Striking the Soul
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“My name is Lilly” I protest, but he doesn’t listen. “Why are you here and where do you come from?” He asks, drawing his sword. “I’m here to see if I can get help, I’m looking for a dragon.” I say, ignoring the fact that he has a sword. “A dragon!?” He laughs, “Seriously, a dragon? They have been extinct for over 100 years!” I decide not to tell him the rest of the story; he wasn’t going to be of any help, just a hassle. Skystriker is my dragon and he wasn’t going to steal him from me.
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We are in a chalet, in the middle of a dense forest. The lush green maple trees above us as we step out of the chalet. “I already told you, there are no more dragons” he stated, matter-of-factly. I sit down on a thick stump, and take out my journal. Half of the pages are lined and the other half are blank, for my sketches. I take out my pencil and briefly sketch the beautiful maple trees. I recognize a black maple, perched on top there was a black-capped chickadee. I listen to his call; he is singing his name in a long, drawn out call.
I know what the man is, but refuse to believe it. He is a dragon slayer. He refuses to tell me about the dragons because he wants to slay them for his own gain. A small, weak, green dragon on the black market would give him a good 2,000,000 golden coins. Skystriker, a large, powerful dragon would probably sell for millions more.
I finally said “I have to leave now” and begin on my way. I have to cross the White Water River, the molten lava volcanos and then climb the mountain to get to him. The whole journey will take me about 2 weeks by foot. The race against the clock has started, the race against him. I have to get there before he does; I have to save my dragon.
I start my perilous journey. I can’t swim or climb mountains, but I know with my dragon’s spirit in me, I can do anything. I can feel his soul with me all the time; this is why I must find him.
If I leave now I should make it by nightfall on the 13th day I think to myself, calculating distance. I begin walking into the forest. The forest is thick and it’s getting dark; I decide it’s time to set up camp. I take out my tinderbox and go to gather some dry wood. As I’m walking, I get a strange feeling. Like there is some sort of draconian creature present but not a dragon.
I dismiss this feeling quickly, breathing in the crisp air, I just let go of it. I keep walking, quickening my pace and looking back every once in a while. I keep going, not finding anything to make a fire with.
I start to run and I hear a low rumble come from somewhere in the dark forest. I hear it again, this time a little bit louder. Coming from deep in the forest. I see a pair of red eyes glaring out at me. Finally, a hiss. It keeps getting closer and closer until I feel its cold scales on top of me. I only catch a glimpse of the creature. Then, all went black.
Chapter 2
I open my eyes and see the creature that attacked me. It is long-at least 15 feet long. It takes the form of a very large snake. It has white feathers lining the sides of its face and at the tip of its tail. It has deep, forest green scales covering its body. Its white wings have glinting black tips, the color of platinum.
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I finally realize what has happened, as I see a purple liquid oozing from its fangs. I have been poisoned by it. “What is it?” I whisper to nobody in particular. “This is Scar” a voice says, making me notice the scars above its right eye. It looks like it was clawed in the eye by a wolf or something. “Werewolf, to be exact” the same voice stated.
“Who are you and how are you reading my thoughts?” I ask. “I’m the Witch of the North-West” she said “and it seems you’re looking for a dragon. I say nothing, I really don’t like my thoughts being read. “Scar is one of my experiments” she says, as she comes into view.
She is taller than I expect and when I see her, I gasp. She is no human, she was a snake. “I’m a Naga” she says. As if I knew what a Naga is. She continues, “I am one of the last of my species, and you will be next”
I’m not sure what that means, but I have a feeling that it’s not good. My attention turns to Scar who has slithered into a corner behind the witch. His face looks…bigger. I wonder how that could be possible. Then I see it, he has feathers on his chin, extending out towards the ground. It made his face look much bigger than it really was. I guess that’s what it’s supposed to do though.
I have met many creatures in my life, but never a Naga or whatever Scar was. She said he is one of her “experiments.” I’m afraid to know what that means. If I make it out of this place, wherever I am, I will get to where I need to be. I think, being very careful about what I’m thinking as the Naga witch can read my mind.
I think about what I could do, the witch doesn’t seem to be paying any attention to me. I could fight her but she’ll see all of my “skills” before I even attack. Of course, then there's Scar. He would poison me faster than I could get up and throw a punch.
I can try to sneak out but Scar would easily catch me, he slithers quite fast. If I can just grab a sword and stab it between his eyes, I would make it. The witch is probably nothing compared to Scar. This obviously won’t work, how would I get a sword and how would I stab him without getting poisoned? My life is on the line here…
I know what I have to do but I’m not prepared to do it. I keep thinking it but don’t think I can bring myself to do it.
Chapter 3
I have to call the Dragonkin. The ones that are part dragon, in their soul. I start to say something, even if it doesn’t work, I will have dragon spirit in me to help me fight.
I start to chant in the ancient dragon tongue:
“Kep mon shun litf dzozina ernt revt xna, chih vaon ma. Ifton kilth mon etf sien. Drago, sodn se cielr, tui ter wo!”
I hear the Naga witch gasp, and a harsh light blinds us. I see something step out of the light. It is a man, no a Dragonkin! Dragonkin look exactly like humans except they have a piece of dragon soul in them. I keep chanting, louder though. Then I see him, he is tall with blonde hair and hazel eyes. He is handsome as some would say, but to me he is my just my protector. He is my protector; he is assigned to me by Coulith, Dragon God of Protection.
