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Invading Will

Chapter Two

Part 1

By: D. C. Henry ("Ahndeleck")

Deanna was glad that the Cickrack was dead. She had heard reports from scouts to the south that once in a while, one of the insects would go wild and travel north, but she could never get her scouts to give her a reason. It didn't matter though, so long as those pests didn't have a reason for wandering into Freeraven, or if they didn't wander in large numbers. The Cickrack south of the Cauldron Mountains left humans alone, and she returned the favor.

Today had been different, just like nearly a week ago. One of their kind came and threatened her nation, and she wouldn't stand by and allow that to happen. The Cickrack felt the same as she understood it. Rarely, one of her scouts would tell her of finding what must have been a lost traveler that strayed too far into the Cauldron Mountains and found just how hospitable the Cick can be.

Two wild Cicks, that was something none of her scouts had ever said anything about. Deanna decided to have a few work on the problem when she got back to the tower. She pulled her sword from her belt, still covered in a thin slime. The dull light in the cave made her sword look as if it was made from obsidian, the slime making the blade flash softly as she held it.

"Deanna" the dragon said, "I thought you said the sword wasn't magic? How does it move around like that if its not magic?"

"It's a skill that I was taught when I became a scout for Freeraven. Its not taught to very many though. I've heard very few people know this magic anymore. My trainer told me that it was common in the Elvish war, but lost its favor since then."

"My father told me about something like that when he was helping in the Dominance war, but there wasn't very many of them. What was that magic called? I can't remember."

"I never asked, and I never bothered to know. It helps me get my job done and that's all I was worried about at the time."

"Couldn't you ask your trainer when you get back?"

"No, I can't. He passed away several years after he taught me. I haven't seen or met anyone else with the skill since then. Even if I was to meet someone that could do this, I don't care what its called. Now could you please look for what you need for the cure?"

"Alright." The dragon said, "let me look around for a while. I don't know exactly what I'm looking for. But I'll find it."

She hadn't thought of her trainer for a very long time. Captain Tillson died fighting the Red-Fingers after he had taught her the basics. Since then she practiced nearly every day, trying to learn new ways to move her sword. At first it had been nearly impossible, but old man Tillson showed her how to hold the sword as it flew.

Now she could easily throw and retrieve her sword. She had never seen him return his sword, or throw his sword as fast as she could. Her skill gave her power and speed, two things that a scout needed in abundance.

When she reached the river, Deanna slipped the blade into the water. She watched as the new ripples around her sword distorted the stony dark riverbed below. From further up the river, she could hear the dragon crunching through small rocks. The dragon walked to the large pool that surrounded the small waterfall.

She appreciated the help from the dragon, though she knew she could have done everything on her own. He hadn't used much magic during the fight, which surprised her. Most dragons were very good with one form of magic, but this one was young yet. Perhaps he would learn more as he aged.

Then she remembered his panic after she had thrown the final blow. Screaming and panicking over a dead body was simply a new recruit sort of mistake. She saw it when a new scout had their first kill in the field, and she did everything she could to weed the reaction out of them, or weed them out of the scouts. Life was no place to panic, no place to second guess. That's what killed Captain Tillson. If the dragon wanted to live in the world, he would have to learn to keep panic like that under control. Acting like that wasn't fitting for a dragon anyway.

"There are so many different things down here," the dragon said over his shoulder, "Vines and mushrooms, crickets and mice, there are even fish in the water here. Have you seen them?"

"Have you never been inside of a cave then?"

"I have," the dragon said with a sour look, before turning back to the pool before him. "just not very often. My mother kept a few small vines. She used them to light the larger parts of their den, so they wouldn't always have to use magic. She liked the ones that glow blue, she said it made my father look good or something like that."

"Well, don't get caught up in all this. The prince needs that cure."

"I'm looking. I just have to think how exactly I need to find it."

Deanna lifted her sword from the river, and turned it slowly to inspect the blade. She got most of the slime off, then wiped it dry with a small cloth on her belt. She hopped over the river, then walked toward the pool at the other side of the cavern as she sheathed her sword.

As she neared the dragon, he noticed him drawing in the sand near the pool with one talon. When she first arrived at the tower, Captain Tillson tried to see if she knew much magic. He had started with magic circles, but she had never seen much of them. Tillson would turn to a page in a book, some circle spell drawn in place. Then he would ask her what the spell would do. She could never tell him correctly what any of them did. None of them ever seemed to match in any way.

When it came to the flash magic, she could feel that. She could see the magic forming, but found it hard to control. But when the scout weapon training came, Tillson noticed something she never had, she was using magic in the weapons. From that day forward, she forgot about any other sort of magic.

Many of the scouts would be able to tell what the dragon was drawing. Finally the dragon stopped and looked at for a moment. Deanna stood several steps away, her hands on her hips as she watched. If the circle wasn't for finding a cure, she decided to personally tan the dragon when a cure had been found. The dragon simply didn't understand how important finding a cure for the prince was. She couldn't let Alan die. If she had to, she would threaten his life to get what she needed.

"What is that for?"

"It's a magic circle."

"I know that, all circles are magic, what does it do?"

