The two dragons, on their separate journeys, flew for days above the ever-changing lands beneath them, stopping only to rest in the evenings. The time flew almost as quickly as the landscape beneath them. Their paths took them ever northwards, towards the border between the human lands and what had once been Athyria, land of the elves.
Art enjoyed the ride, though clinging on to the back of a dragon was a little precarious, no matter how smooth and gentle Larieth tried to make the flight. The human knew he was in safe hands, though, and just marvelled at the feeling of travelling so high and so quickly. He didn’t want this feeling to end.
It was the sixth day when Wyldfyre finally saw the landmark he had been watching for. Larieth had described it many times, and it was unmistakable. A wall, stretching roughly east to west, horizon to horizon. It was very tall and extremely well fortified. Before the wall, the landscape was well forested and pleasant, beyond it the land was rocky and barren, like the life had been scoured away. Wyldfyre knew that such a marked difference in terrain could not be natural. He had arrived at the end of the world.
Of course, it was not the true edge of the world, where legend had it the land just stopped and the oceans plunged into nothingness, a concept Wyldfyre found difficult to comprehend. More accurately it was the end of the civilised world. Beyond that wall, constructed in haste after the downfall of Athyria, this wall was the barrier between the human lands, and the dead lands occupied by the Dark Hoarde. There was always a massive military force stationed along the wall, in case the Dark Hoarde should ever attempt a similar attack to the one they had carried out against the elves. Wyldfyre wondered why the elves had not prepared such a defence before their demise, if they knew the Hoarde was so dangerous.
To the west, just on the horizon, Wyldfyre could see a city built right up against the wall. It seemed quite large, and there was a large gateway built into the wall on its northern side, presumably to allow the military access to Athyria if they needed. Wyldfyre doubted they would let him use the gate willingly to get through, but that didn’t matter when you could fly.
But right now, he was tired. The sun was beginning to dip in the afternoon sky and Wyldfyre decided he would welcome a hot bath and soft bed for the night. Athyria, now so temptingly close, would wait for another day. It had already waited over twenty years, after all. Diving into the forest below, Wyldfyre adopted his human form and headed towards the city, travelling the remaining distance on foot.
**********
A few hours later, a sky that had not seen dragons in years saw its second of the day. Larieth curled around, a little closer to the city, descending into the forest a couple of miles distant.
“This city is called Gateway, for obvious reasons.” Larieth called back to his passenger, raising his voice over the whipping of the wind as he brought himself in to land. “They are not strangers to dragons, but I would rather not take the chance. We can stay here tonight, the flight into Athyria should be only a few hours tomorrow.”
As Larieth touched down between the trees, Art slid to one side and dismounted from the dragon, flexing his legs to work some life back into them before working on detaching the travelling packs from Larieth’s back. “I’ve heard of this place before, that gate is meant to be one impressive sight when viewed up close. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to see it before we have to leave tomorrow.”
The blue dragon smiled, its nodding head shrinking back into its body as Larieth shifted into his human form, a sight that Art still found a little disturbing. “We’ll be leaving quite early. For all we know, Wyldfyre may already be deep into Athyria. I don’t want to leave him a moment longer than we have to. But rest is important, I don’t want to face the dangers Athyria has to offer with a tired, cloudy mind, and this is the last place we’ll have to get it comfortably and safely.”
“I hear you, Larieth.” Art smiled, hefting the dragon’s travelling pack towards him. “And the chance to have a drink in one of the local taverns will be most welcome, I can assure you!”
“It certainly will! I haven’t had any good mead in days.” Larieth shuffled the pack around on his back until it was comfortable. “Right then, let’s go. With any luck, we should arrive a little before nightfall.” And with that, the two companions disappeared into the forest.
**********
Wyldfyre had made good progress, and found a trail clear of undergrowth fairly quickly. He was relieved to realise that the trail seemed quite devoid of activity; had he known there was one this close, he would have landed further away.
Even at some distance, the towering gateway at the edge of the town was visible above the trees, the light golden brown of the sandstone blocks the gate was shaped from contrasting against the blue of the sky, where it occasionally pierced the grey clouds hanging over the land.
Fortunately, Wyldfyre always kept a small amount of money among his possessions. It had been an arrangement between he and Larieth, in case they should ever have been split up. Of course, they had never expected the split to be under such circumstances. Or at least, Wyldfyre hadn’t.
Towards the later nights of his journey, the dreams that had plagued him grew less and less severe. The previous night he had slept quite soundly. Time, and the pleasure of flying once again, seemed to wear away at the sharp edge of Wyldfyre’s past that had been revealed. But he knew it would not be truly past until he answered the calling that echoed inside him and saw the place of his birth, Korylth, the elven capital city. That was where Larieth had always said Wyldfyre was from, and there was no reason to disbelieve that, it made sense that the royal family would live at the palace in the capital city. Now all he had to do was figure out exactly where Korylth was.
