Dragon Fire

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. Once…there was a time the land prospered, not plagued by monsters or kings. The people had been content- peaceful.

Peace was a long forgotten ideal.

Magic littered these grounds. Traces found everywhere- oceans, mountains, lakes, rivers. Every stone in every corner of all the world. It was beautiful

Its power streamed in the lights in the Northern skies. It sparkled within the seas and gave way to cities of marvelous creation. It healed and protected and nourished the people.

It saved lives as easily as it destroyed them.

Men who wished and wielded such power for themselves. Who used a glorious gift for the purpose of making themselves a noble or lord or king. Battles of blood stained this land, giving way for darkness and chaos to fester.

Waiting… that monstrous thing of evil. A foretold darkness forgotten by time- a chaos meant to devour the world.

With one hope, one slimmer of light within an everlasting chasm.

But hope was rare in the realm… and men were still the evilest of them all.

____________________________________________________

“Calix, we’re lucky we’re down wind or those Longmires would’ve caught our scent ages ago. We can’t stay here.”

“Quiet, Amaranda!” Calix snapped, scooting further on his stomach to the edge of the hill. “We’re not here for the dragons, least you’ve forgotten.”

“No, we’re here because of a fool’s whisper and Charis’s paranoia.”

“My brother is rarely wrong about such things.”

“Your brother,” Amara slid into place next to him, “is a king. If he were wrong, he’d be the last to know.”

Calix gestured for the thin piece of metal- a scope, the merchant had called it. Something the raiders among the seas had developed, and that Calix had bought for a steep price.

“What do you see?”

“Give me a moment.”

Calix squinted as he peered through the thin strip. “That’s a herd of thirteen…” Large, magnificent creatures. Deadly unless bred and tamed by the dragon riders of the South, though, not even the riders had been able to capture a Longmire.

Their scales were the faintest yellow, outlined in black and orange. Fire- they looked like living flame.

“I can count, thank you.”

“Amara, when was the last time a Longmire was spotted this far North? Now there are thirteen?”

“They’re animals- they migrate. This is information Charis should’ve already been informed of.”

“There was no word of a herd traveling. Dragons don’t simply appear; they came from somewhere.” Calix pointed the scope Northward, toward the mountains. Their peaks scraped the stars.

Amara groaned, rolling to her back. “Why does your brother feel the need to take the word of a stranger over the logic of his advisors?”

“You don’t believe that man told us the truth?”

Amara sighed, covering her eyes with the back of her arm as though ready to sleep. “There is nothing to the North- there has never been anything to the North. One drunk comes along with a rumor that something came through the pass and,” She waved a hand lazily before her, “here we are.”

Calix set aside the scope, turning to look at her. Relaxed- Amaranda looked utterly calm. It was as though they hadn’t ridden Northward in winter for the last week. Her red hair sprawled in the snow behind her, like crimson on a white sheet.

“Charis isn’t in the habit of letting others decide what’s best for his kingdom. Besides, what if he was right? What if the mountains are breaking?”

“Mountains don’t break, Calix.”

He huffed, returning to the scope. “They do if something is coming through from the other side.”

Calix had always been… curious. Skeptical of the stories about the Mountains of the North- the wall of protection. No one, not even the scholars, could ever tell him what the Mountains protected them from.

He had questioned why they had never traveled past them or searched beyond. The only answer he had ever received was:

“Not even the dragons will pass the mountains, boy. Why would we?”

He had traveled Northward many times in his life. Calix had seen the pass for himself and had deemed it too dangerous to venture. Now there were rumors of demons and creatures seeping through the rocks… and Calix questioned if he had been mistaken not to push things further.

“Wait…Amara, look at this.” Calix suddenly went rigid, his eyes locking at the base of the mountain.

Reluctantly, Amara rolled back over and snatched the scope, placing it to her eye.

“Yeah, I still only see dragons.”

“Look!” Calix adjusted the scope down for her.

Amara quieted for a moment, her brows furrowing in concentration. “… Is that?”

“An entrance.”

Amara dropped the scope from her eyes, which dramatically rolled as she looked at Calix. “I think it’s a bit early to assume that.”

