The Dragons' Mermaid

Chapter 9

The thundering of hooves split the silence as a lone stallion galloped through the bleak landscape. The wind wisped his mane into the air like flames; after all he was a flame colored chestnut. Wellington was his name. His muscles rippled from under his freshly groomed pelt and his powerful legs. They propelled him forward and kept him going as he powered over the land. It took them a long time to reach a town which was even close to the ocean. Blaze booked a room for both of them in the tavern.

The horse galloped back alone. A penetrating coolness trickled over the now bleak landscape.

I stare gravely towards the advancing mare, its blue roan coat matching the thick horizon.

Her ears pricked, as she moved swiftly, powerful limbs tearing into the barren earth. Knuckles white, as Ember clenches them against the bone-jarring wind. If she was coming back alone that could only mean that she had not been able to find any news at all. She is my pride and joy. With soft eyes that you could stare into forever, falling, but at the same time so still, they reflected promise. A heart made of love, slender profile, and a gorgeous chestnut coat, Juliette was always there for me in the darkest days, when it felt like my life was a hurricane in an endless sea. I will never forget the days I spent with her, cantering in a field full of daisies, under a clear blue sky. Unlike my brother I always preferred a mare.

Blaze thought that only stallions were powerful and long distances could be done by them but what he did not understand was that mares had an innate understanding of nature and also could feel  things a lot more than the stallions. The stallions were powerful true, but power did not mean everything.

“Did she return back with any clue?” asked Blaze as I was rubbing Juliette’s muzzle. She was tired and Ember knew that she could do with a night’s rest, just like them.

“I did not expect her to return with anything at all Brother. But it was just a chance that I felt I should take now that we are feeling close to the ocean,” said Ember as Blaze nodded. He turned his head on the other side and put up his head looking at the sky with longing in his eyes.

“I want to fly again. My dragon is getting restless each and every day and now that we are so close to the ocean I want to feel the salty briny air on my scales,” said Ember as he moaned at the thought of shifting and immediately his eyes changed colour and Juliette snorted.

“Tis alright girl. You don’t need to be that worried. I am not shifting now,” said Ember as he softly spoke to her and then both the brothers came out of the stables and went into the tavern for having some food in their bellies just before sleeping for the night.

“Are you sure that we will not get any meat here?” asked Blaze as he grumbled looking at his bowl of gruel and Ember nodded his head saying no.

“Right at the moment it is better that we have things which is not going to provoke the beasts inside us and having meat is only going to strengthen them further to shift without any warning,” said Ember and blaze grunted but he did not like it at all. Pushing down their dragons deep down was only like asking for c*****e at a stage where they could not be able to control it any longer.

“Would you like some bread, lads? It is freshly baked by my daughter,” said the man who was probably the owner of the tavern and he grinned at them. He was a big-man with a big belly and a jolly nature. They were hard workers and kept on working from the first light of the sun to night in order to earn their coin.

“We are really grateful Sir. We have had a long journey and the horses are tired as well. Thank you for sharing your food with us,” said Ember as the man smiled even widely at him.

“Leticia…bring the bread here at this table for these lads. And also bring two mugs of ale,” said the man and Blaze thought he would better ask about the meat now itself.

“If I am not being too intrusive Sir, would there be a chance of getting some meat? We have a long road ahead of us again and I would like us to have some strength saved up for later on,” said Blaze and then he hastily added,” We will pay you of course. We will pay for everything.”

“Ahhh!! Lads…I know you will pay me…a man like me dealing with men all these years knows very well when an honest man is at my doorstep. I know from your crests that you are knights…and the most feared ones as well. I am really glad that I am being able to provide you with food and shelter for the night,” said the man when there was a commotion at the end of the tavern. There was a loud slam on the table and then a keg crashed down on the floor making it slippery with the ale that it contained.

“When we ask you for bread, you give us the ones which are three days old!!! When we ask for ale you make us drink the ones which are watered down which don’t make us feel good for the slightly good and now you are waiting on these two outsiders on your hands and knees like an old dog!!” said a man as he spat on the floor.

