Dragon's Claws

by Bri Sailor

  “Little girls shouldn’t play with swords, they can get hurt.” He sneered. “Too bad you won’t be around to learn from your mistakes.”

  The princess willed herself to move. It couldn’t be over, not now, she was just starting her life. She had to focus, she had to fight. Something clicked inside her mind. Suddenly, her head snapped up and her eyes were glowing bright blue. The man stopped laughing. Fear crept across his face. Atreyis grabbed his wrist with crushing strength. The man yelled in pain at the vice-like grip and let go of her fearing that she had broken wrist. The princess dropped to the ground on one knee and slowly rose to face her opponent, holding her stomach and leaning on her good leg. The man cradled his wounded extremity and backpedaled. His men looked on in astonishment, they had never seen their fearless leader so shaken. Atreyis just stood staring at the man, she should have done this sooner. It confounded her as to why she hadn’t just done this to begin with, it’s not like it took some great skill to do it. The innate power that flowed through her veins both delighted and scared her. In a surge of anger the man raised his sword with his good arm and yelled.

  “I have beaten twelve scum like you before. You will be no different!”

  He charged at her. Atreyis took a step back, coiled, and let loose a single punch with everything she had straight to the center of his chest. The man’s eyes bugged out of his head. His chest caved in and she sent him flying twenty feet away crashing into a tree with a loud crack. His body landed with a sickening thud. One of his men ran over to check on him. Blood poured from the ogre’s mouth and his spine was snapped like a twig.

  “He’s dead!” cried the man.

  He looked up in horror at the princess. She was covered in blood and with her fierce glowing blue eyes she was the embodiment of Death itself. She closed her eyes and the glowing stopped. Her breath came hard and fast. Everything hurt and she felt utterly drained. Her legs shook and she collapsed into a heap. The men took their chances and ran for the unconscious girl. The last thing she remembered seeing before succumbing to the black were the angry visages of the thieves and a shadow descending from the skies.

  Chapter 4

  The sun was just beginning to set and Ky found herself debating whether she should stop or just press on.

  She sighed. “Should we stop, Luna?”

  The horse snorted and bounced her head up and down.

  Ky chuckled. “Alright. We’ll stop. We’re close to being out of the forest, I think, and I know you’re dying to stretch those legs of yours.”

  Luna merely snorted again in response. The blonde led the horse a little distance off the trail and dismounted and tied her off to a low branch. The horse immediately began munching some grass as her rider unpacked for the night. It was warm enough that the warrior decided to forgo a fire and just stretched out on her bedroll. She had barely laid down when her eyelids grew heavy and she drifted off to sleep.

  Terrified screams broke the stillness. Ky’s eyes flew open and her muscles tensed. Silence. She waited a few moments, allowing a familiar calm to wash over her. More screams rang out. Springing up from the ground she took off in a dead sprint towards the source of the screams. Gracefully dodging the trees she deftly made her way to the faint light in the distance. Her heart beat was strong and steady from the years of training that allowed her to calmly feed off of the massive surge of adrenaline pumping through her. As she drew closer the thundering sound of metal clashing rang in her ears. The general slowed her pace when the fighting was within sight. The sparring duo caught her off guard. Creeping through the shadows she watched the scene unfold, overwhelmed by curiosity as to the fighters’ identities.

  A dozen grizzled men looked on at the fight as well. Some of them stood guard around a cowering and frightened people. A large ogre-like man stood in a small open area along the trail and wielded a large sword with an amused look on his face. But the general’s attention was on the young woman standing her ground against him. She seemed to be nearly as tall as the warrior herself, but had a slimmer build. Her chestnut brown hair was falling in wild tresses about her and she was coiled, ready to fight. Her highly polished sword glinted in the torchlight. The warrior arched an eyebrow, that sword had never seen battle before. There seemed to be something more going on here than meets the eye.

  The girl charged at the man, their deadly dance resumed. Ky didn’t blink, the bravery of the girl intrigued her. Another twig from the bush smacked her in the face. There had to be a better vantage point. She looked around and saw a sturdy enough branch. She climbed up the tree next to her and slinked out like a jungle cat along the limb. Crouching, and remaining as still as a gargoyle, she studied their fight. The girl was a decent fighter but her movements were stiff and studied and she lacked the ability to improvise. Her strength seemed slightly less than her opponent but her speed was far better. The man had obviously been fighting for years and he even seemed to toy with the girl. The two traded blow for blow. But then the girl made a critical error. She telegraphed her movements and he dodged the attack and knocked her to the ground with a painful blow to the back. He swung his sword with the intent to end the girl. Ky twitched, she was ready to pounce but the girl was able to throw her sword up in time to save her life, but not her leg. The brunette cried out in pain. Furious, the man grabbed her by the neck, lifting her off the ground and squeezing the life out of her. In a flash the general drew daggers from her boots and moved to drop on the man but stopped dead in her tracks.

