Flames of Frost

Blaize It was getting colder in the forest.

The dirt was now covered with a blanket of fresh, glistening snow that had fallen the night before. With the frost came the demands of living as a rebel. Our houses were built high in the trees where no one could see us. The thick, twisted branches served as gates of protection. There was no land beyond the Forest of Frost, so there was no need to build a road. It became a forgotten realm.

Until now.

The king’s men galloped through the forest, bearing the black, red, and gold sigil of the dragon waving above its banner men. The soldiers dismounted, violating our trees by nailing posts to their bark. The slam of the mallet against steel was enough to get our attention as they called for our people to hear the king’s new decree.

“By order of his royal highness, King Lorcan, true born blood and heir of the dragon Charon, Lord of the lands of Borvo, Lassair, Abhainn, and the Forest of Frost, all rebels are hereby ordered to swear allegiance to the royal family or be charged with treason. Those charged will be punished as deemed fit by his majesty.” The commander stopped reading and looked out at the rebels who had gathered around him. His eyes shown like blue lights against his dark armor.

“You have three days to get yourselves in order and send a representative to the capital to sign a treaty. The forest has been surrounded by the king’s men. Should you continue to resist his majesty’s mercy, you shall be arrested.”

The rebels began cursing and spitting at the soldiers. We were of no threat to the king. Why would he seek to punish us? By forcing us to sign a treaty, he was no better than the last king. It wasn’t allegiance he wanted. It was expansion—to come in and cut the forest down and stretch his kingdom to the far end of the world.

“And why does the mighty dragon not show up here himself? He can burn our homes to the ground. Is he that afraid of the men of the wood?” It was my older brother, Ewan, whose voice rose up in anger. “Why does the dragon king not leave his stone nest?”

The rebels around him laughed, the king’s men twisted their faces in disgust. “Trust me, rebel thug, you do not deserve his grace’s mercy. I hope you do resist, just so that in three days’ time I may draw my sword and get the last laugh.” The commander of the royal army repeated, “You have three days.”

That night, we huddled in our tree houses while the soldiers made camp down below in the snow. We had weapons, we were skilled hunters, but we hunted elk, foxes—even bear. We had never turned our bows and daggers on another man before.

Drawing furs around my shoulders, I breathed into my hands to warm my palms and listened as the older men argued.

“We did our duty to the Clan Drago. We rebelled against Savio and the innocents he slain. We killed his true born heir and brother to Queen Isolde. He was the threat to Lorcan. Why should we give up our freedom now? Our land? We earned it!”

“The land belongs to Lorcan, we only live off of it. That was the original agreement.”

“The land didn’t always belong to Lorcan, just as it didn’t belong to Savio. He wants us to bend our knees so that he doesn’t look like a coward when he cuts down our forest and turns the wild into a filthy city.”

“Queen Isolde fought to restore Abhainn to its original beauty. Surely she would not allow the King to ruin a forest that is thousands of years old.”

“What say does a woman have in how the kingdom is ruled? She has no power, no woman does. As for land, Lassair is nothing but ash and rock. Sure, Lorcan has Borvo and Abhainn, but that can easily be conquered by the savages across the Salted Sea. He needs us, and he knows it.”

The arguing was giving me a headache. All of the men had valid points. To be honest, I was too tired to take a side. I abandoned the fires where they all sat and headed over to the rickety bridge that connected the trees together. We had our own village and our own streets that connected to the main meeting hall. Our pathways just happened to be about thirty feet off of the ground. Before I could step onto the bridge, Ewan caught my arm, and shook his auburn hair out of his eyes.

“Hey, little brother. Where are you going?”

“To check on mother. She needs to eat something.”

Ewan winced his eyes, checking to see if I was lying. “Very well…but I need to know something. When the dragon’s soldiers raise their swords, will you cower to your knees or draw your bow and fight with us?”

I placed my hand on his shoulder. “My duty has always been to this family.”

Ewan looked relived. “Good. Then we fight. We shall not surrender our freedom to a man too much of a coward to face us himself.”

