Chapter Twelve: Strange Voices

The bonded human and dragon reached the remains of Rynn's hometown the following day. By the afternoon, Rynn had buried most of the dead and was sat by the shallow graves she had dug resting on her shovel. Arokh landed nearby, Rynn turning round to face him, her face dirty and tear stained.

"I have been up and down the valley and found no-one. We are alone here, even the Wartocks have moved on" Arokh said quietly, his tail swaying from side to side. He noticed Rynn's sadness and moved closer placing a front foot on her shoulder to comfort her.

"There must be other villages though, we should see if we can find any survivors" Rynn noted, thinking her village was the only one to be attacked.
"No Rynn" Arokh said shaking his head slowly. "They are gone. We are the only ones left in these lands" he continued.
"Then it’s over then. Everything and everyone I knew is gone. There is no home to go to, nothing" she cried throwing her shovel to the floor.

Arokh raised his head looking thoughtfully at the sky. "No. I know of a place. You see, I have been hearing things; something I have not heard for a long time - the call of the Order."
Rynn looked surprised and looked up at the dragon slowly getting to her feet. "The Call of the Order?" She said rubbing her eyes and staring blankly at her bonded.
Arokh smiled slightly. "Yes, it comes from where the city of Surdana once stood. We must go there immediately and answer the call."
“But I thought we are the only members of the Order, surely there wouldn’t be anyone left living to make the call. Are you absolutely certain?” Rynn pointed out thinking that it may well be a trap.

Arokh shook his head. “No, I am certain. Remember the legends? Not all of us were killed, it’s possible that we are not alone for after all. I must answer the call without delay.”

“And what if it’s some of the Dark Union playing tricks with you?” Rynn pointed out, her companion quick to correct her assumptions. “It’s not Rynn. Trust me” he replied with a smile looking back to her and nodding his head towards Surdana.

"Well, I am not ready, there's a few things I want to do here first" his friend objected.
"I cannot wait Rynn. We must go now" the dragon replied sternly.

Rynn thought for a moment and came up with an idea that would suit both of them. "Tell you what. I know where Surdana is, you go on and Ill catch up with you in a few days."
Arokh nodded in agreement but he still had concerns for Rynn’s safety; she must not come to any harm which would compromise his ability to reach Surdana in time. He quickly thought that most of the Wartocks would be well out of the way, his scan of the valley had proved this. He sighed and looked at her realising that he was being over cautious. "Are you sure?" He asked.
"Yes, Ill be fine" came the usual confident reply.
The dragon walked away to leave but Rynn suddenly called him back. "Arokh, wait."
The dragon slowly walked back to Rynn and stared at her seeing that she did not say anything.

"Well, what?" he asked with a hint of impatience in his voice.
Rynn stayed silent and stood right in front of the magnificent beast standing on her toes to kiss him. Arokh lowered his head automatically to make it easier and she threw herself against him, her lips pressed firmly against his jaws. Her tongue slipped into his mouth and flicked across the base of his front teeth avoiding the razor sharp edges and ends. Arokh instinctively did the same, then he tried to pull away but Rynn did not want to let go.
"No" she mumbled increasing her grip on his head, she did not want this moment to end; the dragon was the only being that cared and showed sympathy at her loss. She put his past arrogance and nastiness out of her mind and focused on his display of compassion and true friendship upon Delon’s tragic demise. He was all she had now, her brother dead along with everyone else she knew and loved.

Finally Rynn let go and stepped backwards whispering a faint "I love you", Arokh looking at her with surprise. He did not say anything as he was so taken aback, he did not know the human liked him that much.
Rynn suddenly felt ashamed at what she had just done. "I'm sorry" she calmly said breaking the silence first, glancing away to look at the ground in shame.
"No, don't be. I understand" the dragon said softly dismissing her apology reaching to touch the underside of her jaw raising her head so she was looking at him.
"Come here" he beckoned extending one leg as if to put it around her.

Rynn suddenly burst into tears and hugged the dragon's neck pressing her face up against his soft but yet strong scales. Arokh placed his extended front leg around her the best he could pulling her closer to him.
"We will seek revenge for this, Rynn. After that, we will build a new home and seek out other humans and dragons. We will rebuild our lives."
"Okay" Rynn sniffed and stepped back out of the dragon's grasp to pick up the shovel. Arokh saw that she was best left alone and he silently leapt into the air and was soon nothing more than a speck in the sky.

Rynn brought her head up as she watched the red dragon fly off into gentle sky. She took her right hand and placed it on her lips, feeling the warmth of the kiss she gave Arokh. She closed her eyes, slowly thinking about Arokh as a tear escaped her eye and raced down her mud scared face. After absorbing the moment of her kiss for a while, Rynn looked over her shoulder then fully turned to see the lines of tombstones behind her. Several bodies lay stilled still waiting to be put to rest, work needed to be done. As Rynn leaned on her shovel buried in the dirt she gave a small sigh, and continued her work.

