Scales and Flames

by Catherine Banks

  “N-nothing.” Her cheeks flushed.

  “Sit down,” he barked. “You can’t be standing in a moving trolley.”

  Julian glanced back at the road. She needed to find the magic girl as soon as she could, especially with her so close. She bit her lip. She only had a moment to decide. Julian inched toward the back of the trolley.

  “Helga!” the driver shouted. “Your little loon is trying to jump ship!”

  Her heart chilled. Hooves beat the cobblestone as Helga rounded the trolley, her once kind green eyes now sharp like knives.

  “Julian, what are you doing?” Helga snapped.

  Julian cursed herself for not being quicker. She was so wrapped up in all that was new, she missed her chance to flee unnoticed. Slowly, she lowered herself back to the floor of the cart. Helga continued to narrow her eyes and twist her mouth back and forth while she thought.

  Several minutes passed, and Helga remained at the back of the pack, her eyes never leaving Julian.

  She sighed. There’d be another chance. They couldn’t keep their eyes on her at all times, and even if they did, Julian still had her magic.

  Heat burned the tips of her fingers, but even as it did, the dragon reared its head again. Using her flames meant using the beast. She’d only ever used her powers when training with her mother, or when she had to for light.

  No, she couldn’t use fire to escape, not unless it was her only option.

  As the castle walls grew closer, Julian’s heart sped with worry. It might be much more difficult to flee inside the keep than it was down the dozens of streets. The lanes bustled with more trolleys, carts and people as the cobblestone smoothed out. Their progress slowed until they hardly crawled forward.

  She leaned her head back to the sun, biting back a frustrated growl. She didn’t have time for this.

  The wide gates to the city loomed ahead until the trolley finally stopped completely.

  “State your business,” a city guard said.

  Julian twisted in her seat to see what was happening, while Helga trotted around to speak with the man.

  “Good day, we bring goods for Elmhurst families coming to the market tomorrow,” Helga explained to the tall man in gold armor, a strange twisted metal seal at his breast. It had to be the mark of city guards.

  “Ah, yes.” The man extended a scroll between his hands. “I believe I saw you on the registry.”

  “We have our papers if necessary.”

  “No need. Just let me verify your name.”

  Julian looked between the guards and the back of the trolley. The gates stood wide open, the outer city stretching beyond. It was now or never.

  Crouching as quietly as she could, Julian’s heart beat her ribs as she inched toward the back while also looking over her shoulder. No one moved or glanced her way. She grinned and leapt off the back.

  Helga’s messy bun whipped in her direction. Her green eyes flew wide. “Julian, stop!”

  Her stomach twisted as she flew down the street, far from the guards in the bustle of people headed for the inner city. Shouting followed her as the guards pushed pedestrians from their path. Helga’s call rang again and again as Julian slipped between couples, families, and farm animals waiting patiently in line.

  “Hey!” a woman snapped as she pushed by.

  “Apologies!” Julian didn’t dare look back as sweat coated her back and her racing heart grew louder.

  She dodged between dozens of people until she could leap onto a side street. Fewer people occupied it, and Helga’s shouts grew distant.

  Catching her breath, Julian clung to the shadows on one side of the street, sneaking through the crack between houses, hardly enough space for her hips and torso. Her racing heart slowed as she emerged onto another street, and then another. Finally, she was free.

  Julian wiped her clammy palms on her trousers and swiped the back of her hand across her forehead. She leaned against the cool stone in the shadows of a blacksmith and closed her eyes.

  The heat of magic, the burn of the dragon, was gone.

  Her eyes flashed open. When had it gone? It had plagued her moments ago in the trolley. She leaned away from the stone wall and glanced in either direction, her pulse picking up speed.

  “Damn it,” she growled. Again, she closed her eyes and searched. She pulled at the familiar magic, and the darkness in her belly. Nothing, but her own power.

