Rand’s stomach churned as he glanced at the setting sun on the horizon. Despite traveling for four days, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was safer in Ry than he was out here. The terrain had long since changed from grassy fields to rough hills and slopes, and he felt his energy draining with every passing minute.

He sighed, looked back at the large silent hero walking twenty paces in front of him, and wrinkled his nose. There was no doubt in his mind anymore about the sulfuric smell.

“We’ll rest here for a moment,” Davion said, stopping and turning to the two brothers.

“I’ll gather wood for a fire,” Favi said.

“No.” Davion caught the young man by the arm as he turned to leave. “I said rest, not sleep. We will not be making camp tonight.”

“What?” Rand blurted out.

Davion glared at the outburst. “This area is filled with hill trolls. Would you prefer to lose sleep or lose your life?” Rand shrunk back from the hero’s gaze, eliciting a chuckle from the knight. “Why do you cower? Has your magic sword given you no courage?”

“I…” Rand looked at his feet.

“Not at the ground, boy. Look at me.”

“Sir Davion,” Favi began, “he’s just a…”

Davion, held up his hand. “Look. At. Me.”

Taking a deep breath, Rand placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and raised his eyes to meet the fiery gaze of the knight above him. As the seconds passed, Rand tried to keep himself from trembling. Just when he felt he was about to break, Davion grinned and turned away, walking down the road.

“Let’s be off. We can’t afford to waste any more time.”

“What was that about?” Favi whispered.

Rand breathed a sigh of relief. Something inside of him felt different. A strange invigoration that completely overpowered the fatigue he had felt from the day’s journey. He turned to his brother and shrugged. “Let’s go. He’s going to leave us behind.”

Their trek through the night was slow and tedious. Every so often Davion would stop and scan his surroundings, his hand occasionally resting on the hilt of his sword.

As Rand peered into the hills, he could almost swear there were little shining eyes blinking at him from the shadows. A quick look at his brother confirmed that he was not alone in his fear. A shiver ran up his spine as he tried to distinguish the light breeze from distant whispers.

“What is this place?” Favi muttered under his breath.

“The Bleeding Hills,” Davion replied. “Or at least the outskirts of it. The road will wind to the west soon, and we will be safe. Until then, keep your eyes open and your voices down.”

Before either brother could respond, a long, melancholy horn blast pierced the air, soon followed by dozens of others.

“What was that?” Rand asked, whipping his head from side to side.

Davion cursed under his breath and scanned the hills. “They’re coming for us. We have to go. Now.” Without another word, he turned and ran down the path. The brothers wasted no time in following.

The noises were unmistakable now. Scurrying and excited shrieking seemed to come from every direction, although no matter how hard he tried, Rand couldn’t see anything more than fleeting shadows. A stone whistled past his ear and clattered to the ground behind him, followed by another and another. “They’re attacking us,” he cried, fighting to force away the panic.

“Keep running,” Davion called back, deflecting a stone with his bracer.

“But you’re a hero. Can’t you stop them?” Favi asked in between heavy breaths. No sooner had he spoken than a mob of small yellow bodies leapt off of the surrounding rock, gleeful cackles echoing over the hills.

Rand toppled to the ground as troll after troll landed on top of him, and before he could cry out for help there were dozens of hands pinning him to the ground accompanied by delighted unintelligible chatter. He tried to move and reach his sword, but with every troll he shook off, two more seemed to take his place.

“Well look at this tasty thing,” a hill troll said as he bent down over Rand. “Bones would do well in a stew, I say.” It grinned, showing a grisly set of long white teeth.

“Sir Davion, do something,” Favi cried out from somewhere beside them.

Rand tried to shrink away from the troll above him, as its tongue snaked out of its mouth and saliva dripped from his jaws. But the troll stopped and looked up in surprise, as a large billow of smoke rose from the ground, evenloping everything around them. Rand felt the grips of the trolls loosen as they began to cough.

Just as he was about to break free, a troll cried out in terror, causing all eyes turned to a hulking shadow, shaking itself free of the miniscule trolls that held tightly to its skin.

Rand’s eyes opened wide, as the ashes and smoke cleared from the air, giving a clear view of the gigantic beast.

