Esmeralda of Dracosia: Chapter 19
By Christina Relich
Creative Writer
Chapter 19
Esmeralda didn’t mind a little rain.
She quite liked it, in fact. The gentle patter against her scales, the cooling sensation, and the unique smell only precipitation could possess.
This was not a little rain.
Lightning flashed through the grey clouds, illuminating the evening sky. Thunder was quick to follow, sending a shiver through Esmeralda’s waterlogged scales. Rain pelted down harshly. The wind buffeted her and the dragons around her with unnatural force as the Dracosian army struggled forward.
“Let’s go! We’re running out of time!” yelled Orion over the wind. “Stay together, we don’t want to lose anyone!”
“Shout if you’re not here!” muttered Nightingale as she flew by Esmerelda.
“How’s your sight, Nightingale?” Esmeralda shouted over another burst of thunder.
The silver dragon shook water off her face. “’Can’t see a blasted thing in these skies! I wonder if the Lindworms are doing any better.”
“I doubt it,” said Zhishi, twirling past the two chatting dragons. “We all know that everything’s been getting darker recently, which means the battle is soon to be among us! For Dracosia! Ha!”
“Easy, there, Zhishi,” Esmeralda smiled. “It’s not time to fight yet.”
“There’s nothing wrong with a bit of positive attitude in the face of danger! Huzza!” yelled the Lung, doing a loop in the air.
“Conserve your energy; you have no clue what we’re facing!” Came a shout from behind Esmeralda. Tundrica, a light-blue Frost Dragon, flew past the group with a stony expression. As she flew ahead of them, Esmeralda’s heart saddened for her. Tundrica knew full well what the Shade Stingers could do.
Esmeralda’s mind fell back into the memory of last night. . .
* * *
“Claw strike! Tail whip! Wing lock and brace—just a moment. You call this fighting, you hatchlings? My mother could do this better than you; shape up! Frontal attack!”
Esmeralda lunged forward with the rest of the training dragons, completing a pounce and another tail whip.
“What are you trying to catch? Butterflies? Harder! Let me see more power in those muscles! Aerial dodge!”
With a defiant huff, Esmeralda pushed herself off the ground, and sticking her landing with claws extended.
Avitus, the Wildurnen battle trainer, looked on with a gruff expression. The dark blue dragon was well along in years, having been old when Orion was little, but Esmeralda had no doubt he could whip all of the trainees hides without lifting a wing.
“You in the back! Find your center. The middle group’s off kilter—Grottoskims! Get back to your places; I can barely see the lot of you!” The trainer ordered.
Esmeralda had to hand it to him; the way Avitus taught was very effective, always pushing dragons to their limits. She just wished that he weren’t so bossy.
Cutting through her complaints, Orion appeared, walking up to Avitus. “How goes the training, my old teacher?” the Leader said, skimming his eyes over the battling dragons and letting them rest on Esmeralda. He smiled softly.
“Oh, they’re a fine bunch of dragons,” Avitus replied, noticing Orion’s lack of attention and snorting, “IF YOU’RE GOING TO WAR AGAINST TROLLS!”
“Oh, there not that bad, and you know it,” said Orion, barely giving the blue dragon a side glance as he kept his eyes locked with Esmeralda’s. She smiled.
Avitus followed the young leader’s gaze. “Esmeralda! Get your head out of the clouds and get back to work!” he huffed.
Orion smirked.
“And that goes for you, too!” Avitus said to his former student.
“What? I didn’t do anything; I’m just observing!” The Leader shrugged defensively.
“Yes, you were. That was the problem!” Avitus retorted.
A few dragons giggled behind Esmeralda.
“I am the Leader of Dracosia. I may do whatever I want.”
“You are also supposed to do what is best for Dracosia itself, and staring at a girl dragon all day isn’t going to help you advance an army!”
More giggles and snorts from behind her made Esmeralda want to fade into the cool night air. Before she could do anything, however, a sudden shout rang through the make-shift battle camp.
“Help! Someone! She’s been wounded!” A red Wyvern shouted as he and a grey Lindworm stumbled out of the trees, each supporting a light-blue Frost dragon.
Aurora ran forward quickly. “Bring her here. Quickly!”
Esmeralda and the other dragons ran to get a better look. The Frost dragon, who Esmeralda remembered to be named Tundrica, was badly hurt. She was scratched and bruised, breathing rapidly as if she had just finished a race.
“What happened, Child?” asked Aurora, beginning a healing spell. “What did this?”
