The Darkness Tales Chapter IV

CHAPTER IV
THE BRIDGE

Arkael falls fainted, still bleeding and hardly breathing. "Dragon!" the princess hurries to help him, but she's very afraid to even touch him. The healing spells she knows may not be enough. Despite being a prodigy in using crystal spells, she never mastered any teachings of the other magic schools.

"I'm really sorry, dragon" the princess says. Arkael opens his eyes, but his throat is severely burned, so he can't talk. When he tries to move, Alixia tells him to calm down. "You can't move, dragon! Please, let me heal you," she says.

After whispering some magic words, Alixia slowly heals of Arkael's minor wounds. "I can't do much, but I'm going to Tolkren, to search for the dragon that attacked my castle. There may be some medics or healers that will be able to help you".

Arkael stares at Alixia, "What if she still thinks my father is guilty? What… if he really is?" he thinks.

Meanwhile, in another part of the swamp, Damian struggles to release himself from the muddy river. "This is stupid! I have to save the princess!" he thinks. Using all his strength, he grabs the root of a tree and finally gets out of the river. "It is impossible to find the princess," he thinks, "the river dragged me for a long time, and the monster might have forced her to move."

But before he can decide on what to do, he sees a small, thin line of smoke in the sky. "That must be where the princess is!" he thinks and runs towards the gray cloud.

Evading the traps in the terrain, the natural obstacles and creatures of the wilderness, he finally reaches the ruined camp, but it's too late. Alixia and their prisoner are missing.

With fear, he searches for blood or the bodies, but only finds the still burning corpse of the monster. "Princess!" he yells. "Princess Alixia!" but his efforts are useless. No answer can be heard, and no sign of life can be seen.

Before going into the swamp, he and the princess had decided that they would meet in a nearby bridge to the north of the swamp, in case any of them got lost, so the only hope of finding her is to go to that bridge.

Snakes, poisonous bugs, and big creatures from the swamp slow him down. His sword wasn't in the camp so he can't defend himself. His armor gets heavier with each step eventually forcing him to get rid of some parts.

"Princess! Princess!" he yells once in a while, but doesn't get an answer. His energy is almost lost, but after a great effort, he gets out of the swamp and reaches the road to the bridge of Thelmera.

The bridge is a huge and magnificent construction that crosses the Felaram river that divides the continent by almost two miles. Some small houses and a couple of commercial buildings surround the bridge, with dozens of people walking in the streets while soldiers of Calardrir, the last human kingdom, watch the city, protecting it from the wild beasts and monsters.

The whole village is dedicated to maintain and guard the giant of rock and steel.

The princess and the dragonute are already outside of the town, but before going in, Alixia prevents any problems ahead.

"Cover yourself with this, dragon" the princess says, and gives Arkael a large piece of cloth from her camp's tent. "Most of the people from Calardrir dislike the dragons and their breed."

Arkael doesn't understand, because in his town, everyone was always very kind to him. "Why…" he asks with great difficulty, his throat is still hurting.

"Oh, I see your wounds are getting better…" the princess says. "Well, it is hard to explain, but they think the dragons abandoned their kind. It is not entirely true, but the dragons left the mortals to their fate. Ofshirio took advantage of that and now controls most of the continent, except for some fortresses and hidden cities."

With great effort, Arkael keeps asking questions while they enter the city unnoticed. His father only told him stories of a distant past, where the dragons still ruled and protected the world.

Alixia explains how almost 90 years ago the world was attacked by Ofshirio. The four titanic dragons, once the great invincible protectors of the world, fell one by one to the waves of monsters and armored soldiers.

For some reason, those monsters were immune to the powerful magic of the titanics. Seeing this, the dragons fell pray of panic, giving Ofshirio the chance to slay their leaders.

After a month of war, the humans, elves, dwarves and other races were attacked by Ofshirio too, but when they asked for the dragons for help, the remaining dragons took refuge in the island of Valhall, home of Eltarioss, their leader and the most powerful dragon, and abandoned their allies. Ofshirio attacked using a strange kind of black magic, killing every dragon on the island.

The huge island in the middle of the continents serves in present day as Ofshirio's fortress.

Alixia leaves Arkael in a dark alley, while she tries to search for a friend of hers. "Stay here. I'll come back as fast as I can."

But in the moment she leaves, a strange figure surprises Arkael. "Found you!" a girl says.

Arkael jumps surprised "Who… are… you?" he asks. But the girl only gets closer and closer. Arkael still is weak and tired, unable to defend himself. "What if she hates the dragons, like the other girl said?"

On the road, Damian runs desperately, leaving his armor scattered in the way. His legs hurt and his heart bumps. The village seems so close to him, but the trees around it show him how far it truly is.

Suddenly, a small army of knights in black armor appears from the wilderness, charging with their cavalry towards the bridge. Damian recognizes the armor and flags from the battle of Silverward. "Those bastards…"

Damian wants to run, but his legs are immobile, his hands shake, and his head spins of fatigue. "I must… keep going… my princess… my princess is there…."