Serpentine Risen

by C. K. Rieke

  Lilaci let those comments roll through her mind, then she heard the girl on her lap snore. She placed her hand on the side of Kera’s arm. “If there are more eggs in these lands, we need to find them,” she said. “Roren, you said that Kera had a vision in the past, and she told you to go to that cave where the dragon egg was. Do you think Kera would know where another egg is? Or does she have the ability to have another vision like that one she had back then?”

  “The visions aren’t summoned,” he said. “They come and go like the rain. They are rare, but I do remember the day she had that vision. It was a hot day in the season of Sonna, when we found a sacred source. Kera was weak from thirst and the first to drink from the well. She said she had the vision while looking into the well. It was a voice that climbed into her mind and told her I needed to go to that cave and wait for her there.”

  “She’s the only one who can tell us where the eggs are,” Veranor said. “I’ve just got to train her to sense them out.”

  “You’re not training her to do anything,” Lilaci spat. “We will talk with her in the morning about this. And remember, Veranor, Kera is in charge. Not you.”

  Chapter Three

  Looking out onto the endless horizon of the desert sands, Lilaci watched as the sun danced in waves as it peeked up over the great dunes in the distance. She clutched her knees into her chest and put her hands up to her mouth, blowing on them to warm them. Around her lay the others in their party, nestled in their warm, yet thin linens. She stoked the fire with a thin, dead branch, grabbed her watersack and took a sip of the cool liquid.

  Next to her, Kera shifted underneath her blanket, and with a hardly-open, squinted eye, looked up at Lilaci. Lilaci smiled back down at her. “Go back to sleep, you’ve still got time to rest.”

  Kera sat up, yawned with a big open mouth, stretching her arms out wide. “Why don’t you get some rest? I can look out for a while. I know I’m just a girl, but I can do lookout. It doesn’t always have to be one of you.”

  Lilaci smiled at Kera and motioned for her to come closer. Kera scooted over to her and placed her head on Lilaci’s chest. Lilaci wrapped her arm around her. “I know, Kera. I suppose I just like looking out for you.”

  “What are we doing today?” Kera asked. “I fell asleep while you were all talking last night. Did you come up with a plan? I know from now on we aren’t going to sit in one spot for too long.”

  “We didn’t specifically come up with a destination. Actually, we didn’t even agree on a direction. But the commander did give some advice that should be worth considering,” Lilaci said as Kera pulled her head back to look at Lilaci’s expression.

  “Veranor?”

  “Yes, he said our best option to fight off an army, was to raise more dragons,” Lilaci said.

  Kera lowered her head and looked down at the smoldering fire. “Yes, Herradax needs a mate.”

  “You’re saying the dragon you raised needs to mate? Are you just realizing this, or have you know this all along?” I’m surprised at how nonchalantly she said that. It’s as if she knew it already, or felt it . . .

  Kera’s eyes darted back up to Lilaci. “I suppose so, I hadn’t considered it before. But now, it seems so obvious. That sort of happens with me sometimes. I’m sorry.”

  “Where do we find her a mate? Do you know where to find more dragon eggs?”

  Kera looked out on the horizon, in the direction of the rising yellow sun and it separated from the dunes below it, levitated higher by the second. “No, I don’t think I do.”

  “That’s OK. We will find them, together. Roren said you had a vision when you were younger. Do you remember that?”

  Kera nodded.

  “Is there a way you could do that again?”

  “I don’t think so,” Kera said. “The elders in my group used to try ways to get me to see things. They didn’t work. My visions seem to never come whenever I want. But when they came, they were like a dream, but—clearer. It was like I was awake in a dream. I could feel the things I touched, I could taste and smell like I was awake. I saw the egg in my dream, I didn’t know what it was, but I knew it was important. I told the elders where it was, and how long it needed to be protected, so they sent out Roren. I felt bad for him, because I knew he’d have to live in the dark for so long, all alone.”

  “I’m sure he was honored to do so,” Lilaci said. “And it was for a great purpose.”

