by LJ Davies
Is it just me, or do those restraints move like they're alive? I observed, as I saw two more dragons being heaved deeper into the rotten hollow.
Smaller goblins made off with what sets of armour and weapons they could gather, while more orkin goaded the prisoners forwards with long spears and red-hot barbs.
I felt a sharp spike in my already simmering rage at the sight of orkin slavery, images of my friends bound in cages and forced to fight in Taldran's arena flooding back. I really had to fight off the burning urge to leap down and kill them all, and by the way Neera grit her teeth, I was sure she was thinking the same.
"Skies curse these brutes, this must be where they took the survivors from Talon's Rest," she growled, clawing at the snowy moss in frustration.
There’s got to be something we can do. I wondered, scouring the fortress. I can deal with them, but not while Neera's here, I won't risk her life too.
"Come on, we have to get back to the others," I declared. She looked at me with a shocked expression.
"Wait, you're just going to leave?" she asked.
"I didn’t say that, but we need a plan," I countered.
She seemed unsure, but said nothing as we crept back through the tangled forest in search of another clearing.
"I can't believe they actually live in something like that; they're no better than cockroaches," Neera snapped angrily.
"I have a feeling what we did in Taldran drove them to the extreme," I responded, and she at least seemed to brighten up at that.
"I suppose setting a giant golden dragon on them will do that, but this is Shadow Fen, not Valcador. Things out here are just sick. They always have been," she responded.
I swallowed, glancing away.
The last thing I need's another friend who disagrees with me.
"The golden dragon – what happened to it after I left?" I asked, harbouring a faint glimmer of hope that the centurion may have levelled the whole of Taldran.
"There wasn't much left of anything when we left, but your giant death-machine was gone," she explained, confirming my theory regarding Balgore's new attire.
How many more orkin have that armour too?
My thoughts trailed off when Neera suddenly stopped again, tensing up and staring into the trees.
"What is it?" I questioned, stopping as the branches about us creaked and groaned eerily.
"I don't know. Let's just get out of here," she replied.
There was no hesitation from me as I moved on, scouring the trees with my own sharp senses.
"Are you sure?" I whispered again, seeing nothing amidst the damp gloom.
"Trust me; there’s nothing that can get by..."
A sharp yelp cut her response short when the ground under her paws erupted in a shower of snow and leaves. I leapt back, my paws brushing against the ground as a rattling net hoisted her kicking and flapping into the trees. Instinctively, I coiled back, aiming for the thick tether connecting the trap to the branches, but then I froze.
Those feathers may keep her warm, but she's far from fireproof.
Unfortunately, something else had no problem interfering as it wrapped itself tightly around my muzzle, dragging me back into the undergrowth. The foul scent of whatever it was burned my nostrils when I inhaled. Fortunately, my ambusher hadn't counted on my strength, and I kicked back, flapping my wings before they finally let go. I spun to face them, my wings flaring and blades sparking to life before I froze.
"Tarwin!?" I exclaimed in utter surprise at the sight of the equally shocked girl staggering back.
"Blaze!?" she stuttered, and I felt my wings’ arcane weaponry relax at the sound of her voice, at least until she added.
"Did you just talk?"
Chapter 5
Reunions
"What?" My thoughts came crashing to a stop, leaving me unable to stammer anything more.
Shock and surprise suffocated the idea that this wasn't real, that it was some kind of dream.
It's a trick, this isn't her, it's Mordrakk’s doing and she's most certainly not heard me talk. Humans can't understand any race other than their own!
Tarwin, for her part, looked to be experiencing the same level of stunned confusion, though she also appeared to recover far swifter as she pulled herself back to her knees.
"You're here, you're... I thought you were dead!" she uttered as she leant forward and wrapped her arms around me.
Her leather clothing was battered, worn and covered in an extra layer of fur pelts. Her skin was pale and dotted with numerous cuts, bruises and scratches. Even so, she felt real, and the sight of the smooth bow on her back along with her father’s equally recognisable battle-axe cemented the idea.
T–this is really happening.
"So are you," I muttered weakly.
She let go and rapidly jumped back, as if somehow, I'd suddenly changed into some kind of venomous monster.
"You just talked again. You've never talked!" she stuttered.
"I did?" I replied, pressing a forepaw to my snout as she jumped again, laughing as if she were crazy.
"You’re... By the spirits, you're talking!" she exclaimed.
"I can't talk. I mean, I know I can, but it’s impossible for you to understand me. This has to be a trick," I reasoned, but she didn't seem to care.
"Blaze, this isn't a trick. You're talking, and wow! Your voice, it's so, so… normal," she continued, shock fading as I looked her in the eye.
How can she possibly understand me?
"How are you doing this!?" I demanded, pointing a wing at her accusingly, but she just laughed.
"Wow! I never thought you'd look so adorable ever again, but you're so cute with that voice!" she teased through her uncontrolled giggling.
"Of all the things, I'm not cute!" I protested, but she just carried on laughing.
I'm a dragon, I'm not cute! I thought, pouting with a huff.
"Get off me, you featherless freaks!"
