Scales and Flames

by Catherine Banks

  “Lieutenant,” the commander said. “I suggest you find your place and fall back in line. Say one more word to defend this traitor and you will become the enemy as well.”

  At that moment, I knew my father was beyond saving. There was nothing I could say to change his mind. To bring him back from the edge. To save him from the darkness of his revenge.

  Twenty

  I stared down from the rock ledge, watching, waiting for Davian to react to my father’s ultimatum. Davian pulled on the reins and his horse moved backward. He turned his head to look at me.

  “Davian?” I knew him well enough to know when he was contemplating doing something stupid. He wore the same look he had when we were sixteen, and he jumped off the quarry ledge into the water below. He fractured his ankle but got a date with Camilla, the girl next door to him with the big boobs.

  “I’m sorry I never got to know you,” Davian said, moving his gaze to Greylore. “But you must be a great man for Hensley to have risked so much for you.” Greylore moved closer to me, putting his arm around my waist. “Take care of her.”

  “I will,” Greylore said.

  Davian turned his attention back to my father. He paced his horse back and forth in front of him and the generals as he spoke. “Sir, I have looked up to you most of my life,” Davian said, speaking loudly, getting the attention of numerous men in the ranks behind them. “But I cannot be a part of this. Of you striking down your own daughter.” Davian pushed himself up in the saddle and lifted his head to the men behind them. “And I pity anyone who does,” he shouted.

  Davian rode his horse between my father and one of the generals. “She’s your daughter,” he shouted. Turning left, Davian moved away from the company. I watched as numerous men—counting more than fifty, rode away with him to watch the battle on neutral ground.

  Way to go, Davian.

  “You see, Father,” I said, proudly. “Even your men have come to the realization that what you are doing is wrong. They see it, why can’t you?”

  “Archers!” My father roared his command. I took a step forward as the vibration of the stamping and stomping of hundreds of armor boots drumming against ground moved up the rock face to the bottom of my feet. The archers took their place in front of the mounted soldiers, one row kneeling, one standing.

  “Father, stop this!” I shouted. “All of you, listen to me. You can leave now, just leave. Go live your lives in peace and let these people do the same. Let my family live in peace.”

  “They are not people, Hensley,” my father bellowed. “They are demons. Monsters. And every single one of them must die to ensure the safety of these lands.” He drew his sword. “They are the enemy. And anyone who defends them is also the enemy.”

  “Tell me, Father,” I said, “if I am the enemy, does that make your grandchild the enemy as well?”

  I watched the ranks stir with my words, a light chatter buzzed through the crowd. My father dropped his head. “You have a child?”

  “Yes,” I said, proudly. “A daughter. You have a granddaughter. Her name is Ruby.”

  “How could you?” My father’s words were not filled with happiness or joy. They dripped with hate, bitterness, resentment. “How could you have a child with a demon? With the enemy? With my enemy?”

  I heard the ripping, snapping and cracking I had come to recognize as the sounds of Greylore’s transformations. I turned to see him changing, his wings pushing through his back.

  “No, stop!” I shouted. “Greylore. No! they will shoot you!” It was too late. He was too far into the transformation. He has taken his dragon form. Shouts and screams came from the crowd.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I had to protect you.” Greylore leaned his head down to me, and I rubbed the side of his face. They need to see he’s not a threat.

  “You see?” I said to the men, no longer in formation, but scattered and clumped into groups. “They are not mindless, bloodthirsty beasts as my father would have you believe. They are gentle, beautiful creatures, no different than the animals some of you sit upon right now.”

  “Hensley,” my father put up his sword and the generals began shouting out commands to the men. “You have five seconds to get away from that…that thing.”

  “Father, please don’t do this.” My heart beat faster. I couldn’t catch my breath. What is he doing? Why is he doing this?

  “One!” He began counting. The archers returned to their positions, their arrows aimed directly at me and Greylore.

