SciFi and Fantasy Stories: Ryujin's tales - chap 23 to 24 of 26

Ryujin’s Tales 2 – Chapter23 to 24 of 26

Registered by S. Viglione.

Chapter twenty-three. Heiress.

Five years had passed. The Crystal Stone had been throbbing in light since Althenor killed the princes. They guessed the souls had gone back to the Stone. So they needed new babies. Queen had strained herself, and she had laid three new eggs. But it had been difficult. The prohibition of the hundred years was still powerful for many Ryujin — only a brood every century — and since they had the Doom, breaking the rule had been more difficult. Queen was exhausted, and Ryujin nested with her the whole term. In a certain way, she felt happy. He used to take care of her in the sweetest of ways. He only went out for Kierenna's wedding, by June. She had married at last that sullen wizard of Fara. A weird election, Queen thought, if that were not her destiny. Kierenna repeated Sahi and Fiona's stories. And she loved that wizard of water. She had got merrily into trouble for him once and again, always trying to help him and the others. And maybe this time she was facing a power far more dark than the past ones. She had come in the summer to question the King about the Four Keys. She whirled like a wind and went away, and then she came back. For three times. The next one would be for the last Key. Crazy woman! No — daring woman. She had broken all the rules.

Queen felt the movement under her body and thought of calling her husband. The half Ceremony had been performed last night... and it seemed to have succeeded. No Giver had jumped into the Crystal Stone, but the rendered souls had passed onto her sons. She moved aside, and saw the eggs wobbling. The breeze blew warm through the window. It smelled of flowers. It was Zephyr, most probably. He used to blow around for a while before taking shape. But Queen didn't pay attention. She was concentrated in her babies. The first egg shook a little more and crackled. A long cleft crossed the grey surface and the shell broke in two. The baby coughed smoke and crawled toward Queen. She smiled, watching the baby and turning to the other eggs.

'Wow... It's beautiful...' a voice mumbled at her back. Kierenna's voice. Queen turned round surprised.

'Enna? What are you doing here?' she said.

'Sh! Look!' the woman mumbled biting her lips and watching the nest. She had climbed up Queen's tail, and was peering upon her to the breaking eggs. The second egg wobbled a little more, and Queen breathed upon the nest.

'Where's Ryujin?' Kierenna asked in a whisper.

'Next room. He'll got in any time... something with the Messengers...'

'Uf! Always working! He's missing the best part. — Oh!'

The second egg was also breaking. The pink end of a white snout sniffed and the egg rolled aside. A muffled puking came to their ears. Kierenna giggled.

'I'll go for him. What kind of father—!'

Queen smiled. She curled her wings around the nest to keep the temperature. For some reason, the third egg was still.

'Enna...' she called. But Kierenna was out. Queen stared nervously the egg. The other babies were curled one against the other. She blew warm upon the nest again, and climbed down.

'What's up?' Ryujin asked entering the room in human shape. Kierenna followed him.

'The last baby... It's not breaking...' Queen said.

'How—? Let me see...' Ryujin approached and looked into the nest. He blew fire, but he startled when the shell changed its colour, and fluttered the wing upon the nest.

'It's too hot... We're burning the baby...' he said, staring worried into his wife's eyes.

Kierenna had slithered quietly between the claws and tail of her friends.

'Let me try, Ryujin, please...' she said. 'Arthuz fires are softer...'

Queen nodded, and Ryujin moved a claw. Kierenna drew out a wand and touched the top of the egg, mumbling a couple of words. Then she approached the face and blew. Human fire. The fire of a simple human witch. It was so soft that the dragons didn't feel any change of temperature. But the baby in the egg did. Kierenna jumped back with a giggle and the egg broke all of a sudden. A little golden baby was there, looking everything with golden eyes.

'Emelys,' Ryujin said.

'Our little Hope,' Queen added.

Kierenna said nothing. She just smiled and climbed down the nest, leaving the couple alone with their offspring.

The woman in purple robes was sitting ion a bench, staring thoughtfully the Crystal Rock. The sun reflected in rainbows on it. Kierenna sat by her, and they remained silent for a while, every one lost in her own thoughts. The sudden sigh took Kierenna out of them. She looked at the woman.

'He's not there anymore...' she mumbled. 'I can feel it.'

'Who, excuse me?'

'My husband... He's not there anymore. I cannot hear him in the Stone...'

'Is he— is he dead?'

