by LJ Davies
"And what if you’re right and I’m no more than a shadow of the true Great Master? Then the only one you are denying is yourself," he goaded.
Finally, my head lifted, and with one flick of my tail I cut his image from the air.
Glancing back, I dared not meet the eyes of those who had seen my crazy outburst as they stared.
I look like such a fool; how do they still see me as a hero? I thought with a huff. Mordrakk's wrong; those are his lies, not mine.
The longer I dwelled on his words, the more the implications spun in my mind. If I were indeed wrong, he'd destroy the world the moment I retook the amulet, but if I was right, and he wasn't the real Mordrakk, there was a chance I could stop all of this. I could spend my whole life denying him, but if he was telling the truth, I'd only be denying myself, and all of those dark thoughts had been no one’s but my own.
*
The light of dawn came on swift wings, rising over the mountains to reveal another gloomy day, marred by rainy drizzle and the damp stench of an entire forest's worth of rotting wood. It didn't take long to load everyone up and once again take to the air, especially under Soaren's insistent command.
The grey dragon led us through the maze of rocky peaks and winding river valleys for what felt like hours. All the while I distracted myself by keeping an eye on Tarwin as she rode along the muddy tracks below.
Surely the orkin have to have sent something after us; an entire flock of manticores can't be far behind.
As the day wore on and the weather grew worse, I began to accept that the orkin might be the least of our worries.
"Wing leader, we must land, the featherwings cannot fly in these conditions while carrying the extra weight," called Talvana.
The look of frustration that passed over Soaren's face was not so subtle, but the weather forced him to agree.
"We'll find shelter down in the pass; we can walk to the overlook from there," he instructed, peering down at the terrain.
As he descended, I swooped down and passed the information on to Tarwin. As unhappy as she was about it, she was forced to agree, and before long, we were all settling down within one of the rocky valleys.
"Make for the tree cover," Soaren instructed as I landed behind him.
Tarwin rode up beside me, her horse’s tired steps slowing as she glanced at her wounded friend. Meanwhile, Ice Feather moved him from her talons and onto the saddle over Meadow Hide's back.
"Keep your eyes open, there are far more than orkin dwelling in these hills," Talvana advised, her narrowed eyes scouring the gloom.
Soaren nodded before motioning for her and two more soldiers to take positions at the front of the group. As they did, I looked out into the hills. Each sharp peak looming out of the mist looked almost like the shattered bones of some great skeleton set upon by the forest’s ravenous vegetation. Tarwin and the other horse-mounted humans passed behind me as I fell in line with Boltock and Risha to bring up the rear.
"Are you okay?" I asked my blue-scaled friend.
Removing her helmet, she shook her head as her dorsal fin sprang back into place. I could see where the orkin chain had marked her exposed neck and wings, and once again felt the sickly feeling that often accompanied the realisation of how quickly I recovered from my wounds.
"I'm fine, still just a little shaken," she admitted.
"Are you really?" I pressed, and her smile faded.
"Yes, Blaze, I'm fine; besides, isn't there a lot more you should be worrying about?" she replied, glancing between her brother and I, who was clearly pretending not to listen.
"I know, but if something happened to you, I'd never be able to forgive myself," I admitted, yet her stern look didn't falter.
"Did you ever stop to consider how anybody else would feel if something happened to you?" she asked.
"But it won't, it can't," I assured, while the dark scar under my armour betrayed the statement as she regarded it. "That's different," I muttered swiftly.
"How is it different? Or is it all part of what you’re not telling me?" she snapped.
"No, I mean it's nothing that you need to worry about," I insisted.
In the back of my mind, Mordrakk's voice pressured me to reveal the truth. Meanwhile, Risha took a deep breath, appearing more disappointed than frustrated.
"Look, I understand if you don't want to talk about it, there were a lot of things I only told you and... well, I just thought..." she muttered, glancing back at me in anticipation of more.
