| The dawn broke, and Dagan was awake instantly. The dragon stirred from across the dead fire, and Dagan looked over to her. She rose her head, looked around, and blinked. A small puff of smoke curled up from her nose and surrounded her face. Then she looked over to Dagan, and her eyes seemed to contract. "You still remain?" "Yes." "For what reason? You watched over me this night when I was helpless and hunted. Why?" The dragon's disbelief was evident. Dragons had long since lost their trust with the Humans when they began hunting them. That was so long ago that no dragon could remember when the Humans had been trustworthy. She cocked her head and stared at Dagan, as if to drag the truth out of him. "I know not why I remained. But understand that I intend you no harm." After a few minutes of silence, Dagan asked: "How do you feel now?" "I feel�" the Dragon flexed her once torn wing, and to her surprise, she found it healed. In fact, she felt absolutely no pain. With this discovery, she climbed to her feet. "I feel fine." She said, and Dagan felt her mental smile. Dagan smiled as well. "What are you called?" she inquired curiously. "Dagan." He said out loud. "Dagan. It sounds like Dragon almost. Is it suppose to?" "I am not sure. It is a coincidence I think, because my grandfather named me." "I am called Maeve." She said. The dragon stretched a little and tested out her wings. The wings created a strong draft that nearly sent Dagan tumbling, but the dragon was not even lifted off her feet. Such power! "I suppose I should be off now. I have kept you from your humans long enough. I am forever in your debt, and I extend my gratitude to you. We will see each other again some day. Until then, fly peacefully and hold your head high." "Go with grace, young dragon Maeve." Dagan returned. "Until our paths cross again." He could not help but wonder if he would ever see this dragon again. They were so scarce now; Maeve had been the first dragon he had seen since the rabid one that had taken his mother. Dagan cleared away the campsite and headed home, preparing himself to be eaten alive by Sheren when he returned. "Japeth!" Cadence cried as she ran through the forest. Japeth would be around somewhere, probably meditating as he always did. She called his name again and searched through the trees. His favorite spot was around here somewhere. This is where they used to meet as children and talk and play together. Japeth was her childhood friend as well as her cousin. The young man was half nymph; his mother had been queen Shay's sister. Because of his nymph background, he had inherited some natural powers. But that did not explain why he was such a powerful wizard, and at such a young age. Nymphs had powers of nature. Japeth's powers went beyond that. He was a good ally and quite the formidable foe, even though he still considered himself intermediate, mediocre. Cadence had heard talk of perhaps having druid or shaman blood in him, for his father was unknown. Cadence stopped and looked around, feeling the presence of someone�someones. People talked of this forest a lot. She had heard it called the Sacred Forest many a time. What made it so sacred? She wondered. She flinched as she felt the presence of others again. She could almost see the little people weaving in and out of the brush as she walked down the path. They were probably curious of her. Could they be trying to protect her? Cadence smiled at the thought, and picked up the pace, feeling no more fear of the assumed little people. The woods seemed so different from when she was here last. How long ago had that been? Years, perhaps. She felt a sudden twinge of guilt. She had not been to call upon Japeth's company for quite some time. She hoped he still wanted to give her council. Perhaps he was angry with her, and hiding. Perhaps he did not feel like seeing her at all. She bowed her head and self-disgust. "Japeth, if you are here, show yourself. I know it's been a long while. I have missed you terribly! So come, show yourself and let us talk a while and catch up on things." Nothing moved. Perhaps he wasn't there at all. Cadence bowed her head again, turned around and started heading back. As she did so, she ran strait into Japeth. The princess screamed and almost fell backward, but Japeth, grinning, reached out and grabbed her. "Little cousin, you should know it is improper for a princess to walk with such a stance. Keep your head held high, as any proud blue blood would." He reached his hand up and tiled her chin up with two fingers so that she looked him in the eyes. "It is also dangerous for you to be wandering alone in these woods. What would become of my beautiful little princess if something were to attack her and she had no escort to protect her?" She lifted her chin in defiance and said, "I am not a child, cousin. I am quite capable of taking care of myself and you know it." Japeth chuckled, showing that he had trusted her all along and that he had just been giving her a hard time. "Besides," she added. "I have the little people to protect me." She gestured to the brush around them, and Japeth nodded, understanding her. She was, after all, a creature of the wood just as the ancient race of little people were. "Where have you been for so long? Do you think your favorite cousin has not missed you, or that he is unworthy of such a young lady's fine presence?" his smile was a little less silly than before, more serious. It was apparent that he was hurt by her absence. Showing his disdain, he stepped back and courteously bowed to her. Cadence scowled, for she liked it not when he had to play so formal with her. In fact, she had no taste for court formalities whatsoever. She did not want to feel as royal if they had to behave like this. Cadence stiffed up a little, a look of defiance on her face. "I see nothing holding you back from coming into the kingdom and paying me a visit, young sir!" She placed her hand upon his chin and lifted