The woman grinned and settled a couple of beautiful violet eyes on Kierenna.

'No. Not really. He's gone. He gave his soul to one of the King's kids...'

'They're just born... five minutes or so...'

The woman nodded and smiled again. But her eyes were full of tears.

'The doom had got heavier for us with the years.'

'What doom?'

'We have no children...' The woman stared at the Crystal Stone for a second and a couple of tears ran along her cheeks.

'Violet...' Kierenna saw Ryujin's hand setting on the woman's shoulder. She turned to him.

'He's gone, my dear... I find difficult to accept it.'

'His soul has a new start. Come, nanny, and meet the babies. 'Enna helped little Lys, and we saved all the souls...' Ryujin's voice had sounded warm and comforting. The woman placed a hand upon his, and raised her eyes to him.

'Is he—? Are they all right?'

'Please, Violet, come. My Queen needs you the same way I needed you, and my grandmother...'

The woman smiled wide.

'But I was young then, and now I'm old...'

'Ryujin never get old,' Kierenna said. 'Come on, see the babies, and you — you will explain that thing of the doom.'

'All right, 'Enna. Tonight we'll tell tales. You'll tell me of the Jewels and I'll tell you of the Doom.'

'A deal.'

Kierenna had got on well with Violet, and most of the Ryujin, mainly the Messengers. She used to ask them to take her in her frequent business trips. Like Ryujin used to do, she had many businesses with the wizards in the market and the valley. A couple of years after travelling for the Jewels, she had some trouble with the Dreads from Nowhere. Ryujin sent the Messengers and Violet to heal her up. And then, Fara's wand turned dangerous. It happened so suddenly that he almost hadn't noticed it. He thought then it was weird, the fact neither Kierenna nor Fara realised of it on time. And then, when he came round to check the situation he saw the reason in 'Enna's waist. She was bearing. So he took care of the situation. With Nobody's help, he stole the wand and cured it. Fara recovered, but 'Enna delayed a little more. Ryujin resorted to Queen, but she said that he must allow her to follow her own way. And she knew she was right. Cassandra Troy and Comites Fara had their own way to follow. The next news he received were the birth of Kierenna's baby, and after that, the defeat of Althenor. Kierenna had united Water and Fire to erase the threaten. The eleventh stone. The new age was about to start. Ryujin smiled and let life go on.

'Aren't you going to cry?' Ryujin asked. Another five years had passed, and they were standing at the station, watching the train off, taking the children to the valley. Ryujin approached smiling.

'Don't bother me... I've just got rid of the first, and there's only Sol missing — Why didn't you tell us?'

'Well, we thought Lys would delay a little more — her development have been a little slow, you know...' Queen said. Her voice was kind of a common woman. Comites Fara stared at her. Her impressive charm was lowered down but it was still strong. She was a woman you would never ignore. But her power was hidden, and she was at this moment just a mother sending her daughter to school.

'Slow development? How old is she?' he asked.

'Six. But she looks like one of your eleven...' she said.

'No, rather a ten-years. But she'll look like twelve by the end of the year. Her brother are by now fully grown, and to give you an idea, in human form they look of twenty...'

'Fast development, indeed,' Fara commented. 'You don't waste time growing up children.'

A sad smile crossed Ryujin and Queen's faces.

'In fact it's a part of a curse. We have no children.'

Kierenna said softly:

'Why don't we have a cup of coffee? If you're going to discuss that stuff, I'll need something comforting.'

'All right. There is a cafeteria two blocks away.'

They were sat at a little café. It was almost empty, rather dark, a bit dirty, but the coffee was good.

'Now, tell me the story, please,' Fara asked.

''Enna...' Ryujin invited. 'You're so good telling stories...'

She smiled. She didn't feel like telling stories right now, but she couldn't refuse a request from him. So she started telling the story Ryujin had told her once.

'Well, Benten was the daughter of the Dragon King. They lived far away. She didn't want to become Queen, so she ran away. She disguised as a human witch... But she was more than that. I got really surprised that nobody asked how a human witch could switch into whatever animal...'

'I guess they thought it was just a tale.'

'Maybe. — On his hand, Ryo-Kuo, the Tyrant, belonged to other of the clans; the old enemies of the Dragon King, living at the far East of the world. That's why he wanted Benten for wife. He recognised the power, though not the shape. She had two kids, a boy and a girl, Aleena. When she was born, Benten disguised as human again, and I guess she hid magically the place they lived in. In some years, Aleena was a beautiful woman, and Benten sent her to meet her lot... I told you the story long ago... Did I told you the beach where she was killed has its sand black?'

