This is chapter 1 of book 2. Remember, the first two books run in a congruent timeline, so either could be read first. Most people seem to like reading Dragon Sight first, but Dragon Warrior is faster paced, if you're into that.
Chapter
1
The
great bear stood on his rear legs, rising to his full imposing size. My heart skipped a beat. He was going to attack now. I crouched in a defensive position; one sword
in front of me and one behind. I knew
the charge was coming. There was no
turning back now. I had to face the
monster. I had to beat him back. Time seemed to slow as I anticipated the
imminent attack. The cool spring air
rustled my hair. The chill of winter had
not yet left the foothills of the great mountains of the North. Some of the trees were still tipped with
snow. The mountains just above us were
heavy laden with it. The cool air was a
welcomed treat to cool me from the heated battle.
In
a blur, the bear moved. Claws were
flying. His great maw was snapping shut
with razor sharp teeth trying to get a taste of my flesh. I was ready.
My blades danced quicker than the bear could move. Sharp steal took bites out of his flesh. He roared in anger each time my blades made
contact. The injuries did not stop the
beast; they only managed to infuriate him.
Claws
were coming faster now. This was no
ordinary bear. He moved with purpose and
speed. He lunged for me again, maw
opened. I brought my sword up
horizontally, and shoved it into the bear’s mouth. The blade cut the cheeks to the bone of the
jaw and stuck firmly, but the momentum of the animal would not allow it to
stop. We collided. I went sprawling feet over head backwards,
the massive beast rolling over the top of me.
For a brief moment I worried that I would be crushed, but the momentum carried
the animal’s massive weight beyond my body.
I
quickly rolled back to my feet, freeing a knife from my weapons belt in the
process. I was none too soon, as the
bear had already turned to press the attack again. My sword still lay imbedded in the bear’s
mouth. He rose up on his hind legs
again. This time, he did not even pause. His full weight came crashing down on
me. A claw swept dangerously close to my
body. In as quick of a movement as I
could muster, I spun, offering my sword in the place of the bear’s intended
target. With the full weight of his body
behind the blow, the bear could not stop its assault. The paw was severed at the wrist.
I
wasted no time pressing the attack. The
bear hobbled back a step in shock and pain.
I took the ground he had lost in a stride, swinging my knife down in the
process. I added my weight to the blow,
and the blade sunk up to the hilt in the bear’s shoulder. Without flinching, the bear reared its head,
knocking me out of the way. We were on top
of one of the foothills, and I rolled all the way down it from the blow.
The
great bear wasted no time. It was
charging down the hill after me before I had even finished tumbling down,
myself. I used the momentum to place
some distance between us, and I rolled back to my feet, new weapons in my
hands. The bear swiped at the sword in
its mouth with a massive clawed paw. The
weapon went sailing through the air. The
wound it left healed over before the sword hit the ground. When the bear reached me, it had already
grown back its severed paw. The knife
still jutted out from its shoulder, but the wound didn’t seem to bother the
great beast.
I
was sweaty, and tired. The battle had
been going on like this for over an hour.
I was down to my last two blades.
Countless blows and cuts to the animal, and aside from the knife jutting
out of its shoulder, the animal looked completely unharmed. I didn’t know what I would do when my last
two blades were gone. I had been fighting
since I was old enough to walk, but I was always better with a blade than
hand-to-hand combat. The bear didn’t
care if I had a weapon, or not. He
continued to press the attack.
I
decided to make my last two weapons count.
I dug in and waited for the impact.
Both claws were coming this time; the bear had lunged at me and was
soaring through the air. It was a
mistake. I used his momentum to carry me
backwards. My foot came up, and caught
the animal under the jaw, closing its massive maw. I continued to flip backwards, and with all
the strength I possessed, pushed the bear upward with my foot. The kick served its purpose, and I was able
to get enough space between the beast and I to swing my swords. In a mad frenzy I stabbed. As fast as my arms would move, I stabbed, and
stabbed, and stabbed. The bear was
soaring through the air above me; I was flipping backwards beneath it, but my
blades were doing their lethal dance in and out of the soft underside of the beast.
I must have poked
a dozen holes all the way down the belly of the bear before we hit the
ground. The animal was unmoved by the
attack. Its rear legs came down, trying
to stomp me in the process. I was
quicker. I was on my belly on the ground
underneath him, but I rolled to the side just in time to miss the heavy
blow. I came to my feet, a bit slower
this time. I could feel the fatigue
settling in. I wondered if the animal
would ever tire.
The great bear
turned to face me again. He paused for
only a moment. I could see the intelligence
in his eyes. Before I could catch my
breath, he pressed the attack again. My
blades came up to meet him. Instead of
taking him head on, I stepped to the side, and pivoted. I swung my sword backwards with all of my
might as the bear charged past me. The
blade found its mark, and was buried to the hilt in the bear’s side. With the massive beast’s forward momentum, I
didn’t have enough time to retrieve the weapon before he charged past.