Night had fallen with the loving glow of the two moons high in the sky as they watched Rynn patching the last grave needed. Rynn picked herself up, tired and somewhat achy around her. She looked at the yard of gravestones, somewhat haunting in the light of the night. Crosses made from wood leant from side to side in lines and rows with names carved in their centre. Rynn wasn’t the least scared or worried of these ghosts, they were friendly ghosts, ghosts that she knew and loved. Rynn slowly took herself to the premature fire of the night basking in the warmth that laid for her. Before her day’s end came, she recalled her final moment with Arokh, the words of torn hope, yet small words of life. Did her battle of Navaros end in nothing but of pain and loss of many lives? She couldn’t accept it. She banished such thoughts from her sleepy mind. The song of the small crickets played in harmony as they lulled Rynn to her sleep. She didn’t even bother to return to her own home preferring to sleep in the open beside the freshly dug graves.

The torches of Surdana burned luminously in the dark night as guardsmen walked the streets for any trouble that may appear. A line of guardsmen waited at the gates of Surdana as if they were in wait for something to come. A man in fine armour walked up the steps of a watchtower greeting the guards there.
“Any luck men?” The general inquired.
“None so far sir,” a soldier replied in a small worried tone.
The general gave a bit of a smirk and reinsured his troops, “Keep faith men, our dragon will come.” The soldiers saluted as their general left the tower. The general walked himself to the gate of the city as the fire of the torches kept half his face lit in a strong orange. Just then a voice was heard from a distance calling, “General Dherimon!” Dherimon turned to find the guardsmen waving and pointing in near panic.
“Calm yourselves men you’ll wake the city! What is it?” Dherimon commanded.
“There is a dragon beyond the distance heading this way,” a soldier replied trying not to alert any of the townsfolk. General Dherimon rushed to the gate in haste with his armour clanking every step of the way. Upon reaching his men he gave a tone allowing his troops to hear and not alert anyone else, “Men ready your weapons! Don’t be fooled, this dragon can be the one we want, or another dragon from the Dark Union.”
The soldiers marched with their weapons in hand surrounding the entrance of Surdana. Archers kept their sharp eyes locked at the top of the gate as it slowly creaked open allowing General Dherimon to confront the questionable. Armoured knights marched behind with swords of various kinds in hand and large shields to protect from a dragon’s furious flame.
The dragon drew closer and with its sharp sight saw the many weapons aimed at him. Stopping in mid-air as his wings beat heavily, he convinced the soldiers of his side. “Fear not, I am a dragon of the Elder Breed.”
The general keeping his wit and holding his guard replied, “I’ve known a dragon that could speak human tongue and still be a part of the Dark Union.”
“Good knight I am Arokh of the Order, who fought along the side of Heron in the Dark Wars.” The dragon said in hope of no more questioning of his identity.
“And how do you prove that?” the general replied with a hint of disgust in his voice. Just then a soft voice came from behind Dherimon. “Please general lay your weapons down, is this how we welcome a hero of the world?”
“Yes me lady.” Dherimon gestured his hand to his men to lay down their weapons. A glistening robe of gold came forth through the light of the burning torches as Arokh lands at the gate.
“Welcome to the city of Surdana Elder Dragon, I am Lady Myschala of Surdana and I thank for you coming.” Lady Myschala greeted the noble dragon with hope in her eyes and relief. “Please excuse my earlier actions good dragon. I was merely watching for any dragons that would dare attack,” Dherimon apologised.
“No need for formalities. I know times have been tough since the Dark Wars. And you can just call me Arokh” the dragon said with some haste in his voice.
“Well come now Arokh, we’ve much to discuss.” The red dragon slowly walked through the gates as the men retreated to their night watch positions.

"Follow me. Tonight, you can sleep in my palace" Lady Myschala said to the noble dragon as he followed behind, his footsteps sounding very loud in the still, quiet city. His eyes darted all over the place; down each alley and up at each building wondering how the city managed to be exactly as he remembered it despite the war and many centuries. He asked many questions about the place but Myschala didn’t explain fully, not wanting members of the public hear her conversation with the noble beast; he was after all, the centre of attention, even all of the townsfolk in the tavern had come out to watch him. For the time being, Arokh had to be patient; his questions would be answered much later.
"Tell me, why do you seek my assistance?" the red dragon asked once they entered the palace entrance hall out of earshot of townsfolk.

Lady Myschala gave a sigh. "It’s a long story Arokh, but some number of years after the Dark Wars ended, a new enemy appeared in the world. They are known as the Desert Lords and came from the nearby planet of Sessool. They came to Drakan with the intent of conquering it; the years after the Order were the perfect moment for them."

"And?" Arokh asked when she stopped to take a breath.
"They quickly befriended the races of Wartocks and Grull, which are now the dominant species on this planet. The human race is almost extinct. To make matters worse, some of Navaros's allies have come back from the dead. Gothraul to name one of them" Lady Myschala continued her voice showing no emotion.

Arokh fell silent for a moment then began to speak. "Navaros was a fool,” he said sadly looking at the ground and then eventually meeting Myschala’s stare.
"Well, to put it bluntly, we need your help to restore the Order. Do you remember the gates?" She asked hoping the dragon would remember the last days of the Order as it was written in the books.

