by Simon Archer
“What the fuck?” I shouted with a slam on the table. Some annoyed nobles shushed me, but I didn’t bother to apologize. They had no idea the revelation I just had. They didn’t know the implications of what I just discovered.
My mind couldn’t quite process what I had just read, so I went over it once more and then a third time. My eyes looked at the words, and I even slowed down enough to whisper them to myself, but they still didn’t quite compute. The only thought that swirled was that I had to get to Maximus. Now.
I stood up so fast my chair tumbled to the ground with a loud clatter which got me another shush from the other patrons. Still uncaring, I dashed forward with the journal in hand. I raced for the exit, but when I tried to cross the threshold, my hand holding the book jerked backward.
I nearly slipped from the stalled momentum. I looked back, and my arm was outstretched, with the journal in hand, still stuck in the library. I yanked, but the book remained on the other side of this invisible barrier.
“Oh, come on!” I lamented and tugged again.
Haylie popped into view, with her arms crossed over her chest, shaking her head.
“Haylie, you don’t understand,” I tried to reason with her. “I need to take this book to someone and show them something.”
“You may bring them to the library then and show them,” Haylie countered. “But the book does not leave.”
“He can’t come to the library,” I argued. “He won’t fit.”
“Then you will have to just tell him what you read,” Haylie concluded as she held out her hand, palm out.
I groaned in frustration but relinquished the book all the same. It plopped into the librarian’s hand. The minute I released it, my hand was freed. I pulled it out of the library and rubbed it. The skin was red and raw, like it had been confined in handcuffs.
I pointed directly at Haylie and vowed, “I will be back for that.”
“We shall see if I loan it to you again,” the librarian threatened.
As much as I wanted to argue with her, there were more pressing matters at hand, like needing to yell at a dragon. So, I bolted off in the direction of the gardens. While I ran, I paged Ffamran.
“Ffamran!”
“How many times do I need to tell you that there is no need to shout?” Ffamran replied, exasperated.
“Sorry, but this is important,” I protested.
“It’s always important when you shout,” Ffamran said, annoyed. “But why this time?”
“I need to speak to Maximus. Do you know where he is?” I asked as I rounded a corner. I didn’t time my speed correctly and nearly face planted. I picked up my feet and barrelled on.
“Are you running?” Ffamran asked, not answering my question.
“Yes, how do you know that?” I wondered, thoroughly confused.
“Your thoughts just shifted to a string of rather delicious cuss words, and you were thanking a god that you did not fall,” Ffamran explained. “As for Maximus, yes, he is at the edge of the gardens with me. We’re in the west corner by the grove of apple trees.”
“Perfect,” I said. “Don’t let him leave. I’ll be right there.”
“If you don’t wipe out on the way over,” Ffamran teased.
“Oh, shut up, would you?” I snapped.
“See you soon, Martin.”
I pushed myself to cross the rest of the court at the fastest speed I could manage. My lungs pounded against my chest, gulping for air. My leg muscles shouted in protest, but I didn’t listen. I still couldn’t get Bryleigh’s words out of my head: speaks quickly and strangely, something about a well, there was no way for him to go back.
If my suspicions were correct, then that bastard of a red dragon had a lot of explaining to do.
When I approached the gardens, I slowed my pace. I fast-walked across the cropped grass until the apple trees came into view. Sure enough, my dragon clan circled in the grove, waiting patiently for my impending arrival. Upon seeing them, I picked up the pace the rest of the way and sprinted to join them.
“My lord,” Maximus greeted me, “it is a pleasure to see you. To what do we owe the honor?”
“Do not,” I huffed through a series of labored breaths, “my lord me, you asshat!”
The red dragon leaned back in shock. His yellow eyes clouded over, and he blinked rapidly as if he were clearing an eyelash.
“Tell me right now, and I swear to God, if you’re lying, I will make you regret it,” I threatened.
“Martin…” Ffamran warned.
“No.” I spun to face my merkin, holding out my finger and jabbing it in Maximus’s direction. I took another second to regain my breath. “He owes me the truth.”
“I have always told you nothing but the truth, Martin,” Maximus defended, though I could tell from his tone that he hesitated.
“Oh, yeah?” I asked with a snarl. “How about telling me this, truthfully? Did Garham come from my world originally? Yes or no?”
The minute Maximus’s face paled to a rose color, I knew the answer to my question. Still, I waited to hear him say it. To hear him admit that I was not the only one who had made this ludicrous interdimensional journey.
“Yes or no, Maximus?” I repeated. “It’s a simple enough answer.”
The dragon exhaled deeply before answering. “Yes, King Garham was not born in Insomier. He was brought here, the same as you.”
33
“This is great, just great.” I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. “So many weird things make sense now.”
“Like what?” Ffamran asked offhandedly. He didn’t really seem to want to know the answer, but I gave him one, anyway.
“Like how everyone thought King Garham invented chess,” I blurted out. “Or why the lord’s valet said he spoke funny because he probably used contractions like me, which no one in this whole world seems to know how to do.”
“Are you speaking of Bryleigh?” Maximus asked. “King Garham’s valet.”
