SciFi and Fantasy Stories: Ryujin's tales - Chapter 19 to 20 of 25

Chapters 19 to 20.

By S. Viglione.

'Are you sure? This cannot be happening...' the Lord said, taking a hand to his hair.

'Yes, milord. There is a dragon in the East Point... It's burning up everything... Nobody can stop it.'

'This only happens in Queen Mikiko's land... My cousin had been in a fantastic war with these beasts for over a century. Her imaginary conflict had fallen upon us...' The Lord started nervous walks across the room. 'What about our army?' He stared intensely at the Minister. He shook his head.

'No. They could try, but we'd lose one after another body without capturing the beast...'

The Lord made a violent gesture.

'The beast! You know there is a bunch of rebels burning up the fields, and you call them the 'beast.' There is no beast!'

He was about to say something else when a servant knocked softly and got into the room. He walked to the Minister and spoke in his ear. The expression on his face was one of surprise.

'What happens?' the Lord asked.

'Milord... The message is for me. A merchant from a small village asks audience.'

The Lord's brows rose.

'Go, then. I expect that that be at least something you may fix...'

The Minister withdrew with a reverence.

The Minister's office was large and sumptuous. The dark hangings gave it an elegant aspect and a distant coldness that made Ikuno's father shudder. He rather liked purple than blue.

'Milord... A fisherman in my village found this, and — I thought you would want to see it...' the man stuttered. Well, he was a merchant from a small village. He was surely powerful in his town, but now, the royal palace would intimidate him. The Minister, sitting at his desk beckoned him to come closer. The merchant bowed and presented him a little chest. He stared nervously the Minister's face and then lowered his eyes again.

'I don't recognise this chest. Why did you think I would like to see it?' he asked calmly. People and specially peasants always assumed that anything — whatsoever — would make a good excuse to ask an interview.

'No, no —. Not the chest. Please, milord. Open it.'

The Minister did it, and his cold expression changed at once.

'Who brought you this? And where was it found?' he asked tensely.

'The fishermen in the Beach, by the yellow hills... There is a boy, his name is Nikko — He found it.'

'A boy —. A fisherman?' The Minister's eyes poked into the merchant's ones. He nodded. 'Bring him to me.' The merchant went pale. This was unexpected. And the tone had been imperious. He backed to the door. 'And bring also his parents,' the Minister added.

Nikko's mother was nervous. She hid it as well as she could, but being summoned by the Minister... She cleaned her husband and son's clothes as well she could, and put on her best. They were poor and it showed, but that was not the nagging point. She was upset. How could the Minister —? And why? After all these years. She entered in the elegant office one step behind her husband, and stayed by him.

The Minister was turned back, staring out from the window. He spoke without looking at them.

'Have you brought the boy, merchant?'

'Yes, milord...' The merchant pushed Nikko one step forward. 'He's here.'

'Milord —. My name is Nikko... I'm a fisherman in the White Beach... I'm at your disposal,' Nikko said calmly.

'You're well instructed. They say you found the jewel on the desk...' The Minister hadn't turned to look at them.

'Yes, I did.'

'Where?'

'In the green waters... Where the witch said it would be.'

'Aha. A witch... And did you show it to your mother?'

'No, milord.'

'Do it now.'

Nikko approached the desk and took the jewel. But her mother wasn't looking at him.

'It is not necessary,' she said suddenly.

A slight trembling crossed the Minister's back. She was not allowed to speak in public.

'Woman... Do you know what it is?' he asked slowly.

'Yes,' she said. The respectful "milord" was missing. Nikko stared at her. She had given one step forward and was staring fixedly the Minister's back. He hadn't turned round yet.

'And did you know you gave your son the name of my ancestors? My own name?'

'Yes.' Again the challenge in the tone. Again the missing "milord." The Minister's hands grabbing the sill were visible for Nikko from where he stood.

'And do you know you must show respect to your elders?'

'I know. — But I'm as proud as my father.'

'And as beautiful as your mother,' the Minister said turning round. There was a strange light in his eyes. And Miowe smiled as he approached. She stretched her arms to him but it was impossible to tell who of them gave the fist step. They hugged tight to Nikko and Ikuno's father's surprise. Nikko's father shook his head from a couple of steps behind.

