Lotus and Lila

The faded roars of dragons woke Lila from her sleep. She’s always had the same dream.

         A white dragon egg, milky, and sparkling with other colors when the sunlight played across its features. And just before she touched it, she would wake.

         “Lila! Your father wants you to fly Night into town to buy some brimstone! Breakfast is ready!”

         Breakfast? The war had made food materials nearly impossible to get. How could there be breakfast?

         She tugged on her riding jacket and boots, and leggings that made it easy to ride and run when needed. Her queendom’s symbol embroidered onto all of her clothing. A wolf paw.

         She grabbed her purse, filled with 200 crowns, and strapped her dagger to her belt. It would make combat easier, and plus, riding a dragon with a sword buckled to your hip was awkward.

         That done, she braided her white hair into a braid nearly reaching her waist. And bounded down the stairs.

         Porridge. To Lila’s nose it smelled heavenly after eating soup all the time. She noticed her older brother, Alec, sharpened his blade. He was going to Tymon’s School for the Juvenile Military. He wanted to become part of the Royal Guard who protected the queen. He was only a step down from Dragon Riders, who were a close protecting. Lila was gifted to be a rider; Alec was not.

         He grinned, and she rolled her eyes. She may only be seventeen, but she was by far more mature.

         It’s not like you were trained to be a rider, you had to have the one mark that lets you really connect with dragons. The Eyes.

         Her eyes were blue with sprinkles of gold. Every rider had gold in their eyes. Hers were more prominent against her white hair, and her Rider Mark. A tattoo of a dragon circling the royal crown next to the Queen's symbol on her clothes.

         She gulped down the cold mush, and hurried outside, “Alec? I might need you to come with me,” she said. She was no good with swords, but her knife skills made up for that.

         He shrugged and returned his blade to its scabbard before following her across the lawn to the Barn. Where dragons were kept.

         Dragons were about the size of over-grown horses. And their necks made them seem taller. Night was Lila’s town dragon. Friendly to other people, but not too friendly.

         She grabbed the saddle, and headed to the stall near the end. A big, black dragon watched her through slitted pupils, and she heard in her mind, we are going somewhere? Yes?

         And riders were born with telepathic abilities, “Yes, girl. We’re going to the market to get more brimstone.”

         We are running low?

         “Yes.”

         Night nodded her head and adjusted herself to where Lila could fit the saddle on her back and adjust the straps to her liking.

         Alec stood watching. He stayed away from the other stalls; dragons did not react well around him. But Lila made sure Night never snapped at anyone. He had his hand resting on the hilt of his blade, “I don’t get it, what is brimstone for?”

         Lila rubbed Night’s nose, then turned to her brother, “brimstone is what enables dragons to create the gas to start fire. You didn’t think they actually breathed it, did you?”

         Alec stared at the ground, but Lila saw his cheeks redden with embarrassment. Next year, I’ll be going to Tymon, she thought, and I’ll learn magic and riding skills Alec could never even begin to imagine.

         She led Night outside, and boarded the good-sized dragon, strapping herself in. She told Alec to get behind her and do the same.

         When they were both ready, Night took off, easily carrying the weight of two riders, you are so light that the boy makes up for it. Night said.

         Lila was small, but she was super quick, and Alec was all height and muscle. And his hair was black. He favored their mother, who was a clan member, and Lila favored her father, a rider.

         When they landed, Alec was gripping the spike in front of him so tightly his knuckles were white. He never liked flying, he preferred horseback. Lila gently landed Night outside the stables just outside of town. Townfolk didn't take kindly to being knocked around by dragons, so the Queen established stables outside for Riders to park their dragons until they left. Royal Guard dragons had it easier, so Night had is own stall. She handed the stable boy the reins, and told him, "Run him down and make sure he eats."

         The stable boy gave them a curt nod, and loaded Night next to a male green.

         She gave him a crown, “We won’t be long.”

         They went into the market, full of people performing and buying and selling, and some pick-pockets. Lila made sure to keep one hand on her dagger.

         They went to the brimstone seller; Lila was oblivious to the smell of brimstone. Dragons didn’t mind it either, but Alec wrinkled his nose and covered his nose and mouth with a cloth.

         The seller, Jazz Rumson, saw her, “Lady Lila! It’s so wonderful to see you! How can I help you?”

         “I need fourteen bags of brimstone powder, Jazz,” Lila said, “And don’t call me “Lady”.”

Jazz took her order, “Just in time. I got a new shipment from the mines just this morning. That’ll be 32 crowns.”

