Dragonfly Refrain

by Aimee Moore

  “After the things I’ve seen in the last year, I will not argue that point.”

  “Survival is cruel in all aspects of life. For often times, a thing must die for another to live. The man did not die. Let us leave it at that.”

  I gave a nod. “We have much to do tomorrow.”

  “Yes, and we grow short on time. I confess that I am anxious to be at peace, at long last.”

  “Peace. I cannot imagine you idle,” I said with a smile.

  “Hm. I have a mind for literature; perhaps I will find the time to create some of my own.” And then he turned to me as we walked. “And you, Sera. What will you do with your restful solitude?”

  “Goodness, I couldn’t guess. I can only bake so much bread. Being of Lambston, I have an interest in textiles. Perhaps I will try my hand in making fine clothes for us and our children. Or learning to hunt, as a proud Kraw mate should.”

  Dal gave a deep laugh. “I am already proud. You have risen from a captive of my people to their commander, then saved this dying world. Few warriors could claim such a mate.”

  I smiled at my toes as we walked. “Well then, I suppose there’s only one thing left for us to discuss.” I lifted my gaze to my warrior.

  A knowing smile lit Dal’s eye. “Tell me what you would discuss with me.”

  I looked down at Dal’s hand, curling my fingers into his strong grip, before raising my lashes to him. “You, sir, made a promise to me. In front of an entire village, no less. I expect a gentleman such as yourself to keep your promises.”

  Dal gave a light laugh. “You have a Kraw’s appetite, Sera.”

  I smiled. “Or perhaps I just have an appetite for a Kraw.”

  He pushed me to the pine-strewn floor with a laugh, gently catching my head. “How to quell that appetite for the night…” He said with a growl.

  I nibbled his lip. “I believe you said something about making me call your name to the stars, so that they may shout it back?”

  My clothes were removed quickly, the bites of cold air on my flesh sending thrills through my skin and into my bones. I pulled at Dal’s clothes with equal excitement, and in no time, he was thrusting deep into me. His touch ignited every nerve. Each caress of his skin over mine, the bunch and strain of his muscles over me, the smell of him, the sound of each breath, and the weight of his body on mine; it was all so intoxicating.

  The stars learned his name well that night.

  ∞∞∞∞

  The next day was a flurry of work and preparation for the Longest Day, with breaks in between for groups of women to train with Lianne, who still had yet to remove her helmet in front of the townsfolk or offer her name. Despite the rumors of the mysterious warrior’s disfigurement sweeping through the village, the women treated Lianne with hesitant respect, gathering in the open space behind Gilp’s tavern.

  I scowled as the women whined that they were too weak and tired to be fit for fighting. Then they complained that women were not made to fight, they were to be charming so that gallant men could fight for them. We brought them the means to end their abuse, and they clung instead to childish fantasies of chivalry.

  “Horse feathers,” I said in a sour tone, leaning against the corner of the building, hand propped on my hip. Kenni gave a snort of amusement next to me, and dozens of gazes turned toward us.

  “It’s easy for an outsider, a Gifted no less, to mock us when she has a warrior to protect her,” one of the women sneered.

  Kenni spoke up. “Yeah, and maybe you’d have a man who wants to protect you if you weren’t such a harpy, Stajia.”

  I pushed off the building and limped toward Stajia, reaching my outstretched hand toward her. She relinquished her sword to me with a rough thrust, crossing her arms as I approached Lianne. Sometimes, people just needed to be shown the door through which their possibilities dwelled.

  I gave the blade a twirl in my Kraw-marked hand and nodded at Lianne. “Show me,” I said.

  “As you wish,” she nodded through that helmet. And with that, she swung at me. I saw her stance set back to the right before she swung, and so I dodged, parrying her attack with my own. The clash of steel rang out through the field, and the onlookers were silent as we fought. I was no match for Lianne’s strength, but I was small and attentive, unimpeded by plate armor.

  Lianne gave a good laugh behind her mask. “Devil’s spit, woman, there’s some Kraw in you after all.”

