by Jade White
“Aren’t you listening to me? You are in the Dragon’s Lair!”
“I don’t know, Ryia. I just know I have to go. There isn’t a choice about me staying or leaving. I am a dragon and I must be able to curve it or else King Athalos will kill me. It is either mine or Rowan’s son who will kill King Athalos according to an old prophecy that I just found out about before I made my journey to marry you.”
“Merek, please listen to me! You are in the Dragon Kingdom! You aren’t even thinking about what I am telling you! We have already done that part of the quest! We aren’t at our castle!” Ryia said as she tried hard to get me to understand.
I let out a sigh as I looked at her. “I married you because I was supposed to find someone with pure royal blood. Marvin at the local pub told me about the mail order brides. He said he had gotten his wife that way and she loved him to pieces. King Athalos told me I could not collect my kingdom until I married. I am married and we have collected our kingdom. Now we have to venture out to the Dragon Kingdom before it is too late. Do you think you can stay here and run the kingdom while I am gone?”
Ryia shook her head. It was as if I was speaking a foreign language to her.
“How can you say that?” a voice in my head said.
I looked around. “Who said that?”
“I have sent him a letter stating to a reputable assassin telling you how you are going to die. I am sure that Rowan and yourself will be pleased to know you will be tortured in an enjoyable death.”
“Who are you?”
Ryia looked confused. “What are you talking about?”
“He says he sent a letter stating to the reputable assassin how my brother and I are going to die.”
“Since you won’t listen to me, promise you will at least stop this foolish talk! Don’t go on the journey to the Dragon Kingdom since you are already here. You don’t really know who you can trust and you can’t trust. The world is very strange.” Ryia pressed her lips tightly as she looked to me.
I could tell she has still had displeasure since I refused to allow her to go on this quest. She was now a queen and she should start acting like one. Although it sounded simple in my mind, I still carried pangs of guilt knowing she would be a prisoner as a queen guarding the castle. I was in some way no different than the father who had sold her.
“If you run into trouble today, cry to the wind. I will be there,” she whispered.
“Who says it isn’t your new wife that is the assassin. In many ways, the two of you are completely different. When it came to journeys, however, there is one danger and that is you can’t trust her. She is going to hang you by your toes while Maelyss will devour you alive.” the voice in my head went on.
The door swung open and I saw my brother enter the room that Ryia had brought me back to. Rowan had no problem barging in. He looked tired, but he found a way to smile when he spotted me.
“Soon enough this journey will be over and I will be back to my castle, where I belong with my wife. I am tired of how this quest has taken over our lives. I am sure there is going to be something much different in the future. I just don’t know quite yet what that will be.”
“The roads to the Dragon Kingdom were quite rough terrains. You could only go there certain times of the year due to the fact you wouldn’t be able to access the road with avalanches or mudslides. We are going to take extra caution.” I finally said.
I stared at my brother for several minutes. I had already taken the opportunity to pack my bags and I was ready. I could tell though, that Rowan was still afraid of what this journey may bring. It had been in everyone’s mind since we heard Terrain and Sadon’s conversation.
Rowan shook his head. “We are here at the Dragon Kingdom. There isn’t much further to go. All you need to do is hang in there and we will finally meet Maelyss.”
“What happened to your wife? Did they already kill her already?” I asked, baffled.
Rowan looked at me in confusion. “My wife is back at our castle.”
“I was sure she would be here wishing us to have a good trip! I almost can see her smiling at us?” I mumbled.
“What is going on? Merek has no clue where we are! It is like he is losing touch with reality.”
I watched as the watery figure of Rowan’s wife began smiling at me. “Your brother doesn’t write often. I am afraid that something terrible has happened to him. This quest is dangerous and I just want him back home.”
“We will try! I am sure I will try to send some sort of messages back.” I replied to the watery figure.
It was Rowan talking to his wife that made me realize this was the very last time I would walk around in my own castle until I returned. I wouldn’t be allowed back unless I could prove I wasn’t a dragon. I wasn’t sure even then King Athalos wouldn’t try to kill me.
“Who are you talking to?” Rowan asked as he looked into the corner as his wife disappeared.
“Didn’t you hear the words? Your wife is nervous because we haven’t sent her a message. She wants us to write on our quest.”
“I haven’t heard a single word about that at all. When did you talk to my wife?” Rowan asked.
“She was just here,” I said pointing to the corner. Ryia and Rowan exchanged glances.
“I am sure I will reach out to her. I do have to admit there is no one there in the corner, though.” Rowan pointed out.
“Rowan is right, Merek. It just seems so out of place. We haven’t seen Rowan’s wife since we left. I have a feeling you are beginning to feel worse and I should get someone in here,” Ryai said.
“She is trying to trick you. Ask her what is in the small bag.”
“What’s the small bag for?” I asked looking up.
“I am going to go get someone….” Ryia stopped as she bit her lip. She knew that she had already said too much. She was fighting with me tooth and nail to go and each time I rejected the idea. I was positive this had to do with the quest.
“What part of you are not going to the Dragon Kingdom with me do you not understand?” I screamed.
