by C. K. Rieke
She wiped the slime from her the best she could. It was the first time she’d removed the red sash from her waist, when she simply wasn’t taking it off to rest for a night. Even then it was neatly folded in a proper manner, and never laid on the sand. It was always to be treated in a manner of pride and dignity. Now Lilaci was using it to remove her stains from the battle with the worms. Her cuts stung like hot venom had entered them. She looked down to her hip and stomach to see the bruises already setting in. She cupped her ribcage to find one or two of them broken. Her shoulder was nearly knocked out of place, and she could hardly use her left hand, the hole from the arrow now fresh again from the fight.
Once her face was mostly clean, and most of the filth wiped from her, she let the red sash fall to the sands. She didn’t do it out of defiance; it was out of exhaustion. It didn’t even cross her mind that only a month ago it would have been impossible for her to allow herself to do that. She let her back rest on the smooth rock behind her and she sank down to sit on the rock beneath her. And as the flames roared and crackled behind her, darkness overwhelmed her. She fought to keep her eyes open, but that only made them want to stay closed that much more. It crossed her mind that she’d be helpless if she fell asleep, but she had no more fight in her then. She only hoped that if something came for her in her vulnerable state, that perhaps the Sanzoral would protect her. It was the only thing she had left.
She opened her eyes, to complete darkness.
Is this it? Am I dead? Did they come while I was asleep? Eating me with their sharp teeth? Or did I pass onto the next realm from the fight? There’s no white light— Am I . . . Am I heading to the Eternal Flames? All those I’ve killed. They weren’t innocent. Not a one of them didn’t deserve to die. I was given the order by— the gods . . .
What was my legacy? What did I leave to the world that was good? I never even made it to the age of twenty— I don’t think so at least. Kera. She was supposed to be the one thing that I did that ended up being good. She was my legacy. But the gods have found fit to send me to the underworld. Perhaps I deserve such a fate. Perhaps . . . This was to be my fate all along. To die alone in the darkness.
Wait— Is that . . . “A light?”
It was the size of a candle’s flame as it bobbed back and forth in the distance. It’s not the color of the Sanzoral. Perhaps I’ve made it to the Great Realm in the Sky. Maybe this is the keeper, coming to bid me welcome.
The small warm flame inched its way closer, and Lilaci noticed that it illuminated the dark walls surrounding it. The walls were smooth and made of dark rock she recognized.
“This isn’t death—” she groaned. “I’m in the cave still.” She felt dismayed, as the surge of pain returned to her body, and she sighed in pain as she struggled to stand, pushing her way up to her feet with her back against the rock. “Whatever you are, stay back! I’ve still got fight let in me.”
The light continued toward her, and the figure carrying the light began to emerge from the darkness.
“Halt where you are,” she yelled down the figure, who was walking up the cave, then forty paces away. And as the figure grew closer she saw it was a man. A man in with a dark hood covering his head, and a man whose eyes reflected the golden glow of the small torch he carried. As he walked he tended to sway back and forth. “I said halt!” She held up her sword to show in the light of the torch. “I will cut you down if you don’t stop your approach.”
What is a man doing this far down in the cave? Does that mean there’s a way out? Heading further down into the cave?
The man in the dark robes didn’t stop his approach, and Lilaci readied herself in her defensive posture. Truth was, she could barely hold up the weight of her sword, and her left hand seemed useless, as it could hardly hold the weight of her dagger without searing pain down her whole arm. The sight of the black robes reminded her of the mages though, and her hatred of them was the driving force that would let her slay the man once he was close enough.
The man stopped only twelve paces from her, he held up the torch above him as he took up his other hand, touching the front of his hood, and with a smooth motion pulled the hood back behind him to reveal a bald head of dark skin. She sighed a faint sigh of relief that he didn’t carry the red tattoos and pulled back silver hair of the mages.
“What do you want? Who are you?” she asked.
“Lilaci—” the stranger said in a calming, strong voice.
“Wh— How do you know my name?”
“She told me.”
Lilaci was shocked in silence.
“I’m here to show you something.”
“What she? Who told you my name?” Lilaci demanded in a stern voice. “Don’t play games with me. Tell me who you are and who sent you.”
The figure’s expression didn’t change. He gave the same stoic demeanor. “Very well. My name is Roren. I’ve been waiting for you to come. I’ve waited a long time. It’s good to see that you’re alive, but then again she said you would be.”
Lilaci stepped toward the man, with her sword out between them. She was growing impatient and didn’t want to ask again.
“Kera,” he said. “She told me you would come. Now please, follow me. I must show you this.”
K— Kera told him? And he’s been down her how long? I can’t trust him, but what other choice do I have? He does know her name, and maybe he has food and water. I’ll go with him. Moments ago, I thought I was dead, and now here I am, I have another chance to save her.
“Very well, Roren,” she said skeptically. “I’ll follow you. But I expect more answers.”
“Yes, I’ll explain all,” he said, turning to walk back down the way he came. “But I’ve been waiting a long time, and I want you to see what I’ve found.”
“What is it? Just tell me now.”
The man turned, his eyes glowing bright, dancing with the reflection of hot flames. “All due respect. No. You need to see this for yourself first.”
