Forest of Kings

by Jack Knight

  “What they are, how they affect a person, things like that. But, listen, you were immune to the salamander bite, right?”

  Xion nodded again, mystified by the sheer number of things that he could have possibly descended from. He knew elf, and human, but he also knew that there was at least one other thing in his ancestry. In a book that size, they could not all be good.

  “So, I suspected an immunity to fire. But, it could have just been an immunity to poison, which most magical creatures have, so I wasn’t sure. Until today, the chimera’s fire didn’t burn you at all. It also didn’t burn anything you were wearing, which was weird,” Warren spoke so quickly, Xion was having trouble keeping up.

  “Anyway,” he continued, “I found this passage, saying that some creatures pass on magic so powerful, it extends protection beyond the body. That didn’t make any sense to me the first time I read it, but that would explain why your clothes didn’t burn, and that would definitely mean that you have an immunity to fire!”

  Xion shrugged. “I mean, the salamander and chimera were both magical creatures. What if it’s just, I don’t know, a resistance to magic. Or, maybe the creatures themselves,” Xion reasoned.

  Warren hesitated for a few seconds, and then cursed loudly. “Why didn’t I think of that?” he asked, staring off into space. “Okay, carry on,” he said dismissively, returning to his book.

  Xion laughed nervously. He had never given much thought to his ancestry before, but now that Warren had mentioned it, he was very curious. What could be in his blood? What if it was something dark and terrible? Could he be part vampire? Ava had once mentioned that some people obtained magic abilities by making deals with demons, what if he had demon magic?

  He shook his head, trying to get the thoughts to go away. Even if Warren could find something in that book, nobody could know for sure. His mother was dead, and he had no idea who his father was. The best that they could do was guess at what was in his blood.

  Xion walked over to the empty bed and laid down. It was so much more comfortable than what he had gotten used to the last few weeks, that his head had barely touched the pillow when his consciousness drifted off and sleep enveloped him.

  Xion knew immediately that it was not a normal dream. Many times, he had fallen asleep and seen Draxis. It was how Xion had gotten most of the information that he had about the dragon. Every so often when he fell asleep, he would see Draxis.

  This was different. Xion did not see the towering black dragon. He did not even see the godlike face of Draxis’ human form. Instead, he saw a field of grass, and the edge of a large, lush, green forest. There was nothing else around, no animals, no birds, just the grass meeting the trees under a starry night sky.

  The vision was particularly boring at first. Minutes passed by without anything more happening than the barely noticeable sway of tree branches in the wind. Xion was beginning to wonder if somehow whatever magic gave him the visions had made a mistake.

  Then, there was a rustling between the trees. Xion wished that he could move closer to investigate the sound, but he could not move. In these strange dreams, he could never move, or even turn his head. He had no control over what he saw.

  Finally, something emerged from the trees. A long, red lizard, the size of a horse, and nearly as tall. It had large bat like wings folded against its back. Its eyes, a thousand different shades of red with long slitted pupils, scanned the grass, as if it were waiting for something or someone to appear.

  Xion was shocked. Dragons were supposed to be extinct. Draxis had said that he was the only one left alive. Xion knew that Draxis had planned on raising every dragon from the dead with the power of the gem, and when Xion failed to stop him, that meant that the dragons would be resurrected. Still, Xion did not believe this dragon could be real. They had not heard the slightest whisper about any dragons since their conflict with Draxis. Xion had assumed that he had failed. He briefly considered that this had to be an image of the past. Until a new figure stepped into view.

  A man slowly approached the red dragon, walking from the field of grass behind Xion’s field of vision. The man was facing away from him, but he was too familiar to be confused for anyone else. The build, too muscular for an elf, and too thin for a human, the golden hair that now reached his shoulders, and shone as if it were lit from within. He even wore the same clothes that Xion had seen him in before, dirty and worn brown traveler’s pants, and a sleeveless brown shirt. They looked too haggard and too common to be worn by someone of the man’s otherworldly beauty.

