The Dragon's Rose Read online

  The change in temperature was drastic. Bella shivered, and Rogan covered her with a warm blanket. She gave him a small, grateful smile as a fire began roaring in the small hearth and, after a moment, the wagon was balmy with just a little hint of chill. Bella sighed in with relief and cuddled up in the blanket against the mountain of pillows and padding. A snow storm was brewing, and fat flakes were floating about the air and were soon whipping up in a frenzy, turning the landscape a blinding white.

  It was jarring to Bella to go from a warm sunny day to a wintry climate. Rogan seemed to be taking it all in stride as he strode confidently from the wagon and out to a few of the other carriages, directing and shouting instructions. Everyone else seemed a bit tense; even Alannah had ceased her chatter and was sitting, looking out of the window with a strange expression upon her face.

  Bella could feel something building around them. It crackled against her senses, and Bella shifted uncomfortably and felt her breath catch in her throat. Rogan rejoined her inside and, as if pulled by some silent signal, the wagons all began to roll onto a trail carved into the dark, dense forest. The trail wound around the trees, whose skeletal branches seemed to move of their own volition. Bella felt a chill creep down her spine.

  “Do we have to go in there?” Bella asked incredulously.

  Rogan said nothing, and soon they were creeping into the cold, dark forest. Bella pulled herself deeper into the wagon as they rolled along. The forest is what nightmares are made of, Bella thought. She was kicking herself for agreeing to go along with Rogan. She was supposed to be finding a way out from her situation, she reminded herself. Not meeting the in-laws.

  Everyone was silent as they crept along. A feeling of intense trepidation hit Bella, and she moved further back into the wagon, taking a position by the small hearth. She took a quick peek out of one of the windows and could see nothing but darkness. She squinted a bit more and made out glowing things, things that made her shiver and nearly quake with fear. After a moment, she realized that there were eyes. Eyes of creatures she couldn’t fathom, she knew, but creatures nonetheless. They glowed in the gloomy, inky darkness, and she quickly turned from the window and took up residence near Rogan once more.

  She folded herself into the warm furs and blankets and found herself leaning into Rogan just a bit and then blushed when she caught herself. There was something protective coming off of him, and part of Bella wanted to revel in it. Instead, she looked out into the darkness around the driver and listened to the strange whistle of the wind through the barren trees. The snow began to come down a bit again after it had halted abruptly earlier. Now, flakes whirled in different patterns about the traveling group and Bella laid herself down gently and scooted forward so she could watch the passing landscape from the pile of pillows and blankets.

  With the warmth of the wagon and the cheery light from the hearth, Bella could almost convince herself that the darkness was just some backdrop and that the creatures in the trees were figments of her imagination. However, she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that they were infringing on alien territory, and the feeling persisted as the night waned on.

  Bella tried distracting herself with a bit of food that Hildevar handed her, wrapped daintily in a napkin. It was a sweet dessert, and Bella swallowed it down without really tasting it, her eyes scanning the darkness around them as they moved through the wilderness. Bella strained her ears and noticed that the scampering, scattering and errant noises around them had ceased, and they were traveling in absolute silence, as if something or someone were watching them.

  She could see that Rogan was tense; his body looked wound tight upon himself, his dragon eyes whirling with a kaleidoscope of colors. They traveled some distance into the depths of the forest, the wagon brushing errant tree branches and limbs, when suddenly a loud cry echoed through the forest, and the wagons all stopped at once. Bella shivered and sunk lower into the pallet of blankets. The sound echoed once more, and a shot of fear raced down Bella’s spine. She glanced over at Alannah and saw the young woman was gripping a blanket tightly in her hands, a look of apprehension washing across her face.

  Hildevar was staring out of the window and straining her eyes, her shoulders tense and bunched. Something was out there, waiting. Bella wanted to ask what it was they were waiting for, but couldn’t bring herself to fill the pregnant silence with sound. Instead, she looked over at Rogan, who was staring off into the night, his face unreadable.

