The Cursed Dragon

by Rachal M. Roberts

  “Agreed.” Kadd said.

  Again Morada looked at Kalara “Why aren’t you saying more?” she asked suspiciously.

  Kalara leaned forward “I agree with everything that has been said, except for killing hatchlings. And I don’t think we should test Tamtoc. We don’t need a roaring contest or one of magic.” she paused to glance at her son “we don’t need to wake him up right now either.”

  “Kalara, did you know his blood already carried the explosion?” Morada asked.

  “No. Of course not. As you said, I felt no hum from Tamtoc.”

  Kadd intervened, “None of us did. This is all our fault.”

  “We couldn’t have known.” Tristan said quietly. “If nothing else let’s be glad he is one of us. I think Kalara’s right though, we should let him rest in quiet.”

  Kadd stood up “We should. And I should be off anyway. There is another deep sea launch next week, I need to make sure my dragons have their preparations made.” He looked at Kalara. “Oh! One more thing guys. Kalara and I are mated now. Finally.”

  “It’s about time. Good for you.” Morada commented and Tristan agreed.

  “We’ll be in touch. Give Tamtoc our love. ANCHOR” Kadd cast. “Come on Kalara, let’s go make another one!”

  Chapter 26

  All that night Ravanan dreamed of purple fire; it was more vibrant than the indigo ring of fire he was familiar with, and so beautiful just like Kalara’s glistening scales. The fire haunted him. First he would see Kalara’s amethyst eyes boring into his, loving him. Then he would feel the chill of her icy touch on him. He loved it when she used her aura like that, it was always the perfect bite of cold. And then she’d warm him up with that purple fire of hers, she only ever used it on him. It was such a cool heat.

  He woke in the night thinking to keep his new young mate and use her, in a bizarre way it would be a memorial to Kalara, a chance to get to see her purple fire and scales in the flames every time he made fire with the red Ishida. He ran his hands through his hair. What was wrong with him? He wasn’t crazy and shouldn’t think like that. If he wanted Kalara bad enough to imagine her while bedding another then he should just go and get her.

  By morning he had made his decision. He watched Ishida as she slept on his gold, thinking about her choice of form to make fire. He was surprised at first, thinking she, being Naga, would prefer the ancient way, but the way she moved on him revealed why she morphed, she liked it.... a lot. The human body was built for emotion and sensation, from the supple skin to flowing, always moving hair. Then add the many hormones, large brain, and nerve endings, and the human body became an amplifier of emotion. But it was so tiny.

  He knew for sure Ishida was not a true Naga. Neither was he, although he now realized there were two things he agreed with them on – dragons should rule and should stay true to their form. Yes the human form felt great but it was soft and vulnerable during a fight, it was a bad trade off in his opinion. Even now it would be so easy to raise a foot and step on her head or crunch her skull with his teeth. She would be dead instantly. Ishida was too trusting.

  Though he disapproved on principle, if he was going to make fire like a human from now on it would be with Kalara, his mate. He would do that for her out of love, he would stay in the puny human form with her always, until death took them both. If the Naga ever caught Ishida in human form they’d kill her. It was better to not get any more involved with the Naga than he already had.

  The red enchantress stirred awake, smiled up at his towering blue body, then returned to her base form “Shall we go hunt?”

  Ravanan followed her outside.

  Ishida was in a good mood, with a light happy voice she said “We should make crowns for each other – to display this moment – the first pieces of our treasure together.”

  He paused in the morning light. “About that.... This won’t work.”

  “What won’t work?”

  “Us. We’re over.”

  “WHAT?!?”

  “Bye Ishida. Don’t make me fight you. Just leave.”

  “But wait!” she pleaded with him but found no give in his eyes.

  Ravanan was done. He sat there unmoving and not talking, guarding his lair.

  Ishida at least knew the blue dragon well enough to know when to quit. She flew away without another word.