I nodded, knowing Ewan had just sentenced us to death.

****

The candles gave the room a warm glow as my mother read from one of her favorite books. “Blaize! I thought you had forgotten me today. So much commotion. What news have you?”

I placed a blanket of beaver pelts over her legs to keep her warm. There was a chill in our home tonight. Mother had lost her ability to walk a few years after father died. She was a great healer and had helped deliver every baby in the village. She knew how to grow herbs and what flowers should be crushed and applied to a wound and which should be liquefied to be given as a tonic. But when her legs started to weaken, and she could not heal herself, the villagers began to give up on her. When my father died from a venomous snake bite, the knocks on our door faded away. The village was filled with superstition, and they wouldn’t listen to the truth.

Father had taken Ewan and me fishing on the other side of the forest. We were a couple days walk away from home, and father had hidden the bite from us. He knew he would not make it back, and so he spent his last days telling us stories and giving us last lessons on all he knew.

My mother cried bitterly over his body and swore she could have saved him if he had only come home, but the village thought had she truly been blessed by the touch of the healer, she could have drawn the poison out of him—even in death.

Ewan and I were all she had left, and part of me wanted to cross over to the soldiers’ camp and ask if they had a carriage to carry her back to the capital. But I knew she would never go without us, and I had already promised Ewan that I would stay by his side. But who would stay by hers?

“Blaize? What is it? You look troubled.”

I sat beside her and told her of the king’s decree, how the men argued, and how we had three days to decide.

“It’s not worth bloodshed. I lost your father in a senseless death. I will not lose my sons.”

“Ewan…” I began.

“He’s already made up his mind. There’s no changing it now.” Mother reached for my hand and placed it in hers. She was old; her beautiful, yellow hair had turned gray, and her skin was wrinkled around her hazel eyes, but her hands were still soft and smooth. “You must try to change it. You have lived twenty-six years in this forest, Blaize. And your brother has lived close to thirty. You need to see more than the trees and the waters where you fish.”

“I’ve seen the capital. It’s just stone and noise.” I recalled being there once as a boy. My uncle took me there to do some trading along the road.

“You’ve seen the walls that protect the kingdom, never what dwells within.”

I shrugged. “It’s not a life I desire.”

“Are you sure? You should be married by now with sons of your own. The girls in this village are not for you. You don’t want to be like me, alone in a tree for the rest of your life.” She laughed, but there was a sadness to her truth.

I patted her arm in an attempt to offer any comfort I could. “You’re not alone. You have me and Ewan.”

“Two men who spend way too much time with their feeble, old mother when they should be laughing under pelts warming up a young girl.”

“Mother!” I couldn’t help but smile at her description. She wanted nothing more than to see her sons wed.

“What? You forget, I was young once, and I had a great love.” She reached over and palmed my cheek, making sure I looked into her eyes. “Don’t live life without your great love.”

“And you think my great love will be found in Borvo? The city of kings and dragons?” I snorted. “I’m an outlaw. I live in the trees and hunt all my meals. You think a woman of the capital would come running into my arms?”

“I know one thing, she’s not here, and often times we find things where we least expect them.” Her face softened. “And yes, if she is the right woman for you, she will run into your arms. Sleeping in trees makes you no less of a man, Blaize.”

Lark The view from my window was breathtaking. Our sigil soared for miles, announcing the day of our birth. This day was always treated with the highest regard, but today, it was more. Today it wasn’t about me and Phoenix, my twin. It wasn’t about turning eighteen and legally allowed to reign should anything happen to our parents. No, today was the day Phoenix would travel from Borvo to Lassair like our father had done years ago. In three days’ time, he would step into the flames and become aligned with fire.

To say my mother, Queen Isolde, was nervous, was a vast understatement. She fluttered the castle, fixing bouquets and seeing to the castle décor…Anything she could do to keep herself busy. Her white hair was woven into a crown of braids with long tendrils hanging down her neck. She was a vision of beauty, even with her eyes heavy with worry. She had never witnessed the ceremony before and my father, King Lorcan, did nothing to calm her nerves.

