Secrets

by Shannon Pemrick

  “Um, yeah I guess,” she mused.

  “Then I’ll see you ladies at the top,” I challenged, taking off.

  “Hey, that’s cheating!” Ryoko called.

  “You only said killing was,” I corrected. “All is fair in love and war.”

  My eyes widened when a shadow blocked the sun over head. I looked up and yelped. Jumping to the ground, I nearly missed being crushed by a giant bolder.

  “Taking a nap, Laz?” Ryoko teased as she jumped over the boulder. “You’ll never win that way.”

  “You cheated,” I growled as I scrambled to my feet.

  Ryoko laughed and continued on. “I knew you’d dodge, so it’s not cheating.”

  “Not yet at least,” Rylan muttered.

  Ryoko shot him a deadly glare and he fell back into place with Shva’sika.

  “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of her,” she teased.

  “I value my life over a dumb race,” Rylan stated.

  I rolled my eyes over his cowardliness and continued my race against Ryoko. She attempted to trip me, but I jumped and attempted to push her just enough to get her to falter and slow, but I also missed. Gazing at the cliff face, I grinned and scaled up to the next ledge, losing some ground in the process, but I knew I’d gain it back shortly.

  Ryoko, thinking she would win this now with her small lead on me, picked up her pace. Not wanting her to get too confident, I matched her pace, but when a dark shadow flew over me, I slid to a screeching halt. My eyes widened by what I saw.

  “Ryoko, stop!” I yelled.

  Ryoko ignored my call, assuming it was a trick of some sort, but attempted to slide to a halt when the massive red dragons flying above us tried to land right in front of her. Ryoko, taken off guard, lost her balance in her attempt to stop so quickly, and fell back on her butt, sliding a few more inches before she finally stopped moving.

  Ryoko looked up at the massive dragon with awe and curiosity, and then looked back at me. “Please tell me he’s a friend of yours and not here to eat me.”

  I wanted to laugh at her silly comment, but ended up snorting instead. “I wouldn’t call him a friend, but yes, I know him.”

  I jumped down from my vantage point and strolled over to the two. I could hear Raikidan behind me growling quietly, and it made me wonder if he had known Zaith was around but didn’t tell me. It would explain his bizarre sky-watching earlier.

  “What do you want, Zaith?” I asked him. “Don’t tell me you need directions to the city.”

  Zaith didn’t shift to speak to me, much to my surprise, nor did he attempt to speak to me in his tongue. Instead, he lifted up his front claw, and my eyes widened with awe. Dangling from his only large, black claw was a gold, ruby-set necklace. Zaith moved his claws over me and let go of the piece of jewelry. I caught it and looked it over.

  Ryoko moved from where she sat to look at it as well. “Wow, that’s pretty.”

  I looked up at Zaith and eyed him skeptically. “Is this really for me?”

  Zaith exhaled and kept eye contact. Taking that as a yes, I looked back down at the magnificent necklace in my hands. As I looked at it, a bad feeling crept over me, and I knew it wasn’t because of Raikidan’s increasing aggression. Something didn’t feel right. Zaith finally made a noise, but it was so quick at first that I wasn’t sure he’d made a noise at all. It wasn’t until Raikidan shifted and positioned himself over Ryoko and me that I knew for sure he really had done something.

  The two dragons’ chests rumbled as they spoke with each other, and Ryoko moved behind me. Getting a bad feeling, I nudged her back and tried to move us away from the two dragons. I blinked when Zaith only moved a slight muscle in his jaw and the two took flight.

  I watched as they grappled mid-flight and snapped viciously at each other. Their airborne fight didn’t last long before Raikidan came crashing down to the ground. Ryoko and I jumped out of the way and scrambled to safety. I looked back to see Zaith quickly descending from the sky but Raikidan was ready for him, and he was thrown back into the woods, plowing over trees and other plant life in the process.

  “What in Lumaraeon is up with these two?” Rylan shouted.

  “Hell if I know,” I replied.

  “It all started because of that stupid necklace,” Ryoko muttered.

