Raulin's Oath

Not far from their location in the Great Beyond, waves were crashing and lapping at the shores. They were so close, and yet they were not. The eyes and ears could not be trusted; the land would never stay the same. One night, when Arietta opened her eyes, a phantom hung over her, whispering what it called “secrets of the sand.” Her scream had awoken Arkas, but by the time the old man arrived, the thing had disintegrated, swept away by the wind. According to him, this was nothing to fret over, quite a frequent occasion when one sought shelter in the ancient lands.

There were several rules that the children had been taught to follow in their time in the dreadful lands, and Arietta did not want to know what happened when one didn’t abide by such rules.

“Rule one?” They always went over the rules before settling down to eat, sleep, or rest their tired legs. What was it with old men and their rules?

“If you get injured, don’t bleed on the sand,” Nova yawned, making the words barely understandable.

“Good. Jerry, rule two?” Jerry blatantly glared at Arkas, and Arkas paid no mind.

Jerry answered, “If you hear any strange noises, don’t investigate.”

Even Arietta could admit that his sullen routine was getting quite tiring. Nearly every word he spoke seeped with venom, save most of his words to her. She understood, yet his reasons didn’t pardon the behavior. They all were tired. Arietta had gotten sun poisoning and had been sick, forcing them all to stop. Everyone’s legs were sore, everyone was hungry, yet no one else subjected the group to their frustrations.

Arkas nodded. “Good. Arietta, third rule?”

“Don’t take anything that isn’t from the land. Take nothing offered from anything that speaks,” she mumbled, trying to not think of how much she desired to sleep.

“Good. Rules four through six will be next round.” Arietta and Nova shared a look of irritation, and Jerry let slip a rare grin.

“I need a nap,” Arietta grumbled, directing the statement at Arkas. He nodded, considering it.

“I’d like a nap as well, but we simply don’t have that kind of time to sacrifice. I am sorry.” The difference between Arkas and Grandpa Gus was the discipline. While Gustoff tended to prioritize the comfort of the kids over the goal of the group, Arkas didn’t mind hardship as long as the goal was being met. This was difficult on the group’s relations as a whole, and the kids resented him for it.

The four marched relentlessly across the ocean of sand. Arietta shuddered looking at a massive dune ahead that they would have to climb. She turned to Jerry and Nova, who simply shook their heads in despair.

Arkas looked back at the children. “Once we get to the other side of this dune, we can break for a short lunch.”

The children all groaned as they began the ascent up the dune. The footing was nonexistent, so Jerry and Arietta had to use their hands to help them climb. The sand stung, digging into the meat of their palms. Nova, on the other hand, simply changed into the wolf and scampered along beside them, unbothered by the slipping terrain.

They were almost to the halfway point when Arietta’s vision swam, her head spinning like a top. Suddenly she was crawling down the incline instead of up it. She began to turn around before hearing Arkas’ voice over the wind.

“No, Arietta, this way! The land has shifted; do not let the changing terrain fool you.”

Arietta turned back toward Arkas, confused but willing to listen. After what seemed like an eternity, they had reached the bottom of the massive dune when all four dropped to their knees with another dizzy spell.

“What in the world!” Jerry exclaimed. They were now at the peak of the dune. “Weren’t we just at the bottom of this hill?”

Arkas smiled. “There is a reason that some call this place the Wasteland. If you don’t keep your bearings, then you will travel in circles. If we hurry, then we may make the bottom before the lands shift again. I really don’t want to have to climb the rest of the way past this dune!”

***

Present Day

Arietta had spent two days in the hospital. She had called her neighbor to help take care of Cooper. The pain was finally at bay, and she felt stronger than she had for the last few weeks. She had to call an Uber to get home and was excited when the driver pulled in to pick her up. She introduced herself and told the driver her address as she settled into the backseat for the fifteen-minute ride home.

“Hi, my name is Drake, and I will be driving you home today. How is the temperature in the car?” The driver smiled as he spoke, but there was something about him that was unsettling to Arietta.

“The temperature is fine. I am really tired and want to go home so I can get some rest.” Arietta couldn’t place the feeling that was nagging at her, but she had seen him somewhere before. Maybe it was just a case of deja vu. The driver was very careful as he pulled out, and the ride was very smooth. Drake made small talk about the weather as he drove.