"I mean," the dragon said, still looking at the circle, "It's a circle for finding magic. I used it on the prince and he had magic. If this place has magic too, then maybe we're close to what got him sick."

"Didn't you say when we got here that you could feel the magic?"

"Well I can yes, but not like I would need to, to find what made the spores. Its like trying to feel the difference in heat between a warm rock and a warm patch of dirt. There isn't much difference, but its there if you know how to look. I can feel that magic is rich here, but not the differences between that mushroom and that vine over there."

"I suppose that makes sense. I don't see your circle doing anything though."

"There might not be enough magic here. All these plants use magic, so this might not work very well."

"Then why are you trying that at all?"

"Because the circle I used before showed a lot of magic on the prince," the dragon said as he looked up from the circle, "Which means whatever gave him the spores would be very magical as well. So the circle should find the magic it's giving off. If we're far away from the magic, it might take some time before it works. Sometimes it takes a long time."

She didn't like having to wait. Everyone in the tower in Ravenstone knew her for being quick on her tasks, and decisive when it came to passing tasks to the other scouts. Having to wait for a picture in the dirt to tell them answers did not seem like a good plan.

Deanna sighed in frustration and turned back to where the Cick lay. If the dragon needed more time, she would have to find something useful to do. The large body reminded her that when she was first in the cave, she only thought there was one Cick. This second body proved her wrong, which was another thing that bothered her.

The dragon would take even longer if he was interrupted while he was scribbling in the dirt. There might be more of those Cickrack in the cave, and she would find them if they were nearby. She walked towards the back wall of the cave to see if there were other rooms or tunnels nearby.

At the furthest wall, Deanna found a small tunnel. It would let a small rabbit through, but it was far too small for anything dangerous that she knew of in caves. She knew there was a lot more under the earth than she could remember, but she didn't think anything bad would come from the hole. She had learned to trust her instincts over her knowledge. Many times her thoughts had turned out to be wrong, but she always seemed to just know when something was going to be a problem.

"I think I've found it Deanna." The dragon said from behind her, "Its somewhere over here, with these little um, blue ones."

Her investigation could wait, finding the cure was the most important thing. She wanted to see first hand what could force the prince into a death bed. The dragon was kneeling much like a dog that had caught a new scent and wanted time to investigate it. There were several different small mushrooms growing around a smaller rock. She remembered it from her first visit, the small group had taken a short break resting there after wandering through the tunnels.

"It looks like there's about four different kinds there. Which one is it dragon?"

"Probably this tall one. I recognize these two glowing ones, they are kinds my mother used in the cave once in a while. This one here my dad said dragons can eat if there isn't anything to catch underground.

"This one though," the dragon picked one with a set of talons carefully, "I don't know anything about. And it does feel magical, a little more than these other ones. Plus when I drew a circle here, the color didn't come out right. Its more like flash magic than the slow natural magic. These are funny."

"So is your explanation."

"Well, my mother told me when I asked her about the mushrooms in the den-"

"You can explain about this later. Just get what you need to cure the prince. You're completely certain this is what did it?"

"Well, I think so. It can't be a normal mushroom at all. Its not got the right sort of magic in it."

"Then get some. I want to get out of here and back to the prince as soon as we can dragon. Don't take too long."

"Alright," the dragon said, enthusiasm drained from his voice. "All I'll need is this one here. That will be enough to make the cure."

"Be sure to get more than that one. I want more to see if we can find out more about who did this. They will have justice to come to."

The dragon stood and opened the leather pouch on his chest, then dropped the mushroom inside. She watched him tilting his head to one side, then the other, looking for more of the mushrooms. Satisfied that she would have everything she was going to get from the place, she turned and walked briskly toward the large open tunnel leading back outside.

The soft glows from the cavern dimmed as she walked down the tunnel. Her eyes didn't need nearly as long to grow accustomed to the lack of light. Not far behind her, she heard the scraping of the dragon's talons on hardened dirt. As long as he was right about the cure, and gave it to them without a fuss, she would be satisfied with his help.

So far this dragon had been more helpful than any of the other dragons she had dealt with, which was a nice change of pace. She wished he didn't act so young, and focused on the task rather than losing focus like a small puppy. She didn't care what he thought and especially what his parents thought or did. To her dragons were all annoying. She just hope that this one would be able to save Alan.

"Deanna, what do you think will happen to this cave?"

"I don't know." She said, deciding that this dragon was especially annoying.

"It's a very nice cave, do you think anyone would live here? My Father told me once that sometimes humans would live underground and farm different things down here."

"I've never heard anything like that."

"Well he did say that it was somewhere in the North Mezen continent I think. He said he had never been there, but knew someone that has been. Although, I don't think that they would live underground if the Cickrack were over there would they?"

"I doubt it."

"I don't think I'll come back here though. When I get back to my den, I should check it again to make sure there aren't any new tunnels or things hiding in it."

She almost hoped there was something else hiding in his den. Why would the dragon want to talk so much to her? No one talked to her; the way she liked things. This loud dragon obviously hadn't learned this yet. Hitting him on the side of the face with the flat of her blade seemed like a good idea.