Natalie Yacobson "Dragon Bride"

Or is it worse and Raymonda has been promised to someone else? It is for a wood elf like her, for instance. Clement’s heart ached, but there was no time to question Raymonda about her marriage. The beauty had vanished. Literally! Where she had stood, a luminous puff of smoke wafted toward the open window.

Ashes

Clement dreamed that he and Raymonda were dancing on the ashes of a burned village. Raymonda has an unusual crown of golden spikes, vignettes and claws in her hair. Her robes are orange, like flames. She is the one who dragged him away to dance on the fires. The dance is like flying in the starry skies, though it is ruin all around. Raymonda’s bare feet barely touch the ground, as if she could fly. He wondered where her slippers have gone, and if she had them. Noble ladies do not walk around barefoot. Judging by her fine clothes, Raymonda was certainly neither a peasant nor a bourgeois. She was probably the daughter of a lord or a duke, or perhaps the elf king himself.

What did she see in Clement? Why did she start flirting with him? And why would she want to have fun in a burnt-out ruin? The dance quickened, more and more like a fiendish dance. The houses were burned to the ground. No survivors! And the two of them whirled with the ashes. Raymonda’s white dress is soiled in the ashes, and she laughs so happily, as if all her enemies lived in this village. And suddenly fire bursts from her lips!

Clement woke up terrified. She had scorched his face!

The young man rushed to the bucket of cold water and only when he noticed his reflection in it, he realized that he had no burn. He had only dreamt of the wild dance on the ashes of the peasants’ houses. And the dream had been so real!

He could still feel the heat ofВ the fire on his skin and hear the rustling ofВ the ashes. The dream never seemed toВ end. Something must have risen from the burned houses.

Something monstrous…

Clement covered his eyes and imagined Raymonda’s bare feet dancing on the ashes, and charred skulls visible in the ashes.

«Awake at last!» Raymonda had just come in and put a basket full of berries on the table. «You’re such a sleepyhead! You’ll sleep for the rest of your life!»

«But it’s night!» Clement was indignant. «I have the right to sleep at night.»

«I don’t sleep at night. I like to walk in the dark woods.»

«You must have a magic light so you don’t stumble in the dark.»

В«IВ can see very well inВ the dark!В»

В«You can even pick berries inВ the dark?В»

Raymonda nodded.

«I hope they’re not poisonous?» Clement stood up and grimaced in pain. He hadn’t fought anyone lately, and his body felt like it was covered in battle wounds. Deep inflamed scratches had come from somewhere. They were just where Raymonda had touched him. She couldn’t have pinched him like that. Clement squinted at her suspiciously. Nonsense! Her fingernails were delicate and the scratches looked as if they belonged to animal claws.

Raymonda’s skin glowed in the darkness like a white candle.

«Try it! It’s a special berry mixture,» she offered.

The berries in the basket looked like their own special variety. They looked like raspberries and blackberries, and gooseberries and strawberries, and raspberries and hawthorn, and sea buckthorn – but the combination of all at once. The berries have a pyramid shape, not the usual rounds.

В«Are they magic?В»

She didn’t answer.

Clement decided they weren’t wolfberries, so he tasted them. His mouth was bursting with a cocktail of sugary tastes that killed thirst and hunger in a jiffy. All bad thoughts flew out of my head. He really wanted to dance barefoot on the stunted grass. Maybe Raymonda would keep him company. She beckoned him out into the woods, laughing. Her feet hovered lightly over the grass. It is probably a continuation of the dream? Clement eagerly wrapped his arms around the girl’s thin waist and spun her in a dance. This was the best moment of his life. No court coquette in the sumptuous Aluar’s ballroom was as good and free as this elf in the woods.

It was no longer aВ dream, but aВ sweet dream. One can only hope that the pale beauty does not turn out toВ be an evil moon spirit that lures him toВ the precipice.

«Is it a dream?» Clement wanted to kiss Raymonda on the lips, and she would not have resisted, but the clatter of horses’ hoofs could be heard in the distance.

