CHAPTER TWO
Akira refused her father’s offer to carry her rolled up bed fur with her meagre belongings tied tightly inside. She wore her mail, carried her weapons, readying herself for unseen enemies. She chose not to wear her helmet. It too was tied to her body, ready to be donned with a quick slice thru a leather tie. It was easier to wear her brother Ben’s hooded cape than pack it. It had served her well and she didn’t regret stealing it from him for one second. With the fur-trimmed hood pulled up over her head, she could almost be an anonymous shadow, weapons hidden, flitting through the moonlit forest, following a taller, wider dark shadow that wasn’t her own.
“How far are we walking Father?”
“Not much farther.”
“We could have doubled on my horse Pegasus.”
“We had no need of your horse. We shall soon be flying.”
Akira stopped in her tracks. “Stop! What do you mean, flying?”
Mage Morgan turned to face his daughter. He gave her a warm comforting smile. “I arrived by dragon wings and we shall depart the same way. Sky Stalker awaits us just over the hill ahead.”
Akira gulped. “There is a dragon behind that hill?”
Mage Morgan chuckled. “Well I certainly didn’t want to drop into the village and cause a panic. Dragons have long been considered defeated and destroyed. Dragons were wrongly accused of being wings of destruction, masters of massacres, blamed for the carnage the Dark One’s death squad inflicted on our allies. Lies, deliberately perpetuated by the Dark One and his followers, in retaliation for the Dragons siding against him, turned humans against the dragons. It was a divide and conquer strategy that almost worked. ‘Tis best to be discreet when using the assistance of dragons.”
“They are like secret weapons?’
“One might say that, but I prefer to think of them as our secret allies.”
“Were the dragons exonerated? The lies exposed?”
“Yes. The dragons were instrumental in defeating the Dark One. Their power and strength was frightening. They would fly in V formations like geese, swooping down, laying flame on the Dark One’s armies. As history tells us, the dragons took heavy losses, as the black-souled mages used magic to blow them out of the sky. The white mages managed to turn the tides of war. They cast spells and wards to counteract the magic the dark mages used against the dragons. The Dark One was captured, bound by a hundred brilliant white chains, sent to the sixth hell to be imprisoned, and disempowered. Humans were thankful to the dragons for a while. However, mankind began to fear the dragons for they had seen what they could do. For the sake of peace, dragons were banished to a faraway land.”
“That seems so unfair,” said Akira. “They saved our asses!”
“It was unfair. Fear has a strange way of addling men’s minds. Those with powers, such as ourselves, became feared, as feared as the dragons. It has taken near seven generations, a new age, for tolerance of differences to grow. Now with the escape of the Dark One from the seventh hell, we are once more in peril. Our fragile postwar peace treaties are in danger of being broken once more. Had I been alive back then I would have voted for the death of Kalifar, the Dark One. There is no containing pure evil. We wouldn’t be trying to stop him a second time, if they had killed his soul in the sixth hell. In the seventh hell, he did not age and die. The seventh hell does not allow death by aging to end a punishment. Kalifar will be as powerful now as he was before he was cast into the seventh hell. If we don’t stop him soon he will become even more powerful.”
Akira shuddered. “How did he escape the seventh hell?”
“I suspect his faithful followers over the generations grew in numbers and gained enough power to open the gate to the seventh hell and free him. It would have taken much power to open those gates. I fear we face a formidable foe. It seems mercy for his followers was a mistake. All the seeds of evil should have been destroyed.” The mage’s voice resonated with conviction. “One does not spare a thistle patch in a field, for soon it spreads its seeds and overtakes the field rendering it useless, unpalatable for even the beasts. One roots out all the vile weeds. So it should have been with Kalifar’s followers.” Mage Morgan’s eyes blazed.
The mage resumed walking towards the hill. Akira followed him up and over through the brush towards a small hill. Her father’s passion stimulated her emotions and she felt the uncomfortable sensation of magical energy building in her body, when suddenly, the small hill ahead of her moved. Akira’s heart pounded with a surge of adrenaline. Her hand went swiftly to her sword.
