Hellfire

Chapter 2 - Wren

   A short whistle burst from my lips as I called for Orion, my wolf companion. He parted from the brush silently, shaking his white coat off when reaching my side. I ran a hand over his head a few times before heading for the gates.
   "Name." one of the guards called out, looking me over as his hand moved to the hilt of his sword.
   "Wren, First Knight to Queen Hamilton." I answered with a smirk. No one ever expected the knight to the queen to be a woman.
   "The First Night is a powerful /man/. Not some woman playing pretend." the other guard sneered, denying me entry into the guild.
    Without speaking, I pulled my sword out of the sheath. It was engraved with the Queen's emblem. I tossed it to the first guard, who brought the other closer to examine it. Both guards scrutinized it, and then handed it back to me.
   "Well?" I questioned, getting tired of the conversation.
   "You could have just taken it." one offered, but I could tell he didn't quite believe that.
   "In that case, that makes me more powerful than /him/ so you should very well let me in." I retorted, returning the sword to its sheath.
   They shared a look, and then opened the large iron gates. I didn't spare them another glance as I made my way through and up the steps. I pushed open the wooden door and asked Orion to keep guard outside it.
   'Rude.' the wold grumbled as he sat down, and then gave a small huff.
   "Sorry, boy. They're already on edge with me being here, and you're just too scary." I joked, and gave Orion a kiss on the head.
   Orion snorted in amusement.
   Moving toward the bar, I passed the large center table that displayed a diorama of the land. Little figurines scattered across it showed the rumored locations of dragons that were causing damage to nearby villages. Several men were arguing over where a small red creature was. Others were making up maps on parchment, or drinking while discussing plans. Some watched me enter, my dark cloak trailing on the wooden floor behind me.
   "What can I get for you?" a barkeep asked, drying a mug with a rag.
   "A place amongst the men. The Queen demands it." I answered, pulling a scroll from my pouch. I handed it to him, and watched as his eyes widened upon landing on the Queen's seal. He nodded nervously, and opened the letter.
   "We've got a new warrior!" he called out after reading. Everyone in the room fell quiet and eyed me.
   "But she's a woman!" some drunkard complained.
   "The Queen of Ironmist demands it. Her knight, Wren, will join the next assignment." the barkeep declared, nailing the scroll to the wall behind him.
   Just then, the door flew open. Orion ran in first, followed by the two gate sentries who were carrying a man who looked more burnt than alive. The majority of his flesh was blackened and charred, and where it wasn't was such a violent red, that it seemed he should already be dead. Screams tore from his mouth, screaming over and over the same words.
   "He's coming!" came from his lips. His eyes flickered back and forth rapidly, searching for someone in particular.
   I rushed forward to meet Orion and the mystery man. I asked in a calm voice, "What is? What's coming and from where?"
   'Smells of dragon.' Orion gave a quiet bark to me.
  The man began screaming anew at the sight of Orion, "The Dragon God meets with the wolves! Traitor! Traitorous hound!"
   'Idiot!' Orion growled. Some times, I was glad I was the only one who could hear him.
   "Orion is with me! He's not with the Northern pack! Now show me where you saw them." I corrected.
   I then grabbed a parchment map off the table nearby, and held it up. He pointed to a mountain range that was thought to be uninhabited. Blood and soot stained the page where his finger had met it.
   "You can't stop them. The gods are going to kill us." his voice suddenly became a whisper, his energy leaving him quickly. It seemed that he had held on long enough to tell us where to go.
   "Hush now. You've done your duty, and this information will help save Ironmist." I told him, watching him take his last few breaths.
   "Let's get him home." a man off to my right said quietly. I backed up as the others helped carry him back outside. One of the guards muttered a small apology to me as he followed the group leaving.
   "He's waiting in the back." a different patron told me with a dazed look, and pointed to a doorway near the end of the bar. I nodded slowly before heading that way. Orion followed at my side, hackles still lightly raised in anger. His yellow eyes stared intently at the door. Who the hell was waiting for me?
   A man sat on a bench facing away from us. Even from the doorway I could sense his power. A gold cloak hung in a long curtain down his back with its jagged edge resting on the dusty floor. As I stepped nearer, I saw that it was scaled like the pelt of a dragon. It was the most expensive looking thing I had seen since leaving the palace.
   To my surprise, Orion let out a whine and trotted up to his side. He bowed his head, asking to be pet. It was so out of character for him, that I would have thought a different wolf had taken his place.
