Page 148 of Fate and Flame
“It has happened before. A battle won with all the odds stacked against the victorious.”
I halted, the sand pulling me down as if it were forcing me to talk to the mysterious stranger. “When?”
“Long before your time, during the prime of my own kind.”
“If you show yourself, I’ll hear your story.”
“It makes no difference to me whether you hear my story or not, little healer. But if you prefer it, I will step out of the shadows.”
“I prefer to know whom I’m speaking to.” I focused my eyes, straining to see through the darkness of night. If he hadn’t spoken, I would have never known he was there, and that was . . . mildly concerning.
The ground rumbled as two giant, clawed feet landed in front of me. My heart stopped as I looked up to see a massive yellow dragon staring down. It was certainly not a sight for the faint of heart. He leaned all the way down until his long snout lay on the ground before me, his elongated teeth each the size of one of my arms.
I stumbled back.
Hello, little healer,the beast said. There were words somewhere in my mind, but I stumbled to find them. The hiss of a dragon filled my mind. “So, you aren’t all as brave as the little liar.”
I shook my head. I knew he meant Ara. And no, I was not as brave as she was. I didn’t think anyone was. I think she could scare Fen if she wanted to.
“Certainly, she could.” The dragon chuckled.
“Having your mind read is quite unnerving. The story?” I managed.
“Ah yes. Once upon a time, I don’t know why but that felt important to say, Alewyn was a world of elven faeries and creatures that lurked and lived in shadow. The elven faeries had one king only. His name was Luchar. The elven territory grew too small for the growing population, but the creatures that lived in this world would give the king no more than the land he already had. At first, he thought he was unable to fight them, to push back his borders so they could all live.”
The dragon paused for several moments, blowing divots into the sand as he remembered his story.
I locked my hands behind my back, waiting patiently for the point.
“Luchar had no way to force the creatures back because there were twenty of them to every fae. He prepared for a great battle with the creatures. He had no choice, as they were running out of room in the city. The creatures lined up outside of the king’s territory ready to kill the moment anyone left. But the king was smart. He sent half his kingdom to the battle lines to set up tents. To show that he was ready for war, but the other half, the males, hollowed out the ground below the creatures, carefully digging so they would not know what was happening.”
“And then?” I asked, though I guessed the outcome.
“The day of the great battle that would have wiped out Luchar’s army, he pulled all of his soldiers back toward his castle. He launched boulders at the creatures until the ground below them crumbled. And then his people rained arrows down on the creatures stuck in the holes until they died. It was a bloody mess, but it worked. And those that survived never attacked the king again.”
“So, the moral of the story is, we may not beat them one on one, we will need to be tactical if we aim to win.”
“But you knew that already.” The dragon slid his claws across the ground.
“I did. But we cannot build a great trench below Autus’ army.”
“No. But you have other weapons. Use them.” With those final words, he backed away and into the shadows.Goodbye, little healer.
I continued to walk for hours, thinking about what the dragon had said. What I had already known. We needed a greater plan than just letting all hell break loose and hoping we landed on top. An open sky full of stars and an untouched moon were my only companions as the world around me slumbered. I found myself standing outside of Fen and Ara’s tent just as the sun was rising.
“You look like hell.” Ara pulled the tent flap open and stepped outside. “Glad I’m not the only one.” She handed me a cup of tea and went back in to pour herself another.
I sipped the warm tea and watched the camp come alive one warrior at a time.
“What’s on your mind?” Ara asked, stepping back out of the tent, with Fen in tow.
“I’ve got an idea. It’s a terrible, dangerous idea, but it’s all I’ve got.”
“Oh, my favorite.” Ara blew into her hot cup. “Shall we gather the team?”
“We’d better.” I locked eyes with Fen.He nodded, and we spilt in three different directions. I covered my eyes when I opened Rhogan’s tent and found Wren naked inside.
“Oh relax, Temir.” She laughed. “I’m sure you’ve seen breasts before.”
