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

After she and the dragons broke away from the dakradrafs pursuit, Fernir and Irkir caught up with them, and they all made it to the border of Zualafaran together. At the border, two border guards turned into dragons and attacked Halicksimonish, but Darlat was able to clutch at the dragon’s throat, protecting his brother. Arinella almost fell at the time... It all worked out in the end. The second dragon-guard flew away.

They crossed the border and flew through a small forest and before them opened up a vast area with a road to the city, towering in the rock. The sandy terrain was adjacent to a thick green forest.

They saw different travelers, some were on animals resembling karkhashes, some were on foot. Slu asked the dragons to land near the road. The dragons knocked down several trees upon landing.

An old woman who looked like a tukhtaash was moving nearby and she yelled at them when she saw fallen trees, “Outrageous, you know the laws!”

Slu came down from Stellar and ran up to her.

“Excuse me, um... are you a tukhtaash? Slu suddenly asked.

“A tukhtaash? What is that, girl?” the old woman smirked. “Ahh, I see you’re not from around here. You’re a slaves from Zualafaran. I was always against slavery, my ancestors were slaves, so I decided to live in the Free Provinces of Baratsk. But I’m not stupid. I understand that an alliance with Zualafaran is beneficial, otherwise the tarsuranians will take over everything, and it will only get worse!”

“I’m kind of familiar with slavery,” Slu said. - As far as I understand, these lands are called the Free Provinces of Baratsk?”

“Yes,” the old woman replied. “Why don’t your dragon friends transform into person like us?”

“Unfortunately they can’t,” Slu said.

“Nonsense! Why can’t they?”

“Because we’re not form Malderfir, we’re from another planet,” Slu said the truth. At this time, Arel and Arinella, Hemrockhever and Jamashar ran up to her.

“Greetings!” Hemrockhever shouted to the old woman.

“So you’re aliens?” the old woman asked. “Just like the fair-skinned ones who appeared here twenty-one or twenty-two years ago, I can’t remember now. We have a lot of them here. But I have good news!” the old woman said suddenly. “I can make it so that they can transform!” she pointed to the dragons in the distance, “I can, yes!”

“And what should we do in return?” Arinella put in doubtfully.

“Nothing at all, my dear,” the old woman replied.

“Will they be able to take the form of a dragon later?” Jamashar asked.

“Oh, you look like a kargetarian, like you were born here. So handsome!” the old woman said to Jamashar. Jamashar was confused.

“So after your actions, will they be able to return to the dragon form again later?” Slu asked.

“Yes, they’ll be able to do like those dakradrafs you must have seen in Zualafaran,” the old woman replied.

“Then we’ll ask their opinion now, and if you agree to do it and you really don’t need anything in return, then we’ll be very grateful for such help,” Slu said.

“All right, my dear, I’ll wait and chat with the handsome man. And what’s your name?” the old woman turned to Jamashar. Slu stepped away from the group.

“Dragons, bend your heads closer and speak more quietly,” she said and waited. “There is an opportunity to teach you to transform into creatures like me and back into dragons, are you willing to take the risk and try to do this?”

“So we will be like you, Your Majesty?” Stellar asked.

“Beautiful, black and female?” Delmir joked.

“Delmir, we’re on another planet and our lives are constantly threatened, our kind might go extinct, and you’re joking?” Irkir was surprised.

“I think you’ll be able become a snunorf-like men,” Slu answered. “And I asked you to temporarily stop addressing me courteously, we are jeopardizing our cause, if someone finds out that I’m some kind of queen, he or she may want to kidnap or kill me, and that is an unnecessary risk–”

“I agree,” Darlatsimonish interrupted her abruptly.

“Brother, let’s think this over,” Halicksimonish said.

“If we can transform into winged and snunorfs at will, there’s nothing to think about,” Stellar said, “I joining Darlat.”

“So you want to be black and pretty... Erm, I’m sorry,” Delmir tried to joke again.

“It’s unlikely that Stellar will become a woman, Delmir,” Slu said, ’but if you agree, and become a northern man, then I’ll try to teach you manners so you know how to communicate with a woman,” she said, smiling.

“All right, I agree too,” Delmir said, “and I’m not communicating with a woman, I’m communicating with a que–” he shut up, and Slu cast an angry look at him and he turned away.

The travelers walked at a distance from them, and Slu’s group talked with the old woman, and no one seemed to have heard anything. Dragons can’t talk too quietly.

Fernir and Irkir looked at each other.

“We’re agree” Irkir said, Fernir nodded in agreement.

“Well, so am I,” Halick said grudgingly.

“Then I’ll bring the woman now, and she’ll do what needs to be done,” Slu said.

Slu stepped back to the group, the old woman was already chatting about something with Hemrockhever, and he was laughing. Jamashar was talking to Arel.

“They agree,” Slu said.