  With a renewed sense of purpose Ravanan made three new traps for Ishida and her invisibility robe should she try to come back. When they were finished he left to go get Kalara. He figured it would be good to make a fresh start with his purple mate in a new lair, Black Blade belonged in the forgotten past.

  Ravanan entered Black Blade Lair through the seer pool. He couldn’t feel her aura and saw all the food he’d sent piled up, some of it had been drained of blood but none of it eaten. He checked the wardrobe chamber and saw that Naught was in its case. She was not home. New worry filled his mind.

  Back at the seer pool he began a location spell by thinking of Kalara. Since the target of the spell was one of love he had to drop his fluid onto the still surface of the water. Then he held a perfect crystal of Iceland Spar to his eye and cast “LOCATE KALARA”. He saw only a glow at the top edge.

  “I shouldn’t have left her.” He said to himself. His concern grew. That was in the direction where he’d found her before. He turned back to the main lair, stood at a certain place and cast “ANCHOR”. The entire cavern floor began to weep dark red ink. Everywhere small circles bled into existence, each one with a small sketch of a place in his territory, there were too many to count. The whole chamber had become a map and was pretty much accurate to the four corners of the earth. He was within two steps of the one he wanted, he had done this so many times the ceiling was just as memorable to him as the floor was.

  Ravanan traveled as far as he could then looked for a suitable body of water, it had to be unmoving, peaceful, and with life in it since the heart beats of the aquatic life gave the image its animation. If he could move fast enough he could save her in time. Why was she in that direction again? His fear was that like last time a protective veil would be placed over her so that it made finding her by seer pool difficult.

  He continued at breakneck speeds until at last he saw her with two others he didn’t know. Ravanan landed crying, happy to know she was no longer afflicted with that curse. How had it happened though?

  He watched the trio moving through the night toward Tamtoc. He rolled his eyes. “Why here? What is she up to?” he whispered to himself. He wanted to go to her but needed to learn as much as he could before acting. “Who are those two with her?”

  Then he heard the voices:

  “..... Don’t blame me if it breaks.”

  “It won’t. - Man! This place is awesome. I had no idea it was so old!”

  “Don’t you guys feel the sacredness of this place?..”

  When Ravanan heard Kalara say “Jeremy, feel like hunting?” he dove in, to test her and the other two. He needed to see what he was dealing with and this was a great opportunity to do so, not to mention it would be a great dinner and old-fashioned kill, a rare opportunity. He grabbed the target she named first, his talons ran fully through the flesh as his powerful jaws tore him in half. His soft flesh was delicate and hot. A few wing-beats later his aura stopped the girl’s heart then he grabbed her up as well.

  Ravanan kept himself far away to patiently watch, casting spells to heighten his senses. He didn’t know who Jeremy was, only that he could run very fast. He felt no auras from Kalara’s two companions. They also lacked body heat, a pulse, and breathing sounds. They didn’t even have a smell! In every way they matched the forest. He dared not take his eyes off the odd pair for fear of losing them to the woods.

  Kalara went almost directly to the Acama lair – Ravanan couldn’t believe it. He watched her disappear at the rim of her second home while the other two stayed behind.

  He’d been to the Acama lair every time with her, never allowed inside but he knew these woods well
while he had waited for her. ‘Why would she drape Naught before entering the Acama lair? Unless, that had to be it, she was trying to find her past. But how did she know to come here since he hadn’t told her about it?’

  Ravanan slowly closed in on the two companions, in his human form and wearing his own version of Naught called Cover. They had a tree-like quality to them, they were so still. He listened intently as he approached.

  “Do you think she’ll be OK?” the one called Jeremy asked.

  “Oh for crying out loud! She is fine! Our Enchantress can hold her own. I ain’t worried for her and you shouldn’t be either. She ought to be out any time.”

  “I know. I know. It’s just.... I’m her provider you know. I like worrying about her.”

  “Well, I’m sure if she needs us she’ll call.”

  Though it sounded strained and aged, Ravanan had heard that female voice before from Kalara’s memories, it was Annette’s!

