The dragon pulled up right before it could slam into the earth and I was thrown off once again, but by last second luck I reached its chest and forced the flaming arrow into its heart.
For a short moment time literally stopped and all was frozen before resuming in the form of an enormous sonic boom. I was shot into the air and crashed to the ground a great distance further away. The same fate went to Tarauntis.
As the last bits of gravel rained down from above, it was the calm after the storm and I knew that I had won at last.
I was lying in a pile of gathered dirt and my arms were pretty much scathed, parts of my clothing torn and covered in dirt.
If Tarauntis wasn’t the Dragon of Death, I would’ve ended him for good. No one messes with the dress!
Gradually, I pulled myself to my feet. Though I was in an overwhelming sensation of pain, I was quick to ignore it. All was worth it when I saw Tarauntis trying to get to his paws up ahead.
A slight breeze pushed through my hair as I stood frozen on track, eyes fixed on the great dark dragon. Tarauntis was badly wounded, but not dying. My enchantment was only made to stun him for the time being, not to kill him. After all, he was one of the dragon lords. Nevertheless, it seemed as though he was stuck with a wounded wing. Cripplingly he pulled himself to his feet and sat, completely exhausted. Slowly, I approached this great beast. I looked up to meet its fading eyes.
“Tarauntis,” I said with a loud tone in order to be sure that he would hear me, “I believe I have won.” Tarauntis was reluctant to accept the truth, but he was no fool. He knew it was true and he knew what had to be done. He gradually hung his head and gave a loud sigh. I withdrew the glass jar and opened it.
“Your fire, please. After all, it is for a greater purpose.” Tarauntis raised his head in curiosity, silently questioning me.
“Yes. It will destroy Thorodan once and for bloody all. The fire, if you will.”
Tarauntis looked away, trying to reject me.
“We had a deal!” I bellowed, feeling my blood boiling once again.
The dragon didn’t seem tempted to try and look away again. With great hesitance he blew a gentle breeze of fire and it was soon absorbed into the glass jar. I closed the jar the moment every single bit of flame was collected. It was truly one of the most beautiful sights my eyes have ever witnessed. It was a ball of black fire from pure death itself. I was just as excited as I was in awe. I was indeed a true admirer of Tarauntis’ work. He was the only one who understood death like me.
“Don’t worry, my lord,” I said as I grasped the glass jar close to my chest, “This will be put to good use. Carlaylin will know what to do.”
At the sound of her name Tarauntis looked at me at an instant. I sighed with disbelief and frustration.
“Don’t tell me that this whole endeavour could have been avoided if I had but simply mentioned that I was sent by her.”
Tarauntis rolled his eyes and blew steam from his giant nostrils before looking away in great incredulity. I felt a hint of resentment and complete rage building up inside of me. I was practically screaming in my mind, but I tried to keep my thoughts on the positive.
I needed the workout anyways, even though it was all for naught. At least it only reawakened my hate for Carlaylin. Excellent! Now I have even more motivation to try and bring her to an end when we’re alone. It might have been useful to know that these two had met once before, but no. Not a word.
“Let us put this behind us. This never happened. Understood?”
Tarauntis gave a nod.
“Good, because I would hate for this to happen again. I am a fan of your work after all!”
Tarauntis raised an eyebrow.
“Yes. I so adore the way you drive fear into the hearts of others and control their very fate. Your work is a masterpiece. Each death, each method I greatly look up to!”
Tarauntis looked more than proud to hear what I had to say. He looked beyond flattered. I felt like a crazed fangirl at the moment, but I was sure to take in every moment of this meeting. He looked at me with a face that said ‘we should meet up again and discuss some of your visions’.
I was more than thrilled, but alas, I had a Carlaylin to deal with. I bowed but slightly in the presence of this master before turning around and taking my first step, but I froze the soon as I did.
“Uh, if it isn’t too much trouble to ask… Can you help me find my body?”
Tarauntis gave a single, but most profound, nod. Frankly, it was the first time agreed out of desire and honour aside from hesitance and murder. I smiled a toothy smile, my heart skipping a beat at this moment of sheer joy as he lowered his wing for me at own will.
