The Knight & The Dove: Chapter III

Chapter III Ana learns a little more about Baredo before (in Chapter IV) all hell breaks loose.

-Chapter III

 

They had six hours of pure peace, and Ana awoke to Baredo saying her name softly to wake her. She groaned tiredly, “Time to get up already?” She sighed, stretching and getting up.

“If we want to avoid risk of them finding us, then yes.” Baredo said quietly, wishing they weren’t in such danger. Ana nodded silently, sobering up from her sleepy, foggy head instantly, knowing he was right. She packed up as quietly as possible, cleaning up any and all evidence they’d been there with Baredo’s help. After this, she looked to Baredo, who seemed to be staring at nothing.

“I’m ready.” She told him, wondering what he was looking at, until she realized that the point of his attention was a very tall apple tree. Baredo was sizing it up.

“One moment.” He grabbed a sack from his saddlebag, backed up a few paces, and then took a running leap at the tree, pulling himself up after digging his footclaws into the trunk and catching a lower limb. Baredo pulled himself up to the base of the tree, and began picking apples, and he looked at Ana confusedly when she began laughing at him.

“Do you always do things the hard way?” She touched the bark, and apples began falling. She ran around, picking up any and all ripe apples until her arms were full.

“Now that’s just not fair,” Baredo looked down at her with a chuckle, and Ana braced for him to hurt himself when he jumped off. He landed easily on his feet, biting into an apple. She winked upon realizing he was okay, “You’ve got claws, and I make things grow. Pretty even, don’t you think?”

“Not really,” he shrugged a little. Seeing a hint of jealousy on his face, she became a bit concerned.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.”

“Baredo.” She looked at him, waiting for a real answer.

“I’d love to have magic like that.”

“Don’t you have any of your own?”

“Yes, but… It’s killing magic.” Baredo sighed. Ana didn’t know how to answer, “You’ve got the ability to grow things and work with Mother Nature, all mine does is send creatures after people and murder them. It’s useless outside of war, made for a killing machine.” She knew he’d begun to think of himself as such.

After a moment’s hesitation, Ana placed a hand on his arm, “Magic means nothing, Baredo, not when it comes to who you are. You’re the kindest person I’ve ever met.” She smiled softly. He smiled back a little, but then sighed.
“You don’t understand, Ana…”

“No, I don’t…” She answered quietly as they both mounted their horses, and then spoke so quietly it almost couldn’t be heard, “But I want to.” He said no more, and took off at a trot. As the sun began to set, hours later, she began wondering how far Baredo would push himself. She wanted to do something, to stop the threat so he could rest again, but she had no idea what even he could do.

Baredo looked at the setting sun, then to the north horizon with a sigh, “If only I had Khardel…”

“Khardel?” Ana questioned.

“My dragon,” he answered, as he pulled his horse to a halt, getting out a flint and tinderbox.

“Dragon?” She asked, stunned, “They’re real?” She scrambled to get their blankets spread out, sitting next to him and hoping for a story. He got the fire going, chuckling at her.

“Of course they’re real. Where do you think the stories come from? There’s at least a few thousand left. There used to be near a million, but they died out, most of them old. They live to be about 1,000 years old.”

“Wow!” she exclaimed, childlike wonder on her face. “How did you come to have one?”

“I found Khardel’s egg on an old battlefield, his mother had been a war dragon, I guess. I took it home and when it hatched, my father told me I could raise him with my siblings, or give him to the tribal warriors or Dragon Tamer. Of course, I kept him. I was five at the time, and I kept him until the day I was made a knight when I was eighteen. Ashrick told me that he would rather not have dragons in Surion, so I could either use him for the good of the army as a mount in battle, or leave him outside Surion with someone. I didn’t want him to get hurt with me, so I gave him away.” Baredo told her.

Ana looked genuinely sad, “I’m sorry… It must’ve been hard to give him up. Where is he now?”

“The family sold him to the King, Ashrick. Ashrick gave him to a cruel knight, and I never saw him again,” he growled darkly at the prospect of cruelty to his dragon. Ana jumped at the growl. She hadn’t expected it, and was momentarily startled. Then, she remembered that this was Baredo, her kind escort. Everyone got angry at some point, and if he did, it wouldn’t last.

“That doesn’t sound like Father…” Ana shook her head, “It was probably Raiden…” At his confused look as to why she‘d call her own mother by name, she turned away once more, “My… mother,” she sighed at having to call her as such, “is the one who gave me these…” Ana traced a finger over the light scars.

“I just hope he’s alive… I already have enough against her.” He held back another enraged growl. Ana was silent, still afraid of that anger. Yet again, she was unsure what to say, after all, she was a part of the family that had taken his dragon, that had put him through war as a knight, and was now sending knights after him to likely hurt or kill him and take her back. Despite fear, Ana found herself just wanting to comfort him. Not just a fleeting fancy, but a deep need to comfort his losses. Baredo sighed, taking out a whetstone and his spear, sitting back to sharpen the head. Ana sat in silence a little longer before her feelings just burst out all at once.

“Look, I’m sorry, honest I am, and I wish I could do something and I hate where I come from and that I’m related to her and that I got you hurt and I hate Surion and the knights and I wish… I just wish…” she finally shut herself up, and looked down, sighing and blushing. Baredo dropped the spear and whetstone, kneeling before her so they were eye-level. He gently took her face in his hands, lifting her chin so she looked at him.

“It’s not your fault, it’s no one’s fault, Ana.”

Ana closed her eyes, and a single tear escaped, “I hate them so much…” she whispered. Baredo pulled her slowly into his arms, not commandingly nor submissively, just gently. He was quite careful with her, she was so small compared to his huge white-furred form. And he held her close against him, comforting her silently. Ana’s first thought was to pull away- this was so different, so new from anything she’d experienced before, except for when she was with her father. Instead, she found herself nuzzling closer into his fur and warmth, letting him hold her. He just stayed there, letting her keep in his arms as long as she needed- or as long as she wanted, whichever came last.

After a long while, almost a half an hour, Ana pulled away slowly, her face still a bit red, “Thank you,” she spoke softly, forcing herself to look at her blanket instead of his gentle blue eyes, not wanting to get trapped in them. He nodded, easily letting her go, then sat before the fire. “When you get to Lunas Kivar, what will you do?” Ana finally asked after a few more minutes.

“If I make it there… I want to speak to Lady Chl'e.”

“Lady Chl'e? Who’s she?” asked Ana curiously, taking a seat next to her werewolf friend and putting her palms closer to the fire.

“The Moon Goddess of Lunasia, the Mother of All Creation, Mother Earth.” Baredo spoke with a gentle smile at the mention of his religion’s beloved only Goddess. Ana yawned and laid back.

“She sounds… nice, I’d like to meet her too, when… we’re free…” She spoke as she drifted off to sleep. Baredo smiled, and lay beside his beautiful, burgundy-haired, already beloved friend, and falling into a deep slumber as well.

 

-Taiylor Wallace

Author's Note

Enjoy!