  “I wish I could have another vision whenever I needed one,” Kera said. “Because I feel like I could use one now.”

  “What about Herradax?” Lilaci said. “Do you think she’d give you any clue as to where to find another egg?”

  Kera looked up to the sky, at a flying v of birds with long tails as they flew by high overhead. “I . . . I don’t know. I wish I did.”

  “It’s alright. I’m sure we will know more when the time comes.”

  “What are you to going on about?” Fewn said as she sat up from under her linens. “I was finally getting some good sleep.”

  Kera smiled. “Sorry.”

  Fewn rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “Well, do you know where we’re going yet?”

  “We’ve discussed it,” Lilaci said. “But we’re not sure just yet, but I still say we walk toward the mountains. More food and water there, maybe some shelter.”

  “Beats staying here all day,” Fewn said, rising to her feet. “Get up too, you lazy critters.” She nudged Roren and Burr both with her foot, trying to wake them from their slumber. Burr snored loudly as she shifted him, but then awoke with a disdainful eye up at her.

  “Well—” Roren said, “—best be moving, it’s gonna be a warm one today.”

  On the other side of the fire, Veranor sat up, leaning closer to the fire, and peered up at Kera. Lilaci felt unnerved by the way he looked at her, it reminded Lilaci of the way he looked at her when she was young. What is he thinking? Is he looking at her like she’s a tool? A weapon, like he did with me? What ideas are rolling through his mind? I’d just as well cut him down here and let him bleed out on the sands, the others would help me without question, and with my Sanzoral he wouldn’t stand a chance against me. But she trusts him, for some reason Kera wants us to trust him. I’ll do it for her, but just looking at him now makes my stomach turn.

  “I take it you two discussed already our conversation last night?” Veranor asked.

  Kera nodded. “I’m sorry but I can’t see whenever I wish.”

  Veranor glared over at Lilaci.

  “She needs time,” she said. “It will come. And Kera mentioned we may not need to find many eggs, but one. A male.”

  “Oh,” Roren said. “A king for a queen?” He smiled. “Yes, that’d do.”

  “So,” Burr said in a gruff voice. “We just got to find one. Should be easy.” He laughed, and got to his feet, folding his linen and stuffing it into his pack. “Well, we best be going. There’s a lot of desert to scour.”

  “We figured we’d head north for the mountains,” Lilaci said. “Seek shelter and gather supplies for the next trek.”

  “I still think we need to form together with my knights,” Burr said. “We’d increase our numbers right away.”

  “And draw more attention,” Veranor added. “It’d be more difficult to keep lurking eyes away if we traveled with one hundred, or however many of your kind are left—but you know that.”

  “My knights aren’t far off from where we are heading,” Burr said, and laid an angry eye at Veranor. “And yes, Scaether, I know marching with that many draws attention. But if it’s supplies and shelter you seek, our compound is fortified. We’d be safe there, at least the rest of us would be.”

  “I fear not of your failed order, Whiteblade,” Veranor scoffed. “If need be, Lilaci, Fewn, and I would decimate your knights if the situation required it.”

  “Veranor,” Kera said is a soft, yet perturbed voice. “He’s one of us.”

  Veranor bowed to Kera. “I apologize for my words, m’lady.”
He grabbed his watersack from the ground and took two gulps from it.

  Burr stared at him all the while. “You’re lucky she’s here,” he snapped.

  “We all are,” the commander said.

  “You two are too much,” Fewn said. “Are you going to be like this every day? It’s entertaining and all, but I envision it getting old.”

  “So—” Roren said. “To the Gí Donlan Mountain Range?”

  “Yes,” Lilaci said.

  A sound rippled through the air like booming thunder. Even Veranor shifted his feet and ducked from the sound. Then the sound echoed through the air like nothing they’d ever heard before. Looking up at the sky, ribboned with crimson red clouds, soared a dragon with great wings outstretched as it ripped through the air. It roared again, letting its mighty presence be seen and heard for miles all around.

  “Herradax,” Kera said with a smile. “She’s bigger.”