Calix took back the scope, shoving it into his back pocket as he slid away from the edge of the hill. “We need to go.”

“Finally, I’ve been wanting to return home since the moment we left-”

“Go investigate. I promised my brother I would try to find answers. We’re not leaving until we go look.”

“Have you forgotten about the vicious, territorial, fire-breathing herd of dragons in our path?”

Calix grinned. “I have a plan for that.”

Longmires were dangerous- there was no questioning that. They were known for their dragon fire, not their mercy. But Calix had spent time in the South, learning from the dragon riders. He had thought to use their methods in training the Northern breeds for Charis’s army.

“This has got to be the dumbest idea you have ever had!”

“Hush!” Calix shushed her, “Longmires have terrible sight, not hearing. Stay quiet and keep moving- we’ll be fine.”

The two were crouched low in the underbrush, scouting a path through the herd. Longmires could not see well, their peripheral vision near to none. Every other sense… Calix tried not to think on that.

He turned to Amara, a finger against his lips, as he gestured for her to follow.

Calix’s legs burned with the effort to stay low, but they moved slowly. Their feet were utterly silent on the thick snowy grass of the valley, every step cautious.

Calix threw up a hand, stopping their movement as a smaller Longmire looked their direction. If they stayed still, with their cloaks on and hoods up, they might’ve been mistaken for boulders rather than a meal.

Most of the Longmires were sleeping, their tails flickering and eyes half open. The cold Winters of the North must’ve felt soothing to the fires in their bellies. But the alpha…

Calix could tell her apart from the rest from a mere glance. She was far larger, and her colors more vibrant and eyes alert, as though she knew something was amiss. It was she that Calix watched as he and Amara slipped through.

The foot of the mountain made even the dragons seem small. Calix could not fathom the size… the peaks out of sight, grazing the thick clouds above.

What they had found with the scope had been luck, and as Calix approached the entrance, his suspicions began to run wild. It looked like- it looked like a door. As though someone had chiseled through the mountain stone by stone, leaving behind a smooth, obsidian cave leading into darkness.

“Come on,” Calix hurried Amara inside, taking one last look at the Longmires before following. Suddenly, they seemed more like guard dogs than a coincidence.

“Here.” It was pitch-black inside the tunnel, but Calix halted as he heard Amara shifting. The echoing of stone hitting stone and an occasional spark, then there was fire. A torch with a flickering, orange flame. It lit the damp space, but it was as though the darkness was attacking the light.

Something was down here… Calix could feel it. A presence… an evil.

“You feel that too, then?” Amara said, unable to hide the dread in her voice.

“Still don’t believe that stranger?”

Amara said nothing as she passed the torch to Calix, who began to lead their way through the cramped tunnel. The stone was cold, frozen by the Northern Winter. The walls felt like ice, and Calix could not help himself as he shivered.

“How far do you think it goes?”

Calix shook his head. “There is no way to tell. It feels like we’re in the heart of the mountain.”

Amara was silent for a moment, “…What if it goes through the mountain- to the other side?”

“Then I guess we’ll be the first to finally see what lays beyond.”

“What if we don’t like what lays beyond?”

Calix didn’t let himself think of that now. Find answers for Charis- that was his task, and he would do what was asked of him, as always.

Calix did not know how long they walked. The path did not veer or falter, ascend or descend. It was a walkway- simple and ordinary save for the growing pit in Calix’s stomach. He knew Amara felt it too- could sense the worriedness in the woman.

“It will be alright, Amaranda. You have always been safe with me, and I will not let anything happen to you.”

“Promises like that are what get people in trouble.”

Calix smirked over his shoulder. “Have I ever broken my promises?”

“There is always a first time for everything.”

The torchlight flickered against the dark stone, the light casting lengthy shadows behind Calix and Amara. They walked until the darkness began to brighten, and another light shone through the mountain.

Calix paused, Amara on his shoulder.

“Calix…”

He took a steadying breath. “I know.”

Amara grabbed his arm as he took a step, stopping him. “We don’t have to do this now. We could return to Charis, gather more men- more supplies.”

