Authors: Kathryn Fogleman
The old man smiled, “Oh, but looks are only part of it. He is smart as I am, I dare say.” Geoff looked at Keegan “Is it not so, Master Keegan?”
Keegan smiled, “He is smart but surely not as smart as you.” Ardor laid his ears back and nipped at Keegan, making all three of the men laugh.
“See, my King!” Geoff said, reaching out and taking Ardor’s nose in his hands. “He is more intelligent than any creature I have ever seen.”
“So I see,” the King said, stroking Ardor’s neck.
“And he is vain to boot!” Keegan added.
The King laughed, “Ah, well, he has right to be.”
Ardor yawned and shook his mane, lowering his head and licking his lips.
Geoff took the reins from Keegan and said, “Here now, Master Keegan. I will take Ardor to the stables to rest.”
Keegan nodded. “Thank you. And, please, just call me Keegan,” he said as he reached up and took his bags and sword from Ardor’s back.
The King patted the golden horse. “Geoff, make sure this horse has quality treatment. The finest bedding, food, grooming, and care for him,” he instructed. He looked Ardor up and down before turning back to the old man, “And he needs a bath.”
Geoff smiled, “Yes, sir! To be certain he gets quality, I will tend to him myself.”
“Very good! Thank you, Geoff,” the King said.
Keegan let his mouth drop open slightly, “Please, don’t go to any extra trouble.”
Geoff looked at Keegan as if insulted. “It is no extra trouble for me, Keegan. None at all!” He smiled again then looked at the boy standing next to him. “Don’t stand there like a log, lad! Get to the stables and start preparing to have a guest horse.”
The boy jumped, as if startled, and he hurried toward the stables ahead of the old man who gently pulled Ardor behind him toward the long, low building where the other horses were kept.
“You look tired, Keegan,” the King said.
Keegan turned from watching Geoff lead Ardor away. “I am concerned for Saul and Walneff,” he said. “We have been traveling in the rain for three days now. We are all exhausted, especially Saul.”
The King nodded. “I understand. Your friend will be well cared for by the best healer in the city, I promise. And Walneff will get his cup of warm elderberry tea to sooth his aching bones.” He smiled as he said it.
Keegan looked at the King and slowly let a smile spread across his own face. “So you have heard that complaint from him as well?”
The King chuckled mildly, “Ah, I have heard that one and many, many more from the old man. I have ridden in three campaigns with him, enough to have a life time of sayings and riddles from the old man.” He put his hand on Keegan’s shoulder. “Come, I will personally show you to your quarters.”
Keegan looped his sword belt over his shoulder and followed the King through the garden toward the palace. “How long have you known Walneff?” he asked.
“Since I was a boy,” he replied.
They walked on in silence through a door and down a hall lit by torches on the walls. Midway down the hall, the King turned to an open door and led the way up a flight of stairs until they came to the third level of the castle. They walked down a windowed corridor that overlooked the garden and courtyard below.
The King opened the last door in the hallway, and they stepped into a warm, inviting bedroom. A bear rug lay in the middle of the floor, and a sturdy cedar bed covered in wolf furs sat in a corner opposite a fireplace. There was also a table with a chair, and two windows overlooked the garden to the northeast.
“I hope that the room is to your liking?” the King asked with a smile.
Keegan nodded his head. “Very much. I have never seen such a fine room.”
The King chuckled. “Make yourself comfortable. Rest in peace. I will send my page to alert you when your friends arrive,” he said. “And I will arrange for a new set of clothes to be tailored for you.”
Keegan looked at his clothes. They were worn, stained, and loose threads were hanging everywhere. He then looked back at the King. “I thank you,” he said hesitantly.
The King chuckled again. “Don’t worry. You can keep your old clothes. But my wife would think it appropriate for you to have a new set, especially since you are in the castle.” He gave a friendly wink. “And it is just one more thing I can do to show my appreciation.” With that, he turned and shut the door, leaving Keegan alone.