'I'm old, Miowe... you're taking advantage of it,' he protested as he separated from her. She smiled, kissed his cheek and wiped his tears with her sleeve.

'Old and stubborn, you always were, dad.'

'Dad?' Nikko stuttered.

'Grandfather for you. — I see you kept her well, son-in-law.'

Nikko's father blushed and bowed.

'I — I'm sorry, milord for —'

' — having stolen my daughter? Man, not even the Lord's army under my command would have stopped her when she ran away after you. You made her happy, and gave her a nice son. Let me see you, Nikko.'

Nikko advanced a little.

'Yes, a nice boy. Strong as your father, selfish as your mother. — I expect not so obstinate.'

Miowe giggled.

'No. He's more like mom. They are perfect...' she said softly. The Minister hand was around his daughter's waist and he smiled pleased.

'Now, you, my friend,' he said addressing the merchant. 'I apologise for having scared you in the last interview. It was the only way to force Miowe to come. Now —What would you ask as a reward for giving me back my family?'

The merchant's eyes sparkled. For a second he thought covetously of how many things he had liked to ask. But then he smiled clearer.

'I shouldn't ask anything, milord. But I'll do. I'll ask you consent when your grandson ask my daughter's hand,' he said.

The Minister smiled wide nodding, and clapped hands to cal the servants.

'Take away the mourning ornaments in my house. Tonight we'll have a party,' he said. 'My family is back. And we have an engagement to celebrate...'

It was a strange party, the Lord thought staring amused how his old and noble Minister was dancing with his daughter. The stubborn girl had run away to marry a fisherman from the poorest village in the Beach when she was fifteen, and the proud father hadn't wanted to forgive her. Twenty years or so had passed, and the old man had yielded. But he seemed happy now. That was something. What could he say about himself? Nothing of that sort. The inherited land had brought him more trouble than satisfaction, and now the "dragon" thing. A dragon! Dragons do not exist, he repeated to himself. There must be a group of rebels, wearisome violent people, trying to ease their situation bringing him down. Dragons! Only that... mad woman of his cousin believed those old fantasies of the King of the Dragons and the Storm of Fire. He turned his attention to the dancing couples. Over there, the boy was dancing with his fiancée. They were whispering something among them, and after a moment they stopped and sat down at his same table. The boy, Nikko, seemed a clever youth, and the old Minister would surely train him and inherit him the position. He should call him, he thought.

'Nikko, come, sit here.' It was an honour he was offering him. An honour that in the Palace would arise the most fiery rivalry. But this was an informal party. The Lord wondered for a moment in he was in the least aware of it. The look the newly married couple exchanged told him yes, they were aware.

'My Minister says you have a nice story of how you found your family,' the Lord said.

Nikko smiled, calmer now. Being summoned by the Lord was not common for him. The Lord smiled indulgently. He would need some time, after all he had been just a fisherman and suddenly he found himself the next Elder Minister, like his grandfather had been to the Lord's father.

'Yes, it is. But Ikuno tells it better, if milord wants to listen to it.'

The girl blushed when the Lord looked at her, but she bowed the head when he moved a hand to indicate her to start. She stood up and crossed the room toward the musicians. She asked the vina, and sat on the rim of their platform. Miowe smiled and drove her father to his seat by the Lord. She herself sat at his feet. And Ikuno started to sing. Her white thin hands touched delicately the strings and her voice rose up in the room telling the story of a young boy meeting a girl in a white beach kissed by the sea. The simple story got embellished by Ikuno's poetry and she praised the courage of the boy, swimming deep in the green waters and fighting strange hallucinations to recover the jewel the witch had said would bring him what he needed to get the girl's hand. The song came to an end, and conversations filled the hall again.

'Whom did you gave your mother's jewel, Miowe?' the Minister asked.

'A witch on the houseleek's hill. She helped me when Nikko was born... She kept it hidden so you wouldn't find me...' A strange expression had invaded her eyes. Nikko said:

'The witch of the hill has been there for years and years. I thought she was a very old woman, but —' His mother's expression made him stop.

