Dragon Sword

by Angelique Anderson

  "She broke one of my men's noses and the other she punched in the face and kicked in the groin."

  At the Captain's admission, Emmeline started laughing.

  "I certainly don't think that deserves the dungeon, good Captain." Emmeline smiled at the man, and Svana noted the red tones that crept onto his cheeks while under the lovely woman's gaze.

  "Your uncle has ordered it," he softly responded.

  "I'll rectify that, follow me."

  With that, they turned abruptly and followed Emmeline back into the throne room. Svana plodded along, reluctant but willing. The second time in the Throne Room was no less overwhelming. The marble. The statues. The magnificence.

  "Uncle, Captain Ancelmus here says that you wish for this woman to go to the dungeon. She has done no wrong, I wish for you to free her." Emmeline had no qualms about speaking to her uncle in a way completely unbefitting royalty.

  "Emily," he said affectionately, obviously his nick name for her. "Must you always meddle in my affairs?

  "Only when they involve the livelihood of innocent women."

  The king threw his hands up in the air. "Very well, what do you suggest I do? I can't have her wandering the castle with a magic sword. I mean, what if she's here to kill me in my sleep?" The king laughed uproariously, but Svana dared not crack a smile.

  "Nonsense, uncle," she said. Then, turning her attention back to Svana, she continued, "Miss, what do you wish to happen?"

  "Your highness, your excellence," Svana said looking from one to other. "I only wish to join the Tellurian army so that I may fight to protect Telluris."

  "There, you see uncle? She wishes to serve in the army. Does that sound like a woman who is a threat to your well-being?"

  Like a child being scolded, the king shook his head.

  "Very well, Captain Ancelmus... free her, and assign her to your troop. We can always use the extra hands." Holding his head high, the king barked out orders, giving the impression of having the upper hand.

  Svana found it interesting that Lady Emmeline seemed to always get her way. That may prove helpful in the future.

  "As you wish, your highness." He bowed his head, and then turning to Emmeline he smiled broadly. "Is there anything else your Ladyship wishes?"

  It was Emmeline's turn to blush, and after a moment of silence she shook her head. Then as an afterthought, she said, "Captain, just make sure your men treat her with respect. I don't know a lot of women who would be willing to fight alongside our army and with a magic sword no less." Emmeline gave Svana a wink, and although she had no idea how she had fallen into the woman's good graces, she bowed respectfully.

  "Yes, Lady Emmeline," Tristan responded.

  After a moment's pause, where Tristan watched Emmeline as she walked away, he turned to face Svana and snarled at her.

  "Come on," he said.

  Svana followed him outside of the castle and to the edge of the city where several soldiers stood at attention as they watched Tristan approach.

  "All right, Svana, here's how it works. You are going to go with this lot. This here is Jasper, Branwin, Gill and Duggary. They are quick and determined. Your only purpose with them, is to gather meat for the king's table. I figure it's the best way to keep you out of trouble. If you give them any grief, I will make sure you regret it, understood?"

  Svana nodded, noting with dismay that none of the men could seem to keep their eyes off of her bosom.

  "What if they give me grief?" she snapped. All four of them looked off in different directions as if innocent. "Can you please advise your men to be respectful?"

  "I can indeed, but you must remember these soldiers have been serving in this army for a very long time. You won't begrudge them a chance to see a beautiful woman, would you?"

  "I may be a woman, but I am a soldier first and the lot of you would do well to remember that," she barked.

  Her angry tones caused them all to step back from her.

  "If they do not respect me, they'll have more than broken noses to worry about," she warned the Captain.

  "You're nothing but trouble. Men, get her out of here, and stick to your mission. Don't return until there is enough meat on that cart to feed an army," he barked.

  They nodded their heads, motioning for Svana to join them. She didn't even look at the captain as he walked away, shaking his head.

  Svana joined with the others, and decided to try and keep her mouth shut as she followed them out of the city.

  After a long day of travel, weaving in and out of the hills and valleys surrounding Telluris, the small squad had moved inland. It was beginning to get dark, and Svana could already feel her feet tiring from getting nowhere.

  "Well, lookie here men, the food comes to us."

  A man and woman, with two small children sitting on a cart traveled their way. Behind the children, Svana could see a few rabbits that had fallen to the family.

  "Leave them alone, that is to feed their family, you fools," she snarled. With nowhere to turn, the man and woman halted, fear evident in the woman's eyes. The children clutched each other tightly, their dirt-stained faces sprinkled with tears.

  "We have to feed our king!" the gangly one with straggly red hair said to her.

  "Jasper, we do not take from families to feed our king. It is not right! We will find food that's not already spoken for," Svana said.

  "We have our orders. What we don't have is food. Without it, we cannot return. Would you deny us completing our mission?"

  "Would you deny this family their food? Why don't you lot make camp, let this poor family pass, and I will find you meat to take back to your king?" She stood tall, hands on her hips, almost as if she were scolding them like little children.

  "All right, big mouth, if you think you can do better. Then we will give you 'til the rise of morning to bring back meat that we can take to the king. If you don't return, then I suggest that you never do. For we will tell Captain Ancelmus that you tried mutiny. They'll have your head."

