The Dragon Hunter and the Mage

by V. R. Cardoso

  Well, that’s a first…

  Aric had never seen a barking cat. And certainly not one that was this big.

  He laid on the floor, belly down, and grabbed onto the cat’s neck, timing his move to coincide with one of the animal’s nervous jumps. The cat really was huge, and heavy. Aric heaved with all his strength. It must have scared the poor thing even further because he scratched Aric’s arms furiously until its paws finally found the ledge and the necessary purchase to jump inside.

  Aric rolled away, getting out of the blinding swirl from the storm, and found himself staring at a set of really long, sharp teeth.

  “Whoa, there!” Slowly, Aric stood back up.

  The cat hissed. It wasn’t really a cat. More like a lynx, with very large, pointy ears and wide, hazelnut eyes.

  “I didn’t just save you so you could eat me, alright?”

  The cat didn’t like that Aric was getting taller. It hissed and pawed the air.

  “Ok, I get it. You don’t like me,” Aric said. He looked outside where the sandstorm was raging on. “But I’m afraid you’re out of luck because we’re both stuck in here for a while.”

  Making sure he kept his distance from the cat, Aric walked further into the cave. The cracked walls grew darker and darker until everything disappeared into shadows after a few feet. Twigs and small animal prints covered the dirt floor around the charred remains of a campfire. They were obviously not the first visitors to this place.

  Aric sat down, massaging his legs. An overwhelming feeling of exhaustion was taking over his body. A grumble echoed through the cave and Aric placed a hand on his stomach. The race against the storm had clearly spent everything he had.

  Careful not to spill any more drops again, Aric drank a couple of sips of water, shaking the canteen to check how much he had left. It wasn’t much. A third, maybe, though probably less.

  Beside him, the cat had finally decided to relax and was licking his forelegs. Aric removed the biscuits from his belt pouch as he watched the feline laying down. The instant Aric took the first bite, the cat’s head snapped towards him.

  Aric chuckled. “You’re hungry as well, huh?” He finished his biscuit and drew another one from the pouch. “Here.” The cat didn’t move right away, but slowly extended its head, sniffing the air separating him from the biscuit. “What? Are you afraid of me?” Aric threw the cookie and it landed right between the animal’s paws. The cat smelled the brown cookie, licked it, then tried a shy nibble. He must have liked it because the following moment the biscuit disappeared through his needle sharp teeth.

  Aric ate another biscuit and pushed it down with a sip of water. Goddess he was hungry and thirsty… but he knew he should conserve what little food and drink he had, so he put the canteen and biscuit pouch away and leaned back. The cat mimicked him, resting his head on his paws, his tongue slapping the top of his already wet nose.

  “Are you as tired as me, boy?” Aric asked in a low voice. “Or are you a girl?” His eyelids were getting heavy as he hugged himself.

  The cave was warm, almost damp. Outside, the sandstorm whistled and howled hypnotically. The sound became further and further away, and Aric’s eyes became heavier and heavier until they shut and his head drooped to his chest.

  A sharp pain on the back of his neck made Aric cringe as he woke. He straightened his head back and his stomach grumbled. Everything felt wrong, from the coarseness of his throat to the boiling sensation on his feet.

  He looked up, and his heart almost jumped out of his chest when he saw the shape of the huge feline standing next to him. The animal had his head down and was chewing at something on Aric’s hip.

  “No!” Aric yelled pushing the cat away, but it was too late. “You thief! You miserable thief!” Aric held up the empty pouch and a couple of cookie crumbles fell to the ground.

  Fuming, Aric threw the pouch at the cat’s face, but the feline merely licked the corners of his mouth.

  “I saved your life, you‒” Aric gave up on the sentence, cursing as he stormed towards the cave’s exit.

  The storm was long gone, and the endless sea of dunes was back to its torrid calm. He didn’t have anything left to eat, but at least, the way was clear for him to get back.

  I wonder if Leth and Clea are still waiting for me… he thought.