  Her hands balled into fists. Heat exploded inside her palms. This wasn’t fair. She was so close. What could have happened? She needed this girl more than she’d ever needed anything before.

  She opened her eyes to stare at the dirt. Her fists glowed with fire inside her palms. Julian gasped and glanced down the street. No one.

  She sighed with relief and took slow breaths. She had to remain calm. She couldn’t let her power get out of control, not around humans.

  After a long moment of steady breathing, her glowing hands returned to normal, and the heat within them faded.

  “That was close,” she whispered.

  Julian looked up. She had no idea where the magic girl had gone, or where to find her again. She had been so close. She couldn’t have gone far.

  Shaking out her limbs, she reset her determination. She couldn’t fail. Not today. There was no other choice but to scour the city for clues.

  Julian picked up where she’d left off. The burn of magic was gone, but she remembered where it had been. She took off down the street, away from the main road. It was all for the best, she needed to keep some distance between herself and the city guard.

  Heading east, her legs took her while her mind flew in all directions, calling to the magic, searching for even a whisper of it. Nearly ten minutes passed, and a lump of dread sat in her chest, growing heavy between her ribs.

  “Where are you?”

  She stopped at an intersection. The houses had grown smaller and fewer between. No one roamed the streets. No children laughed. Only distant noise from the main road competed with the wind.

  The magic girl had to have been around this place, but why? The homes were small and gray, some of the boards rotted and the stone foundations slid away.

  Julian shook her head and continued more slowly. She kept an eye out for thieves or other criminals, something she’d overheard the guards speaking of on their journey. She didn’t want any trouble, or any excuse to use her magic.

  Her chest burned faintly and she stopped in front of a dark gray home with thick curtains covering the windows.

  It wasn’t the same intensity of the ashen, not even close, but someone magical resided inside that house. Maybe they could help her find what she was looking for.

  Julian took one last look at the street before she approached the home. The small porch tilted sideways, the stairs uneven with the ground. They almost appeared to melt into the earth, as moss and weeds reclaimed the small structure.

  The cold dread in her chest rose into her throat. She swallowed it, twisting her jaw back and forth as she hovered beside the steps. Warmth blossomed in her belly, the closer she stepped.

  “Are you going to stand around outside all day?” the hoarse voice of a woman rumbled behind the door.

  Julian started, her eyes flying wide. Her heart pounded inside her ears. Had the woman sensed her coming? Or did she simply see her through the curtains?

  Biting her lip, Julian mounted the steps and opened the door.

  Incense battered her nose like a putrid cloud. She doubled back, her stomach lurching into her throat. Nausea rose inside her, and she fought to push it down. She’d never smelled something so horrid.

  “Don’t leave the door open!” the woman snapped.

  Pushing down the twisting of her gut and saliva burning her mouth, Julian stepped inside and closed the door.

  Shadows bathed every corner. Only a sickly violet glow permeated the darkness faintly from the back of the room. Thick velvet curtains hung from every wall and arched in the middle. The purple glow came from a glass o
rb atop a small table drowning with black cloth.

  “Why have you come to see me?”

  Julian jumped as a figure stepped from the shadows on her left. The faint glow illuminated thick wrinkles and sagging skin on the old woman’s face. Her eyes were dark, blacker than the shadows in every corner. She raised a thick brow under a veil of dark lace. The magic burn in her chest remained dull but ever present.

  Her mother told her stories of humans with magic. Some went most of their lives without knowing while others practiced dark arts or healing. Those who embraced darkness were witches and should be avoided, as they were known to be temperamental.

  “Well?” The hunched witch trudged across the room, a hand on her back, and a cane in the other.

  Julian cleared her throat. “I’m looking for someone.” She paused. “Someone who might have come by recently, or who you might know. A girl.”

  The witch looked over her shoulder. “How do you know a girl was here recently?”

  She didn’t, but the witch had certainly confirmed it. “I need to know where she is,” Julian said as her pulse quickened. “I need to find her as soon as possible.”