Neera's angry voice caught my attention as I heard the sound of ropes and a scuffle. The disturbance forced me back to reality and I leapt back through the bushes toward her. The faldron was on the ground, surrounded by several humans as she thrashed and squirmed, flames spewing from her muzzle as she forced them back.
"Get away from her!" I shouted as I barged between them, flaring my wings.
It seemed my newfound talent for speech extended to more than Tarwin, as all of the humans staggered back like frightened children. Meanwhile, Neera paused, looking at me like a stranger.
"Wait, they understood that?" she observed, testing her own voice.
They offered her colourful words no response, though they continued to stare at me.
"You’re just full of surprises, aren't you?" she stated as she locked eyes with the humans, coiling back defensively.
"Believe me, this one is as much a surprise to me as it is to you," I replied.
"Yeah, so was that time you came back from the dead," she added, ruffling her feathers. "Don't worry, I'm getting used to it."
"Put your weapons down, all of you!" Tarwin commanded, emerging from the brush.
Her companions gave her a confused look while she approached the pair of us. Just as I placed my tail before Neera to stop her from lashing out.
"What are you doing?" another vaguely familiar voice questioned as the man it belonged to emerged from the forest.
"I thought we were hunting beast-men, not dragons – and certainly not my friend," Tarwin told the newcomer scornfully.
He looked as perplexed at her words as he did my own, and it was at that moment that I put a name to his face.
Yorik, that man tried to drive a sword through me last time we met!
I had to admit that I'd little idea whether that had been his true intention in the midst of the night’s chaos, but I still bared my teeth at his approach, which only seemed to bolster his bitterness.
"Your friends, they're animals," he responded.
"I'll show you an animal," Neera
barked.
I almost wanted to let her loose, but they remained oblivious to her challenge.
"Aren't we all just animals at the end of the day?" Tarwin countered, swiping a bow from his grip. "Now, are you going to stand there wasting time, or do you want to go and check the rest of the traps? If not, go and check on the horses or do something else useful," she commanded, and he reluctantly waved a few of the other men away into the forest.
Tarwin scowled, but seemed satisfied as she turned back to us. Kneeling before me, she observed the strap around my neck.
"Come on, Blaze, tell me I'm not crazy," she implored, placing a hand on the canteen hanging over my chest. "I know you just spoke."
"You're not crazy," I responded, and both her and Yorik's expression told me this was all too real.
"Great spirits, it really did talk," the latter expressed with surprise as he staggered back and shifted to unsheathe a smaller knife from his belt.
Tarwin didn't notice, she just laughed while Neera’s fearsome look focused on the small blade being slowly manipulated in the man's fingers.
"Please, don't ask me how I'm doing this, it’s strange enough already," I almost begged, and her smile widened.
"It's not that strange, you've got the most handsome voice I've heard in a long time," she offered, placing a hand on top of my head. "I thought we agreed never to wear this stuff, it's too noisy," she chastised, tapping the golden plates covering my head.
"That's if you don't scare every animal away with the amount of noise you're making first," I retorted, and she gasped, forcing a pained expression.
Yep, this is definitely the real Tarwin, for sure.
"Are you finished?" Yorik questioned. "Because I don’t know if you've noticed, but you’re talking to a golden lizard."
"First off, he's a dragon, and he's white, not gold. That stuff’s just…" She glanced between me and her fellow human, while I ruffled my wings and shifted my paws.
"Armour," I offered, not fully understanding the arcane metal's true workings. "The unconventional kind."
My simple answer was enough to complete her awkward explanation as she looked back at Yorik, who merely grumbled and turned away.
"What does it matter anyway?" he stated, before taking his bow back from her. "Come on, we still have to figure out how to get the others out of that fortress."
Fortress? Neera's head rose sharply at his statement, as did my own.
"The one by the river?" we asked simultaneously, although only my words garnered a response.
Yorik paused and glanced at Tarwin, who in turn, scowled and glanced back at me.
"You've seen it?" she asked, and I nodded, a response closer to our usual method of communication.
"They've taken a lot more than humans," I advised, saddened by the fact that one of our first real conversations brought bad news.
She just nodded, looking back at her companion with an expression I knew all too well.
That's her 'let’s try something reckless’ face. She had it the day this all started.
"No, you can't be serious," he responded, clearly knowing that look too.
"I'd like to see any beast-man fortress stand between me and him on a good day," she declared proudly, nodding to me.
As relieved as I was to realise that what had happened back home hadn't severed our bond, I'd a horrible idea about what she was planning. Yorik gave a low grumble, folding his arms as he leaned back against a tree.
He really doesn't like dragons, or any race by the sounds of it. I noted, seeing a lot of Tarwin's late father in the man. I don't think he has half a chance of holding her back though.
His consternation between the old ways and this strange new reality was ended by a sudden thud and the draft from a pair of large wings. Snow and leaves scattered as the wind whipped violently, branches snapping as Soaren thudded to the ground between us. A torrent of grey flame far superior to that which Neera had displayed exploded from his muzzle, narrowly missing Yorik and Tarwin as they darted aside. I felt a surge of rage when I almost saw my oldest friend roasted alive, but before I could do anything, Risha and Boltock landed beside me, the latter far more unsure of the human threat than his sister.
