The Dracones

I take to Alienis with revolution in my heart. I am tired of this dragon, and I am burnt out enough to do something drastic. Alienis can’t see my plan, since Modain has covered enough ground in my mind that I need to block all thoughts except my own. Alienis senses this, but he can also tell I’m at my breaking point. I need to get this demon out of my head. I have a plan but it’s going to be daring. If anything, I should just turn back and do patrol like I told Trayvon I would be doing.

I make Alienis drop me off in the heartland of the South. I’m at a dying prairie with a lake at the edge before it drops into the canyons. I leave most of my gear there with him. I keep my knives, and my bow and arrow. He gives me a confused look. I touch my lips and shake my head. “Go and return to home. When I have need I’ll call.” I kiss his nose and motion for him to leave before running off into the distance; and out of his sight.

I remember Alienis telling me that the Adversantem tracks mainly by smell. I also remember the last Adversantem camp I was at. It was in the northeast sector of the Southern region. I go to the lakeside and use a knife from my boot to map out the sections of discovered Adversantem camps. There is a pattern. The outer ones are approximately five miles apart. The farther you go in the more spread out they are. Some are so far apart they don’t line up and I can’t make out the pattern. I trace the pattern, connecting the dots on the outer regions with one another and slowly make my way in time.

When I have finished I find the pattern. It’s the Adversantem symbol. With that in mind, I pull out a map and mark the other undiscovered Adversantem camps. Following the trace, I locate the one spot in the pattern that does not line up. The one in the breast. The location is the southern canyonlands. This is their headquarters. It makes sense. Enough ground to hide in and plenty of hiding/sleeping places for the dragons. I just need to get past an army of Adversantem.

Remembering Alienis’s information I go on a little hunt. I find purple Callali Berries. They’re tiny and look like a growth on tree bark. Quickly I find some bear dung and dig through it. I find undigested hair from an elk. I take that and some of the scat. I return to the lake and aim my bow at the lake. Slowly my eyes trace the pattern. I fire when the water moves again, the dead fish rises out with my arrow inside it. I remove my gloves and grab the fish. I rub my hands all over it, getting as much as its slime that I can. I grab the scat after that and mix it with the oil on my hands. I gag on the smell, take the elk fur, and mix it as well. Last but not least I grab the Callali Berries and mix it into the paste on my hands as well.

“You can do this Kit.” I breathe to myself. I use the dyed dark purple paste and rub it on my legs, arms, the soles of my feet, stomach, and my bow. After storing some for a later date in my belt, I start running toward my destination.

When I reach the sight of red dirt and growing tracks I hide under a rock, waiting for night. When it comes I use the light of the full moon as a guide. Two hours later I reach the canyons. Holes line the walls, looking a bit like someone had carved them by hand. They’re just big enough to fit Alienis, and he’s the biggest dragon I have ever seen, aside from Modain.

When at the edge I turn and slowly lower myself. I find foot holes and double-check that they will hold me before lowering myself down. It takes me about two hours of this before I reach the biggest cave, that’s with stopping to take a break. The biggest cave is my best bet for Modain since he is the largest dragon known.

It’s pure black in there. I cannot see a thing and my head is killing me. If I don’t get him out soon he’ll win out and he’ll control my body. Then this is all over. I’ll never have the opportunity to do...well anything. I’ll be a mindless puppet or dead. I don’t want that and I’m not going down without a fight.

I slink into the cave, hugging the wall so I can feel my way. My palms start to feel warm. Another sense starts to pull me toward the right side of the room. Unfortunately, that’s when my head starts to really hurt. The further in I go the worse my headache grows. I stop when I see something shift in the darkness, and press myself against the wall. Heavy breathing is faintly heard. The ground shakes as something moves. I cling to the wall and stop breathing. Light enters the cave and nearly blinds me when someone comes running.

I nearly scream when I see Modain’s white stomach in front of me. His eyes are glazed over and he’s looking at a wall. The person who had come in was Mikal. He looks exhausted, but Modain looks worse. Mikal bows. “My Lord, I’m here to report Trayvon has woken. I may claim his mind again, but it’ll be difficult to achieve with Kit around. Have you taken her mind yet?”

There is silence as there is another stab at my mind. I nearly scream out, but I bite my lip to contain it. My head feels as if an arrow is being screwed slowly into it. I want to give in, but I refuse to do that.

