Chapter 11
The Journey up the Appalenes
The journey up the Appalenes was treacherous, the path repaved with the red and black markings of the R and B.
Why are they called the R and B. Fercy thought to himself. It must have some deeper meaning than two colors. Then again it may not. With enough force, even the silliest things can become common.
It took a mile for him to come across an unknown heat signature, and he immediately scurried off the edge of the cliff and stayed airborne, beating his wings as quietly as possible as the patrol passed by. There didn’t seem to be any other dragons patrolling this high, so him getting thermally spotted was not something that was likely to occur. He stayed along the outskirts of the mountain for a bit, gaining altitude slowly, looking down at the layer of clouds below him as he beat away, thinking about Rinny and the war. Rinny was all that was left, the rest – although the thought was dreadful – were probably no more alive than Darko.
“I hear something.”
Fercy nearly fell as he stopped beating his wings, crashing against the lip of the mountain and tumbling another few meters before regaining altitude. He sensed an incoming flame burst and dodged, debris from the side of the mountain raining down on him from where the flameburst hit. Another dragon had been in that patrol and he’d been spotted. The dragon was Vulcan, with a lancer that had a very sharp lance equipped. They were below the rugged path now and touching the moist clouds. The condensation made moving more difficult, and as he dodged the dragon’s attacks, his rebuttals were becoming more sluggish. The Vulcan was having a difficult time as well, however, being bigger than him. The dragon orbited him, probing him with flame bursts, hoping Fercius would make a mistake and get hit.
Fercius took a deep breath and shot a stream of flame out towards the other dragon, the lancer pulled back behind the shield, and Fercius tackled them, knocking the lancer off his mount and screaming down through the clouds. The Vulcan looked at Fercy and then glanced down beyond the clouds to where his lancer was plummeting.
He made the decision Fercy would have made, and the Vulcan dove after his lancer.
“Did they get him?”
“I don’t know.”
“There he is!”
Screams filled Fercy’s ears as he ripped into the enemy patrol, swiping a dozen off the side of the mountain with his tail while he charred the rest with his conflagrant breath. They struck at him and he weaved out of the way, swiping back with his claws. There were two lines of spearmen on either side of him now, hiding behind fire resistant shields. His bursts panicked them but they held fast, staying in formation. There was no way around them… just over them. He gracefully began to glide over the spears, but was hit by the Vulcan dragon that had returned. He hit the side of the mountain hard and began to plummet, the spears spreading out as if he had created a ripple, forming around him with their weapons ready. The Vulcan hovered above him, waiting for Fercy’s next move. Thoughts of Darko filled his mind as he charged the spears, his horns deflecting their tips as he pushed a way through the circle, he then dove off the tip of the mountain and disappeared through the clouds, stopping. There was a puff where the clouds separated as the Vulcan plummeted after him, knocking him another few hundred meters down. He was on the receiving end here, forced to brace himself for the other dragon’s charges before being able to make any attacks on his own.
This time, he thought.
As the dragon came in for another strike, he turned belly up and beat himself a few meters below him, as the dragon flew by him he readied a flame strike and fired, the concentrated burst hitting the Vulcan in the tail and making him lose control from the sudden pain.
“He’ll be back.” Fercius said to himself, flying up past the clouds to the castle as quickly as he could.
After a few hours he could sense the dragon returning, so he landed back on the path and leaned up against the wall of the mountain, readying himself. The Vulcan dragon landed in front of him with a quickness, roaring with anger from his last defeat.
“Time for round 3.” Fercius muttered.
They both flameburst one another, the two shots exploding as they made contact and knocking both dragons back, Fercy hitting the wall and the Vulcan falling off the edge, forced to make a somersault and come soaring back. Fercius dodged his strike, and used the time it took for the Vulcan to get his horns out of the mountain side to score a few cheap hits on his chest with his claws. Yelping in pain, the Vulcan dragon swiped Fercy with his spiked tail, knocking Fercy several meters up the path. Before he could recover, a lance cut through the spine of his right wing, forcing him to cry out in pain as his right wing was pinned against the red and black path, immobilizing him. They left the lance there as the dragon landed on top of him. Fercy could smell his putrid breath as he brought his teeth closer to Fercy’s neck.