Seeing his daughter’s reaction to a dragon waking, lifting his regal head, Mage Morgan put his hand on her sword arm. “Stand down Akira, it’s only Sky Stalker waking.”
Akira reluctantly, cautiously, lowered her sword. Her eyes were glowing. She shook not from fear. She shook with the strange flow of energy coursing through her body. Mage Morgan saw the shaking, saw the telltale glow in her eyes. Swiftly he waved his staff over Akira’s head. Akira stopped shaking. She gave the mage a grateful look. Her eye color returned to normal. She stretched her neck to ease the tension in her shoulders. “I had no control over that! It’s getting scary,” she said, keeping an eye on the dragon.
“I see. No worries I have sedated your energy for you. We shall work on control soon.” He turned and headed for the hill, that wasn’t a hill, that was a dragon. Bemused, Akira followed.
The waking dragon yawned as the humans approached. Huge beautiful green eyes blinked sleepily. They reflected the moonlight. Yellow flecks dotted the dragon’s deep green irises circling widely dilated pupils. A deep voice rumbled. “You certainly make a lot of noise for a species so small.”
Mage Morgan answered, “Far better you hear us approach than startle you my friend. I like my beard unsinged.”
“Ah yes indeed Morgan, I have been known to accidently singe hairs of those who catch me unawares and surprise me. In these times, it is safer for a dragon to breath fire and ask questions later.” The dragon turned his head toward Akira. “Is this the offspring from your loins, of whom you spoke, Morgan?” The dragon looked Akira up and down, from head to toe. “Is this the she?”
“May I introduce you to my daughter, Akira, daughter of Lady Shy.”
“It is my extreme pleasure to make your acquaintance, daughter of Morgan, daughter of Lady Shy,” said the dragon. Please lower your hood that I may see you better.”
Akira was speechless. A dragon is talking to me! Dragons talk! Akira lowered the hood obediently. The size of the creature quelled Akira’s tendency to ignore orders from anyone other than a superior officer.
“I see she strongly resembles her mother, which is fortunate for her,” said the dragon to Morgan. The dragon returned his eyes on Akira. “For a human, you are attractive; well put together.”
Akira found her voice, gathered her wits. “For a dragon, you are handsome, I think, although I have met no other dragons to make a comparison with.” Her expression was challenging.
A great rumbling came from the scaled chest of the dragon.
Akira stepped back alarmed. Morgan laughed. Suddenly, she understood that the sound coming from the dragon was laughter. It was a relief. For a moment, she thought the great beast was growling.
She spoke her thoughts out loud. “This is bat crap crazy. A dragon that talks, a dragon that laughs!” Akira shook her head “What next?”
The rumbling increased then ceased suddenly. “Bat crap crazy, ‘tis a female human, with weapons, how novel!” Akira’s startled look started the dragon rumbling, laughing again.
Mage Morgan chuckled for a moment. Then his expression turned serious again. “We must be on our way.”
The dragon lowered his head. Mage Morgan climbed the neck of the dragon, who then lifted and turned his head over his shoulder so the mage could settle himself behind the dragon’s first bumpy spine spike. The dragon lowered his head in front of Akira. Akira hesitated. She took a deep breath and swung her leg up and over the dragon
’s neck. Her legs, hanging down, didn’t reach the midmass of muscle bulging on the dragon’s neck. Her weight, with her weapons and possessions was nothing to the dragon who swiftly deposited her behind her father. Akira placed her bundle behind herself, against a bumpy protrusion of scales at the base of the next rough spine spike. She felt securely wedged, despite having no stirrups to place her feet in.
Akira wrapped her arms around her father’s waist. She clenched her legs tightly when the great beast stood and started running toward the tree line. The dragon unfolded his leathery wings. His wings reminded Akira of a bat’s. They were almost translucent. Akira was in awe, and to be honest, a touch of nervousness made her hold tight.
