The Dragon Sands Box Set: Books 1 - 3

by C. K. Rieke

  As they hummed louder, they found themselves looking at one another in a circle, smiling and laughing. It was as enjoyable a moment as Lilaci had felt since she was a child. She’d been trained to enjoy combat, victory, and death. There they sat, two assassins and the most wanted child on the entire continent, laughing and singing. She would never have predicted it. This was the closest thing she’d had to a family in decades, and they’d only been together a short time.

  Her face, it’s so beautiful. Her soft, innocent smile. Her kind energy. I want to give her everything. I want to have this forever— happiness. Perhaps this is what it’s like for normal-born little girls. Are their lives care-free and filled with laughter and song? I want nothing more than to give her that. I’ll find a way. There has to be a way.

  As they reached the end of the tune, they all carried the last low note, and they both looked at Lilaci who relaxed her voice and ended her humming. Fewn looked subtly embarrassed, as though she’d shown a sign of weakness. She cleared her throat and went to pull the tent from her pack.

  “Thank you, Lilaci,” Kera said. “That was beautiful.” Lilaci just smiled back. “What happened to your father? I lost mine so long ago, I don’t remember what he looks like.”

  “I lost him,” she said. “Like you lost yours, I think. I may have been a little older than you when it happened.”

  “What did he look like? Did he take care of you?” Kera asked softly, but with vivid curiosity.

  “My father had . . . He had brown eyes. Powerful eyes that made you feel safe, even when you weren’t. He had long, coarse hair and he shaved his face every day. Wait— every night. I remember he, or my mother washed the sand from my face and hair every night before bed.” Lilaci sighed, not a sad sigh, more of a calming reminiscent sigh. “With him I felt safe.”

  “I feel safe with you,” Kera said, and scooted over to her side, pulling Lilaci’s arm around her.

  Lilaci looked down at the young girl under her arm and her soul felt at ease. Kera said she felt safe with Lilaci, but Lilaci thought the opposite to be true. Kera made Lilaci feel safe, like as long as they were together everything would be fine.

  Lilaci looked over to see Fewn looking at them, as she had paused from pitching the tent in the soft winds. Fewn looked away quickly and went back to her work.

  “You should get some rest,” Lilaci said to Kera. “We’ll have a long day tomorrow.”

  Kera scooted away from her and went over to the tent Fewn had just finished pitching.

  “Thanks, Fewn,” she said. Fewn nodded with a smile, ushering her into the tent.

  Lilaci stood and walked over to Fewn, who stood holding the tent flap open for Kera. “Yes, thank you Fewn. Thanks for all your help. Thanks for being with us, you’re a great help.”

  Fewn seemed shy of the praise, but seemed to a force a, “You’re welcome.”

  “I’ll take first watch tonight,” Lilaci said. “Why don’t you rest too. I’ve got a lot on my mind anyway.”

  Fewn thought about it a moment, then ducked low to enter the tent, but then turned back and walked over to Lilaci’s side.

  “Not tired yet?” Lilaci asked, as Fewn went and took a seat next to her.

  “Lilaci . . .” she began softly. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something . . .”

  “Fewn, what’s the matter? You seem serious.”

  “You may already know this,” Fewn began, “and this may be nothing . . . But— do you remember that boy in the camp?”

  At first Lilaci looked at her, curiously, not knowing the meaning of where Fewn was taking the question. Then suddenly— Lilaci’s mind shot back into the past, back into memories of a young girl trapped within the walls of Sorock— she was sitting there under the moonlight, and she could vividly feel the warmth of another.

  “His name was . . .” Fewn said.

  “—Gogenanth,” Lilaci said, her hands shot up to cover her mouth, and she felt her eyes open wide.

  “Yes, do you remember him?” Fewn asked softly.

  “They— they took the memory of him from me . . . How could they take him away from me too? Those evil mages, will they never relent in their torturous ways? Oh, Gogenanth, I’m so sorry they took you from me. I’ve missed you, old friend.” Then her mind came back to the present. “Wait, what . . . what did you want to tell me about him? Why are you bringing this up now?”

  “Well, you see,” Fewn said. “And remember, this was a long time ago. But the boy, after you left with Veranor. He was— he was hanged.”

