Chapter Four- Misplaced Vengeance

Aelwen's eyes flickered open at the sound of a phoenix cawing its cheerful song into the misty morning air.

Her body was stiff and aching. She groaned as she stretched her legs, feeling the soft, freshly-upturned dirt press against her paws. She glanced down into the tent, noticing immediately that Gerel was gone.

A quick tap on her back sent her jumping to her feet with a loud screech.

The sound of Gerel's laugh immediately made her freeze. Her surprise melted off of her face.

"Looks like you're getting used to those legs quite well!" he said, whistling. "Enough to at least attempt to catch us a meal today, I hope?"

Aelwen shook her body, scales still raised in alarm. She strode out of the tent and sat in front of the fire pit, a meager breakfast awaiting her.

"I guess I could try," she answered, tiredly biting at the small bits of meat. The gears of her mind whirred as she thought about Gerel's actions towards her. Her father had always taught her to be a thankful and respectful ruler. "You've been doing a lot for me. As a citizen of my kingdom, it is your duty. However, I feel that you have gone above and beyond in your duty, showing that a kind and honorable heart beats within you." She turned to him and smiled. "For this, I am grateful."

Gerel stood silent for a moment.

"The village I am heading to is about a half a mile away. I put an invisibility ward spell over the camp, so you should be fairly safe in here. When I get back I'll teach you about moving your wings and learning to hunt as a dragon."

Aelwen blinked a couple times in slight shock. She had given him an embellished royal "thank you," yet he had hardly reacted. This boy is infuriatingly strange, she thought.

"Ah, so you can perform magic?" she ventured to ask. "You are quite young to have already learned something like an invisibility ward. May I ask to see what your particular wand looks like?" Aelwen began to feel the familiar spark of excitement she always experienced when talking about magic.

Gerel rubbed his temples, letting out a long sigh. "I don't have time to explain everything to you right now... Not that kind of stuff. You're not..." he trailed off, lines of concern gracing his forehead.

He shook his head and slung his backpack over his shoulder.

"Be careful. Stay inside the clearing. The ward doesn't have too big of a range. It doesn't account for sound either, so try to stay fairly quiet. These woods are usually quite empty, but after the dragon's attack, I don't know if humans are going to be tramping through here to either escape from the city or try to find out what happened to it."

He turned and strode towards the forest.

"Gerel."

The boy stopped and gazed over his shoulder at Aelwen, who sat solemnly, her eyes calmly gazing into his.

"Who are you, really?"

"I said no questions about-"

"Gerel."

The sudden royal authority in Aelwen's voice made Gerel freeze.

"I am grateful for your help, but I need to know what is going on. You are acting very strange as well as secretive. It is disconcerting to me," Aelwen said.

"I can't. Not yet," Gerel snapped. "I know you're confused, but you have to understand that..." he hesitated.

"What?"

"I just can't. I'm sorry," he said, shifting nervously. He looked to the ground, foot softly crunching on a fallen leaf. "The thing is..." he paused, glancing up at Aelwen. After a moment, he sprinted into the forest, disappearing into the thick brush.

Aelwen sat in defeat next to the campfire. The soft cawing of the distant nesting phoenix grew silent.

Aelwen watched a small bumblebee make its way to a gorgeous scarlet flower, rubbing its legs against the bright yellow pollen. A second bee buzzed past her dragon nose.

Now that she was feeling more than rested and had nothing better to do, she decided to work on using her fingered paws more effectively. She had to make sure she wouldn't hurt anything else while clumsily using her sharp claws.

Aelwen moved towards what was left of the fire pit. She moved her paw to pick up a half burned stick. Carefully she maneuvered her claws to wrap her paw around it rather than stick it full of holes. She was partially successful, her pinkie claw sticking into the end of the stick. She pulled it off.

Aelwen tried this several times with sticks and small logs of varying sizes. The trick was to keep the pressure she exerted upon the object to a minimum.

She turned to look at the scarlet flower, the bumblebee having left it to return to its hive. Her paw reached out for it, and as gently as she could, she plucked the flower. The stem broke in two, the flower falling to the ground, the scarlet petals like soft blood oozing between blades of grass, the stem like a broken wand lying shattered upon the floor.

Aelwen broke down, curling up and weeping softly to herself. She closed her eyes tightly, willing herself to clear her mind. But the floodgates had been opened, images of blood and death flooding into her mind.

She couldn't keep this up anymore. She couldn't go on while her kingdom was in flames and her parents were gone. It was all too much. She was only a young girl, she couldn't deal with this.

Royalty is supposed to be calm and collected at all times. I've never seen Mother cry. Why can't I keep it together?

