by Sam Ferguson
“What’s your full name?” Kyra asked.
“Aldehenkaru’hktanah Sit’marihu,” he said with a wide smile. “Would you like to try to say it?”
Kyra gasped slightly and put a hand to her mouth. “Are you a prince?” she asked.
Al balked and glanced to Kathair.
Kathair shrugged and stared at Kyra blankly.
“No, I know that name,” Kyra insisted. “That is the royal family’s name, isn’t it? That is the line of the kings of Roegudok Hall.”
“And what would you know about the dwarves of Roegudok Hall? You can’t be more than fourteen, scarcely eligible to begin your time in the scholar’s school at Kuldiga Academy.”
“I’m nearly fifteen, I belong to the sorcery school, and I know plenty about Roegudok Hall.” Kyra began hotly, “I’ve read several books over the last year about the dwarves of the middle kingdom, including the story of how your people were first made from the Black Mountain by Hiasyntar Kulai, the great golden dragon, and your first king, Persais, was chosen for his valor in rescuing the crowned egg. I’ve even translated the first of the Chronicles of Kendualdern from the original Peish, which is how I know that the runes on the hammer you carry there say that you are the crowned prince.”
For a moment, Al stood flabbergasted, then he turned his gaze to his hammer and ran his fingers across the runes. “This was a title meant for me in another life. Standing at the forge is where I belong, not buried away in a throne room, bound by ceremony and convention. You’ll find me burdened under a crown and stuffed in ceremonial armor when the Wealth of King’s is found.” He finished with a hint of sarcasm.
“I thought that was lost ages ago?” Kyra questioned.
Al wrinkled his nose and tugged on his beard. “I like her, Lepkin, she’s smart. You better make sure you hold onto her.”
“Hold…” Kathair said slowly as he drew his brow together. Sudden realization must have dawned on him, for his brows shot up and he opened his mouth to speak, but Kyra beat him to it.
“No, Al, we are just friends, that’s all,” she said quickly.
Al looked them up and down and sniggered. “Right,” he said as he turned around and moved back toward the table.
Kathair and Kyra shared a glance before the young man spoke up.
“We are looking for a dwarven charm,” he said.
“What for?” Al asked as he retrieved his hammer, slid it into a special holster hanging from his belt, and then moved around the table to pull up a short sword.
“I am going to hunt a shade,” Kyra said bluntly.
Kathair shot her an angry look and shook his head.
Al looked up and set the blade on the table. “I’m sorry, dear, I think I misheard you. What did you say?”
“I need protection from a shade,” she repeated.
Al’s eyes shot open as wide as saucer plates. He looked to Kathair and shook his head. “Never mind, Lepkin, she may not be that smart after all.”
“It killed my mother,” Kyra said fiercely. “It now hunts me.”
Al screwed up his face and tugged on his beard. “It hunts you?”
Kathair stepped into the conversation then. “She’s already fought it once,” he said.
“And lived?!” Al cried out. He shook his head in disbelief. “Stonebubbles, what does it want with you?”
Kathair answered before Kyra could get a word in edgewise. “We don’t know. It seeks something. The masters at Kuldiga Academy are doing their best to help her, but it isn’t enough.”
Al took in a deep breath and then finally nodded. “I have something that will work. I made it myself, so I know the runes are done right. It doesn’t just protect from shades, but from all manner of dark creatures.” He turned around and started shuffling toward a door. “Wait there a moment.”
He returned after a couple of minutes with a silver amulet resting upon a strong chain. It seemed to glow in the firelight as the rectangular amulet twirled this way and that. Al held it up for them to see and then he offered it to Kyra.
“How much?” Kathair asked.
Al shook his head. “This one’s on me,” the dwarf replied solemnly.
Kyra smiled and reached out to take it. She grasped the chains with both hands and then slipped it over her head. She opened her mouth to thank Al, but as the amulet touched her breastbone, she felt a strange, tingling sensation run through her body. Her legs grew weak and her knees gave out.
