The Sword and The Mountain (Kathardra book 1)

“With what?” Her tone was short and clipped.

Again, his hand pushed through his hair. “Maybe you should come out of there so we can talk.”

Lessa stubbornly shook her head at him. “I can hear you just fine.”

He took in a deep breath through his nose and exhaled slowly. “In Kathardra, we have a legend of a sword maiden who will come to Kathardra to restore the royal family to The Mountain Seat.”

Lessa narrowed her eyes at him.

He glanced at Storm and back to Lessa. “A dragon-riding sword maiden.”

Lessa glanced at Storm too, then back to the teen boy.

“And you think that’s me?” She was slow, incredulous.

“I know it is.”

“You’ve got the wrong girl,” Lessa said, fully stepping out from behind the root for the first time.

“No,” He responded with a slight smile and a shake of his head. “I’m quite certain you’re exactly right.”

“What makes you so sure?” She asked, throwing out her hands in exasperation.

“The legend says this sword maiden will enter Kathardra riding a dragon.” He responded with eyes very pointedly looking toward Storm.

Lessa dropped her hands and stared at the dragon. The dragon stared back.

“I wasn’t riding a dragon.” She said, holding up a finger to the strange boy. “I fell off a dragon.”

He chuckled, “Well, that’s the closest anyone has ever come to riding a dragon.” His slight nod was full of insinuation.

Lessa stared at him for a long moment. “I can’t help you.” She finally said. “I’m not a sword maiden. I just want to go home. I’ve never even held a sword.”

“I can teach you.” He said, seeming to find a thread of hope to grasp onto. He started forward, closing the gap between them with long strides. Another growl ripped through the dragon’s throat and he stopped short.

Lessa placed a gentle hand on the dragon’s scaly snout. She quieted at once and leaned into Lessa’s touch.

“We just need to go home.”

No. The word invaded Lessa’s brain with another wave of condemnation. Lessa’s hand jerked away from Storm’s snout as if she had been burned.

“You can’t.” The boy spoke with a pained tone. “I need you to stay.”

She only gave him a glance and her eyes moved back to the dragon. That didn’t happen. Lessa swore to herself.

This time the emotion that pushed into Lessa was contradiction, the dragon shook her head and a huff of hot breath pushed through her nose and onto Lessa’s feet.

“Lessa…” Whimpered Brody from where he was, still concealed under the roots of the giant tree.

“I….” She didn’t know what to do. Her eyes fell down on Brody. His green eyes were watering, pleading silently with her.

“Fine,.” she said, offering her hand down to Brody. “I’ll do it myself.”

Brody crawled out from under the root, and with his hand firmly in her own Lessa started back the way she came.

She was only walking for a moment before the boy caught up to her. He easily kept pace with them, though he stayed several feet away.

“The door is closed," he was still pleading.

With clenched teeth, Lessa marched on. She hoped she was heading in the right direction. She had not been paying attention to where she was going during her mad dash away from the fight.

“Where are those men now?” she stopped in her tracks, heart fluttering again. She couldn’t bring Brody right back to the men who had tried to kidnap him. She looked around, there didn’t seem to be another living soul around, just the three of them and the dragon, who was following Lessa closely.

“They’re dead," his voice and face were flat.

Startled, Lessa stared at him anew.

“They kidnapped a child," he was defensive now. “If they were willing to do that they didn’t deserve to live.” His jaw was clenched, his deep blue eyes hard and grim.

Lessa’s breath left her lungs slowly. I’ve got to get out of here.

No. That alien voice intruded on Lessa’s thoughts again. She looked over her shoulder at Storm who glared resolutely back.

With a shake of her head, Lessa started forward again, dragging Brody alongside her.

“Please.” The teen pivoted himself backward and beseeched Lessa as he unerringly strode backward several feet in front of her. “You don’t understand. We need you. No other person has ever ridden a dragon. You have the sword…”

“I don’t have a sword,” she snapped at him.

“There was one on your saddle." He somehow trotted backward without stumbling.

“No there wasn’t.” Lessa halted in her tracks.