  Xion did not even need to see the man’s face, he knew that he would see high cheekbones, almond shaped golden eyes, and a face too perfect to be possessed by any normal person. When Xion had first seen him, he thought the man to be a god. Xion was still not convinced he wasn’t one.

  All Xion knew was that his name was Paarathax, and that he had known Xion’s parents. Paarathax had been the one to tell him that his mother was dead. He had known Xion’s father, as well, though he gave very little information about him. Before Xion could get any useful information, he had disappeared.

  “Xorn,” Paarathax greeted the dragon brightly, his voice sounded like music, making Xion feel light and happy just to be able to hear it, “how’ve you been?”

  The red dragon, Xorn, raised his head, his eyes narrowed. “I have been dead for thousands of years,” he growled, “Where have you been? I have been waiting!” Xion had expected the dragon’s voice to be deep and gravelly, like Draxis’ was. This was much softer and higher. It occurred to Xion that the higher voice and much smaller size could mean that this dragon was not finished growing. Xorn, though already the size of a horse, must have been a child.

  “The wild is dangerous, lots of beasts out here that could hurt someone. Had to keep them occupied,” Paarathax answered nonchalantly.

  Xorn growled, reminding Xion of an angry cat, and spread his wings. Xion assumed this was supposed to frighten or intimidate Paarathax, but the man did not even flinch.

  “The king has declared we are to leave the wild untouched!” Xorn yelled angrily. “We are not to harm a hair on any living creature!”

  “He’s not my king,” Paarathax said simply.

  Xorn flapped his wings and let out a stream of fire from his mouth, directing it just over Paarathax’s head. Once again, Paarathax was completely unfazed by the display.

  “He is king to all of us!” Xorn insisted.

  “Listen, I came to meet you, like you asked. What did you want to discuss?” Paarathax asked, clearly growing impatient.

  Xorn folded his wings against his back and averted his gaze. It was difficult for Xion to read the body language of humanoid people, so he had no idea how to read a dragon. If he had to try, he would have to say that Xorn looked nervous, or uncomfortable when he spoke again.

  “Since we stirred again, the ancient ones have been… displeased with our king’s orders,” he began. “They grow restless, wanting to punish the humans for what was done to us.”

  Paarathax nodded. “I know,” he said, “that’s why I told you to let me know if anything was happening with them.”

  Xorn nodded, his entire neck moving up and down in the motion. “Yes, but there is more. Another halfborn stirs as well. One that should not have risen.”

  Paarathax became very stiff. When he spoke, the music was gone, replaced with tension. “What do you mean?”

  “The ancients believe it to be from us and a human.” Xorn looked at Paarathax and took a step back. “Not the chosen one,” he added quickly, “the ancients have no knowledge of him. This one is different. Farther from us, they believe. Still, they do not want any of our blood to be shared by the ones that slaughtered us.”

  “Do you have a name?” Paarathax insisted.

  Xorn shook his neck and head all at once. “The king has declared she not be touched, but I do not think she was named. Many believe she is of his line.”

  “Where is she?” Paarathax demanded suddenly. Xion h
ad seen Paarathax uncomfortable, but besides that he had always seemed calm and in control. It was strange hearing the man speak with such urgency.

  Xorn gestured with his head toward the forest behind him. “In Qua’ke. She moves quickly, the ancients have not discovered a location, yet.”

  “Thank you, Xorn, you’ve been very helpful,” Paarathax said quickly as he ran at an impossible speed into the forest. In seconds, he had disappeared into the trees.

  Xion’s eyes opened and he sat up in surprise. Warren was standing over him smiling.

  “Man, you sleep like the dead and wake up like your life is on the line!” Warren joked, jumping and throwing his arms up to demonstrate. “Come on, Sarin’s back. We have to grab your girlfriend and head out.”

  Xion saw that the sun had risen, its light pouring in through the window kept the room bright even though the torches on the wall were no longer lit.

