Dragon Sword

by Angelique Anderson

  "Do you mind if my friend comes along?" Svana asked.

  Emmeline laughed, then bent to pet the gentle creature on his head.

  "Where did he come from?" Emmeline asked.

  "Not a clue, he followed me in from the gates." The dog trotted along Svana's side as if he'd always been there.

  "I can't say my uncle will be pleased a mangy dog has made its way in the castle, but he seems harmless."

  "Thank you, Emmeline." Svana said with a bow, and to the dog, she said, "look, this doesn't mean you're staying with me. I don't have time for whatever you are, I have three men to look after and a kingdom to guard. Do you understand?"

  The sweet-faced animal looked up at her with large brown eyes and blinked meaningfully. Svana shrugged her shoulders, wondering what she was going to do with another pet to look after.

  I AM NOT A PET! Lingaria yelled into her head, startling her. She must have jumped several feet because even Emmeline was startled.

  "Are you all right Svana?" Emmeline asked.

  "Yes, I apologize. I don't know what got into me." She shook her head as if to shake off whatever had happened.

  Then to distract from what had just occurred, proceeded to tell Emmeline about everything that had happened on the road. Svana told her how she had fought the bull and won. Then how she had traded meat for the abundance they had brought back to the castle. Then how she had challenged them all to keep the very meat, which she had killed and brought back on her own. How she had stabbed Duggary, and the guilt she felt at having done such a thing. She talked about the bandits, and how they had killed Duggary and how she went after them and brought the survivors back as prisoners. When Svana finished, they continued walking together in silence before Emmeline finally spoke.

  "You carry a great many burdens I had once longed for, but I do not think I could carry the burden of taking a man's life. Even when it is a necessary evil."

  Svana nodded her head in agreement. "It is no small thing, your grace, but it was indeed a necessary evil. Speaking of the King. What do you say to how he rules Telluris? Do you agree with his decrees and commands?"

  The question seemed to take Emmeline back a bit, and she was stunned into silence. "To answer honestly, I don't know if there is a way to say what I am thinking without being accused of treason."

  It was Svana's turn to be shocked, and she stopped in her tracks to study Emmeline's pale face. "Your thoughts and feelings are safe with me, I assure you."

  "Thank you, Svana. I must ask a question of you."

  Svana nodded, willing to answer anything that Emmeline would speak.

  "Tell me why you really came to be here? I know it is not to give that sword to the King. Word has traveled from all of Telluris about the girl with the blade no one can touch. Svana of the Sword, a warrior, a fighter, and now... a captain." Emmeline spoke with such grandeur, Svana felt prideful at the comments, though she kept those feelings to herself.

  Careful, Svana, don't let her know too much about you. Enough to gain an ally, but you don't know what side she is on yet. Be cautious. Lingaria's ever present voice, a constant reminder of what she must and must not do.

  Thank you, Lingaria, I know, she thought.

  "I can't tell you much about where I am from, as there isn't much to tell you. Just good memories, of my sisters and I growing up. Enjoying our childhood." Svana looked off to the side. Not wanting to lead Emmeline on to ask more about her childhood, but she should have known better.

  "Svana, what of your father? What of your mother?"

  "Well, my father was a soldier. He fought a great many battles and died when I was young. I barely remember his face. He had a scar on his cheek, a small one. Used to tell me all the time he got it from wrestling a dragon."

  At the word dragon, Emmeline's face paled. "A dr..dra...dragon?" She took a few steps back, her gown billowing with her every graceful movement.

  "Yes, but I don't believe him," Svana admitted.

  "You didn't, or you don't now?"

  "I don't believe him, because..." Uh oh, she couldn't tell Emmeline why she didn't believe a dragon did that. "I just don't believe him. I was always taught dragons would destroy a human, tear them limb from limb!" At the last few words, Svana ripped at one of her arms dramatically, imitating having her arm ripped off. Of course I know better, but I mustn't let on to Emmeline I know better. I must pretend I believe everything I was taught as a child.

