A Dragon's World 3 (DragonWorld)

by Serena Rose

  “Perin?”

  “The man who told you the Prince would give you respite from his crueler tendencies if you made the powder that would help kill the dragon.” I almost described the disguise I had last seen him in before realizing that would be quite useless to this particular woman.

  “Oh. Yes. He found us where we were hiding in a village. He dragged us here, chained us, and said we would have relief finally if we just did as he said.” She held up her hands where I could indeed see shackles there. But unlike regular bonds, they seemed to almost glow with a foreboding light. “He promised us safety, but then left us in the hands of these men.” She gestured vaguely and I surmised she meant the dead bodies behind her. “They were not nice.”

  “And what’s with your friend there?” Jayne asked, pointing his blade to the still-silent figure facing the wall. They were wearing tattered robes that looked like they might have once been blue, but had long since faded to a grungy gray that was spotted with stains and burns.

  “She can’t hear you,” The blind woman answered. “And she cannot speak either.”

  “Convenient.”

  “My eyes were stolen when our Coven was raided when we were but children, and they took my sister’s tongue as well. We are now prisoned by a madman and haven’t eaten in days. What about that is convenient.”

  I tried to hide my grin but I failed pretty miserably. “I like this girl.”

  “Woman.” She corrected me, her voice low and adamant.

  “Absolutely.” I agreed, taking another step forward before she flinched away rather violently. “Hey, it’s okay. I just want to get you out of those bonds.”

  “You cannot touch them,” she snapped. “The man had me enchant them myself.”

  “What, and you didn’t but some sort of failsafe in there behind his back?”

  “I tried,” she murmured, sounding a bit softer than her previously knife-sharp tone. “He is very… perceptive.”

  I nodded in understanding. “Yeah, I’ve experienced that first hand.”

  “And you survived?”

  I nodded. “Barely. But it’s because I had these fools with me.”

  “…can you describe these fools that you are talking about or am I just supposed to infer that you have a merry crew.”

  Oh right. “Full visual explanation soon. Right now, let’s get you freed. Do you have any batches of the powder you were supposed to be creating?”

  “Powder? What powder?”

  I cocked my head to the side. “You know, the black powder meant to level the mountains the dragons were hiding in?”

  “I know nothing about any black powder. We were brought here to create spells to help the castle withstand a frontal attack by the winged beasts. Fire-swallowers, star bursts, water summons, but nothing about mountains.”

  I went cold but tried to keep my face just as relaxed. “That’s… concerning.” Panic bubbled up but I forced myself to stay focused. “Alright. Shackles then. Those star bursts you mentioned. I think I read something about them, they temporarily blind people, right? By releasing flashes of light and heat?”

  “Yes. I’ve been told they’re as beautiful as they are painful.”

  “What if we used one on these? Would that work? The heat could make the lock pop, right?”

  “I don’t… perhaps?”

  “Let’s try, shall we?” Her blank face pointed towards me, and if she had eyes I knew she would be staring at me while she debated whether this stranger was worth risking her hands. By all the context clues being dropped in rapid succession, I could figure out that this woman had been taught repeatedly throughout her existence that trusting others meant pain and loss.

  But eventually, she turned away and felt along the table for something. It was interesting to watch her “look” for whatever it was she needed, until her bruised fingers -some of which were missing nails- closed around a small canvas bag tied with a rawhide strip. It was hardly bigger than a tea bag, and she pressed it into my palm.

  “The activation usually takes impact, but a touch of fire works just as well. Spread these contents evenly over my bonds.” She placed her wrists on the table side by side. “I will try not to move so we don’t spill.”

  “Is it safe to have a spark in here?”

  “Probably not.”

  “Alright then.” I looked to Myrik, who was watching everything with that same intense look in his eyes. “Would you?” I asked simply. He didn’t answer, but nodded silently. I couldn’t be sure if his lack of speech was due to him observing everything he could, or his latent discomfort with me as a person. Either way, I supposed that didn’t matter at the moment. We had some sorcerers to save. “Thanks. Spreading the contents now.”

