The Broken Kingdom (18 page)

Riley ripped her leg free of its clothes.
There were four narrow but deep cuts in her leg. They were bleeding
profusely. The pain was intense. She used her ripped clothes to
bandage it.

With a low groan she leant against the cave
wall. Her eyes closed. Soon she fell asleep.

When she awoke she did not feel much
refreshed. She saw the King, asleep on the ground.

Riley went still. Slowly, silently, she
stood. With her injured leg it was difficult, but she crept from
the cave.

Once she was outside there was only one
place to go, the rocks leading to the other island. She moved as
quickly as she could. She jumped from rock to rock. Near the middle
of the path the rocks were near the water and waves washed over
them. It became much harder going.

But she continued and arrived on the other
island.

She walked slowly and cautiously, she did
not know this place and she was injured and unarmed.

She crested a rise, went down the other
side, out of sight of the cave.

She soon came to a large hole in the rock, a
tunnel.

Riley looked around. The place was barren
and windy. There was no vegetation, just the ocean and rock. Unless
she wanted to start swimming, this was the only place to go.

And so she entered the tunnel. It went down
steeply and turned sharply. She realised she must be moving under
the ocean. It was cool and damp, but at least not windy.

She crept silently along the tunnel. Soon
she spotted cave mould. She gazed at it for a moment before
continuing on. Cave mould here might not be safe to eat.

The twisting turning tunnel went on for what
felt like hours, but in reality was much less than that. Then it
began rising. The tunnel opened out into a large cavern. The top of
the cavern was open to the dark red sky.

But that wasn’t really what she was looking
at. A great beast lay in the cavern. Its body was huge, tall and
fat, big enough to squash a Plains beast if it landed on it. Giant
wings were folded at its sides. A long neck lay along the ground,
ending in a scaly, triangular shaped head, less than a meter from
her.

Giant eyes, black and as big as her hand
were looking at her.

Riley was very still. And then she
straightened up. It might be able to leave this place from above,
but it was far too big to get into the tunnel. Unless it could
breathe fire or something, the tunnel was safe.

It could probably breathe fire, she thought.
Or something like that.

‘Hello.’ Riley said in a language Aerlid had
taught her long ago. ‘My name’s Riley.’

The creature opened its mouth. It had long,
dagger like teeth and an even longer tongue. It closed its mouth
again.

Suddenly a booming sound exploded in her
mind.

Riley raised a hand to her head. Her whole
body seemed to be reverberating.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, ‘can you talk a bit
quieter?’

When the voice came back it was softer, but
it still shook her.
hello.

‘Hello.’ Riley repeated. ‘What’s your name?’
she asked.

you ask strange questions. you smell
strange. human, but not.

‘I’m half human, half valkar.’

strange indeed. what do you do here, strange
one?

‘I am not here by choice. I’d like to leave,
do you know the way?’

There was silence.

Then,
has the King kidnapped you?

She nodded.

ah. i cannot help you then. he will probably
let you go. eventually.

‘There’s nothing you can do?’ she insisted.
‘Couldn’t you just tell me how to leave?’

can you fly?

‘No, I can’t.’

can you swim?

‘Not really.’

There was a pause.

do you have power?

‘No.’

then you cannot leave. not without help. if
i helped, the King would just take you back. He must let you
go.

Riley slowly sat down. She ached all over.
She pushed her hands into her eyes and tried to think.

A grating sound caught her attention. She
looked up to find the creature had crept closer, its snout sniffing
at her injured leg.

‘What are you doing?’ her voice was sharp,
she did not move but she was tensed, prepared to defend
herself.

strange. the King does not often hurt his
captives. it does not fit with his image.

‘He tried to drown me.’ Riley said acidly,
relaxing a bit. ‘I don’t know how that happened.’

bitten. something tried to eat you.

‘Speaking of eating, are you going to try
that?’

if i was, i would have done it already.

‘Are you quite sure?’

you have valkar blood. i won’t eat you.

‘I’m afraid most ehlkrid do not share your
views.’ she paused. ‘Are you an ehlkrid?’

yes. but no, i am not like the others. i am
the only one that remembers now.

‘There are things I’d like to ask you,’
Riley began slowly, seeing an opportunity here. ‘But I’m hungry,
I’m injured, and I don’t know what the King will do when he
discovers I’m missing.’

the mould that grows on these walls is very
nutritious. as for the King, i cannot say. he may anger, he may be
amused. for your injury, i may be able to help. come closer, stick
your leg out.

Wondering if the creature was going to bite
it off, Riley shuffled closer and did as asked.

The creature opened its mouth a bit. A small
flame came out.

Riley yelped. ‘Hey!’

stay still, strange one. i don’t often cook
my food before i eat it.

Riley obeyed. The flame was intensely hot.
Her eyes watered at the pain. But when he stopped she saw the cuts
were healed. Her leg was not burnt, but it felt like it.

leave it, the pain will fade.

‘Thank you. What should I call you?’

whatever it pleases you. the king no longer
wishes us to have names.