Arokh looked up and a glint of hope showed in his eyes. "Yes, of course. I remember Mala Shae and her heroic decision like it was yesterday. Tell me, how many of the gates remain?"

Lady Myschala noted the Dragon's wisdom and polite voice and promptly answered. "Five remain, there's the hub gate here and its four satellites and the odd one or two around the continent but they are no use without their hub gates."
There was a short silence. Lady Myschala spoke first. "We want you and Rynn to open the four gates enabling Mala Shae to return. Together with the Dragon Mother, me, you, Dherimon and Rynn will be the new leaders of the Order of the Flame."
Arokh grinned "I knew you would say that although Mala Shae probably would not be interested in leadership of the Order. She would not be able to bond anyway as she does not have a mortal form. No matter, I always wanted to be a dragon lord."

Lady Myschala gave a wry smile and continued to explain her plans. "We have not found any soul crystals, we are very lucky Rynn found yours."
Arokh laughed "Rynn sure is a good warrior. I'm lucky to have her. We can search for the lost soul crystals once we have achieved our goals."
Myschala suddenly looked surprised. "I thought you knew that Mala Shae can awaken the dragons without their crystals. We have the Dragonstone to create new crystals so the dragons can bond."
"No, I didn't know that. Anyway I thought the Dragonstone was lost when the dragon temple was destroyed" Arokh remarked, slightly irked that a human knew more about dragonkind than he did.
"Not so. We have rescued and collected many of the Order's artefacts" Myschala corrected. She paused to take another breath. "How many Elder Breed dragons went into eternal sleep?" She asked the dragon hoping for the number to be reasonably large.

Arokh sighed, remembering the last battle and its aftermath. Eventually he began to answer Myschala's question. "Hmm, there was probably 120-150 that had their riders killed which automatically put them into stone and roughly a few thousand unbonded that were put to sleep by Mala Shae." His great head turned to face the golden robed woman again. "I'm sure that will be enough,” she said confidently.

"Come, let me show you around" Lady Myschala continued beckoning to the dragon to follow her towards the throne room. "Tomorrow, you will need to find the cipher rune needed to activate the hub."

“There is just one problem,” continued the lady dressed in fine gold, “A thief has taken the rune and retreated into the Shadowmire Swamps.” Arokh seemed puzzled at this wondering why it was his problem and asked, “Why not just send your troops to get the rune?”
Lady Myschala looked despondent for a moment and slowly raised her voice, “I have sent several of men, yet they have never returned. I sent a spy for me who told me he found the corpses of them thrust on spears; the image was simply awful.”
Arokh was with mixed feelings as he raised his brow, not knowing what to feel and say at the moment. “I suppose I could inspect the swamp in the morning,” the dragon said reluctantly.

The two of them came up to a large door that opened slowly and creaked along the way as the guardsmen pulled with their might. Myschala and Arokh walked up the royal red stairs to a large throne room. “Here is where you may sleep. I’m sure you must be tired from your journey,” the kind lady said gently. “Indeed it almost seemed like an endless flight,” said Arokh as he gave a long yawn and found a spot to rest on the floor. Myschala gave a small smile to herself knowing that there was some hope in all of this chaos. As she went to the window to close the shades to rid of the glowing moons light, she stared at the moons in wonder and hoped of the Order’s restoration.

After the windows were closed, the room darkened, lit only by the glowing torchlight and chandeliers, Lady Myschala left the dragon to sleep. What Lady Myschala hadn’t noticed was that Arokh was not fully asleep. Arokh collected thoughts of his own and wondered. The dragon felt a bit displeased with himself, yet he still could not pin point what emotion was coming from him. He felt bad about where he was. Here the dragon sleeps in a royal room all in comfort, and there lays Rynn in the mud where her memories stay beside her for the night. He had also questioned the kiss from Rynn, unsuspecting.

Recalling Arokh knew that he was not the type for humans, yet his old dear friend Heron was like a brother to him. The one element to break the solitude and anger in him and turned him into something new. After Heron’s death Arokh recalled how sad he had felt before his flesh turned into hard stone and his soul took a long recess from the outside world. He remembered the day he met Rynn, angry and just wanting to be alone, yet he reluctantly went along with the human because he was forced. With his mixed feelings Arokh thought that maybe Rynn was like Heron reborn in a new package. But the thought was hard for the lone dragon to grasp and to accept; it would have to be for later the dragon told himself. Questions of the past gave the dragon yet another reason to take his slumber aside from a day’s journey.

Rynn lay on the ground sleeping away for the dawn of day to brink forth. Arokh slept waiting for the Order’s rebirth to soon begin. The two both laid with some courage in their heart that the morning glory would brighten even more.