The clatter of horses’ hoofs was muffled and unpleasant, like the clatter of gnoms’ hammers beneath the earth. It was as if it were coming from beneath the earth. Clement remembered the lore that the black knights of Shai were adept at finding their way along the roads of the Underworld, so they could appear on the surface or disappear at any moment.

The angry shouts and whistling of poisoned arrows were certainly not a dream. One arrow hammered into the timbers of the hut above Clement’s head and turned into a real dark red snake.

Clement turned around. There were riders rushing through the woods. It was aВ whole troop. Raymonda was gone when she saw them. Only the silvery smoke hung inВ his hands. What aВ coward! What did he expect? She is aВ lady. He should be her protector, not expecting her toВ conjure up aВ barrier ofВ obscurity from the knights.

Clement’s weapon was left in the hut. The door, as luck would have it, was jammed. So what to do? The black knights had surely been sent here on purpose, and at night. Men sleep at night, but the Shai’s knights, on the other hand, are most active at this time of day. Surely their leader had already figured out from some magic mirror that the prince was hiding in the forest. Thanks to his uncle’s spells, though, it wasn’t so easy to pinpoint his exact location.

For aВ moment, Clement had aВ stray hunch inВ his head. What if Raymonda had brought them here? She might not have done it deliberately, ofВ course, but accidentally. She herself had spotted him and thus removed the shield ofВ impenetrability.

Clement could not think for long. Defending himself with his bare hands was also a waste of time. But once again a dragon came to the rescue. Its scaly belly glimmered in the dark, like orange gold. Clement had never realized that a dragon’s scales could be so dazzlingly beautiful. The dragon’s fire, on the other hand, was something to run for. The torrent of flame was once again rained down from the heavens as an act of justice. It didn’t hit the trees, or the hut, but went straight for the black squad. The knights burned like logs. The charred remains were smoking. The smoke was black and acrid. It made his eyes water.

В«Raymonda!В» Clement called. В«Where are you?В»

His cry echoed through the empty space.

В«You may go now! The danger is over! The knights are gone, and the dragon has flown!В»

There was no answer from Raymonda. She was probably miles away by now. The elf’s girls don’t seem to be shy, but Moon Fairies are timid. Perhaps she was one of the latter, after all.

The smoke made him dizzy. Clement began toВ think creepy things. Spirits ofВ some kind, formed from columns ofВ smoke, were trying toВ speak toВ him, toВ warn him ofВ something. They were making faces and making silly prophecies.

A snake arrow withered and petrified on the hut’s log, barely out of the knights’ sight. What wonders! It was too much for Clement, who could hardly master a few of his uncle’s magic formulas.

«I’m going to walk to the nearest village,» he decided to himself. «Maybe there was something there that had survived.»

Or maybe he was just imagining the fire. Alone in the woods, you can’t help but lose your senses. Loneliness makes people go crazy. At least, that’s what the hangmen say when they lock up the next conspirator in the prison tower. With only one dragon in the realm, the conspirators could no longer be imprisoned or executed, but merely fed to the beast for supper. But how do you catch and tame a dragon?

«You can’t! You can only make friends with a dragon,» someone whispered in Clement’s ear.

At times like these, it would seem as if there were dryads inВ the woods. Clement turned around and saw noВ one.

The path toВ the village was not long. He just had toВ know the side trails toВ get there quickly. ByВ dawn Clement had reached there. The sight was sad. The village, even the outlying farms had burned toВ the ground. No cattle left, no houses, no hedges, no wells. The land was black with ash. It was nothing toВ rest your eyes on. There is blackness and sorrow everywhere.

«That’s what the world would look like if you let a dragon loose,» said a hoarse voice over the ashes. It sounded as if the speaker had swallowed enough ashes to make it impossible to speak his words properly.

Clement looked around, but saw nothing.

«I’m here!»

InВ the place that had just been empty, there appeared aВ figure sitting inВ the middle ofВ the ashes. It, too, was all black, as if drenched inВ ash.

