SciFi and Fantasy Stories: Ryujin's tales - chapter 6-10 of 25

Ryujin's Tales - Chapters 6 to 10 of 25

Registered by S. Viglione.

(Part One)

Mikori and Queen were there, in her room, when she got in through the window, like that time, the evening Mikori met her husband.

'Benten — that's a brat's habit,' Mikori said going to hug her. Benten smiled warm and held her tight. She realised at first sight Niji was right. She had laid her first brood. But Mikori separated quickly. 'Benten — you... Mother!'

Benten hadn't let Mikori go. Now Queen had stood up and neared her daughter.

Queen didn't say a thing. She stared Benten, and she opened her tucker to show the Jewel.

'So, you're the chosen one...' Queen said in a whisper. 'I expected it since you showed us the necklace...' And she opened her own tucker to show her own necklace without the Jewel. 'Your father gave me this the day we engaged. Then, he found the Jewel. We were walking in the gardens, and we heard music... We followed it, and the Jewel chose us... What happened to your friend? Did he —?'

'He didn't hear the music, and he couldn't get in the hollow...' she said. A shadow crossed Queen's eyes.

'Then, he's not the King... I feared that — when you didn't engage...'

'He never wanted to — And today he said he's not a part of my fate. I didn't understand it then...'

Ardent tears were running down her face.

'I'm sorry, my little...' Queen mumbled hugging her. 'I'm so sorry...'

'Mother —. You should tell her now...' Mikori mumbled urgently.

Queen nodded, as she caressed Benten's hair.

'My sweetheart... Any other year, you should show the Jewel to our people, and let everybody know but —'

Benten separated a little and stared at her mother.

'What's happening? I feel so strange since this thing came to me...'

Queen nodded.

'You feel the weight of the Crown, though you never put it on. Benten, next Queen of the Ryujin — you must not tell what you found, and I must not repeat the title I've just called you.' Queen lowered her voice to a whisper. 'We're in war.'

Benten stared blank.

'The Tyrant had broken the pact, and he attacked Missar's village. He's been taken prisoner, and your father had gone to fight by Lossar with our best Warriors.'

'Warriors? We haven't had a clan of Warriors...' she mumbled.

'Yes, we had. Long ago. They mixed with the other clans and undertook other tasks, but today your father summoned them again. I'll make the announcement tonight. There'll be no Tiger Feast this year.'

'But — What about Saris and Vasti's wedding? What about —?'

'We're under the sign of the war now. We'll have to be strong, resist and wait...' Queen said gloomily.

Benten bowed.

'Yes, mother...' she said softly.

'We won't say about your... finding, but I'll need you by my side tonight.'

Benten nodded slowly and closed her tucker quietly.

It had taken moths for her to get use to her new condition. Though to the rest of the Ryujin she was still Princess Benten, she felt a distinct change in some of her brothers and sister's attitude. Rusk, for instance. He invited her to spend a couple of years in his frozen Castle in the North. She agreed. She felt lonely in the village, not daring to go and see Niji again.

Rusk's hospitality was as warm as usual, and he bestowed her with al the niceties and wonders of his strange frozen land. She tasted the kiss of the wind in the icy turrets and the cold wind whispered the news in her ear.

One of those evenings, watching the northern stars, she heard Rusk's calm steps getting in her room.

'Benten, are you still here?' he asked kindly. 'The party is about to start...'

'I was listening to the winds. Winds talk in your fief, Rusk.'

'As they do in Mikori's. That's how we keep in touch. The shares are different, and yet, they are the same. Hadn't you realised, little sister?'

'No—. But I'm starting to learn. What's going on outside, Rusk? Why did you bring me here?'

'Eh—' Rusk hesitated a little. She was resting over the handrail of the balcony, staring the night, and she looked so isolated... he couldn't help feeling sorry about her. And she turned round. As it had happened to Nikkijh-jin from the Harvesters, Rusk from the Royal Family saw the Queen in his sister for the first time. He hadn't seen the Jewel, but he didn't need to. He bowed.

'You shouldn't carry that burden alone, my sister,' he said in broken voice. 'You should find a husband.'

'I won't —. The one I love cannot be my husband,' she said. Rusk stared at the floor for a moment. When he raised the head, his clear eyes were clouded with tears.

'There was a rock, in the heart of the Old Kingdom... Our father must have told you the story... The stone had a legend — or a prophecy carved in it.

— I wouldn't like to think it's you.'

Benten stared at him.

'What is it supposed to mean?' she asked slowly.

'The stone told about a couple of our governors — a King and a Queen — the only ones remaining alone... One of them will give us Doom and the other, Hope: the power to release us from Doom.'

'And you think I'll give you Hope or Doom?'

'I don't know. But I don't like the idea your destiny is carved in stone...'

Benten turned her back on him. He started to the door.

'Rusk, tell me why you brought me here,' she asked. It was not a simple question. It was a command from the Queen.

'Mikori asked us,' he said evasively.

'Why?'

Rusk sighed.

'Well, you remember Mikori's engagement?'

Benten nodded.

'That day, the Tyrant's emissaries had reached Missar's company. They had a new petition to make peace with us...'

'What did he wanted?'

'A daughter of the Dragon King for wife.'

'Any one?'

'No. — He wanted the beautiful Benten.'

She stared at him for a moment. Was he the lonely King?

'The King said no. He wouldn't give the Crown, but even if he did, he'd never give his daughter to the Tyrant. Missar had no doubt about the answer, but he had to ask father anyway.'

Benten kept silent for a moment.

'Nobody could know you and the Crown would mean the same for the Tyrant at that moment...' Rusk said. 'It was a coincidence.'

Benten nodded, not very convinced. The prophecy...

'I know,' she said in a little voice.

'And now, we feared the attacks on Central City start any moment...'

Benten blanched.

'Mom, Vasti, Saris... I cannot stay here.'

'You'll do. You may be the Queen, but I'm still older than you. We'll keep you hidden. In two weeks, Saris and Vasti will go and celebrate their weddings in the Garden Land of Mohr. He'll keep them safe in there. In little groups, we'll evacuate the people and part them among the other villages. Mom will be around in a month. And you will wait in here. We cannot loose our Queen. None of them.'

Benten had neared the bed, and fell bent upon it. Rusk leaned a hand upon her shoulder.

'Remember the attacks hadn't started yet. They're safe by now.'

But Benten couldn't answer.

Sixty long years of war had passed after that conversation. Benten had remained there as they asked only for the first ten. But then, she got restless again. She went to the old village. It was almost deserted by now. Less than eight families, mostly peasants, and two Harvesters: Nuri and Niji.

'What are you doing still here?' she asked him after the usual pebble on his snout. He blew a disrespectful cloud of smoke upon her, and she felt better. Nothing had changed among them.

'I was waiting for you. I knew your brother, even being a King in his land couldn't make you stay still.'

'Ha. So funny. I came to look for you. Why aren't you on the safe?'

'Same reason as you.'

'Unbearable,' she grunted.

'And you missed it,' he said, pushing her down their hill. She rolled down crying and laughing, and she laughed so much she couldn't stand up until he helped her. There had been years since she didn't laughed that way.

'You— you are—'

'But you feel better. The last ones will depart after the next harvest, when the Messengers come for it. I had thought to go after them, to help the old ones...'

'Nuri. You love him like a father.'

Niji shrugged.

'We'll go south. You may come and see your little sisters... I think Princess Saris won't wait to lay her brood.'

'Please! She's still a girl! How old is she? Two hundred and thirty?'

'More or less... But she doesn't want to wait. And you know her. She shuts up and does her will. Not even Princess Vasti had ever been able to stop her.'