Kathair was only barely able to catch her and help her back up to her feet. “Are you all right?”
Kyra couldn’t think straight. Her mind went foggy and her strength seemed to evaporate away as if she had none at all. The runes on the amulet glowed brightly.
Suddenly, something tugged at the back of her neck. She felt a sharp, momentary pain, and then the clouds seemed to dissipate from her mind and she breathed in short, quick breaths as her strength returned to her legs.
“Oh, deary, you should have told me about that,” Al said. He turned and put the amulet on the work table.
“Should have told you what?” Kathair asked.
“I’m afraid you can’t use this amulet,” Al said pointedly to Kyra.
“Why not? Tell me what happened!” Kathair shouted.
“Because,” Kyra began softly as she pushed Kathair away, “I am born of a vampire.”
Al nodded grimly. “As I said, any charm that works upon shades, works upon other creatures imbued with dark magic.” Al shook his head and sighed. “This charm works against shades, vampires, shadowfiends, and some demons. If you are even partly of vampire lineage, there is no way you can wear this.”
Kyra nodded and reached her hand up to touch her skin just below the neck where the collarbones meet. The area was sore and stung fiercely as she lightly brushed the pad of her finger against it.
“Let me see something,” Al said. He slipped the amulet around his neck and tied the now broken chain behind his head. “Go ahead and try to hit me with a spell.”
Kyra nodded, blinking her eyes and rubbing her left temple to massage away a headache. She extended her right hand and tried to send a small bolt of lightning from her finger. The spell leapt from her and darted out, but then fizzled to nothing in the air several feet away from the dwarf.
“Now try him,” Al instructed, pointing to Kathair.
“I’m not wearing an amulet,” Kathair pointed out.
Al nodded. “Keep it to a small jolt, don’t want to fry your friend,” Al said.
Kyra turned to Kathair and pointed her hand at him. The small tendril of blue electricity snaked out and bit into Kathair’s shoulder. The young man jumped and grabbed his shoulder.
“Ouch!” he cried out. He rubbed his arm and then pointed to Al. “Al, stand next to me,” Kathair said.
The dwarf shot him a curious look.
“Please,” Kathair pleaded.
Al shuffled over and stood next to Kathair.
“All right, Kyra, fire again,” Kathair said.
Kyra reluctantly took aim and fired. As it had when she cast the spell at Al before, the lightning lost its power a couple of feet before it struck Kathair.
“There, see?” Kathair said. “If I go with you, then I can wear the amulet. I will accompany you into the shade’s lair. We can defeat it together.”
Al shook his head. “Not so fast, Lepkin,” he said. Al moved across to stand beside Kyra. “Try it again,” he said.
“What?” Kathair shouted. “We already know she can hit me if you aren’t close to me.”
Al lifted a finger to his mouth and shushed Kathair.
Kyra cast the spell again, but this time nothing happened at all.
“As I thought,” Al said. “If the amulet is even close to you, it will prevent you from using magic.”
“Then I cannot use the amulet at all,” Kyra said somberly. She stepped away from Al, though whether she could actually feel the amulet’s power or was just afraid of it, she wasn’t sure.
&nbs
p; “Then let me go,” Kathair said quickly.” We have the garunda blood. Give me the charm, and I will slay the shade.”
Kyra shook her head. “No, you will never survive,” she said. “It’s too powerful.”
“But if the charm prevents it from using magic, then I just have to stab it with some garunda blood on my sword. I can do it.”
Kyra shouted, “No!” She looked to Al for help. “I have seen the shade,” she told the dwarf. “It’s too fast for him.”
Al’s brows shot up. “Too fast for Lepkin?” he questioned. “That is something,” he said. “But, I don’t doubt it, shades are very dangerous creatures.”
“So what do we do now?” Kyra asked.
