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Abi’s hands shook from the cold as she attempted to light the campfire for the third time. Uninhibited by the lack of daylight, the dragon had continued walking for a few hours past sunset. It was hunger, cold, and Bora’s tired chirps that finally convinced her to stop for the night. She had trailed off to the side of the road and began to set camp. Above her, grey snow clouds drifted across the deep purple sky dusted with innumerable stars.
A spark finally caught on the kindling and quickly grew into a proper fire. At the sound of crackling wood, Bora’s head poked out of Abi’s cloak. The bluebird tweeted in appreciation of the warmth. Abi basked in the small warmth as well, heating her chilled hands next to the flickering orange-red glow. She then quickly warmed and ate the night’s travel rations before cocooning the thick winter blanket around her body. With her pack as a pillow and Bora settled in the crux of her neck and shoulder, Abi fell asleep.
She was pushed and pulled and beaten. Her body wouldn’t move, wouldn’t fight back. Hands yanked her hair and gripped her face. Cruel voices spun mockingly around her head.
“Let me see those infamous dragon eyes up close.”
Hands went to move the fabric around her face. Not the kind, gentle hands of Zeno. But cold, loathsome hands with nails digging into and scratching her skin. Greedy hands hunting for her eyes.
No. No. No! NO!
Abi woke with a jerk, gasping and sobbing. Her entire body was shaking for reasons that had nothing to do with the winter chill. Fragments of the nightmare replayed over in her mind. Bora chirped in concern and began grooming strands of blue hair. Abi brought a hand up to wipe hot tears from her face. The fabric tied around her eyes got in the way. She let her hand fall to her chest and squeezed her eyes shut, her lashes brushing against the damp bandage.
Three bright, pulsing presences – one white like the surrounding snow, one green like a dark jade stone, and the last golden like a ray of sunshine – hovered on the edge of her senses, reaching out as support and comfort. Abi focused on them until her breathing evened out. When the sun began to paint the eastern sky a brilliant scarlet, Abi finally drifted back to sleep. A blissfully dreamless sleep.
Clouds cleared from the glittering blue sky, though snow was still stacked up on the sides of the road. Abi trudged on as the days passed by, dark shadows haunting under her eyes. She traveled mostly in the afternoons, the warmest part of the day, but even then the cold wind often cut through her thick winter cloak. The rare times she spotted other travelers, Abi would dart off the road before they approached.
As she leaned against the trunk of a bare tree waiting for the most recent passerby – a man steering a mule pulled cart – to go by, Abi knew she would have to face people eventually. With her food supply dwindling and little to forage during the cold season, she would need to go to a town to restock soon. Just not yet. As the cart continued down the road at the steady pace of the mule, Bora poked out of the cloak with a curious chirp. Abi petted the bluebird’s head a moment before continuing in the opposite direction.
The sun and stars slowly crossed the daytime sky. With half-frozen mud crunching beneath her boots, Abi suddenly came to a halt. Her dragon’s eyes saw a group a ways ahead. It was a group of twenty three men. They had tattered clothing, sunken and desperate faces, and makeshift weapons. Fear gripped Abi’s chest like an icy claw.
“…They’re just bandits…”, she spoke aloud to remind herself, “…Not disguised soldiers…”
She could easily deal with them using her power, keeping innocent and unprepared travelers from wandering into the bandits’ grasp. However, that would mean revealing her dragon’s eyes. Abi was reluctant to take the blindfold off. Her hands quivered at the very thought of it. Her ribs weren’t fully healed yet so fighting with her sword was too risky.
With a locked jaw and frustrated huff, Abi faded into the forest to go around them.
After traveling alone on the road and in the forest for a few weeks, Abi found being in a town to be crowded and hectic. People bustled about the market place despite the chilled breeze, their breath fogged. Voices clashed around her, a stark difference from the near silence of forests in winter. The dragon had to step aside as a man passed by in a rush with a few quail he’d just bought. She continued weaving through the streets, stopping at a few merchant stalls to buy supplies. While she stocked up on dried meat and rice, the smell of sweetbread drifted across the street.