'All right. I'll tell them...' Benten said.

Then she stood up and raised her hand. The Emerald Sceptre she had received was there, and she moved it. A water dragon — a shape of mist or dew or cloud — appeared, gathering from nowhere. The figure rose up in the air and flew away like a cloud toward the north.

'It'll be ice before reaching them, but snow is anyway water. It'll deliver my message,' Benten said.

Niji looked at her with a smile.

'You've learnt something new at last.'

'Do you want to test me, peasant?' she mocked.

'I'd never refuse a proposal like that —' he said, plunging upon her in dragon shape, and they rolled down the hill again.

That had meant a nice holiday for Benten, that journey. Flying wing to wing with Niji, stopping frequently to wait or help Nuri, following the wake of the Messengers among the clouds. And after the tallest ridge of mountains the lands began to descend in rounded hills covered with thick jungle. The weather became hot and humid. After that refreshing decade with Rusk, Benten felt like roasting. Niji often laughed at her. They passed some human villages — most of them during the night, but Benten could see once or twice the people running when they showed the merest of shadows.

'Why do they fear us, Niji?'

He stared back over his shoulder and shrugged. Nuri answered.

'Because we're different, Princess. For many years, Ryujin had feared Tennin, until one day the King of Tenyo saved the son of the old King... Now, the daughter of that son is the Queen of Tenyo, and both nations are bound. Humans live very few years; they have short memory... and they fear us... They don't remember... One day, a maiden of our people will marry a mortal and from that union we'll get doom and freedom...'

'What are you saying, Nuri?' Benten asked, getting closer.

'It's an old legend... It says that the line of the Kings of Ryujin and the Kings of Men there will come the freedom of a new Era — for those who survive the Doom... the darkness that precedes the dawn...'

'Could you be clearer, Nuri?' Niji asked. 'You never told me that tale...'

'It's a legend, not a tale. And I don't remember the verses. It is carved in a stone in the Old Kingdom...'

Benten sighed.

'What's up, Princess?' Niji asked.

'I've heard tales of that stone. I think I should go and take a look at it...'

'You better don't. It's in the Tyrant's territory,' Niji said.

Benten nodded, but the expression in her eyes hadn't tranquillised Niji's fears.

After that, and after many leagues of jungle, they reached the ocean. Benten had never seen it. She stood on the shore, letting the water hiss on her feet completely amazed.

'Hey, Guardian of the Waters... You shouldn't be so stunned,' Niji said.

'Had you ever seen something so — wondrous?' she said breathlessly, ignoring the scoff.

'Yes. I've been here before...' he said in a grunt, and he turned his back on the ocean.

'What happens to him?' she asked Nuri.

The old dragon grinned thoughtfully.

'I found him by the shore. We were Fishers before becoming Harvesters in Central City. His parents died in the ocean. Waters swallowed his mother, and his father went after her. They never returned.'

'And why did he return here?'

'Because of me. I want to die by the ocean. And you. He won't leave you, no matter what the stone say.'

Benten stared the old dragon for a while, but she didn't want to go on asking.

They sailed toward Mohr's Garden Land in the morning, and due to Benten's Sceptre, they reached the island before sunset. Mohr received them with dances on the beach, and they stayed there, with Saris and Vasti and their husbands for six or seven years. Then she went off. Melori's submarine castle seemed a good election, so there she went. Then, after fifteen years, the Dragon Sparkles signalled the path to Mikori's airborne kingdom. She stayed there for some years also, and then she went away.

Without noticing it, she was inspecting the entire Kingdom, talking to her brothers and sisters, listening to the people, observing the damages the war was causing them... searching in the old stories and legends.

And one day, fifty years after she left Rusk's frozen land, she said good bye to Nuri and flew toward Missar's land — the frontier of the war, where her father and her nephew still fought the Tyrant.

'Will you quit follow me?' she said upset.

'Eh -- nope,' Niji said.

Benten looked back furious. Last fifty years he had been following her wherever she went. He had waited for her at Melori's underwater entrance, and by Mikori's airborne gates — and he had entered all the other common reigns and fiefs.

'Why are you doing this?' she asked after a useless loop he used to bite her tail.

'Because I know you, lofty Princess... you're thinking of something dangerous. And I'll stop you if necessary.'

'That you think,' she said, making a feint and elevating with a sudden quirk. He didn't got fooled, and he rose up behind her.

'Ha-ha. So very funny...' he said, biting her tail again. She shook it, hitting him on the face, and flapped wings stronger. This way they reached Missar's doors.

Her father and her nephew were in the Audience Hall. She entered there without knocking, in human shape and travelling clothes. Niji had stood outside. After all he was just a Harvester. There was a guard before the King, telling him something. She sidled quietly until she reached the thrones, trying to listen.

'Yes, Milord. He says he's a Messenger, not an Ambassador, and he is not allowed to negotiate. He only asks audience for he has an urgent message for Milord.'

'Bring him here,' Lossar said. But an imperious gesture from the King stopped him.

'What are you doing here!?' the King roared staring at the approaching figure.

'Just dropped by...' Benten said uncovering the head. Lossar opened his mouth, and his father closed his eyes.

'You shouldn't be here.'

'Come on dad. You've been hiding me for half a century. I'm tired. — Guard! Bring that Messenger. We want to hear him.'

The soldier bowed and went off.

'At least stay hide,' the King asked. Benten advanced on, kissed him and said softly:

'All right dad.' She kissed also Lossar before sitting in a shadowy corner and pulling down the cloak on her face.

Three dragons were following the guard when he entered again. The deep green one bowed low and switched to human form. A common sign of respect, switching into the King's form in his presence. But he seemed a very young Ryujin for the clan of the Messengers. He bowed again and said:

'My greetings, King of the Ryujin. My name is Okho, from the Messengers of East Town. I bring you a message from Ryo-Kuo, the King...'

Okho was the name of the Mountain, Benten thought with an indulgent smile. But the proud name of the Messenger; and the Tyrant, daring to give himself the title of King provoked certain movement among the soldiers along the walls. It was that moment that Benten realised there were soldiers in the room.

The young Messenger, in spite of his name, cast a nervous look around the place and then stared at the King.

'I'll deliver my message and then you may take my life and send my head to the Tyrant, that's the only answer he deserves —. But I'll ask you my brother's lives...' He pointed his two partners, a couple of purple dragons who hadn't switched. They seemed just children.

The King stared at them and sighed.

'Why did they send so young Messengers?' he asked.

'Because we're removable, Milord. The message I have to deliver is —' He broke off. He had spotted Benten. 'Shouldn't the Lady withdraw? This is not — adequate for women.'

'Tell your message, Messenger,' Benten said standing up, and uncovering her head. The man bowed, and one of his brothers handed him what seemed a covered tray. He cast an ashamed look upon the King and uncovered the thing he had on it. Benten muffled a moan and closed her eyes. She couldn't stop the tears that clouded them. On the tray, firmly held by the Messenger, stood Missar's head.

The Messenger spoke in a low respectful voice.

'Milord says this will be the end of all your caste, if you don't render what he had asked: the Crown of Ryujin. And the one among your daughters who is still single, as a compensation.'

Then he bowed again, and placing the tray at the King's feet, he presented his own dagger.

'Answer, Milord, as the Tyrant deserves — but allow me to tell you first your son resisted to the last consequences, and the Tyrant only got the Crown of the Storms when his head rolled down...'

The King had held the dagger and was revolving it on his hands.

'If I take your life, will it give me my son back? — No, Messenger. I won't take your life, for this is not the response that honours me. Tell the Tyrant he'll have neither my daughter nor my crown.'