With a mighty leap, that jerked her into her father’s back, the dragon took to the sky, skimming over the treetops. It was frightening for Akira, but only for a few seconds. I’m flying, really flying! Gods eyes we are really flying! Exhilaration replaced fear. She forgot about Dimitri. She forgot about Nels. She smiled as the wind whipped her hair about her face. She, simply, let herself live in the moment. She thought if this is bat crap crazy may it never end!” It almost took her breath away to be so high above treetops, with such a lofty view of moonlit meadows, where creeks looked like silver veins and rivers looked like ribbons winding through deep dark-green velvet. To fall now would mean certain death. It made the moment even more precious.
After an hour of steady flight Akira settled back against the bedroll cushioned dragon spike. As much as she loved riding Pegasus, there was no comparison. Dragon riding gave her a heady feeling. Her fingers found purchase among the dragon’s scales. No longer did she need to wrap her arms around her father. Dragon riding made her heart soar. Akira shivered, but she didn’t mind the cold. Her eyes sparkled.
Mage Morgan twisted to look back. He smiled at his daughter. There was no need for Akira to speak. Her expression more than satisfied her father. When he faced forward, a flicker of contentment reflected from his face. Then his expression changed. Once more he looked like a man consumed by a heavy burden.
When her father smiled back at her, Akira didn’t want to speak. She just smiled back at him. Words could not do justice to the feeling, the thrill, of her first dragon ride. As the dragon soared, taking advantage of updrafts, gliding on the advantageous winds, it gently dipped from side to side gracefully. The novice dragon rider leaned instinctively, taking to dragon riding like a baby duck to water.
She thought please don’t wake me if this is a dream. My heart feels like it’s beating in time with this magnificent beast’s wings. And to think I believed dragons had long ago perished. What a marvelous creature this is that spirits me away. It carries us as if we are weightless. There is so much I am ignorant about. It is well to be with my father for I have so much to learn! This feels right. Shame on me for thinking of this dragon as a beast! It’s a magnificent creature! I feel like I’m in a different world.
When the mage felt Akira rest her forehead against his back, Mage Morgan broke the silence between them. Turning his head over his shoulder he shouted over the wind. “What think ye, my daughter, of our mode of travel?”
Akira leaned forward to make her voice heard in the wind. “Amazing. I never in my wildest dreams thought this possible! We are flying! Flying!”
“Your mother, rightly in her circumstance, kept you sheltered from all this. Magic is in your blood. It is now your time Akira. It is time to claim your birthright. Do you want it?”
“Yes, I want it!” Akira replaced her arms around her father’s waist and hugged him for a second, before she became embarrassed about her emotional display, and grabbed onto the dragon scales again. All through her childhood, she had only known a cruel stepfather, a father who valued his sons over a daughter. As she sat back she could not help but wonder what her life would be like if Mage Morgan had raised her from birth. She shook off the thought. The past was just that, past. She knew she would do well to remind herself of that. Old perceptions of the nature of all men treating females like possessions, the old erroneous belief that all magic was evil, needed to be put away. It was all too easy to fall back into old and learned prejudices. Her mind turned back to her three brothers. Their mother’s influence softened their belief that women were less equal than men, made them sympathetic, but still, they had persisted in treating her as a child, making decisions for her, acting as if they were indulging her out of affection. She realized she had run away from them as well as her stepfather. She had great affection for her brothers, for they were family. Akira sighed. Her brothers had been taught their beliefs, enjoyed their male status. Why would they have questioned it? She wished she could wave her real father’s magic wand and turn her brothers into girls for just one day. Akira smiled wickedly. A week would be better. Perhaps then they would realize the only advantage they had over girls and women was physical strength, and only a sack of ignorance would think size and strength could make up for a lame brain. Akira knew many men and boys she could outwit.
The vanity of men is stupid she decided, a sign of centuries old ignorance, perpetuated by men for their own benefit. Akira caught herself, chastised herself, and amended her thoughts. The vanity of some men is stupid. A stubborn streak amended her adjusted thinking. The vanity of most men is stupid. Akira felt justified in her reasoning, for most men, in her experience, were, by her standards, stupid. Akira turned her thoughts to the women guilty of perpetuating the unfairness of treating daughters as less valuable than sons. It made her angry. She scowled as she looked up at the stars. Only a brave woman would rebel, and teach her sons that girls were deserving of equal status. The women were conditioned from birth to accept their lesser role. Akira pictured her mother’s face. If only more women could be as brave and forward thinking as her mother. It was in that moment Akira realized, remembered, her mother had been raised in a different culture. Akira again cursed her stepfather for stealing her mother away with trickery and force from her family and far away kingdom.