Fara nodded.

'And the echoes of her last cry still sounds in it,' he quoted.

'It was not poetry. They say that the waves on that beach bring the complaining of Benten when she knew the story. The Lord was also killed in that beach, by his own people. His blood blended with Aleena's. That's what made the sand black: the mingled love, desire and loathe they felt for each other. A poisoned love...'

A faint smile was in Ryujin's face.

'I didn't tell you that —' he protested softly.

'I've been hearing many voices since I got in the Trigonum. And I've read a lot...' she said with a grin. 'What books don't say is that Benten cast a curse upon that island. Every year, in Aleena's anniversary, the hurricane hit that beach, tearing the forest, wrenching the houses, destroying everything. The Lord of the Town, when he was an adult was told about the way his father killed his mother, and that was the reason for the annual storm. So he did many useless things to appease the demon they thought was causing the tempests. When he was an old man he climbed alone a certain hill over the beach. It stuck out like a prow over the sea and the wind blew strong against it. He cried his pain, the pain of his people to the wind, and the wind managed to bring the one who could help...'

Ryujin had blushed. Queen was staring at him with an odd smile on her beautiful face. Kierenna went on.

'I don't know what they told each other, but they made up and that's why the legend says the Dragon King masters the storms. Nowadays only a mild rain commemorates the day of Aleena's death...'

'Who told you? That is not in any written book,' Queen said.

'I heard it in the wind. — You know, Zephyr is a good friend of mine.'

'And a chatter,' Ryujin mumbled.

Kierenna turned to Fara.

'The thing is that when Ryujin fought Ryo-Kuo, he cast that curse upon he and his people. Those were his last words, because his grandmother took hold of him after it, if I'm remembering it well...'

Ryujin and Queen nodded.

'The curse is that the number of their souls will never grow. Their sons will have no spirits...'

'Our first centuries were so difficult. We laid our eggs, and the kids just die before being able to break the shell...'Queen said. 'Until we realised that the number of our souls could be the same, but that wouldn't banish us from having babies. My mother was the first. Her sister had laid an egg. So, my mother went to the Crystal Stone you saw in our village, and she jumped into it. She disappeared, but a day after it, the egg broke and my little cousin lived...'

'Dawn and Dione's mother...' Kierenna explained.

'Some time after it we recognised signs of the old spirit in the new creature. We discussed the matter for a long time — maybe centuries. Everyone would lie an egg, or more if they supplied the souls. The Royal Family is allowed to hatch a whole brood every hundred years, to assure the birth of the new King or Queen...'

'Not the elder son?'

'No. The Dragon King — or the Queen, must have certain characteristics. It's not always the first born,' Ryujin said. A sparkle shone in his eyes. Kierenna stared at him.

'You — you have...?'

Ryujin and Queen nodded.

'It's Lys... She'll be the next Dragon Queen... She has the old flame in her soul.'

Kierenna stared at them at a loss of words. Fara reacted first.

'Congratulations,' he said. Ryujin and Queen smiled.

'No, you don't understand,' Kierenna said softly. 'That means they must give their souls now... They must die.'

'Yes — as Ryujin and Queen, at least. We decided we're going to give our souls to Lys' sons, when she is ready. So don't worry, 'Enna. It's just another turn of the cycle...'

There was a pause. Fara broke it.

'I have a question.'

'Yes?' Ryujin asked politely. Neither he nor Queen seemed to be worried or afraid or sad.

'What happened that year that Althenor killed your brood' A shadow passed through Queen's face.

'The souls remained at the Crystal Stone. Queen had to exert herself and lie another brood before the century. We were afraid to lose those souls...'

'But you didn't. Two souls saved in the first brood, and three in the second. Including Lys,' Kierenna said.

'Thanks to you. You saved Lys.'

Kierenna dismissed the point.

'I only warmed her up...'

'And now, we're asking you to take care of her, and teach her so she get to be a good Queen... the next seven years are for you, godmother...'

'I'll make you only one promise, and that's the best I can promise to you. I'll take care of her as id she were mine.'

'It's enough for me,' Queen said, holding Kierenna's hand.