  His blood boiled with anger at what he was seeing. It was her! The very dragoness herself! He had to find out more. He made his way to draw closer then stopped when he saw a purple dragon appear on the rim. It was Tristan, followed by Kadd and Morada. He knew they’d come.

  ‘Great.’ he thought. ‘What could he do?’ He hoped against hope Kalara could fake it. He absolutely could not get in there to help and so he backed off to wait the meeting out.

  Everything concerning Kalara made him feel inadequate. A tear left his eye. And now to hear this Jeremy name himself as Kalara’s provider - he never should have left.

  He heard Annette ask Jeremy about the other three purple dragons “Do you think we should be worried about that?”

  Jeremy didn’t answer.

  “Alright.” She said. “We continue to hide.”

  While Ravanan waited for the Acama meeting to end his mind was anxious with worry for his mate and why Annette was with her. What was going on down there? Had Kalara got her memories back? The thought took over him. A worry that Kalara had regained her past and no longer wanted him. Why else would she have gone to the Acamas instead of summoning him back to her? Ravanan couldn’t stop his mind from going there.

  He knew things were delicate between them before Kalara was taken by Annette. That whole blasted nation in Anarchelos was a real source of headache for Kalara and him. They couldn’t agree on anything up there. Once again he rehashed their worst contention, he simply had a different opinion on how to handle the Lincoln matter than she did; killing him wasn’t the big deal Kalara made it out to be. But he really thought they were working it out. The tension between them didn’t seem to be that serious as of late. But maybe he was wrong and he knew for sure it had been wrong to make fire with her when she couldn’t even remember him. With her memories back now she’d know he had taken advantage of her state of mind.

  It wasn’t long until Ravanan saw two lightning balls in little clouds shoot out of the cave, but which two was it?

  Time answered him when Ravanan saw Tristan and Morada rise out of their lair in their human forms, notably flying rather than traveling by anchor. Now his mind toyed with him. So it had been Kadd and Kalara.... where did they go together? Did Kadd know about Kalara? He couldn’t know or else she’d be dead. Ravanan considered intercepting the Acamas to ask about Kalara but that would mean leaving Annette to her own business and he couldn’t allow that to happen.

  Where was Kadd taking her? What were they doing? KADD! Ravanan hated that dragon. He was always taking her side about Anarchelos. What did he know of it? He was working with much older nations and people. Half of everything he said only made sense when taking into account he wanted Kalara. If any dragon was taking advantage of Kalara it was Kadd.

  Where did they go together? With all three Acamas together there was no way Kalara could have fooled them and they’d have killed her right then and there. No, she had to have got Annette to put her memories back and then went off to tell the Acamas. Now her and Kadd were alone. He probably jumped at the chance to make fire with Kalara. She had to have went with him for a reason.

  Well he was going to find out - about the whole mess, and the one who could help him was sitting just over there. Annette of Anarchelos Vya!

  Like a cat he moved silently into a good position to see them.

  They didn’t look right, sitting there. What was wrong with them? He moved closer and it was like their lines became more subtle. Ravanan squinted his eyes, somehow they got harder to see amidst the trees.

  Now just steps away and still invisible he could see them clearly. They were looking straight at him! There was no way they could see him. But he froze in his tracks and just looked. What he saw disgusted him.

  He studied their black eyes, there was no life in them and the windows were clouded over with milky void. All the signs – or lack thereof – pointed to dead bodies. But he had seen them move. The guy could run extremely fast and was strong enough to twist heads off.

  And Annette the powerful enchantress....well, she was sitting before him when she should be at the bottom of the ocean waiting to be crushed.

  They were dead. More than dead, they looked dried out. It was hard to gaze upon them without retching. Whatever fate had befallen them was nothing to be wished for. And in all his long years upon the Earth, some two thousand years, Ravanan had never seen this before.

  As he stood there watching them they kept looking his way while eating choice handfuls of forest floor dirt. They looked like they were watching a movie and eating popcorn. They were unblinking and he was blinking as little as possible because every time he did he had to find them again.

