Warrior

by Michelle Magly

  The gates stood in Alina’s mind, the scorch marks and hacked-away chunks a glaring reminder of the city’s impenetrability. The dragons would not be breached by one human army. “They will not benefit you as a neighboring kingdom.” Alina crossed her arms and then uncrossed them, unsure of how to stand to appear convincing. “I am here, willing to negotiate a trade agreement, an alliance if that is what the dragons desire.”

  The words provoked no reaction. The dragon glanced at its fellows. They stood there unmoving for what felt like hours. Alina almost forgot the sweltering heat as a cold wind rolled off the far cliffs. The dragon turned toward her. “We have heard whispers of an honorable queen coming to the throne. I am inclined to believe you. We will talk more of the struggles our kingdoms face. But now, you and the travelers must rest. We are not so uncivilized as to deny you that.”

  Alina exhaled and felt a knot of tension in her chest loosening. “I look forward to speaking with you. I trust I will prove different from the humans that came before me.”

  The dragon narrowed its gaze and growled. “We killed your predecessor because he was dishonest and impatient. We hope we find no cause to do the same again.”

  The dragon turned from her and walked away, back to the edge of the mountainside. It coiled around itself and settled down. All the elders became silent and as still as the mountains themselves.

  Alina thought she might faint. The exhaustion and fatigue of their travels hit her as hard as her hammering heart. She swayed, but Senri caught and steadied her. She blinked and straightened her posture, glancing back at the Warrior. Senri smiled. She looked exhausted as well.

  “Oh, Senri,” she sighed, unable to help the small action. Instead of responding, Senri turned her to face the dragon escort. She tried to recover what little authority remained, but the fatigue would not leave her limbs.

  “We will show you your quarters,” said the dragon. “Your supplies have been moved already. Come with us.” The terseness of its tone seemed to convey exhaustion as well.

  Alina suspected no one had slept since their initial encounter. She hardly paid attention to where the dragons led them, though she realized it was a private complex when they arrived. Fires lit hollowed out areas of the rock walls. The dragons told them they were not to leave and food would be provided, then the dragon left. True to its word, a dragon pushed in a whole cartload of provisions, most of it meats. It was smaller than the others they had seen, perhaps the same height as a tall human, with dark scales. It cast them a wary look when it left the food.

  After they settled their supplies in the main hall, everyone set out to explore the outlying rooms. The stone house had been dug out from the mountainside like many other dragon homes. The rough-cut rooms and halls were larger than most rooms in the palace, though most dragons stood much taller than humans. Still, it surprised Alina to see a home built in such a similar fashion to what any human architect might decide on. The only difference she could note was the distinct lack of decoration, though dragons did not seem keen on decorations to begin with. Alina walked into a bedroom of sorts, a small circular room carved out of the rock. She cried out. The beds were piles of thatch covered in animal skins.

  Senri rushed to her side, exclaiming, “what’s wrong?”

  Alina frowned and let her tired frame slump against the warm body. “The beds aren’t beds,” she said, her voice muffled against Senri’s chest.

  Strong arms encircled her and Alina felt the weight of Senri’s chin on her head. “Well, I was reluctant to offer at first, but seeing your distress leaves me no choice, you may snuggle atop me if you need.”

  Alina glared as Senri grinned. But her glare softened when she remembered their soft kisses from the previous night. Her insides ignited. She leaned up to kiss Senri, but Senri leaned back. Frowning, Alina wrapped her arms around Senri and tried again, only to be thwarted a second time. Alina whimpered and slumped against Senri once more. “Why not?”

  Senri’s fingers threaded through her hair and she immediately calmed again. “You are far too tired to be doing that,” said Senri. Alina sighed and nuzzled deeper into Senri’s chest. “See? Your emotions are all over the place.”

  “Aren’t I supposed to be the rational one?” asked Alina.

  Senri chuckled. “Yes, but right now I think sleep deprivation has switched us. Go lay down. I’ll let everyone know we are turning in for the day.” Senri released her and nudged her towards the crude bed. Before flopping down on it, she turned and looked back at Senri.