  “I’m begging you, please…” My thoughts drifted to my daughter. Would I ever see her again? I can’t let him do this. She needs us.

  “Two!” The generals moved into position, spacing themselves down the length of the line of soldiers.

  “If you have ever loved me,” I yelled, “ever, at all, then please don’t do this.”

  My father’s arm lowered slightly and for a moment, I thought I had finally reached him. But the moment was fleeting and he quickly raised it again, even higher.

  “Three!”

  “Father, think about what you’re doing! You are telling me to leave my family or you’ll kill me. What kind of father does that?” My heart broke all over again. I thought about leaving him, coming here, and being with Greylore and his family had healed me. But there it was. The same old wound.

  “Four!”

  “What would mother say?” I screamed at him, louder than I have ever screamed anything in my life. “What would mother think of this? Of you ordering an attack of your own daughter? On her daughter?”

  My father lowered his arm and hung his head. The generals exchanged glances. Some of the archers lowered their bows.

  Suddenly, I heard the thunking of an arrow as it landed at my side, a few feet away. Someone couldn’t hold their position any longer. They had released their arrow. Greylore saw it and let out a loud roar in response. I put my hand on his enormous scale plated chest and attempted to move him back. His head was exposed. They would kill him.

  “Hold your fire,” my father yelled. “Hold your fire!” But it was too late. I looked up and saw the sky dotted with arrows, all coming at us. I must protect Greylore. I can’t let them hurt him.

  “No!” Knowing he was vulnerable, I turned around and wrapped my arms around Greylore’s head, covering his eyes with my body. I heard the swoosh of his wings and then felt them wrapped around me, blocking out the light. I felt safe for a moment. A very brief moment.

  And then I felt the pain. The red-hot, piercing, intense pain, and then utter peace.

  Twenty-One

  From my saddle, I looked back as a large, beautiful, bronze colored dragon moved in front of Greylore and Hensley. Emperor Ulkan in his dragon form stood tall, wearing a gold armor helmet, with armor in the same metal covering his feet, ankles, and tail. Towering over the clearing below. Most of the arrows bounced off his large impenetrable scales. He flapped his wings, creating a wind so strong, it blew every man and beast below off their feet. No matter how prepared we had been, we could never have won this battle.

  The soldier closed to me asked, “Davian, sir. Should we prepare to defend ourselves?”

  “No. The Emperor is no threat to us.”

  “Enough!” he said, his voice thundering over the ranks and the soldiers who had broken off from the others to side with me. I watched him slowly move down the face of the rock, slithering towards the Commander and his generals. Overhead the sounds of dragon wings filled the sky. Numerous dragons landed behind the troops. Red dragons. White dragons. Blue dragons. All wearing shiny silver armor over their head, legs, and tail. The sight was both terrifying and magnificent to behold.

  “Tell your men to lower their weapons,” Ulkan said.

  The Commander didn’t move or speak.

  I continued to watch the scene, invested in how this would play out. I hoped for peace between our races and that Hensley was safe. From my position, I could only see Greylore in his dragon form.

  “Drop your weapons,”
Ulkan roared at the ranks.

  One after another, men dropped their weapons and stepped back. Bows. Arrows. Swords. Falling to the ground at the men’s feet.

  The Commander looked around, frustration filling his eyes. Ulkan stared back at him.

  “What are you doing?” the Commander shouted. “I am your Commander. You follow my orders. Take up your arms! Kill the beast!”

  Ulkan roared. A burst of fire riding his breath, I watched as he created a line of flames between himself and the Commander. The Commander’s horse bucked, tossed him to the ground, before racing off into the trees.

  “This war ends now, Commander. You are wrong about us and your anger has blinded you. We don’t kill humans except when we are threatened.”

  Ulkan moved closer to the Commander, his wings tucked over his strong back, his long tail following behind him. “We may be part dragon, but we are also part human. We only hunt in our human form. We only eat in our human form. And we only have children in our human form.”

