The Dragon and the Dreamwalker (Elemental Series) (2 page)

BOOK: The Dragon and the Dreamwalker (Elemental Series)
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She'd asked every man in the village except for the Elders to deflower her. If she had asked the Elders, they would have probably killed her themselves, knowing the plan she’d devised. No man wanted to touch her for fear he'd be consumed by an evil force. And now she knew, neither would they touch her because they didn’t want her as their wife. The old seer, Juturna, had looked into her crystal sphere and said that Brynn was not to be touched. The man who'd take her in such a way was to be doomed forever. Cursed for all eternity, lest he, himself, could slay the dragon and save their heritage from its mighty claws.

Brynn was doomed before she'd begun. It was only with repulsion that she lay with Calais, and left her body while he had his pleasures and done his deed. Calais didn't care about evil curses. Calais only cared about himself. He got what he wanted, never telling Brynn of the law, nor telling her he never planned to uphold it. He was such a lying bastard. She knew now the act she'd thought would save her was only done in vain.

Lightning flashed, lighting up the faces of the villagers half hidden in the dusky shadows. They were strangers to her. They always had been. She had no family, she had no friends. She'd never forget the night her own village was ransacked and burned by Klarens - her enemy. Her parents died that night and it was only by an act of fate that she remained alive.

The Klarens tried to kill her, but couldn't. She'd been out of her body at the time. Her physical form lie deep in the woods, asleep upon a hill of moss. She'd seen the attack on the castle in her dreams and willed her dream body to follow. She had stood in the flames that lapped around her etheric form and the Klarens struck with their double-edged swords. They'd failed to harm her, and fled in fright.

Brynn welcomed fire. She'd even learned to walk over and through it with her physical body and not be harmed. She was from the realm of fire. Fire gave her power. Nay, she didn't fear fire when she thought about dying, but there was another element of nature that she feared with every fiber of her being.

She looked down to the swirling black depths rising closer and closer to her feet, making her dizzy and nauseous. Her skin prickled and she took a deep breath while she still could. She feared the sea, feared drowning. Feared being enclosed in small spaces, like the stomach of a dragon filled with water. She'd welcome the fiery breath of the dragon as it warmed her skin, but she'd never welcome the dark caverns and the watery depths he'd take her to as he brought her to his lair. At a time like this, she wished for the presence of her friend, Ebba-Tyne. She was an elemental also, but not of fire. Her friend was a faerie of the water. She welcomed water the way Brynn welcomed fire. But each of them feared the other’s gift. She hadn’t seen her in years, but now wished for the girl’s presence at her side. Brynn had no strength for the ocean and its power.

The water crested as the beast burst forth from beneath the sea. Its scaly serpent head whipped from side to side as he bellowed a deep roar that rumbled off the mountains, shaking her bones as well as her soul. The villagers and Elders scattered back to safety among the rocks. Calais was the first among them, the coward.

The rain washed down upon her and she felt the cleansing that came before one left the world and continued on to the afterlife. A cleansing that took with it, every bit of her life slowly.

The dragon parted its green wings and rose above the waves, its huge scaly tail slapping the water as its sharp claws rode over the foamy sea. Such a horrific sight. Its eyes glowed a fierce reddish-orange. Its body lurched sharply, coming straight up out of the water. Its hideous, gruesome form was more threatening than she’d ever imagined. No wonder the villagers lived in fear. One swipe of the beast’s sharp taloned claws would leave a person shredded to pieces.

"God be merciful," she whispered.

Fire steamed from the beast’s nostrils as it eyed her and came straight for her. She was its target and there was no escaping a hungry dragon looking for a meal. She pulled at her ropes and screamed to the Elders, but her cries could no longer be heard above the thunder of the sea and the roar of the beast. She tried to call forth fire for protection, but a wave washed up over her, and she coughed and gasped for air and life.

