Stolen Surprise

Kylie laughed to herself as Talf hurried back. She had seen the arrow land at his feet, but she was unable to see the shooter. She knew Talf had seen him though and he was making good speed on his way to the tree line. As the prince approached, Kylie turned and started off again, angling away from the castle. The archer would have little chance for a shot if they moved deeper into the forest.

           “Come on now! We’ll need to move a little faster if we want to lose him,” Kylie said.

           “Them,” Talf corrected. “It seems the number of disgruntled soldiers is relatively high for having been in the middle of breaking the fast.”

           Kylie did not reply. She hopped over a fallen log and made her way around a large tree. She hadn’t been outside of the compound since she was a child and was fascinated by the forest here. On the island where she was born, the forest consisted of a stretch of trees and brush about ten feet wide that peppered the land between the beach and the village. Here, there seemed to be no end to the greenery. The canopy above, kept the air relatively cool and Kylie enjoyed the knowledge that the sun was not roasting her skin. She could hear the Prince stumbling through the brush behind her.

           “Don’t they teach you how to be quiet in training?” Kylie asked, noticing she was a little breathless.

           “It’s not… One does not really have a need… Large armies march on roads.”

Talf was much more out of breath than she was. He also had a wound to his shoulder from where one of the treasury guards had clubbed him and the run through the forest was likely painful. Then there was the emotional burden of knowing he was being pursued by his own men.

“There’s a rise ahead. When we get to the top, we will stop and rest,” Kylie said.

“I would… be happy… to let you… rest,” the Prince panted.

Kylie and Talf were well known in the kingdom for making mischief. Though one was royalty, and the other was a kitchen scullion, they were close. Talf had been attracted to Kylie’s violet eyes and generous curves the first time he had seen her. His physical advances had been squelched from the start, but a deep friendship had developed over the years. This time, though, they may have taken their antics too far. The unlikely duo had pulled off their greatest heist to date and was fleeing into the forest with the kingdom’s greatest treasure.

Just before heading up the hill, Kylie felt as if a weight were lifted from her shoulders and she put on an extra burst of energy to clamor to the top. She sat heavily on the ground and breathed in deeply. The air smelled different. There was the expected scent of damp earth from the forest floor, but this was more. Kylie felt as if she could smell each individual flower in the field beyond the hill wear she and Talf were perched. She smelled the birds above her, nesting among the branches of the trees, and she could smell the trace of a deer that had come through the area earlier.

The sights were crisper as well. As Talf sat beside her, taking in breathe more leisurely than he had been moments before, she felt as if there were more shades of color than she’d previously known. Maybe it was just a result of her being in a new place that caused her to notice more than green leaves and brown bark. Each tree seemed to have leaves of a slightly different green laced with deep purple veins. The rocks seemed to sparkle in the plum-hued light that filtered through the canopy. Back on the island, Kylie had thought of rocks as simply gray, but here the faint rays of the sun made the quartz and amethyst in the rocks stand out prominently.

“Well,” said Talf. “This little respite has been surprisingly helpful. I’m shocked at how much better I feel already.”

Kylie was not sure if she was more surprised that Talf had admitted he needed the rest, or at how true his words rang. They had only been sitting for a brief time, but it felt as if they had rested for over an hour. She felt rejuvenated, and ready to continue on with a strength she had not felt since before she had set off for the treasury earlier. It was as if the air and earth around her were feeding her energy.

“It’s the gods,” Kylie said aloud. “Tala is sending us breathe and Vigilia is sending us energy.”

Talf laughed. “The old gods are long gone and likely dead. My ancestors scourged the land of…”

Kylie was pleased to see Talf had understood his words were unwise. She did not need to be reminded why the common folk and royals were sworn enemies. The friendship between her and the prince aside, years of oppression at the whim of his family could never be forgotten. The basis for the divide between the two stations was not even money. It was religion.

“I suppose you don’t believe in the gods. It is no matter. They hold power over all, even those who do not recognize them,” Kylie said softly.

The prince looked up at her. “I loved the stories of the old gods when I was a child. I suspect I heard them differently than you did, though.”

“Why do you refer to them as the ‘old gods’? They are still in control and they will return to this place. It’s why your people were entrusted with this artifact.”

