Dragons.
I remember many sleepless nights in my childhood, the fierce and foul creatures flying in ominous circles in my head. Nights with the quilt hiding my face, terrified that the wind in the branches outside my window came from the scaled, carriage-sized beat of wings about to blow a mighty breath of fire though the entire manor. Even in the detailed etchings printed on the thick, frayed parchment pages of Father’s books, scenes of charred villages of rogue dragons flying from the mountains terrified me.
But now, standing here with the mountain air chill hitting my face, Lumo and Ciro beside me, I couldn’t help but feel a sudden rush of excitement. Sure, there was definitely still fear there - the only reason it was coming here was to fulfill a bounty on my head. But the prospect, the opportunity to see a creature of such legend with my own eyes and I found myself shaking with excitement.
Ciro, however, seemed less than enthused at the prospect. After making a fuss about Caville’s betrayal, he then proceeded to press a rock in the fireplace. Lumo and I then watched Ciro pull a giant halberd, taller than me, from a hidden compartment beside the flames. He let out a final irritated grunt before opening the cave’s heavy door, ushering us both outside.
So now we three stood, wind whipping our cloaks around us. Two powerful magic wielders… and me. I watched the open, bright blue sky, scanning the horizon for any movement.
Dragonriders were the most fearsome of all beastriders. The Herculean warriors were rare - taking journeys in solitude through the mountains, stealing an egg from a fierce mother’s nest, and raising it themselves. Wyvern riders, although still rare, were far more common as the huge beasts, no matter how fearsome, could be tamed even when found in the wild.
To have a dragonrider sent to fetch me, it must have been quite a bounty.
I had been holding my breath without realizing it, and began to sway just a bit, before taking an awkward gasping breath.
“Are you okay?” Lumo asked, placing a hand to my back.
“I… yes. Just -“
“Scared?” Lumo asked.
“Excited,” I smiled.
Ciro turned to me, a bewildered expression on his face.
“Perhaps you had a bit of my drink when I wasn’t looking?” He chuckled.
Lumo looked ahead, bemused smile on his face as he shook his head.
It was at that moment, the wind stopped.
Cloaks stopped stagnant with a final whoosh, and everything seemed to freeze around us. Time seemed to stop as everything went silent, and in the stillness, I heard my own heartbeat ringing in my ears. Lumo leaned towards me.
“No sudden movements. Prepare yourself,” he whispered.
I watched as Ciro lifted the halberd from his shoulder and held it at the ready with both hands. The black metal shone bright in the open mountain sky, crystal engraved in the sharp blade. It would have to be magicked if he wanted it to pierce the thick scales of a dragon.
We waited in the sickly silence, watching west to the forest and the south mountain sky. It was there, with only the sounds of our breath, that we first saw him.
With wings sprawled across the horizon’s treeline like a wave crest, we heard his first blood chilling call. The sorrowful shriek both pierced deep into my ears and shook the ground as the looming silhouette made its way to the rocky plains in which we stood. With a single beat of its massive wings, the great beast rose in the sky, casting an ominous shadow before it. Lumo’s words lingered in my head.
No sudden movements.
Even from above the clouds, the keen eyes of a dragon could spot even the smallest rodent scampering between the rocks. Elite predators, every detail in their bodies served only to hunt… to hunt and to kill.
I watched, eyes wide, as the creature began to circle us three, sweeping the sky in a single beat of its wings. Then, the great wings folded into its body, and with its long neck pointing towards the ground, it began to dive towards us with a staggering velocity.
“Hold tight,” Ciro said through clenched teeth, hands adjusting halberd grip.
The great dragon then landed with a colossal impact just before us, causing the ground to shake and crackle, sending billowing clouds of dust and debris around us. As the clouds of powdered gray-white rock began to settle, the long silver neck, thick scales glinting like dull metal, leaned backwards sending another haunting shriek into the sky. The great dragon then turned, walking in slow steps to reveal an armored rider on its high back. The sharp pointed armor, gilded in pewter filigree covered the billowing cotton white fabric in splendid contrast. Every sharp detail, down to the sharp spiked metal around their hands curving over the chained reigns was designed to invoke fear in whomever was unlucky enough to cross their path. This was not mere beastrider, but a Dragonrider Lord before us.
It was then that Ciro stepped forward, stature as tall and opposing as he could manage, considering the great beast before him.
“State your business, Dragonrider,” Ciro shouted, halberd still at the ready.
“I have no business with you, old man,” the knight called down from the dragon’s back, “I have been sent by Herculea herself. There is bounty on the girl at your side. She is of Blood Magic - and to be brought to the Guides directly for judgment.”
“Directly to the Guides? What could she have done to even forgo the Seven Judges?” Ciro called back.
“That is not for me to question. Nor is it any of your concern. Release her into my custody and you will be spared,” the knight shouted in return.
“What a kind offer! What do you think, Lumo?” jeered Ciro back.
I looked at Lumo, who only had a serene smile on his face, much to my surprise.
“It is a very generous offer, indeed,” Lumo mused, “It must be quite the bounty to warrant a Dragonrider of all things. Ciro, have you ever fought a Dragonrider before?”
The knight seemed to stir upon hearing Ciro’s name, shifting uncomfortably in the high-backed leather saddle.
“Oh, once or twice. Funny enough, they tend to be cowards once you get them off the damned beasts. Not an ounce of combat training,” Ciro shouted in response, spinning the long halberd handle around him with ease.
Suddenly, the knight began to pull back on the dragon’s reigns, causing the massive beast to back up to face us. Ciro quickly put an arm in front of me, pushing me backwards as the dragon raised its thick scaled head upwards, great wings beating billowing winds against us. My legs bent to steady myself, arm raised to block my face.