He turned his back on the Messenger, and lifted up the tray. He handed it to Lossar.

'Lossar, the eldest of my grandsons. See that the remains of your father be honoured as it is due to his rank and dignity.'

Lossar bowed deep and withdrew with the tray.

Benten spoke for the second time.

'How is the people under the Tyrant's dominion?' she asked.

The Messenger stared at her. He still had his knee on the ground.

'Milady, living in war is very hard for all of us. I still remember my grandfather's stories of a time when all the Ryujin formed only one nation. My father died in battle when I was a child, and my brothers hadn't hatched yet. They don't remember. They hadn't heard the stories. And they are even more and more every day. But many of us still recall life without war is possible, though the Tyrant doesn't leave us much time to think. The Tyrant is preparing a new attack.'

'Are you betraying your people?' the King asked without looking at him.

'No. I'm looking for a peaceful way-out. But that will be impossible with Ryo-Kuo. Every year that passes, his hatred and ambition grows up and up... I don't like to think this will mean the end of our race.'

'Neither do we,' the King said. 'But Messenger, you've said enough. Eat, rest, and tomorrow morning you may go to your King and deliver him my answer.' He grinned sourly. 'It'll be easy to remember. Just tell him "No".'

The Messenger bowed deep again and the three of them got out of the room.

Several minutes had gone by in silence. Lossar returned and sat at his grandfather feet, shadowy looking, head bowed. Benten neared him and laid a hand on his shoulder. He touched slightly her hand.

'Lossar... I'm sorry...' she whispered.

'We must think of the defence,' he said, looking at the King.

'No. It'd be pointless. They're prepared to tread upon us,' she said.

'Did you look into his mind?' the King smiled.

She nodded in silence.

'He had many worries, even after you forgive his life. His people is suffering, but they won't fight the Tyrant unless a paladin arises.'

'Even so, an internal revolt could help us,' Lossar said. 'And we cannot stay helpless and let him kill our people.'

'No. We must take them out,' Benten said.

The King stared at her with a question in his eyes.

'Yes, I'm sure,' she answered. 'Take out our people. Tell them tonight, and as soon as the Messengers had gone, we'll fly north. I'll rise a mist to cover our track.'

'Do you think they'll spy on us?' Lossar asked.

'No. But the Tyrant might read their minds. They're too young,' she said.

'All right, my Queen. The Exile starts tomorrow,' the King said with a bow.

Lossar also bowed. His grandfather had recognised aloud what almost every Ryujin was rumouring; that she was the new Queen. The Crown must feel heavy, if he was thinking of passing it onto a girl. Then, he felt ashamed. His aunt, Princess Benten — Queen Benten, had been chosen by the Fire. He had nothing to —. He thought his father's death should have disturbed him a little. But an uncomfortable idea followed him throughout the night.

'Don't follow me!' she cried again. It was their third day of runaway, and Niji didn't separate from her. At noon, the first day, Benten had risen the Sceptre, and the clouds converged upon the village, and the mist covered the fields. The Ryujin flapped wings silently, carrying their burdens and waving silent good-byes to their former lives. They got off unperceived, under a thick cloak of clouds and mists, and the rain washed the marks in the land and the smells in the air.

Two days away, people had started to talk again. Mists and clouds still covered their rear, and Benten flew back once and again to check the stragglers. Niji was following her incessantly.

'You're plotting something — something dangerous, I presume. I want to make sure you won't get into trouble,' he said.

'You've been watching me since — I don't remember. Let me be, would you?' she protested. 'Uf... I'm tired.'

'Yes, flying without halts is tiresome... Let's land a little.'

Benten giggled.

'You miss your naps... peasant,' she sneered.

Niji stared at her a little surprised, and then he smiled. She selected a group of trees in the bend of a river, and he followed her down there. They sat by the water in human form; and she splashed it with barefoot.

'What are you thinking, Princes?' he asked suddenly.

'What? Eh — nothing...' In fact she was not thinking in that moment. She was tasting the smell of the trees and the mud in the river shore, and the fresh sensation of the water. 'This is a nice spot, don't you think?'

'Yes, it is...'

Clouds were running across the sky, now the caravan of dragons had passed. The sun felt nice on her skin. She always enjoyed sun. So warm...

'Benten — What are you thinking of?' he asked again after a moment. So soft...

'Nothing — You asked it twice. What's up with you?'

'I — I usually hear your thoughts, but today you're in silence... you're scaring me.'

She looked at him, and he couldn't read in her beautiful eyes. He backed a little.

'You can't read my mind now?' she asked with a light in them.

He shook his head. And she switched suddenly to a dragon and with a brisk blow of her tail, she broke his wing as he was switching. The transformation stopped in the middle.

'Hey! Benten what's—?' he grunted.

She had switched again to human, and helped him sit down.

'I'm sorry, Niji. But you're right. I must go, and I don't want you to follow me.'

'So you —'

'So you won't follow. You won't be able to end the transformation until your wing is fixed. They'll come for you soon.'

'Benten where are you going!?' He was scared now.

She stared at him in the eyes. She didn't need to say anything.

'Nooo --. You cannot... Please....' he said breathlessly.

She made a bitter grin, and approached to put him comfortable against a trunk.

'I must stop this war. My father cannot do it.'

'And you think—?' He goggled at her. This was incredible. 'You're just a girl. You cannot master the Tyrant!'

'I'm not a girl. — I'm the Queen. I have power enough to go there and spy on him, and maybe recover the Crown of the Storms... The Tyrant's life is not in War -- he won't be killed in battle... Who knows what is the Tyrant's fate?' she said darkly.

He stared at her unable to believe what was happening.

'You can't —'

'I'll be back soon. I promise you...' she said, kissing his cheek.

'Benten, you —'

He hadn't turned the face. She didn't know what she was doing when she kissed him. She felt his warm breathing, and then his fire. She tasted it slowly and without taking conscience of it, she blew her own. She barely perceived when he closed his arms around her or when the fires merged and made them burst in flames. She knew his kind of fire — not Understanding, as he had told her long ago; he had Prescience Fire. He knew thing beforehand. And she knew what he was perceiving in this precise moment. They would never meet again. She didn't pay attention to the pain. All their senses were vibrating intensely in that kiss of blended fire. All their lives were burning in that single kiss.

She separated slowly, still looking at him in the eyes. Both of them had them full of tears, and none of them could breathe.

'Good-bye, my Queen...' he said.

'Good-bye, my love...'

Both of them knew they'd never see each other again.

Lossar found Niji one day later. There weren't any more clouds in the sky.

'Nikkijh-jin from the Harvesters. Have you seen Princess Benten?' he asked right away, helping Niji stand up.

Niji nodded slow and shadowy.

'She went toward the east, after breaking my wing, so I wouldn't follow her.'

'How could she—!?'

'She took me unaware,' Niji said. Lossar was fixing his wing, and healing it.

'What is she going to do there?' he asked.

'She thinks she can stop the war, or spy or even recover the Crown of the Storms... That she said.'

The expression in Lossar's face was suddenly dark.

'Run away,' he grunted in low voice.

Niji stared blank.

'Run away,' Lossar repeated. 'I don't know if the King could stand the loss of his daughter three days after losing his son...'

Niji stared the Prince. He could feel something dark moving in his mind, but he couldn't fight against it. He looked the Prince in the eyes and nodded slowly.

End of Part one.

