Dragons and Mages: A Limited Edition Anthology

by Pauline Creeden

  We had six days left to implement our takeover of the tournament. What could possibly go wrong in such a short period of time? Everything would work out perfectly, and we’d become the heroes of the graduating class.

  I could already see it in my mind. Victory flowed through my veins like electricity. My parents always encouraged me to go after my dreams. This task felt important, bigger even than me. What if everything depended on us succeeding?

  A shiver passed through me. For the second time, I’d had an odd premonition about these games. Strangely enough, I’d never really felt terribly competitive. Yet, this idea had all but taken over my every waking thought.

  The games and the beautiful dragon from my dream the night before, shared the need to dominate my thoughts. What a strange combination to obsess over. Two things that had never played any part in my life seemed suddenly to plan a takeover of my good senses and turn my life upside down.

  The strangest part of all—I willingly let them! I needed to make a name for myself to get considered for the space program. My grades would clearly show my intellect, but many other students could easily match my academic scores.

  If I ever had any hope of helping us survive, I had to get off this planet. Unlike my sister, I believed the answers existed somewhere else in the universe. Viceroy Blair flitted across galaxies in search of his rare treasures, which would do nothing to feed us. Obviously, he didn’t grasp the dire situation the people faced.

  For the rest of my day, I went through the motions of acting interested in my surroundings. I’m fairly certain I failed miserably, but I didn’t care. My afternoon classes merely kept me hostage from the grand plans forming in my head.

  Even the special ‘ponics class failed to do much to rouse me from the funk I’d fallen into. After all, the protocol for testing new specimens did not require much thought. Everything already had a procedure in place. I merely had to go through the sequential steps to get them started.

  When I left my parents’ house after another monotonous dinner, it almost seemed like I had stepped out of a haze-filled room, and into the bright sunshine, the change seemed that drastic. I could not let this keep happening to me if I planned on executing all of my year-end plans.

  Anna came up from behind me on the way to Alyssa’s house. “Are you okay? You’ve seemed distracted since lunch. Is there anything I can do to help?”

  I sighed in relief. I loved my friends; they always knew the right thing to say to me. I couldn’t tell her how the recent storms had me thinking about Brekke’s death. Instead, I changed the subject. “Please tell me you’ve discouraged some people from participating in the tourney, and I’ll be very relieved.”

  “Is that all that’s bothering you?” Anna’s voice bubbled with merriment.

  I grinned to deflect her suspicion. “It’s a big part.”

  “What else? C’mon; don’t start keeping secrets from me now.”

  “There’s something coming, Anna. Something big. I can feel it in every fiber of my body.”

  “Like what?”

  “No clue. That’s what’s troubled me. I’ve wracked my brain to find some connection which makes sense.” How could I explain this to her when I still didn’t know?

  “Maybe you’re just worried about what’s going to happen to us after graduation. This is a big year for us, after all. Life-changing, really.”

  All true. In two months, my childhood would be over. I’d be considered a working adult. Hopefully, we’d all end up in a job we wanted, or else we’d spend eternity in torturous boredom.

  “Do you think the others feel the same pressure?” Uncertainty engulfed me, making my chest constrict painfully.

  “I can’t speak for everyone, but I sure do. Everything will work out just exactly how it should. Isn’t that what Grandma Talya always says?”

  Nodding my agreement, we had reached Alyssa’s house. Just as we stepped onto the front yard, Alyssa appeared from the edge of the house and waved to catch our attention. I should have remembered we’d meet in the back yard. We held all of our best conversations there where the bleakness of our planet’s fate stood witness on the other side of the plasglass wall.

  Chapter 4

  EVEN AS MY friends talked around me, my mind kept getting stuck on one point. The tournament appeared to have some greater significance to our society, which seemed to elude all of us.

  I couldn’t wait for a break in the conversation. Past experience with my group of friends had proven this could take longer than I had the patience. Finally, I raised my voice above theirs. “What do we know about the history of the tournament?”

  All eyes riveted to mine, some confused, and others suspicious of my query. Rather than wait for the myriad of useless questions, I posed my own theory. “Don’t you think it’s odd that we don’t know why the games were created in the first place? It’s not like our society is prone to group activities. After all, why separate us into five domes of economic differences, if they wanted us all to work as a team?”

  “Maybe we should ask Grandma Talya.”

  Agreeing that Drew might have a valid suggestion, I nodded. We had spent enough time outside that we needed to go inside anyway. “Sure. If nothing else, we’ll get some new stories from her.” A goofy grin spread across my face in anticipation of the upcoming evening’s story.

  As usual, we gathered on the floor of the living room where the Amish fireplace heated the space and gave the room a cheerful orange glow. Even as I sat in front of it, staring at the fake electric flames, I wondered what Amish meant. Yet another anomaly with our world which I would have to tackle at a later date.

  The occupants of the room instantly silenced as Grandma Talya entered from the side door leading to the kitchen. Even at seventy-six years old, Grandma Talya had a spring in her step and a ready smile. She never seemed to age and always had an abundance of energy which put us all to shame.

