The Roar of a Dragon (6 page)

I reached for the hilt of my new sword, and as my finger touched the handle, the dread eased just a bit. The feel of it in my hands was reassuring, and that one act would become a kind of ritual for years to come.

Before I knew it, we were charging on the Natumas. I drew my sword, as Derrick commanded his horse to gallop faster. I watched as the barbarians, no fear or hesitation in their bodies, charged, their primitive axes and clubs raised, screaming a violent war cry. Sir Garridan’s strategy was for our cavalry to charge ahead and thin as much of the barbarian tribe as we could before our inexperienced infantry attacked — a good plan, probably the best he could muster under the circumstances. As our horses collided with the Natumas, I swung my sword twice, slicing one tribesman in the shoulder, hitting another in the face. It all happened so fast for me to register how much damage I was doing to another human being. Before I knew it, we were through, circling around for another run. My sense of smell was assaulted by men who may have never bathed in their entire lives.

Derrick’s right,
I thought to myself.
They never would have noticed if I had soiled my breeches… they smell awful!

The thundering sound of our horses galloping was deafening as the commoners attacked, giving great effort, but looking rather pitiful next to the murderous savages from the north. They were falling fast, the Natumas brutal and reckless in their onslaught. Derrick had circled around to attack from the side, and we charged again. As we tore through the crowd, I managed to strike another blow to the side of a tribesman’s head. As I raised my sword to swing again, I saw another barbarian — this one with a
huge
club — ready to swing for me. Derrick turned his head toward him and whipped his spear around, attempting to block the enormous weapon. But, sitting on the back of his horse, there was no leverage, and the club drove Derrick backward, knocking me off the back of the horse. I fell on my back and rolled, coming to a stop about fifteen feet away. I pulled myself to my feet, a bit shaken up, and saw one of the Natumas charging right at me. My sword and shield lay five feet away.

It was then that Garridan’s words came true — I froze up, overcome by fear. The Natuma, screaming for my blood, continued his relentless charge, getting closer and closer. My mind
screamed
at me to do something, but my body disobeyed…

Suddenly, just as the Natuma was about to swing his small ax, he was cut off by a spear, driven into his ribs. The Natuma groaned in pain, then the spear was yanked free, and the barbarian fell to the ground, dead.

Derrick stepped into view, his back to me. ‘Better pull it together, lad!’ he yelled over the screams of the battlefield, but with a note of encouragement. ‘I have no idea why these firedancers are attacking us, but my thinking is that unless you want to be spinning over a roaring fire with an apple in your mouth, I’d pick up my weapons and fight!’

I doubted very highly that the Natuma tribe attacked Delmar simply because they were hungry — I was sure there were plenty of game to be hunted in the plains of Pelora — but Derrick’s ‘pep talk’ spurred me on nonetheless. I quickly picked up my sword and shield, but as I did so, I couldn’t help feeling like it was wrong for me; it was a perfectly good shield, but it wasn’t what I wanted. This wasn’t exactly the time or place to be choosing weapons, but I decided right then and there that the shield wasn’t right for me. I flung the shield aside, and was rewarded by an ‘omf’ as it struck a plainsman — a thought that made me smile inwardly. Next to where my weapons had been laid the small ax of the Natuma Derrick had killed — still not perfect, but it would do for now.

And it wasn’t like I had time to look for anything better.

Swiftly, I picked up the ax in my left hand and turned, just in time to see three, four barbarians charging right for me. Anxiety began to spread through my body again. I closed my eyes, images flashing in my mind.

My battle with Norvin… Garridan saving me… my first, rusty sword… my training… Garridan’s proud smile… Garridan giving me my new sword…

‘For you to be a true warrior… that fear must be overcome…’

Garridan’s words ringing in my head, my mind snapped back to reality and I opened my eyes. The first barbarian swung his axe, but I blocked the blow with my sword and swung the axe, the blade landing in the Natuma’s ribcage. The next one swung for my head, looking to decapitate me. I ducked easily, and stopped him with a slash of my sword through the chest. Before I knew it, all four Natuma warriors were dead all around me.