But it hadn't been enough, Queen thought bitterly a few months afterwards. They had arrived, and since the girl stepped on the square she felt the sticky coldness slithering in her insides. She knew the girl of old; Kathy Fara, Emelys' best friend. Kierenna's daughter. Fara's daughter. But the evil was growing in her, and the parents didn't seem to know. Kierenna was stunned by the moment. She had got into trouble again, dealing with a Two-faces, and killing her demon-half. Or trying to separate them. Whatever she had done, it was dangerous business she had better avoided. But she hadn't. She got merrily into trouble, as she used when somebody asked help. Queen should get angry at her, but she couldn't. Kierenna was... she was an eternal child, innocent to the extreme. Now the danger was closer, and she was unable to act. As to her husband, well... Comites Fara was kind of hypnotised about his daughter. He'd never notice something wrong in her, no matter how obvious it was. The cold sparkle in the eyes of the girl... covetous, evil... It was evident to her, but not even the King had noticed it. Queen shuddered, and reviewed her options. She had none.

She had seen the girl playing with the kids, Meliac and Roshum and Emelys, the four of them running around the square, or climbing the hills to watch the sunset. She focused her mind on them every time they disappeared from her sight, but the girl didn't make anything. Those moments she thought she had been wrong, but then, she looked into Kathy's eyes and knew again the ghost of Althenor was there, alive and awake. And after three days, Kierenna came to.

'Three days! You made me sleep for three days!' she recriminated to the King. Ryujin laughed. They told her what had happened in her dream, but she didn't remember. That was probably the best. Old Zothar, Arthuz and Ingelyn were hard to stand at times. And they had a party to congratulate her for her recovering. Comites Fara was, as usual, proud of his wife. He really loved that woman, childish and irreverent as she was. They retired to their rooms long before the party had ended.

The girls had followed them. Kathy said she was tired, for the young dragons had been taking her flying from one place to the other, always pirouetting in mid-air. And Emelys also went to bed: she was used to human customs now she was in the Trigonum. They had strict rules for the beginners. So, she also retired with the King.

It was late in the night, and she was staring at the ceiling, side by side with her husband. She was listening at his breathing; he was awake. And then, she heard the other noise. Soft, muffled footsteps. She shivered, and the hand of the King pressed hers.

'The hour of the Destiny...' he said.

She closed her eyes tight.

Emelys was looking the world through a misty glass. She didn't see very well, and she was not sure of what she was doing. She only woke up and knew she must go. And she went.

Her arms itched a little with the scales. She needed a rest in dragon form. She stood up before the doors of the Throne Hall and waited. Kathy sneaked quietly from the corridor. Her eyes looked strange, but Emelys was so sleepy as to notice it. She said:

'Open the door,' and Emelys did.

They entered the room; and the only light in it was the Crystal. Long before, Ryujin had made this crystal, uniting his power with the Queen's, and they preserved the fire of the Givers before the Ceremony. The Little Crystal preserved the memory and the Crystal Stone preserved the magic and the souls. Emelys was lost in her thoughts looking at the light in the Little Crystal. She didn't move or say anything until a shadow moved in front of her eyes.

'Come...' the voice came to her. And she followed.

Kathy passed in front of her and went on to the Little Crystal. She embraced it. Emelys surrounded it from the other side. It felt hot against her chest. Her hands barely reached Kathy's hands. They grazed each other fingertips. And then, the white sparkling and a powerful wave of power rejected them backwards. Their bodies hit on the marble floor.

Chapter twenty-four. The love that makes survive.

'How's Lys?' Kierenna asked.

It was morning. Ryujin and Queen had found the girls before sunrise. Still fainted.

'Meliac is taking care of her. We placed her by the Crystal...' Queen said.

'What happened to the Crystal?'

The Ryujin hadn't allowed them the entrance to that room again. Ryujin's expression got gloom and shadowy.

'The Crystal had darkened. There's something in it — something that shouldn't be there. It was contaminated.'

'Do you think —?' Fara began slow and suspicious. Ryujin stared right at him.

'I think — no; I know the girls touched the Crystal. And one of them poisoned it. I also know one of them tried the Crown, and it's not for mortals,' he said.

'What are you hinting, Ryujin?' Fara frowned.

'I think your daughter put it on.'

Fara lost control that moment.

'I won't stand this anymore. What do you think! What are you hinting about my daughter?! — Cassandra, stand up. We're leaving now!'

Ryujin didn't make a move to stop him.

'Kierenna!'