  “I can hear,” The woman grumbled. “I don’t need a running narration.”

  I rolled my eyes but didn’t comment further. She had every right to be a bit prickly. “Alright then.” I opened the pouch and glanced at what was inside. It was a mix of fine powders, some of them grey, some of them red, and a few that were iridescent in the faint light of the lanterns at the edge of the workroom we were in. I carefully dumped it into what looked like the locking mechanisms of each shackle, as well as on the parts where the chains kept her wrists bound within a few inches of each other. “All done,” I murmured.

  Myrik lifted his hand, and I took a step back hoping that this would somehow work out.

  “Wait!”

  Thankfully, the dark dragon paused, and we looked to our rescue-ee. “My name is Angrassa,” she murmured. “My sister’s is Mischa. She liked fruit and water, but she cannot stomach ale. She’s very scared of lightning.” She took a deep, shaking breath. “If this hurts me, or kills me, you must take her. You cannot leave her on her own to die.”

  Her honest, terrified plea stirred something within me. The love evident in each of her words was impossible to ignore. So, I approached her once more, making sure each of my steps were clear and audible, before crouching down and placing my hands just below where the cuffs had rubbed her skin raw. “You’re going to be just fine. And to prove it to you, I’m going to stay right here.”

  “Mercedes!” Gael barked. “Are you sure that is the best id-”

  “Yes.” I answered firmly. “Myrik, if you please?”

  He hesitated a moment, and I took in a deep breath to prepare myself for a speech about compassion, but it turned out it wasn’t needed. He snapped, and a small plume of fire burst into being on the blind sorcerer’s restraints.

  I would be lying if I didn’t say I was scared. That my imagination didn’t readily whip up an image of the reaction blowing the both of us sky-high. But instead of any tumultuous explosions, the star burst let out a brilliant flash of light that I barely remembered to shield my eyes from, and then I heard the tell-tale cracking of a lock forcibly popping open.

  I waited for the heat to dissipate before risking opening my eyes, and relief drenched my soul as I saw the cuffs blacked, broken and on the floor of the mine.

  Angrassa wept openly, but before I could console her, a warbling, choking sound filled the small room.

  The blind woman whirled around, already having forgotten above herself. “Mischa!” She cried, moving her hands in a pattern that didn’t seem too drastically different from ASL that I had observed back in my world. “It wasn’t lightning! It’s fine! I promise it’s fine!”

  It was the first time the other woman had turned from the wall she had been facing the entire time, and my heart ached upon the sight of her. Almost half of her face had obviously been burnt long ago, and her doe-like eyes were wide with fear. There was an intelligence behind that terrified wall, however, and I could see understanding start to settle down per panic and she and her sister communicated silently.

  A couple of moments passed and I gave the women their privacy by flicking my eyes to my companions. They were watching with a mixture of interest and a bit of awe, and I couldn’t blame them. Somehow this plan was working.

&
nbsp; “She is ready,” Angrassa said, standing and returning to her table to feel around for another pound. While it was true that I could just reach it over and hand it to her, I knew that was totally unnecessary and waited the extra five seconds it took for her to find it herself.

  “I will need you to spread it across hers as well, so I can communicate with her,” she said matter of factly. “She does not like to be touched, but she will tolerate it as long as I keep talking to her.”

  “Understood.”

  I moved forward again and we went through the same steps again. I was a bit more nervous with Mischa, considering her eyes stared with an unparalleled intensity between both her sister and I, and she was clearly much more built than her slighter sister.

  Despite the nerves bundling up in my middle, I kept going, until we were ready for Myrik to do his thing. Shielding my eyes, I smelled the powder alight, and a panicked keen rose from the woman once again.

  “She’s alright,” Angrassa said, “She knows she’s safe, she just doesn’t know how loud she’s being.”

