ANWEN TOOK TWENTY MINUTES TO make herself look presentable. It had been some time since she’d last gone out with anyone. She felt more than a little awkward about it, especially since she didn’t know the guy. She just hoped this time would not turn out the same way her last relationship had. Not that she intended for things to go too far. After all, she wasn’t planning on staying for more than a week or two. But it wouldn’t hurt to flirt just a little, let her hair down, in a manner of speaking.
As Anwen came down the stairs, Tyler stood from his seat and nodded in appreciation. He took in her white eyelet lace top, which she wore over a medium blue blouse with three quarter length sleeves. She also wore faded blue jeans and tan sandals. “No bad,” he commented, causing her to blush.
Anwen looked around, focusing on a floral arrangement on a low table as she walked towards him. “So,” she rubbed the toe of one foot across the wood floor, “when does this festival of yours start?”
Taking her hand, Tyler moved towards the front door of the inn. “Right now, actually. So, if you don’t want to miss all the fun, I suggest you try to keep up.”
Anwen followed him down the porch stairs and across the street to the green field. He led her to the area he'd pointed out when they'd first arrived. The tables sat, now filled with food and exotic looking flowers. In the center of the grass stood a large wooden stage, with low stairs leading to the smooth floor.
Tyler pulled Anwen to one side as a group of natives bustled by. “You need to be quick on your feet during a festival,” he commented.
Sure the way was open once more; he led her towards a section of chairs facing the stage. “If you look that way,” he pointed towards a copse of trees, “you’ll see the start of the dragon parade. It should begin any time now.”
Anwen took a seat and turned to look in the direction he indicated. She gasped in surprise as a long Eastern dragon appeared between the foliage, the red contrasting with the green shrubbery.
The sharp sounds of beating drums could be heard as the dragon snaked closer. Around two-dozen men held up the giant serpentine body with long poles. It reminded her of a New Year Celebration she’d seen on television.
Cymbals crashed as the procession came closer. The carriers intertwined between the various guests, tables, and chairs, making Anwen wonder how they didn't all trip. Tassels bounces off the long fabric body as the dragon’s bearers moved their poles up and down, moving in time to the beating drums.
Behind the giant serpent, smaller dragons appeared on puppet strings, including Eastern and Western varieties with flapping wings. Further down the line, brightly costumed performers beat sticks and danced.
Anwen had to turn to follow the course of the parade. More people came over to find seats while children ran rampant around the dancing figures. They carried flowing streamers of red, blue, and green. She had to cover her ears as the procession moved closer. The drums, cymbals, and sticks clacked loudly until the Eastern dragon ascended the steps.
Once on stage, the creature seemed to tie itself into a knot. More people came forward, lining the sides of the platform, holding drums that reminded Anwen of bongos. They beat out a fast cadence that the dragon dancers followed with an almost fury of movement.
“Won’t they fall off?” Anwen wondered, watching the intricate footwork. She gasped as one dancer got too close to the edge and seemed to falter.
Tyler leaned in to be heard over the noise. “No,” he almost had to shout. “They practice for this. Only the best performers are selected to be part of the Dragon Procession.”
After another series of complex dances, the dragon was moved off stage. Anwen didn’t see where it went but was glad the giant serpent wasn't kept around to leer at the festivalgoers. She'd found it slightly unnerving for some reason.
Instead, a small group of musicians moved on stage. They began playing some Eastern music, mixed with some overtones she wasn’t familiar with.
Tyler stood and turned to her with a grin. “Well, what do you think so far? Not bad for some village in the high mountains, right?”
Anwen laughed and shook her head. Torchlight began to swim around her as various villagers lit lanterns around the square. “Definitely something different,” she replied as her stomach growled. She grimaced in embarrassment.
“Hungry are we?" Tyler lifted an eyebrow. "Well, can’t have that then. Not on a festival day. This way.” Grabbing her hand once more, he led her towards the food-laden tables. It was a task to avoid the older children. Most were carrying around marionettes resembling the various dragon forms she'd seen in books.
The food seemed to be served buffet style, Anwen noticed as they took a place in line behind a couple of eager teens. When it came their turn to get plates, Tyler pointed out the “dragon toes”, which were really barbequed spare ribs. He laughed at her momentary discomfort, knowing she wasn't sure if he was joking or not.
With filled plates, they made their way towards the same copse of trees the dragon parade had emerged from. There, they found a seat on a log. Tall reeds intruded here and there where the ground was marshy.
“Sun’s setting,” Tyler observed as more lanterns were lit and torches put up to give more light. “Dragon boats will be sent out before too long.”
From their perch, Anwen could almost hear the chirping of crickets, with the occasional croak of a frog. “Are we near water?”