Rynn awoke as a sudden noise echoed through the valley. She stood up from where she was huddled in the corner of a burnt out house and looked around. The noise did not sound again but she pulled her remaining sword closer to her so she could grab it should the need arise. She had foolishly thrown the Mournblade into the volcano as she felt that she no longer needed it and the noise it made gave her the creeps. Arokh told her to destroy the runeblade so it would not fall into the wrong hands but destroying her best weapon was stupid.

She thought again of Arokh and how taken aback he was the day before. She knew the dragon liked her but he certainly did not love her, rather looking upon her as part of his family. Thinking again, she had only known the dragon for a couple of days or so and felt that she had over reacted but did not regret what she did; she felt that his feelings for her would change over time. Rynn believed there was nothing wrong with a human showing physical feelings for a dragon; as long as the relationship didn't go too far.

Rynn hid under a partially collapsed roof to cover herself from the cold rain that had started to fall and drifted off to sleep. Her work had been done there and in the morning she would begin her thirty mile journey to Surdana.

Chapter Thirteen: The Beginning of a New Adventure

The road that led to Surdana was not really a road, rather a muddy path that wove through the villages along the coast. The air was cool; the district of Surdana was in the northern part of the central continent and rarely enjoyed hot sun. The winter months were drawing to a close leading into the spring; on high ground, snow and ice still clung to the ground slowly defrosting leading to soggy lowlands.

Rynn's feet squelched in the mud as her tired legs carried her onwards. During the afternoon, she passed a couple of villages but, like her home, they were destroyed. The human wanted to bury the dead but a task like this would take days, if not weeks to clear up. She had to get to Surdana, Arokh had not returned so he must have found something. Finally, the evening sun broke from the clouds warming the lands with its soft yellow glow. Rynn sat down on a rock exhausted and glanced across the bay watching the waves crash continually at the rocks below. She could just see her village at the other side of the huge bay, now nothing more than a spec in the distance.

Rynn reached into her backpack and began to eat some stale bread she found in the ruins. It was hard and dry making it difficult to eat so she helped it down by collecting some water from the river nearby that flowed into the sea. It was quiet, Arokh was correct that the Wartocks had moved on; nothing came to challenge her apart from the odd scavenger which posed no threat. She figured she was half way, it had taken her almost all day to walk fifteen miles but she kept going, well into the night until she finally had to sleep it off. She crawled into an uninhabited cave and removed her boots to rub her blisters eventually going into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, back in Surdana, Arokh lay waiting for her. It was now his second night in the palace and he was wondering where his bonded had got to. His day had involved looking around the medium sized city and getting to know its military forces who he would eventually be working with. He had never thought Surdana had survived the Dark Wars; in fact a lot of it was destroyed but the humans rebuilt it exactly as it was wanting to preserve its splendour and ancient pre-Order architecture. The population of Surdana was small and consisted of knights, nobles and rich humans who could afford the high taxes Lady Myschala imposed on them. Other humans that still existed lived in small villages dotted around the world or found their fortune in piracy, travelling the world in their beat up ships. Their system of government was virtually non-existent, every village or settlement generally fended for themselves, occasionally trading with neighbouring villages or pirates. Of the great cities that were once plentiful in the world, only Surdana had survived the Dark Wars forcing humans to resort to their ancient tribal nature.

Arokh let out a long sigh, he could not go to sleep. The palace was quiet but he had too much on his mind. He would have to try and find the cipher rune again the following day, which would be no easy task. He grunted and rolled over, the stone floor was becoming uncomfortable and he felt angry that he was not given a soft bed to sleep on. Lady Myschala had said he and Rynn could use the palace as their homes till something was sorted out but a cold stone floor was no way to treat the saviour of the world. He didn't even have any privacy; people came and went all day and the guards patrolled during the night.

He lay there uncertain of his destiny and whether he and Rynn could actually pull this off; restoring the Order was meant to be made difficult so the Dragon Mother would not fall into the wrong hands.

Before the Elder Dragon went to his dreams his sharp hearing picked up a noise that seemed to have come from the gate. Arokh lifted himself from the cold marble floor to see what all the noise had been. Peering through one of the windows he saw a trail of people and a few carts hulled in by horses and donkeys. The soldiers had allowed these small survivors to enter Surdana with their few paltry treasures. Just then a creek came from the old palace door as a shimmering dress walked forward. “Arokh, what seems to be the trouble?” Lady Myschala inquired. There were many things on the dragon’s mind, all these new ideas and changes happening all at once the dragon sighed away not knowing what words should come from his mouth. “Tell me, what is happening down there?” Arokh gestured with head asking Myschala to peer with him.
“Surdana has had the reputation and the nickname “Man’s Saviour”. We take all of those that have been victim to the recent attacks. Here with our heavy guards we are probably the only city out for miles. We greet such survivors with open arms into our fortress but houses have become hard to come by.” As Lady Myschala spoke such words her voice seemed to have no character, which puzzled Arokh. Other humans that he had encountered displayed emotion of different sorts, fear more than others at a time like so. Still Arokh kept his mind to his question as Myschala continued to converse of Surdana’s life. As she went Arokh took a moment to look at Lady Myschala. Her dress glimmered in the gentle moon’s light almost like a sun. Two opposites watching over the human race.
“You must be wary old friend,” the gold dressed lady kindly stated. “Not to worry I’ve just needed a night’s rest. Tomorrow I’ll be in search for the rune,” Arokh said with some tiredness in his voice. The red dragon slowly walked over to where he was sleeping as Myschala went to leaving the room. The doors slowly closed creaking to their closed position. The dragon stretched his legs as far as he could and plopped himself on the cold floor. The dragon closed his eyes for his much needed rest for upcoming ventures.