  “I don't think all dragons are like that," Emmeline whispered.

  Svana's eyes bulged at her statement. Had she heard Emmeline correctly? "What do you mean?"

  Realizing what she had said, Emmeline gasped and covered her mouth. "Umm. Nothing. I ...I... I just find it hard to believe dragons would do that to a human. I mean, there has to be other things they can do?"

  "What are you saying?" Svana asked.

  "Nothing, nothing at all. Forget I said anything. You know, my uncle used to fight. He was a soldier before he was king. Those were better days then. He was better then."

  "What do you mean ... he was better?"

  Emmeline gasped again. "Goodness, I'm so tired. I don't even know what I am saying anymore. Let us retire to the throne room. I am sure your soldier Gill requires your presence."

  Svana, not wanting to overstep her bounds, nodded her head, and they turned and headed back. The slightly shaggy yellow dog tagging along behind them. Svana had no idea what she was going to do with him, or what Emmeline meant about the king being better when he was fighting.

  It appears there is more going on here than meets the eye, Lingaria said.

  Way to state the obvious, Lingaria. Is there something you know you're not telling me? She asked him, wondering just what he did know, and just what they had both gotten themselves into.

  48

  Hekla

  We spend so much of our lives searching for shortcuts. It is because of impatience we do this. We need to have more patience. We need to be more like stones. No matter how much patience you have, it will never match that of a stone. A stone may want to move from one spot to another, and it will wait years, perhaps even centuries for a chance to move, until suddenly, one day, a boy picks up the stone, and throws it.

  King Ansel the Humble, First King of Aequoris, 265 A.V.

  Hekla watched as the young girl skipped away. She had saved Hekla's life. If not for the young girl, Hekla would be completely unaware that the Aequoran soldiers were coming to kill her. Hekla owed her a debt, and saving her from the collapse of the jail, a collapse Hekla herself had caused, was not enough to pay that debt.

  "You would do well to control your temper, Hekla. You almost cost that little girl her life," Speltus warned.

  "You don't think I don't know that?" Her high pitched voice a sign of her frustration. "If you had helped me, we wouldn't be in this predicament."

  "Hekla..." he began to say, his wings nearly useless as he hovered near her in his magic air bubble encasing his body.

  "I know, I know. This is my battle. Can you at least give me a hint as to what I should do next? I don't want to kill anyone, on top of everything else. How horrible would that be?"

  "What about those prisoners in there?"

  "I don't know what to say about them, except it was an accident and I can't take it back. I don't want to kill anyone else. Please, just give me a hint. Anything," Hekla pleaded with him. She hoped against hope that he could just tell her what to do, but it was not to be.

  "Hekla, my dear head-strong Hekla. You have been given magic, powerful magic. Use it."

  In a huff, she said, "fine," quite angrily, then searched her mind for all the spells that had been crammed in there over the course of less than a week.

  "Occulari Invisitum?" she said, more of a question than an incantation.

  "No, that will only work on one individual at a time. You need to do something that will work on them all at once and remember that we don't know how many soldiers are on their way."

  At the word sol
diers, as if Speltus had summoned them himself, Hekla could hear heavy footsteps walking in rapid methodical succession. Several at one time, then their voices joined in.

  "What was that noise!?" one asked.

  "What happened to the jail?"

  "Anyone know what's going on?"

  They were coming in large numbers and quickly all right.

  Think, think Hekla. If you were Astrid, what would you do? Or Svana? Humph. Astrid would just tell them all to sit down and shut their mouths, she's in charge. Svana would probably try to feed them. She was always hungry. Not me, I'm different.

  She knew what to do. She wasn't quite sure if it would work.

  Speltus, will it work? she asked in her head, worrying about the soldiers hearing her voice.

  It will work, but you are going to have to conjure a lot of them all at once. You sure you're ready to bring to life one of your biggest fears in the hopes of scaring a couple soldiers?