  The girl’s head snapped up, her eyes were glowing blue. Ky sheathed her weapons and sat back on her heels. This girl was quite the surprise. The warrior cocked her head to the side. Why hadn’t the girl just done that in the first place? Fear? The glowing eyed girl broke free of the man’s death grip and dropped to the ground while he stumbled back holding his wrist. In a fit of rage he yelled and charged at her and in one swift move he was sent flying through the air and slammed against a tree. The girl fainted. The men charged.

  The warrior reacted on instinct. She fell from her perch to defend the girl. The men were thrown off balance at the sudden intrusion from above. One of them ran headlong at Ky, screaming wildly and swinging his sword over his head. She smiled and connected a powerful roundhouse kick with his head. It snapped back and he flew backwards a good distance and didn’t get back up. Two more men came at her. She dodged a thrusting sword, grabbed the man’s arm and stuck his sword through the gut of the second, who crumpled to the ground. Pulling the sword out of the other man’s hand she spun around and sliced him open from navel to nose. The remaining men attacked as one. The general dodged and spun and swung. In seconds they were nothing more than bloodied corpses strewn about the forest floor. Had they been trained soldiers they would have proven an actual obstacle. Ky shrugged.

  Breathing only a little harder than usual the warrior dropped her borrowed sword and made her way over to the huddled group of terrified people. The blood covered woman reached for her thigh and pulled out a small blade. The people recoiled out of fear and the children began crying again. Ignoring their reactions she dropped to one knee and began cutting the restraints.

  “Get your things and get to the border as quickly as you can. There may be more.” She said in a low voice.

  Relief washed over the people. They gathered their wounded and started collecting their pilfered belongings, thanking Ky and blessing her as they did. The general turned her attention to the wounded girl and inspected her injuries. There were a few cuts on her arms and some painful looking bruising around her neck as well as the distracting abdomen slash; however, the gash in her leg was of the highest priority. Ky took off her belt and made a tourniquet. Gathering the girl in her arms she threw the brunette over her shoulder, grabbed the bejeweled sword next to her, sheathed it, grabbed a torch and ran as fast as she could back to Luna and the medical supplies in her saddle.

  The sudden and frantic return startled the mare who whinnied and reared. Ky laid the girl down on the grass and went
to her bags. After a moment of digging around she found a small leather pouch. She took it over and opened it up and produced a surgical set. Taking the needle and thread she rushed to stitch up the massive wound. After a few tense minutes the bleeding seemed to stop so the general carefully undid the tourniquet. Blood didn’t flow out of the wound and she breathed a sigh of relief. She turned her attention to the girl’s abdomen. After sewing up the wounds Ky cleaned and bandaged them all. Suddenly, the girl began shivering. It was then that the warrior noticed that the temperature had dropped in the now early hours of the morning. She covered the girl with some blankets. Satisfied, the warrior dashed off to find firewood. In no time there was a roaring fire to keep the wounded girl warm. The warrior leaned against a tree and watched the flames as the sense of urgency died off. It disgusted her to no end that those men attacked innocent women and children. She never fought or killed anyone who couldn’t properly wield a weapon, it was not the way of a true warrior but of a coward. But saving the girl like she did, especially one of obvious Aznurro descent that was new territory for the warrior. She kicked a rock and rubbed her face and sighed. What in the world came over her? Her protective instincts had taken over her senses. It was like she absolutely had to save the girl. What was that all about? She looked over at the unconscious girl. The white streak of hair was intriguing. The warrior blew out a frustrated breath.

  “Who are you? And what are you doing all the way out here?” she wondered aloud.

  Throughout the night Ky checked on the girl periodically. She was still bleeding and the warrior was quickly running out of bandages. After only a few meager hours of sleep, just before sunrise, she found the moaning brunette covered in sweat and shaking, burning with fever. Fearing infection, Ky knew that the girl needed to get to a healer soon. As the light from the early morning sun penetrated through the leaves she went in search of wood to make a litter to carry the girl. Using her dagger she fashioned one in no time and lashed it to Luna’s saddle. She gently moved the girl along with the furs and blankets. The girl moaned in pain but Ky was just glad that she was still alive. The warrior hopped into her saddle and steered Luna in the direction of the Aznurro kingdom. As they traveled down the road Ky’s ears perked up at the sound of a horse neighing frantically. She stopped Luna and searched for the horse and found it tied to a tree. The white horse was anxious and tried to trample her.

  “Easy, boy! Easy…shhh. That’s it.”

  She snatched the reins and stroked his neck trying to calm him. The horse finally began to calm down. Something glinted in the saddle and caught Ky’s attention. She opened the saddle bag and retrieved the object. I was a dagger with a similar design in the handle that matched the hilt of the girl’s sword. She grinned and replaced the dagger and petted the horse. She checked the pack on the saddle and found some clothes in it.

  “More bandages.” She sighed in relief. “And I bet I know who you belong to. Let’s go.”

  She led the horse back to Luna and his rider. Immediately she started ripping up the clothes and made more bandages. After they were changed she hopped in the saddle of the white horse and turned to Luna and clicked her tongue, both horses started walking. Every few minutes Ky turned to check on the girl. She anxiously changed her bandages and tended to her wounds throughout the day. She counted herself fortunate that she was able to get the girl to take a few sips of water here and there, it was better than nothing.