“Dragon!” a troll screamed out from the crowd. The mob of trolls ran about in a frenzy, desperately stepping on each other in an effort to scale the rock they had come from.

Free from the clutches of the trolls, Rand leapt to his feet, but covered his head and ears as the dragon roared, a sticky green substance flying from its jowls.

“Rand!”

Turning to the voice, Rand saw his brother motioning to him.

“Hurry. We have to run”

Rand nodded and ran after his brother in the opposite direction. Looking back, he saw the dragon clawing at the rock and batting aside what few unlucky trolls had been left behind. “Where’s Sir Davion?” he called up to his brother.

“I don’t know.”

“What if the dragon’s got him? We have to go help.” Rand stopped and turned back toward the beast.

“Rand, stop!” Favi, turned and sprinted back to his brother. “We can’t help him.”

“But I’ve got this.” Rand drew his sword from its sheath. “We have to do something.”

Favi paused and looked at his brother in disblelief. He pursed his lips for a moment before leaping forward and snatching the sword from his brother’s hand. “I’ll go,” he said the before he started toward the dragon.

“Favi, wait.” Rand ran after his brother, but before he could do anything, Favi leapt at the green wyrm, a loud cry coming from his throat. He swung the sword, but the blade harmlessly bounced off of the dragon’s scales, sending Favi sprawling on the ground.

The dragon froze and turned to its attacker. Rand gasped and grabbed the sword from the dirt, standing over his brother. “Get back!” he cried out, closing his eyes and swinging his weapon with all of his might. Rand felt the blade sink into the dragon’s skin as if it was human flesh, and covered his ears as the mighty beast bellowed in pain. He withdrew his sword and resumed his stance over his brother, poised to strike again.

“Rand, stop!” the dragon shouted in a deep, threatening voice.

Rand froze, eyeing the dragon warily. “How do you know my name?”

“It’s me, Davion, you imbecile.”

“What?” With a confused grunt, Rand lowered the sword to his side. “Sir Davion?” He gasped as smoke once again surrounded him and the large dragon seemed to change forms in the shadows, and once again resumed the figure of a man, who groaned and dropped to one knee. “Sir Davion!” Rand dropped his sword leapt forward to assist the wavering knight. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that—”

“Enough,” Davion commanded, grabbing at his leg which had a gaping, bleeding wound. “How did you do this?”

“I don’t know. I just attacked you and—”

“With that?” the hero pointed at the rapier lying on the ground.

“Yes,” Rand eyed the sword uneasily. “I just—”

“Favi,” Davion called out.

“Yes, Sir Davion.” Favi stood to his feet, and clutched his head.

“Cut some of your shirt, I’m going to need you to bind my wound. Thanks to your brother, you’re going to have to help me walk the rest of the way. We have to move quickly, I need to see a healer, and we’re not out of the Hills yet.”

“Yes, sir,” Favi said, and jumped to complete the assigned tasks.

“Sir Davion, I’m very sorry,” Rand said.

The knight grunted and sighed in response before turning to Favi. “Come, Ora isn’t much farther.”

~~~

“My liege.” Dragonus landed on the ornate marble flooring and dropped to one knee. “I’ve just returned from leading the troop on the scouting mission.”

“Indeed,” the queen said, showing him little interest. “And what have you found?”

“Troubling news, Your Majesty.”

“Oh?”

At last it seemed as if something would hold her juvenile attention for a brief moment. “Yes, Your Majesty. The earth below seems to be…altered.”

The queen sat up in her chair. “Altered? How so?”

“I’m not quite sure yet, but it seems to be connected to the falling crystal and broken moon. It seems the areas surrounding the greatest craters are either beginning to wither and die, or spring up with vibrant new life.”

“Well, death is expected. But life?” The queen pursed her lips reclined on her throne. “Do you have any ideas, oh Learned One?”

Dragonus ground his teeth, he hated her with everything inside of him. “No, Your Majesty.”

“I didn’t suspect so. Well, go converse with the wise men of the Eyrie, discover the cause behind all of this and report back immediately. Understood?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Dragonus bowed again and took to his wings to leave the chamber. Every time he spoke to the queen he left seething with rage. And although he could do nothing against her himself due to the limitations on his magic, perhaps this crystalline upset could provide just the edge he needed to bring justice to the Ghastly Eyrie.