“I don’t understand the fact you can’t grasp we are at the Dragon Kingdom.” Ryia pointed out.
I groaned. “Ryia, this isn’t your fight. I don’t need my other brothers, the assassin guild or even King Athalos himself coming after you.” I said, as I tried hard to get out of the bed that Ryia had put me in.
Although I was practically trying everything to get out of the bed, it seemed as if everything was a failed attempt.
“What are you talking about now? Do you think this is it? I helped you get this far and even silenced you when I heard your brothers, so they didn’t ambush us three different times and this is the way you thank me. Do you really think you can do this all on your own, Merek?
I hope you realize that you needed a warrior like me on this quest and I led you right to the Dragon Kingdom! This journey in which you are embarking on wasn’t a breeze. You need someone who knew the conditions, the area, and the culture.
If you don’t then you will surely be sought as vulnerable, perhaps even more vulnerable than you usually are. I don’t understand what is going through your head. We even made love!”
“I am sorry, Ryia! I don’t want to be the King who has to explain to his kingdom and your father that the reason you end up dead is because you decided to be a warrior. This isn’t a normal quest. I understand the odds are stacked against me. I have known that way before I was told that I must go on this journey.”
“Rowan, can you get Maelyss and tell him that something is wrong with Merek?”
“I think you are making the wrong decision! I should be able to go on my quest! I am after all the crowned King of….” I stopped and tried to remember where my Kingdom was actually located.
“He is going insane!” Rowan mumbled.
“You aren’t listening to me, Merek. You aren’t even talking sense! I think you should lie back down. We have almost finished the quest and then you can return. If some
thing happens to you, I won’t be able to forgive myself! I wish there was something I could do! You are losing touch with reality!” Ryia pointed out.
Rowan walked out the door as I heard him
“I know you are an assassin, Ryia! I know why you married me.” I snarled.
“What? I am NOT an assassin.” Ryia said as she looked taken back by this.
“What is going on in here?” a man asked as he came in with a long black trench coat and black feathered back hair.
“He is losing his mind,” Ryia mumbled.
“I can help you with this!”
“You are one of those assassins too. I won’t let you get me. I know what you are doing to me.” I mumbled.
“I don’t care what you think! No one here is an assassin. I can tell you that for certain.” the man said.
Marvin walked in shortly after him. “Who did this to him?”
“I don’t know. He has been acting odd since the bridge blew out.”
“I am a very good warlock and I know the ways of magic, but this is a complicated curse. It will take time for him to heal. It will take even longer if he is fighting us!” Marvin said as he looked at me.
“He is losing every single memory if we don’t help him. He is losing his mind and I am becoming scared.”
“I told you to stay at the castle, Ryia! I think I can handle this myself.” I said as I tried once again to get out of the bed.
I was positive wherever I was couldn’t be the Dragon Kingdom. It had to be a trick.
“They are all trying to kill you! Don’t believe a single one of them!” the voice said as I looked from one face to the next in my room.
How could so many people that I trusted and loved seemed to be the ones willing to kill me?
“I will have you hung if you even try to touch me. I can’t believe I didn’t see through your plan to try to kill me first. At least I know now and I can change it.” I mumbled as I looked at my wife with eyes filled with hate and deception.
“What if I told you I didn’t stay at the castle? That’s how I ended up here with you. I met you on your way here. You stopped in a village where they had a dress shop and you bought me a warrior outfit. Don’t you remember any of this?” she asked.
“I will lock you in this castle! I told you I will do anything to keep you safe!” I tried hard to get her to understand. Perhaps I should take my own advice instead. “You are after all an assassin trying to kill me for my kingdom.”
I knew she wasn’t going to take my advice. My wife was too headstrong. It was time for Rowan and me to mount our horses and be off on our journey.
I kept shifting my eyes back and forth as if expecting her take out a sword for saying that. She didn’t, though. She looked hurt.
“Can you save him?” she finally asked.
Marvin scowled at me as he gave me a chalice to drink from.
“Let me guess, this is poison!” I mumbled.
“That is enough! You are acting just as bad as Terrain and Sadon. You aren’t even acting like yourself. I have had it with you lying in that bed being a spoiled rotten prince. Of course, I am not poisoning you. I have been your acquaintance for quite some time.”
“He will get better, right?” Ryia asked almost in tears.
“The road to recovery is a bumpy one. I am sure although he is half asleep, that he still could use good company. Perhaps as he comes to, he will realize what a miserable person he has been.”
“Who is that voice he hears?”
“It is the warlock that you saw in the forest.”
“Rowan, we haven’t seen a single person on this road all day. Don’t you think that it is odd?” I screamed from the bed.
* * *
The vision of the castle was no longer even in my view. I had been on my quest once again, but this time it seemed different. Perhaps Ryia was right and this was a memory, but it seemed so real.
Rowan and I stopped the horses and continued to listen to the screeching and whine of the unknown creature in the distance. All we could do was stare at the wooden bridge, trying to decide how the best way of crossing the bridge would be. The bridge looked as if it wouldn’t hold us. We both knew that we would have to cross it.
