Part One
The enchantment broke as the Tear forced its blade from the dragon's heart, and a surge of magical energy separated the adversaries, sending them flying apart as the flow of time returned. Shy landed on her side, then stood, and looked for the dragon till her wounded shoulder flamed with pain. More than the normal burn inflicted her; it felt as though dragon fire scorched her shoulder. She examined the cauterized scar through her torn white shirt and noticed the blue-gray glow of the enchantment still clung to it. The charred gash reverted as the burn disappeared, replaced with the gore of the wound, then red blood flowed, and transformed into liquid the color of white pearls.
"Dragon's blood," Shy uttered. "How could it..?"
The pearl liquid flowed through her arm, mixing with her own blood and coursed throughout her body. The burning ceased as the wound magically healed and nothing remained of the wound where the arrow struck her shoulder; the pain also faded.
An unicorn's leap away from her and among a cluster of boulders, Ragon moved his talon from over his scaled chest, and searched for where the sword stabbed him, but found no cut. He exclaimed, "What is this? Why am I not dead?"
"I..." Shy began, mesmerized by her shoulder, and scanned the Tear, but found no blood on the blade. "I know I drove the blade through you."
The torn membrane on Ragon's wing went numb as if ice covered it. His pearl blood that seeped down from the injury, turned red as the membrane mended till his wing was whole. He flapped his wings and prepared to flee.
"Stop!" Shy commanded. "Do not leave until we have talked."
Ragon paused as he peered at her curiously.
"Kill the man-slayer," Vapkin yelled, moving toward the dragon to attack it.
"No wait!" Shy yelled as she raised her arm to stop her partner. "Do not kill him."
A shocked look crossed Vapkin's face as he questioned, "Why not?"
"Did you not see?" Shy asked as she looked to her partner, realizing he didn't have the same experience as she. She wondered if this was some trick of the dragon, but didn't think he had any magic that could create such an illusion.
Ragon wondered why the huntress delayed and also wondered if she experienced something during the enchantment.
Shy looked to the Tear and considered the sword caused the enchantment, but she didn't know the reasoning behind it. She needed to know why the Tear chose to spare the dragon.
"Did I see what?" Vapkin questioned. "What are you babbling about?" He looked to the man-slayer's chest and uttered, "His wound? Where is it? Troll dung! Are you a sorcerer, beast? Is that why no spear or sword can pierce you?"
"That is not it," Shy tried to explain. "The Tear, she... She spared Ragon."
"Ragon?" both Vapkin and the man-slayer declared.
"How do you know my name?" the dragon questioned. "I told no one, but my mate..."
"Yes, Chaseah," Shy interrupted, sheathing her sword. "I am sorry for what the slavers did to her."
Ragon's eyes narrowed, suspicious of the huntress, and then he questioned, "Did you see a glimpse of my past? I saw the one named Turk and how he was taken from you by a Lava Dragon."
Her heart skipped a beat at the mention of her beloved, and then she questioned, "How do you know?" She glanced at the Tear in the black scabbard, the one Turk made for her, and realized the truth as she uttered, "The sword showed both of us the other's greatest heartache."
"Enough! For Gilgamore's sake!" Vapkin shouted. "This is getting too sphinxish. Let's kill the dragon and be done with it." He thought about the money he owed the Baron and how the Baron would want his hands if Vapkin didn't pay. He stated, "I need the bounty."
"No," Shy spoke as she walked to her partner. "There is a reason the Tear chose not to kill the dragon. I believe the sword wants me to help Ragon. I believe I am meant to go to this place called Havlong and free Ragon's children and to find Turk."
"What?" both the dragon and Vapkin exclaimed.
"You must be mad," Vapkin told her as he tapped his temple. "What are ya thinking? I've never backed away from a bounty."
"Collect the reward," Shy told him as she motioned to Ragon. "The man-slayer is dead. There shall be no more killings."
"It's my reputation I'm putting on the line," Vapkin spoke as he kept his two short swords at the ready. "What if the dragon eats you and returns to town? They'll throw me in prison, that's if they don't cut off my hands."
Shy turned to the dragon, not knowing if the reptile would go along with the plan, and she questioned, "Did you also see the town of Havlong with your brood in a cart?"
"I did," Ragon replied. "I also saw the man from my visions there who was being dragged away by slavers."
"I believe we are meant to help each other," Shy told the dragon and then asked him, "Shall you agree to go with me to Havlong? Together we can free your children and Turk."
His serpent eyes narrowed again still suspicious of her as he inquired, "Why should I? I do not trust your kind."
Shy had no answer for the dragon, so she asked, "How can I convince you?"
Ragon looked to her, to Vapkin, then back to Shy, and answered, "Let me go."
"No way!" Vapkin protested.
Shy held up her arm to her partner again and then asked the dragon, "Let you go and what?"
"If you let me go and trust me enough, I shall meet you at your hut. I have seen the vision of you and Turk, and I know the river that flows by your home. Let me go, and I shall meet you there. You shall also have to trust me."
Shy considered Ragon's offer.
"You can't go along with it," Vapkin insisted. "Dragons can't be trusted."
She made up her mind and since she believed the Tear had a purpose for sparing the dragon, Shy said, "It is a deal, if you swear to meet me there."
