Dragon Sword

by Angelique Anderson

  "She killed four of our soldiers. That makes her an enemy of Telluris," the man who appeared to be in charge told her, trying to sound authoritative. He stood taller than the red-haired man, and the man that sent a chill through her.

  "Maybe there was a mistake. You know how men are around pretty girls," Hekla said innocently.

  Even as she said so, the surrounding atmosphere changed. The men's eyes all trained on her, their earth-toned forms shifting in the same direction where she stood. There was one thing they all had in common, dirty appearances, stringy hair, and a death glance at her that made her nervous. Without a doubt, they were going to come after her. Speltus, I need you.

  Instantly, the buzzing from the magic that flowed through her grew stronger, and the orb atop her scepter grew brighter.

  Do not fear, Hekla. I am here. The orb flashed as he spoke in her mind. If there was ever a time for you to use your magic, it is here and now. I have trained and prepared you for this moment. Trust yourself, and trust my teachings, he said.

  With his words, instead of fear, she channeled everything he had taught her into the moment.

  She would not go down without a fight, and if she did go down, she would take the dingy bodied men with her.

  25

  Astrid

  When you set out to hunt, you make sure to prepare yourself. You wear the correct gear, you bring your weapons, and you stalk your prey. However, what happens when you're not the one hunting? What happens if you become the hunted? The world is dangerous, and if you don't prepare yourself, you may end up roasting on someone else's fire.

  King Cedric the Just, Third King of Telluris, 475 A.V.

  Astrid traveled for the better part of the day before signs appeared marking the presence of Tellurian soldiers. By that time, the route had begun to weave and dodge like a Caelestan butterfly, rising and descending with the foothills. It wasn't until reaching the base of The Great Mountain that Astrid began to have doubts about her journey.

  "Hey ho! Pass me some of that ther' bitter ale!" a coarse voice yelled over the clamor of several other men.

  Astrid ducked and slunk off the path, hiding behind a tree. She peeked out to see if anyone was coming. Another man, tall, with chestnut hair and a strong physique, yelled something back.

  "Too far to hear what's going on, I need to get closer. You're in their minds. Do I have anything to worry about?"

  "Be careful, Astrid, don't stir the hornet's nest," Aronus replied calmly.

  Astrid held his gaze, before crouching low to the ground and moving toward a closer tree, and then to another.

  The soldier she couldn't understand had a large mug in his hand and was guzzling with gusto.

  "That's not bad, Dresden," he said appreciatively.

  "Andolf, you'd say that about anything that you can eat or drink." Dresden let out a hearty laugh and Andolf joined him, while the other soldiers around them seemed less than amused.

  "Whose turn is it to keep watch?" Another soldier with a longbow on his back, had joined them. In his right hand he carried a large stick with carvings that Astrid could not make out.

  "I need to get through, Aronus. This is taking too much time. What if I don't reach the sky kingdom in time? Do you know where my sisters are?" Aronus gave a mumbled reply, and she turned to look him in the eyes. "Tell me what you know."

  "I don't know anything. I know they're safe, but that's it."

  Had he made the truth known to Astrid, that he was in constant communication with Speltus and Lingaria, she would have been angry with him. The reality was that all who existed on the astral plain, be it the Unseen Ones or the dragons themselves, could commune with one another, whenever they so desired.

  There were many benefits to this, one being that they all knew where they were on their journey. When the time was right, he would tell her. When the end was near, the dragons would reveal all and the sisters could rally for the final battle, should one come about. The dragons held out hope that they would rise to the thrones before the armies clashed, before droves of men died.

  "Night is approaching, Astrid, we need to get past this checkpoint."

  "I know," she whispered, but from her vantage point there was no way through. She was going to have to take a long way around. "None of this is going to be easy is it?" she asked.

  Aronus swished his tail, and shook his head. "If it was easy, you wouldn't have had to train your whole life for it."