Crying, Aelwen lay shivering atop the warm grass as sunlight lit her ruby scales. Her muscles were tense, her tail coiled under her body and head nestled between her front legs.

She lay like that for a long while, muffled sniffles echoing through the clearing.

...

When the noontime sun streamed its light directly into the clearing, the light beams bouncedoff of Aelwen's scales to create beautiful patterns of red light upon the trees and foliage of the forest. A quiet coo goaded Aelwen to finally look up from her huddled pose.

A small phoenix sat before her. Aelwen inwardly gasped as the bird grasped the fallen scarlet flower with its beak and set it on top of Aelwen's paw. Then the bird gave another small coo and flew a few yards away, landing so it was half-concealed by a bush. It turned to look at Aelwen again with eyes that sparked with intelligence.

Aelwen leaned toward the bird. "Hello?" she whispered.

The bird erupted into flames, flying away in a streak of light.

Aelwen sat back, aghast.

Her eyes drawn to the flower on her paw, she noticed it's edges were singed black, giving it a haunting effect. Carefully she reached toward the flower, picking it up gently between her claws. She regarded it for a moment, taking in the simple yet elegant shapes of the petals. With a feeling of reverence, she stuck it behind her ear.

A small smile danced across her face without her realization. The world was a beautiful place. Perhaps that thought was what could keep her grounded.

Slowly Aelwen got to her feet, deciding to practice a bit more. This time, she took a look over her shoulder at the huge pair of crimson wings that graced her arching back. The membranes that stretched between red bony fingers were slightly translucent, allowing her to partially see her body beneath them. The wings were completely limp, and although she could feel them, she didn't even know where to start when it came to moving them. She began to wonder. If my wings are somehow gravely injured, what will happen when I turn human? I don't have wings as a human, obviously, so what would my equivalent human injury be? Would I be hurt at all?

She stuck her long snout underneath her right wing, lifting it up and felt her nerves correspond with the action. Over the next few minutes she continued to move her wings around in various ways using her other various body parts. Soon she felt confident enough to try moving her wings independently.

It turned out to be extremely difficult, though.It was hard to figure out what muscles did what. She was only able to contract her shoulder muscles a bit, which slightly moved the wings up. She sighed. Perhaps it would be best to wait for Gerel's guidance. Until then, it may be best to practice walking.

She walked around the clearing, her pace gentle and steady while still slightly pushing herself. She listened intently to the sounds of the forest, letting herself relax and pace to the pulse of the earth. She didn't allow herself to think deeply, lest she fall into a fit of sadness again. Instead she drifted upon the surface of her mind, taking in pure observation rather than diving deep into the underbelly of her emotions.

A family of bright orange foxes slunk through the underbrush, glancing at Aelwen before dashing into a hidden burrow. Several joyful birds chirped in the trees as they nested with their mates. A pair of robins bustled with each other, pecking at their feathers and cleaning each other's down. One of the many buzzing bumblebees flew to its hive, a giant pile of yellowed wax sitting high up in a tree. Out of the corner of her eye, Aelwen thought she spotted the unmistakable sparkle of fairy dust. As she inspected it, she wondered if perhaps there was a fairy town in the area, up in one of the trees. Maybe they could help her? She had never seen a fairy in real life, and they were mostly relegated to fiction. Considering her current predicament, however... the existence of fairies no longer seemed to be such a farfetched concept.

She continued to stride along the perimeter of the camp, this time her eyes were combing the trees for the glow of a fairy. She scraped some of the dust onto her claw, examining it as she walked.

The smell of burnt wood mixed with fresh grass was especially apparent to her sensitive nose. Glancing at the sky, she spotted clouds of smoke coming from the direction of her home. She quickly ripped her eyes from the sight.

She sniffed the dust, particles floating into her nose. She sneezed, the loud noise causing the birds to squawk in fear. Aelwen shrunk back, sitting down in silence. She waited for the birds to begin their wonderful singing again, and once they finally did, she sighed in relief.

She listened to their pretty chirps for a while. There was a small trickle of familiarity within the notes, and Aelwen's mind was reminded of a tune her mother would sing to her when she was a small child. It had been a very long time since she had heard her mother sing it, but as the birds continued their trills, the words seemed to float into Aelwen's mind.

A ghost of a smile slid onto her lips, the grin of a time long past.

The ruby colored dragon with the mind of a princess began to sing.Her voice was unsteady at first, still getting used to the long snout she now bore, but soon she relaxed and let the music take her up into its rhythm. It's warm notes seemed to wrap around her and comfort her like the embrace of her mother.