"You wouldn't want to know, because everything you told me, isn't real, none of this is real," I admitted, waving a forepaw toward the snowy cliffs. "It's all so small and fragile, and if you knew…" My voice trailed off.
"Do you think we'd be afraid?" she questioned, placing a wing on my shoulder.
I thought about that, knowing she was partially right. Even so, to provide her with at least some closure, I nodded. I could tell she knew that wasn't all of it, and yet she dropped the subject, brushing her wing back along mine.
"I'm sorry about what I said. I was frustrated with you – I still am – but you're still my friend, my best friend, and I'm sorry for my own lies," she paused, the words catching in her throat. "I still feel the same way as before."
She knows something about this war, this plan the Elders supposedly have to save the world?
As much as I hated the idea, she was keeping secrets, yet I trusted her enough to believe it was the right choice. Besides, it would be hypocritical of me to think otherwise.
"Thank you, and thanks for standing up for me," I replied.
Her smile failed to falter, and she lightly brushed my side with her wing.
"Well, who else would stand up for you like I do?" she teased.
"I would, and I can think of at least two more dragons... well, not really dragons, but they all would," Boltock added, counting on his foreclaws.
His sudden interruption was a clear sign he didn't care much for hiding his eavesdropping. Not only that, but it was becoming very clear that the sweet, lovable and possibly naive side of him simply wanted us all to be friends again.
Can I really say that's not all I want too?
"Are you two friends again now?" he asked hopefully, and Risha rolled her eyes.
"We were never anything other than friends. I mean, only the best of friends can get really mad at one another," she revealed, and he gave a slightly bemused smile.
"Nothing more than friends, right?" he teased, and both Risha and I exchanged knowing glances.
Embarrassment that I still failed to understand gripped me again as the muddy path we were taking rounded a sharp corner. Ahead, the cliff ended, and the ground rose steadily into mountainous peaks and valleys. Huge trees grew like a natural fortress upon the rough hillside, each one a mountain in its own right, their monolithic trunks rivalling Dardien's temple pillars in width. The lean bark was far from the tangled mass of thorny branches that covered the rest of Shadow Fen, and at the base of each, was a giant web of stocky roots, each thicker than a dragon's tail.
"This is it!" Boltock expressed eagerly, bounding across an old cobble bridge that spanned the river.
Both Risha and I looked at each other in confusion.
"This is what?" she asked.
"The Gallery of Thorns, you know, where legends say the curse of thorns was placed upon Shadow Fen?" Boltock answered, as if such a thing was written on every scroll.
"Come on, you're standing right next to a legend, surely you've heard of this!" he exclaimed, pointing at me.
He was about the only dragon that could joke about such things without sending me into a spiral of regret and anxiety. Even so, Risha seemed to disapprove of his blunt accusations, but my lack of disapproval forced her look to soften.
"He's right, you know, I thought you leatherwings were supposed to love all of that history stuff," Neera chipped in.
We all glanced up to see the faldron standing on a ledge above, a witty smile covering her muzzle. A momen
t later, she stood tall, sniffing the air.
"Still, I'd be just as wary of what might be in those trees as I am those of Shadow Fen," she warned, leaping down to the road and following Soaren, Tarwin and the others.
Boltock beamed at the confirmation of his knowledge before following after her, while his sister and I shared another glance.
What does she mean? What's in there that could be worse than anything else?
Bats and a whole manner of other dark creatures flitted amongst the towering bark monoliths, and I could feel my scales crawl at the sight of fungus lingering between the great roots. Rocks and other tough looking shrubbery broke up their mass, and only small patches of snow were able to work their way down through the bristling canopy. The winding path would have been invisible if not for Neera’s guidance. Both she and the griffins were far better at peering through the dark, even if Soaren didn't admit it.