He had stringy brown hair that was covered with what she always referred to as a cabbie hat. It was pulled down so that the bill obstructed her view of his face. He had a neatly trimmed van dyke and a hawk-like beak for a nose. She then realized what was bothering her. She couldn’t see his eyes. They continued with the conversation, never discussing personal opinions or anything of real consequence. He drove the conversation like he drove his car, careful and slow, being sure to avoid any danger. They finally pulled up to her house, and he opened her door for her. As she handed him the money for the ride plus a tip, she caught a glimpse of his eyes. He quickly turned away, but a glimpse was all she needed. His eyes glowed emerald green.

Cooper growled from the front porch as she settled up with Drake, who grabbed hold of her arm. Drake smiled and said, “We’ll be in touch, Arietta. Give us the weapon and you will have whatever you desire.”

Arietta jerked away from his grip. “I don’t have a weapon, and if I did have one, I wouldn’t be giving it to you or your king!” Arietta hurried up to the house to unlock the front door so that she would have Cooper to protect her.

Cooper let out a series of menacing barks as he saw the car approach. He did not like it when she was away. His job was to protect her, and he couldn’t do that if she wasn’t home. As the car door opened, Cooper watched the man exit the car to open the door for Mother. His scent was all wrong. It had been a while since Cooper had smelled that scent, and he was having trouble placing it. Cooper’s yell translated to a series of barks followed by a low and steady growl. His drool hung from his jowls, but he did not shake it off. He wanted to sink his teeth into that man’s throat. It was at that point that Mother seemed to realize that something was not right about that man, and she jerked her arm away from him. She turned and hurried up the steps as the man got into his car to drive away. Cooper’s hackles raised on end. “Hurry, Arietta, open the door, he will be gone and I won’t be able to catch him!” Again, this came out in a series of barks.

Arietta opened the door and grabbed Cooper’s collar. “Good boy! I don’t like him either, but it looks like he is leaving. This all feels like a dream, doesn’t it? Men with green eyes and no hair asking me for some old weapon that I don’t have.” Arietta entered the house, making sure that Cooper did not bolt through the open door. She then did something that she didn’t normally do in the middle of the morning. She turned and locked her front door, and then checked to ensure that the rest of the house was locked up.

***

1972

As they continued the trek through the endless sand, Arietta started to get a feeling that they were being followed. The only sound was the whisper that had been picking up over the past couple of hours as the wind brushed the surface of the sand. The sun may have been setting, but it had fooled her twice earlier when she suggested that they make camp for the night. Arkas roughly replied that it would be silly for them to camp for the night in the middle of the day. It may have just been the oddness of it all, as the group continued to walk in circles. She quickly turned one time and thought that she had seen the remnants of a black head duck under the dunes that they had passed several minutes ago. Another time, she thought that she saw a glowing emerald green eye watching as they descended from the top of another dune. The feeling was quite unsettling, as it was difficult to determine the difference between reality and illusion. Arietta didn’t know how much longer that she could stand to be in this constant state of shifting time and direction. She didn’t understand how Arkas could live here for the better part of two months without losing his mind.

“Okay,” Arkas yelled. “This is far enough for today.” The children looked at each other quizzically, as they were certain that there were at least two or three hours of daylight left. As Arkas built, or rather unfolded, their shelter, the sun had all but winked out of existence. Arkas had Arietta and Jerry build a fire. Jerry stacked the wood in a neat pile, and Arietta thought for a second, then began singing the chorus, “Set it on fire, burn it ever brighter.” As she sang, her eyes glowed an unnatural blue, and as she finished the last line, fire erupted from the tips of her fingers, immediately igniting the wood that Jerry had so carefully stacked. Nova let out a whoop as the fire rose high into the night. Arkas returned from the other side of his now-erected hut carrying another desert hair. He entered the hut and seconds later came out with a pot full of vegetables, rabbit, seasoning and water. The temperature of the air plummeted, but the fire kept them warm as they settled down for dinner.

A good hot meal always raised the spirits of the group, but Arietta noticed that Arkas seemed distracted as he ate. He kept his gaze over their heads and off into the distance. Once everyone had finished eating, Arkas said, “We need to be ready tonight. It seems that we have some company that has been following us for a short while. I would expect them to pay us a visit sooner rather than later.”

Arkas decided that he would take the first watch, as the three children were wiped out from the long day of marching through the desert. Arietta, Jerry, and Nova were sound asleep within seconds of lying down. Arkas grabbed a stool to sit outside of the hut and settled in for his two-hour watch. It was a beautiful night in the Great Beyond. There was a stir of magic in the air as he watched the stars spiral in the sky. This had to be the most magical place in all of Palidonaya. He knew that it was also the most dangerous, as many that had ventured out into the sandy wasteland were never heard from again.

