet in front of her. Flame threw his cloak and bow over his shoulders as he reached her. Together they made their way into the woods, allowing the fog to swallow them. They quickly came to a building and, by following the exterior, they found it to be slightly smaller than the kitchen. They entered the building to find that this structure, like the kitchen, was fully intact. After exploring a moment they discovered it was the old armory. Flame found an old bag and started to gather some of the remaining swords, bows, and quivers. He slung the bag over his shoulder; Ania agreed the weapons would be useful.
They continued to explore the building, gathering any supplies that might prove useful. After a while they came to a room that had been cleared of all furniture and weapons; the only thing left in it was an old safe. Ania was surprised to find it unlocked. Inside, they found several papers. Among these was what appeared to be the original treaty between the kingdoms, signed by King Evander of Ciciana and the King Konjon of Dragons’ Keep.
“Wow,” Ania said, taking it out. She showed it to Flame. He agreed it was indeed an unexpected treasure. She placed it back in the safe and took out a large, heavy bag of coins. It was put there recently and was not covered with dust. “They must have combined their resources and put this here before we left,” Ania said, thinking of the guard back home. She uncovered an envelope with her name o
n it; it had also been put there recently. She tied the bag to her belt and picked the envelope up, and then she closed and locked the safe.
They left the armory and walked for several minutes in silence, picking up sticks as they went. They reached an open cobblestone square and stopped. Looking around the two realized they did not know which way the kitchen was, or which way they had come. Disheartened and despairing Ania burst into tears. Flame tried to comfort her, but she backed away, only thinking of the young dragon who may never hatch. She stepped back off of the courtyard into the grass and backed into something hard. Without looking at it she reached up and felt it with one hand while holding the wood with the other. It was hard and rough, but not wood; it was too smooth for that (be-sides, there had not been a tree there a moment before) and it moved. She spun around dropping the wood, and stepped back; she caught her breath, not daring to believe her eyes. There, in front of them, stood a dragon.
Instructions
A man sat alone in a dark room. The only light came from a fire in a stone fireplace. He had short hair that was almost completely white and was dressed in dark slacks. He wore a white long-sleeved shirt under a dark vest. His height and most of his physical features were hidden by the dim lighting. He glared at the fire, clearly angered. In his right hand he held a missive. He slowly crumpled it into a ball.
“Ira!” he shouted.
A short, stocky man entered the room. “Yes, Sire?” he asked.
“Find Ceris. I have a job for him.”
“Yes, Sire.” When no other instructions were forth- coming, Ira bowed and exited the room.
