MYTHIC #6: SPRING 2018 by FoundersHouse1

Author:FoundersHouse1
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Founders House Publishing LLC
Published: 2018-08-18T00:00:00+00:00

About the Author

Hamilton Perez is a writer and freelance editor living in Sacramento, California. When not writing, he can be found rolling 20-sided dice or chasing squirrels with the dog. His stories have appeared in Daily Science Fiction, Metaphorosis, and Syntax & Salt. You can follow him on Twitter @TheWritingHam.

EVEN DRAGONS DIE

STEPHEN TAYLOR

IN THE KINGDOM OF Vermilione, we once had a dragon. Many kingdoms knew about dragons, talked about them—great creatures of fire and wind, old as the earth itself—but we actually had one. He was the only dragon in the world, I think. He served us, and we served him. Now I am one of the only people left who remember the dragon Ilses.

I most remember a day early in the autumn, when harvest was just ending, and waves of blushing leaves began to fall around the castle. Vermilione had a beautiful castle—still does—flanked by great red hills. I walked in the center courtyard by the linden trees, heading for the west yard, eager to see Ilses. A guardsman stopped me at the courtyard doorway.

The man crouched to where he could meet my eyes and I could smell his hot breath; a big soldier, thick and bald-headed. He asked me what a young lady of royalty was doing out so early, on her own, heading toward the dangerous west courtyard. He tried to make me feel at ease, but he could no more fool me than I could shoulder him aside. He was nervous about something.

“Are you excited for your father to return?” he asked, still blocking the doorway.

I nodded. “He said he'd bring something from the north holds. But he asked me to keep an eye on Ilses while he was gone. So I need to go visit him now.”

“Ah, of course. Of course you do, Princess Peldena. But the master healer is in there right now, and I think his work will have to be finished before you can visit Ilses.”

The master healer? What would he be doing with Ilses? If I had have been a year or two older, perhaps I would have realized what it meant.

“Princess, why don't you run along?” the soldier suggested. “Master Deon will take care of the dragon, and you can visit him later.”

Since it sounded reasonable enough to me, a ten-year old child, I walked away.

That was how the day began for me. I sometimes wish I remembered it less.

It was later in the day that I decided to go and see what Master Healer Deon was doing. I noticed that a soldier still watched the doorway to the west courtyard, so I climbed up a winding stairway behind the main wing of the castle. From the second level I headed out along an open colonnade overlooking the courtyard. Deon was there, sure enough, and so was Ilses.

Ilses was an old, old creature, but the dragon looked strong in a way that evaded age. His scale coat was deep red, and a single black stripe ran from snout to tail-tip on each side of his head.

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