  The Commander pushed himself up from the ground, picked up his sword and held it out in front of him.

  “I could swallow you whole or tear you to little pieces if I chose to do so,” Ulkan said. “But I am not a violent man. And I am not a demon. Or a monster. You are.” Exactly.

  I watched Ulkan bend his head down to within a foot of the Commander’s face, his armor reflecting the light, forcing the Commander to shield his eyes.

  “Now,” he said. “Do we understand each other?” I was surprised when the Commander nodded. About time.

  “Father!” Greylore screamed, his voice was filled with pain.

  No! Hensley?

  Ulkan turned to his son. I saw Hensley slumped over Greylore’s arm, an arrow sticking out of her back through her heart. Heartbroken, I realized what Greylore already knew.

  Hensley is dead.

  “Father…” Greylore roared in pain.

  “You see that?” Ulkan said, turning to the Commander. “That is one of your arrows in your daughter’s back. Your obsessive war on my kind has taken yet another victim—a victim that will be mourned by both sides.”

  The Commander looked up to the rock ledge and met Greylore’s gaze, saw Hensley’s body, and he fell to his knees.

  How sad it took the loss of your daughter to put a stop to your tyranny.

  “And now your granddaughter will grow up without a mother, as your daughter grew up without hers.” Ulkan roared with rage and sadness. It was clear he had come to love his daughter-in-law.

  “Take me to my daughter,” the Commander said, still on his knees. His sword still in his hand, dragging the ground. “Please, I beg of you, take me to her.”

  Ulkan looked down on the Commander for a moment. “Now she is your daughter, not your enemy?”

  “Father!” Greylore yelled again and the torment in that simple word tore at my soul. He truly loves her.

  “Please, one father to another, I’m begging you.” The Commander dropped his sword, pulled off his gauntlets and threw them down to the ground. Standing to his feet, he turned to the other men behind him and waved them away. “Stand down all of you!” he yelled. “Get out of here. Go! Leave! Now!” The men slowly turned and went back the way they came. “Please, take me to my daughter.”

  Ulkan grabbed the Commander in his large claw, flapped his wings twice and dropped the Commander on the rock ledge before landing and transforming to his human form. I watched a man immediately walk out and hand him a robe, which Ulkan wrapped around himself as he hurried to his son’s side.

  Complete silence fell over the clearing making it easy to hear their words.

  “Look at her,” Greylore said. “Death has taken the breath from her body, and yet, she is still as beautiful as the day I first laid eyes on her. Oh, my love. My Hensley.”

  “Greylore, my son,” Ulkan knelt beside Greylore. Two men stood behind them, one placed some clothing on the ground beside Ulkan. “Please, let us take her inside.”

  “This is how she would want to be remembered. Her auburn hair. Her crimson lips and cheeks. The strength of her heart. The love she—”

  Greylore’s sobs were more than even I, a hardened soldier, could bear.

  “What do I tell our daughter?” Greylore turned to his father, pain in his eyes. “How do I raise my daughter without the love of her mother?”

  Ulkan reached down to help his son from the ground, handing him the clothing. “We are your family. We will make sure that Ruby knows what a wonderful, brave, beautiful woman her mother was. I promise you.”

  Greylore dressed, then hugged his father, watching as the men picked up Hensley’s body to carry her inside.

  “You truly loved my daughter, didn’t you?” I heard the Commander say.

  Greylore looked up at the Hensley’s father, tears streaming down his cheeks, his eyes were already swollen and red with sadness.

  “I love her so much that with her, I could have endured a thousand deaths, but now, my one life will suffer without her in it.”

  “I’m so sorry.” the Commander said. “I…She knew…I could have…Hensley, I’m so sorry.”

  I watched this man I once respected, feared, followed and then deserted. A man I once believed to be the strongest of men. I watched as he fell to his hands and knees, sobbing in pain, his emotions on display.