Taking a bite of chicken, Tyler pointed to a darker section of shadows near the end of the tree line. “It's just a runoff from the River Drage, the same river that runs back of the inn. I’m sure you can see it from your room’s window.
"This smaller stream runs off into a bit of marsh further on, while the true river runs towards Lake Wyvern. The two split just before the village. The mountains conceal the diverted water, which was used for irrigation over a hundred years ago. Pretty clever, if you ask me."
Anwen nodded as she took a bite of salad, watching the sky as the sun sank lower behind the peaks. She wasn't all that interested in agriculture, but at least it wasn't the weather. There were worse topics.
The stars were coming out as the full moon swung up over the furthest flung peak. “The Dragon Moon,” Anwen half whispered, staring in awe at the golden sphere.
Tyler turned to look at the lunar spectacle, leaning back just a little. “Legend has it that the Dragon Moon Festival was initiated to appease the spirits of the Mountain. These spirits had become angry over a feud between two families. Those two families were the founders of this village.
"Over time, a deep rift formed between them, upsetting the balance of nature. The mountain spirits unleashed their judgment on the two families for their irreconcilable differences. To appease the spirits, the older of the two families was exiled, never to return.”
Anwen blinked back the moisture forming in her eyes. It was definitely a haunting tale, one she hoped to hear in full some day. Perhaps her family had been inspiration for the legend. They did resemble the family exiled to appease the mountain spirits all those years ago.
Tyler glanced at his watch as he chewed on his last mouthful of food. “Looks like it’s about time for the boats."
Hearing his announcement, Anwen realized the crowd had thinned. Looking over, she noticed they were all headed towards the river.
"We’d better hurry or we’ll miss them.” Tyler didn't give her a chance to pick up her discarded plate. Instead, he grabbed her hand and ran back towards the inn.
Anwen looked back to where torchlight flickered in many hands. They were going in the opposite direction. "What about them?"
"Don't worry about them. The boats are released somewhere upstream," he explained as they ran. "We'll miss them entirely if we go that way." He led her to the back of the inn instead, down towards the gurgling river some ways away.
Anwen felt sand and pebbles crunch underfoot as she tried to keep pace with his long strides. She almost went into the water as he stopped near a large stone. It reminded he
r of the rather large boulders on the college campus back home. The stone was a good ten feet tall.
"Grab my hand," Tyler called as he started up the rock. Not wanting to be left behind in the dark, she hurried to follow him to the flat top, not stopping to think about what she was doing.
“Best place to watch the boats," he explained as he helped her over the lip. "And it’s less likely the others will come this far down." He got down on his hands and knees to peer over the edge. “The boats will pass right underneath us. Come over so you can see.”
Anwen edged closer to her companion, trying to control the sudden nervousness in her stomach. Not a huge fan of heights, she wasn’t sure what had spurred her to follow him up there. It was too late now, though, as she looked down. The water swirled below and her muscles stiffened at her proximity to the edge.
Tyler clasped her hand in his, tightening his grip to reassure her. “Look, there’s the first boat.”
He pointed towards the far end of the river as a dark silhouette appeared against the moonlight on the river. It moved towards them, floating like a nymph on the water. The boat was a light wooden one with the prow carved in the shape of a dragon.
Moments later, more wooden boats followed, each with a different color and pattern. Some of the dragons had wings. Others were more serpentine in shape.
Some boats looked like they had dragons wrapped around them, carrying them downriver. More than a dozen boats floated past, and then moved out of sight as they rounded a bend. Moonlight glinted off the lacquered finish as the last boat floated beneath them.
Anwen let out a sigh as the boat vanished from view. She'd been so caught up in watching the display that she’d not remembered where they were, perched above a rushing river. The moment the last boat faded from sight, she realized just how close to the edge she’d come.
Heart pounding, she quickly backed away from the edge and closed her eyes as she crouched in a kneeling position. Her hands laced together under her tucked chin.
The weight of the dragon pendant pressed against the fabric concealing it. She couldn't help but rock back and forth, willing the sudden dizziness to leave.
Tyler froze in surprise, but came back to himself as he realized what was happening. “I’m so sorry, Anna!” He moved to her side, offering comforting arms to hold her. “I never thought you’d be afraid of heights.”
A thought clamored for attention at the back of his mind. He recalled that at least part of the path to the ruins they were to explore tomorrow followed an almost sheer drop off. Would she be able to make it? If a ten-foot drop could cause this kind of reaction, he doubted it.
The moon rose higher in the sky, the pale light bathing everything in muted tones of yellow and white. An almost faint blue glow fell around Anwen as she crouched in fetal position.
In vain, she tried to convince herself that they weren’t all that high up. That getting back down would be a piece of cake. It was no worse than a one-story staircase, something she managed every day without any difficulty.