“Yeah,” I confirmed. “That’s how I found out about Garham. She overheard a conversation between you and Garham about him being homesick. Bryleigh heard you all talk about the well and not being able to go back.”
“She must have had a spectacular memory,” Sayles commented absently.
“She had a very thorough journal is what she had,” I corrected, pointing directly at the white dragon. I swung my finger and attention back to Maximus. “But I shouldn’t have had to learn it from her informative diary. I should have learned it from you. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I did not believe it to be pertinent,” Maximus argued, still calm. “What does it matter if he came from the same world as you?”
“What does it matter?” I repeated incredulously, my eyes flying open. “How about that I’m not alone? How about that the last person to crash land in this magical world ended up as their king? I don’t want to be a king!”
“You do not always get a say in your destiny,” Maximus replied easily.
“Destiny?” I felt like a broken record, reiterating everything the red dragon said but at a higher pitch. “Destiny was never part of the bargain. I don’t want some grand, epic destiny. I just wanted a place to go where I could find a home again. I didn’t expect to have to save it.”
“That is why you are the ideal person for the job,” Maximus said plainly.
“That doesn’t make any sense!” I shouted. I must have looked like a crazy person, pulling at my hair and throwing my hands in the air like I was. “There are plenty of other people who would just love to be in a world with dragons, and talking animals, and magic. They would love to go on this crazy quest to save everyone from the evil king who plans to kill them all.”
“You do not get to choose your fate, Martin,” Maximus said. “It simply is.”
“I didn’t sign up for whatever this is!”
“Neither did they,” the red dragon informed me.
“They?” I stuck my neck out as if being t
hat much closer would allow me to better understand him. “Who’s they?”
Suddenly, the red dragon clammed up. I waited. We all did, the clan and me, for the oldest creature to speak his peace. However, he never spoke. Instead, it was Jin, the dragon covered in the color of the night sky, who answered for him.
“Garham and Hennar,” the navy dragon answered.
She walked out from her spot behind the trees, where she had watched the drama with the rest of the clan. Her dark scales rippled against the colorful grove, bringing the entire mood to something more ominous and daunting. I watched her approach with a glare which she matched with her amethyst eyes.
“It was foretold to us that to stop the war between the creatures and the humans, we had to find a human not of this world. As dragons, we were unable to bond with any humans from our world.”
“That’s another thing!” I shouted. “How no one else has bonded with a dragon but me, Garham, and Hennar. Is it’s because we’re from a different dimension, timeline, planet, or whatever?”
“So it would seem,” Jin said plainly.
“Is it because of our blood or something?” I wondered, pulling reasons out of thin air.
“We do not know the science or magic behind it,” Johan jumped in. He spoke from a low place on the ground, resting his head on his front two legs. “It is one of those mystic things that just is.”
“That’s frustratingly vague,” I said while rolling my eyes.
“Trust us,” Johan replied, his voice sharp with annoyance. “We know.”
“The various clans spent a lot of time experimenting to find a way to travel beyond our realm.” Jin glanced at the black and orange dragon, who puffed out her chest with pride. “Kolo was the first to discover the well and how it linked one world to another. She was rewarded as the first dragon to make the journey.”
“And what? You just plucked Garham off the street?” I asked, completely baffled by this story.
“There were requirements we had agreed to adhere to,” Kolo explained. “Above all, the human had to come willingly. Not only that, but they must also have an affiliation for magic, and they had to call to us.”
“Call to you?” I squeezed my face in confusion, and I tried to ward off the oncoming headache that brewed beneath my forehead. “How the hell does that work?”
“You did it,” Maximus said, speaking for the first time since he slipped up about Hennar and Graham.
“How?”
“You drew me.”
My memory dragged me back to a window decorated with a ferocious red dragon that suddenly appeared in my dreams the next night. It was right after the painting was almost ruined that I found the well and the coin.
“My wish…” I muttered, more to myself than to the dragons. “That is how you knew I would come willingly.”
“It is how we filtered through the humans,” Kolo said, picking up the story. “Many called to us, sensed our presence in their world, and when the well appeared to them, we used their wishes to see their desires.”
“Kolo found Garham and brought him here,” Jin interrupted, sticking to the core of the story. “Maximus and Garham bonded. Then, after a time, he was able to bond with other dragons and became the first King of Insomier and King of Dragons.”
“Okay, I don’t know what the hell Garham wished for, but I didn’t wish for that,” I said, pointing at Jin like a lawyer accusing a criminal in court. “I don’t want any of that. I didn’t even really want to be your king, and Insomier hasn’t been the most friendly of places to me lately.”
“What are you saying?” Jin asked for clarification.
“I’m saying,” I started, not really knowing what I was saying. “That… I think you made a mistake.”
“Garham thought that too,” Kolo said, attempting to comfort me.
“Yeah, but I don’t know,” I stuttered, letting some of my terror seep through into my voice.
“There is time to know,” Ninji assured me from behind me.
“I’m just not feeling it, okay?” I said lamely. “It’s not right. It’s not me.”
