The Dragon Prince - Book 1: Cold War

Penance Part 1

Claudia and Soren

Branches whipped by Claudia and Soren's head as they rode on the back of Hecate, their reindeer companion. From out of the beast's massive antlers, a bright blue glow illuminated the forest in a blur of greens, and browns. In spite their speed, Hecate knew when to dodge just in time before crashing into a tree trunk. Claudia trusted in the magic that guided Hecate, unlike Soren who clung onto his sister in terror.

Gradually the trees began to thin and the inky black of the night sky replaced the natural colours of the forest. Hecate's laboured breaths curled in moist tufts of white as the air around them grew colder. Claudia's nose picked up just the faintest whiff of ozone and sulphur, a telltale sign of magic usage. Her hazel eyes darted left and right as she tried to find the magic source.

"What is it?" said Soren, noticing her tension.

The dark mage shook her head and stared at the space between Hecate's antlers, the light concealing a clear view of the widening field just ahead of them. She squinted her eyes and the faintest red glow could be seen in the distance.

With a crash, the trio burst through the forest and the reindeer stood at the edge of a valley. The bowl-like valley was lit in an orange glow by the sunfire village below. The stench of sulphur and brimstone was powerful and Soren couldn't help but cover her mouth.

"Gah! Did you teach Hecate how to fart, Clauds?"

"Duh doy! Of course I did, but no not in this case. That smell is a remnant of fire magic. How much do you want to bet our father is down there?"

"We can't just go charging in," he said nasally, plugging his nose, "that looks like a Sunfire elf village."

Hecate flared his nostrils and bucked his head backwards sending the little birds nesting in his antlers fluttering away annoyedly. Claudia gave its neck a reassuring pat.

"We need a distraction. But how..."

Before Claudia could finish, the night was turned into day as a huge pillar of fire lit up the sky. Hecate reared and pirouetted, nearly knocking the siblings from his back. Claudia threw her arms around the reindeer's neck, reassuring the beast with a gentle hand.

Soren yelped painfully, "my eyes!"

"Don't look! It's brighter than the sun."

The knight rubbed the build-up of tears from his eyes, "I'm okay, just startled me a bit. Did our Dad do that?"

"Maybe..." Claudia muttered. The initial blaze died quickly leaving behind a plume of ash and flame rising slowly into the sky and bathing the village in a hazy orange glow. The dark mage cupped her hand over her eyes searching intently into the source of the fire, a little cottage on the far side of the valley surrounded by hedgerows. Tiny flashes of emerald and blue light highlighted a massive tree.

"This is as big of a distraction as we're going to get," Claudia coaxed Hecate forward with her hand. The mighty reindeer thundered down the gentle slope of the grassy field, making sounds like bass drums under trunk-like legs.

The siblings couldn't help but grin wildly. At long last, after weeks of toil in a country that hated them, they felt they were nearly the end. Surely, Viren was the source of lightning.

"Screeeee!" came the sudden baleful cry of a dragon high above their heads.

Claudia who was riding in front had just enough time to duck before the dragon was suddenly on top of them. If not for the quick upward thrust of Hecate's antlers parrying the blow, all three would have been eviscerated by the dragon's claws. But the action threw the pair of siblings off of Hecate's back sending them tumbling away from each other.