Abi glanced over to the source of the mouth-watering smell: a restaurant. Both her stomach and Bora made their want known with a growl and chirp. They had been living off plain, bland rations since leaving the castle; and, the lofting scent of sweets and spices was tempting. After a brief internal debate and encouraging tweets from the bluebird, Abi entered the cozy restaurant. She found a seat in the back corner, ordering a tea and stew and then two of the sweet pastries. As Abi slowly savored the pork stew, Bora happily nibbled off pieces of its pastry. The voices of servers and customers cascaded around the room. A few snippets of conversation caught the dragon’s attention.
“I heard the Four Dragons left the castle.”
“My son’s in the army, and he says they really have left.”
“Why would they leave? Who’s going to protect the country now?”
Abi’s throat suddenly felt dry. She took a slow drink of her warm tea and blocked out the rest of the conversation by focusing on her food. Once she was finished eating, the dragon hurriedly left the restaurant. Abi drew her hood over her head as she walked out of the town. Tiny flakes of snow trailed in her wake.
Midmorning light sparkled off the rippling stream. The water was so cold that it felt like her hands were burning. Abi shivered as she scrubbed the fabric clean. Despite the years of practicing swordsmanship, her arm muscles were aching from the strain. Doing laundry was more difficult than Abi had thought.
“How did servants always make this look so easy?” She muttered, dark rings formed by restless nights peeking out from behind her blindfold.
The only response she got was the gurgling of the stream and Bora tweeting from a bare tree branch above her. Eventually Abi finished washing her clothes. She hung them off a low branch, letting the rays of sun dry the fabric. With that task complete, the dragon returned to her campfire and warmed her wrinkled hands before she began preparing rations for breakfast.
A storm with whirling grey-white clouds and the low rumbling of thunder was forming to the west. The dragon had decided to head for the nearest town to avoid what was sure to be a downpour of sleet and hail. The town streets were hectic as people prepared for the coming storm. Shop owners and merchants secured they merchandise, while families were out to purchase last minute supplies. Abi was only one of many travelers seeking shelter. She hoped she could find an inn with rooms still available.
The dragon crossed the town with her steps clicking on the cobble streets. The crowd slowly thinned out. As she passed by one of the small alleys, a man with a sharp face and dirty clothes began to tail her. Abi frowned slightly but gave no other indication that she had noticed him. She considered how she must look: clearly alone with a blindfold covering her eyes and a well-made traveling pack slung over her shoulder. Abi realized that she must seem to be an easy and profitable target for thieves.
After they had walked a little ways farther, the man sped up his pace. He passed by her; and, Abi let his shoulder bump into her side. In a quick grab the man gripped her pack, but before he could run off with it Abi fluidly clutched his arm. His dark eyes went wide in shock.
“Do yourself a favor and walk away”, the dragon stated with a brief flash of her enlarged canine teeth.
The man attempted to jerk his arm free. Abi was expecting that and kept her hold tight. When that failed, he suddenly threw all his weight at her. Abi was knocked back against the building behind them. The collision rattled her still healing ribs. Sharp pain shot through her sides, momentarily disorienting her. The thief made another frantic grab for her pack. Determined to keep her belongings and important items, Abi shifted her pack away and attempted to push him back.
In the struggle, the fabric of her blindfold caught on the building. It slid off her head and drifted to the ground like a leaf falling from a tree.
Abi froze, heart thumping loudly like drums in her ears. The thief froze as well, staring straight into her golden hued eyes. Abi knew the expression the man wore. It was the same expression everyone – even the other dragon warriors – had the first time they saw her dragon’s eyes. It was an expression of complete enrapture.
“Wha-”
…caressing her dragon markings again with a mesmerized expression…
Panic overrode the dragon’s senses. The claw of her power lashed out like a feral and cornered beast. The thief immediately collapsed to the ground. Watching him fall without consciously making the decision to release her power, Abi recognized she couldn’t hold back in a panicked state. If someone were to investigate now…Abi might do something she would regret.
