‘True. But the effort offends me.’ he smiled down at her.
And then she found herself pushed backwards. Riley looked up in alarm. The King smiled and waved at her.
She tried to stop it, hold back, but she was pulled inexorably towards the edge of the rock spire. And then she was hanging above the water. If she could just move her arm, she could reach out and touch the ledge.
Suddenly she was no longer held. She plunged into the water. She tried to swim, but she couldn’t move. All she could do was hold her breath.
And then when her lungs were burning and she could hold on no longer she was suddenly yanked upwards. She broke the surface, gasped for air. She was up by the ledge again. She caught sight of the King, saw his smile.
And then she was back in the water.
And it kept going. Soon all she was aware of was his laugh and her burning, aching lungs. She never had enough time to catch her breath, she gasped, coughed up water, and down she went again. And he laughed.
Sometime later she became aware of a sharp pain in her leg. She couldn’t see what it was. All she could try and do was breathe. An ehlkrid had caught hold of her leg. When it was pulled out of the water with her, it caught sight of the King. And it let go, falling back into the water. She didn’t see, didn’t know why her leg hurt so badly.
All she knew was that she couldn’t breathe, that she was drowning. And for a time, it was as if she was back in Strong Swimmer’s body.
All thought fled.
Much later, the King stopped.
Riley was dropped onto the ledge before the cave. Her leg buckled, she fell to the ground. She coughed and gasped, vomiting up water.
And then she collapsed, her breath coming hard and heavy. Her eyes were wide and unseeing, blinking every now and then.
She heard a chuckle. That was all.
Riley did not know the time, but she was very tired. She hobbled into the cave, wet and cold and bleeding. She sat and kept her eyes carefully from the King because what would he see there but rage?
Riley ripped her leg free of its clothes. There were four narrow but deep cuts in her leg. They were bleeding profusely. The pain was intense. She used her ripped clothes to bandage it.
With a low groan she leant against the cave wall. Her eyes closed. Soon she fell asleep.
When she awoke she did not feel much refreshed. She saw the King, asleep on the ground.
Riley went still. Slowly, silently, she stood. With her injured leg it was difficult, but she crept from the cave.
Once she was outside there was only one place to go, the rocks leading to the other island. She moved as quickly as she could. She jumped from rock to rock. Near the middle of the path the rocks were near the water and waves washed over them. It became much harder going.
But she continued and arrived on the other island.
She walked slowly and cautiously, she did not know this place and she was injured and unarmed.
She crested a rise, went down the other side, out of sight of the cave.
She soon came to a large hole in the rock, a tunnel.
Riley looked around. The place was barren and windy. There was no vegetation, just the ocean and rock. Unless she wanted to start swimming, this was the only place to go.
And so she entered the tunnel. It went down steeply and turned sharply. She realised she must be moving under the ocean. It was cool and damp, but at least not windy.
She crept silently along the tunnel. Soon she spotted cave mould. She gazed at it for a moment before continuing on. Cave mould here might not be safe to eat.
The twisting turning tunnel went on for what felt like hours, but in reality was much less than that. Then it began rising. The tunnel opened out into a large cavern. The top of the cavern was open to the dark red sky.
But that wasn’t really what she was looking at. A great beast lay in the cavern. Its body was huge, tall and fat, big enough to squash a Plains beast if it landed on it. Giant wings were folded at its sides. A long neck lay along the ground, ending in a scaly, triangular shaped head, less than a meter from her.
Giant eyes, black and as big as her hand were looking at her.
Riley was very still. And then she straightened up. It might be able to leave this place from above, but it was far too big to get into the tunnel. Unless it could breathe fire or something, the tunnel was safe.
It could probably breathe fire, she thought. Or something like that.
‘Hello.’ Riley said in a language Aerlid had taught her long ago. ‘My name’s Riley.’
The creature opened its mouth. It had long, dagger like teeth and an even longer tongue. It closed its mouth again.
Suddenly a booming sound exploded in her mind.
hello
Riley raised a hand to her head. Her whole body seemed to be reverberating.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, ‘can you talk a bit quieter?’
When the voice came back it was softer, but it still shook her. hello.
‘Hello.’ Riley repeated. ‘What’s your name?’ she asked.
you ask strange questions. you smell strange. human, but not.
‘I’m half human, half valkar.’
strange indeed. what do you do here, strange one?
‘I am not here by choice. I’d like to leave, do you know the way?’
There was silence.
Then, has the King kidnapped you?
She nodded.
ah. i cannot help you then. he will probably let you go. eventually.
‘There’s nothing you can do?’ she insisted. ‘Couldn’t you just tell me how to leave?’
can you fly?
‘No, I can’t.’
can you swim?
‘Not really.’
There was a pause.
do you have power?
‘No.’
then you cannot leave. not without help. if i helped, the King would just take you back. He must let you go.
Riley slowly sat down. She ached all over. She pushed her hands into her eyes and tried to think.
A grating sound caught her attention. She looked up to find the creature had crept closer, its snout sniffing at her injured leg.
