My eyes felt hot and my heart heavy. Then my heart started to burn. It filled me with warmth. I dashed the tears away from my eyes and looked at the mirror. Ren was awake. He’d lifted his head off his paws, and he was staring straight at me as if he could see me. Startled, I pushed back from the mirror and gasped softly as I saw both of my hands were glowing. When I pulled them away from the glass, the red light faded.
Ren growled quietly and woke Kishan, then began moving. He walked out to the beach straight toward me and took a few steps into the water. He stared out into the dark waves. It was foggy, and I knew even he couldn’t see the island in the dark. He lifted his head as if smelling the air, then, with a few great bounds, he leapt into the water. He started swimming forward. Kishan ran back and forth along the beach, not sure what Ren was doing, but eventually, he ran into the surf as well and started swimming alongside his brother.
They were coming. I clapped my hands to my mouth, sobbed in relief, and kept talking to the mirror, encouraging them to keep coming and to not give up. I pressed my hands against the glass again, but they didn’t glow like before. I tried to shoot a flare as a beacon light, but my power was still gone. The only thing I could do was stay awake and watch them swim in the dark water, using all the power of my mind to will them forward.
Silently, I prayed, asking that there would be no dark sea monster to find them. No terrible storm to overwhelm them. They swam and swam and an hour later, dragged their weary bodies onto my island and dropped down onto the sand, exhausted. They slept the rest of the night while I kept my silent vigil over them.
They were still asleep when dawn approached. I saw the dragon find their resting place on the other island and follow their tracks to the beach. He stared out at the ocean for several minutes, and then rubbed his jaw and smiled. With a deep intake of breath, he exploded into his natural form and rose into the sky. The mirror turned black.
20
A Princess, a Dragon,
and Two Knights
All was quiet, and I was so tired that I dozed off. Later, I was startled awake when I felt the tower shake and heard heavy footsteps. The hunter slammed open my door and strode in. He was not dressed in his hunting clothes but in the tunic and cloak of a fairy-tale prince. He watched me speculatively.
“What happens next?” I ventured. “Did they win the first part of the game?”
“They did. Though you cheated, deti dama.”
“I cheated? How?”
“You signaled them somehow. You told them where to find you. There was no way they could have discovered this island on their own. I don’t know how you did it, but I’ll be watching you much more closely from now on. Obviously, I underestimated them. Now I’ll have to make part two harder.”
“Harder? You almost killed them!”
“Yes. Almost. They’ve ruined my track record now. They’ve won the battle, but I will win the war, I assure you. Still, almost has never happened with me before. I was right in believing this would be my best game. If you hadn’t tricked me into limiting myself, I would have beaten them the first day.”
“Limiting yourself! Ha! You cheated! Twice! Maybe more. I wasn’t watching you the whole time, so you probably cheated the whole way through!”
“It’s my game, not yours. If you don’t understand the complexities of the rules, that’s not my problem. Now before we start phase two, you should be properly attired, my dear.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, if you’re going to play the part of a princess, you have to look it.” The dragon circled me, appraising my shape and coloring. “Ah, I have just the thing.” He snapped his fingers, and I was enfolded in whispers of fabric. The room faded to white and then started to rematerialize. I looked down and gasped. My clothes had been replaced by a beautiful gown. I lifted one hand to touch the tight sleeve that ended at my wrist.
“No, there’s something missing. Ah, I know. It’s the hair. Your hair is entirely too short.” I pulled a short curl to the front of my face and peered at it. He snapped his fingers, and I squeaked as the hair began to grow.
“Hey!”
He hummed as my hair kept growing and growing.
“Stop it!”
The hair was now past my waist, and he was busy checking his appearance in the mirror.
“L sèlóng!”
“What?” His eyes met mine in the mirror. “Oh.” He snapped his fingers again and my hair stopped growing, but it was now just past my knees, and it was heavy. “There. Much better. You can watch in the mirror if you like. This part shouldn’t take long at all.”
“Wait!”
