by Nichelle Rae
“Five days.”
I gave a jerky nod. “Alright, then. Let’s get going.” We sped up our horses to a soft gallop. I hoped Norka would decide to ride up with us because he and I had a lot to talk about.
I tightened the messy knot of my hair and tucked the loose strands of my hair behind my ears, then continued sharpening my sword. The fire was going strong. I sat on a log just outside the ring of light and tried to concentrate on my sword to keep from glancing up at Norka. It was our second night on the road since he’d joined us, and we hadn’t shared a word. It was making us all a little edgy, so we kept our weapons ready. During the day Norka always rode far in the rear, and at night he sat a good distance away from us in the shadows. I don’t think he ever slept, nor did he eat.
I couldn’t help but glance up from my work to look at his silhouette as he sat in the darkness against a tree. I wondered what mysteries surrounded this creature. Why would he say he wanted to talk and build a trust between us, then not come near us?
As I sat in thought, Ortheldo came over and offered me a plate of hot food. I smiled graciously at him and took it. He sat himself on the log next to me and I ate a couple of bites. It was quiet in the forest, save for bugs and birds chattering. I gazed at the forest as I chewed. Shafts of pale moonlight shone down through newly budding leaves in the treetops. Here and there on the forest floor, the rocks and logs were partially hidden by dead brown leaves, some by scattered plant life. It was a dense woodland, but it wasn’t stuffy and tight. Air flowed through it easily enough that the canopy gently blew in the breeze.
This place reminded me a lot of the woods of The Pitt where I had spent most of my time. I thought about those peaceful moments not being scorned or hated. No eyes could glare at me in those woods, and I actually had a few friends. No human friends of course, but friends nonetheless. Some birds, deer, and even a few squirrels came to visit. I missed those friends and hoped they were okay.
Ortheldo’s voice roused me from my thoughts. “Your buddy over there is going to starve to death if you don’t feed him.”
I swallowed a bite of food. “If you’re so worried about it, you should go offer him something to eat.”
Ortheldo shrugged. “I’m not worried, but I know you are.” He took a bite then said, “Besides, I already tried to offer him some food.” He looked at me and smiled. “But he sssaid he doessn’t eat that ssstuff.”
His mocking of Norka’s voice was dead on! I bit my lip to keep from laughing while I backhanded his shoulder. “Jerk,” I muttered.
He smiled as he chewed, then looked at Norka again. “Go find out what his problem is. I’d rather not find out the hard way what he does eat.” I chuckled and took a few more bites. I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out either.
After I finished, I placed my plate on the ground and stood, sheathing my sword. I headed toward Norka, squatting down to bring myself to his eye level. “Are you hungry? We have more than enough food to share.”
“Thank you, Azrel, but I don’t eat that ssstuff.” I smiled to myself at the resemblance to his voice and Ortheldo’s mocking.
“Well, I can make you something else if you’d like. What do you eat?”
“Flesssh,” he hissed.
My smiled melted and my eyes went a bit wider. I had to force my voice to stay neutral. “What kind of flesh?”
“Raw.”
My hand instinctively went to the hilt of my sword, and my entire body tensed up on alert.
Norka seemed to smirk. “Don’t worry, I don’t like human flessh. It’s too tough.”
I wanted to laugh but didn’t know if I should. He didn’t like human flesh, yet he must have eaten some before to know he didn’t like it. “Oh. Well, that’s good.” I regained my composure slightly, clearing my throat nervously. “Why don’t you go hunting?”
Norka bowed his head and seemed to deflate. “I don’t know how,” he replied, barely above a whisper.
“You don’t?” I said my brows dropping. “How are you alive then?”
He sighed. “I wasss born into a wealthy family. I never had to hunt for food because ssomeone alwaysss did it for me. I never had a reassson to learn.” His shoulders slumped more. “I never thought I’d be on my own.”
I was tempted to prod him for more information, but I left it at that. It must have taken a lot for him to tell me that little bit. I’d take the answers as I got them, as he felt comfortable giving them. Slowly I’d peel away the layers of mystery surrounding this unhappy creature.
“Then I’ll teach you to hunt,” I said.
