Dream of Dragons

by Alex Alcasid

  “Are we ready?” Loren asked wearily. She pulled her pack on with some difficulty, her body still sore from the encounter with the queen. She rubbed at her temples.

  Kae nodded. Her throat was parched, and the joy of getting out of the queen’s castle alive and seeing the outpost in the distance had worn off. She puckered her lips to whistle, but her mouth was too dry for sound to come out. She gave up and waved Ma’trii over. Cassendir likewise looked dead on his feet.

  “Don’t worry, we’re almost there.” The princess said with a smile, trying to assuage her friend’s fears. “The outpost should have stores of food and water. We’ll be okay.” Her words puttered out into a mutter as she turned away from her friends and began to walk. “We’ll be okay.”

  “I trust you, princess.” Kae said, following. It was a simple statement, but Loren paused a step and couldn’t help but smile. The resulting groan from Cassendir made her push her thoughts away and keep walking. They were all tired, thirsty, and miserable.

  They walked on through the still air of the Plaguelands, and the outpost grew ever closer. Once they were close enough, Kae squinted and pointed at the stone structure. The battlements of the outpost had fallen in on itself, the stone having come loose years ago. The flags that flew from poles were the colors of Aldoran and Rhodia, but they were faded and pocked with ragged holes.

  “Princess…” Kae said. Her voice strained as her heart broke. “The outpost looks long abandoned.”

  “What?” Loren focused, but was unable to pick out the finer details of what she saw. Kae’s hunting-trained eyes saw far more. “No…No, that can’t be. Kaiten has to be there. There has to be someone there! We came all this way.”

  “Face it, Loren. We came all this way for nothing, and then we will die.” Cassendir said dryly. The mage was dragging his feet as he walked. “At least let’s die somewhere with a breeze.”

  “No, we’re not going to die! We’re going to that outpost and we’re going to find Kaiten!” Loren said with a conviction that bordered on desperation. “He has to be there!”

  “What if he’s not, princess?” Kae asked. Ma’trii nudged her leg, and she waved him on. The wolf trotted ahead of them. “What if the Beastman prince isn’t where you think he is, and we went all this way, we fought a long dead ghost of a queen, for nothing?”

  “Kae…” Loren started. She glanced sadly at the huntress. She thought Kae at least believed her.

  “Loren, think about it.” The huntress continued. “Life isn’t as predictable as you think it is. What if — just what if — Kaiten is not here? What will we do then? What are your plans if we can’t find him?”

  Lorenw as silent. They kept walking and Loren stared at her boots, moving one after the other as she thought. After a few minutes, she spoke haltingly. “If Kaiten isn’t here, and if we can’t restore his place on the Beastmen throne, then…” she looked back at Kae and Cassendir. She hoped she looked more confident than she felt. “Then we continue on around the edge of the Kilrough Mountains and onto Sagna.”

  “Straight on to Sagna?” Cassendir raised his brow. “No looking for help or sending messages or anything?”

  Loren shook her head. “No, we continue on to Sagna.” The princess took a breath and forged on. Her step grew a fraction stronger. “We’re going to find an antidote and confront the queen. Haedria.”

  The border of the Plaguelands and the north was the same as the clear line between the Plaguelands and the Garruchian Plains. The cracked, barren land of Yureun stopped abruptly as if a line was carved into the earth. Past the dry land was a sharp mark of snow peppered with tufts of a hardy grass. Loren and her friends stood curiously at the border, the air of their side of the land didn’t change. Glancing at her friends, Loren stretched out a hand towards the other side of the line. As soon as her fingers crossed the border, she felt a bitter, biting cold, and sharp whipping wind. Loren pulled her hand back in shock.

  “It’s cold.” She said, turning her hand this way and that. Her skin was turning red, as if she had plunged her hand into a bucket of iced water. “We’ll have to bundle up before crossing.”

  “I think I have enough furs in my pack.” Kae offered immediately. She dropped to a crouch and started hastily removing things from her travel pack. The huntress never went anywhere without spare furs. “Its not enough to make a full cloak, though.”

  “It will have to do. Cassendir, your spare silks. We’re going to need every bit we can get.”