В«Are you burned?В» Clement got worried. В«IВ know where toВ get healing herbs.В»

«It’s too late for that!» The haughty voice cut it off. There was an unkind mocking tone to it. «It’s too late for that! She has you in her claws.»

В«What do you mean?В»

The black stranger laughed aВ dry, rustling laugh, like loosenedВ ash.

В«Who are you?В» Clement kept expecting him toВ wipe his face from the ashes and introduce himself, but he sat motionless. His limbs were too long toВ be human and clawed. His figure was lanky. He had some sort ofВ encrustation on his shoulders, and aВ crown or cap with bells on his head. He did not look like aВ jester or aВ king. He was aВ stranger, but his ashes were so thick!

The sinewy stranger wiggled, and then the ashes woke and wailed upon a multitude of black faces. Clement watched with horror. This was more than his uncle’s magic tricks. It looked like real ghosts. The ashy faces resembled the discarded masks of burnt creatures. They squirmed, crooked, frowned. They opened their mouths in a mute or muffled cry.

«We’re all burned because of her,» they whispered. «Run from her, at least you!»

В«Run from her!В» InВ tone with them said the black creature, sitting inВ the middle ofВ the ashes as if inВ his own house.

«From whom it is?» Clement didn’t understand. From the dragon, it seemed, you should run. The dragon is «he,» not it is «she.»

В«It is from her!В» The faces echoed, ignoring, for some reason, the threat ofВ attack from the beast. В«She can turn anyone and everything toВ ashes.В»

There they were again, talking about some sort of witch. Could she be the dragon’s mistress? Running away from a dragon made more sense than running away from the sorceress who was controlling it. Besides, Clement had gotten past the dragon’s fire so far. Except that the dragon’s slip might have been pure chance.

«We don’t know her name, but if you get in her way, the same thing that happened to us will happen to you. You will become ash,» the ash masks whispered.

Clement was frightened. He didn’t want to burn alive. The ash faces gave too tragic a prophecy.

The ash-soaked creature pointed with its claws busily toward the sky, as if it had seen aВ sign there.

Clement looked up as well. No dragon was flying over the ashes. So what wasВ it?

As he pondered, the creature chanted inВ aВ low voice:

В«Beauty and scales, but she is not your bride!В»

It laughed and vanished. Only its black crown lay briefly among the ashes, and the black faces lamented inВ mass. They made the ashy ground seem like aВ sea ofВ severed heads.

Flames and scales

Clement dreamed that he was walking through the throne room of the Aluar’s palace. Here everything had changed. Instead of a row of knightly armor and sculptures, creepy monsters in armor stood on either side of the hall. Each one was the size of a giant. Their horned heads almost rest against the ceiling. The monsters themselves are as motionless as statues. They do not hinder his advance toward the throne. Everything looks like the day of the coronation. Only on the throne lies a crown of golden laurel leaves, thorns, and claws. All these symbols are not part of the coat of arms of Aluar. Only the crown of some dragon kingdom could be like this.

The floor is sprinkled with golden pollen, inВ which evil pixies circle. The mirrors reflect ladies and gentlemen inВ ghastly scarlet and black masks, like ghosts, though the room itself is empty. There are no guests. But inВ the flames ofВ the candles sit tiny fire fairies. They hiss unhappily at the sight ofВ Clement.

The steps ofВ the throne are lined with skulls. There were several skulls inВ crowns. These are his brothers and his father!

В«You are the last, but you are the most valuable!В» There is an ominous voice over the hall. В«IВ will get toВ you inВ any one piece. Even over the corpse ofВ the one IВ love. Even through the flames ofВ the strongest dragons. Your life belongs only toВ me!В»

On the throne sits someone dark, he was resembled a monster formed from ashes. The teeth of his crown are so sharp you could cut yourself on them. Red eyes burn rubies in the shadow’s face.

