by Toni Cox
Aaron pulled the blanket a little high up over Maia’s shoulder and then rose to go through to the kitchen. He would make some tea for when she woke up. As he busied himself with making a fire, he found it increasingly difficult to wipe the smile off his face. It had been a very long time since he had been this happy.
In his mind, he replayed the events of last night. Willandor, his neighbour, had alerted him to the meeting that was to be held in the Elder Hall. The man had briefly filled him in on why it was being held and, curious as to what was happening in his new home, Aaron had decided to go to the meeting. Willandor had said that, as a member of the clan, he had a right to attend.
What he had heard there, had not shocked him. By now, he could almost believe anything, but it had worried him. He had only just accepted and settled into his new life and now it was threatened by yet another alien race. What had really worried him though, was the effect the news had had on Maia.
Everyone had looked upset at the news, but there was an infinite sadness in Maia’s eyes that had threatened to break his heart. When he had seen that she walked away from the meeting alone, he had worried even more. She shouldn’t be alone with this. There had been a heart-stopping moment when she had turned on him with her knife, but what had come after was the reason for his permanent smile.
He had taken her home, to his house. By now he knew that being alone with Maia was considered inappropriate, but he did not care. He had made her tea and they had sat on the veranda, talking, until it got too chilly outside and he had taken her inside. They had sat on his bear fur rug in front of the fire, where they had talked late into the night. She had told him about what it meant to be a Life Elemental and how hard it was for her to deal with the fact that her people were threatened. She had also told him how hard it was for her to deal with death and how violently she reacted to it. She had bared her soul to him and he had never felt this close to her before. Then he had told her how her weakness, for that is what she called it, made her more human, or in her case, elven. He had also explained to her, that death was a natural part of life and nothing to fear.
He had just wanted to make her feel better, but she had thought long and deep about what he had said and she seemed to have found some profound meaning in it for her. After that, they had talked about other, less serious, matters and he believed that she had enjoyed herself as much as he had. The kids had come home, had sat with them for a while, but then, sensing that he wanted to be alone with Maia, they had retired to their rooms. It was long past midnight when she had eventually fallen asleep, curled up on his bear rug. He had covered her with a blanket and lain down next to her, savouring her nearness, smelling her scent, but never touching her.
The kettle made a soft whistling sound and he took it off the fire. He dug through the box where Jasmin kept the tea and was happy to find some mint. He knew Maia liked it. He poured the steaming liquid over the leaves and then carried the cup through to the common room.
She was sitting up, putting a log onto the coals from last night and when she made a quick motion with her hand over the log, it burst into flame immediately. He smiled to himself. She always did little things like this, that amazed him. She was completely unaware of it, as if she didn’t even know she had done magic. Just the other day, he had watched her as she had made her way across the Gathering Grounds. Someone had left a small pot of flowers on the stage and they had wilted. As Maia had walked past them, she had made a small motion with her hand and almost instantly, the flowers had come back to life. She had not stopped, nor faltered in her stride and he was sure she had not even noticed that she had even done it.
“Good morning,” he said, his voice a little choked with emotion.
Aaron sat the cup down in front of her and she smiled up at him. God, she is gorgeous, he thought and smiled back at her.
“Good morning,” she replied and picked up the cup to blow on the hot tea.
“I didn’t know if you wanted breakfast. We have a few things here if you are hungry.”
“Thank you, Aaron, but I should be going; there will be a lot to do today. I am sure my parents will also be wondering where I am.”
Aaron watched as she took a sip from the cup. She briefly closed her eyes, savouring the taste, and he thought his heart would burst with the feelings he had for her. She was so beautiful. The thought of anything happening to her, was torture. He did not want her to go. He didn’t want her to leave his house, didn’t want her to go into battle to defend her people. If she could just stay with him, she would be safe. He knew nothing of fighting, or war, and he didn’t think he would stand a chance against a Vampyre with his human speed and reflexes.
“Are you going to join the groups that offer the training?”
“Jaik has been training with me already, but he said I should practice fighting with someone else, so yes, I think I will.”
Aaron smiled. Although he did not want her to go to war, he could think of nothing more beautiful than to watch her train. He was looking forward to it. Then another thought occurred to him.
“Will you also train with Midnight?”
Maia looked at him for a moment, not saying anything. He could see her eyes narrow as she was thinking and he thought he had said something wrong.
“Fight with Midnight?” she asked, more to herself, than him.
“Yes, isn’t that what you use dragons for?”
“Only the Plains Dragons have ever been used as Battle Dragons. Midnight is different. But…”
Maia put her now empty cup on a side table and stood up. She briefly straightened her tousled hair and when she turned to him, she had a gleam in her eyes that had not been there before.
“That was better. Let’s do it again,” Jaik shouted up at her.
