Graymore is aВ dragon hunter
Natalie Yacobson
Princess Graymore is the great dragon conqueror. They say someone enchanted her, making her invulnerable. As soon as a dragon appears on the borders of the kingdom, Graymore feels as if she is on fire herself. She is drawn into battle. Alone she can handle whole dragon packs, but one day an unusual dragon flies into the country. Setting out to hunt it, Graymore faces a choice: which is better: defeating the dragon or the dragon’s love?
Graymore is aВ dragon hunter
Natalie Yacobson
Translator Natalia Lilienthal
© Natalie Yacobson, 2022
© Natalia Lilienthal, translation, 2022
ISBNВ 978-5-0059-4341-5
Created with Ridero smart publishing system
Dragons’ Attack
The dragons swooped down on the city again. Graymore sensed them at a distance. Before, their approach had aroused her excitement and she reached for her sword, but today she was angry. The dragon’s swoop ripped her from her magical dream.
She was dreaming about the most beautiful young man inВ the world. Or was he an elf? It was impossible toВ tell inВ the dream. It was as if he was composed ofВ golden fire. Making love toВ him inВ the royal bed was like floating inВ the sky. Except that his kisses burned her lips, and his breath set the canopy on fire. Why is his breath fiery? He himself exudes golden light, but his sighs are full ofВ the usual orange fire. Do elves breathe fire? The young man is definitely an elf! After all, his wings ofВ light are folded behind him. But why are there scales sprouting inВ his skin?
«Who are you?» she asked. Her voice sounded in her sleep like an echo in a witch’s maze.
The young man did not answer, but a new wave of passion burst forth like dragon’s fire. A mischievous thought flashed through Graymore’s mind: What if he were a dragon-wizard himself, who’d taken on a seductive form and decided to seduce her for revenge? After all, she had defeated so many dragons in fair combat, or lured them into a trap! Could love for a dragon be subtle revenge on a princess who was born with the magical gift of a dragon-hunter?
If it weren’t for the scales and the fire, the young man of the dream could have been called an elf or a spirit of sunlight, about which so many stories were told. His kisses were magic!
The dragons had already taken their revenge on her by pulling her out of paradise. She had to wake up and come down to earth. In the figurative sense, of course! Waking up in the tallest tower of the castle was hardly what she had come to expect. The clouds were a stone’s throw away. Sometimes at night, Graymore could hear the songs of the spirits of the clouds. Perhaps the young man in the dream was one of them.
The sentries on the castle walls sounded the alarm. The sound ofВ the alarm could not be ignored. Another ruler would have called aВ militia, but Graymore reached for the shirt ofВ mail and weapons stacked inВ the corner ofВ the bedroom. She always kept her weapons and warrior gear withВ her.
The dragons usually struck unexpectedly. Now their pelted skins gleamed in the sun like gemstone armor. How beautiful! Graymore had no time to marvel at the beauty of the monsters that attacked her capital. Suddenly the girl was twisted with pain. It was as if fire had swept through all her veins. This is normal! For a sorceress! The princess was considered a sorceress by everyone since she was a teenager because she reacted so sensitively to dragons. No sooner had they reached the borders of her country than she was on fire from within and ready to fight. The dragons’ proximity started a fire in her blood. So why did she oversleep today!
Silver, gold, copper, ruby red, emerald-green, and amber-yellow dragons flew over the city skyline like rainbow shards. They were all enormous flying monsters. The dragon swarms did not approach the city silently at all. The sky trembled with the flapping ofВ their wings. And that thunderous roar was worthВ it!
В«We shall avenge you, bewitched princess, who uses her magic toВ slay dragons like tin soldiers!В» As if they wanted toВ shout, all they let out was aВ low growl.
A pack of them! Swords won’t help! Graymore could count more than a dozen mighty dragons in the sky, and she couldn’t see them all. The tower overlooked only the main square.
She must change her strategy! Instead ofВ her chain-mail, Graymore donned aВ fur-trimmed pelerine and buttoned it up on her way toВ the fortress walls, where her best archers and cannoneers had gathered.
«Only don’t fire the cannons!» She warned. «Cannonballs will damage the capital, and a dragon is not so easy to hit on the fly.»
Most arrows missed their targets, and when they hit them they bounce off the scales ofВ the dragons with ricochets.
«How could you defeat them if you couldn’t even penetrate their hide with a spear?» The archery commander asked.
В«Well, IВ am enchanted!В»
В«And they?В»
В«It would seem that they are too!В»
The spear thrown by one of the guards at the green dragon didn’t really do any damage to the dragon’s hide, but it boomeranged back and pierced through the guard who had thrown it.
The smell of blood and guts made everyone sick. This is worse than war! A single dragon attack could take an entire kingdom in an hour. The dragons were already beginning to breathe fire. The town hall and several palaces were ablaze. And dragons are treacherous! They want to smoke out all the humans or burn them. Graymore got the feeling that they wanted to lure her out of the castle alone, so the first thing they did was torch the buildings that were most valuable to her. One amber dragon squinted at her slyly, as if he’d been expecting her.