Emerging from the forest trail a couple of miles further on, Wyldfyre found himself on a more worn trail, obviously used by traders with their carts, judging from the equally spaced ruts on the softer parts of the track. There were people here, coming to and from the city. Most were heading towards it, the safety of the city walls a fair precaution for those living so close to the land of the Dark Hoarde.
Positioning himself not too far behind a couple of older men making their way down the trail, Wyldfyre listened in to their conversation in the hope of learning some more about this place.
“Gateway’s no safer with these extra troops pouring into the city. The Hoarde’s on the prowl, and that means trouble.” The slightly hoarse, aged voice came from the man on the left as he walked along the trail, paying no attention to Wyldfyre following just a few metres behind. He was quite short, and well dressed, probably a trader of some sort if his age still allowed, Wyldfyre guessed. Then again, a lot of traders and merchants didn’t let age get in their way. Many of them would work until they had enough money or children to set up their own business, simply overseeing the operation and letting others do the groundwork.
“Can’t see no harm in it, though, sir.” The other man replied. He was slightly taller and well built, though not quite as richly dressed as his friend. “What with all the usual thieving scum in the city, as well as Alara showing up again and making trouble for us traders as usual, seems like not such a bad thing to have more soldiers around.”
Traders indeed, then, Wyldfyre thought, smiling at his correct assumption. That would indicate that the man on the left, judging by their appearance and mannerisms, would be the senior of the two, with the other his subordinate.
“You’re right, Tomkins, you’re right. Hopefully they’ll catch that little freak of a thief this time and she’ll be out of our hair.” The shorter man shook a fist in the air at the thought. “I’d pay to see her at the end of a noose, or maybe they should just throw her over the Wall, let the Hoarde deal with her.” The man stopped and turned towards Wyldfyre, grinning broadly. “You’ve been listening a while, friend, what would you say? Have her hung by the neck, or thrown over the Wall?”
Wyldfyre almost stumbled with surprise as the man rounded on him, and quickly forced himself to regain his composure. He remained silent for a moment, his glance flicking from the man to his subordinate, Tomkins, and back. Assuring himself there was no immediate threat. He straightened his stance a little and smiled. “I wouldn’t know, sir. I’m new in this part of the world.”
“Ah! A newcomer! Well, take some advice from me, son - keep your things close by you while you’re staying in Gateway. Alara’s a canny thief, and she’ll not think twice about stealing the bottle from a babe, if you see what I mean. Then there’s the rest of the thieving riff-raff... Anyone’d think that the Dark Hoarde was on this side of the Wall and not the other!” The older man extended a hand to Wyldfyre. “The name’s Dai O’Rourke, owner of the best bazaar in the whole of Gateway, as well as in any city you’ll find along the length of the whole damn Wall. This here’s Tomkins, my assistant.”
“Wyldfyre,” Wyldfyre replied, taking Dai’s hand and shaking it.
“Wyldfyre, eh?” The merchant rubbed his chin with two fingers thoughtfully. “Can’t say I’ve ever heard the like. Eastern provinces?”
Wyldfyre smiled slightly and shook his head. “Southern. Illashara, if you’ve ever heard of it. I’m travelling at the moment.”
“Indeed you are!” Dai chuckled. “A long way from home, that’s sure enough. Tell me, Wyldfyre, how are you set for a place to stay tonight?” Dai turned to continue down the trail as he spoke, placing a hand on Wyldfyre’s shoulder, though he had to raise his arm considerably to do so, and drawing the elf along with him. Tomkins followed quietly alongside the pair.
“That was something I had yet to arrange,” Wyldfyre replied. “I had hoped to find an inn when I arrived.”
“You’d have a tricky time of that right now, Wyldfyre, my friend. The city recently brought in some more troops in case there’s trouble with the Dark Hoarde on the far side of the Wall. They’ve been getting a bit uppity, you see. Trouble is, extra troops need extra bed, and the local authorities have paid handsomely to house them in just about every inn and hostel in Gateway. It’s lucky we ran into each other! I know an innkeeper running a modest business, ‘The Silver Wolf’, just a couple of minutes from the main marketplace. Just tell him O’Rourke sent you and he’ll see you right.”
“Thank you, Dai. I appreciate it. Though I am afraid I have little to offer in return for your help.” Wyldfyre smiled apologetically.
“Ah, don’t be so sorry. Always glad to help a newcomer to Gateway. I was one myself a long while ago, as was Tomkins here, right?”
“That’s true, sir.” Tomkins agreed, nodding.
“So it’s my pleasure to point you in the right direction. Though if you do want to show your appreciation in return, I’d be only too happy to see you in my modest bazaar before you leave on more of your travels. Perhaps we may even have something that could be of use to you on your journey.”
