Fialla didn’t quite pass out, but she wavered between waking and sleeping, on her back, in the dirt, in the wastelands of the Redstone.
The Dragon was in her, now. She wasn’t certain what could or would rouse it, but she realized that if she wasn’t careful, it would leap out from her with the slightest provocation. It was pure lunacy at how easily she’d lost herself to the Dragon, to the power that burned like a furnace in her chest.
“Dragon.” A male voice suddenly sneered, full of contempt.
“There’s two of them.” a feminine voice replied. “This one looks bad.”
Fialla opened her eyes and struggled to her feet, yanking her knife from her belt, and grimaced as dizziness washed over her in a wave, threatening to knock her off her feet.
Three clansmen stood next to the cart where Sheilah lay. Their hair was variegated streaks of white and gray, their eyes shifted from gray to blue and back again.
“Thunderbirds.” Fialla growled, her voice dripping with equal contempt. “What are you doing in the Redstone?”
The girl eyed the two boys, and then Fialla.
“Returning home.” She replied matter-of-factly. “Are you well? Do you need help?” She asked curiously.
“We’re fine.” Fialla replied. It was obvious to anyone that had eyes that neither her nor Sheilah were fine, but Dragons never bent their necks to the Thunderbirds.
The three exchanged looks between themselves, shrugged and moved off, heading deeper into the Redlands.
Fialla let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding, and approached the cart. Sheilah lay on her side, clutching a steel dagger of all things in her hand, eyes slitted, jaw clenched.
“Thunderbirds.” Fialla muttered to Sheilah. “What do they know?” She asked rhetorically.
Sheilah’s lips quirked up a little at that, but her hand loosened and her eyes closed.
Fialla took some time to eat some food, sharing it with her sister Sheilah, washing it down with sips of water. Despite having a barrel of it, the habit remained; you only took the smallest sips of water to stretch out what you had. She gave some to Sheilah, who swallowed, but didn’t seem to wake.
The closest place she could think of where they could rest was the box canyon with a cave in the back, the cave that held curiously hot pools of water, so once she’d fed herself and rested a little, she grabbed the enormous handles of the cart and struggled to drag it further into the Redlands.
Fialla scouted out the box canyon carefully; nobody had claimed it as theirs, and it still bore the obvious signs of Sheilah’s massacre. Giant bones, cracked and broken open for the marrow, were scattered around, picked clean by scavengers.
Fialla carried Sheilah into the cave, and eased her into one of the pools of water. Sheilah bobbed in the water, occasionally drinking some of it as Fialla rinsed herself off.
Fialla fed Sheilah some more, and Sheilah was finally able to speak in a whispering croak.
“I’m ... sorry...” She mumbled hoarsely, but Fialla ignored it, bundled the human girl back into the pile of cloth they’d liberated from the giants, and tucked her back onto the cart.
She ate again, feeling her strength returning with every bite. As she ate, she poked Sheilah’s mouth with food, watching the human girl eating more and more.
“Things are looking up.” Fialla muttered as she glanced at the sky, holding her spear in her lap.
She resolved to herself that she would use her own tooth and dragonbone to make one like it; her family’s weapon had performed admirably, and she’d been able to dispatch her dragon quickly. She couldn’t wait to tell her family the tale.
It happened so quickly, it was almost anticlimactic. She’d thrown herself off the cliffside, letting gravity yank her down as she plummeted into the gorge, thrusting at the last minute as she hit the dragon right between the wings, feeling the grisly crunch as her spear punched through skin and bone.
The dragon had roared with mortal hurt and dropped like a rock, slamming into the floor of the gorge, a place that was thick with a bitter fog that prickled the eyes and throat. She’d fallen off the dragon’s back but hadn’t let go of her spear as she tumbled, rolling over and over and over.
She’d pushed herself to her feet, feeling her eyes weeping tears as she desperately peered into the thick fog, trying to find her dragon.
Her Totem roared in the gloom, a roar of dying and frustrated, impotent rage against it. She launched herself forward, and as the haze cleared she lunged, shoving her spear with all her might, catching the drake right under the jaw, right in the soft spot, punching through the dragon’s wattles. She shoved harder, and felt the spearhead punch up into the dragon’s brain. The beast gurgled, shuddered, and died. Fialla drew her knife and cut into the drake, seeking its heart, drinking its blood as she did.