As we moved on, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something watching us. It was far more than the feeling I usually got when something stalked me from the shadows. In here, it felt like there was a great deal more than Mordrakk’s illusion prowling the around. It was almost as if the whole forest had eyes, studying us like some kind of hungry predator awaiting the perfect time to strike.
Eventually, we reached an opening, where a great crevice tore deep into the hillside. One of the huge trees had fallen across the gap, its hollow insides providing a bridge up to some open ground on the opposing cliff top.
"We should stop – the wounded need time to rest and we need to find some food," Meadow Hide suggested, motioning to her back and two other equally-encumbered griffins.
Soaren's frustration was clear, but thankfully, he avoided an argument.
He cares more about their lives than he lets on. I noted as I came to a stop beside him
"Make a fire against the cliff face, and send someone out to hunt. Be swift, the trees will not hide our presence for long," he advised, motioning over to the rock face.
Tarwin and the other humans rode up on the opposite bank, before dismounting, tying their steeds to nearby trees and walking across the gorge. Neera lit the flame, while everyone else unloaded various cargo.
"Good, now see to them as best you can," Meadow Hide instructed, the language barrier making any form of efficient treatment difficult.
Seeing them struggle, I moved over to where the majority of the humans were being treated, motioning for Apollo to assist in communication.
"I swear, if one of them calls me bird again…" Ice Feather snorted, looking at me in particular.
"Well, I don't know. They're kind of growing on me; better than orkin, that is for sure," Meadow Hide responded as she struggled to apply green dressing to a human's leg.
I recognised the paste as something similar to the stuff Neera had used to help me, and sure enough, the faldron was already offering more to the other healers.
"They're about as interesting as my tail feathers," Ice Feather grumbled, flicking her notably featherless tail.
"Funny, I bet I could think of a few griffins who would find those pretty interesting," Meadow cooed, and Ice Feather uttered a shrill eep as her eyes went wide.
"Stay quiet, the pair of you," Soaren hissed, before turning back to a hushed conversation with Talvana and the other dragons.
Taking a page from the wing leader's book, I left them to their awkward grumblings, finding my way to Tarwin. She was looking over Yorik's unconscious body as he trembled in his restless sleep.
"You should see if you can find anything in the woods that will slow the poison," Risha suggested, appearing at my side.
"Do you know about anything that could help?" I asked.
She considered her response while Tarwin inspected the blackened wound spreading across her friend’s slowly decaying leg.
"You could find some narcotics to keep him unconscious and dull the pain. Like I said, I've never seen poison like this before," she admitted, and my hope faded as she continued to mumble to herself. "Gar leaves... or maybe Moon Crescent, that will be one of the only flowers in bloom this season."
"No, you should try to find Star Bloom. They're usually quite rare, but if there is one thing Shadow Fen's renowned for, it's magical plants," Neera interrupted as she finished her round of assistance.
We both looked at her curiously as she elaborated further.
"It’s a big, glowing white flower. It should give him at least another day or two."
Translating her words for Tarwin was simple enough, even with the weird way in which Neera moved her paws to indicate the flower's dimensions.
"Well, what are we waiting for? We don't want to be out there too long," Tarwin responded, drawing her bow as she stood and looked out into the forest.
"I'm never one to say no to a good scavenger hunt." Neera perked up eagerly.
"Can you watch him? You know more about this stuff than any of us," I asked Risha, nodding to Yorik.
Despite recent revelations, he was still one of the last people I'd want to leave her with. But she was the only one who knew anything about healing practices. She glanced between the others and I before nodding her acknowledgement.
"I'm coming too," Boltock called out, "I'm not staying here with grumpy feathers, sour-scales or those frightened, well..." he waved a paw at the humans.
It wasn't hard to understand why he didn't put a name to them; he wasn't as set on seeing the good in people as his sister. Nevertheless, his emotion, coupled with his exertions, was evidently enough for Tarwin to discern what he was saying about her people.
"Can't we just all be friends?" she proposed.