Then I heard another barbarian war cry, and a group of Natuma tribesmen, who had witnessed what I had just done, were heading in my direction. My initial fear forgotten, I exulted in my newfound strength, the glory of battle flowing through my veins like lightning. I flipped my sword over in my right hand, allowing it to do a full rotation before catching it by hilt again. One by one, the advancing tribesmen met their fate on the edge of my weapons. I parried, slashed, dodged, and stabbed, killing barbarian after barbarian.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I heard raucous cheering, and I could see the Natuma tribesmen retreating. The survivors of our army were celebrating, though I could see by the piles of bodies strewn throughout the battlefield that we had sustained heavy casualties. I could see Garridan, standing triumphantly, sheathing his sword. Derrick was still close by me, watching the barbarians make their hasty exit, then he raised his spear in the air, and screamed a glorious victory cry.

Suddenly, I became lightheaded, and I dropped to my knees, exhausted. I took in several deep breaths, trying to clear the haziness from my mind. Closing my eyes, I tried to relax, but with the memories of the battle still fresh in my mind, calming down was just not going to happen.

When I opened my eyes, Derrick and Garridan were standing over me, scrutinizing me with concern.

‘Are you hurt?’ Garridan asked.

I shook my head. ‘No, just tired.’ I stood back up, and my vision dimmed a little, temporarily.

When the fog cleared, I looked around at the carnage. I saw a couple of faces that I recognized. I didn’t know them personally, but I saw them, getting ready in the armory. They had woken up this morning, a normal day like any other, and they had gone about their business in town, tailoring or shop keeping or whatever it was that they did — then these barbarians decided to attack our country. Now their corpses, literally shells of their former selves, lay on this battlefield. Their wives and children would be waiting for them to come home, but they never would.

Garridan’s hand was on my shoulder. ‘Aidan… are you okay?’

I didn’t realize I had been staring. My voice was a whisper. ‘Yeah.’

‘Look at him!’ Derrick exclaimed, smiling broadly. ‘Not a mark, not a scratch, save for those he sustained falling off of the horse. You truly are a marvel, lad. Everyone in Delmar will hear of your valor on this day!’

‘Where is your shield?’ Garridan asked, looking around.

I shrugged my slumping shoulders. ‘I tossed it — decided I didn’t want to use it.’

‘Yeah,’ Derrick said, sobering. He rubbed the back of his head. ‘I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that — there was no reason to hit me in the head with it.’

I put my hand to my mouth, my eyes wide with shock. ‘I’m sorry, Derrick — I threw it without looking.’

Derrick brushed it off with a wave of his hand. ‘Ah, don’t worry about it. That’s why I wear all of this armor anyway… it’s not the enemies that scare me, it’s the friendly fire.’

‘We must return to the castle,’ Garridan said, shaking his head at Derrick. ‘The king will hear of our victory.’

With that, I was back on Derrick’s horse, and we were riding back toward Delmar. As I entered the main hall of the castle for the first time, my weariness was replaced by nervousness — I was about to stand before the King of Delmar! What would His Majesty say as I knelt before him? Would he praise my accomplishments on the battlefield? Would he laugh because I was merely a farmer?

Or would he act as though I wasn’t even there?

As Garridan and Derrick led me through the courtroom of the king, I was once again awestruck by the magnificence of the castle, and His Majesty’s throne room. The stone was white as the outside of the castle, and red banners hung from the ceiling. Obsidian pillars stood along the aisle, which was laid with red carpet. Marble statues immortalizing past kings adorned the hall throughout. I had never seen such splendor.

This is
amazing
.

King Baladir IV stood in front of his throne, wrapped in his blue robe, in conversation with the soldier who was sent ahead by Garridan to inform the king of our victory (‘our’ — it sounded odd to me at the time, and it still does now). Baladir was a young king, not much older than myself, and had not yet found a queen. He had brown hair and deep blue eyes, like Garridan’s. As we approached the steps to his throne, he held his hand up, telling us to wait.