I had to admit I felt as if there were eyes on us. The weight of a stick breaking made my eyes dart along the forest trying to find what made the noise. I knew someone was out there, but I wasn’t feeling incredibly comfortable with the fact that we were both sitting ducks.
Rowan and I still had two hours to go before sunset and I wasn’t even sure if that would bring us to the Dragon Kingdom. All I knew was this road was mostly forest and rocky ledges.
When we weren’t ambushed and I didn’t see anyone, my eyes went back to Rowan.
“We are going to have to figure out a way to cross this bridge. It is the only way we are going to go any further. It is roughly two hours from sunset and I don’t want to be sitting on the edge of the bridge when it gets dark, I said as I looked up to the sky.
Both of us kept looking at the bridge, wondering if we had missed something. Neither one of us thought anyone had used the bridge in a long time. We had made our way to this point, yet here we were. Waiting for a sign. In some desperation I actually wished Ryia was here to help us. I guess I should have listened to her, but I knew as her husband that her safety was equally important.
“We are going to have to cross it. Perhaps if we go one at a time and slow enough, the bridge won’t collapse with the weight of the horses. Like you have pointed out the sun is going to be setting. I would at least like to make it as far as we can.”
Rowan began walking first as I followed him. Beyond the wooden bridge, there was a large rocky trail that led us through yet another mountain. A lump began to form in my throat as I began to lead my horse to the edge of the bridge to cross.
There was no way around this bridge and I knew we both had to make it across the steep ravine. The cliffs dropped off and there was no path that led across the rivers. I also knew we couldn’t stay at the edge of this bridge and hide just because we were afraid of crossing it.
Rowan went first as he got half way across, he motioned me to follow. I put one foot in front of the other and carefully walked on the bridge. The wood seemed to have been rotten for years and threatened not to hold my horse’s weight or even mine. My stomach began to turn as I got a horse-length away from the bridge. We were now over the water that seemed to be rushing below us.
I never told anyone before, but I was indeed afraid of heights and crossing this old bridge made me wonder if this was the reason why. I didn’t want to plunge to my own death. I continued to lead my horse each step at a time. Several times the boards under me seemed to crack and I began fearing for my life.
Rowan was almost to the other side, but I had a sinking feeling that I wasn’t going to be getting it as easy as he had.
The rush of wind filled the bridge and no longer could I see. My horse began to run to the other side and I lost the grips of the lead.
I could no longer see and I could feel the boards below me break. I quickly felt my body hanging over the rushing water. When the wind died down, I realized that I was swinging back and forth in the breeze above the rocky river below.
Rowan turned and looked out at me since he grabbed my horse.
“Pull yourself up! You can do this!” he screamed.
I twisted my body back and forth until I could pull myself up. I tried hard to grope the knotted railing as I once again took it one step at a time. Ever so many boards seemed to be breaking under my weight. Most of them broke after I at least made it to the next board.
I had just made it half way across, when the urge of looking down had come over me. All it took was a quick glimpse and I could feel my palms begin to sweat and my legs began to turn like jelly. The bridge began to shake and I was unsure what was going on. My heart sank. Whatever was happening to the bridge, there was no place for me to go except down. I turned my head slowly over
my shoulder to see we were still alone.
I went a little faster over the bridge as I continued to feel the rumble of the magic below mu feet. I could tell that whatever was coming was picking up speed and headed for us.
The sound of crashing behind me made my heart sink as I finally reached the other side of the bridge. I turned back to see that by magic, someone had cast a spell on the bridge which lifted it up and slammed it down, causing the wooden bridge to be more like a tidal wave. Although the path was empty, I knew we weren’t alone. Someone didn’t want us anywhere near there.
The wood splintered as it headed right for the path. Rowan and I grabbed the horses and ducked in a deep gully as we watched in horror to what was happening. My heart was pounding faster as I watched what was left of the bridge had passed us by in a huge wave of the wind that had caused the wood to break down in many little pieces.
Whoever was behind this didn’t care that Rowan and I were on that bridge. I had no clue what was going on and I was sure Rowan didn’t know either. The only thing at the moment was the fact I was glad my wife was at the castle instead of here. I knew somehow Ryia would have gotten herself in trouble. All I did know I was glad Rowan and I were off that bridge.
When the winds finally died down, Rowan and I began to start walking again. We were beginning to grow closer to where the winds had smashed the debris of the bridge.
The cries and shrills came from the pole and I wasn’t sure what it was being caused from. I remember checking over my shoulder and not seeing a single person there. Perhaps someone got on when I decided to duck into the gully. The thoughts of someone down there in that pile made my stomach twist in knots.
“You have chosen your destiny.” A voice pierced through the canyon forest.
“We are going to have to listen to that voice!” Rowan pointed out.
I wish he was right and that it was “just” a person’s voice booming voice that spread through the canyon.
“I am sure you can recognize me. I am the mastermind of the guild. Can you not hear me? I told you that if you wanted to prevent the death, you would follow the simple rules but you found yourself in trouble once again. I should have known from the beginning you were too headstrong. I know who you are married to. She is no longer safe in the castle. I have sent the assassins to go kill her.” The man said as he snapped his fingers and Rowan disappeared.