Dracus rose into the air majestically and flew a circle around the churning black sky. Its jaws dropped open as he approached her. She closed her eyes, knowing what she had to do in order not to feel the pain as he devoured her body whole. Her powers were drained now, and she had no choice but to surrender.

Brynn willed herself outside her body. She left her shell tied to the stake and raised above the dragon where she'd be safe. The air was calm here above the storm. A feeling of peace engulfed her. She wouldn’t feel the pain now. It would be over in a flash. It no longer mattered. She was safe here. She would never enter into the physical realm or her body again.

 

* * *

 

Drake of Dunsbard halted his men and watched from atop his stallion as the beast lifted into the air. It was happening. Again. An innocent virgin was about to be consumed before he could do anything to stop it.

"Damnation and hellfire!" his squire cursed from the horse beside him. "You are too late my lord to do anything to help the wench."

Drake looked over to his squire, Asad, of one and twenty years. He’d brought the bronzed-skinned man back from across the sea to serve at his side four years earlier. Asad was the bastard son of a harem girl. He wasn’t the sheik’s son, but had been raised by the sheik in false premise. It took the man seven and ten years to learn the truth. But when the sheik discovered the harem girl’s infidelity, they were both to be executed. The woman begged Drake to save her son just before she lost her own life at the sheik’s hand.

Because of Drake, Asad still lived, and would do anything to pay his life debt to his lord. Asad was a warrior, a lion by his own right, but Drake never before heard the man speak with such fear in his voice. But then again, this was the first time Asad had seen Dracus. The sight alone was almost enough to kill a man. And now, Drake truly wished he could change places with the doomed maiden rather than to witness her untimely demise.

Drake’s horse danced beneath him. His soldiers behind him were ready and armed for battle but he knew he was the only one who could help. He'd not have their deaths on his mind. It was bad enough to feel the weight of every young maiden who had gone to her demise before now.

"Nay, you're wrong, Asad. This time things are going to change. Bring the men to the far side of the ridge. Hurry. Use the archers to distract the beast. But wait for my command. Then get the men out of there as fast as you can.”

"Aye, sir. And where will you be, if I might ask?"  Asad looked toward the girl and then back at Drake as if he already knew the answer but had to hear it himself.

"I am going to stop this insanity once and for all." Drake lowered the visor on his helm with a slap. He drove his heels into the sides of his mount as he made his way to the rocky ledge where the damsel dangled limply from the ropes that bound her to the sacrificial stake. Rain thundered down around him and his horse momentarily lost its footing in the mud.

He cursed, as the second it took to redirect his horse may have just cost him the girl's life. He approached the stake just as the dragon reared back and opened its jaws, already breathing fire at the girl. The archer's timing was crucial, but because of his horse’s footing, he feared he was already too late.

"Now!" he commanded and watched the rain of arrows bounce off the armored back of the serpent of land and sea. Its jaws still hanging open, tongue lashing out from between double rows of sharp teeth, it redirected its attack to the archers. It left the maiden and started toward his men. The distraction worked, but his men were not retreating. They stood their ground loyally, in behalf of his own protection. It was something Drake hadn't counted on. They’d always heeded his command before. He’d only meant for Asad and the others to distract the beast, not be the target of its next meal.

"Retreat!" he screamed into the roaring wind. "In the name of God retreat or you'll pay with your lives!"

Asad was holding them there to help him and he knew it. He was too much a friend and true warrior to run from a fight when his lord's life was at stake. Damn him for his loyalty at a time like this. His men wouldn't have a chance if something wasn't done to bring the dragon's attention away from them.

He pulled his sword from his side, reached up to the stake, and in two swipes cut the girl free. She fell onto his lap atop his steed. Her face hung over one side of his mount, her feet over the other. Her skin was charred with black soot, her body limp and lifeless, and he wasn’t sure that she was even still alive.

Gollimer, his white stallion, turned a full circle in fear and raised upon its hind legs, flaying its front hooves through the steaming air.

