Page 61 of Redeeming the Dragon

Chapter 35

Where am I?

My first faltering thought. The second was,My head hurts. I think I’ll be sick.

I was a ship captain’s daughter. I’d never been seasick. However, I’d certainly seen seasick Sanlyn when out on my father’s vessel, for not all Sanlyn were seagoing folk. I imagined I felt as they did while rushing to the railing to empty their stomachs.

In fact…

Without even opening my eyes, I sat up, whipping my head to the side as I emptied my stomach of the meal the Jearim had fed me earlier. Albeit, very little came up. I knew there should have been more. Unless I had traveled so far the food had time to digest. Who could tell with the workings of magic?

I scooted myself away from whatever I’d lost, patting the ground behind me and finding it grassy and soft. Finally, I opened my eyes.

Todarkness.

Darkness, but also the most silvery-bright moonlight imaginable. Truthfully, the light was more than imaginable. It was unimaginable. It was night, and yet nearly as bright as day.

Moonswept.

It had to be.

Awed, I climbed to my feet, turning in slow circles, gazing about with my mouth hanging open.

There, ringed by cliffs, stood a castle. Its spires jutted into the moonlight, as though attempting to pierce the glowing orb. A single pennant fluttered from the tallest spire. From this distance, I could not distinguish the emblem.

This is the most beautiful place I have ever seen,I thought, filled with wonder. And yet…beyond the cheerful moonlight lay a veil of shadows, darkness, and fear.

How can such a wondrous place contain so much evil?I wondered, and shuddered. The area was cool, not cold, yet I felt a chill settle into my bones. Was it my imagination, or the knowledge that I was walking into my destiny? A destiny that either included saving the man I loved—and his dragon—from a terrible curse, as well as protecting the land of Aerisia, or else losing my life in the attempt. I could not imagine the matter going a different direction. If I did not save Kidron and his dragon, it would be because the Scraggen killed me.

“If that is the case, then so be it,” I muttered grimly, adjusting my pack on my hip. “It is time to do or die.”

I set my face towards the keep and began journeying towards it. My steps were sure, despite the nighttime hours. The moonlight was magically amplified, and I soon found a winding gravel path. This I stuck to, walking for the next hour or two over hilltops and dips, between massive boulders, and around the few trees that sprouted up along the way.

When I approached Moonswept, what would I find? With what resistance would I be met?

There was no way to tell until I arrived.

The moon’s radiance was dimming by the time I trekked to the doors of Moonswept. By this point, my energy was depleted. I was hungry. Exhausted. The castle’s gates, nearly twice as tall as me, were tightly shut. I saw no guardsmen on the walls. Was Moonswept so fortified by magic, so well hidden, that the Scraggen felt no need for lookouts?

Despair overwhelmed me as I sank to my knees on the patch of cropped grass beside the gate. I glanced up towards the tallest tower of Moonswept, from which a light glowed. Within that light, I could see a dark, shadowy figure—a silhouette. Whether it was Kidron or not, whether it was his room or not, I did not know. I imagined that it was. And imagining that gave me the fortitude to rest and reassess.

There was nothing more to do tonight, I realized. Opening my pack, I withdrew the blanket I’d brought, wrapped myself in it, sat on the grass, and leaned against the keep’s outer wall. The night was nearly spent. Daylight would come soon. I determined to catch some sleep while I could, and reevaluate tomorrow.

With a silent plea to the Powers of Good for protection and help, I rested my head against the stone wall and was quickly lost in slumber.

“You there. Who are you? What do you here at my mother’s keep?”

The sharp call startled me awake, just as unfamiliar voices had startled me awake since the onset of this quest. This time, there was nothing calm, comforting, ancient, or wise about the voice. It was high-pitched and shrewish, affronted and angry. Blinking wildly, I sat up. A figure on a horse loomed over me.

“Who are you?” the voice demanded again. “We see few strangers in these parts. What is your purpose here?”

Hastily, I scrubbed the sleep from my eyes and pushed myself upright, seeking an answer.

My mother’s keep,the woman had said. If that were so, this must be Kidron’s bride. I faced my enemy herself! One of them, anyway.

“My name is Lorna,” I said, licking my lips, hoping moistening my mouth would loosen my tongue and help me craft a believable lie. “I am a…a peddler. I deal in magical artifacts,” I said. My mind bounced from one gift tucked away in my pack to the next. “I travel the land of Aerisia, its length and breadth, in search of new enchanted items. My latest quest brought me here. Might you have anything to trade?”

“Magical artifacts?” The young woman glowered down her nose at me. It was a long nose, and the only thing that kept her from beauty. Much as I might wish otherwise, despite her nose, she was not an ugly girl. I’d had no idea what a Scraggen might look like, but she appeared little different from myself in skin tone, hair, or eye coloring.

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