United Dragons

by Calista Lambrechts

  As I stretched out to open the door, two hands grabbed me from behind. Father pulled me back until I faced him. His grip on my shoulders was of iron and his expression was of the greatest trepidation and utter regret. I already knew that he wouldn’t let go until I’ve forgiven him. I couldn’t help it. The moment I saw his face again, there was a fire burning in my eyes, just like my father’s when he attacked those assassins.

  Father immediately pulled his hands back, for my shoulders literally burned him. He grasped his hands together in order to sooth the burns. He looked in complete disbelief, almost like when I first realized that my father had fire magic. Father didn’t know of my abilities either…All the same, his eyes were completely focussed on me.

  After the momentary shock, he gave a step forward in order to reason with me.

  “Terrowin, please listen to me!”

  I had no way of replying. Instead, I sent him flying backwards and crashing into the wall on the other end of the kitchen by the same heat wave he had used earlier. All the chefs and assistants scattered from the scene or took hiding behind the counters or tables. Immediately afterwards my hands caught fire and I threw a raging fireball towards the pot rack directly above him.

  It snapped and fell down on him, but he was quick to leap out of the way, missing the crashing items including pots and pans and sharp butcher knives by inches. My eyes were still flaming. For a sudden moment a horrifying thought occurred to me… I could’ve killed him. I could’ve killed my father.

  The fire in my eyes snuffed out and my hands extinguished. I lowered my hands as I looked at my father who lay on the floor, silently begging for mercy from his son.

  I looked at him with weary eyes and quivering lips. Father was a skilled and respected soldier – known for being merciless and not surrendering to anyone – but in no way would he so much as dare to fight his son. In no way would he even harm a hair on my head. He just couldn’t fight back and here I am… on the verge of killing my own father.

  A tear rolled down my cheek, but I didn’t cry. My gaze remained close to nonchalant, but not completely. I was in regret and drowning in melancholy. I closed my eyes tightly as I tried to look away. I had to get away from here. I was afraid… of myself. My rage might just turn me into a monster. Father noticed that I couldn’t dare take another drastic step in attacking him. He pulled himself to his feet and gradually approached.

  “No,” I tried saying, “Don’t come any closer.” Father didn’t listen and painstakingly approached. I shook my head and burst out the kitchen door. I rushed down the hall, but I was stopped by my father’s voice.

  “Terrowin. Stop. I know you don’t want anything to do with me and I have absolutely no reason to blame you for that, but please… Give me a moment to make amends.”

  I wasn’t tempted to, but for goodness’ sake I stood frozen on the spot, my head was lolled against my chest and my back was turned to him.

  “I have never regretted anything as much as I have now. It burns my heart to know that I have hurt you so. Terrowin, I know nothing I say now can truly make amends, but I’m willing to try. I don’t want to lose you. Forget about your brother. I don’t want to lose you. I’m not a good father. I get that, but I try. Perhaps sometimes I try too hard, other times I just let go. It would mean the world to me if you could forgive me. You’re the only one I have left. You’re my son. Not a bastard, not an outcast. You’re not a disappointment.

  “If anything… you make me the proudest father I can possibly. Sometimes you make me feel a certain way that even Travis couldn’t make me feel. You have never let me down, even though it seems my words keep coming out wrong. You have never abandoned me. Just know that I will never leave you either. I understand that you are absolutely mad at me. I would be too, but don’t you dare think that I don’t love you. If anything, I love you the most, even though I struggle to admit it. What I said, about trading you in… Terrowin, I don’t know what had come over me. The words were out of my mouth before I could even stop them. I was too caught up in the moment, but, Terrowin, believe me when I say that even then, as those horrid words left my mouth, I knew I was lying. I was lying to myself, to Travis, to them… and to you. Damn me to hell if I ever say anything like that again. Damn me to hell if I ever give you away, because I would have nothing left to live for. You are my life, Terrowin. You’re the main reason for me not to cling to the past. You’re the main reason for me to look forward and move on, because… all I want to do is make you proud… I am… so sorry. And I simply can’t say it enough. My chest burns in grief for what I have done – not only tonight, but all these years as well.”