Keegan sighed and looked around at the room before walking over to the table and placing his sword and bags there. He stepped over to one of the windows and opened the shutter. The window offered a nice view of the palace courtyard and garden, as well as the city and the evening sky. He let his eyes rest on the beautiful sunset colors that were washing across the clouds in the sky. Orange and purple graced the clouds with their colorful presence and bid a beautiful good night to any set of eyes that ventured to look up.
Pharrgon would be looking at the same clouds now. The dragon always loved to watch the sunset and admire the colors of the clouds in the evenings. Somehow, he had passed this admiration on to Keegan. Just pausing to look up at the colors of the sunset on the wispy bottoms of the giant, white masses filled Keegan’s chest and mind with a sort of serene peace that he had found nowhere else. It quieted him. It made his life seem less dark, menacing, and hateful.
Sighing, Keegan looked down at the ring on his finger, rubbing its smooth, silver surface and watching as the red stone seemed to take the colors of the sunset and make them dance across its surface. Of all the rare stones he had seen, he had never seen one play with color and light like a Dragon Stone.
Keegan looked back up to the clouds and thought of the day’s events. He wondered what could have frightened Annaka’s horse bad enough to cause it to bolt in a mad frenzy. He did not know why, but for some reason he found himself thinking of the Roshar that had attacked him. Though he could not see any connection between the monster and Annaka’s predicament, the idea that one of those monsters had been hunting her haunted his thoughts. Perhaps it was just because he had been imagining a Roshar in every dark shadow for the last several days. The monster and its brutal attack had given him a whole new set of nightmares to deal with, none of them any less hideous than his old nightmares.
Keegan leaned against the window’s sill and sighed heavily. “Better not get involved,” he said to himself quietly. “Just leave it. Get Saul well again and find Alia.” He stared silently at the fading colors on the clouds. “Find Alia, and you’ll have found part of your heart. You’ll be one step closer to home - to peace.”
Chapter 15: Princess and Prophecy
Chilly wind from the White Mountains whipped around Keegan, playing with his hair and biting his skin with its frigidness. Stars glittered brightly overhead, and the two moons that ruled the night cast their light across the land. Keegan stood to his feet and looked around in awe. He stood at the edge of the wilds. He was taller than the White Mountains, and he could see in every direction for hundreds of miles. He could see the Dragon’s Plains and the White Desert ahead of him with the Dragon Forest just to the right. Behind him was lake Anuran and Anuran’s Cliffs. To his far right, the Giant’s Foot Hills and the country of Gilidar in the south.
All the lands and massive structures stretched out before him, and their sizes were nothing compared to him. He could step over the White Mountains with great ease, and he could walk the length of the Wilds and the Dragon Plains in five strides or less. He was literally on top of the world. He stared in awe, amazed at how beautiful everything was, how delicate and fragile it seemed, and he found himself frozen in fear of causing damage and feeling terribly and desperately alone.
“Keeeegan….” He heard his voice whispered on the wind. “Keeeegan….”
He looked around and then paused when two massive shadows in the Dragon’s Plains caught his attention. He let his eyes focus on the distant forms until he could clearly make out two women. He walked toward them and quickened his pace when he saw that one of them was Erewhon and that she was showing obvious fear of the other woman.
The other woman was very tall. She wore a dress that flowed around her like liquid silver. Her shining silver hair was entwined with a crown that was white and glittered like snow. Her face was very beautiful and queenly but wore a look of such menace and hate that all of her beautiful features were countered by it. As he
grew closer, the moonlight began to shine through the tall woman, revealing her to be like a shadow: hollow, soulless.
The tall woman held up a twisted crystal knife that glowed in the darkness and pointed the end to Erewhon’s heart. Erewhon, her whole body pulsing and glowing in the night with a pure light and a ring of small stars surrounding her head like a crown, caught the taller woman’s hand as the knife was brought down and held it with a faltering grip.
