Dangortha Read online

  One

  A warm summer breeze blew across the field of wildflowers where the girl played. Today she was a mighty and just queen and the field was her garden surrounded by the safe walls of her great castle. In this same field yesterday, she was a knight brave and true defending the people of the countryside from a great evil dragon. Over time in this field she has been many things from a sorceress to great and powerful warriors, but always was she kind and true, always defending the weak. Today she was Queen Lesha picking flowers from her private garden to give to a local farmer’s wife, so she can sell them to help provide for her family. In all her fantasies she always has the local farmer’s widow raising her kids on her own and in need of help. This part of her fantasy was her minds way of trying to find different ways to help her mom at home. This day as Queen Lesha her old dress was a royal gown and her hair tied up in silken bows. With her basket full of flowers, the queen was ready to find the farmers widow, she started skipping back towards her castle. As the great Queen Lesha topped the last hill on her trek back to her castle her fantasy came to an end and she was once again Felicia, a sixteen-year-old human girl average in all ways except in this community she was the only child who only had one parent. It was here looking down on her family’s little wood and sandstone house that her fantasies always came to an end and her reality came crashing back to her. It was here that she was reminded that her sister and her mother were all that remained of her perfect life. Her father who was a Dragonknight wing commander was killed along with his entire flight wing in the last war. Her father who was highly decorated, skilled, and experienced was ambushed by two wings of the Dark Talon, evil dragon riders. Now four years later with no income other then what her mother could bring in her life was very different. No more dragon rides on her father’s great and powerful dragon. No more days spent watching him train with his fellow Dragonknights. No more days spent wandering the grounds of Dragonknight castle. Now her days were spent collecting flowers or fruit for her mother to sell at their stand for their farm. She was the oldest by eighteen months there for it was up to her to go out and collect these things while her younger sister tended to the farm and her mother the stand. This day promised to be a good day for her mother, the elves were in town and the fair people always loved to buy her fresh flowers. And for some reason they never went to any other stand in town for flowers only to her mothers. For that matter they never stopped in this little village before Felicia and her family settled here.

  Elves were hardly ever seen before in this part of the world and the rumor around the little village was that they came out of respect for the fallen Dragonknight. All knew the Dragonknights worked with the elves of the northern realms and over time have developed a close relationship.

  It was still early morning when young Felicia arrived at her mother's stand at the end of her property, basket of wildflowers in hand, she noted that two elves and a man were there at the stand talking to her mother already. These three were not dressed like the normal travelers. The elves wore traveling cloaks over what was fine chain mail armor that glistened like liquid. And the man's cloak was huge covering over the massive bulk of what Felicia assumed was his very large frame until as she got closer, she could tell that the bulk under his cloak was caused by a suit of plate armor. She recognized this the same way she recognized the special cut of the cloaks all three wore. They were Dragonknights! This was no fantasy, knights stood at her mother’s stand, and from the way they were talking to her mother they knew each other well. As she came closer, she saw them clearly, the elves were beautiful, and a full foot shorter than the tall human. The way they stood there showed their natural grace, and when they did move it was so fluid that she could not help but to admire them. The human was more graceful than any other human she had seen in years but still not as smooth as the elves. From the way he moved, at ease and with no restrictions she would never guess if she did not already know that he wore the plate armor of a Dragonknight. If they were here then where were their dragons, she was in the closest field to her house she didn’t miss three dragons there. She walked up and stood behind and slightly to the right of her mother. Without knowing why, she found she could not raise her eyes to meet those of the three visitors. The human was talking to her mother, but she found herself not able to understand what was being said until the man spoke to her.

  “You must be Felicia correct?” His voice sounded happy and when she heard her name spoken, she looked into his eyes and could tell that she had seen this person before. Many different faces and names where going through her head when her mother reached back and pulled her forward and prompted her to speak by saying.

  “Come now Leicia you remember Sir Torrened. He was a wing commander like your father. He was also a great friend of our family. Why it was Sir Torrened who helped us settle in here.”

  With her mother's words Leicia’s mind started to sort out the pieces of this puzzle. Sir Torrened and her father were like brothers. They were always together. She remembered her last birthday before her father was ambushed; Sir Torrened was at her party and brought her a box of Elvin chocolates. And how Sir Torrened and her father used to take her and her younger sister to the sky on the back of their mighty dragons. How she could spend hours flying, feeling the wind in her hair. Flying so high it got hard to breath and deathly cold. So close to the trees and so fast that she could hear the sound of the topmost branches snapping off as they passed. She remembered the one time after a fun evening of flying she snuck out of the castle to sleep with her father’s dragon, and Sir Torrened caught her as she tried to get to the lair. Only to have him take her in and show her how to best snuggle in and not get smashed by the sheer bulk of the beast and to use the wing as a makeshift blanket. She continued to look into Sir Torrents eyes as these memories flooded her mind's eye.

  First thing Sir Torrened noticed was how her blue eyes were so much like her father. Then he watched as those eyes brightened like sapphires in the sun, and a smile came to her cute face. He wasn’t sure she remembered him completely until she jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “Uncle Torrened! I have missed you so much!” She kissed his cheek and let herself drop to her feet in front of him.