Wyldfyre chuckled heartily. “Yes, perhaps you might.” After a momentary pause, his expression became more serious, and he looked across to Dai as they walked. “Actually, I think you may just have the thing I was looking for. Do you sell maps of any sort?”
“Why, surely we do!” Dai exclaimed happily, seeing an opportunity for business presenting itself. “We carry all kinds of maps for anywhere you may ever wish to go, crafted by some of the finest scholars in this part of the world! Tell me, friend, where would you need a map for?”
“Athyria.”
Dai’s expression darkened a little, his tone becoming grim. “And why would a lad as young and free as yourself want to trouble himself with those dark and hateful lands. Never mind that it is forbidden to set foot in that decaying place, why would you want to set foot in a realm where the very earth is dead, and stalked by hideous monsters that the imagination cannot begin to comprehend?”
Wyldfyre quickly covered up the first angry, protective response that came to mind and tried to think quickly of a way not to arouse further suspicion in the old man. “Of course I would never want to actually set foot in Athyria, Dai. Such a thing would be folly, and besides, I am at a loss of how anyone could get over that wall.” Wyldfyre paused for a moment, considering his next move. “What I am really interested in is a map of Athyria before the War of the Fallen took place. I’m interested in the history of the place, you see, and I think that would be a good place to start.”
Dai seemed to think over the request for a moment, and then allowed the warm smile Wyldfyre was more used to creep back across his face. “Ah, so a historian as well as a traveller, then. You must indeed be well educated, Wyldfyre! Maps of the older world, eh? Well, I’m not too sure, but I can have a look for you and maybe we’ll find something of interest to you. Perhaps you could visit us tomorrow morning? We’re open from nine, and aren’t too hard to find.” Dai began to roll off a list of directions, directing Wyldfyre from ‘The Silver Wolf’ to Dai’s business premises, right in the centre of the city.
As they approached the city gates, Wyldfyre recounted the directions to Dai, confirming them. The three passed through the large open gateway, one of a number of entrances through the city walls, which wrapped around and connected to the taller, more imposing wall on the far side of the city, which could be seen rising above the nearer buildings even at this distance.
“Well, now we’re here, you’ll be needing to get to ‘The Silver Wolf’, and book yourself in. Just that way,” Dai pointed along one of the main streets, “and you’ll see the places I mentioned. It’s just a couple of minutes from there. You’ll find it, no problem.”
“I’m sure I will.” Wyldfyre smiled, staring down the street Dai had indicated. He turned back to look at the merchant. “My thanks again, Dai. I’ll be sure to come by tomorrow and see your wares.”
“Be sure you do, my friend, and enjoy the evening!” Dai waved once to Wyldfyre and then turned, drawing Tomkins off down another street, presumably to wherever they were staying the night.
Wyldfyre wasted no time in heading towards the inn Dai had mentioned. If the city was as short on accommodation as he suggested, Wyldfyre wanted to have a room booked as soon as possible, with insider information, or without it.
As he wandered through the streets, following the detailed instructions he had been given, Wyldfyre did notice a heavy military presence in the city, guards posted at frequent intervals along the main streets, watching the civilians suspiciously as they went about their business. He tried to avoid their gaze, just wanting to make his way to the inn as quickly as possible. Thankfully, his wish was granted, and before long he saw the sign for ‘The Silver Wolf’, written in ornate script, hanging outside one of the buildings just off the main street. Striding confidently up to the building, he pushed the heavy oak door open and ventured inside.
The interior of the inn was surprisingly quiet, given the activity outside and how busy he had been told the inns were. But then, Wyldfyre considered, if a lot of the accommodation was being taken up by the extra guards and military personnel, and they were all out on patrol, it was not surprising that the inn be quiet at this hour.
Almost immediately, Wyldfyre was accosted by a tall man, dressed smartly and with an air of officialdom about him. He smiled pleasantly and gestured into the front room of the inn, with the usual arrangement of tables and chairs, and a rather bored looking barman behind the seemingly well stocked bar. “Good evening, kind sir. Please come in and lighten your load. What can we do for you?”
Wyldfyre gratefully took the opportunity to take his travelling pack off and rest it up against one of the tables. He made sure it was steadily placed, and looked back up to his host, who was waiting patiently for his reply. He gave it. “I’m here to book a room for the night, if you would.”
The tall man smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, sir, but our rooms are fully booked at the moment. With the increased military presence, our available room total is quite restricted at the moment.”
Wyldfyre nodded and smiled back, hoping that Dai was good to his word. “I’m aware of that situation, but my friend Dai O’Rourke said that you might still be able to offer me something.”