  Rogan tapped the driver, who nodded. The sound came closer this time and seemed a mix between a loud growl and a fervent hiss. Bella peeked out from the wagon, and her eyes were resting on the black branches of the dead trees, her mind slowly picking out shapes, and then she was pulling back into the safety of the wagon. She took a chance and peeked out once more, and she could see the things clearly beneath the bright moonlight.

  The creatures looked like huge crocodile-like snakes. Their red eyes pierced the darkness of the night as they circled the caravan, looking for a way in. Attracted by the calls of their brethren, more of the creatures came to inspect what was probably, for them, a tasty meal. Bella tried to slow her breathing, and she pulled herself into the circle of the hearth’s light. She gulped convulsively, and both Hildevar and Alannah flanked her, worry etched on their faces.

  The creatures cried out once more, and this time, Bella sensed there was a bit of urgency to their unearthly screams. Rogan slipped out of the wagon along with their driver, and Bella found herself reaching out for him, words caught in her throat, as the strange creatures converged upon them.

  Suddenly, the forest grew deathly quiet, and Bella couldn’t speak, couldn’t think for the intense and ominous feeling building within her. And then the creatures revealed an even more chilling dimension of themselves: they could fly. The first creature gave what was probably a rallying cry as it arced over the wagons and then dived down. It hit what seemed to be some kind of invisible shield that glowed blue upon the creature’s impact. The creature screamed as if hurt and then tumbled down to the ground before shaking its huge head and standing on its haunches, its gaze trained eerily on Bella.

  There was a look of something knowing in its animal face, and Bella’s mind went back to the night she drove to her aunt and uncle’s and spied what she thought was a shadowy figure on the road and at the station. She shook her head clear of such thoughts. That’s impossible, she thought dismissively.

  There was no way the creature from this strange land was connected to what had surely been the product of a lack of sleep and stress, Bella assured herself. And yet, the creature was still gazing at Bella with a nearly evil grin as others came to stand abreast of it. They were all looking at Bella now, and she gulped.

  Rogan raised his right arm, and a ball of fire spilled out from his fingers. He was gazing with rapt attention at a circle of the creatures, their eyes glowing hard with the added light from Rogan’s flames. Rogan suddenly shot out, and the dragon’s fire rolled past the invisible shield and straight to one of the creatures who was instantly incinerated. An angry cry welled up from the rank of the creatures, and they began to pour out of the trees. Bella finally broke her silence.

  “What’s happening?!” she exclaimed, and Hildevar shook her head, her body shaking with fear.

  “I don’t know, my queen!”

  A flock of the creatures were wheeling about the air, and Bella crept a bit more out of the wagon and looked up at the sky. She gasped. There were so many of them. A tangle of the creatures were high above them, and more than a few of them dived down, right towards the wagon where Bella was housed. Bella yelled as the creatures all flew at the shield, which held steady. A loud zap reverberated across the forest as the creatures were repelled, only for them to try again.

  All of Rogan’s men were now clambering out of the wagons and issuing dragon flames of their own, incinerating as many of the creatures as they could. The creatures all seemed to be concentrating their efforts on the wagon where Bella was, and Hild
evar yanked Bella away from the wagon’s opening and closed the doors, effectively sealing them inside.

  “Hey!” Bella exclaimed, and Hildevar shook her head.

  “You are my duty. My king and his men are doing what they can, my queen.”

  Hildevar and Alannah exchanged a look and then began chanting hard, flexing their fingers and hands in slow graceful movements, prompting the air to glow with fragments of light. Runes etched onto the side glowed and were heavily lit as the two women chanted, their voices sounding musical and beautiful to Bella’s ears, in spite of her fear.

  The sounds of battle outside became harsh and loud as the creatures tried hard to break the barrier. Bella looked out at one window and could see that the shield seemed to be glowing dimmer and dimmer with each progressive hit.

  Bella came to a shocking realization. The shield would not hold. These creatures were not some stupid beasts trying to attack. They were systematically wearing down the shield, and it was working. The wagon suddenly rocked, and Bella screamed as she fell to the floor. Hildevar began chanting harder, with Alannah doing a bit of chanting in between.