  I smiled and swung again. Lianne stopped just short of taking my head off multiple times, due in no small part to my bad foot. She was not as nimble as Dal to avoid hurting her opponent. Then again, Lianne was human. I held no fault to her, as this was the nature of sparring.

  Applause sounded in the field when we had finished, and I realized that my crowd had grown from just women to include some of the men. I stood straight and took a bow, laughing.

  But my naysayer, Stajia, was not to be won over with my show of ability. She spoke up over the roar of approval. “That is all well, but you can’t hope to best that masked man. A woman can never win.”

  I smiled at Stajia’s words, and that was when Lianne stepped forward and pulled her helmet off. Chin-length brown hair fell out of the helmet to the sound of gasps and exclamations.

  “He’s a bloody she!” A man yelled in the back.

  Lianne’s voice rang out. “I am the best of Elanthia’s guard, and I can teach all of you simpering whiners to wield a sword better than any man.”

  The attitude in Sunwold changed that day.

  Were it not for the lawless pack of men who resisted the rising power of their victims, I would have thought Sunwold’s transformation miraculous.

  While Dal took charge of major repairs to the village, Kenni and I snuck away from the bustle of activity to swoon over the horses in the stables.

  “Handsome horseflesh, they are,” Kenni said. “Especially this fellow here. Too bad he only seems to listen to your Dal.”

  I smiled as I offered my hand to a velvety muzzle of a large black draft horse. His hooves were the size of small dinner plates, eyes spirited and alert. “Dal has a way with animals,” I said.

  “He’d best be teaching that way to one of us before you lot leave; else we might have to turn this feisty brute free. There’re no horse tamers in Sunwold,” Kenni said as the black horse whuffled at her hand and turned in his stall.

  The moment was strange as we watched him, the friction of my arrival in Sunwold ever tense in the air between us.

  “I’m sorry, Kenni,” I murmured. “I didn’t mean to betray your trust by doing all of this. I know that Willet’s pack will try to take things out on you when Dal and I leave; it’s why I brought Lianne.”

  Kenni’s hand dropped to the stallion’s stall door. “Didn’t think that the scared girl I baked bread with was going to come back; after Willet. After what he did to you.” There was an odd quiet for a moment before she continued. “Did you really destroy Elanthia?”

  I let off an exhale. “Yes. I joined the Kraw and killed hundreds. Maybe thousands. If that makes me a traitor, then so be it. Our world is mending in the wake of my sacrifices, Kenni.”

  The stallion turned with heavy stomps and snorted at us. I reached for his muzzle, so warm and alive.

  “And you want Sunwold to be your redemption; that’s it?”

  “No.” I deflated then, my voice dropping to a whisper of defeat. “Yes. It was Dal’s idea. We’re departing to his world tomorrow, and then I’ll live out my days with only the anguished faces of the grieving to haunt the memories of my world. Helping Sunwold and spending one last holiday here with my friend will, hopefully, bring me as much peace as it does you.”

  I shoved a piece of straw at the stallion, and he flapped his lip at it with eager chomps.

  “After the sun sets on the Longest Day, Dal’s gift won’t be able to take us away from here until the days lengthen again. We’re cutting it close, but I think it’s worth it.”

  The small blond took a turn sticking
some straw into the magnificent horse’s mouth. “It’s scary, Sera. Hoping for a thing, a life that seems so far gone. Not just for me, but for my boy, too.”

  I let my gaze rove over the stark black of the wild beast before me. “Hope, it’s a little like this fellow, if you think about it. Strong and beautiful. It’s funny how we just hold tight no matter how many times hope tries to throw us.”

  Kenni was still for a long time. Then she put her hand on my shoulder. “Maybe with your help it won’t throw me anymore,” she said.

  I quirked my mouth in half a smile. “That sounds like forgiveness.”

  She smiled, turning back to the horse to shove his nose away from her face. “I didn’t say that.”

  Male voices approached, and Kenni shot me a look of anxiety before stepping back in a subtle move that put her between me and the door.

  The boot thuds of five men entered the space, eying bales of hay with their charred pitchforks, talking in sour voices.

