by Sarah Hite
They worked for several hours on the wall and then they joined Kiera in the kitchen. She was gathering food and other supplies, as well as decorations. They were planning a feast in honor of the dragons and the Pycan group. He hoped that Ania would arrive by then. He thought her arrival would add to the festivities. Everyone had heard of her and they all wanted to meet her.
Kiera had gathered information on food from Pycan and was going to surprise the kids with traditional festival cuisines from their home. She had often spoken with Stone over meals they would have and knew the kids’ favorites foods. She would have plenty of help as Lord Mychal was going to attend and was sending some of the supplies as well as kitchen staff. They had been told that Lord Kayton and his wife, Lady Michelle, would also be attending, although the group from Pycan did not know this yet. She told Ryell that she had plenty of supplies at that moment and had more than enough help. He nodded and left her to her work.
They went to the armory next in order to assess the needs of the troops. They checked on the armor and the weapons. They took stock of what needed to be repaired and what would need to be rebuilt. Ryell observed the uniforms in front of him. One had been set out as an example, hanging on a tailor’s dummy for observation. The chain mail shirt hung down to the dummy’s knees. There were bracers on its arms and greaves had been strapped to its legs. It wore a metal cap that had been placed over top of a leather-backed mail hood, similar to the gloves that were under the bracers. The dummy was wearing every piece of armor but was not wearing a tunic. A tailor came in just then carrying the tunic. He acknowledged Lord Ryell and slipped the tunic over the chain mail. The tunic had been made with the king’s colors. It was royal blue trimmed in silver. It was similar to the king’s standard, a shield-shaped piece of cloth that was the same royal blue, framed in silver. In the center of the standard was the king’s crest, a silver dragon.
He nodded his approval and turned to leave. As he walked back outside, Shaelynn ran past him to the main gate. She looked at him and then back through the bars.
Captain Harden called out to Ryell, who climbed up to see what had gotten the little dragon’s attention. There was a battle on a hilltop not far away. It consisted of one person in the middle and about ten of the duke’s men. Harden did not wait for Ryell’s command. He immediately sent troops out to help. Kwan had seen Shaelynn’s reaction and came to investigate. When he saw what was happening on the hill he took off with a snarl.
As Kwan approached the hill, the lone warrior had already dispatched several of the men. They fought with a staff made from white wood. He landed a few feet from the fight, startling the soldiers. He growled again and swept his forepaw around, catching one of the men and pinning him to the ground, while the stranger continued to fight. Ryell watched as the hood fell away, and he realized this person was female. This girl, now that he could see her clearly, fought with a wooden rod roughly six feet long. She was dressed in what appeared to be animal hides. Her boots were lined with fur, and her soft leather pants were topped by a shirt made from triangular pieces of hide sown together with sinew. Over it all she wore a long fur-lined cape.
By the time Ryell’s men reached the bottom of the hill, she had taken out all but one of her remaining attackers. As they approach the fight, she landed the final blow, bring the last man down. One of the men stepped on a twig as they capped the hill. The loud crack alerted the girl to their presence. She spun around on the balls of her feet to face them, throwing snow in every direction. Her cape twirled around her slight frame, echoed by long dark brown hair that swirled around her face, concealing her identity.
She lowered her staff and slowly backed away from them, turning her attention to the dragon. She looked at the dragon curiously and waited for an explanation. He growled again; the man was still pinned under his paw, one toe covering his mouth so he could not speak. “It’s him,” was all he said. “Let him up,” Ania whispered. “He won’t get away.”
He let the man up just as Ryell and more of his men approached. Ania glanced at them but kept her attention on the soldier, who climbed to his feet in front of them. “What have you to say for yourself?” she demanded.
He did not answer, but stared at the dragon in shock. “How can you still be alive? You can’t still be alive, not after…” He trailed off.