As if on cue, a flame burst struck the Vulcan, knocking him back long enough for Fercy to get back up. He tested his wings; he’d need time before he could fly again. Next to him he saw what had only been in his dreams, and was wondering if this was a blood-loss induced vision while the dragon gnawed away at his neck. Any second he’d die now and end up in heaven. Maybe he already was in heaven. “Am I dead?”
Rinny laughed, keeping her gaze on the other Vulcan.
“Traitor!” yelled the Vulcan aggressor.
She growled, rested and ready to fight.
Fercy growled… mesmerized.
The Vulcan dragon whimpered and backed off the mountain, retreating.
Rinny’s focus switched to Fercius’ injuries.
“Are you ok?” she asked, inspecting his right wing.
He wasn’t sure whether it helped, but his ability to feel pain seemed to have subsided for the moment. Rin’Tsu had grown beautifully, giving Fercy an idea of how much time he had spent in those caves. He wasn’t even sure on what terms they were on, or whether he should say something, he should say something, time wasn’t extending this moment gracefully. Tension was pulling at him like the sinews of a primed onager.
He yelped from the pain in his right wing as Rinny knocked him on his back.
“I thought you were dead! Everyone thought you were dead!”
“Yeah…” he kissed her, “I missed you.”
She smiled and rolled off him, “Can you fly?”
He extended his left wing, but his right remained limp by his side. Even the slight attempt at moving the right wing ended with a piercing pain.
“I see,” Rin’Tsu said, “well let’s hope there are no more patrols.”
They slowly walked up the rest of the mountain to the castle, Fercy stumbled but Rinny helped support his stance as they kept walking.
“Once we arrive up top we can have Wei take a look at you, he’s healed worse. He’ll be surprised to see you. He thought all of Sedonii had fallen.”
“It hasn’t?”
“Well, geographically, perhaps. But I’m sure some of Sedon lives on within you. You can help bring it back!”
“Sure I can, with what army?”
“We don’t need an army, you me and Wei, we can do it. We’ll fly carefully, rally a resistance.”
“So long as I’m with you.” Fercy replied.
Rinny blushed and kissed him on the cheek.
“I thought you’d forget about me once you left the castle.”
“Never.” Fercy replied, looking over to the castle. “The castle looks unchanged.”
“Wei likes to preserve the past. It has looked this way since the day it was built. A symbol of the simpler days. Better days. Let me bring you to him, he’ll freak out when he sees you.”
“In a good way, one hopes.” Fercy replied.
She snickered, “Ah I remember now, he’s probably forgotten, I don’t think he was angry at you in particular.”
Rin’Tsu led Fercius to Wei’s bed chambers, everything was large enough for a dragon in this castle – Fercius loved it. The chambers themselves were luxurious, with the bed chambers having a more placid blue color as opposed to the reddish tint or golden frame the majority of the castle walls had.
“This is nice, but why is he lying here? Shouldn’t he be out training dragons and doing other things dragon trainers do?”
“Wei’s been ill.” Rinny replied, worry in her eyes, “I’m not quite sure what it is, but it doesn’t seem fatal, probably just the flu. He’s been very tired lately. But well enough for company! I hope… at least I think he’d be fine with – “
“Rinny! Who’d you bring?” Wei exclaimed. He was significantly quieter than Fercius had remembered, but the strength and resolve behind his voice was still there. If he weren’t lying in bed, you’d think he was perfectly healthy. As Wei’s focus shifted to Fercius, his grin faded slightly. “Fercius?”
“The one and only.” he replied, grinning.
“He can’t understand everything we say, but he’s better at it than most.” Rinny added.
“Come here Fercius.”
Fercy complied, waiting through Xiu Wei’s inspection of him, when the old ex lancer suddenly groaned as he shifted his weight to get out of bed. “Follow me…” he whispered, leading Fercius through a small maze of corridors towards – what heat dictated – was Rinny’s chambers again.
You’d think he’d keep me as far away from here as possible. Fercy thought to himself.
They arrived in a smaller chamber, reeking with the smells of a myriad of chemicals from all sorts of potions and elixirs.
“Extend your wings.” he ordered.
