As Mikhal silently put the satin pouches in his bag, he thought about the moment the Dragon Queen had given them to him. Her lasts gifts shouldn’t go to waste. Had she perhaps foreseen this could happen? Mikhal looked at her body again. Sadness showed in his eyes once more. This whole situation was just awful.
“All is not lost,” the dragon stated with her rumbling voice.
Mikhal blinked in surprise. “It…it’s not?”
The news caught the cleric by surprise too, he didn’t even notice Mikhal had abbreviated yet again.
Leera nodded once and looked at the lifeless body of the Dragon Queen. She spoke some words in the language of dragons, but finished the sentence with a perfectly understandable “Rise, my Queen.”
At that moment the body started to disintegrate and a golden light appeared where it once was. The light collected and formed the shape of an egg. In that egg they could see the shape of a human in foetal position.
“Like a Fenix, risen from the ashes,” Mikhal muttered as he stared at the egg. “But how…”
“Her power went untaken, so she can be revived.” Leera looked at Mikhal again. “We need your help, bard.”
“My help? For what?”
“After a rebirth the Dragon Queen will have no active memories of her life, nor will she have her powers. She cannot stay here, this place is too dangerous for a simple human, a child.” She kept her eyes directly at Mikhal, who stared back at her as he tried comprehending what he heard. “I urge you to take her with you and keep her safe until she has her wings again. When that moment comes she can search for the Chalice of Dragon Blood and become a Dragon Queen once more.”
Mikhal looked from the dragon to the egg and back at the dragon. “I would love to, but how?”
“Touch it.”
Mikhal nodded and walked forward. He lifted his hand, but before he touched it he lowered it again. “She has no memories?”
“No active memories,” Leera corrected him patiently. “Subconsciously she has her knowledge.” The confused look on Mikhal made the dragon look around for an example. “Take the throne,” she continued. “If you ask her what a throne is she might not be able to answer. If you point to it and ask her what it is, she will be able to answer.”
Mikhal nodded again and lifted his hand to touch the egg. A bright light filled the room and he had to shield his eyes. When the light faded he saw a girl lying on the ground, naked, but with two purple lines on her back where her wings used to be. If he had to guess he’d say she was around eight years. Her hair was as black as the Dragon Queen had and when she opened her eyes they were like normal, human eyes, except that they had an unusual golden-brown colour. The girl stood up and looked at everyone in the room without a word. Mikhal quickly lowered his bag and opened it while the cleric stared in disbelief at the risen child.
When Mikhal found his spare linen tunic he walked over to her. “I’m Mikhal,” he said to her as he crouched down before her.
“Mikhal,” she repeated.
Mikhal nodded and showed her the tunic. “Raise your arms.”
The girl complied and lifted both her arms in the sky. Mikhal pulled the tunic over her arms and head and looked at it. A piece of clothing that normally reached just over his buttocks reached easily down to her knees, making it a simple dress, even if hung loosely around her shoulders. She noticed the dragon and looked at it. Then she walked over to it and raised her hand to touch its snout.
Leera lowered her head so her former Queen could touch him. “Go with these humans,” she urged her.
“I want to stay here.”
Leera shook its head and the girl looked sad. “You can return when you are ready, for now please go with Mikhal. He will keep you safe while I guard the palace.”
“Can I return?”
“Of course.” Leera brought her head close to her. “I would like nothing more.”
The girl took the dragons head in both hands and put her forehead against the scaly snout. Then she let go and turned to Mikhal. “So I have to go with you?”
Mikhal nodded once, even though he wasn’t even sure where he would go with her. A traveling life like he had was nothing for a young girl like her. He’d figure something out. He held out his hand and the girl walked over to him to take it. “Do you have a name?” he asked her.
“A name?” she replied.
“You probably forgot,” Mikhal muttered and he looked at the dragon.
“Name her whatever name you see fit,” the dragon stated.
Mikhal thought about all the stories and poems he knew about the Dragon Queen to discover a name, but none came to mind. He looked at the girl in front of him, she looked at him with a timeless expressions, waiting for him to come up with a name for her. “Celine,” he muttered, stating the first name that came to mind.
“Celine?” the girl asked.
“Unless you do not like that name.”
A smile broke through, the first smile ever since she came from the egg of light. “No, I like the name. Thank you, Mikhal.”
Mikhal nodded with a smile and looked at the cleric. “I suppose,” he began as his eyes shifted towards the dragon, “we should be on our way.”
“That would be best,” Leera stated. “There is no Dragon Queen to control the dragons.” Otin paled at the idea of angry dragons outside the palace. “I will take you somewhere safe,” Leera continued. “I cannot go far from the palace, but it is unadvisable to walk unsupervised in an area where dragons are.” She lowered herself. “Get on my back.”
“F-f-fly?” Otin stuttered, “but…”
“Where is your sense of adventure,” Mikhal interrupted him with a grin. “We have a chance to fly on the back of a dragon! Who else can claim they have?”
“I, I would rather…”
“Walk down the stairs, down the mountain, with dragons flying above you?” Mikhal asked.
The pale cleric quickly shook his head.
“Then you have no choice.” He took Celine’s hand and walked over to the patient dragon. He put the young girl on its back first and then climbed on top himself. The cleric followed suit, even if it seemed hesitant, and when everyone was seated Leera walked through the throne room and through the broad corridor to the doors of the palace. After a command in the dragon language the doors opened and she walked outside.
There weren’t any dragons holding on to the pointed roofs of the palace anymore, various dragons circled the palace.
“They know what happened,” Leera explained. “They are confused. Some will feel sadness, others anger. In time they will calm down again.” She spread her wings and lifted into the sky. With a few beats of her wings they left the ground far below and them and travelled quickly through the mountains.
Celine looked elated as her small hands rested on the neck of the dragon. Mikhal looked around excitedly. And Otin held on to Mikhal, praying to every deity he could think of for a gentle landing.
None of the dragons bothered them and the flight over the mountains went smoothly. At the foot of the mountains Leera landed and she lowered herself to let the humans and the young Queen slide off.
While Otin silently thanked the deities he had contacted, Mikhal turned to the dragon. “Thanks,” he began, but then he frowned as he realized he didn’t know this dragon’s name. If dragons even had names.
“Leera,” she replied helpfully.
Mikhal smiled and bowed to Leera. “Thank you, Leera. For everything.”
“Thank you, bard, for taking upon you this task.”
Celine walked up to the dragon to give a hug. “I will return.”
“I will wait for you.” Leera spread her wings and flew up again.
Mikhal stood next to Celine and watched the dragon fly away with her, he noticed she had tears in her eyes, but she wiped them away. “Do you remember Leera?” he asked her.
“Remember? She is the first dragon I saw when I woke up in that room,” Celine replied as she looked up at Mikhal. “But something about her feels… familiar. Like she is an old friend.”
Mikhal nodded and turned to Otis. “Let us travel back, my friend.”
After an agreeing nod from the cleric they started their journey back to Arnheim, the capital city of the country where the palace of the king was.
*** © Mariska Bekker ***