  My anger faded into despondency. I didn’t dare move a muscle. I was lost in my own thoughts. It was difficult for my father to admit and apologize. I could see that. It was as though a great weight was lifted off my chest and I could finally breathe after all these years.

  Father approached me from behind with a grim expression. For a moment he stood there until finally making his way in front of me.

  “You’re not the bastard. I am.”

  I raised my gaze to meet his eyes.

  “Fire magic, huh? You know how to make a man shake in his boots.”

  His faint jest lightened my heart. My lips hesitantly tried to form a grin, but I still couldn’t completely manage.

  He rested his hand on my shoulder one last time.

  “Let’s get out of this hellhole and explore the docks. It’s about time you and I do something together and I know how much you love the harbour...”

  This time, I really couldn’t help it. I smiled, even though my downcast eyes didn’t smile along. I embraced my father at an instant, squeezing my eyes shut. For a moment, Father was dumbstruck, but his tensed muscles gradually relaxed and he slowly returned the favour and folded his arms around me as he came to realize. For the first time I felt a scrape of fatherly love… even though the same went to him as well.

  Never have we been this close. Never before had I felt this content.

  CHAPTER 27

  BARRELS ABROAD

  JUSTIN

  NIGHT HAS FALLEN AND it’s been over two hours since when Terrowin had left for the ball. To be honest, he seemed even less excited than Carlaylin. When I wished him good luck, I had received no more than a mere frown, not even a single word. He was reluctant, but he was willing.

  So, who’s left? Nemtris was lying on Fargo’s couch and reading the new release of ‘Corpse’, one of her favourite magazines.

  If I’m not mistaken, she might even be busy trying to do a quiz. She wasn’t scribbling on those pages with Fargo’s pencil for no apparent reason.

  Nicolas? Well, the man recently crawled towards the hearth on all fours, curled up and laid all snuggly-like like your typical dog, and frankly Fargo was nowhere to be seen. By my guess, I’d say he was busily cleaning out his weapons and sorting through his ammunition. He was no babysitter. He was no entertainer either. He had his own things to do. As long as we had no complaints down here, all was fine. We were practically on our own.

  I just sat wide legged on the other couch, studying my surroundings. With Nick fast asleep and Terrowin gone on business, I was basically alone. I gave a sigh, but, by my luck, my moment of silence was short-lived. There was a crash outside. For a moment my heart skipped a beat and my hairs stood on ends. It could have been no other than Ramses, or so I hoped. The worst part of it all was that Nemtris kept her eyes fixed on the pages of the magazine. I shot her a look of disbelief.

  She truly did care little.

  “Nemtris!” I called, “Don’t tell me you didn’t hear that.”

  “Oh, no, dear. I heard it clear as day,” she said somewhat nonchalantly, eyes still focused on the pages as she scrolled through, finished with her already quiz.

  “Shouldn’t you go look into it?”

  “Why should I if you can? I’m in the middle of a very important article: ‘How to know if you are a master of the dark arts or not’. I simply
must know.”

  I nearly gaped. “You can’t just send me out there alone! What if he’s loose…? What if I don’t come back alive?”

  “To be frank, I couldn’t care less. Either way, chop-chop, dear. It’s time to face your fear.”

  I opened my mouth to scold with a series of hurtful words, but before I could, Nemtris cut me short.

  “It’s not nice to insult.”

  I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. Damn this Nemtris! Before I could throw a fit – or get turned into the walking dead – I stormed upstairs in a hurry. On my way I took a quick glimpse out the window before falling into a state of surprise. The rope was torn and slumped down the wooden pole. Ramses was gone.

  “Oh, n-no….” I stuttered. Panic struck me like a cold bucket of ice before I ran upstairs, bursting into Fargo’s room at the next second, completely disregarding any means of privacy. Lucky I didn’t catch him doing anything too embarrassing. Well, uh, I did manage to catch sight of his beautiful behind. It was a full moon indeed. His head was stuck in the wooden mahogany cabinet positioned next to his cabinet as he dug around, meaning he was well bent over to reveal your typical trucker or hunter pants covering no more than half of it all.