"You should go and take care of them, we'll find those herbs," I told her, and despite her clear objection, I could see a new sense of responsibility wash over her.
"Be careful," she advised, jabbing the end of her bow into my shoulder.
"Funny, before yesterday I thought you were the one who needed to be careful," I laughed, and she lightly batted my wing with the weapon.
"Yeah, maybe I was until you decided to creep into that cursed fortress," she berated.
"Oh, and if you need to talk to the others, just ask Apollo, tell him I sent you and he'll do anything you ask," I added, glancing at the baffled construct before moving off into the forest with Boltock and Neera close behind.
Chapter 7
The Paragon
My previous observations of the trees’ scale were put to shame as we moved through the mass of damp vegetation covering the frosty ground between them. The living palace looming over us was almost greater than the golden temples I'd seen in my dreams.
Some of these trunks are large enough to hold an entire house! I thought, as we traversed tunnels bore into the roots.
A calm wind blew across the vast sprawl of ferns and small saplings, its movement enough to disturb the small snowdrifts. Through the softly shifting landscape, I could see other things moving, as if there were a hundred eyes lingering just beyond my sight. The idea that the forest was alive became even more disturbing as we passed several trees that, with a small amount of imagination, could easily be mistaken for people, or even dragons.
It's like there's things petrified in the wood? I observed, seeing frozen figures the size of orkin with blade-like limbs. Let's just find what we need quickly and get out of here.
Ahead, the others cautiously scoured a cluster of mossy boulders for any sign of the glowing flower Neera had described. All we discovered were scattered blue blooms as we passed under an overgrown arch into a shattered graveyard of pale stone pillars.
The crumbling structures looked as if they'd been pulverised to ruins by some great beast, before the forest had slowly reclaimed them. Within the overgrown mass, most things were no more than single stones, scattered architecture resembling the ruins I'd seen around Valcador.
No, this is much older, highkin ruins were never so sharp, their architecture is smoother and more rounded. I observed, the stones exuding a mysterio
us aura.
"So why is it they call this place the Gallery of Thorns?" I asked, glancing between Neera and Boltock.
"I told you, it was here the ancestors apparently fought a great monster, and it placed something called the Curse of Thorns upon Shadow Fen before it fell. It's one of the oldest bedtime stories there is," Boltock replied, as if I should know.
"They should have called it the Graveyard of Thorns," Neera added, peering down at one of the toppled pillars. "I just hope a story's all it is," she added, quickly leaping over winding tree roots.
"Well, a lot of stories have been coming true lately, so I don't know," Boltock corrected, and I felt my mind wander.
Surely not all legends are true? It's like the tale about Overlord's fell, a little too ridiculous.
"My point exactly, Bolty," Neera called back.
"That's not my name," he grumbled.
"I know, but it's sweet and so much easier to say," she teased, jumping over the far side of one of the giant roots.
"Sweet... I..." he stammered; face almost as red as Talvana's.
"You can't expect every dragoness to be like Ember," I advised with a small chuckle.
Oh yes, because I'm the best dragon to offer relationship advice. My mind chastised.
"But... she's not even a dragon, and she flirts with..." he frantically waved a wing in Neera's direction, before frowning. "Did my sister put you two up to this?"
"I wouldn't even know if she had," I told him honestly.
He at least seemed to believe that part, before I added.
"Besides, she's just messing with you. She was the first dragoness I saw after coming back from the dead – and she still jokes about it."
Even so I did my best not to recall Mordrakk's dark image had also been there to taunt me, as Boltock seemed to lighten up.
"So you really did die?" he asked, his voice lowered as if we were surrounded by a crowd of onlookers.
Oh, by the fires, I should never have brought it up again! I almost choked at the blunt question.
"I mean, if you don't want to talk about it…" he added, as I stumbled.
"No, no, it’s fine," I assured, steadying myself. "I mean, death wasn't fine, but knowing that I had to help you guys kept me going. Only…"
