A Song of Askaldenfirsts and Dragons. Part eight: The New Queen

Laylith and Ellia were on top of a dragon that seemed to slowly flap its wings, surprising Laylith as to how he managed to maintain its enormous mass at such a height. The other dragons, lined up, did the same. Laylith saw the First holding a staff with a crystal that blocked magic.

In front of them lined up a huge army of tukhtaashes, some of them also reincarnated as dragons and either floating in the sky or supporting their bodies in the air, while others, the ones on the sand, tried to cast protective spells, and they were unsuccessful.

Behind the army was the city wall of the capital... “Ashtakaldykdamyr” Laylith did not learn the name of the capital from the first time. Laylith and Ellia flew on Frad Tofka, he indeed a handsome tukhtaash man, and so was the dragon, black with green and brown lines wriggling through its body.

The city wall was a beige color. The wall almost seemed to grow out of the sand that surrounded the city. In the distance, in the depths of the city, a towering strange building could be seen; it was a broad stepped pyramid turned into a round, tall tower that rushed toward the sky. There were three other towers in the city, and looking at each of them caused Laylith to feel uneasy and fearful. Out of the sand everywhere were trees with long trunks and thick crowns, with leaves and branches that looked as if an argiphone had fluffed out its tail. The leaves shimmered in Silenta light from green to beige and brown.

Finally, a karkhash rider rode out of the city gates, Frad descended nearby and Laylith and Ellia got down, he took the form of a tukhtaash with green-brown big eyes and beautiful curly long hair. Laylith searched for Shattiel with her eyes, but there were many similar dragons, and she did not know if Shattiel was among them or not.

“Wait here,” Frad said to Laylith and Ellia. And he moved toward the rider. As he moved away, Laylith looked around and realized that friendly tukhtaashes and half-blood warriors behind them were about forty yards away, and Laylith and Ellia would be the first to be attacked.

“We need to get the crystal from the First,” Ellia told her, leaning close to her ear.

“We got into this mess for nothing, Ellia,” Laylith said. “We should have stayed with Kansifa and Neika.”

“But since we’re here, what do you suggest? We can fight on the side of the tukhtaash rebels to defeat the bastards, who just–”

“Shh, don’t call them that,” Laylith interrupted her. “Half of those behind us may have relatives among those in the capital...” she broke off and looked down at her feet. “These spacious open boots don’t save anyone from this wild sand,” and she stared at her feet, partially submerged in the sand, for a few seconds.

“What’s the matter with you, Laylith? I say we need the crystal. And what are you thinking about? About the comfort of your feet?”

“What do you suggest?” Laylith stared at the figures in the distance. Frad was saying something to his opponent and gesticulating. “I don’t like it,” she said without waiting for Ellia to answer.

“I suggest that when the fight begins, we move swiftly toward Gaellkoet,” Ellia replied.

“Haven’t you noticed that he stays on the dragon and we don’t?” Laylith asked, glancing up to the right, where she saw Gaellkoet, his crystal on his staff sparkling in the rays of the slowly descending Silenta. Twilight was still a long way off.

“We’ll just stay close to him, in case the tukhtaash dragons hit his dragon and he falls. Without his magic, he’s a decrepit old man.”

“And we are two young women–”

“Skilled with swords and daggers, and we’re faster than he is,” Ellia finished for Laylith. But that wasn’t what Laylith wanted to say.

“What if he’s innocent?” Laylith asked, and glanced again at Frad and his opponent. They were arguing about something, now both were gesticulating. Emotional negotiation is not good.

“Innocent?” Ellia flashed, interrupting Laylith’s thoughts. “Have you been brainwashed by his wife, or is it because you weren’t raped enough?”

“What?!” Laylith blurted and turned to Ellia, “What did you just say?!”

“I’m sorry, please forgive me, Leyla,” Ellia looked guilty.

“Leyla?” Laylith wondered.

“Sorry,” Ellia said without explaining.

“When we met Shatiel’s friend on the Freedom Stairs Island, you were the one who assumed the First’s innocence, who wanted to know who the First was, you were restrained and reasonable. I don’t understand what happened to you,” Laylith said.

“Memories, hatred and pain, that’s what happened. It is said that ermirians can get used to the horrors if this horror is constantly affected. But no! Every time he did it to me, it was unbearable! And every day of waiting for it was such that I constantly wanted to die. When Ellanella jumped off, for the first time in my life I felt joy and terrible envy at the same time! I’d never felt anything like that–”

She was interrupted by Frad’s transformation.