'But—?' the Lord asked. He looked at Nikko, but he was staring at his mother. 'Who is that woman?' he asked her.

Miowe shook her head a little.

'She's one of the old goddesses of the tales. I am sure. But we never saw her real shape,' she said slow and clear. The Lord repressed a gesture.

'No, Miowe. That's only superstition...' the Minister said prudently. But Miowe just shook her head.

That was why a month after that conversation, the royal company approached the yellow hill, though it was not crescent. Aleena saw them coming from the top of the hill. She had been chasing fire-butterflies there. So, she switched to a hind and climbed down the hill to the cabin.

She got in almost too late. Her hurried spat of fire inflamed the aromatic woods in the fireplace and the chimney puffed well. A puff of blue smoke stained the sky.

'She's waiting for you...' Nikko said in low voice. 'She always knows when anyone is coming...'

The Lord looked meaningfully at his Minister. The view from the top was good. Any soldier would have noticed it, but Nikko had been educated as a peasant.

'Let's test her,' the Lord said. They were disguised as merchants, and the Minister got the idea at once.

'Follow our tale, Nikko,' he said to his grandson. And they approached to the door.

The old woman wrapped in a grey cloak in rags was bent over a bed of flowers. She turned round when they called her.

'Woman... We came to see the witch.'

The woman straightened slowly. Her wrinkled face showed a toothless smile.

'She's not at home, milord. — She only attends requests in the eve of the crescent and the wane moon... Any villager could have told you.'

The Lord made an impatient movement and pressed the Minister's arm.

'We're not peasants, woman. Our business is urgent. We must talk to the witch. When do you think we can find her?' the Minister said.

The old woman made a tired movement to her hips. She looked around and said, shaking her head.

'Mm... I don't know. Maybe tomorrow. Or next week,' she said slowly. 'And if you're not used to climb you'll practise. She didn't say if she'd ever be back.'

'All right, we'll come tomorrow...' the Minister said after a little hesitation. The answers from the old woman hadn't satisfied him.

They turned round to go, and Aleena made a furtive movement to liberate the fire-butterflies. If they were who she thought... The butterflies flew round the cabin and went on down the hill and over the fields. The visitors usually didn't see them, but these ones followed them with the regard, and the Lord turned his head to see the old woman. She had turned to her work, but a ringlet of hazel hair not touched by the age had escaped her cloak.

'Stop!' he said imperiously. 'Who are you?'

The woman stood up without difficulty and pulled the cloak back. She smiled and bowed.

'I congratulate you, milord. Many men thought they were cleverer than the witch and they came thrice without finding her on the hill.'

'Why did you want to fool us? You never do to the villagers,' Nikko asked. Aleena smiled.

'They never try to fool me. Come in, please. Milord must be tired of such a climbing, and the Minister is getting old for these jokes...' she had addressed correctly each of them, not being tricked by the disguises. The Lord capitulated: she was.

A few moments after that, they were sitting in front of Aleena, having tea in round cups.

'Tell me what your urgent business is, milord,' Aleena asked right to the Lord. She didn't care about protocol, obviously. The Lord wondered for a moment if she knew the right way to address to the Lord, and then he looked at her hand around the cup. That hand knew of being kissed. The owner of that hand knew of being brought before a Lord, maybe even a King or an Emperor. He stared her ring for a moment. A ring with the old signs of an old House. He didn't recognise them, but he realised that the witch was far more than a country witch.

'We wanted to meet the woman who kept the jewel of my family to give it back in the most unexpected time...' the Minister said when the Lord's silence prolonged too much. He knew what kind of spell she was casting upon him: the oldest spell in the world, that of any beautiful woman upon any young man. But the witch stood up.

'Be honest,' she said simply. She crouched, poking the fire, and it rose in a burst of colour. The witch didn't step back. 'You can't lie to me.'

The minister looked at the hypnotised Lord. He spoke now.

'You already know why we are here,' he half-asked.

'No. But I smell your lies. What is your business, milord?'

'Well, milady...' The title had come out of him naturally, as if it was the due addressing to her. 'A dragon is wasting the East Point. It's advancing upon the centre of the island, burning the forests and the cornfields...'

Aleena and the Minister frowned. She, for she thought she had understood wrong; he, for it was not what they had agreed to tell her.

'A dragon?' she asked incredulously. 'That is not their way to fight. You should ask Queen Mikiko about them.'

'I can't. She's been fighting her Storm of Fire for so long that I fear she's a little... paranoid about that.'

Aleena's lips curled.

'Paranoid? You don't think the Storm of Fire is caused by dragons?'

'No.'

The answer had been definite. Aleena shrugged.

'Why do you tell me this, then? What do you want from me?'

'Well, you're a witch, aren't you? I need you to give my soldiers an effective protection against the fire.'

Aleena just stared at him.

'You'll see, milady,' the Lord said without thinking. 'I don't think the problem be a dragon. I rather think it's a group of rebels setting the land on fire to get a revolution. If my army can control the fires, they'll be able to control the... "dragon"...'

Aleena grinned. Yes, it was more like what he had in his mind. But the thinnest of ideas was getting form behind his other thoughts: what if the dragon was real? She hid the mock in her voice.

'You want me to give you a weapon to control a bunch of rebels or a dragon, if it might exist. You want to capture it alive, if it exists. Be sincere, milord,' she said setting her green eyes on the Lord's ones. A shadow moved and hid behind them.

'Yes...' he said without inflections. The Minister stared at him startled. This was going too far.

'You think you may enlarge your wealth and lands with it at your service,' she said.

'Yes...'

'And only in the bottom you care about rebels and villagers...'

The answer came with more difficulty this time. He was fighting to release him. Aleena let his mind go.

'All right, milord. I'll help you. Take me with you, and I'll help you to catch your "dragon",' she said.

The Lord stared at her confused still for a moment. Then he stood up and bowed deep to her.

'She's a witch,' somebody was whispering.

'Of course she is. What do you think the Lord wants her for?'

'Not an idea.'

Aleena was wrapped in her grey cloak. She hadn't let anybody see her face. Once or twice in this three-day travel, the Lord had approached his horse to her coach and had spoken to her in low voice. The men hadn't heard her answers.

In fact she gave him little answers. To his annoyance, she was leading the party, telling the scouts what direction they must follow, and ignoring him. She seemed to know where she was going. And besides, he hadn't seen any of that promised spell to keep the soldiers safe from fire.

On her hand, Aleena had a lot of things on her mind. She had been switching to dragon form for years in this place, and anyone of the Ryujin, even Kuo's supporters could have smelled her on this island. She hadn't been careful. She didn't share, not for a single second, the Lord's theory about the rebels. She was sure the Lord neither believed it. Not even Nikko, or the old Minister did. But the way the dragon stayed on land? It wasn't their normal way to fight. The usual thing would have been a quick landing, arson on the fields, a couple of blows to mark the land, and a quicker running away. Somehow, it couldn't fly, and so, it was destroying the land. Being one of Kuo's suporters she knew there was no reason, but it could be one of her mother's party. Who was this dragon? And this man, the Lord. He was strange. He reminded her an old and almost forgotten feeling... The feeling she felt when she was in the presence of her father. A part of respect, a part of reverence, a large amount of fear... She felt attracted to this man, she could guess the ambition in his eyes, the same inextinguishable fire that lit her father's eyes. There had been two centuries she hadn't thought of him. Protected in her mother's lap she had blocked out all memory of the rest of her family. And now, picking the scent again, she realised who was the Ryujin they were chasing. It was Yi. A shudder shook her and she noticed the Lord getting closer again.

The path they were following bifurcated.

'Which way, milady?' he asked in a feigned polite tone.

'I don't know... I'm sorry, milord. The mist is coming. I think we better make a halt.'

The Lord stared at her in suspicion, but he nodded. Anyway, the night was upon them.

The campsite was ready, and the soldiers were having diner. The Lord watched around once or twice, but he couldn't find Aleena. He got up before the meal had ended. He went out discretely and checked the limits of the campsite.

She was there, as he had expected, one step beyond the edge, on the path, in front of a thick wall of mist, staring fixedly at it. He approached.

'It's near...' she mumbled. 'And this mist smells of smoke. It's not a normal mist. It knows we're near...'