CHAPTER 18
HERMIT OVER YONDER
CARLAYLIN
“STOP COMPLAINING. You know I’ll make it worth your while,” I said as we walked on. It was midday and the forest was at its best. Rays of evening light pressed against the vegetated flora surrounding us.
“Uh, master? Not to be bold or anything, but where exactly are we headed?” Justin asked as he turned to look at me.
“Thorodan. We’re heading back to the town of Thorodan.”
“You mean the place you worked at as a waitress?”
It sounded as though Justin had found a new lease of life. He was in his element. A spark of excitement glinted in his eyes. He loved hearing about my history. Always have. He saw me as an idle. He looked up to me, but sometimes I wished not, for I could be quite feral and chaotic sometimes and not of the best influence.
“Yes, Justin, don’t jump out of your skin. There’s a museum there, the National Museum of Thorodan, where they keep the fire on display. This year the theme is Red Days Past. No matter. We break in at dusk when the museum’s closed and get the fire.”
Justin’s excitement fell to the grasp of curiosity and disbelief.
“First of all, why would someone put something so dangerous on flippen display? And secondly, we’re going to steal from a museum?!”
“You are being too bold, Justin. Besides which, you’re not coming with us.”
Justin froze in his tracks and his eyes met mine. I could sense that he was relatively disappointed.
“What? Why?”
“Don’t beat yourself up about it, Justin. It’s simply business. Besides, you’re going to be busy with the most important job of all.”
“Really? What?”
“Watching over Ramses and Nemtris while we’re gone.”
“WHAT?! I’m sorry, but absolutely no to that. No a thousand times over!”
I knew it was a hard thing to ask, especially from Justin, but we had little choice. My only worry was trying to persuade him...
“Come on, Justin! Please! We can’t just bring a big loud tiger and some random body along. It’s too much dead weight and will slow us down, especially during the case of a museum break in. And we can’t just ditch them. I need your help now more than ever, Justin, please.”
“Why not Terrowin then? I mean, he’s much likely to return back alive, whereas I won’t!”
“You’re being overdramatic, my friend. Calm down. Ramses won’t eat you, not even a lick. Isn’t that right, boy?” I shot Ramses a stern eye. He passed over my remark with no reaction. He seemed to take my words with no heed. That was the point where I started to scold.
“Ramses! If you so much as lay a hair on Justin whilst I’m gone…” My words clearly got through to Ramses. His ears were raised high and he bowed his head, trying not to meet my eyes. I took that as a ‘yes, master’.
“Good because you know what I can do when I’m angry. No treat until I see Justin whole again. Are we clear?” Nothing gets in the way of Ramses’ treats. My threat persuaded him almost instantly. I slowly withdrew my eyes from him and met the rest of the gang.
“We go on until the roads diverge. From there on we will split up and meet at the next crossroads. There’s bound to be an inn.”
And so we went. No argues, no complaints. We made
our way through the forest until finally reaching the spot where the road diverged into two paths. One led to Thorodan, the other straight to the crossroads. I was ready to bid Justin a fair farewell when a slight rustle in the bushes caught our attention. For a second all our gazes were fixated on the array of bushes. My heart was pumping and my mind remained on high alert. Last time we heard a rustle in the bushes, it was had only been Terrowin and I and things did not end well.
“Sh! Wait… What was that?”
The group stopped, obeying my orders. Moments after, a man jumped out of the bushes. He was rather short and dressed in what looked like fancy rags. In rags I mean stitched together, weathered, somewhat torn and dirty. It was a hermit. His beard was somewhat long and dragged on the forest floor. Not to mention that it was relatively tousled and riddled with leaves and twigs. His shoes were of a weak material and rather pointy. If anything, he looked like no more than a grumpy little man. Only in this case he was more loony than grouchy.
“Aaaw,” I said with big widened eyes and pouted lips. “Look, it’s a little hermit.”
“Nic nic nic nic nic nic nic nic nic nic,” the hermit repeated as he waddled around aimlessly.