  “Ar’chadh dah….luich noch nah,” Bella picked up as Hildevar walked the length of the wagon with Alannah following behind, her hands weaving a complicated pattern in the air.

  The wagon rocked once more, and Bella could hear screaming outside. She scrambled back onto her feet and flung open the doors to see that the creatures were swarming the wagons. They had broken the shield. Rogan was in the midst of a fray, swinging his sword hard.

  “No, my queen!” Hildevar shrieked and pulled Bella back just as a creature swept before her, nearly pulling her away. Rogan had discarded his shirt, and huge wings with red, yellow, and orange scales were hanging from Rogan’s back, and fangs hung down from his lips. He curled his lips back from his teeth even more into a snarl as he pulled the creature away from the wagon.

  Rogan wheeled up into the sky, he and the creature fiercely fighting. Bella turned to see Hildevar’s eyes glowing in a mosaic of colors, as well as Alannah’s. The wagon rocked then pitched and fell over. Bella keened and felt Alannah’s hands seeking her own. Alannah pulled Bella out of the wagon, and Hildevar followed.

  Outside, it was chaos. Men and creatures were fighting, and flames lit up the cold night sky.

  Bella looked over to Hildevar and then screamed as a creature grabbed her up and leaped off into the night.

  “Hildevar!” Bella shouted and made to give chase. Alannah pulled her back, tears streaming down her face as she continued to chant.

  “Let go of me! We have to save her!”

  Bella could see Hildevar high above them. The creature was struggling to hold on to its newly-caught prey, but Hildevar was fighting back. Wings sprouted out of Hildevar’s back and ripped her dress. Glowing eyes were set against the snake-like thing, and Hildevar struck at the thing with long, deadly fangs. The creature yelled and nearly dropped her before resuming its hold. It began to fly off with a kicking, screaming Hildevar in tow.

  Bella shrugged off Alannah’s hold and ran off into the forest, her legs pumping. She could hear Rogan calling behind her, but she kept her sights on Hildevar high above her. Tears were spilling down her face as she ran, determined to help the woman who had quickly become more than a teacher and a confidant. She was a friend.

  Bella cursed low and hard. She came from a magical family and didn’t even know any spells, she was useless, she thought to herself as she kicked at the dead bracken and rushed over fallen logs. Hildevar was still struggling, her dress was ripped even more and she was morphing and changing into a full-blown dragon.

  Bella gazed in awe a moment later as Hildevar snapped with powerful jaws at the creature above her. Her flames lit up the sky, and Bella could see that where Rogan was a fiery flame, Hildevar was a cool silver, her scales decked out in various shades of blue and iridescent gray.

  Bella snapped out of her reverie and looked around. She grabbed a few rocks and launched them at the creature but to no avail. Bella was about to throw another rock when she felt something grab her leg and pull her back into the darkness of the trees. Bella cried out, her hands scrambling to find purchase on the barren ground and dirt. Whatever had her was squeezing painfully against her ankle, and Bella was suddenly flipped over. What she saw was nightmare-inducing.

  A huge snake-like creature was standing over her, but it looked different than the others. It sported horns and had a humanoid appearance. It was also twice as big as the ones she had seen. She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. The thing’s eyes seemed to take in her visage, and it grunted before dragging her once more along the ground.

  “Stop!” Bella exclaimed and grabbed a rock as she was rushed past a line of trees. She pummeled the creature with the rock, and it stopped. It turned and growled. Bella tried to scramble away and managed to get to her feet. She stumbled through the copse of trees and through a tangle of black vines with the thing behind her in hot pursuit. Bella could still hear Hildevar roaring in the sky above her, struggling to overpower the creature as they fought and battled.

  When the thing was finally close to her, close enough to pull her back into the trees, a deep feeling resonated through Bella, and she did the one thing she was born to do: she sang.

