Princess Ahira (31 page)

“
Yes. But why do you say that?” I asked, struck by how similar Kohath and Levi were acting. It was almost as if they were parroting each other.

Levi smiled. (
Smiled
! In all o
f our awkward tea conversations
Levi had never once smiled.) “Nothing.
Come, I’ll escort you back to
Azmaveth’s den,” h
e said as he
released me and started to walk away.

After several minutes of silent walking we popped out by the den where Azmaveth was fretting. Levi explained the situation quickly and tersely. Azmaveth snorted, I’m not sure if he was angry on my behalf because a valkyrie attacked me, or if he was just pouting because Levi’s scent was all over me.

After comparing Trila’s intelligence level to that of a chipmunk, Levi took his leave.

“Ahira, one of these days you’
re going to get yourself killed,
”
Azmaveth said, entering the den while Levi trekked down the driveway.

“You’re probably right. I’ll keep you in mind when I need someone to write my
epitaph
,” I replied, clinging to some scales on the ridge of his neck. (Never walk in a gigantic dragon cave when you can conveniently hitch a ride with a dragon.)

“
Well you’re going to be the end of me,
”
Azmaveth continued.
“I
worry about you all day long, a
nd what do you do? You go out and
nearly
g
et yourself killed by a valkyrie!” h
e scolded.

“Nothing really happened. Well, unless you’re looking at it from Trila’s perspective,
”
I supposed, griping a purple scale tighter.

“Humph.
You’r
e just lucky Levi was around!”

“Azmaveth?”

“What?”

“
Could you be a doll and STOP LECTURING ME?!
” 

“Sorry.”

Th
ere was a long pause before Azmaveth released
an indignant snort.  “Wait a moment! Why do
I
have to listen to
you
?”

“
Because if I go on strike you’ll starve.”

“Oh,
that is very true
.”

I beamed, excited that I won one of our verbal matches for once. My joy lasted until we reached the kitchen.

“Wait! So?
I got along perfectly well
before
you arrived!”

“Azmaveth… your
dishes were
growing mold.”

“But I—,”

“Mold, Azmaveth.
Mold
.”

Azmaveth grumbled under his breath about high
maintenance
princesses
before halting outside my door.

I let go of Azmaveth’s scales and slid down his side, pausing to pat one of his silver claws. “Don’t worry. I
love you too
you big softy,” I said before turning on my heels and entering my room.

Just when I closed my door Azmaveth’s brain finally processed my words.

“
WHAT?!?
”

I snickered under my breath and hummed a song. Today was a good day.

Truths Revealed

One week later, on a gorgeous spring day, I was sweeping dirt out of the front doors. The valkyrie may attack and Tsol may change forever, but I vowed I would face them with a clean
cave
.

Azmaveth was skulking around in his lab. It was one of the few moments I had to myself. It seemed like even with Tuggles around evil creatures lurked in the forest. The valkyrie were only the tip of the iceberg.

I was pleasantly surprised this day when I spotted Aaron strolling up the driveway.

I waved my arm, waiting until he was closer to say, “Hello Aaron!” (No sense in alerting Azmaveth to his presence.)

“Good afternoon Ahira,” he smiled.
“Can I drag you away from your work
long enough to take a stroll?”

I quickly weighed the option. As long as we stuck close enough to the den Aaron was probably strong enough to protect us from any less than friendly creatures in the area. “Sure, sounds great,” I chirped.

“We can’t go too far though,” I continued, following Aaron away from the den and into the forest. “If I stray too much Azmaveth will come look
ing
for me. And the woods aren’t really safe anymore either.”

“I’ve noticed that too,” Aaron agreed. “We wizards have ta
ken to traveling mostly in packs
.”

“You guys will be fighting with the dragons, right? Against the valkyrie?” I asked.

“We will try,” Aaron grimly said, holding a tree branch back so I could walk through without being poked. “We’ve been asked to help, and it’s not like we can refuse.”

“What do you mean?”

“The dragons are the ones who
taught
us magic. They’re much stronger than us. They’ve got better magical artifacts too,” Aaron said, his eyes darkening.

“T
hey have been around a lot longer,” I reasoned. “I mean, Azmavet
h is like… older than my grandmother
, and he’s pretty young,” I said, hopping over a small creek.

“I suppose that is true,” Aarong reasoned.

“Whew. Can we take a breather? It is
hot
,” I said, plopping down on a log.

“Sure. We probably shouldn’t venture much further anyway,” Aaron agreed, sitting down next to me before continuing.
“
Say
Ahira?
”

“
Hm?”

“If Azmaveth is gone sometime, would you mind taking me
to see his treasury?”

“Why?” 
I asked, turning to gaze at him with a suspicious eye.

“Because, d
o you even know the amount of educational treasures he has? Why I
bet I would grow smarter just
looking
at it!
I believe he has the treasure of Atkaperns,
which allows you to heal warts.
I think he also has the silver toothpick which cleans your teeth for you!”

“Aaron.”