He continued to scan the horizon for movement as that feeling of being watched crept up his spine. As he scanned, his mind wandered back to the day that he had first met Gustoff. They were both children at the time, and Arkas had gone to Waterhaven on a trip to collect supplies for the old potion shop. His father sent him to the outskirts to gather a bushel of fox wheat. This, his father had told him, was a great aphrodisiac that he liked to add to his infamous and highly coveted love potion. This was one of their biggest sellers of the non-healing potions. As he was daydreaming in the field, he happened upon a blond-haired boy wearing a white robe. The boy was rather skinny and had dirt smudged all over his face. Arkas introduced himself. “Oy there, my name is Arkas. Are you lost?”

Clean streaks trailed from the boy’s eyes to the bottom of his chin. “Hi, I’m Gustoff. I am a little lost. I came here from Equus and am looking for a way back home.”

“Where are you from? Maybe I can ask my Da’ to help.” Arkas was a little shocked that Gustoff had come from Equus all the way to Waterhaven by himself.

“I’m from Earth. I have been coming here for a few months, well, to Equus, anyway. I started to explore the forest and got lost. There were all kinds of ghosts and monsters in that place. I pretty much ran as much as I could, then hid at night. When I finally came out of the forest, I stopped in a town to ask how to get back to Earth, and the guy told me that if I made my way to Belamoris, I could go pretty much anywhere. I don’t think he told me the truth. Everyone that I spoke to told me that they have never heard of Earth. I really need help. I think if I got back to Equus, I could make it home from there. I knew I should never have left.” Gustoff was close to tears.

“Come with me, Gustoff. My Da’ is a great wizard. If anyone can find a way to send you home, he can!” That was all he needed to say. It did take Martin the Magnificent, Arkas’s Da’, almost three days to find the spell to open the portal, but after that Gustoff made visits almost monthly for the next few years. Man, those two had a lot of great adventures and learned a lot of magic in those days. By the time they were teenagers, they had both made quite a reputation in the wizarding world.

Before Arkas knew it, it was time to wake Arietta for her watch. He quietly made his way into the hut and lay beside her and gently woke her from her slumber. Arietta was groggy, as it seemed that she had just fallen asleep. “Wake up, kiddo, it is your turn to stand watch. Here is a little potion that will perk you up for your two-hour watch.”

Arietta drank the potion, the flavor similar to strawberries bursting on her tongue, and immediately perked up for her turn to stand watch. She hummed a jolly tune, trying to keep her mind on the positives and not dwell on the fact that she was alone in the darkness. She wouldn’t say that she was afraid of the dark, but with the spirits that roamed the sands, she always felt as though there were eyes on the back of her neck. The rare times that Arkas referred to the mischievous spirits, he’d called them “The Lost.” There was a veil over these lands, and the veil was much thinner in the Great Beyond. Spirits passed between realms of life and death, and they delighted in antagonizing the stray traveler. Arietta jumped at the sound of a distant snarl. It isn’t real, it’s just sands trying to get a good scare out of me. It was time for Arietta to trust her instincts and wake the others. She started with Arkas. He was a light sleeper, so waking him wasn’t an issue at all. The fog of sleepiness cleared nearly immediately, his sharp eyes now scanning their surroundings. He nudged at Jerry with his foot, and Arietta poked at Nova.

“I’m not sure if I’m right or not, but I think something is coming,” she admitted to Arkas, and she was relieved that none teased her about her fears.

“If you believe something is coming, it likely is. I’d rather you wake us up and give us a fighting chance than let us sleep through our slaughter,” Arkas said gruffly, then, realizing he had been a little too blunt, threw her an apologetic glance. He rustled through his bag, extracting a small vial.

Arkas traced an eye over the vial with his pointer finger, then carefully uncapped it. The symbol glowed in the air before dispersing into their surroundings, and a butterfly of the darkest blue emerged from the vial. It fluttered onto his hand before a gentle breath from him sent the scout into the night. He kept the children close to him, a determined and cautious look over his face. His eyebrows were two daggers preparing to clash, and his lips were pursed unhappily. The Great Beyond had always put things into perspective for him. It was everything. It contained the mysteries of the universe, and it always reminded him how small he was. Though there was little of value in the Great Beyond, it had a calming effect on Arkas. The way the yellows and browns of the sand contrasted with the bright rich blues of the sky, the way the stars were constantly changing position in the nights due to the land’s constant movement. The desert was as much alive as it was dead. It reminded him that it was easy to be dead, much easier than being alive, but it also reminded him the importance of that fight. His eyes sought out a burst of blue light not three hundred paces from their location. The wisp that had taken the form of a beautiful butterfly alerted him where the danger was, and that it was a valid concern. A deep frown set onto his face, and he looked to the kids. “Be prepared to fight; danger is close,” Arkas said solemnly, and he received grave nods in response.