“Fight!” he shouted.

“Altagaksel take me!“Laylith cursed. “Come on, let’s not lose sight of Gael!”

They dashed to the right, joining the crowd of tukhtaashes and half-bloods running to attack. Ellia and Laylith drew the swords that Frad had given them. He even gave them the opportunity to choose them themselves in his armory.

The dragons began to fight in the sky. Laylith guessed that the gray-brown dragons were not only female half-bloods, but also female tukhtaashes; she remembered a smiling tukhtaash woman, her name was Yaza, and she was the same color. Oh, Laylith wouldn’t want to meet her in battle now, for she would be a dragon, and Laylith would be a half-blood girl without magic.

Looking at the sky, Laylith saw only dragons fighting with each other. She had learned not long ago that tukhtaash relatives can’t burn each other with fire; they were immune to such things. Suddenly a tukhtaash man jumped out at her and almost cut off her ear and a lock of hair, she barely dodged it. That’s when she realized that the tukhtaash from the capital were dressed almost similarly to the ones from the Freedom Stairs Island.

She lunged, and someone’s torn off hand flew next to her, her opponent took advantage of her moment of distraction, and she barely had time to recoil from the powerful blow that came on the sand, which was already soaked in someone else’s blood. Her elven hearing and reactions helped her, and she ducked again for another opponent who wanted to cut off her head with a sword swing. But this second one suddenly had a blade sticking out of his belly, the half-blood tukhtaash man nodded to Laylith, and she instinctively nodded back at him, and again managed to jump back as her main tukhtaash opponent continued to attack. Suddenly, Ellia jumped out and cut off Laylith opponent’s leg just below the knee, and he screamed, merging with the screams and noise of dragons and clanking swords.

“Run!” Ellia shouted, pointing the direction with her hand. Laylith ran after her. One tukhtaash woman and two tukhtaash men chased after them.

Finally, they ran out to a small lake with many smooth-topped trees with large crowns. There in the distance was Gaell with his staff, his dragon apparently dead or gone, and now the First was running, trying to escape.

Laylith sharply pushed Ellia onto the sand and fell herself, because the tukhtaash woman threw a dagger from behind. Ellia jumped up, picking up her nearby sword, and nodded her thanks to Laylith. Laylith herself dropped the sword during the fall, and it should be here somewhere...

“Stupid boots!” she managed to say, taking them off, and putting one in front of her, just as the sword of the tukhtaash man chopped the boot into two parts. She threw both pieces at him. He fought them off with a sword. Laylith ducked, grabbed a handful of sand and made a false throw without throwing the sand, the tukhtaash reacted and deviated, and then she threw the sand and hit him in the eyes, she ran up sharply, made a circular sling with her feet, and the tukhtaash fell, she grabbed his sword and stabbed it in the tukhtaash’s stomach, then drew it, and defended herself against the other male tukhtaash. She saw Ellia fighting the tukhtaash woman.

Suddenly a dragon body crashed next to them, shaking the sand, and Laylith almost jumped, but her feet just sank deeper into the sand. The dragon pinned Ellia down. Laylith rushed to her and managed to cross her sword with the tukhtaash woman that had swung over Ellia’s head. The tukhtaash man who fought with Laylith swung from behind, and Laylith ducked, and that tukhtaash lunged, and the his sword slashed tukhtaash woman hand and she dropped her sword, she screamed and bled. Laylith didn’t hesitate to grab her sword and slash at the side of the tukhtaash’s stomach with all her might.

Ellia got out from under the dragon at that moment and ran up to Laylith; she grabbed the tukhtaash woman’s bloody sword. Ellia cut off the tukhtaash woman’s head, and the tukhtaash man collapsed on the sand, holding his stomach.

“He was near the lake,” Ellia said. Laylith wanted to kill the tukhtaash man. “Leave him, he’s unimportant, let’s run!”

“At least let me put my boots on,” Laylith said, and instantly pulled the boots off the woman’s headless body. “Oh, these are definitely better than those.”

Ellia was on her way to the small lake, and Laylith followed her.

They reached the small lake, went around it and moved into a small forest. They walked and listened, but the noise of the battle distracted them. Suddenly Laylith noticed how someone looked out from behind a distant tree and hid again.

They approached this tree from two sides, and then ran out sharply. In front of him was Gaellkoet with his staff with the ataklantack crystal that blocked the magic.