Ragon grinned as he spoke, "I swear."
"Swear by Chaseah's name," she ordered.
Ragon's smirk curled into a scowl as he said, "I swear by Chaseah's name."
"Then it is a deal," Shy proclaimed. "You shall meet me at my hut when the sun is high tomorrow."
The dragon scurried off, and Vapkin moved to pursue the reptile.
Shy grabbed his arm and pleaded, "Please, let him leave."
"The bounty," Vapkin insisted.
"What did the Lancer's wife want? She wanted the dragon's heart pierced. I did that. You can tell her the man-slayer is dead and keep the rest of the bounty."
Vapkin questioned her, "Why don't I just storm into town and tell everyone you made a pact with the dragon? I imagine someone knows where you live, and we'll find your hut and burn you out."
She examined his angry face, and then she spoke, "I know you shall not because you are going to give me a hunter's vow." She released his arm and told him, "Swear you shall do what I ask."
"Why should I?" he questioned her. "I can have the bounty without your help. What's in it for me if I don't kill the dragon?"
Shy thought about it and then she replied, "All I have is the five pieces of gold."
Vapkin's glare soften as he looked her over and his hunger from before returned as he stated, "There's your half-mask."
"My half-mask? Why would you want..."
"I don't want the stupid piece of steel!" he interrupted, and then in a softer tone, he said, "I want to see your face." He stroked his goatee as he greedily dined on his fantasy-filled imaginings and told her, "I'll gladly except that for payment."
Shy touched the metal veil, knowing it was the only thing shielding her from his loathing and told him, "You do not want to see what is under here. Do you not know I am the Shunned?"
"Shunned? What's that?"
Shy frowned then looked to the trail the dragon left by, knowing she didn't have much time, so she asked, "Do you swear..? No, give me your hunter's vow that if I remove my half-mask, you shall do as I ask. You shall tell the Lancer's wife the man-slayer is no more and that his heart was pierced. You shall
tell no one of my deal with the dragon or of our upcoming meeting."
"I vow as a hunter," Vapkin answered and sheathed his short swords as he prepared his appetite for the much anticipated banquet.
With deep regret, she replied, "I except, but before I remove my half-mask and the opportunity escapes, I just want to tell you thank you. You gave me a chance. I know the hunt did not turn out as you expected. Also I want to say..." Shy paused, envisioning the sheer horror on his face as she spoke, "I do not fault you for your reaction or for anything you might say, you are a good man, Vapkin. You might try to hide it from others and from yourself, but I can tell these things." She offered her hand, and he shook it offhandedly as she said, "Goodbye."
He didn't understand why she was doing all of this and wondered what she thought he was going to do.
"Now before I lose my nerve..." Shy spoke as she lifted her half-mask and revealed her whole face to him. "This is who I am."
* * *
Elsewhere in Havlong...
A slaver entered where Lord Vonturk toiled over an anvil. He had removed all of his armor but one peculiar looking gold gauntlet on his right hand. A war ax leaned against one of the benches. Vonturk hammered away at a piece of metal, and the slaver waited till his lord looked to him. Vonturk continued to hammer, and his eyes were distant as his mind dwelled far away, then he realized he wasn't alone, so he set the hot piece of metal into a bucket of water, and it hissed with the heat.
"What is it?" Vonturk questioned.
"We have discovered the whereabouts of the woman you wanted us to find in the Mountains of Torlawn," the slaver replied as he glanced around the smith shop at all the metal veils lining its walls. "She went to town and has yet to return."
"Capture her and bring her to me," Vonturk commanded. "And do not harm her or your life shall be forfeit."
"You know this woman, my lord. Why not go to her and ask her to come with you? I see by the masks you keep replicating, she is on your mind constantly."
Vonturk thought about his inquiries and then he replied, "The man she knew, Turk, is not the man I am, and if I was a good man, I would leave her be, but as I am... I am Lord Vonturk, and I take what I want, so bring her to me, and do not make me repeat myself again."
His thoughts drifted away as he lifted his hand and peered at the palm that had so tenderly touched the side of her cursed face. Something happened to him at that very moment, something he couldn't explain, but it had changed him. For the good or for ill, he didn't know. Vonturk only knew he had been changed and that he must have her at his side.
"We go at once, my lord. Are there anymore orders from you before we depart?"
"I only want her. Bring no one else. I'll make Shy mine and the power that the metal veil hides."
The End-Next click here Shunned: Dragon's Cord #2
or go to
www.kristielynnhiggins.com/Shunned2.html
**
Autographed Ebook Covers Now available
Click Here
Click here for more stories from Kristie Lynn Higgins
or go to www.kristielynnhiggins.com/page2.html
Shades of Gray- science fiction mystery thriller series
AaBack's Grimm Dark Fantasy Fairy Tale series
AabiLynn's Dragon Rite Series
Ayann #1- A Fantasy Action Adventure series
Beauty of the Beast #1 the Mystic Rose series
Behemoth
Florida House M1 a.k.a Unexplained Unexpected: Vampires
Shunned: Dragon's Cord series
Rex of the Dead- A Dog's View Of The Zombie Apocalypse
Road Rage
www.KristieLynnHiggins.com
**
Autographed Ebook Covers Now available
Click Here
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends