Scepter

by Scott Collins

“There,” Aidan pointed out.

  Daniel followed Aidan’s gaze and saw what his brother was looking at. Among the rocks and boulders was a spot where the white surfaces darkened with soot. Moving cautiously forward, the two brothers climbed slowly upward and further north to try and get a better angle.

  “We’re going to have to stay fairly close to the forest,” Daniel murmured to Aidan. “I won’t be able to get to you quickly if I have to climb too far through this stuff, not to mention getting both of us back out. I can’t get very good footing and with my bad arm it’s even harder.”

  Aidan nodded but said nothing. He moved even more slowly than Daniel, careful to avoid sharp edges with his bare feet. Eventually, the entrance to a large cave came into view. The hole in the side of the mountain wasn’t as large as the size Aidan had expected for a dragon lair. It seemed too small to hold such a large creature, but he could feel the dragon’s presence inside. Aidan climbed slowly along the rocks until he found what he was looking for. He stood on a large flat boulder looking up toward the mouth of the cave, staying somewhat close to the trees in case they needed to make a quick escape. Daniel crouched behind it, peeking out, but tried to stay hidden. For a while, nothing happened. Aidan stared intently into the blackness, his eyes squinting as he concentrated on trying to make a mental connection to the beast he knew to be hiding within.

  Daniel heard it before he saw it. A low grumble emerged from the darkness followed by a scratching and clawing sound as the monster pulled itself into the light. Its large head poked briefly out of the hole before squeezing the rest of its body through. It sniffed at the air and shook its head quickly as if casting off a dizzy spell. When it finished, the emerald green eyes locked immediately on Aidan. Never looking away from the boy, the dragon moved swiftly down the mountainside, slithering more like a snake than walking. It covered about half the distance before pulling up and stopping. It was now close enough that both of the boys could see the smoke rising from its nostrils before being caught by the cool afternoon breeze and swirling away.

  Daniel’s muscles tensed as he prepared to grab Aidan and run at the first sign of aggression. His heartbeat hammered in time with the throbbing of his still-healing bicep. The dragon stood, its head cocked to the side as it seemed to examine Aidan. Daniel could see the pupils dilate and contract as it swayed its head back and forth to look at Aidan from different angles.

  Daniel had no idea if this was the same dragon they’d encountered with the unicorn. The coloring was remarkably similar, and instead of staying alert to signs of danger, Daniel found himself admiring the beauty of the beast.

  Two golden horns swept back from the top of its head, pressing flat when the beast extended its long neck toward the boys. Deadly looking spines, the same color as its horns, ran from its lower jaw to its throat and then along its back where they then continued down to its tail. They contrasted beautifully against the chalky white color of the dragon’s skin. The large scale-covered back smoothed out gradually into an almost leather-like underbelly. Lethal and razor-sharp golden talons tipped the fore-claws. Daniel couldn’t see the dragon’s hind feet and could only assume they looked the same.

  Most impressive of all, however, were the beast’s wings. They were leaf-like in appearance, large veins visible throughout the thin membranes that connected the fingers. The skin was almost translucent as Daniel could see the outline of the scales underneath the folded wings.

  Suddenly the dragon snorted and lifted itself to its full height. Daniel saw Aidan’s hand go up in a “stop” gesture before he could react. The beast glared down at the naked boy on the rock in front of it, shook its head violently, and huffed out a small fireball at the base of the boulder on which Aidan stood before retreating back up the mountain and into its cave, pausing to cast one last glance back at Aidan before disappearing into the hole from which it had crawled.

  Aidan turned to face Daniel, a goofy smile plastered across his face. He hopped down from the rock and swaggered over to where Daniel stood waiting.

  “So?” Daniel asked when Aidan didn’t immediately volunteer information.

  “I think it went rather well,” Aidan bragged.

  “It shot a fireball at you!” Daniel exclaimed, exasperated by Aidan’s flippant attitude.

  “Believe me, if it had wanted to hurt me, it could have done a lot more than just singe the hair on my toes.”

  “I still say you’re lucky that thing didn’t kill you.”

  “There was no need for violence.”

  “It could have been hungry,” Daniel suggested.

  “She. But she wasn’t,” Aidan replied. He turned and started strolling back in the direction of their camp.

  “What?!” Daniel jogged after his brother.

  “She. The dragon is a female. She’d just eaten those two horses after all.”

  “Okay, she,” Daniel conceded. “So what happened when you tried to connect with her?”

  “Well, she wasn’t real happy to begin with,” Aidan said through a chuckle. “She didn’t like me intruding into her thoughts. Once I convinced her I didn’t mean any harm and only wanted to introduce myself, she settled down a bit. That’s when she came walking down the mountain.” Aidan skipped over a log on the trail before continuing. “The rest of the time was just me telling her about myself. I’m not sure if she believed me when I told her I could change forms though. That’s when she broke the connection and stormed off back to her cave.” Aidan looked at Daniel, the excitement obvious on his face. “I can’t wait to do it again. It’s not like with other animals where I just pick up on feelings. I can actually talk to her! I’ve got to try and share some water with her. Imagine if I could change into a dragon!”

  Daniel rolled his eyes, uncertain that Aidan’s gift extended to such a magical being. “Was she the same one we ran into back at the clearing with the unicorn?” he asked.

  Aidan stopped and turned to face him. “You know what? I don’t know. I didn’t even think to ask.” He started walking again. “I was so excited at having made contact with her, it never crossed my mind that she might be the one that almost had me for lunch.” Aidan chuckled. “I don’t think it really matters, but I’ll have to ask her next time.” Aidan started jogging. “C’mon, let’s get back to the others and tell them what happened.”

  Aidan transformed in an instant and took off toward camp. Daniel followed.

  When they arrived back at the clearing, Aidan quickly dressed and emerged from behind the tree with an air of triumph, as if he’d just returned from battle. The others dropped what they were doing and ran over, gathering around the two brothers and asking questions over one another.

  “Did you find it?”

  “How big is it?”

  “Could you communicate?”

  Aidan finally raised his hand to silence the others. “Let’s sit down. I’ll tell you all about it while we finish lunch.”

  The group moved back to the crest of the hill where they’d been eating. Between bites, Aidan told the others of his and Daniel’s exploration of the cliffs and the dragon’s cave. Daniel watched the others with amusement as Aidan told them of the dragon’s trip down from her cave and their subsequent “conversation.” As the others asked questions, Daniel became bored with hearing the story over again and went in search of more fruits and roots to satisfy his hunger. Between the wound in his arm and chasing Aidan around half the day, he was famished. When he returned, the others were talking animatedly amongst themselves, retelling the story with various “what ifs” thrown in. Daniel grabbed his things and picked up Olivia’s pack.

  “We should get going,” Daniel remarked, helping her into her pack when she stood. He grabbed Lilly’s as well and helped her put it on. Daniel picked up his bows and frowned.

  “Halem,” he called out. The younger boy looked up. “You know how to use this?”

  “Sort of,” Halem replied. He pushed himself up to a standing position.

  “There’
s no point in my hauling around two of these all the time. I can’t use them both at the same time, and you don’t have anything. Why don’t you take this one?”

  Daniel tossed his old bow and quiver to the younger boy. Seeing how awkwardly Halem handled the weapon, Daniel walked over and put a hand around his shoulder and led him away from the others.

  “If you’d like some pointers on how to use it,” Daniel whispered, “you and I can do some shooting together.”

  Halem nodded. “Thanks. I only shot one of these a few times, and it’s been a while.”

  “We’ll get you shooting bats in the dark in no time,” Daniel answered and clapped the younger boy on the back. Halem smiled. “Alright everyone, let’s go,” he called out to the others.

  The troupe traveled north, being sure to give the dragon’s lair a wide berth. While Aidan may be safe, the rest weren’t sure they wouldn’t wind up a mid-day snack if they ventured too close.

  They approached the Styx River to the east, and they could hear the faint roar of the water as it flowed down from the White Mountains and made its way to the Great Lake. The forest became thicker near the base of the mountain range ahead of them. Daniel looked up and judged it to be roughly a two-day walk to the cliffs. They’d find a place to camp there and heal up before planning their next foray against Argyle’s men.

  The next day, as they continued their march north, Halem came to a sudden stop. Olivia ran into him.

  “Hey,” she started, but Halem cut her off.

  “Daniel, Aidan!” he called softly. “Come up here.”

  Daniel and Aidan exchanged a worried glance before trotting up to where Halem stood. The others stepped off the path and into the trees, Olivia readying her rifle and Atreyu his sling.

  “Listen.”

  Daniel and Aidan shushed the others and moved farther along the trail they’d been following. The sounds of battle could be heard faintly from up ahead. Very vaguely the cries, hollers, and grunts could be made out.

  Aidan herded the others farther back down the path while Daniel listened for a while longer. When he joined the group, Halem looked worried.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Atreyu asked his younger brother.

  “I’m not sure I’m ready for this,” Halem answered, his eyes downcast.

  “We don’t have to fight,” Olivia interrupted. “We can move west from here and avoid whatever is going on up there.” Atreyu gave her a quizzical look so she continued. “Daniel’s arm isn’t in any condition for us to be fighting. We don’t know how many men are involved or if it’s even Argyle’s men. Halem needs more training before he’s ready. I think we should get out of here before someone comes down the trail and sees us.”

  “I’m not running away from any fight,” Aidan countered. “I don’t care who’s ready to fight and who’s not. I’m going up there.”

  “Hold on,” Daniel said. He grabbed Aidan by the elbow and pulled him back closer to the others. “Why don’t we have Aidan transform? He can go take a look and tell us what we’re getting ourselves into. Nobody will notice a deer or something in the middle of a battle. We can decide when he gets back if we want to get involved. Agreed?”

  “Agreed,” Aidan answered immediately, starting to walk off into the woods to undress and change.

  “But,” Daniel continued, “if we decide that we’re not going to attack, that means none of us.” Daniel leveled his gaze at his younger brother. “Nobody.”

  “Sure, whatever.” Aidan disappeared behind the trunk of a large tree. It wasn’t long before a wolf appeared and ran in the direction of the commotion. Daniel and the others waited, pacing the trail, anxious to hear what was happening up ahead. It didn’t take him long.

  He walked out from behind the tree before anyone knew he was even back.

  “It’s a war between some fairies and gnomes,” Aidan announced as he tied his pants. He could see he caught everyone off guard. “The gnomes have axes, and it looks like they’ve been trying to chop down some trees up there. I guess they’re the fairies’ homes because they’re all over the place attacking the gnomes. It doesn’t seem to be going well for them. The gnomes have armor on, and the fairies don’t look like they can penetrate it with magic or weapons.”

  He shrugged and, after grabbing his bag, continued toward the trees on the other side of the trail.

  “We can take a shortcut through the woods and pick up the trail later on. No point in getting involved in that squabble.”

  “You’re kidding right?” Halem said, stepping into Aidan’s way. Aidan stopped short to avoid running into him. “We can’t leave the fairies to fend for themselves. Don’t you remember the story of King Javi? Of how the kingdom originally started.” Aidan stared at him, confused. “He and his men helped the fairies in their war with the goblins. They gave him the Scepter as a thank you. That’s what kept the kingdom strong until Argyle destroyed it.” Halem looked back to the others, now pleading his case with everyone. “I may not be as ready as I’d like to fight, but I think we have to do this. It must be a sign or something. What are the chances we’d come across something like this? You’ve fought Argyle’s men and won. Don’t you think you can fight some gnomes? They’re nothing compared to what you’ve already done, what you’re doing. They wouldn’t leave us in peace if they came across us out here,” he continued with a wave of his hand. “They’d be on us in a heartbeat, killing us and taking whatever we had on us. Dirty creatures. We should get them before they get us, and we can help the fairies at the same time. Who knows, maybe they’ll give us a gift too.”

  Daniel and Olivia looked at one another. Atreyu had already stepped to his brother’s side and taken out his sling.

  “I like you,” Olivia smiled as she took out a cartridge and readied her rifle. Lilly followed suit.

  Daniel looked over at Aidan and drew an arrow from his quiver.

  “I thought you didn’t run away from any fight,” Daniel chided.

  Aidan’s nostrils flared and he frowned. “I’ll be right back,” he muttered as he pulled off his shirt and again vanished behind the large trunk.

  He didn’t even wait for the others. Once transformed, this time into a bear, he charged up the trail snorting and huffing as he went, and the sound of Custos barging through the brush to their left could be heard as he moved in to protect his friend. The others followed after, spreading out as much as they could to allow one another to shoot if given a target.

  Chapter 23

  A Pivotal Battle