Lion's Flame

Chapter Four

Dyfar stirred in his sleep, his black hair slick with sweat. He lashed his hands out, "No!" He cried. Strong hands gripped his, he was pulled into a warm embrace.

"Hush, Dyfar. It's just a dream." Gwen whispered to the boy. Dyfar sobbed quietly into her chest as they lay together on the forest floor. Soon enough, he calmed down and went back to sleep.

Gwen stayed awake, stroking Dyfar's hair. It had been a week since she found him, half dead in the ruins of his village. They had been camping out in the woods the whole time. As soon as Dyfar was well rested and healthy again, Gwen got information out of him and earned his trust.

Dyfar awoke at sunrise, he was curled up in Gwen's arms as she slept. She had a firm grip on him. Escaping from her clutches, the boy wandered off into the trees. Leaving Gwen asleep on the forest floor. She stirred.

The dark-haired boy stroked the rough bark of the oak trees as he passed them by, he lifted his head and tried to catch a glimpse of the birds who were singing high above him. He sighed, rubbing his back where it was most painful.

Then, Dyfar noticed that the bird's songs had ceased. His eyes widened, he whimpered and looked around, he was afraid. He had forgotten which direction he had come from and had forgotten which direction he was headed.

A low chuckle was heard, Dyfar whirled around. He still saw no one, but he heard their voice; "Oh my, a little boy lost so deep in the forest," the voice was a sickly sweet sound. Dyfar heard another wicked chuckle, "Oh well, he won't be finding his way out so I guess I'll save him." the voice sneered.

A crazed cackle sounded out all around Dyfar, the fear in his eyes was clear. A silver blade was thrust through the air, appearing somewhat out of nowhere. Dyfar screamed in fear and closed his eyes, throwing his arms in front of his face in a half-hearted attempt to protect himself.

A fierce war cry left Gwen's lips as she placed her own body in front of the child. Instead of killing Dyfar, the deadly blade impaled Gwen's heart. Killing her almost instantly. Gwen gasped and spluttered scarlet blood, before her limp body crumpled to the ground in a heap.

Unbeknown to anyone, a scream of heartbreak rung out across the country. The pained cry of the Empress as she sensed the loss of a forage warrior. Dyfar lowered his arms and slowly opened his eyes.

He gasped in horror at the sight before him. Her blouse stained with red, a puddle of her own blood continuously seeping out from the gaping wound in her chest, her dull eyes staring unseeing into Dyfar's soul. The blue-grey fabric of her cloak was soaked in blood, and her hair no longer shone like fire, but looked as dry and dead as wood before it was burned in the hearth.

"No..." Dyfar whispered, tears has begun to trickle down his cheeks, "No." He gripped Gwen's cold, bloodied hand, "No! Mother!" He screamed. The death of his biological mother had destroyed the boy, he had started to see Gwen as his new mother, and now that she was gone, he had no idea what he was supposed to do.

But then he remembered, the crystal clear memory of Gwen instructing him on what to do if anything happened to her...

"If anything happens to me and Victory is not with you, take the pendant from my neck. It has all my spare power stored within it. And that power alone should be enough to avenge me"

Dyfar gritted his teeth and snatched the pendant from Gwen's neck, breaking the silver chain that it hung from. The pendant didn't look like anything special, it was simply a fragment of a white dragon's scale, encircled by a small golden serpent.

That same evil cackle echoed throughout the trees, "what have you got there boy?! Let me take a look!" Dyfar could feel the immense magic power buzzing around inside the pendant, turning his fingers numb with vibrations.

Shadowy hands broke away from the darkness, reached for Dyfar with incredible speed. "How dare you kill my Mother!" The purple-eyed boy shouted. He clenched the scale-pendent tightly in his shaking hand.

He bowed his head and closed his eyes. When the black hands were only inches away from Dyfar, he opened his eyes in a flash. They glowed with power, the golden serpent that had been wrapped around the dragon scale had wrapped itself around the child's ring finger on his right hand.

Dyfar lashed out, throwing the white scale towards the approaching evil. It spun like a boomerang, followed by a strip of purple light. The scale sliced through the shadows with expert precision, before returning to the palm of Dyfar's right hand.

He clenched his fist gently, and when he opened his hand again, the scale fragment was being held in between his index and middle finger. The look of pure determination etched across Dyfar's face as he moved with unimaginable speed was enough to frighten his enemy. The ankle-length coat he was wearing billowed around when Dyfar became air born, jumping high off the ground.

And with one last pitiful scream, the shadows disappeared. Dyfar smirked, he stared down at his hands. The golden serpent was still wrapped tightly around his ring finger, and Dyfar felt no urge to remove it. The fragment of dragon scale floated through the air, to his wrist like some sort of magnetic attraction. The silver chain Dyfar had discarded on the forest floor embodied itself and wrapped around the boy's wrist in a single loop, the scale dangling from it, now a pendant bracelet.

In that moment, rain began to fall. The fat droplets splashing against Dyfar's face, the water running down his body washed Gwen's blood off his hands where he had clutched her hand. He turned his gaze to the pale corpse of his dead mother, the rain washed away a multitude of the blood.

"Gwenevere! Dyfar!" Victory cried out urgently in his deep voice. He bounded through the trees, his legs and paws already covered in mud, and his glorious mane drenched with water.

Victory ignored the limp body of his adopted-daughter and walked straight to Dyfar. "We have to go." he said. A sudden anger took over Dyfar's senses.

"How can you say that without caring?! She was your daughter, Vic! And now she's gone!" Dyfar cried, collapsing to his knees and clinging onto Victory's wet mane. His sudden movements surprised the Fire Lion.

Victory chuckled deep in his chest, "we cannot take her with us, Gwen dislikes being a burden to anyone. So we must leave her here, do not worry. She will come back one day." Dyfar cried sorrowfully and his body shook.

"We have to bring her with us! We can't leave her!" He choked out. Victory looked over his shoulder, the ominous form of Gwen's body hidden in the shadows. He smirked when he saw one of her fingers twitch.

"We must leave her!" Victory snarled, grabbing the collar of Dyfar's coat in his jaws and flinging the boy onto his back. He took off at top speed, dodging trees and branches. Dyfar still wailing on his back, knowing he wouldn't be able to go back for Gwen now. He glanced at her body one last time, shocked to see it gone.