The flavour of apology melted away from the man’s smile, and he grinned broadly. “Ah, a friend of Mr. O’Rourke! Well, in that case I think we may be able to find a space for you. Follow me, if you would.”
Grabbing his travelling pack, Wyldfyre followed his host to a door on the left hand side of the room, and down some stairs to the basement levels. Regularly spaced torches lit the way, giving a flickering orange light to the corridor they entered. The man led the way right to the end, and opened a door leading into a fairly small room, only large enough to accommodate a bed and dresser with a torch that the man quickly lit.
His host watched as Wyldfyre looked around the room. “I know it isn’t too much, sir, but as I said, we’re short on space, and Dai has us keep this room open for travellers down on their luck who he happens to meet. He’s a wily old merchant, but his heart is soft in places. You were lucky to meet with him!”
“Yes, I was. Thank you, this will be fine.” Wyldfyre said happily, placing his pack on the bed and handing a silver coin to his host in thanks. “The name is Wyldfyre, by the way, and please feel free to use it.”
The host bowed slightly as he accepted the coin. “As you wish, Wyldfyre. Evening meals will be served over the next hour or two. I suggest you arrive early to avoid break times for the soldiers staying here; it will be quieter then. I’ll leave you to freshen up.” The tall man turned and left the room, closing the door behind him as Wyldfyre began to prepare himself for the evening.
**********
Larieth and Art had had significantly less luck. They woke to the sun climbing over the tops of the trees surrounding the clearing they had slept in, having been unable to find shelter in Gateway the previous night. Venturing back into the darkness outside the city, they had found a small clearing and set themselves up for the night, disappointed at their failure to find room within the city, but grateful for the rest nonetheless.
The dragon, resting in his human form for safety’s sake, given their proximity to Gateway, awoke to the sounds of someone hopping around the clearing, and the sound of a blade swishing as it cut through the air. Opening his eyes, Larieth found himself looking at Art, practising with his broadsword in the morning light.
“Couldn’t sleep?” Larieth asked as he pushed himself into a sitting position, rubbing his forehead with a palm.
Art stopped his sword mid-swing and looked over towards his friend, having not noticed him wake. He grinned. “Not really, Larieth. I grabbed a few hours but... Well, we’re going to be travelling through some dangerous country, lands not many have travelled through in the last twenty years, other than the Dark Hoarde. It’s impossible to know what we might find, and that’s both exciting and unnerving.”
Larieth nodded and smiled wryly. “Yes, yes it is.” He pushed himself to his feet and started to pack up his sleeping furs. “Though if you’re ready, I suggest we head into the city. We should at least be able to pick up something to eat, and then we can continue into Athyria. We should reach Korylth by this evening.”
Art sheathed his sword and strode over to where his travelling pack lay on the ground. “Sounds like a plan to me. Let’s go.” He hefted the pack on to his back and straightened the straps over his shoulders.
Raising his own pack on to his back, Larieth started towards the edge of the clearing, in the direction of the massive wall that loomed over the tops of the trees even at this distance. Art followed, looking forward to a proper breakfast for once on their journey!
**********
Wyldfyre was treated to an excellent breakfast by the chef at ‘The Silver Wolf’, just as his meal the previous evening had been before he retired for the early. It was good to have food prepared for him for the first time in over a week.
The elf’s plan was simple for the morning. He would leave early, drop by Dai’s bazaar to pick up the map, leave the city and use his dragon form to fly over the wall at a safe distance from Gateway so he would not be seen. Following that, it would be non-stop to Korylth.
Outside, it was instantly apparent that it was a market day. The streets were packed, as the numerous guards kept watch over the heaving crowds of people that had descended from all around the city of Gateway, some up to a whole day or two’s travel away. Wyldfyre fought his way through the crowds, following the memorised instructions Dai had supplied him with the previous night.
After about half an hour or so of struggling both with and against the flows of various streams of people, Wyldfyre reached the bazaar. It was a large building, the size of ‘The Silver Wolf’ and more, with counters and shelving stretching along its length, holding more equipment and artefacts than Wyldfyre could ever have hoped to recognise, never mind afford. Dai O’Rourke certainly seemed to be a successful merchant, by any measure of the imagination.
Amazingly, mere seconds after he had walked inside, a call came across the floor of the bazaar. “Wyldfyre!” It was Dai, marching through the crowd towards him, his arms held crossed behind his back and bearing the same generous smile on his aged face that Wyldfyre remembered from the night before.
“Good morning, Dai!” Wyldfyre returned the greeting as the owner of the bazaar finally reached him.
“And a good morning it is, my friend!” Dai sparkled, rubbing his hands together. “Plenty of business on a market day, as always, though today seems especially busy! I think all this talk of the Dark Hoarde becoming restless on the far side of the Wall has made people want to prepare for the worst. And,” Dai raised his voice so the crowd could all hear him, “we have enough stocks to make sure everyone is well prepared for the worst the Hoarde could throw at us, never fear!” A small cheer rippled around the crowd as everyone acknowledged Dai’s words and went on about their own business.