The Lord kept on looking at her. Threads of mist hinted to take her away from his sight. He approached one more step. And she uncovered the head, threw it back and howled. It should have been a trick of the mists, the Lord thought afterwards, for he thought her head changed into a dark threatening head. He grabbed her arm. And the answer came, neat and clear. A mighty dreadful dragon roar, that made the tents shake.

The men jumped out of them, holding up their weapons. The mist rose like a tall wall in front of them. The Lord grabbed her arm and pulled her back to the tents.

'It's very near...' she whispered to him.

'It was the dragon. Twice. The witch says it's near,' the Lord said to the men. Twice. No other possibility. 'Tomorrow it'll be ours. Be ready.'

By dawn, the mist had cleared a little. The Lord summoned her to the review, and requested her spell again. This time she agreed.

'This company will take that path, and we'll go the other, with the rest of your army,' Aleena said. The Lord glared at her. His confusion of last night had passed. The mind of the soldier was on, cold and clear.

'What do you think you are to give the directions?' he snapped.

'Do you want your dragon, milord? The two companies will trap it. There is a stone wall a couple of miles ahead. You may corner it there...'

'How do you know there's a stone wall over there?' the minister frowned. 'There's no maps of this region.'

'By the echoes, when it roared last night...' she grinned and turned to the Lord. 'Now you'll want the protection you asked for your army...'

The Lord stared at her with fire in his eyes. He didn't trust her.

'Yes, witch,' he spat.

'All right, milord.'

She went to her coach and took a grey bag out from her things. She opened it carefully and drew a handful of white ashes she blew upon the soldiers, crying some strange words to the wind. Then she stopped and stared the east, right to the rising sun. She stood still for a moment as if she was waiting for something. The Lord fidgeted uneasy, and she stopped him with a gesture. The sun rose a little more and suddenly it shone in a red lightning. She opened abruptly the bag and waved it, and a bunch of fire butterflies fluttered over the men, some of them perching upon the soldiers. The red glimmer in the sun died out and the light was white again.

Aleena turned to the Lord.

'The fire-butterflies had turned into coal. As long as your men keep one of them in a pocket, or in their hands, they will be immune to the dragon's fire. Tonight, at sunset, the butterflies will live again and you must free them. Otherwise they'll burn you alive,' she said aloud. Then she made a slight bowing, more a hint than a real reverence, and turned back to her coach. The Lord raised his arm and gave the sign of departure.

Aleena was concentrated in the concussion of the coach, eyes closed. The smell of dragon was definite now, and she thought that soon the horses would get nervous. By the moment they trotted quietly, stepping on the grassy edges of the path. She wondered if she should tell the Lord. He had behaved so unkind this morning... She opened her eyes and saw startled he was climbing up the coach. The fire in his eyes scared her. He moved quickly, and she hadn't the time to back up or shout. He subdued her in a few movements, and left her tied up and gagged in the back of the car.

'I'm sorry, milady. But I have the feeling you would like to help the beast instead of us...' he whispered. 'I'll release you when it all is finished...'

He jumped down the car onto his horse, and neither the driver nor the soldiers noticed anything.

It was the end of the afternoon when the Lord jumped on the car again. Aleena was furious. Having performed the spell on the campsite, she hadn't been able to break the ropes — which were as enchanted as the rest of the things. Arrows, spears, swords, men, horses; everything in the campsite was immune to dragon's fire. And so tightly tied, she couldn't transform either. The Lord didn't know to what end his precautions had been accurate and effective.

He stared at her for a moment, with a light of triumph in his dark eyes. For a second her mind flew back to his father, but he leaned by her and spoke in low voice.

'Everything is done. The beast is ours. If you don't shout, I'll release you now. I'll take you to see it after dinner...'

She stared at him in fury, but didn't move or say anything while he was loosening the rope. She sat up.

'I'm sorry,' the Lord said. 'I told you I didn't trust in your loyalty to us...'

She glanced at him over her shoulder and rubbed her wrists without a word. After a moment she said curtly.

'How many wounded?'

'None.' He was looking at her kind of guilty. She stared at him again.