He is standing there, taunting the Naga; finally he speaks “I come to save the one named…” He trailed off, knowing it was unwise to tell her my name. I gasp, the Naga is an electric-water type magic user. A deadly combination. She sends a massive wave of water at him. “Is that all you’ve got?” he shouts “A little puddle won’t hurt!” Even though it was a massive wave, around 10 feet tall.
“Oh, I’ve got plenty more to show you” she grinned. From her staff I see blue light begin to form. I try to shout, but it’s too late. She shoots him with many volts of electricity, judging by the ear-splitting screams I hear.
Either her staff ran out of “juice” or she is taunting him, making it look like he might be able to save me. He is lying on the floor; limbs sprawled in positions that look very uncomfortable. Finally, the silence is broken. She speaks; “now who’s going to save you?” she asks cackling at him “you’re completely alone, no one will hear you”
He laughs slightly, giving me chills as I have no idea what tricks he has up his sleeve. “That is your third mistake” he spoke softly “first you kidnap her, then you attack me, finally you think I’m alone…”
“What is that supposed to mean!?” She cries, obviously hating his riddles. “This is what I mean” he states, holding up one hand. He draws an oval in the air, the oval turns into a white portal. Of course! He is a protector, the protectors are white dragons. It is becoming quite clear now. I just wonder who. He calls out in a strange tongue I don’t understand.
I see it, a burst of light so bright it is blinding. I close my eyes. When I open them, there stands a mighty dragon. It is one I recognize; white of course, with hints of silver lining each scale. It is Coulith. I wonder what rank of Dragonkin you’d have to be to get a dragon god to fight by your side.
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The Naga witch is awestruck, in a bad way, she knows what is coming. Coulith speaks; “You have caused much distress to our people” he says firmly. Coulith wasn’t much of a killer, but he knew what had to be done. “You do not attack a dragon god’s servant, nor kidnap the…” He was cut off by her sword, which made a sick sound as it dug into his flesh. Coulith is bleeding a lot, he has been seriously wounded.
The dragonkin, Kovinth, is running toward Coulith. As soon as he gets to him, he speaks quietly in the same dragon tongue I had heard him speak before.
The Naga looks at me, grinning as she licks the blood off the sword. Drinking the blood of a white dragon gives you the ability to speak to animals. Coulith’s blood is a whole other thing. Every type of dragon’s blood gives you a different power. So she can drink the blood of every white dragon god and get a different power for each one. That can be dangerous. I have absolutely no idea what Coulith’s blood did, but we knew it wouldn’t be deadly. Since he was a white dragon. Black or red would’ve been a whole other story. Coulith begins to heal, his wounds disappearing. He is healing himself.
He jumps up, faster than almost all dragons, he bites into Scar. I had almost forgotten Scar is there, for some reason she isn’t using him. I see black blood ooze out of Scar. The Naga runs up to him. She heals him. Her new power is healing.
Chapter 4
Scar immediately flew into the air and broke the roof off of the shack. Coulith followed, “I’ll take the creatures, your job is the witch” he told Kovinth. Kovinth grimaced, he knew what was in store for us.
“We have to break the staff” he whispered to me. His icy breath bit at my ear. The white dragons were usually wind, ice or snow dragons. It felt like he was a mixture of all three.
I attacked using all of my might, also forgetting that she could read my mind. I thought about going to attack her throat, but she immediately blocked my attack and brought me to the ground. I grasp my arm in pain. As she got out her sword, Kovinth jumped on top of her, choking her.
“Get the sword” he cried. As I attempted to pry the sword out of her hands, she grasped the handle really tightly. I had no choice but to grab the blade. I grabbed it and she (obviously) knew what I was thinking, because she slashed my hands. I screamed in pain. She somehow managed to get Kovinth off of her and I was getting dizzy. The cuts were large, across my pinky finger all the way to my wrist, on both hands. They were also deep. I could feel it. Kovinth came running over to me, something on my hands felt really nice and the dizziness passed. I opened my eyes and unclenched my teeth. Immediately, I saw Kovinth’s hazel eyes staring down on me. He has a slight glint to his eyes, he looked nice.
He was obviously scared; he was closing his eyes and grimacing. I looked at my hands to see if the bleeding had stopped. It had, actually there was no cuts. They were gone, disappeared. Finally, I realized; Kovinth had let go of the witch. She hadn’t pulled him off. He let go so he could heal me. So he could save me.
I got up as soon as I could, ready to return the favor. I heard a scream from far away. Kovinth wasn’t here. He was outside, alone with the witch.
I ran outside to see Kovinth in a massive web, a spider web. Do spiders really get this big? Nope, it was just another experiment I thought as I saw a giant, flying spider appear. It had Kovinth in a web, which it was carrying. I hear a hiss coming from behind me. I immediately think the worst; the Naga witch
Chapter 5
I spun around, ready in a fighting position. Just to see Scar. He looked much less scary now, no glowing red eyes. I waited for the blow, nothing happened. I open an eye. He cocked his head to the side; tongue in then out, in then out. I remembered that snakes smell with their tongues by taking in the particles or something. I took deep breaths, calming my heart rate a little, they sense fear.
