Varheiman Myths: The Dragon And Her Fire

The Unicorn.

The wild laughter of a former Knight and a later hero had dwindled with the sun sinking down in the mouth of the sea, the streets were scattered in meagre population, just the villagers driving their carriages back home from their field and the landscape was illuminated in a dim golden dusk turning violet. The crisp smell of burning woods gushed in their nose trills, the chimneys disgorging grey clouds for the sky. Rhineas admired Alistair and thought highly of him withdrawing his insincerity in the games. Rhineas has chosen him and he would follow him, despite of his grimness; the quality that Alistair adopted to survive his ill-fate.

‘Race me to the Hetra boy, eh?.’ Alistair provoked.

Rhineas gazed at Alistair his lips curved in a crooked snicker, he shoved his heel behind his horse's abdomen, the horse galloped vehemently neighing in elation, streaking through the wind. Rhineas remembered every instruction Alistair had given him briefly about riding, very precisely. He did just as he was told to do. Rhineas was outrunning the trees he gazed sideways, the forest looked like a thin green veil ,he saw Alistair bouncing on his horse beside him.

‘Take a right ahead from that twisted log.’ Alistair directed, and strode ahead of him.

Rhineas tried to make the horse quick but the horse kept it's gallop steady. He saw Alistair round up, circling in the open meadow. Rhineas knew this was where he ought to halt, but at the very moment his mind wondered on the question of HOW?. Alistair saw Rhineas's horse surpassing with a blistering gallop.

‘Stop boy. Now!’ He yelled in terror.

‘You didn’t tell me how to halt a horse, Alistair!’ Rhineas shrieked, fear dripping down him.

‘Pull the rein back.’

Rhineas fumbled with the rein, but horse galloped ceaselessly, Rhineas saw a gigantic tree forth and the horse was approaching the collision with it's huge trunk. His eyes stared widely at the tree in dread.

‘Pull both of your hands back, quick boy.’ Alistair roared fiercely. He galloped his horse to cope with Rhineas’s.

Rhineas pulled both his hands back with the rein, yet the horse didn’t cease. He was drenched in a cold sweat, and the chills of the wind that felt triumphant a moment ago, now burning on his beaded droplets of sweat. Rhineas seized his fists tightly around the rein and hauled backwards with all his weight on the saddle, the horse neighed agonizingly and reared violently, pacing back with it’s hind legs.it  staggered and with an abrupt thrust lighted itself on four legs, trotting clumsily ,back and forth whilst Rhineas fumbled with the rein in his hands.

‘Steady the horse, boy.’ Alistair demonstrated. ‘Hold it stiffly, and relax your arms don’t tighten it.’

Rhineas followed the instructions and the horse settled in a steady trot, wheezing in exhaustion from the exuberant racing.

Rhineas sighed in relief, ‘Good riding it was.’

‘No unnecessary race upcoming time. You need to learn to control if you want to storm past the winds boy.’ Alistair muttered bitterly. ‘Let’s get moving slowly.’

‘Alright,  now let’s not haste.’ Rhineas whispered to the horse.

They rode back to the meadow where the thin stems of leuge crept above the twirled branches of a thick silkwood tree sewn together in a thin roof around. The dim moonlight scattered in pieces on the dead ground, broken twigs and some big chunks of branches pointing above the thick layered mattress of rusty leaves, a mild sweet fragrance of the tiny leuge flowers lingered in the air around ,rekindling their drained energy after a tiresome day. Rhineas was delighted by the meadow, it was pleasant and vital with chirping lullaby of the night insects.

‘We need a supper boy.’ Alistair said looking far in the meadow.

‘I hear a rippling of stream we could catch a fish.’ Rhineas suggested.

‘Aye, it’s already dark. But if we're lucky we could get some.’ Alistair said uncertainly putting his horse to trot, ‘You collect the fire wood, I get the fish. And stay close, you don’t know the horrors lurking around boy.’

Rhineas scowled at him and they followed the ripple of the stream, in the quiet yet lively Stegardian forest. They didn’t go in the depths as it was already dark so they sheltered on the borders of the forest, where it was vital with known animals, but the depth of this sprawling thick forest is home to mystical beings created by the Magic of Medralians with the Wisdom of the Divines, where the Gods have confined them away from humans.

Alistair vaulted off from the horse and went in the stream, his boots sloshed in the water. The water was clear and transparent he could see the round pebbles inside the water brushing against it. Rhineas, gathered the firewood from around the banks of the stream, his job was easy. Alistair stood midst of the stream aiming his sword into the water like a predator ready to pounce at the sight of its prey, he stationed there still as a statue. Rhineas watched all this chuckling to himself humorously at Alistair, whose face was rigid and tongue out curled against his upper lips. Rhineas has never seen him so strained yet, he slayed the Knights with an ease, but a simple fishing job seemed difficult to him. Alistair stroked his sword, ‘Damn you!’ He yelled. Rhineas entertained by his actions laughing.

‘Why don’t you do it boy, huh?’ Alistair glared.

‘No, I am good thank you.’ He chuckled.

Alistair tried incessantly stabbing the waters with a splash through the empty air, patiently. Rhineas loaded the wood on the horse tied in two bundles balancing either side of the saddle.

‘Good mother of Kingdoms!’ He cursed. ‘Look boy.’

Rhineas looked at him, a fish waving in his hand. Alistair tossed the fish at him.

‘That one's mine boy.’ He growled.

