Memories: My Kingdom

Chapter 26: Fish-Tailed Dragon

Leui’s brow twitched, a sudden feeling arose in his heart. “… was it Loheiruchel again?” he muttered, his voice sour. How amazing is this human? He thought, feeling jealous of the mysterious but great human.

Mhir’s eyes sparkled. “It could be!” she said. If she’d hear Loheiruchel’s name, she’d become excited. “After all, Lord Loheiruchel is a wonderful man!” she said, her eyes dreamy.

Tinum ignored Mhir. He turned to Leui. “So?” he said.

Leui folded the map. “I want to see if the Fish-Tailed Dragon is friendly to me. If it is, then we’ll take him as our mount to reach the human kingdom.” He told Tinum.

Tinum nodded. “The mountain separating the rivers to north and south, beyond it is the large river where the Fish-Tailed Dragon lives.” He said and looked at Leui. “You’ll be able to see the humans’ territory from thereon.” He told him.

Leui’s heart jumped at the mention of the kingdom. Finally… he thought as he looked at the fork at the mouth of the Mirror Lake. Just beyond that mountain that forks the way… the humans’ kingdom lies! “Let’s go!” he said as he pushed the canoe to the lake.

“Yahoo!” Mhir cheered as she helped Leui push the canoe.

Tinum watched them, then rolled his eyes. He waved his hand and vines appeared, winding Leui and Mhir’s body while the water of the lake waved and reached the bottom of the canoe, making it float towards the lake.

“Woah!” Leui and Tinum exclaimed as the vines placed them inside the canoe, then their belongings.

Tinum tapped the upper-half of his foot on the shore. His body moved like the wind and his feet landed on the deck of the canoe. Then, the water waved along with the canoe. “Ooh. No need for the paddle.” Leui laughed and winked at Mhir.

Mhir giggled as the two of them looked at Tinum standing upright on the deck, as if he’s Charon ferrying them in the river of Styx. Oops. Let’s not think that way. Leui thought and covered his smile.

The lake beneath them is still since there were no living beings living – not even a plant, in the water. The Mirror Lake is now devoid of life. They don’t know when the next Mirror Lake fairy will be born, since they are now leaving its water.

…

Leui looked at the narrow river then the rocks on the foot of the mountains on both sides. He can now see some fishes swimming underneath the clear water, and some water nymphs.

The water nymphs have tails like the mermaid, but are missing with gills, webbed hands and fin ears. Their tails are vertical, though, like a fish’s, making it easy for them to move left and right. They also don’t have scales on their tail. Instead, their tail has a metallic luster, showing different colors of the spectrum when struck by light. Unlike the fairy tales which their form is of an adult’s, the nymphs have the body of a child’s. This was due to that nymphs are pure, and children embodies innocence. The nymphs cannot be tainted.

“Let’s have a rest.” They heard Tinum spoke amidst the giggling of the water nymphs. It was already nighttime.

The water nymphs pulled their canoe to a stop. Then, they swam down the water. “They are good kids.” Mhir muttered as she watched the water nymphs freely swam underneath the water.

“Because they are nymphs.” Tinum said.

Leui turned to him. “When will we reach the Fish-Tailed Dragon?” he asked as their canoe began to move again, following the water current.

Tinum waved his hand and the tree’s branch hanging on the slope of the mountain extended and encircled their canoe, stopping their canoe from being carried away by the water. “Tomorrow before the sun rose to its peak.” He answered.

Leui nodded as he took out their food reserves. They stopped their canoe for safety. If they will all rest, no one will guard them during night against the possible dangers like the beasts that might appear. Leui is a human, he is out of the question. His body is frail, he might get sick from staying up late and the night is cold. Mhir is a woman. Even though she’s strong, but dwarves are short-legged. She can’t fight since the canoe is narrow and she’ll just add weight more than she already did if she’d recklessly move.

On the other hand, Tinum is the best candidate. Well, he’s the one doing all the work among them three. But, even if he’s an elf, but constantly working also makes them spend energy. Thus, he should rest. So, now that Tinum would rest, no one will guard them from the dangers that might approach them. Thus, they can only make a temporary stop.

“Good night.”

…

“We’re here.” Tinum spoke as their canoe reached the mouth of the river.

Leui and Mhir’s eyes closed when the sunlight hit their eyes after their canoe exited the river, and entered the large river. “Whoa…” Leui muttered under his breath and felt his heart palpitate when his eyes caught sight of the large mountain afar, its’ peak reaching the clouds.

Because Leui was surrounded by tall and thick trees of the Elven Forest, he can only see the tip of the mountain that touches the cloud. Now that he’s in an open area, the whole mountain is bare before him. Half of the mountain, its back is facing the north, protecting the humans’ kingdom from the ice cold snow coming from the north. The human kingdom occupies the mountain’s other half.

Mhir’s eyes are full of longing as she stared at the humans’ kingdom. “It’s been a long time I’ve been there.” She muttered.

“You’ve been there?” Leui asked, his gaze never left off the land afar, separated from him by a wide river.

Tinum glanced at the humans’ kingdom across the river before he looked away. He waved his hand and the tree – which is nearest to them, its branches extended and stopped their canoe from being carried away by the water. Then, he whistled.

Leui and Mhir suddenly blinked and felt that the river was shaking. How can it be? They thought and held tight on the canoe as they saw large waves of water rushing their way. No way! Their eyes widened and closed their eyes tight as the large wave came at them. They felt that the canoe is going to capsize!

“Open your eyes.” they heard Tinum spoke.

Leui and Mhir felt their heart calmed down from the soothing voice. We’re… still alive? They thought as a bead of sweat formed on the side of their face. They slowly opened their eyes, only to widen them when they watched, agape, a large dragon rose from the water.

It was so beautiful! Its scales are purple, blue and white like the wisteria petals. Its fins are transparent like the water. Its eyes are black and shiny, and are large than a human head. Then, its tail flicked the river and the three of them were splashed by water.

“Stop playing around.” Tinum told the Fish-Tailed Dragon and raised his hand to caress the beautiful and smooth scales. The Fish-Tailed Dragon just neighed in response. “You take them to cross the river.” He told the dragon.

“What?” Leui turned to Tinum. “You’re not going with us?” he asked.

Tinum didn’t answer. “Tinum…?” Mhir called as she looked at the beautiful elf.

However, Tinum just waved his hand and vines appeared once again to lift Leui, Mhir and their belongings then placed them to the top of the head of the Fish-Tailed Dragon. “Tinum!” Leui called, anger in his voice as he tried to jump down the head of the Fish-Tail Dragon, only for the vine to cut itself from the tree and bound Leui to the horn of the Fish-Tailed Dragon. There’s no need to bind Mhir since she’ll drown if she’ll jump down the water. “TINUM!!” Leui called as he struggled. However, the vine just bound him more. “Gh!” he cried when he felt his arms hurt. “TINUM! How dare you deceive me!” he said.

“Goodbye, human.” Tinum said as he watched the Fish-Tailed Dragon took Leui and Mhir away. “Leui…” he muttered as he raised his hand, only to touch a barrier. A memory flashed in his mind, along with a voice telling him something.

“Don’t leave. This place will keep you safe.”