  The woman sat behind her glowing orb. Shadows ate her face, turning her already strange appearance, ugly. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  Julian groaned. “Please, I need to find her.”

  Her brows rose, and her eyes widened with wonder as if she’d just realized something. A grin spread across her face, revealing missing and otherwise rotting teeth. “Ahh, that’s what you are.”

  Julian grimaced, and though disturbed, took a step forward. “Please, help me.”

  The witch tilted her head back and laughed. “Of course I can help you, dearie. You wouldn’t have come here otherwise.” Julian began to sigh in relief when the witch continued, “At a price of course.”

  She froze. “A price?”

  “Yes, I don’t give magic away freely.” The witch stood and with a snap of her fingers, a dozen candles burst to life. Small flames flared across their wicks and cast firelight on the dark room. The shadows flew for their corners, but the rest of the room was revealed.

  A large table sat at the center of the room, many metal instruments atop it: some long and thick with tweezers at the end, others twisting and jagged. She had no idea what any of it was for. The left-hand wall was made up of shelves with vials, bottles and jars filled with jewels, plants, herbs, tiny glowing balls no bigger than the nail on her smallest finger, and other things that might be eyes.

  “Come, take a seat.” A small wooden stool sat on one side of the large worktable. “I insist.”

  Julian swallowed the lump in her throat. She’d take a deep breath if it weren’t for the vomit-inducing scent of the place. After a moment’s hesitation, she sat.

  “It’s been a long time since I saw one of your kind, and here I am meeting two in one day. Oh, the chances are small, and no coincidence I wager.” The witch’s thin lips twisted in a smile.

  “Then you know… what I am.” Cold squeezed her lungs.

  “Of course.” She held up a finger. “But that’s a conversation for another day, now isn’t it? I will help you find the girl you seek, but first, you must do something for me.”

  Julian gulped. She didn’t like the sound of that. “And how will you help me find this girl?”

  “You can’t sense her anymore, correct?” Her smile turned sly.

  “Correct.”

  “I made an amulet for this girl, an amulet to block her magic from even the keenest of senses. The only way to find her now is with a blood amulet of your own.” The witch leaned back in her chair. “I will craft one for you while you complete my task. When you return, it will be yours for the taking.”

  Her shoulders relaxed. “And that’s all?”

  She’d do anything to find the ashen she sought, even if it meant steering off course to find her.

  “Yes.” Her smile softened as she propped her elbows on the arms of her chair, her fingers laced just below her chin. “Do you accept my terms?”

  Julian sighed. “Yes, of course. What do you need me to do?”

  Again, the witch revealed her teeth.

  “Excellent.” She stood, and Julian stood with her. “There’s a cave a half a day’s ride outside the city. Inside the cave is a very special flower with magical properties. If it weren’t for my old age, I might be able to get it, but it’s far too difficult to find for me now.”

  A flower? That was all? Julian flashed her own teeth this time. What a simple task. “I can leave immediately.”

  “Now, now, I’m not finished.” The witch held up a finger. “The flower isn’t the only magical thing about the cave. A frost troll resides inside, a terrible beast akin to nothing you’ve ever seen.” She paused. “Well, maybe not for you.” She chuckled humorlessly.

  Julian’s lips snapped shut. A troll? She’d only ever heard stories of such creatures in tales from her mother. She never thought them real, just something her mother used to get her to bed on time when she was young. How was she to fight a troll? She had little fighting prowess, even though her mother had attempted to teach her swordplay long ago. Still, she had no sword, only her magic, and if she used the flames inside her she’d be confronted by the dragon again. She wasn’t sure if she was ready for that.

  “If it’s too difficult a task, you needn’t go.” The witch shrugged. “But it’s the only way I’ll trade an amulet as valuable as this.”

  A sigh burst from her lips. Angry heat licked her heart.

  “Fine.” Julian had to get that amulet no matter the cost.

  The witch smiled. “You may use my horse tethered out back. She’s an old broad like me, but she’ll get you to the cave and back.”