  Xion tried to repeat the dream that he had over and over in his mind so that he would not lose any important details. He needed to relay the information that he had overheard to the others. Except, something Warren had said buzzed around in his groggy mind until he finally made sense of it.

  “Hey,” Xion laughed as he threw the pillow that he had slept on at Warren, “she’s not my girlfriend.”

  Warren gave a sarcastic smile and finished putting his books away in his pack. They both walked downstairs and out of the inn to find Sapphire, Sarin, Ava, and, surprisingly, Laira, standing outside.

  Elves did not sleep as long as humans, so he was not surprised to see his friends there. They went into a kind of trance, where they could feel all the plants and animals around them, and they could still hear, as if they were awake. Xion knew from experience, because it would sometimes happen to him. Being only half elf, he still needed eight hours of sleep, though. The elves only did their trance-state for four hours, and woke up feeling like they were completely rested.

  Laira, on the other hand, was unexpected. She was definitely human, and she was still working at the tavern when they had left to go to sleep. Xion did not understand how she was awake and ready to go before he and Warren were. Not only that, but she was prepared.

  She had traded her skirt and white shirt for travelers’ clothes. Sort of. On everyone else, the clothes looked plain and unflattering. Xion’s green cloak was the only splash of color amongst them. Laira had the same clothes, but she had altered them. Her pants hugged her legs, instead of being open and loose like everyone else wore them. She had cut the sleeves off short, so they only reached halfway down her bicep, and some of the fabric on the collar had been cut away, revealing the top of her chest in the shape of a V. She had tied the bottom of her shirt, like Sapphire had, but instead of tying it to keep it from looking baggy, she had bundled it all the way up to reveal her stomach an inch above her belly button down to her pant line.

  The girls all looked unsurprised by the way that Laira was dressed, but Xion could not believe it. He had always seen women wearing shirts and pants that were basically identical to the ones that men wore, or dresses that covered the same amount of skin. He had never seen anyone dress in anything close to what Laira was wearing.

  When Xion saw Laira, he stopped and could not help his eyes from going wide. It was all he could do to stop his mouth from falling open in surprise. He knew he stood like that for far too long when Ava glared at him, but he could not get his brain to work.

  Luckily, Warren was there to break the silence. “Whoa! Did you dress like that for me?” he asked, appreciatively. “Because, I definitely approve.”

  “You’re a pig, Warren,” Ava scolded, her voice dripping with disgust.

  “What’d I say?” Warren asked, looking at Xion for help.

  “Um, Laira, how are you up so early?” Xion quickly changed the subject.

  “I couldn’t risk you guys leaving without me,” Laira joked. She hefted her backpack, which Xion had not noticed. It looked like the one he was wearing, but he highly doubted that hers contained books about magic and elf bread.

  “So, we should get going, right?” she said brightly.

  “Yeah, let’s go.” Xion said, even though he had a bad feeling bringing Laira along was not going to go well.

  Chapter 4: Related

  The journey was not as bad as Xion had expected. It took them only eight more days to reach Celemor. Laira had no problem getting along with anyone in the group, and they did not encounter any creatures along the way. As strange as this all was, Xion had nothing to complain about. Except, that he could not tell everyone about his dream. With Laira along, he did not want to scare her any more than necessary, so he resolved to wait until she was not around to explain his dream to his friends.

  At the beginning of their trek, Sarin did pull Xion aside to question him about bringing Laira with them. He tried to explain that he had not invited her, he even insisted that he had warned her against joining them. Sarin did not seem to believe him. After a few days, though, Xion was sure that Sarin realized that he had told the truth.

  Laira talked animatedly, almost nonstop, for the entire trip. She and Ava seemed to get along really well, which was strange, because Ava barely tolerated Warren and Xion, and she wasn’t even that close with Sarin or Sapphire. Ava had even kissed Sapphire before they fought their way into the tower where they had met Draxis, but he had seen no difference in the way that she acted before or since, with anyone.