  Ravanan tried to control Annette but couldn’t. He couldn’t control Jeremy either. It was like their minds were not attached to their brains anymore. Somehow their spirits were controlling their bodies without needing the brains that were now so dead and dried that he couldn’t get inside them. Mind control was one of his specialties and it unnerved him that it wasn’t in his arsenal with these guys.

  He was certain that he was looking at mummies and was in utter shock over it. In Kalara’s memories Annette was alive. And now, months later, she was dead. Did Kalara do this or did Annette? If it was Kalara, how was she so powerful in such a short time? He had to talk to her, help her. How could she have done such a gruesome act?

  But what troubled him more was that Annette wasn’t a dragoness in human form; if she was then there wouldn’t have been a body left to mummify. Annette was human.

  And there was no way she could have captured and taken Kalara’s memories unless she had magic. Annette had to have gotten magic from some dragon. Who then? And whoever it was was sure to have his treasure.

  He so desperately wanted to kill Annette. But he had to be careful, Annette was dangerous – a human with magic. He hadn’t seen a spellsword in many years, long before the Age of Acama. It was a special thing for a dragon to share its magical blood with a human; he had only done it twice, both times were in his youth. But now under Dragon Law to give a human magic was completely forbidden. How many other spellswords had been made besides Annette?

  Spellswords were extremely volatile and crazy with power. He remembered both of his fondly and the pact he had made with them. One of them, the first one, Arekuna, he had actually brought to Black Blade Lair for a time of training. They became friends against Kalara’s wishes. But his experiments quickly got out of hand and he had to kill them to clean up his mess. Not only kill them but also kill their apprentices, which took him over 40 years to do. A total of nine spellswords had to be erased.

  Annette was not only a spellsword she was a living dead as well. It was more than wrong! Of course the humans have conjured up all kinds of stories through the centuries but no one ever actually achieved reanimating the dead. Every dragon knows you just simply don’t take a dead piece of flesh and tell it to live, it goes against nature and life and wasn’t supposed to be possible. Even the Chinese spellswords couldn’t bring life to the dead.

  These two
were an abomination and had to be destroyed. He thought about all the humans’ books and movies about the subject of ending a living dead – he had serious doubts that bullets, wood stakes, beheading, or silver would actually do any harm to them......

  “Enough! You no-good dragon.” Annette sneered at Ravanan.

  Ravanan was jostled from his thoughts. Did she just speak to him? And she knew he was a dragon – how could she know that? How could she see him? She couldn’t. No way. He retreated in his footpath to watch from further away.

  “Yep, keep going. Don’t stop.” She urged him.

  Ravanan stopped – yes, she was talking to him and he refused to obey a damn spellsword. His eyes darted from mummy to mummy. They were still sitting but that didn’t detract from their ability to battle.

  Jeremy remained silent, watching and deferring to his medicine woman. Although he did sneak a peek upward past Ravanan, in awe of Ravanan’s glowing dragon spirit.

  Ravanan glanced up to see what the mummy was looking at, he saw nothing.

  “LEAVE.” Annette commanded.

  ‘Like hell I will!’ Ravanan thought. He dismissed his clothes and morph and revealed himself. Towering over the two mummies he lowered his head to meet them. “I don’t believe I will Annette.”

  Unimpressed and seeing that he wasn’t so easily scared off, she replied “And you are Ravanan I presume?” She rolled her eyes, “I might have guessed. So you can see us.....” her voice trailed off like she was making a note to work harder on hiding next time.

  “You weren’t hard to find.”

  “Well, fine. And I suppose you’re looking for Kalara.” She didn’t wait for Ravanan’s acknowledgment. “Know this. Kalara does not want you.”

  Ravanan didn’t flinch. “She is not a topic I’ll discuss with you.” He reared back and let his wings snap wide before folding them back down. “I intend to kill the dragon that made you. Tell me where he is”.

  The mummies shared a glance as Jeremy updated Annette on Ravanan’s latest thoughts, neither of them wore a smile.