The delay did nothing but make me more anxious; I stood in between Sir Garridan and Derrick, my body jittery with tension and excitement. I put my hand on the hilt of my sword, but it didn’t have the same calming effect that it had earlier. Instead, the lack of reassuring comfort only added to my already existing anxiety. And so I waited, apprehensively, as the king finished speaking to our messenger.

Finally, Baladir dismissed the runner, and sat on his throne, calling for a servant to bring him some wine. As the servant disappeared into a doorway to the right of the throne, Baladir’s gaze turned to Garridan. ‘Sir Garridan, my friend, come stand before me.’

Garridan smiled, and did as he was told. As he began to kneel before his king, Baladir stood quickly and placed his hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

‘You’ll not be bowing before me on this day, General,’ Baladir said. ‘Just accept my gratitude on a day of triumph against all odds.’

Sir Garridan inclined his head.

Baladir’s attention suddenly shifted in my direction. ‘And this is the young man I’ve been hearing about for so long?’

My heart jumped in my chest.
Garridan told the
king
about me too?

Baladir was still watching me. ‘Stand before me, lad, let me have a closer look at you.’

Without hesitation, I began to climb the steps toward His Majesty, trying my best not to trip and fall on my face like a fool. As I stood before the king, I was amazed by his size; I always thought I was fairly tall, but he was a good six inches taller — though he was rather rotund due to the fact that he could have food anytime he wanted.

I tried to imagine what that was like.

I began to kneel, but Baladir stopped me, as he did Garridan. When I felt his hand on my shoulder, my eyes went wide — I almost thought I had done something wrong. But as I looked into the king’s eyes, I saw that there was no anger or disappointment, only joy, and maybe a little admiration.

‘You needn’t bow this day either, lad,’ he said, his voice low. ‘Today, you are a hero.’

For a second, I didn’t think that I had heard him right. As his words sunk in, I felt a warm rush of pride surge through my body that rendered me speechless — I couldn’t believe it! I stood back up, trying to meet his gaze as evenly as possible.

I wanted to say so many things, perhaps say that I was just helping to defend my country, or that I was happy to do what I could — but instead, all I could stammer was, ‘Th-thank you, Your Majesty.’

Baladir chuckled, and then responded, ‘No, thank you, my lad. Your bravery and skill on the battlefield have gone beyond the call of duty. You saved many innocent lives today. And for that, the entire country of Delmar thanks you.’

I felt my face get hot, and I felt quite embarrassed by the praise and attention I was getting. I glanced over at Garridan, who was once again wearing that proud smile.

King Baladir then turned his attention to Derrick. ‘Delmar also thanks you for your great service today, Derrick. You would be a great asset to any army, anywhere in the world.’

‘That would mean a lot more if it wasn’t spoken as an afterthought,’ was Derrick’s response.

When I spun around to look at him in disbelief, I saw that he was wearing a wide grin. I was really beginning to believe that he would crack a joke in
any
situation. Baladir, apparently, had been through this a time or two before; his young face widened into a smile of his own.

‘You should be satisfied with the knowledge that I mentioned it at all,’ the King retorted, good-naturedly. He then turned and walked across the platform where his throne stood. ‘In honor of your courage,’ Baladir said, his voice rising as if he was making an announcement to a courtroom full of people, ‘we shall have a grand reception tomorrow night, and the three of you shall be the guests of honor! Rest well tonight, for you have earned it.’

With that, King Baladir turned and exited the courtroom through a door behind his throne. Seconds later, the servant followed with his wine.

Derrick came bounding up the steps toward me. For a moment, I thought he would run me over (which, had this occurred, would certainly have resulted in my demise), but he stopped just as he reached me. His eyes were wide with elation, and his grin was wider than ever.

‘All right!’ he exclaimed. ‘A party in our honor! For one night, we will be treated like royalty!’

Garridan nodded, rolling his eyes a little. ‘Yes, yes… We have earned their respect for an evening.’ He looked down at me, and nodded. ‘Sleep well tonight, Aidan, with the knowledge that you have taken your first step toward becoming a knight.’