His snake eyes snapped to meet mine. “No!”
I jumped at his voice. When he realized he’d practically yelled at me he softened his tone. “I mean, uh, no, thank you, Azrel.”
I was a bit shaken and confused by his reaction, but kept it to myself. “Why not?”
His wide eyes went to the ground as if the answer would be at his feet. “Well, uh, sss, I don’t know, I mean, I can’t hunt.”
My brows dropped again. “I just said I would teach you.”
His eyes widened in pure panic. “I can’t! I mean, you sssee,” his eyes darted about until finally resting on my sword. “I don’t have a ssword.” He looked up into my eyes almost pleadingly.
I smiled trying to comfort him. “You don’t use a sword to hunt. You use a bow. I’ll teach you how to use that.”
More frightened panic flashed in his eyes as he wrung his hands together. Another excuse came to him and his eyes brightened. “I don’t have a bow! Ssso there! You ssee? I can’t!
“We have three. Rabryn or Ortheldo will let you use one.” His eyes went wide and desperate.
I knew he was trying to get out of it, but I just wanted to see him run out of excuses before I withdrew my talent for argument. I wanted to be sure he was really that desperate to get out of feeding himself. Now that I saw he was, I wanted to know why. I had to choose my words carefully or he wouldn’t tell me.
“Norka, are you not hungry?”
He his tongue lightly clicked as if he’d just tasted something bitter. “No, it’ss not that. I am hungry, its jusst...” His voice trailed off and he looked away. I waited and tried to get a lock on his eyes to see what he was trying to tell me, but his eyelids closed in defeat. “My Missstress forbade me to eat while I was with you.”
“What?”
He looked at me intently. “She ssaid that she would be very angry if I ate.”
I pulled my chin to one shoulder. “Oh, you must be joking,” I said in a throaty voice, giving him a meaningful look. What kind of Mistress forbade her subject to eat while on a mission to help another? Did this Mistress think Norka would be taking food out of our mouths? I stood up. “Let’s go,” I said firmly, indicating the forest with my thumb. “We’re finding you some food.”
“But my Missstress —”
“Your Mistress isn’t here.” I gave him a cool look. “I was the last person you called Mistress, therefore I make your decisions now. I decide we’re taking you out to find you some food. Now let’s go.”
I started off toward camp again to get one of the boys’ bows. I was completely enraged with this Mistress Laroevith! Dragon? Baa! I’d slice her in half if I got the chance. No wonder Norka was distant and terrified. He was probably abused and starved by this dragon. Why would this creature send Norka on a mission to help, only to put him in his grave by denying him food? I wondered if he had gone without food all the way here. No, this Mistress said he couldn’t have food while he was with us. He didn’t hunt, so he must have been given enough food to last until he reached us. My heart wrenched for the poor creature that walked slowly behind me.
When I reached the fire, I crouched down to gather my bow and arrows, strapping them on my back. Ortheldo and Rabryn sat on the ground finishing their food.
“How is your Fayithjen friend?” Rabryn asked before taking another bite.
“Fine. But you’re not going to believe this! His Mistress —”
>
My voice stopped. Something wasn’t right. Norka was a Fayithjen. Fayithjens didn’t have any Mistresses besides the queen. I knew the queen. She wouldn’t do this to him.
Wait. What did he say his Mistress’s name was? Laroevith, a...
I froze. Memories of some teachings hit me like a rock on the head. Cold realization washed through me and waves of nervous heat consumed me. I suddenly felt naked‚—vulnerable—and it seemed like invisible hands were reaching out about to wring my neck, which would be a merciful fate compared to what could happen right now. My eyes widened and my breath speed up. I found myself panting, and sweat formed on my brow and upper lip. The door on my fear cracked open.
“What’s wrong?”
“What about his Mistress?”
I barely heard them speaking as I slowly turned my wide, fearful gaze to Norka’s nearing shadow. His eyes flashed dangerously yellow as he passed under a beam of moonlight.
His Mistress.
I began to tremble with uncontrolled terror. “Ortheldo,” I whispered my mouth feeling dry. “What do you remember about blue dragons?” I wondered if his memory would match mine.