The sword handle,
and the knife handle sticking out of the animal gave it an even more menacing
look. It was a reminder that he was
immortal; that I could not win this battle.
I was tired. I wanted to stop,
but I knew he would not allow it.
I took my last
blade in both hands, and waited for the attack.
The beast charged again, this time he was watching for a side step. He was waiting for me to make a mistake. He was waiting for me to repeat a move so
that he could teach me a lesson. I had
learned not to make those mistakes in my training. As soon as a warrior becomes predictable, he
will die. I knew the laws of war. I was not about to break them.
As the bear
charged in, I flipped forward. I ran my
blade up the back of the bear as it passed under me. The fur, and skin separated as the blade
sliced its way down the animal. Before I
had finished my strike, the beginning of the wound was mending. The long gash closed up like a zipper before
I completed my flip and landed on the ground.
I turned to face
my foe once more. The bear reared up
again. I pressed the attack. My blade moved like lightning. I cut across, up, down, jabbed, thrashed, and
twisted. Long cuts were all over the
bear’s tender underbelly. The wounds
healed instantly. I cut faster,
deeper. The wounds healed faster. My arms and blade were a blur of furious
movement.
The bear started
swinging its massive claws. I had to
stop my frivolous attack, and use my sword as a shield from the sharp
claws. The bear stayed on his haunches
and fought with its front paws, almost like a man. Several times I severed the massive mitts,
but they always grew back as fast as I could cut them. Every now-and-then I would thrust the sword
into the bear’s chest, or stomach. The
blows, be they offensive or defensive, didn’t faze the beast.
My arms were getting
heavy. The swings were becoming
increasingly more labored. I was
slowing. The bear was not. With a mighty blow, it knocked the sword from
my hand. With his other paw, he knocked
me from my feet. I flew a good five
paces before I struck the ground.
My head was
spinning, but I knew I had to get up. On
unsure legs I made it back to my feet.
The bear was already there. It
swung a massive claw at me. I reached
up, and grabbed the arm just in time.
With all my strength, I wretched the arm sideways, and up behind the
bear’s back. The bone popped. I swung my legs over the beast, and continued
pulling the arm until I was able to roll him.
The bears other
paw came around with the momentum of the roll, and caught me square in the
chest. I went sprawling again. I landed on my back a good eight paces
away. The blow drove the air from my
lungs. I tried to sit up, but my
spinning head wouldn’t let me. I was only
just able to prop myself up on my elbows to get a look at the beast bearing
down on me.
A bright, yellow,
glowing light left the pouch attached to my weapons belt. I tried to call out, but there was still no
air in my lungs. The little glowing
creature flew furiously at the beast.
They met head on. One would
expect the little glowing creature to lose in the collision, but that was not
the case. This was my oldest, and
dearest, friend Columbine Iceweb; a fairy who found me as a baby after my
parents abandoned me. When she collided
with the bear, he went
sprawling. He flew a good twenty paces
up in the air and one hundred paces backwards; flipping haphazardly as he went,
with arms and legs sprawling out in every direction.
“No more,” the
little fairy voice shouted as the bear took flight.
I groaned
inside. I was going to be in
trouble. I sat up, and waited for her to
return to me.
“Colly,” I said,
admonishingly as she landed in my upturned palm. “You do realize he’s going to kill me now,
don’t you?”
Columbine’s wings
wilted, the way a dogs ears do when you yell at them. “He’s too hard on you,” she explained. “I can’t stand it when mean old Marus hits
you like that.”
I couldn’t be mad
at her. She loved me. She only understood love. I feigned a scold. “Well I hit him, don’t I,” I asked.
She held her hands
behind her back, looked down, and shrugged.
“I guess you do.” She sat quietly
under my scolding gaze for a moment longer.
Then her wings came up a bit with a thought, and she looked up into my
eyes, “But it doesn’t hurt him like it hurts you. I don’t like to see him hurt you. He’s a mean old bear,” she professed.
I couldn’t hold
the scold any longer, and smiled helplessly.
“Awww, you know I can’t stay mad at you, little Colly. I love my little Colly wolly.”
With that, her
wings perked up, and she glowed a little brighter. She lifted up off my hand, flew to my
face. She kissed me on the tip of my
nose. As she did so, her yellowish glow
turned a deep red. “I love you, Apoc,” she
said in her tiny fairy voice.
Just then, Marus
came tromping through the bushes. The
bear was grunting angrily as he walked.
He stood up on his hind legs, and continued walking forward. With each step, his body was
transforming. He shrunk a few feet, then
his fur got thinner, his snout sunk in, the eyes changed. Within a few paces, he was a man.
Knight Marus was
my second oldest and dearest, friend. He
had learned about my birth through a prophecy, and was sent to train me from
Mother Gaia, herself. He was the Shaman
of my people. He had been so for the
last eight thousand years. His calling
as a councilman at Gaia’s table had prolonged his life, and given him powers
beyond my imagination. He had taught me
how to use some of those powers, but mostly, he taught me about my power.