  “Yes,” Roren said. “Yes, she is.”

  “She’s magnificent,” Fewn said, her eyes widening.

  The dragon soared overhead, its long dark-gray body shimmered in the sunlight as it reflected off its dragonscales. Its sharp wings tore through the air like a knife through parchment. Its head dipped down, and it appeared to look into Kera’s eyes. The dragon’s eyes were piercing, and even Lilaci felt an instinctual fear of the gaze of a dragon. It’s curled horns atop its head had grown, and the red stripe it had only days before, had turned to three stripes. It had easily doubled in size since then, perhaps even more.

  “She’s going to be full-grown soon,” Burr said. “It seems the deserts have missed her and granted her unnatural growth.”

  “Anybody notice which way she’s flying?” Roren said.

  “East,” Burr said.

  “Perhaps that’s a sign,” Lilaci said.

  “What’re we waiting for?” Kera said, hefting her small pack up to her back.

  “That's . . .” Fewn said. “That leads back toward the cities, back toward Voru . . .”

  The group then looked at Kera, who still watched the mighty dragon with its wings spread tear through the skies as it let out another loud roar that shook the ground. “We follow Herradax,” she said. “I trust her.”

  Chapter Four

  The bright sun loomed high overhead. Beads of sweat dripped down Lilaci’s forehead, trickling over her eyebrows and ran down her lips and chin. Sonna was the hottest season of the year, but with the season of Wendren rolling in, usually bringing with it a cool chill in the air, but this day was especially hot. There wasn’t a single cloud to give them a reprieve from the scorching sun. Yet, they trudged on in the soft, hot sand.

  Lilaci looked forward, holding her hand over her eyes to stave off the blinding light. Roren carried Kera on his back as she drifted off to sleep. Fewn walked along with her head completely wrapped in her sash, save for an almost imperceivable slit for her dark eyes. Behind her, was Commander Veranor. His gaze snapped sharply to Lilaci’s, and she instinctively darted her eyes back and forth.

  At the lead of the pack was Burr, pushing forth. His long cape tails hovered slightly over the hot sand. I wonder what is going through his mind right now. He’s spent his entire life in hiding because of Veranor and his creations. To be this close to him, and not be able to unleash vengeance on the man that has killed so many, it must be a sort of torment.

  She picked up her pace and shot around Roren and Kera to walk up next to Burr’s side. He seemed calm, yet strong and not as fatigued as a man his age should be under such a hot sun. His eye peered at her from under his hood.

  “Lilaci,” he said, as if in greeting.

  “Demetrius,” she replied.

  They walked with each other for several minutes, making their way between two great dunes on either side of them before one of them spoke.

  “He sure had a hold on you, didn’t he?” Burr said. “Must’ve been a dark place you were in.”

  Lilaci thought about that, then looked up at the tall dunes that summited high above on both sides. “Yes, it was. Sure makes it that much sweeter to be out here, free. Even if it is as hot as the Eternal Hells.”

  “Are you free?” Burr asked as if not expecting an answer.

  Lilaci didn’t reply immediately, but then Burr looked over at her with an intense gaze. Then he looked back at Veranor. Lilaci did the same and saw that Veranor met both of their glances.

  “Yes, I am,” she said. “As free as I’ve ever been, and perhaps as much so as I’ll ever be. I wouldn’t ask to be anywhere else. He may be here, but we couldn’t ask to be at better odds against him if it came to it.”

  “I wouldn’t need anyone else to rip that monster apart,” Burr said, his teeth gritted and the wrinkles on his face grew taut.

  “He’s a certain kind of monster,” she said, “but he’s strong, and as determined as they come. I wouldn’t want to watch him take life from one that I care about. I’ll even admit if I didn’t have this magic, I worry about how much my skills would match against his. After all he trained me, but who knows what kind of secret knowledge he held in for himself.”

  “Argh, he’s only flesh and bone just like everyone else. All it would take is one blow to send him to his knees. I don’t know why the girl wants him here with us. Every step we take with him is another minute she’s in danger.”