  But even if they were, how was he supposed to find them? Aric had some idea of the direction from which he had come, but without the compass on his backpack there was no way to tell north from south, let alone navigate across the desert for a few miles.

  Still, there was no point in staying in the cave. He jumped, landing on soft, warm sand. The next moment, the cat landed right beside him, but Aric turned away from him. The huge, stone wall gave him an idea– maybe if he climbed up to the mesa he would be able to see some distant point of reference.

  For the first time since arriving at Lamash, Aric felt grateful for the merciless training Saruk had been putting them through. A month ago, he would have never been able to climb such a wall. He looked down and saw his cave companion jumping over outcroppings and racing up impossibly steep portions of the wall. Apparently, without the storm to confuse him, the cat was an amazing climber.

  “Are you following me?” Aric asked as he found a small ledge to place his right foot. “You already ate all my food, you know?” Using a couple of holes, Aric heaved himself up to the top of the mount, sweat dripping down his forehead. “Unless, of course, your plan is to eat me.”

  The top of the small crag was completely flat except for the stone arch. Aric walked under the arch and sat beneath its shadow. He wanted to conserve what little water he still had, but the climb had taken too much of a toll, so he took a small sip.

  What now?

  At that moment, he really wished for his backpack and the binoculars within. Instead, he covered his eyes with the palm of his hand and scanned the horizon. Sand and more sand surrounded the small island he sat on.

  Sighing, he tied the canteen to his belt without taking his eyes from the horizon. There had to be something, somewhere, that could help him find his way back.

  A tickling sensation on his hand made him look down, and the sight paralyzed him. A huge, black scorpion had climbed onto his arm. Fearing that a sudden move might provoke a sting, Aric held his breath. Slowly, he turned his head, looking for a rock to hit it with. There was a decent sized one to his left, but when Aric reached for it, the rock stayed a couple of inches away from his fingers. He tried to stretch his arm, but when he did the scorpion tensed and its tail arched forward.

  Oh, Goddess…

  He stretched his fingers again, making sure to keep the rest of his body still, but the rock was just too far away. Then, out of nowhere, the wheat colored cat pawed the scorpion away. A gigantic weight disappeared from Aric’s chest as he saw the cat pursuing the furious scorpion.

  “No, leave it alone!” Aric screamed. “It’s gonna sting you!”

  The cat ignored his pleas and kept harassing the scorpion with lighting strikes, until suddenly, he struck with his fangs and ripped it apart.

  Aric was speechless. He neared the cat, sure that he had been stung either on his paws or snout.

  “Are you ok?” he asked, placing a soft hand on the cat’s back.

  The feline replied with a stare while chewing on the last pieces of the scorpion.

  “Of course you are. You have your belly full.” Aric smiled. “Unlike mine…” He drew out his canteen. “I suppose I owe you, don’t I? Here, wash it down with this.”

  The cat licked every last drop of water from Aric’s hand, then froze. His back arched and his tail tensed.

  “What?!” Aric asked. “What did I do?”

  Was it another scorpion?

  The cat hissed, stepping backwards, and Aric realized that the hiss wasn’t meant for him, but for something behind him. Dreading what it could be, he looked over his shoulder and his stomach melted.

  A black shadow slashed across the sky, roari
ng.

  Aric lost no time at all. Grabbing the cat by the neck, he dashed towards the narrow slit between two rocks and only let the cat go when both were safe between them. The cat shrank against the wall and his ears flattened. Only then did Aric realize his arm was bleeding.

  “Must you always make me regret helping you?” Aric asked.

  He moved to the edge of the rock, but another roar made him freeze just before he peeked.

  “Fire take this!”

  Gritting his teeth, he took a deep breath and snuck a peek.

  Nothing.

  Where was it? Had it flown away?

  Another massive roar made both him and the cat jump almost a foot into the air. No, the Dragon was still near. Backtracking, Aric made his way to the other edge of the rock, where the mesa ended in a sort of cliff facing the sand.

