Flash Fiction #720 -- The Stranger

 

The sun rose in a glory of reds and pinks, touching the edges of the clouds and then infusing them with color, as though magical inkwells had tipped and the colors spread across the sky.  That was what the boy saw as he stared, wishing the morning would hold still here and that he could sit a while longer.

He was weary.  Weary of the journey and weary of life.  He thought that was probably a sad admission for someone who had not yet seen sixteen years.  But they had been hard years.

"Up, you damned lazy child!" His uncle came and grabbed him by the arm, yanking him upwards as though he had not already been moving to obey.  "Get to your work!  Do I need to push you every day?  Gods, that your parents died and saddled me with such a useless child --"

Tolin had heard those words, and sometimes worse, every day since the magistrate delivered him over to his late father's brother.  The man and his wife had not been pleased at first.  Now they reveled in having a boy to do the work.  They never said slave, but Tolin knew the truth of his condition.

"Get down to the stream and fetch the water!"

He didn't argue, since that would only prolong contact with the two.  Far better to take the jug and head for the stream and savor the few more moments of peace he could steal there.

They had camped on the high ground in a ruined cottage with a wall to protect them from the wind.  Tolin had slept outside with the horse and carriage.

He had not expected to find someone camped by the stream; a man with long black hair and a fine red cloak.  The stranger also had a very fine sorrel mount that was so well trained that the animal hadn't made a sound since they had made camp.

"They're not much for politeness or quiet, are they?" The man asked with an amused smile.

"No, sir, they aren't," Tolin agreed, though quietly.  Uncle would raise hell if he saw Tolin talking to a stranger.  He'd accused the boy of giving away secrets, as though there could be anything of worth in their dull, insignificant lives.

Tolin had gone to the stream and carefully filled the jug, very much aware of the man's eyes watching his every move.  He likely thought him a thief, so Tolin gave him no reason to worry.  He filled the jug and hefted it back up the incline, giving the man a quick bow of his head as he went past.  Then he hiked back up the hill, listening to Aunt and Uncle argue.  Tolin grabbed a second jug and moved past fallen brick walls, happy to get clear of them that easily.

Tolin hadn't expected it to be the last time he saw them.

The stranger had already packed his camp and was leading another horse up beside his own. Tolin thought the mounts were identical all the way to the intricate weave of their blue and gold saddle blankets.

"Climb up, boy," The stranger said with a quick wave at the second horse. "Unless you have some reason to stay behind with these people?"

A line of bushes and weeds hid the spot by the ancient ruins where they had camped.  If he took much longer, his uncle would come looking for him.  Should he go with this stranger?  Could it be worse?

Of course, it could.  Tolin wasn't stupid.

But it could also be better. 

"Tolin!" Aunt yelled.  "Where is my breakfast, Tolin!"

"Please, sir," Tolin said with a bow of his head.  "Let us go.  Quickly."

"Yes," the stranger replied.  "You have no questions?"

"I have questions enough to fill days," Tolin said as he carefully mounted the horse.  The animal remained calm as they started away along the edge of the stream. "I'll start with one.  What are you?"

"Most would ask where we are going."

"Most would probably care where they are going.  I am happy to be going anywhere."

And a voice, already distant, called his name again.  "Toooliiiin!"

Tolin looked back, startled to realize that they had already gone miles. That only reinforced the importance of his first question.

"I stand by my question."

"I am a djinn.  One of the last twenty in this realm, at least as far as I can tell. I helped you because no one should suffer from such despair.  And my name is Fisa.  I don't know where we are going."

Tolin unexpectedly laughed.  "Thank you," he said, and relaxed, although he had one potential problem to mention.  "My uncle knows everyone within fifty miles of the old farm.  He will offer a reward to bring me back.  Someone will do it."

"Someone will try."

That improved his mood again.  "You have done me a wondrous favor by getting me free.  What can I do for you in exchange?"

For the first time, Fis looked startled. They rode on for a little longer in silence before their horses came to a halt.

"I didn't realize you were what I was looking for.  In fact, I didn't realize I was looking for anything."  Fis gave a quick nod.  "The djinn have become little more than myths, you know."

"My mother told me bedtime stories about djinn with great powers and fabulous riches, and how they helped humans."

"Oh yes, I will want to hear those tales. And then we will make new ones."

Tolin hadn't expected a better future. He started considering the old tales.  His life was about to change.