  “Fargo!” I called with an involuntary squeak, unable to look away.

  Fargo hit his head before managing to get it out of the cabinet, whipping around at the sound of my voice. Rubbing the back of his head with a slight frown he made for his bed, littered with weaponry and ammunition just as I had guessed. His room was masked by late night’s gloom, lighted by no more than the full moon’s light.

  “Geez, kid! Ever learned how to knock?”

  “I do apologize, but this is somewhat of an emergency. There was this crash outside-”

  “You heard it too?” Fargo seemed rather on edge and somewhat relieved that he wasn’t just hearing things. He wanted the thrill. He needed to get his blood pumping again.

  “Uh, yeah! It’s Ramses. He’s gone! I need your help tracking him down!”

  “I guessed as much! Here!” Fargo threw me a weapon: a bow and some arrows, even though I had my own downstairs. Of course, Fargo had to keep the badass weapons for himself. A crossbow was equipped to his back and an ancient kusarigama was held at a ready.

  “Huh?” I asked, rather confused.

  “Stop with the feminine act and follow me!”

  “Feminine!?”

  “Oi! Get out there! A wild tiger is released and countless lives are in danger. We have to hunt down this beast before it tears anyone to shreds! Pretty strong claws, nice jawline… yes, she’s a killer this one.”

  “Shreds?” I shivered.

  “Flesh! Now stop acting like a sissy and get out there! Go! Go! Go!” I was rushed out the room with a hurry, Fargo short on my tracks. I could most definitely see a clear resemblance and more than enough reasons why this man just had to be Carlaylin’s relative.

  We entered the living room and trotted past sleeping Nick who was startlingly awakened. Nick raised his head from his slumber, eyes following me with flared ears and tousled beard hairs reaching out as though he was electrocuted or something of the sort.

  When I got outside I could feel the sudden cold midnight air pressing against my skin. The moment we approached the spot where Ramses had been kept, it was an open secret that he had managed to escape to only goodness knows where.

  “You take the west, I’ll take north,” Fargo ordered as he stormed off before I got the chance to say anything. I was left on my own, the idea of Ramses now roaming free playing the strings of my nerves like a harp.

  For a moment or two I was frozen in my tracks, scanning my surroundings for any signs of the tiger. A few minutes later, I took the west side of Krea like Fargo had said.

  Quite the time passed as I ventured through Krea, through alleyways and past various buildings. It wasn’t until I heard a slight crash not far from here that when I knew I must’ve found Ramses. Like a horror play I slowly turned my head towards the direction of the sound. There and then my eyes met the sight of a large mammal sniffing through the various barrels he had pushed over, eyes fixed on a mouse that soon met the wrath of his teeth.

  “Ugh!” I absentmindedly spluttered with disgust. Yet, it proved to be a fatal mistake. Ramses was quick to raise his gaze at this sudden noise, those beady cat eyes locked on me. He gave a deadly growl. Even though my bow and arrow was withdrawn, elbow rose to align with my ear, and Ramses gradually approaching, ready to pounce, I couldn’t find the heart to shoot. Somehow I had a conscience whispering in the back of my head, beckoning not to shoot this creature. It might be the worth of a life, or Carlaylin that might kill me if I do.

  Instead of hunter chasing prey, the hunt soon turned to prey chasing hunter. I darted off into an unknown direction, fearing for my life as Ramses finally saw the perfect opportunity to tear through my elven skin… Alley rats weren’t quite fulfilling enough it seemed.

  Down the alleyways, past the shops I went. So now and then I tried to look for a shortcut, leaping down into the waters and landing on the fishermen’s boats, only to jump from one to another before finally giving that one last leap towards the other end of the pier.

  Ramses took the long way round, but no matter what I did, no matter what route I took, he was always steep on my tracks. My heart pumped against my ribcage and I tried picking up the pace, but tigers were just that fast! I kept on running and I never stopped –especially not when he decided to roar in anger. By now Ramses looked like a hurricane tearing through anything in his way to get to me.