«I must get you to my lord!» As if he was informing her. «That’s who’ll take care of you!»
The yellow dragon charged toward the towers. Its claws almost caught Graymore, but she dodged them. The dragon grabbed one of the guards, realized his mistake, and threw his burden against the fortress wall. The unfortunate man crumbled. The shattered body was left a hideous mass of shards of bone and bloody bits of flesh. Dragons killed men with ease, but men could do no harm to dragons. The cannon fuses were lit again and again. The cannonballs fired from their embrasures couldn’t even muffle a dragon’s tail.
«We’ll never make it!» Graymore watched as an arrow from an apt archer ricocheted off the dragon’s hide, whistled back, and pierced the archer’s own eye.
Dragons are magical creatures. They can be dealt with not byВ force, but byВ magic. Graymore remembered the wonderful net she had woven from special threads and her own hair on the advice ofВ an ancient wizard.
«Give me my net!» She shouted when she saw the commander-in-chief of her armies below, who was standing at the castle gate, unsure of what order to give to the assembled warriors. – Send a soldier on horseback to each end of the city, and have them climb the watchtowers at the corners of the city walls and stretch over the city the net I have woven for defense.»
The commander-in-chief did not want toВ believe inВ such aВ dubious undertaking, but what else could be done. The dragons flew too low, disoriented byВ the fact that no one could overpower them. They were catching and eating people alive, clawing through the windows ofВ palaces and pulling young ladies out, then crushing their bodies like nuts. Graymore was their target. She could feelВ it.
The three dragons: red, green, and yellow conspired about something on the fly, rubbed their paws together contentedly, and dashed toward the wall where Graymore stood. It would have taken aВ minute for them toВ drag her away, but the net over the city had been stretched earlier. The dragons were caught. All ofВ them!
They were beating at the bottom of the magical net, like caught fish. The net wouldn’t let them fly up, and it wouldn’t let them get away either. The dragons threatened Graymore with clawed paws.
В«Cunning is my strategy!В» She praised herself. Who else would praise you for your courage? The knights and archers were gloomily silent, until someone clever asked:
В«What shall we do with them now?В»
В«Put them inВ the cellars,В» Graymore commanded.
The cellar was already shaking from the aggression ofВ the dragons they had captured. It was unlikely they would fight for her. She could brainwash them with enchantments. So far, that has not worked. Dragon scolding and cursing could be heard from the cellars.
«My lady, your dungeons are hell with dragon sparks! It’s as hot as an oven!»
Graymore brushed the harsh warrior aside. She knew her cellars were like a cauldron of fire, but the flames didn’t go up the walls. Magic doesn’t.
«Everything will be all right! Trust me! Who else would have saved everyone if it weren’t for me?» Graymore snatched a crossbow from one archer and took aim at the supposed dragon that was flying in from the west. It must have fallen behind the pack. But the target vanished from sight. Where had the dragon gone? Graymore looked up at the skies, which were suddenly overcast. A storm was coming.
В«You have angered the dragon gods,В» she heard the distant thunder.
She imagines it! Graymore snorted. Where are the gods? The only other knights bustling around were the knights inВ armor, who had long since become fearful ofВ her. They could not do with an army what she alone could.
For a moment Graymore thought she saw in the towers among the archers the very elf boy she had dreamed of. He looked at her sternly and sadly, as if judging her for something. At the sight of him everything turned over inside her. But he vanished as soon as the storm began. And the fragrant rose on the parapet of the tower remained. Where had it come from? And why did the sight of it conjure up thoughts of dragon claws? What can a lush scarlet rose and sharp dragon’s claws have to do with it?
Ball ofВ Fire
Victory over dragons is celebrated with a noisy celebration. Firecrackers exploded over the city, and Graymore’s heart ached.
She had done something wrong. But what is it? She had forgotten toВ bind the dungeons with dragon-locked enchantments, or toВ mutter aВ magic mantra before she caught dragons. Or had the trapped dragons managed toВ cast spells on her and arouse her conscience?
The townsfolk put on aВ dance, and there was aВ ball going on inВ the castle. The well-dressed courtiers danced. Graymore sat on her throne and watched the festivities as etiquette dictated.
No fair! The dragons were defeated byВ her, and others danced. ByВ the unwritten rule ofВ the ancient wizards, the dragon conqueror had toВ spend the evening ofВ the feast alone. You could watch the ball, but you could not interfere with the entertainment. Stupid rule! Graymore was bored. Before her, only men had been dragon hunters. They could ponder their exploits for twenty-four hours, but she wanted toВ dance. She excelled as much at dancing as she did at fighting. Her grace was the envy ofВ all.
Graymore paced the curly strands of her long auburn hair that fell from beneath her ruby crown and contemplated the fanciful ceremonial. It had occurred to some long-dead council of wizards to force a dragon fighter into a day’s solitude. A vow of silence for the day was attached. Otherwise the defeated dragon would speak to you and try to enchant you.
