The Red Queen #dragon

Chapter 8

The first order of business after eating their meal was to regain their bearings, at least that was what Riselda desired. Judging by the dip of his brows, Ken thought otherwise.

"We should spend the last few hours of daylight resting," Ken suggested. "We've been through a lot. We'll need our full strength for what may lay ahead."

Riselda licked oil off her lips. "I really want to get back on the path, keep moving forward. We have a witch to hunt."

Ken leaned in from his position by the dead campfire, extending his hand out to Riselda. His fringe of hair curtained his steely eyes as he said, "Give me your hand."

She wasn't sure what face to present to Ken. One of Surprise? Annoyance? Curiosity? Perhaps she'd shown him a mix of all three because he grined and drew closer.

"Do you trust me?" he asked.

"You let people in too close, they'll break you." Riselda avoided his gaze.

"I've known you for years now and the one great thing I've learned about you, besides being fiercely protective of those you love, is that you love to lie to yourself."

Riselda picked at her worn boots, trying her best to ignore the burning in her ears. "What're you saying?"

"You've built a wall to keep everyone out, even those you've come to see as allies. Should anything happen to them, you'll be able to move on, to tell yourself that you were right. Let people in too close and they'll break you, you say. But the truth is, if you let no one in, you'll be starved by loneliness and misery."

Her heart burned as if its flesh had been carved and set alight. Scalding tears filled her eyes as she whipped Ken with a blazing stare. He matched her stare. Riselda's breath ran wild, chest billowing.

"What're you saying?" she repeated.

"I'm saying that I need you to know that no matter what happens, I'll be there to protect you."

"Yes, the pact--"

"Forget the damn pact, Zelda. I do what I do because I'd like to think we're friends. It's why I suggest we rest, for your sake. For our sake. Pacts are made to be broken, but friendships...they're priceless." Ken held out his hand in earnest. "What do you say?"

Riselda found it hard to swallow. She stared at Ken's outstretched palm with apprehension. It was safe keeping Ken at a distance. Friendship might muddy her judgment. It might make her weak when strength was what she needed.

You love to lie to yourself. Ken's words echoed. The bitter reality was that he was right. She'd already succumbed to the weakness of friendship when Ken had announced that he was planning on enlisting. That wormy sensation she'd felt in her gut meant she'd already let him in, or, rather, he'd snuck in somehow. She finally swallowed.

"You're my one and only true friend," she said, taking his hand. His grip on her hand was firm.

"So you trust me?"

"With my life."

"Then give me your dagger."

"You know that's not literal, right?"

"You told me you wanted to learn to get over your fear of blood. I'll show you how."

Riselda eyed Ken from the time she slipped her dagger from her belt to the moment he received it and edged its tip to the corner of her thumb. She couldn't look a moment more.

"You have to overcome it by looking."

The dagger's tooth tickled her skin. After taking a deep breath, she finally made herself watch. Right then, a sharp sting forced a gasp out of her mouth, and she stared, half-gone, as a red blob welled out of her thumb. Her breath caught in her throat. Jagged stones punctured her insides. Beads of sweat wet her forehead. A wild itch ravaged her, but there was nothing she could do to alleviate it. Her vision collapsed inward. Her breath ceased.

When Ken staunched the bleeding with his own thumb, Riselda wheezed as if she escaped drowning.

"How did you feel?"

"Like I was about to die, or worse." She gazed at Ken's eyes, allowing herself to be soothed by their softness. Scattered visions of her father, sister, and mother sinking in their own blood ebbed away."I don't know if I can do this, Ken."

"You can and you will. We'll just have to take it day by day. Now, it's your turn to teach me," he added, returning the dagger to Riselda.

"Is this your way of distracting me?" she asked. "We've rested enough."

"Say one day I find a berry and decide to eat it. It turns out to be a poisonous one. Then, your one and only true friend's six feet under."

"I would've called you a bloody fool. Serves you right for not paying attention in Identification class."

"I'm a charming fool, the best fool there is."

"How do you not float with all that air between your ears?"

"Because you keep me grounded, Zelda. Seriously, if I'd been alone now, I wouldn't know what to do with myself."

"You would've been free to travel the world."

"That freedom isn't worth the price of what I had to give up. Maybe if I payed more attention, I could've prevented what happened to our home. I don't know... "

Riselda huffed. "Fine. I'll teach you. This will be the only day we waste though. At first light tomorrow, we march."

"Yes, sir."

The next few hours, Riselda showed Ken how to track beasts as they made their way into the woods. She showed him the difference between a wolf's paw and that of a dog, drawing examples in the dirt and saying, "the middle toes are longer on a dog." A pattern of holes on the ground suggest a birds' hunting ground. Unable to help herself, she recited a list of her favorite falcons and their hunting patterns. She taught him how to look out for signs of nests--discarded twigs, uprooted blades of grass, loose webs clinging to the side of trees. She would've loved to show him real examples but these woods seemed to be devoid of birds.

Then she taught him all the things he could and couldn't eat. Mushrooms that resembled dried out candle wax, she told him, would clean all the shit and water out of your body so fast you'll become a raisin stick. The ones that looked like cones would give you an upset stomach, but eat too many of those and your tummy will explode. Now, the berries are harder to spot, but the white ones will make you blind if you eat too many of them. The tiny red berries will make you madder than a jackrabbit. The seeds of a Yew berry will kill you before you can blink. Ivy berries will balloon your face.

After the poison lesson, Riselda instructed Ken on the trap setting technique she learned from a treatise, which involved using branches and twigs and leaves to mask a hole. As the day drifted by, they would use these traps to catch several more ground ferrets. Together, they punctured trees for bait and lay them out. The real test lay in the waiting. Thankfully, the ferrets were more than eager to pounce on their bait. By nightfall, they had a feast.

"That constellation over there's called Rork," said Ken after their meal. He traced a bow in the cloudy night sky. Those were the only stars that came out that night. "The Great Hunter."

With her head resting on her palm, she turned towards Ken. "Who taught you?"

"My mother. We'd climb up to the roof of our home and watch the stars. She told me that if I was ever lost, I should find the tip of Rork's arrow. It always points west. The firedrake said we should head north, so we follow Rork's head at first light."

Riselda was about to respond when she spotted two red eyes hiding in the brush a few feet to Ken's right. Four more pairs of red eyes came into view.

"Ken?"

"What? You better not be messing around..."

Eight more pairs of eyes appeared.

"To your right."

Ken looked to his right and shuddered.

Riselda shot off the ground, seized Ken's shoulder. "Don't move."

"Jarrots?" he whispered.

"Not sure."

The giant snout of one of the beasts poked through the underbrush. In the faint moonlight, she could make out its sable fur. Growls shook the earth. Those were not jarrots.