‘Maybe, I’ll catch mine then.’

‘It’s ain’t like picking pebbles boy – ’

‘..... More or less like it, Sir Alistair.’ Rhineas completed his sentence.

He picked up a long branch fallen on the ground pulled his sword out and cut the end of the branch splitting in another four ends, craving them into pointy forks and kept them spread, away from each other by tucking little twigs between them. He crafted his tool in a short time. Rhineas walked in to the stream, ‘Out you go.’ He ordered Alistair, he grimaced bewildered. Rhineas stood still in the stream waiting for the fish to swim close aiming his forked branch in the water and shot at the fish in an lightening-quick movement. The fish stuck in between the pointy forks, two of them impaled it.

Alistair stared widely gaped in awe.

‘I’ve been at this since my childhood.’ Rhineas winked.

Morning greeted Rhineas with warm sunshine stroking his cheeks and birds whistling a familiar tune. The same tune to which Rhineas had sprang out of his bed and went looking for the birds but he would see none. Today he saw the singing birds just as soon he opened his eyes, and they were stunning. Each morning he'd wake to the murmurs of the people and mooing of cattle and often with smell of their dung, he was charmed for waking up to the sweet fragrance of nature and the minty breeze of greenery refreshing him. He realised Alistair has already woken up, when he saw the horses grazing on freshly grass. He saw Alistair’s armour lying on the ground with his sword perched against it, and the threading smoke from coals remains from the burnt firewood.

Rhineas had a slight thought of where Alistair was, he was at the stream, bathing. He saw Alistair sprawled in the stream scrubbing himself and singing.

‘Terror crawled over the sky,

A brave man riding So high.

Loud rumble across the sky,

Oh No its not thunder, watch mount of God’s fly.’ Rhineas had known this ballad written to his father, when he fought against the Medralians, alongside the Gods, rode the Dragon and saved the Kingdoms.

‘You are ridiculous while singing.’ Rhineas commented.

‘Ah, good morning boy.’ He elevated on his feet naked.

Rhineas grimaced in disgust. ‘Oh damn, you are unpleasing.’

‘Ah, I’m absolute certain the ladies in the city are fond of it.’ He guffawed.

Alistair walked out of the stream plashing against the water, he draped his gambeson and tugged his breeches.

‘Here boy...’ he tossed the fish wrapped in a cloth. ‘Fresh ones.’

Rhineas smiled delightfully. ‘So finally a Knight learnt to fish.’

They went back to their camping site, even though the day was getting brighter, it was comparatively cooler  in the forest, a filtered mild sunlight just enough to keep them warm.

There were still burning red coals left, it was not so difficult to light a fire to cook the fish. Alistair seemed extremely chirpy in the morning, his grimness was gone, Rhineas stared at him dubiously, wondering the unusual aura behind a stern face. The triumph shouldn’t last long, what was it? The little flicker of curiosity in Rhineas was on the verge to be a blazing fire.

‘What?’ Alistair glared nibbling his fish.

There it.was, his sullen face has recovered Rhineas thought. ‘It is unusual to see you singing and pleasant.’

‘I am always happy and pleasant, boy.’ Alistair growled. ‘But there are more things you should know before going on a hunt for a Unicorn.’

A nervous vibe shuddered Rhineas, from the first encounter with Alistair he was drowning in curiosity of this adventure. What is the motive of Alistair's hunt for these mysterious elements from the creatures he'd only heard in his mother’s story, till then nothing made sense, all he knew was that they were effused by the Gods after the great war.

‘Why are we going after these creatures?’ Rhineas asked.

‘Me for money, and you hugely to quench your curiosity I imagine.’ He paused

‘The Unicorns are very rare they are the souls of the great maiden Mages and Sorceresses. They posses  great powers, their blood could cure the deadliest diseases, their tears could satisfy the greatest desires. Just a Unicorn's dab on chest could bind a broken heart. It posses miraculous magical powers in it's horn. But that is not why we are getting its blood, the wizards who had stolen the wisdom of the Divines believe that the Unicorns have the power of divinity in them. They were created with the enchantments of highly sacred spells, which are now effaced from the world after the great war. So the wizards believe they could unleash the spell from it's blood with Eternal dust of Goblin roasted in Dragon's breath would burn all the other impurities and filter only the magic of their soul in it.’

‘What about Eternal Dust?’ Rhineas asked astounded by what he heard about Unicorns, he couldn’t believe that these beings had the souls of the great maidens who knew  the Wisdom of Divines.

‘The Eternal Dust has great healing factor, these creatures are mortal but their souls are immortal. They were created with magic and magic is the force that is drawn from the Sun and the Moon Kingdoms, it is the energy that keeps the world moving, it is eternal. It cannot be destroyed or erased — ’

‘But the Gods are said to have destroyed it, didn’t they?’

‘No, they didn’t. They erased it from our world, but not completely there are still Wizards and Witches in the Kingdom who know the magic, but this magic is learnt from the dark forces, which is an abomination. If they are found practicing it ,they are executed by the justice of Gods, they shall be rinsed by the fire of Emone.’

‘So, the Wisdom of Divine still exist?’

‘No, the dark magic does, but there are some people who use it for welfare of people while others just want power. The King is rumoured to posses the Wisdom.’

‘Our King Edgard?’ Rhineas was ravished with what Alistair has said, and he was certain that the rumour is true. His father was warded by Emone himself he fought along the Gods in the Great War.