Rubanewbe

Mountain Kiljor’s scorching steam enveloped Ruba as she scaled the crimson beast. Precipitous cliffs, followed by razor-sharp Gilha trees, curbed her steps. The trees, the color of onyx, provided camouflage to the fatigued princess.

“Flae the gods!” Ruba cursed the blades of the Gilha as blood discharged like light raindrops.

Cobolrae, I wish you were here. I wish my father had not died. I wish Rumi…

***

“Ruba. Are you listening?” Montu Rai asked.

Can I do this? Can a girl win the Kekta Games?

“Yes, Montu.”

Ruba struggled to listen as her subconscious rattled. The princess of Dishi understood her title was by name only, but she did not accept the muted gesture of the council. As a young woman, she had not earned the right to sit beside her mother as a future ruler though her air day had come, and she was now ten and eight years.

Rumi should be here.

Ruba’s fingers danced around Rumi’s cobalt stone necklace as she could hear him scolding.

“Focus! Never fold! Focus!”

After her brother’s accident, Ruba’s mother lost hope. The king died, and Rumi was the queen’s last chance to maintain rule. Now that he was gone, her crown would be forfeited, and the empire would be ruled by the king’s brother, a man who provoked dread.

On her uncle’s name day, Ruba disrupted her mother’s prayer to divulge a plan of action.

The queen would not hear her daughter speak of treason.

“This is the only way to ensure your rule. Uncle Kahill must never be king! He will destroy all you and father built. All of it!”

“Ruba, this is the order of things. You know this! I must confirm your uncle no matter the cost!”

“The cost is too great, mother. We women sit by, waiting for men to allow us! I’m done waiting!”

Ruba stormed off.

***

The noble clans of the empire gathered to pay tribute to the king in waiting. Moments into his confirmation Ruba interrupted with her proclamation before the royal council and the nobles at court. She was well out of place but challenged her uncle. The laws were clear, or so the council believed. The Order Law read that queens could only rule by the side of their king or first-born son’s will until he came of age.

Ruba staked her claim based on knowledge of the Kekta Games Challenge. A tradition as old as the empire. The Games were a test of power—the power of man versus the choice of the Nyadraks, Dishi dragons.

A challenger must bond, mount, and take Rornor to the sky to earn the crown. Rornor was the oldest and fiercest Nyadrak to have ever lived.

The law allowed a member of the monarch’s family to challenge the Heir in Claim. Her uncle was such an heir because he was not a child of the First Family.

Council members warned Ruba, but she continued to read generational laws about the games. The rules did not forbid a female from challenging an heir, and all the heir needed to do was accept.

The nobles filling the halls of the circular marble chamber erupted in amusement.

As the queen approached, Ruba’s uncle willingly accepted.

“You are audacious. But lacking.” Her uncle said before a sly smirk stoned his face.

The queen’s heart skipped and jumped.

“My child. What have you done?”

“I’ve saved our empire. If only for a moment.”

“You are all I have left. I can’t lose you.”

“You won’t, mother. You won’t.”

A Montu was the queen’s only hope. Montus were Nyadrak experts. They studied the great dragons for generations, and Montu Rai was unique. She was the only one in ten generations to hatch and raise a Nyadrak she named Cobolrae for her vibrant blue scales.

“You have given all these many suns and moons. Every scar you bear is a testament to your strength Ruba. I believe in you, your mother, and Cobolrae believes in you.” Montu Rai whispered.

Ruba’s eyes welled as Montu Rai designed her body with Dishi war colors. Her deep mahogany skin appeared onyx with blue, red, green, purple, and white hues. After, Ruba affixed her prosthetic left leg that Montu Rai forged of Dishi steel, an indestructible cobalt stone modeled after Slayer, Rumi’s sword.

Cobolrae lowered her left leathery wing then Ruba mounted the blue beauty. Montu Rai caressed her snout before the dragon squealed and took to the spectrum sky.

The ride was smooth as Cobolrae soared and dived to the right and left as the wind smacked Ruba’s face. With the mountain in sight, the air became thinner. Ruba whooped and then began taking labored breaths as she prepared for the descent.

In the distance, she could see a black spot that grew as it appeared to get closer. She tried to make out the dark object with her right hand, slightly above her eyebrows. Without warning, a loud bang echoed across the sky, and the sound disoriented Cobolrae and disrupted her controlled descent.

