The Column Racer (4 page)

Surrounding the carriage was a large battalion of soldiers on horseback, each armed with bow and sword. The commander of the guard and several others dismounted their horses, walked up the stone path leading to their house, and knocked on the door. Their house manager opened it. The commander introduced himself and those with him. They were then allowed inside.

“Miss Roberts, I presume,” said the commander, he reached to take Areli’s hand, “I’ve heard much about you. My daughter can’t wait for you to race for the Emperor.”

“Neither can I,” responded Areli, still wiping tears from her eyes.

“Well, I hope you and your family have everything packed, we’ll be wanting a quick departure.”

“We’re ready, commander.” And with that, she and her family were escorted from their home and inside their new carriage. Their new home for the next couple of months.

From the inside of the cab, Areli could see all the other riders and their families from the community standing in front of their houses, taking in the spectacle. She could see the jealousy in their eyes, and she could feel the hatred and envy in their hearts. Areli tried to distract herself with other things. That’s when she concentrated on her guard. There must have been three dozen men in charge of her and her family’s safety. They were all finely dressed, covered in extravagant armour with dragon moldings on either their chest or shoulders, depending on their rank. The commander had a silk sash that sat diagonally across his armour, distinguishing him from the rest. Like the commander said, they were quick to vacate. And before she really knew it, all the men were back on their mounts, and the commander gave the signal to start moving.

With Areli’s final wave to those she had grown to love, the carriage took off. The carriage and guard continued down the stone path until it circled around the tall fountain of Emperor Abhiraja in the center of the community, to the admiring and bitter eyes of Oroin Hall and Academy riders alike. And as if Areli had never lived there before, never raced for Oroin or for Sector D, she was gone, knowing she would never return. And with the way things had ended with Talon, she was sort of glad.

The boarding facility wasn’t far from her previous home. Only a few miles. The only things that obstructed its view from the riding community were the rolling hills that made up the dense agricultural lands of Oroin.

Areli wanted to force herself to keep looking straight ahead at her parents, who sat opposite her on soft-as-cloud seats covered with red fur. Her mother had tears in her eyes, and her father held her to him, whispering calming words into her ears. Then she realized that it didn’t matter where she looked . . . all she would see was pain.

When they arrived at the boarding facility, they paused at the outside gate. Walls as tall as a hundred giants stood guarding the fortress that housed the dragons belonging to the Oroin riders. The only entrances into the grounds were thick oak doors with a layer of steel placed in their middles.

After their identification papers were trifled through, the boarding facility commander handed Areli and her parents their papers back, gave a playful wink, and a lipped ‘good luck.’ He then ordered the gates to be opened to allow them to pass.

In-between the gates and the limestone fortress that held the city’s dragons, was a center beautifully decorated with bushes, flowers, and rare exotic trees that aspired to be as tall as the walls that protected them. The guard and carriage made its way past them and continued to the stall room. Upon arrival, its large wooden doors were already set open.

The horses clomped through them and onto the limestone surface of the facility. The sound of their hooves echoed off the tall walls and ceilings. The carriage followed the guard to the left at the first intersection and paused next to an elegantly prepared trailer.

Like her carriage, the main component of the trailer was precious metals. Even though the trailer looked more like a large traveling cage, the fine details painstakingly used to create it took away all initial thoughts of it being used for such a purpose. The bars were constructed of rare metals and diamonds, so much so it seemed like they were created out of the stars themselves.

Below the bars were marble inlays imbedded with finely detailed battles of the Empire, and each one of the corners had beautifully sculpted statues of dragons. Inside the trailer, the floors were covered with soft pine shavings, and in one of the far corners, was a deep circular bucket filled to the brim with the purest mountain water.

Areli got out of the carriage with weak legs and a trembling heart. When she walked around the trailer, she smiled as her dragon stood behind one of the large wooden stalls with high black steel bars spouting out of it. Areli’s dragon looked back at her, its ears sticking up, wary of the new faces barging into her life. Areli watched as Kaia’s eyes glanced at moving bodies and then back at her.

She approached the stall carefully and lovingly stuck her hand in-between the bars. Kaia nudged it with her nose and blew hot air on her fingers, warming them like steam rolling off boiling water. Her ears were lifted forwards, the tips aimed towards the ceiling, flickering and shifting to capture any unusual sound.

“It’s okay, Kaia,” said Areli softly, “these men mean us no harm. They’re going to take us away from here. Far away.” The commander came from behind. Areli didn’t sense him, but Kaia’s head lifted swiftly, ears raised and twitching. Her eyes were firmly placed on the commander.

The commander moved slowly, aware that Areli’s dragon was watching him. His gentle approach sought to seek her trust, which is very hard to gain from a dragon. He used a calm voice and steady words. When Kaia sensed he was of no threat to her or her rider, she let her ears relax, and lowered her head next to Areli’s hand again.