Calix glanced to Amara, seeing the nervous glint in her eyes. He gently rested his hand against hers. “I cannot lead men where I fear to tread. If there is danger, I could be leading them to their deaths."

Calix took another deep breath, the cold burning his lungs, and began forward.

The world was blinding white. The sun radiated off the freshly fallen snow, illuminating the forest with vibrant light.

…A forest… Calix slowly, cautiously, appeared from the tunnel. His hand never left the hilt of the sword that rested on his hip, and he prayed Amara stayed just as vigilant.

It was quiet. Utterly, peacefully, graciously silent… horrifyingly as Calix noticed the absence of forest life.

“What is it?” Amara asked, stepping into the ankle high snow beside him.

“Where are all the birds?”

Some part of Calix was overjoyed- exhilarated. As far as the world knew, no one had ever come to the other side of the mountains. No one had ever dared try.

Now, here they were.

Yet the echoing question remained, reverberating in Calix’s mind… what lay on this side that the kingdoms of men needed protection from?

“Calix, look.” He followed Amara’s gaze towards the sky. “That’s smoke.”

Something in Calix’s throat choked as he, too, saw the black smoke rising not far in the distance. The sudden remembrance and suspicion that Charis had tasked them to investigate- that there were dark forces, and that they may live beyond the mountains.

Calix didn’t expect magic forests or creatures of myths to appear as they trekked quietly towards the smoke. The woods that surrounded him were… normal. Anything but unique. Leaves littered the ground beneath the snow, and the trees loomed overhead as though listening for whispers and secrets. The sun shone, and the thick clouds moved across the sky.

Normal, save for the lack of noise. No birds- no wildlife whatsoever that Calix had seen or marked the tracks of.

The smoke had not been far, a half mile at most. Calix was grateful given the soreness in his legs that had grown over the past week.

“We don’t know what to expect. Stay low and quiet, and follow me. No straying off, understand?”

Amara rolled her eyes. “I don’t wander off.” Calix turned, glaring over his shoulder. Amara held up her hands defenselessly. “Alright, I got it.”

The sun was beginning to settle down in the sky, slowly dropping minute after minute. Calix guessed they had and hour, two at most, of daylight left.

Suddenly, he stopped them.

“What-”

“Hush,” Calix warned, giving the signal to drop down. Amara obeyed, ducking behind the cover of thick overgrow. Calix pointed to his ears- listen.

Clamoring and footfalls ahead… and talking?

Calix strained to hear, but he knew the barking of orders and the complaining of soldiers. There were men beyond the mountain, and they knew the Northern tongue.

But the more Calix listened the more he knew… these were not men. Their voices were harsh, muffled, and deep like growling. There was an accent in their speech, as though this wasn’t their first language.

Calix motioned Amara forward, slowly. Just enough to peer through the forest beyond.

“Holy Gods…” Amara let out, then quickly silenced herself as she palmed her dagger.

Calix almost said the same as he took in the sight. Soldiers… monsters…

They were not human. Their skin was obsidian, as though they had been forged from the mountain. Two heads taller than any man, and teeth- their teeth jutted out like fangs.

They bore armor- light leathers enforced with metal in vital areas. Fast and vicious creatures, organized from what Calix could see. Various tents had been pitched, fires roaring and metal hitting metal in what Calix assumed to be their forge.

He had noted their weaponry the moment he had seen them- axes and swords and arrows. They carried themselves as though they were fighting a war. For all Calix knew, they were.

There were also crates. Black powder spilt through the crevices.

“Dragon ash,” Amara mouthed, following Calix’s eyes, “Smells like ash.”

Enough to strike down a kingdom, it seemed.

Calix had never used dragon ash, but he had heard of it. Men who had bottled it and thrown it, an arrow of fire following. The massacre it produced… Calix did not want to imagine.

“Well, well, what do we have ‘ere? Little birds, watchin’?”

Calix whipped around, his sword half drawn, but he was not fast enough to avoid the blunt club that met with his temple. Blackness dotted his eyes as he collapsed to the snow, his skin tingling against the frozen floor.

He could do nothing as one of the monstrosities- something from his worst nightmares- smiled above him and slammed the heel of his boot into Calix’s head.

