Dragon's Blade

Chapter 1

Reagan woke from his sleep gasping for air, feeling as if it was a struggle just to fill his lungs once more. His right hand gripping the hilt of the blade that rested at his side, ready to pull it from its scabbard at a moment's notice. The nightmare still ran fresh in his head, his skin still feeling like it was burning from the searing heat of the flames. Even in the shade of the palm that shielded him from the evening desert sun, the warmth was ever-present just as the cool sweat that ran down his face in contrast.

He lay there motionless as his back pressed up against the hard bark of the palm tree. He lay there contemplating the nightmare, a nightmare that seemed to haunt him more frequently with each passing night. The nightmare only seemed to grow in the recent months to where he even found himself thinking about it throughout the day. With a sigh escaping his lips, he began to relax and cool off his nerves. The grip that he held on his sword eventually loosened as he laid the blade back down on the sand. He looked past the palms that shielded him from the desert sun to see it had already made its way well into the sky. He had slept through the morning and much longer than he had intended to.

Ready to resume his long journey that was nearing its end he rose from his resting place, his back was not giving him any thanks to the chosen resting spot that was the against the hard bark and rough sand, even if the shade from the desert sun had been welcomed. He rose fully to his feet kicking up sand as he did so, knowing the sand would find its way into his boots as it always did. The desert trips were always a miserable journey, he thought this as he looked out into its endless waves of golden sand. The sand seemed to have no end in sight as its hills spread far into the horizon and beyond. The only thing that shared this barren scenery was the blue sky that met at its horizon and the blazing sun that shone down from it.

The small oasis he'd found was the only one he'd found and a lucky find at that. The water that formed the small oasis bought little life but enough life to provide him shade and water to refill his canteens. His mount was surely thankful for the opportunity of fresh grass and water to graze and rest from. He spotted it grazing along the banks of the pond under its own shade palms. Putting his fingers to his lips, Reagan let out a whistle to get the steeds' attention. Its ears perked up at the sound of his call only for it to continue grazing and ignore him. He let out another whistle only to get the same results to his frustration.

"Stupid mule." Reagan groaned as he began marching towards the grazing horse. Upon reaching the horse Reagan grabbed its reins and untied the ropes from a nearby palm tree and pulled a bag off the side of the saddle. Holding what was left of his supplies it hung heavy on his shoulders as he slung it to the ground. Pulling it open he started rummaging through the sack as his horse began drifting back off to graze at the patches of grass.

It wasn't long before he pulled out a rather aged-looking roll of paper. He brought the paper to the sand and spread it out across the ground, revealing a detailed map of a desert and surrounding lands. Runes and glyphs circled along the edges of the map as if seared into the parchment. He picked up a small circular crimson-red glass from the center of the paper that glimmered in the sun as if a fire burned within it. He placed it back down onto the map near the center of the desert before forming a triangle with his hands over the gem.

"Glifa Mora" Reagan whispered as he focused on the gem with every thought. The glyphs that bordered the map began to glow, the blackened symbols turning a burning orange as the stone seemed to give a response. The fire that burned inside of it grew as if ready to burst from the gem at any moment. Instead, the stone began to move across the map on its own, leaving behind a thin orange line as it glided. It took only a couple of seconds for the stone to stop only inches from where it had begun, further within the desert.

"Close, no more than a day's travel now." His finger traced along the line and ended at a city marked on the map, "Ty'rell, the jewel of the desert." Reagan couldn't help but give a satisfied grin before picking up the gem and map. He rolled them up and placed them back into this bag and slung it back over his shoulder.