Suddenly, I hear a scream and remember why I’m here. I run towards the noise. Scar was following behind, chasing me. I couldn’t run fast enough compared to his speed, he picked me up and threw me on his back.
I screamed now. I clutched around his wide, muscular neck for life. Then, only to make matters worse, he jumped. He started to fly; I grabbed the feathers on the side on his head. I was holding on as tight as I could, if I fell it would mark the end of my journey…and life. I was suddenly glad I didn’t have to run the whole way. Nor would I be able to, judging by the amount of flying he was doing.
When we landed I saw Coulith and the Naga witch, facing off. Coulith kept looking back to the web where his servant lay, gushing blood. As the massive spider/beetle thing licked up the blood. Kovinth was passed out, either from blood loss or pain, I don’t know. I tiptoed to him and I swear I saw Coulith wink.
I didn’t have any special powers or anything; I didn’t know what to do. It occurred to me that he might already be dead. I had to save him. He was kind of my savior, so now I must be his.
Clang! The Naga dropped her sword, it was broken. She probably could take on Coulith, except that Coulith was a dragon god that could heal himself. One blow to his underbelly was all it would take…
She was reading my thoughts. I could feel it. I ran to her with all my might and thought about going for her throat again. I kept thinking that, but instead of going for the throat, I went for the heart. I punched as hard as I could, knocking the breath out of her. I was tired, my arms ached but I didn’t stop. I only stopped after a heard a sickening crack.
I saw her grab the broken piece of the sword. I knew what I needed to do. Coulith was at Kovinth, healing him. I sighed; I guess I couldn’t return the favor. The bug was on top of Coulith, but to my surprise, so was Scar. Scar wasn’t hurting Coulith, he was helping him! Coulith had taken the evil out of him. He couldn’t do it to the Naga as she knew what was going on. He also couldn’t do it to the beetle/spider because he had to look them in the eye. You can’t look him in the eye if he’s on your back.
She attempted to stab me. She failed due to her broken rib. She dropped the sword and clutched at her chest. I picked up the sword and looked at her. I didn’t want to do it, but I had to. Even Coulith, Dragon God of Protection would want it.
She looked me in the eye. All I could do was pity her, she was a horrid creature that was now in pain because of me. I turned away, looking at Kovinth he was next-to-dead one minute, then lively the next. Currently he was next-to-dead. Coulith was doing his very best to heal him, I didn’t know if he could be saved.
I saw the witch attempting to heal herself. I knew what I was about to do, was the right thing to do.
I turned away.
Chapter 6
I made my way towards Kovinth, pushing the foliage and spider webs away. I felt unstoppable. It was a rush of adrenaline that I knew would soon fade away.
Kovinth stood up, looking no worse than a little pale. “I killed her” I said shakily. Kovinth looked at me, a look of fear on his face. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Nothing, I’m fine.” He said, but I knew he was lying. I urged him further, asking what was wrong. He refused to reply after that.
Coulith was lying down, nursing his wounds. They were minor, but a scar on a protection dragon was never good. I turned to Kovinth; he was sitting on a rock now. “Where’s the giant spider?” I asked. He was rocking back and forth on his feet. “Got into a fight with Scar, not sure where they are but he’s a goner.”
I was wondering what happened with Scar anyways, why was he suddenly on our side? As if he could read my mind, Coulith said “I changed him, he was under the control of the witch, and he needed to be saved.”
I was a little bit perplexed about all of this, but knew I had to get on my way. I didn’t know how to address that though.
“Well, I’d better get on my way.” I state. “That’s probably a bad idea” Kovinth laughed “you shouldn’t go alone” I know what he is trying to say, he wants to come with me.
“Fine” I say, even though he doesn’t ask, he is implying it enough to get the message. “I’ll protect you” he says bravely. “If danger comes your way, call upon me to be there.” Coulith said, for some reason, he is smiling.
Before drawing the portal again, Kovinth said “Take care of yourself, nurse your wounds and most importantly, keep your watch upon us. Just before walking into the white portal, Coulith turns and says “No matter what, I will watch over you. Then, he was gone
There are so many questions that I wish I had the answers to. Kovinth wouldn’t answer them, at least not yet. We continue through the forest.
“Night is coming faster than I’d like it to” Kovinth whispers. That reminds me that we have been in that shack for the night. Probably the worst night of my life, I thought. Kovinth is starting to build a fire; it reminds me of what happened while I was looking for dry wood. It also reminds me that I forgot my tinderbox.
I am freezing, we have a blanket but I want to look tough. Even though it is obvious that I am shivering. Kovinth hands me our only blanket, it is more like a towel than a blanket. It is rough and smells like rain.
I feel my eyelids grow heavy and before I know what was going on, I fall asleep.
Chapter 7
I wake up on top of Kovinth. Well, sort of. He is lying down on the ground and my head is on his chest. I am curled up in a ball very close to him, conserving body heat.
Kovinth wakes up. “Good morning, Lilly.” He greets me. Then he starts inspecting our positions. “Good idea, huddle for warmth” he says with a grin. I smile; it is kind of nice having someone there. I might have frozen to death.