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Benten flew back to Missar's village at first. Hidden in one of the neighbouring hills, she saw the Tyrant's army slithering like snakes and invading the village. At dawn, they attacked. Nobody responded, and they burnt and plundered the few things left in the city. They searched the surroundings, but Benten had already gone by that time. She had nothing else to see. And she left no trace they could follow.

She flew overnight toward the east. She stopped when the rising sun hurt her eyes. That or the pain for the destruction witnessed the last night had filled her eyes with tears. Missar's village had been beautiful. Humming springs, bordered with flowers; birds in the trees, music in the houses. Missar had been a poet forced to be a warrior. He had fought to protect beauty and keep a peaceful spot for his people. His wife, Luna, had been from another clan. She had come to the east village, the City of the Springs, in the frontier, one full moon night — a silver white dragon, made of moonlight. She had a strange fire, with the power to impart rest and dreams to the tired and vexed. Luna had supported Missar throughout war, giving him strength beyond his natural resistance. She used to talk in soft whispers, almost like the breeze. And she disappeared in the moonlight when Missar was caught, as if she herself had been Missar's dream. Looking the silver shining on the gardens in the dusk that preceded to the night of destruction, she thought she had seen Missar and Luna's shadows haunting around them. But it was just a flicker of light, most probably. In the morning the gardens were burnt and the houses and cottages overthrown, and the debris scattered around. Nothing remained of Missar's beautiful village.

After the sun stopped hurting her, she went on flying east. But — Why? Why the east? Why the Tyrant's city? What was she thinking she could do there? Her thoughts were disconnected by the pain —. She flew over rivers, and lands and a huge arm of ocean that licked the mainland, without noticing it. Light and darkness meant the same to her. And tiredness felled her on a smooth hill full of flowers. It was again spring.

'Hi! What do we have here?' a voice said near her, and she felt the stroking of a staff. She opened her eyes and saw an old woman in poor rags standing by her. She sat up, taking the hands to her face to check if she was in human form or dragon shape.

'Who are you, girl?' the woman said. — Human shape. Luckily.

'Ben —' she coughed to dissimulate her confusion. If there was a human village, there was no problem in telling them her real name, but if there was a dragon's village... She looked around. The hill was blue with forgetmenot. Myosotis...

'My name is Myo... Who are you, grandmother?' she asked politely.

'Nelak. How did you get here, girl? What are you doing here — and alone? I see you're foreigner...' The woman shot her questions without expecting answers. Benten stuttered a shy "I don't remember" and let her talk on. The woman led her to her hut. A miserable hut in the middle of nothing.

'There should be some trees, and a garden...' Benten thought vaguely when she saw it.

'Well, girl. It'll be safer for you if you stay here. In the village — Well you know men. You're so young and—'

Benten smiled involuntarily.

'Young? How old are you, grandmother?'

'Eighty. But that's a lot for a child like you and—'

'How old do I look like?' Nuri had never explained the rate of ageing of a human. Eighty years? In Ryujin counts she was still a child, and her aspect was that of ten thousand... for a Ryujin. Not even the eldest of them had reached that age and aspect. Benten was stunned.

'Twenty — maybe twenty-five. How old are you?'

'Er— ' Benten hesitated. Obviously, answering four hundred and twenty-three was out of question. 'Twenty-three,' she said, keeping only the last part of the number. That age she had switched to human for the first time.

'Ah...' The woman cast an estimating look upon her. 'Well, if you want to stay here, you should help with the chores,' she said plainly.

Benten stared perplexed.

'I'm sorry, I never —'

'That is obvious. Look at these hands... And maybe somebody drops by asking for a lost lady one day. If you fled, I don't want to know. If you want to stay, you'll learn to work, like the rest of us. If not, you may leave.'

Benten stared at her for a moment. Stay? Then she smiled wide.

'I'll learn,' she said.

The old woman opened the door wide and also smiled.

'Then, Myo, be welcome to my home.'

Life in Nelak's house was... different. At least at first. Then it turned to be calming. Day after day, the humble tasks she had to undertake — feed the animals, check the supplies, cook, sew, patch the sandals, take care of the fire — were forming a tranquillising routine for her that erased the destruction of the War. When Nelak didn't look, Benten lit the fire with a simple blow, but it was more difficult when Nelak was around there. Sometimes, Benten missed those lazy flights around the fields — but in the bottom of her heart she knew that what she missed was Niji. Where was he now? How long would he have waited to be rescued? Would he miss her too? And those thoughts tore a sigh from her. Those times, Nelak looked at her shaking her head.

Week after week, and month after month, Benten was sowing involuntarily her magic in the fields around. It had been barren land; nothing could grow in there. But a couple of days after her arrival, Nelak had found a little white bellflower sprouting by the door. She stared at it for a perplexed moment, and then, she had shrugged and gone on with her duties. That harvest, Nelak commented surprised that the orchard had yielded twice the last year's production. And she congratulated herself for having adopted Myo. Benten also brought a couple of trees — pines — and planted them by the hut, saying they would protect it from the winds — but in the rustling of the needles, she heard the echoes of Mikori's voice. Nelak surprised her many times with tears in her eyes when she stopped by the trees to listen to the wind.

All through those winter afternoons, Benten stayed sitting by the window, embroidering a piece of silk she had found in Nelak's old chest. Nelak gave it to her when she asked it. Every afternoon she looked in curiosity Myo's work and she didn't see any progress. Only by spring she saw. Myo had taken the silk away to wash it, and the sun suddenly shone on the fine thread of gold and reflected on the crystals of the beautiful embroidering.

'Wow... what is it you've done?' Nelak asked. 'Where did you learn to do such a work?'

Myo just smiled. She expected a lot of questions shot in quick succession, but Nelak stared at her waiting for an answer. The enigmatic smile wasn't enough.

'My mother taught me...' Myo said dubiously.

'Your mother? This is the Silk of the Fairies — unless your mother was a Fairy...' Nelak stared suspiciously at her. Myo stared back.

'Don't you like it?' she asked.

'Like it?' Nelak asked, brows risen. 'It's beautiful... But your family will find you if we try to sell it... There is no money to pay for this kind of work...'

Myo smiled.

'They are not looking for me. And there is a merchant in the next village, I've heard. Just sell it to him.'

So saying, she turned her back and went to her own tasks. Nelak stood there, admiring the wonderful cloth for a long while.

And in the summer... Benten had started to talk about having a little pond by the hut, to keep some ducks or even fishes. Nelak said it was difficult, they'd need a lot of work to make a hole large enough... and so on. Benten had just stared with a strange smile on her face. That night, strange noises awoke Nelak. And Myo was not in her bed. Nelak didn't dare to go look in the outside, and the following morning she regretted it. At dawn she had found Myo up, preparing breakfast, and when she went out, a beautiful pond covered the left side of the farm. The animals were already watering in it, and several ducks, came from who knows where, were swimming in the clear waters.

'What is going on here?' she said as she entered.

'Mm? Well, sometimes wishes come true —. Don't you think?' Myo had said with an amused light in her eyes. Nelak had shaken her head — if not disgusted, at least worried. So much luck would mean disgrace... And she started to watch upon Myo carefully.

The night spread its blue cloak upon the fields. Benten had felt restless and nervous all afternoon. Something was going on out there. That silence in the trees and in the waters couldn't mean anything good. Nelak observed her going out once and again, jumping at the faintest sound, staring thoughtfully through the window, and trying uselessly to hide her nervousness. Nelak feigned she didn't see her impatience, and went on with her own tasks.