“O
h, oh! He should also have the Marvelous Mayfair M
ender! I’m not sure what it is, but it sounds interesting!”

“Aaron!” I tried again.

“And I wouldn’t take anything! I’m sure if I could just
see
the treasures I could figure out how they work and perhaps
make a copy of them!”

“
Aaron!
” I all but yelled in his ear
. 

“Yes?”

“I’ll take you!” I
smiled
once I was convinced I had his attention
.

“You will?” h
e
dreamily said, looking as though I had just offered him the moon.

“Yes.
What are friends for?” I asked with a lopsided smile.

He paus
ed
and his smile wilted. “Yes, thank you.”

“No problem.
Just d
on’t touch anything!” I warned.
“Or Azmaveth will be sure to kill you.” 

He laughed.
“Don’t worry about
it.
I give you my
word not to touch a single treasure
!” 

I leaned back, stretching my arms before awkwar
dly fanning my face with a hand
.
It was still hot and muggy, and I was wearing a long sleeved dress because Azmaveth hadn’t gotten around to getting me some new
summer dresses.

“We’ll just have to do it sometime when Azmaveth is out,” I decided as
pu
shed up the sleeves of my dress. It hitched ha
lfway up my arm when
loose thread tangled around one of my silver charms.

I absentmindedly fixed the bracelet, pushing it back down to my wrist before folding up my sleeves. I shook my wrist once to hear the reassuring pings of the charms hitting one another.

The noise drew Aaron’s attention. He glanced at the bracelet before doing a double take and freezing. “May I see this?” he asked.

“Sure,” I said, offering out my wrist.

Wonder flashed across his face before he carefully wiped it clean, as though he was wearing a mask.
“Could you take it off so I could
look at it? It’s very pretty,” he said with a charming smile.

“Sorry, I can’t. Azmaveth gave it to me and last time I misplaced it he nearly took off my head,
”
I said,
r
emoving my wrist from his grip so I could straighten my white apron. I figured that would be the end of the conversation.

It wasn’t.

Oh how little did I know the true nature of the human next to me.

“Do you even know what that is?”
Aaron asked, his voice dark and unfamiliar.

I twisted to face him. “Pardon?”

Aaron leaned forward, his face was hard as though it were chiseled from stone.
“That is one of the great dragon treasures. It’s called Guardian Charms
.”

“…What?”

“Dragons can’t naturally break curses. It’s one of the few techniques their magic fails to cover. So to
guard
that base the Guardian Charms were forged. Only a human can use it. When they wear it they have the power to break
any
curse that crosses their path,” Aaron said as he slid off the log.

“Any curse?” I murmured, my thoughts jostling in my head. If I could break
any
cu
rse while wearing this bracelet
I could help in the war against the valkyrie!

I was knocked out of my thoughts when I heard the sizzling sound of magic. I yelped and rolled off the log which exploded into fire moments later.

“Aaron, what the—why?” I said, stumbling on my feet.

“I’m g
oing to ask you one more time.
Remove the bracelet and give it to me,” he ordered, holding one hand out as his eyes narrowed.

I’m not sure if he thought I was blind or something, because his other hand was
clearly
charging up a fireball.

My instincts
finally
took the chance to kick in, and I twisted and plunged through the forest without looking back.

Aaron caught up with me in seconds, slamming me into a tree before pinning my neck to the bark with his hands.

“Why?” I whispered, clawing at his hands as I tried to conserve oxygen.

“Stupid girl.
Haven’t you figured it out?
Whoever has that charm bracelet can save or destroy the dragons!” Aaron growled.

“So we’ll save them,” I said, tears stinging my eyes.

“
Wrong
. Bartering is the best route. If we can save their precious Tsol they’ll do anything, even if it means submitting themselves to
humans
,” Aaron said with a smirk as the world started to grow hazy.

I choked, trying to get more air to my lungs as my arms fell limply to my side.

Aa
ron released me at the last moment
, and I fell forward. I slammed face first into the ground, only vaguely aware that he had my arm pinned behind me and was removing Azmaveth’s charm bracelet from my wrist.

“Finally, after chasing after it for years, I have it,” Aaron purred, placing a hand on the back of my neck before pressing down, pushing my face into the dirt. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to get rid of you. Can’t leave any evidence behind, after all,” Aaron said, not sounding sorry at all. The hand on the back of my neck was growing hot, and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end.

“Good bye, Princess Ahira,
”
Aaron said.

I twisted my neck and spat dirt out of my mouth before screaming. “
AZMAVETH
!”

“Quiet!” Aaron hissed, almost snapping my neck in his hands. “Don’t even
dream
that your precious dragon can save you now!” he sneered as I choked on dirt and my tears.

Both Aaron and I froze when a dangerous, murderous voice spoke. “Don’t count on that,
wizard
.”

Seconds later Aaron went flying through the air, tumbling head over heels.

I immediately pushed up and coughed up the dirt chunks and leaves that had gotten stuffed in my mouth when Aaron pushed my face into the ground.