“But,” Dai continued, lowering his voice once more. “It was a map you were after, yes?”
Wyldfyre slowly nodded his acknowledgement. “It was, Dai. A map of the old land of Athyria, as it was before the War of the Fallen, if you should happen to have one.”
The merchant smiled and pulled a long roll of parchment from behind his back. “You are in luck, Wyldfyre. I searched long and hard last night, almost thought we didn’t have anything for you. But I finally came across this, tucked in between the maps of old Kersei and Garamus. Goodness knows what it was doing there, but in any case, here it is.”
Carefully, Dai unrolled the parchment, revealing a map that was perhaps suited more to being placed on a table than held in the air, but between the two of them, they managed to carve out a little space in the crowd to view the map. The quality of the historical artefact, for that is what it really deserved to be called, was exquisite. The amount of care and attention that had gone into the creation of the map was very apparent, and Wyldfyre could not help but marvel at it for a moment. Then he realised, the whole of his race were here, all the cities they built, all the places they explored, all were mapped out right here. It was an emotional moment, one he tried desperately to hide.
“Now, for a document so old and rare, not to mention so well made, you must expect a high price. But let’s see if we can come to some agreement, eh?” Dai grinned at Wyldfyre.
Suddenly there was a commotion nearby. A cry of “Thief!” went up from one of the attendants, and a slender figure, wrapped mostly in a purple cloak, face and head partly obscured by a hood, burst through the crowd. She, for Wyldfyre could tell from the build of the figure, threw herself forwards and barrelled into the parchment suspended between Wyldfyre and Dai, ripping it clean in two. The pair recoiled, Dai yelping in surprise.
Wyldfyre wasted no time, pushing his half of the map into Dai’s arms and setting off after the cloaked figure, who was already exiting the building.
Not that it matters, Wyldfyre thought smugly, she’s got nowhere to go outside in all those crowds.
Coming to a stop outside of the bazaar, Wyldfyre looked around quickly, only to see the escaping thief leaping up from the back of a passing cart on to an overhanging ledge on one of the windows on the first floor of the bazaar. Giving her an almost unbelieving glance, Wyldfyre followed, leaping up and quietly calling a wind of magical energy to his boots, lifting him higher than would have normally been possible, though not so high as to cause great suspicion. Using this power, he began to scale the building, grabbing on to the same ledge that the thief was now lifting herself from on to the roof.
Pulling himself up to the ledge, Wyldfyre wasted no time in calling his magic to him again to assist him again, pushing him a little higher this time so that he could use his momentum to lever against the edge of the slates and flip upwards on to the roof. That should have impressed the crowds below. Almost immediately, though, he had to throw himself down and to the side, bracing against the slates as the figure appeared almost from nowhere and threw a fist at him, missing by mere inches thanks to Wyldfyre’s quick reactions.
The cloaked thief immediately took off again, sprinting up the slight slope of the roof and down the other side, displacing slates as she went. Wyldfyre scrambled to his feet and made chase, trying to tread carefully so as not to damage the roof of the bazaar as much, but not letting his pace drop so that he would lose his quarry.
Reaching the far edge of the roof, the figure simply did not stop and leapt at pace from the edge, landing squarely on the roof on the other side of the street and continuing her escape attempt. Wyldfyre called on his magic yet again and followed suit, hitting the other roof running. Knowing he would be less visible here, he called on his magic again and threw his arms out in front of him, commanding the air to form a barrier in front of the thief. He felt the air bending to his will and smiled, knowing that the thief would have little warning before she fell into his trap.
The thief ran headlong into the soft barrier of air, causing her to cry out in surprise and impeding her progress a little. But as she slowed, she sliced her arms in front of her and the barrier tore in two and dissipated, allowing her passage. Wyldfyre stared in surprise as he continued the chase, not having expected his quarry to have any magical ability.
Throwing his arms forward again, Wyldfyre called on his abilities once more to summon another barrier of air. But this time, he did not make the mistake of underestimating his target. As she leapt off the roof, again aiming for the building opposite, Wyldfyre chose his moment to strike and wrapped her in a shell of swirling winds, stopping her and suspending her above the street.
Cries of shock and surprise began to filter upwards from the people in the street below as they saw the hovering thief, and Wyldfyre quickly drew his arms inwards, pulling the thief back on to the rooftop and holding her there in her invisible prison.
Wyldfyre stepped up and drew back the hood on the thief’s cloak. “Well, lady thief, let’s have a look at y-“ He stopped in surprise, seeing the face that stared defiantly back up at him.