  The three bundled on as much as they could, even wearing their spare clothes on layers in any attempt to keep warm. Ma’trii kept as close to Kae as he could. One Loren’s signal, they stepped across the border together, pushing against the invisible wall of magic that was the curse of the queen of Yureun.

  The wind whipped their faces and any exposed skin relentlessly. Their ears were filled with the howl of wind, and the cold chilled them to the bone. Loren squinted against the northern wind and raised a shaking hand. The outposts’s stone walls were close. It stood atop a hill, a gray and ruined stone structure that stood as a beacon above the mounds of snow and sparse grasses of the north. The princess waved to her friends and slowly they began to walk.

  Shivering with every step and pulling their cloaks, furs, and clothes as close to their bodies as possible, they reached the outpost’s entrance. The gate had long fallen and lay covered with snow and rubble across a disused path. The blue and gold flag of Aldoran flapped in the biting wind alongside the green and yellow banner of Rhodia, high atop a crumbling tower that jutted out of the outpost. They climbed into the outpost, hauling their heavily bundled selves over rocks and debris, slipping on snow and ice.

  Inside the outpost was a wide-open space that would have been used to receive travelers and mobilize a small unit of soldiers, in case the outpost was under attack. The roof had fallen in, but farther inside the main room, Loren saw the red-orange glow of firelight. She glanced at her friends who, shivering intensely, wordlessly urged her to inspect the source of the fire. Loren led the way, picking through brambles that had grown through the stone, and found herself in a cozy space clear of rubble. Large copper braziers were lit all around the space with roaring flames that shot through to the ceiling. The air was almost uncomfortably warm, compared to the bone-chilling air just outside.

  Sitting in wooden chairs around a table were a young lion Beastman with a patchy mane, and a woman with short, bright red hair. She sat coolly back in her chair and motioned with her stein to the newcomers.

  Loren wrestled the silks and furs off her face. “Kaiten?” she called in disbelief.

  The lion Beastman spit out his mouthful of ale onto the stones and slammed his stein onto the table. “Loren?” he called back.

  “You’re alive!” Loren rushed over to the Beastman and tackled him with a hug as he was rising from his chair. The force of her crashing into him staggered him a step back, but they laughed and hugged each other tight. Kaiten buried Loren in his patchy mane and fur cloak as he did. “I was so worried about you! Gods above, I’m so glad you’re alright.”

  “And you’re here! How did you get here?” Kaiten said with a choppy laugh. He bore his sharp teeth in a smile.

  “We crossed the Plaguelands!” Loren replied. Kaiten held her at arm’s length to get a good look at her, but the princess hugged him tightly around the chest again. “After what happened, I just had to find you.”

  “Loren? Loren!” Kae called out. She had her bow at the ready, and beside her, a sword of blue light coalesced into Cassendir’s hand. Ma’trii’s growls made Kaiten look.

  At the other end of the table, the woman with red hair stood. She had the build of a fighter and wore travelling leathers that exposed a flat, toned midriff. Her arms were muscled and well used to wielding the twin swords that were slung through a belt and rested on her hip. Around her wrists were the dark swirls of mage markings. Loren saw the flash of red hair, cut short and braided on one side, and stepped back.

 
“Who are you?” Loren asked.

  The woman smiled back and bowed low to the princess. “I am Seraphis Dagan, Warmaster and Princess of Sagna.”

  Loren’s sword was in her hand faster than she could think. Her pendant shivered in the hollow of her throat, and her eyes took on a golden sheen. “Seraphis of Sagna? You killed Gaturr!” she spat.

  Seraphis only nodded. “I did. I cut his throat, removed his pelt, and had it delivered to your castle.” Her hands stayed at her side, unarmed.

  Loren looked to Kaiten. “Did you know? Did you know that she killed your father? You were having drinks with this murderer!”

  “I did.” Kaiten’s voice was solemn, but he stood between Loren and Seraphis. “I know what she did, and while I can’t forgive her for it, I understand.”

  “What?”

  Kaiten looked to Seraphis, who sat back down. The warrior princess took a swig from her stein. “You three might need to camp here. It’s a long story. We have heat and supplies.”

  Seraphis laughed, and Loren’s eyes narrowed. “You have a Sagnian in the area. There will always be heat. But really, princess, come in from the cold. We have water and food to spare, and Duro should be coming back from his hunt.”