“Then lead me closer to them,” the old woman said. Jamashar came to her and took her under his arm.

“Dor Paya Adr Cham Pan Ari Tar Kara!” the old woman said.

And all six dragons began to transform. Delmirbirznaaks became a snunorf-like male with an elongated thin face, straight long grayish-blond hair, slight stubble, and blue eyes. Halicksimonish became a person with a reddish-orange face and huge curly hair of the same color, and he had light stubble and blue eyes. His brother Darlat turned out to be slightly more swarthy, had a wide nose, blond curly hair, and brown eyes. Stellartalanjir became a snunorf with blue eyes, a small beard, and a sad face, and his long hair descended a light white-purple color from the roots to the dark purple tips. Irkirtalarsialor got grayish-blond long hair and blue eyes, and a small beard and mustache too. His brother Fernir became an ermirian with gray-blue eyes, gray lush, slightly curly hair, and light stubble.

The dragons in the man-like form looked at each other for a long time at first. Each of them wore light long shirts tightly fitting the body; each shirt had laces in the middle from the collar to the chest. The shirts were dark green and dark blue. They also each wore pants and light leather semi-open boots.

“You’ve got strange hair, Halick,” Darlat exclaimed.

“You haven’t seen your nose yet, brother,” replied, grinning, the ginger-orange Halick.

“Hmm,” Hemrockhever looked at them.

“The ermirians turned out quite wonderful,” Jamashar exclaimed.

“Now, dear dragons, why don’t you turn into dragons and take the old woman home?” the old woman suggested.

“What’s your name?” Slu asked the old woman.

“Sarta, Sarta Chergobak. And your name, child?” the old woman asked.

“Slu Tis,” Slu said her real name.

“I can’t turn into a dragon!” Suddenly Irkir interjected.

“Try again, all of you try. Think about how you want your scaly form back,” Sarta said with a smile.

“I can’t,” Irkir said, grimacing. The others had tried to transform too, but they weren’t successful.

“Well, that’s good! That’s how it should be!” Sarta said.

Slu began to guess what was going on. She pushed the old woman and jumped back.

“Pok Rum Har Sov Nod Makr,” Slu cast a tukhtaash spell, and created a protective barrier that her enemies could not penetrate. “Everyone over here,” she shouted.

Hemrockhever drew his axe and looked around.

“Clever bitch,” the old woman said, rising. “But I didn’t do it out of malice. I could have killed all six dragons, but I kept them alive. You are fleeing Zualafaran, so you can’t return to your planet. And the Free Provinces of Baratsk do not tolerate any threat within their own country. And dragons are a great threat to our free country.”

“Give me back my appearance, old woman!” Halick shouted. His reddish-orange hair kept falling over his eyes and getting in the way.

Arinella conjured a fiery spear. Arel took a fighting stance.

Warriors began to come up from different places; they were all different, swarthy and dark-skinned, with swords and spears, all wearing simple oval helmets that fit snugly over their heads, light leather armor was on their bodies.

“Mistress Sarta, the zualafaranians have arrived. Their temporary representative Edelmer Arnwaldskar is with them,” the helmeted military man said to Sarta, he was swarthy but not dark-skinned like Sarta.

“Edelmer!” Arinella exclaimed, hearing the name. “Where is Edelmer!”

“Arinella, they’re talking about Edelmer who lived here, not ours!” Slu said.

“So we have to ask him where ours is!” Arinella said irritably.

“We won’t hand you over to Zualafaran. I take it you came to our planet by accident, didn’t you?” the old woman asked.

“Yes,” Slu replied.

“Are you acting on behalf of your king?” Arinella interjected and asked Sarta.

Slu threw an irritated look at her.

“We don’t have a king, girl, we have free provinces, and we have a council for affairs of state.”

“I’m not a girl, old woman!” Arinella barked.

The military man who stood next to Sarta in his helmet turned to her loudly, “Perhaps we can turn them over to the zualafaranians after all, mistress.”

The dragons, in the form of the man-like ermirians looked at each other perplexedly, and Darlat tried to spew flame by opening his mouth and moving his jaw. Hemrockhever noticed this.

“What are you doing?” Hemrockhever asked him

“I’m trying to spew a stream of fire, but I realized it’s useless,” Darlat replied.

“What do you suggest?” Slu asked Sarta.

“Life and liberty! You’ll be free malderfirians in our provinces, you can do anything, except what is forbidden by our laws. Though you can even commit crimes, it’s just that cruel punishment will follow,” she smiled slyly. “Yes, you’ll have to earn your own housing and food, but otherwise... You’re now in the province of Rishtogolf and you can find a home here, harmony, freedom and prosperity!”

A man who looked like a tukhtaash came up and noticed the dome of Slu, he probably turned off the road in advance and came here on purpose.

“What is going on here?” the man asked. He was carrying a large sack on his shoulder.