“Don’t kill me, please! I’ll tell you everything, I’m very useful. I have children, you know, I have grandchildren and great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren and–”

Ellia got tears in her eyes. Laylith stood abruptly in front of her, realizing what she was up to.

“Not now, please, later, I promise, later,” Laylith said quietly. Ellia turned away abruptly. Laylith turned to the First.

“Gaellkoet,” she said to the First, “tell me everything you know.”

“What exactly?” Gaell tried to play up.

“For the start, where is Ansell? And what the Firsts are up to, who’s in league with who, who’s enemy of who, who stays neutral, what their plans are, how to get to our continent fast, how to get to Malderfir? So, we need to know everything!” Laylith said.

“I don’t know where Ansell is, he’s my enemy, and the other Firsts my enemies. They want to mine alanjruon, and I want to set the crystals, so that everyone will lose their magic and we can live in peace.”

“He’s lying!” Ellia said.

“Obviously,” Laylith agreed.

“We should cut off his hand,” Ellia suggested.

“What?” Gaell was surprised.

“We won’t be able to stop the bleeding and he might lose consciousness,” Laylith parried.

“Then we can cut off his balls, and he won’t be able to breed his bastards and rape his wives anymore,” Ellia suggested.

“What?! I don’t–”

“Good idea,” Laylith agreed and moved closer to Gaell, bringing her sword into the area of his ample pants.

“All right, all right, I’ll tell you everything. Itullannoth teamed up with Ansell,” Gaell said.

“Is this the one on Malderfir?” Laylith asked.

“Yes, I think so,” he rolled his eyes from side to side.

“Ha, he’s lying,” Ellia laughed. “He stretched out that last phrase and ran his eyes because he doesn’t know what you know Laylith,” Ellia realized.

“Then I’ll ask the questions. Do you know what Ansell was doing in his tower?”

“Which tower?” the First asked and stared deliberately at Laylith without moving his pupils.

“Does he have many towers?” Laylith asked.

“I don’t know,” Gaell replied.

Ellia shook her head.

“We won’t get anything from him,” Ellia said.

“Well, chop his hand off, for the start. If he talks, we won’t chop his dick off, but if he bleeds–”

“Wait, wait, honored el-el and honored arfshery–” Gaell began.

“Pfft,” Ellia snapped. “Almost right, only ‘arfshery’ is how azdairik pronounce it, young unmarried isters woman are addressed as ‘arkshery’.

“Yes, I’m sorry, dear el-el and arkshery, I cooperate, I tell you everything I know, why do you want to hurt me? I waged a whole war to free this continent from slavery, the slave trade and the horrors of the past! Have I not the right to life and the integrity of my limbs and other organs?!”

Ellia stopped laughing. Suddenly something came over her, and she swung her sword at the throat area with all her might, severing Gaell’s head. She had a not very long sword with a wide blade. And now the sword was stuck in the wood, and the First’s head was left standing on it, while his body began to slide lower.

“Why?!” Laylith burst out. “We haven’t interrogated him yet, I promised you–”

“Laylith, he’d lie to us. He’d speak of any alliances or enemies he wished, for he knows we know little. And what would we do with false information? Would it give you hope? And would you follow a false trail, hoping for something? Here, look at him, here it is reality, and we did the first justice by killing the first of the First Vile Creatures!”

“You have to try to make informed decisions, not emotional ones, and I know that from myself. It’s very hard to tell the difference between justice and blind rage when you feel pain and hate and it kills you,” Laylith parried, but she was pleased that Gaell was dead. “Still, what if he’s innocent?”

“You told me about what Ansell told your group. That’s when he saved your father’s mistress... what’s her name?”

“She’s not my father’s mistress!” Laylith remarked sharply. “She is my father’s friend, who obviously loves him and he loves her, but they are not together.”

“Anyway, she told you how this Ansell appeared in the desert and saved her and your friend Arel. And he seemed positive, he seemed kind, one might even say, caring–” Suddenly emotions came over Ellia, she must have remembered something else about Ansell and she began to sob.

“Come on,” Laylith came up to hug her. “Don’t worry, the vile skeshdak Ansell will suffer the same fate as Gaellkoet. Just be restrained and let the truth come out in the future, please.”

“Well, all right,” Ellia said, and pulled away.

Laylith raised the staff, on which the crystal that blocked magic glowed. And Ellia with force pulled her sword out of the tree that Gaellkoet’s head fell sharply and stuck in the sandy soil. And the girls, having cast a last glance at the head of the First, moved deep into the forest.