him to his full height. "So do not give me this�this hassle. After all it was me who took the day off of her studies to come and visit. And I am greeted with this? Perhaps I should just leave." She was only half-serious. She playfully pushed at his chest and backed away. "But I have missed you, Japeth. Let us not keep away from each other for so long again, all right?" "Agreed, my little princess." Japeth looked at her with a smile in his eyes. His eyes were so kind. If he would socialize with people, he would surely find a perfect woman. A man like him could surround himself in love and never need to feel lonely. But, he was lonely, she could feel it in him, especially when they touched. Another pang of guilt stabbed through her for not coming to see him in so long. She had missed him; but no doubt he had missed her more. She had people in her palace, Japeth was alone in the woods. But, she thought to herself, it was of his own demises; he could live in the nymph village if he chose. But he chose instead to live his life in solitude and training himself�alone. "So, for what reason do I have the honor of this rare visit, my dear cousin?" he asked. Cadence smiled brightly. "You will never guess!" She almost squeaked with happiness. "Yesterday, my father held a stupid little party and a whole bunch of boring royal persons attended. You should have been there, Japeth. It was horrendous! People oh high and nobel birth who never had a personality surrounded me. Ooh!" she squirmed. "But never mind that." She smiled again, because Japeth said nothing. He had always been the silent type when she was telling her stories. "There were so many men there I didn't know what to do with myself. Single, rich men. It was my father's idea to invite them�'to find suitable men to pine after me' as he put it. I was so extremely bored that I could have fallen asleep in my chair right in the middle of all of them. I just sat there like a lump�and did not dance at all. Until�" she lowered her eyes and blushed. "There was a young man there. He asked me to dance, and then he took me into the gardens. We walked and talked for a long while. I like him Japeth. I think he would be a good hus-�" she trailed off, her heart leapt in her throat. Had she already decided this and not known? She had only just met Prince Dezzo! But it was more than most princesses could say for their betrothed. Some young princesses would not meet their husbands until the wedding day. She silently thanked her father for having the decency to let her chose her own husband. "Cadence, something troubles you." Japeth said simply, and then took her arm and began walking with her. He was not entirely sure why she had come to him, but he knew he was soon to find out. He had known ever since they were children and been able to distinguish Cadence's moods and needs of that present moment. At this present moment, she needed him to listen to what was on her mind and perhaps give some advice. The princess halted, and would not move forward. Japeth stopped and turned to face her, waiting for her to tell him all. "It is as if my father wants to get rid of me, Japeth." Her bottom lip quivered with sadness. "I do not know who I want to spend the rest of my life with, but he thinks this Prince Dezzo is a good choice. He was not even invited to the party, Japeth. He just showed up unannounced! What sort of prince does that? It is informal!" She stopped and looked up at Japeth pleadingly. Her eyes were blurry and unfocused. "He came to me, Japeth. He wanted to check me out, to see if I was worthy enough to court or not. It seems that it is not my decision on who courts me�that I just have to chose from whoever is available!" She stopped again and Japeth noticed she was swallowing hard, trying to keep the tears inside of her. He reached his hands up and rested them on her shoulders, and then brought her to him, and embraced her. With his arms wrapped around her, he could feel her trembling against him and he closed his eyes. Silently, he thanked the gods that he was not royalty, which he was free to do and marry as he pleased. "I feel so pressured to make a decision that which I loathe making." She whispered. Thunder rolled across the sky to the distance, and Japeth felt the electricity as it shot through the air and pricked his skin. He was sure Cadence felt it as well, she was as much of a nymph as he was. Pure humans would normally be unable to pick up on such disturbances in the atmosphere. But again, this was a gift of the Nymph blood. "There is a storm coming, Cadence. A princess should not be out in such a squall. Come, let us start walking back." They had started walking as he talked, and he could tell the difference in Cadence. He knew she had come upon the revelation that she must marry soon despite what her heart wanted. All she needed was to release her fears before hand. "I would like to meet this Prince you tell of, Cadence. I am sure it would comfort you if you knew what I thought of him." He smiled, knowing she would not marry him if Japeth did not approve, which was just as well because he was an excellent judge of character. "Just remember; he is just one suitor. There are many suitors out there for you, Cadence. You can have your choice of any man you want. For what type of man would deny or refuse you, my dear princess? Surely there are none." He looked away and added quickly: "And if there are such, you do not want him anyway." Cadence nodded slowly, either agreeing or just showing she was paying attention. Her thoughts were deep within her, and Japeth felt his heart sink as he realized she was going to leave him to become the queen of some kingdom far, far away from him. He resolved that he would not let her go away with some man who was undeserving of her, and would do anything in his power to make his little cadence happy. The man halted just outside the receiving chambers of the palace. He gathered his wits up about him, and