“I’m starving” Kovinth announces. “Then go find food” I snap back, obviously low on sleep. “What, and poison myself?” he laughs. “You know I don’t know my plants well enough.” He turns everything into a joke. It is almost funny. I turn to him, “Fine, I’ll collect plants. I am craving some rabbit or something though.” I laughed. He would go hunting, even though he hated to.
“Fine, it’s a deal but only if you cook it. Or else we’ll get food poisoning.” He said. I laughed. I don’t want to go alone, but I want to look brave. I collect some chicory, a purple-flowered weed that grew in abandoned fields.
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I am lucky enough to find some lambs-quarters, dandelions and even chamomile and mint! It will make a great tea. I won’t be able to drink it now, or else I’ll fall asleep.
I know how to prepare chicory roots for a little pick-me-up though, just roast the roots in the sun. Then eat them or grind them into powder to add to other dishes. Chicory isn’t rare, it’s actually quite common, so I have plenty to spare.
I go back after an hour of collecting edible plants; I have so many that I have to weave a basket. I go back to the camp area. I start to roast the chicory roots on a stick. They just burn. I decide to put them in the dying ember part of the fire, not the part that still had flames.
It works. I have roasted chicory root. Roasted chicory root can be used as a substitute for coffee, which is exactly what we are doing. I get some water from a nearby pond; it has cattails and water lilies. Great to eat! I pick them for a little bit then remember why I am there. Water!
I have a small pail which I use to collect and boil the water. I take a pail of water, it is crystal clear, but I know it isn’t purified. I walk back to the camp, where Kovinth is starting a fire for me to cook with.
I boil the water for 10 minutes, you only need to do 5 minutes of a straight boil, but I just like to be safe. I shove a stick through a rabbit like a spit. I shove it through and then remember that I didn’t skin it.
I don’t have a knife but Kovinth did, luckily. I did it as I know he wouldn’t want to take the skin off of a dead animal. He is not a killer. I don’t know how I even pushed him to kill the rabbit in the first place.
I shove the knife into the rabbit’s pelt and twist a little, to loosen it up. I grimace at the blood. I carefully cut the pelt off, making sure not to ruin anything. The rabbit’s fur would do us well. If we got enough, we could even make another blanket!
I shove the spit through the rabbit and put it over the fire. The flames lick at it, charring some parts. I put the pail of water back over the fire and add dandelion and lambs-quarters. I wil make soup. It isn’t much of a breakfast, but it will keep us full for a while.
When the rabbit is fully cooked, I add it to the pail. The water begins to turn a brownish-green color. It is turning into broth. We eat quickly, devouring each bite. It doesn’t taste like much. I sure wish I had some bread to dip.
We are starving, we eat all of the soup, every last drop. “It is delicious!” Kovinth exclaimed. He is good at lying, but I feel like he means it. Being Coulith’s servant, he probably got fed quite well.
Some dragon god’s servants don’t get fed at all, they have to scrounge up what they can. I know that Coulith treats his servants well.
We restart our journey. “Can you swim?” I ask Kovinth. “I swim about as well as a rock can” he said through a smile. My heart sunk. We had to cross a large river, it is also very deep. We have no chance against it, if we can’t swim, we won’t be getting to Skystriker.
Chapter 8
We walk for a good hour and finally make it to the river. It is rushing as though it is angry. “What should we do now” I ask Kovinth. “I don’t know” he replies, simply shrugging. I have a feeling he doesn’t care about this the way I do.
“We could build a raft” he suggests. “Seems like a lot of work to cross the river. We only need to cross about 10 feet” I said “it sucks that we can’t just jump it.” “Or swim. What if we call upon Skrilth? You know, my pet dragon.” Kovinth had a pet dragon, he was a wind dragon, but quite small.
We decide to call him. Kovinth draws another portal in the air, this time a pale blue instead of white. Skrilth crawls out. They communicate telepathically, so I have no idea about what they are saying to each other.
Kovinth is quiet for a moment, obviously talking to Skrilth. Suddenly, I’m lifted off of my feet. I scream. “Kovinth! What did you do!?” He is just smiling. Skrilth has lifted me off my feet and is struggling to keep me in the air. I am afraid I’ll fall into the river.
He manages to get me to the other side and then he flops to the ground. I feel bad for him. Also how are we to get Kovinth to the other side of the river? I sit down on a large rock. After a few minutes, Skrilth gets up and flies easily to the other side. I am still a little bit afraid, Kovinth isn’t that heavy but still something feels off…
I hear a scream. Skrilth flies down as fast as he can but can’t quite get Kovinth before I hear a splash. He is going to drown.
I look around for a vine, stick or something, anything that can get him out. I heard some splashing around, at least he is above water I thought. Until I look, all I can see is the white froth on the river. It is pushing him up and then pulling him back down.
I immediately panick. He is going to die. Skrilth can’t swim either, he is a wind dragon, meant for flying. Skrilth starts to screech, he is making these horrible, ear-splitting noises. My ears start stinging, I want him to stop. I scream at him, until a small water dragon appears.
I gasp, Skrilth is saving him! Or at least this water dragon was. I see the deep blue dragon rush through the water in a blue blur. He reminds me of a tiny sea monster.
The next thing I know, Kovinth is on the grass beside me, coughing and sputtering. He keeps spitting out water. His blonde hair is matted down to his forehead and his clothes are soaked. “Are you okay?” I ask nervously. “Y-y-yeah” he chatters. I lean over and feel the water, it is very cold. I have to get him warm before the first stage of hypothermia kicks in. If it isn’t there already.
