Legend Warrior

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Legend Warrior Page 33

by Liara Woo


  "Halthren!" Katie exclaimed, rushing towards him. Instantly that same dragon stepped backwards, its foot crashing down on the elf's chest. Katie's eyes widened in horror when she heard several of his ribs crack. As soon as the dragon moved away, she raced to his side and felt his neck for a pulse. Thank goodness; he's alive.

  The dragons, snarling and growling, broke apart and circled each other among the sparks flying from the burning trees. The sun had completely vanished by now; the only light came from the flames.

  "You stole my rubies!" one of the dragons roared. He had spikes jutting out of his back, shoulders, chin, and tail.

  "Did not!" the other one snapped. This one had a tail like a club and knobby armored plates in the place of scales. He was the one who'd hit Halthren.

  "Did too!" the spiked dragon whined. They sounded like bickering children ten sizes too big.

  They lunged at each other, roaring, slashing, and biting. Desperately Katie tried to pull Halthren away; she could see Relenthus also trying to get out of the beast's path. He was too late; the spiked dragon kicked him backwards and then whipped his face with the horned tail. Relenthus staggered backwards, losing his balance and falling down, either dead or unconscious. Katie gasped in fear. But Loriina jumped into the mass of dragons, although she was only half as big as the others.

  "ENOUGH!" she roared in fury, a wave of ice blowing from her jaws over the two quarreling dragons. Startled, they stopped fighting and transformed into humans. The spiked dragon became a tall, gangly teenager with red hair that stuck straight up; he wore a scaly vest over his tunic and pants. Small spikes were embedded in his shoes. The knobby dragon transformed into a smaller, squatter boy whose arms, torso, and legs were thick with muscles. He wore a lumpy gray vest over a furry tunic.

  "Sorry, Loriina," whimpered the taller of the two. "But Serek stole my rubies! You know how I love rubies!"

  "I didn't steal them," the smaller boy hissed angrily.

  "Var, I know you love rubies. But just be logical for a moment! Serek doesn't like them! So why would he steal them?"

  "He was right outside of my lair when I noticed them missing!" Var steamed. "And I'd only just returned from hunting!"

  "I wasn't stealing, you idiot!" Serek exclaimed. "I was eating a sparrow I'd caught for dinner!"

  Katie tensed. The enmity in the two dragons' eyes burned almost as bright as the flames. She dared not move and stayed where she was, with one hand cradling Halthren's cheek.

  Loriina hissed, her tail lashing back and forth threateningly. "Var, listen to me. Just listen! The rubies must have been gone for hours by the time you'd returned. There's no way Serek could have stolen them! I'll give you my rubies the next time I'm not busy. Alright?"

  Var's eyes widened. "Really?" he exclaimed. "Thanks!"

  "'Bye, Loriina," Serek growled. The two humans resumed their dragon form and flew away. Loriina sighed in relief and turned to Katie.

  "Sorry about my friends," she apologized. "They're a bit… greedy…compared to the elves. But then, most dragons are."

  "You're the odd one out, then," Katie said. "You aren't greedy at all."

  Loriina smiled. Then she noticed Relenthus stirring and galumphed over to him, transforming into a human at the last second. "Are you alright?" she asked him anxiously. Relenthus groaned and felt his face. There were three parallel gashes in his flesh; one going over his left eye and across the bridge of his nose, another one just beneath that eye and going to the corner of his mouth, and a third one going from his cheekbone to his chin. He looked dazed.

  "What just happened?" he asked in a dizzy voice, his eyes out of focus.

  "Dragons attacked," Loriina answered grimly. She hurried back to Katie and took a bottle of purple potion out of her satchel. Then she raced back to Relenthus and offered it to him. As he gratefully sipped the viscous substance she turned her attention to Halthren. "What happened to him?"

  Katie stroked his cheek gently. "One of the dragons hit him in the head with his tail. Then he got stepped on."