  “You’ll come back?” she asked.

  Senri nodded and bowed. “Of course, my Queen.”

  Alina sighed and lay down on the animal skins. In truth, it was much better than sleeping on the cold ground of the mountainside. Immeasurably better, actually, and even though she desperately wanted to stay awake until Senri arrived, she found herself unable and unwilling to remain awake any longer. The day had gone on too long and had been filled with too many trials to warrant her attention anymore. Alina drifted off to sleep.

  ***

  Senri returned later than she hoped. Yahn spent too much time discussing the arrangement of a watch and then Nat tried to corner and question her about Alina and their midnight activities. She brushed aside his comments and retrieved as many blankets as could be spared before returning to her room. Alina already slept, so Senri eased herself down next to her and covered Alina gently with a blanket. She wrapped an arm around Alina and settled down, falling asleep next to her.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  THEY AWOKE IN THE early afternoon. Senri blinked, feeling a weight on her and realizing Alina lay pressed against her. “Um, good morning.”

  “Good morning.” Alina smiled and snaked her hands down Senri’s arms.

  “I take it you slept well?” Senri asked. A shock traveled up from her fingers as Alina laced theirs together. It started a pulse between her legs.

  “I never thought sleeping with you would erase all that tension behind bad politics,” she said. Alina bent down and kissed one of Senri’s cheeks. “It will all come back, of course. I cannot forget about the monumental suffering of my people.” Her expression fell even as she spoke the words. Senri tilted her head up and kissed Alina. When she drew away, the small smile had returned. “But at least you will keep me sane during our waiting period here in the land of improper beds.”

  “They’re more proper than the ground,” said Senri. She had slept well in comparison to the nearly freezing nights on the mountainside.

  Alina kissed her again. Senri moaned against Alina’s lips, her tongue reaching out and caressing Alina’s. Senri shivered and arched her hips, the deepening contact not enough. She needed more. Alina’s hips shifted and pressed against her own. She pulled her hands away and cupped Alina’s backside, pulling her closer. Her fingers traveled up to the seam of Alina’s trousers and along the smooth skin of her back. This time, Alina moaned.

  “We should stop, shouldn’t we?” Alina mumbled against her lips. Their hips met again in a slow, pulsating rhythm.

  Senri kissed her once more. Her insides seemed like a pool of fire and the center of the heat lay in between her legs. Never had she felt so tightly wound. Never had she explicitly imagined the thoughts trailing through her mind. Not with Alina. Senri had been too frightened to think them before. Alina’s words sounded so far away. Even as Alina lifted up, Senri followed, hands still holding her close.

  “What did you say?” she asked. She mumbled the question, lips pressing against Alina’s.

  Senri whimpered slightly as Alina pulled out of reach. To disappoint her further, Alina pried Senri’s hands off her and pushed her gently down onto the mattress. “I said we should stop.” A giggle followed Alina’s statement as she stared down at Senri.

  She frowned. “What?”

  “You look so disappointed.”

  Senri’s face grew hot. She looked up at the ceiling instead.

  “Oh, don’t be like that.” Alina’s hand cup
ped her cheek and brought her gaze back down. Senri took a deep breath and tried to look less wounded. Alina giggled again. “I enjoy this side of you, actually.”

  “The tortured side?” Senri tried shifting her weight, but Alina kept her pinned.

  “The sexual side,” said Alina. “You kept it under lock and key for so long.”

  “To be fair, thinking of you like that is a quick way to end up in the dungeon.”

  Alina’s weight shifted. She swung off of Senri and stood by the bedroll. As she smoothed out her clothes, she muttered, “One would have to have a country to rule to fear that.”

  Senri sat up and took hold of Alina’s hand. “They will help us. What we ask of them is a great thing.” When Alina did not respond, she stood and took the other hand as well. “At least we were not engulfed in flames.” Senri had been worried the entire time during their discussion with the dragons that one would get too fed up and breathe fire down upon them like Alina had envisioned. She touched Alina’s cheek, a gesture that she took pleasure in performing on a whim. “Dwelling on the future does no good. You should hear what my village seer has to say about it.”

