Dream of Dragons

by Alex Alcasid

  “He’s really happy.” Kae said with a laugh. “No one’s showed him that much respect ever.”

  “Really? But he’s such a sweetheart!” Loren replied, roughly petting Ma’trii’s large head, her fingers disappearing into his thick gray fur.

  “Well, most people, they look at Ma’trii and see a fear.” Kae said. As she did, Ma’trii’s mood plummeted and he let Loren hold the full weight of his head. “They see either a wild pack wolf, or Beastman born wrong, and so a monster.”

  The huntress approached Ma’trii and crouched, and the wolf came into her outstretched arms. “He is a Beastman born wrong, but it’s not his fault.”

  “I know.” Loren said simply, seeing the sad look in Ma’trii’s intelligent dark eyes. The wolf looked just like any other gray wolf in the forest or mountains, but he was smart and aware. He understood every word, and knew what the look humans and Beastmen alike gave them meant.

  Kae moved on to haul the deer into the center of the camp. Ma’trii bounded up and tugged onto the rope to help. The two moved smoothly, with Kae cutting the ropes and setting out to skin the deer with the knife she used to kill it. Loren watched as Ma’trii held the deer’s legs down with his paws as Kae cut the skin from them. The princess couldn’t help but smile at the teamwork.

  “Is there anything else I can help with? You’re almost done with the skinning.” Loren said.

  “You can start by draping the pelt over that stick beside the tanning rack, princess.” Kae said without looking up.

  Loren raised a brow. She should be used to Kae’s abrasiveness by now, as she had been listening to it all day. Still, the huntress was the only one to ever talk to Loren that way. It was an interesting change of perspective. She picked up the deer’s skin, opened it up and shook it out, and draped it over the stick to dry. The pelt that was still on the tanning rack looked to be a large rabbit’s, and still had tufts of brown hair.

  “Hey, princess?” Kae said, still not looking up from her work. She started to cut the deer up into sections, tossing scraps for Ma’trii to catch in his mouth. “You didn’t tell Ma’trii to go sniff out your Beastman friend yet.”

  “Well, yes. I just met him, it would be rude to order him to do something right away.” Loren replied.

  “Thanks.” Kae patted Ma’trii with one hand. “You showed him respect, and even offered to help with the deer when you didn’t have to.”

  “Is that bad?” Loren asked. “I want to help people as much as I can.”

  “You’re doing great, princess.” Kae’s tone of voice never changed. Her compliments were delivered in the same flat, matter-of-fact tone as her sarcastic remarks. Loren couldn’t help but crack a smile that Kae couldn’t see. Ma’trii did, and he lied down, hiding his snout between his paws. There was an amused twinkle in his eye.

  Chapter Six

  Kae worked on the deer in silence, seemingly forgetting that Loren was there. Ma’trii helped when he could, hauling large chunks of deer and placing them on a table made of branches strung together with vine ropes. Smaller cuts of meat were hanging off low branches near the tent, and were probably the remains of the rabbit whose skin was stretched across the tanning rack.

  “So, Kae…” Loren started, slowly and awkwardly. “What do you do with the meat?”

  “Eat it, obviously.”

  Loren sighed. “That’s not what I meant.”

  “I know. We still have rabbit from yesterday, so we’ll eat that. The deer will hang and dry, and I have to buy salt from the market so it’ll keep longer.” Kae said, finally stepping away from the bones. Ma’trii settled down by the deer and set to chewing the bones and the scraps of flesh still stuck to them.

  “You do this every day?”

  “Not every day. Sometimes I’m out for days at a time with nothing to show for it.” Kae crossed to the branch table and continued preparing the deer cuts. “One winter was really bad. My father had just died, Ma’trii and I were still very young. We didn’t have enough food to last us the winter.”

  “That’s terrible! What did you do?”

  “We went down to Green Reach and hid in empty buildings. Ma’trii would steal the small fish that fishermen wouldn’t bother selling in the markets. We had no fire, ao we ate them raw.” Kae’s voice was steady as it always was. She was stating her life’s story as fact, nothing more. “I was so cold, I couldn’t feel my fingers. I had only my father’s fur coat for warmth. If Ma’trii didn’t cover me at night, I’d have died from the cold back then.”