Flash Fiction #719 -- Zette Versus the Cat Toy

 

I bought my furry friends a powered ball that runs around bouncing off things.   They enjoyed chasing it for a few minutes.  Then it disappeared.

It didn't turn up for months. It still had power when I pulled it out of a dark corner.  I turned it on and let it go.

The cats were not interested.  They watched it bounce against the office door.  Several times.  

Pound. Pound pound. Pound pound pound pound.

Repeat.

I crossed to grab it -- and it leaped at me and made a run for it.  I chased it.  The cats were entertained at last.

Flash Fiction #718 -- A Second Tale of the First Alliance/16 (End)

 

Callum had helped fight a squad of berserkers who had tree trolls backing them. The trolls had withered and died under the attack.  He thought the berserkers were tiring. They might have a chance. The berserkers continued to fight after their drum stopped.

Then he saw Kono and Lady Bear rushing toward him. He began looking for Ryson even before his mind had articulated the fear.

"Ryson!  Where is Ryson!" he shouted and hoped someone would answer.

Kono came to a skidding stop as Callum caught hold of her.  Lady Bear was more elegant, but she looked no less worried.  No one had answered Callum's frantic call. He lifted his hand and called a bit of magic – and then let it die.

"There is too much power in the area.  Even if I found him, it would likely help our enemies."

Tsak began spreading the word to find Ryson, but by then Kono and Lady Bear were already on their own hunt. He had not expected such a surge of worry to spread throughout their allies.  What was Ryson to them?

That was a question to ask later. The battle had grown more intense in that short time. Rock trolls started growing out of the ground, towering over everyone. They didn't seem to care whether they attacked enemies or friends, although "friends" was not the term he would use for them under any circumstances. Callum tried to keep his general attention away from Ryson, just hoping that his cousin and best friend was acting wisely. It had happened in the past.

He went back to the battle, which was hard to ignore, anyway. The huge rock trolls moved forward, and the ground moved with them. Tsak sprinted to stand by him and looked at the two dozen trolls with a shake of his head.
"I have never fought rock trolls," Tsak said, sounding calm despite the admission.  "We –"

They both threw themselves to the ground as a large black Dragon sailed overhead. With a sudden scream of defiance, the Dragon dipped closer to the ground and knocked both rock trolls and berserkers in all directions.

Someone was riding the Dragon. Callum didn't even have to guess who it might be. He watched with growing amusement as Ryson threw rocks at the trolls. Even better yet, the trolls disintegrated if the thrown rocks hit the rock trolls in the head. 

But then they began to pull together again.

The black dragon turned and kicked some trolls. They disintegrated, but not for long. As he flew over Callum and Tsak, Ryson slid off and ran to join them.

"Knock them on the head and they disintegrate. Then scatter the dust so they can't reform right away."

Callum slapped him on the shoulder.  "At last, we have a plan."

Lucky for them that the dragons had ideas of their own. It was easy enough to knock the rock trolls down, but other creatures kept showing until fighters covered the land.

Then the older dragons appeared. At that point, it was easy to tell which of the berserkers still held their allegiance to the dragons.  Callum was just glad to see the battle coming to an end. Ryson was still with him and looked ready to fight some more. Callum would have to keep track of them for a while. Kono and Lady Bear had taken a place on the ground by what appeared to be the only standing tree.

Was the battle over? Callum couldn't be sure, but he accepted that they had a little piece right now. Lady bear walked off with some other fae.

Ryson was the first to sit down, and Callum not long after him. None of the three said anything for a little while as they listened to what was going on around them. While it didn't fall silent, a feeling of calm spread over the area.

"We need to go home," Ryson said. The words seemed to startle Kono, and even Callum thought it an odd thing to say.

"He is right." Kono brushed at her clothing as though to make herself acceptable at the castle court. "We have helped as we can here; it's time we go back home and learn if there's trouble there. We can arrange a meeting with our allies at the Castle in ten days. I fear we will have trouble regaining the trust of our own people."

"I have an idea that might help," Callum offered and smiled.

She should have worried more about what he planned.

Two days later, the Fae were ready to open a well back to the vicinity of Kono's Castle. Matters had been quiet, and that left Kono with too much time to consider what might still go wrong. She was ready to head for home.

They made quite a show of it. Queen Kono swept in first, sitting on the back of River. None of the locals had ever seen dragons, and many had considered them myths. As the first Dragon landed in the courtyard, there were cries of surprise and fear. Kono knew the dragons would behave, and this show was certain to help win over the people. Ryson and Obsidian landed beside her.  Other dragons circled overhead. A wave of magic pushed open the castle gates.