The sun crawled up the horizon to greet the day to those that lived on the land it knew. Rynn had slowly stirred herself to wake while hearing the joyous music of a bird. It took Rynn time to realise there was another life in cheer that wasn’t an enemy. As she peeked through the damp cave’s door, a tiny blue bird sang a cheerful song to welcome the new day. Rynn gave a little smile as she told herself that there is some hope. The warrior looked back to find her mud stained torn boots lying near to assist in her travel yet again. Rynn exited the cave’s maw as it dripped little orbs of clear water. As it always had the road looked long painful to any traveller? Rynn knew this was not the time to whine, her mind set she pushed on the mud made trail to Surdana.

With less than a mile’s travel the girl’s ears picked up the sound of wooden wheel at work ahead of her. Slowly pacing forward Rynn turned her head to find a wagon in the distance heading the same direction, maybe even to Surdana she thought.

Rynn followed the wagon for the last mile of her journey until she came to a large pair of doors some several tens of metres high. They were made of thick tree trunks and were almost impenetrable. Two armoured guards stood on either side and archers could be seen on the top of the stone wall stretching from one side of the narrow valley to the other.

Rynn noticed the guards were wearing armour in pristine condition and there was some sort of royal emblem on their chests and matching shields.
"Hello there" Rynn shouted.
"You must be one of the refugees. You are welcome in Surdana but you must leave your swords here. Only daggers or small blades are allowed in the city" one of the guards answered.
Rynn thought for a moment, her sword was not much use anyway as it was worn and rusty so she promptly gave it up.
"I am not a refugee, Sir. I am Rynn, bonded of Arokh. I suggest you let me in immediately." Rynn said sternly.
The guard nodded to his companion to open the doors. "I'm so sorry Madam, please go through."

Rynn walked through the gates meeting some more guards on the other side. She could see the highest buildings of Surdana in the bottom of the valley.
"Is that really Surdana down there? Is it still standing after this war?" she questioned.
The royal guard nodded. "Indeed it is Madam. Lady Myschala, the ruler of the city awaits you in her palace. She needs to speak with you at once."
"I'm not speaking to anyone until I speak to my dragon first. Have you seen him around?" Rynn snapped impatiently; her journey had taken its toll on her and she was quite irate.
"Indeed he has. A magnificent creature. He is looking for a Rune for the gates or something, he should be back soon."
Rynn smiled, thankful she was in the right place. "Ill make my way there then" she said as she walked away.
"Be careful, there are a couple of bandits stalking this road, we have not caught them yet" the guard shouted after her.

Rynn did not answer and began to walk down the muddy road. The day was somewhat warmer than yesterday, the spring season coming round at last. Suddenly a couple of Grull ran out from a cave to her left blocking her path.
"Stop! Olaks road. Olak no say you use. You pay fine; all your gold" the creature grunted threatening her with its spear.
Rynn frowned and looked at the pathetic creatures with disgust. "I don't have any gold. So that means you get nothing doesn't it?" She said scornfully.
"You lie. All human have gold" the Grull continued.
"Really, looks like you are out of luck. Get out of my way" Rynn commanded easing forward drawing her dagger.

One of the Grull lunged at her and Rynn ducked rolling to one side, swiping at the other one in the legs. The creature howled in pain and ran round her to attack. Rynn leapt to her feet doing a backwards flip to land behind the first Grull slashing its neck from behind. The second tried to attack again but Rynn quickly got out of the way blocking its attack with her shield. The shield smashed straightaway and the Grull stepped back surprised. Rynn took advantage of the moment, stabbing it in the stomach killing it in a matter of seconds.

She looked around for more Grull and carefully crept up to their hideout looting it gaining a health elixir and some more gold.
"Time to get to Surdana before I get ambushed again" she muttered and made her way across the stone bridge into the city.

Rynn walked down the main street towards the imposing palace that stood at the far end of the city. The streets were busy with humans going about their daily business like nothing was happening, unaware of the destruction and war outside the city. The houses all looked identical neatly built in formation, clean and spotless. The shops, blacksmiths, alchemists etc and the tavern were larger but followed the same basic design of the ancient city. People said hello and tried to make conversation as she walked through the streets, it seemed to Rynn that she would fit in there; after all it was now her new home.

Suddenly, a shop door burst open and a man came running out pursued by the shopkeeper.
"Spy! Somebody call the watch!" he yelled. Immediately, two knights confronted the fleeing man and the man quickly morphed into a winged creature, rather like a Succubi but it had three faces upon its square head. It was dressed in fine armour and wore beautiful crystals and other jewellery. The head swivelled round so that one of its faces faced forward, Rynn could see it had no flesh, rather just a skull. The creature unleashed a bolt of green energy surrounding one of the knights killing him instantly. The other knight swiftly killed the creature, it disappearing in a terrifying scream.