  "Fine, you've got a deal." Svana waited for the family to pass and were safely out of sight before she disappeared into the hills.

  Lingaria, we have a job to do if we are to remain in the good graces of the army and the king.

  33

  Hekla

  Sometimes, all you need to mend the broken pieces is belief.

  King Thomasett the Kind, Second King of Aequoris, 333 A.V.

  Hekla gazed at the water, the sunlight glittering off its surface. In the distance, she saw several islands, though the more she studied them, the more they looked like floating cities. Each one looked like they were thriving with life. She saw fish jumping from the water, and birds soaring down to catch the fish mid-flight. But more than that, she saw men and women jumping from out of the water. They were humanoid in appearance, but with pale green skin and webbed hands and feet. Hekla gaped at their beauty. She wanted to reach out to them, to touch them.

  "Be wary, Hekla. If any of those soldiers catches wind of you, you're going to have a fight on your hands," Speltus warned.

  Hekla had nearly forgotten the soldiers nearby. She shimmied back down the tree, taking care to stay hidden in the trunk's shadow.

  "I need a way to cross, and there isn't one unattended boat in sight."

  "I understand, but you fail to listen to reason." Speltus' nose flared.

  "All right, all right," she said, frustration evident in her hurried movements. When she could no longer see the shoreline clearly, she turned to face him. "Is that good enough for you?"

  He crossed his little dragon arms, head held high in smug satisfaction. "For now," he responded.

  "I don't know how we're going to find a ship this far from the water," she said, tapping her foot and folding her arms.

  "The problem is not finding a ship, it's knowing where to look. Many years ago the water of Aequoris rose onto the land. Farther inward than you would think. The increasing war between the kingdoms, and the lack of rain has driven the waterline fa
rther out. Search further inland, and I am sure you will find what you desire."

  Hekla followed his guidance, going against her instinct to look near the shore.

  "It simply doesn't make sense to look this far back," she contested, casting a wary glance at Speltus, whose scaly face retained a superiority, as she searched. "You're not going to guide me are you?"

  "You must learn to look beyond the norm for yourself. You, Hekla, carry dragon magic. In order to understand its workings better, and to become stronger, you must fight against the simplistic boundaries your own mind has set."

  Hekla bobbed her head, trying to comprehend what he meant. In that moment, as she surveyed the forest floor and the small saplings whose years had just begun. The ground came alive with markings of ocean ridges that had once caressed the earth with watery embrace. The ridges followed all the way up into the woods, and she with them, until they stopped. She saw a softly sloping edge that had no doubt been the previous shoreline.

  With the old sea shore becoming more visible by the moment, Hekla followed alongside it, hoping the years had been kind to any ship that had been left behind there before the waters began to dissipate.

  "Now you're getting it," Speltus lauded her.

  Hekla absorbed herself in following the dips and rises of the water ridge, overcome with bramble and towering trees. She'd walked a good mile, before the broken remnants of a water craft, propped against a tree, caught her attention.

  Whooping loudly, she took off toward it, arms flailing as she ran. When she reached it, she fell onto her knees and frantically dug the surrounding dirt to pull it out and have a look. After a few hours of digging, and using a thick branch propped underneath the fragments, she managed to launch what was left out of the dirt.

  "Well, it's definitely a boat or water travel craft of some sort." Hekla shook her head in disdain.

  "There's not much left to work with, is there?" Speltus stared at her, unblinking. "What are you going to do, Hekla?"

  "Why are you asking me what I'm going to do? Aren't you to show me?"

  "I may teach, but you do not learn. What does your staff tell you? Tap into your magic. Allow it to guide you. Remember I may not always be with you. Learn to think on your feet."

  Hekla tossed the staff, and her rucksack and threw herself back on her hind end, knees up, elbows propped, and head in hands. Inside her, the fire of the magic she carried coursed, like the blood in her veins. After a moment, she stood and shook herself off. Grabbing her staff, she held it erect and watched the swirling of the magic within.

  She glanced to Speltus, then back to her staff and focused on feeling its power.

  "I believe I can fix this craft. You told me a spell when we first began." She tapped her temple searching for the memory. "Ah ha! Restoratum Unum!" she yelled jubilantly. "The spell to restore something as long as magic has not been involved."

  His little claws applauded her softly. "You remembered."

  Hekla repeated the spell loudly, to no avail. "Why didn't it work?"

  Her eyes followed the broken frame of the ship.

  "There are some things not even magic can restore over time. Perhaps if you were to rebuild it as it once was and try again. Maybe it could 'fill in the gaps' of the work you do."

  "Magic with limitations? Why?" Her shoulders dropped as she continued to stare at the sun-bleached wood of the craft.

  "My dear, you should know by now magic has no limitations, but we do. The levitation spell is only limited by how much magic I can dispel at a time. This spell is limited..."

  "By how much magic I can dispel at a time?" she finished his sentence.

  "Not at all, instead it is limited by your mind. What you believe yourself to be capable of. You must look beyond the norm."

  Hekla couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze as she began to realize her limitation was self-imposed. "How do I even begin to break self-induced limits, when I've yet to learn all there is to know?"