“T-there—they were surrounding u-us,” Tundrica coughed. “I-I-I was a-h-head. Tried to fight—I tried to—they were so strong—”
“Who, Tundrica? Who? Who did this to you?!” pressed Frystor, concern showing in his face for one of his tribe members.
“Sh-shade Stingers.”
The clearing gasped.
“How many?” Orion asked urgently.
“Three. Fought them off with Pyrose and Skarn. They turned to dust. T-they came out of the tree shadows. Surprised me. I w-wasn’t expect—ah!”
“Easy now,” Aurora soothed. “You must rest for the healing to take effect. Frystor, take her with you and get her to bed.”
“F-Father…” muttered Tundrica as the older Frost dragon lead her away.
“I’m here. Don’t you worry. Once we confront that army, I’m gonna freeze ‘em cold for you!”
“Did she say they came out of the trees’ shadows?” inquired Orion.
The Wyvern, Pyrose, nodded. “Another one of the creatures’ abilities, we believe.”
“We also think that those creatures were scouts,” Skarn, the Lindworm, joined in. “We fought ‘em with some difficulty, but eventually they turned into wee bits of dust. Hopefully, that means they’re gone.”
“I don’t understand how this happened!” grunted Avitus. “You were equally matched; three on three for land sakes! Great Dragon help us all if this is how you plan on saving Dracosia!”
“Watch yer tongue, Elder! There was nothin’ we could do!” growled Skarn.
“It was out of our talons,” Pyrose agreed calmly, holding his wing out to silence the Lindworm. “The air around the creatures, it was thick with feelings of fear and dread. Another advantage they have over us, and unfortunately, none of us got out unscathed.”
For the first time, Esmeralda got a good look at Pyrose and Skarn. Though they weren’t as badly hurt as Tundrica, both dragons had a notable number of scratches to their scales. They looked as disheveled as their armor.
Avitus narrowed his eyes skeptically, but wisely said nothing. Uneasy tension hung in the air.
“Well, then,” said one of the dragons in the crowd. “What are we to do now, Leader?”
A Grottoskim fluttered forward. “’Ow can we fight somethin’ surrounded by feah?”
Esmeralda thought for a moment. “Three on three” Avitus had said, yet the creatures’ aura gave them an advantage. That made Esmeralda wonder…“What if we tipped the balance?”
Orion looked up. “What?”
“Pyrose, Skarn, go get some rest. Aurora, go find Zhishi and meet me at your chamber,” instructed Esmeralda. “I’ve got a plan.”
* * *
Aurora’s chamber was little more than a dinky cave that dripped cold water. However, it was big enough for a few dragons to fit inside, and Aurora being Aurora, she insisted on sleeping there. However, the seclusion away from the rest of the camp would be perfect for testing Esmeralda’s idea.
“Ooh! Are we going to do some spelling?” came Zhishi’s familiar voice. “Words or magic? Oh, well, it doesn’t matter. I’m rubbish at both.”
“I too am curious about what you are getting at, Esmeralda,” said Aurora, walking in behind Zhishi. “Care to enlighten us?”
Esmeralda nodded. “As you know, the Shade Stingers have an unfair advantage.”
“Ha! Which one?” laughed Zhishi. The magic wielders stared at him. “Ah, sorry. Ahem, do continue.”
“As I was saying,” Esmeralda restarted, “the creatures have a large advantage over us: their fear aura. And as much as I don’t want to admit it, Avitus was right; there is no possible way for us to win if those creatures remain with the aura. Now, I don’t know of any way to rid the Shade Stingers of their aura, for to do that we’d need time to subdue the whole army, and time is something we are short of. Besides, the aura could be too deeply set in the creatures to remove, anyway.”
“So what do you plan to do?” asked Aurora.
“Well, we may not be able to take away the creatures’ aura,” Esmeralda explained, “but perhaps we can give one and change the tide.”
Zhishi looked alarmed. “You’re not going to give me an aura of fear, are you? Oh, dear. That would be positively dreadful for my cheerful demeanor.”
Esmeralda smiled but shook her head. “No, no! You’re not getting it. The aura wouldn’t be of fear. If we can give the dragons a way of resisting the Shade Stingers in that way, making us immune to the doubt the creatures give off—”
“—Then it would be as if the creatures’ aura never existed,” continued Aurora, catching on.
“Yes! It wouldn’t protect us from scratches, and it wouldn’t make us ten times stronger, but a protection field would give us enough of a boost to make a difference in the battle!”
“Good show, Esmeralda!”