'I want to see the dragon now.'

The Lord opened his mouth. He thought it would be better if she relaxed before seeing the monster. But then he observed the expression in her eyes. She seemed to want the power in that beast as much as he wanted it. After all she was a witch. He closed his mouth and nodded.

'As you wish, milady.'

The enormous green dragon was guarded by half a dozen soldiers. It was still, eyes closed, but the movement of his large nostrils told Aleena it was fully awake. One of its wings was properly folded, but the other was only by half, and at times it moved in an involuntary shudder. It was broken, and it probably ached. That's why he hadn't left the island. Under the wing, a nasty cut crossed its chest. The wound was dirty with dust and blood. Aleena shuddered. It was her brother after all. She stared at it for a while and then, she approached.

'No, milady...' the Lord said eagerly. 'It's dangerous.'

'It's hurt,' she said simply.

She walked to the big snout and laid a hand upon it. The yellow eye opened, looking at her, and then, closed again. No other reaction. Aleena patted the snout, and walked to the wing.

'Loose this chain,' she ordered.

'No! It's dangerous. The dragon would escape...' the Lord warned.

'Milord; you won't want a dying beast, but a healthy tamed one. Loose this chain to heal its wing and chest,' she said cold and calmly.

'All right. But I'll stay near... just in case,' the Lord said drawing out the sword and making a sign to his soldiers.

Aleena cast a mocking glance upon him and his sword, and turned her back to approach the dragon.

The wing was so large that she could stand straight under it. She examined carefully the wound, humming to herself. She took a handful of powders from the bag on her waist and blew them upon the wound. A silvery cloud was the only thing the men could see, but she blew golden cleaning fire upon her brother's wing. The wing stretched suddenly and the dragon moved it with certain violence. The men jumped and cried.

'The chains! Hold the chains!'

Aleena didn't pay attention. Yi was trying to roll standing, but she was under his wing. She touched him where she knew he liked it, as she had done a thousand times before, and the dragon let out a kind of bellowing. She laughed from behind the wing.

The Lord approached nervously. She had crouched by the cut, and patted the dragon's chest. It rolled by side to let her work. She blew again the silver powders, but this time the Lord saw her golden fire. He frowned. What was she doing in fact? Who was she?

When she stepped back, the dragon's chest was sound. She walked away from it and made a grin in the Lord's direction. Then she went to the animal's head again.

The yellow eyes were open, and the beast was looking at her. She leaned a hand on its snout. She stared at it for a moment. The Lord was frozen. She seemed to communicate with this beast... It was very dangerous. What if it — possessed her?

Then the sun touched the west horizon. From the soldiers' pockets, the coals turned again into fire-butterflies, flew away. Some of the men took the coals in their hands and let out the butterflies. Some others tried to keep them, and cried when they burnt them.

Aleena cried something, and the dragon stood up suddenly. A powerful shaking of the tail released it from the chain and the flapping of the wings tore the rest of them. The dragon let out a thick cloud of smoke and fire, and ducking with the head had Aleena mounting on its nape. It flapped wings and flew away before the soldiers could react.

They were completely out of sight, and the night was full of stars when Aleena switched to dragon to fly by Yi. He made a playful ring of smoke and she passed through it. Then she hinted a race, and he followed her. He was faster, and stronger. Of course, his father had trained him as a soldier. They flew until dawn without stops.

Aleena led Yi to her cabin and told him to rest. He fell asleep at once and didn't awake until the next morning.

'Mm... That smells nice... I'm hungry,' Yi said as a kind of good morning greeting. Aleena laughed.

'Good morning for you too, bother. You were always a glutton.'

Yi shrugged.

'Food gives you strength. — Sister, your human friends will come soon, won't they?'

'No. — Three days to go, four to come back. I think they will get lost in the mires. — Clumsy noses, you know...'

Yi let out a grunt. It could have meant laughter, but he wasn't used to human bodies. He stared at her sister eagerly, amazed of how much time had passed. He had a thousand questions to ask, but he couldn't select any of them.

'How is — the War, brother?' Aleena asked first.

'Mm... Sometimes fine, sometimes wrong. Most of times awful. My father has only one thought in mind: your mother.'