“Mind your tongue you old cad!” shouted thee owner back at him and everyone shouted and grumbled back at the owner.

“Why do you feed them and not us? Why do you ask your fair and lovely daughter not to come out before us? Scared that we are gonna take her away and do something which might hamper her prospects of marriage?” asked the same man and now Blaze stood up suddenly from the stool on which he was sitting. They could say anything about him or his brother it did not matter but openly threatening a woman in front of both the knights that was something which had to be taken very seriously.

The man was so drunk that he was swaying right and forth and could not even stand properly.

“When you do not know what is right for you to speak and what is not you should at the least know how to hold your tongue!” thundered Blaze as he strode forward and coming to a halt before the drunken man who was creating the ruckus.

“And who the f**k are you to lecture me about right or wrong? I am the richest man of this town, my wife is dead and I have a son and a daughter who are left without a mother. I like that pretty girl and she has a nice round bosom which will work nicely to warm me up at nights…” said the man in a slurred manner and the next thing everyone saw was Blaze’s knuckles connecting with his jaw and he fell down backward on the table and toppling it over.

“A woman is a creature who is a mother and a sister and a wife and a daughter. She is the one who makes your family. How dare you speak about a woman in that manner? You freaking son of a cad?” asked Blaze as now Ember was also standing beside him. That man staggered back up with great difficulty and then looked at him in a fierce gaze and said,” You are going to pay for that bastard!”

And before he could speak another word Blaze punched him again and this time his nose broke and the cartilage was smashed causing blood to spray out and another man pushed the table at Blaze causing him to lose his balance momentarily and they had thought that they were going to take the advantage of that falling down and then keep on kicking him so that he was not able to stand up but they were not aware of his identity so they could make this mistake.

The next time Blaze looked at him he growled out so loud that everyone looked at him in fear.

“Hitting from the back is a coward’s way. Why don’t you come and try hitting me from the front and we will see who is how much capable of hitting each other how much? Today there are going to be no bodies left in this tavern that you can bother an honest man once more,” said Blaze in a loud voice and Ember sighed. If they could not feed the dragon then the least they could do was to keep him sated with the violence and hope that it did not come to burn things down.

Then the whole tavern erupted into hell. Everyone was coming forward with whatever they found at hand in order to hit them and Ember and Blaze who were the most conscious and attentive people in the entire tavern they kept on blocking them with no difficulty at all. And finally when Ember was hit in his head by a wooden stool he snapped.

He turned and caught hold of the man and then picked him up holding his throat and strangling him in the air with one hand. As the man gasped for breath and choked and sputtered Blaze kicked a few of them down and then he looked at the man who had started it all together and then said,” You are hiding there at the back and then making other people do your dirty work. Is this the way that you consider you are going to gain the hand and heart of a woman in marriage?”

And the man spat on the ground again hearing his words and this time Blaze caught hold of the man and the threw him down on the ground and started pummeling him with such blows and force that the man became unconscious in moments. Finally the tavern owner came in with the local guards and all the men were taken away to be thrown in the dungeon for a few days.

“I cannot thank you enough for saving the respect and dignity of my daughter,” said the owner of the tavern with tears in his eyes.

“It is the duty and obligation of a knight that we are going to save you from any dangerous situation no matter what and even at the cost of our life,” said Ember as he was holding the back of his head which was bleeding from hit. It was going to heal overnight but they needed food for that.

“My daughter and I cannot thank you enough for what you have done for us but I can definitely give you the best food that this town has to offer,” said the tavern keep and Blaze’s stomach grumbled in response just that moment and they all laughed. The daughter of the tavern keeper was really good looking and homely and she was definitely going to be a great wife and mother from the looks of it but the two brother were not even bothered about that.

There was only one woman whom they were going to think about and look at in any life that they led. And that was Andrea, and now that they knew that she had the necklace and pendant again nestled in between her breasts, they were sure that they were going to find her.