Benten was disturbed. Three years in this quiet place had brought her no news about the Tyrant. She had accompanied Nelak to the village, that first year, expecting a villa like Missar's one: a little city, plenty of beauty and wonders. She stepped on the muddy streets and looked around. A bunch of huts, as poor and miserable as Nelak's, a pair of starving dogs and a couple of dirty kids running after them. Benten looked at them with curiosity. They had the look of Saris and Vasti when they were about twenty or thirty. Nelak said they were five. A Ryujin of five was scarcely able to stand on hind legs — though they were perfectly able to ask, and they did a lot. She remembered her own childhood, and vaguely thought she had liked to have children. Then she shrugged. Most Ryujin waited until the first half-millennium before the first brood. Only Saris... And Mikori, but Mikori's husband, as a Tenyo, had different stages in his development. Tennin weren't able to talk for the first century, and they couldn't take physical form before two or three hundred. Mikori would have to wait a long time before being able to hug her babies.

Benten shook her head. Thinking of the past wouldn't help her. She had to be human by now. She had looked around the town and knew she wouldn't find help here. Neither information. She followed Nelak from one house to the other carrying the basket with the eggs and the vegetables they intended to sell and the things they bought. She kept her face hidden and her mouth shut. Nelak congratulated her for that when they were home again. Benten hadn't called the attention. And she stayed in the village for two more years.

Tonight it was the Harvest Feast, the Feast of the White Tiger far away, at home. The night felt cold and carried that sweet smell that leaves with the summer.

All that afternoon, Benten had passed in growing anxiety and now Nelak was asleep, she stood up silently and went out. The Eye of the Dragon looked at her over the treetops. She climbed up the blue hill of forgetmenot. She liked to watch sunsets and sunrises from there, and Nelak had never worried about her morning walks. Now she went there to see the moon rising. She had a strange feeling.

She stood there, looked at the yellowish moon rising slowly, and the Eye of the Dragon staring, red, at it. Sometimes the Eye shone in white, and sometimes it shone in red. It always had shone red the day before an attack.

So she raised her arms and switched. Three years she hadn't done it. She stretched her beautiful long snake body, and flapped powerful wings, rising up to the sky. The Ryo-To formed a luminous path, as if stars had climbed down to her commands, and she disappeared in a gate, rimmed in light.

Nelak stared at her holding her breath. She took a hand to her heart. She couldn't believe it. If that was Myo's secret... But Myo had done only good to them. She had smothered the weather, enriched the harvests bringing good rain in due time... the whole village had benefited of her presence. No. She couldn't betray her secret, and she wouldn't do. She had concealed from her the news of the attacks upon the other villages, but... But she had the impression Myo knew, somehow. She'd tell tomorrow, if Myo came back, and then she'd ask her... Myo had done only good to them, she wouldn't betray them, Nelak repeated to herself.

'Why didn't you tell me before, milady?' Nelak asked when she entered the hut in the morning. Benten grinned. What a reception! She realised Nelak must have been awaken when she went away last night.

'Well —. We're different. Nuri, an old friend, told me once humans feared Ryujin, and I didn't intend to scare you or damage...'

Nelak stared at her and nodded.

'I know you don't want to harm us,' she said. Benten smiled. She knew, but what about the others? Nelak went on: 'Where did you go last night?'

Benten sighed. There it was: mistrustfulness. It always was there.

'I went to see my sister Mikori, in the palace of the Winds... I wanted some news of my family... And give them the warning.'

'Is everything all right?' Nelak asked.

Benten shook her head.

'No. Our enemy, the Tyrant, is searching for us all over the face of the Earth. He'll find us one day or other. And I think he's preparing an attack soon—'

'Your enemy? Another — of your kind?'

'Another Ryujin, yes. He — he wants the King's Crown.'

Nelak stared piercingly at her. Benten felt suddenly uncomfortable.

'What?'

'Are you sure he only wants the Crown?' But she changed the subject when she saw Benten's expression. Obviously this girl didn't realise how beautiful and attractive she was. Nelak guessed there were some other things involved in this situation, but she didn't dare to ask her. So she said: 'There is a blue dragon attacking the villages around us. It started almost at the same time you came. We're afraid next is ours...'

Benten looked at her suddenly pale. Was he looking for her, as they said? Had he found her?

'Why didn't you tell me?' she said.

'Well — same as you. I didn't want to worry you,' Nelak smiled, guilty. 'Don't worry, girl. I'm old and I'm not afraid to die. I'll conceal you, so you won't have anything to fear of.'

'Grandmother — I'm older than you,' Benten said softly. 'Almost five hundred... I'll protect your village.'

'No. They wouldn't understand... you can't, Myo, please — They... they have a plan to kill the dragon...'

The old woman grabbed her arm, but Benten had stood up, and pulled a cloak upon her shoulder. 'Let's go.'

'They're going to kill you, even if you save them...' Nelak said. 'Please, be reasonable... I know them...'

'Come on, woman. I won't show my real form, if it isn't necessary...'

Nelak sighed. She was — so stubborn. Like her own daughter used to be.

'All right,' she said at last. At least, going with her she could protect her a little.

The people were assembled in one of the big barns they used for the grain. They usually met there. It was a dim large room, clean, but full of smoke and soft coughing noises. The peasants had come soon, when Nelak gave the alarm. They were discussing if the attack would be now or later, the coming week. They were arguing about the best way to defend themselves, and how could they attract the dragon to the trap They didn't want to listen to Nelak's warning. They didn't want to believe the dragon was coming. Benten remained cloaked in one corner, without saying or doing anything as Nelak had requested. The peasants were suspicious about her, even after three years staying. Her silence didn't ease their suspicions. And she knew their plan to kill the dragon wouldn't work. After all they only had ropes and wooden spears to attack it. They should realise the fire of a dragon must be stronger than a normal fire. She bowed the head, not knowing how could she make them realise. And a sudden noise in the outside froze the peasants.

'Stay still!' she cried. She remembered those sounds very well. 'They won't destroy this building if you keep quiet!' And stood up.

'Myo, no!' Nelak exclaimed. Several hands stopped and hushed her.

'I'm going to help, Nelak. Hush,' Benten said. Her eyes had turned to a strange yellow colour.

'Sh! Let her go!' the villagers said, and they kept Nelak back.

'She's not one of us...' one of them whispered terrified.

Benten had gone out.

The shadow of the flying dragons and the blaze of fire didn't scare her. She saw the faint light of the flames in a barn beyond the limit and she could imagine the animals running away. A far bellow from a cow or something like that could be heard far off. She walked slowly the main street, to the encounter of a thick cloud of smoke and fire.

'Ah —' a deep voice growled. 'A gift... — They think they can appease me with a... trifle.'

'You won't hurt this people,' Benten said.

The smoke dissipated a little, and she saw a man's shape approaching. Dark skin, black-blue long hair, cold black eyes. His mouth still smoking curled in a nasty smile.

'What do we have here?' he said surprised, staring at her. A weird light shone in his eyes. 'A girl?' And he blew suddenly a blaze upon her. She didn't cry, and not even got burn. Her dress burned up and consumed, and she was again dressed with crimson robes she used among the Ryujin. The golden embroidery reflected the fires behind him.

The smile on Kuo's face accentuated.

'Ah—. That's much better...' he mumbled. 'Who are you?'

'Myo! Myo! Run! Save yourself!' It was Nelak's voice. A spasm of hatred twitched Kuo's face when he saw the human woman and he switched suddenly to a dark-blue dragon. He hinted a blow with the tail, to smash the old woman that had run away from a building. Some villagers were running after her. Benten must do something quickly, or he would kill them all.

She switched also into the ruby dragon and plunged upon him, felling him and rolling down the streets roaring.

