Sky-Touched

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. When Tallie was very young her mother, Torvi, would tell stories of dragons that were tamed many centuries ago by the Sky-Touched. The Sky-Touched, who were both Man and Elven kind, had the ability to bond and even communicate with dragons.

Torvi had memorized the stories, and would recite them for Tallie before bedtime:

“The Sky-Touched had formed deep connections with their dragon partners, and over time, dragons came to live in Crescent Valley."

Tallie would close her eyes and imagine a great white dragon landing in the town square as her mom continued.

“Dragons were at the great Battle of Elkhorn Pass. There were so many that they blackened out the sun. Atop the backs of the great beasts were the Sky-Touched, fighting to stop the spread of the Dark Elf King, Lethandrin, who was enslaving innocent men and women.” Torvi paused dramatically.

“King Lethandrin had figured out a way to control the dark elemental creatures that lived deep in the Midnight Wood, the Akari. Now, the Akari were smaller than dragons, but could fly faster and had rows of razor-like teeth and long claws,” she stomped around, growling and waving her arms, causing a rush of giggles from Tallie.

“They had dark scales that appeared slimy in the sun and they shot poison from their mouths that burned the flesh from their victims bodies.” If Tallie hadn’t heard this story a hundred times, she might have been frightened.

“The dragons and their riders overpowered the Dark King and his Akari and saved Crescent Valley. The elves and men worked together to build a wall to keep the King and his dark army out.”

“And then the Accords failed,” Tallie supplied they next part of the story with a sigh.

“The Accords failed and the Elves and their bonded dragons left the human realm. After the war, no more Sky-Touched awakened to their powers. Your grandfather Tobias was the last, and he and his dragon have been gone for over 50 years now.”

When the story was over Tallie’s mom would tuck her into bed and she would dream of dragons and adventure.

But when Tallie lost her mother to Blackthorne Fever, when Tallie was only nine years old, dragons and adventure didn’t seem to matter much anymore. To make things worse, Tallie’s father couldn’t bear the loss of his wife, and to deal with his pain he withdrew from everyone and everything.

The less he worked, the more he drank. The more he drank, the more prone he was to gambling what little he had. By the time Tallie was 12, she was the main earner in the family, and her father was known in the town for his drunken foolishness.

He had never physically hurt Tallie, and she knew he never would. He wasn’t an angry drunk, just a sad and useless one. Her father spent his days in bed and his nights in town, and Tallie had long developed a rhythm to keep the household running without him.

Up before the sun to feed the chickens and goats, milk the cow, light a fire in the hearth, and off to work at the blacksmith by 6 a.m.

Blacksmithing wasn’t a common job for a young girl, but Tallie had taken a job as an apprentice at the age of 10 when the household savings ran out. Aleric Stormly had taken pity on her when he spotted Tallie digging in the garbage bin outside the Whitehorse Inn across the street from his forge. She'd been hungry for two days and her father was seemingly fine with surviving on liquor alone. He hadn’t been conscious enough to notice that the food stores were empty.

Aleric had called Tallie over for a bowl of stew that his wife had made the day before. She wanted to deny his kindness but as her mouth began to water at the prospect of food, basic need took over and forced her to accept. She dug in greedily, sighing with her first swallow. Aleric left Tallie sitting on a stool in the entryway of the forge while he returned to work on the sword of a nobleman that he needed to finish by day’s end.

Tallie watched quietly as Aleric worked the great sword, inch by inch, into a deadly weapon of perfect quality and balance. Aleric hadn’t noticed Tallie slowly creeping forward and when he turned to check on her she was right next to him at the forge's mouth. Her eyes fixed on the vat of smoldering fire, hand reaching out towards and seemingly into the flames.

He quickly picked her up and spun around, plopping her on the ground and examining her hand for burns. How could he be so silly, bringing her near the forge and turning his back to her? Aleric had no children of his own, but he should have known to take better care. Tallie looked completely unfazed and glanced back to the forge.

It was then that she said her first words to him, “How could I command the fire like you?” He studied her carefully before answering. She couldn’t be more than eight years old, with large, silver, moon-like eyes that looked out of place on her taut face. She had high cheekbones and a predominant chin. Her deep mahogany colored hair looked knotted and dirty, and once again he found himself compelled to help her.

“I don’t command it, I work with it’s strength to mold the steel.” From there Tallie asked several more pointed questions, which had Aleric wondering just how old the small, frail girl before him could possibly be. When the sun began to set she simply thanked him and was gone.

