The Dragons of Farga

“There weren’t always dragons in the valley”, said Ash, intent on reminding the important beings of Farga gathered around him. His words filled the silent void hanging in the air of the oak lined room. Members of the Guild had travelled to the watch tower which stood on the western border of Farga and the known world. The place where the veil was thinnest, the place where they had to be the most careful.

“We brought them here remember? Not only for their safety but for ours too. A last resort if the worst should ever happen”, he continued as he looked around each set of eyes watching him, even the ones he couldn’t see. He was trying to impose the seriousness of the situation happening on the borderlands. News had only reached him earlier this morning from one of his army captains by the entrance point to the Fargan Kingdom. He called for the emergency meeting they were now in to try and convince the Guild to awaken the dragons.

The Kingdom of Farga was home to not just the Fargans, but to many creatures and beings of different origin. The Fargans, the traditional folk of the the valley, were nature beings at their core. Their souls aligning to and serving Mother Nature. Helping the plants and forests of the Earth thrive, grow and survive. Using the elements of wind, fire, earth and water they had been able to keep the balance of nature harmonious, until now.

The dragons Ash spoke of were born at the end of the last ice age. The Fargans knew them as the Stoce Dragons. Their mother’s last clutch of eggs, brought to the valley by King Frentle for protection against the evils in their homeland in the north east. Their mother surely perished Millenia ago but her final act of ensuring her species survived the extinction came with a price. Her babies, once hatched, would not be awoken, but kept sleeping peacefully under the warmth of the volcano in the highlands above the valley. Fargan magic ensaring their infantile minds with dreams that kept them asleep. For once a dragon is awake, the fire in their belly ignites and burns eternal and the Fargans knew all too well that the most difficult element to tame was fire.

“A war is coming. Things have changed. We must utilise the dragons to our advantage. We brought them here to protect them and now they must protect us”, Ash continued as he finally stopped pacing. His fist came down hard on the mantle of the fireplace he was now leaning on and he let out a heavy sigh as he looked into the flames burning indigo in the hearth. There was silence in the room as the Guild members soaked in what he was saying. Their worst nightmare was on their doorstep, a war with the fallen ones, with the humans, was not what anyone in the watch tower wanted.

*** The Battle of Hoddon Hill ***

Kelesura opened her eyes as she slowly came to. She was lying on the damp dewy grass of the morning. Her head was aching painfully and as her vision slowly returned, the first thing she could see was her bloodied hand still wielding her crystal sword. The tip was shattered on the ground but the main shaft was still intact. She knew it would hold strong, made of Fargan galena, she would be able to get it reshaped and sharpened at the tip when she returned to the castle. She slowly moved her left hand towards the back of her head where it was aching the most. Her golden, braided hair felt as damp as the grass underneath her body. She suddenly remembered she had suffered a hard whack before she lost consciousness. A blow to the head at the hands of Sir John, she was sure of it. With that thought running through her mind, she was able to muster some strength and push herself up to a sitting position. From the silence in the air, she instinctively knew the battle was over. As she sat upright, her violet eyes surveyed the land around her. It was much as she suspected. Bodies from both sides, lying dead where they fell. The survivors, she presumed, had fled the area and returned to safety long before she awoke. Her heart suddenly felt as achy as her head. They seemed to thump in unison and as she looked upon the bodies of the Grinks, the Fargans and the Fae she could feel a burning anger churning inside of her. She knew she would have to return to the castle and speak to her father.

She pulled herself up off of the soggy ground and although her head spun, she purposefully strode forwards towards the cover of the woods, cloak flowing and sword in hand. Her leather boots squelched through the muddy ground, her head still aching with every step but she couldn’t stop. She did not know if Sir John had survived. She did not look upon every face of the bodies that lay on the battle ground to check. For all she knew he could have sent more soldiers headed towards Farga. She had to return as quickly as possible to warn everyone. Instead of walking she knew it would be faster to use a fairy ring. She was aware Boswell Cottage was up ahead and knew Mr Boswell was the keeper of a ring-grid, she would head there and travel that way back to the castle.

As she approached Boswell Cottage, she hid her sword in her cloak and decided to tidy herself up a bit. It was important not to let her people know that the war had now started. She did not want to cause panic. She descended a steep embankment to the right of the cottage and approached the river. She bent her knees, cupped her hands and splashed the cool fresh water on her face. The sting of the cold felt amazing on her warm skin and as she looked down at her hands to cup some more water she saw some watery blood trickle away downstream. She splashed her face and hands a few more times until the water ran clear and she was fairly confident that all the blood was washed off. She pulled at her golden braid and tied it up again, placed her crystal sword inside the sheath between her gown and cloak and stood up to approach Boswell Cottage.

The cottage was built within the confines of a large tree trunk close to the opening of the woods. The light shining through the windows was a warm beacon welcoming travellers in the early morning chill. There were a few Grinks lining up outside to buy their tickets but Kelesura had no time to wait. Although she despised using her title to gain favours, she simply had no choice this morning. She walked straight to the front door of the cottage, parted her travel cloak and flashed her Royal robes at the waiting queue. She watched as the heads of the Grinks lowered in a bow and she felt a sense of self importance as she pushed through the doors and approached the desk. Mr Boswell immediately bowed to one knee and lowered his head also at the sight of her. He knew her of course, the daughter of King Wilm, the Royal Princess Kelesura. His eyes hovered on her face for a moment before he spoke.