She caught sight of Keegan and relief washed over her beautiful, glowing face. “Keegan!” she cried. “Help me!”
The taller woman pushed Erewhon away and spun around to Keegan. Her eyes studied him for a moment, sizing him. Her evil stare reminded him of the hateful eyes of the scarred man who had killed his father, filling Keegan with hate toward this woman.
He gritted his teeth and reached out for her just as she reached out for him. She took him by the throat, and he grabbed her hand that held the knife, gripping her wrist tightly. For a moment, the two of them stood there glaring at each other--two titans looming between earth and sky, struggling to overcome the other.
“You shall not prevail,” the witch said in a ghostly voice as her hand clamped tighter around Keegan’s throat, pushing him backward. “Die now and spare torment.”
Keegan struggled against her, holding her knife hand high in the air. He finally reached up with his other hand and clamped it around her throat.
“Who are you to think that you can overpower me?” the woman hissed as she tried to bare the knife down on Keegan, forcing his muscles to exert themselves to their full power to keep her from plunging the deadly blade into him.
“No!” Erewhon wrapped her hands around the witch’s arm and pulled the knife away from Keegan.
The witch yelled angrily and yanked her arm out of Keegan’s grasp. She pushed him away from her, and, in one deft stroke, she sliced the knife across Erewhon, cutting her across her collarbone, just barely just missing her neck.
“Erewhon!” Keegan yelled, shaking the ground and mountains with his cry.
Erewhon stumbled back with a look of shock, holding her hand up to her bloody wound. The witch moved toward Erewhon. The knife poised to make a fatal stroke.
“Get away from her!” Keegan charged the witch. Suddenly, sharp pain drove into his upper thigh as the tall woman buried the knife into his leg.
He dropped to one knee with a cry. He yanked the knife from his leg and stabbed at the witch, embedding it into her side as she failed to avoid his deadly thrust at her abdomen. She groaned and fell to her knees before him. He grabbed her throat with both hands and squeezed.
She gasped and struggled violently with him. “No! I will not allow her to live!” She twisted around and groped for Erewhon, but Keegan yanked her back, tightening his grip around her throat.
The woman growled like an animal, her beautiful face distorting into the resemblance of a demon, and she thrust both of her hands into Keegan’s chest. A sudden burst of shadowy darkness exploded from her hands and sent Keegan flying across the ground, his body plowing into the Dragon’s Forest.
He found his feet, his wounded leg throbbing only mildly, and charged the witch at full speed, his muscles tight and ready to collide into her. The witch stood and pulled the dagger from her body, gripping it tightly, preparing to defend herself. As he closed the distance between them, Keegan raised his fist into the air, ready to punch her in the face. As he did so, he watched in shock as her expression changed from rage to absolute terror.
A red light began to pulse and grow, making Keegan pause and look up at his raised fist. The dragon stone in his ring and the two golden dragons on either side of it glowed brightly, making the two winged creatures look alive on the sliver band surrounding his finger.
The witch shrieked loudly. “Valad Drakoan!” she screamed. “You are dead! You are supposed to be dead! I had your people slaughtered!” She fell to her knees in panic and terror.
Keegan looked at his ring once more then back at the witch, his face hardening as his heart pulsed with the hate of decades. “You obviously failed, witch!” and he plunged his fist forward.
The witch jumped to her feet and thrust out her hands, grabbing Keegan by the throat. With a sudden show of incredible strength, she lifted him from the ground into the air. “You fool!” she roared, fear and hate mixing together on her devilish face. “I will not be defeated! I. AM. DEMITREAH.” With a clap of thunder, she thrust him backward with extreme power.
Keegan flew through the air, over the Dragon’s Forest and over unfamiliar land, finally falling to the ground with a loud boom next to a single, lonely mountain. A giant red dragon stood from behind the mountain and glared at Keegan. It then raised massive, sharp claws into the air.