In a blood-curdling shriek, the ferocious creature screamed into the sky before lowering its massive head before us, opening wide. There was a sudden burst of winds behind us, sending cloaks whipping against us, as the dragon made an impressive inhale, and I readied myself for the imminent flames.
But just as the bright orange-red sparks of heat began to billow from its great jaws, there was a flash of black fabric before us. In a flutter of his cloak, Lumo was shielding us from the oncoming flames, magical impact creating lightning streaks around us.
“Now!” Lumo shouted at Ciro.
Ciro gave a sharp nod then jumped through the cascading flames, heavy halberd looking light in his arms as he arched it above his head and towards the dragon’s neck. There was a second splintering shriek as the magicked blade pierced the thick black scales with ease, causing the dragon to whip his head back, sending a blistering arch of flames in its path across the sky. Thick black drips of blood came in a haunting splatter as they hit the gray rocks on the ground.
The dragon then began to beat its wings, sending it soaring upwards, still twisting its head in pain in ground shaking screams.
I watched as Ciro stepped backwards, giving a nervous look at Lumo before turning back towards the sky.
“I’m a bit out of practice… thought that could be a final blow,” Ciro shouted between dragon screams.
“Nothing more dangerous than an injured dragon,” Lumo muttered beside me.
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I watched in horror as the dragon once again folded its massive wings into its body, a silver spear in the sky now directed perfectly at me. I lowered myself to the ground, arms out and shielding myself, ready for impact, when I heard the great rumble of flames begin to rain from above. I was suddenly in shadow, Lumo’s black cloak covering me, his masked face next to mine, as the impact of flames hit us - not with fiery fury, but with a brief uncomfortable warmth. Lumo gave a smile to my presumably terrified face, before a swift kiss on my forehead. And I was filled with an altogether different type of terror.
Lumo then swept his cloak away in a sweeping motion of his arm, now standing in front of me, facing the beast. The creature leaned back, giant claws now steadying to strike, wings once again beating in agitation. Just as the massive black claw began to take a steady strike at Lumo, Ciro dashed in front of him, halberd at the ready to pierce the thick calloused hand of the beast.
The dragon gave another scream, before falling to its side, sweeping its huge wing in front of him and throwing Ciro against the jagged rocks. I ran to him, and to my horror, saw a bright red streak begin to gather at his abdomen.
“I’m fine, Mira,” he shouted, “Get back to Lumo-”
I turned to see Lumos black cloak dancing around the dragon’s head, chasing it with hollow chomps of its giant scaled jaws. With each spin, the dragon seemed to become more and more unsteady - either with the loss of blood or the spinning chase. I ran forward towards them, and I looked to see the knight become more and more agitated, trying their best to hold the reins steady on the maddened beast. The prey drive was overwhelmed in the great dragon, fluttering cloak like that of an injured bird, just inches away from a single chomp of its jaws, and when Lumo fluttered up and back behind the dragon’s head, the dragon followed, bucking backwards, and losing its once steady balance. There was a rumble as the dragon’s back hit the ground, shaking the rocks around it and causing me to stumble forward. I watched as the knight fell back, armor clinking sharply in the impact. He scrambled backwards, and I was reminded of the other beastrider in the woods, now powerless without his dangerous steed.
Lumo was still flying around the now riderless dragon, distracting him and pulling him away from the knight who sat before me.
“Now, Mira,” Lumo shouted.
I looked at the swirling cloth in the air in horror.
Now?
“You do not have enough of your magic to bring him back, but you will if you take his,” Lumo shouted again, narrowly missing another slow but terrifyingly loud impact of teeth.
To bring him back.
I turned to where I left Ciro, to now see him motionless against the rocks. Red now leaving a stain on the dry gray beneath him, halberd still tight in his hands. His clouded eyes looked towards me, unblinking, mouth slackened.
No… No…
I turned again to the knight, crawling backwards against the rock, trying his best to get away from me.
“Herculea… Herculea will make you pay for this, wretched Blood Mage,” he spat through his heavily adorned helmet.
Wretched Blood Mage.
I raised my hand, thinking of Ciro and the necklace, but nothing happened. I closed my eyes, trying to follow my instincts but nothing came. I opened my eyes, looking back to Ciro against the rocks, then back to the knight.
“Do it, Mira!” Lumo called again from behind me.
And so I did.
I raised my hand, and with a subtle small dance of my fingers, the knight became a plume of fine white and silver mist, armor and all. No screams of pain, no struggle - it was almost as if he did not realize what was happening until he was gone. I then opened my mouth, taking a deep gasping breath, and watched the mist disappear.
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Then… then there was nothing.
A sudden white clouded my vision, and I was pillowed with a sudden pressing and unnerving silence. The nothingness then crescendoed into and a static hum of pressure filled my head. A warm rush filled my body, blood rushing like rapids beneath my skin. I blinked away the light, revealing the empty rocks in front of me. Every detail felt heightened, like that when I was in the body of the crow, only this time with the added comfort of my own body. I felt alert, warm, awake.
I felt… powerful.
I turned to see Lumo standing behind me, expression serious.
“...Dragon?” I asked.
“He flew off the mountains as soon as he was free from his bindings,” said Lumo, dropping the heavy saddle on the ground, “Come, we have to act fast.”
I grabbed his hand as he pulled me off the rocky ground, and ran behind him as we made our way to the lifeless Ciro, still splayed against the rocky outcrop.
“Sorry to rush you but… the longer he’s gone - the harder it is to bring him back,” Lumo said, gently removing the halberd from Ciro’s hands.
I nodded, finding the Binding Chain hanging at my neck.
Hands shaking, I pierced the tip of my finger and watched the small drop of blood gather and fall into his open mouth, wholly unprepared for what was yet to come.
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