         Lila paid the price, and then said, “Night’s lodged in the stables. Get somebody to send it there.”

         He nodded and returned to customers while Lila and Alec walked away. Suddenly, Alec froze.

         Lila followed his gaze, and screamed.

         A body, a bloody, hanging body hung from an iron fence. Sightless eyes faced the sky, brown swimming with gold.

         She placed a hand over her mouth, shaking, “Somebody!”

         People from the street rushed to where they were, and froze when they saw the body, “It’s bloody Deroon!” someone shouted.

         Deroon; the goldsmith.

         Alec covered Lila and they struggled through the crowd to the main square. Lila shook with fear, tears streaming down her cheeks.  Deroon created magical gold pieces for wizards and riders, and Lila recently had an amulet made that would let her run faster to and from the Church Schools. It had worked so far.

         She sat on a burlap sack of flour, “Oh my god, who could have been so cruel?”

         Alec sat next to her and rubbed her back in a comforting way, “The Guard will find whoever did this. But, I think-”.

         Lila had a vacant stare, something Alec recognized, saying a dragon was speaking to her, “they brought a tracker dragon there. It found the scent- a street lord. Someone by the name of Jolie Harmon.”

Alec froze in horror.

         Jolie, his old friend? His partner in sword fighting? That innocent, beautiful Jolie?

         Alec knew where to find her.

         “I’ve got to go, meet me in the stables around noon,” he mumbled to his sister, who had red eyes from crying.

He ran down the street, shouldering people out of the way, and headed toward North wedge alley.

         There, a lump covered in a deerskin blanket. He pulled it away.

         The lump shouted, “Hey! Who do you think you are?”

         And then it raised its head.

         Jolie frowned, “Do I know you?”

         Alec realized he was a lot taller than her now, and his hair was longer, and he was muscled a lot more. She seemed the same, except for the bump in her nose where it looked like it had been broken once.

         “Jolie?”
         Her eyes widened, “That voice… Alec?”

         He didn’t answer, just stared at her in amazement.

         She got to her feet and they watched each other warily, and then she spoke in scorn, “I suppose you’re wondering why I’m lying here in the streets, huh? City-boy.”

         His eyes flared in anger, “what happened to you? You were at the top of the class, but this, murder? It’s beyond you.”

         She looked confused, “Murder? What are you talking about?”

         “Deroon was murdered on Lou Avenue. Stabbed and then impaled into a fence. The Guard had a dragon catch the murderer’s scent, and it was you. How are you going to explain that?”

         Jolie looked scared, “Oh crap, he kept his promise.”

         Alec frowned, “who kept their promise? Jolie, answer me!”

         She paled and slid down the wall, “I cheated a wizard at blackjack, and his was peed off. Said he’d give me a warning before he came after me. I thought he was bluffing.”

         Alec stood there, trying to sort out the situation, “So you’re saying that you cheated a wizard, he said he’d kill you, and this was your warning?”

         She nodded soundlessly, “I joined this life because I had nothing left after Basic Training. Dad had died from fever, and he was the only one there for me. I had to live on the streets for 4 years now. I’m street lord. I run these streets’, I can pull a gold bar from someone’s bag without them feeling a thing. I could nap that sword on your hip and you’d never know it was gone. I’m different now, Alec. I’m not fifteen anymore.”

         She’d begun crying, and then Alec noticed something. Something in her eyes…, “Jolie, look at me.”

         When she did nothing he said it again more forcefully, “Jolie, look at me!”

         She turned to face him, and he gasped.

         Her eyes were swimming with Rider’s Gold.

Dragon Soul

I knelt in a patch of nettles, struggling to control my labored breathing. The air was humid and hot, a storm brewing on the breeze. My tunic and trousers were drenched in my sweat, stubbornly wanting to stick to my slick skin. It was an endless battle of tugging fabric.

         Gently, I pulled free my bow from over my left shoulder and strung an arrow in the quiver. The tightly bound white owl feathers ticked my face as I set myself in the reflexive position my brother had spent months secretly teaching me. Women are not hunters, my father always said. They are to stay at the home to cook and clean and repair torn fabric. Nothing else.

          I’ll show him. I thought.

         The young buck I was hunting froze momentarily, and I tensed. I’d spent hours hunting this one, and if I blew it I’d go home empty and tired and certainly muddy. Bathing in lakes was not fun.

         The buck lifted its head, sniffed, and bunched his muscles, ready for flight.

         It was now or never, so I let it fly.