He spun in a circle and disappeared. The door slammed shut, and I was alone once again. I pounded angrily on the door, just because it felt good, and then walked over to the mirror to check on my tigers.
A stranger stared back at me. The dragon had not only dressed me, he’d done my makeup. A bold-eyed beauty was reflected there, and I poked my cheek several times to make sure I was the same person. He’d dressed me in a blush-pink gown that enhanced my dark eyes and hair. The dress had long tight-fitting sleeves with silver embroidery at the edges and was embellished with satin ribbon. An elegant neckline, trimmed in silver, swept just over my shoulders, leaving my neck bare.
Filmy organza tippets draped from armbands and a thick silver belt hung at my waist. The skirt was tiered in alternating silk and organza, and the bodice was adorned with silver embroidery to match the sleeve edges. Twisted silver and blush piping bordered the hemline of the skirt, and I wore dainty silver slippers. My long brown hair was shiny and fell in waves from a delicate silver headband with a long pink veil. I was a beautiful, pouty-looking princess who was extremely ticked off.
I ripped the veil off my head and sat on the bed, but then grunted in frustration as my head was wrenched back because I’d sat on my stupid hair. I yanked two ribbons from my sleeve, tore them off, and braided the mass into two long French braids. I said to the mirror, “Show me my tigers.”
The mirror shimmered and zoomed in. The poor brothers were still sound asleep. The air moved, and suddenly L sèlóng was standing next to them. He cleared his throat, and the two tigers sprang to alertness and roared. The dragon snapped his fingers, and the tigers shifted to men. Ren and Kishan stood before him angry, filthy, and dangerous. They both took a step toward the dragon, who calmly examined his fingernails.
“I’ve decided this next part of the game will have different rules. Instead of giving you your weapons here, you will have to fight for them. You will find them at different places in the maze, but to take them you must overcome the guardian who protects them. Some you may have to fight. Others you will have to outsmart. If you survive the maze, you will have to scale the castle walls, overcome me, and rescue your princess. And this time, no cheating. Now, let’s make sure you look the part.”
He snapped his fingers and the clothing changed on both of them. Kishan wore a brown leather doublet with a long-sleeved tunic, black breeches, tall polished riding boots, and a hooded black cloak. Ren wore a white shirt that pulled through the sleeves of a green velvet doublet edged in gold. He had black leggings and thigh-high boots. His fulllength woolen cloak was trimmed with fur.
Apparently I am going to be rescued by either Robin Hood or Prince Charming.
The dragon considered both of them. “Excellent. Now I imagine you’re hungry. You will find food in the maze as you travel and, this time,” he slapped his palm lightly with a leather glove as he considered, “I think it would be best if you didn’t travel together.” He leaned closer and leered. “We don’t want the challenge to be too easy now, do we?”
He laughed and snapped his fingers again. Everyone disappeared. I asked the mirror to show me Ren. He was standing at an opening to the maze. He looked up the hill toward the castle, but the dragon had caused a mist to cover it, so it would be harder to find. Ren set his jaw and entered the maze. When I had the mirror switch to Kishan, I found him already in
the maze. He was jogging down a long section, then turned left and kept going.
By midday, Ren had stolen water and bread from an angry pack of dogs and won a sword and scabbard from a gnome he’d captured and hung upside down while holding his foot. The upset gnome kicked and screamed, but Ren refused to put him down until he gave him a prize. Kishan, meanwhile, had killed a boar by grabbing its tusks and twisting violently, breaking its neck. He won the Golden Fruit and had it create food. He ate and drank as he ran.
By evening, Ren had defeated an ogre and gotten Kishan’s chakram, Kishan had won my bow and arrows in an archery contest, and they were about halfway through the maze. Ren settled down for the night, but Kishan continued on. He moved ahead quite a ways but guessed the wrong answer when a manticore asked him a question. The creature was red with the body of a lion, the face of an ogre, the tail of a scorpion, and the wings of a bat. Kishan defeated the manticore when it attacked but was sent back to the beginning of the maze. Kishan bellowed in frustration and started walking again. Finally, he stopped around midnight and slept.