  "I just need to distract them for a bit so you and I can escape. Which word do I use? Jelly Fishium?"

  It's not that easy, Jellium Fishium, and don't forget to say expandum.

  "I know, all right... here it goes."

  The sound of the soldiers got closer and closer, and Hekla's heart surged with the rush of adrenaline that coursed through her. This is either going to work amazingly or I am going to fall apart. All right, Hekla, center yourself, and ...

  "Aquum Purum Jellium Fishium Expandum!" She yelled loudly, and to her delight and dismay a water rendition of one of her greatest fears appeared from a vortex of sea water that swirled before her. She repeated the spell, "Aquum Purum Jellium Fishium Expandum!" Another one appeared, and now two large oceanified Jelly fish beasts floated angrily in front of her.

  The soldiers came into view, and she flattened herself against the wall, repeating the spell quietly again and again, until the entire hallway was littered with the translucent beasts. The soldiers didn't know they weren't real, and the size alone was enough to cause them to stop dead in their tracks.

  Hekla used the moment they were all distracted to slide expertly against the wall, around the soldiers, and out of the hallway. No one had even noticed her presence so terrified were they of the sea creatures.

  "All right, Hekla. That was good, now remember... we only have a few moments before those illusions disappear and the soldiers know something is up. We still need to escape the chamber of the elders. Do you have a plan for that?" Speltus floated lazily next to her as they slid quietly and cautiously against the wall down the hallway.

  Hekla's eyes darted back and forth, ever watchful of the soldiers coming back, and fearful of what may lay ahead of her.

  "I don't have a plan yet," she said in low tones, "but as I recall, that fight before left only one elder alive. I think I can defeat him."

  "Very well, prepare yourself, Hekla. You do not know what secrets he may possess."

  Hekla nodded, and to her delight, they reached the chamber without incidence. The entrance to the coral palace was just a few short feet away. The elder that had survived was nowhere to be seen, and even more curious... another hallway Hekla had not gone down was just a few steps from where she now stood.

  "Hekla, what are you doing? Use your brain. Now is your chance to escape... don't question, don't explore... we need to get out of here before anyone else gets hurt," Speltus' voice was stern, but not commanding enough to get Hekla to change her mind.

  "What if that is where the king is and I can get to him, and talk to him right now? I must take the opportunity if I can find it," she argued.

  "No you mustn't!" he yelled at her, but his words fell on deaf ears.

  Hekla, unable to contain her curiosity, found herself wandering down the unknown hallway. Her eyes watching the interesting sea life that floated about as if they were ocean sculptures created for just the space they occupied.

  Several doors down the elegant hallway led to nowhere, but one, as she opened it, the gleam of jewels most astounding greeted her. Wall to wall and nearly reaching the ceiling. Rubies, Sapphires, diamonds, and all varieties of jewelry upon the likes of she had never seen. It was completely minded boggling.

  "Speltus, no kingdom should have such riches as this, what good does it do?"

  Speltus had taken residence on her shoulder and sat in stunned silence.

  "I don't even know what to say, Hekla."

  "There, Check there!" A strong unfriendly voice was heard from the hallway. Hekla dove behind what appeared to be a small table made of gold and encrusted in jewels around the edge. Heavy footsteps were heard as the men came into the room, took a half-hearted look around and then left.

  When Hekla was sure the coast was clear, she stood from her spot and looked around once more.

  "Did you hear that, Speltus? Those guards just came in here and didn't even try to touch the treasure? Do you not think that odd? Do you think them to be a trustworthy sort?"

  "The guards?" Speltus asked.

  "Yes, I mean... I haven't known many people... but so far, the lot of them have not been trustworthy."

  "Maybe the gold is cursed," Speltus joked. "Maybe that's why they don't touch it."

  "I don't know, but something doesn't sit right. I want out of here." Hekla didn't bother looking back at the gold as she carefully opened the door and peered out into the hallway.