  Ma’trii approached the huntress, his paws padding softly on the ground, and nudged her leg. He whined softly. Kae stroked his large head. “So now, I make sure we always have enough to eat. Even if it will take me a whole week to track game, I will.” She laughed. “And he eats so much!” Ma’trii playfully snapped at Kae’s fingers.

  Loren stood back as Kae strung up the deer meat with rope, and hung them from the branches. The huntress explained that insects and other animals do try to take the meat, but Ma’trii was always in camp to scare them away. Ma’trii himself was very accommodating, tugging on Loren’s trousers to show her their tent. The stitched-together hides hid one bedroll, covered in Ma’trii’s long gray fur. There was a pile of weapons, mostly a variety of bent and dented daggers, and chips of iron sitting beside branches whittled down and ready to be made into arrows. There was a pile of furs ready to be brought to the market, and rough cotton clothes for Kae.

  While Loren was looking in their tent, Ma’trii’s ears suddenly perked up. The wolf darted out of the tent with a sharp bark. He stood in the clearing, hackles raised and snarling at the tree line. By the time Loren had exited the tent, Kae had already taken up her bow, nocked an arrow, and had it trained on the tree line. The princess was about to ask what was going on, when she heard it: the sound of a dozen horses’ hooves.

  Mounted soldiers, clad in chain mail and steel, galloped into the clearing and easily surrounded the wolf and huntress. A dozen bows were drawn and trained at the two. Loren groaned as the soldiers forced the Kae to her knees, disarmed and arms over her head. The armor worn by the soldiers were emblazoned with the blue and gold dragon of Aldoran.

  The captain of the soldiers gave a command, and the others drew their bows and aimed at Ma’trii. Loren’s eyes widened, and she jumped in between the bows and the wolf with arms outstretched to protect him.

  “Princess Loren, please step aside.” The captain said. She was a doe Beastman. Small nubs of horn peeked through holes in her helmet. “The wolf is a feral.”

  “I know! And he’s my friend.” Loren said defiantly. Behind her, Ma’trii whined softly. “I won’t let you kill him.

  The captain was about to retort again, when the sound of horse’s hooves pounded towards the clearing again. The circle of soldiers parted, and the lowered their bows. Kae peeked up from where she was kneeling. A larger horse, with a long black mane, entered the clearing and reared up, neighing loudly. Segmented metal plates protected the horse’s neck and flanks, and its saddle bore the blue and gold insignia. Mounted on the horse, holding a large axe and glaring down at Loren with an intensely disappointed look, was King Jorrne.

  Loren hung her head, staring at the ground. She didn’t look up as her father dismounted from his horse with a heavy thud.

  “Loren.” He started. His voice was not raised, but it was his tone that hurt. “Explain.”

  “Father, I’m sorry.” Loren muttered to the ground. “I only wanted to help.”

  “Explain to me how running off by yourself into the middle of the forest, knowing full well spies and assassins may be out for your head, is helping.”

  Loren pointed to Ma’trii. The doe captain snorted in distaste. “I wanted to ask for his help. I believe he can help us track down Kaiten faster than squads of soldiers could.”

  “A feral wolf?”

  The captain bowed her head. “My lord, let me lead a battalion to find the prince. We will do far better than one abomination.”
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  Ma’trii held his head low and submissive. Loren moved to stroke his gray fur. “I trust him. I just know he can find Kaiten. And if Kaiten was kidnapped, a smaller search party would be able to sneak up on them without alerting them from afar.”

  The king sighed, large axe at his side. Only then did he notice the young woman on the ground. “And who is this?” he asked.

  “My name is Kae, Your Grace.” The huntress answered. Her tone and words were polite, but she stared sharply up at the king with a look that would have the Warmaster drawing his sword in alarm. “This is my camp you’ve stumbled into, and my hunting partner you’re threatening.”

  “How have you come to know my daughter?” the king demanded.

  “She shoved me with a horse in the market of Markholme.”