  Kae perked up at the mention of a hunt. She cautiously lowered her bow. “Who is this Duro?”

  Seraphis looked over at the huntress, looking her up and down. Her gaze fell to the wolf at her side, still baring his fangs at her. “Oh, you have a wolf too? You’ll get along just fine with Duro then. He’s a crossbreed of a Sagnian hound and Aldoran wolf.” She beamed with pride. “I bred him and his pack myself.”

  Kae stepped closer to them and put away her bow, more curious now about this woman and her wolf than cautious about Seraphis being a murderer. Cassendir held back, his blue sword still in hand.

  “You have mage markings.” He said, glancing at the swirls around Seraphis’s wrists. “So you can do magic?”

  Seraphis held a hand to eye level, turning her wrist so that Cassendir can see. The skin around the dark markings were reddish from burns. “’I’m no mage, Kespian. These are brands from one who is a more powerful mage than you.”

  “Brands?” Loren looked over curiously.

  Seraphis nodded, offering her hand to Loren. “A mage’s markings were burned into my skin.” She smiled wryly. “I’m sure they look familiar, do they not?”

  Loren’s eyes widened. She gingerly brushed the dark markings and burned skin with her fingertips. “These are the same as the messenger’s at Aldoran.”

  “The one who delivered Gaturr’s hide to you. Yes.” Seraphis continued. “And I’m sure you know who put them there. I cannot say the name, she will be suspicious and turn her attention here. Her attention is the last thing you want upon you, dragon princess.”

  “Will all of us be unable to speak her name?”

  “No, only I cannot. You can say whatever you want.” Seraphis scoffed and leaned back in her chair. “You’re the lucky, unburnt ones. You’re free.”

  Cassendir approached Seraphis and asked to inspect her markings. She gave him one hand and took a swig from her stein with the other. A soft blue light from his own mage markings began to peek from his sleeve. “These are magic shackles. I can feel magic in you, as if you are a fellow mage. I’ve never seen anything like this. Can you likewise use magic?” his tone was overeager.

  Seraphis laughed and withdrew her hand. “Ever curious and eager to learn. I was right, you’re a Kespian through and through and not just wearing their silks. Yes, I’ve been lent some measure of magic. Fire magic, as per my dear sister’s forte.” She stretched her hand towards one of the copper braziers. Seraphis focused on the flickering flames and in answer, they leapt in a fierce plume towards the stone ceiling. Kae and Ma’trii yelped in shock, and Seraphis stilled the flames. She laughed, but as she returned her hand to her side, the markings on her wrists glowed with an inner light as if fire burned inside her body. The hand she stretched shook, and she held it close to her chest.

  “That is amazing.” Loren said, but she noticed Seraphis trying to divert attention from her hands. “Are you alright? Did the magic hurt you?”

  Seraphis chuckled. “The magic always does. The markings burn like heated metal pressed to my skin.” She shrugged. “But sometimes the magic is necessary. I had to keep me and Kaiten from freezing to death in this desolate place somehow.”

  “That brings me back to the subject of you two.” Loren pointed at the lion Beastman then to Seraphis. “Why are you both here, when you killed his father?”

  Seraphis sighed and took one last swig from her stein. “Do you all have bedrolls? I have a few extra from some soldiers, they won’t be needing it anymore. Let’s talk about this over dinner.”

  A large white hound made its way into the outpost, dragging a dead deer by its neck. It set it down by the copper braziers and shook the snow out of its fur. When it stopped shaking, it found itself face to face with Ma’trii, the much smaller gray wolf. They stared each other down, with Ma’trii growling.

  “Is that your wolf?” Kae whispered, one hand already reaching for a knife at her belt. She didn’t dare take her eyes off it.

  Seraphis laughed. She approached the white hound and stood between it and Ma’trii, holding out a hand to signal the gray wolf to stand down. She affectionately scratched the hound between the ears. “This is Duro. I mentioned him earlier. Bred, raised, and trained him myself but he’s a hound, not a wolf.” She whispered a few words to Duro, and the large white hound eagerly trotted off, tail wagging, and sat beside a brazier to warm up.

  Seraphis was about to draw a large knife from her belt, but Kae stood first, hunting knife in hand. She glanced at the deer with a sheepish smile. She had seen a kill come in and her hunting instincts had her on her feet ready to skin and dress the animal and prepare it for cooking and storage. The warrior princess laughed and waved Kae on.