  I looked down at the necklace. She’s right. It had started because of it. What did it mean for Zaith to give this to me? A political offering I could see and would have guessed, but Raikidan’s reaction indicated it wasn’t that cut and dry, which might explain the bad feeling I had. I sighed and rubbed my temples. Dragons were so confusing.

  “Laz, lookout!” Rylan shouted.

  I looked up as Raikidan’s large body came flying at me. Reacting as quickly as possible, I dashed out of the way and climbed up the cliff face get out of harm’s way, narrowly avoiding Raikidan’s long tail as it crashed into the rock bed. I watched Raikidan as he breathed heavily and went to see if he was all right, but Zaith moved between us and stared me down. I held his gaze and moved to my right but he followed, preventing me from seeing Raikidan’s condition, and moved his head closer to me in the process.

  Narrowing my eyes, I moved back to where I had been standing and again Zaith followed. I exhaled slowly. He was trying to corner me and I didn’t like that. I hated being cornered. I hated feeling like a toy. Knowing I’d have to fake him out, I looked to one side and positioned myself as if I was going to move that way and just as I noticed Zaith position himself to follow, I changed direction and escaped.

  Zaith growled, but I ignored him as I raced over to Raikidan. Touching his face, I looked him over. “Hey, you okay?”

  Raikidan exhaled through his nose, showing that the only thing damaged was his pride, but I looked him over some more to make sure.

  I sighed when I noticed a gash above his eye. “Let me clean this up. We don’t need you going blind.”

  Removing my arm sleeve, I dabbed at the gash and soaked up as much blood as I could. Raikidan sighed again and tilted his head, giving me better access to the wound, but he didn’t stay like that for long. Zaith snarled, and Raikidan perked up and replied with similar intensity. These two bull-headed dragons were really testing my patience. This nonsense stops now.

  The others had already taken safety in the trees by the path heading back to camp, so the only thing I had to worry about was getting Zaith away and Raikidan out of here.

  I rubbed Raikidan’s neck, feeling the texture of his hard scales. “C’mon, Raikidan, let’s go. I don’t want to be around him anymore.”

  Raikidan’s focus drifted from Zaith and onto me. I held his gaze, and he responded by moving backward while keeping his head low, allowing me to continue to keep contact on his neck. We didn’t get far before Zaith spoke to him again, and this time I could tell what he was doing. Zaith was taunting him and it was working.

  Raikidan snapped his gaze on Zaith and started to stalk toward him. This pissed me off. I was sick of these two meatheads going at it. With as much strength as I could muster, I jumped up to grab onto Raikidan’s horn, and yanked on him to get him to move back. Raikidan growled, but this time it wasn’t at Zaith. Ignoring his protest, I yanked on him again.

  This time, instead of growling, Raikidan shifted to his nu-human form, forcing me to let go of his now-nonexistent horn. “Let go, Eira.”

  Glaring at him, I grabbed him by the ear and pulled him away. His shifting ended up only making my job easier.

  “Ow. Eira, stop, that hurts. Ow!” I ignored his protest and continued to pull him away. “Please, Eira, stop.”

  I continued to ignore him. He didn’t fight hard beyond verbal protesting, as if the protests were an act. He’d only tug on occasion to test if I would actually let him go.

  Once we were out of sight of everyone, I let him go a
nd turned on him. “What the hell what that?”

  Raikidan rubbed his ear. “I don’t know, you tell me. You’re the one doing the yanking.”

  I punched him in the chest. “That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it!”

  Raikidan sighed and scratched his head. He stopped when his eyes landed on the necklace I was still holding. Before I could react, he snatched it from me and tossed it. “Don’t go after that.”

  I waited for an explanation, but when he just held eye contact, I became annoyed. I hated not getting an answer to my questions. I especially didn’t like being told what to do, and I wasn’t going to listen. I retrieved the necklace.

  “Eira,” Raikidan growled.

  I whirled on him. “Don’t tell me what to do!” He flinched and stepped back. I stalked over to him. “Unless you can back up your reason, don’t you ever attempt to tell me what to do. Do you understand?”