“I thought I smelled something; didn’t trust my instincts,” Nova bit out, irritated and sleep-deprived.

After a series of grunts and panting, Nova had fully transformed into the wolf and her eyes glowed a strong, icy blue, signaling her preparedness to tear her enemies down where they stood. Arietta’s eyes flickered over the land, straining to see the danger, her pointer fingernail digging into her thumb as Jerry was locked on the horror that lay ahead for them.

***

Never had Lucius felt so content. His life mission was finally shaping; he had the control he so desperately lusted after. He had to plot every action carefully, but for Diwa’Kahh, he would finally be able to let loose a bit. Comparing the castle’s firewood to the rest of the town, he had a fairly modest pile, but he didn’t see that this was a problem. The sun produced a golden glow over the snow-dusted peaks of the mountains, and the scent of food the chefs were cooking made his stomach growl in anticipation. This was the one time that the entire Draconis Court would be in the same location, all outside in the cool air under a milky full moon.

The sun finally tucked itself away, and the moon rose on a joyous city. The pulse of the drums was his heartbeat, and while he had not yet had any wine, he was intoxicated. A lute was playing along to the thundering drum, and his citizens danced in the Commons. There were several tents of differing sizes, colors, and fabrics sprinkled throughout the walking paths surrounding the King’s Forest, and his heart burned for them. They would be sleeping outside, waiting out here, living out here, all for him. All because they respected him and saw hope in what he was doing, even if it meant burning the rest of the world. His resolve grew at this, as he knew that they were trusting him to finish the job. A hundred generations of dragons would have the entire world to explore. Too long had they been prisoners to these mountains. The incredible surge of pride, of love he felt at this nearly crippled him.

The priests and servants enjoyed this celebration as well; however, they were much less involved. For the most part, the servants attended to the drunk and insured that all the plans had been executed to perfection, and if all of that was in order first, they would be able to celebrate. There was much responsibility in doing this, since any mistakes made would result in severe punishment. Oddly enough, when these punishments (usually beheadings, hangings, or the occasional roast over one of the great pyres) occurred, the blood always just stirred the air, filling it to the brim with excitement. The Draconis had always been a warring race, born of blood, fire, and ash. Seeing it spilled on this great day seemed to only be fitting. Seeing Clarette, he walked in her direction. She struggled with a ladder and what appeared to be replacements of torches that would light the main thoroughfare. He took the ladder from her, propping it up against the wall, as he was in a generous mood.

“Thank you, My King. Are you looking forward to the ceremony?” A feral green glow flashed in her eyes, but only for a moment.

“Yes. I look forward to proving my strength,” he said simply.

“Hopefully I’m not crossing a line asking this, but what exactly happens when you venture into the King’s Forest?” Her eyes searched his own carefully. Lucius pursed his lips, considering whether or not she should know. He shrugged to himself.

“My spirit and the Diwata of Flames will unite as one, and I will be influenced by Her fire. It will lead me into the selection of the flower, and if I’m worthy, she will present me with a fox to hunt. The fox will lose its coat for me.” At this, Clarette’s eyes flickered with mild distress for the fox. “I know, it’s quite unfortunate for the fox, but I will be adding its spirit to mine by eating its heart.” Lucius’s serpentine smile went from ear to ear.

“Is the eating of the heart really necessary?” Clarette exclaimed, but Lucius simply studied her face.

“I’m not one to spit on tradition. It would be disrespecting the Diwata of Flames. Plus, that would be a terrible start to my reign.” He preened his hair for a moment, then his hands returned to his sides.

“I suppose. Well thank you very much,” she said, and was led off by several servants.

Seven drummers were at the head of the feast, hand-selected by Lucius himself, and the sound thundered in his head. A savage smile spread across his face, heart pounding. He never realized how powerful he would feel, and there seemed to be a fog clouding his vision, though he knew only he could see it. The magic in the air danced across his body. He felt Her presence with him, Her smoldering intent upon him. She was more powerful than he could ever have imagined. Her presence alone made him feel the need to burn. He would burn the whole world if that would satisfy Her.

The food was ambrosial, mouthwatering, savory; no words were adequate to describe how the food tasted to Lucius. He interlaced his fingers loosely, then flung them out to his sides, arms like his wings, and all the Great Pyres lit in synchrony. He was lost to the Diwata now; he was Hers and She was his.