I grab the blanket and light it on fire. “Do you have your tinderbox?” I ask. “I-i-it’s wet” he shivers. “Okay, then go over there and change your clothes.” I told him, giving him the only other pair of clothes that we had for him. We have another pair for me, but I doubt he wants to wear my clothes.
He gets up, trips over his feet and falls, a face-plant into the dirt. I laugh, until he doesn’t get up. I slowly walk to him and turn him over. His face is covered in blood. I don’t know what to do. We hve two pieces of gauze in the backpack. I take one and place it on his bleeding lip.
He jolts. “What!?” I ask, startled. He groans and then speaks: “I’m cold”. “I know, it’s okay” I say, then I realize that he is still in his wet clothes. I drag him to a bush. I take off his shirt first, figuring that his slightly oversized shirt would cover him up.
“Got your shirt on” I say. He just groans again. I change his pants as fast as physically possible. “Thank goodness” I say under my breath. He should only improve from here I think.
Chapter 9
He falls asleep. Finally. I am relieved that he is finally asleep and that I am alone. I get up and gather food and water from the river. It is starting to get cold. The sun is setting and the light is fading.
I go to sleep beside Kovinth. Dreading when I’d have to wake up. Kovinth wakes me with his moaning. “What’s wrong?” I ask, unsure if I‘d like to know or not. I want to see her…I know what he means. He wants to see Seneth, his dragonmate.
Skystriker is my dragonmate. We are separated when the dragons want humans to love dragonkin, at most. Other humans are preferable. Dragonkin iss allowed to love dragons. It is unfair. I love Sky striker and need to be with him.
The dawn is breaking, it is morning. I check on Corinth, fast asleep. I start on breakfast. I hope he likes wild berries. I have blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. I start on a berry salad. Then, I pulverize the remaining berries into a mash for Kovinth.
I don’t want to wake him; he had been through a lot the day before. I did finally wake him up, but not brutally. I gently rouse him. He opens his eyes immediately. “Are you feeling better?” As if to answer my question, he stands up. “Yes” he said “much, just a little sore.” “Would you like some breakfast?” I ask. “Yes, please” he says eagerly. I hand him the mash. He looks at it humorously.
“So, you think you’d mash mine?” he laughs. “Yes, I thought you’d like it better” I grin. “Well, it’s better than soup.” He said “at least for breakfast.” He adds quickly. Probably trying not to offend me.
After breakfast we set off, we are almost at the molten lava volcanos. Kovinth is limping. “Are you sure you’re okay?” I ask, I am already tired from the journey. I can’t imagine what he feels like. “Yes, I’m good” he groans.
“Look!” Kovinth shouts. “What!?” I don’t even need to ask, there stood the molten lava volcanos. “Oh” I stepped back. Lava was trickling down the sides. There wasn’t much, but this lava was said to be worse than dragon’s fire.
After all that Kovinth has been through, I can’t let him get burned. He’d be scarred for life, literally. I can’t let that happen, I would feel guilty forever. He is my protector, now it was my turn to protect him.
We start up the volcano, keeping a tight grip on the rocks. Falling was the last thing we wanted to do. I stumble and almost fall, but Kovinth catches me. “That was close” I stammered, trying to regain my footing.
We hear a noise. It sounds like barking. “Hellhounds live around here” Kovinth said “Careful not to run into the king.” I had heard of the king hellhound, he has 5 heads and 5 tails, used for whipping. I grimace. His name is Houndre, ironically enough.
We make it to the top, finally. I sighed, it had taken a while. “Well, glad that’s over” I laughed. “Not quite” Kovinth said, looking pale. “Look” I looked over to see a massive hellhound looking up at us, his eyes ablaze. It wasn’t Houndre, but one of his minions.
Before I know it, we are surrounded by the hounds. There are too many to take on, at least 20. There is nowhere to run, they were circling us. I am petrified. I look over at Kovinth, only to see him dripping blood.
The hellhound that we originally saw was dragging him into some sort of underground lair. I knew that I was next. I closed my eyes and suddenly, I couldn’t open them again.
When they would finally open, I see Houndre looking at us from his throne of ashes and bones. He speaks; “what would two humans be doing on my land?” Dragonkin are indistinguishable from regular humans, so he didn’t know about Kovinth.
Speaking of Kovinth, where was he? I looked over to see nothing but stone. I had no idea where we were, but it couldn’t be good. “Bring him out” Houndre orders. My stomach churned. I know who they are bringing out.
Chapter 10
Just as I suspect, they drag Kovinth out, He is awake and covered in blood and soot. The hellhounds transform into humans and tie Kovinth up. While they are doing that, Houndre tells me “if you don’t serve me for life and become one of us, he dies and you get to watch.”
I se Kovinth’s eyes, they are sad, they say “no, don’t do it” even though he knows what will happen. I dont’t know what to do, I want to help Kovinth but I don’t want to die before I see Skystriker. I debate in my head over my options. If I serve him, I won’t see Skystriker anyway. Ever. I decide to help.