  Relenthus nodded sympathetically. The deep gouges on his face had already faded into pale scars. "He'll need this, then." He walked over to her, his steps uneven, and heavily sank to his knees beside her. Katie gently eased Halthren's jaws apart and Relenthus poured a few drops of the potion on his tongue.

  "Now what do we do?" Loriina asked, hovering nearby.

  "Well, we've lost our food and water supplies; they were lost to the sea, just as Halthren was," Relenthus sighed.

  "How did he get back to us so fast?" Loriina wondered. "Nothing can swim, run, or fly as fast as a dragon, and yet here he is, crossing an entire ocean by himself and arriving at the same time as us. It makes no sense!"

  Relenthus shook his head. "He'll owe us a full explanation when morning comes. But right now we should get some rest."

  Loriina nodded. Her face was still twisted into a disgruntled scowl, but apparently she agreed with the suggestion of sleep and transformed back into a dragon, curling up on the sand.

  Katie looked at Halthren. Thanks to the potion, the bruise on his forehead had gone away, and he appeared to be sleeping peacefully. She looked up at the countless white stars, and wondered, not for the first time, what was happening on Earth. Were her parents searching for her? Or had they given up, assuming she was dead? Tears swam in her eyes. Maybe they didn't want her anymore. After all, she'd just killed a slew of creatures she didn't even know, creatures that had never wronged her personally. Yes, they were evil, but she'd still killed them. Allagandria was changing her with this war. She felt so much older than she knew she was; she felt immeasurably tired, lost, and miserable.

  I want to go home.

  * * *

  She was sound asleep when Halthren regained consciousness. For a moment or two, lying on his back on the beach with the waves gently soothing him as they whispered over the sand, he thought he was back on the island where he'd seen Kylaras. Then the memory of the dragons bursting through flaming trees reentered his mind. His chest was still sore, as was his head, but the pain was more than bearable.

  Sitting up, he glanced quickly over his companions to make sure they were unharmed, and then he looked at the sky, judging the moon's position. Dawn will not come for at least five hours. I must withdraw to the Dream Kingdom. He lay back down and closed his eyes, focusing his thoughts.

  As he had the first time he'd entered the Realm, he found himself just outside of the village of Soor. Rain was falling heavily; within moments he was soaked for the umpteenth time. Shivering, he drew his sword and walked around the entrance to the city. The guard was asleep; as quiet as the twitch of a squirrel's whisker, Halthren walked past him and into the town.

  All he could make out were dark silhouettes of homes and possibly people surrounding him on the cobbled road. He couldn't quite tell which was which. Without his Light, his night vision was awful—worse than a blind horse. Bitter remorse filed his soul, tightening his throat. He tried to shake away the longing. I'd better ask around, looking for this man…the one that Thampson mentioned: McCullough.

  He walked through the deserted streets, gazing longingly towards the windows golden with firelight, thinking about how warm and dry it must be inside, and at the same time he tried to keep to the shadows so as not to be noticed. This was something that his insignificant amount of Light actually helped with; whereas other elves could easily be seen in darkness because of their faint glow, Halthren was invisible.

  After meandering around the village in search of a place where he could ask around without being intrusive, he arrived at a large wooden building, probably an inn, and knocked loudly on the door. It was opened by a dwarf who eyed him with bitter disapproval. Halthren drew himself up taller, trying to look impressive despite the rags clothing to his body. "I mean you no trouble, but I am looking for a man by the name of McCullough. If you know anything of his whereabouts, please tell me. This is a matter of life or death. Possibly both."

  The dwarf tri
ed to close the door. "I'm not telling you anything," he growled. Halthren thrust his hand out, forcing the door to stay open.

  "I don't want any trouble," he said coolly. "My best friend is in grave danger and I must find him. To do that I need to find McCullough. Tell me what you know."

  The dwarf frowned, his beard drooping and his furry eyebrows almost entirely covering his dark eyes. He tugged at his hair and asked, "Would your friend be a lad with blue-green eyes?"