A slight breeze made the leaves rustle in the trees around them. A breeze that didn't seem to touch anything else but the vegetation. It felt cold and damp, as if it came from the running water below, though that wasn't possible. Overhead, the moon stood a silent sentinel. It seemed to observe the presence of an extra shadow that had not been there before.
Tyler took a step back, glancing around to make sure no one else was there. Something felt off, though he wasn't sure why. Nor could he see anyone else around. But the feeling persisted. It could be a trick of the light, or his fear that someone else might uncover Anwen's true identity. That wouldn't be good; especially since he still needed to make sure what she'd revealed was true.
When he looked back at Anwen, the light around her had intensified, bathing her in a sort of halo of cobalt blue. He hesitated, wondering if he was seeing things or if his suspicions were indeed correct. It had been a long time since he’d last seen such a phenomenon.
It would not do to rush things. Even if there was the slightest possibility that this was the sign he’d been waiting for all these years. After all, as her name suggested, there were two possibilities.
Unless she was lying about her real name. But he felt confident that she wasn't, though he doubted she knew what that meant. And the combination of her full name, which he'd seen on her hastily hidden passport back in Blaucii--did it mean what he thought it did?
The rushing of the water in the background made an almost lullaby. Crickets chirped a low harmony to the moving branches. He didn’t want to disturb the moment, but knew if he didn’t, someone else might come by and notice something was off. He knelt back down and tapped her on the shoulder. “Anwen, it’s getting late. I should get you back to the inn.”
Anwen nodded, her head still downcast, eyes closed.
Tyler could almost confirm now that the source of the blue glow came from one of her necklaces. He shrugged the notion aside, promising to look at the thought later.
He stood and held out his hand. “You’re going to have to open your eyes. It would be different if I had a rope to lower you to the ground, but I don’t. You’re going to have to just trust that I’ll get you down safe and sound.”
After another moment of hesitation, Anwen looked up and took his hand, standing on somewhat unsteady legs.
Tyler noticed the light was fading from around her. That was one less thing to worry about at least. And with luck, no one else had seen it, though he couldn't be sure. That feeling still persisted.
Seeing her waiting, he chose to focus on the task at hand. “If I thought it would be wise, I’d carry you down, but we should be okay with the foot and hand holds. There are a lot of them. Just do exactly as I say and you’ll be fine,” he reassured.
Anwen felt like a quacking leaf at the idea. The boulder wasn't all that high, but the possibility of falling off at any given time still existed. And since it was dark, she had no idea what she'd land on if she fell. It could be the river, on more rocks, or on the softer dirt. Neither option felt comforting. She'd likely get hurt either way.
Sensing her hesitation, Tyler took her hand and led her to the end where they’d climbed up. It sat lower to the ground. In daylight, it wouldn’t be a big deal to just slide off and land with perhaps a slight tumble. But with only moonlight, and an acrophobe, the task became a lot more difficult.
“I’ll go first so I can see where you’re putting your hands and feet. We can take all the time you need, so don’t worry about anything, okay?”
Anwen nodded, unable to speak. It looked a lot higher up now that she couldn’t see the ground below. Her knees threatened to buckle as she saw Tyler disappear from sight. But she swung around and got on her hands and knees, crawling backwards towards the edge as instructed. With a lot of encouragement, she let first one leg, then the other dangle as Tyler directed her where to place them.
“You’re doing great,” Tyler complimented.
He directed her to slide one foot down to a small ledge. Once he felt she was more or less secure, he instructed her to let her feet hold her weight as she reached for the first handhold.
“Keep coming. That’s it. You've got it.”
What would have only been a few seconds climb down turned into a five-minute persuasion to get her back on solid ground. But it was all worth it. When she reached the ground, she flung her arms around his neck and stayed there until her body stopped trembling.
“Thank you,” Anwen whispered as she pulled away. She was too relieved to feel embarrassed, though that would come later. After all, her fear of heights was not something she wanted just anyone to know about.
Tyler put an arm around her shoulder, leading her forward. “Come on. Let’s get you inside.”
The walk to the main door of the inn seemed to go by in a blur, as did the walk up the stairs. Tyler supported Anwen the entire time, just in case. They were both relieved to reach the second floor and the door to her room.
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After a quick goodnight, she closed the door. He listened for the sound of the lock as it was engaged before heading back downstairs.
Once he was gone, Anwen leaned against the door's frame, mentally exhausted. The festival hadn't been like anything she'd expected. And that ending? Just thinking about it made her shudder. And to think she'd revealed her greatest fear to a complete stranger.
After another minute or two, she stumbled to the bathroom and took a hot shower that left her feeling bone weary. Drying off, she fell into bed and didn’t wake until morning.
Three