Warmth dripped down Calix’s face as he awoke, his eyes fluttering open through the pain. Voices drowned his mind, the voices of creatures flooding his foggy head.

“We should kill them!” A shrill voice, and a crowd cheering at the suggestion- Calix flinched at the noise.

“No.” Another voice sounded. It wasn’t like the others- clear and concise. “We do not kill senselessly. We are not like them- not like those who wish to take and thieve and think themselves better.”

Calix blinked feverously, as though it could clear his blurred vision.

He had the faint realization of bonds around his wrist.

Captured.

Had Amara been, as well? He could not see her, only the amassing crowd of beasts before him.

The one that spoke wasn’t like the rest. He was tall, without the accent his brethren held. His armor was finer- newer and decorated with images that Calix could not make out.

“Why would we destroy such vital information right at our fingertips?” The voice droned on, “How else are we to discover information about the Southerners? With these humans, we could have everything we need to win our war.”

“Calix, wake up!” An urgent voice, “Please!”

“Amara…?”

“Oh, my Gods, you’re alive!”

Calix faintly smirked. “Of course I am.”

His head was beginning to clear as he finally picked himself up. His arms were sore from where they had been tied behind his back, around a thick wooden pole. Amara was next to him, she too standing with her arms tied back.

“Ah, you’re awake. Finally…” Calix’s cheeks stung as the monster before them grabbed him, forcing their eyes to meet.

Calix knew not who was before him, but something about him… the power that radiated from him…

His fingers were long, claws where nails should be. His face was taught and narrow, and his eyes- they were a dark blue, like untamed ocean. They were the only human thing about him.

“Who are you?” Calix spat, tensing as the creature looked him up and down.

The monster laughed, turning to his audience as though Calix had proved some point. “My name is Deimos, though you would not know that. Your historians erased my name from your history long ago.”

“You’ve been below the mountains?”

Furrow suddenly coated Deimos’s face. “Been? Have I been below the mountains? I was born there!” He snapped, “I was King!”

Calix numbed his face- no expression, no reaction. That's what learned about situations like this. Calmness, information, and time were his biggest concerns.

“There are five kings to the South.”

Deimos rubbed his face. “There used to be but one, but I was banished long before you were born. The land was stolen from me.” Deimos gestured to the demons behind him. “Well… I plan to take it back.”

Calix paused, “…What?”

“I was planning on taking some of you within the next few weeks. Dragging humans back here for information, but I sense you have all the information I need about the kings and the forces Southward.”

“We aren’t telling you shit!” Amara’s words were like lightning, striking fast and loud.

“Amaranda, don’t.”

Deimos smiled as he left Calix to stand before Amara, his eyes inches from hers. “One way or another, my darling, you will tell me what I want to know.”

“Oh, I am not your darling.”

Amara moved with grace as her hands came down from where they had been tied, the roped now sliced through. Calix had not seen the small dagger in her hand, nor had anyone else.

The knife slid across Deimos’s face, blood coating the space between him and Amara as he fell back.

Amara moved without hesitation, lunging for Calix, slicing through his restraints in a moment.

“Seize them!” Deimos roared, his demons immediately falling in line.

“Run!” Calix shoved Amara into motion. “Run!”

The silence in the forest was broken by footfalls and growling. Calix and Amara made it to the woods, arrows nearly grazing them. The trees were enough cover, but the monsters chasing them… Calix did not dare look back.

The path to the tunnel was clear, all they had to do was follow the mountains.

Calix no longer had his sword, or any of the weapons he had hidden amongst himself. He doubted Amara did, too- wondered how she had slipped that knife to begin with.

Screams and shouting followed them as Calix and Amara ran as fast as they could through the snow.

“We can’t outrun them!”

“Get to the tunnel!” Calix did not allow Amara to turn back as he pushed her harder, faster.

But she was right… Calix could almost feel the hell hounds on his feet, dragging him back to Deimos.

The mountain opened, and Amara was the first into the tunnel, Calix following close behind. The demons were only moments behind them.

“Amara, keep running!”

“They’re going to catch us!”

“Trust me!”

Calix suddenly stopped, turning to face the wave of beasts before him.

“What are you doing?” Amara called, desperation coating her words.