Lorcan did not walk around the castle, he strutted. His chest was swollen with pride, for in a few days, he would no longer be the only living dragon. His son would take his place beside him in the sky. My father had been lonely in his lifestyle. His solitude something he had to bide. But the sands of time were slipping away, and the dawn had come. After the ritual, nothing would be the same. Lorcan would have his dragon heir, and I…I would lose my brother, my other half, to the skies.

I knew it was inevitable. Only males can be aligned with fire. It was always the way. I understood that. But by turning into a dragon, Phoenix would be turning away from me. From the very world that we shared. We had been inseparable our whole life, and now…now would he even want to be near me? How could I, a woman with nothing special about me, ever be considered an equal to a dragon?

After Phoenix stepped into the flames, I would remain the only member of the Drago family that had nothing unique to offer. My father and brother were dragons. My mother a water fairy, and I a mortal girl.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

They were unique, and as a result, my parents remained youthful, looking as though time had not touched them. We looked more like their siblings than their children. But it didn’t bother me, until now.

Shifting would keep Phoenix young, like my father. And the fae could live hundreds of years. But now, eighteen seemed like a death sentence. I would grow…old. My skin would wrinkle, my bones would become brittle, and I would suffer through it alone. It didn’t feel like my birthday, but a day to commence that I no longer fit in with my family.

The door to my chambers opened, and my mother entered. “Oh Lark! How beautiful you look!”

Pearl, my ladies’ maid had helped me dress. She bowed to the queen now and stepped aside so that my mother might fully appreciate my look. I was dressed in a silk, purple dress with black trim. My hair, which was as black as my father’s, was braided to the side and cascaded down my waist. I always liked to dress in purple. My parents were the union of fire and water, and I liked to embody that union for the kingdom to see. The crimson red of my father’s banner as it met my mother’s deep blue.

My mother clasped a blue jewel around my neck, a precious stone from her homeland of Abhainn. I touched the jewel as she fastened it and looked at my reflection in the mirror. My bone structure looked very similar to my mother’s, I even had her blue eyes, yet with the black hair that was clearly my father’s, we were so different.

“Are you nervous?” I asked, although I already knew the answer.

“Nervous…no. More like terrified.” I turned around and watched how her face fell. She would only allow me to see her like this. Around Lorcan and Phoenix, she would smile bright. If my mother had taught me anything, it was how to be a pillar of strength.

“The fires will not hurt him. He is a dragon, Mother.”

“Has he…has he practiced?”

My father was subjected to torture years ago. The punishment was branding, and white-hot irons were seared into his skin. But the fires did not hurt him. That’s when he knew. My mother had suggested Phoenix try to expose himself to flames. It seemed barbaric, but she would rather her son had a burnt finger than be completely consumed by flames forever. I had suggested it to Phoenix, but he, like Lorcan, just shook his head and said I worried too much.

But I couldn’t tell my mother that, so instead, I lied. “Yes. We played with candles. Nix held his palm to the flame for several minutes. Not so much as a blister.” I smiled.

Isolde looked like she may weep, her relief was written all over her face. “Oh! Thank the gods! They have heard my prayers. Bless you, Lark.” She kissed the top of my head. “Bless you.”

There was a knock on the door, and my lady-in-waiting, Pearl, opened it. She bowed low when she saw my father, decked in black and gold, a sweeping cape of crimson red across his back. Phoenix was behind him. He was dressed in black as well, but he wore simpler clothes. He would have to disrobe before the flames. He probably didn’t feel the need to wear his best garments for the journey, only to hang them on an ash covered rock.

Lorcan sauntered into the room and kissed me on the cheek. “Happy birthday, little princess.” I was the same age as Phoenix, but my father always treated me like I was much younger. Then he turned to my mother, the glow of love he held for her burning in his green eyes. “We are ready.”

She nodded, and he offered his arm. Taking it, she looked more regal than ever as she exited my chambers.

“We shall be right behind you; I just need a moment with my sister.” Phoenix glanced at Pearl. “Alone.”

She didn’t hesitate and bowed her head as she exited, leaving us together.

