by Eric Vall
“I’ll get her,” Aaliyah offered as she went into their room, and I watched her long, golden tail sway from side to side while she walked.
Then Laika hurried into her own room to get dressed.
Minutes later, all three women emerged and followed me back to the dining hall. After everyone was seated, I opened my mouth to speak, but the staff bolted into the room with trays of food, so I held my tongue and waited for them to finish. I wasn’t sure who to trust here yet, and I didn’t want anyone else to know the situation at hand.
The staff set mugs of cactus juice down for each of us, and sliced badger meat was paired with scrambled eggs and thick, fluffy slices of bread with dollops of whipped butter on each slice. My mouth watered at the sight of the breakfast foods, and we quickly made our plates.
Once the servants left and everyone began to eat, I started again.
“We spoke with King Rodion about the missing relics,” I began. “He was unaware Kana held the Sundex, but he knows the other two relics’ locations.”
“How?” Naomi asked with wide eyes.
“He’s a divinity,” Alyona offered. “That could be how he knows, but he didn’t say for certain. Either way, he has a plan for us.”
“So, how do we know his information is legitimate?” The lizard mage narrowed her amber eyes as she stared at me. “Do you know without a doubt?”
“I have faith in my king,” I replied. “Anyway, he wants us to go get the other two, and then we will find new hiding places for all three pieces.”
“How noble,” Naomi scoffed.
“It isn’t noble,” I shot back. “It’s what the king wants. It’s my duty to carry out his wishes, as it is yours and everyone else’s in his kingdom.”
Naomi shifted uncomfortably and returned her gaze to her food.
“So, where do we go?” Nike broke the uncomfortable silence.
“Well, that’s the thing,” I sighed. “We aren’t sure yet. He’s sending the locations to us.”
“What if the bandits get his message first?” Ravi tugged on her long orange braid as she spoke.
“He said it will be sent in code, so even if they intercept it, they won’t know what it means,” I replied. “But we’ll have to figure out the code once it arrives.”
“Great,” Polina said with a frown.
“A puzzle,” Marina sighed.
“We can put our heads together,” Trina said and smiled. “We’ve solved many problems together.”
“Indeed,” I agreed. “As soon as the messenger arrives, we--”
I was cut off by the cooing sound of an approaching bird, and suddenly a white-feathered dove flew in through the open window and over to our table. It let out another high-pitched caw before it released something it carried in its talons, and a rolled-up piece of parchment hit the table with a small thud as the bird flew back out the window.
“Ah, that was quick,” Vallen observed.
“I suppose His Eminence wants us to start working on these immediately,” I chuckled as I unrolled the parchment and spread it on the table.
“Well, that explains how he protected the information,” Alyona breathed. “Not just anyone would be able to decipher the locations.”
“Why’s that?” I asked as I scanned the document.
Alyona pointed to a section of the paper, and I sighed.
The locations were in riddles, and we had to solve them.
Chapter 11
King Rodion’s response was scrawled across the page with giant letters that flourished in fancy swirls and loops, but it was definitely hard to read. He either had very regal handwriting, or he was meant to be a doctor in another life.
Two riddles were written on the parchment, one for each hidden artifact’s location. I skimmed the poems and realized I wasn’t sure how much help I’d be since I was still learning about this world. Riddles were designed to describe the answer in a roundabout way, and I only knew about a handful of places.
I frowned as I read the first one.
Find me in an eternity, mayhap two
I am barren of all but timber and frond
Inside me you’ll find only ones like you
Where a valuable shelter has surely spawned
“Eternity seems like a bit of a long time to travel for one relic,” I remarked.
“It is a reference to an old joke of ours,” Alyona chuckled. “When I was a child, he teased me for my impatience.”
“You?” Aaliyah looked at her with surprise. “You used to be impatient?”