Fialla came back to herself with a shake. Sheilah’s dragon had been a monster, comparatively speaking. It was a wonder that the girl had succeeded at all. She crushed her feelings of inadequacy- it was expected that Sheilah’s dragon would be impossibly large, impossibly powerful. Sheilah could do anything, even if it meant pushing herself to the absolute limits, like she did in the giant’s city. One breath of dragon’s fire, of Calamity, and they were able to solve the problem of the giants.
“Still, you’re kind of a bitch.” Fialla muttered.
“...sorry...” Sheilah croaked.
“I promised.” Fialla replied. “Can you eat on your own, at least?”
“Think so.” Sheilah replied.
“Then eat and keep eating.” Fialla replied brusquely. “I want to get home.”
“Me too, sister.” Sheilah replied. “I should have brought Lonato’s spear.”
“The bow?” Fialla prodded.
“They were right. Not as good as I’d hoped.” Sheilah whispered between bites. “I probably would have had better luck if I’d surprised it, instead of the other way around.”
“And if you’d had a spear instead?” Fialla asked curiously.
“...I’ve done a lot of dumb things.” Sheilah admitted. “Using a sword when a spear was better. Using a knife. The bow... it’s good, but not good enough against dragons.”
Fialla mulled this over for a moment. “Good thing you don’t have to kill any more dragons, then.” She replied.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
“Heh.” Sheilah replied simply. “I still think I’ll have a spear made.” She decided, and rolled onto her back. “The Dragon wants to fly.” She muttered to herself.
“A couple of Thunderbirds came by while you were out of it.” Fialla offered as she stuffed a piece of honeycomb into her mouth.
“Thunderbirds.” Sheilah spat contemptuously.
“Yeah.” Fialla agreed.
“What’d they want?” Sheilah asked curiously.
“They wanted to know if we needed help.” Fialla replied.
“As if we’d take help from them.” Sheilah replied. “Self-appointed lords of the sky.”
Fialla nodded.
“I want to try walking, sister.” Sheilah mused. “Would you mind helping me up?” She asked.
“I think you’ll want to put on clothes first.” Fialla replied. “I didn’t dress you after the pool.”
“Fair point.” Sheilah agreed.
Sheilah was able to dress herself, albeit slowly, and she was able to hobble around, with Fialla assisting her.
“This won’t do. I want to walk onto the Dragon Terrace on my own feet.” Sheilah complained, easing herself onto the cart, and eating again. She was ravenously hungry, and it seemed like no matter how much she ate, she was never full. She knew that part of it was her body, desperate to restore lost nutrients, part of it was also the Dragon, needing vital essence to unleash its Calamity upon the world.
“Ugh.” Sheilah complained, and relayed what she was feeling to Fialla.
Fialla took a long breath, and shared what had happened to her.
“You lost your temper? Just like that?” Sheilah asked curiously.
Fialla nodded.
Sheilah nodded. “I’ll pay attention to it.”
Over the next few days, Sheilah became more animated, becoming able to feed herself, stand and walk about for short distances, and take care of her personal needs, all of which was an immense relief for the two of them.
“I can’t wait to get out of here. Anything comes into the canyon and we’re done for.” Sheilah complained, sitting idly in the cart, kicking her feet, devouring the food that was piled in the cart. Fialla could almost visibly see her friend recovering her lost weight, padding out her musculature with natural body fat, returning to the lean, somewhat shapely figure she’d been before she’d blown that great blast.
“Your fault.” Fialla immediately accused.
“Yeah, my fault.” Sheilah agreed. “I wasn’t expecting it to hit so hard. It almost felt like my soul was getting sucked out with Calamity.” She lowered her head. “I’m really, really glad you didn’t leave me behind.” She admitted in a low voice. “You should have, but you didn’t.”
“I promised.” Fialla replied, and turned an angry face to Sheilah. “I wouldn’t have done it for anyone else but you.” She paused, “But it was really unfair of you to do that. To ask that of me! I had to carry you through the city- I had to drag this stupid piece of shit cart all the way here! You owe me, Sheilah of the First Blood!”
“I owe you beyond what words can say and deeds can do, Fialla.” Sheilah replied formally. “Name it, and it’s yours.”
Fialla sighed and changed the subject.
“You’re eating quite a bit.” Fialla observed.
“Hungry.” Sheilah replied, tossing a fruit to Fialla, who caught it and began eating, herself.