  Julian nodded. “Is there anything else I need to know about this cave?” She narrowed her eyes.

  “It’s east of the city. I’m sure you’ll sense the troll long before you find it.”

  “I will return in a day’s time then.” Julian made a move for the door.

  “Be careful, dearie. A frost troll’s bite isn’t something even one such as yourself wants to endure.”

  The witch cackled as Julian opened the door. Fresh air brushed her mouth and soothed her stomach. “I’ll be careful.”

  She stepped outside and closed the door behind her. Frost troll or not, she was getting that flower, and she was getting that amulet. Her mother’s life, and hers, depended on it.

  The glow of dusk faded atop the horizon by the time the cave came into view. A dark hole edged the hillside with a crop of trees surrounding the dip in the land. If she hadn’t known what she was looking for, she’d never have found it, but the witch was right, she’d sensed the troll long before she arrived.

  Instead of the hot burn of magic from the ashen, a thick block of ice sat in her belly, a cold she had never known before.

  Julian pulled up on the reins before the land dipped to meet the cave mouth ten feet from the tree line. The grass halted by the roots instead of descending over the packed dirt outside the black mouth. It didn’t seem natural to Julian, though she didn’t exactly know what was natural for grass.

  She took a deep breath and patted the thick mane of the black mare. The old girl snorted and shook her head, clearly glad for the rest. Julian swung down.

  “I have a feeling you’re a good horse to practice riding with,” she cooed to the mare. She tied the reins to a low branch and left an apple for her to nibble on. “I’ll be back soon.”

  Julian left her rucksack by the tree and gave the mare one last affectionate pat before she stepped off the grass towards the cave.

  Cold brushed her skin the closer she came to the mouth. Icicles hung from above, and frost spread over the walls and floor. She pulled her jacket tighter and her sleeves down over her hands.

  She hoped the flower would be close and she’d never meet this troll, but the cold and dread in her belly told her she might not be so lucky.

  “You can
do this,” she whispered.

  Her fists clenched and she stepped inside. Darkness descended on her shoulders, with only the dull starlight at her back to guide her. Julian reached out to feel her way along the wall. Cold bit her fingertips. She quickly pulled her hand back.

  For Mother, she thought in an attempt to reassure herself.

  Julian continued forward slowly, inching her boots across the uneven ground until a faint glow permeated the darkness. She blinked quickly. A trick of the eye? She closed her eyes tightly and opened them again. No, there was light up ahead.

  Sticking close to the wall, Julian wiped the sweat from her palms on her trousers and peered around the corner.

  A cavern opened up from the tunnel, the size of a house with a hole in the ceiling. Ice froze every inch of the cave, reflecting starlight in every direction. The icicles on the ceiling nearly glowed, as did the thick ice covering the walls.

  Her breath fogged the air and cold wormed its way up her sleeves. She shivered and clenched her fists to warm her fingertips. Tunnels broke off the main cavern, or maybe just smaller caves with narrow doors. It was hard to tell with frost coating everything.

  A loud grunt sent her reeling back. Her heart flew into her throat as she pressed her back to the wall, clinging to the shadows.

  From one of the narrow doors, a large hairy creature pushed free. Its wide nostrils flared and its clawed fingers snapped ice-shards from the wall as it squeezed back into the large space.

  It shook its thick, frosted gray hair and stood, hunched with two arms the size of her entire body. It towered nearly to the roof, its beady eyes dark and angry, and its breath like steam.

  Julian gulped. So this was the troll. She did not look forward to fighting it. There wasn’t a chance she could battle it, even if she could find a dagger or a sword. She’d have to rely on her magic to defeat the beast.

  Her breath caught. Hundreds of dragons before her had been overcome by the beast inside them. They’d been swallowed by the darkness and spit back out an entirely new, ruthless creature, bent on the destruction of others. She didn’t want to be like that. She didn’t want power to consume her.