Just when I thought I couldn’t feel any more overwhelmed, I did. Try as I did to follow Garridan’s advice, I didn’t sleep well at all that night; I was too excited. The memories and images of that day flashing through my mind all night long.

The journey to my dream was just beginning.

That fateful battle changed my life forever. Suddenly, my dream wasn’t just a dream anymore, it was on the path to becoming reality. I was officially taken into the White Army as a soldier, leaving my farm life behind.

Derrick got promoted to a knight as a result of that battle. We had become very close, and I was so happy for him. But even as I watched him, standing next to the king, soaking in the adulation of the people during his ceremony, I envisioned the day when I would be the one up there, reveling in the fact that my dream was finally accomplished.

Derrick, for his part, was rather melancholy about his promotion — he had confided in me that he had never wanted anything more than being a soldier. I needled him about being a lazy bum and not wanting the extra work, but he explained that he didn’t want the extra responsibility; he said he liked being given orders, and being expected to complete them. But Garridan had had a long talk with him, and promised to continue giving him plenty of orders. Usually, a soldier had to go through some sort of trial in order to claim his knighthood, but for Derrick, that battle was considered to be his trial — helping to lead a vastly outmanned army to victory.

For me, my trials were only just beginning. Life as a soldier was very difficult, disciplined, and arduous. However, I loved every moment of it — this is what I had been waiting for, and I wasn’t about to give up because it was starting to become a little difficult. It wasn’t supposed to be easy, and it sure lived up to this difficult reputation.

My first difficulty was moving into the city itself. One thing I had never even considered was the fact that, if I ever made it to serving in the White Army, I would be leaving the farm behind. That turned out to be much more difficult for me than I could have ever possibly imagined. I stood on the dirt walkway that led to the front door for a long time, remembering all the times, good and bad. Silently, I felt the need to thank the land itself, for all it had given me. Tearfully, I also said goodbye to my father for the last time, standing over his grave.

After all of that was done, I reminded myself that this was a new beginning for me. The thought lifted my spirits and cemented my determination.

Arriving in the city of Delmar with enough time to explore it was a whole new experience for me. The enormous capital city was designed very much like two wheels, a smaller one inside of a larger one, and each spoke of the outer one represented a different section. There were two Business Districts, Eastern and Western — the Eastern one was more for the common citizens of the city, and the Western District appealed more to the nobles and knights. There were three Residential Districts for the city-folk, and a district called the Diamond District for the wealthy nobles. The southernmost district housed the Gardens of Delmar, an immense garden that held every type of plant and flower you could possibly think of. People of all classes went there to admire the awe-inspiring beauty. The northernmost district was dedicated to the gods, which contained temples to each individual god, as well as a universal cathedral.

Being a new recruit meant a period of servitude, while we completed our military training. We were given odd jobs to do, and we had to complete them no matter what the job was — no questions asked. That was the exercise: being able to follow orders blindly, no matter what. The orders could be anything from delivering a message to someone, to cleaning out the stables. As a farmer, mucking out the horses wasn’t a major issue for me, though other guys grumbled about it.

The entire lifestyle was different for me — not just merely being a member of the military, but the fact that I wasn’t alone anymore. Garridan had taken over for my father, always looking out for me and offering me advice. Derrick was also a constant, welcome presence. Everyone knew I was the favorite of the general, and that did little to help me gain friends.

But making friends wasn’t at the top of my priority list.

There was only one problem with my training: my inability to use a shield. Physically, it was never a problem, but it never felt right to me, and it constantly kept me from doing my best. I expressed my concerns to Garridan, but he was steadfast — every soldier must learn how to use a shield, just in case. Periodically, there were monitored sparring sessions, with the other recruits, our training instructor, and even some knights in attendance. I always looked forwards to those sessions, as we were allowed to use whatever weapons we wanted and I always chose a sword for each hand. Under those conditions, I always thrived, and received a great deal of compliments from some of the spectators. I also gained some admiration for excelling at dagger-throwing, a practice that was encouraged, and one that I took to enthusiastically.