Rynn ran up to where the incident happened and looked across at another woman who came over to greet her.
"What was that thing?" Rynn asked.
"A Desert Lord. The creatures behind all of this death and destruction, they came to Drakan about 50 years after the Dark Wars and have enslaved or killed most of the human race. It’s why we called you and Arokh here. To destroy them." The woman explained, her voice soft and quietly spoken, like a rich person would speak like.

"You called us here to stop them, they don't look like much" Rynn pointed out, seeing that the Desert Lord was seemingly killed easily.
The robed woman remained stern faced. "They are not to be underestimated, their magic is beyond anything of this world. They like desert lands and they have turned many of Drakan's lands into scorching desert with their magic, even boiling away seas in some places. That is just one of many things they have done." She smiled and continued on to introduce herself.
"I am Jade; a sorceress and I was the one who made the call of the Order to bring you and Arokh here. I can teach you some of my magic and the history of the Desert Lords. Come see me in my tower when you find Arokh" she suggested.

"Er, yeah, sure. Where is my dragon? I want to speak to him at once" Rynn snapped impatiently wanting to see her bonded as soon as possible.
"He will be back soon, please hurry to the palace, Lady Myschala will explain everything" Jade replied then saying a phrase of magic and disappearing.

Rynn ran across the Town Square and took the lift up into the tower leading to the palace. A woman dressed in golden robes accompanied by an armed knight met her on the bridge leading over the river to the palace itself.
"Rynn I presume?" the woman dressed in gold asked, her voice immediately annoyed Rynn as it was distinctly posh and upper class. She had come across people like her before who discarded poorer village dwellers like rubbish.
"I am." Rynn answered promptly.
"At last! Come, I have much to tell you" Lady Myschala beckoned her to follow into the palace.

"Tell me, have you heard of the spirit dragons?" she continued as they walked through the palace and back outside towards a large disabled gateway. Rynn's face remained blank.

Sighing, Lady Myschala continued to explain. "They were the ancient spirits of dragonkind and one remains, Mala Shae. It was her that led the dragons of the Elder Breed into the sleep of ages. Afterwards she travelled to the spiritual planes through this, the Mother's Eye" she explained pointing at the gateway in front of them.
Rynn looked on exasperated wanting to see Arokh; she showed little interest in what Myschala was showing her. To her, the gateway just looked like a giant stone ring with dragonheads around its circumference. A few pedestals were on either side and steps led up and into the ring, nothing really remarkable.
Myschala's guard spoke up. "I am General Dherimon who is in charge of the military forces around here. We need your dragon to open this gateway and its four satellite gates so Mala Shae can return."
"Don't you see? We can bring the dragons of the Order back into the world!" Myschala added seeing that Rynn simply yawned openly.

Rynn suddenly realised what she and Arokh had been brought there to do. "Why can't somebody else have done it?" she asked.
"Only a dragon of the Elder Breed can open the gates. He is looking for the cipher rune now" Dherimon continued.
"You mean Arokh?" Rynn asked surprised.
Suddenly, Arokh made his appearance. "Look, the dragon returns!" Dherimon shouted as Arokh landed to stand by his bonded's side.

Rynn was about to welcome her bonded but Dherimon spoke first. "Did you manage to find the site Arokh?" He asked the graceful dragon.
Arokh nodded in reply. "I did but the trees were too dense and I could not get close." His head turned round to face his bonded.
"I'm afraid you will have to venture into the swamp and get it for me" he said without welcoming her first.
Rynn placed her hands on her hips in objection. "Well, that's a fine greeting! If you think I'm lumbering round in the muck just for a stupid rune you’re mistaken!" she fiercely objected.
"Please, excuse my bonded. She can be rude sometimes" Arokh apologised for Rynn's behaviour. He forcefully pushed her to one side away from Myschala and Dherimon, one of his front feet pressed firmly into her back as he pushed her along. Rynn ran away from his grasp and whipped round to face him.

"Look Rynn" he said angrily. "Take note of these people, this is not rubbish they are talking, we can, theoretically bring the Order of the Flame into the world. Now, stop being so stubborn and get that damn rune before I loose my temper. It's under the tree of mourning, in the swamp."
Rynn reluctantly agreed not wanting to annoy the dragon further. "Okay, Ill do it but I need better weapons."

"Here, this will get you started." Myschala said throwing a bag of gold to Rynn who caught it and placed it in her pocket. "There is a blacksmith in town, get what you need and make haste to the swamp." she continued.
"The only thing I need now is a bath and a change of clothes,” Rynn said showing the group her torn and dirty boots.
Arokh laughed "there's no point yet Rynn. Look at the state of me, you WILL need a bath when you come back from the Shadowmire swamps!"
Rynn noticed the gunge on Arokh's legs and swelled up with anger. "You think its funny? Well I don't!”
Arokh tried to stifle another laugh, he was clearly enjoying this; he had already had made arrangements for one of Lady Myschala's servants to bath him, so he was happy.