“That’s none of your business,” a swarthy military man who was standing next to Sarta called out to him.

“Why not?” Sarta said in surprise. “Here is an example of a concerned citizen of our province,” she turned to him. “We just want to take in more runaway slaves from Zualafaran.”

The dark-skinned man with the sack spat toward the dome and calmly turned around and left.

“Wonderful greeting!” Delmir put in.

Slu looked at him and thought that his current sad handsome face did not fit with his humor at all. But she glanced at Stellar, too, and realized that his face was even sadder than Delmir’s.

“You see, the citizens of the provinces can also express their opinions, and the united army of the provinces does not use brutality and torture against those who disagree! This is the highest manifestation of respect for different opinions, beliefs and convictions. And that’s what freedom is all about!” the old woman smiled proudly.

“Give us back our dragon forms!” Irkir put in. “And then we’ll have mercy on you!”

The rest of the dragons nodded in agreement. Slu glared at them angrily.

“Dear Sarta Chergobak, we appreciate your hospitality and please forgive my... friends. We must confer, give us a few minutes.”

“Very well,” the old woman said, and the warriors retreated a considerable distance from the dome. And Sarta herself, along with her swarthy warrior, stepped back. Slu and the others stood in a circle.

“I’m the youngest one here,” Slu said, “maybe only Arel is younger, but neither I nor Arel utter so many idiotic remarks that could cost us our lives!”

“Are you imagining yourself a queen again?” Arinella remarked irritably.

“Friends,” Hemrockhever said, “why do you always fight? Let’s start understanding each other–”

“What are your goals?” Slu interrupted him. “For each of you, what are your goals in the current circumstances?”

“Find Laylith and return home,” Arel said.

“That’s understandable. And another goal is to find Edelmer here, and the dragons goals are to return to their normal form. But I think there should be only one purpose for all of us now, and that is survival. And I have spent my whole life surviving underground, in a city where random travelers were captured, where there was intrigue, guile, and endless half-darkness. If each of you doesn’t learn to exercise at least some restraint, let alone any diplomacy, then we’ll all die, and neither Edelmer nor Laylith will be found, nor the return of the dragon form, nor our return home will be accomplished. Ilzeth told us about Ansell, which means that the other Firsts who decide to pretend to be friends can be cruel enemies. We still don’t know what kind of creature attacked Ilzeth then… But we know how Ulli ruined everything for us! And you, Irkir and Fenrir, you flew with Ulli instead of talking him out of it?! But now I’m not going to waste my time on being overwhelmed with mad surprise at your personal incompetence–”

“Stop talking!” Arinella shouted. “What are you doing now? Telling us off! You’d better tell us what your suggestions are, and we’ll think about it.”

“I suggest we go with this Sarta, get to the city, blend in with the crowd, and think through our plan to return and rescue all our friends. But right now we need rest, and we need to think through our next steps so we don’t make any more mistakes,” Slu said.

“Ha, trust this old woman?!” Darlat was surprised.

“Do you have another suggestion?” Slu asked.

“Um... No,” Darlat replied.

“I will return to Zualafaran,” Arinella said. “I will save Edelmer. I must!”

“I’ll go with her,” Hemrockhever said. Arinella nodded to him and looked at Arel.

“I”ll stay with Her Majesty,” Arel said. Slu involuntarily smiled victoriously.

“Arel?” Arinella said in surprise.

“Arinella, well, someone will have to create food. If there are two divided groups, and one doesn’t have an arqilunian or ony other mage in it, the group will starve if there’s trouble,” Arel said.

“And I’ll stay with her majesty,” Jamashar said.

“I think we, dragons, will stay with Queen Slu too, right?” Delmir asked, looking at others and then winking at Slu, embarrassing her.

“Yes, I agree,” Irkir said.

“So do I,” his brother said. The other dragons nodded.

“Speaking of food,” Stellar suddenly interjected. “Are we going to eat more often now, and what kind of food exactly?”

“Let’s go ask Sarta now,” Slu said. “Before I call on her, Arinella, Hemrockhever, are you leaving now or later from the city?”

“If you are mistaken and you are being led into a trap,” Arinella said, “then we must surely leave now.”

“Come on then, right there in the woods, run now!” Slu said, and Arinella and Hemrockhever ran. Slu under the dome with the dragons and Arel and Jamashar moved toward the old woman, watching the soldiers’ actions. Even though they saw the arqilunian and the tonnrbeard, the soldiers took no action.

“We agree,” Slu said as she approached the old woman.

The old woman looked at her group.

“I see a couple gone somewhere,” Sarta remarked. “But that’s all right, we support free will, like I said before. So, put the dome away, girl, and let’s go.”

Slu hesitated. And yet she removed the dome. And they moved.

“Tar Arakhtum Takh Pattar!” Sarta uttered, and instantly Slu and her entire group turned into stone statues, frozen in motion.