The next morning, he found Tallie outside the forge waiting for him with more questions. It was that very day that Aleric asked Tallie to become his apprentice. In truth, he needed one badly, but he wondered if he hadn’t made a mistake the first time she tried and failed to work the bellows.

What Tallie lacked in strength, she made up for in hard work, staying late into the evening in order to finish a list of daily tasks. In fact, Aleric noticed she would often linger after work was done. She would join him and his wife Sabina for dinner most nights, and he would tell her stories of the old times while Sabina would comb out her hair or mend her worn jacket while humming melodies.

As Tallie grew older, the stories turned to lessons of swordsmanship and self defense. Aleric and Tallie would practice for hours after work, with Sabina watching, and cheering when Tallie would best her teacher. Sabina always had to convince them to call it quits when the sun began to set. Over the years Tallie had come to think of Aleric as her father, struggling with the guilt of wishing that he truly was.

Today, Tallie’s 17th birthday, was no different than any other. She got up and did the household chores, threw an extra blanket over her sleeping father because a chill had crept in overnight, and headed to the forge.

Aleric was already setting out the work for the day. Two training shields, one dagger hilt repair, and a specially commissioned sword for Lord Wilken's nephew. Tallie and Aleric worked hard, side by side, in such a routine that they barely needed to speak to accomplish the tasks.

“Let’s call it a day.” Aleric said when the last of the work was done.

“We could get ahead for tomorrow.” Tallie countered.

He chuckled. “Come sit with me Tallie.” He gestured to the stool beside his own. When she sat down he turned to her.

”I have loved you as my daughter for many years now. I am very proud of the woman you have become. You are compassionate and your mind is quick as a whip. You’ve bested me in the sparring ring more times than I can count, in fact, I don’t think I’d like to admit just how many.” His eyes sparkled as he spoke to her.

“Anyway … happy birthday Tallie.” He looked at her with a shy grin as he held out a medium sized cloth bag with a bow tying it shut. As Tallie reached out for the bag she struggled to keep the tears from falling down her cheeks. She didn’t have to open it to know it would be the best gift she had ever received.

Tallie couldn’t hold in her gasp as she pulled from the bag two identical short swords. The grip was perfect for her smaller, feminine hands, and the pommel was embroidered with decorative scrolling. The hilt was wrapped with blackened leather. The twin blades were sharp and smooth, aside from a dragon etched into the top by the handle.

“Aleric, these are incredible. How did you find the time to make these?” She practically gaped at him.

He smiled at her. "I may have burned the midnight oil a time or two, but it was worth it.”

Tallie examined the blades more closely and noticed the metal had a different sheen than others they had made together in the shop.

“What makes the blades shi—” Tallie didn’t get to finish her question when they were interrupted by the sound of heavy boots approaching the entryway. A captain in the King’s guard- by the looks of his uniform- walked into the forge.

“Tallianna Drakemor”?

“Yes, that’s me.” She replied cautiously. “Is everything alright?” Tallie already knew the answer as she looked at the captain’s hard face.

“Is Mathias Drakemor your father?”, he replied coolly.

“He is.” Tallie felt her stomach drop as she answered.

“We had to detain him this evening at Jacobi’s Tavern.” He paused, shifting his eyes to Aleric momentarily and then continued.

“Unfortunately, he’s in quite a bit of debt with one of the other… gentleman,” he said so with a tone that told Tallie just how much of a gentleman this man was, “and when he wanted to collect Mathias refused, and attacked him. We’ve got him on charges of assault and failing to pay debts.” The captain explained.

“How much is the debt?” Tallie half whispered in disbelief. Her father had gambled regularly but he had never acted so foolishly as to get in over his head with his debts. Tallie made sure to only give him a small amount of her wages to keep his betting down, a method that she thought was working.

The captain looked at her with pity in his eyes. “I’m afraid you’ll have to speak with Jacobi, I don’t have the exact details. Perhaps you can persuade him to drop the charges.” He looked down his nose at her one more time before turning abruptly and leaving.

Tallie shifted her eyes to meet Aleric’s and she saw pity there as well.

“I’m going to Jacobi’s.”

“I’m coming with you.” Aleric replied.

“No, Aleric. This is my family’s mess, you don’t need to get dragged into it.”

“I’m your family too, and I am coming with you.” His tone left no room for argument.

*****

When they arrived at Jacobi’s, Tallie’s eyes immediately searched out her childhood friend Divina through the dim lighting of the tavern. She located her across the room, skillfully evading an onslaught of attention from a table of drunken foot soldiers. When one of the men stood quickly and reached for her she maneuvered to the next table and left him stumbling over his chair.