Ren was attacked in the early morning while he was still sleeping. A gang of thugs surrounded him with nets and spears. He fought them off with the sword and then with his bare hands. As a man would fall incapacitated, he would shimmer and then disappear. Panting, Ren finished off the last man and was awarded a spectacular white horse with a silver saddle. He climbed up on the steed’s back and pressed on through the maze.
Kishan was far behind now, and he’d chosen a different path than he had before. He won the gada by wrestling with a giant snake and the trident by killing a large vulture with a golden arrow. Ren used the chakram to cut off the heads of three female harpies who tried to lure him with spells and seductive promises. As his prize, the Divine Scarf was returned to him.
Kishan crossed a boiling stream by skipping across on stones. While he was mid-stream, a giant crocodile attacked. He had the Golden Fruit fill its mouth with sticky peanut butter, and it disappeared under the water again. A few steps later, Kishan found his kamandal hanging from a tree. Placing it around his neck, he tucked it into his tunic, and moved on.
Kishan met with the newly revitalized manticore again, and this time he answered the question correctly. The manticore moved him ahead in the maze. He was close now. Much closer than Ren. Ren stopped when he came to a dead end. The maze was blocked by a brick wall. He turned the horse around and went another way and hit another brick wall. He was trapped. Large spiders started spilling out of the hedges, causing the white horse to stamp and rear.
Ren soothed the horse and at the same time he used the Divine Scarf to make a large net. It swept up all the spiders, catching them in a filmy web. He had the Scarf roll them into a giant spider-filled cotton ball, speared it with his sword, whipped it around his head a few times, and threw it into another part of the maze. The brick wall crumbled, and Ren maneuvered his horse carefully through the broken pieces.
After some time, he stopped at a stream of water that kept disappearing as he tried to drink. The horse was able to drink, but not Ren. He stood there thinking for a while, changed to a tiger and drank his fill, and then changed back to a man. Using the Scarf, he made a water bag and filled it to take with him. His princely clothing stayed with him when he changed back. Ren and Kishan slept unmolested that night, making their beds on the soft grass of the maze.
The challenges came so often and were so difficult that I was in a constant state of horror. I’d just see one man safe and breathe a sigh of relief when the other one would be in danger. I sat on the bed glued to the mirror, thinking that if I left for one minute, I’d return to find one of them dead or horribly injured. They’d both assured me they couldn’t die, but I wasn’t entirely sure of that. What if something cut off their heads? Or poisoned them? Ren had scratched the bullet out of Kishan’s shoulder with a claw, a gory process that I had to turn away from. Kishan had healed, but what if the bullet had gone deeper? Blocked an artery? I tried to rest when they did, but I’d wake with a start every time I heard a noise.
Early the next morning, Kishan burst through the maze and found a black horse waiting for him. The mists cleared momentarily, so he could see the castle. He mounted his horse and rode hard, urging his steed to a gallop. Ren met a giant salamander that spat poison. Using his sword, he cut off its head, and watched the dead creature reform itself. It shrank and turned golden—it became Fanindra. Ren knelt and held out his hand. The cobra wound around his forearm and hardened into her jewelry form.
He next met a man made entirely of bronze and fought him for several minutes without making any headway. The sword bounced off his skin in a shower of sparks, and the chakram couldn’t penetrate the bronze torso either. It banged off of him like a knife caught in the garbage disposal. The threads of the Scarf couldn’t hold him. Fanindra came alive and snagged her body over a low tree limb while Ren fought.
She lengthened and wound down and stealthily moved into a position behind the bronze man. Then, when the opportunity presented itself, she bit him just behind his knee. The man staggered, grunted, and fell over, dead. When Ren examined the body, I could see through the mirror that Fanindra had bitten him on a tiny patch of white skin where the man had been vulnerable. Ren’s reward was food. He gave the apples to the horse, patted its head, and ate the bread. After thanking Fanindra and sliding her up his arm, he leapt onto the horse and rode out of the maze.