"What in the creators’ name are you doing?" Risha hissed, as if I were a hatchling that had gone against all instructions only to wind up in inevitable peril.
I shook her off rapidly pushing myself between Soaren and my human friend.
"Don't bother negotiating, their minds have been mangled for an age," the air elemental advised.
"Stop it. They're not going to hurt anyone!" I demanded, glancing back at Yorik cautiously as he readied an arrow.
Tarwin leapt up and shoved his weapon down, confiscating the sharp projectile.
"He's right, stand down," she instructed, placing her own bow and battle-axe on the floor.
It took only a second for the others to realise what had just transpired, and the inevitable questions came in swift union.
"Wait, they can understand you!?"
"Of course they can, language is not a barrier to one bearing the armour of my masters. These mortals would do well to show respect to their Guardian and his peers," Apollo chimed distastefully, levitating down from the tangled trees to perch on a branch.
All eyes turned to the golden hawk as his head rotated to peer at the humans.
"Now, may I introduce myself?" he proposed, continuing with the same scripted introduction he always boasted while the gears in my mind worked to fit the puzzle together.
"Wait, so my armour allows me to speak to them?" I asked.
"Indeed it does, Guardian; however, I am detecting slight anomalies in the vocalisation of this particular species. It is oddly reminiscent of ancient infernal magic. I’m having trouble recognising the source," he added.
I cut his explanation off with a shake of my head.
"But I can talk to them?" I pressed.
"Of course, your armour and I are fitted with vocalisation talismans. Both enchantments are equipped to function no matter the language or state of those with sufficient intellect one wishes to communicate with," he told me, as if I should know. "Should I tell them to surrender?"
"What? No! Don’t say anything, I can do the talking," I instructed, motioning for him to wait behind me.
"Hardly, those scaleless, soft skins have been nothing but barbarians in the north since the days of the Guardian War. The children of Mordrin, not much of a legacy, if you ask me," Soaren scoffed.
His prejudice was hard to accept, but I shook it off and ignored him as I moved over to Tarwin.
"How many people have the orkin, beast-men or whatever you want to call them taken?" I asked, hoping that she'd treat me as if we'd always had the advantage of vocal communication.
"After the village was destroyed, we were forced to wander the wilderness. They killed and kidnapped at least half a dozen people before we tracked them here," she explained with a hint of regret.
"Wait, you're not seriously considering helping them, are you? We shouldn't even be able to talk to them," Soaren interrupted.
"Indeed, it would appear that their kind has been cursed by an ancient form of magic, rendering their language useless to all other species. May I recommend…"
Apollo was quickly silenced by my stern glare.
"I think they've taken prisoners from Talon's Rest too – dragons, griffins and their families. Do you really want to leave them?" I asked, stealing Soaren’s challenge.
"If that’s true, there could be an entire wing of Fire Order dragons down there. They were the dragons we were supposed to meet," Boltock interjected, straightening his armour.
Dragons that could soon become an entire wing of ebons, if we don’t save them. I thought to myself.
At her brother's admission, I glanced at Risha, and despite what she might currently think of me, she didn’t disagree.
"I can't help feeling that you plan these things," she sighed, anger softening as she stepped up
to my side.
"Planning would suggest I know what I’m doing," I added, offering a weak smile.
"At least the part of you that doesn't sit about and do nothing is still in there," she observed, lightly nudging my side with her wing.
"It seems you're full of surprises," Soaren added with a snort, backing down slightly.
"So, you want to attack the beast-men’s fortress with a small army of dragons?" Yorik asked sceptically, and Tarwin smiled as she nodded.
"As much as I know you'll hate it, yes I do," she confirmed confidently.
Yorik mumbled something about cursed spirits, before she offered him his arrows back and ushered him toward the river.
"I hope you really do have a plan," Soaren suggested, shooting me an uncertain look as we followed our new allies.
*
The blackened walls of rotting bark and sickly spires of twisted decay looked no less foreboding from the opposing riverbank. A large group of orkin stood watch amidst the tangled thicket of crawling roots, while two more were mounted on manticores.
I studied the scene from the cover of a fallen log, trying to pick out the entry points, the most prominent of which was a small hole on the left side, connecting to the cliff via a small log bridge.
Risha, Boltock and Tarwin were beside me, while Soaren and Neera sheltered further down the bank. Yorik and the rest of the humans had taken up a vantage point on the cliffside, along with Apollo, the construct serving as a means of communication.
I'd no doubt that Soaren and Neera could deal with the manticores, despite my reluctance to ask it of them. While Risha, Boltock and the others could deal with the creatures on the ground.
That just leaves Tarwin and I.
"What about the ones inside, how do we know they won't just execute everyone before we get there?" Boltock asked.
"Because I'm going to sneak inside before you attack," I stated, nodding to the small side entrance.
He seemed concerned but didn't appear to have any major problems with the idea; in fact, he seemed to admire it. His sister admired it less so, glancing up at the smaller entrance with a frown. I knew exactly what she was about to say, and I opened my muzzle before she could do so.