It was human... just. The features were all there and recognisable, but there were some irregularities. The cat-like ears poking through her long dark hair, cat-eyes from her otherwise human-featured face, and tiger-striped skin were the highlights that Wyldfyre could see. It looked almost as if someone had taken a human and tried to cross it with a cat. If that was the case, Wyldfyre could now understand her unusual agility and balance across the rooftops.
“What happened to you?” Wyldfyre asked, making sure the bonds of air still held the thief in place. The woman said nothing, just holding her defiant glare on the elf. Wyldfyre sighed and crouched in front of the thief. “I’m Wyldfyre. Look, tell me what’s going on, and I might be able to help. Something’s not right here.”
“Damn straight something’s not right!” The woman finally spoke, spitting the words at Wyldfyre. “You have me tied up! Let me go!”
“Sorry, can’t do that. Not until I know what you stole and understand why you were stealing it. And your name wouldn’t hurt, either.” Wyldfyre tried to keep his expression as devoid of emotion as possible.
The woman snarled and struggled against her invisible bonds for a moment. When she realised that she could not break them, she sighed angrily and looked away. “It’s Alara, that’s my name.”
“Thank you, Alara.” Wyldfyre smiled, and quickly remembered Dai’s comments on the trail the night before about the canny thief. She certainly lived up to the description of ‘canny’ that Dai had given her, if her current escape attempt had been anything to go by. “Now, can you tell me exactly what all that was about?”
As Alara opened her mouth to speak, Wyldfyre heard a commotion below the rooftops and the sound of ladders being raised at the barked commands of what must have been the guards below. His head snapped back to Alara. “You’d best make this quick.”
**********
Hadrich stood at the base of the ladder that had just been raised to the roof of the local chemist. He would be the first up there. His hand instinctively reached to the hilt of his sword, still sheathed and by his side.
The order was given by his commander, and with a clatter of armour, Hadrich began the climb to the top of the building, followed by others of his unit on both that and other ladders that had been raised along the street. A large crowd of people had gathered to see this unprecedented event, and the other guards were having a hard time keeping them back and away from the ladders.
Within a few seconds, Hadrich had bounded to the top of his ladder and cautiously poked his head above the rooftop. What he saw almost defied explanation. His gaze was met by that of a fairly large silver dragon, turning to face him. Alara, the thief they had been pursuing, was riding on its back! Hadrich had heard that she was a witch, but he had never guessed she had the power to call on dragons!
Without warning, the dragon suddenly propelled itself forwards towards the emerging guards. Hadrich dropped into a crouch, hanging on to the ladder with one hand. “DRAAAGON!” He cried out to the people below.
With a blast of air from its wings, the great silver creature swooped upwards into a hovering position above the street. It looked down at Hadrich, who was doing his best not to cower against the ladder. It smiled, or at least it seemed to smile.
“This belongs to Dai O’Rourke of the local bazaar,” the dragon announced loudly, allowing the street to hear his voice. It dropped a small golden pendant towards Hadrich, who snatched it out of the air with his free hand, looking immediately back up to meet the dragon’s stare again. “Make sure that he receives it.”
With that, the great dragon beat its wings fiercely and curled up and away from the buildings, flying out over the Wall and heading into the land that was once Athyria. Silence descended upon the street as the guards tried to figure out what to do next.
Hadrich looked at the small pendant in his hand. It was solid gold and shaped like an eagle, two red rubies set where its eyes should be, shining out in contrast to the metal. It must have been quite valuable. Why would Alara give it back so willingly?
What Hadrich couldn’t have known was that, at that moment, Alara was almost wondering the same thing.
Wyldyfre
It was a good enough explanation, and though it was brief it convinced me enough to give her the chance to tell me the rest when I’d helped her escape the local guards. Things are rarely as simple as they appear, and this was no different. I have to admit, I hadn’t expected her to say anything to sway me into letting her escape, never mind to convince me it was worth the hazard of shapeshifting right there and then and flying her with me into Athyria!
I wondered for a while if she had somehow put a charm on me to persuade me to assist her. But that was very unlikely; she would not have manipulated me into taking her into Athyria! That was far too dangerous, surely? No, she had agreed to do this at my request, as well as letting me return Dai’s artefact, in return for my assistance and her freedom. There was no charm or trickery involved.
Well, in any case, the deed is done, and we all have to live with the consequences. The look on that guard’s face, though! I will not forget that for some time...
Larieth
The morning had passed quite pleasantly. We made sure we were stocked with whatever we would need once we crossed over the border into Athyria. Our plan was to depart at noon after a quick meal and make best speed to Korylth.
When news filtered through the city of a giant silver dragon prowling the rooftops and escaping over the giant wall, I knew it had to be Wyldfyre. It just had to be. There couldn’t have been another silver dragon wanting so desperately to get into Athyria. Then there was the news of the silver dragon aiding a dangerous criminal in an escape.