  "Yes. What do you know of him?"

  "He was thrown into the Pit," the dwarf answered uneasily. He glanced around, his eyes darting from either side as he swallowed audibly. "And don't even think about asking me where that is, because I don't know—and I don't want to know, either." There was real terror in his rugged face.

  "What exactly is the Pit?" Halthren asked. His heart filled with dread, sending a shiver of warning down his side.

  "None can say. But the elves that go in never come back out."

  "Can I trust you?" Halthren questioned.

  "I swear on my life that I'm telling the truth." He slashed over his heart with one stumpy finger and spat on the ground—it was a dwarfish charm against bad luck.

  "Then I believe you," Halthren assured him. "Do you know of anyone here in Soor that can tell me how to find the Pit?"

  The dwarf's eyes widened in horror. "You aren't thinking…. you aren't going in after your friend, are you?" The look on Halthren's face was answer enough. The dwarf shuddered. "Well, McCullough created it. He knows where it is if anyone does. But I'd urge you to listen to reason. That man is pure evil. If you want my advice, leave your friend to die."

  Halthren shook his head. "Under no circumstances can I bring myself to do that," he said in a solemn voice.

  To the Unicorns

  To the Unicorns

  In the morning he had to give the others a detailed description of what had happened after the roc had taken him; Katie's eyes were so wide when he finished that he worried they might pop out of her head. "Incredible!" she exclaimed in awe. "So that gift… Kylaras's gift… Now we can go to the unicorns!"

  Halthren smiled shyly in the face of her astonishment. "Yes, and I think I can take others with me, one at a time."

  "Let's go, then," Loriina said. "I'll be first. I am fed up with all of this wretched sand." She changed herself into a human, dusted the sand from her clothes, and walked confidently over to Halthren, who laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. With a flash of bright light and the sound of splintering ice, they vanished.

  "Amazing," Katie murmured, staring in amazement at where he'd disappeared. I'm convinced now; he's the most incredible person I've ever met!

  Relenthus bent down next to Joran, crouching in the sand. "He's barely breathing," he observed, his expression drawn and worried, "and his heartbeat is faint."

  Katie bit her lip, all thoughts about Halthren washed away in the face of concern for Joran. She approached him and looked down at his pale face. "I'm sure he'll be fine; we can help him," she said with more confidence than she felt. "We've almost reached the unicorns."

  A sudden pang of fear shot through her as she remembered what happened to the Great Elves—all slain by a single stroke of a unicorn's sword. I hope I don't let everyone down. I hope I don't get them all killed. What was the name of the unicorn that murdered the Great Elves? Reynolds? Rendon? Worries pounded through her mind, overwhelming her as she sat down. I hope I can make peace!

  That was basically the only reason she was there in the first place. According to Halthren and Aspeniel, unicorns were prideful, thinking that since they were from Earth, all other creatures, no matter how good or powerful, were inferior. They refused to speak to Allagandrians. But maybe they would heed the words of a fellow Earthling.

  Katie winced. Over the past several days, most of the elves she'd met had greeted her as an Earthling. She hated the title; she might come from another planet but that didn't make her an alien. Well, I guess it does, but I don't think of myself as one. And I don't think of them as aliens either.

  With a small smile, she remembered that Halthren hadn't called her an Earthling. Then her smile faded. "Of course, he was almost dead, so he probably couldn't think straight," she mumbled, her heart sinking.

  "What?" Relenthus asked.

  "Oh, nothing," Katie sighed. There was a moment's silence, in which she debated whether or not to tell him. At last she couldn't contain her thoughts any longer, and she blurted, "I just hate being called 'Earthling'. It makes me feel inhuman. Alien."

  Relenthus blinked in surprise. "No offense, Katie, but you are a foreigner. And inhuman in that sense isn't a bad thing." He gave her a look, as if to say that he wasn't human, and he was perfectly fine with the fact. Then he continued, "Personally I've never once thought of you as the stereotypical alien for us: a large furry thing that looks like a lion and a scorpion combined."