Callum and the army marched inside.  They had arrived in time to help the Ice Sprites destroy the last of the Berserkers and rock trolls. 

"Quiet, please," Kono asked from the top stair into the entry hall.

Everyone fell silent.

"We have fought back against the enemy, but the war is not over. From this day forward, we can no longer leave our safety to trust.   Today, from each councilor, general, or person of power, I will take an oath of faithfulness to our land and ruler.  I will know if you are not sincere." 

Two councilors headed toward the gate.  They didn't get far.

The Ice Sprites became castle guards, and the queen gave them land for a new village.  Dragons brought eggs to build a small second core in the castle towers.  River and Obsidian remained to watch over the eggs.  Gryphon arrived in time to tell everyone about all the trouble a very young dragon could get into.

Ryson taught the Ice Sprites about spying.  Callum became the Snow Lands first high mage. Kono found friends for them.

And they all waited for the next trouble to start.

The End

Flash Fiction #717 -- A Second Tale of the First Alliance/15

 

 

Kono's first thought was to charge and attack the amorphous cloud of death.  She knew this was not a good idea, but she still took several steps toward the growing trouble before Ryson and Callum both caught hold of her.

 

"Have you gone mad!" Ryson demanded as she shook her. "What do you think you were going to do?"

 

"This is all madness! What do you expect me to do?"

 

"We expect you to stay out of trouble," Callum replied, and grabbed her other arm as if she were still trying to get away. "Did not occur to you that if something happens to you, then all the alliances fall apart?"

 

In fact, it had not occurred to her, and the shock made her stop all motion. She looked out at the battle with renewed fear. There had to be something more she could do than just stand here and hope for the best.

 

Magic suddenly swept through the entire area, and it was not just the dragons coming in closer to see what they could do.  Kono, Callum, and Ryson all stood still as if waiting for some orders. Kono wondered if that wasn't the truth. If they didn't know what was going on, maybe somebody else did.

 

Tsak?  She found him at the edge of the battle, directing others and occasionally fighting off something that came after him. The death cloud had seemed impossible to fight, but now a group of fae began shooting fiery arrows into the mass of cloudy darkness.  Pieces of the cloud creature broke away, tumbled, and disappeared.  Where normal fire did no harm at all, the magical tricks of the Fae had a much better result.

 

"When did all these fae arrive?" Kono asked, realizing there were at least a hundred throwing themselves into various battles.

 

"They followed Lady Bear as soon as she headed into battle," Ryson said. "They are the elite warriors of the Bear Clan."

 

 Ryson waved an arm in that direction, and Kono could see that the Fae lady had many guards. She was glad to see it, and the sight gave her a new idea.

 

"I am going to join Lady Bear. She has several guards, so I don't think I will be a problem for them."

 

Kono had expected a disagreement. Instead, Callum nodded, and Ryson took her by the arm, leading her over to the other group.  She didn't even get her breath back before Ryson spoke a long line of fae, lifted her hand to kiss her fingers, and rushed away.

 

"Well, that can't be good," she mumbled.

 

Lady Bear had moved up beside her.  The Fae woman gave a slight laugh, even as she destroyed three berserkers who dared charge at them.  Kono took down another and considered herself lucky to have done so well.

 

"Oh, yes, you are much as Ryson's words painted you for me. He said you and I are sisters of the heart."

 

"Did he?" Kono asked.  That didn't sound like something Ryson would say.

 

Or maybe it did when they were younger.  Ryson had been their poet.  She still expected such words from Callum, but he'd never grown that bold. Neither had she.

 

"You think Ryson changed because of his time with us?" Lady Bear asked.  Her guards spread out around them, and no one was getting through that line. Kono felt unusually safe with the Fae, even in the heart of this battle.  "It was not us. Even though my life mate wanted Ryson as his heir, we never would've harmed him.  You have not asked about his injuries. Berserkers might've done such a thing, but they were still under Lord Bear's command."

 

"I never asked Ryson. I felt it was his tale to tell when he was ready."

 

"And that saved his sanity." Lady Bear paused to watch the battle, but everything appeared to be in hand right now. Even the cloud backed away, and the Fae still sent magical arrows into it. "Even though you could tell he had been through something horrific, you still trusted Ryson. You let him work out his problems while still keeping him busy with his own work, as if nothing had changed."