  “It’s fine,” I said, eyes still screwed shut.

  Once more I waited until the heat was gone and then I looked back to the pair. Angrassa was helping her sister up and I was surprised to see that Mischa was the same height as her sister, but with a much different body type and thick, curly brown hair. Perhaps they were related more in the bonds of their coven than actual blood? Obviously, that didn’t matter, but I tucked it away in my mind to ask about later. Assuming we had a later.

  They continued to communicate for a moment, Angrassa feeling Mischa’s face, and Mischa gently patting her sister’s shoulders and arms, making disapproving clicking noises at what I guessed was how slight her sibling had become. I gave them as much time as I could before Gael cleared his throat.

  “We should be going.” He murmured, eyes on the corpses around him. “How long have these men been dead?”

  “It is hard to say.” Angrassa answered honestly. “There is no sun or moon here, so time often seems to go on forever. I did not intend for this to happen, but I overheard them planning to lay hands on my sister.” Her face turned to me, and if she had eyes I knew exactly the look that would be within them. “You know that I could not allow that to happen.”

  “Of course,” I said gently, “you did exactly what you had to do. Are you ready to get out of here?”

  “We have been ready for a very long time.”

  I nodded, and Gael once more turned to lead us out.

  I was a strange mix of emotions as we walked out of the myriad of tunnels. It went much faster as we didn’t have to crawl and sneak this time, but we definitely weren’t at full speed as we escorted the weakened sisters. I wanted to offer them my arm, or some sort of relief, but after Angrassa’s warning that Mischa did not like to be touched, I thought it best to give them the space they requested. They were fully grown adults, I needed to trust that they would ask for my help when they needed it, and not that they were helpless women that needed to be pitied.

  However, there was also an underlying apprehension. They had killed all those guards and somehow Perin didn’t know? After being in his head long enough, I knew he would have some sort of failsafe for this. Like that the guards were supposed to send him a raven at the end of each day. Or fire a flaming arrow into the air. Or something.

  This couldn’t be it.

  We reached the end and stepped out into the gully once more. The night was just as silent as we left it, almost oppressive in its stillness.

  “We brought an extra mount,” Gael said. “Are you able to ride or do you need sit behind the saddle?”

  “What, you think just because I’m blind that I don’t know how to ride a horse?”

  “Actually, yes.”

  “Well you’re right, but it would be wise not to assume further in the future.”

  “I will try to remember that.”

  He went to take a step forward, but Myrik caught his shoulder. “Wait, I smell-”

  He never finished, his body rippling and buckling instantly to explode into his dragon form. The sound of multiple bow strings being loosed echoed through the night, and the next thing I knew, I was being screamed at to move, then shoved to the side.

  I slammed to the ground, skidding across the earth as my vision was completely blotted out by a cloud of black smoke. But that didn’t make sense. The shapeshifting from human form to dragon didn’t generate mist I was now being cloaked into. Only dragon to human. I didn’t know why, I just knew what I had observed.

  I rushed to my feet, and when the darkness cleared, I saw a line of archers all standing on the lip of the hill where we had first arrived. And even more soldiers behind them.

  But a gargling noise drew my attention, and my heart just about stopped when I looked down to our feet.

  Myrik was laying there, some of his face and arms still mottled with scales and arrows peppering his chest.

  “Oh my god, Myrik!” I cried, collapsing to his side. Thankfully he was alive, and he looked to me slowly.

  “You were right.”

  “Shh,” I urged, my mind rushing. “This is going to be fine. You’re going to be fine.”

  “I really doubt that, actually.”

  The voice was not one of our group, and I heard a sharp intake of air from Angrassa. “It is him.”

  Once more my gaze returned to the hill above, where I saw a figure standing at the center. Although I had never seen his face, I didn’t need a sign to know it was Perin.

  He was so…normal.