“Just go!”

____________________________________________________

Amara had never seen such creatures… such monsters. When they had taken Calix and her, she had been the first to awaken. Looking at him- his lifeless, bloody body- she had panicked.

Then she felt it, the small knife she nearly always kept up her sleeves.

“Be full of tricks,” Calix had taught her, “Sly as a fox. When no one can outsmart you, then you know you can survive.”

It hadn’t felt smart to slice a king of demons across his face, but it had felt good. Now, it felt like an utterly big mistake.

Then he stopped. Calix had halted in the tunnel, turning his back to her to face an army.

“Just go!” He yelled. An order, not to be questioned. Still, she hesitated.

Calix was capable. She knew that as the first demon lunged and Calix countered easily- then the second and the third.

“Amaranda, run!” He ordered again, this time… this time she listened.

She trusted him. With everything she had, and everything she was, Amara trusted Calix. Trusted his plans and his tricks and his soul. He had been the only one in this world to earn it.

Amara ran the tunnel, fumbling in the dark. At least it was a straight path, though she could’ve done without the constant echoing of demons chasing for her. It was how she knew Calix was still alive- she could still hear the fighting.

It didn’t take long for Amara to see sunlight again. It was less blinding, the sun beginning to drop lower and lower. Good- that would help with the remaining problem.

The Longmires.

Amara skidded to a halt, throwing a hand over her mouth to keep from making a noise as she slid from the tunnel.

The dragons had remained, their presence looming over the valley.

Amara looked back only once. The noises were faint but grew with each passing second.

She wanted to call for Calix. Yell for him to run and escape, but she knew in doing so, they would both die. If he was beside her, she knew he would tell her to keep moving, so she did.

Her cloak was gone, stolen by the demons who took her, but nightfall was beginning to cast shadows across the valley. Amara stayed within those, moving swiftly and carefully, as to not die by dragon fire.

The dragons paid her no mind, unable to see the threat before them. Gods, Amara couldn’t imagine how the Southerners rode such creatures. Magnificent and deadly beings.

She had not yet passed the dragons when the noises from the tunnel grew louder, and the dragons’ heads began to turn. She prayed Calix would remember they were here.

Amara turned, keeping low.

Her breath caught as Calix appeared- his clothes bloody and a gash across his forehead. He stopped at the entrance, looking to the dragons one by one until he spotted her.

“Come on.” She waved him on. “Hurry.”

Calix smiled softly, shaking his head.

Amara furrowed in confusion. How badly had he been hurt? She almost began to backtrack to help him.

But Calix shook his head again, looking behind him as though the demons were just there.

“Calix?” Amara stepped for him.

He looked to her. “Be safe, Amaranda.”

“Calix, what are you doing?” She stood now, forgetting of the dragons as Calix looked to the sky for the last time.

His chest heaved as he took in a deep breath.

Then he screamed.

The demons were on him a moment later, tearing him back into the blackness of the tunnel.

But the Longmires had heard him- seen him for all they could.

Before Amara could stop it, fire shot from the alpha’s mouth.

The snow surrounding the field melted, the fire shooting into the tunnel. The mountain soaked it up- devouring the flame.

Amara wanted to scream, wanted to cry, wanted to kill the dragon.

But she could not- not as she turned on her heels and ran for the cover of trees.

____________________________________________________

“Amaranda?”

She had sauntered into the castle no better than she had been a week ago. She had little food and water, and less will.

But she had responsibility. A duty to finish the task assigned to Calix and her. To warn the Northern King, and all the rest, of the threat beyond the mountain.

“Amaranda, what happened?” Charis stood from his throne, fear in his eyes.

He had the same eyes as Calix, though they did not shine as brightly.

“Your majesty.” Amara fell to her knee, bowing her head. “I bring news from the mountain.”

“Where is my brother?”

Amaranda’s words caught, “He- he is dead, your majesty. I am so, so sorry.”

Charis sat back down, the blow slamming the king. It took him a moment to compose himself as he looked to Amara and asked, “How did he die? What happened?”

Amara stood, her shoulders square and head high. “Have you ever heard of anyone by the name of Deimos?”