Maia gave one of the signals she had been practicing and Midnight turned, circled the clearing once and then swooped down once more. The wind stung her eyes and she could barely see. But her eyes were not important for this manoeuvre; only her intent. Midnight would do the rest. So she concentrated on the wooden dummy that stood in the field and the lance that had been strapped to one of its arms. The object of this lesson was to disarm the dummy, which proved to be a lot more difficult than they had anticipated. During the last three Quarters, they had practiced with Midnight whenever Jaik had some free time. Archer, Riker and Aari had also helped on occasion, each contributing information from their own field of expertise.
At first, it had been difficult. When she had first mentioned to her brother that she wanted to use Midnight in combat, he had laughed. Using a Soul Dragon in battle was unheard of and the most unorthodox thought Maia had ever had. But, she had convinced Jaik that, this way, she would be able to join them in battle and be completely safe. For who would be able to harm her, while she was riding Midnight. So, they had started to train.
First, they had devised a series of signals. Although they could communicate with their minds, dragons and Elves were fundamentally so different, that misunderstandings could occur in such tense situations. Also, the idea was for her to fly with the Battle Dragon Battalions, so she needed to practice the signals the Dragon Riders used. Each signal was for a different manoeuvre that they had to learn. Swoop in, grab the opponent, then fly high just to drop him so he would fall to his death. Or swoop in, disarm the opponent to make it easier for her warriors to defeat the opponent. Or to fly over the enemy army, dropping boulders on their heads. On and on the list went and she had been practicing them all relentlessly.
She enjoyed training with Midnight, and spending so much time with her brother, but she tried not to think about what she was actually doing – devising methods to kill another living being. Sometimes she had nightmares. Visions of her stabbing and slashing, blood spraying everywhere. She would often wake in the middle of the night, drenched in a cold sweat and her blankets crumpled.
But she kept her concerns to herself. On more than one occasion had she been confronted about wanting to be an active part of t
he fighting; her mother had pleaded with her, Jasmin had cried, Aaron had begged and she had recurring dreams of Death in his wolf form, always linked with visions of a field of the dead.
“That was much better,” Jaik shouted up at her, bringing her out of her reverie.
She patted Midnight on his shoulder. It was clear to her that, whatever they had done right, it was Midnight that had done it and not her. She conveyed her gratitude and admiration to him and she felt him acknowledge it with pride.
“You can land now,” Jaik yelled as she circled overhead, “I think that was enough for today.”
Midnight completed one last circle, then slightly folded his wings and dived. They weren’t very high, so almost immediately he spread his wings again to slow them, as they approached the ground. Maia was jarred in her new saddle, but she laughed as he landed, buffeting Jaik and Silas with the wind from his wings.
She had only used the saddle twice now. It had been clear after their first few training sessions, that it was almost impossible to fight from the back of a dragon without a saddle. She had approached Galassan, their Leathersmith and he had made one for her. There had been some tense moments when Galassan had to get Midnight’s measurements, but in the end, and with lots of coaxing from Maia, it had been accomplished.
Almost a fortnight later, at the Harvest Feast Celebration, Galassan had presented her with the finished article. Because of the impending war, the Harvest Feast had been a muted affair and no-one had enjoyed it much. This, though, had made it special for Maia.
She had wanted something simple and practical, but Galassan had outdone himself. Not only did it fit Midnight perfectly, but it was also extremely comfortable for Maia, had safety straps in numerous places and was engraved with little battle scenes of dragons fighting. It was completely black, matching Midnight’s colour so well that it was almost impossible to tell where leather ended and dragon skin began. Maia loved it.
The Leathersmith had even made her leather armour to match. A leather vest with finely woven chain mail underneath, leather pants with greaves that featured the same design as the saddle and bracers for her arms with a matching pair of gloves. The vest had straps at the back that held her Twin Blades. The greaves held her hunting knives and she had straps on her thighs, that held two more knives. Because of the Twin Blades, there was no space for her bow and the quiver, so Galassan had made loops on the saddle that she could attach those to.
After undoing the buckles of her safety straps, she swung her right leg over and ran down Midnight’s left foreleg as he knelt to let her down. Once she was off, he raised himself back up onto all fours, flapped his wings once and with one push of his hind legs was airborne. He would meet them by The Crags later, where they had constructed a device that helped them take the saddle off his back.
Jaik and Silas walked towards her. They had retreated while Midnight landed. Although they had spent a lot of time with him lately, they were still wary of him and he was no friendlier to them, than he was before. He only tolerated them, because of how Maia felt about them.
They met in the middle of the field and Jaik helped Maia take off her vest. He had insisted she wear it every day for training to wear in the leather and to make it soft and subtle.
“You did well today. I think we have made a lot of progress this Quarter.”
“Midnight does most of the work,” Maia said, a little out of breath, but pride in her voice. “I only tell him what to do and then hang on tight. I almost wish he was a bit smaller, so that I could do some real fighting from his back, but I am just too high up to reach anyone on foot.”
“I think it is better this way,” Silas said. “If Midnight does the killing it might not affect you as much as if you were to do it yourself. Although I don’t doubt your abilities, Jaik has been telling me about your progress in training. However, I would feel better if you were not involved in the fighting on the ground at all.”