He stopped just in
front of me. As I stood up, he removed
the sword from his side. The wound
closed immediately once the blade was removed.
Then he reached up, and pulled the blade from his shoulder. There was not a scratch on him to betray the
damage I had done him in the training session.
His eyes, however, were dancing with anger.
“You must keep
that little pest in your room when we train,” Marus said. “We train for hours, and she undoes all our
work. How can you learn if others fight
for you?”
I never knew how
to answer Marus’ questions. Anyone else
would ask such a thing, and it would be a rhetorical question; Marus never
asked rhetorical questions. He always
expected an answer. I racked my brain
trying to think of an answer that would appease him. Nothing came to mind.
Colly beat me to
the punch. She flew right up to Marus’
face, and said, “You be nice! You mean old bear.”
“Why does she
always do this,” Marus asked with exaggerated patience. “She knows I do not understand a word that
she says.”
Colly had the
tiniest little voice. No one could
understand her, but me. I often wondered
why that was. I could hear her from a
quarter mile away, but others couldn’t hear her even if she were screaming
right in their ears.
“She says, I’ve
trained enough,” I said. “She says it’s
time for us to go to supper.”
Colly flashed
blue, and turned to fly back to me. “You
lie head,” she exclaimed. “I can’t
believe you lied. You tell the mean old
bear what I said. Don’t lie. You lie head.”
I had to
laugh. Marus just raised an
eyebrow. “Ummm. She’s mad because I lied,”
I explained. “She didn’t say it was
supper time. That was my idea.” Marus didn’t think it was funny, so I quickly
wiped the smile off my face. “What she
really said was that you’re a mean old bear.”
Colly looked
pleased. She turned around, and stuck
her little tongue out at Marus. He was
too far away to see her tiny features, but she didn’t seem to care. She flew back to me, landed on my shoulder,
and started snuggling with my cheek.
“You must leave
the insect at home next time, Apoc,” Marus admonished. The scowl never left his dark features. “This is not a game. We train you for Gaia. You are to be the Chosen One. You cannot live life as if it were a game.”
“Should I live
like you,” I said out of anger. “You
don’t live, Knight Marus. Life isn’t as
serious as you make it out to be. It’s
fun, and exciting. Sure, there are tough
times, but if all you focus on is the bad, you’ll never be happy.”
The old shaman didn’t
look moved. “You are young,” he
said. “And stupid.”
Marus was a lot of
things, but he was never belittling. He
must have been more upset than I had thought.
“We are facing
grave times, Apoc,” he continued. “If
you continue to live in this fancy free life style of yours, you will get
yourself killed. Then the world will fall
to darkness. We all depend on you. I do not believe that you truly understand
the burden that you bear. You cannot
live a normal life. I am sorry for this,
but it is what it is. You are right;
life should be a wonder. It is the
greatest gift the Creator gave us, but for some, like you and I, we must
sacrifice that gift so that others may enjoy theirs. You will learn to find joy in that sacrifice,
too.”
I had heard the
speech a million times. It was losing
its effect. Colly was still cuddling with
my cheek. She let her magic flow into
me. It was love. All she knew was love. She shared that love openly. She wanted me to feel it. It was hard to keep the scolded look on my
face with her wonderful magic flowing through me. Knight Marus’ speech was having even less
effect on me because of it.
I looked up, in
the best humbled face I could pull. “I’m
sorry, Marus. You’re right. I’ll try to take my training more seriously
from now on. Don’t be mad at Colly. She doesn’t understand. She just wants me to be happy.”
The big man just
sighed. “I am not mad at Colly,
son. I am glad that she is so protective
of you. She has saved your life many
times. I would not ban her from our
training sessions if she could stay out of the fight.” He shot Columbine a glare. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her wings
wilt. “But we must be able to complete
our training sessions. There will be
times when you are knocked down in battle.
There will be times when you are knocked senseless. You need to practice responding, even under
those circumstances. I love you,
son. I do not want this calling to take
your life.”
“I know, Marus,” I
said. I no longer had to force the
humbled look. “Sometimes I worry I won’t
be enough. I worry I won’t be able to
live up to the prophecy.”
Marus walked over
to me, and placed a meaty hand on my shoulder.
“I know, son. I know. That is why we train so hard. I cannot help you in the last battle. The prophecy says that you will fight it on
your own. The only way I can be there
for you is by what we do here, in our training sessions. It is my prayer that these sessions will make
you ready for that fateful moment.”
The big man
embraced me like a father. I never knew
my father, but with Marus around I never missed him. I had been raised by him, and Columbine. I couldn’t imagine a boy having more loving
parents.
“Now,” he said as
we separated. “I think it really is time
for supper.”
With that, we
hiked our way down through the foothills, away from the great mountains, to the
village.
