“I fear we will have trouble with the slaves before this is done. Ima wants to tell them you still live. She said they loved you more than . ”
She couldn’t take time to solve the problem. It would have to wait until they reached the Outer Isles and the slaves could be freed. “Do what you think best.” She ran back into the tunnel before he could say anything more. Running until she dripped with sweat, was barely able to breathe, and was bent and hurting from a stitch in her side, Tessa stopped for a moment’s rest and then ran again.
Lightning flashes and their loud, rumbling companions greeted her when she ran into the valley and made for the stair. Tessa was so intent on her task that she barely heard them.
Inside the cave, the dragon waited, commanded her to rest a moment, and eat some stew. Tessa obeyed, and she listened while she ate. Although the savory blend of meat and vegetables was nourishing, she was almost too tired to give thanks when the dragon told her how she planned to keep King Luther and the mighty Wizard Prin from further want.
“The princesses left much more treasure than they took. I wouldst not have it so. If thee wouldst refill and close the chests and casks, I canst bespell them and deliver them and the magic kettle to the ship.”
Tessa was too weary to argue. She just did as she was asked and then rounded up the remaining princesses. Before she left, she made a final curtsy and said her farewells to the dragon. The princess was both awed and humbled when she looked at the incredibly beautiful rose-gold dragon who seemed to have grown in both size and beauty since she had regained the Pearl and had been named.
“Good-bye, Your Grace, I wish you a safe journey and . ” her voice broke just a little but she managed to finish the words of blessing, “and a glad reunion with your family.”
“I give thee thanks, my brave and honorable princess, but alas, I canst not give thee what thou hast lost.”
They both knew she referred to Tessa’s mother and brother, but neither said the words. Tessa just blinked back tears, nodded her head, tightened her grip on the crown she had chosen for Luther, and herded the unknowing princesses out into the stormy night. Thunder cracked. Lightning flashed. Rain poured. But she got the princesses down the stair and into the tunnel without any real problem.
It was quiet inside the tunnel, almost too quiet. Oppressively so. It was if something dire and deadly was just waiting to happen. Almost desperate to get them through the maze and onto the ship, Tessa did her best to hurry the silent princesses. Despite her best efforts, the walked at their own slow pace.
The night was nearly gone before they reached the end of the tunnel. Leaving them within, Tessa stepped out into the storm. Thunder roared, but except for the flashes of lightning, it was dark and wet from the rain that fell in torrents. She stayed out less than a minute, called his name softly, but Luther wasn’t waiting. Neither was anyone else. She was soaked to the skin when she went back in to fetch the princesses. Soaked, weary, and frightened. But, Luther or not, she still had to do what she intended doing.
If her plan had any chance of working, she had to get the princesses onto the ship and it out into the harbor so she could stage the battle with the dragon. Still docile, mindlessly sleeping, the very wet princesses followed Tessa through the deserted village and onto the stone dock.
The rain was unabated, but the storm seemed to be moving on, taking with it most of the thunder and lightning. But the absence of storm noise only made the shouting aboard the ship all the more frightening. Time was running too fast, whatever was happening had to be stopped, or at least delayed until after the battle. Leaving the silent princesses standing on the dock, Tessa climbed the rain-slick gang plank and tried to make sense of the shouts.
Torches, guttering and flaring in the downpour, gave garish light to what had all the aspects of an insurrection. One that had Luther backed up against a bulkhead, facing a mob of angry shouters.
Her wizard robes sodden, her temper unleashed, Tessa stepped forward, lifted her hand high, high enough that the jeweled crown she still held flashed fire in the uncertain light.
Her shout was louder, and it held far more authority and anger. “Hold!”
The shouts died to a mutter. The crowd turned to face her. Tessa didn’t bother pushing back her hood, she just shoved her way through the crowd until she was at Luther’s side. She gave him a terse order. “Kneel!”
Looking totally confused, he knelt at her feet. Glaring at the rest of the assembly, she sat the crown on his head, and made her announcement. “When I defeat the dragon in the coming battle, Outer Isles will be mine. As is my right, I name this man my king. Arise, King Luther and greet your subjects. Tell them, as is your right, that when the fearsome dragon is gone and we reach their home shores that they will be freed.
Luther looking as dazed and weary as she felt, did as she asked. Giving her fearful looks, the slaves accepted him as ruler and obeyed without question when he ordered them to bring the rest of the princesses aboard and man the oars.
It wasn’t a quick journey, but they were well away from the dock when the rain cloud passed, giving the morning sun full sway. Toweled dry and outfitted in a new green wizard robe, one that flowed and fluttered dramatically at the whim of a brisk wind, Tessa took her place on the deck of the ship.
Standing tall, looking first toward the shore, making sure the soldiers and minions of the king and priests were gathered to witness the event, Tessa lifted both hands toward the sky and shouted her battle cry. “Vellamunda! I call your name and demand you obey me. Vellamunda, come! Meet your master!”
Glowing with inner fire, shooting great gouts of flame from her mouth, the dragon flew straight out of the rising sun, swooped down toward the ship. The slaves screamed, fell to the deck, covered their heads with their arms, and begged for mercy.
The princesses were below decks with Ima and the Silvafells. Only Luther remained at Tessa’s side, a proud Luther who wore his kingship well. He looked up at the dragon and spoke his own private farewells as she, wings flapping, still shooting fire, hovered above them long enough to allow the spelled treasure to drift to the deck beside them. All while she writhed and twisted as if she were trying to escape Tessa’s power.
She hissed and snarled, sounded as if she were going to explode with fury, but when she spoke, it was to Luther and Tessa alone. “Fare thee well, my dear one. I will miss thee and love thee for the rest of my days.”
He bowed his crowned head, took in a gulp of air, and was finally able to speak. “And I will love you.”
Still twisting and fighting, putting on a good show for the watchers on the shore, the dragon gave Tessa a priceless gift of parting. “My princess, thy mother’s shade knows of thy honor and thy deeds of valor and she knows joy. She needs haunt no more, but she wouldst see thee one final time. Look, my dearest of princesses, and know thy mother’s true heart.
Tessa smelled the magic, felt its tug, and she looked, harder than she had ever looked in her short life. And faintly, as though in a dream, she saw her mother’s face, saw her smile, and saw her lips shape words of love. She knew the words, but could not hear the sound.
The vision faded, or perhaps the tears that filled Tessa’s eyes made seeing impossible. The sweet-smelling magic faded and it was time for Tessa to do what she had to do to keep them all safe.
Lifting her hands higher still, making vaguely arcane gestures, she put an end to an honorable dragon’s long exile and sent her home. “Be gone from these shores, Vellamunda! I command it.”
Tessa’s eyes were still too full of tears to see the rose-gold dragon leap into the sky, climb to an impossible height, and vanish. But tear-blind eyes couldn’t stop her ears from hearing the dragon’s farewell song, a song of joy eternal and gladness beyond all knowing.
– THE END –
Until recently, Patricia Lucas White, an award-winning author and noted wizard, dwelled in the wilds of the Oregon Cascades with her family, a wereweazel, and two pet dragons. Pat was taken fro
m us in July 2009. We miss her greatly, but we know something that comforts us: Wizards never really die, they simply relocate. We’ll see you down the road, Pat.
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