shrugged away his doubts. Then, he placed his hand upon the heavy wooden door and pushed. The door opened in to a large room lit only by the blazing fire on the opposite end of the room. In front of the fire stood a dark figure with its back turned toward him. It was staring into the fire, giving to heed that he had entered. The figure in front of the fire turned around to face the tall and lanky man dressed in a dark suit of green. The man who had just arrived the fire had black hair that was cut and kept short, and it naturally spiked upward in large tufts. Beneath a proud, strong brow were shrewd eyes the same color of his hair. The mouth on this person curled up into a wicked smile, giving such an air that he was the typical demonic tyrant if ever there were one. Despite his dark corrupt appearance, he was quite a handsome man, and if he had not the evilness about him, he would most likely be considered so. From his wickedly twisted smile sprouted the words, "I have arrived, your highness." The man who stood in front of the fireplace was indeed a king. He was Zada; he was the Conqueror. Men feared him and would travel miles out of their way to avoid a chance at meeting this evil dark king. He was a man that children and women had nightmares of. And he spoke. "It is good that we receive each other once again, Jariath." He said. "Update me on the present state of our plans." Jariath stiffened. Every time this king spoke to him or around him, a jolt of pure rage would race up his spine and envelop his brain. But he was able to keep his anger under control lest the king let on of his infidelity. The king was brilliant in battle strategies and in ways of gaining things he craved, but in any other sense he was a dimwit. For this reason Zada had taken Jariath in and made him his console. But the king was smart enough to know that he should not anger Jariath, lest he really foul things up. Even though the king was evil, he knew that when compared to Jariath, he was a puissant in the abilities of evil. Jariath could be a great tyrant if he so desired, and this is what kept Zada in fear of the dark young man. Your best ally is also your best enemy, he thought. Jariath sneered. "The plan is moving along smoothly, my lord Zada. Your nephew plays an excellent role. Even I could have fallen for him. But remember that these things take time. A woman's heart is unknown to all, even myself. A princess such as herself is a delicate thing. She will fret her little heart out at first, but soon realize that the good Prince Dezzo is trustworthy, and all will be smooth running from thither and yon." The King turned his back to Jariath once again and stared into the fire, an act that hopefully told Jariath he feared him not. And as far as he was concerned, this meeting was concluded. Jariath still remained, somewhat uncomfortable and still burning like the fire his master stood before. He shifted from foot to foot and king Zada smiled inwardly to himself. He knew he was feared just as much as the dark young lad hated him. Jariath was a powerful man, and could blast Zada away with a wave of his hand, but Zada had to take chances to make sure Jariath knew and kept his place. The sneer turned into a viscous grin and he almost turned around to look Jariath in the face and send the man reeling off of his feet and onto the floor in fright. But scaring this pathetic excuse for a man was too easy and not as amusing as it should be. The evil king might be dull of wit and blinded by his greed-stricken motives to overthrow a good king, a king who reigned over an almost priceless, perfect kingdom, but he knew not to over do it. King Hambre was agile and quick of wit, contrary to his self, but at least he knew it and did not deny it. And Zada also knew he needed Jariath too badly to cross him, and if Jariath were to back down, Zada would waste away to nothing. Perhaps that is what I should do; thought Jariath who was unconsciously tapping the same line as Zada's thoughts. Then I could carry out the plans on my own, instead of handing all of the glory over to Zada. But, who says that all the glory will be given to this king who is not worth the spit that shines his boots? Who says that Zada will receive any glory at all? Jariath sneered just as Zada did. It was only too easy to smite Zada after all this was through, and end up the hero of it all, destroying the evil king whom had destroyed the good king. Tiring of standing in front of the blazing fire, Zada composed himself and turned around. He moved toward the door, and toward Jariath. The dark king noted Jariath's startled jump and suppressed a smile. He sensed the young wizard's fear...tasted it in the air as he passed. What a pitiful being this boy was. It occurred to Zada that he would be most pleased when this nuisance was taken care of once and for all. He left the young dark lad in the room and went into his chambers, letting Jariath escort himself outside. As soon as Jariath was outside of the darkened castle half hidden in the mountain, he put a cloak of invisibility over his self. He had no pleasure in falling upon the eyes of anyone on this day. He hated people; it was a rage that burned deep within him, an eternal flame with nothing known that would snuff it out. All of his young life he had walked through being scorned and rejected; he was different than the people he had known and they feared him for it. Everywhere he went people shied away from him, or cursed him against the power of their gods. It was because of their ignorance he had grown to hate all people, and it was because of his hate of them that he was destined to be the end of them all. His plan at this point was still very vague, but it had one finite outcome: the destruction of the useless creatures known as man. At that moment a cloud seemed to darken the skies of Fairdox. The good king Hambre shuddered from an unknown force that would one day be the end of him. |
| Chapter Two |