Legon Awakening: Book One in the Legon Series (49 page)

“She didn’t come that close, retard,” Barnin
said.

“Easy for you to say. you’re what, five-three?” Ankle
retorted.

“More like five-four,” Sara said, holding her hand
above Barnin like she was measuring his height.

Barnin gritted his teeth. He hated short jokes. They
were making their way down the staircase to the floor of the dragon
dome. As they entered the large circular room they were met by the
sound of Elves working to get mangled armor off the dragons.

They were almost to Iselin’s hangar when they heard a
loud clanging of metal and then a crash. There were similar sounds
across the floor as dragons shook off their armor into heaps onto
the ground. They rounded the corner of Iselin’s hangar and entered.
She was still in her dragon form, but within a few seconds she was
back to the beautiful blonde with blue-green eyes. His heart gave
an involuntary jump. There wasn’t a scratch on her. She walked over
to them; no, it was more like a glide. When she was close there was
no mistaking the fire in her eyes. She glared at him for a
moment.

“I’m out of here,” Keither said, not even coming up
with an excuse. Sara called after him, saying she needed something.
Cowards.

Legon wished that Iselin had stayed in her dragon
form. Oddly, that was far less intimidating. He felt Ankle and
Barnin standing stone-still with terror. Neither said anything,
which was saying a lot for Barnin. Legon opened his mouth to speak,
but Iselin hit him hard on the arm.

“Ouch!”

“You idiot!” she roared.

“What? I saved your…” Legon started.

“Don’t you dare say you saved my life. I had him, and
now you get partial credit for the kill!”

Now he got partial credit for the kill? She seriously
wasn’t mad about that, was she? She hit him again.

“Ow! Ise, you were about to get eaten! I saved your
life, and
I’m
the a-” Legon started again.

“Language,” Sasha said sharply.

“Yes, Legon. Language. Don’t befoul the air with your
vulgarity or stupidity! I was faking. you have to be used to women
doing that!”

Sydin was by them now. “Iselin, that’s hardly
appropriate, and you were about-”

“Don’t you back him up, Sydin, or so help me-”

To his amazement Sydin was backing away with his
hands up in a placating gesture.

Sasha attempted to intervene. “Iselin, come on, you
saved Legon’s life there at the end, and if he wouldn’t have done
what he did you wouldn’t have gotten that spectacular kill, and
that was all you.”

Iselin paused for a bit. Sasha went on. “And you’re
not actually mad at Legon for helping you with a kill, are you?
It’s actually kind of sweet if you think about it.”

Now Iselin looked a little embarrassed. She turned to
Legon. “What if you had gotten killed? Do you know what you mean to
people?”

“Look Ise, I’m not saying what I did was smart, but
it was better than the alternative.”

“Fine. I forgive you, but you owe me.”

He laughed, feeling better. “Fine, but not much,
because you almost rolled on me.”

She rolled her eyes at him, but he knew she was fine
now. Sasha’s mind was working overtime, he could feel it. She was
plotting something.

“Maybe I could make it up to you over dinner?” he
blurted.

Did he just do that? Sasha was smirking. Sydin and
Barnin were looking away, but he thought he saw them both smile.
Iselin looked dumbfounded, but not upset.

“Well, you don’t know any good places to eat in our
land, so it would really be me taking you out, and I don’t want to
go to Salmont right now…”

Ankle spoke. “Well, you’ll be sailing south from
Manton won’t you?”

Sydin jumped in. “Yes they will, and I will be
accompanying them.”

“It’s settled then. There is a great restaurant in
Manton. you guys will love it, and it’s a great first date spot,”
Ankle said jubilantly.

That made it final. He had asked an Elven dragon on a
date. He wasn’t nervous around women, but still, he had just asked
an Elven dragon on a date. Iselin smiled, and he suspected that she
was hoping Ankle would be saying something like that.

“Fine, but I’m getting the most expensive thing on
the menu.”

And with that she turned around and walked off.

As they left, Ankle sidled up alongside him and held
out his fist. Legon tapped it with his own, but he wasn’t sure
why.

“What are you doing, Ankle?” Legon asked,
perplexed.

“Good work,” Ankle responded
conspiratorially. “Barnin said that you were a cool guy.”

“Thanks, but what was that fist thing?”

“What? Don’t you do that back home?”

“No,” Legon said.

“You don’t? Well, it’s like a high five, you
know?”

“No, I don’t, but thank you. So, what kind of
restaurant is this?” Legon asked, changing the subject.

“It’s one that his parents own,” Barnin said.

“You’ll love it and so will she. Just tell them I
sent you, and tell them you want the table in the back corner. This
is so great! Elves are going to eat at my family’s restaurant!”

Barnin chuckled and murmured something about Legon
needing to borrow money.

* * * * *

Sasha knew that there was going to be plenty of time
to bother Legon about his date and for her to rub in her victory,
but right now they were on their way to see Arkin. As they walked
she held a little green pod to her mouth that Sydin had given her.
He had given four or five to all of them.

Barnin and Ankle were biting the tips off and
squeezing something that looked like sap into their mouths.

She frowned at the little pod. “What are these?” she
asked.

“Power packs,” Barnin answered.

“Power packs?” Sasha repeated.

It was Ankle that spoke this time. “Yeah. That’s not
what the Elves call them, but that’s the nickname they have with
the humans. They taste great and they give you energy. Lots of
vitamins, nutrients, all that stuff.”

She nodded and bit the tip off of one and squeezed it
into her mouth. It was sweet and tasted a lot like honey. As she
swallowed it her belly felt warm. She had another.

“See? They’re good and they act fast, too. you’ll be
feeling better in just a minute,” Ankle said.