Kylie pointed over her shoulder to the pack on her back. She sighed and got to her feet. She was comforted by the knowledge that she had the peoples’ most precious treasure, but acknowledged that Talf saw it only for its monetary value, not the equality it could spread throughout the land.

Talf climbed to his feet as well. His shoulder did not appear to be as much of a hindrance to the process as it should have been. There was something different in the atmosphere this far from the compound. As the two of them started down the hill, moving farther from the familiarity of the castle, and farther from the threat of the remains of the Prince’s army, Kylie felt her back heat. It was causing sweat to soak her shirt and she slid the pack so that it hung on only one shoulder. The heat from the bag seemed to increase. After several more steps, Kylie was unable to hold the bag near her skin and she dropped it to the ground and stared at it.

Talf stooped to grab the pack, but tendrils of indigo smoke were now emanating from the material and he pulled his hand back. Kylie pounced on the bag and upended it, dumping the stone onto the dirt of the forest floor. She stomped on the material of the bag to stop it from burning and stood watching the violet rock glowing brightly. Talf took a step back, but Kylie crouched down to get a better look. There was a large fissure in the rock now, and the stone at the edges glowed as red as lava. The crack melted into a wider split as Kylie watched and violet light shown through the opening. The light grew in brightness until Kylie had to shield her eyes, and then turn away. A loud crack echoed through the air as the rock must have split open and then Kylie heard a sound somewhere between the purr of a mountain cat and the chirp of a bird.

Kylie spun around so quickly that she lost her balance and ended up sitting on the ground. Huge golden eyes, covered by long lashes, stared back at her from inches away. The eyes belonged to a creature about the size of a raccoon. It had no fur, but was covered in iridescent, purple scales. The creature took a few tentative steps toward Kylie. Kylie didn’t know what to do. She had no desire to touch the animal. She threw her hands above her head and sat as still as possible while the creature stepped into her lap. It turned several times and then curled up, making a nest of her legs.

“Kylie,” Talf said softly. “I think you have a baby dragon in your lap.”

Suddenly afraid the Prince might try to kill the creature, Kylie brought her arms down around it protectively. The little dragon nuzzled Kylie’s hand and emitted the same chirping purr it had voiced moments ago. The little dragon blinked slowly up at her. As it’s lids fell and rose, Kylie thought she saw the irises around the dragon’s vertically elongated pupils flash from gold to violet and then back. It was as if the creature’s eyes were reflecting Kylie’s own eye color.

Kylie tentatively stroked the creature’s head with the tip of her index finger and it pressed up into her like a cat, causing her finger to run down the back of its neck. This time the little dragon’s eyes held the violet color for a moment longer. The creature gave Kylie a gentle swat when her finger trailed down its rib cage toward its stomach.

“Does that tickle?” Kylie asked it in a soft voice.

Kylie heard the response loudly in her head. “Yes, Mamma.” The creature’s giggle echoed in Kylie’s thoughts. “Now, please continue scratching my head.”

“Demanding little thing, aren’t you?” Kylie mumbled.

With each slow blink of the dragon’s orbs the color was less golden, until they remained the same color as Kylie’s eyes. The effect made the creature’s gaze far less intimidating; almost soothing. Kylie felt as if she could become lost as she stared into the sea of shimmering purple that flowed from the newly hatched dragon before her.

Talf’s voice broke the moment. “You’re going to need to feed that thing. It might seem sweet right now, but it is as likely to eat your fingers as allow you to use them to pet it.”

“He wouldn’t do that,” Kylie replied.

Her response had been automatic. In truth, she had no idea what the little purple dragon might do next, but she felt the need to protect him.

“I am not a he!” the dragon said into Kylie’s mind. “Can’t you see my ear fins?”

“Forgive me,” Kylie said. “She wouldn’t do that. We will need to find her some food though.”

“Is that thing communicating with you?” Talf asked. “What made you decide it was a girl?”

“See these little flaps here?” Kylie stroked the lilac-colored, scaled appendages that swept back from the little dragon’s cheeks, partially covering her ears. “Only female dragons have these.”

Talf visibly relaxed. “Oh. For a moment there, I thought she could talk!”

Talf laughed at his own ridiculousness and started walking down the hill. He looked back over his shoulder after taking a few steps, eyebrows raised questioningly.

“Yes, we’re coming.”