  Raikidan exhaled slowly. “It has to do with that stupid legend we talked about before.”

  I stopped advancing and furrowed my brow in confusion. “What? What legend?”

  With great speed, Raikidan moved behind me and held the necklace up to my neck. “Eira.” A small shiver ran up my spine when he spoke, and I didn’t like that. “Eira, I can get you something nicer. Something better suited for you, and it won’t mean the same thing. Just don’t accept his proposal.”

  I froze. It can’t mean that.

  “Don’t become his mate, Eira,” Raikidan whispered.

  I gulped. It does.

  “No!” I took the necklace from him and threw it. “Not human. Not dragon. Not a chance!”

  I stormed off in a random direction. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I couldn’t believe that dragon asked that of me. I did my best to shut out the idea, but I was too angry and flustered for much to happen in my favor.

  I was so busy being angry, I didn’t notice we were being watched. And I barely noticed Raikidan mumble something in his tongue in a direction that wasn’t mine.

  Chapter 3

  The cold, refreshing water from the river rushed around me as I emerged. My hair flipped over me as I gasped for breath, dragging a stream of water with it. I waded through the water to the rock formation that rested under the waterfall, and climbed up next to Ryoko. I ran my fingers through my hair and massaged my scalp.

  The warm wind of the summer afternoon rushed over my cool skin, sending shivers all over my body. Ryoko, being self-conscious and paranoid as ever, held her arms protectively over her chest. She looked around as if she expected someone to be watching in the shadows of the trees.

  I shook my head and sighed. “Will you just relax, Ryoko? There’s no one around here except us and the boys, and they’re back at the campsite.”

  She continued to look around. “Yeah, and the guys are the problem.”

  I sighed again. “Ryoko, we told them where we were going. They’d be stupid to come this way.”

  Shva’sika chuckled as she waded through the water over to us. “Laz, I wouldn’t be scolding her if I were you. If they showed up you’d freak out.”

  “But they won’t show up,” I said. “I’m not paranoid like Ryoko.”

  “I’m not paranoid!” Ryoko shrieked.

  “She’s right,” Shva’sika sided. “Just because you told the boys not to come this way doesn’t mean they won’t. It’s a large forest, and it’s pretty easy to end up somewhere you didn’t intend.”

  Ryoko whimpered and looked around.

  “Look at what you’ve done, Shva’sika!” I shouted. “You’ve gone and made it worse with that comment.”

  Shva’sika shook her head. “I don’t understand you two. Why are you so ashamed of your bodies?”

  I snorted. “We’re not ashamed.” Ryoko’s gazed lowered. I pinched my nose and sighed. “Ryoko…”

  “Don’t talk to me with so much pity!” she snapped. “It’s not like you have anything to be ashamed of…”

  Shva’sika shook her head. “What is this nonsense you’re babbling?”

  Ryoko looked up at her and blinked. “Huh?”

  Shva’sika lifted Ryoko’s chin. “You’re beautiful, Ryoko, and you shouldn’t be ashamed of how you look. There is nothing wrong with your figure. You both need to learn to love your bodies as they are and not hide them. The female body may be fragile, but it’s also powerful.”

  I snorted. “Elves may find them powerful, but they’re utterly useless to humans.”

  “Oh don’t be—”

  “Laz is right,” Ryoko interrupted. “It may be okay, with your race, for women to be seductive, but for humans it just makes you a slut. The only thing a woman’s body is good for is to be something to look at, and to have a good time. Take it from me. No man cares that I have feelings. No man cares that I’m not completely useless. Sure, I’m not the smartest woman out there. Frankly, I’m spacey and quite dumb. But there is something going on in my head and I do have feelings, but they don’t care. I’m just something to look and grab at.”

  Ryoko sighed and rested her cheek in her hand. Her gaze never left the flowing water that went down stream. Ryoko… I sighed and looked at Shva’sika. She looked at me and mouthed an apology. I shook my head and went back to washing my hair.

  Ryoko had it rough. She could knock down buildings and do something that should be inhumanly impossible, but getting a lick of respect to save her life, outside the circle of our group, was nearly impossible for her.