  "You will get there in time, for now you must rectify this situation." Speltus nodded his head toward the broken vessel.

  Hekla set about to repair the boat. Gathering more shards of the broken ship from nearby, and various tree limbs, she placed them near the vessel. Piece by piece it began to take some resemblance of its sea-worthy form. She had learned enough back home in the Volcano of Shadows, to know a little wood and tree sap could fix nearly anything. When she had tired, she simply curled up on the ground and closed her eyes. Speltus waddled over, curling up behind her back and rested.

  When the first light of morning shone through the trees and woke her, she jumped up as if surprised and immediately set to work.

  "You must eat, human. Do not forget to tend to your own needs."

  "I've no time," she said matter-of-factly, and continued to piece the ship together. When she had finished, she wiped her hands and gave the boat an approving nod, "That should do it."

  Holding her staff tightly, she tipped the end of it toward the vessel and repeated the spell from the day before. "Restoratum Unum!"

  Immediately the softest sparkling of magic caressed over the crudely pieced ship, and the broken parts became one. At least for a moment, and then the whole thing fell apart.

  "Speltus!" Hekla fought back a flush of embarrassment. "What now? What did I do wrong?"

  "Nothing my child, it is your self-doubt which is your downfall. Step back, and watch carefully. You will be capable of doing what I am doing, one day."

  Speltus lifted off the ground, his little scaled body circling the pile of forest refuse with maddening quickness. As he did so, he chanted, "Objectum, Objectum, Expandum Impartum."

  As he repeated the words, spinning more rapidly around the broken object, the pieces began to swirl and dance. They rose into the air, shifting and changing. Speltus stopped spinning, and flew backward out of the fray, his mouth opening as large as could be expected for a beast his size. As his sharp teeth glistened in the daylight he inhaled and exhaled a heavy breath.

  Across the spinning and changing of forest refuse, his breath became sparks of magic alighting on the pieces. The air came alive with enchantment. Hekla dared not breathe for fear of ruining the moment. The very atmosphere came alive with sparks of luminescent greens and purples, and such colors as she had never seen.

  In delight, she watched as the pieces that were once broken, began to fashion a beautiful ship. Making Speltus feel proud of his work, Hekla laughed in delight and clapped at what her eyes beheld. He puffed out his chest and made one final lap around the finished object. As he did, the pieces locked firmly into place.

  What sat before her, was a vessel unlike anything she had ever seen. Its color was of cherry mahogany, and she could smell the fresh wood, as if it had just been cut from the trees itself.

  "Oh Speltus, it's lovely!" Hekla beamed.

  Speltus nodded his agreement, eyes sparkling mischievously. "What good is magic, if we can't have a little fun once in a while?"

  Hekla grinned wide, her own shortcomings long forgotten in the allure of the moment. She scrambled over the edge of the ship and sat on the wood seating that felt like satin beneath her fingertips.

  "Speltus, it's truly breath-taking, but how will I get it onto the water?"

  It was far too large for her to push on her own, and if he was about to suggest magic, she might just pull out her hair.

  "My dear, it's a far lighter vessel than it may appear. Go ahead, give it a little shove."

  The little beast was infuriating, but if he told her to do something, she knew it was in her best interest to do so. Hekla hopped over the side and give the boat a little nudge. To her surprise, it glided easily through the undergrowth and brush.

  "You never cease to amaze, Speltus."

  Flitting in front of her, he gave a gracious little bow and then sat at the stern of the boat while she pushed it through the woods. As soon as the water crashing reached her ears, she stopped and climbed a tree to get a view of the soldier's location
s. Once she had plotted a course, she dropped down, and got behind the boat. It was going to take running rapidly toward the water while she pushed the vessel. Then one precise jump into its hold, so as not to get caught.

  She counted to three, took a deep breath, and then took a diagonal run with the boat toward the sea. The soldiers in position near where she came running opened their eyes wide, too stunned to react to the sapphire-haired beauty that had come sprinting out of the trees, shoving a large boat in front of her.

  One soldier shook himself out of his shock and began yelling. His footsteps making heavy thudding noises against the sand.

  "Stop, thief!" he screamed.

  Hekla didn't give him a backwards glance. The elegant vessel hit the water with a soft smack, and as it glided gently out. Hekla gave it one last hard push, and then took a flying leap, landing hard on the bottom boards. Speltus had disappeared as they quickly drifted out into the open water.

  34

  Astrid

  Revenge and vengeance are often confused. Revenge is an act of passion, while vengeance is an act of justice. However, is it justice to go too far in your quest for vengeance? Does your vengeance become revenge at that point? And is revenge or vengeance the right path to take, or should you look for a different path, a path of justice?

  King Cedric the Just, Third King of Telluris, 477 A.V.

  Hanging her head, Astrid felt that everything she had been fighting for over the past few days had been for naught. They walked along a lightly used Caelestan road. The locals were light of foot so she was unable to tell if the road was a main thoroughfare or something less. Buildings of an open and airy design lay ahead, but nothing that resembled her idea of a castle.

  "I cannot grant you an audience with the king and that is final," Quimby responded.

  What will I do now? Where will I go from here?