It did.
The metallic ring of his sword being drawn snapped me to my senses. The numbing silence of the night was broken, and the fearful trance I was in vanished along with it. The sound of our movement to stand and arm ourselves seemed to fill the entire forest.
Sword or bow? Sword or bow? In an instant the thought flew through my brain. Which to draw? I chose the bow since it was already in my hand. I notched an arrow and caught a glance of Ortheldo at my side. His eyes were wide, his sword in front of him, though we both knew drawing weapons against Norka would be useless. Rabryn jumped to his feet with us and fit an arrow in his bow, not knowing what was going on, only realizing that we were very frightened and that was not a good thing.
Norka’s shadow stopped abruptly when he saw us all jump up. He stood in silence and watched us. Somehow the silence was even more frightening than if he did attack us.
The door on my fear crack open a little more. My legs trembled, threatening to give way at any second. Drops of sweat snaked down my temples. I cowered, taking a step back and allowing my arm to gently graze Ortheldo’s shoulder. I needed to feel him near me. I needed to feel safe.
“Ssso, Azrel,” Norka said finally. “You’ve figured it out, at last.”
I couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. My cheeks and jaw burned from fiercely clenching my teeth to keep from screaming. I felt my heartbeat in my head and my eyes felt like they might pop out. What was he going to do to us?
Norka advanced a few steps, making all three of us cower back the same number of steps. The shuffling of our frightened feet filled the forest that seemed to have suddenly gone silent. Where were the birds and bugs that at chattered so merrily before?
With no word, Norka stepped over a log and sat himself on it in front of the fire. His elbows rested on his knees, his hands dangled limp between his legs. He stared into the firelight for a moment, then turned his eyes up to meet mine. “When I firssst told you the blue dragon wass my Misssteress, I hoped you would figure it out then.”
I felt Ortheldo’s rage spike. I didn’t even have to study his eyes to know it was there. I knew that if we lived through this, I was going to get a sounding out from him to last me the rest of my life. I knew I deserved it, too. Had I mentioned the blue dragon before, Ortheldo would have seen the danger and spared us this. How could I have been so stupid?
Norka looked up at me from under his scaly brows. “At firssst I thought you’d just never heard of the blue dragon. But now I sssee that you just have no memory.”
I slammed the door closed on my fear. This snake was mocking me! I gritted my teeth and took a daring step toward him. If I was going to die tonight it was going to be with honor. Fear only made matters worse.
“Why would you want me to find out that you’re a criminal?”
He looked back into the fire, holding his hands over the flames to warm them. After a moment, he spoke again. “Tell me, Azrel, what made you remember tonight who the blue dragon was?”
I answered, making my voice as hard as steel. “I realized you shouldn’t have a Mistress in Fayithjen besides the queen. That led me to think of who you said your Mistress was; Laroevith, the blue dragon, mistress and warden of Tribeltwel.” I clenched my teeth. “Casdanarus’ prison for dangerous offenders of magic.” He nodded as he stared into the fire. “Now tell me why you were hoping I would find that out.”
When he looked up at me, the look in his eyes was more depressing than could be perceived. It was an empty, hopeless kind of sadness that seemed to have no end. “Because I’m innocccent.”
“Of course, you are. They’re all innocent in Tribeltwel,” I said sarcastically. “Tell me then, Sorcerer, what horrible thing were you plotting ‘innocently’ to do with your magic before you were caught? While you’re at it, you can explain why an ‘innocent’ Sorcerer such as yourself got stuck in a nasty place like Tribeltwel.” My voice dropped menacingly, and I pulled my bowstring back farther. “And you can also explain what you’re doing here. Since you’re so ‘innocent,’ you certainly haven’t come for the necklace.”
Or my sword, I wanted to add but didn’t. It was best not to plant any ideas in his head. He may not know of it.
Norka gave me a steady gaze. “Do you think weaponsss can harm me?”
I felt my insides shrink. Of course, they couldn’t, but I held my ground. “If you don’t answer my questions we’re going to find out.”
I expected him to strike me dead right then, but he only sighed. “Will you not bring down your weaponsss?” he asked, sounding exhausted.
