Shunned: Dragon's Cord
#1
The Metal Veil and the Weeping Sword Named Tear
Kristie Lynn Higgins
Text Copyright © 2005, 2016 by Kristie Lynn Higgins
Cover Art Copyright © 2016
www.KristieLynnHiggins.com
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.
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Chapter One
The Desperate Flight And The Shunned
Three horses pressed on through the arid air of the early desert morning as men bent on their destruction pursued their riders. The man and two women traveled for some time through the summer of the barren lands of the Region of Fire. The sun had risen and set on them three times now with little rest for the humans and their beasts. The Mountain of Tog was ahead of them and symbolized a freedom they so desperately sought. They crossed over it and entered the Region of Evers as the sun neared its highest point, and the freedom they gained would be meaningless if their pursuers caught them. They continued their desperate flight, and soon they neared a stream, and the man brought his horse to a halt as he signaled the other two to do the same. They had been without water since that morning. He needed not lead his horse to water; it eagerly walked over to it and drank while he sat atop and the other two horses joined him. The man wearing armor and a sword dismounted and allowed his steed to continue drinking as he patted its side. The women both wore dresses and looked as if they belonged to some kingly court.
The one woman, who had a short sword strapped around her waist and a quiver on her back, turned to the other woman as she told the man, "Cor, we should rest. Cwen does not look all that well."
"No, Faith," Cwen insisted as she placed a hand to her well rounded belly that carried her unborn child. "I am fine. We need to continue before our pursuers catch up. They must not capture me."
Faith removed a bow that was attached to her bedroll and dismounted while he held the reins to her horse. She placed the bow over her head and shoulder like a strap so that it rested near her quiver, and then she quickly filled their water pouches.
"You do look tired," he spoke, wanting to take her hand and hold it to comfort Cwen, but his station and devotion to her wouldn't permit it, so Cor merely asked, "Are you able to keep your magical barrier up?"
Cwen answered him, "I am still able to shield myself and my child, but we need to arrive at our destination, so that I can properly rest."
Cor questioned, "How far away are we from our destination, Faith?"
"We are nearly there, but I do think we should rest a little longer," she replied as she handed Cwen her water pouch and then took of the refreshing liquid herself from her own pouch. Faith watched the two whom she loved equally. She wanted to many a time declare her love for Cor, but she saw how he gazed at Cwen, and knew she would always be second in his heart.
"I am afraid that we cannot do that," he told Faith as he motioned behind them to the mountain in the distance that he had been eyeing since they stopped. "I can see the dust of our pursuers, and they are nearly upon us."
Faith walked over to him and handed him his water pouch, and then she returned to the stream to fill hers back to capacity. Faith did the same for Cwen and Cor's water pouches when they finished drinking.
Cor continued, "I need to lead our pursuers away from you two so that you can escape. Use this stream and travel within its waters for a count of a thousand while I take the horses and go in a different direction. You shall then emerge on the other side of the stream and travel the woods of this land till you reach your destination."
"Tell him where we are going," Cwen commanded.
"It would be best that I do not know, my lady," he told her. "Most likely this shall be the last time we shall see each other."
"No, you must come," Cwen insisted. "We are safer together."
Faith wanted to shout the same thing, but kept her fears to herself.
"I pledged my loyalty to you when I was a young man and though it pains me, we must part. You need to think of your unborn child," he told her. "Now the two of you dismount and take what food you can carry in a small pack. Faith told me she already prepared the place you are going with everything you shall need. I shall fill the remainder of the bags with rocks to weigh down the horses so that a skilled tracker shall not notice you two are no longer riding your beasts."
The women did as ordered, and soon they were wading in ankle high water, heading toward their destination as Cor returned to the dirt road they were following and headed in a different direction. They never saw the brave warrior again.
Faith took Cwen by the hand as she morned within her heart the loss of the one she loved equally to her lady. They slowly made their way down stream and then onto dry land. It took them till twilight before they reached their destination; it was an old hut with a small barn. Faith took Cwen in the hut and had her remove her wet clothes, and she had her dress in night clothes that were already stocked in the hut.