“Happy birthday, sister.” Phoenix pulled me into his arms and held me in a tight embrace. I could feel the excitement twitching in his veins. His heart was thumping hard against his chest. It was the day he had been waiting for since we were children. I don’t remember seeing my father shift for the first time, it was something he always did around us since we were infants. He never wanted us to fear him. And Phoenix only ever wanted to be him.

I pulled back to look at him. His hair was steel gray, his eyes green like emeralds. It was funny how I had gotten Lorcan’s hair, but Phoenix was born with a perfect blend of the two of them. I ruffled his locks, causing them to spike in all directions so that he looked more like the dragon he would embrace. “Happy birthday to you, dear brother.”

We looked at each other and giggled the way we did as children. Then I bit my lip and asked the obvious. “Nix? Are you afraid?”

“I cannot allow myself to be. The fire goddess will know if I am.”

“That is not what I asked you.”

“I think I’m just excited. I have been preparing for this my whole life.”

I wanted to cry, but like my mother, I held in all my fears. “I know. This is the day you get to fly close to the sun.”

“It is our day. It is still our birthday. No one can take that away. Nothing will change, Lark. You shall see. When we return from Lassair, we shall feast for a week. And they shall dance and sing in the streets. It’s going to be wonderful. Trust me.”

I wanted to trust him, but he could not foresee the future any more than I could. I kissed his cheek, took his arm, and walked toward our destiny.

****

The ride to Lassair was uncomfortable. It was getting colder, and the wind caused my cheeks to chafe. I would have much preferred to have traveled in a litter, but father insisted we travel the way our ancestors did, by horse, on the old road that turned from dirt to dust. We traveled with thirty men. My mother suggested more, but my father pointed out if anyone were to threaten the royal family, all he need do was shift and we could all escape. I hadn’t ridden on my father’s scaled dragon back since I was a child. The thought seemed absurd, but given the choice between a sword to the throat or slight humiliation, I would take humiliation.

We made camp at dusk, huddled together under a large tent. My father told stories of the dragons, and my mother played with water to entertain us like she did when we were children. Mostly, it was just her flicking it at Lorcan, but we were amused nonetheless.

My father slept beside Phoenix on one side of the fire, my mother lay beside me, braiding small strands of my hair. It was relaxing, and I fell asleep with the flicker of the fire to comfort me. Fire had always been something my family saw as protection.

On the last leg of our journey, a rider bearing my father’s sigil came galloping along beside our party. The horse neighed as he pulled on the reins to slow him down, the dust of the road causing a brown cloud to billow around us.

“My apologies, sire. I have a message from the Lord Commander of your army.” The soldier seemed out of breath and as my father took the note, my mother offered him water. “Thank you, my queen.” The soldier bowed his head low, his eyes filled with gratitude at her gesture. As he drank the water, my mother pulled another bladder of water out of her bag. She poured the water into her palm, and it swirled into a self-contained bubble. She led her horse over to the rider and offered the ball of water to his. The horse sniffed at it, then began drinking. The ball got smaller, but it never burst in her hand. I had seen the trick many times, but the rider was amazed. He kept his eyes on the ball, afraid to move.

Lorcan surveyed the message and looked at my mother. “Is it what we expected?” she asked.

Lorcan nodded. “I am afraid so. They will not come as we hoped.”

The horse finished, and she pulled a handkerchief out of her bag and dried her hands. “So it is to be by force? Lorcan, is there no other way? What if we let them be? They do not harm anyone.”

“Isolde. We’ve been through this.” He turned to the rider. “The Lord Commander knows to proceed as instructed. Tell him when we return from Lassair, I shall see to the sentencing of the prisoners myself.”

“Yes, my king.” The rider bowed his head low, turned the reins of his horse, and gave it a swift kick. The horse began galloping obediently.

My father signaled for our journey to continue and rode ahead so he might talk with my mother in private.

“What was that about?” I asked Phoenix, who shook his head.

“I have no idea, but it did not sound good.”

“I thought he was letting you in on his decisions.”