         It struck true, and the startled and wounded buck cried out before falling to its death, struggling fitfully to get to its feet. I leapt from my hiding spot with dagger in hand, and I put it out of its misery.

         That done, I inspected my catch.

         He was young, fully grown but not old. He was quite large too, and I panicked silently at how I was expected to bring him back whole.

         I sat and rested. The trees seemed to sigh from it’s lost of a brother, and I felt momentary guilt for killing such a young creature. But the guilt was short-lived, and I remembered I had a hungry family to feed.

         So, I brain stormed.

         Through all my lessons, my brother must have mentioned how to carry heavy food. I closed my eyes in concentration.

         The blade zinged through the air, cutting it like a hot knife to butter. Kyle met my attack with gritted teeth. His blue eyes met mine, and I struggled not to smile. “So, do you yield? Father will be home soon.”

         “Never. Alex, do you yield?”

         “Hardly.”

         With a quick step and swipe, he was on his back staring cross-eyed at the sword point nearly touching his throat. “I yield!” he shrieked shrilly.

         I stepped away, still tense. I’d learned the hard way to never take your eyes off your opponent. I still had the bruises.

         He got to his feet, laughing, “I never thought I’d see the day when my little sister would have me a sword-point.”

         I warily stepped back, “and I never thought I’d hear my older brother scream like a girl.”

         He growled playfully, and that resolved into a wrestling match that with a no-duh he won. I was faster, but he was the stronger one.

         “I’m curious. When hunting, I won’t be able to carry things that heavy. How do you do it?” I asked.

         He sat up and eyed me suspiciously, “Not going anywhere, I hope?”

         I shrugged innocently, secretly smiling. “No, just curious.”

         He still watched me, but the ghost of a smile was entering his face. Good old Kyle couldn’t handle a tease. “Well, I would build a sled. Something big enough whatever you caught won’t drag on the ground and get dirty.”

         My eyes snapped open. Tears were building up, and I wiped the away in a flourish. Kyle had passed away from pneumonia. I still missed him in the aching hole of my heart. His kind eyes had helped me cry when dad got too intense.

         And now there was nothing to shield the blows.

         Gritting my teeth, I set to work on gathering lumber.

         I was just lifting the buck onto the finished sled when I heard the heavy accent filtering through the dense underbrush, “Oi! Do ye think it’ll wake up?”

         Another male with an accent, “Nay, she’d be dead if I hit ‘er harder. The eggs are what ‘e want.”

         Eggs?

         I dragged the sled slowly under a bush, and moved inside and peered underneath.

         I froze, every muscle seizing in shock. Only my breath wasn’t frozen.

         Two men were standing near an unconscious dragon. It was huge, bigger than any home I’ve ever seen. Maybe a cathedral would fit its size better. It was a deep green with slashes of red and blue in its wings. The wings were about twice the size of the dragon itself. Horns grew from its head, a little taller than me. Teeth poked out from underneath its top lip, pointed fangs that were longer than my arms.

         The tail had spikes that seemed to move with its breathing, every inch of the beast covered in sharp scales. Even its eyelids had spikes. He claws were about the length of my legs, and its massive head was longer than my height. It was a true killing machine.

         But what the men held took my breath away.

         Green gems that shone like the sun. From the looks of them, smoother than any shard of glass. They were barely larger than their hands, which were much larger and stronger than mine.

         Then I examined the men. They were bigger in bulk than dad was which was saying something. They wore armor over their clothes, and they looked pretty battered.

         The dragon stirred, and the men jumped, which I had to fight off a laugh. The dragon wasn’t waking up anytime soon. I knew that much.

         They talked in lower voices, “I don’ like ‘is. ‘E should kill it ‘a get out of ‘ere.” The one with a beard grumbled. I’ll call him Beardy.

         The one with red hair agreed. I decided to call him Red. “It’ too bloody big to get a knife ‘in. Leave it.”

         They put the gems-eggs-I corrected myself, into a leather bag, and booked it through the woods.

         Warily, I stepped into the clearing. My bow was drawn, and arrow ready.  I paused. They were gone.

         I turned my attention to the dragon. It was-

         AWAKE!!!

         I stopped breathing. Its huge eyes were open and watching me, green pools of knowledge and intelligence. It struggled against the chains holding it down.

         Would you mind helping me?

         Huh? I didn’t move, but I answered, “Is someone there?”

         I am right here, and I’m in a need of help. Would you mind picking the lock? These things are heavy, and my legs are losing circulation.