“I saw it.” He also stopped.

“She has a knife on her saddle,” Brody supplied helpfully.

“It’s only a knife,” Lessa confirmed.

“I didn’t see a knife. I saw a sword,” the youth responded. “The sword maiden is said to have a black sword.”

Lessa rolled her eyes. “I’ve never had a sword in my life. I’ve never even touched one.”

The teen’s hand swiped through his dark locks again. His eyes rested on Lessa. “How about this, if there is a black sword, you stay here, in Kathardra. If there is just a knife I’ll take you home as soon as possible.”

“Fine,” Lessa snapped.

He grinned. Lessa blinked, under different circumstances, she might think his smile was dazzling. But not currently.

She started forward again. He didn’t move.

“What?” she was getting really annoyed with him.

“It’s this way,” he said pointing further to the right.

Barely able to stifle her grumbling Lessa clenched her jaw. “By all means,” she waved her hand forward.

He started forward right away at a lively walk.

“Lessa,” Brody hissed at her. “what if he’s right? We need to go home.”

“I don’t have a sword, Brody. It’ll be okay.” She tried for all she was worth to sound convincing, and unconcerned.

No. There was that voice again, it was not her own but it seemed to be intruding on her thoughts. Her eyes again turned toward the dragon following closely behind them. Storm stared back with stubborn eyes.

Mentally, Lessa prodded at the place in her mind where the voice was. There seemed to be something new in her brain, it felt like a wave of emotions and awareness moving through the back of her mind like a curtain.

Storm hummed behind her. Lessa felt the wave of consciousness rub against her own almost like a caress.

"Stay," the voice said in Lessa’s mind.

Disturbed, Lessa tried to shake the voice off.

They didn’t have far to go before they reentered the clearing where they had first entered this strange place. There was no sign of the fight that had ensued here, no bodies, no blood. The only sign that anything had happened here was Storm’s saddle, laying askew upon the leaves.

The strange teen walked straight over to the saddle and stared down at it expectantly.

Much slower, hesitantly, Lessa also approached the saddle. She stared down at it.

In place of her hunting knife, hung a sword.

Her eyes stayed locked onto the sword for a lengthy moment.

“That’s not mine.” Even to her own ears, Lessa sounded like a criminal denying possession of contraband.

“Nonetheless, it is a sword on your saddle,” the teen said pointedly. “So, as you agreed. You’re staying.”

“How do I know you didn’t put that there?” she asked accusatorily.

His eyes widened and it looked like he'd been struck. "I didn't. And you agreed."

“I don’t belong here. We need to go home,” she practically growled at him.

“Clearly, you do. You have a dragon, you have the sword.” He pointed to each in turn.

“Grrragh,” she groaned in frustration, hands balling into fists. “Fine,” she ground out between her teeth. “He needs to go home.” She held up Brody’s hand for emphasis.

The teen nodded a quick affirmation.

Secretly. Lessa celebrated.

She would run as soon as the door was open. She and Brody could escape home together before this boy could stop them.

"No." The voice said with steep disapproval. "Stay."

Uncomfortably Lessa ignored the voice, this was an unfortunate development.

How could she get away from a creature that was listening to her thoughts?

A nearly imperceptible growl started emanating from Storm. "Stay." The voice insisted.

“How do we open the door?” Lessa asked the other teen.

His eyes turned away from her and looked off into the distance. “It needs time to replenish. I could probably open it again around sunset.”

“Sunset?” Lessa gasped. “Mom is going to kill me.” She closed her eyes and sat on her saddle. She noticed the latigo was broken. That would explain why she had fallen from Storm. When she changed the saddle broke and plunged her to the ground.

Brody sat next on the leaves next to her. She pulled him into her and rested her chin on his head.

The teen came closer and squatted next to them. “For what it’s worth. I am sorry. This isn’t fair to you. I wish you could have come here under your own volition.”

Lessa ignored him, not even looking in his direction.

“Right…. My name is Zar.”

Again, she distinctly ignored him.

“I’m going to get a fire going.” He stood.“Stay here.”