Cobolrae spiraled so fast and hard that black smoke protruded from her nostrils. Ruba loosened her prosthetic from the saddle. She did not want to fall from the dragon, but Ruba did not wish to have a broken body if they smashed the earth.

As Cobolrae seemed to regain some control, the sound echoed a second time. Only this time, Ruba had a clear vision of its origin. Before she could react, Cobolrae struck into the river.

The impact caused a wall of water to rise. Cobolrae sank quickly, so with seconds remaining, Ruba released her knee from the prosthetic and began to kick as hard as she could. Just as she started to take in water, she saw a white light, and a calm engulfed her as her eyes closed.

***

Ruba’s thoughts kept her company as she finally reached a more expansive, flat surface. She sat on a bolder and tightened her brace. One canteen of water and soup washed up from the river along with her brother’s sword, her prosthetic, and the vile carrying the map.

“The final drops.”

Ruba gulped the last of the water and soup, then kissed the yak skin canteens she decided to leave behind. For the princess, there was only one way to return home: on the back of Rornor.

Her uncle crossed her head as she remembered the figure in the distance. Kahill caused Cobolrae’s death and nearly murdered his niece. Ruba believed the gods spared her to save the empire from a tyrant.

She did not know her uncle’s location, but she had the element of surprise. He believed the river swallowed her whole.

What if he’s already there staking his claim?

“No, Ruba. Calm yourself. If he had bonded, you would know it.

The gasses began to thicken, and the heat seared the hairs on the back of Ruba’s neck.

Rornor was a peculiar dragon. After mating, he distracted the mother, then took the eggs to warm them. If she resisted, he would kill her, for the golden beast towered over other dragons. He did not mate often, but if he’s nesting, that will give Ruba a chance. The princess was no fool, and those eggs could mean sudden death.

***

A thick mist surrounded the princess, so she extended her arms forward.

Only a few more steps.

A foul stench guided Ruba until crunching sounds ranged. As the mist cleared, Ruba began to cough then she peered towards the ground to identify the source of the crunch. Bones. Hundreds of bones lay beneath and ahead. Without question, many were Finya bones. The yellow-scaled sea serpent only had one predator, and he lived on land.

Rornor!

Ruba discovered his lair. She tightened her sheath, secured Slayer, and entered eternal darkness.

***

Montu Rai assured Ruba the map would guide her once inside the mountain, but darkness piled on top of the night. She tried to remember the path from her studies but could not be sure in the dark. After endless leaps and bounds, Ruba hit the terrain beneath.

I see you, Ruba. Frail girl! Bottom feeder! You are nothing!

“Release me! I am not frail! I am something! You will not take me, demon!”

Men preoccupied themselves with the forces ingrained, the physical challenge. More dangers dwelled in the mountain. Kiljor housed a dark presence. The demon had devoured more men than Rornor ever could. Montu Rai taught Ruba to fight back, but the one thing she needed most to best the malignant spirit drowned.

Ha. Ha. Ha. Your flesh will burn. Fall. Fall. Fall.

“No. No. Please. MOTHER! FATHER! RUMI! Help me!”

She slithered about in the dark until a massive fissure halted her.

“Ouch!” She cried

A sharper stone had partially impaled her hand. Her blood stained the map, and it began to glow.

Moments passed. Ruba called out to Rumi again. This time she heard him.

“How do I know it is you, brother?”

A still voice whispered a word the demon could not have known. Rumi was there, and she had not failed her mother.

A whisk of wind snapped her; then, she noticed the map’s light protruding. She paned around and glimpsed what she did not expect to see.

Her uncle is lying with his back to the ground and his eyes open. The princess rose slowly to steady herself. She shined the light from the map in his eyes, and he did not blink nor flinch. She could see his stomach rising and falling, but he was not there. Ruba pressed the palm of her hand to his forehead, and it seared her. He was hostile, but she did not hate him. She could not leave him there to rot; she could not move him either. With a prosthetic, it was impossible.

“Hmm! Look at you now, uncle. The girl you snickered at is now your only hope. The gods tickle me.”

Ruba turned her attention to the map when a screeching noise and a roar overtook her. Stones beat her on the head as the ground quaked. Her body bounced. She hugged a boulder while flames blasted above her head. Ruba planted her face into her bosom and wailed.