  “That was an accident.” Loren interjected, but the king help up a hand to silence her. He let Kae continue.

  “She brought me up to the castle with her, and told me of her insane idea. Truly, Your Grace, she wanted Ma’trii, my friend the wolf, to search for the missing Beastman prince. In exchange for our help, I would not be sent to the dungeons. That’s what she told me.” Kae said with a shrug.

  King Jorrne sighed and rubbed at his eyes. Without another word, he mounted his horse. Before spurning his horse on, he looked back at Loren. “Your mother will not be pleased with this.” He said simply. He gave orders to the captain and the other soldiers to take Kae and Ma’trii with them, and hold them in the dungeons.

  “I thought I wasn’t going to end up in the dungeons, princess.” Kae said as she was roughly brought to her feet and made to follow the captain’s horse, hands bound behind her back. She never sounded any different to Loren, but the princess knew the huntress’s words were pointed. Ma’trii followed slowly behind Kae, arrows trained on the back of his head.

  Loren was speechless. She could only share her father’s saddle for the return trip home, looking back at her new friends silently. They felt betrayed, and the princess had betrayed them. Loren could only hope that her mother would be more lenient.

  Loren’s mother was not pleased with any of it.

  The queen was holding court when the king and Loren arrived. Various lesser lords turned their heads as they passed, walking up the long hall to the throne. These nobles, heads and heirs of houses under the rule of Aldoran came to court dressed in their finest embroidered gowns or gleaming suits of armor. They clamored and boasted of their achievements and wealth, hoping for the queen to cast an approving eye at them. Queen Katarina had no patience for proud, greedy vassals, she saw that their shining armor only hid cowardice.

  The queen had even less patience, once her daughter stood at the foot of the dais.

  King Jorrne ascended the short steps of the dais and took his seat at his throne beside the queen’s. He leaned over and whispered to her, explaining what had happened in the forest. The queen exhaled sharply, and turned her gaze on Loren.

  The princess flinched. It would have been better if her mother yelled at her instead, in front of all the court, the servants, and the guards. But the queen’s stare was like Lind’s; watchful and piercing. Queen Katarina said nothing, and dismissed Loren. The princess knew this meant she was to stay in her chambers till the queen came. And when she did, the two of them would have a long talk about what happened.

  Loren left the throne room, head down in shame. Both of her parents used to yell when they were mad. King Jorrne would swing his sword, and destroy furniture in a rage. The queen would scream and hurl hurtful words. Both were hot headed, yet somehow managed to keep their wits about them before the court, even in the face of bad news. But the queen became cold, as hard and silent as ice, when her rage was beyond a simple outburst of anger.

  The walk back to her chambers was long and dull, and as Loren walked, she passed the same hallway she and Kae walked several hours before. A shadow flashed by the window, and Loren smiled a little. The sight of Lind in the air always cheered her up. The dragon was free to do whatever he wanted, and had no responsibility for anything. He wasn’t tied to Aldoran, he simply lived in the cave under the castle. He could just as easily make a home for himself in the Kilrough mountain range, but he stayed close to the human family that protected him for generations.

  Loren found herself looking out the window, and her dreamy smile at the thought of flying through the air on the back of the blue and gold dragon slowly vanished. Lind’s silhouette grew bigger. The dark shape of his wings grew too big to see completely through the window. Lind was flying towards the castle.

  Loren’s name was called in an urgent, female voice. She was roughly shoved, and as she fell to the ground, she saw the queen’s face. Behind Queen Katarina was a familiar man Loren had met earlier that day. She watched as he slammed a dagger into the queen’s back. It seemed like hours passed in the span of the second it took Loren to remember who this man was. It was the stable hand, Arion.

  Lind crashed through the castle wall, his large head ramming through the stone and mortar. He snapped at Arion, and the man’s arm up to his shoulder disappeared into the dragon’s mouth. The queen fell forward onto her daughter, with the dagger jutting out of her back. Dumbly, Loren looked away from her mother’s shocked face, as plumes of flame began to spread over Arion’s body, emerging from dark markings circling his wrist.