She stood up slower.

'Tell Eldermaster Aurum Lys won't go back to the Trigonum. — Not even if she recovers...'

'Why —?' Kierenna asked in a whisper.

'We cannot risk our future Queen...' he said. Queen stared at her with pity in her eyes.

'You looked after them as if they were your own daughters, Guardian. But anyway, it wasn't enough...'

'I'll be with you, 'Enna, if you keep in this side of the scales...' the King said.

Kierenna nodded.

'You know I'll fight for them,' she said.

'And you know how it's pointless now...'

She stood up and left the room.

Queen and Ryujin saw the couple getting lost in the distance. She stared at her husband for a long while. He seemed loaded with some pain. She got closer and laid a hand upon his shoulder. He turned to her with a gloomy look.

'They will get out of this...' she said softly. 'Trust her...'

He stared on, and shook his head a little.

'She'll fail, and then she'll go back and do it the right way. My worrying is not about her. I'm worried about Emelys. She must choose.'

The Queen looked into her husband's eyes. She was not sure of what he had meant. With the centuries he had become a wise man, a powerful King, and the Crown obeyed him.

'You looked in the future?' she asked.

'Yes— and no. I looked in the alter-times. We're in danger, my love. We might lose everything... this is knot in time, a knot in the net of destiny...'

'And we're...'

'...just trapped.'

Queen sighed.

'Then, let's follow the right thread,' she said firmly. And she turned her back to get into Emelys' room.

Meliac was there, at the door, when they came out at noon. The boy looked at the King.

'Are you worried about her?' Queen asked softly. Meliac nodded.

'How is she?' he asked in a thread of voice.

'She's still fainted. Go on, you may wait by her, if you want,' the King said, keeping the door open for the boy. Meliac bowed a little and slid into the room. Queen looked at the King with a question in her eyes, and the King nodded in silence. She didn't say it aloud.

Days had passed very slowly for Meliac. He remained there, on a pillow by Emelys' head. He just curled there and watched the sleeping princess. And waited. At times, half-dozing, some images crossed his mind. But then, he realised they could not be memories, for in the dream he was following what seemed a body of soldiers. He was concentrated in a green one, a nice Messenger with a necklace of darker scales. Emelys had a kind of necklace of brighter scales... And the one in the centre was... strange. A scale of light, Meliac thought at times. Like his own, but he had shown it to no one. He had found it long ago... No, he was about one year old. He had found it six months ago, the day he learnt to walk like a human. He and his brother Roshum had followed their mom, without her noticing it. Roshum had amused him with a path in the woods, and Meliac followed him. But then, he saw a strange light, a rainbow on a little fall. He left the path and touched the wonderful waters. The Jewel had touched silently his fingers and melted in him. When he came back to the path, his brother hadn't noticed anything, and he didn't tell him. He was waiting. And then she came. He hadn't expected her... A Princess... His heart jumped and filled with the light of the Jewel when he recognised her. She had the other half. He didn't know whether she was aware, but he approached. And she received him as a friend. He felt happy, but could feel the threaten of the darkness, hindering her from the Jewel's light. The light, the knowledge, the wisdom were banned for her unless she won upon the darkness. That was clear. So he stayed by her and waited on.

Now he felt worried. She seemed unable to recover on her own. He curled by her, smelling the soft perfume on her hair, watching the faint colour on her cheeks. She had kept the human shape for days. Maybe she should change... Dragon form used to be stronger.

Meliac looked around. Neither the King nor the Queen were around there. There was nobody to ask. If he had Healing Fire... But he didn't know. Maybe he couldn't heal her. The King should have done: he was a Healer. The Queen should know; she was a Knower... But they were just waiting. Maybe he should also wait.

The little Crystal changed his colour a little. Blue, violet... The violet light remained a little longer. And then, the green sparkles. Dark sparks, like the colour of the dragon he followed in the dream. The Jewel on his chest sparkled in response, and he felt the Fire lighting up his heart.

He switched to human form so suddenly he almost made a pop. He lifted Emelys and carried her up to the little Crystal. He held her standing and embraced her and the Crystal together. The wave of heat was soft to him, and the violet light shone stronger. And he sensed the change in Emelys. She shuddered and pushed him a little. He thought she was about to switch, so he made room for her. And she switched. But she jerked  back and fell down, still fainted on the floor. Meliac looked at her in deep concern and placed her again on her bed. Then he started out to look for the Queen or the King. He didn't see the white Jewel on Emelys' chest, shining again in pure white light and taking the darkness off the little Crystal.