  “—Bitch said she’d cut me. She wants to do some cutting? When that Kraw and his whore leave, some cutting is going to be done.”

  “Not decent,” Willet muttered from the back.

  “Once we set this place to rights, we’ll help you find your goddamn cock again, Willet,” another one said.

  One of the horses stomped loudly behind us, drawing the attention of the five miscreants to Kenni and I.

  Nasty sneers lit four faces. “Well now, look who’s all alone.” They said as they approached us.

  “Leave off her, now, she’s only here to help,” Kenni said, tensing to protect, much as she did my first night in this town.

  I stepped forward, letting Patroma’s essence settle around me. Boil the meat in their skulls and crush the festering slop beneath your boot heels.

  “Some lessons are hard learned,” I said in a low voice, lighting fire to my palms as I swept past Kenni. A wicked anticipation rose up in me as fear widened their eyes. They had forgotten what I am, and I relished the idea of reminding them.

  A strangled shriek sliced through the air, and then another body slammed into the man closest to me. I sucked in a gasp as I extinguished my flame, stepping back toward Kenni as I tried to sort out just what was going on.

  “Stars above,” Kenni whispered, holding my arm.

  It was Willet. And he was pounding his bony fists into the lead man, the sounds of wet meat slapping together filling the space. The other three men stared in shock as one of their own beat their flailing leader.

  “No more of this!” Willet yelled as he pummeled like a mad man. His victim’s attempts to halt the assault on his face became feeble. Each new punch was louder than the last, and within the sickening sound, the depth of what Dal had done to this man was louder than anything else.

  “This ends!” Willet yelled into the blood-slicked face of his victim. And then he stood, eyes bulging with fevered conviction as he swayed on his feet. “All of it, it ends! I’ll kill you all myself, I will!”

  He leaned close to the beaten man, who was now sucking for air through a toothy mouth filling with blood. “All we leave behind when we die,” Willet paused for a breath, “is rotting meat and festering memories of what we were. We only have power over one of those.”

  He rose then, looking at the other three. “That’s our only real power,” Willet said in a shaking voice.

  I turned to Kenni. “Let’s go,” I whispered.

  The moment was awkward as we tiptoed past the suffering man bleeding on the hay. The other three let us pass, avoiding eye contact. I turned in the doorway. “You should thank him,” I said to them. “He saved your lives just now. He’s right, you would have only left behind rotting meat and festering memories today. We choose what we’re remembered by long after we’re gone. Choose well, gentlemen, for you never know which memory could be your last.”

  Chapter 6

  Last Dance

  Finally, the Longest Day rose, and with it, so too did Dal and I with joy in our hearts. Today would be the day we left this world and found our peace. There would be only us and whatever children fate may bless us with. And perhaps, in time, friendly Kraw. My chest swelled with excitement at the celebrations of today, and the whole and wonderful future I would have with the man I loved.

  The Longest Day was marked by a plethora of holiday traditions among my people. The sunflowers bobbed happily in the early morning light as the villagers rolled up their sleeves and got to work on the festivities. Honey cakes and honey drinks honored the fertility of the harvest, for without the summer buzz of bees there would be no glistening fruit and no ruby tomatoes.

  Per tradition on the Longest Day, not a candle was lit in all of the town, for the Longest Day held all of the light that the cold winter months had robbed us of. To strike a single match or light even the smallest candle would bring poor luck upon he who dared scorn the light of the Longest Day. The only flame to be lit today was the ceremonial pyre in the center of town, when the sun began to set, for the pyre would make the Longest Day even longer, carrying light into the night. It is said that a pyre still found to be burning the next morning would bestow luck upon the village for the whole year. I planned to ensure such luck.

  I took joy in explaining our traditions to Dal, laughing as he scowled at the taste of raspberry pastries, then looking into his eyes as I licked a drop of honey from his finger. Instruments were dusted off and played, coloring the village with the traditional music of this splendid occasion. Kenni was laughing and dancing with a young boy of about two who had her blond hair and freckles.