  “Excited and eager, Kae? Go ahead and carve out the best cuts, huntress. I trust your eye and knife.” Seraphis said. While Kae sprang off to dress the deer, Seraphis stood at the table and was using her own knives to cut up a series of vegetables. Her knife skills made short work of celery, carrots, and potatoes.

  “You look like you’re a good cook, Seraphis.” Loren commented. The princess wore only her travelling leathers and surcoats. The Sagnian’s braziers heated the room more than enough.

  Seraphis nodded. “Thank you, princess. You pick up a few skills from being on the road. This is what I used to prepare for the soldiers while out on our journeys. If Duro and I didn’t hunt and forage, they’d have eaten their way through their provisions before we got anywhere.”

  “Where are you soldiers, by the way? I’ve only seen you and Kaiten since we got here. Are they posted as lookouts?” Loren looked through a doorway towards the back of the room, but it held only a hallway caved in with rubble.

  “Gods above, no.” Seraphis laughed. She placed the cut vegetables in a pot, ready for the meat. “They all died.”

  “What?” Loren said, horrified.

  “We passed through the Plaguelands, same as you. The soldiers died off one by one, from thirst or starvation or madness.” Seraphis explained. “They withered to dust before our eyes.”

  Loren was silent. She remembered their horses, dying a few days into their journey and falling to the barren earth in still, choking air. She looked to Seraphis. “Did you see the queen too?”

  “The queen? What queen?” The warrior princess looked shocked.

  “The queen of Yureun.” Loren said, suddenly doubting herself. “Or at least her ghost. In the castle?”

  Seraphis stared at Loren, brows furrowed. “We didn’t see any castle in the Plaguelands. It was just dirt and cursed air as far as anyone could see. Were you hallucinating? Some of my men thought they could see lakes in the earth, before they ran off screaming.”

  “Maybe it was just a dream…” Loren muttered, eyes unfocused. She trailed her fingers towar
ds her dragon pendant, and Seraphis tracked the movement. The Sagnian princess stared a little too long at the dragon.

  Kae approached the table with a large slab of meat carved from the deer’s side. She began cutting out more manageable cuts that could fit in the pot. “It wasn’t a dream, princess.” She said roughly. “We saw the queen, gaunt as anything, and her bear-like monster of a husband. They spelled us, you saw through her illusions, we fought back, then we ran away.” The huntress dropped a chunk of meat into the pot with finality. “Then we found the outpost.”

  Seraphis looked back to Loren. She nodded, impressed, before turning back to the pot and helping Kae with the cuts of meat.

  “You found the vengeful ghost of a long dead queen and got away safely?” Seraphis chuckled. “What magic do you have that let you get away with your lives, dragon princess?”

  Loren and Kae exchanged a look. Behind Seraphis’s back, Kae glanced at Loren’s dragon pendant from where it was peeking out from her surcoat. She said nothing and turned back to the pot. “It was just luck, I think.” Loren said evasively. “You were supposed to tell us why you and Kaiten are here.”

  “Yes, yes, I know.” Seraphis smiled. She took the pot and crossed the room to a brazier set by a stone wall. She put the whole thing down on the coals, and flames shot up and licked at her hands. Kae and Loren called out in alarm, but Seraphis stood and rubbed her hands together. She was not burned in the slightest. Seraphis saw their shocked faces and laughed. “I am sister to the queen of Sagna, remember? I have a very high heat tolerance, even higher if I use my borrowed magic.”

  Kae frowned, brows furrowed in thought. “But if you do well with the heat, won’t you suffer even more than us in the cold?”

  Seraphis nodded and gestured to the braziers. “Hence the fires, huntress. I’d wither and die in the north, so I plan on leaving this godforsaken frigid place soon. Come sit with me while our food cooks.”

  After a few minutes, Cassendir and Kaiten came in from the cold. Frost and snow had accumulated in Kaiten’s fur, and Duro snapped up the snow that fell as the prince shook out his mane. The heir to the Beastman throne sighed as he removed a red and black doublet emblazoned with the twin lionesses of Sagna and took a seat at the table. “It’s much too hot in here, Seraphis.” He said.