Meliac bumped into the very same King.

'Mi—milord, I—'

The King said nothing. He just nodded and beckoned him. Meliac followed the King to a little office crammed with old parchments.

They entered the office, and the King closed the door. He pointed a chair and sat before him. He still hadn't said anything. The King observed him for a while, and Meliac moved uncomfortably. And then, he drew something from a chest under the desk. The Crown. The Living Snakes of the Crown moved and hissed a little when the King left the Crown upon the table, and they turned the faces to the young dragon. And the King spoke in a low voice, impressive in the thick dusty silence of this room.

'The whole race of Ryujin is endangered. I know you tried to help, but — maybe it is not enough. The Queen gives the life, the King preserves it. Emelys is the next Queen. The white flame had nested in her heart long before she met this... darkness. But she's the Tyrant's descendant... The white fire is also burning in your heart, Meliac, next King of Ryujin.'

The King stretched his hand and the light in Meliac's chest was evident. Pure, bright, the Jewel still obeyed the King. Meliac hid the luminous scale with the hand.

'You are the next King, Meliac. So, even though you are still too young, and you have still a long way before you put on the Crown and sit on the Throne, it is time for you to know what kind of peril is surrounding us.'

The King had stood up. He took the crown among his hands and put it slowly on Meliac's head. The kid closed his eyes. For a moment he stayed rigid, but suddenly he started to shiver. The King held him warmly as the visions spread before Meliac's eyes.

Emelys and Kathy had reached the centre of the maze first. A golden berry was there, hanging down from a branch. Kathy stopped and stared at it.

'Come on, take it!' Emelys cheered.

'No.' A strange smile crossed Kathy's face. 'Let's wait for the others.'

And she leaned down to the ground and picked up something, which she cleaned on her robes.

They hadn't waited long. Almost at once, the others stepped into the inner circle. Myra, Cordelia, John, Gwendolyn.

'Kathy why didn't you get the ---?' Cordelia said.

'No. I didn't take the Berry because I already have my prize...' Something in her voice sounded weird --- evil. 'Do you want to see it?'

Emelys stood behind Kathy. She was in human form, but there was something threatening in them. Cordelia stared at them in curiosity.

'No, I think not. If you got here first, take the Berry and let's finish. John is not very well...'

'He'll be all right...' Kathy said. She was taking something out of her robes. A silver medal, half of it. She took out the other hand and opened it slowly. 'See...' He voice sounded calm, almost without inflections. 'I got the other half of my trinket,' she said.

When she put together the two halves, there was something like a lightning of darkness. And the medal got welded, as though it had never been split. She looked at her partners with smiling red eyes.

'Now I know what I want, you know. And I got what I needed.' She stared at them one by one. 'Are you with me?' she asked softly.

It would be unfair for them to say they could have resisted. They just submitted to her now untameable will. But Cordelia was stronger. She stood up again.

'No!' she said, reacting. 'No. You are not ---' she looked terrified how a deep dark Shadow stood behind Kathy and Emelys. It leaned a hand on either girl's shoulder.

'Then,' it said. 'You won't tell anybody.' And something out of any explanation hit Cordelia and felled her to the ground. Kathy neared the others and talked in a soft voice. 'You shall come when I summon you,' she said looking coolly at them.

'Now, the berry,' the Shadow said. 'Get it, Milady.'

Kathy stared at it, and suddenly she grinned.

'I won't obey your commands, Lilien.'

The Shadow bowed and backed a couple of steps.

'Then, accept a suggestion, Milady.'

'Emelys! Switch, and bring me that stupid thing,' Kathy said.

'No,' Lilien said. 'You must take it by yourself. So you will be able to control the Sceptre in its due time.'

Kathy stared at the shadow through eyelashes.

'All right...' she said. And she switched suddenly into a huge monstrous snake. Hissing, she stretched up and reached out for the golden berry.

The blackberry turned into a thick smoke curtain. Kathy switched back to human before the smoke dissipated, and they blinked at the noon sun in the middle of the circles.

Unaware of everything, all the people of the Trigonum began to applaud.