When the commander came next to Areli’s shoulder, he had a wide smile on his face.

“They’re such magnificent creatures,” said the commander.

“Yes, they are, commander,” said Areli, wanting to say more, but struck with a shy tongue. She was thoroughly impressed with his soothing tactics of dealing with her dragon, but she kept her praises to herself.

The commander handed her a halter crafted out of rich fibers. Areli looked at it with eyes widened by surprise. It far exceeded the one she was originally issued at the Sector D facility.

She grabbed it gently. And with trembling fingers, she looked up at the commander with questioning eyes.

“It is yours,” said the commander, “compliments of the Emperor. You will be pleased to know that you will also receive new tack and equipment.”

“And may I ask what happened to my old saddle and tack, commander?” The commander had to clear his throat, and he looked away for a moment, before meeting her gaze.

“I’m sorry, Areli,” said the commander, “I want you to know that I was following orders . . . but at the Emperor’s request . . . your equipment had been disposed of earlier this morning. I’m sure you understand the reasons for this.” She nodded her head, but she bit down on the lower part of her lip, forcing herself not to scream. She was the Emperor’s rider now. She would race with the equipment he provided or not race at all.

“I hope you harbor no harsh feelings, Miss Roberts,” said the commander. She had to clear her throat before she answered, sweeping away the presence and taste of blood.

“I fully understand commander.”

“Well,” said the commander tentatively. Areli could tell he knew she was upset. Perceptive ones are always good with dragons. “I guess we should get moving then.”

The commander waved for the servants to open Kaia’s stall door. After they unbolted the doors and unlocked the locks, Areli had to calm the turmoil boiling inside her before she entered into the stall. Dragons had a unique and intimate ability of sensing their rider’s emotions, and they often took their riders feelings as their own. Areli tried to think of something happy. Her dragon gave a scream, as rage erupted inside it. Its mouth opened and its roar tried to shake the building from its foundation. A thought came to Areli’s mind. It was of Talon, not telling her he loved her. A tear sprang to her eye. Her dragon’s roar turned into a hurtful moan. It wasn’t the happiness Areli wished to give her, but for now, sadness was the best she could do.

Areli walked inside and put the halter on Kaia’s face, wrapping the rope around her nose and chin, crossing it over her cheeks, and then her ears, finally tying it together in a loose knot. She tested the halter’s hold gingerly, and then led Kaia out of the stall and into the trailer.

After pulling off the halter, Areli patted her dragon on the neck and seeped feelings of courage and strength into Kaia’s mind. Her dragon rested its head on one of her shoulders, and Areli wrapped her arms around its neck.

“I love you, Kaia,” whispered Areli, into her dragon’s ear.

After the trailer was closed and locked, Areli was led back into the carriage. Anger and pain had done a toll on her. So much so, that she was ready for a couple months of rest. A period for her to recover whatever pride she had left. When the commander and his men were all back on their horses, they were off. Leaving the way they had come. Back onto the roads of the private lands, beginning their long journey to Abhi.

The Abhirn Empire wasn’t what it used to be. A year ago, living in the Abhirn Empire was one of the greatest sites to behold, but the land was now in ruin. It was being destroyed by the very hands that were meant to protect it, hands that contained the royal blood to rule it. As the trailer continued through roads, lush countrysides, rolling plains, and seas of green fields, Areli smelled the rotting of bodies, cringed at the screams of the dying, and watched the skies turn black in the distance from the burning of homes. A knife seemed to piece her heart and gnaw it to pieces as she watched the vicious monsters leave rubble and debris behind. The battle dragons sickened her. Trained warriors guided their mounts. Men as vicious and vile as the Emperor himself.

Abhirn wasn’t the only place suffering, though. It was the entire world. With the help of his ancestors, Emperor Ailesh, reigned over everything. Every continent was his. Every river, every mountain, and every lake were his to do whatever he pleased. He was a man energized by the search of Degendhard. Life for him, in a world of no wars and no conquests, had become monotonous. Now, he had a mission besides eating, sleeping, fornicating, training, and sitting through lengthy diplomatic sessions. Now, Emperor Ailesh will stop at nothing until he finds Degendhard the Great, and the place he looked more harshly than anywhere else, was Sector D. He continued to look other places, but he had somehow become convinced Degendhard was there. And if Degendhard was as compassionate as he was made out to be, the Emperor was certain he would have surrendered himself by now.

However, no matter how many bodies the Emperor left unburied and piled-up like a mountain of dung, Degendhard had not shown his face. The Emperor continued to try to disgrace Degendhard’s name, but it was much too late. Degendhard already had his hold in the lower sectors and even some regions of the upper sectors. If the Emperor disgraced anyone, it was himself. He looked so pathetic blaming such hideous crimes on Degendhard, and to do it in the South, where they knew Degendhard to be kind and true was just atrocious. Especially to those willing to die for him. Those who knew the truth. The places where Degendhard was considered a hero and protector, helping those without money pay a way out of death.