It was true. By the time they made it to the hospital
tent where Arkin was she had a lot more energy. When they found
Arkin he was awake and looking sulky. His chest was wrapped in
bandages and he looked a little pale. He gave them a weak smile and
started to get up. Sasha pushed him back down.

“Sasha, I’m fine. The staff here-” Arkin started.

“Needs to change your dressings, and they’re done all
wrong. Let me take a look at you. Sit still,” Sasha commanded.

He didn’t argue with her, and she suspected that he
was happy to have her there. She looked him over and then told him
to sit up so she could have a look at his chest. He sat up and she
unwrapped the dressings, which really did need to be changed.

“Barnin, would you be a dear and get me some hot
water, a cloth, and more bandages?” Sasha asked.

Barnin looked doubtful. “They won’t give them to us
normally.”

She looked at him. “But I’m sure they will be happy
to give them to House Evindass, don’t you think?”

He looked happy about being able to use the power of
their name, but then she thought better.

“On second thought, just the hot water and a
rag.”

There was a large laceration across his chest. The
wound was bleeding slightly and she knew that it went almost to his
ribs. It wasn’t a clean cut either. She peered closely at it. The
blade that had done it was only moderately sharp, but otherwise it
was straightforward. Soon Barnin was back with the requested
supplies and a smile that told her he had taken advantage of being
her errand runner. She took the water and rag and cleaned around
the cut. When she was done she looked at it appraisingly.

“Sasha, there’s no way you can fix this with magic.
you don’t have enough strength,” Arkin said.

“But he does,” she said, pointing to Legon.

“But I don’t know how to fix it,” Legon said.

“But I do,” Sasha responded.

She smiled and accessed his mind and then his magic.
She hadn’t ever done this before, but she knew that dragons often
used another’s minor in their own spells, so it should work.
Legon’s reserve, while depleted, was still vast compared to her
own. The power felt clumsy to her, but she concentrated on the
spell and a ruby glow appeared under her hand. She moved her hand
over Arkin’s chest and the muscle and veins flowed together. When
she was done she popped another power pack and looked at Arkin’s
healed chest.

He smiled broadly at her. “Thanks Sash, but I think
you missed a mole. There used to be one right there.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re welcome, and I didn’t
miss a mole. Those things are horrid. you’re better off without
it.”

He laughed and directed his words to Legon. “So, Un
Prosa, I hear you were good in the fight, and that you have a date
with Ise.”

They talked for a while and then Arkin decided he
felt good enough to get up and leave. They went back to the dragon
dome and spent the rest of the night talking about anything other
than the battle.

After a few hours Sasha’s vision started to blur with
fatigue. She leaned back on the couch and her eyelids began to
droop. The others were talking about their coming trip to the Elven
lands, and she wanted to stay awake, but eventually and reluctantly
she closed her eyes.

Taken

“
No matter how hard we try to ignore it,
the world we don’t recognize is still there.”

-The Exiled Captain (Author Unknown)

Rachel made her way home. She’d spent a
lovely day with Timothy, her one true love—or at least that’s what
her sixteen-year-old heart told her he was. She trotted home
letting her dress swirl around her and waved as she passed her best
friend Pamela’s house. Pamela was more of a tomboy with her tough
attitude and meaty frame, but Rachel thought she was wonderful.

Dinner was normal. Rachel daydreamed and her
mother and father tried to talk to her, but, like most teenagers,
she wasn’t much for sharing. The night was cool when she went to
bed, so she closed her window and settled into a dream of Timothy.
She sighed in contentment.

A sound woke her…what was it? It sounded like
screams from outside. Still half asleep, Rachel went to open the
window when her father burst in the room.

“Rachel, Rachel honey, come on, we need to
leave!” he said frantically.

Why did they need to leave? With a snap of
her father’s fingers she thought of everyone in town talking about
the Iumenta that had been watching them.
Feeling scared, she moved with her father to the living room.
There was yelling and more screaming outside. Her mother was
downstairs putting food in a bag. The door of the house burst open
and Rachel’s father shoved her into a closet as four black armored
figures entered the house.

She heard her mother scream and her dad yell
“Get off my wife!” Then there was a thud, the sound of something
being dragged, and her mother screaming “NO!” Rachel, her heart
pounding, knelt, looking out of the crack at the bottom of the
door. A pool of blood made its way to her and she saw just a
glimpse of brown hair that matched her father’s. She moved to the
wall, clamping her eyes shut, “No no no no no!” she whispered.

There was a sound from upstairs. What was it?
Another cry that sounded like her mother…was she still alive? Fear
and the need to stay alive finally won out. As she opened the door
of the closet and confirmed her father’s death and mother’s
absence, she bolted for the door.

Shame filled her as she left her mother to
whatever fait she was enduring, but Rachel had to run. The streets
were pandemonium. People in black armor were hacking people to
death. Men’s, women’s and children’s bodies littered the streets.
She slammed into one of the black figures and screamed as he raised
a war hammer to hit her. Then, with a crunch, the man fell to the
side, revealing Pamela with a skillet.

“Come on, we need to get to the town center
to make a stand!” Pamela was a fighter.

They ran as fast as they could to the town
center where a small band of men and women were making a last
stand. Pamela joined the fight, swinging her skillet with as much
force as she could muster. Rachel, watching the people get
slaughtered, sank to the ground. Finally, the majority of the
town’s people were lost, and those that were left were injured or
gave up. Counting Rachel and Pamela, there were maybe ten people
left.

The black figures surrounded them and Rachel
was sure that she was going to die or be dragged off like the other
people she had seen. The figures parted and an Iumenta walked up to
the survivors, his gray skin fading in the moonlight and his yellow
eyes boring into Rachel’s.

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