“Your Royal Highness. I am your devoted servant”, he said as he straightend out of his bow and stood full height behind the desk. His expression was solemn and intrigued. Members of the Royal family did not travel by fairy-ring. He wondered why she was here but dared not ask.

“Thank you good Sir”, Kelesura replied with a smile that left her face just as quickly as it formed. “I require passage on the grid. I need to use the fairy-ring here to travel back to the castle”, she finished in a hurried voice, trying to act calmly. He surveyed her face and flashed a smile.

“Yes of course your Royal Highness. Take this ticket to the steward outside and he will direct you to the grid. I shan’t ask why you must travel by way of fairy-ring, but if you need help I am happy to oblige”.

“Thank you, I am most grateful for your discretion Mr Boswell. I will be sure to tell my father, King Wilm, of your goodwill. Good day to you Sir”, replied Kelesura as she took the ticket from the desk, lay 4 gold coins in his palm and turned to walk outside.

She emerged into the cold woods and found the steward. She handed him the ticket. Her cloak was pulled tightly around her again so to him and anyone else looking, she was just an ordinary traveller. He explained what to do; step inside the fairy-ring, turn to whichever direction you wish to travel in and say the name of your destination. She followed the simple steps and the system proceeded. Her body started to vibrate violently until every atom inside of her shook and bounced off of each other. The vibrating created empty spaces between her soul and her body and that made her light enough to travel through time and space through the fairy-ring. It only took a couple of seconds. She felt undone and in a million tiny pieces as she was pulled through the grid, only to be reassembled and whole again outside of the castle.

King Wilm had been waiting for his precious daughters return. He had heard of the battle of course, but no news of his beloved princess had made him worried and angry. He had grown impatient and decided to go and look for her himself and so rode off on his valiant steed an hour or so before she reappeared. He had left Ash, his head combatant, at the castle to welcome his daughter and any survivors from the battle home again if they should return before him. To her surprise Ash was waiting for her in the entrance hall.

“M’lady! You have returned. We heard about the battle, are you alright?, he asked as he made his way towards her, outstretched arms meeting hers. She was happy to see him.

“I am well”, she said smiling warmly, forgetting all about the blow to the head she had received. Ash looked her up and down to make sure and was satisfied with her answer.

“Your father left to look for you not long ago, if you turn around you could catch up to him by midday”, he told her encouragingly.

“I shall not, we do not have time. The battle at Hodden Hill means the war has started, the veil has been penetrated by Sir John and his army. We must wake the dragons. That’s why they’re here after all isn’t it?”, she spoke quickly with intent and pleading in her eyes. Ash processed the news.

“Princess, you understand that once you awaken a dragon he will forever be awake. Once we ignite the fire in his belly it will burn until his death. As they grow they will become battle hungry and unstoppable, uncontrollable even. If we do this, we cannot undo it”.

“Yes, I am aware Ash, but we have no alternative. The remainder of the veil is weak, Sir John knows a way to shred it. If it comes down and we are unprotected, the humans will use their iron swords and ruin everything. They will destroy not just Farga, but the whole known world - Earth shall be no longer if our balance is destroyed. She will become a barron ball of fire on course for eternal burning. No flower, crop or tree shall be spared. Our experience here will be gone. We cannot let it happen. We must wake the dragons and we must do it tonight”. Her face was close to his now, her words had an urgency about them and her violet eyes danced in front of his with earnest appeal. He knew she was serious. His loyalty was to King Wilm but with him gone in this moment, he honoured her just as much.

“How do you intend to wake them Princess? What about the King? What about the Guild?”

“We do not have time to wait. Forget about permission from the Guild and my father. For all we know, Sir John is on his way with his soldiers now. We must go to Eldon. He is the only one who can help us. He will know what to do. I will go alone if I have to”. She turned to walk away and Ash saw the blood on her golden braid.

“You’re hurt. There’s blood on your head. Were you hit?”, he went to grab her arm but she pulled away.

“I told you I’m fine. I need to speak to Eldon. Bring me my horse and we ride immediately”, she said with more fervour than he had seen from her before. He nodded his head in agreeance and organised the horses.

They set off towards the Crystal Caves where Eldon the Seer would meet with them. Eldon was well known to all Fargans. An important being, who had, instead of eyes, two globes of earth spinning in each socket. The left globe the way the earth should be in its perfect natural environment and the right globe the trajectory of the earth in regards to the present moment. Kelesura knew it would show death, destruction and chaos. She needed to find out from him how to awaken the sleeping dragons under the volcano to help bring the war with the humans to an end before they destroyed the nature beings, Farga and ruined earth completely.

As they rode on through the valley and towards Eldon the Seer, Kelesura felt her headache return. The rough ground under her horses hooves did not help the situation and within a few moments she felt another trickle of blood around her temple. She pulled the reins of her horse and wiped the blood away with her hand. Ash, who had been riding slightly behind, caught up to her just in time to watch her slump forward, loose consciousness and fall to the ground below her steed. He jumped off of his own horse and kneeled before Kelesura on the ground. He tried to wake her but she would not rouse. She was breathing, so he picked her up and placed her on his horse propped against him so she would not fall. He rode as fast as the wind all the way to the Crystal Cave. Eldon would know what to do. He would know how to wake the dragons and Princess Kelesura.