         The dragon was talking, in my head! “How do I know you won’t eat me if I free you?” I asked. To my astonishment, and pride, my voice was steady. My knees, however, felt like a newborn colt’s.

         Because I cannot make the promise, but I do need help. My eggs need me, and I want to eat the men who took them. Not you. Fair and kind travelers get rewards for helping an ancient creature. Would you be fair and kind enough to help me?

         “Perhaps. What kind of reward are we talking about?” I asked. Genually curious. I’d heard stories in the village of dragons having magic powers.

         Speed and strength beyond your knowledge. Senses so strong you can easily hunt and kill prey. Power. People won’t doubt you as a human, and you will be happy. I see your father hurts you. With my gift, you could fight back.

         Fight back. Those were the only words I needed.

         I leapt forward and yanked my dagger from its sheath, and stuck it into the lock. It was huge, and my hand could have fit inside it. I searched for the chamber, and sprung it.

         The dragon reared up, and I barely had time to spring away before it was fully erect, nearly clearing the tops of the trees. Its neck was elegant as it leered down at me, powerful and graceful.

         It lowered its head, and I met its eyes. “Our deal?” I inquired, my voice barely quivering. I could sink into those eyes.

         I need your name.

         “Alexandra Diansdaughter.”

         Alexandra Diansdaughter, do you swear to use your power, and to use it in the knowledge of the Drakon race?

         “I do.”

         Then I, Mahindra Greenserpent, give you the power of the Dragons to use as a secret guardian against evil magic. Thou art Alex Secret Keeper. Use your power well.

         And then she heaved blue fire into my soul.

Shadow of the Past: Blood Ghost

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, tonight will be the most amazing night of your young lives, after all the amazing creatures you have seen, this is our prized possession, I give you, Wolf Girl!” the ringmaster boomed.

Another day of my retched life.

My name is Mehala Wolf; I’m a mix of wolf and human DNA. I was stolen away by a Freak Show, and I live in a cage with other mutants.

I don’t know how this happened, I was born like this. My theory is that before I was born, something happened.

Now, all I did all day was serve the ringmaster and sleep and eat in my cage.

I was not the only one with the same story.

There was another girl; her name is Katelyn, known in the circus as Leopard Girl. She’s my only friend, mostly because everyone else can’t control their animal genes and bit at anyone that came close.

Katelyn’s skin is spotted like a leopard; she has long fangs made for holding onto food. Her fingernails are claws, and she has a tree in her cage to climb and sleep in, her long tail helps with that.

My parents gave me up when they saw me, thinking I would kill them once I grew older, but that would never happen, the wolf gene in me is harmless.

What scared them was the wolf that showed in my everyday appearance, my eyes, gold, my canines were long enough to touch the gums in my bottom lip, my limbs were long and full of muscles, and my hair was black, while my parents were blond.

Things that I could do were also scary, I can bite through  bone, I can see things the same in light as in dark, my field of vision is wider, my ears are super-acute, I can hear high frequency sounds, and I can track things faster with my eyes, I can hear things up to a mile away, and I can run faster than a grown man, I’m stronger, my nose had millions of smell receptors, and I saw fewer colors, a drawback in my department.

“She is very temperamental (lie) and is wild (lie), so, would anyone like to volunteer?”

Several hands went up.

“You, young man in row 6 seat 3!”

A young man, probably in his late 30’s, walked down the aisle and into the ring.

“You will see firsthand how this girl acts, she is 16, so she will be easily distracted, DON’T get cocky. Even I don’t know how she will act.”

With my wrists tied together, and my neck circled by an electric collar, leashed by two bodyguards, I was led onto the stage.

“Ahhh!”

The scream made me snap open my eyes and whip my head around and watch the audience.

People started gasping when they saw my eyes, so golden they stared you through.

The scream had come from a woman in the front row, staring at me in recognition and horror.

She was blond, hazel eyes, in her mid 30’s to early 40’s, slight graying, and she knew me.

I didn’t recognize her at all, so I closed my eyes and lowered my head again.

“You see, mam, will you step up and tell us why you screamed?” the ringmaster laughed. He loved it when people made a big reaction about his prizes.

Slowly, the woman approached the ringmaster and sat down in a chair he gestured at.

I didn’t open my eyes, but my hyper-acute senses told me that.

“Why did you scream after I told the audience to be quiet?” the ringmaster demanded.

 She was staring at me, another scream ready in her throat.

“I s-screamed because…..she’s my daughter,” the woman gasped.