Varheiman Myths: The Dragon And Her Fire

The strategy.

Tesaynia had heard about the king’s order, she hasted towards the palace's book keep where all the maps and important records were preserved. She fumbled across the wooden planks, where thick books were clustered in an array, sprinkled in dust. Tesaynia coughed as she searched for the map. She hurtled from aisle to aisle and stopped when she saw a sign which read, ‘The Architecture Of The Great Fire Palace,’ on the lower plank. She arched down and pulled the book out of the cluster. She flipped through the pages impatiently, in the middle of the book a big folded parchment flattened falling down spreading across her hands. Tesaynia tore the parchment with her dagger and rolled it.

The sun had lowered down leaving the trails of its fading light in the sky. Alistair's patience had been dwindling with the dusk. Afar the sounds of the city were fading and the lamps were lit illuminating the streets bright yellow. The shadows of the high towers and the stone building sprawled on the streets swallowing the wide stretch. In the silence, a distant thunderous pounding could be heard. Alistair twitched in awareness and asked Rhineas to climb on his horse.

They waited for the pounding hooves to pass, but to their surprise, sound was approaching nearer and nearer with men yelling ‘archers in position.’ A figure in armour cantered on it’s horse towards them, the light silhouetted the person’s silver armour with the royal sign of a red Dragon breathing fire on its breastplate. Drops of blood dripped from the person's long sword.

‘Sir Alistair rescue the boy and follow me now.’

Alistair recognized the voice of Tesaynia.

‘Edgard?’ Alistair muttered under his tempering breath.

‘One of the sorceress had told him.’ Tesaynia said.

They galloped through the dark shadows of the city and hasted towards the gate.

‘Do not approach the gates.’ She warned.

Rhineas was sweating from the chaotic scene. ‘What is happening?’

‘Boy take this...’ Tesaynia tossed her helm at him, ‘don’t let them see your hair.’

Rhineas cloaked his hair beneath the helm and raised the lowered visor to see widely.

They heard the heavy pounding following them, but no one was in sight. Alistair was tilting his head back frequently. One of the guard had emerged from the darkness abruptly confronting them, he swung his sword Alistair ducked and Tesaynia shot a small dagger through his throat.

‘Here I broke my oath.’ She mumbled.

They hid in the darkness behind a building, the guards fled through the front street.

‘I’ll create a brief aversion you move on to the back of the city and jump.’ Tesaynia strategized.

Rhineas looked from his helm at Alistair in dismay.

‘A better idea is always welcome.’ He glared at Rhineas.

‘This is what you asked for.’ Tesaynia said handing Alistair a rolled parchment, ‘Save it don’t let it touch by water.’ She trotted her horse back and left bowing slightly to Alistair.

‘Over there.’ Her voiced yelled in the distant air, and the troops followed. Alistair and Rhineas did as she told them, the only way to escape was from the chills of the sea waves in the cold night. The thought itself shuddered Rhineas. An arrow clanked off Rhineas’s armour he reared the horse and glanced behind him to see a archer in steel approaching him fiercely. Alistair had halted after realising Rhineas was turning the other way.

‘No time to be a hero, boy.’ Alistair yelled angrily.

‘It’s my city I am not going to escape like a coward.’ Rhineas growled.

It was not Rhineas speaking, this words was someone else’s, Alistair was certain. Rhineas was surprised either on his approach, he didn’t know what he was going to do now, but his intuitions were certain that he’d get through the gates.

Rhineas pulled out his sword, while the archer recoiled the arrow on the bowstring and shot. The arrow came cleaving the air with it’s sharp tip. Rhineas saw the arrow from the dark, the sharp point glinted, he drove his sword through the arrow dividing it into two pieces. Alistair overwhelmed by Rhineas’s attack. The archers eyes widened in disbelief, his hands trembled as he reached out for another arrow. Rhineas blistered close to the archer and shoved the sword between his eyes, blood spurting out flowing all over the archers body.

Two swordsmen loomed from the sideways towards Rhineas gallantly. Rhineas directed his horse in their direction, Alistair had pulled his sword reluctantly. He didn’t want to fight.

Rhineas plunged himself at the swordsmen from his horse, spinning in the air, his helm fell off his head, he lighted his foot on one of the swordsman's shoulder to take a leap, the swordsman lost his balance, tumbled and hit the ground while his horse galloped ahead of him. Rhineas slayed with through the other swordsman from the air with an ease his blood squirted on Rhineas’s face. Rhineas swiftly grounded on his feet, his red fiery hair dancing around like the flames. Rhineas mercilessly stabbed the fallen swordsman.

‘Anyone hiding behind the shadows? I ask them to come forth and fight like a man.’ Rhineas roared.

Alistair quivered in fright when he saw Rhineas’s face, his eyes  lit with rage and the strips of blood on his face made him look like a hero of the victory battle. The traces of boy's innocence had effaced and the fierce warrior's bravery emitted from his face. Rhineas climbed his horse and trotted his away from the s*******r.

They passed through the gates thunderously without drawing any attentions. Rhineas was troubled by his actions a moment ago. This was not what he'd thought he would do.

‘I get like it was not me’ he told Alistair, ‘someone else had possessed over me. What I did was ghastly.’

Alistair dropped his eyes down circling in the sand with a twig, he dropped it and spoke, ‘You have to realise you are not an ordinary boy...’ he paused to correct, ‘man.’