'Myo!' Even in the struggle, Benten could hear Nelak's cries. She thought she saw the villagers dragging Nelak to a shelter, but she had to pay heed to the battle. Kuo was trying to tear her wings with his claws, and she blew fire in his face. He roared. He couldn't burn her with fire for she curled and twitched so much, so he nailed her with his claws and flapped wings.

His first intention had been to crash her upon the rocks but the light of the sun reflecting in her beautiful scales made him change his mind. That, and the way she fought and resisted.

She had wound her tail around his, and was making him lose control of the direction, steering him down. But he was stronger. He roared once again and blew some more fire upon her, to asphyxiate, and his claws drew out little red droplets of blood from her sides.

'Myo!' That was the last call she heard. Kuo called back his dragons and withdrew. Benten was losing strength. He had poison in his claws, the first Ryujin with poisoned claws, and the poison made her faint.

It was a dark room. The air smelled weird here— rank, musty... not fresh. Her head felt dizzy.

'Hi...' said a soft girl's voice from the shadows. 'Are you all right?'

'Who are you? And where are we?'

'My name is Violet. I'm a Healer.' The light — soft, faint — began to illuminate the room. It was a bedroom, not a dungeon; but it had no windows at all. Violet said.

'You're in Ryo-Kuo's Castle, in East Town.'

'Castle?'

'You're a guest.'

'A prisoner. But this is not a dungeon.'

Violet seemed disturbed.

'No. This is — one of the wives' bedrooms...' she said.

'Wives? I'll kill him if he tries to touch me,' Benten said. 'Why are you here?'

'I'm your maiden. I must prepare you for — you know.'

'That won't happen. You may go and tell your Lord. — I don't know how he could stun me. Nobody had done it before.'

Violet nodded.

'He has poison in his claws and teeth... I've seen him — killing human prisoners with that,' she mumbled. 'I couldn't heal them after it... They dissolved in a black thing... rotten... I can't explain it.'

'You're not old enough as to be a Healer. Why are you—?'

'Designated for it? War causes us a lot of casualties and wounded. Every one of us able to heal is trained. I'm too young to follow the soldiers, but I'll be ready soon.' Violet's expression was gloomy.

'You don't seem much pleased.'

'I'm not. My friend is — he's a Messenger. He had sent him to death once and again. And then, he's going to send me. We're just pawns in the game. When he executed King Missar, my friend was committed to deliver the head to the old King... I thought the old King would kill him.'

Benten blinked. She remembered the young Messenger and his brothers. But she feigned ignorance.

'And did he?' she asked.

'No. You won't believe it, but he forgave my friend's life. He fed him and sent him back...'

'How did the Tyrant react?' Slowly, Benten was recovering the control of herself. She stretched her legs — human form again — slowly.

'He got furious. He gathered his army and they fell upon King Missar's village. They destroy it, I've been told.'

Benten sighed.

'Yes, they did. Not a spring, not a tree, not a column or a flowered arch to remember my — Missar's home...'

'Were you there? Did you know the city''

'I lived there — for a while...' Benten said vaguely. She didn't know whether she should trust this girl.

'They said it was beau—' She broke off, suddenly pale. 'He's here,' she whispered, and backed up to the wall. She was obviously scared.

A noise came from the other side of the room. The wall in it disappeared and a hidden door showed briefly a corridor lit up with torches. The blue dragon entered the room, and settled his serpent-like eyes on Violet.

'Off!' he hissed. Violet rushed away almost terrified.

Benten stared the dragon peevishly, not switching at all. It would have meant respect and deference to him.

'I see you're back. You're strong. — What's your name?' he asked.

She stared on, not deigning to answer. She felt the room heating up. The dragon was getting angry.

'What's your name?' he asked again, approaching.

There was something positively threatening in his walking. He breathed his smoke upon her, and she just stared. He switched violently to human, and held her by the hair.

'Hey!' she protested. He was dragging her out of bed by the hair.

'Tell me your name,' he demanded.

'What for? You've already heard it. What did you do to them?' she said instead, imperious and disrespectful. He let go of her so abruptly that she fell down to the floor.

'A real heart of fire. — I did nothing — yet. And the fact that it remains that way depends upon you — your obedience.'

Benten had stood up. She barely reached his shoulder. He was tall. And even though she went on facing him.

'Is the Tyrant offering his word? Does he have a word of honour?' she mocked.

He made another sudden repressed movement, and she felt the wave of heat hitting her. It was so violent that she stumbled back a little.

'I'm not offering you anything, girl. Don't need to negotiate. I take what I want.' He advanced to her and she straightened, preparing to fight. But he stopped and looked at her, apparently pleased.

'You're strong. And beautiful. You would do a nice queen, Myo, but I must get Benten, Wo's daughter.'

Benten got furious.

'How do you dare! How do you dare to call the King by name!' she cried plunging toward him. The grin curled his lips again as he held her hindering all movement. He approached his face to her neck and hair.

'You smell nice,' he mumbled. 'I bet the Princess doesn't...' But she was struggling hard, so he squeezed her and nailed his claws in her neck, poisoning her until she fainted. He laid her down on the bed, mumbling again:

'I bet the princess is not as beautiful as you...'

It took weeks for Benten to recover from this second poisoning. Violet stayed by her, refreshing her forehead with a wet clothe, or speaking in a soft tone to relax her. She shivered almost constantly, and sometimes she seemed not to realise where she was. But at last she recovered.

'He's been asking about you again,' Violet said one day.

'Tell him I died,' Benten said curtly.

'You know I can't. He'll come one day or other. You should prepare.'

'I won't lay his eggs. Let Benten do it.'

'Do you know Princess Benten?' Violet asked.

'Yes — a little. Everybody knows the Royal Family in Central City.'

'Tell me about it... How is she? Okho seemed to have fallen in love with her. He couldn't even describe her...'

'Her?'

'Princess Benten... He mumbled something about —' Violet broke off suddenly and blushed.

'About what?'

She answered in a whisper.

'He said he could feel she's the Queen...'

But Benten laughed.

'Don't worry. Benten is nothing but a naughty girl. Any one of her sisters would do a better Queen than her...'

Violet stared at her scandalised.

'How can you say that?' she said.

'Yes. Mikori, the Queen of Winds, would have been a beautiful and kind Queen of the Dragons. She would have smothered this War. Saris, with her patience — though she's a little stubborn; or even Vasti, with her endless curiosity... Melori, she should have bee the Queen of the Waters — after all, her reign is under the sea. Sissar, in her throne of salt, in the west... she could have done anything. Mohr in his land full of volcanoes, King of the Fire, why not him? — And even Rusk, in the frozen north... Any one would do a better King or Queen than Benten.'

Violet stared at her. She had sounded so bitter.

'You know them so well...' she mumbled.

'Everybody knows the Royal Family —' Benten repeated. But tears had come to her eyes. She missed them.

'But only you love them that way...'

Benten stared at her, startled for a moment, but Violet's look was honest. She didn't mean...

'Tell me about Missar. — He was killed here, wasn't he?'

A shadow crossed Violet's face, and she nodded.

'He was down, in the dungeons. I had to go there once —. He was so kind and patient...'

Benten grinned. Missar used to be so kind and patient. She couldn't remember a time when he got angry.

'Why did you go there?'

'He was hurt. After the Tyrant tried to get the Crown...'

'Hmm. That kind of gifts— you know, Kuo would never get the Crown while Missar was alive, unless he gave it freely.'

'But he resisted to the end...' Violet stared the air in front of her with a weird smile. Then she spoke in a soft confidential tone.