“Of course,” the princess replied and giggled. “All children are impatient, my lady. He would tell me he needed to work for only one more hour, and I would pout and say, ‘but an hour is an eternity!’ It became a regular joke when something would take an hour or so, and he would say, ‘you must only wait one more eternity.’”
“So, the first location is an hour or two from us?” I guessed.
“That would make sense.” Alyona nodded with a fond smile. “He said we would need to work together to decipher his message, so he had to know I would understand the reference.”
“Okay, we can assume it’s less than ten miles from here, then,” I said as I calculated the travel time. “And barren means nothing growing, right?”
“Well, it says barren except for timber and frond,” Nike pointed out. “That would indicate a place with only trees growing in it, so no animals or other plants, I assume.”
“A forest without animals?” Polina gasped.
“Those poor trees would be so lonely,” Marina said in a dejected tone.
“What a grim place,” Trina agreed with a frown. “It must be so sad there.”
“Very strange,” Alyona commented. “Of course, the last line indicates the relic is hidden there, but we’ll only find ones like you? What does that mean?”
“More dragons?” I suggested with a shrug. “The king knew I’d be reading these with you, right? I’m the only one of us who doesn’t have a whole city of my kind.”
“Yes, I thought they were basically extinct except for the Crimson Dragon,” Naomi said. “Well, and you, of course.”
“The Crimson Dragon said the same thing,” I murmured as I thought back to my conversation with Valerra about her family. She’d told me a mage had killed or helped kill all of her family, as well as dozens of other dragons around Rahma. I suspected that mage was Olivier, and I intended to help my lady dragon take her revenge on the bastard.
“Wait, you know the Crimson Dragon?” Naomi’s eyebrows shot up. “Is she horrible? Cruel? Did she try to fight you? The stories say she’ll roast and eat anyone who comes near her canyons. They’re right by Hatra, right?”
“Well, she’s not that bad.” I smirked. “She likes me enough to be my mate.”
As I thought about our little egg, I realized I hadn’t spoken to Valerra since I’d accidentally created the soul bridges, so I made a mental note to send her a message as soon as I got the chance.
“Mate?” Naomi squeaked, and her eyes widened comically. “She allowed you to mate with her?”
“What can I say?” I chuckled. “I have my ways, and she just couldn’t resist. I have that effect on women. Anyway, the type of beast in this forest doesn’t matter. We’ll slay whatever gets in our way and take the relic.”
“Why would we take it before we have a new hiding place?” the lizard mage asked. “Shouldn’t we have a hiding place already chosen?”
“Because that is how the king wants us to proceed,” I replied with a raised eyebrow. “Still questioning his orders?”
“No, I, ah--” Naomi fumbled for words.
“We also don’t know if the bandits have all the locations already or only that of the Sundex,” Alyona said. “So, the best option is to ensure we keep it safe with us until we find a new hiding place. We don’t want them to steal it out from under us like they did with the Sundex.”
“Either way, we have to find it first,” I declared. “And we will take
it as His Eminence has decided.”
“Of course,” the lady mage replied with a sullen expression.
Naomi didn’t seem to be used to someone else telling her what to do, but she would have to get used to following my lead, especially when it came to what King Rodion had ordered.
“So, what forest is within a couple hours of travel?” I diverted the conversation back to the riddle. None of the arguments would matter if we didn’t have the relics in hand to protect them.
“Kawai Forest is within that distance, but it is not barren,” Lord Vallen answered with a sigh. “Our people hunt there often, so it is filled with many different creatures.”
“What about the Bileu Forest?” Naomi suggested. “No one has been there in ages because of the stories of beasts who dwell among the giant trees. I don’t know for certain if it is completely barren with no one to venture into it, though.”
“I don’t believe the beasts are dragons, but everything else fits,” her brother replied as he rubbed at his chin. “That could be it.”
“Then we need to go there,” I decided. “We don’t know for sure the riddle was referring to dragons, so if the rest of the riddle makes sense for it, we have to go and check it out. Nike and Aaliyah, you stay here with Lord Vallen and keep an eye out for the thieves. They already have the Sundex, but that’s not the only thing of value in the catacombs.”