‘What are you doing?’ her voice was sharp, she did not move but she was tensed, prepared to defend herself.
strange. the King does not often hurt his captives. it does not fit with his image.
‘He tried to drown me.’ Riley said acidly, relaxing a bit. ‘I don’t know how that happened.’
bitten. something tried to eat you.
‘Speaking of eating, are you going to try that?’
if i was, i would have done it already.
‘Are you quite sure?’
you have valkar blood. i won’t eat you.
‘I’m afraid most ehlkrid do not share your views.’ she paused. ‘Are you an ehlkrid?’
yes. but no, i am not like the others. i am the only one that remembers now.
‘There are things I’d like to ask you,’ Riley began slowly, seeing an opportunity here. ‘But I’m hungry, I’m injured, and I don’t know what the King will do when he discovers I’m missing.’
the mould that grows on these walls is very nutritious. as for the King, i cannot say. he may anger, he may be amused. for your injury, i may be able to help. come closer, stick your leg out.
Wondering if the creature was going to bite it off, Riley shuffled closer and did as asked.
The creature opened its mouth a bit. A small flame came out.
Riley yelped. ‘Hey!’
stay still, strange one. i don’t often cook my food before i eat it.
Riley obeyed. The flame was intensely hot. Her eyes watered at the pain. But when he stopped she saw the cuts were healed. Her leg was not burnt, but it felt like it.
leave it, the pain will fade.
‘Thank you. What should I call you?’
whatever it pleases you. the king no longer wishes us to have names.
Riley sto
od, tested out her leg. It supported her weight, there was no pain other than the burning sensation. ‘I have some questions about the ehlkrid. But I think I need to get back.’
perhaps. be aware, he may pretend you have deceived him when you have not. if you visit again, i will talk.
‘Goodbye, thank you for your help.’ Riley turned then and ran back along the tunnel. When she came across cave mould she scooped it up and ate it. She choked it down, continued on, and wished she had some dirt to eat.
When she returned to the cave she found the King was still asleep. But maybe he was tricking her.
Feeling better than she had in what seemed an age, Riley lay down on the rocky ground and fell asleep.
When she awoke the King was there. He gave her that amused smile that suggested he knew something she didn’t. But he always smiled like that, so perhaps it meant nothing.
‘The princess has awoken.’ he announced.
Riley sat up. ‘Hello, Your Majesty.’ she managed, trying to sound polite.
‘I imagine the princess wants something to eat.’
Riley nodded cautiously.
His smile took on a sorrowful cast. ‘I’m afraid my realm is full of nothing but poison and mould. Which would you prefer?’
Carefully Riley said, ‘I had heard you made this place.’
His smile snapped off. ‘Indeed, I did.’
Quickly Riley said, ‘Your Majesty, there was a reason I wanted to meet with you.’
‘I would think there are many reasons you’d want to meet me.’ he retorted. ‘But go on.’
‘Your people are attacking mine. Can we not come to some arrangement?’
‘Ah, you mean peace.’ he smiled, ‘but I have everything I want. So do my subjects.’
‘They like fighting and killing and dying?’
‘Yes, actually. It is in their nature, and mine.’
‘The world is a big place, Your Majesty. There is plenty of room for your people, without fighting.’
‘But they like fighting. No, I’m afraid there is nothing you can offer me or mine. Now, am I going to fetch you breakfast, princess, or do you intend to bore me to death?’
Riley managed to ask for ‘mould, if it’s not too much trouble.’
The King flew off. He returned some time later with cave mould of varying colours. He seemed somewhat disappointed when she ate it without complaint.
Riley spent the rest of the day, if it could be called that, by the cave. There didn’t seem to be a day-night cycle in this place. She didn’t know what the King did. Sometimes he was there, sometimes he wasn’t.
When he fell asleep, she crept off again to visit the creature.
‘Hello.’ Riley greeted the creature when she entered the cavern.
Now that she was less hurt, tired and afraid, Riley could pick out more details. The creature was covered in large black scales. On its triangular head were a set of horns.
hello. The creature boomed.
Riley rocked, ‘quieter, please.’
hello.
‘Thank you, that’s much better.’ Though it still rung through her entire body.
you have returned. you have questions?
‘I do. Where are we?’
we are in the King’s land. the land of the ehlkrid. it is not far in distance from your world. distance is not what separates them.
‘Alright. I asked the King if there is any way to stop the fighting. He tells me ehlkrid enjoy fighting. Is this true?’
now, yes. but merely because they know nothing else, and can know nothing else. i see what you want to know. let me tell you my story.
Riley waited.
The creature snorted.
sit down.
Riley obeyed, making herself comfortable against the rock wall.
the ehlkrid were not always this way, and Andalla’s people were not always that way. do you know Andalla?