  But the greatest strength I witnessed came from Greylore as he moved to offer a hand up to the Commander, once his enemy, this man who had cost him his love, his daughter, her mother, because he understood his pain, his loss. And in that moment, Greylore and his kind earned my loyalty and respect.

  Twenty-Two

  “Thank you for seeing me,” the Commander said. “How are you?”

  “It’s only been a few days…” I paused, knowing if I said any more, I would not be able to control my emotions. Since Hensley’s death, I had stayed in my chambers with our daughter. My sister-in-law came to help and give me a few hours of rest, but I could tell from Ruby’s cries she missed her mother. I miss her so much. “I’m trying to stay strong for Ruby.”

  “Would it be possible…I mean, maybe…could I meet her? Ruby?” Hensley’s father fumbled over his words as he addressed me.

  “You do understand that she’s a shifter,” I said. “She’s like me. Like my father. Like my family.”

  “I understand. And I don’t care about that. I promise you. All I care about is that she is a part of my daughter, my granddaughter. The only part of Hensley I have left.”

  “Commander,” I felt my frustration level rise, worried the Commander was going to attempt to take Ruby back with him, to raise her as he had done Hensley. I stood up and began pacing the floor.

  “Please,” the Commander said. “Breck.” He sat down in a nearby chair, leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

  “Excuse me?” I stopped walking, and feeling confused, stared at the Commander.

  “My name is Breck,” he said. “You don’t need to call me Commander. I want to change, and I think the first step in doing that is to change the way people address me.”

  “That makes sense,” I sighed. “Okay, Breck,” I began pacing again. “I need you to understand something. Ruby is going to have powers. We have no idea of knowing when she will get them or what they will be. She is going to grow quickly, eventually undergoing her first transformation. She needs to be with us, me, so I can be there for her. To help her through it.”

  “I understand.”

  “Yes, you are her grandfather and her family, but this is something that you won’t be able to help her with. It’s all foreign to you.”

  “I understand.”

  “We don’t want to keep you from her and we are willing to work with you to…wait.” I stopped pacing and sat down in the chair next to Breck. “You’re not going to fight me on this?”

  Breck shook his head.

  “So, you’re okay with her staying with us, with me?”

  Breck smiled and nodded.

/>   “And you’re fine with making some type of arrangement for visiting her?”

  “I am,” Breck said. “You’re her father. You’re her family. I just want to be a part of it. I want to be able to tell her what her mother was like when she was a little girl. To tell her the stories about Hensley’s first horseback ride, the time she fell out of a tree, or the first time she punched a boy.”

  “Hell,” I leaned back in the chair. “I can’t wait to hear those stories.”

  “And you will,” Breck said. “I promise.”

  Staring back at Breck for a moment, I allowed my intuition to guide me, hoping I would receive some type of sign as to what I should do. What would Hensley have me do?

  “Oh, I wanted to ask you something, too,” Breck said. “It seems that Aurora keeps getting out of her stable and making her way to your cabin.” I chuckled. “Instead of trying to keep her in, I thought maybe you could take her. I think Hensley would have wanted that.”

  I nodded.

  “Will you give me a moment?” I asked. Okay, Hensley. Message received loud and clear. I stood and walked down the hall to my sister-in-law’s quarters to retrieve my daughter. Cradling her in my arms, I whispered to her as I walked back to the sitting room.

  “Breck,” I spoke softly as I walked back into the room. “I’d like you to meet your granddaughter, Ruby.”

  Breck stood from the chair and put his hand to his chest.

  I stood in front of Breck and we both stared at her adoringly. “She’s so beautiful,” Breck said. “She’s the perfect mixture of you and Hensley.”

  “Would you like to hold her?” I asked.

  Breck’s nervousness became obvious. His hands started shaking. His words stuttered.

  “It’s okay.” I attempted to calm him. “Just sit back in the chair and I’ll hand her to you.” Breck sat down and I gently placed Ruby into his arms. Neither of us spoke for quite some time.