How do I discreetly do this? I think. The hellhound-humans turn back into dogs. Dirty mutts, I think. I see the bones the king lay upon, if only I had one. I see the hellhounds create a fire in my peripheral vision. I think about how my dream to see Skystriker had quickly turned into a nightmare. I quickly turn only to confirm what I have just thought: they are creating a fire, under Kovinth’s feet.
The fire here is at least 3000 degrees Celsius, probably much more. The fire licks at his feet. I see the pain on his face and know that I have to act now. I get up. “What do you think you’re doing?” Houndre asks me, rhetorically. I head toward Houndre. His minions run in front of me, I have a mini dagger in my pocket, but that won’t kill them.
I see 4 or 5 hounds going through our backpack, taking anything good to their king. I walk toward my backpack, the minions follow. I quicken my pace, so do the minions. I sprint to my backpack and grab the water flask out of it. I pour a drop onto the hound in front of me and I see a ton of steam come off him.
The flames at Kovinth’s feet start to grow they are now up to his shins. I can’t look at him, it is too horrible. I have around 200 milliliters of water left. A simple drop will stun them, it takes much more to kill them. I will need a lot more water, depending on size. I look at the king who is sneaking towards me.
I don’t close my eyes, instead I pour water over my dagger. This is the only way to kill the king. I feel something whip my legs and knock me off my feet. The tails. I stab one. Houndre let out a whelp, the water hurt him. The flames at Kovinth’s grow as Houndre snarles and growles. Bearing his teeth, he lunges. I roll out of the way just in time. Houndre heads were all snapping in different directions. I keep rolling and finally got to my feet, I stab his head. Or at least one of them. I quickly slice one of his ears off.
He howls in pain. The fire under Kovinth grows even more. His legs are charred black and the fire is getting stronger. The smoke is growing thick. I cough and gasp for air. There is no pure air to be found, instead I get more smoke inside of me. Houndre runs at me, he bites at me and claws at me. I feel his teeth rip a chunk out of my arm.
I kicked him off. I managed to grab his pointed tails and slice them off. He whined, I needed to get Kovinth freed from the ropes. I saw Houndre rolling on the stone ground, revealing his soft, fleshy underbelly. I took my chance, we had to get out of here as soon as possible.
I grabbed my dagger, it was all I had. I felt his claws on me, trying to get at my throat. I felt blood gush out of my arm. I seemed to have lost all control of it. I switched my dagger to my left hand. Not my dominate hand, but it would work. I quickly shoved my dagger into his belly, then his throat. I kept stabbing, until the smoke left and the fire went out.
Chapter 11
He lay still, then he turns to ashes. I look over at Kovinth, he is still. He must be dead I think. I walk over to see him. His eyes flutter open. He is alive! I grab my dagger and cut him down.
“You’re hurt” he says, pointing to my arm. “You’re more hurt” I reply but when I look down, there are no burns. “I‘m not hurt” he says “I can still feel it a little though.” We have no idea how to get out of the lair, we decide the only way is to dig ourselves out.
I notice it first. A stone sticking out from the rest. I grab it. Nothing happens. I push it,, still nothing happens. Kovinth comes over, says something and the stone moves. A secret passage of some sort opens. Some sort of ancient writing lines the walls. I recognize some of it.
Kovinth naturally recognize all of it. His face lights up like a Christmas tree. “What?” I ask “This passage way leads to the mountains!” I am very happy, but why does this passage lead to the mountains?
Kovinth reads my thoughts “the hellhounds will run to the mountains, the hunting is much better around there. With the mountain goats and all.” We are going, through the passage way. It is long and dark. Kovinth leads the way.
I grab the backpack and get our small pieces of gauze out of it. I hold the gauze to my arm. Kovinth looks at my wound. “I would heal it but I don’t know if I can” he says sadly He tries anyway. He whispers some words and touches my arm. It really hurts but in the end, the wound is gone. We keep going in the dark.
The hellhounds don’t need light because they are able to see in the dark and can set things on fire. We have smiles on our face that neither of us can see. I am hungry. I don’t know how long we are in the lair for, and we’d be in this passage for at least a day. I eat a little bit of stale bread that was in the backpack.
Kovinth takes a little bit too, then we remember the chicory and other plants in the backpack. We agree to save them for later. We keep going, walking through the dark, when I bump into something. I am terrified. I scream, when Kovinth says “it’s just me.” I breath a sigh of relief.
I walk and walk, behind Kovinth. We keep going, until our legs basically give out from under us. We set up camp. Except that we don’t have firewood and we don’t know what time it is. We eat the chicory flowers in silence. There is nothing to cook them on.
Finally, Kovinth brakes the silence “We should get some rest, or else we’ll never get to the mountain!” “Yeah” I agree, he is right. We try to go to sleep. I can’t sleep that night; I keep thinking how close we are. After what feels like hours, I finally go to sleep.
Chapter 12
I wake up shivering, I am freezing. Kovinth is awake, making breakfast. At least we call it breakfast. It is more like a salad with no dressing. I eat it; I am hungry even though it tastes like nothing. I am thirsty, too but I remember that I used the water to kill the hellhounds.
We continue our journey. We run into a wall. Kovinth is angry. “How can this be!? I read it correctly!” He shouts, there is a massive echo “I can’t believe that we have to travel all the way back now!” He keeps going on and on about it.
