Dragons in the Dream Realms

Astra was staring at the palace, transfixed. Her hands had begun to shake and her eyes were wide open in terror. "Princess Astra," whispered Fred, "remember: this is only a dream." But the words rang false to him even as he said them. He now knew that there was no such thing as only a dream. Should he survive, he would go to sleep much more uneasily than he did before.

"I know," she whispered back. "But this place--it seems so real. This was my home..." She tried to look away, desperately holding back tears, but her eyes alighted on a statue of a tall and proud warrior woman, holding her sword aloft. "Fred... I don't remember that statue being there."

"Let's take a look at it," said Fred. They walked toward the statue, with Alexander following silently behind. The tip of its sword and its left arm had fallen apart, but even in its state of ruin Fred could see what a magnificent piece of work it was. It fully conveyed the beauty, strength and power of its subject. In fact, it looked exactly like Astra herself. Was this one of her ancestors? Then he saw there was an inscription on the bottom, written in the strange and elegant script of the Aqualarians. "Astra, look," he said, pointing at the inscription. "What does this say?"

"It says..." said Astra. She hesitated. "It says 'Princess Astra of Aqualaria, born 2998 RH, slain by the Dragon of the Northern Caves 3020 RH." And then they heard the beating of vast wings in the distance and saw a dark shape moving swiftly through the clouds. The Dragon had returned.

And then Fred was once more in the Southern Caves, in the room near the volcano. The heat was so stifling he could barely think. As before, the Dragon bore down upon him with the swiftness of an adder. As before, Fred parried his stroke but was sent falling to the ground, knowing in his heart that this fight was doomed.

It took him a moment to realize that he was not alone. In the distance he could hear a female voice screaming a terrible war-cry and the clash of steel against dragonskin. He could see the silhouette of a strong and powerful woman fighting the Dragon, futilely striking with her sword and evading its terrible blows as he had once done. He remembered that he was not in the caves and he was not alone. Nor was he armed with the armor and weapons he had worn before. For he bore Steelfang, the sword of Sigmund Ravenhelm, the sword that slew the sorcerer-wyrm Euryalus, the sword that, according to legend, was forged by sorcery and imbued with the power of dragonbane.

Fred echoed Astra's battle-cry with his own and leaped at the Dragon, slashing at it with Steelfang. To his glee the blade cut through the Dragon's hide. Astra, who had now seen him and who was growing clearer and more definite every moment, was joining in as well. She could not wound the wyrm but her swift strokes kept it off balance. Her striking at its head, narrowly dodging its bursts of flame, left its belly exposed to Fred. He tensed and moved in to strike. But then he heard the beating of wings once more. Another dragon was swooping in, just as large and powerful as the first. Fred felt a twisting in his gut. Even with the sword of Ravenhelm, he knew he was doomed.

But in the distance he could see the outline of a third person: Alexander. Alexander's lantern grew brighter and he raised his arms in a ceremonial gesture. He spoke seemingly unpronounceable words in a weird tongue and then they were surrounded by billowing mists. The mists grew so thick that they could not see each other or the dragons--which meant that the dragons could not see them. They each let out a screech of futile rage. And then heard the beating of dragon wings for the last time--for now--as they flew off.

The mists faded away and Fred found himself, Astra and Alexander in a dark forest with no buildings or statues in sight. Astra still stood with her sword in her hand, and only gradually relaxed when she saw the dragons were gone. Her face was set with a fierce expression but her hands were shaking and she seemed on the verge of tears. Fred suspected the same was true of him.

"Astra," said Fred finally, "are you well?" His voice was hoarse.

"Fred, I--I couldn't hurt them. I'm sorry. I was weak! I am a warrior born, of the blood of Hippolyta, and I couldn't even hurt it!" Now she was shaking with rage and sadness.

"Astra, you were not weak. To fight a wyrm, even a weak one, is harrowing even for the strongest of men--of warriors You faced the Dragon with all your strength, and that is what matters. Even though I have known you only for moments, I can see you have the soul of a true Dragonslayer."

If Astra resented him at all for his slip, she did not show it. He reached out to put her arm around her shoulder. At first she drew back, as if ready to strike at him, but then she relaxed and let him hold her. "Thank you," she whispered.

Fred remembered that as the heir to a line of amazons, she would likely have great pride of sex. "You need not feel ashamed before me, my lady. I fared no better against the foul beast when I faced it. The only reason I was able to wound it is because of this sword I bear. It was forged by magic, and enchanted with the power of Dragonbane."

"And perhaps I could create one myself," said Astra. She had regained some of her self- possession and dignity. She closed her eyes and her lantern flared up. The sword in her hand shifted into a virtual duplicate of Fred's own, and she grinned widely. "It would seem there is some advantage to being in these lands," she said. "And you need not call me 'my lady.' Astra will suffice." She smiled ever so slightly.

"I am honored to do so, Astra," said Fred. He realized that that even begrimed with the sweat of a recent battle she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

"I'm glad to hear of it," said Alexander. "But aren't either of you going to thank me?"

Astra, realizing that Alexander had seen and heard all of her outburst, drew herself higher and put on her queenly dignity. "I am sorry, Alexander," she said through gritted teeth. "It was a harrowing battle that I fought. I barely escaped with my life."

"Which of course was due to me," said Alexander.

"And so was our almost being slaughtered by those damned dragons in the first place!" shouted Fred. He realized that perhaps he should have kept silent, but Alexander only laughed. "You'll have to get a better attitude soon, Fred. Many far worse dangers lie ahead of us."

"I never said you could call me Fred."

"I've never seen anyone who doesn't," said Alexander, smiling especially smugly. "'Lord Frederigo D'Honaire' is quite a mouthful."

"Disregard him," whispered Astra sternly. "He wants to get a rise out of you."

By now the mists had faded and Fred could see that they were facing the Castle D'Honaire. It was not deserted and decayed, as the Themysciran palace had been. Guards stood at the gate and noblemen, servants and messengers were entering the gates. Fred felt a poignant sorrow at seeing his home, when in truth he was so far away from it. "I wonder what challenge could await me here?" he said. "I doubt a dragon or monster would be so bold to venture here even in dreams."

"The less likely something is to happen in the waking world," said Alexander, "the more likely it is to happen here." Just then,

1. Fred was greeted enthusiastically by a lovely blonde woman, who was most definitely not his sister.
2. Fred was approached by a man in armor. "What are you waiting for!" he shouted. "The examination is in ten minutes!"

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