  Alina glanced at her and smiled. “I spoke with Mala, actually.”

  “Oh?” Senri glanced toward the room’s doorway and offered her arm to Alina. “How was the experience?”

  “Enlightening,” Alina replied. “She helped me put a few things about myself in perspective.” They left the room, and judging by Alina’s tone, the subject about her and Mala was closed. As they stepped into the main hall, Senri could hear the voices of others coming from the main room. Lanan approached them.

  “Good to see you two out and about,” she said. “I was getting tired of keeping the others at bay.”

  “At bay, why would you have to do that?” Senri did not trust the grin on Lanan’s face.

  She shrugged. “Oh, I just assumed the two of you would be…preoccupied for a while longer.”

  Senri’s face burned. She glanced down at Alina but saw nothing, no trace of emotion, except maybe an amiable demeanor. It had been like that with the dragons, too. Alina’s face had been a wall.

  “We’ll go meet with them now,” said Alina, her tone even.

  Their meal for the day consisted of meats supplemented with vegetables from their packs. Nat poked at the smoked slab cooking over the fire. “I wonder if the dragons eat meat.”

  Lanan laughed, but Yahn glared at him. “They’re right outside. Don’t be rude.”

  Senri and Alina joined them. “So we are just as much prisoners as we are guests,” Alina said.

  Yahn nodded. “They were serious when they said we were not to leave.”

  The dragons had left guards stationed at the only entrance and exit. No one had come to contact them unless it involved bringing food or water. None had even mentioned how long they were to remain. Yahn insisted they spend most of the day talking strategy, laying out plans if things went bad. They crowded together in a tight circle, muttering their opinions and drawing in the dust on the floors.

  Even with the new tactics established, Senri felt unprepared. She had not expected to wait anything out like this. She thought things would be determined faster once they found the dragons. The five of them stood. Senri stretched, her muscles cramped from not moving around. Though it felt better than the utter exhaustion she had grown accustomed to during their hike through the mountains.

  “What do we do now?” asked Lanan, stretching her arms out behind her back.

  Yahn shrugged and glanced toward the entrance. “Stay out of trouble, I suppose. I don’t care as long as the four of you remain in this house.”

  Senri caught Alina glancing at her and her face flushed. She waited for Nat to pick up on the subtle change and mock her, but Lanan dragged him away, talking about showing him the strange idols she had found in one of the rooms. Yahn followed after, leaving the two of them alone once more. Senri glanced toward a window; twilight had approached already.

  “So.” Alina’s voice made her jump. “Can you think of anything to pass the time?”

  Alina angled herself forward in just the right way to show off her cleavage, an impressive feat considering the shapeless tunic she wore. Senri’s mouth felt dry and she lied. “I…uh… have no idea.”

  “We could always redecorate our new temporary living quarters,” said Alina. She started walking toward their bedroom, her hips shifting as she moved.

  “Redecorate how?” Senri stood up and followed after.

  Alina stopped in the doorway and lifted a hand to the wall. She stopped. “Oh, I think it needs more fabric.” She walked further into the room and moved to peel off her shirt. Senri rushed forward and stopped her.

  “A door would make for fine decoration as well,” Senri noted.

  “They won’t bother us.”

  Senri thought of what Nat might do if he stumbled in on them. Probably turn around and leave. “No, I suppose not,” she said.

  As they walked toward the bed, Alina grabbed her by the tunic and yanked her farther in. Their lips met before Senri realized what was happening. She recovered quickly and kissed back, pulling Alina close to her. She liked the way their bodies fit when they held each other close. It felt right. Just as she slipped her hand under Alina’s tunic, a faint noise caught her attention.

  Both of them stilled, foreheads pressed together as they listened. Nothing happened.

  “Did you hear that?” asked Senri.

  Alina nodded. “Sounded like shifting stone.” They did not move for several more seconds. Finally, Senri’s hand went back to exploring the soft expanse of Alina’s stomach. They kissed again, and had almost lost themselves in the same fiery passion as before when Senri halted. The sound had returned. Alina cupped her cheek and directed her gaze so their eyes met. “What is it?”

