|
|
|
Hero’s
Reckoning Chapter 9 All Characters and story copyrighted by Rekk, Not to be distributed without the authors permission.
I
sat with drake, waiting for shim to come back with the others, drake sat there,
giving me a look of sheer venom. “How?”
he snapped. I
looked up from the cliff, “How what?” “How
did you manage to earn the hand of such a fine creature as shimmer?” he
growled, his eyes narrowing. I
thought for a moment, “I don’t really know, it just happened, all I know is
that I love her, and I would happily die for her. taking my place in the house
of the dead with the comfort of knowing that she was safe because of my
sacrifice.” He
gave me a look of contempt, “How noble.” he said, his voice dripping
sarcasm. I
turned to him, “You seem rather bitter about shimmer,” He
whirled on me, “Bitter? oh yes quite bitter,” he said, advancing on me with
each word, “you would be too if your one love was taken from you by a lowly,
sack of fur!” The
last statement brought him directly in front of me and he growled and his lip
curled back, showing a maw full of sharp teeth. I
backed away, but he shot his head forward and snapped at me, barley missing me. I
fell over and he lunged at me with a great roar. I extended my blades as he
closed his gaping maw over me. I caught his jaw between his teeth and tried as
herd as I could to keep him from crushing me. “wha-what
are you doing?!” I screamed into his throat as I struggled to avoid him eating
me. he responded by clamping down harder. I
felt his teeth cut into my fingers as I held his jaw above my head. He
pressed down harder, I looked about for a way out of this,
and then I saw one. I brought back my leg, and planted a solid kick into
his soft tongue. he yelped and loosened his grip, I shoved my self out of his
mouth. I rolled into a fighting stance and he recovered from the swat. he swiped
at me with a claw and I hopped back and sucked in my gut, and it still barely
missed me. “Do
you hear that?” he roared, swinging his tail at me, “it’s your friends in
the house of the dead! your place at the table is ready!” he grinned. I
jumped back and barely avoided the crushing blow from his tail, I ran forward
and dove between his legs and rolled to my feet behind him. “you
don’t need to do this!” I shouted at him. he
spun around, “oh I don’t?!” he snarled in rage, “you, you took her from
me, for that you must DIE!!” He
sucked in a huge breath, and I knew that it was over, there was no way I could
dodge the frost on this small cliff top, but I was going to meet death on my
feet and fighting. Just
as he was about to exhale, there was a roar, and a huge mass flew into him,
knocking him to the ground. it was shimmer. she held him to the ground as he
thrashed about. “WHAT
IN THE FIERY PITS OF HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!?!” she screamed,
slapping him across the muzzle with a claw, drawing blood. Wyn
Anya and john came running up the path leading to the cliff top, Weapons
bare, Anya ran to me and asked, “are you injured?” I
nodded and showed her the gashes on my hands and arms from his teeth, she
gasped, “go sit down!, I have to tend to these immediately!” I
sat and looked to shimmer, who had shoved herself off of drake, who just lay
there, stunned. She
changed forms and ran over to me, I caught her in an embrace, “are
you okay?” she asked me in a worried voice. I
nodded and she looked at the wound on my arms. “what
did he do to you?” she asked in an enraged tone. “those,”
Anya said pulling my coat and the damaged armor off, “are teeth marks, or
gashes to be more exact.” shimmer
looked back to drake who was just sitting there with a odd expression on his
face. I
sat there on a rock, bare chested as Anya tended to my wounds. shimmer
stood there with a worried look on her face. Anya stood and said, “all
finished, but be careful not to open those wounds again.” I
nodded and put my armor back on, shimmer walked over to the sulking drake and
said, “would you care to explain your self?” he
hung his head and just said, “I was angry.” that
caused shimmer to become enraged, “so
you decided to vent your anger by trying to kill my lover? how do you justify
that? if he attacked you I could see it but just deciding that he should die is
totally out of the question!” he
sulked even more so and looked away, “he
took you away from me, I guess I couldn’t deal with that.” shimmer
got a surprised look on here face, “took me away from you? drake, it was over
years before I met Rekk, so if there is any one to blame, its yourself.” he
nodded his head and started to walk away, then there was a cry from the
mountains, followed by another and another, I looked off into the distance and
saw several large forms approaching. “oh,
my group must have heard me.” drake said, “shimmer, is there any way I can
make this up to you?” she
looked at the dragons landing all about the cliff top. “Rekk,
do you still want to go through the front door?”