‘I have met him.’
once, we were one. but this was long, long ago. Andalla and the King split us, still it was not so bad. or so i was told. we still kept our forms, who we were, though we could no longer talk with our brothers and sisters who had joined Andalla. that kinship was lost to us. Andalla has always liked to be worshipped. often he spied the religions of man and made himself in the form of their gods. they had many. he would come to them and make himself out to be their god. and then when he tired of his worshippers or that form he would stop for a while, or find a new one. he found a people who had a belief in golden spirits who lived beyond the clouds, he took this on himself. but they also had a belief in monsters who lived within the shadows of their world. the King and Andalla have ever competed. and so the King took on the form of the spirits’ competitors. and as ever, what form our leaders took on they forced upon their subjects as well. this lie stuck longer than the others, perhaps because it fit the enmity between the King and Andalla well. though the King made changes to the beliefs of man, as did Andalla. the King of the monsters was a terrible, ugly creature. the King made himself to be a handsome young man. you have seen he likes to kidnap women and have them fall in love with him.
Riley made a noise of disgust.
and so Andalla made himself a realm that conformed in some respects to the beliefs he had stolen, and the King made this place. and we were forced here, forced into shapes that were not our own. slowly my kin forgot who they were, forgot they had ever been something else, forgot how to change. their monstrous forms took over their minds. i have hoped that buried deep inside lies a spark of memory, but i fear it cannot be. i am the last of the old ones, all that live now were born this way. i fear that what the King says of them is now true. but i am the eldest. i am the only one that remembers. perhaps that is why he keeps me close. his subjects no longer make for good conversation. he made me into this beast, which did not fit into the humans’ stolen beliefs at all. but dragons were ever depicted as strong and proud creatures, i think he thought it was a compliment.
There was silence for a moment.
it was not always this way. Riley heard sorrow in the painfully powerful voice. my time is passing, and i have wished for a way to help my kind. the King has betrayed us. but i lack the power.
‘What about all together?’ Riley asked. ‘If you all fought him, could you defeat him?’
possibly, though the time when my kin can do that has long since passed. besides, the King has ever had a strong hold on us, our belief in his power holds us in check more than his actual power.
Riley frowned, thinking hard. ‘The only way to end the fighting is to kill the King.’
you mustn’t forget Andalla. if the King was gone Andalla would kill us or enslave us. we would be his in some way.
‘Do you know if Andalla or the King have any weaknesses?’
no, i know nothing that could defeat them.
Riley spent the rest of the visit in deep thought. When she got up to leave a question occurred to her.
‘What do you eat?’ she asked. ‘The other ehlkrid eat each other.’
i know. His voice was powerful with grief, it was hard for Riley to stand. i know. but i do not eat my family. the cave mould grows in many places in this land. i may pale in comparison to the King, but i am the strongest ehlkrid here. the others will bring me the cave mould out of fear, which i am too big to reach.
‘So they obey you?’
to an extent, as long as it does not involve displeasing the King.
‘I see. Thank you, if there is a way, I will try and help you.’
thank you. but i fear there is no way.
‘I don’t know. If I can, I’ll visit again.’
Chapter 24
Riley returned to the cave. The next day she visited the dragon again.
She was jumping across to the cave when suddenly she was swept into the air and into someone’s arms. Riley bit back the urge to yell as she saw who had picked her up, lest she insult him.
Andalla, golden and handsome, smiled down at her.
Riley stared, feeling rather weak. She quickly lowered her gaze as something very cold and hard came over her. This was the man who had tricked Aerlid into killing his beloved. He had started all this. That did not excuse what Aerlid had done to her, but he was also this man’s victim. And she could not let Andalla see that in her eyes.
‘Put your arms around my neck.’ he said.
‘Hello.’ Riley replied, trying to keep her unrelenting hatred of this creature from her voice. ‘Where are you taking me?’
‘Your arms. Around my neck.’ his voice now had a dangerous edge to it.
Riley quickly obeyed.
‘Excellent.’ he sounded pleased. ‘I am rescuing you from the King of the Ehlkrid.’
Sharp pain stabbed into her head as Andalla said ehlkrid.
‘You must be very pleased.’
‘Yes. Of course.’ Riley lied, forcing her voice into polite obedience. ‘Are you taking me home?’
‘I imagine you’ll want to marry me now that I’ve rescued you.’ he continued. ‘I’ll allow it. And my home shall be your home, so yes, I am taking you home.’
‘I-I… I’m surely not worthy of being your wife!’ Riley choked. They were flying higher and higher.
‘This is true. But then, who is?’
Riley said nothing.
‘Exactly. Whoever I choose, they will not be worthy of me. As a valkar princess, I suppose you are slightly better than most. But only by a little bit.’
‘A very small bit.’ Riley barely managed to speak.
‘Exactly!’
The sky changed from an ugly red to blue. Riley couldn’t help a cry. This was the sky of her world! But he kept flying. He flew up, past the clouds. And then the world changed imperceptibly. It became more cloudy until the world seemed made of nothing but clouds. A soft golden light suffused everything.
Slowly, a garden made of cloud appeared before her. Behind it she saw a huge, spiralling palace.
Andalla dropped her gently onto the clouds. The clouds supported her as if they were solid ground.
The Andallites, his people, slowly gathered around them.
‘My kingdom! It’s beauty and magic has captured the minds of any mortal who has dared tread here. When I tire of you and send you back to your mortal world, I imagine you will go quite mad. You likely won’t survive.’ he waited a moment.
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