  Taking her seat, she smiled down at us. She thought of us as her grandchildren, and we could tell how much she enjoyed spending her evenings with us. More than once, she had said it reminded her of the olden days when the family spent the evenings together.

  It hit me pretty hard that in just a few short weeks, we would all move on from this time-honored tradition. My heart ached with the idea of not seeing Grandma Talya every night. I suppressed a groan of dismay at the thought of my life without these moments in it.

  “What would my little children like to hear about tonight?” Grandma Talya’s voice carried soft and sure in the quiet room. Never breaking from tradition, this question always started our session.

  Not wanting to miss my opportunity, I spoke immediately. “Can you tell us the history of the Tatsu tournament?” My question must have surprised Grandma since her eyebrows rose, and her eyes grew wide.

  “No dragons tonight, huh?” She stared into my eyes for several seconds before she nodded. “Very well. Tatsu tournament it is, then. But it may surprise you to discover its origins aren’t too far away from our usual stories.

  “About two hundred years ago, five families came together to make a pact. Each family had a particular artifact which they honored above everything else in Heliok. As you can probably guess, based on the names of the five individual domes, the artifacts were a sword, a dagger, a shield, a book, and a crystal shard.

  “The origins of these artifacts had many theories, some more outlandish than others. But the consensus seemed to favor that these precious objects were gifts from Jehoban Himself.”

  I shifted uncomfortably on the floor. Grandma’s words stirred up something inside me. As I looked around, several others seemed to feel the same undercurrent of unease. Now, I knew Grandma could skillfully spin a tale, but this emotion seemed stronger than anything else I’d ever felt.

  Maybe the idea of a sword as a gift from Jehoban caught my fancy. After all, I always had a passion for swords and the art of wielding one. Ever since I grew strong enough to hold one, I’d practiced taking down imag
inary opponents when nobody else would play with me.

  “What was the pact, Grandma?” Drew seemed impatient to hear the details. I could see his pulse racing in the artery of his throat.

  My right palm tingled as if I could feel the metal of a real sword, not just the carbon fiber hilt I usually practiced with. I knew I had an active imagination, but this sensation went way beyond that. Uncurling my fingers, I rubbed my palm flat against my jeans to focus on Grandma’s story rather than my strange internal stirrings.

  “The families wanted to keep our history from ever being erased. You see, these families descended from a long line of dragon riders. They never wanted to see the dragon reign end, but the people forced their hand.

  “When the dragons left, the families of believers in the old ways decided to create the Tatsu tournament so the skills a dragon rider needs to know will never be lost. Can you guess what Tatsu means? It’s not a typical word we would use, as you probably already guessed.”

  “Dragon rider?” Marcus’s face practically glowed with pleasure at tonight’s story.

  “Close. It actually translates as ‘dragon.’” Grandma Talya raised her eyebrows meaningfully and momentarily paused to let her answer sink into our imaginations. “You see, the five families had kept the ancient language alive through stories. While the government banned the old language to the point where they erased all mention of it from the history books, nobody could stop the families from using the long-standing words in their own homes.

  “So, fifty-four years after the disappearance of the dragons, these families determined the time had come to make sure the dragon riders’ skills remained alive in the people’s memories. They decided to invent different games where the people could practice in public.

  “Unknowingly, the government wholeheartedly approved of this new tournament. They decided to take things one step further and make it into an annual event to showcase the talents of the people, and everyone participated.

  “Over time, it slowly morphed into what you know today as a high-school activity—a right-of-passage of sorts. When the students attempted to win all of the trophies for one dome, the government actively discouraged their initiative by implementing the Dragon’s Dare. Fewer and fewer people participated in the competition because they didn’t have the skill to win and wouldn’t risk the consequences of losing.”

  I squirmed uncomfortably, imagining Grandma Talya added that part to warn me. Yet, she never looked at me. Maybe, guilt convicted me more than anything.

  “It is said that the trophies are as significant as the skills. They are believed to be handed down from the founding families. Ever since the erection of the five domes, the trophies have never been all in one location. Some people even thought that they contained some power to keep the domes safe.

  “I don’t know if I believe that last part, but it does seem curious that the trophies are always kept apart. Now, does anyone have any questions?” Talya folded her hands across her flat belly and leaned back in her chair, elbows resting on the armrests.

  As usual, Drew wanted more details. “What happened to the artifacts?”

  I would have asked the same thing. Yet, one part of Grandma’s story distracted me. What if the trophies harbored some mysterious power? My father once held the gladio trophy. Maybe he could tell me what it felt like to touch it. I’d have to ask him about it when I got home. My train of thought abruptly ended when Grandma Talya spoke again.

  “The government confiscated them right before they introduced the idea of awarding trophies at the tournament. Nobody knows for sure whatever became of them. Some people think the government kept them hidden away somewhere within the treasury building, but nobody could ever confirm it.”

  Alyssa popped up onto her knees. “But we don’t even have a treasury building.”

  Grandma Talya nodded her head sadly. “It’s true. The building burned down outside of the domes.”

