The Sorceress of Song and Flame

Excerpt of The Sorceress of Song and Flame
Copyright © 2021 Siobhan Muir
All rights reserved.
“Gotta Get Off This Road.”

Matsuko

“By all that’s holy, run, Matsuko!”

Arach’s shout shocked me into moving and I bolted away from the burning vehicle as I looked for my erstwhile jail mate. I was reasonably sure there hadn’t been any people inside the wagon. The idea that someone might have been trapped inside when the explosion of blue flames engulfed it sickened me. I damn near vomited as I tried to run, tears blinding my eyes.

Gotta get away. Gotta get away.

The problem was I didn’t know where I would go. Heck, I didn’t even know if going was the best path. I wasn’t a nature-lover by any stretch of the imagination. Safety had always been found inside where there was running water and heat.

I headed out of town toward a forest swathed in misty fog with nothing but the road beneath my feet to indicate my path. The air smelled wet and dank, like the laundry room in my apartment building back home, and I shivered with distaste.

Glory, will I ever be warm and dry again?

I hated winter in western Washington for that reason. It seemed to go on forever and I feared I’d never be warm again.

I entered the trees and an eerie silence enveloped me. I stopped and froze, the only sound my harsh breathing. I spun, looking back the way I’d come, but I only found more road, more mist, and more trees.

Good glory, it’s like the road from Lord of the Rings and the Nazgul rider.

I half-expected some huge, cloaked guy to come riding up on a horse bleeding from nasty festering wounds. I tried to listen for pursuers, but my heartbeat had grown so loud, it took all my attention.

Where was Arach? For that matter, where was I?

I gotta get off this road.

If movie magic had taught me anything, no one should be in the middle of a road cutting through a misty forest. Too many things would find and hurt me.

Voices and a silhouette sent me back into motion perpendicular to the road’s path and I leapt down the berm into the leaf detritus. I ducked down and tried to make myself as small as possible. Hopeful the mist would hide me well enough to let me escape their notice.

I hid my face in my arms and held my breath. Please don’t find me. Please don’t see me.

The clothing I wore had been dark—I hadn’t looked at it too closely—and I hoped it would help keep me concealed.

Seconds passed and my heart thundered, but I kept my face pressed into my arms. Eventually, when nothing happened, my panic receded, and I was able to lift my head. The air had grown warmer and the mist had thickened. I could see less than I had before. Sound seemed muted and the light grew dim.

I swallowed hard and strained to see the road above my hiding place. Swirls of fog showed movement, but I couldn’t tell what was there. I bit my lip and wrapped my arms around myself as I watched for danger, hoping I’d been forgotten by whomever chased me.

“She can’t have gone far. Keep searching the woods, but don’t kill her. The general says we must bring her back alive. Roughin’ up ain’t a problem, but definitely alive.”

That answered if they were after me or not. I tried to decide if hiding was the best course when a whistle grew louder in the air. It reminded me of the sounds of the World War Two bombs as they dropped on ground targets, and I shot to my feet. A look at the sky showed nothing but mist.

“What in the gods’ names is that?”

“Holy fuck! DRAGON!”

Crimson fire bloomed on the road, lighting up the world and throwing shadows among the trees. Men in armor went up like tinder and the screams competed with the roar of the flames.

Sweet glory.

I watched in horror as they burned, unable to run or heck, even scream. I stood, stupefied at the carnage. Which was why I didn’t see the dragon come back for me and did nothing but shriek when its talons closed around me. It yanked me off my feet and carried me into the misty sky.

I clutched the huge hand wrapped around me and held perfectly still. Struggling meant I’d be free—free to fall to my death as we soared over the misty woods below. How the big beastie could see where it was going, I had no idea. There was no rhyme or reason to its path, and I was only along for the ride.

I tried to get a good look at the dragon, but it clutched me to its warm scaly breast in one gold, tan, brown, and russet-scaled hand. Despite the wind rushing past my face, I could damn near hear the thumping of its heart against my back.

Or maybe that’s my heart.

I gulped and watched the misty forest slide beneath us. I had the weird sense of déjà vu, like I’d seen this in a movie, maybe the one with the blue humanoids with long tails. But eventually the forest thinned, and we rose above the clouds into sparkling sunshine.

There was something terribly exhilarating about sailing over the world in an open-canopy airship. Okay, a dragon wasn’t an airship and the only reason I was exposed to the elements was because it had me in its claws, but the experience of seeing the world from high up was literally awesome.

Eventually, the ground beneath us became rolling grassy hills and my ride dropped altitude as a lake and some random buildings came into view. The dragon set us down beside the small glacial lake with the dexterity of a hummingbird.

As soon as the beastie let me go, I scrambled away from it, hoping to get out of reach. But the creature rumbled what sounded like a chuckle and reined me in with its tail and one talon.

Penned like the ducks and geese in that old children’s song.

I could just imagine the dragon saying, “you’re gonna grease my chin before I leave this town-o.”

I’m so screwed. Yeah, I’d be nothing more than a red smear. At least I’m not a crispy critter like the guards.