The search for Degendhard had always been kept at a distance from Areli . . . until a month ago, when Talon was rescued by her father. At the time, she didn’t know the reason why her father brought this boy to their home instead of his medical facility . . . but soon she did.

After her father laid Talon on their dining room table, he barked orders, shredded clothes, and washed away blood. The burns Talon had were raw and unhealed, and her father had to extract arrows out of his shoulders, arms, legs, and back. Her father then cleaned his wounds and re-aligned his broken bones as best he could do. Reliance was placed heavily on the experimental liquid to heal most of the damage done both before and after her father had found him. Areli constantly asked her father if there was anything she could do. He evaded her questions most of the evening, until he looked at her and told her there was a horse in the stalls. It was the boy’s. And it needed tending to.

She quickly left the room and ran outside to their stalls. Grateful to rid herself of the sight of blood, muscle, and bone, and the pungent smells of medicines and chemicals. When she entered the stall door, the horse was standing up but was several measures past exhaustion. Areli approached it gently and almost came to tears at the sight of the arrows in its hind quarters and the two in its shoulder. Unlike Talon, it didn’t have the burns he had sustained. She later learned that this horse was just another in the stock of many horses provided to messengers. But his horse . . . the horse he loved . . . was dead . . . as was the girl he tried to save.

She grabbed some treats next to the shelf and walked cautiously forward. The horse took them, chewed slowly, and accepted that Areli meant it no harm. The saddle on top of the horse was covered in Talon’s blood. So, the first thing Areli thought to do was to remove it.

She loosened the cinch, then removed the breastcollar. When she tried to lift the saddle, it was markedly heavier than she anticipated, and it took almost all her strength just to move it a little.

Does he have rocks in here?
thought Areli, looking at the bulky saddle bags that were on either side. She knew the only way she was going to remove the saddle was if the weight from the bags was no more. She tried to wipe the blood off the leather as best she could, then peered inside.

It is rocks!
she thought as the bags were full of medium sized purple rocks. She grabbed one, and then realized they weren’t rocks at all. Instead, they were purple sacks, tied shut with gold thread. She looked around, suddenly aware of her surroundings. She rushed to a table and fumbled with the tie, but out of frustration, she resorted to grabbing a knife and cutting it open.

Her heart skipped a beat when the contents came spilling out. Gold coins. She was speechless, breathless, and overwhelmed by emotion. Her knees turned to mashed potatoes, and she slumped down to the floor, knowing now just how important the boy really was. He was a messenger. A messenger of Degendhard.

Areli continued to think about that night as they traveled past the borders of Sector D into Sector C. In the distance, she could see the smoke billowing from the burning of small towns and villages. If no one was going to tell the Emperor where Degendhard was, then he was going to burn down everything in his path. And there was nothing they could do about it. There was nothing anybody could do about it.

Areli constantly asked Talon why Degendhard didn’t turn himself in. Why did he allow the torment to continue? The torment of the people he worked so hard to protect? Talon was patient with her anger. She felt sorry for him now that she thought about it, wondering if he ever thought that she might turn him in. But they both knew that if she had, no one in her former home would have seen another day.

Talon told her that Degendhard the Great wasn’t someone who had been around for just a couple of years. In actuality, he had been protecting the poor and working class for the past four decades. Areli’s mouth became unhinged when she heard this.

“He couldn’t of!” said Areli.

“Oh, but he has,” said Talon.

“Well, then he’s an idiot.”

“An idiot? For striving to keep people from being killed for the Emperor’s enjoyment, to be entertainment on the weekends and before the races?”

“An idiot for being caught,” said Areli, “how can a man who has survived as nothing but a shadow for the past thirty-nine years be exposed? Does he have any idea of how many lives he’s destroyed?”

“He feels their pain,” said Talon sullenly, “more than you’ll ever believe.”

“Then why doesn’t he turn himself in and be done with it?” asked Areli frustrated and angry.

“Because,” said Talon “because the people won’t let him.” This was only one of the heated confrontations Areli had with Talon. In the end, he would constantly tell her that the people saw Degendhard as their Emperor, not Ailesh.

“How can you serve someone that doesn’t have a crown?” asked Areli with a bitter undertone.

“Their allegiance,” said Talon, “resides with the one who feeds them, the one who has saved the lives of their parents and themselves.”

“Allegiance is easily broken,” said Areli, “especially now, when it’s their child’s life being threatened.” This quieted Talon considerably.

Their carriage, trailer, and guards moved swiftly through the lands, only stopping to give the horse’s breaks or the men rest. When they entered into Sector B, it was night, and the sky in the distance was red. Even though they were a lengthy distance away, Areli could hear the screams of woman and children and the clanking of men’s swords, which were frivolous and useless actions, as battle dragons would descend upon them, taking away their livelihood with a simple breath.