That’s when I spot it. Another rock, this one is deep blue. Hard to see but I try it, I push it, I pull it. Nothing works. Kovinth iss still yelling about it. “Kovinth” I wave him over “look what I found” He said his weird incantation thing. It still didn’t budge. “Great” I say sarcastically. He tries again, with another sort of spell-like thing.
It starts to move, I smile. Kovinth is happy, too. I can feel it, I can’t see if he is smiling, but I’m fairly sure he was.
The light burns my eyes. When our eyes finally adjust, I see it. The mountain where Skystriker lives. I am so excited! We walk to the base of the mountain. I gasp, Skystriker is flying above.
I begin to run towards the mountain, I couldn’t wait to see him! I call out. He doesn’t look down, he probably couldn’t hear us as he is 200 feet above us. I make it to the base of the mountain before I am out of breath. Kovinth catches up to me, barely needing to catch his breath. He is much more fit than me, it doesn’t matter, we are here.
Kovinth laughes “we made it to the mountain! After all that we made it here!” He is super pumped up! Sadly, we have no idea how to get to Skystriker. He is very high up in the air. Flying around, guarding his mountain. I begin to climb; nothing is stopping me from getting to my dragon.
“Lilly?” Kovinth asks me. “Yes?” I reply. “You know we can call Coulith for a ride up.” He explains. “Oh, would you like to do that?” I ask. “Sure.” So he draws the portal and Coulith comes out. “What do you need?” he asked. “A ride up the mountain” Kovinth answered. “Ok” Coulith answers quietly.
He probably isn’t too happy about being summoned just for a ride. He does it anyway, he knows how much this means to me. We climb on his back and he takes off. I am petrified. He is flying straight up and very fast. I wrap my hands around Kovinth to hold on. It is scary, especially when he stops so suddenly.
We are eye-to-eye with Skystriker. My heart feels like it is about to beat right out of my chest. I stand up, shakily. It is terrifying to be standing up on a dragon in midair. “Skystriker, we haven’t seen each other in so long.” I say. “Yes” he replies “I know.” I don’t know why he is acting so strange.
“We shall leave you two now” Coulith says. I jump from Coulith to Skystriker. It is terrifying, but amazing to be with my dragonmate again.
Chapter 13
That’s when I see him. The man from before, the one that I saw in the chalet. He has an army with him, just a small one of about 15 people. 15 skilled dragon hunters. That’s why there are no more; he only chooses the best of the best. “Go to your cave” I whisper to Skystriker. “Why? To show them we’re cowards?” He asks. He is angry with the people invading his home.
Skystriker starts to fly towards the ground. “Skystriker don’t, you’ll get yourself killed!” I cried. “If that’s my destiny, so be it.” He says. He lands in front of the men. “Well, look who’s here?” The man exclaimes. “It’s Lilly, the dragon lover.” Skystriker lets me down and stands in front of me, to protect me.
We hear a noise. The men look around but there is nothing to be seen. Skystriker grins. I have no idea what is going on. I hear a roar, the men scatter but the creature flies fast. I only catch a minor glimpse of this creature but that’s all I need. It is Scar.
I see him fly and then land on the rocky ground. He slithers fast, catching many men. I watch as Scar injects poison into them. Paralyzing them so they can’t squirm when he brings them to Skystriker.
Scar piles the men up. Until all but one remains, the one that I met in the chalet. I speak “I thought you said that there were no more dragons.” “Well I thought that you knew better and by what it seems you did.” He replies.
He draws his sword. The same sword I saw outside the chalet. It has many patterns engraved into the handle, I especially notice the patterns of dragons. He runs toward Skystriker, he is going to kill him. Immediately, Scar flies up behind him, snapping wildly. The man slices Scar, giving him a deep gash.
Scar turns to slither away but whips the man with his tail before he leaves. The man falls to the ground. He tries to get back up but Skystriker jumps on top of him. The man attempts to slice him but fails. Skystriker’s armor is too great, resulting in a broken sword.
Skystriker immediately starts to chase after the man. I begin to call Kovinth back, using the same chant as before:
“Kep mon shun litf dzozina ernt revt xna, chih vaon ma. Ifton kilth mon etf sien. Drago, sodn se cielr, tui ter wo!”
Kovinth jumps from the blinding light that appears.
Chapter 14
“He’s riding Coulith!” I exclaim. “No he’s riding Seneth!” Skystriker said happily. Seneth is a white dragon with yellow and green on her. She is quite nice looking, almost like Coulith but different with the green. She also has yellow instead of gold.
Seneth roars greatly, then speaks “why are you here, Renenth?” “You know him!?” I ask. “Yes” she said “he has slain many of us.” She continued “many of us have fallen at your hand, now it is your turn.” She lunges at him. Kovinth falls off her and rolls on the ground.
She snaps at him biting his hand off. Blood pours from his arm where his hand used to be. I watch Seneth crunch the bones and swallow it. “Gross” she said “I hate eating people.” She is a white/yellow/green dragon, eating people is not her thing.
The man says something and about 400 more dragon slayers come out of nowhere. “Oh no, I was afraid this would happen” Kovinth said. I immediately hopped onto Skystriker and he took off into the sky. Seneth and Kovinth follow.
We land in Skystriker’s cave. It is almost at the top of the mountain. When we land Seneth said, “You know you two can’t be together, right?” She sounds sympathetic. “Yeah” I reply sadly. “We need to call more dragons” Kovinth says changing the subject. “Yes, but they’ll see us together and get angry.” Skystriker said. “It’s our only option, or else we’ll dehydrate up here.” I reply sadly. It is true.
“It’s the only option” Kovinth says. We call the black and red dragons, the killers. We call Zennep, Tannet, Dronag and, most importantly, Sorith, God of Incineration. They are all strongly built and meant for battle. Seneth went to call them. They don’t look very happy when they come out of the portal. Especially Sorith.
He almost reminds me of the Houndre, the king of the hellhounds. He has three killer heads that can breathe fire. Fire that is hotter than almost anything, except, of course, the molten lava volcanoes lava. His fire iss around 2500 degrees Celsius. His three heads look around viciously.
“Let’s get rid of these men” one of his heads said “but first, why are you two together? I thought we separated you for good!” “You could give her a chance” Skystriker spoke up. “What!?” Sorith’s heads cried in unison “you dare speak up for a petty human?” he asks angrily. “Well let’s see how well she can fight” Dronag said. He is Sorith’s head advisor. So his word actually means something to him.
“Fine” he says grumpily “we’ll give her a chance but if she fails, she’ll never see Skystriker again.” I felt something hot against my ear. “Be careful, but amazing, he’s not easy to please.” A dragon whispered. It was Zennep, he is the one warning me but why? I pondered over this for a while, until we are ready to fight. I climb onto Skystriker, where I was handed a sword.
It is beautiful, engraved with dragons and humans but they aren’t humans, they are dragonkin. I swing it around a bit, getting the feel of it. We are ready.
Chapter 15
I climb onto Skystriker, we soar down. I not afraid this time, this time I am ready. We land directly in front of the dragon slayers. Zennep blows fire out of his mouth. It incinerates at least 30 dragon slayers. Next, Tannet blows out a poison gaseous fire, it is black. He blows out as much as he can, when he is done he passes out from the amount of air he blows out.
Finally, Dronag spits scalding water out (he is fire and water, ironically enough). Many of the men fall after this. There are around 50 men left. Including Renenth. It is time, time for Sorith. He blows a ton of fire from each of his three heads. Wiping out the last of the men.
We are done. At last, we finish. “The woman named Lilly did nothing!” Sorith turned and said. While he is around someone emerges from the flames. It is Renenth, of course. He has something in his hands. Water.
He throws it all onto Sorith. Smoke pours out of his nostrils. He is dying. None of the other dragons are useful now. Tannet is passed out now or at least too dizzy to be helpful. Dronag is out of scalding water and Zennep can’t breathe any more fire. They are useless beasts now. Seneth and Skystriker think they are ready if anything like this does happen but this is an all-new level of horrible.
I look at my sword. Renenth is now on Sorith’s back, he is climbing up, going for yhe spot in between his eyes. The weak point on dragons, other than their underbellies. I run but I know I’d never get there in time. Even still, I’d never be able to jump onto him nor climb him in time. I kept running anyway.
To my surprise, I start to run even faster! I decide to take my chances and jump, I leap at least 20 feet across to Sorith. I don’t know what is going on. I am on top of Sorith running towards Renenth. I run up behind him and when he turns around I say “You tried to kill them and now you shall pay the price.” I wasn’t afraid like I was with the Naga witch.
He rises. I wasn’t scared, after that run and leap I’d be surprised if my adrenaline rush ever left. He draws his sword, I draw mine. I was horrible at sword fighting. He cuts me several times. On my arms and legs I am bleeding badly. He shoves his sword into my stomach, I fall down in pain. I am lying down, clutching my stomach with one hand, the other holding my sword up to protect myself. I could heal later.
He rises above me. Just teasing me with his sword, he can kill me at any given point now. He tosses his sword from hand to hand. Showing me what he could do any time. “Well now” he starts “I see that I’ve won the battle here.” He smiled, he knew he’d beaten me and that I’d never see my dragon again. He would make sure of it.
He wis getting ready to stab me, the final blow. He raises his sword above my heart. Then, brings it down, fast. I immediately move out of the way. Just a reaction to what he is doing. When the sword hit the Sorith, instead of me, it broke from his tough scales. I see what has happened as he stands there in awe. Just staring at his sword, I take my chance.
I stab him under the rib cage. Then I jab up and twist it into his heart. He is dead.
Chapter 16
When Sorith wakes up, we tell him the whole story. He looks amazed at what I have done. I have saved his life and killed a master slayer. “You may live with Skystriker now.” You are dragonmates. I ask about the speed and giant jumps, he simply answeres “Isn’t it obvious? You are dragonkin.”
I am a dragonkin, I saved a dragon god’s life and I get to be with my dragonmate. Could this day get any better? Yes. Kovinth smiles and says “Can we stay with you?” “Of course! I mean, if it’s okay with Skystriker.” I reply. “It’s fine with me if it’s fine with you, Lilly” Skystriker laughed. We would all stay together in the cave.
It is amazing to be back with Skystriker. I hadn’t seen him in what felt like forever. I love him and he loves me. Kovinth is now reunited with Seneth, and Sorith tells the stories to the draconian writers, I am to be forever acknowledged in books. I can feel it in my soul now, we are bound for life. Forever and always. 710Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7VXbBokSPl
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