  The note was sharp and crisp and rent the air. She didn’t know any spells, but an old hand at crafting her own songs and tunes. Bella wove such a song from the depths of her being, commanding the thing to not only stop, but to perish, to burn from the intensity of her fear and hatred.

  Then, the thing was on fire, burning, screaming and whimpering. The creature that had a hold of Hildevar was burning, too, and it dropped the newly transformed woman and yelled in agony. Hildevar fell with a whine and then stood up on shaky legs. She huffed, and Bella approached cautiously, not having ever approached a dragon in her life. Hildevar’s eyes were glowing in a face that sported a snout and claws. Her arms and wings made Bella look miniscule in comparison to the hulking dragon before her.

  The dragon that was Hildevar made a noise high in its throat, and it seemed beseeching, an entreaty seeming to spill from its maw. Bella nodded.

  “If you’re trying to say let’s get the hell out of here, then yes, let’s,” Bella said and found herself being snatched up and pulled up high in the air.

  Bella gasped. The wind was hitting her face, and everything below her looked so far away. Hildevar’s wings were pumping hard as she carried them back to the wagon. Bella could see Rogan and his men in deep combat, many of them, including Rogan himself, were half in transformation, wings out and beating against strong backs, fangs long and ripping into flesh, and swords flashing as they swung in high arcs through the air.

  Rogan spied Bella as she was placed gently on the ground by Hildevar.

  “Bella!” he yelled, an undercurrent of joy running through his voice, and Bella shivered. Something inside Bella clicked, and she felt—different for a moment, as if she were somehow seeing a best friend from a long absence or feeling the embrace of a loved one you hadn’t seen in years. Bella sighed as warmth suffused her, and then she was staring at Rogan, into his eyes. He stared back at her. Distracted, he didn’t see the big huge creature behind him, but before it could cut him down, Bella sang.

  She sang about overcoming enemies, about vanquishing those who wished to do harm and protecting those who cared. And soon, the creatures were burning, thrashing in pain and dissolving into heaps of dark, sooty ash.

  Bella ended her song spell in a high, throaty wail, and trails of ash laced the night sky, falling before the dragons in soft fat flakes. The dragons in the sky fell gracefully and landed before Bella. They bowed in unison, many of them transforming back to their human forms.

  “Hail the queen,” they said, and Bella turned to Hildevar, who was now human and looking at her with awe and wonder. Though naked now, she too bowed.

  Rogan came abreast of Bella and smiled wide. “You are truly worthy to be queen,” he said as
he transformed.

  He strode up, grinned, and then he kissed her.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The kiss was sweet but insistent. Bella had kissed boys before, but they were bumbling attempts at something greater, something that hinted at deeper desires and impulses. Rogan was no awkward boy; he was all man, and Bella responded to the primal instinct that led her to open her mouth and let him plunder the depths inside.

  He finished the kiss with a soft, full peck on the lips, and Bella blushed. She looked around, embarrassed. She had just received the best kiss of her life in front of an entire army and servants as well.

  She coughed into her hand and tried to not look down at the growing bulge that lay beneath Rogan’s ripped trousers.

  “Well, um…I guess we should be going now. You know, before more creatures come.”

  “The Oalach,” Rogan told her, “That’s what they are. They are usually quite powerless, but they have been unusually persistent this night.”

  Bella could only nod, and Rogan turned to everyone; with a nod, they rose.

  “We will right the carriages, dress ourselves and then carry on. We will make camp once we have arrived at the weaving tree.”

  Rogan’s commander stood and bowed low. “Yes, your highness.”

  Orders were soon being shouted, and carriages that had fallen over were being pulled upright. Everyone hastily dressed and covered up their nakedness while spells were reinforced and beasts calmed with stalks of grass and soothing words.

  Soon, the preparations were complete, and Hildevar came to stand in front of Bella, dressed once more in her modest gown. Her eyes were no longer blazing and, instead, she looked at Bella with ordinary human eyes.

  “My queen,” she bade and led Bella back inside the now bright and warm wagon. Alannah was still hurriedly fixing this and that and whirled about to see Bella.