The Dragon's Bride

EPISODE 1: Astraea

EPISODE 1

Astraea

"Astraea, where did you spend the whole day again?"

Astraea turned to see the blonde The dark-haired young lady turned to her sister as she closed the door behind her. Lyrra was donning her blonde hair with a beautiful crown made of fresh flowers. She was already wearing a flowing off-white dress that extends a little bit past her knees. Her brows knitted as she eyed her up and down. On regular days, maybe, she would appreciate her sister's princess-like beauty, but not today.

Astraea tossed the books on the bookshelf then turned to her sister. "Why are you dressed like that?"

Lyrra was standing in the door that lead to the kitchen. They were in the small living room. Ever since their parents vanished without a trace, the two of them lived together alone in that cottage.

It was a modest dwelling along one of the main streets of the town. The upstairs was just an extended attic which was turned into a storeroom. Downstairs were three smaller rooms, the biggest one belonged to their parents. The two other rooms were combined so that she and Lyrra could be in one room. Which made all the better when they started to live on their own since they were children. The kitchen was a smaller room just at the back of the dining room. And the living room were filled with decorations and items they have collected, and shelves were attached on its walls all kinds of books.

"Because it's the day of the Choosing!" she replied. "Have you forgotten it? I have to--get dressed--properly, you know, the selection starts at dusk and you just came home."

"Of course, I remember. But when did it became a festive celebration?" she replied. "If I remember correctly, didn't maidens just gather in the townsquare in a simple dress or so and the unlucky one would be dressed up nicely by those dastardly old men?"

"Astraea, could you please watch your mouth?" she said. "People will hear you. Remember the last time you screamed at an elder's face and you were locked in the townhall's dungeon for what--three days?"

"It's only you and me in this house," she retorted, shaking her head. She placed the books in the shelves. She had already everything she wanted to know, and she best keep all of it before Lyrra noticed something.

"You're voice is loud enough for the neighbors to hear," Lyrra screeched and sighed. "And please. You know that I hate this stuff as much as you do, but I don't want us to get whipped?"

Her brows furrowed. "Whipped?"

"They gathered us yesterday and told us not to do the stunt that the maidens did last year."

Astraea couldn't help but laugh. "Oh yeah. That was when the maidens cropped their hair to avoid being picked."

"Yes," her sister replied but when she laughed harder Lyrra slapped her in the arm. "You suggested that thing a year ago, and that made the dragon very mad when the sacrificed maiden came! Now look where it got us!"

She sighed. It was her fault, afterall, even indirectly. "Alright, sorry about that. Wouldn't happen next time. I swear."

"The elders warned us that if we do anything to make ourselves look hideous or stupid we would be whipped. And if we have siblings or cousins they'll get whipped too!" Lyrra told her. "Now tell me where in the blazes did you come from?"

"Just, dallying around."

"On this day?" Lyrra said. "You're strangely calm. Every year when this day comes you're the one who's the most nervous about this."

Astraea shrugged. "Maybe it's because I'm getting old, or I'm getting used to it," she lied. "Moreover, it's your last year as a nominee for the Choosing, and when you turn twenty next year, I'll be relieved as I know you will not be in that kind of danger anymore."

"Precisely," she replied. "It's my final year. Now I'm more nervous than ever that, because I might be chosen when it's about time that I'll be safe from this."

Lyrra eyes suddenly looked scared and teary. Astraea crossed the small living room and pulled her sister to a hug. Her body was shaking in fear. Evidently, Lyrra wanted to sob but stopped herself. She hugged her tighter, then held her sister's tear-streaked face.

"You will be fine. I swear that," she said and wiped her tears. But instead of comforting her, it looked like it made Lyrra all the more wary.

"Please tell me you're not planning anything," she whispered.

Astraea shook her head. "Nothing that would cause more trouble."

"You're lying. Don't do anything dangerous. I know you, Astraea, please don't put yourself in something risky again."

"Now you accuse me that of all things!" Astraea said jokingly and fixed her sister's hair. "I said you will be fine. I saw your stars today. It seems that you're going to be lucky. Not for the one's who's going to get chosen, though."

"You sure about that?" she asked once more so Astraea just nodded. "But I didn't knew you were into that type of--magic. I thought you liked, you know, those more advanced stuff."

"We're going there, but it seemed it would take years before I master one type of it," she answered.

Their voices grew quiet as soon as they discussed the forbidden topic. Lyrra walked to the fireplace to get the teapot but Astraea waved her off to tell her that she would just do it. Her sister smiled and sat on the dinner table as she prepared their tea.

She glanced at her sister who was looking at some books on the table. Then she secretly fished out a potion from her cloak and emptied it onto both of their teacups. She momentarily glanced at her again and was glad she didn't notice anything.

Astraea brought the tea tray to the table, along with a bunch of hot bread on a plate.

"We never knew they were mages," Lyrra said softly. "I felt quite betrayed, honestly, Why do you think Mom and Dad never told us?"

"To protect us, probably," she replied as they sipped their tea. "At first I admit I was really flabbersgated and annoyed when I found that out, you know, them hiding magic books in the attic. So that's why they could do a lot of stuff in a short amount of time, because they secretly used magic when doing it. But then, of course, we knew how mages were hunted and killed. Maybe they want us to live normally and avoid that kind of life, that's all."

"But if they did why did they still keep all these magical stuff in the attic floor? I mean, we could be found with that."