  Astrid watched the man called Andolf for a moment. He was young, perhaps a few years older than her, with a muscular jaw, toned muscles, and a playful smile. Astrid wondered if he had a wife and children at home. And she wondered what that was like. A family. Sure, she had her sisters, but Astrid always wanted more than that. She'd wanted companionship. Astrid wondered if she'd ever have such a thing. She shrugged it off, then resigned herself to journey along the base of the mountain.

  "Quit being so hard on yourself," he chided her.

  "You forget that I have been locked in a Volcano kingdom with my sisters for all my life. Could a man love me, or am I destined to be alone?"

  Aronus let out a warning growl. "Do not be so foolish. Any human would be lucky to have you in their life, but right now you have more important matters to attend to. And quit lingering on these soldiers. Do you not remember the other soldier who wanted to kill you? You are full of wisdom and intelligence, and deserve someone so much better than one of these soldiers you're making moon eyes at." He shook his head, flaring his nostrils and snorting in frustration at her.

  "I was not making moon eyes at him. I was just curious about his life. Of course I know that I cannot pursue such a thing. It would distract me from my duties."

  Astrid tried to not let on that she was somewhat bitter, but she knew her voice dripped of it anyway and chuckled because the dragon was in her head and had already heard her wistful thinking. It was easier to think about a companion without her sisters' company. Even with, they often thought of the future. Would there be partners and how would they be chosen?

  It was something she looked forward to exploring in earnest, when the time was right.

  Astrid continued to journey through the woods as she had, making her way around the encampment as quiet as possible. She crouched low to the ground, using the trees and brush to conceal her movements. Astrid of the Bow traveled slowly, avoiding quick movements while in the open, and avoided attracting the eye of the wary.

  Aside from the tents and supplies, there were a great many things the Tellurian soldiers had left in the open. Things Astrid knew she would need: weapons, animal hides for warmth and medicines. She hated that what she needed was so close, yet out of reach. She would not risk her life to secure such items, at least not yet. She saw the trees full of fruit, but they were right next to the camp with too many soldiers lazing about.

  "Another thing that's not going to happen," she lamented quietly. "I can't risk it."

  Astrid wasn't talking to Aronus, but she wished that he would have responded and told her it was all right. Astrid tried to keep her attention off the many young soldiers, with their armor strapped tight, walking around authoritatively, ever watchful.

  "Focus on the mission, Astrid," she had to tell herself.

  She was getting tired and her mind was starting to drift. After a while of continuous crouching and hiding, she found a break in the camp. Almost as if a path had been cleared just for her.

  "Thank you Unseen Ones, I can make my way!"

  It didn't faze her that there were trees and tents on both sides, the small rocky path was only visible from where she was crouched.

  "How odd!" she exclaimed.

  Lowering herself into a crawl, she made her way along the ground, and began her slow and quiet ascent up the side of the mountain, praying that Palladin the Great was keeping watch over her, and that the path would indeed take her to the top of the mountain where she could finally gain access to Caelestis.

  Astrid progressed up the mountain, sometim
es low-crawling, sometimes crouch-walking. When she had left the main camp well behind, she stood and stretched. She knew she would have to travel at night, and even though her eyelids grew heavy, she couldn't stop.

  I can't quit, not now.

  She couldn't see the entrance to the sky kingdom, but its flower like construction finally seemed almost reachable. Just above, the mountain's peak fanned out like a petal to embrace Caelestis. Like a sunflower, she thought joyfully, sending her thoughts back to a different time and place where she picked flowers with Svana and Hekla.

  Boisterous laughter jolted her from her reverie.

  "Oh no! More soldiers! I thought they were only camped at the base!" she cried to herself in a loud whisper, as she dropped to the ground and rolled away from the campsite that had sprung out of nowhere.

  The camp was set up directly on the narrow path. They had no fire, and gave no hint of their presence until she was almost on top of them. Astrid cowered in the brush, wondering how she was going to make her way around.