  “With or without him,” she said. “She’s always going to be in danger as long as Dânoz and the other gods rule. Don’t think it doesn’t run through my mind. Roren too. Even Fewn must think of it constantly. She acts tough, but she remembers the pain of being back in Voru. Without us, she doesn’t have anything to her name, and he’s the one who took her from her family. I agree, I wouldn’t prefer him here either. But what’s Kera been wrong about, ever? She trusted Fewn who took her once of her own will, almost killing me, but here we are— free. She’s just a child, but there are forces at work within her, almost as if there is something watching over her from the other side—something telling her the path to walk. These visions she has, where do they come from? There are many things at play here we don’t understand, things we may never understand.”

  Burr groaned. “Let’s just find this damned dragon egg, let Kera do her magic, and this new war can begin to play out. We won’t need to band together like this once the dragons can mate once more. Our work will be done, Kera’s prophecy will be fulfilled, and we’ll have no need to walk with such a foul bastard.”

  “You think this will be over once we find the egg?”

  “Yes. You don’t?”

  She thought about that. Is he right? Once the dragons are free to roar the skies will they be the ones to go to war with the gods so that the lands will be free once again? In the last wars, the dragons had the help of man, of the Knights of the Whiteblade, but they still lost. I certainly hope that our part in this mess will be over, but what my heart wants, my mind is telling me otherwise.

  “My fight,” Burr said, “will never be done. Not as long as he’s alive, and Dânoz, Eyr, Fayell, Arymos, and Vigolos are alive. I truly wish that Kera will be able to rest and live the life of a normal girl after this. You can take her somewhere secret, and safe. Let her become the woman she is meant to be.”

  Lilaci envisioned Kera growing up, becoming a woman, and couldn’t help but smile. She sensed Roren pause behind them. She and Burr stopped and looked back as Roren let Kera slide off his back, he then rolled out a long cloth and ushered the girl to lay on it. “She just needs a few moments, she’s exhausted. Fewn, give me a hand, will you?” Fewn walked over and grabbed the long polls down from her back. They were pitching a tent for her to get some reprieve from the heat.”

  Burr and Lilaci both sat on their packs, and pulled out their watersacks to drink, shielding their eyes from the blinding sun with their hoods.

  Then, Lilaci felt a tension build up within their ranks. She lifted her head just enough to see Veranor standing close to Roren, close enough he could reach out and touch him. They exchanged words
and Roren’s posture stiffened. Even Fewn’s gaze shot up at the two. She could sense Burr was alert to the situation as well. Lilaci rose to her feet.

  “Veranor,” she called out.

  His eyes drifted over to her, Roren still intent on the commander. His hand hadn’t moved to his sword, but she could tell he was ready.

  “We should get moving,” Veranor said, Lilaci could tell by his wide stance, he was readying a defensive position.

  “She’s tired,” Roren said. “She’s just a girl, she shouldn’t be under this unnatural sun all day.”

  “Yeah,” Fewn added. “Just a few minutes.”

  Veranor moved his gaze from Fewn to Lilaci. “Can’t you feel it?”

  Lilaci felt it, she’d felt it all day, but she didn’t know what it was until he asked her.

  “I can see you do,” he said.

  “What’re you going on about?” Burr asked as his hand was rolling over the knuckles on his other hand. But he seemed to understand by Lilaci’s reaction that there was something to what he’d asked her.

  “Fewn,” Veranor said. “I know I trained you well enough to feel it.”

  She looked around, up at the high dunes on either side of them, and then back behind them. “Yes, I feel we are being watched as well. But not followed or stalked. It’s more like something or someone is watching from a distance.”

  Roren grabbed the hilt of his sword then and looked nervously around.

  “We should be moving again,” Veranor said.

  “You feel this as well?” Roren asked Lilaci. She nodded.

  “The girl will be fine,” Veranor said to Roren. “Perhaps it is you who needed the break. We shouldn’t stop until the cover of night, and then until we reach some form of shelter.

  Burr glared at Veranor. “No, we let Kera rest.”