Their parents loved books and learning. In fact, it was these things that they had left behind that made her curious about her parents. How and why could they afford such extravagant objects when they're on the same class level as the townsfolk?

It was that curiosity that made her to investigate them further and lead her to a discovery of who they really were. It was a shocker, of course, but the more she researched about her parent's origins, the more she understood. Which of course resulted into her discovering that she could do magic too, and in the end, trained herself to become a mage.

Astraea sighed. So we can defend ourselves when dangerous times like this comes, she said in her mind, but didn't dare voice it out. "Maybe they wanted us to know, but they didn't have the chance to tell us."

"That's sounds right," Lyrra answered. Her sister was staring at her teacup. "Do you think--they left--not because they were looking for someone to help us with the onslaught of monsters, but because they were fighting them themselves?"

Astraea smiled a little. "Maybe," she said, then smiled and changed their topic. "Do you want to learn it?"

Lyrra's eyes went round, scared. "I think it would be great but--Astraea! Are you really sure about pursuing that study?"

"Of course."

She smiled then raised her hand. Her hand froze suddenly and from it formed a bird made out of ice. She gave it to the shocked Lyrra.

"You already know this kind of magic?"

"Not that much, but I've been practicing it. Elemental magic," she said, then from her other hand emitted sparks of fire. "I've wanted to learn Fire Magic though, but I figured Ice Magic might come more handy, so I focused on the latter more."

In killing dragons, that is, Astraea added in her mind. She had read once that by learning Ice Magic she might be able to incapacitate a dragon by freezing them through a special, eternal ice. They're gigantic creatures and taking them down with weapons would be quite impossible so she learned a highly advanced magic that was only taught at magical academies. She thought at first learning this magic would be impossible but she managed to teach herself that only after a few months. Learning high magic might be easy but mastering it was immensely difficult so she practiced it daily by going to the mountain summit where it's iced all the time to train. Fire Magic, on the other hand, was her first interest but then she soon found out that using fire against a dragon would be impossible. Lightning, water, earth, and other elements could also do against a dragon, but then reading further and researching about her foe made her decide to go with Ice Magic.

Besides elemental magic, though, she started learning about other forms of magic that might come in handy as well. Learning other types especially those that she was not great at was hard but doable. Then she also trained herself hand-to-hand combat. She knew it wasn't enough, but she had to get by through that. Nobody was going to teach her. And nobody was going to save them.

Astraea learned it throughout years all by herself. So that when the day would come, she could take him down. She promised that person anyway.

Of course, she still remembered it. That memory of her friend lying on her arms, while she cried and pleaded and screamed for help, could never be erased. She vowed to avenge her and avenge all the maidens who suffered in that dragon's hands and that nobody, will ever go through the same fate again.

Bitterly, Astraea balled her hand into a fist, her nails digging into her skin until her palms bled.

"Astraea?"

She snapped back to reality and looked at her sister. "Yes?"

"You spaced out," she said. "Is something bothering you?"

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "It's just, I'm beginning to get quite nervous about the Choosing later."

Lyrra just nodded then smiled. "Starting tomorrow, we will not dread about each other's fate anymore. Afterall, you said I'll be lucky today, right?"

"Yes. That's for sure," she just replied. It was almost dusk. Time for her to go. Astraea stood up.

"Where are you going?" Lyrra said, her brows furrowed. But Astraea just took her flower crown which made the younger sister surprised. "What are you--"

She placed the flower crown on the top of her head. Lyrra tried to stand up but then staggered, before collpasing on the table. The potioned teacups fell onto the floor and broke.

Lyrra's face contorted into a silent cry. Her lips quivered as she tried to speak. But as she was silently sobbing, realizing what her older sister had done, Astraea's face changed into that of hers. Her dark hair tinged with red on the ends like flame turned gold like hers. Her originally brown eyes that turned blue. Her skin became lighter and her figure, smaller. She became Lyrra.

While Lyrra changed to her sister's form.

"I'm sorry, Lyrra," she whispered.

"Please don't do this," Lyrra pleaded. "I don't want to lose you too."

"Me neither," Astraea replied and smiled bitterly. She held her sister's face for a while and hugged her. "I promise you I will come back."

"Astraea!" Lyrra called out after her.

"The sleeping potion will last for a few hours," she said. "But the shapeshifting spell will only come off until you decide to do so, so learn a little magic while I'm not here. Starting tomorrow, please live on as me for a while. Take care of yourself, Lyrra. We'll see each other again soon."

She carried her sister to the bed and changed her clothes. Then she changed into a simple white dress and fixed herself. Lyrra was still faintly awake and was following her movements through teary eyes.

"Astraea! Astraea. Come back, please," she begged and reached for her, but the sleeping potion soon kicked in full and she fell quiet.

Reaching for the door knob, Astraea glanced back. Her sister, now having her face and body through the potion that she made her drink, was sleeping soundly in her bed. Biting her lip to keep herself from crying, she opened the door and went out of their house.

The light from the setting sun hit her eyes that she momentarily closed her eyes. Before her was the village street that lead directly into the square. The Choosing would occur there.

If she lived on after her duel with the dragon, she was not really sure of. If by some stroke of luck, Lyrra would not be chosen as the maiden today, then their lives will continue normally tomorrow. However, if not, Astraea would be forced to face the dreaded thing. She had learned all that she could about magic and fighting hoping that she might stand a chance. No, she knew she would, even if killing that monster might eventually cost her own life.

The most important thing afterall, was that her sister would be safe from its bloody claws, even for today.