“Feel up to walking?” Fialla asked.
“I think I’d like to try and haul the cart for a little bit. Just to see if I can.” Sheilah replied.
“I think that’d be nice to see.” Fialla agreed.
Sheilah had recovered completely by the time they’d discovered Olin’s corpse. The boy had died where he’d spoken to the two girls before they’d left, his body desiccated, leeched of moisture, a riot of deadly flowers blooming from his body, the kind that shot seeds that burrowed into the flesh.
He was curled up in the same position as he had been when they’d left him.
It didn’t make sense to them. If you were smart and quick and didn’t mind a little pain, you could cut the seeds out with a small knife before they worked their way in deep enough to be a danger.
“Why didn’t he do it?” Fialla wondered.
Sheilah shook her head. “You live and die by your own strength.”
“Well, get hauling.” Fialla replied, glaring at Sheilah and tucking a piece of cheese into her mouth.
“Your mother was a Desert Rat.” Sheilah replied.
“My mother was a Dragon, the same as you.” Fialla replied simply.
That actually needled at Sheilah, however. Her father was Davian, leader of the Dragon Clan, who in turn, led the other Clans. Both of her mothers, Ladria and Myrin, were Wild Elves.
Sheilah however, was a full-blooded human. Who was her mother? Her real mother? It bothered her, from time to time. Worse, Davian was closemouthed about everything. He didn’t answer questions, he never told stories about the things he had done, he never explained anything.
It vexed her to hear of her father’s history from other people besides her family.
Sheilah spotted something familiar in the distance and closed her eyes, trying to find answers within.
“Hey, Fialla.”
“Yeah, Sheilah?”
“I’m going to try something really stupid.” She offered, which drew a snickered comment as to whether or not Sheilah had ever done anything really smart.
“Ass.” Sheilah accused, but laughed along with Fialla.
“What are you going to try?” Fialla asked after the shared moment passed.
“I’m going to try and control my breath so that it doesn’t knock me into uselessness.” Sheilah explained.
“So... If something happens to you, you want me to look after you again. Right?” Fialla asked, a frown growing on her face.
“Yes please.” Sheilah offered.
“Has anyone ever been able to control the strength of their Calamity?” Fialla asked.
Sheilah blinked at the comment. “I don’t... actually know.” She replied. “I don’t... I’ve never asked.”
“Do you think it’s wise to do it so far from home?” Fialla asked.
“I think it’s best to do it out here, away from anyone else.” Sheilah replied. She pointed around. “The ledge over there drops down into the Forest Spider territory. That’s the wall of the Redstone.”
She pointed out an upthrust of rock. “Over there is the rock with the Hive Lizards, right?” Sheilah pointed, and Fialla nodded.
“That’s my target. My goal is to not fall flat on my face, gutted out like I was the first time I used it.” Sheilah decided.
Fialla frowned again, was silent for a while, while she mulled over what Sheilah had decided.
“If you do it from the back of the cart, then I can take you home. If you get down from the cart, then you’re on your own.”
You lived and died by your own strength.
“All right.”
“Well, let fly when you think you’re ready.”
Once again, a streak of flame boiled out from Sheilah with a terrific heat that nearly pushed Fialla backwards, searing across the ground. The rock that the Hive Lizards lived under vanished, the streak of flame continued, boiling the stone, slamming into one of the Valley walls and boring a hole into it.
Shielah immediately collapsed in the back of the cart.
Fialla sighed and began dragging the cart with her for a ways, and then stopped as soon as she felt a rumbling beneath her feet.
An atonal crack of stone that was more felt than heard rumbled like a thundercrack; part of the Redstone Valley wall sheared away, hit the ground and shivered into mammoth splinters of stone. Suddenly water seethed and gushed from the wall Sheilah had punctured with her Calamity, boiling forth with frothy streamers as it surged around the shards of rock, slid down the glassy streak that Sheilah’s flame had left, and continued across the ledge, eventually falling down into the Forest Spider’s territory.
Fialla watched the water flowing with a certain sense of wonder. There was only one river and one lake in the entire Redstone; Sheilah had changed that.
She peered over the cliff; below them were the lands of the Forest Spider, what was considered a Minor Totem because they didn’t need to go into the Ashlands for their trials. They’d likely welcome the water.
She sighed, then went back to Sheilah, who was once again emaciated, gasping and shaking.