Kishan had reached the castle walls now and, from his perspective, they soared upward forever. He twisted the trident and shot a series of spears into the wall. The golden darts sunk deeply into the stone. He stepped on one, testing its strength, and found it could hold his weight. He climbed up the dozen darts, shot more into the rock, and kept climbing.
Ren raced toward the castle but became lost in the dragon-made mist. Fortunately, Fanindra came alive again and moved her head in the direction she wanted him to go. When he made it to the far side of the castle, he leapt down from the horse, and used the chakram and the Scarf. He created a sturdy rope, wrapped it around the chakram, and took several steps back. Ren whirled in a circle and threw the chakram with all his might toward the top of the castle. When the chakram spun back to him, he yanked on the rope and, finding it stable, tied off the end to a tree and began scaling the wall.
At the same time, Kishan made it to the top. He ran along the battlement until he found a bridge. I asked the mirror to show me the dragon. L sèlóng was standing on the uppermost turret of the keep. Pressing his hands on the stone wall, he leaned over so he could see the brothers’ progress below. He smiled as if anticipating the battle and ran a thumb across his bottom lip.
Snapping his fingers, he disappeared for several seconds and then reappeared in dragon form. Wrapping its lithe body around a nearby drum tower, it waited for Kishan and Ren. Kishan ran down the stone bridge and entered the keep. When he crossed the threshold, his princely costume disappeared and instead he wore a suit of black armor. He also held a golden shield with a black tiger emblazoned on it and carried a long spear. Without missing a step, he charged forward.
Ren lowered himself using the rope and dropped into the bailey. Before entering the keep, he took Fanindra off his arm and said, “Find her, Fanindra.” The snake obediently came to life and slithered into the castle’s darkness. When he stepped into the castle, the same thing happened to him: his clothes shimmered and changed into a suit of armor. He pulled a heavy broadsword from the scabbard at his side and picked up his shield. His symbol was the white tiger on a blue background and his armor was silver. A white cloak hung down his back.
Instead of charging ahead like Kishan though, he trailed after Fanindra. Encouraging her to continue, he followed the snake through many doors and passageways until he came to a set of stairs. I heard him call.
“Kelsey? Are you up there?”
I gasped. The call came not from the mirror but from outside my room. “Ren? Ren!” I ran to the door and pounded. “I’m here! I’
m up here!”
“I’m coming!”
He started up the stairs, and I heard a voice in my head. Tch, tch, tch. Now what did we say about cheating? Hmm? Did you forget you are supposed to slay the dragon before you rescue the princess? Just for that, you get a time out.
Ren shouted, “Kel—” then the sound of his voice was suddenly cut off. I hurried back to the mirror to see what had happened. Fanindra slithered under my door and curled up in a resting position. I picked her up and put her on the dresser. Ren had disappeared from the stairs and was now tied with chains to a pillar near the dragon. Kishan ran up to the roof and stopped, shocked to see Ren there. He started toward him but was cut off by a blast of fire. Up here, black knight. Your brother will join us in good time.
Kishan turned, screamed out a battle cry, and lunged toward the dragon with spear raised.
The dragon knocked him down with a blow of his tail and laughed. Is that the best you can do?
Kishan whispered some words and suddenly the drum tower was covered in hot oil. The dragon slid off awkwardly and banged its head against the parapets, causing the tower to shake. A massive chunk of broken stone broke and dropped hundreds of feet below.
Kishan didn’t wait. He raised his spear and heaved it powerfully at the green dragon. It glanced off a scaly side, but not without leaving a bloody wound behind. The dragon roared and blasted Kishan with bright reddish-orange fire that rushed toward him in a plume of heat.
Kishan brought his shield up just in time to protect himself, but the edges became soft and started to melt. The flames jumped to the pooling oil, and the drum tower burst into flame. Ren ran past Kishan and threw himself on top of the dragon. I wasn’t sure how he’d gotten free. I guessed he’d either used the chakram to file through the chains holding him, or the dragon had released him from the penalty box.
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