Riley stood, tested out her leg. It
supported her weight, there was no pain other than the burning
sensation. ‘I have some questions about the ehlkrid. But I think I
need to get back.’

perhaps. be aware, he may pretend you have
deceived him when you have not. if you visit again, i will
talk.

‘Goodbye, thank you for your help.’ Riley
turned then and ran back along the tunnel. When she came across
cave mould she scooped it up and ate it. She choked it down,
continued on, and wished she had some dirt to eat.

When she returned to the cave she found the
King was still asleep. But maybe he was tricking her.

Feeling better than she had in what seemed
an age, Riley lay down on the rocky ground and fell asleep.

When she awoke the King was there. He gave
her that amused smile that suggested he knew something she didn’t.
But he always smiled like that, so perhaps it meant nothing.

‘The princess has awoken.’ he announced.

Riley sat up. ‘Hello, Your Majesty.’ she
managed, trying to sound polite.

‘I imagine the princess wants something to
eat.’

Riley nodded cautiously.

His smile took on a sorrowful cast. ‘I’m
afraid my realm is full of nothing but poison and mould. Which
would you prefer?’

Carefully Riley said, ‘I had heard you made
this place.’

His smile snapped off. ‘Indeed, I did.’

Quickly Riley said, ‘Your Majesty, there was
a reason I wanted to meet with you.’

‘I would think there are many reasons you’d
want to meet me.’ he retorted. ‘But go on.’

‘Your people are attacking mine. Can we not
come to some arrangement?’

‘Ah, you mean peace.’ he smiled, ‘but I have
everything I want. So do my subjects.’

‘They like fighting and killing and
dying?’

‘Yes, actually. It is in their nature, and
mine.’

‘The world is a big place, Your Majesty.
There is plenty of room for your people, without fighting.’

‘But they like fighting. No, I’m afraid
there is nothing you can offer me or mine. Now, am I going to fetch
you breakfast, princess, or do you intend to bore me to death?’

Riley managed to ask for ‘mould, if it’s not
too much trouble.’

The King flew off. He returned some time
later with cave mould of varying colours. He seemed somewhat
disappointed when she ate it without complaint.

Riley spent the rest of the day, if it could
be called that, by the cave. There didn’t seem to be a day-night
cycle in this place. She didn’t know what the King did. Sometimes
he was there, sometimes he wasn’t.

When he fell asleep, she crept off again to
visit the creature.

‘Hello.’ Riley greeted the creature when she
entered the cavern.

Now that she was less hurt, tired and
afraid, Riley could pick out more details. The creature was covered
in large black scales. On its triangular head were a set of
horns.

hello.
The creature
boomed.

Riley rocked, ‘quieter, please.’

hello.

‘Thank you, that’s much better.’ Though it
still rung through her entire body.

you have returned. you have questions?

‘I do. Where are we?’

we are in the King’s land. the land of the
ehlkrid. it is not far in distance from your world. distance is not
what separates them.

‘Alright. I asked the King if there is any
way to stop the fighting. He tells me ehlkrid enjoy fighting. Is
this true?’

now, yes. but merely because they know
nothing else, and can know nothing else. i see what you want to
know. let me tell you my story.

Riley waited.

The creature snorted.

sit down.

Riley obeyed, making herself comfortable
against the rock wall.

the ehlkrid were not always this way, and
Andalla’s people were not always that way. do you know Andalla?

‘I have met him.’

once, we were one. but this was long,
long ago. Andalla and the King split us, still it was not so bad.
or so i was told. we still kept our forms, who we were, though we
could no longer talk with our brothers and sisters who had joined
Andalla. that kinship was lost to us. Andalla has always liked to
be worshipped. often he spied the religions of man and made himself
in the form of their gods. they had many. he would come to them and
make himself out to be their god. and then when he tired of his
worshippers or that form he would stop for a while, or find a new
one. he found a people who had a belief in golden spirits who lived
beyond the clouds, he took this on himself. but they also had a
belief in monsters who lived within the shadows of their world. the
King and Andalla have ever competed. and so the King took on the
form of the spirits’ competitors. and as ever, what form our
leaders took on they forced upon their subjects as well. this lie
stuck longer than the others, perhaps because it fit the enmity
between the King and Andalla well. though the King made changes to
the beliefs of man, as did Andalla. the King of the monsters was a
terrible, ugly creature. the King made himself to be a handsome
young man. you have seen he likes to kidnap women and have them
fall in love with him
.

Riley made a noise of disgust.

and so Andalla made himself a realm that
conformed in some respects to the beliefs he had stolen, and the
King made this place. and we were forced here, forced into shapes
that were not our own. slowly my kin forgot who they were, forgot
they had ever been something else, forgot how to change. their
monstrous forms took over their minds. i have hoped that buried
deep inside lies a spark of memory, but i fear it cannot be. i am
the last of the old ones, all that live now were born this way. i
fear that what the King says of them is now true. but i am the
eldest. i am the only one that remembers. perhaps that is why he
keeps me close. his subjects no longer make for good conversation.
he made me into this beast, which did not fit into the humans’
stolen beliefs at all. but dragons were ever depicted as strong and
proud creatures, i think he thought it was a compliment.