"Come Rynn, Ill take you to the blacksmiths" he welcomed.

“Oh and take this note here Rynn.” General Dherimon searched his belt for an object but didn’t seem to locate it. “Now where is that note, I remember placing it here somewhere.” While the general continued his search Rynn noticed a small white paper in her bag of money and pulled it out, “You mean this general?” The general having an embarrassed start in his voice, “Ah yes that’s it. Show that to the local blacksmith, it’s a discount for what weapons and armour you may need.

Rynn placed the note inside the bag and tied it to her belt. With the note in hand Rynn quickly took to Arokh’s side as to avoid any more embarrassing moments. As she got herself on the dragon’s back Arokh took his wing under Rynn’s foot to push her up on his back. Once Rynn had placed herself the red dragon leapt in the air and created quite an air beat. Arokh’s long and strong wings gave a powerful gust of wind as he brought himself up higher for flight. General Dherimon run a bit to where Rynn and Arokh once stood and called, “Be sure to be careful in the swamps Rynn! I’ve lost many men and we dare not risk losing you!”

Now Rynn knew she had faced many dangers left and right, she saw this Shadowmire nothing more than her other ventures. After all, the one bonded that defeated Navaros could surely pass through some filthy swamps. As Arokh took to the skies Rynn thought of how good it was to take a break from all the walking and to soar through the winds like very few have. The wind blew her hair back as the two raced to the central area where the shops were placed.

Several of the villagers saw the red flying dragon just above their heads, some waved hellos while others were in shock as to see a friendly dragon, one of the Elder Breed. Arokh found himself a place to land though a few people had crowded it. “Excuse me, outta the way, dragon landing here.” Arokh warned the busy villagers below him. The villagers quickly took their things and moved with haste giving the dragon a clear spot to land on. Arokh placed himself in the small circle the people made for his landing. Before Rynn got off Arokh’s back she took a moment and saw the amused coloured faces of those all around her and the dragon. Arokh hadn’t seen so many faces of humans that were innocent to dangers. All the human faces he saw were either scared or dead besides his companion. So to pass all this Arokh simply looked above the heads of all the villages acting casual.

As Rynn got of Arokh’s back she took to the nearest person in awe and asked, “Um excuse but where is the local blacksmith shop?” The person she had asked heard her question yet kept his head to the dragon and lead a stray finger pointing in the direction of the smith shop yet didn’t say a word. Feeling a bit awkward she gave her thanks and went to the smith shop leaving Arokh to the staring faces. Arokh was not the social kind except to the military, which was a need.
Rynn went through the crowd and finally came to the smith shop. She opened the old wooden door with a little creek to it. The hallway seemed dimly lit but it didn’t stop Rynn from entering. She caught the smith at work behind a counter tempering with a sword. “Um excuse me, I came here to buy some weapons,” Rynn asked slowly as to not make the blacksmith lose his concentration on his tempering. “Well then miss yeah came to the right place.” The blacksmith said with a booming voice. He gave his tempering a recess as he took a cloth to wipe his face clean of all his sweat. The smith stood up and turned to the counter noticing the lovely Rynn. “Well then miss take a look at these fine weapons.” The blacksmith pulled out a wooden shelf of some kind that displayed weapons all across it, each sword and dagger as shiny as the other. Bows finely tuned and arrows straight and sharp as ever. Rynn made her selection of a Steel Short Sword and Wood Long Bow to range herself if need be. She handed the note that came with the gold as her discount.

“Well by the looks of it ya got a bit of room for something more. But tell me miss where’s a pretty girl like you going with all these weapons? And by the way my name’s Brekk” the blacksmith said with his ounce again booming voice. “Rynn, and I’m headed out to the Shadowmire.”

Brekk looking a bit curious made a suggestion of some Leather Armour, good enough for Rynn’s budget. The purchase was made and weapons and armour were exchanged. “Before ya go lass, think ya can do me a favour? There’s a nasty little bugger out in the swamps, calls himself Toadfist and a natural stink like him stole many of my wares. He has a valuable helm I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on; if you could kill him and retrieve the helm, I’d be grateful. Big reward in it for ya.” The blacksmith added a bit slyly at the end.

“I’ll be sure to keep it in mind.” Rynn said equipping herself with her new armour and readied her weapons in the right places.

Coming out of the dark shop she saw that the crowd was still there all around Arokh. Rynn laughed at this scene that held for so long and seemed well, funny. “Don’t you all have jobs to go back to?” Rynn said aloud making sure that all heard her.

“The lady’s right we do!” a mother holding her child in hand said. The crowd broke into a hundred voices all around with their jobs, business, and trades. Arokh gave a big sigh of relief as if he had been holding his breath for days. This moment gave Rynn a bit of satisfaction as Arokh was in turn embarrassed himself.

“Come on now Arokh,” said Rynn grinning to herself.