'You know, there are some strange rumours among the guards... They say they heard voices, late at night, in the dungeon... they told us that from the first night, when the moonlight touched the window, the dungeon was filled with light. And they heard King Missar's voice, talking to someone. They thought he was going insane.'

Benten smiled.

'A voice like the rustling of the leaves spoke the answers...' she guessed.

Violet looked at her in surprise.

'Yes,' she nodded. 'How do you know?'

'His wife, Luna... She was silvery and light like a moon glimmer, and she spoke in whispers like the breeze... I always suspected she was not a real Ryujin...'

'What was she?'

'I don't know — a Tennin of light? The thing is that she disappeared when Missar was captured.'

Violet sighed and smiled.

'They were together, at the end...' she said.

'That's what I think... Lucky Missar, she stood by him...'

'And what about you?' Violet said suddenly.

'I'm alone,' she said shortly.

'But you —' Violet didn't dare to say "you should have already married," so she kept on looking.

'I'm alone, and I always was,' Benten said simply. 'It's a matter of fate.'

'Fate? — No, I don't want to know.' Violet shuddered. 'Myo — he wants you for wife... You should be prepared...'

'I won't lay his eggs,' she said. 'I rather die.'

'That can be easily arranged,' a voice said behind them. Violet blanched, and stared terrified.

'Off!' the man hissed to her. Ryo-Kuo had presented silently in human shape.

Benten stared at him despicably while Violet ran away.

'I won't lay your eggs,' she repeated.

'Mm... We'll see. — This place is a little enclosed,' he commented, sitting calmly on the bed. Benten stood up and walked to the other end of the room, taking good care of not get cornered. Kuo stared at her amused.

'Yes, it is,' Benten said indifferently. 'But you shut down the windows, they say.'

'They say right. But you may have it again — if you please me. You won't escape, Myo.' He stood up and advanced toward her. She got tense, ready for the attack. 'I am your destiny, accept it.'

'Never.'

'As you like it, then...' And he switched to the blue dragon and dived upon her.

The matrons with the nest were at the door. And Violet. She twitched her hands nervously, startling every time the sounds of the blows and the crash of the things trespassed the closed door. She looked desperately at the matrons, but they just shook their heads. They had attended former Kuo's wives — all of them executed sooner or later after hatching. Kuo hadn't care about his sons or wives. They were in the children rooms — growing. Some of them had been trained and were now among the soldiers. No special treatment. Their mothers had annoyed or bothered him and he just dismissed them. The matrons brought up the kids. This girl was just another one for them...

A couple of roars shook them. They were fury roars, not pleasure ones. Something else got crashed against the wall, and the door opened.

Wrath wrapped him like a cloak of fire. He addressed to the matrons.

'Enter the nest and wait in the other room. — You, Healer, stay with her,' and he went out in fury.

Violet entered after the nest. The matrons looked around surprised and went out shaking their heads in silence. Every hanging was torn or burnt, the bed was out of place, the chairs turned and broken, like the couple of vases that had contained the flowers Violet had brought for Benten to cheer her up.

Benten was curled up in a corner, clothes in rags, covered by half with the remains of the quilt. Eye-closed. Human form. She couldn't lay the eggs in human form, Violet thought. And then she saw the scratches, the blisters, the bumps and the blood. She had resisted to the last consequences. As Missar had done.

She shuddered as she prepared the bed, and carried Benten to it. She had a lot of wounds to heal in her.

A week had passed.

'Please, Myo, switch and lay those eggs... They're killing you...'

Benten had resisted in human form. She was swollen, aching. The not-laid eggs were burning her from the inside. She asked for water every few moments, and she almost couldn't eat. Violet pleaded to lay those eggs. Anyway the matrons would hatch them, and she'd never had to worry about them. But Benten didn't want to. He had hurt her, and she was taking revenge in his sons. The fire in her insides was driving her mad, the burning was unbearable, and yes, it'd probably kill her, but she found it preferable.

'Let them do it... And give me some water, please...' she said.

The matrons checked the nest every morning and evening, but she didn't yield. She wouldn't. Never.

'Ah, thank you.'

After a whole week, Kuo's voice was not unexpected. Again in human form, he took Benten's water. He turned to Violet.

'Off!' he spat.

'You should improve your vocabulary,' Benten said. Violet fear was now less pronounced. Benten's loftiness was turning the young Healer more sure of herself. He snorted a cloud of smoke, and held the glass in Benten's visual field, making it reflect the light.

'I was thinking of you, my proud lady...' he said. 'I think I gave you too much rope, you know. — My mistake, I'm sorry... but I'll mend it now.'

He made a sign with his arm, and a couple of servants took the food — Benten and Violet's lunch — away.

'First the food. You had too much, I guess, for you aren't eating it. So I'll take it away. Then, the company. Your little proud servant will undertake some other tasks. You'll be alone, I'm afraid —.'

'You won't hurt her,' Benten said with fire in her eyes.

'Oh, no, dear. She's very useful. But I'll send her after the soldiers. I think she's ready. If she's not — well... maybe they leave her behind, but — well, we're in War, you know.'

Benten closed her eyes. She couldn't let him force in any direction. He was staring at her; she could feel it even through her eyelids.

'Give me the water,' she said.

'The water? Ah, you mean this one? Mm. No.' He poured it slowly on the floor before Benten's eyes. It spread on the floor and drained. She didn't make a movement.

'I'll take the water also. You won't have food or water or healing company until you lay those eggs.' He stared at her for a second. 'When you're ready, knock the door with your tail, and the matrons will take care of them.'

'Never,' Benten said simply.

Kuo shrugged.

'Then, this will be your tomb. Good-bye, Myo. I would give you my word in the sense you'd be more powerful than the very same Queen Benten, and your sons and not hers would inherit my Kingdom, but —. The choice is yours.'

Benten watched the end of his tail as he went out of the room, and the door closed behind him.

The torch had died hours ago. Benten realised now how little she had appreciated Violet cares. The simple touch of her hands had brought her relief, and her soft voice had convoked a sleep without dreams. Since she got isolated, nightmares didn't stop pursuing her. She awoke startled again, and the flickering light made her feel confused. She tried to sit up, but the size of her waist hindered her. She sighed. She had had real need of that last glass of water, or that she had thought. Now the burning and the thirst were a hundred times worse.

In the raving that seized her, there came mingled images from her childhood. Mikori's wedding, the visit to the Frozen Land of Rusk, Vasti dancing covered with flowers... the day they received their shares. The Sceptre. The idea shook her. She was the Guardian of the Waters. Even if she was locked in a cage of stone, she still was — and waters welled from the stone, after all.

She made a huge effort to stand up, and she somehow managed to do it. She lifted her hand mumbling the ancient invocation, and the Sceptre was there. Beautiful, mighty Sceptre, with the green emerald shining on its end. She touched the stone in the wall, and a clear thread of water began to run tinkling. It formed a little poodle at Benten's feet. She didn't hesitated. She stepped under the rivulet and the water hissed on her ardent skin. It felt wonderful. She kneeled under the water, letting it fill her mouth and refresh her body. The little clouds of steam vanished without trace, like the exceeding of water. She drank until she was satiated, and stood there for a long while.

Time passed slowly in the dark. Very slowly. Without the company of Violet to spend the time, she felt completely muddled. The soft noises from the spring in the corner cradled her a little, and she dozed at times. The pain had mitigated after the bath, but —.

A greenish light struck her attention. Since she had no torch to light the room she was seeing very weird things. But the flicker of light didn't disappear. It seemed the reflection of light through a ceiling of leaves in a summer afternoon, or the reflection of the sun on the surface of a lake. She turned to the source and saw something: a shape that made her sit up and get closer. There was a face in the curtain of waters.

