Arimore

Elara had a difficult time falling asleep that night. The feeling of the magic flowing through her body was exhilarating. She tossed and turned unable to quiet her mind. After several hours she finally drifted off.

“Elara.” A voice called in her mind, “Elara…”

Elara found herself walking through a fog covered meadow. The fog was so dense that she could barely see a few feet ahead of her. “Who’s there?” she called.

“Come to me Elara,” the voice replied. It was a familiar voice but she couldn’t remember who it belonged to.

“Who are you?” she called again as she began to slowly move forward, “I can’t see you.”

“Do you not know me child?” the voice replied.

Suddenly she recalled the voice as if from a distant dream or memory, “Mother? Is that you?”

“Come child, quickly our time is short.”

Elara stepped through the wall of fog and entered a clearing. She could see a figure in the distance that stood by a tall stone tower. The figure entered the tower and continued to coax her on, “Come inside quickly.”

Elara’s pace quickened as the figure disappeared inside the tower. As she reached the tower she heard a loud swoosh and a shadow fell across the sky. A hand reached out and grabbed her arm pulling her into the tower.

“Mother, is it really you?”

Julianna grabbed Elara and placed her hand over Elara’s mouth, “Shh…come.” She led Elara to a doorway that led to a stone stair. They walked down into the cool darkness of the earth and entered a narrow hallway at the base of the stair. Julianna then led her to a small room at the end of the corridor. Once inside she pulled a heavy metal door closed behind her. “I only have a few moments so listen carefully. Calisto approaches and you must be prepared.”

“Arimore has been helping me mother. He has been teaching me to focus and control my magic. What more can I do?”

“Do not trust him. He may be a friend now but he is very unpredictable. You will see that as Calisto approaches he will become increasingly aggressive. It saddens me to say that Sacha may as well. It is my hope that she will have enough of me in her to hold back the dragon fire that burns within, for you will need her in the days to come. Understand that Arimore cannot control his bloodlust during Calisto. For centuries he has tried but he has always failed. I pray he will succeed but if he doesn’t Elara, you must be prepared to take his life.”

“Take his life? Mother I do not have within me the power to overtake such a beast as Arimore nor do I have the heart to take the life of one that has become my friend.”

“My sweet child, I’m afraid you may not have a choice.”

“You do not know what you are asking me to do.”

“Yes I do. I’m asking you to do what I could not.” A tear rolled down her face as she continued, “Our time is short, heed my words child. In the secret room where you found Sacha there is the remnant of the second egg. If you paired it with the scale from Arimore you are almost there. You must get a scale from Sacha and add it to the pendant. You cannot take it, she must give it to you of her free will. Wear the pendant hidden beneath your tunic at all times. When you call upon your magic you will feel its power blend with yours. Then and only then will you be strong enough to defeat him. Now go child. May you have the strength to defeat the dragon within.”

The fog swirled around Elara’s feet and she felt herself lift from the ground. She awoke from her dream and went straight to her wardrobe where she had hidden the dragon scale pendant. She had already placed the piece of the egg onto the first scale so she had but one thing left to complete it. She needed one of Sacha’s scales. She pulled it from the small box and placed the chain around her neck tucking the pendant beneath her tunic. She made her way to the top wall walk and called out to Sacha. She had decided that she would be honest and straight forward with Sacha why she needed the scale. It would be up to Sacha whether or not to give Elara a scale.

Elara’s eyes were drawn above where she saw the two moons glowing bright in the clear sky. She felt the draw the moons pulling at her heart. She looked toward Mount Crystos, “Sacha, can you hear me?”

“Yes, I hear you my sister.”

“Can you come to me?”

“Of course,” Sacha replied as she flew toward Calithorne.

“Land in the meadow and come to me in human form,” Elara instructed.

“As you wish.”

Once Sacha arrived Elara led her to her private chambers. They sat at a table by the window where they had a clear view of Luminescence’ moons. “Thank you for coming so quickly,” Elara began, “I have something I need to discuss with you.”

Sacha was staring out the window at the moons, “Aren’t they beautiful? I find them strangely alluring.”