  There came a time where I thought that I might not make it through the night. I reached a dead end, but a dead end stacked with barrels of all sizes; probably cargo and supplies.

  I was quick to hop into one of the front row barrels and closed the lid on top of me. It was dark and fairly cramped. The bottom was littered with old red apples. In front of me there was a small little hole through which I could peek. I saw Ramses approaching, but his eyes soon widened before he gave a submissive cat-like whine and dashed off.

  “Ha! I knew you couldn’t beat me!” I said in delight, “Go! Run off you…err…” To be honest, I wasn’t capable of thinking of a proper clever insult at the moment. I was even happier to catch sight of Fargo giving Ramses a surprise attack. He fought Ramses off and captured the tiger. Ramses was led off in chains. He wasn’t going anywhere soon.

  I have to admit, Fargo really is an excellent hunter. He also knows how to handle his weapons. I admire the man, but I do prefer my master, for more than a few reasons. At least I’ll put Fargo as my plan B if this gig doesn’t work out. Carlaylin is still helping me to unlock my true nature and earth magic potential. I know I have it. It’s in me… somewhere.

  With Ramses captured and Fargo off to his house, I decided it was about time I skedaddled. With a smile of satisfaction glued to my lips, I tried to push the lid open, but, by my surprise, it felt stuck.

  “Ah!” I yelped as I tried over and over again to open it, each unsuccessful push turning into a panic.

  It just wouldn’t budge!

  “What the hell? No! Open! Open sesame! Shabam! OPEN DAMN YOU!” It wasn’t until I heard voices that when I swiftly settled down.

  “Load em’ up, Johnny boy.”

  I felt someone trying to tip over my barrel. It wasn’t long until they succeeded. I fell down with a thud. The feeling was not pleasant.

  “Oof!” the man said as he finally thrived, “This one’s a bit heavy, Curtis. What’s in here?” Okay. I felt offended. I’m a thin, light elf. I blame it on the apples!

  “Don’t question the trades, John. Just do the job so that we can get it finished and get paid.” I tried looking through the hole and saw the legs of a worker bent over in order to push the barrel.

  “Well, it better be worth it,” he said as he finally pushed my barrel. He rolled it down the ramp and loaded it onto the rowboat. I felt quite dizzy afterwards, but I pulled through. John tried to put my
barrel upright again and soon I ended up sitting upside down. The barrel was too cramped for me to properly get myself into a comfortable position. My eye twitched with irritation and failure. The blood was flowing to my head and the worst part was that the barrel stood on its lid. There was no getting out of this one.

  Slowly the boat started to move and slosh on the ocean water underneath me. At least my head was stuck near the little hole and I could see what was going on. The two men, giving me the idea of lumberjack fishermen, sat on the wooden plank seats and rowed. Or at least one rowed whilst the other sat watching. Curtis was the buff one, John the scrawnier one. Curtis was the one that took the lead and rowed. It wasn’t long until the small boat came to a stop and oars were rested down. It seems that the boat had stopped near the towering sturdy wooden bridge that signified the end of Krea. The bridge stretched between two wooden watchtowers. It stretched above the largest channel of all that led out to open sea.

  Curtis was quick to help John load the barrels back onto the pier to our right. They put all the barrels with the others that already stood waiting near the dock house at the end of the pier. All was dark but for the lantern on the small little rowboat and the lit interior of the dock house that controlled the housing boathouse. The harbourmaster was a busy man, if you ought to ask my opinion.

  “Oi! You’re right. This one is heavy, aintcha?” Curtis blurted as he lent some aid to John in putting my barrel alongside the others. At least they put it upright this time. The soon as they went back down the plank to get the rest, I tried to open the lid one more time. I pushed and pushed until I heard it pop open.

  “Aha!”

  I was filled with absolute glee as I reached out above me to open it, but Curtis and John just had to go and put another, much heavier, barrel on top of mine. I gave a loud grunt before sighing aloud.

  “This is hopeless!” I said in submission. Instead, I just sat down on my bum like a good, unhappy little boy and grouchily started eating one of the apples. I hate the docks. I really hate the docks! Especially being trapped in a barrel! This. Is. Torture.