Mikal speaks. “I see. Her mind is still her own, but you sense weakening. She’s still in Morningswood. We haven’t seen her leave the city. Her dragon is there in slumber and so is her horse. I’ll try another attempt to get past the guards...I’ll leave the torch.” He walks over and sticks it into a metal slit in the wall before bowing and leaving. Lucky bastard, he gets to leave.

Slowly I move toward the unknown pull on my senses. When I pass Modain’s tail there is a room. When I go into it I’m blinded by a glowing clear ball. It appears to be made of glass, but tiny green balls shoot around like fireflies in there, trying to seek a way out. I grin as I remember Freiah’s words. I get on the ground and find a rock. I walk to it; well aware I’m making noise since the balls of light are humming and staying fixated on me. If I die now, I at least died trying.

A roar sounds behind me, shaking the ground and walls. Modain’s head snakes in and glares at me as I raise the rock. “You lose,” I yell as he opens his mouth to bite me. The rock goes sailing and smashes the glass. Balls of light shoot out, blinding us both. I take the opportunity and start running, the green balls still circling Modain’s head behind me.

The pressure from my head is gone but his foot slams me against the wall. I scream out in pain as a cage forms around me, one of his claws digging into my thigh. I take an arrow from my quiver and stab it into his foot. He roars in pain and drops me. I gasp, falling to the ground as my leg gives out on me. I take off my mask and rip it. Quickly I take my concoction and smother the wound with it before covering the hole with half the mask and using the other half to tie it off. After that, I also use the rest to cover my face.

I try to stand and nearly fall. His claw went right into the middle of my thigh. I start running, the green balls of light heading for the mouth of the cave. I follow them and use them as a distraction to hide in a crevice in the wall just outside of the cave, just missing hundreds of Adversantem. Six minutes later they all burst out of the cave, yelling as loud as they can. Hundreds of dragons shoot out of the caves, taking to the sky.

I was about to leave when the last of the dragons disappeared in the sky when Modain emerged from his cave with Mikal by his side. Mikal is holding onto one of my blue-tipped arrows. “I can’t even smell her scent on it, my Lord. Do you still have a hold of her mind?”

Since I have my mind back, I can listen in without them knowing. “No. When she released all of the dragon souls I lost my strength. I don’t have enough to even tickle her mind now. I want you to find her Mikal and learn how she accomplished this. If she gets out of the city I’ll be amazed. I want you to take Trayvon’s mind. Get him here. If she wants to fight then we’ll return the favor.”

“How can we find her if we can’t even smell her?”

“The old-fashioned way. Track her.” Modain lowers his wing right then and Mikal gets on. They fly off, leaving the town nearly empty. I say nearly because both exits have two dragons each, with six Adversantem to back them up. There are some doing rounds and looking in every place possible.

My leg is stiffening up so I don’t have much time before I can’t move it at all. I move out of the crevice and start climbing the wall, trying to be as silent as I can. I feel as if shattered glass is in my leg with every amount of pressure I place on it. I have to stop and rest several times, so it takes me six hours to get out of the canyon. Once I reach the top I run, forcing my nearly immobile leg to move.

I cry out in pain as I dive under the rock I had previously hidden under on my journey to the canyons. I force myself to sit up and remove a knife from my boot. I cut at the fabric surrounding my leg and remove the wrap I had made. It’s deep and I have nothing I can use to close it. I wrap it off again and try to massage my leg. I fall asleep to that.

I wake to the sound of thunder. I stick my head out of the rock and see thirty dragons flying back to the canyons. I check the sky. Almost sundown. I try to get my leg to start moving. I bend it and flex my toes, trying to make it as useful as possible.

When the sun is down I start running again. I stop by the lake again to remake my paste and reapply it. I also quickly make a numbing powder made of tree bark and yellow Naziri Leaves. Their round shape and bright yellow color makes it easily identifiable. Once the powder is on, and I have re-covered my wound, I start running again; knowing trees start growing ten miles from where I am. During my run, I call for Alienis and tell him when he meets up with me to land immediately. It’ll still be a couple of hours until he reaches me.