'Who are you?' she whispered.

'The Spirit of the Waters — I gave your father the Sceptre of the Waters, and then, I guide him to give it to you... As the Queen, you may also see the Spirit of the Fire, and the Spirit of the Wind, and the Spirit of the Earth, if you look into the things and liberate your mind...'

Benten made a reverence.

'I greet you, Great Spirit of the Waters. Poor and useless has been the service I made to you...' she said.

'It is, the way it is now. You're letting them kill you, Queen, instead of fight.'

'What do you mean? I'm resisting as long as I can.'

'You're fighting the wrong way, Queen. The Tyrant is stronger in this place, and you won't beat him this way...' the Spirit of the Waters said.

'I don't understand...' Benten mumbled.

'There is only one thing he wants and he cannot have: you. And you own that thing.'

'And you say?' She felt confused.

'He wants you. His desire is his weakness. You can master him through it —.'

'You say I should lay the eggs? And then what? Do you know what's the lot for these kids? They'll start a fight that will condemn our race...'

'No. Really, Queen... Ryujin's eggs need almost sixty days of fire to hatch. You kept these in a human body — a cold human body — for three weeks. The babies should be dead. Even if you lay them, they're frozen...'

'So I killed the babies,' Benten said with no satisfaction.

'You didn't give them a life,' the Water said. 'As long as you don't want them, they won't hatch, no matter how warm the nest be... Didn't you understand yet, Queen? If you don't want the children, they cannot exist. The eggs would be empty. You're the Queen.'

'So you say I should —' Benten was more and more confused at every word.

'...lay your eggs. He longs for an heir. His longing would allow you a way to master him — to recover your freedom... You'll see it clearly when you eat something.'

'Indeed,' Benten mocked. She felt so dizzy.

'Remember... only the Queen may give life to her children...'

The face had vanished. The room went dark. Benten leaned back again. She needed to think.

It was late in the evening when Violet was allowed to get into Benten's rooms. She waited until they were left alone.

She sat at Benten's headboard, and she leaned her head on Violet's knees.

'You did it at last...' Violet sighed. She didn't seem happy. Benten replied in a soft murmur.

'The eggs are frozen. They won't hatch.'

Violet stared at her terrified.

'He'll be angry...' she managed to say.

'And he'll come for another son. And I'll be waiting,' Benten said in hard voice.

Next morning he came.

'Off,' he said to Violet, as he usually did. Violet gazed at him, and pressed Benten's hand, looking at her.

'Go, I'll be all right,' Benten said.

Kuo stared down at her, and he turned to Benten.

'All right, a promise is a promise. I'll give you back your food, your water and your friend —.'

'I want a window,' Benten said shortly.

'What?'

'The price — It is higher now. I want a window,' she said stubbornly.

Kuo stared at her. She was so beautiful — and strong and... And he couldn't let her win.

'All right,' he said. He blasted a fireball against the farther wall, and a little barred gap opened there. Benten turned her back on him and stared the wall.

He restrained his hand to touch her and went out of the room. But he was back before another month had passed.

'Get off!' he hissed to Violet. 'Now!'

Violet pressed Benten's hand.

'Do you need me, milady?' she whispered, though she was so pale. Benten pressed her hand and nodded.

'Bring me the yarn and the needles, and I'll teach you embroider as we talked,' she said calmly, and then she turned to Kuo. 'Well — what is it now?'

But he wasn't in a mood for scorn. He blasted a spurt and the little window went blocked again.

'Your eggs — they won't hatch. We checked them this morning... They're empty.'

'Are they? What a pity,' Benten said cruelly.

He advanced a couple of steps and held her by the hair, pulling backwards.

'Hey!' she cried, stumbling. He held her and smoked on her face.

'You'll lay another brood — and without tricks.'

Benten turned her face to one side.

'I can't — don't be stupid,' she said. 'Once a century, you know...'

'Don't say nonsense... — Nest!' he cried.

Somebody entered pushing the nest and then went away again.

'No. — Once a century, only — you know...' Benten was scared now. Once a century — that was the rule... She felt his fire around her and switched to dragon shape before he burnt her alive.

'Heal her!'

That was all he said when Violet got into the room again. She found Benten fainted in the bed. The nest was still there, empty. Violet didn't understand. Why she didn't lay the eggs? Was she planning to do the same again?

She checked Benten carefully and shook the head. She had not the nasty wounds of the last time, so she hadn't provoked him. She hadn't resisted. Then — where were the eggs? She should have laid at least one... She joined her hands upon Benten and blew her violet fire, letting it down on her. The healing fire melted in the ruby red scales of Benten. She shivered a little, but still she didn't open her eyes. Something was going wrong. Violet stared at her frowning, and pronounced the ancient invocation, summoning all her healing power. A golden light formed among her hands and bathed Benten for a moment. But it vanished soon. Violet wished for a moment she had power enough — but she was too young. Three hundred was so few for a Healer... but she was old enough as to know what she must do.

The Audience Room was empty but for the Tyrant, perched in dragon shape upon the Throne.

'What are you doing here? You have a task,' he said curtly.

'What did you do to her?'

'Girl — you're forgetting whom are you talking to,' he said standing up among clouds of smoke.

'She's not well. I — I don't have magic enough to heal her...'

Violet was so disturbed that she had lost all fear. She stared at the Tyrant with her innocent lilac eyes full of tears. And she was surprised to find a concerned and gloom expression in his.

'Milord —' she stuttered, and remembered to make the reverence. 'Please... come and see her. I think something is wrong with her... I don't understand...'

He said nothing. Just stood up and Violet had to run after him.

Benten was still shivering when they got into the room. A track of blood ran from the bed to the nest where something resembling a broken piece of shell laid. Violet held her, not caring about the Tyrant and asked:

'What happened, Myo?'

Benten shuddered a little.

'Only a brood every hundred years... That's the rule... You know it...' she mumbled.

'What rule? We hatch whenever we want...' Violet said softly.

'No.— Not in Central City — not in Wo's lands, not among Wo's people... We lived in soft weather and peaceful lands... Maidens marry under two hundred, but they wait until five before the first hatch... and then, only a brood every century, not more than two or three at a time... We lived thus for so long that it is a rule impossible to break for us...'

'We lived in War — many of ours died in the battles in the frontiers, or during training... We must —' Violet had sat at her back and was holding her hand. But she hushed. Benten was fainted, or maybe asleep.

Violet felt the touch of the Tyrant on her shoulder. He indicated her to go out, and she had to retire in silence.

She was so pale, he thought. Even in her ruby dragon form she looked dull and cold, as if she was dying. He could understand the Healer girl's worries. He sat by her and leaned down to check her closer. His warm dragon breathing made her shiver again.

'Sleep...' he mumbled, driving his face closer. She always smelled so nice. He stretched the hand and touched her. So cold... He lay by her and held her, breathing hot upon her to warm her. He had had healing fire once... when he was a child. Then he had changed. His father had demanded it. Maybe he could still heal...

'Niji...' she sighed, sheltering against him.

He raised on one elbow to look at her. Still asleep. He held her tighter and she sighed again, relaxed.

'Niji...'

'Sh...' he soothed her, tangling his tail around hers, and holding her even closer. She turned round. The spell kept her asleep. She curled against him and raised the face. She didn't reject him when he leaned his to kiss her. She received his kiss of fire with no hesitation and blew her own in him. Total surrendering.

'Niji...' she sighed for the third time when he released her. He went on caressing her beautiful ruby body for a long while.

Ryujin's Tales - Chapters 6 to 10 of 25

Registered by S. Viglione.