  Senri closed her eyes and breathed in. She could feel the warmth of Alina, the absence of warmth along the room, the cold that soaked into the stone, and then the spike of heat. “Dragons.” She looked at the far corner of the room. It felt as though they came from below the surface. “I think...they’re using a secret tunnel. Alina. You need to go.”

  Before they could speak more, a great stone section of the floor shifted in a corner of their room, and then was pushed up by a dragon. It tossed the slab aside easily and hoisted itself from the hole. Two other dragons followed it.

  “What are you doing here?” asked Alina. Senri tried to pull her behind, but she resisted. “I warn you, I will fetch the guards.”

  The dragons leapt at them before Senri could grab her sword. Two went for Alina. Senri tried to push her out of the way, but one grabbed Senri by the shoulder and tossed her aside. Pain seared through her shoulder as she fell on her side. She watched one dragon wrestle with dragging Alina away while the other one lifted the stone slab and placed it in front of the entrance. They were trapped in the room.

  Senri stood, trying to swallow down the bile that rose in her throat. The room spun. Senri could hear shouting in the hallway. The other Warriors must have heard the commotion. One dragon moved to defend the doorway. Senri ran after the dragon holding Alina, but the third one grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into the air.

  “Senri!” Alina’s cry rang out. “Senri, no!”

  Senri tried to draw in a breath. She couldn’t. Her vision faded, darkening around the edges, but she still saw the other dragon taking Alina away, kidnapping her, stealing her. She struggled against her assailant, her hands clawing at the talons around her neck, the talons pinching her flesh and crushing her windpipe. She had to stop them, had to save Alina. If she could just get free.

  “Senri!”

  Her fingers closed around the dragon’s arm and she managed to get one breath in. The world dissolved in flame around her. A bright, blinding light stood in front her. She snuffed it out, pulling the immense heat source into her being. The claws at her throat slackened, dropped her, and the form slumped to the ground. Senri gasped. The other dra
gon, another blinding ball of light, pulled Alina away. Senri charged forward, weaponless. Alina screamed. The dragon puffed out its chest and the heat swelled. Senri raised a hand. The flames poured over her, but did not burn. This time she found the root of the flame, the beating sun of the dragon’s heart, and she pushed out at it. The fire dwindled. She extinguished it with a thought. Go out.

  Senri blinked the soot out of her eyes. The dragon took a swaying step toward her and released Alina, who ran to grab her bow and quiver by the bed. A few more steps, and the dragon fell forward into the ground—dead. The remaining Dragon struggled to keep the others away from the door. After seeing its comrades dead, however, it roared and charged at Alina. Senri ran to intercept the beast. She didn’t move fast enough. The dragon’s jaws stretched open wide, razor teeth ready to sink into Alina’s flesh.

  A twang sounded and the dragon grunted. It fell forward, writhing and trying to pull at the arrow lodged deeply in its throat, its breaths coming in ragged gasps. Alina pulled another arrow from her quiver and aimed at the heart. She shot. The dragon stilled.

  The stone blocking the entrance finally cracked and crumbled as Nat and Yahn broke through. They charged in, swords drawn, but paused when they saw the assailants all dead. Before anyone could make a move, the dragon guard from outside barreled into the room. “All of them dead,” it hissed, nudging a body with his foot. “My kin disgrace me.” It spat on the nearest body. Senri did not know dragons could look so livid, but this one had narrowed its eyes and clenched it’s clawed hands tight.

  Instead of facing the guard, she ran to Alina’s side. “Are you all right?” she asked. Alina’s face had gone pale. Her hands shook when Senri clasped them. “Alina?” She met her gaze, but her brown eyes seemed empty.

  “You will all come to the mountaintop,” said the dragon guard. Senri glanced at it. The blaze seemed to burn hotter. It was definitely angry. “I will wait outside. Be quick.” Without waiting for a response, the dragon left, pushing aside Nat and Lanan on its way.