  “Chin up, Ryoko,” Shva’sika encouraged as she began washing her face. “I bet there’s someone who doesn’t see you that way. Heck, I’m pretty sure I could find a nice elven man really easily who would be genuinely interested in you.”

  “Doubt it,” Ryoko muttered without taking her gaze off the water. “It’s been decades since someone saw me as worthwhile. Now, I’m just a hopeless romantic.”

  Shva’sika shook her head and went about shaving. “I’ll build up your confidence, even if it kills me, dear.”

  I snickered. “Careful, Ryo, she will.”

  “Not going to happen.” Ryoko then shuddered when she looked up from the water and noticed Shva’sika’s beauty routine. “How can you stand doing that? Doesn’t it get annoying?”

  Shva’sika’s brow rose. “What, shave? Well I do prefer to wax because it’s less time consuming, and I only have to do it once every few weeks, but I can’t exactly do that out here.”

  I chuckled. “That’s right, you don’t know.”

  “Know what?”

  “We experiments don’t have to shave,” Ryoko explained. “At least not our legs, arms, or underarms.”

  Shva’sika’s cocked her head. “That’s rather interesting. Why is that?”

  I shrugged. “Like you said, shaving is time consuming. Even waxing takes time out of our day, even if it’s only once every few weeks, and since we’re soldiers, we don’t have that kind of time to spend. But at the same time, we women still have to live up to society’s standards, so it was decided that was something we wouldn’t have to deal with.”

  Ryoko nodded. “Yeah, though it doesn’t mean our bodies aren’t completely hairless. Well not all of us. Some are. It’s kinda like a random grab bag as far as whether you are or aren’t.”

  Shva’sika giggled. “I can see that.”

  Ryoko went to reply, but then stopped and grabbed Shva’sika by the face instead.

  Shva’sika yipped in surprise. “Ryoko, what are you doing?”

  “You have a scar on your face,” she observed as she lightly ran her finger down it. It was a tiny scar and looked quite old. It ran from just above her upper lip down to her chin.

  “Yeah, I do…” Shva’sika replied quietly before trying to finish her washing.

  “I didn’t know you had one th
ere before,” Ryoko commented. “It’s faded, but I know I would have seen it before.”

  My eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t have, since she hides it.” Ryoko looked at me. Shva’sika avoided my gaze. “Here she is, telling us to love how we look, when she can’t even do it herself. Hypocrite.”

  Shva’sika sighed and rested her hand on her scar, covering it. “I know I’m a hypocrite and I’m sorry. I just can’t stand looking at it.”

  “It doesn’t look bad,” Ryoko encouraged. “If anything, it shows your personality.”

  Shva’sika shook her head. “No, it makes my face ugly.”

  I pinched my nose and sighed. “Now you’re sounding like Ryoko. Knock it off, Shva’sika.”

  “You don’t understand.” I looked at her sternly, but she held her ground. “You have scars on your body, yes, but not on your face. You don’t get the same looks when it’s a scar on the face.”

  “Danika, it doesn’t make you look ugly,” Ryoko insisted.

  “It may not make me ugly, but it doesn’t make me beautiful, either,” Shva’sika said.

  Ryoko sighed and looked at me. “She doesn’t listen well.”

  “Then let’s try something,” I challenged. “You can keep covering it while we’re out here, but once we get to the city, you can’t cover that scar for an entire week. If we’re wrong, you can cover it after, and if we’re right, you won’t want to cover it.”

  “And what’s in it for me?” Shva’sika inquired.

  “Ryoko and I have to practice not being ashamed of our bodies, as you put it,” I offered.

  “Laz!” Ryoko hissed.

  “For the whole week?” Shva’sika insisted on clarifying.

  I nodded. “The entire week.”

  Shva’sika grinned. “I accept.”

  Ryoko groaned. “Why did you have to drag me into this?”

  “Because it’s the only way she’d accept,” I said.

  “But you know I can’t do this!” she argued. “You both know I can’t do this.”

  “You can and you will,” I said. “Shva’sika agreed to the terms, and therefore you have to, too…”