Oh, Wyldfyre, I hope you know what you’re doing.
Art
I’ve taught quite a few youngsters in my years since I set up shop in Aspinara, and most of them share this same trait. You can train them as hard as you like, tell them exactly what to do in every situation you can think of, but as soon as you let them out the door, they’ll do something you never expected. It’s unavoidable, something that can’t be changed. But depending on what that unexpected thing is, and how they deal with it, that’s when you know if you’ve taught them well or not.
You see, life isn’t something you can predict, you can’t tell which way the dice will fall when you toss them into the air. You can only hope that when they do land, the youngster you’ve let out into the world can deal with the result.
Trouble is, right now I can’t tell if we’re dealing with double six or snake eyes here.
Larieth’s worried. That’s okay, it’s a father’s job to worry. I know he’s not father by blood, but upbringing and love is just as important as where he came from. The two of us left in a hurry after we heard the news, getting out of Gateway at a near-sprint and getting just far enough away for us to probably not be spotted when we ascended over the wall. That took us perhaps an hour, so we weren’t too far behind.
Next stop Korylth, I guess. It’s been a while since I felt this glad to have my broadsword with me.
Alara
I don’t usually do introductions. But, given the option of explaining myself or meeting the sharp end of a spear at the mercy of the city guards, I was willing to break that tradition.
I am Alara, and I haven’t always been like this.
My home has always been somewhere along the border between Athyria and the human lands, though it hasn’t always been near Gateway. I travel a lot. Someone in my trade has to, especially someone who looks like me.
Before the War of the Fallen I worked with my family as part of a home-grown business. We collected the freshest and ripest nuts and berries from the forest and sold them at market. We were hardly the most successful business in town, but we made a clear profit, enough to live comfortably, at least. Those were happy times, or that’s how I remember it.
We always went out in a group, my parents, my siblings and I, on our trips to collect the forest produce that we would then sell. But as the area we covered was fairly large, we often ended up collecting on our own or in pairs. It was when my sister, Ysara, and I were collecting from a particular tree one day that our lives were changed forever.
A man appeared from behind the tree, as if from nowhere. He was tall, definitely elven, and dressed all in black. I don’t care what any philosopher or religious leader has ever said about not reading a book by its cover - you can learn a lot from a person by just looking at how they dress, and this guy had trouble stamped all over him, regardless of the fact that he popped out of nowhere in the middle of a deserted forest. Ysara and I tried to run, but it was as if we were frozen to the spot, our bodies just refused to move.
He looked at us. It sounds obvious, perhaps, but this was more than just casually glancing over us, when he looked at us, it was like his eyes saw into every little part of our souls. Frightening stuff. After a moment or two, he said something about us being perfect, then drew his hand through the air and opened a doorway of sorts, like a portal. He took Ysara and I to another place, a castle somewhere far away. I knew it had to be far away, as there weren’t any real castles where we lived. The border between the elves and humans was a peaceful one, and had been for some time. There was no need for castles or fortifications.
Turns out this elf was some sort of wizard. He never used his name in front of us, and I still don’t know it to this day. He held us prisoner in the cells inside his fortress, which seemed to be empty save for him and a few creatures I didn’t recognise that seemed to serve as his slaves. You don’t need me to tell you that it wasn’t the most homely of places.
Ysara and I weren’t the only captives. It seemed that a number of youngsters were being held against their will. We introduced ourselves to some that spoke the same language as us, but being in separate cells it was difficult to get to know each other. We barely ever even saw each others’ faces. Then they started to take us away.
It was just one or two a day at first. Some of the strange servant creatures would come downstairs and drive some of the captives out of the cells. They didn’t come back. For the first couple of days, we all hoped that perhaps we were being sent home, that it was all over. When you are a child it is easier to be optimistic about these things.
Sorry, did I say ‘optimistic’? I meant ‘naïve’.
On the third day two more children were taken away. We didn’t see them again, but we heard the screams. Judging how far they were taken, something I would later find out for myself, how far the noise had to travel, I didn’t believe that anyone could scream that loudly. That’s when we knew the truth - we weren’t being taken home.
Ysara and I were the last two to be taken. There had been many more screams since that day. Ysara cried as we were driven down the hallway, and I think I did too. When we entered the huge chamber where the elf wizard was, though, we forced ourselves to stop. We weren’t about to give him the satisfaction.
It was a large chamber, dome shaped, with all manner of strange looking devices and artefacts lying around. It wasn’t well kept, there seemed to be no order to anything, all the artefacts were just strewn wherever. Some looked as if they’d been thrown to the floor, scattering their pieces where they lay. Whatever this wizard had been doing, he hadn’t been wholly successful. At least, that’s what I figured later on, I was too scared to think of anything right there and then.
