Lion's Flame

Chapter Twenty

Malda and Brachem landed on the forest floor, they had been scouting ahead and behind.

"We are not being followed." Brachem reported, she was large compared to Malda.

"Burnt down village up ahead, it would take a day for all of us to get there. But if it was just Brachem, Karyn, Gwen and I we would get there in no time." Malda stated.

Gwen nodded in thought; she knew Victory was faster than any horse but he would still have to go through falls pass. The falls pass was a large canyon with water that endlessly cascaded down the walls, in some parts the water gushed and pooled at the bottoms of the canyon, while in other parts it was just a small trickle.

"Dyfar will ride Victory below us, Charm will run in wolf form through the woods, Karyn will ride Brachem straight to the ruins, while I will ride Malda and take the long way so I can keep watch on Charm and Victory." Gwen ordered. "Brachem will dive in when Malda gives the signal, if Edward Hood is there he will stand no chance."

Dyfar gulped and nervously scratched the back of his neck. He was nervous and fidgety, but Gwen had no idea why. Karyn climbed onto Brachem's back, Gwen mounted Malda, Charm shifted into her wolf form and Victory went to stand next to Dyfar.

Charm was the first to move out. She howled and ran into the trees, her ears swivelled and she sniffed deeply, once she picked up the scent of smoke, she changed her course and headed in the right direction.

Then Victory left, Dyfar mounted on his back. He headed out into the fields and followed the road until he reached the entrance to falls pass. Water was his weakness, but with Dyfar by his side he would be fine. The young boy's magic was strong.

Brachem and Karyn were the third to leave. Brachem flew straight to the burnt ruins of the village and circled above it patiently.

Malda and Gwen were the last to move out. The golden dragon kicked off the ground and took a wide birth around the forest, he locked eyes with Charm as she ran and nodded to her. He flew up and around falls pass and slowed his wing movements. Dyfar was using Albumtrutina to clear away pools of water so Victory could cross without any trouble.

Malda released coils of smoke from his nostrils and continued to fly in the direction of the destroyed village. He passed the end of falls pass and flew over the cluster of trees that blocked the exit.

He flew close to the ground, so close that the tall grass growing on the rolling hills tickled his underside. He landed softly on the side of a steep hill and pressed his body closely to it, Gwen jumped off his back and crawled on her elbows and knees until she could peek over the top of the hill.

Naur mountain was the only mountain in Dralgia that stood in solitude. The rocky towers had been carved naturally with the wind, so much that they looked like flames reaching out from a fire. And that, was where the name came from; Naur was the name of the legendary fire dragon, the mother of heat and flames.

At the base of that mountain lay the charred, smoking remains of a village. That village had been the first to discover fire, and until the time of its collapse it had held the mighty title of Naur's Child.

Gwen waved her hand behind her. She heard a hissing noise before a great ring of grey smoke was released into the air, followed by two more. She ducked her head lower at the sound of wing beats.

Brachem flew down from the clouds that were clustered in the sky. Gwen could easily see Karyn's chocolate hair flying in the wind as her dragon made its descent to earth. She landed heavily a short distance from the remains of Naur's child, a cloud of unsettled ash flurried around her and Karyn shook her hair around to rid it of the soot.

"Okay girl, you find Gwen and I'll call for you if I need help." Karyn remarked. Brachem hesitated.

Even though she had only known her rider for the span of three days, the old dragon trusted her and would give anything to protect her from harm.

"But...Karyn." Karyn gave Brachem a long, hard glare.

"I told you I will call for you. Now go!" She announced loudly. Brachem growled in annoyance and took to the air, she glided smoothly across the hills until she uncovered the hiding spot of the bounty hunter and golden dragon.

Karyn walked softly through the cluster of blackened homes. Her bare feet sunk in the warm ash that carpeted the streets. A sign creaked above her, skeleton hands were half-buried in the debris, but she only wandered into a half-burnt home that was still standing. It was built on the outskirts of the village and had not fallen victim to the worst of the flames.

She looked around at the shelves, they were weighed down with lumps of melted wax that used to be candles. Something cracked under her foot, she looked down and saw a picture frame covered with broken glass.

Karyn knelt down and carefully plucked the sketch from inside the destroyed frame. It was of a young boy and a man who seemed to be his father, and if she wasn't looking, Karyn would not of noticed that the top half of the parchment had been burned, leaving the top of it chewed and rimmed with black. She could see half of a woman's body, standing behind the man and the boy.

She narrowed her eyes. Something moved just outside the doorway, Karyn gently folded the ageing paper and tucked it into the top of her dress, while pulling out her knife at the same time.

Her head stayed still, her eyes moved from left-to-right. Obviously the person creeping up behind her thought that she could not hear them. She released a growl which turned into a cry of anger and spun around with her knife drawn out to its full length.

The metal object came in contact with the soft skin of a neck. A drop of crimson blood dribbled down his neck. Edward Hood chuckled and grinned evilly, he gripped the knife and swiftly threw it from Karyn's grasp before she had time to react. Hood looked Karyn up and down, smirking. She was quite an attractive woman, with her curly brown hair and beautiful olive eyes.

Karyn was breathing heavily. She ran at Hood and attempted to punch him, he blocked her each time, until he got bored and gripped her fists tightly. She growled, spat and groaned through her teeth.

Back on the hill, Brachem restlessly sat next to Malda. The smaller dragon tried to reassure her that everything would be fine, but the huge beast knew something was wrong. Dyfar rolled down the hill that was behind them, Gwen watched and fought to hold in a laugh when Victory slid down the hillside next.

"Don't ever judge my magic abilities again, you foolish human." The lion snarled. He trotted past the two dragons who gripped the lower part of the hill and crawled up to his adopted-daughter's side.

Dyfar sighed. He sat under Malda's wing and regarded the two different creatures curiously. He had doubts that he would never know how Gwen, the woman he called 'mother', ended up being in the care of Victory, supposedly the last of the fire lions.

"Brachem!" Karyn's scream echoed across the countryside. It bounced off the rock-face of the mountain and sounded through the abandoned houses.

Her call was followed by a grunt and the sound of a body hitting the earth. Brachem snarled and ran up the hill, she flared her wings out and flattened her four legs back against her stomach.

The mighty dragon of old travelled faster than she had ever done before. Even though she had ferried travellers to-and-from destinations for years, she only felt the need to use her full speed in this exact moment.

To save her rider.