  He screamed, and was a pile of ash by the time the Warmaster made it down the end of the hall. It was all a blur to Loren, as shock took over. There was the scent of blood, her mother’s weakened and worried face asking if she was alright, and Lind’s curious, bright gold eyes. Then Loren fainted.

  Chapter Seven

  Loren woke several hours later. She found herself staring dumbly upward, following the gaps in the stone of the ceiling with her eyes. It took a minute or so to collect her thoughts. She was to be scolded, and so was sent to her room. On the way, she was distracted by Lind. And then her mother-

  The princess jolted upright, heart racing in a panic. She was about to vault right out of the bed and find the queen, when a heavy hand held her back and gently guided her back down. Loren looked, and saw her father the king sitting at her bedside.

  “Slow down, Loren.” He said softly. His eyes were said, and sat as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.

  “But…What happened? How is mother? I remember seeing a dagger.” Loren said, brow furrowed in worry.

  King Jorrne pulled out a dagger wrapped in a cloth. The cloth was dotted with drops of blood. “Poisoned. And it cut deep. Katarina is with the healer and Spellmaster. It has been hours, and she hasn’t woken yet. I was by her side, but the healer told me to leave as she needed air.” The king’s sigh was heavy. He moved to sit on the bed itself, and scooped Loren up into his arms, hugging her tight. “Lind interrupted the attacker before he could target you, thank the gods.”

  Loren hugged her father back, tears already falling down her cheeks. “I know who tried to kill mother…His name was Arion, he told me he was a newly hired stable hand. But after Lind snapped at his arm, he burst into flame just like the messenger who brought Gaturr’s pelt.”

  “There was a pile of ash in the hall, that must be what was left of him.” Jorrne sighed. “Lind roared and flew off afterwards, of course. I think he knew Katarina was in trouble. He caught this assassin just as he was pulling his arm back for the strike.”

  “But he wasn’t fast enough.” Loren muttered. “Father, will mother recover?”

  The king, known for his strength and boisterous attitude, found his voice cracking. “I don’t know, Loren. I don’t know.”

  Loren went to the queen’s chambers a while after waking. Queen Katarina lay in her bed, her skin pale and covered in a cold sweat. Her breathing was labored, and every rattling breath made Loren worry it would be her last. The healer stood at a table, pounding ingredients in a mortar and pestle into a fine powder for his potions and poultices. The Spellmaster stayed by the queen’s side, with one sleeve of his robe roll
ed up to the elbow. He held his arm out towards the queen, his mage markings glowing a soft blue. He noticed Loren skulking by the door and motioned for her to come in.

  “How is she?” Loren asked.

  The Spellmaster sighed. “My magic is holding the poison back. The healer’s work took care of the wound in her back, but this poison is nothing either of us have encountered before. The dagger used was coated in it, it was certainly meant to be fatal.”

  Loren was restless. She walked aimlessly through the castle, unable to eat, sleep, or focus. Her father suggested she go spend her time studying, or practicing her sword fighting with Warmaster Sairus. Anything to keep her mind off of the worry over her mother’s health. The king was worrying enough for the both of them.

  King Jorrne returned to Katarina’s bedchamber and stayed by her side, holding her pale hand. She skin grew colder and clammier with every ragged breath. The healer gently fed the queen a series of potions every other hour to keep the poison at bay. The healer did not know what kind of poison coated the dagger, and so could not create an antidote.

  The princess made several circuits around the higher floors of the castle, before walking around the courtyard and barracks near the castle, and found herself at a gate. It was a harsh, wrought iron gate, with rusted hinges that kept it always open. It was the entrance to the dungeons. Loren gasped and rushed inside, suddenly remembering that Kae and Ma’trii had been locked up.

  Kae sat on the stone floor of her cell, back against the wall and tossing pebbles at the adjacent wall in her boredom. Ma’trii was in the cell with her, but had a large muzzle fitted on. He was not restrained otherwise, and spent his time lying beside Kae, sharing in the mutual misery. When Loren rushed in, she squinted through the torchlight to look into the cells one by one, till she found Kae.