Nonsense! How can a captured dragon speak to her? It doesn’t even understand human speech. Or does it? Graymore had the impression this morning that dragons could speak human. Not with their mouths, but with their eyes. Their gazes haunted her: azure, red, orange, emerald. A firework of glittering eyes watched her from every corner of the ballroom.
«A dragon can become your master if you let its charms enter your mind,» the ancient council of wizards dictated. According to their beliefs, dragon’s charms are strongest on the day of capture. After a day they are weakened. Therefore it is necessary to isolate oneself for the whole day. But you can’t put off the feast for 24 hours, alas. Victory over the dragon must necessarily be celebrated on the same day to cement your superiority over the monster.
Her forced vow of silence sent Graymore’s imagination into overdrive. It seemed to her that dragon voices were calling to her from all sides, and that dragon heads hung like masks on every wall.
The pairs twirled inВ aВ waltz. The winding music made it difficult toВ sit still. Graymore nervously unfolded the folds ofВ the sumptuous golden-yellow dress she had planned toВ wear on Coronation Day, but wore today.
«Oh, my! She’s managed a whole flock!» The ministers whispered excitedly in a corner of the hall and drank to her health. They did not dance either, but they could make toasts, and she would have to sit all evening without parting her lips. It did make her feel enchanted.
«I’m like a statue! I sit there to decorate the throne, and I cannot move or speak!» Graymore thought, and suddenly there were sparks on the wall. They ran down the lambrequin. Only Graymore saw them. For some reason the others didn’t notice. The sparks formed a sort of face or mask on the wall. Its lips moved, but no words could be made out.
«Don’t answer them!» A peculiar bird, with a purple tail as big as a peacock’s, perched on the armrest of the throne. Where did it come from? Was it from the king’s garden or from the park? But there are no such birds there. There are peacocks, swans, ibises, herons, cranes and flamingos, even talking parrots, but there are no small sapphires growing in their feathers. This bird, on the other hand, has precious stones scattered in its feathers, and a violet blooms on its head instead of a crest. What a wonder of a bird! Graymore wanted to stroke it, but the bird dodged.
Human speech came out of the bird’s beak again. It was a warning:
«They will burn everything if you answer them and carry you away from the fire to be sacrificed to the dragon deity. There is only one man who can help you, but he has been forced to take the dragon’s side ever since he himself became covered in scales.»
В«Who isВ he?В»
Graymore opened her mouth, and the violet bird squeaked with consternation. Instead ofВ aВ favor, she pouted. Had it not been for her warning, Graymore would not have broken her daily vow ofВ silence.
«I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! Now the garden fairies will be furious with me,» the bird hastily took off, while Graymore was left in a state of heavy contemplation.
She wasn’t bored, though. Fire hissed from the walls. Was the whole castle on fire? Graymore nearly screamed:
В«Run for your lives! It is fire!В»
For some reason the dancing couples were stubbornly oblivious. The musicians continued toВ play, the footmen carried trays ofВ champagne, the ministers chattered. No one felt the heat from the blazing walls, but Graymore felt and saw faces inВ the flames. They were saying something, but their speech was like an echo.
«Damnation! Vengeance! Redemption! Love the one you hunted,» it came to Graymore’s ears.
She was just tapping his scepter on the armrest of the throne, and the obsession vanished. The walls were no longer ablaze, but something strange began to happen to the guests. The dancing silhouettes became fiery. It was a dance of fire, not people. Graymore was even frightened. The dancing flaming figures looked aggressive. They were on fire, but they didn’t burn. No ash fell from them.
Perhaps it’s just imagination again, Graymore judiciously decided.
Indeed, the obsession had passed again. It was already the second inВ the evening. Perhaps the captured dragons are tempting her. She suddenly felt an unbearable urge toВ take the keys toВ the cellars and go free all the dragons. The desire hurt like passion. Graymore could barely contain her impulse.
She needed to breathe steady and think of pleasant things. It is about the next dragon hunt, for example. There! She’s calmed down. Nothing seems to be happening anymore. Her mind is free from foreign spells.
An unfamiliar face flashed into the hall. A slender stranger in a cloak of improvised scales and claw clasps was strolling between the dancing couples. Is he choosing a partner? For some reason Graymore’s heart sank at the sight of him. He wore a mask that mimicked a dragon. But there were many who wore such masks now. After all, the skinned dragons are not available to all, but only to the victors. So others order dragon masks for themselves. It is also a kind of luxury.
The stranger wore expensive jewelry. Even ministers would have admired his rings. Perhaps he was some kind ofВ overseas king. Graymore herself had not yet been crowned. She is tacitly recognized as ruler, since she alone can protect the state from dragons, but her brothers are still alive and settled inВ foreign lands. Before the coronation, their renunciation ofВ rights toВ the throne inВ favor ofВ his sister must be settled.
The stranger who attracted Graymore’s attention may be their messenger. The princess has decided to ignore principles and violate etiquette. Why can’t the winner be allowed to have one dance? It was as if the stranger was waiting and looking for just her.
He said nothing, but it seemed toВ her that he called out toВ her.