******************** I
stood by as the dragons landed all about me, I was just hoping that they would
not try to eat me as well. a
large male walked over to drake. “ we heard your roars, was there something
the matter?” drake looked at his feet, “no honored elder, just a personal
dispute.” He said flashing a look of pure hatred at me. The older dragon
nodded and turned to shimmer, “I see that you have returned, my daughter, in
some questionable company.” She
turned towards the elder and changed forms, “ father, has it been so long?”
great, I thought, what a way to meet daddy. She had embraced the larger dragon
and asked “where is mother?” he smiled, “your mother is back at the
rookery, caring for the young, would you like to go back to see her?”
shimmer nodded. The old dragon looked to the saddle on her back, “oh I
see we have picked up a rider, perhaps I could meet him?” shimmer nodded once
more and changed forms. she then walked over to me. “father, this is Rekk, he
is my rider and he loves me very much.” He changed forms, appearing as a old
gray wolf with a kind smile. “this is a pleasure,” he said reaching out to
shake my hand, I tried to but Anya slapped me upside the head and told me to
hold still. He smiled again and looked me over, “I see why my daughter has
taken her current form.” He took a closer look at my wounds, “…these are
from a dragons teeth and claws,” he looked sharply at drake, who bowed his
head even lower, “we will deal with that later, but in the mean time, here.”
He put his hands over my injuries and muttered a few words in a arcane language,
and my wounds closed over without a scar. Anya looked up from her work, “well
I’m not needed, ill just save this.” She said, packing up her supplies. He
smiled, “you can call me Raylen, as you have heard, I am shimmers father, and
yes, it is a strange way to meet her parents, but I beseech you, come stay
awhile, if but a day, so be it. I will carry your friends back to the
rookery.” I nodded and stood, then I found that my clothes and armor were
whole as well, he winked at me and we walked towards the others. John was on
edge around so many dragons, but Wyn and Anya paid them no heed, Wyn was
actually chatting with one of them. As we approached, all went quiet. “your
father commands great respect.” I whispered to shimmer. She nodded, “ he is
a dragon of many years and many battles, his prowess alone is enough to command
respect. combined with his wisdom, this makes him a much revered member of our
society. but it has been so long, I am glad to see that things have not changed
much.“ she flicked a glare in drakes direction, “but then again, some things
never change.” In
the silence, Raylen spoke, “ my brethren, we have been reunited with one of
our children, and she has found a protector, come forward shimmer and Rekk!”
we walked forward and the assembled dragons clapped their mighty claws together
and cried out in joy. Shimmer and her father returned to their original forms
and she urged me to climb on. Her father lowered a wing, “come my friends,
climb on, and join us in the celebration!” they seemed to be reluctant, but I
nodded my head and they all walked up on to his back. “hold
on, I’m am going to take off!” Raylen stated, then thrust his legs against
the ground and glided off. We
all flew across the mountain ranges, watching the land speed beneath us, then we
dived down between two mountain peaks and flew under a low over hanging to a
amphitheater-like area that was dotted with large caves. There were several
large dragons, and a number of little ones about the outside, one of the large
dragons looked up and cried out when she caught sight of shimmer. We landed in
the center of the amphitheater and were met by the dragons left behind on child
care. The largest was a female that bore striking resemblance to shimmer, she
trotted up to Raylen and said, “is this who I think it is dear?” he nodded,
“it is shimmer, our daughter, she has found us again, in some more than
interesting company.” Her mother nodded, and looked at me, “oh, who might
this be? She asked in a voice rich with warmth. Shimmer replied, “this is my
rider and mate mother, we have been together for a while now.” She nodded,
“what is your name child?” she asked me politely. I got down from my saddle
on shimmers back and bowed before her, “my name is Rekk Ironclaw, milady. I am
but a simple mercenary.” I said with much dignity. shimmer gave me an
incredulous look, “oh come on Rekk, you give your self no credit,” she
looked up to her parents, “he is the best mercenary on the whole continent for
all we know, we have yet to be bested. But he has a good heart, and is quite
gentle, despite his rough exterior.” Shimmers mother smiled, “ my name is
Glyph, it is a great pleasure to meet you.” She turned to shimmer.
“and it is great to see you again my daughter.” She walked over and
embraced shimmer. Then Wyn Anya and john got off of Raylens back and shimmers
mother asked, “who are these?” I walked over to them and began the
introductions. “this is Wyn Metalwright, Anya Softscale, and John Rockcrusher,
all friends of ours.” She inclined her head, “it is a pleasure to meet
you.” She said. “greetings,
milady.” Wyn said, “charmed milady,” was Anya's response, “how ye be
milady?” was johns reluctant greeting. She inclined her head once more and
swept her claw towards the largest cave, “come, you will be guests in our
home.” She then walked to the cave opening and I heard the familiar
inflections of the polymorph spell, and she shrank down to a 5’11” frame,
that turned out to be a silver she-wolf, that was quite beautiful, I could see
where shimmer got it from. As I looked around I saw all the dragons changing
into different forms, I looked to shimmer, who had also changed back to her
tigress form, “why are they all changing?” she looked at me and said,
“they do to be less conspicuous. This way the overlord wont know that he is
living next to a horde of dragons.” It made sense. As
they all finished their spells, they retired to their caves with family.
Shimmers mother looked at shimmer’s form, then at me and said, “ah, I can
see why she did not follow tradition, you are a handsome one aren’t you?”
she said to me, causing a mild blush in my furred cheeks. "Whatever you
say.” I replied. She laughed softly, ”ohh, come child, its going to get cold
soon, come in side, all of you.”
