- Rattle the Cages, Feast of the Firelight

The Dragon's roar came like a thundering boom, like the sky split apart as the most horrid of deaths and sounds tore through the air as his breath echoed through her ears and her skull, pounding against her mind as she watched the beast rear back its head and breathe.

Then the fire came.

"ROAR!"

It was like a sea of red and orange that tore through the darkness and the space between them in an instant, illuminating the great pillars of stone and the mighty Dragon of dark and gray scales.

Lia had only a breath of space between her and the fire, and just as the flames tore through the ground below her, melting stone and iron to red ash, she dove to the right and used [Drifting Winds] to tear through the air and wind around her.

She was safe, she was hidden again, but even as the flames spread across the halls and the pillars of stone, his roar echoing like a deafening boom forcing her hands to her ears, she crumpled to the ground in ear as her feet refused to stand and support her. She saw fire; she saw the death that was watching her from the sun that raced to burn her skin.

She saw so much in that one moment, her mind could hardly keep up as she began to shake and shudder in fear as the illuminating light from the fire died out, and she was surrounded by darkness once again. Lia never knew the darkness could be so frightening, so cold, so lonely.

Then it spoke.

"Hiding within the shadows again, little mouse?"

It was like the sound of a horn blowing in her ears, pounding her skull and her mind with thoughts and fears as Lia felt herself crumble up into a ball. His voice was illuminating, threatening, and peered light into her world of fear.

"Show yourself."

He was death incarnate.

She felt his body shift around the room, his talons of spears and sword scraping against the stone as he made his noisy approach past the pillars, his snout raised as the sound of his breathing filled the room.

Lia could almost see his fiery eyes staring at her from the darkness, and in her wide-eyed crumbled mess of a person, she reminded herself that there was only the black darkness before her, no fire within sight. But it was so vivid. So real.

Just like his voice that appeared next to her.

"I can smell you. Your stench fills the air, little mouse."

His black and gray scales melded with the darkness like another part of it, moving silently through the space and between the pillars, the air parting from his way. It seemed even the darkness was afraid of him.

Lia wanted to get away from him, he wanted to run and scream, hide behind another pillar in hopes the beast wouldn't find her. But she knew that if she did that, she would die. It was a miracle he hadn't found her yet, but soon that miracle would only be a testament to a false belief.

But then she saw it, like the pin that dropped in the room of silence around them, like the light that spilled from the darkness, the Dragon's fiery red eyes passed her by, and even as she held her breath it became clear in her mind.

He couldn't see her.

"…Interesting."

He said the word like it amused him, a smile parting on his face as his scales pulled back to reveal a large and long row of shimmering silver teeth. Lia could almost see those swords of teeth tearing apart her flesh and bone, the smell of soot in the air as she saw fire dancing on his lips like smoke.

"But no matter…. I can smell your fear. I can hear your heart beating like a drum."

It was intoxicating to him, the smell of prey, the smell of fear that filled the room like smoke and incense, a smell that made his own heart pound with anticipation. He wanted to hunt. He wanted to kill.

He wanted to find the little mouse that had scurried its way into his home.

Then he smelled something else in the air, like a shadow that passed before his face, passing before his nose with the smell of cold threatening, and marvelous at the same time.

Suddenly the cold gripped Lia like a hand reaching from the darkness, like death was reaching his own fist to her door prepared to knock. Then the cold faded and she heard a voice, a voice that brought warmth and comfort to her soul.

'Lia…'

'Cain…Cain! I -'

'Calm down. Keep your breathing controlled. Control.'

She held her hand to her head, trying to calm her beating heart, knowing that the Dragon was listening now, with more intent than he had been before. He smelled her fear, he smelled the shadows that darkened her soul.

Then the image came like a flash in her head, the image of a golden sunrise that painted the sky with the beauty of a king's treasure chest.

Arnold stood with his back to the world, standing before the sunrise with clouds spilling past his feet, the sky and the wind at his breath and bequest. He was a king in that moment, and she saw him smile as he looked up to the darkness that loomed above him.

He was fearless.

So, she could be as well.

'For my friends. For them…for my new family, I'll keep control. He won't win!'

The Dragon smiled, the pounding heart that rang in his ears was now gone, a steady rhythmic beat of a war drum echoing in the chamber.