  #

  Ehren woke with the sun and stretched out his sleepy limbs. He didn’t mind traveling and occasionally sleeping under the stars, but he sure never minded living in luxury. He sauntered over to the washbasin and splashed the cool water on his face to wake up. The robes that were provided him were surprisingly comfortable. Suddenly, a loud rumbling emanated from his stomach.

  “Breakfast it is.” He patted his belly.

  As he made his way out into the hall and to the kitchen, he stopped at his sister’s room to see if she was still asleep. The bed was a mess but the room was otherwise empty. He arched an eyebrow. Atreyis was usually the last one up. However, with Cora around she probably was recapturing lost time, if she had even slept that is. Back at home the princess had been suffering from bouts of insomnia and spent most nights swimming out in the sea and watching the sunrise from the cliffs. He didn’t know how she did it and admired her occasionally manic tendencies and silliness; it was what made her Atreyis. The prince shrugged and made a beeline for the kitchen. The only thing more reliable than the tides was his bottomless pit of a stomach. He rooted around in the stores and eventually satisfied his growling belly. He took a couple of apples with him for good measure and decided to walk around the garden.

  Munching on the apples his mind wandered to the future and what it held in store for Atreyis and himself. He would soon be crowned as the official successor to his father’s throne. His impending coronation was more of a formality than an actual ascent to power, but it would give him increased responsibilities and he would sit on the council. Atreyis would be a part of the ceremony and given the crown of the Princess and would immediately start as a High Council member and one day as an advisor to help rule alongside him. Every single king and queen that has ruled from the Aznurro throne was not only of royal blood, but Descended. They came from the noble bloodlines of ancient dragons, or so the legends went. Being Descended meant having greater speed and strength as well as having a much longer lifespan than other humans, nearly twice as long that is. Even if someone only had as much as a drop of Descended blood in them, they still had the same abilities, however not to the same degree as others.

  As the prince continued his musings, Cora silently sneaked up behind him.

  “I see you’ve been to the kitchen. Still hungry as ever?” she smiled.

  Ehren nearly choked on his bite of apple.

  “What gave me away?” he coughed.

  Cora raised an eyebrow. “Other than your current handful and mouthful, our stores have been seemingly depleted overnight.”

  The prince chuckled and the two continued to walk around the courtyard in comfortable silence, momentarily forgetting about his sister. His eyes wandered over to the priestess. The sun caught her hair perfectly and her bright blue-green eyes glittered. She was beautiful. He cleared his throat and tried to find the words that suddenly were no longer present.

  “Uh…I…uh…so where’s your twin?”

  “Twin?” squinted the priestess.

  “My sister, the person who is usually attached to your hip. Where is she?”

  Cora stopped.

  Ehren turned. “Cora? What’s wrong?”

  “The Goddess has a grand design, even if we cannot see it. Each of us is a thread in her tapestry.” Said the priestess cryptically.

  The prince wrinkled his nose. “What in the world are you talking about?”

  Cora looked him in the eye. “Atreyis left the temple grounds last night.”

  A deep red crept up the prince’s neck. He stopped eating mid-bite.

  Cora continued. “I have unwavering faith in the Goddess that she will be safe. Have you not noticed your sister’s unhappiness? The constant fighting with the king and queen? Her isolation? The Goddess has a plan for her and it lies beyond here. Please, just give her a few days to clear her head before you do anything rash.”

  Ehren exploded. “What? How could you let her go? She won’t last a day out there! Who cares about the petty arguments she and our parents have had! The only plan is her helping me to rule one day! Gods, Cora! You were supposed to be the one to talk some sense into her. I thought that you of all people would be able to convince her that her birthright matters more than what she wants!”

  The small priestess stood her ground. “She will be alright, Ehren! How can you be so blind to your own sister’s unhappiness? Though you may not see it the Goddess has a plan for Atreyis. Maybe this is the push she needs to realize her path in life. To recognize that her place is at the throne, leading your people together. Or may
be the Goddess has other plans.”

  The prince could hardly speak he was so mad. “Damn the Goddess!”

  Cora’s eyes immediately glowed a brilliant gold. “I would watch your tongue, Prince.”

  Ehren held his breath a moment before exploding once more. “She’s going to get herself killed! Dammit, Cora! Atreyis has never been on her own before! All my life I have been watching out for her, making sure that nothing were to ever harm her! Does everyone so easily forget that she barely made it past birth?”

  He ran his hand through his curly brown hair and paced.

  “Father will surely send the army after her. And if someone out there—’’ he pointed past the wall, “—doesn’t kill her, then mother and father surely will. She will be locked up in her room until she is too old to even remember why she is there in the first place!”

  Cora frowned and her eyes stopped glowing. “I understand how you feel. But I believe in the Goddess with my whole heart. I have devoted my life to her and she has never left me wanting. She is the one who saved your sister from death as an infant. What is there for the Goddess to gain if she dies?”

  The priestess tried to stop the angry prince. She grabbed his arm and her eyes flashed gold and returned to normal.