  With the guards nowhere to be seen, Hekla made a beeline for the coral encrusted entrance of the palace and swam as quickly as the surrounding water, and her magic air bubble would allow. Outside of the entrance, time had lost all sense of meaning. She couldn't tell if it was morning, or afternoon, or evening.

  A familiar tan face, and brown bodied creature showed himself. Sitting near the pathway she now followed as if he had been waiting for her all along.

  "Hey, friend," she called to him. His nose nodded up and down happily as if he was joyful to see her again. "I need to get to the surface and quick, think you can take me?" she asked.

  The sea otter swam closer to her, his little body shooting upward. Taking that as a yes, though it seemed unbelievable for the moment, she grabbed onto his back end, and he began pulling her quickly through the water to the surface.

  I can't believe this is actually happening; I feel as if I'm dreaming. Perhaps it had all been a dream and she would wake up in her own bed with her sisters beside her in the morning. Or afternoon, or whatever time it was that she woke up. As they got closer and closer to the surface, the little otter suddenly changed direction and headed northeast.

  "Where are you going?" she called after him, but he just swam faster and faster, and all she could do was hold on as tight as she could.

  When they broke surface, Hekla was delighted to see that her new furry friend had brought her close to one of the land cities of the Aequorans. She had, for the moment, completely forgotten that the Aequorans existed both above and below the ocean.

  The otter chittered at her, and almost as if smiling at her, disappeared back into the watery depths below. The sun and natural light felt like fire on Hekla's eyes as she had not seen real sunlight going on three days. Swimming to a dock that floated just off the east side of the water city, she climbed onto land, her magic bubble still wrapped around her.

  49

  Astrid

  A parent should never have to bury their child. The heartbreak of doing so is more than the common mind can comprehend. It destroys a mother and father. And if their child's death was malicious, it is even worse. The grief is overwhelming, and the anger--boundless.

  King Arnott the Wise, Second King of Telluris, 329 A.V.

  Astrid admired the plush blue carpeting leading to the archway of the king's throne room. She enjoyed the avarian artwork that adorned the massive hallway leading to the king, yet she was uneasy as they approached the king.

  "Keep your head bowed as we enter the throne room and do not speak until it is requested of you," Ellowin warned her.

  "Yes, sir," she responded quietly, tippi
ng her head forward, her hair covering her face as they approached the door.

  "Enter," the king's booming voice welcomed them. "Ellowin, it has been many moons since you have appeared before me. What brings you here today?"

  "Your majesty, I have brought our newest soldier, and soon to be general of one of your armies. She is called Astrid of the Bow. It is she who has defeated the Tellurian army at the base of the mountain. We owe her everything."

  "Astrid of the Bow? You may approach, both of you. Astrid, do not look down, you have earned your place here or my Vizier would not have allowed it."

  "That is most true, your majesty," Ellowin confirmed.

  Astrid slowly lifted her head, wondering if the king was as tall and willowy as his people. "Your majesty, it is an honor to meet with you here."

  She kept her voice low as she met his piercing azure eyes.

  "Please, approach and do not fear me. Tell me what it is you want. Why are you here?"

  Hesitantly, she stepped forward, her movements slow and steady so as not to alert him. If only I could speak to Svana about her progress with the Tellurian King. How easy it would be to kill him at this very moment.

  "Your majesty, I do not know all you have heard. I have come from the Volcano of Shadows, commanded to bring peace. I am here for no other reason than to do just that. To restore the peace between the kingdoms, it is my hope you will allow me to do as such. For I am your humble servant." She watched his movements cautiously, then looked over the room. There was a guard on either side of the king, but they looked bored and uninterested. She had to wonder how extensive their training was. How quickly would she be able to take them down if she were to kill the king?

  The king himself would be an easy target, though tall and willowy as his people, his frame had packed on more meat than those of his people and though not as rotund as Quimby, his stomach was disproportionate to the rest of his lean body. Surely that will give me some kind of edge. Oh Svana, I wish I knew where you were in your journey so I could make the decision I need to make right now.