Chapter Forty-Six
The air was cool, and crisp. The murkiness had faded as they left the worms’ mating den. For the moment, Lilaci had forgotten that she was still in the middle of the sands, over a hundred miles from any sort of civilization. She followed the man who identified himself as Roren. Her mind was swimming with questions for the stranger— but truth be told— she hadn’t the energy to ask, and then be denied answers from him again. Her eyes even grew weary at the dancing light of the torch on the walls before them: it was hypnotic.
She was eager to see what lay ahead, hoping that it wasn’t a trap. But that seemed too intricate of a trap that Fewn would lay— and how would she have gotten past the worms? It all seemed too mysterious. But Kera, he knew her name. Whatever lay ahead, and whether Roren turns out to be friend or foe— or just crazy— I need to find a way out. I need to shake this pain and fatigue off. I can’t stay down here much longer.
She was surprised by the length of their journey down into the tunnels. The path began to grow steeper, and cooler. Indeed, they were heading further and further below ground. After the winding, and turning, and what felt like an hour of walking in silence, the tunnel began a subtle incline.
“Roren, is it close?”
No response, he only continued his steady pace.
“Is what you’re taking me to see close?” Lilaci asked again, this time more impatient.
“Yes.”
She continued following, and the incline continued.
Step by step, inch by inch, Lilaci pushed past her pain. Her feet were burning, and the insides of her boots were wet with blood and mucus. On the walk she’d taken the time to take her red sash, now filthy with thick, clotted blood and membrane, she slipped her left arm into it, and put the tied part of the sash across her shoulder, forming a makeshift sling. Her broken ribs shot pain throughout her body every time she breathed, so she tried to make short, small breaths. She could feel her hair had come undone from normally being pulled back, and the slime from the worms had
made its way into her hair. It stuck to her face and neck, drying slowly in the dark.
They continued for what felt like another hour, although she thought it was realistically more like half that. The cave began to veer to the right, and she could feel the air was warming. Are we close to the surface? Has it been that long of a journey with him under the sands? Still my curiosity outweighs my caution. He seems not to be concerned for me, especially following behind him. He hasn’t once turned to check on me, and I’m still armed. What if Kera really sent him to wait for me? And how long had he been waiting? So many questions, and I’ll be sure to ask once we arrive at out—
“We’re here,” he said suddenly.
Roren stopped before her and turned to face Lilaci behind him.
“After you,” he said, extending his left arm to motion for Lilaci to enter the next turn first.
She thought about insisting that he go first. All of her training told her not to turn her back to an enemy, but again, there were doubts that he was an enemy— although she knew nothing of the man. She nodded, and stepped forward, but stopped just before the man, looking him squarely into the eyes, only inches from his face.
“If this is a trick,” she said. “You’ll not live long enough to enjoy any second of it.”
Roren was as stoic as she’d seen before. “If it was a trick, why would I have waited as long as I have? Alone. In the dark. Please, after you.”
She looked into his eyes. They were a dark blue like the water from a deep sacred source. His eyes seemed to be inspecting hers as well. Lilaci broke their stare and turned, walking down the corridor, with the light of his torch behind her. She walked. This part of the tunnel was flat. After walking thirty paces she began to see a shimmer of light up ahead. Again, her first thought was that of an ambush. She thought of the Reevins, and how far they’d go to catch and kill her. She thought of the lengths Veranor would go to re-capture her and punish her for what she’d done. Let alone what the gods themselves would do to her.
The shimmer of light appeared to be a single source; flickering in the center of the tunnel up ahead, it was reflecting off something rock-like, and lit the walls of the cavern. As she got closer, she saw what appeared to be a round object in the center of the cave, and as she got even further, she had to squint her eyes at the brightness of the tunnel. She looked back at Roren who held his same gaze. He seemed to be inspecting her reaction.
Once she was a mere twenty paces from the area in the cave, she stopped. Before her was an oblong, round object standing up waist high, and it was engulfed in a slow-burning light golden fire, the same hue as the light of the sun. The walls of the cave were dripping with it. To the right seemed to be a sort of pool waist-high as well, it shimmered in the warming light. The last thing she saw was perhaps the most perplexing of them all. Beneath the oblong object glowing with rippling flames was a mound of gold. There were golden coins, reflecting the light of the flame. There were amulets, and jewels of all shades and shapes. There were vases, rings, and even a dagger gilded with diamonds at its hilt.
Roren had walked up to her side, although she didn’t notice him there at first.
“What is this place?” Lilaci asked in a soft, perplexed voice.
“You don’t know?”
“I’ve heard tales. But it can’t really be one?” she asked.
He didn’t reply.
“Is it— a dragon egg?”
“She told me to wait for you here,” he said. “And now you’ve come.”
Lilaci walked over to it, looking back at Roren for approval to approach it.
“The flames are quite cool,” he said. “You can touch it.”
She took up her right palm and gently hovered it over the egg, feeling no more warmth than one of the Iox’s hides produced. She laid her hand on the egg cautiously, feeling the ridges in its shell. Sharp, hard spike-like scales encircled it. The flames danced around her arm harmlessly.