Minutes later her father spoke again, breaking into her thoughts. “Look ahead. We approach the great endless waters.”
Akira looked over his shoulder. Her eyes watered in the wind.
“We are almost to the sea caves, home of the enchantress, Talana.”
Ahead and below, the calm sea looked glassy as far into the horizon as her eyes could see by moonlight. Akira looked up. Never had the stars looked so close, almost touchable. She closed her eyes and committed the wondrous sights of the magical night ride to her memory. She thought I wish I was sharing this with Dimitri. A sudden pang of guilt pricked her heart. No, she thought this is right. This is a moment shared with my newfound father. Now my father and I have a memory to share. A thrilling memory to remember.
“It’s a good thing we are near our destination, I’m cold,” said Akira.
“Sky Stalker,” Morgan shouted, “our guest rider is chilled. Can you remedy?”
“The great beast turned its head and blew his warm moist breath towards his riders. It smelled of sweet grass smoke with hints of clover. Akira felt the dragon’s warm breath chase away the wind’s chill. He blew a second breath over them.
“Thank you, Sky Stalker,” Akira shouted, hoping the dragon could hear her. Thank goodness his breath is not foul.
The great beast turned its head, looking into Akira’s blue eyes, for just a brief second. Akira could have sworn the dragon smiled. She leaned forward so her father could better hear her. “I think I am falling in love with dragons.”
Morgan nodded, indicating he heard her. If Akira could have seen his face-splitting grin, above his wind-parted long beard, she might have laughed.
The dragon that had been almost clumsy on land, gracefully started his descent, soaring smoothly to a sandy beach skirting a rocky wall of cliffs that hugged the water’s edge. Sky Stalker pulled a wing to rest near Mage Morgan’s legs. With practiced ease, the mage used the dragon’s wing for a slide to the beach. Akira’s eyes widened. She gamely followed suit. Her
landing was not as graceful as her father’s. She landed on her butt. She stood, looking sheepish, dusting the sand from her back side. “I could use a little extra practice with the dismount.”
Mage Morgan stood before Sky Stalker, looking up to speak to the great beast. “I’m once again indebted to you, my friend.”
The dragon seemed to purr for a moment, before his rumbling, gravelly, voice replied. “It was a beautiful night to assist a friend, a friend to whom I’m equally indebted to.”
Akira moved to stand beside her father. She looked up into the dragon’s eyes and spoke, at first nervously, but with profound respect. “You, mighty Sky Stalker, have provided safe passage over hostile lands. I, too, wish to add to my father’s grateful thanks. My first dragon ride was exhilarating. I must confess, I envy your ability to fly. You are not only a handsome friend to have, but a handy friend. I’m glad my assumption that all dragons had perished in the great war was erroneous.”
“No more grateful than I that your assumption was erroneous, and no more grateful than I and the rest of my kind, for the protection, thanks to the Order of the White Rose, and good sorcerers like your father, that assisted us in escaping annihilation. It is time for dragons and men to put the past behind us. My kind long to return to our homes. Some of us are resettling already, but that is a discussion for another time. I’m delighted to have to have made your acquaintance, daughter of Morgan. My worry, that the bloodline of my friend was coming to an end has been eased. I hope you are fertile and have many offspring.”
Akira didn’t know how to respond. Mage Morgan laughed. The dragon’s purr became louder and broken. The dragon was laughing again. Akira regained her composure. “I hope you also produce many offspring with your … lady dragons.”
The dragon blinked its huge eyes, purring once more. “I dare boast that I may have already contributed sufficiently to insure the increase of strong dragon hatchlings of my kind. I have mated with some highly prolific females.”
Akira Rides Page 3