Her eyes met his and her anger flared. “Like I can go anywhere.” She snapped.

For the next several hours Zar tried to engage Lessa in conversation which she shut down or completely ignored. They devolved to sitting in uncomfortable silence while watching Brody throw twigs into the small fire Zar had started.

The vivid green forest of giant trees around them was just starting to take on an orange hue from the setting sun when Zar rose to his feet. “It’s ready, I can open it now.”

“Lessa’s stomach flipped.” She wasn’t ready. Each time she tried to concoct a plan to escape the voice in her head shot it down. How could she escape something the size of a house that could read her mind?

It was increasingly evident that she would not be able to go home.

She cleared her throat. “Do you have something I can write a note on?”

His head tilted slightly to the side.

“I need to tell my parents why I’m missing.” Now that she needed something from him she almost wished she hadn't been so rude all day.

He nodded, “Just give me a moment.”

“Brody,” Lessa said, waving him over to her. A pout was forming on Brody’s lips before he even reached her.

“Don’t cry, buddy.” She held him against her for one moment, before grasping his shoulders and looking into his eyes. “Tell mom and dad that I’m going to be home as soon as I can, okay?”

He nodded with tears leaking from the corners of his eyes.

“Why aren’t you coming too?” His eyes were shining with moisture. He looked like he might crumple into himself any second.

Lessa sighed and glared at Storm for a brief moment. “Storm won’t let me leave.”

“What do you mean?”.

“I… I -I can’t explain. ”Not right now.” She embraced him again. “Listen. This is important. Tell them everything, but there is no way Mom and Dad are going to believe you.”

“Lessa…” Brody trembled.

“I’m going to write a note, to try to help them understand.”

Zar reappeared in the clearing with a slightly crumpled piece of paper a quill and a small corked inkwell.

“Of course,” Lessa said as she took the offered items. She carefully spread the paper on her broken saddle and opened the inkwell.

She briefly touched the quill to the ink in the tiny bottle and drew it over the paper. A blob of ink dripped to the paper as Lessa’s hand hesitated.

“Believe Brody.” She wrote. “It sounds crazy but everything he says is the truth. I don’t know how this happened.” She dipped the quill again. “I will come home as soon as I can. I love you,”

She finished by signing her name. She stared at the words on the page. They looked so indelicate. Quills should be held by a hand that could produce a flowing script. Not only was her handwriting inadequate, but her words were. There was nothing she could say to make this better, easier, understandable.

She stared at her note as she rose to her feet.

“Here.” She put it in Brody’s hand. “Do it.” She said to Zar.

He nodded and crossed the clearing. He raised his hand into the air and suddenly the air around his hand rippled. Almost like a rock distorting a pond, but vertical in the air.

Curiously Lessa stepped slightly closer.

The ripples stilled, but now that she knew there was something there Lessa could see a small distortion in the air. Like the heatwaves that could be seen above a baking road on a hot day, a wavering circle hung in the air. It was maybe seven feet in diameter. And the waves shimmered from the center out.

“It’s time,” Zar said, looking at Brody.

“Wait!” Lessa barked. “How do we know he is going to the right place?”

“I can see through the door,” Zar answered, his eyes focused on, no through, the wavering distortion in the air. “I can see your home. He will be right back where you came from.”

Lessa nodded in affirmation. “Okay, Brody.” Lessa dropped to one knee and hugged him one more time. She wiped the tears from his cheeks with her thumbs and kissed his forehead.

“I love you buddy. Go home. I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

She gently turned him by his shoulders and steered him toward the portal hanging in the air. “Close your eyes and walk forward.” He did as he was told and he vanished before her eyes. The air once again rippled out like a disturbance in calm water.

“Did he make it?” She rounded on Zar immediately.

He nodded. “He’s running toward the house now…. The door is opening. He’s inside.”

Anxiety clinched Lessa’s guts. Could she trust him? She had to know that Brody was safe with their parents.

“I’ll be back.” She said to the dragon, surprising even Lessa, she meant it.

And she darted forward through the door between worlds.