  "Astrid," Aronus whispered to her, "I don't think there is any way through. I think you're going to have to climb up the back of the mountain."

  "What about how steep and treacherous it is?" Her forehead wrinkled.

  Aronus looked confused. "That's a problem for you?"

  "No, no of course not."

  What she meant was that she wouldn't let it be a problem. She would climb until her limbs felt like falling off if that's what it took.

  "That's my girl," Aronus said, reading her thoughts again. "Time to turn around and go back, and don't get caught.

  Astrid wanted to scream her frustration out into the night that she had wasted more energy and precious, precious time climbing only to have to retreat. About half-way down, as the main camp came into view, the tents the only thing visible against the back drop of night, Astrid veered left. There was no path, and the terrain instantly became more rocky and unstable, but it was the only way to ensure that she would not be seen.

  She moved slowly, taking great care to not dislodge any stones. The soldiers may not have been able to see her, but they could hear her should she start a landslide. She carefully balanced herself against the rocks as she climbed over and around.

  The farther she got away from camp, the less foliage there was to protect her. At the side of the Great Mountain, where no sight or sound of the soldiers reached her, she rested. The journey ahead would not only be a battle against the king, it would be a fight against the mountain.

  "Aronus, I need food if I'm going to do this, surely I can't climb this entire thing with one half-eaten apple in my satchel." Not wanting to appear weak, she tried to appeal to his common sense. "I am human after all."

  "Not to worry, Astrid, provision will come. You must fight through the night, and rest come morning. You do not want to risk being seen. Even though there are no camps here, the Tellurian soldiers still send search parties all around the base of the mountain. You're not far enough up to not be seen."

  "I trust you," she affirmed.

  The dragon had to keep her alive and although he wouldn't help her with decisions, as demonstrated by a night of skulking through up and back down the mountain, he wouldn't see her die of starvation. Aronus sat on her shoulder as she began the climb, a rough ascent to the top. With no path, and few trees, she found her muscles burning from the strain.

  "Can you not assist me at all?"

  "I wish to, but the Unseen Ones have declared this part of your journey as something you must do alone. This is your trial. You must complete it yourself."

  Another exasperating Aronus-ism. Best not to ask him for anything. If I must do this journey alone, then I'll pretend he doesn't exist, she thought defensively.

  "Well, you won't be the only human I know with a weight on their shoulder that they pretend doesn't exist."

  Astrid stopped mid-climb, her finger tips white from gripping a ledge, her toes pushing her bodyweight upward. "Does my trial have to include carrying you? You can fly, so why don't you wait for me up there somewhere?" She used her nose and chin to nudge him from her shoulder.

  "Fine," Aronus replied and hopped free of her, slapping her head with his first wing strokes. He climbed easily into the darkness. "Come along. Destiny waits for no one."

  Much like the side of the Volcano of Shadows, there were places where it was possible to leap from ledge to ledge. There were times where the rocks were so loose, she slipped. Her elbows and knees suffered the abuse. Scraped and raw, she left a trail of blood behind her, but she continued upward.

  Always upward.

  As morning dawned, sweat dripping down her forehead, she spotted a large enough place for her to rest. When she reached it, she collapsed, panting and gasping. With each step, the air thinned further and every breath came more ragged.

  "I'm not sure if I can do another day of this."

  Aronus sat on a small stone nearby, his chest thrust out, and body as still and erect as a statue. When he didn't respond, Astrid lifted her head off the ground to watch him, only to see his eyes had grown wide and he was looking at something over her shoulder.

  "What? What is it?" she prodded him.

  Astrid struggled to her knees, turning her body in the direction of his line of sight. There, not far off, a beast like nothing she had ever seen rumbled along on all fours. His snout was pressed to the rocks as he followed the scent trail she knew she had left behind. Her heart stopped beating as the beast paused and reared up on its hind legs.

  "What... is....that?" she leaned toward Aronus, grabbing her bow and preparing to loose.