Ania jumped on his words, “After you what?” she snarled. “After you tortured him? After you left him to starve to death?” Her voice rose as she spoke, her anger overflowing. “You left him to die and then had the gall to try and replace him!” She took a breath, trying to calm down. In a hard voice she added, “I should kill you myself, but that would be unfair to the dragons. You should be delivered over to them, to do what they see fit, after all you did to their kin.”
She turned away from him, to keep herself from punching him, and walked away. Ryell looked at the man, “Arrest him!” he ordered. Ania watched as the men led him away. Ryell and two of his men were the only ones remaining. Bones nudged her in the shoulder with his snout and preceded them, as he was first to head back to the palace, his long stride making it easy to outdistance them.
Lord Ryell saw that Kwan had respect for this girl. He smiled and sighed. Making a guess, he asked, “Ania?” Upon hearing her name she looked at him in surprise. “I thought so. We have been waiting for you.” He invited her to the palace. She picked up the pack that had been thrown to the ground and put it back on. Ryell led her back to Aretell. As they entered the palace gates, the people stopped and stared at her. She stopped by Kwan and said something to him; he did not speak but only nodded. Shaelynn crept out from the Guesthouse, where she had run after leaving the gates, and watched her. She took a half step forward and then shook her head and ran away.
Ryell was called away at that moment and turned his attention elsewhere, leaving her to the dragon. She knelt down and examined one of the wounds on his chest. As she stood up her vision filled with men and dragons, and she collapsed to the ground. Kwan growled, catching Ryell’s attention. Before he could return, Kwan lowered his head and carefully nudged her. She slowly opened her eyes and grabbed ahold of his single horn; he slowly pulled her to her feet. She stood there a moment, swaying. When Ryell reached them, she had one hand on her forehead, the other on Kwan for support. “Are you all right?” he asked. She nodded, but seemed very tired and shaky. He gave them a moment to explain what had happened, but they remained quiet, so he volunteered to show her where Kwan had been staying.
He led her to the Guesthouse where they found Shaelynn curled up in a corner. She eyed Ania from there, but would not come to her when she called the hatchling. Ania asked Kwan why she would not come. He responded after a minute by saying, “She is afraid.”
Ania looked up at him. “Afraid? Why?” She looked back at Shaelynn.
“She fears that it is you. It has been so long since she has seen you that she had begun to think you lost.” To change the subject, he said, “They’re not here.”
“What?”
“Your friends: they’re not here. They were, but they have left, although they should return shortly.” Ania nodded and then asked where Moon and Pai were, and was told that the other dragons had gone hunting.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Ryell asked.
She sighed and glanced at Kwan, who nudged her shoulder encouragingly. “I… I don’t know.” She looked at the lord a moment before continuing. “It’s been happening more often. I don’t… know what it is.”
Ryell shook his head; he could see that she was worried and scared. He apologized and motioned to the men.
“I am assigning them as your personal guards.” When she asked why he told her that somehow his people had decided that she was not to be trusted and would probably not leave her alone. He also explained that his spies in Ciciana had sent him a missive, telling him that the Duke now knew the identity of what he called the Dragons’ Heart and was looking for them. She said nothing, and he asked if she would like to come in f
or something to eat. She nodded and he led her to the palace. Angry shouts and accusations followed them. Ryell had his men take her to the kitchen while he addressed the crowd.
Memories
Moon took the deer she had brought back to the Guesthouse while the scouts went to find Ryell. They wanted to tell him of the extraordinarily large herd of deer they had seen while hunting; the herd would be a good source of food for the army. As Moon entered the building she found Kwan in his usual place. Shaelynn was asleep next to him and, to her surprise, so was a human female.
The girl slept uneasily and often moved about in her sleep. Kwan looked up at her as she came near. There was an expression in his eyes that she could not quite make out. He looked back at the girl and then carefully rose and stepped away from her. His movement woke Shaelynn who looked up questioningly, but understood when she saw her mother. As Kwan joined Moon she asked him why the girl was sleeping in the straw.