Al held up a finger and then hurried through the door once more. He came back less than a minute later with a wicked-looking crossbow in his hands. “This is an experimental weapon,” he said as he turned it to the side and presented it to Kyra. “It has three slots for the bolts. Each one has its own separate arms, string, and trigger.” Al held it up higher so Kyra could see it. It looked almost as if someone had sandwiched three crossbows together, and then set the three triggers in a row. “Behind the stock you pull on this metal handle to cock it. The downside is, you have to load three bolts at a time, because all three arms move with the single handle. However, you can fire the bolts separately, or together. Watch.”
Al pulled up a quiver of bolts and slid three of them into place. Then, with his left hand on the stock and his right hand on the metal handle in the back, he pulled the limbs into place with a loud cl-click! He then turned to the pile of coal nearby.
“First I will demonstrate single-fire.” He lifted the weapon and pulled the first trigger. The top bolt flew out and exploded into the coal. He then pulled his finger out and put it back on the second trigger. He pulled it and the middle bolt fired. He then slipped his finger back to the third trigger and pulled it. The bottom limbs snapped into place and the last bolt flew through the air.
“Now I will show you the rapid-fire method.” Al loaded three more bolts, and then held the weapon up to take aim. This time, Kyra watched as the dwarf pulled the trigger back hard enough that his finger slipped straight back, hitting the second and then third trigger in less than half of a second. The three crossbow bolts blasted into the coal at nearly the same moment.
“I can loan this to you,” Al told Kyra. You can both go in and hunt the shade. He can wear the amulet, which will protect you both, and you can use the crossbow.”
“I have never used one before,” she said.
“It ain’t difficult,” Al commented. “You just pull it up and look down the middle at what you want to hit. When you see this little knob over the target, you pull the trigger.” Al pointed to a short, oblong metal protrusion on the front of the crossbow. “Just don’t waste all three shots unless you know they are all going to hit the target.”
He held the weapon out for Kyra.
She took it and turned it over in her hands.
“If you ever dry fire the thing, the limbs will break,” Al warned. “Always load all three bolts.”
Kyra nodded.
“How much for the weapon?” Kathair asked.
Al shook his head. “Just don’t get yourselves killed,” he groused. “Also, I am looking for an apprentice. What do you say, Lepkin?”
Kathair shook his head. “No, you know I am bound for the dragon slayers.”
Al shrugged and then held his hands out to the side. “Worth asking,” he said. “It’s hard to find good help in Buktah.”
Al then moved to a shelf on the wall and retrieved a large, canvas bag. He went to Kyra and took the crossbow from her, setting it into the bag along with the quiver of bolts. “Don’t want the guards seeing this and confiscating the only one I have.”
Kyra smiled. “Thank you,” she offered.
Al shook his head. “Don’t thank me unless you live. Frankly, I wouldn’t face a shade unless it had hunted me down and had me cornered. I think the two of you are on a fool’s errand. Why not just wait for the masters to take care of it?”
“They can’t track it,” Kathair said.
“And you can?” Al quipped.
Kathair just looked at Al and nodded.
Al frowned. “Oh,” he said. After a moment, he removed the amulet and handed it to Kathair. “You sure I can’t convince you to reconsider?”
Kyra shook her head. “We’ll have help,” she said.
The two of them made their way back to Leatherback. Kyra sighed with relief and rushed up to hug Leatherback’s snout when she realized he was resting safely where they had left him.
“How do you feel?” Kyra asked.
Leatherback grinned. “I feel good.”
Kyra picked up her staff and then climbed atop the dragon’s back.
Kathair stopped for a moment and removed his shirt. Kyra was about to ask what he was doing, but then he wrapped the amulet in the shirt and stuffed it into the back of his left boot as best he could.
“I don’t know if it will help,” Kathair said, “but I thought it might be worth a try.”
“Thanks,” Kyra offered. She couldn’t help but notice Kathair’s wide shoulders and muscular chest as he approached and scrambled up to sit behind her. He wrapped his hands around her waist and then Kyra took the reins.
“Let’s go home,” she said.
