Dragon Wish

by Judith Leger

  “I had hoped he would be a great king. Matters have

  changed.”

  “Me?”

  “No. He’s invaded neighboring countries, laying them to

  waste. I expect the downfall of my clan if I do not stop him.”

  Seren had a sense of foreboding. “How are you going to

  do it?”

  “When I complete my duty to my late wife, I intend to

  return home.”

  “No.” The word came out before she thought. The images

  of her vision flared to life. With them came the biting fear

  she would lose something special if he returned to his

  homeland. “I told you the other night. You can’t go back, not

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  now.”

  He nodded, slow, deliberate. “Yes, but you failed to say

  why I must not.”

  She wanted to open her mouth and admit what she’d

  witnessed, but the words stuck in her throat. How could she

  tell him she’d seen his death through a vision? She looked

  away. Her mind went blank of anything to say.

  He picked up her hand. Compelled to meet his eyes, she

  tried to keep her face expressionless in hopes of hiding her

  fear. A gentle smile graced his mouth. “You do not have to

  say the words. I know. It was a vision. If I am meant to die,

  there is nothing anyone can do to stop it. Do not carry the

  burden of keeping this from me. I will not allow you to suffer

  any guilt.”

  A sailor called out to him, ending their conversation.

  Paladin squeezed her hand and left. Somewhere along their

  journey, her watching, all her worrying about him had

  become a hobby. This gave her a focal point while she waited

  for the baby’s birth. She smiled and patted the small bump in

  her abdomen.

  Paladin stood next to one of the thick masts, looking up

  at the sails. He removed his coat, caught one of the ropes,

  and climbed, hand over hand, until he reached the yardarm.

  For a second, the world wobbled before her eyes. Her legs

  weakened, refusing to hold her up any longer. She slumped

  on the deck with her back against the solid wood below the

  railing. She gasped for breath, fighting to drag each molecule

  of oxygen into her lungs. She closed her eyes.

  A man’s face appeared behind her lids. His head was

  bald—round, smooth, and silvered in the surrounding light—

  the stranger stared at her and smiled, his teeth flashing

  white. Her eyes flew open. Terror gnawed at her. In an

  instant, her vision righted. The sudden sickness passed.

  Heart pounding, she sent a glance up. She met Paladin’s blue

  eyes. She reached deep inside her, managing to find the

  strength to smile so he wouldn’t wonder.

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  Shaken, she stood. On unsteady feet, she walked to the

  door leading below. She needed to lie down. No, she needed

  to find out the man’s identity in hopes of discovering why

  he’d appeared to her.

  * * * *

  Early the next morning, Seren came above deck. Men,

  human and Felerian, worked tying lines, mopping the deck,

  and attending to other tasks. She searched the area for

  Paladin, but he wasn’t there. Disappointment darkened her

  morning. She had wanted to thank him for the use of her

  room. She decided not to mention she’d spent a restless

  night, tossing on the narrow cot. She had missed the warmth

  of his body, but the continued temptation of having him so

  near at night bothered her. She refused to give in to her

  desires.

  Leo, sitting on a small barrel on the other end of the deck,

  called out for her to join him. She smiled, waving in return.

  Shifting left and right around the sailors, she made her way

  to his side. He patted the top of another cask next to him.

  “Have a seat. Eilan just left to fetch some food. I thought it’d

  be nice to eat out here this morning.”

  They visited for a few minutes before the food arrived.

  After they had finished eating, Eilan, one of the Felerian

  sailors, approached her. Seren glanced up and saw him

  staring at her.

  He bowed with a shy grin pulling his lips up to reveal long

  canines. “Your pardon, my lady, might I play a song for you?”

  Surprised at the request, Seren nodded with a smile,

  pleased he wanted to do such a nice gesture.

  Long incisors appeared on the outer edges of his grin.

  Seren waited until he returned with a long handled, four

  string instrument. The strangeness of watching and speaking

  with these amazing creatures no longer bothered her.

  He captured her attention with the first strum. Her gaze

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  met Leo’s. He grinned, nodded, and nudged her. The fast

  tempo of the song affected even him. Soon, another sailor

  produced a long flute, his music joined with Eilan’s. Before

  long, deep male voices rang out across the ship, the tune was

  cheerful. Listening to it brightened her morning.

  Unable to resist, Seren laughed while she tapped her foot

  in time with the music. When the song ended, Eilan started a

  softer melody.

  Paladin appeared at her side. Without a word, he held out

  a hand. She stared into the blueness of his eyes a moment

  before she placed her palm in his.

  He tugged gently and she came into his arms. She

  positioned her other hand on his shoulder, allowing him to

  lead her into a dance similar to a waltz. He moved with lean

  grace, whirling around the deck. Ropes and casks

  disappeared from their path with the help of the men. The

  sailors laughed and cheered as they passed close to them.