"You should get some rest," Faith told her by candlelight. "You have to be exhausted."
Cwen grabbed her arm before she left her, and she told Faith, "Thank you. Thank you for giving up everything you have known to help me. You are my dearest friend, and I do not deserve you."
"Rest," she told her. "You can thank me in the morning."
The two women slept through the night and then as twilight brought with it the morning, Faith woke with a start as Cwen shouted out her name.
She rushed over to her friend and questioned, "What is it?"
"It is time," Cwen told her as she held her belly and grimaced. "The baby is coming."
Faith gasped and started to leave to prepare some hot water when her friend grabbed her wrist, so Faith turned to her and questioned, "Are you in pain?"
"Yes, but I am growing tired. I do not know how long I can mask my powers. They may already sense my presence."
Faith rushed to the window, saw a small dragon land on the branch of one of the trees outside, and stated, "I see only o
ne." It peered at the hut with its small serpent eyes, so she rushed back, and said, "I cannot tell if it knows you are here."
"Go back and look again," Cwen urged her and her friend did so.
Three more tiny dragons landed on separate branches than the first, and Faith put a hand to her mouth to hide a gasp. She rushed back to her friend and took Cwen's hand. Cwen looked up at her and knew they knew she was there.
"I shall boil some water," Faith spoke.
"There is no time," Cwen told her. "I cannot wait for a natural birth. I must use my powers and bring this baby into the world before they alert my pursuers to my location."
"No you must not," Faith told her. "You said it yourself, you are tired. Please, do not do anything reckless."
"I am sorry, but I cannot promise you that," she told her and then waved her hand over her belly as bright sparkles illuminated the hut. "You shall need to assist me."
Cwen's magic cut a slit in her belly and womb, and Faith reached in and gently removed the child. Faith slapped the baby's bottom, and the baby cried. Cwen resealed the slit, then magically cut the cord, and Faith tied it in a knot.
"Boy or girl?"
"Girl," Faith replied as she wrapped her in a blanket and placed the baby in Cwen's arms, and the baby quieted.
"She is so beautiful. I shall call her Shy," Cwen spoke then heard a screech from without. "Go to the window," she commanded. "Are the dragons still without? I am tired, but I have raised the magical barrier again. They should not be able to sense me."
Faith rushed to the window and reported, "They have not left and more have joined them. What should we do?"
"I do not understand," Cwen spoke. "They should not be able to sense me anymore." She glanced down at her baby and uttered, "Oh no... It is not I who they sense but Shy."
"Can you not raise a magical barrier around her?"
"I have. Tell me of the dragons," Cwen commanded.
"None have left, and they are all peering at the hut."
"Something is wrong, and I do not know what. Our pursuers shall find us if I do not do something," Cwen spoke as she placed a hand on her baby's head.
"You should not," Faith pleaded with her. "I shall hook up the horse to the wagon that I had stowed in the stable, and we shall flee. You are too weak to use your magic again."
"I must," Cwen spoke. "There is no place for me to flee if I cannot mask the power surrounding my daughter."
She used her magic on Shy, and the room lit up in a yellow enchanted glow as the baby began to scream. Sweat speckled Cwen's forehead as she used every bit of energy she had to mask her child from the dragons outside. She lowered her hand, the glow faded, and Cwen peered at her baby.
"It would seem that you were right," Cwen spoke as a tear trickled down her cheek. "I should not have attempted this when I was so tired." She put a hand to her baby's face and adoringly peered at her as the infant continued to cry, and Cwen spoke, "I have marked her. I am so sorry, Shy. I did not mean to mark you." Another tear trickled down her cheek as she labored to breathe and spoke, "I have cursed you with..."
"What do you mean?" Faith questioned as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the hut. "Cwen?"
Her friend's hand slid down from the baby's face and her body went limp as Faith caught Shy before she tumbled out of her arms.
"Cwen? Cwen!" Faith mournfully screeched as her friend died. "No! No! You cannot leave me!" She glanced at the baby in her arms and wailed, "You cannot leave us!"