  “Bah,” she said in mock disgust, “You need to shave.” She continued as she started to giggle.

  “Lisha,” Her mother cut in. Her serious tone ending Felicia’s fit of giggles, “SIR Torrened is here to speak with you about some serious matters. You need to stop behaving like a little girl and start acting like the young lady you are.” The more her mother spoke the more Leicia could tell that the matters to be discussed were disturbing to her dear mother. She did not like to see her mother get worked up.

  “Momma?” Leicia tried to interrupt her, but her mother continued on getting more upset and her tone becoming more forceful.

  “You continue to go out into the fields and pretend you are something you are not. You are my daughter not the savior of the known world, or the slayer or dragons.”

  “Momma please…” she tried once again to stop her mother but as she did she realized it was too late. Her mother would have to continue until she had her say on the matter.

  “It is time you started to behave like the young lady you are. It's time for you to realize that there is much more to life than playing make believe and picking wildflowers. You could start helping me some more around the kitchen preparing breads and muffins to sell. More people would rather spend their coin on bread then on flowers they can pick for free. You need to start doing more. You need to do your share. Now be quite and listen to what Sir Torrened has to tell you.” Her mother’s hands were shaking at her side. Felicia knew this type of anger from her mother. She could see it in her eyes and had felt this anger before on her backside. Her mother had always been a kind and gentle woman until her father died. After that day she changed, some say her mind was broken and some darker piece of her took over. All Felicia knew was that when her mother got like this the best thing to do was to do what she said or risk her wraith. The thing she could not understand was what had brought this on so and why her mother was so upset.

  As she started to open her mouth to apologize Sir Torrened spoke.

  “Truly its ok Lady Anna, I am excited to see her as well.” He said addressing the angered woman as she glared at her daughter. “Today will be an important day for you Felicia” He turned to look at the girl and continued, “As you know, your father and I were the closest of friends. He was more than a friend, he was like my brother. He lived a life of honor, duty, and love. He was known for doing whatever his commanders asked and needed of him. His bond with his dragon was special as well. All riders know their dragons well, but your father and Quildrion, his dragon, had a bond few understood. It was like the two were part of each other. Not quite the same bond your mother and father shared, but close.”

  At the mention of her relationship with her husband Lady Anna, Felicia’s mother, calmed a bit as her own memories of the man she loved went through her mind. Memories of their life up on the mountain of Dragons Keep Lair. Her life was beyond good, it was near perfect. She had her husband and friends, a beautiful house, her life was good. Sometimes her husband and Torrened would go to the farthest corners of the world to help right some wrong and to stand for justice but she knew he would always be home. It was a promise Quildrion made to her on her wedding night. The mighty dragon approached her, his scales glistened green and red as he knelt down and lowered his great head to her level. He swept his great right wing forward an
d on the tip of it around one hooked claw was a green and red ring made of his own scales. He held the ring out to her and as she took it he spoke.

  “This ring is a part of me, as you are a part of him. The love he has for you is eternal, I know because I have felt it and feel it now. As he loves you so do I. The true gift I give you is this promise, I will always bring him home to you, and he will always be here at your time of need.”

  As he spoke these words to her, she slipped the ring on her right hand, the warmth of the ring surprised her. Even more surprising was the faint throbbing in the ring it only took her a moment to realize that it was the dragon's heartbeat she could feel still pulsing in the ring.

  A little over a year later the day of Felicia’s birth had arrived. Lady Anna was in her home and the midwife and healers were on hand, but her husband was not due back for a week. Little Felicia was coming about two weeks early. When the labor began a summons was sent to bring her husband back, but he was at least two days flight away. Things moved along very quickly that day and after five hours of hard labor Lady Anna’s energy was all but spent. The midwife told her time was very close and to muster some more strength for it would all be over soon. Lady Anna was about to protest that she had not more to give when the mountain top lair erupted in sound as the giant dragon Quildrion held true to his promise. He let burst a roar to let all know of his arrival. The mountain shook with the sound. A few minutes later her husband came running into the room along with Quildrion in the magical form of an elf. Lady Anna reached for her husband’s hand and felt her strength renewed. In the end, with her newborn baby girl sleeping in her arms she asked her husband how he knew and why he was back so soon. He stood over her and bent down to kiss her cheek and he spoke to her.

  “Quil knew you were in need. He came to me in the wee hours of the morning and said we were needed here. I knew what he was speaking of, so I gathered my things and we left. The magic he expended to get us here this fast must have cost him greatly. We flew faster than I have ever flown before; the world was nothing but a blur to me. The connection in my mind with Quil was full with the only thought on his mind, his promise to you.”

  As the memory played out in her mind she started to rub the ring finger on her right hand. The finger where the dragon scale ring used to be. Her heart was full of love and warmth, but as her mind returned to the present her heart turned cold and started to fill with anger and loss. In her mind was a growing shadow of terror.

  “NO!” Lady Anna stated firmly. Not even caring that she cut off Sir Torrened in mid-sentence of whatever he was saying to Felicia.

