Dragon Frost (21 page)

I walk
towards the glass and peer out into the black forest below. Where
the city hall was on the edge of a cliff but then again so was this
whole city. It’s was due to that dominant volcano. I glance at the
shadows—nothing. Still not giving into my sight but my sense I move
towards it. Oddly but slowly it begins to move, form and
shift. 
Demons!
 Hearing an ear piercing scream I cradle sensitive
ears and fall to my knees. Darkness engulfs me and I’m lost to the
darkness.

By the
time I come to, the world is spinning and I hear screams of fear
and pain. I force myself from the ground and stagger towards the
entrance. The world seemed to shift sporadically under my feet and
I can’t seem to keep my body above ground. I slip and tumble on the
hard marble flooring. It doesn’t bother me, my body feels heavy and
impact, numb - my eyes bout to stay awake and my mind strains to
keep still. I see figures pulling out of the shadows, their forms
blurry and my ears ringing. I can’t even remember what from. The
sound of smashing glass enters my ears and a final scream before
silence. I’m gone once more.

“
Who are
you?” I asked the man silver haired man before me, his eyes were
gentle as his broad jaw was lined in a pleasant yet calming smile
that made me feel safe, that made me feel at ease. For the first
time in my life, I didn’t feel as though someone was trying to kill
or subdue me. The possibilities of not trusting people and what
they would do to me vanished at that moment. I had no idea how to
react. Who was this man and why did he have such an affect when no
one else did? Why do I feel safe with him?

“
My name
is Krylancello.” he said. The name was odd, at my thirteen years I
was sure that no one, in Australia was named so bizarrely,
yet, 
that
 name
seemed to suit him. Beside him stood a girl, her silver hair fell
behind her back down to the length of her cloak. The two of them
seemed to look exactly the same only the difference was, that the
man had very opaque skin while the girl had a light soft coffee
coloured skin. You could see the gold and white base of her colour.
She had the same shade of skin I did. I couldn’t help but think at
how it suited her and complimented her with her blood red lips that
pulled themselves into a warm smile.

She had
markings on her face but they didn’t appear as scars instead they
appeared as if they were navy-blue tattoos, she didn’t have the
seven point star like the man did but instead had the four markings
on his face. They were positioned gracefully upon his high
cheekbones. His smile continued to stretch across his face. The
girl ran to me and waffled me into a tight embrace. “I knew I had a
sister!” she beamed in my ear and I couldn’t help but smile and
take in my new family—my real family.

That was
something I always wanted.

The years
had passed like a breeze, as I aged so did my younger sister. We
trained together, went to school together on Nephelia and traveled
together going on quests given to us by the Order. At that time
Dante, a large man with long silver hair placed in a ponytail on
his head sat high on his horse proud as his silver armour his cloak
gleamed under the Nephelian sun. He was a proud man and a strong
warrior he taught us everything we knew and mentored us on our
quests. I stood my ground as my sister sprinted towards me a wooden
sword in hand—she didn’t hold back and neither did I. What was the
whole point of that when your enemy wouldn’t? Why waste trying to
question their motive when they don’t think before
killing?

Our
father never allowed us to slow down, nor did he ever allow us to
think as women he described every warrior as an equal on the
battlefield. He outlined men and women having different strengths
in different parts of their bodies or the way men and women were
designed for a different purpose. Using those qualities he urged us
to train our core muscles, he urged us to flex our muscles until we
could easily kick or slip from our opponent. “Fear is not of the
power of the individual. Fear is in your potential to fail.” he
reminded us. Our father would often be gone on missions of his own
so we had to stick around Dante. He was like our
babysitter/guardian at the time. I didn’t mind it was awesome
having him around. We would always play tag through our house
forcing several of our servants to stop what they were doing
because of our shenanigans. Even though we were at the age of
sixteen it still didn’t stop us enjoying our youth.

Than 
that
 day
came, 
that
 day I
never thought would ever come.

“
Father!”
I cried as he raced towards where I held my sister. We embraced
each other in fear of us being lost to our invaders.

“
Kal,
take your sister and leave.” ordered our father. The harsh lines on
his face told me the severity of the situation, told me the fear in
his eyes even though he didn’t show it through his expressions. His
forceful tone is what scared me the most. He never yelled at us nor
scolded us, instead, if things didn’t go the way it should have or
if we somehow ruined his plans he would tell us and remind us not
to do it again.

“
But . .
. ” I began, fearing to finish the sentence that maybe my last to
him.

“
Leave
now!” he cried and the metal doors were forced open.

The
Grattican stood, dark and fearsome; their energy bullets were sent
towards the men and women in armour, their shields covering the
majority of their bodies. My father’s line of defence, I don’t
remember how but within a second the ceiling collapsed after my
sister was forced away by one of the other Knights. There my father
laid over me, his muscles bulged as he fought to keep the metal
roofing from collapsing on me and my narrow form. We may be strong,
but I knew then, even he wasn’t invincible. “Kal, protect your
sister. Honor our name. Don’t forget I love you both.” Those were
his last words before Dante wrapped me in his arms and fled. By the
time we exited the building the whole thing collapsed before being
set into a firework of explosions and colours.

We
searched high and low and one day, my father’s body was found.
Since that day, my sister and I were never the same. His sword was
standing erect as if unaffected by the large stones that held up
the building. They seemed to have perfectly parted around it, I
could see a shimmer around the sword—a dome like structure—a
barrier. Ever since that day I’ve kept my father’s sword with
me.

My sister found
our mother while I was on Earth by the time I returned she wrote to
me saying that she had found our mother and that she was living
with her. Our father never said much about our mother but when I
tried to bring up the topic he would have a mask of sadness and
wariness. Seeing him like that made me feel guilty and ever since
then I mimicked the way my father carried himself, I became
impassive.