В«Come toВ me yourself?В» AВ dark clawed hand beckons him forward. В«Stop toВ play hide and seek! You were born aВ hero, but you run from your destiny like aВ hare. It is time toВ face your destiny.В»

A wave of darkness rushes from the throne. The darkness turns into claws. They slide across Clement’s body, leaving scratches like seals. In reality he cannot bear to fight with a sword; in his dreams the sword is his only defense.

«I need a fifth crowned head, and then I will have the most beautiful and powerful bride in the universe! You want to help me, don’t you? Do you want her to be queen of Aluar and queen of Shai at the same time?»

The darkness’s hypnotizing voice is convincing. The claws of the darkness snatch the sword from him. Clement is ready to put his neck under the blade to join his brothers. But then the mirror on the wall shatters. The reflection of the dragon and Raymonda is seen in the shards that scatter across the hall. The sight of Raymonda lifts the spell of darkness. Clement understands that he is prepared to do some heroic deeds for her.

And that is all. The awakening is painful, like falling from a height. All around is not a hut but a dense forest. As it turned out, he sleeps right on the road and only by some miracle did not fall under some farmer’s cart, carrying hay to town.

«It’s all the invader’s charms! They make his mind wander somewhere far away,» said a familiar female voice.

Even without opening his eyes, he recognized the tenderness of Raymonda’s fingers as they brushed strands of hair away from his forehead. Her fingers had sharp scales on them. He winced. He must be hallucinating! Why would there be scratching hot scales in a maiden’s pampered skin?

«It’s bad enough the enchantments from Shai caught up with him on the road,» answered an unpleasant male voice with a lisp that made his ears hurt. «Think what would happen the next time they caught him unawares on the field and he fell asleep beneath his enemies’ axes.»

«The Shai’s ruler has tapped into it heavily,» Raymonda agreed. «He’s looking for a power source. But he’s not a fighter anyway. I’m disappointed in him, I admit. If he weren’t so handsome, I’d have broken the contract. But I have a weakness for handsome young men.»

В«This one is not for burning!В» The husky bass warned her defiantly. В«For roasting you have his enemy troops. You can do what you want with them. You can burn them on aВ spit, but the boy is our liberator-to-be.В»

«And what if you’re as disappointed in him as I am? He’s not even a knight. He’s just an archer. There’s no sword hidden in his things. I’ve already checked. He’s a very good shot, though. But he’s no better shot than any elf.»

Raymonda’s voice was pleasant, but the bass was like the rattle of twigs snapping in a storm. An owl howled. Clement opened his eyelids cautiously. She had already moved away from him. She looked beautiful in her new silver dress with its lace trim and waistband. But the hunched creature that galloped around her looked more like a living bush of moss, clusters of leaves, and branching horns. This is how the late, frightened travelers describe the wood spirits that attacked them. Could this be the wood spirits? There’s no other name for this creature.

Not that Clement was frightened, but the sight ofВ aВ woodland creature near aВ stately elf maiden startled him. What could such an ugly creature have toВ do with aВ forest beauty?

The green monster and Raymonda seemed toВ be formally acquainted.

«Aren’t you ashamed of misleading a boy?» The woodsman interrogated, nodding his disembodied, horned head in Clement’s direction.

В«IВ want toВ test him.В»

«But he’s that… special!» The green creature scratched the back of his head with twiggy fingers.

«I’m starting to wonder if he has a gift. You have to patronize him, like a teenage brother.»

«But he’s got a purpose, that’s for sure.»

Raymonda looked back at Clemente questioningly, and he promptly pretended he was still asleep.

«Is he The Chosen One?» She snorted. «Doesn’t sound like it! He’s handsome but not very strong.»

«But he’s the only one of the four princes who didn’t die. It’s fate!»

В«IВ think he was just lucky.В»

В«You just want toВ burn him, just like all the other suitors.В»

«It is the groom, not the beggar. And all because he’s supposedly special! But how do you test him for that special gift?» She snapped her fingers together, sending out golden sparks from the tips of her fingernails.