The map began to emit a glorious light that distracted the great beast long enough for Ruba to notice a brown sack near the fissure’s edge. She peered at the sack, glanced at her uncle, and realized what he had done.

“The eggs!”

Ruba slowly dropped and slid towards the eggs taking the bag into her hand. As she pulled it into her, a jolt forced her back. She turned instantly to see her uncle; his sword was drawn, swiftly approaching.

She unsheathed her sword, and metal clashed. Her uncle beat and beat until Ruba’s head smashed stones. His power was great as if he was not a man. All the princess could do was protect herself from his blade. She could see his rabid eyes as she guarded her head and torso.

Rornor’s rumble sounded once more. The beast neared. Kahill continued to pound with one hand while grabbing the sack with the other. Then he forced a blow to the prosthetic, cracking it in half. The shock radiated Ruba’s body. Without a word, Kahill closed in and stood over her when Rornor’s head appeared from below.

Kahill turned the blade, pointing it at the sack. Rornor inhaled at sight, then Kahill punctured it as smoke expanded.

“YOU UNDERSTAND ME, DON’T YOU? Yelled Kahill.

Rornor’s gaze fixed on the sack while he lowered his head. His nostrils widened, and his head tilted.

“Yes. You understand. WING!” Kahill demanded.

Rornor lifted his wing onto the surface. Ruba’s heart banged hard enough to break down a door when Kahill took two steps onto the dragon’s wing. Ruba’s thoughts went to her mother. With a second hop, she sliced her uncle’s arm. The bag fell, and Ruba dived and seized the three eggs before they smashed.

Her uncle screamed and grabbed his arm before realizing his fate. With all her might, Ruba lifted the eggs toward Rornor. The dragon’s sniff shifted Ruba, but she clutched the eggs.

Rornor gently placed them into his mouth and glared into Ruba’s eyes. Behind, Kahill stood. The dragon nudged her a bit, then thrust his golden neck forward. Ruba collapsed but pleaded for the man who had just tried to kill her.

“DO IT! BE DONE WITH IT!” Kahill screamed.

Rornor sniffed Ruba, then lifted her with his giant black claw onto his back. He glared at his exit, and took off, leaving her uncle behind in a pool of blood.

***

When her mother entered the chamber, Ruba glared at her yellow gown embroiled with scales. Ruba smiled.

“How do you feel, mother?”

“Proud. For a moment, I thought I lost you, and the priest had lost faith.”

“Well, mother, the priest are men!”

“Ha. Ha. That’s my girl. I mean, my queen.”

Hand in hand, Ruba and her mother exited the chamber. Down the long corridor, they strolled, and only the breaths of the Tribs, men who secured the first family, could be heard. Significant figures of each king who had ruled the empire and their confirmed god, carved from cobalt stone, lined the hall. The last figure was of Ruba’s father, and it stood higher than them all. Both women took a bow, but the princess whispered, then looked at the empty stone base next to his.

Door bearers opened the shimmered blue and gold double gates. Nobles, counselors, priests, and court guests bent their knees inside the crown room. A stone table half painted blue and the other gold stood at the base of the thrown stairs. Upon the table, two crowns rest. On the blue side, the golden crown of the dearly departed king rested, and on the gold side, the newly forged blue and gold crown with six blue Gazel Gems, the rarest in the land, awaited the queen. At its center was a dragon.

The Sayer rose, spoke the words of old, and placed the new crown upon the princess’ head, confirming Rubanewbe of the Kekta family, queen, the first of her name. She beckoned for her mother, removed the crown from her head, and placed it upon her mother’s.

“This is your crown. Wear it and rule as you desire from this day until the day the gods carve you out!”

Ruba turned to all assembled.

“This is your queen; honor her.”

Beyond the exterior wall, a great wind shifted, and a screech ranged. Not one screech but two alarmed the masses. Rornor and Cobolrae hovered, awaiting Ruba. The blue beauty survived. Without haste, she removed her gown, showing off her gold and blue garment, which some would say was tailored for a man. Ruba hastily hobbled to the window as the air from the pair of wings stirred the throne room.

“That was not ladylike.” The queen said.

“Neither is this,” Ruba replied as she mounted the great Nyadrak.

“We should expect hatchlings soon. Lead the way, Cobolrae!”