In addition to my stubborn resentment for shields, my reputation was further damaged by my tendency to turn
away
from my opponents while I was ducking their blows. Not only is it stupid to take your eyes off of your opponent, but most people viewed it as disrespectful, as if I was overconfident. Perhaps it was overconfidence on my part — I was beginning to feel like
nothing
could hurt me — but it was never meant to be disrespectful; it was simply a style I settled into. An unconventional, ill-advised style — but a style nonetheless.

Too bad if they didn’t like it.

There was only one dark spot to my new life in the military: the constant presence of Sir Norvin, the knight whose attempt to make an example out of me had inadvertently led to my training. It wasn’t long after my acceptance into the White Army that I began to notice him, watching me with a sneer on his face. Clearly he wasn’t pleased that I was now a member of the military, almost directly due to his drunken bravado. When I first noticed him watching me, I knew it wouldn’t be long before our paths crossed again, and I was right. He began to take advantage of my servitude to give me all kinds of ridiculous, personal jobs, including cleaning his armor. As angry as that made me, he was well within his right, and so I kept my anger to myself. When he gave me an order, I smiled and did exactly what I was told. I knew that one day I would get even, and accomplishing that task was as easy as sticking to my current goal — to be the greatest knight who ever lived.

***

As close as Derrick and I were, he always remained silent about his past, his family… even where his house was! This concerned me but out of respect for him, I eventually stopped pestering him about it. Then one day, I learned the truth.

I had been a recruit for a couple of months, and was beginning my tenure as a full-fledged soldier. It was such a breath of fresh air, knowing that I wouldn’t have to do personal jobs for that egotist buffoon, Norvin. I never minded doing anything for anyone else (because for the most part, I knew they appreciated it), but his jobs always irritated me, deep inside. Now that I was, for the most part, out from under his thumb, I was enjoying a new sense of freedom.

I was pondering my newfound freedom one day when I was on patrol in the city. It was a beautiful day, and the streets were packed with city folk going about their normal business. My patrol route took me through one of the Residential Districts, located to the northwest of the city. It was always normally quiet, but on this day, I could hear loud shouting coming from one of the houses. If it had just been standard arguing, I wouldn’t have got involved, but the predominant shouts were coming from an angry man — threatening somebody.

As I cautiously approached the plain, stone house, the man’s shouts could be heard clearly.

‘I know you have it! Where is it? Tell me or I’ll —’

At that point, I’d already heard enough. Shoving the door open, I stepped inside.

‘Is there some sort of problem here?’

Clearly, there was; the inside of the house was a mess, with shattered pottery in various places. A middle-aged woman was on the floor, cowering in fear of the large, rotund man standing in front of her. He reeked of ale. I could hear other whimpering, and quickly found its source; behind a small wall, a young woman, maybe a couple years younger than I, hid. She looked pale and sickly.

‘My “problem” is none of your business, soldier,’ the large man growled, spitting in every direction. ‘You turn your measly little hide around and march right back to your salted meats and your foreign wines.’

I stared incredulously at the man. Never in my life had I tasted wine of any sort (though salted meat had become a favorite of mine).

‘Sir,’ I said, trying to remain as amicable as possible, ‘you are scaring these ladies. I think it’s best that you —’

Without warning, the large man took one step forward, grabbed me by my shoulders, and shoved me backward, sending me crashing into a standing shelf. I collapsed to the ground on impact, and various cups and other crockery fell down on top of me.

The man was laughing.

That’s it!
I thought to myself, shaking my head to clear the cobwebs.
No more fun and games
.

I pulled myself back up, brushing some dust and crockery off of myself. ‘As I was saying,’ I continued, trying to appear nonchalant, ‘I think it’s best that —’

The man attempted to shove me again, but my arms shot up, knocking his hands away. I followed this with an immediate shove of my own. Given the man’s girth, my shove did little to move him, but it
did
surprise him. He took a swing at me, a clumsy attempt, which I easily dodged and retaliated with an elbow to the face. Garridan’s training had stressed hand-to-hand combat, and at that moment I was very grateful.