  Violet rapidly shook her head. “Wait! The domes weren’t constructed until much later. Why didn’t anyone rescue the artifacts before then?” Her knowledge of our history almost matched Grandma Talya’s, except Violet’s facts were limited to the tidbits the government saw fit to teach us.

  “As I said, nobody knew what had actually happened to them. By the time everybody moved into the domes, the memory of the original artifacts had receded further from anyone’s recollection.

  “Also, our people were afraid. Up until that point, everyone lived freely throughout the planet. Little by little, the habitable areas had decreased in size as the climate destabilized. The idea of living inside the domes came as much of a relief as it also felt like a prison to those who enjoyed living off the land.

  “Not everyone could handle living inside these enclosures. Many of the people took our spaceships to search for other planets to colonize. We should probably thank them for leaving since the domes could only support a finite number of people in relative comfort.

  “I believe that’s enough for tonight’s stories. We’ve brought up a lot of historical events. When you go to sleep tonight, I want you to imagine what those days must have been like for the families of the artifacts. Would you have been brave enough to do as they did?” Grandma Talya clapped her hands gently before leveraging herself up from the chair by bracing against the armrests. As she left the room, we silently pondered her final thoughts.

  So many ideas raced through my head. Given my recently overactive imagination, I believed tonight’s dreams could give me some new insight. For once, I eagerly wanted to go home so I could continue my adventure.

  With the speed of the other kids clearing out of the house, I guessed they had the same idea. Our walking group grew smaller as the kids broke away to head into their respective homes. Surprisingly, my house stood dark and quiet. If my parents decided to turn in early, then any plans to speak with Dad about the gladio trophy would have to wait until morning.

  An annoying beep persisted beside my head. Cracking one eye open, I instantly winced. The uncommon intensity of light pouring into my bedroom window could only mean one thing—the dome maintenance crews had completed their exterior cleaning of our section of the dome sometime during the night. Turning my head away from the light, I slapped the top of my alarm until it went silent.

  Had I dreamed at all? I couldn’t recall anything beyond pulling the covers up over myself. Sighing with disappointment, I threw my covers off and prepared to get ready for school.

  As I ate my breakfast gruel alone, I wondered what I could do to find out more about the trophies. With the end of the school year approaching as well as my studies coming to a close, I had plenty of time to do some private research on a school computer. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, lending me an extra burst of energy.

  I jumped up from the kitchen table and shoved my bowl into the sanitizer bin before running to my room to collect my school bag. Just as I entered my room, my gaze fell onto my practice sword, which used to belong to Brekke. My fingers itched to wield my weapon against a worthy opponent. I wished I had enough time to get some practice in, but it would have to wait.

  Forcefully dragging my gaze away from my weapon of choice, I hefted the school bag strap onto my shoulder while turning on my heel to leave. This early, I’d miss walking to school with my friends. Yet the strange pull to get to the research lab kept nagging at me.

  Who knew where my research would lead me? Even if I ended up going down a strange path of discovery, I didn’t care. Maybe, this research project just kept me from thinking about what would become of me after graduation, but at least it felt productive. I could control this project rather than feeling at the mercy of the government-organized employment program.

  As it turned out, my idea to investigate had also occurred to several of my friends. Walking into the research lab, I had to suppress a chuckle when I discovered Drew, Alyssa, Anna, and Violet, each sitting at separate computer stations. They industriously typed out their queries, oblivious to my entran
ce.

  Not wanting to disturb any of them, I picked the nearest free computer station. Unceremoniously dumping my bag onto the floor, I scooted the chair close to the desk and activated the computer by placing my hand on the screen. The fingerprint recognition program had the screen send me a personalized greeting.

  Ignoring it entirely, I typed out the first question which came to my mind. What material was used to create the gladio trophy? I hit enter. The search screen continued to blink blankly at me for an interminable amount of time. I tapped my fingers impatiently on the edge of the keyboard. When the answer finally arrived, I sighed with relief until I read the response — Classified data. Please enter a valid query.

  “What the heck?” I muttered, glaring at the screen as if it would miraculously produce a different answer just because I didn’t like the one it gave me. “That doesn’t make sense. How could that question be classified? What’s so mysterious about the type of metal used to create a stupid trophy?”

  “Fine. How about this?” I whispered while I typed my next question. What is the history of the gladio games? I hit the enter key harder than necessary, instantly regretting it as the pain radiated up my finger to my second knuckle.

  This time the data returned faster. Begun 192 years ago by the Harmon family, the gladio games are one activity of five in the Tatsu tournament. Gladio was the first organized sport to be introduced into the tournament. The sport showcases the agility of each participant as they demonstrate the different forms of swordsmanship. When an expert wields the sword, it is said to resemble a beautiful but deadly dance with the air.

  The next sport …

  Disgusted by the vague description, I clicked off the page and entered my next question. What are the names of the previous winners of the gladio games? The list of names filled the screen, appearing in date order beginning with the first winner named Amari Harmon. Dozens more names sharing the last name of Harmon followed until, finally, another last name appeared.