   "Orion!" I gasped, incredulous at his behavior. He had never begged to be pet since he and I had formed a bond when he was a cub. He enjoyed me petting him, but rarely seemed to want me to do so. To see him beg a total stranger seemed impossible.
   The man looked down at Orion, and began to scratch his head with a black gloved hand. I watched with muted horror as Orion then flopped to the ground, and rolled onto his back in a display of trust.
   "You have a loyal companion." came from the man. His voice was deep, with an accent I couldn't pinpoint. I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not, and it irritated me.
   "I've never seen him do that." I admitted with an edge to my voice. It was hard to sound polite when I was agitated.
   I walked closer, coming around the table and sitting upon the opposite bench. I took in the man, eyes scanning him quickly. He was quite muscular under his strange gold armor. Just who was he?
   The man grunted, turning his gaze on me. I wasn't one to be intimidated easily, but his golden stare seemed thousands of years old. Could he be..?
   I asked him, "Who are you?"
   "Hmm." was all he replied with, still staring at me. I wanted to fidget, but I didn't want him to know I was feeling slightly nervous under his gaze.
   "What's your name?" I asked again.
   "You can call me Atra."
   "Atra what?" I demanded.
   In an emerging pattern, he said nothing and simply stood. I jumped up and drew my sword.
   Atra turned to look at me, and I immediately regretted locking eyes. What was once a mellow gold color was now a burning red. Heat suddenly radiated off of him so strongly, that I nearly considered letting him leave. Blinking, I shook my head slightly and broke my gaze away.
   In a movement so fast that I hadn't seen it, I was suddenly pinned against the wall. My sword clattered to the ground, useless in its distance from me. If I hadn't been quite so off guard maybe I wouldn't have let go of it. I couldn't worry about it now, I had a large, angry, and burning man in my face. His forearm was across my throat and his other hand was on the wall by my head, leaving me no choice but to match his gaze once more. His arm wouldn't budge and I didn't want to waste energy trying to pry it off. He radiated heat, and I felt sure that if he was touching skin that I would be badly burned.
   'Let her go, vile god!' Orion seemed to snap out of the spell he was under, and leaped to attention.
   Orion snarled, sustaining a growl as the other held me in place. Atra growled back at him menacingly, and in disbelief I watched the wolf flatten his ears and whine. He then stared anxiously at me, obviously still wanting to help but unsure of what to do.
   'Wren, he is the Dragon God. I cannot defeat him.' Orion confirmed my theory.
   Atra leaned forward and spoke quietly into my ear, "Wren Darkholme is your name, is it not?"
   I was prepared to make a cutting remark but when he pulled back my mind went blank. He was smiling, and for a second I couldn't help but stare at how unearthly he looked. This was a dragon in a man's body.
   Atra spoke once more, less toying than before, "You're going to do me a favor. If you don't, I'll kill you."
   "I'm not afraid to die." I told him, raising my chin in defiance.
   "One doesn't have to draw blood to kill." he corrected, and moved his free hand off the wall.
   A ring of fire burst out of the ground, and surrounded Orion. He yelped as he tried go avoid being singed, and then stood his ground against the flames.
   "No! Don't hurt him!" I yelled, terror filling my mind. He was right. Killing Orion would effectively kill me.
   'Don't worry about me! Don't do what he asks!' Orion called to me.
   "I will return him free of harm once you have completed my task." he explained.
  I responded, "I'll do whatever you want! Just don't hurt him!"
  Orion barked, 'Don't! He'll kill us all!'
   "Good." he said. His arm was off of me and he was a few steps back in an instant.
   "Tell me what you want, beast." the words came savagely from my mouth. Emotion betrayed me. I was stronger than this, but then I also hadn't run into anyone who had put Orion in even slight danger. It had been an unspoken rule to leave him alone. I couldn't bare to lose my beloved wolf.
   "You will find Ash Redthorn and Kane Hastings, and tell them that my hold is in the North. You will travel with them there."
   "How will they trust me?" I demanded, unable to look away from Orion.
   "You'll figure it out." he shrugged.
   Before I could lunge for my sword, he picked it up. He twirled it in his palm a few times before bringing it down over his knee and shattering it. The majority of the blade loudly fell back to the ground, and the jagged hilt followed it moments later. I stared in a mixture of surprise and horror. I wondered vaguely if this was going to become a common feeling.
   "What is a sword against the kingdom of nature?" was the only explanation Atra gave before disappearing with Orion in a fiery swirl of smoke and embers.