*************************** my
scales were tight with the cold as we sat with shimmers family, her mother,
father and younger sister, Glimmer, talking and bringing her up to date on the
things that are happening in the world. Rekk shimmer and her parents were
sitting together on a cushion, talking of things past, Rekk was telling them of
how we all met, and it seemed to hurt her mother slightly when he got to the
part where shimmer was poisoned. “your
not a dragon, are you?” came a high pitched voice from the side of my chair,
glimmer had come up to me and had a inquisitive look on her lupine features.
“no I'm not a dragon.” I replied, she looked at me with even more curiosity,
“but you have scales and you can talk, but where are your wings? Why are you
so small? Can you freeze things with your breath too?” she asked quickly. I
laughed softly, “no child, I am small because I am a scaly, not a dragon, and
this is the average size for woman of my species. As for the breath, no I cannot
freeze things, and I don’t have wings because I am a snake, we don’t get
wings, this is my normal form, and I don’t have another like you.” She
looked at me in wonder then she turned to where Rekk and shimmer were sitting,
“so you mean that he isn’t a dragon? With fur that color I was sure.” She
said, knitting her brow in confusion. I looked at her and said, “aside from
your sister and your parents, none of us are dragons. Though I must admit, elfin
boy over there would be cute with scales.” She looked over and giggled and I
giggled with her. Wyn
was sitting off with john, talking with him, I thought that it was a bit sad
that we were rather separated from the group, then glimmer was tugging at one of
my bracers. I looked down and she said, “c’mon, I’m sure my daddy would
love to talk to you too!” I smiled at her and stood, I’m sure he would like
to speak with Wyn and john as well. I walked over to where they sat and stood
before them, my hands on my hips, “now are you just going to sit here alone
all day? Come on, glimmer has invited us to come talk with her parents, so get
up, I'm just a little person, no way I could lift the both of you.” They
looked up at me and grinned, then stood. I put my arms about their shoulders and
said, “was that so hard?” They grinned at me. We walked over to the rest of
the group at glimmers urging and were greeted by her mother, “ oh, I see you
decided to join us, well you are more than welcome, please sit all of you.”
She said, gesturing to some cushions. I sat next to shimmers mother, glyph, and
john and Wyn sat away from a bit me and picked up their little chat where they
left off. Glyph nudged me and said, “shimmer tells me good things about you,
mainly how you saved my little girls life.” She smiled warmly at me. I looked
down a flush in my cheeks, “it was nothing, I’m a healer, its my job,
its nothing any one else that had the ingredients couldn’t do.” She gave me
that warm smile and said, “you should give your self more credit child,
modesty is a good quality, but not when over done.
You saved my daughter, that makes you a heroine in my book.” She leaned
forward and kissed my forehead, “ lets just hope your services won’t be
needed anymore during this trip.” I gave a wry grin, “ha. With the way Rekk
fights, ill be lucky if he needs me and not a man with a big wooden box, your
son in law is a wild one.” She looked at me, then at Rekk, and laughed, “ha
ha, ohh, you may be right child, but he makes shimmer happy, and he is not that
bad looking either, well for a tiger at least.” I looked over to where Rekk
and shimmer sat, she was leaning back into his lap and he had his arms wrapped
around her. They were talking with her father. Glyph leaned back in her seat,
“ so Anya, is there anyone waiting for you at home? Since we are on the
topic.” I shook my head, “oh, well do you have anyone in mind?” she asked,
pressing the issue a bit. I didn’t mind, I leaned in close to her and pointed
a finger at Wynn's finely boned face. She nodded and said but one thing, “an
elf I see, a difficult catch to be certain.” I nodded. He caught sight of me
out of the corner of his eye, then he did something surprising, he smiled at me,
a warm, almost affectionate smile, maybe not as hard as I thought.
******************************
I
sat talking with john, apart from the rest of the group, it was a bit awkward
for me, just being here with shims family. I looked over at Anya, she was
talking with glyph, Anya's mother, at least she was getting along fine, she
looked at me and I smiled at her. John and I were discussing the finer points of
alcohol, whether feywine was better that a good shot of mead, I really wasn’t
in the conversation, but I was rather bit elsewhere in my thoughts. I was
thinking about how we would enter the citadel, we could just march right in with
all these dragons, I shook my head, this was a time to relax, we were safe for
the time being, we hadn't been since that time in my shop. I sat there with john
rambling on about the finer
qualities of whiskey, then there was a sound, a light, singing tone that echoed
softly throughout the cave. everybody stopped and listened, and Raylen nodded,
“that would be the dinner bell, come now children, leave your weapons here and
follow me, I assume you are all hungry.” that thought was punctuated by a deep
rumbling from johns belly, john blushed, “aye sir, but I believe that my belly
speaks for it self.” Raylen
nodded, and we all got up, shimmer pulled Rekk to his feet, he was giving her a
hard time, I could tell by the smirk on his face, Anya walked out chatting with
glyph, leaving john and I behind. “feel
a bit out o place don’t ye sonny Jim?” john asked, I nodded, he gave a low
chuckle and put his arm over my shoulder, “me too lad, me too.”
|
|
| |||||||