  This time, a mix between a yelp, a scream, and a cry for help got stuck in his throat. There was a woman in the sand, her white robes flowing around her as she gracefully walked the dune crests. She had an arm stretched towards the lumbering shape of the outrageously large of a black Dragon. The best’s wings flapped, sending several waves of sand flying into the air until the colossal beast landed.

  Aric’s eyes had never been so wide.

  The Dragon’s head curved upward and it let out a growl so rough and deep Aric felt the ground shake. Even at that distance, and hidden as he was, Aric shuddered. The woman, however, just kept walking towards the giant beast. Its head, neck, and back a forest of black thorns. The woman gracefully walked towards the Dragon and the creature lowered its head toward her, each of its fangs nearly as tall as her.

  What is she doing?

  Slowly, carefully, the woman’s arm reached forward, inching closer to the Dragon’s nose until they touched, and when they did, the beast roared so powerfully it sent the sand beneath her feet flying away.

  The woman did not even flinch.

  Eliran…

  It was almost as if she had heard Aric. The woman turned around, stepped away with her arms open, and – whoosh! She was no longer there.

  The Dragon, however, was still very much in the middle of the sand. Aric slid back behind cover, and from the desert came the flapping sound of the Dragon taking off. Pressing his arms against the side of his body, Aric made himself small. If he had remained undetected so far, maybe there was a chance he could survive this. That was when he realized his hand was squeezing the leather case of the Tracker-Seeker on his belt.

  The mission!

  He had a mission to complete. Every nerve in his body told him to stand still and quiet, to not even breathe. But the mission….

  What the heck kind of life is this?

  He drew the bow from his back, opened the case, and picked up the Seeker arrow. The Tracker pendant immediately came alive, aiming at the arrow. Aric exhaled loudly and looked at the cat, still squatting down beside him.

  “Don’t move,” he whispered.

  With a spin, Aric left the safety of his hideout, found the enormous shape of the Dragon circling up towards the sky, and fell on one knee. He nocked the Seeker and aimed it high, taking a deep breath in order to stabilize his arm and take aim.

  Pang!

  The arrow flew away and Aric was behind cover long before it hit its target. If the Dragon felt anything, there was no sound to prove it. The only evidence Aric had that he had hit his target was the dancing Glowstone pendant on his neck.

  There was nothing quite like the sunset on the Mahar when the amber sky nearly fused with the orange sea of dunes. It was the third one Aric had witnessed since his encounter with the Dragon and the Witch, but this time, it was accompanied by the black outline of Lamash. The sight nearly made him weep. He hadn’t drunk a drop of water for two days now and the only reason he hadn’t eaten in three was his feline companion. The large cat had decided to follow him, and the previous night had even shared a tiny mouse, which Aric had promptly roasted on a crackling fire.

  “We’re home!” Aric let out, hugging the cat, who replied with a purr.

  A sentinel sent for Saruk when Aric reached the main gate, and the instructor arrived with the whole Company in tow.

  “You’re alive!” Clea said, wrapping her arms around Aric.

  There were other displays of happiness, joy, and relief, but hers was the only one Aric heard. He had some trouble wiping the silly smile off his face after that.

  Everyone else was there, which meant that he was the last one back.

  “So, who’s the big winner?” Aric asked beneath a weak smile.

  Please don’t be Ashur, please don’t be Ashur.

  “The one-man-Company himself,” Saruk replied, placing a hand over Tharius’s shoulders. “Our volunteer was back before the second night. Truly impressive.”

  Tharius turned red and Aric congratulated him. Boy, that was a relief.

  “I guess you’re my new team Captain, then,” Aric told him.

  “I guess so,” Tharius replied, smiling.

  “Well, I’m happy that it’s you.” Aric took the Seeker pendant from his neck. “Here, instructor. I might have been the last, but I did complete the mission.”

  “You tagged a Dragon?” Leth asked him.

  “So did we!” Clea said.

  “That means we scored two Dragons!” Leth said. “We can’t lose if we scored two Dragons.”

  “Aric has to be disqualified,” Ashur interrupted. “He abandoned his team.”

  “I didn’t abandon my team!” Aric replied. “I got lost in a sandstorm.”