 

"Was it the berserkers who harmed him?" Kono demanded, feeling the same anger she had first felt when they found him at the doors to the castle.

 

"They harmed him before we knew Ryson was in their hands.  They were not the ones who betrayed him. That, I fear, came from a matter of trust."

 

Kono paused for a moment.  "Not trust.  Misplaced trust.  Where is Callum?"

 

Lady Bear looked at her with dismay.  "You cannot mean you mistrust Callum!"

 

"I would never mistrust him.  Neither would Ryson, who might confide a secret – or a worry he can't prove – to him. Where is Callum?"

 

He was in the middle of the battle, of course.  Kono and Lady Bear darted that way without comment.

 

Sisters of the heart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flash Fiction #716 -- A Second Tale of the First Alliance/14

 

 

Callum had spent years in a hidden temple learning both the lore and the language of the dragons. He had become fluent in their language, and he could recite ancient dragon poems that took weeks to repeat.

He had never met a dragon.

The sky shimmered with gem-like colors and the hum of moving dragon wings.

Five dragons settled from sky to land, each a shimmering jewel color: jade, sapphire, emerald, diamond, and onyx.  Their beaks snapped in unison, and eyes that matched their scale colors blinked as they leaned closer.

"We are neither food nor enemies," Callum told them in their own language.

They each jumped backward like a pile of startled cats.

"You speak the true words," Jade snarled, again sounding too much like a cat. "You are not our oathed guards!"

"Your guards are no longer oathed."

Protests, followed by ominous silence from everyone except the drums still pounded and grew louder. Magic flashed through the air and died.

"Not oathed," Jade agreed, the dragon's voice far softer now.  "They swore their fealty to us! How could they gain such power to break that oath –"

Callum waved his hand and spread magic everywhere.  "Everyone will understand now.  We don't have time to keep explaining.  The problem is that the humans who swore an oath to you are long dead.  The oath held for several generations, but the link is nearly gone now.  Worse, someone is taking advantage of that weakness.  They want the dragons under their control."

Kono looked at him as if he were insane.  He might be, but everything he had learned from the temple and the journey pointed this way. He wanted to explain it better, but it was Lady Bear who convinced the dragons.  She did so with a powerful fae song that Callum, Kono, and Ryson only partly understood, but drew all the others to her.

All except the berserkers, who had dropped out of the well again. With them came Lord Bear, who looked as wild and dangerous as the others. Then Lord Bear killed three berserkers in quick succession and shredded their drums.

"I clearly didn't understand what was going on when they held me.  We had better help our fae friends.  If one falls, so will the other, and we don't want to explain why we didn't even try to save them."

"Yes," Callum agreed.  He looked at Jade, who twisted his long neck back and forth to watch everything he could see.  The battle between the berserkers and the fae was not the only one.  "Jade, you and the others must decide what side you are on.  We will do our best to keep others from the eggs."

Callum turned to his cousin.  Ryson shrugged and drew his sword.  "I think we have that problem worked out.  I will go help our ally."

Callum watched him go with some trepidation, but he snagged Kono as she started to follow.

"Let him go.  We need to trust him."

"Like trust him not to do something crazy?  Are you joking?"

She tried to pull away, and when he didn't let go, she got a look that could send council members running.  

"Let go of me.  Now."

"No."

Tsak had been crossing to them.  He stopped and took two steps backward. Kono found that amusing, and by then, Ryson was working with Lord and Lady Bear.  Jade and the other dragons had taken to the sky, including River and her friend.  Apparently, there would be no trouble over the stolen egg.

Everything appeared to be going well.

So why did he feel like disaster was only a heartbeat away?

Because they had found no answers here. The dragons had not started this battle, and he suspected the berserkers had even less to do with it. Things just did not add up yet.  Something else was still standing in the shadows, and Callum suspected they were playing right into its hands.

"Kono, listen to me.  We still have someone out there waiting to strike. It could be at any moment now, with everyone else involved in their separate battles. We need to find them."

Kono didn't ask questions. She stood still for a moment and then slowly turned in a circle -- and she stopped when she aligned with the well. No more berserkers fell out of the sky, but the circle was not closing this time.

Something moved there, shadowy and misshapen. It left darkness in its wake. Plants died and turned to dust. Birds fell from the sky, and animals they had not seen scattered in all directions.

Ryson joined them.  The other battles had slowed and stopped.  Everyone faced the true enemy.

Whatever it might be.