Dragon Valley part 6

................Part 6: Encounter at The Knowledge Castle..........1

“I’m not good at this!” sobbed Joanna, as she buried her head in her knees. They stopped only when they were in the middle of the forest. “I’m not good at anything! I can’t even use magic properly… all the magic I am good at is fire… and it is so weak! And how can I live without magical disguise in this world?! Everybody is seeking my death…”2

“I’m not…”3

“I know,” Joanna sobbed. Her heart froze and she looked up in surprise. “You talk!” she exclaimed, all the tears disappearing from her eyes at once.4

“Yes, my lady, I do talk,” Lava answered. Her voice had a beautiful vibration. 5

“W… But… Why haven’t you talked before?” Joanna asked.6

“I didn’t need to,” Lava answered.7

“Wow! What else can you do?!” Joanna’s interest rose up to the optimum. 8

“Well… I don’t know yet,” answered Lava. “I just thought that horses do talk…”9

“Hehehe… Well they don’t,” laughed Joanna. But soon the smile slithered away from her face and she whispered, “So what should I do? Travel only at night? I was alone since childhood and there was nobody to teach me… I know nothing…”10

“Maybe there is a way to know,” Lava said. “Like books…”11

“Yes!” yelled Joanna, making Lava jerk. “You are a genius! This is your second skill… I know a castle… It is called The Castle of Knowledge. Actually, it is a gigantic library. We will go there,” she looked at the shining sun and added, “when it will get dark.”12

The sky turned black and the stars had sneaked onto it. Lava was silently jogging through the woods. They were heading back to the crossroad – that meant they had to pass the Poltroon Village. It was simple as Joanna crossed it as a blaze of thunder. This time, they chose the Philosopher’s Path. After a while, they stopped in front of a small city. The houses had no light in their windows and everybody seemed to be asleep. Lava was not producing any sounds as she jogged, so it was easy to reach the Castle of Knowledge without being noticed by anyone…13

“I’ll be back soon,” Joanna promised as she climbed off. She pushed the castle’s door and sneaked in. She knew that the main library was on the third floor as the first and the second were only about the wide history of humans – she used to hear a lot about it.14

The darkness on the third floor was giving Joanna the feeling of blindness. Not even a single light. She pointed her finger up and a small flame appeared on its tip. Joanna could see only what was two feet close to her. She walked along the shelves looking for the letter ‘R’. 15

“Random Idols… Ratings of Life…” Joanna whispered as she went through every title. “Rebecca’s Research Upon Plants… Records of Joseph… Records of Death… RedDra…”16

“Who’s there?!” a man’s voice asked suddenly. 17

Joanna put her finger tip in her mouth and darkness ruled over the place again. Her heart was beating so hard that she was afraid that the man would hear it. The last thing she wanted at that moment was to encounter with anybody… She knew the reaction of any human or nonhuman to a RedDragon… She already regretted that she wasn’t in her magical disguise…18

“Who’s there?!” the man asked again.19

Joanna could hear slow footsteps coming closer to her position. Her heart was beating faster and faster… Suddenly, the footsteps vanished and scary silence took over the place. It was so frightening – Joanna couldn’t even see her own hand when she held it up. Unexpectedly, bright light blinded her…20

“A RedDragon?” whispered the man. Joanna opened her eyes but she couldn’t see him clearly as the light was striking her right into the eyes. “I began to lose hope that human-dragons, other than BlackDragons, are left alive…”21

“Pushing field!” Joanna tried to keep her voice as low as possible – she needed no more humans attacking her at that night. 22

The light blinding Joanna didn’t even tremble. The man laughed and said, “Don’t even exhaust your powers… You won’t be able to make your magic even reach me.”23

“Fire ball!” Joanna was not willing to surrender.24

She didn’t even see the flash of the fire. It literally disappeared once released. “Don’t even try, RedDragon. It is useless. You better stop,” the man jeered.25

“F… Fire… Fire arrow!”26

“That is it, RedDragon!” the man’s mockery switched to anger. Joanna felt pain in her whole body as if thousands of needles were cleaving her. She immediately lost control of her muscles and she fell down on the cold floor. She was helplessly lying there and regretting for not using a magical disguise and for getting herself into this ‘travel’ for about the tenth time. 27

“Why did I give that crazy word?” Joanna asked herself. She had nothing in her mind but the picture of Marin telling her about dignity. “Damn you!” she whispered.28

“Why are you so aggressive?” the man asked. The light moved away letting Joanna see his face. He was tall, wide-shouldered and defiantly strong forty-year-old man. He had brown hair and eyes and his white smile was as shiny as the light coming out of his magical stick. “Listen… I don’t want to kill you. I’m not a knight, what is obvious. Just be calm, alright?”29

Joanna felt her body again and sat up. She looked at the man with fear and asked, “You are really not going to kill me?”30

“Yeah,” the man smiled. “What is a RedDragon doing here? In the Knowledge Castle?”31

“I wanted to… know more about magic,” Joanna said with tears crawling into her eyes. “I-I-I wanted t-to know m-m-more about R-R-RedDragons…”32

“Why? I mean… What for? Don’t you already know?” the man asked in care. Joanna told him that her parents were murdered when she was a kid and there was nobody to teach her anything. “Oh… I am sorry to hear that. So why did you want to learn more about RedDragons?”33

“I am going to the Dragon Valley,” answered Joanna. 34

“The Dragon Valley? I see… Can I come with you then?” the man inquired.35

Joanna did not expect such a thing to happen. She was happy to know that a powerful man like him would join her but she was not sure of his sincerity. Maybe he was another person seeking her death and the money for that. Suspicious, she was, due to the cruel life she had…36

“Why?” she asked.37

“Why? Because I’ve heard a lot about the Dragon Valley and I’d really want to spend sometime with a human-dragon. I had been researching about human-dragons for eternity and now I have the opportunity to be with one.”38

Something in what he said sounded quite discomforting like, “to be with one.” Joanna knew exactly what he meant but still… it sounded quite wrong.39

Joanna agreed. She had nothing else to do. He was strong enough to protect her and she was going to die from something else if not from him. She was trying to be as positive as she could…40

“What a beautiful horse,” the man remarked, looking at Lava. “I guess you got it from the Green Mountain.”41

“H…How did you know?” Joanna asked.42

The man held his hand out and introduced himself, “Lumin Luminous.”43

“Huh! What a freaky name!” Joanna thought and immediately added loudly, “Are you reading my mind right now?”44

“No,” Lumin answered in wonder. “It is illegal. But should I?”45

Joanna raised one eyebrow. What a question was that? He didn’t act as he was forty – he acted more like a teenager. She climbed Lava and she asked, “Where to, my lady?”46

“It talks!” Lumin exclaimed.47

“She talks,” Joanna corrected him. “Her name is Lava.”48

It was Lumin’s turn to raise an eyebrow. He obviously didn’t like the name. He climbed his own black horse and jogged next to Joanna. 49

“To the forest, Lava,” Joanna said not taking her eyes off Lumin. “We have to rest.”50

Joanna and Lumin were exchanging strange looks. Something just stood between them from the beginning. She knew he was older than her and she should have respect for him but she just couldn’t. Something was not right…51