The wizard turned to us as we arrived and made his creatures strap us roughly to a large table beneath a pair of large crystal spikes, pointing down towards us. As he prepared himself, he muttered a lot about what he was doing, about failed experiments and such. I didn’t understand a lot at the time, but what I have managed to unravel since paints a quite disturbing picture. He was performing experiments to bend people to his will, to shapeshift them against their wishes into forms to suit his purposes, with minds to match. He used children because their souls were more fluid, with less will and determination. They, we, were his guinea pigs before he moved on to greater ambitions.
Lightning flashed around the crystal spikes, black lightning that seemed to contain a life all its own. It arced down to our bodies, penetrating the very depths of our bodies. I tried to scream, but couldn’t. Ysara found no such difficulty, though, and her voice echoed across the chamber.
It went on for minutes, maybe hours, or that’s what it felt like. Pain as I never imagined, through every nerve in my body. I felt the change take me, my skin started to ripples, almost like it was liquid. It began to flow, firstly around my face, then my eyesight became cloudy and blurred. But in the middle of all this, I suddenly had a moment of clarity, a moment when everything was perfectly clear, and I realised a terrifying fact.
Ysara had stopped screaming.
I couldn’t have known for sure, but it was all too obvious to me. Ysara, my closest sister, was dead. In that moment, I changed, but not in the way wizard had wanted. A fire burned within me, a raging blaze of anger that would not be put out. I struggled as hard as I could, striking out with instinct more than anything. In those moments my eyesight cleared, my skin stopped flowing, and I tore myself free of the bonds that had held me.
Power ran through me, power of a sort I hadn’t felt before, or since. Even so, it was a good thing that the wizard had been exhausted, apparently from his exertions in trying to control whatever power had been acting upon us. He was slumped against a table, looking limp and defenceless. I launched myself at him, striking out with claws I had never had before. He fell back, raising a hand at me. It was a pathetic defence, but that’s not what he was planning on. Using whatever strength he could call to himself, he opened another portal, like the one he had used to bring us here. But this one led out into a forest, one I was unfamiliar with.
The energy I had felt within me dissipated somewhat, but I could still feel it within me. Somehow the change had left me imbued with some innate magical ability. It would be a long while before I learned to control it, but I knew it was there. That power came at a price, though. At the first river I came across, I looked into the water at my reflection, all too aware of the magic that had been worked on me. As I had feared, my features were changed, the ears and eyes of a cat, claws on my hands, that sort of thing. I cried again then, partly for the sorrow at what had been done to me, partly at relief for my escape, and mostly for the death of my sister.
Eventually, I found my way to a village, populated by humans. I had survived off whatever nuts and berries I could find on my journey, but I needed better food and a place to sleep. The first person to see me called me a monster, a bad omen, and despite my pleas within minutes I was being chased away by an angry mob, a scene that was repeated again and again at every settlement I visited.
Somehow, by the grace of whatever power there might be up there, I survived and over a long period of time found my way back to the elven border. At last, a place I was more familiar with, and a chance to find my family. But I had wandered so long, and the War of the Fallen had gone on without me even knowing. There had been casualties on both sides of the border, and it seemed my family was among them.
I was alone, a disfigured monster in a world that rejected me. Even in a city such as Gateway, where people and races from many different corners of the world came together, I was thrown out. The only people who would deal with me were the thieves and bandits that lived homeless mostly by choice rather than fortune. I had become practiced in my new abilities and powers, and used them to become a thief of some repute, sneaking into cities and extract various valuables or artefacts to order, all in return for a sleeping fur and a bite to eat. It wasn’t much of a life, but it was a life.
That’s what I was doing when this Wyldfyre character caught me. A couple of travellers had their eyes on that eagle pendant at O’Rourke’s place, but they couldn’t afford it. Of course, my talents came at less of a price, so they asked me to retrieve the trinket for them. And if it hadn’t been for this dragon, human, whatever he is, I would have been sleeping sound and eating well!
Still, he offered me freedom, and his help, if I could just show him the way to Korylth, the old elven capital, or what is left of it. That’s all he wanted. Promised he would keep me fed, and that there would be someone he knew who could help me with my ‘condition’. Now, I don’t know about that - I’ve heard of one too many mystics who think they can cure all ails, and it never turns out to be true - but since he had me held down with some impressive magic and the guards were just about upon us, I figured I had little to lose.
That’s when he shapeshifted into the silver dragon that I’m now riding on, and I realised that, perhaps for the first time, here was someone who might actually be able to help me. I don’t care if I have to lose the powers I’ve gained, just to be able to walk into a city without being removed at sword point, that would be a worthwhile improvement.
So that’s my story. It’s not pretty, I know, but it’s mine. Let’s hope it doesn’t end at the claws of some terrible beast in Korylth.