Divina and Tallie met when they were both 13. Tallie had just left the forge after a long day when she turned a corner and nearly smacked right into Divina. Divina had gracefully stepped out of the way as if she was anticipating Tallie turning the corner right at that very moment. Tallie, who reacted a bit too slowly, ungracefully fell backward into a puddle of muddy water.

Divina simply chuckled and extended her hand to help Tallie up. Tallie took it, covering it with the mud on her own and gave her a smile before she was tugged up off the ground. After realizing that they were the same age, and lived only two streets apart, they decided to walk to work together each morning. Tallie to the forge, and Divina to the kitchens at Jacobi’s Tavern & Inn.

It was an easy friendship that seemed to fall together naturally. Divina had also lost a parent to Blackthorne Fever, so she and her younger brother Sam had started work young like Tallie did. Their mother worked as a seamstress and they were able to live comfortably.

Divina was fair-skinned with long wavy blonde hair that shone in the sun. Tiny freckles peppered the bridge of her nose and she was always ready with a smile. Her most striking feature was her eyes, a deep endless blue with a bright circle of gold in the center. Sometimes, Tallie could swear the golden ring in her eyes glowed more brightly.

Divina regularly received attention from boys her age, each one wanting the radiance of her smile pointed in their direction, but she never seemed to pay them any mind. As she got older her beauty grew and Jacobi decided she was of better use up front in the bar where potential customers could easily see her. She didn’t mind because she got to keep some of her tips and wasn’t stuck peeling potatoes all night.

Tonight, as Divina’s eyes met Tallie’s there was an unfamiliar look of worry behind their ocean blue color. Divina motioned for Tallie to meet her in their usual spot, the back hallway. As she and Aleric made their way through the crowd, Tallie’s unease began to bubble up in the pit of her stomach.

“Tallie, you shouldn’t be here.” Divina said by way of greeting.

“Did you see what happened with my father tonight?”

Divina didn’t meet Tallie’s eye, instead she exchanged a quick glance with Aleric. “Yes. He was really drunk tonight— more so than usual. He wasn’t himself.”

“Just tell me if it was a fair game. Was he right that there was cheating going on?” She wasn’t sure it made a difference.

“I’m not sure. He was playing with a man I’ve never seen before. I suppose it's possible because he has won a fair amount tonight from the other patrons, but they already took your father away.” Tallie wondered why Divina was speaking so matter of factly, like it was already set in stone. She felt anger rising up within her.

“Fine, I’ll go talk to this stranger. I’m sure it can be worked out.”

Tallie left them to continue the conversation without her. She needed to settle this as quickly as possible. He may be a drunk but Mathaias was her father and he didn’t deserve to sit in a cold jail cell, especially when there may be foul play involved. Reaching the card table that the stranger was seated at, Tallie didn’t hesitate to start the conversation.

“I am Tallie Drakemor and I’m here to settle my father’s debt.”

The stranger ignored her and played another card. A few of the others at the table turned to look at her with confused amusement.

“I said, I’m Mathias Drakemor’s daughter and I’m here to settle his debt with you.” She threw her words harshly at the man.

He turned towards her and smiled, revealing stained jagged teeth. “You owe me 140 marks.”

She tried not to gag on his too-close, foul smelling breath. “140 marks? That’s completely outrageous!” Tallie had been saving for years and only had about 85 marks hidden in her lockbox at home.

“My father wouldn’t bet that much.” She crossed her arms and raised her chin.

“Oh but you see, he did. He lost to me three times before he decided to play for double or nothing. He just wouldn’t take no for an answer, all of my friends here can vouch for it. I won that money fair and square.” He gestured around the table as he snickered and the others joined in.

She huffed at him defiantly. “You’ve clearly been cheating, and taking advantage of a drunk. There’s nothing fair about that, and I will not be paying you back.”

Suddenly the stranger turned to look at her and stood from his chair. “Are you saying I’m a liar, girl?” He drew the last word slowly from his ugly mouth.

“I am. And I won’t be paying you. I’m sure someone saw you cheating, and they’ll have to release my father.” She turned to leave but she lost her balance when the stranger kicked his foot out in front of her path. As she collided with the ground, she heard the stranger’s laugh taunting her.

Tallie looked around to see that most of the patrons had cleared out of the tavern. Aleric had moved to help her but the other two men at the card table had risen and grabbed him by both arms, holding him in place. When she looked back up to the stranger, she noticed that Divina was slowly creeping around the edge of the room to a position behind him.