"I see…the little mouse has a friend. Why don't you both come out to play? I see no harm in you showing yourselves…"

The beast's body passed them by as his movements, while slow, were the parting of the world itself, afraid and terrifying to any who witnessed it. It was the thing that drove humans mad with fear, yet there in the darkness stood, one little girl who held her weight against the world.

Against this sea of fear.

'Calm…I am calm…'

Her voice joined with Cain's as they spoke together, their souls melding into one heartbeat like the sounds of war that awoke the warriors of the dead.

'I am the sea that stands against the storm. I am the wind that hails against the flames of the forest. I am the mountains against the rock and the weather… I am the pin that drops in the puddle of silence. I am silence.'

Their breath left them as the Dragon's eyes narrowed, and suddenly he o longer heard one heartbeat in the darkness, but two, beating together as one. Then he smiled.

He knew.

"So…you're a summoner. A commander of souls from one world to the next."

He laughed, his deep bellowing laugh that echoed through the fortress with fear that chased away the scurrying little rats that picked at the rooting food and flesh of his home.

"What's the matter? Don't be afraid, step into the light. Reveal yourself before me."

He could hear them, smell them as he drew closer, one pillar standing out to him as the center of his blindness. The darkness was an ally of his, yet it guarded her willingly.

He could see her, even in the darkness that had betrayed him.

'Lia. Speak.'

Cain's voice came like the sound of her bones snapping, the shock and fear at what he had just suggested sent her mind spiraling.

'What? You want me to…what?!'

'Speak. He sees you.'

'He…. oh, my gods. I'm - I'm-'

She felt her skin crawl as she suddenly heard the Dragon's breath getting closer and closer, and until now she realized his movements had been deathly silent. Such a large beast and monster of the darkness and death that loomed over her soul, could move so silently though the world around her?

'Lia, speak. Keep his mind guessing, I will do the rest.'

She took a deep breath, calming her heart as the Dragon drew closer, reaching on long and lengthy arm out as his talons as thick a man and as sharp as any steel crafted by the gods could be. He could smell her fear, hear her heart beating, and now he could taste her flesh on his lips as fire danced within his throat illuminated the way before him as his eyes snaked through the darkness.

Then her voice came from all around him, and his hand stopped as his ears turned to listen.

"I am not afraid."

The Dragon narrowed his eyes as he turned his head to the sky, watching through the dim light that spilled through the windows, wondering if this was some sort of trick the gods were playing on him. He took one last glance at the pillar that stood before him, his mind wavering between one and the other, before his presence swiftly vanished from the pillar.

"You're not afraid? That's good. So many mice have come in here with their hearts beating like drums in my ears. It's nice to have silence."

"Who are you? The Great Dragon of the Eastern Mountains? I thought he was dead."

The Dragon stopped, his eyes peering through the darkness in search of the voice, now knowing the woman hiding was a warrior for great bravery to stand before him. He liked the courage; it would taste better.

"Dead? Oh, no. The Eastern Dragon lives, he lives within me. Like two souls in a bag of flesh."

He was smiling again as a thought crossed his mind, like a fleeting moment of arrogance and pride.

"Why? Do I make you afraid?"

Her voice tore through his heart and soul his arrogance and pride as he felt his face stiffen with ang.

"Why should I be afraid of a fake?"

His eyes twitched as he stopped searching, choosing to instead sit on his throne of the dead, watching the darkness as the dim sunlight spilled before him like a sheet of light.

"Fake or not, you're stuck in here with me."

His eyes were filled with malice and death, the looming sense of war that he would bring in forms of fire and smoke, ash and dust across the ground that he would melt with this breath. He was angry now, and he was in the mood for death.

The Dragon wasn't lying. He didn't have to. His words, through a whisper, were as terrifying themselves as his presence. Because it was the truth.

Lia was trapped in here with a Dragon.

***

"Let's move people, we only have a small window of time!"

Gilbert cried out, his throat burning from the constant yelling as he pulled and pulled the rope and chain into place. Other assisted and others were busy with different parts of the large trap that laid out across the meadow full of flowers and blades of grass.

Lance and Gilbert were beside one another, each working on a separate part to the trap that laid before them, a trap that had taken them hours to decide on and hours more to proof it for any flaws.

They both worked tirelessly but every now and then their eyes turned to look upon the great and mighty fortress before them, the sight of the large carved and intricate stone that shaped the mountain and burned their eyes with awe.

