Kimberly French

The Heart of the Nameless

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. That was until about a week or so ago. My father always told me that for centuries dragons roamed free in other parts of the world. But here in Ashana, they were practically nonexistent. Only our great-great grandfathers had ever officially fought them in order to secure safety in our homeland, but my father had been one of the few in recent generations to actually see first-hand how dragons help the humans and faeries. You see, my father was a world traveler and my mother was fae, I grew up longing to travel with them. To visit other parts of the world, to see what lies beyond the overgrowing Valley. About ten years ago, my parents decided that they wanted visit her native land of Estrela. My grandparents still lived there as well as my mother's siblings, and they convinced me to stay home for the few weeks that it would take for them to visit her family. Looking back now, I'm glad that I didn't go. I would have died in that war as well, but it turns out that it wasn't all black and white as we had been told. All of Estrela was burned to the ground, presumably from the dragon army that my father was warned about before the left. My parents had managed to write me one last letter before they perished, yet I had never managed to bring myself to read it. Not until I opened my eyes on what should have been celebrated as my twenty-third birthday. The hunters had snuck into the East screaming for all faeries to congregate in the square or we would be hunted down and killed. My roommate, Emiline, cowered under her bed, but she had nothing to fear. She is full blooded human, but I am not. Emiline is afraid of everything, which is why I took her under my invisible wings when we turned eighteen and were forced out of the orphanage. I could see her peering out at me with tear stained cheeks, silently hoping that I won't leave her alone like her family did. But I couldn't. I couldn't risk the hunters storming in and mistaking her for fae and I couldn't let her get hurt even in the slightest if I could help it. For ten horrifying years, I have feared the dragons. But for even longer, I have hated the hunters. I looked over to Emiline and give her a reassuring smile before I headed for the square. As soon as I walked out of our home, I realized that I had made a mistake. Faeries were being lined up, beaten and whipped the closer they got to the center of our town. The Valley had always been one to protect our kind. To give us salvation, but now Ashana was being torn down because our name gives false hope to those around us. When I made it to the first hunter, he just stared at me with a creepiness in his eyes. The second and third managed to each get a few slaps in before I passed them. By the time I made it to the square, all focus was on me. The only halfling known to the world. My clothes had been stripped from me as I walked, I had bruises and cuts all across my body. Whip marks lined my back and legs as I continued to hobble through the square. The captain of the hunters stood proudly and when I made it to him, he kicked me back down the steps. For nearly fifteen years, I have been made to feel less than because my parents found love. They refused to give me a name so that no one could use it against me, but that need nothing to deter the hunters when they realized that my parents would leave me alone while they visited my mother's family. So there I lay, below the stage as the hunters and the other tormented fae watched as I struggled to breathe. "Stand up, you repulsive, wicked being! Get up!" The captain continued to yell at me. I tried to move, but could barely manage to sit up. When I didn't do as he said, he came down and kicked me again and then beckoned for one of his subordinates to bring a whip. He gave me five lashes before the entire square of the Valley of Ashana was covered in a massive shadow. Everyone began to flee and hide in nearby buildings. I looked through the blood in my eyes to see Emiline watching in awe as the horrifying beasts descended. I crawled towards her as the hunters became preoccupied with the commotion around them. "Em, you need to leave!" Instead of running away, she ran towards me. She helped me to rise and get a few feet down an ally before the captain and few of the other hunters caught us. "Em, you need to run. Please go. You will be safer without me." She shook her head, tears still streaming down her face, "no, I can't leave you alone." Laughter was all I heard and then I felt another burn from the whip. I let out a scream and pushed Emiline away, urging her to run and leave me behind. She finally did as I said, but the hunters didn't care. Their main focus was getting to me, to destroy me. I turned in time to see one of the giant beasts fly towards us, only to be met with dust swirling around like a tornado. Out of the cloud came the most beautiful being I had ever seen before. He had shaggy blonde hair and creamy chocolate eyes. His horns were short, but curled inward. With one flick of his wrists, the hunters fell to the ground, unmoving. His eyes never left my dull grey ones from the moment he landed. The beast walked towards me, slowly, and that's when I realized what he was. "A dragon," I whispered. "Yes, princess, we've come for you."