The two walked to the other side of the city where an open gate and guards stood. Rynn came up to one of the guards and inquired about the location of the Shadowmire.

“Follow this road down there. You’ll see a wooden door leading into the swamp. You sure you want to go there miss? It’s quite a terrible place.”

“Yes, I’m quite sure” Rynn reassured the guard and went along her way to the Shadowmire.

“Rest in pieces” the guard shouted after her turning to his companion who burst out laughing at his sarcasm.

The two bonded came to the entrance of the swamps where one of the river’s forks flowed beneath a wooden door and into the hillside. They both noticed that the door was too small for Arokh to go through.

“I guess I’ll be doing this one by myself then” she pointed out.

“You take care Rynn.” Arokh answered letting her dismount.

At that point Rynn didn’t know which she disliked more, all the warnings of the swamps or people telling her to be careful. Going through the swamps would probably prove to the others the warrior she really is, but Arokh already knew better. Rynn opened the old door as the other side of it was covered with some moss. Rynn went through to begin yet another adventure.

“This is the part I always hate. Always afraid when Rynn gets hurt.” The dragon mumbled to himself.

Rynn stopped when she suddenly thought of something, she came back outside to speak with her bonded again. "What are you going to do whilst I'm gone?" she asked the dragon.

"This and that. Finding out more about our enemies" he answered promptly stepping backwards slightly. Rynn leant forward to give him a quick kiss. "Love you, wish me luck" she whispered.
Arokh frowned, his eye ridges covering his eyes slightly. "You really do love me don't you?"
Rynn paused for a moment. "Yeah, I think you’re quite a stud. What do you honestly think of me?" She asked.
“Stud?” the dragon questioned not understanding what Rynn meant.

Rynn glanced up at him and grinned. “You don’t know what stud means?”

“Err, no. Please enlighten me,” he said craning his neck closer.

Rynn tried to keep her face straight but she couldn’t help smiling. “Well, it’s only applicable to a man, it means handsome, good looking, you know someone who has a nice body; someone the women are always after.”

“So you mean I’m basically sex on legs?” Arokh said cocking his head on one side, his jaw curved into a slight smile.

“Well, if you want to put it like that. I suppose it’s the closest analogy.” Rynn said now laughing openly seeing the dragon’s puzzled expression.

“Go on, what do you think of me?” She asked again breaking the short silence. Arokh shook his head in amusement mumbling ‘stud’ to himself then stared at her, his face now more serious. He shifted uneasily and eventually replied "Well, err, you are certainly a good friend and companion. I suppose I do love you in a sort of way but only like I would my own sister."
Rynn looked slightly disappointed for a moment and then turned to enter the doorway leading to the swamps, which resided at the bottom of a rocky crevice through which the river flowed.

Arokh flew away and returned to the palace landing before Lady Myschala. She beckoned for one of her servants to come over.
"You called for me?" The young man in his early twenties asked.
Lady Myschala acknowledged him and answered. "Yes, I have a task for you. Arokh here, needs a bath. Take him down to the river and take a brush with you." She ordered.
The young man looked at the dragon who's head followed till their eyes met. The man went weak at the knees and stuttered "Yes, M'lady... With pleasure."
Lady Myschala walked back into her palace leaving the man and Arokh on the bridge. "Shall we go then? Or do I have to wait all day?" Arokh snarled. "Here, get on my back."

The man tried to mount the dragon twice but failed. Eventually, Arokh lost his patience and grabbed the man in his front feet and flew up into the air, the human shouting in protest.
Arokh dropped him by the riverside and walked into the shallow waters, he extended his scales on his back so they stood on end. "Make sure you scrub all the dirt and dead skin from under my scales. If I feel itchy, Ill knock you from here to the other side of town" he snarled. There was something about the servant he did not like. Maybe it was the word 'servant' as the dragons of the Order used to treat them with disrespect as they were generally incapable of fighting and were only considered worthy enough of jobs like dragon grooming.

"Geez, you're quite nasty to say you are a dragon of the Order. Ill tell you now I don't like to be spoken to like that." The young man said, continuing to wash the dirt from the dragon's legs.
Arokh stepped back so the man fell on his face in the water. "What? How dare you! Don't you ever answer me back again, you snivelling little wretch!"
The man crawled forward and continued his work, frightened of the imposing beast. "I'm sorry to have offended you, Sir. I apologise."
Arokh stared down at the servant. "Later, I will teach you some manners; dragons must be bowed down to when greeted by humans. Furthermore, I won't accept your apology until you get down on your knees and kiss my feet. Ill let you clean them first though, that mud is particularly nasty."
"Yes, Sir" the servant mumbled and continued to scrub the caked on mud off Arokh's chest.
Clearly, Arokh was beginning to enjoy his authority. If everything went to plan, in a few days he would be a dragon lord; it would not be just servants that would have to bow down before him, it would be almost everybody, even some dragons. He smiled to himself at the prospect enjoying the relaxing motion of the cleaning sponge on his muscles; the servant was doing his job well.

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