  Heaven had granted Seren another chance to live happily.

  In that moment, she decided to do her best to fill the years

  ahead with simple pleasures like dancing aboard a ship, or

  even just laughing out loud. Right now, she had reached her

  goal.

  A shout from the lookout jarred her daydreams. Paladin

  stopped and squinted up to where the sailor called.

  “Pirates.”

  Chills swept across Seren’s back. She stiffened, her hand

  squeezing Paladin’s. Repeating the word in surprise, she

  glanced at Paladin. His mouth straightened into a line.

  “Go below. Stay there until I come for you.” He gave her a

  little push in the direction of the door leading below.

  Leo appeared at her side and took her arm. Every sailor

  aboard scurried across the deck, preparing in case the

  thieves attacked.

  She shook her head, tugging her arm free. She turned in

  time to see Paladin grab a sail line that was tied off on the

  center mast below the lookout. He drew his shorter blade

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  and cut the rope. The sand bag on the top dropped. With the

  sides of his coat flapping, he rode the other side up to the

  yardarm. Once there, he leapt onto the narrow piece of wood

  and walked to the center lookout post.

  It felt as if her heart had stopped beating until he reached

 
the round tub supposedly the lookout. Oh, God, what was he

  thinking? He was so high up. What if he fell? What would

  she do without him? She wrapped her arms about her waist,

  sending up a silent plea to whatever powers might hear to

  keep him safe. She’d given up on her belief in God with her

  child’s death but if her request was granted, she might

  rediscover her faith.

  Several grappling hooks flew out from a nearby misty

  cloud bank on the right. Metal thudded into wood as they

  hooked onto the ship’s railing. Two lines wrapped around the

  yardarm where Paladin stood. More shouts rang out from

  the ship’s crew. The ropes joining the two ships stretched

  taut. At the sudden jarring, Seren grabbed hold of a nearby

  barrel. The pirates winched their ship closer until wood

  scraped against wood with another teeth shaking jerk.

  “Come on, the captain and the crew will take care of

  them,” Leo muttered near her ear. He took her arm. Lost in a

  dazed shock, not believing this was happening, she allowed

  him to lead her to the door leading below. Just before they

  reached the hatch, three pirates, swords drawn, blades

  glinting in the sunlight, jumped on board not far from them.

  One charged Leo, who in turn, pulled Seren behind him.

  Her feet tangled with each other. She fell with a whoosh, the

  breath knocked out of her. The ship tilted. She slid backward

  a few feet. Fighting to inhale, she looked at where she’d last

  seen Paladin. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a

  glimpse of Leo ducking to avoid a downward sword swipe.

  He punched out with two quick jabs. Knuckles met the

  attacker’s jaw with a dull thud. Blood trickled from the

  corner of the pirate’s mouth.

  Unable to find Paladin, she searched the deck, worried

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  he’d fallen or worse, been knocked off the yardarm when the

  grapples caught hold of their ship. She glanced back to see

  the other two pirates avoid their unconscious shipmate’s

  tumble and swerved past Leo, each angled at her. Trembling,

  she slid her legs beneath her, prepared to fight for her and

  her baby’s life. She refused to let the attackers harm her

  child.

  Someone shouted from above. She shot a glance up in

  time to see Paladin step off the yardarm. Seren froze, terror

  piercing her heart.

  He fell, not twisting and fighting for a hold to stop his

  sudden drop, but more graceful, as if he dove on purpose.

  His right hand held the handle of his sheathed sword. When

  he reached a point of several feet above the deck, he slipped

  the blade free. The silvered length blurred with the speed of

  his movement. The two pirates faced him. His sword slashed

  out, slicing through stained, dingy white shirts to cut deep

  into their chests. Both men, their eyes wide, breaths

  gurgling, staggered back. They crumpled to the deck. Blood

  pooled on the wood beneath their bodies.

  Paladin landed, feet first, but his knees gave way so he

  knelt with one knee touching the deck and the other bent, his

  foot flat. His head remained lowered for a second then he

  stood in the same slow manner she’d grown to love.

  Unable to stop it, her mouth dropped open as her gaze

  bounced from the yardarm to him and back. How had he not

  crashed into the deck? Her vision wobbled a moment then

  cleared. The heavy scent of blood in the air turned her

  stomach. She tried to figure out how he’d fallen without

  being dead weight with the strength of the gravity on this

  planet, but she had nothing to compare this to on Earth. For

  the first time in several days, she experienced the familiar

  lost feeling—that of being alone with her confusion in this

  new world.

  More scarred, armed pirates, howling, their weapons

  waving in the air, poured over the side of the ship. Many

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  attacked the sailors, but the majority of them formed small

  packs. Their focus appeared aimed at Paladin.