With gasping breaths, Abi gripped at the ground for her blindfold and then re-secured it around her head with shaking hands. Once her eyes were covered again, the backlash hit her. Abi slumped against the wall of the building; the unconscious thief in front of her. Unable to move, Abi reached out to the other dragons. She let their distance yet colorful presences wash over her like lapping waves. By the time the paralysis had faded, Abi was breathing evenly again. She slowly stood up and carefully stepped over the, thankfully, still unconscious man.
As Abi resumed her search for an inn, the first drops of frozen rain began to fall from the darkly clouded sky.
Drops of water steadily dripped down from tiny icicles adorning the tree branches, while melted snow pooled on the muddy ground. A few bushes were just beginning to form early spring buds. Abi’s travel pack and thick winter cloak were placed against a tree trunk. Bora perched on one of the budding bushes, blinking as it watched its human.
The mud squished beneath boots as Abi shifted from one stance to another. Her sword’s blade cut through the air. Her muscles strained from over a month without practice. Her sides throbbed in slight pain with the movement. Abi continued on anyway. She had done as the royal doctor ordered even in his absence, but now the recovery time he told her had passed. With gritted teeth and a slight sheen of sweat on her forehead, the dragon lunged forward again.
As the weeks past, the air had warmed enough that Abi only wore her winter cloak during the cooler nights. The snow had all melted and given way the fresh blades of green. Animals began waking from their deep slumbers, while crossing paths with other travelers became more common. A kindly farmer had even offered her a ride in his wagon since they were going in the same direction. Having felt bold after a few nights without nightmares, Abi had taken him up on the offer.
Now Abi paused in the middle of the road as the estate came into her view. Even from the distance, Abi could see every familiar nook and cranny of her childhood home. Except it wasn’t quite as familiar anymore. The late Yoo Seung had renovated and repainted the buildings. The garden had been altered and replanted as well. The rose bushes that she had been fond of were gone, and in their place were camellia bushes. Seeing the estate she’d grown up in so different stung a little.
Abi sighed and turned away. She hadn’t considered that place home since she drank the dragon god’s blood. No, her home was now buried in the cold earth and scattered across the country. It was a home that could only be returned to in the illusion of her happiest dreams.
With those gloomy thoughts weighing down her heart, the dragon trekked on. By the time the sun reached the highest point in the cloudless sky, Abi reached the town outside of the main Yoo Estate. Her covered eyes scanned across the town until she stopped what she was looking for. Abi then strode forward toward her destination.
It wasn’t long before she walked by a few soldiers in the burgundy uniform of the Yoo Clan. Her throat went dry and her muscles tensed. Her legs itched to sprint away from the soldiers. Abi subconsciously reached out for the other dragons, imagining their presences like hands on her back gently urging her forward. Abi passed the soldiers by without them even turning toward her.
Finally, after nearly two months of travel, the dragon reached her destination. It was a small shop. Nothing about it stood out as special. Nothing except the owner, who had similar soft features and hazel eyes that matched the color of Young-Soo’s eyes. A young girl, perhaps ten or eleven years in age, with those same hazel eyes and brown hair pulled up in a bun ran out the store with a package in hand.
Abi waited off the side and did her best to not look suspicious by browsing the nearby stalls and shops. About half an hour later, the girl returned empty handed. The dragon caught her attention with a small wave. The girl glanced around cautiously before approaching Abi, giving the bluebird on her shoulder a curious look.
“Hey there”, Abi smiled in an attempt to seem friendly as she held out a small box. The box carried a few personal possessions of Young-Soo, a letter Abi had written, and the sum of money that should have been Young-Soo’s last payment.
“Could you give this to your father, please? It’s a package from your uncle.”
The girl’s hazel eyes darkened a little with sadness. She took the box with a wordless nod before darting back inside her family’s shop. Abi turned to leave as soon as the girl was through the door. The dragon didn’t know how Young-Soo’s brother would react to her presence.
Abi left the town as quickly as she had entered it. The sun hadn’t even begun to set when she reached the forest. The trees and bushes were now a lush green and in full bloom. Bird song and the chattering of squirrels echoed through the woods. The cool wind wrapped the aroma of spring around the dragon. As Abi walked on – the Yoo Estate fading from her sight – she took a deep breath of the flower scented air and then reached one hand up to her face. Slowly, Abi pulled the fabric away from her eyes.