Leatherback launched into the air. Moments later Kyra smiled while Kathair giggled and laughed uncontrollably. It sounded as though he was having far more fun than Kyra had ever had while riding Leatherback.
They flew back with great speed, the wind blowing into them hard and forcing the pair to hunker down atop the dragon as he beat a furious path through the night sky with his wings. There was no way to be sure, but the flight seemed to be nearly half what it had been on their way to Buktah.
Before they knew it, they were landing in a forested area, setting down upon a valley of rocks. Kathair slid off from Leatherback and patted the dragon’s side.
“Thanks for the ride,” he said.
Leatherback turned his head and bowed it slightly while emitting a short purr.
“He likes you,” Kyra said with a smile.
“Of course he does,” Kathair said as he swept his arms out to the side. “Everybody likes me.”
Kyra shook her head and pulled on the reins.
“Wait, before you go, what is the plan?” Kathair asked.
“Meet me in the library tomorrow,” Kyra said.
“Promise you won’t go tonight,” Kathair demanded.
Kyra nodded. “It’s too late even if I wanted to. We would lose the cover of night in a few hours.”
Kathair smiled and looked to Leatherback. “Make sure she doesn’t go anywhere but home tonight, okay? It’s important.”
Leatherback grinned and then turned his head away.
“See you soon,” Kyra said. Then she tugged on the reins twice and Leatherback launched into the air.
The first beat of the dragon’s wings bent the trees away and Kyra could hear Kathair coughing as clouds of dust erupted around him. She smiled at her friend as he quickly disappeared below her.
Soon, she and Leatherback were landing back in the glade. Leatherback let out a satisfied growl and Kyra slid off to the ground and then patted Leatherback’s shoulder.
“Get some rest,” she said. “Tomorrow night we will go after the shade.”
“Hunt the shade,” Leatherback snarled.
Kyra nodded. “Do you still feel all right?”
Leatherback nodded.
“Kyra,” a voice called from the darkness.
She spun around, alarmed, but Leatherback identified the speaker and calmed her.
“Njar,” he said reverently.
The satyr conjured a magical orb of light that hovered above his staff and approached them. “I wanted to check on Leatherback again,” he said. “I know you have been out longer than this before, but with the frequency and distance from
the grove you are travelling, I thought it best to be cautious.”
Kyra nodded. “He says he is fine, but I understand.”
Leatherback took a step toward the satyr and then bowed his head low.
The satyr put out a furry hand and placed it upon Leatherback’s forehead. A green glow emanated between them and Njar began to hum as he closed his eyes and leaned toward Leatherback. The dragon purred softly, closing his eyes as well.
Kyra was never entirely sure what was happening between them, but she felt much more at ease with Njar’s tests than the priests from Valtuu Temple. Knowing that Njar had once been friends with Leatherback’s parents made it seem better, safer somehow.
The exam took several minutes, but Njar broke the spell soon enough and smiled, seemingly pleased.
“Still no evidence of the taint. I will work tonight to strengthen the aspen wood as much as I can.”
Kyra nodded. “Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked.
Njar pointed to her staff. “Leave that here with me as well. I will try to enhance its powers.
Kyra moved to hand him the staff. She then asked, “Are you sure you know the shade’s location?”
Njar nodded. “After you slayed the first beast, I was able to hone in on a second using the Pools of Fate. I saw it emerge from its den. It is there that we will go. If I am wrong, then at least we will eradicate another garunda monster.”
Kyra glanced back to Leatherback. Finally she would have answers. Cyrus may not believe her ready to fight on her own against the shade, but she was not alone. She had good friends to help her.
Kyra opened the portal and walked through without another word.
She appeared in the rocky nest, only a few feet from where she had left Kathair.
The light of the moon was enough to see her way from here. She went toward the tree line, but something moved in the darkness in front of her.
“Kyra, is that you?” Kathair whispered.
Kyra squinted, trying to distinguish her friend from the shadows.
“Kyra?” Kathair repeated.