  Seren shook her head, scooting out of the way until the

  wooden side of the railing stopped her. She counted at least

  ten armed men advancing, their stances intimidating and

  heading for him. He couldn’t fight all those men alone. Each

  of them held a hateful glimmer in their eyes. Her fear

  threatened to blow up into a full-blown panic.

  A moment before the mass of sweating, reeking pirates

  reached Paladin, loud caws streamed from the sky above.

  White dracs, countless numbers of the small dragons,

  swooped down on the attackers. Sudden, wild fear flared in

  their attacker’s eyes. All the pirates retreated. The dracs

  started to land, their mouths open to release gusts of heated

  air at the pirates still aboard. The entire band of bandits

  broke away, scrambling to return to their ship. All the lines

  were severed. The other ship sank into the white cottony

  cloud bank and disappeared from sight.

  Hands trembling, Seren released a sigh of relief. She

  closed her eyes, resting her head against the wood behind

  her. When she opened them, several dracs landed. The small

  dragons stood facing her. Paladin, balanced on the balls of

  his feet, held his swords in a guarded position before his

  body.

  “My thanks, but now you may leave,” he ordered the

  white-scaled creatures. Small frills at the base of their heads

  fluttered with each call they made to him.

  Six scurried closer, their throats working up and down.

  Once they stood within a few feet of him, they opened their

  mouths. Shining gems gushed from them to fall to the deck

  at his feet. He took a step back and shook his head.

  Gasps and quiet whispers came from where the crew

  stood further along the deck. The gemstones caught the

  sunlight, sparkling with internal flames.

  Leo tried to shift around the dracs. The ones closer to him

  twirled with a vicious cry, fangs bared. His eyes widened, and

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  he held out his hands, shaking his head.

  Paladin’s voice boomed out above the cawing dracs. “Be

  gone, I say.”

  She jerked at the sudden volume of his tone. Honed

  sharpness added force to his words. He’d never reacted like

  this before. Even when the sea dragons had come the other

  day, he had been calm. All that was absent now. The dracs

  had to leave now that the danger from the pirates had

  disappeared, but instead the miniature dragons refused to

  budge even with his order.

  A disembodied voice, musical in tone, floated in the air

  around Paladin. “Be gone? Come now, how dare you speak to

  your brothers in such a fashion. They wish only to save and

  serve you, my king.”

  Glimmering lights swirled around Paladin. These strange

  lights settled behind where the dracs had formed a semi-

  circle before Paladin. Caws changed to excited squeals.

  The brightness from the lights increased unti
l the form of

  a man appeared. Long tattered white robes fluttered in the

  breeze over a pale shirt and pants. Bare feet floated several

  inches above the deck. Slender to the point of thinness, the

  strange man stared at her.

  A slow smile curved his mouth to reveal white teeth. Like

  a warrior’s helmet, a silvered skull cap covered his head. His

  blue-gray stare sent uneasiness through her. Recognition

  flared in her. The man from her vision of the other day. She

  glanced at Paladin.

  “For shame, my boy, you have insulted your kin,” the

  man murmured. He shook his arms out from his sides to

  spread them wide, encompassing all the glittering stones on

  the deck. “These valiant children have gifted you with great

  wealth.”

  Paladin’s jaw tightened. “Bask.”

  The smile widened. “Lior sent me. She yearns to see the

  mother. The time draws near. This blessed woman’s blood

  must be purified.”

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  “I will bring her.”

  “I think not. We will take her this day. You will not

  interfere.”

  “You dare defy me?”

  Bask threw his head back, guffing out a laugh. Paladin’s

  shoulders, already taut with tension, tightened more.

  “You are the one who gave up his rights to rule. You are

  the one who rides the skies searching for what? Even you do

  not know what that something is. Yes, I dare. This and even

  more.” Bask, hovering above the deck by several inches,

  glided to the right. His gaze met Seren’s again.

  She froze, hypnotized by the fires of strength burning in

  his eyes. He smiled, gentle yet knowing, and then nodded.

  A muffled flap came from behind her. Five dracs, hidden

  from view by the railing and much larger than the ones on

  deck, rose from the side of the ship. Each grasped her limbs,

  and the fifth one caught hold of the waistband at the back of

  her pants. Lifted up, face down, Seren screamed, jerking,

  trying to escape. Strong and agile, they twirled around and

  returned the way they had come, her body mere inches from

  striking the rail.

  Paladin whipped toward her and leapt the distance

  between them. His foot landed on the rail, his hand reaching.

  She struggled to stretch her arm to him. Time slowed, each

  second branded into her mind. She met his eyes, their gazes

  held, their fingers brushed then separated.

  The moment froze in time. His forward motion