“Is it—” Lilaci asked. “Dead?”
“Listen—” he responded. “Feel for it.”
She placed her palm flush against the hard-scaled egg. She closed her eyes and listened in the silent cave. First, she only heard the soft flickering of the fire, and the gentle sloshing of the water in the pool. Then she heard it, thick and strong like the releasing of a taut bowstring. Listening further, she had to wait another full minute, but then she heard it again. With her eyes closed still, she moved her palm around the egg, and she felt a smile come across her face.
“A heartbeat,” she whispered. She then turned back to Roren. “It’s alive. There’s a dragon alive in this egg.”
“Yes,” he said.
She then stood up, “What are we to do with it?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I was hoping you’d tell me.”
“I think we have a lot to discuss, Roren.”
“I believe we do indeed,” he said. “But first, please help yourself.” He motioned over to the pool of fresh water to the side. “You look like you could use it.”
Lilaci went over and dipped her hand into it. She held it up to her nose, sniffing it cautiously, searching for toxins or poisons, smelling neither. She sipped a small part of it, and she felt a warming sensation course down her throat, and down into her belly. She then gulped down the rest of the liquid and went back for more.
“I feel great,” she said to Roren. “My pain— it’s subsiding. What is this?”
“I don’t know. But that’s all I’ve had for a year’s time.”
“Have you had food?” she asked. He shook his head. “You’ve had no food for a year? You’ve only been drinking this?” He nodded. “Is this a magical fountain? What is this place? Was it made by the gods?”
“Best I can tell, Lilaci, is that these tunnels were created by the worms ages ago. It's an ancient breeding ground. They produce offspring in the cool depths underground; the big ones keep producing— they never leave. The egg, though, I have no idea how it got here or how long it’s been here. But Kera told me just where to go, and just where to wait.”
“Kera,” Lilaci said. “How— how did she tell you to get in here?”
“There’s another way in—” he said, “and another way out.”
“How did she know about this?” she asked. “She never said anything about his place, or anything about dragon eggs. Who laid this here? How long has it been sitting here underground? How did you know Kera?”
“We’ll have time to discuss these things,” he said. “There’s one thing you should know about Kera . . .”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“She . . . Has spells.”
“Spells?”
“Yes, like . . . Moments—” he said. “She seems to have moments where she becomes someone else. Like another spirit enters her body and mind. She’s clear and articulate like a wise adult. She says things she doesn’t remember later, but that’s when she’s it. That’s the Dragon’s Breath. I don’t know if you’ve heard it, but if you do— you listen. It’s like nothing else you’ll ever witness in your life. That’s how we found her, that’s how we went into hiding to protect her.” I feel as if I’ve seen a glimmer of that side of her. She does seem more like a wise adult than a young child at times.
“You’re—” she started. “You're of the Order of Drakon.” He nodded.
“In one of her— moments— she said that I needed to travel down here, and wait for a woman, a woman that would look like the enemy, but would come to protect her. That she— you— would protect her better than any of us could, and that that woman’s name would be Lilaci.”
Lilaci sighed. “She was wrong about that.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, eager for an answer.
“She’s gone, I’ve lost her.”
“What do you mean she’s gone?” he stammered, his normally stoic appearance faded to vivid concern.
“They’ve taken her from me.”
“Who? The Scaethers? How did this happen?”
“She’s on her way to the gods as we speak.” Damnit Fewn, I’m going to repay you tenfold for this, for the anguish you’ve caused us.
Roren’s face grew grim and serious. The thoughts seemed to be pouring into his mind, and his eyes darted around the room. “Come.”
He went over and grabbed his sword, a scimitar of good length in a scabbard of white ivory and black leather. He gathered a pack that had already been prepared. He threw an empty watersack over to her, which she caught. He stood quickly and began to walk forward down the cave. Lilaci went over and filled the watersack to the brim.
“Come on girl,” he said, walking at a fast pace down the tunnel. “We’ve got to go after her, while there’s still time.” His voice left a slight echo as he spoke louder and stronger than she’d heard him before.
Lilaci looked down at the egg one last time, laying her hand on it, and she felt another strong heartbeat. “This is your destiny, Kera. It was true. The whole thing. The prophecy, the god’s fears, it was all true.” She turned, and just before she was about to take off, she knelt and inspected the gold on the rocks below the egg. She shifted through it slightly, and one piece caught her eye in particular. She held it up to the light of the fire and peered at it. It was a thin golden coin, with the body of a dragon in flight on one side, and an ancient inscription on the other. She pocketed the coin and left back down the tunnel behind Roren, who had disappeared into the darkness.
As she was behind him quite a ways, she began to jog, and then run. My pain— my pain is gone! Kera, I’m coming for you. ‘We’re’ coming for you!
Chapter Forty-Seven
Kera. That’s all Lilaci could think about. She also thought the same worries were going through Roren’s mind. He was fast, as he sprinted up the long tunnel away from the nest of dead, rotting worms. Lilaci was able to continue up at the same pace behind him, the light of his torch shining on the rocks along the way. They didn’t speak; they only ran up the long tunnel for hours.