  Sarin, though she seemed to dislike how much Laira talked, warmed up to her quickly. Xion had never really been interested in hearing the history of Ustama, or any of the other information that Sarin constantly tried to bombard him with, despite how important she said it was. Laira, however, loved to know everything. The longest she ever went without speaking was when she was listening to Sarin talk about history, magic, politics, and many other topics Xion found mind numbingly boring.

  Sapphire had not seemed pleased about Laira coming along, at first, but she quickly overcame whatever qualms she had. She and Laira would talk for hours on end about living in cities, and animals, and even clothing. After two days of leaving Aromir, Sapphire had even altered her shirt to match Laira’s. Something that Xion found even more distracting than when Laira had done it.

  Warren had tried flirting with Laira several times during the first day of the journey, but every time he did, Laira would act like nothing had happened. Eventually, they fell into a rhythm of her talking about herself, and Warren replying with things that he had read in books. Nobody else really enjoyed hearing about the errant facts that Warren had picked up reading, but Laira was fascinated by everything he said.

  When she spoke to Xion, she said a lot less. Xion asked her questions about her family and living in Aromir. He was most interested in what had happened to Fairen after he left, but she had frustratingly little information on the subject. She asked a lot of questions about Aur’in, and what he had done since she had last seen him, and he explained everything that he could. As with Warren, she was fascinated by every word.

  At night, they all slept in the magic tent that Sarin kept in her enchanted pack. The tent was much too long to be contained within the pack, but it somehow fit perfectly fine. This was nothing compared to when she set up what looked to be a purple, two person tent, and inside were several couches and chairs, tables and lanterns, even bookshelves filled with books that Warren loved to flip through at night before going to sleep.

  Finally, on the eighth day after leaving Aromir, shortly after they had risen for the day, they arrived at Celemor. The city dwarfed both Aromir and Aur’in by comparison. When they reached the gates of the city, which rose at least twenty feet over head, Xion noticed that the walls extended so far in either direction, it was easy to imagine them going on forever. Looking into the gates, Xion could see that hills rose and fell inside the city, like the buildings had just been built into the earth, some of them covering the sides of the hills, with no thought of leveling the ground at all.

  The guar
ds at Celemor’s gate gave them no trouble, and Warren did not have to steal from anyone again. Once again, as soon as they were inside, Sarin said that she was going off on her own, this time to find her friend.

  Xion was much more anxious this time. Sarin was going to find the person that was supposed to teach him how to use chaos magic. It was vitally important, but a terrifying prospect that he was looking forward to, even if it made him feel a little sick to his stomach.

  Luckily, Sapphire had a way to distract him.

  “Okay, I know that Xion learning,” she stopped and looked around before whispering, “chaos magic,” and then returned her voice to normal, “is very important, but I have to at least show you guys where I grew up!”

  “You grew up in Celemor?” Laira asked in awe.

  “I did,” Sapphire answered proudly. “In the Temple of the Mother! Come on, I’ll show you!”

  Xion noticed Laira’s face fall, but he did not have any time to question it, before Sapphire grabbed his hand and pulled him into the city.

  Xion was amazed that one city could be so large. Celemor could have easily fit Aromir inside it at least five times. There were homes everywhere, shops on every street selling every item you could possibly imagine. At one point Sapphire even dragged him passed a field where people rode horses. The grassy field was wide open and large enough for six or seven people at a time to ride around without ever getting near each other. It was all fenced in against the towering city wall.

  While in Aromir, every building had been made of wood, and in Aur’in they were made of stone, Celemor did not seem to have any set building material. Some were made of wood, while others were constructed of stone, and a few seemed to be made out of steel. How much time, labor, and money went into making a steel building, Xion did not even want to try to imagine.

  After nearly a half hour of sprinting after Sapphire, they reached the city wall opposite where they had entered. It looked as though this entire side of the city was dedicated to temples. All of them were rather tall and made out of white stone with ornate carvings and gold laid into the building itself.