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Where the hell had he found something like this? And how did he know it would fit me? Why had he even cared?
The man was an enigma. Certain parts of him seemed rough, like he hadn’t been around people for a long time, yet other times he was soft and sweet, like preparing a bath for me and finding me something nice to wear instead of just his shirt.
I’d known that he was impossibly strong after watching him fight. He kept telling me that he was dangerous, but I didn’t believe it.
I should be afraid of him. I should want to run. But Ididn’t.
I wanted to stay.
CHAPTER9
Sophia
For the next several days, Roken made himself far scarcer than I preferred. Whenever I caught sight of him, my heart leapt into my throat, and I wanted to call to him, but I didn’t know what to say. So, I ended up staying silent. I watched his movements throughout the village, and I followed him on the safe paths that were strong enough to hold his weight. I told myself that since I was about half the size of him, the wooden rope bridges would hold my weight easily. With my anxiety tempered, I began to explore the long-abandoned village, finding more clothes and supplies which I took back with me to the small cabin I’d taken to calling home.
I found books that detailed the history of this place, but they were from long ago. Some of them hadn’t stood the test of time, their pages crumbling and stuck together. Several had survived, though, and I was able to learn about this realm that was not mine.
There was a lot of this place that was like Earth. There were lakes, oceans, forests, plains, and all the terrain that I was familiar with back home, but there were some pretty big differences, especially in the creatures that inhabited this place.
Fae, elves, dwarfs, and those touched by magic most certainly existed here, as did monsters such as orcs and goblins and other terrifying beasts, but what held my interest the most were the dragons. I wanted to know more about Roken, even when he’d made it his business to keep us apart.
Roken was Dragonborne, which was a family of dragon shifters that had ruled over this realm since before the written record of history. At any given time, there was only one single male dragon, and he generally ruled over the realm with an iron fist. They were highly respected and feared. There were small segments of rebellion from time to time, but they had been mostly uncontested for much of history.
Roken was the break in the line. According to historical records, as well as a few written diaries from the inhabitants of this village from about five hundred years ago, he had abandoned the throne, or was driven away from it. The stories were tumultuous and hard to follow, but from what I could gather, he’d turned his back on his people. Worse than that, though, he’d attacked them and leveled the once glorious capital city of Taverna to the ground.
No one knew why. It was rumored that he had gone insane. Some called him the mad king, but there was one scroll that suggested that he might have been cursed. It was signed by a sorceress that went by the name Aurelia.
All of this was real. Magic and dragons actually existed and weren’t just some fantasy fairytales meant to entertain children in their beds.
I searched the rest of the village as thoroughly as I could, but I found no more information that would explain why Roken was the way he was. I repeatedly went over our interactions in my head with a fine-tooth comb. There was nothing about him that suggested that he was insane. In fact, he’d been levelheaded, caring, and thoughtful since I’d arrived here, providing me with food, clothing, and gifts. Somehow, he’d noticed my interest in books, and he’d found a few that I hadn’t, which provided me with a history of Terraheim’s sister realms, Icegard, Blazelheim and Sungard, as well as deeper insight into magic and prophecy. None of what I’d learned suggested that there was any way back home, but I wasn’t in a rush to return to that life. Even a lonely life in this world was better than that one.
Another week passed, and I read through the last of the books I’d gathered as well as the ones Roken had brought to me. Lost in thought, I ventured out onto the front porch of my tiny little cabin. The leaves shifted in the wind all around me as I sipped a hot cup of tea. Wistfully, I stared down at the ground.
Maybe if I could find one of the cities referenced in the books at my disposal, I would feel more at home. For some reason, my loneliness felt heavy today, especially since I knew that Roken usually disappeared for much of the day. Sometimes he came back covered in black blood. Occasionally, he didn’t come back until the next morning. I’d heard him moving about the village as I’d lain in bed, listening through the open window.
Standing on my front porch, my gaze drew towards the great hall, a building that wrapped around the largest tree in the village. The other day, I’d explored much of it and found a way down to the forest floor. Inside, the trunk was carved hollow, and a spiraling staircase went all the way down to the ground.
He’d warned me not to leave the village, but I’d found leather armor and weapons in the surrounding cabins. I’d hidden them in my own home, beneath the bed should I need them. Left to my own devices, I’d even been practicing my sword work.
Growing up, I’d taken several fencing classes. The sword I’d managed to find was a good deal heavier than the saber I’d used back home, but my muscles were getting used to it at a fast pace.
I didn’t need Roken. I could protect myself.
Slowly, I finished sipping my tea before I went into the cabin and dressed in a pair of brown leather pants, a dark grey cotton shirt, and several pieces of soft leather armor meant to protect my body without sacrificing my agility. I knew that I wouldn’t win a fight based on brute strength alone, but I was quick and small, both traits that were underestimated time and time again.
I slipped the baldric over my shoulder and holstered my sword on my back before I gathered a pack of food, a full waterskin, and a flask with blackberry brandy should it get cold at night, as well as a flint and a small dagger. I grabbed a small bestiary book and shoved in it my bag, just in case I ran into anything I didn’t know how to deal with.
When I was ready, I quietly crept towards the great gathering hall. Roken was nowhere to be seen as I snuck through the village, just as I’d expected. He’d grown comfortable and assumed I was just going to do as I was told like I had always done, but this was a new chance at life for me. I wasn’t going to fall back into bad habits.
Recklessness had rewarded me here thus far.
It was easy to make my way down to the stairs. There was a door hewn right out of the trunk at the bottom. With trepidation, I opened it slowly, peering around to see if there was anything there, and when I saw that the coast was clear, I closed it behind me and kept going.
I knew that the sun rose in the east and set in the west. From the maps I’d been able to get my hands on, the capital city of Eldoria was to the east, so I looked up to the sky and started in that direction.
It wasn’t long before the brush grew so thick it was difficult to push my way through. The longer I went on, the more concerned I grew because even the tree cover overhead was difficult to see through. Needing to take a moment, I paused and leaned against a tree when suddenly a magical tingling sensation raced through my body.
With a gasp, I pitched forward, the heady feeling taking me by surprise. All of a sudden, a tunnel opened up for me, clearly visible through the tangled brush.