“I know you are worried, Silas, but I have made up my mind. I will ride on Fire along with the rest of the army. Once the fighting begins, I will be in the air with Midnight. Father has already arranged that thirty Dragon Warriors from Commander Hollowdale’s command will be flying with me. We will be airborne for most of the time and I know Midnight will keep me safe. But I will land and see to the injured that need immediate help. Father knows this, which is why he insisted on allocating me the thirty warriors. They will stand watch while I see to the wounded, but I might still have to defend myself while on foot.”
“I will be there as well, Maia. I can see to the critically injured and stabilise them until the fighting it over. Then you can see to them and heal them.”
“It might not come to that much fighting,” Jaik cut in. “Our strategy is to surprise them as they come through the Gate. If everything goes as planned, the dragons will stop the Vampyres from leaving the stones, before the actual fight can even begin.”
Jaik picked up the now broken lance the practice dummy had been holding and turned towards the city.
“Come,” he called over his shoulder, “I am parched, let us enjoy some of Yanamere’s ale before we retire for the day.”
Silas smiled, somewhat appeased and they both followed Jaik as he strode through the long grass towards the forest.
Maia began unbuckling her gear. Even though the days were a little cooler now, she still got terribly hot in all her leathers. She had just taken off her gloves and stuck them into the back of her pants, when she felt her body tingle with excitement. She stopped and blinked a few times, trying to understand what was causing the sensation. Silas stopped and looked at her; it took Jaik a few moments more before he too, stopped and turned to look back at Maia.
“What’s wrong? Why did you stop?” Silas asked with concern in his voice.
“I’m not sure. I feel like…” A small sigh escaped her lips and she swayed slightly where she stood.
“Are you all right?” Silas took a step forward and held her by the shoulders to steady her.
“I don’t know. I just need a moment.” Maia said, now panting slightly, leaning forward, her hands resting on her knees.
“Silas,” Jaik said, speaking softly, but the urgency in his voice was unmistakable.
Silas and Maia looked up and into the direction Jaik pointed.
Maia gasped as she saw him and her knees buckled beneath her. Silas caught her before she could fall. He held her, watching as the black wolf prowled along the tree line, watching them. Jaik took a few steps back towards where Silas and Maia stood. Slowly Jaik took his bow off his shoulder and notched an arrow.
“No, do not shoot him, Jaik,” Silas said quietly, but urgently and put a restraining hand on Jaik’s arm.
“That is the biggest wolf I have ever seen. Is he what I think he is?” Jaik said in awe.
“Yes, Jaik. That is the Death Wolf. The Death Elemental.”
“I see,” Jaik said and stepped protectively in front of his sister. “I wondered when he would show up here. Everyone has been talking about him. Should we be worried?”
“I don’t think he is here to harm us,” Silas replied and cast a worried glance at Maia.
Maia had gone deathly pale. Silas still held her. He could feel her tremble.
“The Death Elemental is the only one with the ability to transform,” Silas continued. He felt that he needed to keep talking in order to keep Maia calm. She was obviously distraught. “There are three forms that are mentioned in the histories. The wolf, the raven and the razorback boar. But they are rare, like Maia, and the last known one to exist was over almost a thousand years ago. I believe he had taken the form of the raven.”
“So why is he here?”
Jaik studied the wolf with narrowed eyes and took another step closer to Maia, completely blocking the wolf’s view of her. It looked like the wolf had fixed his eyes on his sister and he didn’t like it. He could feel the tension roll off her and it was starting to affect him too. He wished the black wolf would just go away.
“I don’t know. They don’t usually stay in one place for too long, but this one has been here since the Vampyres were spotted in our area. Maybe he came here for them,” Silas said, but he didn’t think it was true. He had a suspicion that it had to do with Maia, but did not want to frighten her further.
“Maybe we should just back away and go the long way round to the village. I don’t want to st…”
All three of them took a few steps back at the wolf suddenly turned and boldly padded a few steps in their direction. His black coat shone as he emerged from the shadow of the trees and stepped into the sunlight. He stopped about fifty paces away from them. His size and fearsome demeanour even more frightening up close.
Maia gasped as the wolf bared his teeth and let out a loud growl. He took another few steps in their direction, his fur bristling.
“NO.” Maia shouted and extricated herself from Silas’ arms, which were still holding her. She stepped away from him and took two steps towards the wolf.
They stared at each other, the tension between them thick in the air.
“You will go now,” she said with force and determination. “I do not want you here. Go. Leave us alone.”
Death narrowed his eyes and growled again, then he dropped his head slightly, turned around and ran back into the forest.
The three stood silent for a moment, watching the tree line for movement. After a while, Maia let out a heavy sigh and their tense vigil was broken.
“That was intense. What was that all about?” Jaik slung his bow over his back and turned to look at his sister.
With the tension leaving her body, she finally collapsed. If it had not been for Silas, she would have fallen. He helped her sit down gently and then took her hands in his.
“You look like that wasn’t the first time you have seen him. Do you want to tell me about it?” Silas said in a gentle voice.
“No,” she said so softly Jaik could not hear and shook her head. “Not here.”