Aleena turned round and stared at him frowning. He changed his careless expression at once.

'I'm sorry. I didn't know it affected you still...' he apologised. 'But you're an adult now. You should understand it. — Have you married?'

'No. I don't feel like getting a husband. And you?'

'I don't have time for that. Father and his War take all of mine. — What about mom?'

Aleena blushed but Yi was smiling.

'Yes, I've heard it from my spies. Father doesn't know, of course. I had liked to go — on visit, you know, — but father could have followed me. He trusts no one...' Yi lowered his voice to a whisper. '... and he does fine. The rebels are on the verge of taking the power...'

Aleena stared at him with curiosity.

'What about you, if it happens?' she asked.

'Me? I'm the chameleon-snake, don't worry. About our father, he'll be assassinated — sooner or later. His people can't stand him any more...' Yi stared thoughtfully the fire.

'He knows about you,' he said suddenly.

'What?'

'There is a rock hidden in the castle. I saw it once. I read in it... And then, father hid it off the Palace. He didn't want me to read it. It told about the lonely King and the lonely Queen — I thought they were they, you know...' Yi stared thoughtfully the fire. 'And their offspring... You and I will bring Hope and Doom to our people. It was and is Queen Benten's fate.'

'Nonsense —' Aleena said upset. Destiny annoyed her. Yi cast a quick glance upon her, and then he spoke in low voice.

'That's why you don't want a Ryujin husband. You fear to bring that Doom upon them.'

She stared at him and snorted. He shrugged.

'It doesn't matter if you believe in Fate or not. It will happen all the same. And the same is happening to me, don't worry... I don't want to bring Doom to our people. Father is a heavy doom to stand, as to bring another chastise. Let's talk of something funnier... Tell me about our human brothers...'

And Aleena's expression changed again. She started to talk about the Island of the Temple and the times she spent with her mother and Kiyomori.

That day and the next one had passed in calm. They talked about a million things — after all, there was almost two centuries they didn't see each other. By the second sunset, Yi was watching from the top of the hill in dragon form, and he switched to human suddenly.

Aleena was at his side.

'What happened?' she asked.

'Your friend is coming,' he said. 'One rider, only. It's time for me to go...'

'All right — but not from here. They would see you.' And she led him to the cabin again.

The secret passage opened at her touch, and they walked along the long corridor.

'Where are you going to go now, Yi?' she asked.

'I don't know. I'll come back to father, you know I must — but... I'd like to see mom again. And right now he's not following me.'

Aleena smiled. Yes, she also would like to see mom. But she could do any moment.

'Wait...' She introduced her hand in the wall of rock and drew out three jewels. She cleaned the honey coloured one and blew her fire in it.

'Take this... You will see me in the reflection of the lights...' she said giving it to him. She cleaned the green one and asked. 'Blow in this for me, brother... I want to see you also...'

Yi smiled and blew upon the crystal. Aleena cleaned the third jewel, a ruby. 'This is for mom. Blow with me, and she'll be able to see both of us...'

Yi did as she asked, and then he put the jewels in his pocket. He smiled at her.

'You're a real witch, sister...'

Aleena laughed.

'Mom taught me...' she said starting to walk again.

They went out from the cave by the sea. The same cave Nikko had seen just a couple of months ago.

'The Lord will come for you, do you know it?' Yi asked suddenly.

'Yes, I know. I'll manage —. Fly west to the red sun, until you see the stars on the beach...' she said. Yi stared at her rising his eyebrows and blinking.

'You'll find mom in the Flooding Temple... It's the term she spends there... in a couple of days it's the anniversary of Lord Kiyomori's death...'

Yi stared the red sun, now sinking in the mists of a fiery horizon.

'At least, she had her piece of happiness...' he mumbled.

Aleena stared at him. And met his black eyes. Black exactly like her father's. She didn't dare to ask what he had meant. He approached his face and kissed softly her cheek.

'Good bye, sister —' he said, and the movement of his arms became the flapping of the dragon wings, taking him to the burning horizon.

Ryujin's Tales 1 - Chapter 19 to 20 (Part 3).

Registered by S. Viglione.