Drake raised his sword high above his head. The jewels in the eyes of the dragon that graced the hilt glowed deep red. A beam reached out from the gems to reflect in Dracus’s eye. It got his attention. Dracus turned away from the archers and instead headed straight for him.

Drake knew what he had to do. He knew, but he couldn't seem to do it. Slaying dragons was one thing he wasn't trained in. Slaying anyone or anything else would have been easy.

Fire and smoke streamed out from the dragon's nostrils as its head came closer. Drake grabbed his shield from the side of his mount to reflect the heat. The girl lay quiet upon his lap. Gollimer was getting hard to hold back from running in the opposite direction.

The dragon eyed him curiously, and he returned the action. A connection was exchanged - one he would have rather not have felt at the moment. His jaw tightened and his blood stirred.

"I'll be back," he said under his breath. He wasn't sure, himself, if it was a threat or a promise. "I'll be back," he shouted louder this time, and turned and rode down the hill.

The dragon let out one last protest and sank back down into the sea.

 

 

Chapter 2

 

 

Brynn watched from above, as the knight boldly reached out and slashed the cords that bound her to the sacrificial post. Who was he to bravely come forth and risk his life to save her when the Elders and the villagers of Lornoon were cowering behind the rocks?

Brynn was somewhere just beneath the clouds, above the dragon, and above her own body. She had willingly left, thinking it her demise, but now she knew it wasn't so. She willed her thoughts back down to the knight, her etheric body floating above his head as the dragon's fire chased them away from the rocky ledge.

She watched her physical body being bounced on the huge white steed as it ran. She noticed the knight laid a protective hand upon her back, gripping her gown to keep her from falling. He was dressed in armor and carried a huge sword at his side. His shield lay over her physical body to protect her from the dragon's receding fire, but the smoke that surrounded them kept her from seeing his crest.

If only he knew the fire wouldn't harm her. She felt its comfort in her etheric body as she whisked through the heated air.

The dragon receded, and Brynn could hear the villagers cursing this man, though he did nothing to acknowledge their impudence. Shouldn’t they have been cheering him instead for saving her life? Perhaps not, as now they’d have to come up with another virginal sacrifice - something they didn’t have, to keep their village safe.

Her rescuer ignored the crowd and sped up on his horse as he headed away from the village by the sea. An army of men on horseback joined him and they didn't slow until they'd traveled far and over a drawbridge and were safely inside a castle's stone walls. She couldn’t see anything clearly through the fog and dark. She didn’t know to where they where bringing her.

"Who is she?" A bronze-skinned man jumped from his horse and rushed over to help his lord.

The knight holding her, shoved his shield into the squire's hand.

"Let's get her inside," was all she heard the knight say.

Then he gently lifted her physical body into his arms and her etheric form snapped back to where it belonged. She was in her body again and couldn't help but feel the pain from the rope burns on her ankles and wrists. She ached, and shivered from the cold rain. Her stomach convulsed and she still suffered from delusions of being drowned in the churning sea. Then she felt a warmth engulf her and she opened her eyes slightly, realizing the knight held her close to his chest. He took her from the horse and walked briskly up the steps to what she figured was the great hall. He had a helm covering his head and though the visor was lifted, she couldn't see his face well.

"Is she alive?" came the squire’s voice.

"Aye, Asad. That she is. Or at least for now."

So the squire's name was Asad, she noted. Her gaze followed the squire's tall form as he ran ahead to open the door and cleared the way for the knight who carried her. She had trouble focusing. What she saw was enshrouded in a white fog and unclear.

But she felt safe in this knight’s arms - safer than she had in a long time. And ever since she'd lived through the Klarens’ attack, she never thought she'd feel that way again.

She could barely keep her eyes open but just had to try once more to see the man who had saved her life. If she could have spoken, she would have thanked him. But her mouth was too dry and her body too weak to try.

BOOK: The Dragon and the Dreamwalker (Elemental Series)
6.49Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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