The Dragon's Fight

Chapter 6

-Laelia-

I was surprised when we reached the nymphs’ territory without trouble. We had moved carefully around the woods, trying to stay away from the main roads and only using smaller and more discreet paths, but still I was surprised.

“We go on foot from here,” Tylon said, and got down from his horse.

“Why?” I asked. “We still got a few more days to go.”

Tylon just looked over his shoulder, smiling a little.

“They will find us. Until then we have to wander around,” he said.

I looked around the strangely quiet forest. Where were all the birds? My brothers were already off their horses, but I stayed on my just a little while longer. Something felt strange. I looked at my brothers, who just looked at me confused. Was I the only one who felt strange here?

“What?” Liam asked.

I shook my head and quickly got down from my horse. I was probably just being paranoid, I told myself, before I followed my brothers and Tylon further into the woods.

We kept walking and walking, but it felt endless, since we didn’t have a destination and the further inside the woods we got, the weirder I felt. Something just wasn’t right. I was walking in the back, and I watched the others, but it seemed like they weren’t even affected by whatever that was going on.

Suddenly it was like I was being touched by something, but when I turned around there was nothing to see. I looked around the quiet forest for a long time before turning to my brothers and Tylon again, but as I turned around, I saw they were no longer there.

“Liam?” I asked. “Samuel? Tylon?”

Nothing. No one was there. How was that possible?

I started to move again, as I searched for them, hoping to just get a glimpse or a clue as to where they had gone, but as I kept running through the woods, I saw nothing but trees. When I got too tired to run, I stopped and took in a deep breath, but soon I felt the need to run again. Voices … like whispers could be heard as the wind blew past me. It was like the wind was talking to me.

“Hello?”

Nothing. There was no one here but me.

“Tylon?”

Still no answer.

“Samuel? Liam? Where are you?!”

There was no answer … nothing at all. I was all alone. Just then I heard the strange whispers again and I kept turning around hoping to see where it came from. I could not hear what was being said, and it just made me even more scared.

“Hello?!”

But there was no answer.

“Who are you?!”

The voices intensified and I started to run again trying to get away from them, but they kept following me, and soon they were so powerful, it felt like my ears were ringing and a powerful headache took over. I had to stop, before I fell to my knees and grabbed my head as I crouched forward.

“Please! Stop!”

I screamed. I had no idea for how long, but soon I noticed the only noise in the whole forest was me. I stopped and slowly I looked up again, seeing the sun had disappeared and the night had taken over. What … but the strangest thing wasn’t the moon above me but the small lights dancing around in the forest. Like fireflies but they had all sorts of colors. Blue, yellow, red, green and so on. It was amazing.

“What is happening?” I whispered to myself.

Just then, I heard the sounds of voices. It sounded almost like singing. I slowly got up from the ground, looking around. When I was able to locate where the voices came from, I slowly moved towards them. I had never before heard anything like it. They were so clear and so beautiful. As I moved through the forest, they only got clearer and clearer, and soon I found myself at a big lake that reflected the moon. It even had the exact same form. Round and big. It almost looked like a moon on the ground and around it were the most magical creatures. They were these white lights shaped into human forms and they had these blue eyes. Like the clearest water.

As they finally noticed me standing on the other side of the small pool, they got quiet and looked towards me. We stared at each other for a little while, before one of them placed its foot on the water and started to walk over to me as it neared my side, it changed its shape and a woman stood in front of me with black hair, very white skin and dressed in a long dark dress that looked more like a shadow covering her body than a dress, yet her eyes were the same.

“Who are you?” she asked.

She towered over me. She had to be the same height as Ashes and beautiful … she was like a dream. I could barely find the words inside of me to answer her. So … enchanting.

“I-I’m Laelia,” I said, still staring at her.

“Laelia,” she said, almost singing my name.

Her beautiful eyes studied me closely, running over my body.

“Beautiful,” she almost purred, making the other light creatures behind her almost laugh.

They slowly moved closer to me, hovering over the water, looking like they were hunting a prey. I tried focusing, yet I felt sort of lightheaded. It seemed like women could be enchanted by them as well. I tried my best not to let myself get affected and used the one person I needed as my strength to block them out. I focused on Ashes, as I looked at the nymph in front of me.

She almost looked shocked at me, and the others behind her backed off a little.

“I have not come here to be played with,” I said. “I am here to ask for your help.”

“You want to see the future,” she said, as if she knew I was here.

I shook my head.

“No, I need you to help me win a war.”

The woman looked at me shocked, as she stood there in front of me. She was standing on my side of the pool on the ground, and the shadow covering her body blew around her, even though there was no wind.

“A war?” she asked.

I nodded.

“My uncle has taken what belongs to me. My crown. Now I want it back,” I said.

“Who are you?” she asked again, moving closer.

“I am Laelia, queen of the North and the South and one of the last white dragons.”

The nymphs moved back, hissing slightly.

“We do not like dragons!” she said. “And we do not like humans!”

“Please, I cannot win this war without your help,” I said.

“Our help?! We do not fight wars!” she said.

“No, you just exploit the people that come here asking for your help, don’t you?” I asked.

She hissed at me again, showing long fangs, as her blue eyes shone.

“How dare you?!”

I just met her eyes calmly. Tylon might have said people came to ask them to get help to predict their future, but I now saw who they truly were, and it helped me remember a little I read about them. People might come here for their help, but very few got a chance to leave. No one knew what they did to the people coming here, but once you entered there was no guarantee you got back.

“I told you I did not come here to be played with!” I said. “I do not have time for that. I need your help!”

“And why should we give it to you?” she asked. “This is not our war!”

“One day it will be. My uncle will want all of Arcadia,” I told her.

“Then let him come! We can defend ourselves.”

Yes, they could, but why wait? My uncle needed to be dealt with.

“Why risk it? Why not help me now?!” I asked.

“Dragons and humans always bring war with them. If we help now, who says another won’t find us. No, we protect our own,” she said.

I looked behind her, at the other nymphs. I could only see four others.

“Where are the rest?” I asked.

She looked almost shocked at me, and I quickly realized … this was it.

“Are you all that is left?” I asked.

She hissed at me again, yet I did not back away. This was my only chance, and I could not let myself get scared.

“How is that possible?” I asked.

“Time changes,” she said. “No one lives forever.”

I had no idea what that meant, but I now saw that coming here would not help me. Five nymphs in total. That was it. We could not win a war with five nymphs. What did I do now?