Dragon Blossom

Through the eye of a needle

The King of Unermia was quite different; he was not a stiff monarch like King Alistor nor a rough and affable one like Bestolf. Instead, he was a hunched old man who, rather than sitting, reclined on the expansive stone throne. His skin was bronzed but had turned ashen over the years. He wore a long robe that contrasted with the scant clothing of his subjects. Nonetheless, as soon as Runa saw him, she recognized him. She had seen him three times in her life, a long time ago...

"Nana Runa!" —The elderly king seemed to recognize her too. His previously stoic face lit up with a smile, eyes closed and wrinkled—"Oh, God of the rivers, you haven't changed a bit, nana"—he stood up, leaning on a long staff he had nearby—"Is this your husband? A pleasure to meet you, no, please don't kneel, I owe much to nana Runa for being so kind to me when I was little, almost as small as... Oh Holy Rivers, she must be your daughter, Alistor wasn't joking when he wrote to me that she was the tenderest thing in this world. What a blessing to have lived to see you so happy, my dear nana."

Runa couldn't stop blushing every time little Fin called her Nana. Indeed, at five years old, he had been sent as a ward to Artemia Castle, and Runa had felt her maternal instincts bloom for the first time. A few years later, his brothers died from an epidemic, making him the heir despite being the youngest, and he had to return. Runa visited him in Unermia twice, during his adolescence, and on the day of his coronation, when she consoled him for the death of his father... over sixty years ago. He spoke non-stop but slowly, now to her, now to Freydelhart, now to Eri, always smiling.

"Your Majesty," Frey hurried to say, taking advantage of a brief pause—"we are honored by your kind words, but the journey has been long, and my little one would like to rest a bit."

"That's not true, daddy, I want to go play in the water with Koro. Can Mr. Raisin come? I like him, he's very kind."

"Eri!"—Frey was embarrassed by Eri's comment, but age hadn't changed little Fin, who laughed as heartily as his age allowed.

"Don't worry, some in my court call me similar things, and none of them with such affection. Besides, young Frey, I understand your concern. If you allow me, my guards and I will take the little one to the indoor pool. The other little one is also welcome. The adults will have to discuss matters with my sons; they await you in that room"—he pointed to a door at the back with his staff.

"Alright, Fin, I know you already have children and grandchildren, but you'll surely enjoy being with a little one like Eri."

"Oh, nana, it is you who always gives too much affection to us children, hehe, but go ahead, you're actually not wrong."

They left Eri with the king and proceeded to the room where two men in military uniform awaited them, but they wore it open to avoid overheating in the heat and humidity. Both were very similar, tanned, with short hair and eagle-like features. The older one, who was a bit more robust, spoke.

"Welcome, Princess Runaesthera, Prince Frey, it's an honor to receive you. My name is Conerfin, and this is my brother Asterion. We understand that you need our kingdom's help to capture a live dragon."

"Indeed," Runa replied, "we have the means to interrogate a dragon, and we believe we can capture it using the waterfall."

"Please, explain your plan. We will listen. But know that if the plan endangers the population, we will reject it."

"Of course. The plan is to lure the dragon into pursuit and make it believe it can fly through the waterfall. The weight of the water should bring it to the ground, where we will bind it with chains right where it falls. The waterfall itself should drown its flames so they won't be a problem."

"It's very risky, we know that dragons indeed cannot cross the waterfall, that's how we defend our kingdom, but whoever lures the dragon will have to fly," he brought a paper, something like a map of the hillside where the waterfalls fell, pointing to a place near the center—"in this area there is an outcrop that divides the waterfall for a few meters, sometimes messengers on hippogriffs enter there to avoid the tunnels, they get a bit wet but pass through, something the size of a dragon could not pass and would be dragged down.

"Then we have the trap, we must calculate where the dragon will fall once on the ground it could crawl or swim depending on where it fell. It is far enough from the city not to endanger it, unless it escaped. So we will have to be quick to subdue it.

"The plan is bold, no doubt, I am still not convinced about the safety. And we have the problem that one must be flying just below the outcrop to be able to pass, and we do not have hippogriffs or riders in the army, we will not risk civilians.

"Artemia has the same problem, is there an alternative?"

Asterion, the brother who until now had not spoken, intervened—"I believe it is possible, though unlikely. That we have access to a solution.

"Speak brother, it depends on you that the princess's plan is possible."

The brothers looked at each other before Asterion continued—"A few years ago, my explorers and I crossed these paths from here to a valley difficult to access on foot, we continued guided by curiosity, the valley turned out to be populated by several creatures that are no longer seen near the region, my naturalist could give you a complete list but the important thing is that several of my men assured they saw a pegasus, some say they saw it flying between the mountains, and others found feathers from its wings.

To tame, let alone find a pegasus was the dream of all heroes, there were stories of warriors killing dragons on the backs of those magnificent creatures. Frey's eyes were already shining. It was no longer important if there was an alternative, for sure...

"Perfect! We will go after that pegasus and with it, we will be one step closer to our goal."—Frey spoke like this when he got excited, the last time had perhaps been when he gave her that first glass cup. Runa found it endearing.

"Agreed husband,"—it was the way Runa indicated that she acceded to his wishes, but that something bothered her—"Prince Asterion, could your explorers guide us to that valley?"

"Just Asterion, Your Highness, I'm afraid I have no titles, but don't worry, my explorers and I are at your disposal if my brother the prince agrees to your plan."

Conerfin kept silent looking at the maps for a long time, he seemed an intelligent, cautious man, he was making calculations and measurements by eye while making them wait.

"Give me three days to think about it, enjoy our hospitality in the meantime, my father will support whatever I decide. Please, go to your quarters, my brother and I must talk."

"Agreed, that seems fair,"—she looked at Frey—"we can spend these days together with Eri, like a family trip."

When everyone had left the room, the brothers conversed.

"Conerfin, you never take so long to make a decision, is this enterprise so difficult?"

"On one hand yes,"—he smiled mockingly—"but look at this letter from King Alistor, he asks us to force the princes to spend at least three days doing nothing."

"How? What reason could the king have...?"

"It's not hard to guess, that prince consort seems uptight, and his daughter is adopted, they haven't been able to enjoy the first years of her childhood."

"You're a gossip brother, anyway, I guess at the end of the three days you're going to accept their proposal."

"Yes, it's very likely, it's dangerous but there's much to gain, what I didn't want to ask is how they plan to interrogate a dragon, if they didn't say it outright it must be a secret..."

A cry of alarm was heard from the hallway leading to the indoor pool...