  “I will not let you take her with you! I lost her father to your Dragonknights I will NOT lose her. I cannot bear that pain. I will not let you take her from me,” Her next words came out slow and with much anger behind them, “I care not what she chooses, she will not go with you.”

  The group stood in silence for a few moments. Sir Torrened and the elves stared at Lady Anna with looks of sadness. Sir Torrened most of all. He remembered how fair and beautiful Lady Anna was years ago, before the loss of her husband. She loved the Dragonknights and understood what a great honor it was to be one of them for her husband. He remembered how she herself proclaimed that little Felicia would one day follow her father’s footsteps and join the Dragonknights. Now to hear such loathing in her voice, such stern anger at the thought of her oldest daughter following in those steps, he did not know how to respond.

  But in the end he did not need to respond, Felicia’s sixteen year old mind was very quick to put together what her mother had said. Her mother was not listening to what Sir Torrened was saying and so did not hear that all he was talking to Felicia about was how much she had grown over the last few years and how much more of a woman she had become. He was making friendly small talk at the time of her mother’s outburst about her leaving. Her mind was running over the words of her mothers. What did she mean about losing her? Could she choose to go with Sir Torrened and become a Dragonknight? It was her choice? Yet somehow inside she knew it really was.

  “What do you mean you don’t care what choice I make? What choice? Do you mean I could go and be a Dragonknight like my dad?” She said looking to her mother with a touch of anger shining in her own eyes, she could not believe her mother would deny her this chance.

  “No child, you will not go. You will stay here with me. I will not have you leave to die in some far-off land. You will stay here and stay safe. That is all there is to it.” Seeing her mother standing there with her cheeks flushed in anger and knowing by the tone in her voice that her anger was still rising Felicia looked to the ground and silently nodded her head in agreement. All the while inside her own anger boiled. She respected her mother, so she refused to show even the slightest outward sign of it but inside she wanted to scream at the injustice of her mother’s words. She was trying to think of something to say to help calm her mother when Sir Torrened spoke and his complete change of subject caught her off guard.

  “Is there a butcher in the village here?” His tone was completely smooth and as if none of the earlier outburst had taken place.

  Her mother was just as surprised by his question, “What, yes there is one down the hill near the outside of town. Why do you ask?”

  “Felicia,” Sir Torrend directed his next statement to the young woman. His tone was calming, and the effect was clear on Felicia she relaxed as he spoke. “Go to the butcher get us a roast for tonight’s supper and to the inn get us some summer wine and bread from the baker.” As he spoke, he reached a pouch on his belt and produced a handful of coins from within. He handed the coins to her and she was amazed that he could hand over so much money. It was almost as much as her mother made in a month at her stand. “Find some sweets for you and your sister as well.” He finished.

  Her mother feeling calmed by the words and tone of Sir Torrened looked at her and said, “Go Lisha, do as Sir Torrened ask. I will start the cook fire. Be safe in town and no loitering with that Tremlin boy today, hurry back.”

  Startled by the sudden change in her Felicia smiled and replied, “Yes Momma.” With a quick smile to Sir Torrened and the elves that were with him she turned and headed down the path into town.

  TWO

  The path from her family farm to the town of Laden was not a long one. Felicia walked a much slower pace than normal trying to get a better idea of all she heard at home. If she actually heard it at all. Sir Torrened did not seem to hear her mother’s outburst nor did the elves. And her mother’s calm way of speaking and acting when sending her off to town didn’t seem right. She found that part to be less important. She focused more on thoughts of leaving and becoming a Dragonknight. She was sure that was the important thing Sir Torrened came to say to her. Why else would he come here? She tried to remember how old the recruits were when she lived at the Lair, but it was so many years ago. Her mind was racing with all these thoughts as she entered the village.

  This little village had been her home for four years now. The little brown wooden houses and shops always seemed quaint to her after growing up in a manor near a castle on the top of a mountain. Still here everyone seemed happy most of the time. People always greeted each other cheerfully. There was an open space in the middle of the village where the villagers would gather to hold harvest celebrations or at other times of merriment. In all actuality it was a nice place to live Felicia thought, always full of life for such a little place. Yet as she looked around, she started to feel like she wanted something bigger, this little town was no longer enough. Not when she could soon jump on the back of a dragon and reach for the sky. All she had to do was choose to go, choose to leave behind everything she knew. She was walking down the road to the butcher’s shop lost in these thoughts when a call brought her mind back to the present.

  “Hey Felicia, hold up.” She looked back down the road she was walking to see a blond-haired farmers boy running to catch up to her. He was her age and a touch taller. Looking like he had spent the day out in the field working with his dad. When he caught up to her he gave her a smile. A smile she was sure was for her alone. She could tell it was only for her by the way that it made her feel so special so much like she was the only girl in town. Of all the other people in town she liked to spend time with Tremlin the most. She liked the way he walked and how he talked to her. Her mother did not approve of him, she said he treated all the girls in town that way and that he was up to no good. But Felicia knew him much better than her mother. Or so she told herself.