“Terrowin, throw him a coin or something,” I gestured with eyes still firmly fixed on the hermit.
“I can’t.”
The sudden answer caught me abruptly. I frowned and looked at Terrowin.
“What? I have nothing,” he said.
“But what happened to all that money you earned in Suntaria all those months ago?” He returned a nervous grin, absentmindedly scratching the back of his head. “Well, funny you should ask that...”
“Terrowin…” He was hesitant, but his words were soon brought forward for the entire group to share.
“I lost more than half of the money in a bet I placed in the arena of Morrowburg and the rest I spent on liquor.”
“But I won. I defeated Tornius.”
“I know…”
The thought – the realization – tumbled into my mind. My mouth dropped open. I swear I was blooming with anger as my face began to flush, my blood boiling.
“WHAT?” I yelled, “You bet against me in the arena?!” Terrowin tried to reason with that nervous grin of his. Momentarily I had no mercy. Terrowin was sure to notice this.
“Oh come on! You can’t be mad at me! You were the one that made a deal with Du Perron concerning my own life!”
This time I was the one stuck with the nervous grin, but nevertheless, I’d deal with him later, but for now…
“You know what? I don’t have time for this. Absolutely none. We have a job to do.”
I urged the group forward, but my gaze kept falling back to the hermit sitting on the sidewalk. Those large bulgy eyes broke through my heart and stared right into my soul.
“Nic nic…” he tried to say as he saw we were on the verge of leaving. It got the better of me.
“Yet again, we can’t just leave the guy here. I mean, look at him! So precious.” I looked at the hermit with mesmerized eyes. The poor thing was just too adorable.
“Uh…” Terrowin said unsurely, scratching the back of his head as his eyes wandered about aimlessly. This might have been strange to him, but all that counts was that it wasn’t strange for me.
“Can we keep him?” I begged, hands clasped together as I leaned towards Terrowin. I was tempted to persuade him until I got what I wanted. In this case… a hermit. I’ve always wanted one! I mean look at him! There he sat… a lonely lost hermit. Purple and blue butterflies fluttered all around him in the sparkles of evening sunshine that lanced down on his precious little slumped pointy hat. His eyes danced in the sunshine and his cheeks… beautiful!
“Err-”
“Oh, please, Terrowin! Can we keep him? Can we?”
As uncertain as he was, Terrowin hesitantly said, “If it will make you happy…” almost finding it hard to come across the right words. No matter. To me they were the perfect words. Music to my ears, they were.
“YES!” I exclaimed with pure joy. “You hear that, little fella? You’re coming with us! I’ll call you… err… Nick! That’s it! Nick.”
“Nic!” The hermit looked most excited. He seemed to love his new given name.
“See, he likes it!” My eyes have never been wider, my smile never brighter. My bliss was short-lived when Nemtris finally came to. It all started with dazed mumbles and slight movement. She was waking up.
“Blu… what the… oh, the nausea!” At the last second she doubled over, emptying her stomach on the forest floor with an arm keeping a firm grasp on Ramses’ neck in order to prevent herself from falling off. Indeed it was disgusting, but I understood her. I’ve been through the same process.
“Yeah, that tends to happen when you return from the Void,” I stated with an innocent grin and a raised finger to add effect to my point.
“CARLAYLIN!”
Her enraged shout was like the very fires of Thorodan itself. Nemtris was completely infuriated, perhaps even beyond. My hairs stood on end. It might have been best that Terrowin and I get out of there before she decided to attack me with her snakelet. It was best to let her cool a bit.
“Uh… Oh! Would you look at that? It’s about time we get going! Bye, Justin!” I yelped, pretending to look at my fake watch. Without another word I dashed off, grabbing Terrowin by the arm. It wasn’t long before there was no more than a dust cloud in our places. It felt like we were long gone.
Nemtris, on the other hand, redirected her gaze to Nick who was frozen on the spot. It didn’t seem like he quite understood the term ‘we gave to go’. Like the innocent hermit he was, he remained on the spot, studying everyone’s actions out of pure curiosity and, well, probably confusion.