I wake to
a damp sensation on my forehead. Forcing my eyes to open to a
blinding light I can strongly feel a presence beside me. Without
thinking, I griped the wrist of the unknown person and twisted it
away from me. Hearing a familiar voice gasp at my strength I forced
my mind to return back to reality with great effort. There sits
Lucinda, wide eyed with shock and fear, her face twisted in pain. I
remove my hand and mutter, “Sorry. I thought, I thought I was . . .
” I begin to tell her; 
I thought I was on the battlefield once more. I
thought I was on the ruined plains of Sparta.
 The retention, deluges my mind and I
push it aside, trying to differ the reality from the
memory.

“
It’s
okay.” she said with a smile. “My father and the town healer told
me that you wouldn’t wake up like everyone.” I blink at her words
and try to register them. 
Like everyone?
 I wonder what they had meant by that. Then I sit up
straight. My head throbs with pain and the room continues to shift.
I can’t even remember much other than-

“
Where’s
the women!” I cry with anticipation and fear my voice sounding
horse and my mouth dry like sand paper. Lucinda tries to force me
back down and I oblige but I continue to question, “Where’s Altair,
Varden and the demons?”

I find it
difficult to fathom that around me, it seems like yesterday’s
incident were, nothing but a dream. The weakness of my stomach says
otherwise. I wonder; 
how long I’ve been out? How long I’ve been without
food?
 Lucinda
appears to have read my mind and rises from the wooden stool beside
my bed. “You must be hungry. I’ll fetch you something.” With that
she flees the room leaving me to my thoughts. She later returns
with a steamy chicken soup, she believes to quell the hunger pain.
I woof it down quickly the warm liquid relives the hunger pain
gnawing within me.

My mind
jumps to people in poverty. How long had they have to go without
food for their stomachs to bloat? When I think of things like that
it makes my pain lessen, there are others in this world less
fortunate than me in this universe who have nothing compared to
what I have, even though some believe I have less. That is not true
nor was it ever; I’m content with my standard of living. Just give
me opportunities to release my pain—to feel something—I’ll gladly
give away some of my fortunes to a beneficial cause but sadly, we
are not allowed to, if fortunes are given away, death will befall
the receivers and the givers.

“
Where
are the others?” I ask Lucinda as I hand her my bowl. She doesn’t
meet my gaze. “Lucinda where are the others?” I repeat and this
time she meets my gaze but with a painful expression. Had something
happened to them? Was Varden abducted? Were they killed? All these
questions ran through my mind at 
that
 single glance.

“
Varden
and Altair are gone. So are the women.” she declares and my heart
stops there.

I stalk
down the narrow halls of the Central Building. I need to find him;
I need to find the Mayor. I push open a door and close it behind
me. There sat the Mayor speaking to the towns’ Sheriff. The way he
looked at me with repulse and utter failure made my blood boil. No
one dared look at me like that unless they wanted me to gouge out
their eyes. “Well, look who it is. The 
bitch
 of a Knight.” he spits and I enter the room.
Glaring at him.

“
Hudgens
that’s no way to talk to a lady!” growls the Mayor.

“
She’s
no 
lady
 but
a 
dog
 for the
Order.” he hisses and turns his back on
me. 
Wrong move!
 I stalk over to him and lock my fingers around the
back of his neck, forcing his head over. I knee, him—hard—square in
the face, the armour on my knee only adds to the impact. I toss his
body on the floor and take his seat.

“
Who’s
the mutt now?” I remark as he holds his bloody nose—crawling on the
ground away from me. I turn to the stunned Mayor. “Was that all the
women who were taken?” I ask. The Mayor shakes his head. There was
two more or should I count three; including myself, Lucinda and
Mary. The demons I know will be back for the rest.

“
There
are only you, young Lucinda and Mary.” says the Mayor and I hear a
crashing sound before a familiar voice screaming. I rise from my
seat and run to the window. A winged demon held Lucinda and dragged
her away in the air, shifting its footing and tossing her like the
piece of meat she was. I scowl and race outside. Aiming my crossbow
I fire my arrows. My steel arrows puncture the wings of the demon
where it crashes down in the snow meadow that surrounds the
town.

Lucinda
lands not too far from where the demon laid on the white snow her
form is not moving and I pray she’s only unconscious. I sprint
towards her and haul myself over the wooden fence. I slide along
the snow and towards her where I place her head on my lap and try
to rouse her. She was still breathing only unconscious. I sigh in
relief. The demon seemed to have slowly dragged itself away from
me. 
I
don’t think so!
 I
pull myself from the ground and stalk over towards it—where it
crawls away from me on all four paws.

Its jaw
stretches open and screeches towards me where I pull out my
crossbow. This is not the best day to piss me off. I fire several
arrows which it avoids and slips into the adjacent frozen forest. I
sprint after it. The trail of blood along the snow is the only lead
I have to follow as it managed to vanish from my sight. It is too
quiet and I can hear the demon’s pounding heart and smells its
decaying form. I slip my hand around my back and open a compartment
on my utility belt that carries a wire. I secure it around my
arrows and realise that I just might be injured doing this but I
guess I have no choice.

If I can
drag it down and reach into its mind I just might be able to find
where the others were. The question is when? The women have only be
taken yesterday and I just hope that none have been raped if they
have well their demon children will kill them before I can even
consider killing the winged demon. I just hope it hasn’t come to it
yet. Demon children only needed a day to be born. The worst part is
no woman survives the birth as the child turns on them as a source
of food. I’ll have to move quickly.