“Mmm…as do I,” they both stood mesmerized for a moment. Elara snapped back to reality and continued, “Sacha, I had a dream last night.”

Sacha turned from the window at the sound of Elara’s voice, “A dream?”

“Yes. Our mother came to me with a warning about Calisto.”

“What did she say?”

“She said that over the centuries Arimore has tried valiantly to resist the pull of Calisto’s moons but he has never succeeded. She said we have to be ready in case he fails again,” Elara’s voice could not hide the concern in her heart.

“Did she say what we needed to do?”

“She said the only way we even stood a chance was to use this,” she pulled the pendant free from her tunic and showed it to Sacha, “the problem is that it is incomplete. In order for this pendant to make me strong enough to defeat Arimore I must add one more item to it.”

“What is it?”

“One of your scales.”

“Wait, when you say defeat him do you mean kill him?”

“I have to be truthful with you, Sacha. It could mean killing him.”

“But Elara, I love him.” She began to pace around the room, “I can’t kill him.”

Elara walked to her, “Sacha, I know you love him, I love him too. I asked you to come in human form because I wanted you to fully understand so you could decide whether or not to give me a scale of your own free will. I promise you that I will do everything in my power to stop him without harming him.”

“I cannot do what you ask,” she pulled away, “I cannot be a part of hurting someone I love.”

“It’s okay,” Elara replied, “I understand. Believe me Sacha when I say I will do nothing unless he cannot control his bloodlust. If he cannot, I will do everything in my power to stop him. I have to. It is my destiny.”

“Do what you must but I will have no part of it.” Sacha pulled away and walked out of the chamber. She walked down to the courtyard and reverted into her dragon form. Sacha quickly flew back to Mount Crystos without looking back.

Elara sat back on her bed with her head in her hands and began to talk out loud, “What do I do now mother? Maybe I shouldn’t have told her why I wanted it but I couldn’t deceive her.”

“Deceive who?” She hadn’t heard Rowan enter the room.

She quickly turned her head, “Oh Rowan, I didn’t realize you were there.”

“Who are you going to deceive?”

“No one. I haven’t the heart.” She smiled, “Even though things would’ve been a lot simpler if I could.” She paused, “Rowan, I need to meet with Prince, I mean King Mason as soon as possible.”

“The quickest way is by dragon,” he smiled, “or I could get a couple of horses. Do you want to tell me what this is about?”

“Horses will do.” She smiled back, “I trust you more than anyone, Rowan and I will explain everything but for right now I just need you to trust me.”

“I do. I’ll get the horses.”

“I also need to get a message to Mason before we arrive and I need to get one to Ravenstone as well. While you get the horses I’ll get messages ready to send by bird. Hopefully Mason can have everything in place for when we arrive. I’m going to need all the help I can get.”

Rowan went and got the horses ready while Elara wrote two quick notes and sent them by raven, one to Mason and the other to Ravenstone. She then went to the courtyard to meet Rowan. They mounted their horses and headed for Mardock.

The two birds took flight toward Mardock but they did not go unnoticed. The King was looking out his window and saw the birds take flight. “Well, well,” he wondered, “Is there trouble in Calithorne? I must prepare. My opportunity to escape may come sooner than I expected.”

The first bird found its way to Mason’s chamber window. The young King reached out and the bird lit on his hand. “What have we here?” he said as he reached for the paper tied to the birds foot. He removed the note and set the bird free. Unrolling the small paper he read, “I’m on my way. Ravenstone is coming. We need your help. Elara.” Mason called his guard and told him to have the throne room prepared for a meeting. He instructed him to have the guard at the front gate show Ravenstone, Elara and any that accompanied them directly to the throne room. He also told the servants to prepare food and lodging for their guest.

The second bird flew into the underground home of the druid people. It found Ravenstone in her tent and lit on her hand. Ravenstone took the note from its foot and set it on the rock next to her. She read, “I need your help. Please meet me in Mardock. Mason is expecting us. Elara.” Ravenstone called her assistant and told him that she had to ride to Mardock and for him to maintain things in the colony until she returned. She stepped into the night air and whispered on the wind. A silver steed came running to her and she mounted him and flew like the wind toward Mardock.