The man pulled a dagger from under his long cloak, and the giddy look on his face made bile rise in the back of Tallie’s throat. She stood slowly, and remembered the twin blades strapped to her hips. He smiled at her as she drew them, and then his first assault began. As his blade came out towards her she snapped into a defensive position and swiped at the blade with one of her own, knocking it away from its intended target, her chest.

He lunged forward, aiming lower and Tallie barely managed to spin out of the way as his dagger caught the side of her tunic. She felt cool air on her skin and forced herself to refocus before his next move. Tallie made ready, but the next advance came from behind her as one of the men left Aleric’s side and grabbed her arms, causing her to drop one of her blades. Tallie lost sight of it as it slid across the floor.

She threw her head backwards, hearing the satisfying crack of her captors nose as she twisted out of his grasp. Jacobi moved out from behind the bar and knocked the man out with a bottle while he was distracted with the blood gushing from his face. Tallie heard grunting and a series of thuds behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see Aleric dropping the second man, who was trying and failing to hold him on his own. He fell to the ground in a crumpled pile.

Aleric met her eye and smirked as they shared a quick moment of triumph. His eyes grew wide and he started to shout as he saw the stranger closing the distance between himself and Tallie with his dagger poised to kill. Tallie spun around in time to see the man’s look of satisfaction morph into a look of shock and confusion as he stopped abruptly just shy of her. Tallie followed his eyes as he looked down to see a blade's tip and a dark spot of blood pooling outward from the center of his chest. He slowly sank to his knees and fell forward.

Tallie tried to comprehend what she was seeing. She looked up to see Divina, face pale, arm still raised from plunging the sword into the strangers back. Divina steeped backward and gasped, covering her mouth. Tallie looked from Divina to Aleric, unsure of what to say or do. It was as if they were all frozen in that horrible moment.

Jacobi broke the silence. “Divina you need to leave. Now.”

Divina simply nodded and went to get her things from behind the bar. Aleric finally found his words and began directing them.

“Divina, go home and pack a bag. Pack as many provisions as you can. I’ll do the same and we will meet up at Tallie’s in 30 minutes.”

Again, Divina nodded, not saying a word and left out the back entrance of the tavern.

“Tallie, go.” His words were more of a croak than a command, voice strained as if it pained him to speak.

Tallie took one final look at the stranger who had suddenly changed all of their lives. She stepped around his body to collect her twin blade from where Divina had left it, cleaning it on his cloak. She looked to Aleric but had no words to give as she followed Divina’s path out the back door.

*****

Tallie’s mind was racing as she entered her small cottage and looked around. The bread she had set out to rise still sat on the table and the hearth still had a few embers in it. She went to her room and pried up the loose floorboard under her bed. She retrieved her lockbox and grabbed her savings and a gold locket that her mother had given her. Tying the locket around her neck she replaced the empty box and started packing the few pieces of clothing that she had. She packed a bar of soap and then laughed aloud.

This was absurd. Crinkles appeared on her forehead as she questioned herself—

Where will we go?

It only took a moment for Tallie realized that it didn’t matter. They were running to protect Divina. Divina had incriminated herself when she saved Tallie’s life, and she would go wherever they needed to, to keep her safe.

Looking at the timepiece on the mantle, Tallie calculated that Divina and Aleric should arrive in about five minutes. Taking a final look around she glanced over at the corner bookshelf containing her mothers most prized possessions. Tallie selected and dusted off a thick volume about the history of the first Sky-Touched, and was hit with a wave of sadness. She longed to be that young girl, sitting by the hearth as her mother recanted tales of adventure, danger and love.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she was alerted to the sound of boots marching down her street. Aleric and Divina would have used the back alley entrance. She needed to move. Now.

Dropping the volume into her bag she slung it over her back and made her way down the hall to the attic ladder. Climbing quickly, she stepped onto the roof through the attic window, as she had done many times before to sleep under the stars.

Crouched on the roof, Tallie strained her eyes to see if she could spot her companions making their way to her house. She needed to warn them somehow, or get to them before the guard did. Jumping to the neighbors roof without making a sound, Tallie rose up from a crouch to check in the other direction.

“There she is, up on the roof!” A group of foot soldiers turned in her direction and broke into a run.

Tallie only hesitated for a moment before jumping to the next roof and the next. She wasn’t thinking of where she was headed, so much as distancing herself from the sounds of clanking armor perusing her. Roof after roof, jump after jump, Tallie was slowly widening the gap between them. On her next jump, she miscalculated the distance, falling short of the beam and crashing through the poorly maintained straw roof.