“We’ll take care of them,” Aaliyah growled as she flexed her claws.
Nike nodded gravely. “They won’t touch anything else in this city.”
“And Lord Vallen, you make sure the guards are still on high alert,” I ordered as I turned to face the lizard Demi-Human. “We should be the only ones leaving or coming into the city right now.”
“Of course, my lord,” Vallen agreed with a nod. “I’ll tell them at once.”
With that, the lizard Demi-Human scurried out of the room and out the front door to speak with the guards.
“The rest of us can load up in a couple wagons and head out to the forest,” I said. “Naomi, I assume you can lead us there?”
“Yes, of course,” she replied with a smirk. “I know this land like the back of my hand.”
Nike and Aaliyah followed us outside but stopped to talk with the guards at the door. The rest of us waved and continued past the castle grounds and onto the road. A few of the guards rushed over with two of our wagons and our horses in tow, and the lizard Demi-Humans began to attach the horses to the wagons and laid the reins on the front seat.
I lifted Alyona into the first wagon, and Laika climbed up next to her and grabbed the reins. Then I looked over at Naomi, who stared at the wagon with uncertainty.
“It’s just to ride on,” I chuckled. “You need to be in the front with us, so you can tell us where to go.”
“I’ve never ridden behind a horse,” she replied as she gazed at the creatures. “Do they listen well?”
“Yes, Laika is great with them,” I confirmed. “What do you normally use?”
“Camels,” Naomi answered. “They travel well and don’t require much maintenance.”
“Well, we don’t have those.” I smirked. “Now, hop on. We need to get going.”
I held my hand out to help her into the wagon, but she clenched her jaw and grabbed the side to pull herself up. Her foot slipped, and I leapt forward to grab her waist. She squirmed out of my grip and up onto the seat, and then she turned to face the front and crossed her arms over her chest without looking back at me.
I stifled a laugh as I climbed up after her, and Ravi, Miraya, and the dryads hopped into the second wagon.
Laika turned and raised an eyebrow at me before she whipped the reins, and we rode down the bumpy street to the gate. Several of the lizard Demi-Humans stood outside their homes and watched our small caravan leave with confused expressions until Naomi smiled and waved. Most of them seemed to relax when they saw her with us, and I wondered if they thought we would leave before the bandits were taken care of.
The people of Rahma would soon learn that was not my way, though.
Naomi waved to the guard at the top of the wall, and the gate out of the city creaked open. We continued through the opening into the desert and then headed toward the Bileu Forest.
As we began our trip, I conjured a messenger dragon in my palm, and the kaleidoscope-colored creature preened himself in my hand as he awaited my orders.
“Go to Valerra and Ruslan,” I commanded the tiny beast. “Tell them we’ve made it to Kana, and everything in Colaruma has been fixed. Make sure they’re alright.”
The little dragon nodded, lifted from my hand, and zoomed toward Hatra.
Naomi watched the dragon with mild interest and then returned to staring out the side of the wagon.
The sun beat down as we bumped along in the sand. Alyona had pulled Sila’s journal from her spatial storage and began to read through all of her spells, and Naomi peered over her shoulder and followed along.
Every once in a while, I thought I could see the forest ahead, but it seemed the desert continued to play tricks on my eyes as we traveled on. I thought about how the bandits seemed to keep coming in waves, and I wondered how we would cut the head off the snake. Groups like this always had a leader, just like the Green Glass Sect had Olivier, so I’d like to cut his head off, too.
My inner dragon roared in approval. He enjoyed all the bloodshed, and we grinned together as we remembered cutting the head from Whitaker’s traitorous body when I learned about how he’d been stealing from the people of Colaruma.
Finally, I saw a copse of trees that didn’t disappear.