  He was Caucasian, with no scars or otherwise distinguishing characteristics. His nose was straight and unbroken. His jaw wasn’t particularly strong, or sallow. If I was making a character in a video game, he would have been the most generic model I could have possibly imagined. It was hard to compute that this man was the one who had been terrorizing me as well as the citizens of this realm for generations.

  “Nice to finally meet you, Mercedes.” He said. God, it was weird to hear his voice too. Although I’d had multiple conversations with him, it was still different face to face. “You don’t look nearly as obnoxious as I thought you would.”

  “Thanks.” I hissed, nearly shaking with rage. “I wish I could say that the feeling is mutual.”

  He laughed, and I never wanted to drop kick a human so badly in my entire life. “Ouch, so prickly so soon? And here I thought you would be excited to see an old friend after so many days of our special little visits.”

  “How,” I gasped, pressing my hands to Myrik to try to stop the bleeding. “How did you know we would be here?”

  “You thought you were so clever,” He murmured, slowing strolling down the lip and coming down the path. The entire while the archers’ bolts were trained on us, daring us to try anything.

  “I still don’t know how you knew about the little witchlets I holed away, but you made a single mistake. I never told dear, rage-filled Julian where they were. If only to have insurance that he wouldn’t have me assassinated in my sleep.” He clapped once more and I wanted to tell him that was about as bad guy passé as monologuing, but I swallowed down my words bitterly. “But your plan was brilliant. Truly. If it weren’t for that one overreach, you would have had me.”

  He reached the floor of the gully but still kept several feet away from us. I could feel Gael’s tension beside me, and caught Carva’s crossbow into my peripheral vision, but I willed them to be still. For Myrik’s sake.

  For all our sakes.

  “Of course, I could never anticipate that my little songbirds here would murder all the men I generously put here to take care of them. That wasn’t very nice.”

  “You starved us, you bastard.” The blind woman spat. I risked a glance behind me to see that she was beginning to glow around her hands, and the air began to crackle around her.

  “Not so fast, darling. I’d cut that our right now if you don’t want your, your would-be rescuers and your sister to become human pincush
ions.”

  “Please,” I whispered to this woman who I had just met. “Stand down.”

  The woman paused, her eyeless face sliding between me and our mutual enemy, before she slowly straightened and let her arms hang loosely at his sides. “Very well.”

  “Look at that!” Perin crowed. “Maybe you really are the granddaughter of Guerra. You certainly have a way with manipulation.”

  I stood, tears threatening to well over the rim of my eyelids. “So, what now, Perin. You win. You caught us. This entire thing was a trap and I fell for it.”

  “Hold on, can’t you let me enjoy this for a few moments before I have to get all practical?” he laughed. He was loving this, I could tell. “But fine, if you insist. The tall strapping fellow will return right to Julian’s dungeon where I’m sure that prince will be more than happy to see him again. As for tall, dark and handsome who’s bleeding down on the ground, well he’s not really going to be around to enjoy the same accommodations, but we did have a cell waiting for him.

  I don’t know who this other dragon is with you -- maybe the one that dropped you off the last time Julian thought he had you in his clutches? But he can take what was meant for the dark one.

  “The weird sisters there will finish up their preparations to finish fortifying the castle. And Lady Carva there, oh, you are a wild one that came out of nowhere, aren’t you?”

  “Aye,” She said, her voice as strong as steel. Man, I don’t know where she got the cajones, but it helped me feel a little less terrified for a split second. “Tell me it’s good. Is it the gallows? Maybe some drawn and quarter action?”

  “Only if you sweet talk me just right.” He laughed again, but no one shared in the mirth. “But actually, Julian wants to meet you personally.”

  “Well that’s just outright disappointing.”

  “And you, Mercedes. You are my special little project. Julian wants you, of course, but we both know that you’re solidly mine.” He took a step closer to me, and Gael outright bared his teeth at him.. “We’re going to have so much fun, aren’t we?”

  “Wait,” I blurted, voice cracking.