No one was home but the sounds of her fall alerted the soldiers to her position. She didn’t have time to stop and think as she jumped out the nearest window and took off in a full sprint down the street. She could tell she was headed away from the city center, but Tallie had no measure of how far she had gone or in what direction.

As the street ended she skidded to a stop to try to get her bearings. It was dark on the edge of town and Tallie was squinting to find something that looked familiar.

“You’re cornered, girl!”

Tallie spun around to see that he spoke the truth. Groups of soldiers approached from the right and left, and he and another stood in the road before her.

“You’ll be coming with us now.” He continued. “We can work everything out when we get back to the jail.”

Tallie held her breath as she considered her options.

What options? She voiced the question in her head.

Remembering the tree line behind her, she turned and made a beeline for it. She could hear shouts of confusion, but as she sprinted through the thick wood her pounding heartbeat and her breathing began to drown out all other sounds. She ran, ignoring the burning in her lungs and the terror she felt. Tallie was forced to slow some as the wood thickened. She could barely see a few feet in front of her.

Gods it's dark. Why is it so dark? As realization dawned her breath came rushing from her lungs as if she was punched in the gut. She had run into the Midnight Wood!

It’s so quiet. Too terrified to speak aloud, Tallie's mind began to race. She turned slowly, trying to see any marker to gauge her surroundings.

Which way did I come from?

Tallie jumped as a raven cawed overhead. It was deafening in the silence. She thought she could make out the glow of the raven’s eyes staring down at her. Looking up, she noticed more sets of glowing eyes in the tree line. She slowly began to inch backward and—SNAP!

The sound of a large branch breaking underfoot sent the flock of ravens into the air, screeching and diving towards her. No longer caring that she was lost, Tallie moved through the thick brush away from the flurry of wings.

As the angry cawing faded from earshot she breathed a sigh of relief.

I’m getting pretty tired of running.

It was then that Tallie heard a low rumble, a sound that could only come from a beast of some sort. A very large beast, judging by the sound of it. Not able to tell the direction it came from she darted left and collided with a wall.

Tallie thought the wall was softer than it should have been.

A wall of leather? No, that didn’t seem right.

“Leather? Incorrect. Try again.” The beast’s reply sounded like a smoky whisper, so close her ears seemed to buzz. Every bone in her body ached with the instinct to flee, but Tallie reached forward and touched—

“More like scales, actually.” When she spoke aloud her voice pierced the silence and ripped her from her own thoughts. She stumbled backward, tripping over something in the dark.

“Interesting.” The beast stated with an air of intrigue. Tallie shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts and form a plan.

Looks like I’m not done running yet. She readied herself.

Tallie darted right this time but had only taken two strides when she felt a large claw wrap around her torso and her body was ripped from the ground. She squeezed her eyes closed as she felt the beast shoot upward towards the tree line. Moments later, Tallie felt a breeze on her face and she opened her eyes to find she was looking down at the forest.

Looking forward she saw that the sun was rising over Crescent Valley. She had been in the forest a lot longer than she’d realized. Craning her neck upward she felt dizzy as she took in the beast carrying her.

A dragon! Her body filled with dread. She swore she heard a chuckle escape the beast as it glided down into a clearing just outside the Wood. Before she knew it, Tallie was face down in the grass as the dragon dropped her and landed a few yards from her. Pushing off the ground into a kneeling position, her mouth went dry as she beheld who, or rather what, was glaring at her.

*****

As Cavin Feyhorn took in the girl kneeling in the grass before him, he sent a glare in Emrynth’s direction. She was attractive, for a human, but looked underfed and wore simple rags as clothes. Her hair was tousled and her face pale. Her eyes shone a bright silver in the morning sun.

“You’re an Elf.” She gawked at him.

Choosing to ignore her he turned to Emrynth, “Why have you brought this creature here?”

“Creature?” She spat, her face turning red. “I am not the creature here.” She turned to Emrynth, “and why have you brought me here? Breakfast?”

Cavin couldn’t help but admire her as she spoke to his dragon with such defiance.

“She is Sky-Touched,” his dragon sounded amused.

Cavin raised his eyebrows in surprise and looked at the girl, watching the color drain from her cheeks. He saw confusion— and then recognition— dance across her face. It seems she had just realized that his dragon wasn’t speaking aloud.

Cavin opened his mouth to speak but stopped abruptly and glanced upward at his dragon’s warning. “Akari approach from the north.”

As the first Akari broke through the cloud cover and released a loud cry, the human next to him unsheathed a pair of twin blades.

“This should be interesting.” He readied his own weapons as two more Akari cleared the clouds and barreled in their direction.

*****