  Lianne, armor always on, but helmet finally removed, was making an awkward attempt at dancing with a tall young man who kept glancing fearfully at her plated feet. She called him a willow-limbed pansy boy with that crass laugh of hers, and he renewed his efforts to not care about how much it would hurt should she step on his foot. I suppose that might have passed for flirtation on Lianne’s part.

  Upon witnessing the joy of the dancers, I bit my lip and turned to Dal, letting a slow smile spread over my face.

  “No,” Dal said.

  “Oh come now, do Kraw not dance?”

  “Kraw are gifted at dance. But I am not.”

  “It is no matter; look at Lianne.”

  Dal’s gaze flicked toward Lianne, then back to me.

  “Please, Dal. Dance with me on the Longest Day. The last day in my home.”

  Dal’s shoulders set as he let a long breath out of his nose. “Okay, Sera, I will dance with you.”

  I reached up and kissed him, and no one seemed to mind among the chaos of celebration. Then I grabbed my warrior’s hand and pulled him into the crowd of dancers. While the townsfolk were still wary of Dal, they no longer treated him as vermin that would soon turn on them.

  Dal glanced around with a frown, saw the steps of the other men and their partners in dance, and took my hands in the same manner. In no time, I was humbled by just how coordinated Dal really was as he joined in the fray. The world was a whirl of sunlight and smiling faces and golden sunflowers. The children laughed as they twirled about the maypole, the elderly clapped along and stomped their feet to the music, and soon Dal, too, was smiling as we danced with the townsfolk.

  The food kept coming and the music stayed strong as the day began to bow to the evening. Dal’s deep laugh carried through the noise as he led me on another spirited dance around the unlit pyre, helping me where my lame foot failed. I could not help but laugh with him as he lifted me up high and spun me down, both of us breathless with his improvised moves.

  Before long, dusk fell on our celebration as the sun sought to rest itself in the horizon. Dal and I stopped dancing, smiling as we caught our breath and the festivities whirred on around us.

  “It is time for your Longest Day to end, Sera.”

  I swallowed, sucking in a deep breath as my chest rose and fell. “Yes, it is. I’ll light the pyre, and then we shall get our things and make short goodbyes.”

  “No, let us d
isappear into the shortest night after the pyre is lit. Let them remember us laughing and dancing as them.”

  I smiled up at Dal, then gave a nod. I took a moment to look over the people who had become important to me during my journey to this point in time. Lianne, cheeks rosy with laughter as her tall friend spun another joke, seemed to have found acceptance here in Sunwold. Kenni, sitting next to Jaffer, was tapping her feet to a happy summer tune as the freckled boy lay limp in her arms, cherub-like cheeks rosy with sleep.

  Yes, it was best this way. I gave Dal’s arm a squeeze, and then wandered toward the pyre.

  I raised my arms to the sky and sent a dazzling blast of flame high into the sky, igniting it in a beautiful shower of sparks over our heads. Then I yelled as the music stopped. “The Longest Day closes on us!”

  All eyes were on me, then, and I continued. “Now, let us borrow the light of the Longest Day to carry us into the shortest night! For good fortune, for bountiful harvest, and for a short winter!”

  Cheers sounded through the village, echoing into the trees and hills beyond. I raised my arms high, letting my power prick and burn in a euphoric rush from my toes, igniting all the way up my body. I planned to light this pyre in an explosion shaped like a sunflower; it would be a spectacle that the elders would add to their stories for ages to come.

  My power rose higher and higher, nearly to the tips of my fingers, flame dancing around me, ready to be released. I gave in to the rush, releasing it to be channeled into the pyre, and that’s when it hit me.

  Chapter 7

  Moon Rising

  Pain.

  Gasping, I dropped to my hands and knees, clawing at the pounded dirt as the air was sucked from my lungs. Someone screamed as I went down, but outside of the ocean of pain I was drowning in, I couldn’t fathom who or why. I needed to surface from this agony, I needed the relief of air. But what air? There was only nothingness. The gift that had ignited my veins all this time, now gone, the void of it making me cold and empty.