Fercy tried to comply, but his right wing remained limp by his side, and as Xiu Wei touched it, Fercy flinched and growled at him defensively, the pain quite severe. That was all the information the great Xiu Wei needed, and within moments, he came back with a few elixirs he had made himself for just such wounds.
“It smells horrible.” Fercy whispered.
“You get used to it, they help.” Rinny replied.
“Flirting again?” Wei asked. “You know, you could have cost me quite a bit.”
“What does he mean by that?” Fercy asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Lancers don’t want a mother, they want a soldier. A companion, one that will follow them through the struggles associated with such a profession.”
“He knows.” Fercy sighed.
“What? That I love you?” Rinny asked.
Her saying it made him flinch. Sometimes reality itself seemed like a dream. All he could do is smile, even as Wei applied this sticky substance over his wounds.
“Well at least he said ‘could have’. I’m glad I didn’t.”
“You might have!”
“Did I?”
“I don’t know.”
This was awkward, Fercius wasn’t even completely sure what they were talking about, but whatever it was, all this war had made conversation like this seem distant and out of place.
“Rin’Tsu…” Fercy said, realizing they had swayed from their original topic drastically.
“Yes?”
“Is Seleene R and B?”
“No, Seleene has always been neutral and always will be. At least it will be so long as Wei has a say in the matter.”
“I see… when did Wei start becoming this sick?”
“Very recently, it came out of the blue. No warnings, nothing. At least nothing I was aware of anyways.”
“Do you think the R and B are responsible for this?” Fercy asked.
Rinny scoffed, “Unlikely, they wouldn’t have the guts, Wei would skewer them one by one. Besides, what good is Seleene to them? It’s out in the middle of nowhere and generates almost no profit. Their war machine would gain nothing out of this random village up in the Appalenes.”
“Hmm… you’re probably right.”
Xiu Wei interrupted their conversation with a pat on Fercy’s wing, making him wince a little from the pain. “You’re all set, your wounds should heal, just don’t do anything rough for a while, and keep off my precious Rinny!” he joked.
“It’s not me that does the pouncing…” Fercy whispered back.
“What did you say?” Rinny asked.
Wei laughed, as if he understood, coughing slightly.
“Please take me back to my chambers, Rinny.” he said, hoisting himself up on her back.
They walked back, talking the whole way, with Wei listening, trying to grab tidbits of the topic, enough to try and understand. Fercius wasn’t sure if his efforts were in vain or not, but Wei seemed pretty amused with the conversation. The conversation itself was pretty random, and extended to topics like fluffiness of clouds to how the underwater world would be affected by such an invasion. Serious or not, Wei seemed quite amused, and went to sleep almost immediately after he lay down on his king sized bed. Fercy and Rinny quietly left his room, alone again.
It will finally be like old times. Fercius thought to himself, soothed.
“What are you smiling about?” Rinny asked, sharing his smile.
“I’m just… happy.”
“It must be the chemicals in Wei’s elixirs, they’re making you delirious.”
“What? Can’t I just be happy?”
“You worry too much to just be happy – always about something.”
“Well… right now I’m just happy. I don’t care about anything right now.” And there was quite a bit he could have cared about, as they both knew. But at this moment, all that mattered was her, the room he was currently in, and how much he can move without a piercing pain cutting through his body.
“If only I hadn’t let that bastard skewer me over by the rocks.”
“Then what?” Rinny asked, fishing for compliments again, her old grin returning.
“How long has it been, Rinny.”
“Since what? Since that night up by the rooftops, with the birds and the beautiful sunset.” she seemed lost in the memory.
He nudged up against her, Vulcans were so much colder. Her hot breath made up for it, though, and as she had been lost in the past, he was just as pleased with wading in the present. He nodded calmly.
“Four years.”
Fercius suddenly jolted back, “Four years?!”
“Give or take, including your time in service.”
“Wow.” Fercius thought back on those endless days in the caves. All he had learned. “I guess that makes sense. But I hadn’t really expected it to be that long.”
She gently leaned up against him again, “Tell me all about it.”
“I will,” he yawned, “but – let’s get some rest.”
He leaned up against one of the wall’s in this corridor and closed his eyes, breathing calmly.
“I’m too excited to sleep. Let’s do something! Fercy!” There was no response, other than a quiet snore. “Fercy?”
He had made it up the Appalenes, now he could finally rest.