“Who the bloody hell are you?” Nemtris asked with a frown.
“Nic!”
“Master calls him ‘Nick’.” Justin answered, sounding a bit more confident toward her than usual.
“NICK! Get your ass over here!” I called from afar because, frankly, I was in a hurry for more than one reason. At least Nick heeded my call and jumped to it, racing towards me like the good, obedient hermit he was.
Together we raced off to Thorodan.
CHAPTER 19
TWELVE STRIKES OF OH, MAMA, THAT BURNS!
CARLAYLIN
PEERING PAST THE CORNER of the stone wall, I could see the busy streets of Thorodan. It had been too long since my eyes had fallen upon this town. Only when I noticed the carriages busily riding up and down the cobblestone streets, drunkards stumbling on the sidewalks, the taverns full and the clock tower ringing, could I remember just how much I missed this place. Thorodan was a town of its own with memories both good and bad… mostly good though. I had a tendency to bend the bad to my will.
Before long it wasn’t just one pair of eager, somewhat secretive eyes peering past the wall of some random house at the foot of the town, but three. Nick seemed most impressed by the lively town of Thorodan, his eyes shining with a glint of wonder and awe, and Terrowin as nonchalant as always. We had to be careful and tread with the utmost care, especially me, because after all, I was still a bit of a wanted gal – a fugitive, according to my former boss, Olaf, the Sleeping Dragon’s Inn innkeeper. Damage a mug and quit the job once and you’re dead to him.
“Come on,” I whispered as I ushered them forward, sneaking onward towards our next hiding spot, steering clear of any guards that may patrol close by. The plan was simple: We get up onto the roof of the National Museum of Thorodan, right at the dawn of dusk when the museum would be closing for the day. Enough coin made, it seemed. Next up we use the skylights as an entry…
We reached the back wall of the museum that resided somewhat at the end of Thorodan, at the foot of the forest where soaring trees enclosed the town. This large museum was always one of the most precious buildings and pieces of architecture to Thorodan. It was built upon the exact spot of the Thorodan’s death – the dragon slain by Sir Daniel. Yes, I do admit
it quite odd and fairly confusing considering the idea of both the town and the dragon being named Thorodan.
The museum was of finely carved stone and rock, built to various extensions and fixes. It towered above our heads, consecrating us with its beauty of carved wood and priceless marble statues and newly added editions. The shadows of the trees hid us from the watchful eye of the town guard. Not to mention the idea that anyone scarcely finds it fit to examine the back area of the museum.
The grass was green, shadowed underneath the guidance of the many forest trees and undergrowth crawling up the side of the museum. The area was quite small, but just big enough for the three of us to take cover at. Besides, if the guard found Terrowin lurking about, they’d know for sure that I’m involved. Our little quarrel at first encounter didn’t go quite unnoticed, and Olaf was most likely to describe every last detail to the authorities.
There was a large tin dumpster at the back of the museum, almost giving the area some sort of dark, not to mention green, alleyway look. It stood against the wall and near part of the short little iron fence that surrounded the museum by its sides.
The entrance was grand and open, welcoming all with a wide set of stairs and large doors and pillars.
Like criminals we tried to remain as quiet as possible. Together we looked up at the edge of the roof.
“It’s too high to reach, even with the help of this dumpster,” Terrowin stated, eyes still focused on the edge of the roof that glinted by the shine of last day’s light.
“Luckily we have an alternative. Stand back,” I ordered as I, too, took a few steps back, cracking my knuckles.
“It’s been too long,” I said at the tingle of magic pulsing through my veins and prickling at my fingers as I took my position. With the power of the earth-elemental, I raised my hands and witnessed as steps of uneven rock elevated from the gravel beneath the grassy piece of land. Alas, during the process, the shooting blocks of rock had caught one of the smaller dumpsters’ lids and shot it up into the air, causing it to fall to a spot not too far away from the museum with a loud crash. I winced at the sound that could be heard all the way from where we were standing. Oh well, accidents do happen, even if they cause a short moment of inner panic and hearts to skip a beat…
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