‘Why did they attacked me?’ Rhineas demanded.

Alistair had decided to tell him the truth. The will of Emone cannot be left unfulfilled, Rhineas was born to carry the lord's order.

‘Rhineas, you have been born to do things which no mortal would potent to do.’ Alistair spoke.

Rhineas was tired of hearing this all his lifetime from his mother, now coming from Alistair made him more exasperated.

‘Please do not say further.’ Rhineas said unwilling to hear Alistair.

‘I was once commanded to watch over you and prevent any threat you would pose to the crown of your father.’ Alistair hasted his words.

Rhineas's mind starved for more of this tales of his father, but something had made him discontent of his father. He had no will of uniting with him, nor becoming a knight. He had been turned into something that he's not, what he’d done to the soldiers had left perturbed. The passion and exuberance no longer lingered within Rhineas, even the Dragon wouldn’t intrigue him no more.

‘When the dawn announce in the sky I am parting from you Alistair. You had been a great companion and I hope you enjoyed my companionship either, but yet I beg if I brought a disappointment in you. I will not be with you in your further adventures.’ Rhineas said disheartened.

‘You are the master of your will, my lord...’ Alistair gazed with worshipping eye at Rhineas, ‘If you made the choice I will honour, but listen to what I have to confess.’

Rhineas scoffed, ‘I am enervated of people telling me I am peculiar. Why? Because I am the bastard of a king who wants me dead, and why would Emone take me as his ward? Because I am the son of Edgard. What if I was not? No one would've given a slight of decency to me. If the god wants me fulfil his command and embezzle my father’s throne, then I am deeply sorry I will not do it.’

Rhineas’s sentence had made the fire enraged into huge flames from the firewood. Alistair stared dreadfully at the vigorous flames and muttered, ‘I hope you didn’t infuriated the god.’ Rhineas gazed in ridicule.

Alistair had felt the misery lurking within Rhineas.

‘Edgard never wanted you dead.’ Alistair admitted.

‘What?’ Rhineas gaped.

Alistair unleashed the tale of the cursed Edgard, explicating every incident briefly. He didn’t try to hide the matters between him and Pysenia.

‘The queen was enslaved by her motherly instincts. Afraid for her son.’ Alistair concluded.

‘Why would Emone curse Edgard?’ Rhineas contemplated. ‘And what would I have to do with them, I’ve never known them.’

‘The god had already taken you as his ward. Last night it was not you, it was the flame that acted in you.’ Alistair resolved Rhineas's questions, at the least he thought he had.

‘I’d never expected this of my father, he disappoints me. He's not even scarcely what mother had told me.’

‘He is the same person, imprisoned by his fears. Edgard is a good person. He is brave, but something utterly unpleasing had happened with him. We have no knowledge of the reason why he was curse, nor the curse.’ Alistair pitied his friend.

‘If I am the ward, perhaps I could help father.’ Rhineas hoped.

‘You have to see him, you have to know him, boy.’ Alistair reminded. ’Would you still company me?’

‘I will certainly do Alistair.’ Rhineas smiled.

They left the place where they have taken a pause to salvage their strength after the little battle. Alistair spread the map on the ground, Rhineas's head floating over. The map emphasized every chamber, dungeons and secret underground passage leading out of the palace into the sea. The palace was raised above the sea surrounding it from all directions, a broad extension of a land bridged the palace to the city. The palace stood on the western shore of the Daleus sea, at the right side of the palace the road stretched to the northern territories. The significant obstacle which greeted them was entering the palace, the Dragon’s lair was in the midst of the dungeons and the crypts. The lair is unguarded but there might the possibility of encountering the guards protecting the dungeons, where the prisoners were caged. The palace impregnable through the front gates. The only way to open the doors to the secret passages were from inside. Alistair was falling into a great void of maze, contemplating a way to penetrate their way into the lair.

‘We could climb and get through the high walls.’ Rhineas mused.

‘Like that thought didn’t occurred to me.’ Alistair muttered.

‘Why are we not considering it?’

Alistair darted his gaze towards Rhineas and said, ‘We need to get close to the walls, with the assistance of an excellent archer who could get his arrow up the walls and noose it around the balustrade of the rampart, cautiously making certain that the rope wouldn’t unknot and take us into the sea. If you know an archer your welcome.’

‘I’d heard about the sea lords climbing through the walls of the palace and stealing the gold from royal treasury.’ Rhineas insinuated.

‘Are you mad?’ Alistair growled, ‘What you are proposing is unattainable.’

‘There is the way to the treasury here.’ Rhineas traced the path leading to the treasury. ‘Any sea lord would make an alliance for this knowledge.’

‘You want the royal treasure stolen?’ Alistair was ridiculed.

‘Do you truly think they would accomplish in that?’ Rhineas expected Alistair to answer, he continued the strategy after Alistair had nodded, ‘the soldiers would s*******r them before they get to the treasury. We'll have our way clear to the lair and all the other guards would be attracted by the sea lords who'd come steal their gold.’

Alistair nodded slightly agreeing, but he was not certain of the sea lords’ alliance. They were known for their immorality, they have no honour and discipline.

‘They are not to be trusted, boy.’ Alistair's upper lip raised creasing his cheek, ‘they could betray us.’

‘If they live, but I am certain they wouldn’t win the fight with the Halem knights.’ Rhineas smiled crookedly.