Dragon Valley part 4

....................Part 4: The Green Mountain....................1

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“Joanna!” shouted Marin. He shielded himself from Joanna’s attack by his black sword. When he felt no more pressure upon his sword, his put it down and ran towards Joanna. She was hanging in the air with a painful look on her face. The light she emitted was becoming dimmer and dimmer with every second. When Marin approached her, she emitted no more light. She fell down from the space… but Marin caught her. “Joanna! What have you done!” he shouted and shook her shoulders. He eyes were closed and a string of blood was coming out of her slightly opened mouth. 3

He carried her on his arms and released a loud beautiful whistle. A moment later, a beautiful brown horse was standing next to them.4

“To the Green Mountain!” commanded Marin.5

The horse stroke from its rest position and started running faster than sound. Marin was looking at Joanna’s pale face. Her motionless body was placed in front of him and her head was leaning back onto his chest. 6

The sky was full of stars and the cold wind was freezing his face as the horse restlessly headed to the Green Mountain. Marin’s eyes were still fixed at Joanna’s pale yet beautiful face as he had total confidence in his horse. 7

“Hang on,” he whispered. “We’re almost there.”8

The horse stopped in front of an enormous city. The houses were round and green. The lights from the windows rose up until they all met at a big castle, which was located on a higher level than the others were. The streets of the city were busy and the citizens were happily talking to each other. Tall, green trees were found beside every single house. To complete the perfection of the city, slow music was rising above the city and echoing all over the forest. 9

Marin jumped off his horse and fixed Joanna on it so that she wouldn’t fall. He commanded the horse to follow him and so it did. He walked along the street confidently guiding his horse. Fearful whispers were slithering through the streets as they passed by. Everyone who could see them would move backwards and whisper, “It’s a RedDragon.”10

Marin approached the green castle and took Joanna down from the horse’s back. “Wait for me here,” he told the horse and entered the huge doorway. 11

“Stop right there!” a guard exclaimed and stood in front of Marin preventing him from going further. 12

“We need help!” explained Marin.13

“I can’t let you in… not with a RedDragon!”14

“You can’t stop me!” Marin threatened and took out his black sword. The guard hesitated but did not step aside.15

“There is no need of violence in my kingdom,” Marin heard a silky voice from behind the guard. “Why did you come here, Marin?”16

“Help her,” Marin begged. “You are the only who can do this, Medora.”17

“You know that we don’t deal with RedDragons,” Medora said and walked towards Marin. She was wearing a long green dress made of living leaves. 18

“But only the ancient Elf magic can help her,” Marin begged. “You have to!”19

“I know that you are a friend to us, Marin, but we do not want to have troubles with other races and kinds,” Medora said and looked at Joanna’s face. 20

“The RedDragons were your friends too!” insisted Marin in despair. “They didn’t do anything to you! They were a noble race until the human king ordered to kill them! The only thing they did is that they refused to succumb to his power! They wanted to be free! Just like you Elves!”21

“I completely understand, Marin,” Medora said. “They didn’t do anything wrong but if the humans will know that a RedDragon was here…”22

“Who will tell them?!” asked Marin.23

After a silent moment, Medora said, “Alright. You can come.”24

Marin followed Medora into a room at the top of the castle. Medora pointed at a and in the middle of it and Marin gently put Joanna on it. 25

“Leave us alone, please,” Medora asked. 26

“Help her Medora,” Marin added before going out.  He walked out to a veranda and looked at the green city. His heart was full of hope and despair. He was sure that Medora – the Elves’ queen – would cure Joanna but he knew that Joanna would never agree to go with him anywhere… He knew that Joanna had nothing but hate towards him. He didn’t blame her as he knew that her parents were killed by his own father. “It wasn’t destined for us to have one journey,” he whispered in sadness.27

After hours of Medora’s struggles to cure Joanna, she opened her red eyes. She looked at Medora with a confused look and whispered, “An elf?” It was easy to figure that out due to the long pointed ears and big yet narrow eyes.28

“You are in the Green Mountain – the city of elves,” answered Medora. “You have tried to break a RedDragon’s word but fortunately you did not succeed in that attempt. Do you know what happens to a RedDragon when a promise is broken?”29

“I was supposed to die…” whispered Joanna feeling pain in her chest with every word she spoke.30

“I don’t care what the promise was and I don’t want to know how you broke it… but the only thing I can tell you is – never break a promise again.”31

“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Joanna gasped. 32

“You don’t seem to know the power of elves, my little girl,” said Medora patiently. “We can see things that happened and that will happen… the past and the future. The only thing I can tell you right now is that Marin is a good person and he is not like other humans. He is an honorable person. The only one I’ve seen in thousands of years…”33

“Honorable? BlueHearts killed my family!”34

“This doesn’t mean he is responsible for what his parents did. He was a small kid. You cannot blame him for that. You cannot blame him for being a BlueHeart. And besides, he wanted to go to the Dragon Valley.”35

“I know that,” Joanna whispered sadly. “But he is a BlueHeart…”36

“I will tell you something, my girl. I have kept this in secret since I’ve seen Marin. I haven’t told him that either. In three thousand years, I haven’t seen a person who would want to change his race so badly… who would wish to be someone else… who would wish for another race… except Marin. His heart is the purest among all humans.”37

“But he is a BlueHeart…”38

“Don’t you see, my girl? He is a good person. I know you know this. RedDragons have the power to feel humans and non-humans. I know what you felt when you saw him for the first time.” Joanna blushed and Medora changed the subject, “He wanted a powerful magician to join him in his journey.”39

“I am not that powerful,” whispered Joanna.40

“Your power lives in your heart,” Medora said and a kind smile grew on her face.  “You are just afraid to use it.”41

“I know…”42

“Anyway, all Marin wants is to restore the honor of the human-dragons…”43

“Really?” whispered Joanna. She remembered the thing she did in the forest and how she tried to kill him. “Where is he?!” she exclaimed and sat up in the bed. “Is he alright?”44

“Just several wounds,” she said and when she saw the look on Joanna’s face she added, “Not deadly wounds.”45

“Where is he? I’ve got to see him!” Joanna tried to stand up but the pain in her chest forced her back into the bed. 46

“You are still very weak, my girl. You have to rest. Close your eyes and sleep.” Medora moved her hand across Joanna’s eyes and Joanna fell into a deep sleep. Medora looked at her peaceful and young face and said, “Sleep now… You won’t be able to catch up with him anyway…”47

Marin looked at the Green Mountain. It was far away but he could still see the lights of the houses. He looked back at his horse and said, “I hope she will be alright. Let us go Alpo. We have a long journey ahead. We need no wizards to help us, do we?” Alpo – the horse – shook its head. Marin smiled sadly and said, “Yeah… I know. I am just saying that.”48