“Now all we have to do is figure out how to make this work…”
Zhishi was beginning to look uncomfortable as he watched the two magic wielders talk. “Well!” he said quickly. “This has been really interesting and all, but I’m afraid I hear a call for dinner, and you know how much I value food; it’s very good for you, you know. Right, see you! Goodbye—”
“Ah, ah, ah! Not so fast, Scroll Keeper,” said Aurora, blocking his path with her tail. “We are not finished with you yet.”
Zhishi gulped. “I was afraid of that.”
“Just stay calm,” smirked Esmeralda. “If that’s at all possible for you. Aurora, see if you can start a charm spell; the one about warding off doubt?”
Aurora nodded and began to mutter incantations. Her wings, eyes, and back scales glowed brighter with white magic.
“W-what are you going to do?” stuttered Zhishi. “I’d prefer not to be turned into a porcupine, if you please.”
“What will I do?” Esmeralda repeated. She thought for a moment. “Well, I suppose I’ll improvise!”
Closing her eyes, Esmeralda focused on what she wanted to do. Resistance to the Shade Stingers’ fear. The aura of protection. Changing the balance. Spreading her now golden-lit wings, Esmeralda wove her spell into words:
Shadows come with fear and doubt.
Give us light to lead us out.
Bubble of courage deep in the soul,
Now be awakened through my control!
Aurora and Esmeralda’s wings grew very bright for a few seconds, then faded back to their usual dim glow.
Zhishi had his eyes closed.
“You can breathe now, Zhishi,” Esmeralda smiled.
The Lung tentatively opened an eye, then let out a large puff of smoke. “Well, look at that! I’m alive! And surprisingly very un-porcupine-ish. “
“Do you feel any different?” asked Aurora.
Zhishi straitened his glasses. “Hmmm….no. I can’t say that I—wait!”
“What?” exclaimed Esmeralda and Aurora, stepping forward hastily.
“No, sorry. It’s gone,” said the blue-green dragon. “Wait! It’s back—no, lost it again.”
Esmeralda narrowed her eyes. “Zhishi…”
“Hold it! There! It’s there!” he exclaimed.
“What? What is where?” demanded Aurora.
“It’s there! A tingling sensation at the top of my back…it’s…it’s…”
“Yes? It’s what?” prodded Esmeralda. Great Dragon, had the spell gone wrong?
Suddenly, Zhishi lifted a hind leg and scratched the spot. “Oh. Sorry. It was just an itch.”
The magic wielders let out exasperated sighs.
“Did we do nothing?” muttered Esmeralda. “Are we going to fail after all?”
“Don’t be like that,” said Zhishi. “Don’t let fear be the boss of you. Have some confidence, Child! We’ll make it!”
“Zhishi…”said Arora, “what did you just say?”
“Uh…..’We’ll make it’?”
“No, no, before that. Since when were you motivational?”
Zhishi looked confused. “I just say what’s true. That was true; there’s nothing to fear! Well, there is, but you shouldn’t let it surround you, Esmeralda. No one likes a spoil sport!”
Hope began to bud in Esmeralda’s chest as she shared a glance with Aurora.
“What? Why are you both looking at me like that?”
“Dear Esmeralda,” Aurora smiled, “I believe you have succeeded.”
“Zhishi,” Esmeralda beamed, “I think that you are the first dragon ever to be immune to the Shade Stingers’ aura.”
“I am?” asked Zhishi. “I mean, I am! Yes! Take that, Shade Stinkers!”
Esmeralda laughed as the Lung pushed her out of the cave.
“Let’s go! Move those feet, Esmeralda! We’ve got dragons to cast spells on! Oh, ah, that came out a bit wrong. But let’s go!”
The two dragons ran straight into Orion.
“Whoa, where are you two going in such a rush?” exclaimed the leader, detangling himself from Zhishi.
“Esmeralda’s made me immune to the Shade Stingers’ magic!” Zhishi declared, noticing Aurora walking up. “Well, her and Aurora, but mostly Esmeralda! Nothing can stop us now! For Dracosia!” With that, Zhishi rushed off to inform the camp of the news.
Orion looked between Zhishi and the magic wielders. “……Did your spell do something to him?”
Esmeralda smiled. “No, he’s just always like that. Now then, Orion? Would you gather everyone together, please?”
The golden dragon nodded. “Whatever you say, Magic Wielder.”
* * *
A flash of lightning brought Esmeralda back to the present. The rain was now pelting down harder, and the sky was even darker. Night would be falling soon, Esmeralda realized with dread.
“Esmeralda!” called Nightingale. “Look up ahead!”
Esmeralda focused her eyes through the grey haze of rain. There, on the horizon, loomed a mass of tall, jagged rock:
The Black Mountains.