The man collapsed backward, holding his face, then suddenly lunged forward and grabbed me by my throat with both hands. The move had taken me by surprise, and his hands were like iron clamps — almost immediately, I found myself desperately gasping for air —

All of the sudden, there was a jerking motion which sent me stumbling to the floor. Simultaneously, there was a loud
crash,
as if something heavy landed nearby. I looked up, and saw a hulking figure clad in silver armor.

‘I thought I told you to leave and never come back!’ Derrick screamed. He grabbed the large man by the collar of his tunic and lifted him to his feet (for Derrick, this cost him little effort), then threw him out of the open door, out into the street. Derrick then stomped over and stood over the man. ‘Now you listen to me, Father —’

Father?!

‘— because I am
not
going to tell you again. You’ve been worthless your whole life, and we don’t need you anymore. You leave this city, and never. Come. Back.’ He separated the last words to add emphasis.

Derrick turned and walked back toward the house. But just as Derrick passed through the door, the man was on his feet again, lunging for Derrick.

He had a dagger.

‘Derrick!’ I gasped.

Jumping to my feet, I sprung forward and grabbed the man by the arm, blocking his attempt to stab Derrick. I drove a knee into his ample midsection then, as he staggered backward, I connected with a side kick that sent him back out into the street.

Not giving him a chance to recover, I followed him and knelt down on top of him, practically sitting on his stomach. I was already angry, but now that I was starting to put a few pieces of this puzzle together, I was suddenly infuriated at what Derrick’s father may have put all of them through.

My face was inches away from his, and my voice was low. ‘You may be family to him, but you’re
nothing
to me. If you come back, I promise you… I
will
kill you. Do you hear me?’ I unsheathed one of my swords and held the blade across his throat. ‘Do you hear me?!’ My shouting quivered with rage and near-insanity, which was only half-acted.

The man was nodding emphatically and saying, ‘Yes, yes!’

I wasn’t done. ‘You
will
leave and never come back. You will not bother Derrick or his family again. Are we clear?’

The man was tearful. ‘Yes, I swear!’

I moved off of him and pointed. ‘Go. Get out of my sight and theirs. Your stench is not needed here anymore.’ I kept my sword aimed in his direction, in case he tried anything stupid.

Suddenly, I was out of breath, on my hands and knees on the ground. I was shaking with anger — I don’t think I had ever been so enraged in my life. I couldn’t help but think that if I hadn’t been so consumed with rage, I would have chosen my words better — but there was nothing I could do about that now.

Besides, it didn’t sound like he deserved that kind of consideration.

Derrick was behind me, trying to help me up.

‘Are you alright, Aidan? Did he hurt you?’

I had some small cuts, scratches, and bruises — nothing I couldn’t handle.

‘I’m okay,’ I said.

He was staring at me in disbelief. ‘You’ve got a temper on you, boy,’ he said in a mock-stern voice. ‘You need to keep it under control — although I don’t blame you in this instance.’

I chuckled, still trying to settle my nerves. ‘I’ve been treated that way — I don’t like to see it happen to other people.’

Derrick nodded in agreement. ‘I can’t believe he showed his face.’

‘That was your father?’ I asked.

Derrick hesitated before he answered. ‘Yeah… it’s a long story. I’ll tell you on the way back to the castle. What happened anyway? How did you find out he was here?’

‘It was a fluke,’ I answered honestly. ‘I was on patrol and I heard shouting coming from this — your — house. I heard him threatening them… I had to intervene.’

Derrick was silent for a moment, then he suddenly put his hand on my shoulder. ‘You are truly the brother I never had.’

This caught me by surprise, but I was extremely grateful for his compliment. And the more I thought about it, the more I realised that he was like a brother to me as well.

‘I’ll be back,’ Derrick said. ‘I need to check on my mother and sister. I’ll have you meet them later, under better circumstances.’

I nodded in response, then waited outside for a short time until Derrick returned.

‘They’re okay,’ Derrick informed me. ‘Just a bit shaken up. He didn’t hurt them.’