“He said he would allow me to sit in on his council meetings after I turn eighteen. I have been eighteen for two days, and as far as I know, he has not had a meeting yet.”

It was clear Phoenix was just as out of the loop as I was. There was nothing else to do but continue on and see what awaited us upon our return. I had been looking forward to the feast, and the dancing as Phoenix had suggested. But now I knew there would be prisoners and a sentencing. My mother seemed to think them innocent of any crime. It was hard to celebrate when you knew others would be sitting in the bowels of the dungeons, praying for my father’s mercy.

****

When we reached Lassair, the soldiers were told to make camp while we went on as a family to the ritual grounds. The blackened ash was like powder beneath my boots. I lifted my gown and twisted my nose at the potent smell of sulfur. “So this is where dragons are born,” I said to no one in particular, but it was my father who felt the need to answer.

“No, my child.” He took my hand and led me up a steep boulder. His footing was sure and strong, and I clutched at his hand, terrified I would slip. When we reached the top, he pointed down below. “Look there.” He pointed to the bottom where a small valley seemed to have been dug out from the rocks. In the center was a ring of blue flames. “That is the place where dragons are born.”

I took in a breath as my eyes focused on the small flames that danced in the circle. It was amazing how something so simple could hold such vast power. Lorcan smiled as he looked at the flames and turned to face Phoenix, who was helping my mother climb to the top. When she had her footing, Phoenix stepped forward, my father placing a hand on his shoulder. “Today, you shall walk in as a man and be reborn as a dragon.”

Phoenix looked like he was ready to run down to the valley. But Lorcan held his shoulder firmly. “I will walk you down, but you must enter the ring alone. Are you ready?”

Phoenix puffed out his chest. “I was born ready.” He turned to my mother and hugged her. He was almost the same height as Lorcan, and broad as well. Isolde seemed to momentarily disappear in his arms. Then, it was my turn.

“I love you, Lark,” he whispered.

“And I love you. I shall see you on the other side.”

My mother took my hand as the two men in our life climbed down to the valley. I didn’t want to watch as Phoenix disrobed. It didn’t seem proper. Instead, I turned my gaze toward the flames. A blue female figure, made completely of fire had appeared. “Mother!” I gasped.

Isolde just squeezed my hand in reply. Lorcan fell to his knees when she appeared. I had never seen my father kneel to anyone before, and yet…here we stood in the presence of a god. It seemed like I was watching something so sacred, I did not feel worthy. The flames spoke, but I could not hear her words. Then, Phoenix stepped inside the ring, and the flames turned from a low burning blue to a wall of orange flames. Whatever was happening to Phoenix, we were no longer privy to it. I heard my mother muttering prayers, but I was too enraptured by the flames to even recall the words.

The minutes ticked by, but the flames did not retreat, and Phoenix did not appear. My father remained on his knees; my mother’s hand was clasped in place around mine. I wanted to call out to him. We always did everything together. Half the time, I could feel what he felt, finish his very sentences. But this…I had no clue. I was locked out.

Then, out of the flames…life!

An impressive dragon of smokey grey shot straight up to the sky. “He did it!” The tears were already sliding down my mother’s cheeks as we watched Phoenix flap his mighty wings of leather and push himself onward. He dipped and swooped, enjoying the sky that belonged only to him in that moment. But not for long. Out of nowhere, a jet black dragon with a massive crown of spikes joined him. They flew together, screeching their dragon song as we watched from below.

“I knew Lorcan would not be able to wait,” Isolde said with a mixture of snark and pride.

I laughed, and then I faltered. My legs became weak, causing me to fall against my mother.

“Lark? Lark! What’s wrong?”

I couldn’t focus. I felt very hot, like I was burning with fever. Pulling desperately at my cloak, I tried to remove it. The garment was too heavy, and I was being stifled by its heat.

“Lark? You’re covered in sweat. What is wrong?” Isolde sounded on the verge of hysteria.

I looked at my mother, but she became blurry, and then I fell back, collapsing against the stones. The last thing I heard was my mother crying desperately for Lorcan.

Then everything went black.