“I am not subject to your feelings, my lord,” Jin sneered. “You asked for a reason why we didn’t tell you about the others, and we are giving you one. Utilize some of Ninji’s grace and listen.”
At the mention of her name, the pink dragon fluttered her thick lashes and sucked her teeth. I glanced over at her but couldn’t quite get a complete read on her reaction to Jin. I closed my mouth and flicked my hand, indicating that the dragon should continue her history lesson.
“After Garham’s passing, we needed another human to bond with,” Jin proceeded as she paced back and forth in front of me, separating me from the rest of the clan. “I ventured out this time and brought Hennar back. He bonded with Kahn, and instead of launching the kingdom into a renaissance, he delved us into a dark age of the worst kind.”
“Jin,” Kolo said softly. The smallest dragon reached out, using her voice as gently as a physical, comforting caress. In one word, Kolo intended to relax Jin, but it backfired and riled her up.
“Do not pity me, Kolo,” Jin snarled. “I acknowledge my error in selecting him and accept it. Our king needs to know the history, so he does not repeat it.”
Something about the way the dragon sneered when she said “king” pricked at my skin. It was callous and angry, almost resentful. With my frustration as loaded as it was, I fired off.
“Are you mocking me?” I asked.
“Are you bothered?” Jin snapped back.
“A little,” I admitted.
“I figured you would not care, given you spat on the title not more than ten minutes ago,” Jin said, light but spiteful. “You cannot both accept it and begrudge it at the same time.”
“I am doing the best I can with all of this,” I argued.
“I do not trust your best,” Jin said with disgust, “and I do not trust your judgment.”
“Jin!” Kolo said the dragon’s name again, but this time it was a warning.
“It’s not like your judgment is worth much considering you brought the biggest enemy this kingdom has ever seen,” I countered.
The silence that followed my remark instantly told me that I’d crossed a line. The desire to apologize thudded in my chest and crawled its way up my throat. However, the anger and betrayal stubbornly forced it back down. I stood my ground and simmered.
The rest of the clan looked more offended than Jin herself. Her eyes simply narrowed for a brief second and then widened back to their normal shape. She sat back on her hind legs, claiming her spot and taking her stance.
“It would seem, my lord,” Jin said with the same mocking tone as before, “that we are at an impasse. As such, it will be impossible for the two of us to bond and be more than colleagues. Out of respect for my fellow creatures, I will refrain from flaying you alive right here.”
I called to the light and let it spark between my fingers. “I would love to see you try.”
Immediately, Kolo launched into the fray forming between the two of us. She spread out her wings, keeping Jin and me at a distance.
“That is enough,” the young dragon commanded with surprising strength. “We are a clan, and you are our king, like it or not. I know you feel betrayed and lied to, Martin, but Maximus and the rest of us did what we thought was best.”
“Best for who?” I countered, not bothering to snuff the light still rippling around my hand.
“You, us, and the kingdom,” Kolo responded promptly. “We need to work together to achieve this.”
“Achieve what?” I said at the same time as Jin announced, “I will not work with him.”
Kolo turned her attention to Jin, her large horns pivoting towards me. “I understand he insulted you, Jin, but you are letting your past influence your assessment of the present.”
“My assessment is clearer than ever,” Jin replied fervently. “I know this king of ours is too hot-headed and emotional to deserve an ounce of th
e gift I have to offer. I pity those of you who have already wasted your time gifting him.”
“That is enough from you,” Ffamran said as he stepped forward. “I do not regret my choice to bond with Martin, and I hope, in time, you do not regret yours to deny him.”
“I assure you,” Jin said strongly, “I will not.”
At that, the dragon spread her magnificent wings, weaved through the rest of the dragons, and launched herself into the air. Her takeoff sounded like thunder as she flapped her wings up and away. Everyone watched her go except for Maximus, who after my gaze returned to the ground, stared at me.
“I owe you an apology,” the red dragon said with a short bow. “Please forgive me, my lord, for not informing you sooner about the history of your travels and the origins of King Garham and Hennar. While it was our collective decision, I led the charge. I am to blame.”
I looked at the dragon with a harsh gaze that soon softened to one of sympathy and hurt. Upon noticing the change in myself, I also noticed something touching my ankle. I glanced down and saw Ninji’s pink tail wrapped once around my leg. Over my shoulder, I saw the dragon lift her eyebrows expectantly.
The calm I now felt was understanding, both towards Maximus and myself. The dragon only did what he thought was best. I was hurt because I did not like being lied to. The other emotion hiding behind my fury was concern because the other two foreigners from my world had knocked this one off its axis.
I called the light back into myself, and my hand dimmed back to its normal skin tone.
“There you go, Martin,” Ffamran encouraged in my mind. “There you go.”
“I do not wish for us to fight like this,” Kolo said from her spot at the center of it all. “Jin is a stubborn but sad creature. It might take her millennia to come around.”
“What will be, will be,” I said before turning my gaze to the red dragon. “Maximus, I accept your apology. I appreciate you trying to look out for me, but I don’t want to be lied to. Not again, please.”