He took the deer from her and explained that she was more comfortable with them than with her own kind. He tore off a piece of meat and gave it to Shaelynn, who dug into it eagerly. Moon watched the girl for a moment. Something did not seem right. She felt she knew the girl, but was sure they had never met. The girl suddenly began to shiver violently. Lord Ryell joined them just in time to hear Kwan say unhappily, “Not again.”
Together Ryell and the dragons watched as she dreamt. Kwan had told Ryell of her dreams, which began not long after finding him, and they had only grown worse, especially those she had while awake. There was something not right about these dreams; they were always frightening and disconcerting and always felt too real to be a dream. They did not seem natural, and no one could think of a way to stop them from returning. They knew that the child would not be able to sleep peacefully until then. They could only imagine what she saw behind her closed eyes.
The ground flew by at a moderate speed. She was not flying very fast. She was tired and hurt. Her mate had told her to flee, to find a safe place. He had arrived just in time to save her from a more severe beating. The dragons that had surrounded the young pale green female had beaten her, and had been about to break her wings. The males were angry because she had chosen a mate from another clan. They had all wanted her, but she only wanted the one. Still, having a mate had not stopped them from trying. She had been attacked several times,but had escaped before anything more couldhappen.
She had returned home cautiously after the shaman had informed her of her pregnancy; one of her attackers could be hiding anywhere. She was sure the clutchbelonged her mate, but she had been attacked so many timesthey were not sure. Even so, that would not stop the two from raising the children as their own.
Now she had been forced to fly for her safety, as well as the safety of her clutch. She was afraid; she was too close to nesting to be exerting herself like this. She stopped by a stream and listened for the sound of wings. Nothing. She sighed, somewhat relieved. After resting for a few minutes, she took flight again and circled back toward her mate’s home clan.
She had not gone far when the wind began to rise quickly. She looked behind her and found to her horror that a storm was coming in. She tried to find a safe place to wait out the storm but was not given the chance. The wind rose at an alarming speed. It caught her before she could land and threw her about like a human child’s toy kite. She knew she was in trouble and tried not to panic. Many dragons had been killed by storms.
As she was about to lose hope, the winddied down. It was not much, butit was enough for her to regain control. She tilted her wings and fought her way to the ground. She touched ground on the edge of a ravine. She was still trying to fold her wings when another gustcaught her, pushing herover theedge. She tried to stop herselffrom falling and tried tocatch the canyon wall, but to noavail. She hit the rock wall hard and dug her claws into the stone, trying to slow her decent. She managed to stop herself just before coming to a group of sharp boulders. Shecould have been seriously hurt had she landed on them.
Breathing heavily, she slowly made her way to the bottom. As she stepped to the ravine’s floor, it began to rain. Itcame down hard and stung her hide. She lookedaround the ravine, looking for anything she could use for cover. She found none. As it continued to rain she realized that the small creek she stood next to was rising…and fast. She began to despair. She knew the water was a problem in itself. Then, as if to add to her problems, she felt the first of the nesting pains.
She was in serious trouble. With the water risingshe could not nest on the ground. She looked around frantically as she tried to find somewhere she could stay. Finally, she noticed the ledge. It was small, but it would keep her out of the water. She climbed for it, stopping only when a contraction made it hard to move. As she pulled herself onto the ledge, she noticed the entrance to a cave and, thanking the Ancestors, slowly, painfully made her way toward it. She looked down at the ground she had just left only to find it under water. She looked up at the dark clouds above her, wondering when the rain would stop. Her mate would undoubtedly be searching for her, but she did not believe he would think of looking in the ravine.
As she turned back toward the cave, a beam of sunlight pierced the clouds and lit the rocks to her right. There she saw a climbing rose. It bore only a few flowers; the droplets of water on their petals sparkled like tiny diamonds in the light. As she looked at the flowers, she began to feel peace; she seemed to sensethat she would be all right. She gave the pale yellow flowers one more look and entered the cave.