  "That, dear Astrid, is a Toverak. Prepare yourself."

  There was nothing she could do to prepare herself. She was on a small ledge with nowhere to go. The moment it saw her, it came running full force, like a warrior on a stallion with weapons blazing. Its short arms reached out in front, razor-like claws extended. From behind, its lion-like tail flicked out and around like a whip. She only saw a glimpse of its back, but the layers upon layers of spikes would have been impossible to miss. They were like undulating knife blades.

  "Holy crow!" Astrid yelled, realizing that second guessing herself would get her killed. She pulled her arm back, and Aronus materialized an arrow for her. She loosed the string and the arrow flew true, striking the beast directly in the chest.

  She had hoped it would slow the thing down, but it didn't hesitate, continuing toward her like a bolt of lightning. She pulled her arm again, letting another arrow fly. This one hit the beast in the neck, causing him to stop, rear backward, and issue a terrifying cry. He dropped back and surged toward her.

  "Don't think, Astrid, just let the arrows fly, fast as you can, and don't stop until its dead!" Aronus yelled at her.

  Astrid pulled the string and loosed, as fast as her arm would move. Each time, a dragon's arrow appeared, and each time, it flew straight. The Toverak started to slow, but he was so close.

  She held her ground. There was nowhere for her to go. If she tried to climb, he would catch her. Astrid needed to kill the beast. A continued flurry of arrows slowed the Toverak, but the malevolence in its eyes sparked red fury as it closed on its prey.

  Again and again she loosed arrow after arrow. Her arm screamed from the fervor of her attacks. Had it withstood a dozen arrows? Ten dozen? How many would it take to kill the beast?

  She focused on the creature's eyes and loosed more arrows. They thudded home, blinding it as the Toverak made a final lunge toward her. Astrid slipped and pain ripped up her side. She rolled away and loosed another arrow into the creature's open mouth. It landed heavily at her feet. She shook from the trial of combat. Her life flashing before her.

  Astrid studied the beast, looking for any movement to suggest it was still alive. A gentle voice sounded near her ear.

  "It is dead. You can release the string," came Aronus' voice.

  She discovered herself standing over the creature, an arrow aimed at its head. She breathed out a sigh of relief
and let the tension go. Aronus appeared and landed on her shoulder.

  His weight almost sent her tumbling off the ledge. She fell to her knees, grabbing a handful of the Toverak's fur to steady herself. She dropped back, sitting and watching it, half expecting it to come back to life. She was bone tired, but there was more work to do.

  Without remorse, she cut it open, slicing off a tender portion of meat. She would cook as much meat as she could carry and then rest. She stretched her side, the muscles pulled or torn from her flight from the Toverak's final attack.

  When darkness returned, she would continue her journey to Caelestis and the army that awaited at its entrance.

  "This was the food you were talking about, wasn't it, Aronus?" Astrid asked, already knowing the answer, understanding that her guide dragon knew a great many things he wasn't sharing with her.

  "I'm sorry that I could not share this with you. If I had, your fear would have stopped you. You had to fight the Toverak and win. Do you understand that?"

  "No, not really. Then again, I don't understand a great many things," she answered honestly.

  "You will one day soon, my Astrid. You will." Without being asked, Aronus started a fire for her in the dirt of the ledge where she had chosen to rest. A dragon's magic. She didn't need kindling to cook her meal. She wondered if she'd have to gather firewood ever again, a strange thought on a ledge half-way up the mountain. She looked upward where the sky kingdom spread out before her and yanked her focus back to her mission.

  She knew what she had to accomplish and who it was for. Anything outside of that was just trouble. Including dreaming of a life with a family. She sighed heavily. It had been a long few days.

  "Do not fret, Astrid... soon all of this will just be a memory, and you will have the future of a kingdom to worry about. And if I do say so, once all of that is under control... you will have time for the family you desire."

  She felt her cheeks flush several shades of scarlet.