"How long do you think we really have?"

Lance turned to Gilbert, the man who had trained him and taught him all he knew of the land and the sword. He was his mentor and the only father figure he knew.

"I don't know, kid. Lia went in there two hours ago, and she hasn't come out yet."

"It's big right? Surely, she just got lost?"

"Maybe…"

The suggestion seemed innocent, it seemed quite plausible, and Gilbert wanted to believe it was true above the haunting fear that loomed over his head every time he took a breath and turned towards the fortress.

But the shaking and shuttering the ground made as the world echoed the sound of a distant sound like the crashing of a handle against a drum. His bones rattled and the grass shook with the ground as he turned back to Lane with a look of knowing in his eyes.

"...but I doubt that."

The last thing Gilbert saw before he turned back to his work, the fear spreading through him as he knew the breath of war was nearly at his neck, was the sight of the Totalac in the distance, loading men and women into the Caravan.

White the others were busy setting up the trap, Totalac and the few who could not help with the others; children, injured, and the sickly who helped him bring the villagers into the various carriages and carts that soon filled to the brim with starving and immensely thankful people.

He didn't bother to hear their thanks or take notice of their hands as they pressed against him every time, he helped them up into the carriages. He didn't want to see these people; he didn't want to feel thankful for what he was doing.

He hated them still, but he was trying hard to be the better man.

"Excuse me, sir?"

Then the voice of one of his friends echoed in his ears as he turned to find Patrick standing behind him, straight and with a face made of stone.

"What's the matter Patrick?"

"The last of the villagers have been loaded up."

"Good, let's get underway and move them into the forest. Hopefully the beast won't find them in there."

But as Totalac turned to grab the reins of the horses, Patrick's voice started again.

"Sir."

Patrick stepped aside to reveal a man, a young man who looked no more than eighteen to nineteen years old. He held his face to the ground and refused to look at Totalac, but even so, he knew who he was the moment Patrick stepped aside.

"He says he wanted a word with you. Said it was important."

Totalac didn't respond, he didn't say a word as Patrick looked between the two silent figures, wondering if he had made a mistake.

"I can take him back to the carriages if you want-"

"That's fine. Leave us please."

He was sharp and stern, and with one sound of his voice Patrick knew that these were orders, not requests. Patrick bowed and left the two alone with one another, one with his head turned to the ground, the other with a look of blank anger and eyes full of hate.

"I'm sorry for bothering you."

The young man started, keeping his face turned to the floor as he fiddled with his hands. He was nervous, and Totalac knew why.

"I wanted to apologize for everything we did. Even if you won't forgive us, or if you wish us all dead. I still wanted to thank you for helping my family."

Yes, Totalac knew this young man. He knew him from when he was just a boy, a boy whose hollowed features made it impossible for anyone to believe he would survive another winter, yet here he was before him now with a "sorry" on his lips.

The boy who turned his daughter in.

"...if you want to kill me, I'll accept it. I don't know what good it will do, but I can't understand your feelings. So, I won't bother to. You can kill me if you wish, I won't stop you."

Totalac said nothing, he just watched as the man became more and more nervous, a look of awkwardness covering his face as he began to succumb to the silence that spread between them.

"...just kill me."

The boy finally said, for Totalac no longer saw a man before him, but a child whose eyes were full of grief and regret, a fleeting shadow of a human being.

And his voice was like the chill of the coming rain over his skin.

"Just kill-"

"You'll live."

He finally said, causing the boy's head to snap up from the ground, a look of surprise covering his face as he watched the cold and chilling eyes of the farmer pass over him.

"I always told myself that if I had just warned my daughter, told her more about what this horrid place was like, maybe she would have survived. Maybe she wouldn't have been taken."

"That - no. That's not your fault. We were the ones-"

"Yes, you are the ones who are guilty of it. It was your actions that led to her being ripped from my arms."

The look the boy saw then was not the look of the Caravan driver who went through the lands freeing slave after slave that he could find and giving them a home filled with comfort and joy. It was not the look of the man who helped Lia, told her his story with sad and pitiful eyes, eyes that would then lead her through the woods, fighting back against his desire to run for the mountains.

It was not the look of a savior.

"So, you will live, dying a little every day inside, knowing that."

It was the look of a farmer and a father who had given up his last.