The image changed. Emelys looked older... ancient. Her golden hair was no longer golden. Her scales looked dusty, and dirty, as if she hadn't taken a bath in a long long time. She turned the head, and Meliac saw her eyes, tired, old. She was in her last days. She moved slowly, and he saw she was on the square. The Four Gates had been felled, and the remains of the Crystal Stone laid spread on the ground. A black ooze stained them, dry of old.

'It's not there any longer, Lys,' the voice said, coming from the dark.

'I know. Why are you following me? Hadn't I given you everything? My life? My soul?... My own people?'

The voice laughed cruelly.

'Yes, you did. You indeed did. But, you know, I got where I stand because I trusted no one. And, you see, I don't trust you.'

'I cannot give you anything else,' Emelys cried desperately. 'Let me alone!'

'Only at the end,' the voce said calmly. 'Die, my little friend. Die at last, and join your people.'

Meliac cried when the second figure appeared against the light. Kathy Fara, young and healthy as if she had not surpassed the twenties, was there, but in her eyes there was a manifest empty shadow. She approached with a long spear in her hand. Emelys didn't step back or switched. Darkness surrounded Meliac as he cried again, and he saw no more.

There was only darkness when the King took the Crown off his head. Meliac fell forward, and the King held him.

'We are in a knot of time. We have to allow Emelys to make her choice. But you must preserve the Jewel, no matter what she decides. She will wake up soon.'

Meliac looked at him with eyes emptied of all hope and full of fear.

It was no surprise that Emelys ran away that spring. She fled in the night, leaving a sleeping Meliac at her door. He was waiting for her. The King awoke him in the morning.

'Boy, wake up. Emelys is gone,' he said simply. Meliac jumped on his feet.

'What? How? I spent the night here...'

The King grinned.

'There are still unbarred windows; and your friend is a little sorceress, like my mother and grandmother were. You won't chain her anywhere...'

Meliac blushed. The fact that they knew his destiny —or his future— made him feel uncomfortable. But he had accepted during the past months he was in love with Emelys. And she? No, she couldn't love anybody for the moment. She should be released to be free to love.

'I'll go to the mirror and warn Kierenna. Emelys must have gone to the Trigonum. You may wait here, if you like, or go home. I'll pick you up before going for her.'

Meliac bowed. There was nothing he could say. But there was something he could do, and the King didn't know...

He had a very different kind of fire, he was thinking as he advanced along the tortuous hallway. The torches were lit only in certain sections, and the room he was looking for was in the farthest, deepest corner of the Palace. They had concealed the other Mirror. The King himself had given him the idea when he mentioned the mirror. Meliac knew the King communicated through a commonly bewitched silver mirror. But Queen Sarhu's Crystal, the great Mirror of Ice, was hidden in the Palace of old, since the Queen had left them. A mirror with the capacity of fetch and bring back anything from future or past. But he didn't want to bring anything. He wanted to carry something. His special fire would help. He was a Giver in his heart. As the others were calm Healers of fast Messengers, or fiery Warriors, or Gardeners, or Harvesters... he was a Giver. Just that. He was born to give. And precisely that he was going to do.

He sneaked into the room in complete silence. A bubble of white fire had melted the lock, and he trespassed the door. The Mirror of Ice was there, gleaming darkly backwards to the light. Meliac held his breath as he approached. If he did wrong... The King's words were fresh in his mind: 'You must preserve the Jewel.' Yes, but... but he loved her deeply. He knew it was his love what had cleaned the little Crystal in the Throne Hall. And he trusted Emelys' feelings too. So, he advanced on.

A splinter of the Crystal would be enough. It separated easily, as if it had been waiting for him. The ice splinter shone sharp and reflected the sunlight. He touched it with the luminous scale on his heart.

'By the Jewel of the Kings...' he said slowly, watching the changing images in the glass. The alter-times. The times when he'd loose her, and the ones when they'd be forever happy. The other times. The knot was clear to him for the first time, and he took neat conscience of the danger they were in. 'I send my love to you, Emelys, beautiful princess of Ryujin, to strengthen your heart, to clean your soul, to free your mind... I give you the power to choose your own way, apart from the forces that are trying to chain you... I love you, Emelys, my Queen...'

The piece of ice sparkled again in his hand, and he blew his fire upon it. Then, he pressed the flaming ice against the glass.

'Go and find her in the knot of time...' he said to the ice.

The white light filled the room, and Meliac stumbled backwards, dizzy. When he could see again, the glass was darkened, and it reflected only his scared face.

Ryujin’s tales 2 – Chapter 23 to 24 of 26

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