The girl suddenly seemed to relax. She stopped shaking and her breathing eased. She slept for a short time more while Ryell spoke to the dragons. He filled Moon in on what had happened while they had been gone.
Before he could tell her that Ania was the girl they were observing, she awoke. The straw rustled as she sat up. Her hair hung in her face and she was breathing uneasily. She did not seem to be looking at anything in particular, so Ryell went to her and put a hand on her shoulder, in order to get her attention. The dragons watched as she flinched and pulled away from him. “It’s okay; it’s okay,” Ryell said soothingly. She looked up at him and, after a moment, he saw the recognition in her eyes. She looked down and pulled her knees up to her chest. She sat there for a few minutes until Kwan left his dinner and went to her.
She looked up at the dragon. A tear slid down her cheek as she asked, “What’s wrong with me?”
Kwan said nothing. He brushed the top of her head with his snout. Moon stared at the girl. She recognized the voice, but this was not the same girl. She was thin, fragile, and frightened easily. Ania was strong; she was rarely afraid. The only time she had seen Ania show fear was when Shaelynn had gotten lost. This could not be her.
As if to answer her unspoken question, Ryell addressed her encouragingly. “Ania, you’ll be all right. We will figure this out.”
He patted the girl on the shoulder and left. As he passed the dragon, he looked at her with a saddened expression. After he had left, Moon slowly approached her. “Ania?” she asked. The girl looked up. She saw Moon and almost burst into tears. Kwan only shook his head when she asked him. He stood and forced Shaelynn, who had finished her meal and had started eating his, away and out the door. He wanted to leave the two alone.
Moon came closer and laid down by her. “Ania, what happened? I know it was you who saved Kwan. No one else could have told him about… about what happed.”
The girl did not respond. She took a deep breath and slowly looked up at her. “I don’t know,” she said quietly. Moon looked at her out of one giant eye. She was concerned for the girl. Something had happened that had completely changed her personality. She tried to get her to talk. “Why don’t you tell me what happened, from the beginning.”
Again Ania did not answer. She looked at the floor for several moments. Then slowly she said, “The dreams, they won’t stop.” Moon encouraged her to continue and she told her about the dreams, the black dragon who had tried to kill her, the brown dragon who had lost he
r clutch to a flood and had nearly gotten washed away herself, and the green female she had just dreamt of, as well as others. Only the last dream seemed to have had a hopeful ending. The rest had ended with fear and near death experiences.
Moon looked down at the floor for a moment. She was trying to figure it out. Some of the dreams seemed familiar to her, like she had seen them herself. She jerked in surprise as she realized that she had seen them. The story of the young green female, along with a few others, were some of her ancestral memories. She stared at Ania in disbelief. How could she have dragon memories? Then it hit her. She remembered that Ania had seemingly inhuman abilities, abilities that were known to dragons, and realized that Ania and been ‘touched.’ She did not know much about it, knowing it to be a myth. Obviously, it was not.
With that knowledge she turned her attention back to Ania, who was watching her with fearful eyes. Moon spoke to her as she would Shaelynn. “Don’t worry, child. I will help you sort them out. We will find your memories, and you will again know who you are.” She nuzzled Ania as if she were a frightened hatchling. She now understood that the memories were making it difficult to remember that she was human. They often caused her to think she was a dragon, which only confused her further. She stood and had Ania follow her. She sent the girl inside, escorted by her guards, to get something to eat, and then sought out Ryell and the other dragons. She told the scouts where to meet her and told the group of three dragons, including Kwan and Lord Ryell, what the cause of her dreams were.
They were shocked to hear it and Pai objected. He had known the girl all her life. He had been at or near Pycan for the last twenty years. He would have known if something had happened. He had starting watching the people of Pycan shortly after she had been born. It was soon decided that the dragon who had touched her must have done it in the month between her birth and Pai’s arrival. She had had the abilities her entire life, but the memories were a recent development.