  Katie giggled. "On Earth, aliens are supposed to be green things with too many eyes and arms, with antennas on their heads."

  Relenthus laughed. "Listen, Katie…I'm completely certain that no one meant to make you feel uncomfortable. I was incredibly nervous when I heard that the person powerful enough to defeat all evil had come at last. I was almost scared out of my wits. So if anyone offended you, we honestly didn't mean to. We were frightened."

  Katie smiled. "Thanks for telling me."

  At once Halthren reappeared, and Katie yelped in surprise. Then she looked hard at him, shocked by his appearance. There he stood in his ragged clothing, his face pink and snowflakes dusting his hair and shoulders. He was trembling—from cold. "It-t's f-freezing th-there," he shivered. "And w-wet, and-d icy."

  Relenthus stood up with pity in his gaze. He pulled his cloak off and fastened it around Halthren's neck. "I hope this helps; I'm sorry I can do nothing for your feet."

  Halthren looked at him, gratitude plainly written across his face. "Th-thank you," he stammered. "Who's n-next?"

  "Joran," Katie said instantly. Halthren nodded and knelt beside the prince. As he passed, Katie could feel the cold arising from his body. Poor guy, she thought sympathetically, as a second flash of light momentarily blinded her. When her vision cleared, Joran and Halthren had gone.

  "I didn't want to be left here with Joran," Katie explained. "If a hungry dragon came along, I don't think I could have defended him."

  "Don't worry about dragons," Relenthus grinned. "They're mostly friendly towards elves. But…now that I think about it, 'friendly' isn't quite the word to describe our relationship. A few trade agreements have gone awry…"

  Katie nodded. "That makes sense. But what if there's a rogue dragon or something like that?"

  Relenthus laughed, but then abruptly his laughter ceased. He appeared to be looking at something over her shoulder. "Katie, don't move." There was genuine fear on his face now, as his eyes widened and the corners of his mouth turned downwards in a terrified frown.

  But I was only joking! Katie thought desperately. Relenthus drew his sword hesitantly, his limbs moving slowly and deliberately. "Turn around, as slowly as you can," he instructed. His lithe body was tense; his sword was held in a vicelike grip. Katie swallowed down her nerves and turned around.

  There, among the trees and sand and water, where she expected to see a dragon, was nothing.

  Her shoulders slumped in relief and she let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. Then she turned back at Relenthus, her gaze accusing. "You tricked me."

  Relenthus laughed apologetically, sheathing his sword and raising his hands. "Yes, I did. I probably shouldn't have, but if there's one thing I detest, it's tension. I could feel it coming from you…you were nervous about something. I can't stand feeling absolutely sick with apprehension, so forgive me for trying to lessen the strain with a bit of harmless teasing."

  Katie smiled. Not only did she feel more relaxed, but this was the first time Relenthus had teased anyone since Krenej's death. He was recovering from the loss, returning to the fun person
ality he'd had before the battle. "You're forgiven."

  Halthren returned moments later and offered his hand to Katie. With a small smile, she took it. There was an all-too-familiar flash of light that was abruptly replaced by pitch-black nothingness. Katie opened her mouth to scream in terror as the ground vanished beneath her feet, but she couldn't say anything. Fear engulfed her; in her panic she clung to Halthren's chest and put her head against his neck, her eyes tightly shut. She felt hurricane-force winds ripping around her, threatening to pull her away. The air pressed against her, choking her, preventing her lungs from expanding. She felt as if she were in a free fall, tumbling wildly down an endless black hole, being sucked into utter oblivion.

  Gently Halthren enfolded his arms around her, holding her close to his chest, comforting her as best as he could without words even as they tumbled helplessly through nothingness. Katie was holding on to him so tightly that he'd have been unable to breathe if they hadn't been in the void. But she was so scared, and he was the only solid thing near her, so she held on to him for dear life.

 

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