Trees are thickening around me as I move deeper into the woods, hours into my nonstop run. I’m near tears at this point and the pain in my leg is near unbearable. The only thing that has me moving is imagining my glazed-over eyes if Modain were to ever extract my soul. I hear wings pumping, fueling my body with another shot of adrenaline. If I can make it to the thickest part of the forest I stand a chance. I’m only a couple of yards from it when something hard hits me from behind, making me fall as I cry in pain.

Quickly I roll over and see Mikal just as he climbs on top of me. He pins my arms as I try to get him off. His grin is so feral he could pass off as a demon. “Now, now, Katarina, you don’t want to hurt yourself now do you?”

“Get off!” I shout as I try to shove him off.

He manages to keep his hold, his malicious eyes have jaded over, fitting perfectly with his green eyes. “Where would the fun be in that?” He asks as Modain lands. As the ground quakes I use that momentum and shove him off. I try to run but he snags the leg Modain had stabbed through earlier in the cave. I cry out as he drags me back in.

“Oh look, you’re injured.” He muses as he drags me back, sticking his thumb in my thigh. I scream and kick him off with my good leg. His head snaps to the side, but he keeps a hold of my leg as I scoot back a bit more. I lift with my good leg and slam it on his exposed elbow, breaking it. He cries and finally lets go.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

I stand up with one swift movement and have two knives drawn. I eye Mikal as he gets up in a ready pose. “Leave and I won’t kill you,” I tell him in a hard voice.

“Just give us what we want Katarina, and we won’t kill you,” Modain says as he growls.

I keep my eyes on Mikal. “I hear you lost your collection Modain. Your strength should be fading fast, shouldn’t it? You haven’t even tried to conquer my mind since that happened. Look at you. Your two good legs are already shaking, and you can barely lift your head. My guess is you need some of Trayvon’s blood again, or you’re going through withdrawal. Which is it Modain?”

He snaps at me but does not bite me. He still needs me alive. They possess none of the necessary equipment to steal my soul. “I’ll kill you where you stand girl. You know of nothing in this world. You’re a black sheep in the midst of a wolf pack. You’ll die in the end, no matter what you do.”

“You’re right Modain, I will die.” Finally, an idea flashes to my mind. “But not today.” Mikal moves to attack me. I step back and grab him. I flip him around and put a knife to his throat.

I grin and lock eyes with a maddened Modain. Since I’m probably just as mad at this point, I’m no longer terrified that I’m in a showdown of bluffing with a dragon. “Now, correct me if I’m wrong. Not only can’t you kill me now, but you also need your little manservant to complete the ceremony to restore you to full power.”

He growls and moves to take another snap, his teeth just an inch from Mikal’s nose. “Uh-uh. See you need both of us alive right now.” I nick Mikal on his throat, making him whimper. Modain pulls back. I’m not sure who is more insane at this point since I know I’m over the brink.

“Good boy. Now-” Mikal pulls a knife I had not spotted and stabs it in my stomach. I cry out and slice his throat accidentally as I fall forward. I catch myself before the ground can push the knife fully in. Mikal is gargling in agony while Modain roars. I get up and start running for the woods while Modain takes flight. When I glance behind me I see Modain pick up Mikal and take off for their homelands.

“Alienis, I need you now!” I yell in my mind while I stumble through the forest, my body is going numb.

“I’m half an hour from you. Are you alright?”

“No. I think Mikal’s blade was drugged.” I gasp as I slouch against a tree. My leg is finally giving out on me. It’s shaking under me when I’m barely putting any weight on it. I pull out the knife and sniff the silver metal. It smells like nutmeg and mint. Ground twigs, mint root, and powdered dragon’s claw mixed with the saliva of a cave bear. It makes a pretty potent paralytic. If mixed properly it can stay in your system for three days. However, it takes fifteen minutes to take effect. The reason for this is because it numbs your system before fully attacking your nervous system. There is no cure, other than to let it run its course. However, there is a stall.

“Alienis, the blade was coated in Nightmare Crane. Tell Freiah that when you grab me; because I more than likely won’t be able to.” Before he can respond, I get to work. I catch a white moth called Luminous. I snap its body in half and rub his innards around the knife wound. I grab some moss and stick it on the wound to absorb most of the blood.

I start running. About fifteen minutes later my leg goes completely limp, making me fall. Dirt swallows my face and clings to it. I dig my fingers into the dirt and try to drag myself to a log to hide in. I make it two feet before Alienis lands, and my body gives up.