“No!” As useless as this weapon was against a Sorcerer, I still felt safe holding it.
“If I wanted to kill you don’t you think I would have done ssso by now?”
He could have, but I didn’t care. “Who knows what tricks you animals have up your sleeves.”
Norka sighed again. “Very well, if it makesss you feel better you may keep them.”
That sentence burned my blood. I hated that it was true, that he actually was letting us, allowing us, to keep our weapons! My teeth clenched.
“I will ansswer your first quessstion,” Norka said. “I hoped you would realize my wordsss when I said the blue dragon was my Mistresss who, of coarsse, is the only blue dragon in existenccce and the warden of Tribeltwel, in hopess you would kill me.” He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I have ssseen things you could only have sseen in your nightmares, and I am innocccent of my charges.” He shook his head slightly and his voice became barely audible. “Can you even fathom the thought of an innocccent being dealing with living in a place like Tribeltwel?”
“Innocent!” I shrieked. “How can you —”
The very second his yellow eyes flicked up to me, I felt his magic. A ball of air formed in my open mouth, filling it like a gag to keep me silent. There was no air was in my lungs! It was on an unfinished path out of my mouth with my words. I dropped my bow and fell to my knees, clutching my throat.
I barely heard Ortheldo yell as he came into my view. His sword was in both fists, arched for a swing to strike the snake down. No sooner had he entered my view than he was thrown from it by another force of Norka’s magic.
I was choking! I was dying! No air! Burning pain! I desperately clawed at the inside of my mouth and throat to make some kind of hole, some portal for air. I needed it! I was dying! I couldn’t make room! I lost all sense of reason and time. I was going to die, all because I was too stupid to put two and two together! Everything was going quiet...fading away. The edges of my vision turned black.
Suddenly the gag was gone. My upper body collapsed over my knees as I sucked in loud gulps of air, smothering the burning pain, then coughed it out. I was barely able to hold myself up on my elbows. Too weak. Just wait. The burning will subside. The death will subside. My vision was hazy, but I couldn’t
believe I was alive! I was dripping with sweat as I sucked in more beautiful air.
As my hearing returned, I heard howls of pain. My heart stopped as my eyes shot up to survey the woods. Please don’t let it be Rabryn or Ortheldo! Please, Gods! It was Norka. He was on his knees, hunched over in great pain, clutching his head. My insides twisted with his howls of agony.
What had happened? Ortheldo, lying on his back to my right, was just coming to. Black charred arrows littered the ground in front of me. I followed them with my eyes until I saw Rabryn on the other side of Ortheldo. He was on his knees staring at Norka in wide eyed terror. I crawled to him as fast as I could, unable to trust my legs, and kneeled beside him. He seemed okay, except terrified. His mouth moved up and down awkwardly as he tried to speak. I cupped his face gently in my hands and turned his eyes away from the snake to me.
“Rabryn,” I said sternly. “Are you hurt?”
“He burnt them,” he replied in a breath. “Every one I shot. They didn’t get near him.”
“It’s okay,” I said, pulling him into an embrace.
“You cursssed bratsss!” Norka yelled.
I looked over. Ortheldo was standing behind him with a leg on each side of Norka’s shoulders, pinning his arms to his sides with those powerful thighs. Ortheldo’s left hand was under the snakes chin while his right held a sword to his long neck.
“I didn’t want to hurt you!” Norka wailed. “I jussst wanted you to lissten to me!”
I stood and helped Rabryn to his shaky feet and we walked over to them. Norka’s eyes landed on me, silently pleading with me to believe him. A part of me wanted to.
“Should I make it quick and slit his throat? Or go for his belly so we can watch him bleed to death?” Ortheldo asked. His eyes never left the snake’s upturned face.
“Why were you screaming like that?” I asked Norka, ignoring Ortheldo’s question.
“Becaussse I’m outsside of Tribeltwel and the Missstress has a leassh on me. If I usse my magic she ssenses it through the leash and ssends me pain as punissshment. That’sss why I didn’t want to do what I did! I just wanted to sssilence you for a moment, but thessse two attacked me and had to defend myself sssomehow. Magic iss all I can do.”