  Lilaci felt a pit in her chest, as if her heart was cracking, brittlely breaking into pieces. She looked at Fewn helplessly. “No . . .”

  “It wasn’t in Sorock, but he disappeared in the next couple of days after you were taken, and we heard they took him to the palace and hung him up, for treason to the gods. They said he was planning an escape, desertion from the ranks.”

  “When will this cycle of death and sadness ever end in these lands? Damn them. Damn them all! This skin I was born with, it’s more of a curse than anything else in this life. Am I destined to have everything I have in this life taken from me? Gogenanth,” she said, wiping the tears away from her eyes. “I don’t even know how long ago it was we sat next to each other under the light of the stars. How long ago was it that we—.” Lilaci put her fingers delicately on her lips.

  “You,” Fewn said with her eyebrows curved up. “You were lovers?”

  “No—” Lilaci shot out defensively, but then calmed her demeanor. “I— I suppose you could say that to an extent. I was closer to him than to anyone else. He calmed me when I was worked up. He made me feel safe when I was scared. Yes, he was my lover. My first and only. But now he’s dead. It’s my fault. I should have gone with him when he asked me too.”

  “No, Lilaci. If you would’ve tried to escape you both would’ve been caught, and she wouldn’t have you now.” Fewn looked back to the tent.

  Lilaci went and began to lay kindling down onto the sand to make a small fire, as she sniffled and wiped away the tears from her eyes. “No one is going to take this away from me. Not as long as I breathe. You hear me gods? If you know what’s best, you’ll leave us alone. Or I swear, you’ll regret it. Mark my words, you’ve known no wrath like the wrath I’d wreak on you. She’s mine. You hear me— Kera is mine! Gogenanth, I’m sorry for your short time in these lands. I’ll avenge you. I promise. Whatever it takes. They’re going to pay for all this pain and misery they’ve wrought.”

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Lilaci awoke last that morning to find Fewn sitting quietly by the fire, warming her hands, she was huddled under a long tan blanket. She didn’t immediately notice Lilaci walking from her tent, the flaps falling back behind her.

  “Hey,” Lilaci said, seemingly startling Fewn.

  Her eyes shot up to Lilaci’s. “Morning,” she said, she was chewing on the corner of the blanket.

  Lilaci stretched out wide with a yawn, and then lifted her arms up above her, then she reached down and placed her palms flat on the sand. Standing back up she looked around in all directions. “Where’s Kera?”

  “Went to look around,” Fewn said looking into the flames.

  “Where’d she go? What direction?”

  “She’s fine, don’t worry about her,” Fewn said. “She’ll be back soon.”

  “Fewn,” Lilaci said, in a sterner tone. “Which direction did she go?”

  Fewn pointed north, while still seemingly in a trance looking at the fire.

  Lilaci began to march off north, but quickly found Kera just on the other side of a small hill. She was lying flat on her belly, with the side of her head flat on the ground.

  “Kera!” Lilaci yelled out to her.

  Kera lifted her head. “Ssh—” she said up to her.

  Lilaci walked over and stood next to the small girl laying on the sands.

  “What’re you doing?”

  “Listening,” Kera whispered.

  “Listening
to what?”

  “Everything,” Kera said.

  Lilaci was confused, but looking at the girl on the ground, she knelt and slowly lay on her chest, turning her ear to the ground. “I don’t hear anything.”

  “I hear a lot,” Kera said. “The pattering of tiny feet. The slithering of long snakes. The sounds of giant worms eating.”

  Lilaci looked up at her puzzled, then laid her ear back to the sound. “Still nothing . . . Wait!” Lilaci heard a grumbling. “I hear something. It’s like— some animal or insect growling.”

  Kera lifted her head and giggled. “That was my stomach.” She laughed.

  “I’m hungry too,” Lilaci said. “Let's get Fewn and be off. We need to get you something in your stomach.”

  Kera grabbed Lilaci’s hand and they headed back to the camp, that Fewn had already begun to pack up.

  “See,” Fewn said. “I told you she was okay. You never listen.”

  “I believed you. I just wanted to check on her.”

  “That’s the opposite of believing.”