Light of the sun

Guide my sweet child

Let her be fair

Let her heart beat wild

The wings of the sky

Carry her through

The dim and the dark

All the way up to you

The spirits of dawn

aid her to wake

to light up the world

for your sake

Light of the sun

Guide my sweet child

Let her be fair

Let her heart beat wild

Exhausted, Aelwen's voice grew quiet, her large eyelids sliding closed.

As if on cue, the birds let out panicked squawks before their wingbeats were heard tearing across the sky.

Eyes wide and heart aflutter, Aelwen raised her head. Her ears flicked backwards at the sound of the quiet footsteps of a human. No, there was more than one person. And it sounded like they were headed right for the camp.

Could it be Gerel? she thought.Did he bring some people from the village? Why? Wouldn't they be scared of me?

Quiet whispers were heard next, those she could never have detected as a human.

What if it's not Gerel? Maybe just some people traveling through the forest? Surely they won't find me, since Gerel put an invisibility spell around the camp.

Aelwen thought back to the fox family that had seen her, and the birds that had been scared of her sneeze. I wonder what kind of perimeter the spell covers. If these people walk into it, they will surely see me! Not to mention invisibility doesn't account for sound. Did they hear me sing and are coming to investigate?!

In a panic, Aelwen lurched out of the tent, looking around the campfire for anything she could use, but there was nothing large enough to hide her.

The silver glints of arrow heads peeked out from the brush at the edge of the clearing. Aelwen watched in fear as her breaths became shallow.

A huge, lumbering man stepped into the light, followed by four others. They all carried silver bows, and pulled them taut, pointing the arrows directly at Aelwen. The arrow heads were of a peculiar shape, and seemed to be hollow. Red liquid sloshed within them.

At first, the men reacted in fear as they saw the dragon suddenly appear before them. The man at the front --presumably their leader-- took in a quick gasp before staring at Aelwen with an expression of pure vitriol. The man was at least six feet tall, and half of his face and arms were covered in fresh burn marks. His head was shaven, several tattoos of a strange script lining his neck and arms.

He nodded to his companions, who glanced from him to Aelwen uneasily.

Aelwen shrunk back from the group. The spines on her back rising as it arched. Adrenaline burst through her veins, and with a flying leap, she dashed into the forest.

The leader barked orders to his men, and silver arrows screamed past Aelwen's ears. One hit her thigh, piercing part of the scale before exploding into a red mist, which hardened quickly. Almost immediately, Aelwen's back leg was completely stuck, a sticky red solution sticking her to the ground. She tugged with all of her might, front claws digging into rock and dirt. She howled in desperation, the sound of a trapped animal surprising her as it escaped her lips.

The men burst into the area. They quickly shot at her other legs and tail, pinning them down.

The leader strode toward her front, his finger brushing against her ruby scales. He took out a wicked-looking knife, the silver blade dirty and serrated.

Aelwen gasped and continued to struggle, tears rolling down her cheeks. The men kept their arrows trained at her head as their leader faced her.

"P-please let me go!" She cried. "I mean you no harm! I am not a dragon, in truth! I would never-"

The leader slapped her across the face before giving a cruel sneer. His muscles were taut, veins popping from his dark skin. It was now that Aelwen noticed he was not fully a man at all, but rather a satyr. Black fur covered his goat legs, parts of it singed off. His head bore two ebony horns.

She gave a small scream at the shock of the strike. Her mind --fully awakened by the quick beats of her heart-- raced at a mile a minute.

What do I say to convince him?! I can't just say I'm the princess. He would never believe that unless I have actual proof! What do I do?! Oh gods, what do I do?!

"Let me go! I beg of you!" she cried. "Why are you doing this?!"

The men shuffled slightly. One whispered in confusion to another, "This dragon sounds like a young girl! Another one of their magic tricks to deceive us?!"

The satyr stared at her, his nostrils flaring like those of a goat about to charge. "WHY?! he roared. "Everything you stinking piles of dung have been doing is worthy of this! You raze our villages, kill our queen, and slaughter our loved ones, and yet you ask WHY?!"

With a savage growl, the satyr dug his knife into the membrane of her right wing, slicing it downward.

Pain erupted into Aelwen's shoulder, and she gave a frenzied howl. Her body shook as she struggled against her restraints ever harder.

"STOP! Please STOP!" she screamed.

The satyr clenched his hand around her jaw, forcing her head directly in front of his. His blue eyes shone with a fierce fire.

"Not until you can bring my family back," he hissed.

Aelwen's eyes widened before her head was struck violently.

The last thing she saw before her vision faded to black was a small phoenix nesting on a high branch gazing at her solemnly.