  Ashur burst out laughing.

  “What sandstorm?” Clea asked.

  Aric was dumbfounded. “What do you mean, what sandstorm? I was only a couple of hours away from where I left you guys when it hit me. There’s no way it didn’t hit you as well.”

  “They must have confused it with the morning breeze,” Ashur said, and this time, Jullion and Prion joined him in his laughter. “I’m sure that happens a lot.”

  “So the desert sun cooked his brain, who cares?” Leth said. “The truth is, he faced a Dragon on his own.”

  “Leth is right,” Saruk said. “That does count for something.”

  “What?!” Ashur demanded. “What about the rules? The last one back loses.”

  “The rules said that, yes,” Saruk agreed, “but you also had to tag a Dragon.”

  He turned around and looked at Nahir. The tall Cyrinian gave him a respectful nod.

  “I’m sorry Nahir. Even if your man was hurt, you could have sent him back with an escort while the others continued. Your team was certainly large enough.”

  “I understand, instructor,” Nahir replied. “It was a poor decision.” The Cyrinian walked over to Tharius and bowed. “It’ll be an honor to support your bid for Captain.”

  “So…” Aric said, “am I still in the race?”

  “You are,” Saruk replied. “And just like Tharius, you should be proud to have faced a Dragon on your own.”

  “Actually,” Aric said. “I didn’t face the Dragon on my own.” He turned around and raised a finger towards a huge cat standing at the entrance to the fortress. By the look on everyone’s face, no one had noticed him yet. “I made a new friend.”

  Too bad this was Aric’s only witness. If he couldn’t persuade the others about the storm, how were they going to believe the part about the creepy Witch who could tame Dragons?

  Chapter 11

  The Strangers

  Flames crackled, waking Fadan up, but he was too sleepy to open his eyes. It was one of those mornings when he felt so tired his body ached. He tried to roll to one side, but something stopped him, tugging at his wrists and feet. Opening his eyes just a tiny slit, Fadan looked at his hand and immediately woke fully.

  There was a rope tied around both his wrists and ankles.

  He looked around, dazed and confused. This wasn’t his room. It wasn’t even in the Palace. It was some sort of cramped, single room house with moldy, wooden walls. A man was sit
ting down by an open fire right next to the bed.

  “Who are you?” Fadan demanded. “Untie me!”

  The man stood up slowly, without a word.

  “Who are you?” Fadan repeated, squirming as if he wanted to rip apart the bedposts he was tied to.

  “Calm down,” the man said softly.

  Instead of obeying, Fadan tugged at the ropes even harder but the man drew out a knife, freezing him. The blade shimmered with the reflection of the fire.

  “I told you to calm down,” the stranger said, speaking in no more than a whisper.

  Fadan’s eyes went wider as the knife came closer.

  “No! Please, wait!”

  The man placed the blade on Fadan’s wrist and snap! The rope became loose. Exhaling loudly, Fadan looked at his unharmed, and now free hand as the stranger proceeded to cut the remaining ropes.

  “You were having these spasms,” the man explained, “while you were out. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t hurt yourself further.”

  “Spasms?” Fadan asked.

  “Head injuries can be messy,” the man replied, sheathing his knife. “What can you remember?”

  Fadan’s eyes moved, looking for his latest recollections. “I was in the alley. Four sailors attacked me.” He sat up and pain immediately shot through his ribs, legs, and skull, making him cringe. “Then you… saved me.” He looked at the man. “Thank you.”

  Kind blue eyes beneath thick white eyebrows returned Fadan’s stare. The stranger nodded and walked back to the fireplace. “Good,” he said. “It’s not as bad as I thought. You should be fine.”

  There was a pot boiling above the crackling flames. The man stirred it.

  “You must be hungry,” he continued. He picked up a wooden bowl and poured in a generous amount of whatever was in that pot.

  A smell of meat and onions flooded the room, making Fadan’s stomach come to life, roaring.

  “Hum… yeah,” Fadan said, accepting the bowl from the stranger’s hand.