  Lilaci sighed. “Let’s be on our way.”

  It was midday then, and all three of them worn and famished. They walked silently in the blowing sands under the burning, hot sun. The mountains waved and rippled in the distance like they were reflected by the sea. A jutting rock showed like a mighty gem inlaid in a brass ring. It wouldn’t give them reprieve from the sun’s rays, but it gave them something to walk towards. As they approached, Kera walked up and sat at its base to rest and check on her kerchief. Lilaci inspected the rock’s base, and then its backside where cacti, waist-high, stood.

  She quickly cut the top head from it and took its bristles off with her dagger. She took the bitter flesh from it and ran it over to Kera, who took it instantly and began to suck on it. Then she began to eat it in large bites.

  “Easy,” Lilaci said. “Slow down, there’s no hurry.”

  Kera looked up at her and began to slow down her chewing. Fewn ran over, brushing past Lilaci and did the same to the cactus, and moaned in joy as the liquid ran into her mouth and down her throat. Lilaci walked over and ate and drank the cactus meat and juice. They stayed there the better part of an hour. It wasn’t much to eat, but it was more than they’d had in days. Lilaci de-spiked all the petals of the fruit and put them in her bag. It was enough for that night at least.

  With food in their bellies, and the mountains growing closer, their spirits were raised, and Kera even skipped lightly on the sands. Lilaci watched her, just a small girl, so prone to happiness, even with all the misery in her life. All the girl wanted was to be free to just be a child. But Lilaci knew the truth— she would never know freedom. She was destined to be hunted her whole life, and now Lilaci knew that fate as well.

  “Kera,” Lilaci asked. “You said before you knew where you needed to go. Will you tell me? I want to know what you’ve been told what your destiny is, exactly.”

  Kera stopped her skipping, and her face grew stoic again. Lilaci noticed that every time she spoke of her past life, before meeting Lilaci, she reverted back to a serious demeanor that made her seem years older.

  “Do you mind talking about it more?” Lilaci asked. Fewn looked back, wanting to hear as well.

  “I have to bring the dragons back to the sands,” Kera said. “That’s what the Order of Drakon told me.”

  “How?” Fewn asked. “Did they tell you how?”

  “There’s a god,” Kera said. “One god that has the power I need. There's . . . There are dragons in the land to the north. But they’re— they’re not alive. But they’re the only ones alive that the Order knew about. I’m supposed to use the god’s power to revive them.”

  “Wait,” Fewn said. “So, they’re dead but they’re alive? That doesn’t make sense.”

  “Do you know the tale of Riverend the Dragon Master?” Kera asked.

  “Yes,” Lilaci said. “We know the tale. He took his fifty dragons to the west to find the stones of immortality. That was before Kôrran fell.”

  “His fate grew dire,” Kera said. “His mind fell to ruin from greed, and he and his dragons died to despair. Yet, there are other gods in this world, and there was one— who took Riverend and his dragons and gave them eternal after-life. But— the dragons had grown frail and decrepit in their depression from their master’s grief. So, they’re not the same dragons we used to have in the sands. With no gold to lay upon, and no will to roam the skies, they turned to a different beast, and in death they grew even weaker.”

  “Why bring back such weak dragons?” Lilaci asked.

  “Because they would quickly return to their former glory,” Kera said. “Riverend enslaved their minds with his magic. Without him, they’ll return to their caves of gold and they’ll soar through the skies. Wild and beautiful.”

  “Sounds easy,” Fewn scoffed. “Let’s go kill a god and swim across the sea. Sure! Why didn’t we just do that yesterday? What a load—”

  Kera’s shoulders slumped, and Lilaci grew angry with Fewn. “I know it sounds impossible,” Kera said. “But that’s what the Order told me I needed to do. But I don’t know how to do it. If we can’t do that, then we’ll have to find another way— here, in the Arr.”

  Her order told her she needed to cross the sea, kill a god, and bring wild dragons back to these lands? That is about the highest order anyone could give to such an innocent child. But she seems steadfast in her destiny. I don’t know where this road will take us, but I won't let her take it alone. I’ll protect her as long as these lungs draw breath.