“There,” Naomi said as she pointed to the forest. “That’s where we’re going.”
The Bileu Forest loomed over the wagons as we got closer to the edge of the trees. The trees themselves were huge, and I suddenly felt like a dwarf. The trunks were wide enough to drive two cars through, and the tops were so high above us, I couldn’t pick out individual leaves. It looked like a thick, green tent had been stretched across the space, and the result was a dark, ominous forest ahead. Not one drop of sunlight dripped through the canopy of leaves, and it seemed the trees prevented any grass or plants from growing.
It looked like we might have found the right place.
I hopped out of the wagon and glanced around. I couldn’t hear anything from inside the forest, and it made me a little wary, but it was another confirmation about the barren part of the riddle.
“I’m going to fly overhead and check it out,” I announced. “I don’t like the quiet.”
Alyona nodded, and I stepped back from the wagons and shifted into my dragon form. Once my big body took shape, I flapped my wings and hovered above the caravan, and then I took off above the forest. I looked down at the huge trees, and I realized the leaves were so thick I still couldn’t see the forest floor. Even from up here, I could only see a big, emerald blanket draped over the trees. There looked to be one spot about a quarter mile in that had some tiny gaps in the canopy, but I couldn’t see through the small holes.
I growled as I looped around and came back to my group at the edge of the forest. I landed with a thud and shook my large body with annoyance.
“Can’t see a damn thing,” I grumbled as I shifted back into my human body. “The trees and leaves are too thick.”
“Then we’ll just have to go in and look,” Naomi replied and hopped off the wagon. She landed in the sand without a sound, and her amber eyes glowed with excitement at the idea of the adventure.
“Carefully,” Laika reminded the mage as she climbed down from the wagon. “We have no idea what beasts are guarding the artifact or how to stop them. We must proceed with caution.”
“But we do have a badass dragon,” Trina pointed out as she, her sisters, and Ravi walked over from the other wagon.
“The most badass dragon,” Polina agreed.
“So, any dragons that might be in there won’t stand a chance!” Marina added as she smashed her fist into her other p
alm.
“Let’s just stay together and follow the path,” I suggested with a laugh and pointed to the opening between the trees. “But don’t worry. I’ll handle anything that comes our way.”
I winked before I led the women into the dark forest, lit a fireball in my palm, and glanced over my shoulder to see Naomi do the same. The path was dark, and the further we got from the entrance, the darker it became. Soon, our fires were the only things that illuminated the path at all. The sand quickly transitioned into soft soil, and moss covered the sides of several trees. Creeping vines wound up the sides of the gigantic trees, and it was the only signs of life in the forest.
There were no birds cawing, no bugs skittering across the ground, and no creatures hopping from tree to tree. It was a bit eerie to be in such a large place with no sign of any animals, and it seemed the beasts Naomi had mentioned must have scared off anything that could have been living here. The further we walked, the bigger the trees seemed to become. Then I could see a glint of light up ahead, and I motioned for everyone to be on the lookout. The light was small and unmoving, but I wasn’t sure what I’d seen just yet.
As we got closer, I realized the light was from the sun, but only a few small beams poked through and lit the forest floor with small dots.
This must be the place I’d caught a glimpse of when I flew above the forest.
We stopped at the edge of the clearing, and we could see the largest tree so far. The trunk was the size of a house, and it stood in the middle of the clearing. The branches soared up to the top of the forest, and it felt like we stood under a skyscraper.
“This must be it,” I whispered in awe.
“I don’t see anything,” Naomi murmured back. “No dragons, no guards, nothing.”
“Let me get a closer look,” I said, and I stepped out into the clearing as I pulled my fireball back into my hand. The beams of sunlight gave me just enough light to see by, and I didn’t want to make myself a target.
I took another step toward the giant tree and paused when I heard the slightest sound of scuffling feet. I decided to send out a wave of echolocation, but then someone stepped out from behind the tree, and my mouth fell open.