Past the fires and dismal screams of pain, Sector B was beautiful. It was occupied by vast green forest and large blue lakes. When they stopped at one, the sand beneath Areli’s toes was a welcome feeling as she walked along the beach with Kaia and her parents. They had spent a month on the private roads, and they still had a considerable distance left. But the walk was good . . . especially for her father.

He was getting fidgety. He was used to working almost every day and for many hours. And he had the most annoying habits when he was restless. Whether it be his constant biting of his fingertips, or his legs doing some weird jittery dance, or the constant drumming on his sketch pads. With all of these things, Areli had to constantly tell him to stop. And he would . . . for a while – and then he would start up again. It got so bad that Areli would sometimes ride up front with the driver. However, despite Areli’s agitations, her mother was grateful. Even though he always had made time for her, she appreciated his extended presence in the passing weeks.

After they left the beach, the commander told them that there would be no more stops until the Desert of Abhirn, which was halfway into Sector A, and the final natural obstacle until the Mountains of Abhi. Areli occupied her time by looking outside her window or sitting in peace at the front. She found it pleasing to look at the trees which came in many different shades. Bark ranging from dark browns, to greys, to luminescent whites.

The journey was made more difficult the more time Areli spent in the cab. She found it harder and harder to look at her parents. She was still ruminating on her last conversation with Talon, and quite frankly, it had made her bitter towards love. Even the love her parents had for one another pained her immensely. It sickened her, as her father read his books, and her mother curled up next to him, her head resting on his shoulder. Things she so desperately wanted but couldn’t have. She would grit her teeth at love. Why must others be happy, but not her? It was
killing
her to think about it. She found herself spending more and more time at the front as Talon seemed to crowd every thought in her brain.
You’re better off without him, Areli
, she told herself, but it made her tear up every time she said it. Her family saved him. They talked every day since he opened his eyes. They had argued, yes, but they had also laughed. She also sang him a song that she now deeply regrets doing so. She had to distract herself. She kept her eyes diverted into the thickness of woods, disgracefully wishing that the trees didn’t mask the pain and suffering that were going on beyond them. Just to remind her that she didn’t have it as bad as others.

Areli was asleep when their carriage came to its final stop before crossing the desert. Her father gently shook her awake, and together, they walked to the edge of the forest. It looked exactly the way Talon had described it to her. Even though she knew what to expect, Areli still thought it odd to have all this abundance of green and brown behind her, and in front of her, nothing but sand and desolation leading to an empty horizon. There was a roar above them. Areli looked up. It was a battle dragon. Going home after a day of slaughter. It was the size of a giant cloud, shading them from the presence of the sun. Then it was gone. Disappearing into the emptiness and into the direction of Abhi.

“It will be a week’s journey,” said the commander, his eyes still in the direction of the battle dragon, “my men are gathering as much water as they can. We’re going to need it.”

“And then we’re in Abhi?” asked her mother, already knowing the answer.

“We’ll be at the mountains,” said the commander, “and then in the tunnel.” He was then called away by one of his men, leaving Areli and her family to look across the yellow and gold grains of sand. Areli couldn’t help but wonder about the other missions the commander had to endure. If he could have been involved in the murdering and raping of an entire village, or if he searched the homes of those suspected as followers of Degendhard, leaving nothing but the family’s entrails behind when they left. It killed her to think about it. The commander was a nice man. She liked to think that only the nice ones got the unexciting tasks, such as the transport of a rider.

When the men were well rested, well fed, and well hydrated, they set off across the treacherous landscape that gave no inclination that there were mountains behind it. Areli found herself sleeping a lot, as the heat seemed to drain the strength from her body. The terrain was easily traveled, but the openness of the land, its lack of vegetation and water, and its unnatural heat, made it a suitable and advantageous defensive barrier between the center of the world and the rest of the empire.

To further protect the Emperor and the Valley of Abhi were the high mountains that seemed to touch the tips of the stars. And what was not surrounded by sand, was protected by thrashing waves of unnatural ocean currents that were too violent for any ship to maneuver and too imposing for even the most advanced swimmer. It was the perfect home for the Emperor and his dragons.

After just four days, they were already starting to ration water. Everyone was irritable, even Kaia was starting to feel the effects of the heat and dehydration. Both her parents modified their clothes to suit the weather. Her father cut up a pair of his least favorite trousers, taking off most of the legs. He also took scissors to one of his beloved collard shirts, cutting off the sleeves.

Her mother cut up one of her summer dresses, along with one of Areli’s, taking off as much fabric as she could, while still making sure they were respectable looking. Her father also handed the guards a heavy thick cream to assist in the sun’s burns . . . strictly experimental, but at least the soldiers weren’t petulant about the itch.