The fairy leader screeched to a halt in mid-air a few feet from the wizard, her flying army hovering like a thunderhead behind her. “I’ve warned you about keeping your distance from our home,” she hissed. “Your insistence on trespassing on our lands, as well as your thievery, show that you have no respect for us.”
“Thievery?” One of Edward’s eyebrows rose in a confused expression. “We took nothing from you.” He cast a quick glance over his shoulder at the others in his party, hoping if he was misinformed that one of them would come forward to apologize. When nobody moved an inch, he returned his attention to the aerial threat.
“Do you not consider removing Sygax from his home theft?”
“I did no such thing! The dragon came of his own free will,” Edward countered.
“What he speaks is true,” Sygax added.
The tiny blue woman flew closer, floating in the air mere inches from the dragon’s nostrils. “You would willingly leave the boundaries of our protection? Do not think, even for a moment, that these mortal creatures can keep you safe,” she scoffed.
“What makes you think I require someone to watch over me? I’m not a helpless baby anymore,” Sygax seethed, his anger beginning to rise. “I can take care of myself!”
“Really? Who will feed you? Surely you don’t think that these humans will provide you with their own kind to chew on.”
Rage burned in the dragon’s eyes. “Is that what you’ve been feeding to me since I was born?”
Even though Katie could only understand one side of the heated debate, the fairy’s last comment brought the memory of her first encounter near the Tree of Life back to the surface; the enormous, slithering serpent, as well as the spiders and other bugs, which moved with silent menace over the human-looking bones that seemed to serve as an obscene mulch around the base of the trunk. Hesitantly, she crept up behind Edward. Tapping him on the shoulder, Katie whispered in his ear, “I can’t understand the dragon’s responses to the inquiries the fairy is making. Do you think it’s possible that he really eats humans?”
“It would seem so, but from what I gather there was trickery involved,” he replied in a hushed tone, turning his head slightly and cupping a hand over his mouth.
Her stomach churned and bile rose in her throat; Katie bent over, placing her hands on her knees, and dry heaved. The mere thought of the seemingly friendly dragon picking bits of human flesh from between its teeth with a razor-sharp claw made her shudder.
“It wasn’t obvious?” The tiny blue woman placed her hands on her hips, wearing a smug look of victory on her face.
“How was I supposed to know? Until recently, I have never even seen a human, or so I thought,” Sygax growled, his rumbling voice threatening to escalate to a roar.
“Did you not put two and two together when you finally saw your first one? Even though we only fed humans to you in pieces, could you not recognize the similarities between the limbs we gave you to eat and the pathetic sacks of flesh you now stand beside?” An amused grin adorned the tiny woman’s features and she snickered with triumphant glee, but only for a brief moment. Her mirth was cut short by the bellowing roar of the dragon, creating a hot gust of wind that blew her backward several feet. “Why you ungrateful little wyrm,” she shouted angrily. For a few seconds, the fairy leader turned her back on the intruders, during which time she rallied her army, whipping them into a frenzy. By the time she turned back to face her enemies, the buzzing cloud of fairies behind her had become a maelstrom of swirling light.
“This is going to get ugly fast,” Sygax murmured aloud, a haze of blue tendrils beginning to stretch from the swarm toward them. The hissing intake of his breath was the only warning that Edward and the others received before fire belched from the dragon’s mouth like a flamethrower, flash frying everything in its path to a crispy black.
“Holy shit!” was the only thing Katie could manage to say as she quickly latched her grip on Edward’s shoulder and dragged him backward, narrowly avoiding being singed by the immense heat radiating from the dragon’s maw.
***
Fascinated by the strange light show, George paused before departing to see what would transpire. The tense vibe that hung in the air told him something spectacular was about to happen. While he watched, the eerie glow approached the edge of the forest and stopped, hovering in the night sky like a UFO. He considered leaving the area when nothing had moved for nearly five minutes, but his attention was rapidly refocused on the blue lights as they began to swirl in the air like a phosphorescent tornado.
An evil grin crept across his face. Whatever that is, I hope it causes the group of humans immense pain and suffering. “I would wish death upon you, but I'd rather see the light go out of your eyes by my hand,” he whispered aloud, relishing the venomous quality of his words as they touched his ears.
A pillar of flame suddenly burst out of the tree-line, illuminating the darkness like a nuclear explosion, causing him to have a startled twitch which nearly induced a fall from his mount. The massive spray of fire reminded him of the other night, when he had fled through the night to dodge some unknown, unseen terror that seemed bent on cooking him alive. Although every instinct told him to flee, he fearfully remained where he was in hopes the creature would leave the area without noticing his presence.
Chapter 7
It was nearly midday when George finally spotted the Black Knight’s column of machines marching inexorably southward. The delay had been frustrating, to say the least, but necessary. He hadn’t been able to safely leave the area where he'd witnessed the fireball until shortly after dawn, when he could see that the threat of detection was no longer a concern. He probably could have left sooner, but it was better to be absolutely certain that his enemies had vacated the area before exposing himself in the sky like a shiny target.
Spotting Verin at the head of the formation, he pushed the control lever forward. The metallic beast complied, swiftly descending until it landed with a thud in front of the formless demon. “Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to grace me with his presence,” Verin spat. “With as long as you’ve been gone, you better have something useful to tell me.”
It took George a phenomenal amount of restraint not to laugh contemptuously in his face. No matter how he thought of the wispy creature before him, he couldn’t even muster a tiny bit of respect for the foul being the Black Knight had chosen to lead his army. “I found them,” George bluntly announced, keeping his tone neutral to mask his annoyance.
“And?” Verin rolled a partially formed hand in the air, urging more information from the human he despised.
“I would venture to guess that you are actually gaining ground.”
“Really? How far away are they?” With his insubstantial, smoke-like appearance it was hard to see, but Verin was rubbing his hands together greedily, like a mad scientist who had just designed a new potion.
“A day, maybe a day and an half. They were still moving south from what I could tell, and had just left a clearing that had a giant tree in the center of it. Are you familiar with that area?”
“Ah, yes. That sounds like the Tree of Life.” Turning toward the army, Verin issued new orders to the machines, adjusting their course slightly to put them on a direct path to their objective.
***
After the surprising developments from the brief battle with the now nonexistent guardians of the Tree of Life—mainly the discovery that their new friend breathed fire—Edward led his comrades away from the charred remains of the fairies, leaving their ashes to drift aimlessly in the light breeze.
Katie, staggered by the weight of finding out the fairies had been feeding human body parts to Sygax for his entire life, refused to walk beside the creature with Edward. Instead, she rode atop a mechanical horse with Julie. She might get over the irrational fear of being devoured by the dragon with time, but for now she was having trouble trusting the beast, even though Sygax had appeared to be just as appalled as she was that h
e had been eating human flesh.
With the first rays of morning light penetrating the canopy overhead, Amber became invisible once more, leaving the group with nothing more to follow than the slightly worn trail that was created by their previous travels. Although the filtered sunshine dimly illuminated their surroundings, it was enough for Edward to realize there was something not quite right with Katie. He couldn’t put his finger on what seemed out of place, but there was a difference.
As they continued to plod along the path, Edward noted Katie’s apparent mistrust of Sygax. Every now and then she would turn her head, as if she were attempting to regard the dragon without drawing attention to herself. It was during one of these furtive glances that Edward figured out what was different about his companion. The change was a subtle one, but he swore she looked a little older. The flesh on her cheeks and beneath her chin didn’t appear to bear the same, youthful tightness as it had before. Instead, her skin seemed to sag slightly, and the lustrous glow that had once been there was gone, giving Katie a haggard appearance.
Edward couldn’t help but wonder if her condition had been declining slowly and he was just now noticing. I know our journey has been hard on everyone in the group, but I find it difficult to swallow that I could have been blind to the decline of anyone’s appearance. Frown lines formed on his forehead as his eyebrows furrowed, quickly glancing from one person to the next to see if they displayed similar traits.
Julie was the most difficult for him to discern. After all, he hadn’t known her for very long, but if anything she seemed to have improved dramatically since her rescue from Cemetery Hill. She was no longer the gaunt, emaciated shell of a human being that she had been the first time he'd laid eyes on her. It was the only thing Edward could compare her appearance to. He had no idea what she'd looked like prior to her captivity.
As he switched his studious gaze to the shaman, he saw none of the adverse signs he'd witnessed on Katie’s face. Brian seemed exactly the same as the day Edward met him.
Having nothing reflective enough to study his own features in, it would be impossible to tell if he was suffering the same calamity as Katie seemed to be. Edward knew, however, that everything he’d been through recently would likely cause his appearance to be far worse. Even though his wounds had healed, the fight with the demonic creatures in the abandoned town had taken a massive toll on his body. He moved around just fine now, but underneath it all, Edward felt like an arthritic, old man.
Although Katie seemed to be the only one in the group who appeared to be suffering ill effects from their journey, Edward resolved to keep his comments to himself. He knew that she was prone to—almost violent—mood swings, but the last thing he wanted to do was to provoke an outburst by commenting on her looks. That would be like standing under a waterfall and expecting to not get wet. The only thing Edward could do was monitor her condition more closely. If it became necessary to open his mouth, he would, but not unless he saw no other option.
Edward conversed with Sygax on and off as they followed the worn trail southward, hoping to distract himself from his worries about Katie and at the same time learn more about their new traveling companion. He attempted to keep the conversation casual, trying to develop a level of trust with the creature. At the same time, he counted on the idle chit-chat putting Katie’s mind at ease. Perhaps it would calm her nerves and get her over the fears she seemed to have developed after leaving the vicinity of the Tree of Life. After all, she had initially found the beast, and had been far less wary of it upon first meeting it. It wasn’t until she had learned of what the dragon had been eating that she’d decided to shun it like a crazy relative.
***
Around midday, Edward halted the group’s progress in the same spot where they had set up camp yesterday. Positive that Katie would not be making another attempt to return to the Tree of Life, he figured it would be a good opportunity for everyone to get some much needed rest. When deciding how to divide up guard shifts, he settled on using pairs instead of single sentries. This decision was solely based on the fact he was certain that Katie would be unwilling to be alone with Sygax. Edward thought it would be better if she stood watch with him. That way, he could serve as a translator for her, which he hoped would help break the wall of fear that her mind had seemingly erected. In theory, it was the best plan he could come up with. He knew neither Brian nor Julie would be able to understand the dragon should it deign to speak to them, but Edward surmised that at the very least the shaman should have the ability to foresee any ill intentions by the beast. The one thing that concerned him the most, however, was whether or not Katie would sleep at all with Sygax nearby.
“Brian, Julie, go ahead and get some rest. Katie and I will take the first watch. I’ll wake you both in a few hours,” Edward stated, his face an emotionless mask of his all business approach to their duties.
Katie let out a soft sigh of relief when she realized she wouldn’t be forced to spend alone time with the dragon. She was nowhere near ready for that, and she wasn’t sure she ever would be.
Katie watched her best friend and the red-haired shaman spread out their bedding before sitting down beside Edward. Leaning toward him, she whispered in his ear, “I’m sorry for keeping my distance, but ever since I found out that the dragon has been feeding on human flesh its entire life ..." she briefly paused and took a deep breath, "I’ve been afraid that it will turn on us and decide we look like a good snack.”
After his random chats with the beast while they were traveling, Edward had to suppress the urge to laugh. “Let me assure you, Katie, Sygax does not intend to satisfy his hunger by eating any of us. Although, I’ve been thinking really hard over the last few hours. He has never had to fend for himself in his life, and considering the fact that the fairies were providing meals for him, it might be wise to teach Sygax to hunt for his own food. What do you think?”
A look of astonishment bloomed on her face, and her jaw hung open in disbelief, as if Edward had just requested her to do something unspeakable. It took a couple of minutes for the shock to wear off enough for her to answer his question. “You aren’t asking what I think you are, are you?”
“You’re the hunter of the group,” he replied in a soft tone. “It would be the most appropriate course of action.”
“I—I don’t know if I c-can do th-that,” she stammered, her lower lip quivering slightly and her hands starting to tremble.
“I’m not asking you to wander off into the forest alone with him. I’ll go with you, too, if you decide to do this. As you know, I can understand his speech, so it would be beneficial to have me along for communication purposes.”
For a few minutes, Katie hung her head and stared at the ground, allowing Edward’s pleas to fully sink in. During this time, the camp was shrouded in silence ... so much so that she took a quick, stealthy peek around without raising her head to make sure she hadn’t been abandoned. When she saw that everyone was right where they had been moments before, she met Edward’s expectant gaze. “I’m not sure exactly how I’m supposed to teach a dragon to hunt, but if you’re willing to stay by my side and protect me in the event that things go terribly wrong, I’ll try to be helpful.”
Chapter 8
The daunting task of teaching Sygax to hunt was more difficult than Edward had even imagined. After a few hours of attempted instruction, Katie threw her hands in the air in exasperation. It was blatantly obvious that rabbits were too small to be considered prey items for the dragon, but they were the only game she had seen in days. Before now, it hadn’t been a major issue, but with the mythical beast’s appetite it would be as useful as expecting a single peanut to satisfy her hunger.
“I can’t do this,” she snapped, turning to face the wizard who was standing a few paces from her.
His lips pressed together in a thin line, the corners of his mouth sagging downward into a frown. He exhaled softly through his nostrils in frustration as he approached Katie. Hoping to ease her tension, Ed
ward enveloped her in his arms and hugged her firmly to his chest. For a few seconds, she tried to struggle out of his embrace, wanting nothing more than to run off into the woods to be by herself for a little while. When he refused to relinquish his hold on her, however, she sighed heavily and stopped resisting.
“I know you tried your best,” he cooed softly in her ear. “Perhaps in the future you will have more success, but for now, time is short. We dare not dally too long in this place, lest the army that’s chasing us should catch up. Suffice to say, it would probably be more prudent to hunt for him than to teach Sygax how to fend for himself.”
At first, Katie was happy to leave the role of teacher behind. Then the weight of Edward’s words sunk in. “I don’t want to sound like I’m nitpicking, but I hardly think that after eating humans he will be satisfied with consuming a paltry rabbit or two.”
Edward lowered his gaze to meet her eyes. “Couldn’t you hunt for something larger, a deer perhaps?”
She sighed heavily. “I hate to answer your question with another, but when was the last time you saw such a creature? Myself, I’ve only seen a few in my entire time on Desolace.”
“Just because you haven’t seen them, it doesn’t mean they aren’t out there,” Edward countered.
“Hey, you were the one who brought up the matter of time constraints. If you really want me to waste hours searching for prey that may or may not be in the area, I will,” Katie chided.
For a few seconds, he remained silent. A brooding look of concentration creased his features as he considered her argument, which he hated to admit, had significant merit. After pondering the alternatives, he met her defiant gaze. “I don’t see any other options,” he confessed. “If we don’t find something suitable to feed to him, Sygax could possibly begin to look at us like we’re his next meal. I think it goes without saying, we don’t want him to resort to that.”
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