Rojuun

by John H. Carroll

  Chapter 16

  The companions woke the next morning feeling refreshed. Liselle noticed that Tathan had left them for most of the day to spend time with Donna. A few of the Druid men had visited the clearing looking to strike up conversations with her, but Sir Danth and Vevin sent them about their way, for which she was thankful. Her parents had wanted her to get married and have children, but she didn’t have any desire to start a family. It was overwhelming when men made advances toward her. Fortunately, no man was willing to irritate either a Knight of Morhain or a dragon, even one in human form.

  Vevin had the horses ready to go, holding the reins as she mounted hers. Liselle found it amazing that the horses liked Vevin so much until he explained that dragons sometimes charmed their prey so they didn’t have to waste time chasing it down before eating. He further explained that the time chasing down animals was better spent flying through the sky in lazy circles or hunting for treasure.

  They rode along another narrow ancient road the forest hadn’t claimed. Five days journey would take them to a small village where Druids would care for the horses. Liselle would leave her bow there in order to retrieve it when they returned. Tathan took the lead with Vevin behind him then Liselle. Sir Danth brought up the rear. It gave Liselle time to think about all that had happened.

  There was a part of her excited by the adventure ahead. Liselle had wanted to explore the world ever since she was a little child. She would sit in fields with the flowers and look at the mountains, thinking about fascinating lands waiting to be explored on the other side.

  Another part of her was filled with trepidation. It seemed like there would be a great deal of danger in their path. True peril was a new concept that had only become real when her family died. The ache of loss was still there, but the touch of the mother tree had removed much of the pain in her heart when she thought of them.

  Now they were going to a fortress with a new race of people, not the sort of adventure she had expected. On their journey through the forest, Tathan had told her of other remarkable cities. The way he described it though, they were all dark and sinister. It still fascinated her and she wanted to see them.

  Sir Danth told her about wondrous cities of the past after joining the group. He spoke of magical lights in the streets with people in fine clothing going to grand parties where there was music and dancing. Liselle wanted very much to dance. It sounded truly divine.

  What no one had ever suggested was visiting caves under the ground where humans were servants. They hadn’t told her that her life would be in mortal danger as she tried to gather information on a mysterious new race no one understood. Well, Tathan had mentioned mortal danger, but that was a running theme with him.

  Liselle had always imagined meeting new and interesting people too. What she hadn’t anticipated were a hollow knight, a dancing dragon in human form, or a crazy cousin who drew a sword at every shadow.

  She turned back to look at Sir Danth. His armor was magnificent, but in a sinister way. When Adele and her group of Druids had reacted fearfully of him, Liselle had begun to think of the knight differently.

  “Are you all right, Lady Liselle?” he asked.

  “Yes. Thank you, Sir Danth.” She turned back around in her saddle. Part of her felt as though she should be afraid of the dark knight, but another part couldn’t help liking him.

  Vevin scared everyone else around her as well. She had even seen Sir Danth watching the dragon warily a few times. Liselle felt safe with Vevin though. Whenever he smiled at her, she made it a point to smile back.

  Occasionally, a dragon would fly across the valley when she was a child. Her parents never noticed them, but flowers would point them out and she would watch them flying in the distance.

  Liselle remembered one time, about the age of ten, when she was running through a field on a summer day. Flowers drew her attention to the sky where a small dragon was flapping erratically. It crash-landed nearby. Liselle ran to it hoping to help, not thinking it might be dangerous.

  The young creature had an injured wing. When Liselle went to aid it, the dragon turned on her with a hiss, biting her arm. She had staggered away from it, bleeding badly while the arm hung limply at her side. It was the most frightened she had ever been.

  Then an enormous shadow fell over her. When she looked up, there was a full sized dragon landing. It was whiter than new-fallen snow. The young dragon waddled to its mother whining plaintively. Liselle fell to her knees crying, certain this new dragon would eat her. The mother dragon touched the young dragon with a claw. It glowed with energy, healing the injured wing. Then the dragon moved to Liselle who trembled in fear.

  “I . . . I only wanted to help,” Liselle said, sobbing.

  The mother dragon said nothing, reaching out with the same claw that had healed her baby. She touched Liselle’s arm and the same glow came from the tips. Liselle watched in awe as her arm became whole again with no trace of the bite. Then she fainted.

  Upon waking, the dragons were gone. Nearby flowers huddled around her, keeping her safe. Liselle didn’t get home until after dark that night and her parents were upset with her, but she always remembered that incident and the dragons flying over the valley.

  Vevin bobbed his head side to side as he rode in front of her. She smiled at the sight of him. Hopefully, someday he would let her see what he looked like as a dragon. Liselle imagined that he was remarkable.

  She looked past him to her cousin. Tathan scared her more than Vevin or Sir Danth, though they were supposed to be more dangerous. There was something dark and frightening about her cousin that Liselle didn’t understand.

  When she first saw him there in front of her home, he had looked lost. She remembered him drawing his dark sword on her mother. Liselle had never been so frightened in her life, not even with the young white dragon.

  It was the look in his face and eyes. She didn’t know if he realized that his grey eyes became tainted with black streaks when he lost his mind like that. His face filled with fear and hatred and he moved faster than anyone could react.

  For the first time in a while, she allowed herself to think about the desert warriors. Her cousin had killed thirty experienced men without getting so much as a nick. Liselle was naïve about the ways of combat, but not so much that she didn’t realize her cousin was deadly dangerous.

  She liked him though. He was nice to her and talked to her like a person, not like a child. He protected her, just as Sir Danth and Vevin did.

  It helped Liselle to sort these thoughts out in her head. So many things had happened since Tathan arrived. The two of them had begun traveling immediately after the attack. The journey north had been filled with sorrow from the loss of her family. At the same time, the trip was wonderful. There was so much to see and the forest was beautiful. Tathan’s tales of faraway lands helped her mind to focus on new things.

  They had also discussed magic. Tathan showed her how to create normal fire, how to cast wards of protection, and a spell to open a lock. He had her practice on a lock that he kept with him.

  He had also shown her a book of magic. Tathan wouldn’t admit it, but she was sure he had taken it without permission. There were words, runes, images of gestures and drawings of the effects created within it. The problem was that she had never learned to read. He admitted that he hadn’t when growing up either, but had learned at the monastery. Later that night, Liselle had asked the flowers if they could help her, but they didn’t know anything about reading.

  She remembered the story the Mother Tree told her about her conception. At first, Liselle was upset, but later became happy. She loved the flowers and they took care of her. It had surprised Liselle when her parents didn’t understand the flowers the same way. Her father looked at her as if she were crazy when she mentioned it, and her mother looked at her in fear. After that, she never brought it up again.

  Now she had met Druids who
were supposed to be able to commune with nature, only to learn from the flowers that Druids did not understand them the way Liselle did. The Druids had more of an affinity for trees, though most couldn’t communicate with them as Liselle could either. She liked the trees well enough, but they were too stodgy and impressed with themselves. Flowers were pretty and happy. They smiled too. Trees didn’t.

  When she was young, the flowers showed her places that Tathan most likely never discovered. Flowers were her friends and family, but she had the distinct impression most people would consider her somewhat crazy if she went around advertising it.

  The horse she was riding whinnied, knocking Liselle out of her reverie. Clouds above made the day gloomy and her flower friends were positive it would rain. Soon, they would be at the walled city and the adventure would begin anew.

  It was frightening, but Liselle decided it would be exciting as well. Besides, she had three very dangerous individuals to protect her.