  “I will help you,” Lilaci said. “If it means you can be free . . . I will help you kill a god. I’d help you kill all the gods in this whole, stinking world.”

  Fewn crossed her arms over her chest, and Kera looked up with soft eyes at Lilaci. “Thank you,” Kera said.

  Kera leaned and hugged Lilaci, who looked up at Fewn scornfully.

  Fewn dropped her arms to her sides with a sigh. “Fine, I’ll help you kill a god too.”

  Chapter Forty

  Soft sand turned to hard rock, brittle and cracking under their feet. Lilaci looked back behind to the vast, flat desert behind. It seemed an endless walk at the time, with no reprieve from stark, barren emptiness. All that God gave them then was the sun, moon and stars, and the sands beneath their feet. Now, in the foothills of the high-reaching Gí-Donlan mountains, they’d surely find some escape from the hunger and thirst Kera had been put through for who knows how long. It may even give them a place to hide, at least for the moment.

  Fewn was at the lead, traversing her way through the jagged rock, the sun hiding its golden light behind a patch of thick, gray clouds. Kera followed, following the exact footsteps left behind. Lilaci watched her as she struggled to get her feet up onto some of the footholds.

  Just a girl, just an innocent, innocent girl. I try not to take it for granted— but the feeling of being free from Veranor’s spell while I’m around her, makes me feel— well . . . Free. She truly is the best gift I’ve ever been given, if the only. Fewn’s really turned around as well, surprisingly. She’ll surely be an asset for what’s to come. I’m used to being alone, locked down in my room, with only candlelight and cracks to count on the walls. At that time, I didn’t think about my situation as being trapped. Under the mage’s spell, I thought I was privileged to have such a great mentor. I was grateful for the training. All the things I’ve done in that place. All the things Veranor did to my mind. It would never have crossed my mind back then, but I’d love to slice his throat from ear to ear and watch him bleed. What’s the point though? If it’s not him, it’s another. That’s the way of these lands, if you’re born like us three, all you know is pain and misery. We’re born weapons. Born Assassins. If I ever do see him again though, I’ve got one thing he doesn’t. The control of the sands.

  “Lilaci,” Kera said, turning back, her mouth slightly curled up.

  Lilaci in her thoughts hadn’t noticed, but just ahead the clouds had grown
thicker, and the slow rumbling of thunder gathered in the air around them.

  Pat, pat. Pat, pat. Kera stuck her head up towards the sky with her mouth wide open and removed the shawl from her head.

  Rain. How long has it been since I’ve seen rain?

  Fewn removed her shawl, sword, tunic, and pants, leaving only her thin shirt and short leggings. “Bless the gods,” she seemed to say instinctively.

  “I don’t know what the gods have to—” Lilaci began to say, but then stopped, and her gaze shot up at the high cliffs to the right side of their trail.

  “Lilaci?” Fewn said. “What’s wrong?”

  Lilaci scanned the rocks, feeling something wasn’t right. Something— or someone is out there. “We’re not alone,” she whispered to them.

  A whistling sound emerged quickly. Lilaci shifted her weight to her right side, instinctively as the whistling crept toward her with great speed. She pulled her left shoulder back, but she wasn’t quick enough— and she felt the burning pain of steel as an arrow pierced through her left arm with a tearing sound.

  “Lilaci!” Kera yelled out.

  “Cover!” Fewn yelled after, grabbing Kera and pulling her to the base of the rock.

  Lilaci followed them as arrows fell down onto the rock, breaking and bending. Snap, creak, crack echoed out as the arrows landed. In the rains that continued to grow, the rocks grew wet and slick. Lilaci looked down to see the arrow sticking through her left arm, just above the wrist, her hand covered in blood, as the raindrops pelted it. She stuck the bloody arrowhead into a notch in the rock, and gritting her teeth, she grabbed the arrow’s shaft on the other side of her arm, bending it down with all her might. The pain shot all through her body, and she groaned in agony as the arrow’s shaft shook, resisting any break. She felt a fire inside of her, through rage and pain, and she thrust one more solid push into it, snapping the arrow in two. She threw the shaft to the rocks and pulled the arrowhead side slowly from her arm. Blood poured onto the wet rock in the now heavy rains.