Dragon in Disguise

Viren was in his room doing nothing. More specifically, he was relishing the fact that he was able to easily do nothing. After he, along with Lord Kastra’s army, returned two days ago the fortress had been a very chaotic place. Thus, he had been given the week off of training, news which Viren had been very relieved to hear. Because training sucked.

Viren’s room was an average size and rectangular shape. On the wall closest to the entrance was a door to his bathroom. Against the far wall was his bed and at the foot of his bed was a storage chest. Across from the door was a bookshelf taller than it was wide, and across from his bed was a desk piled with random clutter. With stone walls and a hard wooden floor the room was often cold so there was a fur carpet in front of the bookshelf and another one underneath the bed. Between the bookshelf and bed was a large window with heavy dark blue curtains covering it. Because the middle of the room was quite spacey it made for a good place to practice sword/spell work.

While working on his skills would certainly be a good use of Viren’s time, he had the week off, so he was going to laze around doing whatever he wanted. Within reason, of course. ‘I would’ve liked to spread my wings a little,’ he thought, looking out at the sunny day through the window. ‘But we can’t have a dragon flying around in bold daylight, can we?’ He sighed and let the curtain drop before walking over to the bookshelf and pulled out his favorite book. A book of dragon fairytales.

It was a rare book, written by a dragon of course, and enchanted so that only those of dragon descent could open it. It had taken Viren many months to find it, and it was extremely difficult to sneak out of the castle to buy the special book, but it was worth it. Although it was extremely valuable, that was not the reason Viren treasured it. He loved it because it contained many of the tales his mother used to tell him. That, and that it connected him to others of his kind. Though there were dragon clans, which are exactly what they sound like, dragons didn’t typically have much contact with other dragons. Not only are they super rare, but they also don’t really get along with each other. However, one thing that dragons as a species pride themselves on are their feats. Adventures and triumphs that were turned into stories and told to young dragons. The one thing that gave nearly every dragon something in common.

Viren settled down to read the book, happy that no one would bother him. He sat there reading for several hours before hunger caught up to him. ‘I wonder how hard it would be to smuggle some food and a tiny cookstove up to my room,’ he thought. He sat there for several more minutes, staring upward and wondering about the pros and cons of hiding a tiny kitchen in his room before getting up with a groan. He stretched and grunted. “probably shouldn’t have stayed in the same position for so long,” he said with a regretful sigh.

Using the aid of his shadow magic to sneak through the halls, Viren made his way to the kitchens, careful not to get seen by anyone. Slipping through the fortress had become a game of sorts for Viren, a way to keep himself occupied when he was younger. Every time he successfully snuck through the fortress without getting seen gave him a thrill, even now when it was an effortless task. Arriving at the kitchens, Viren slipped in, grabbed a small loaf of bread and some jerky, and slipped out. The busy staff and cooks didn’t give him a second thought. Upon reaching the safety of his room, Viren ate the food before settling back in for a long night of reading.

…

A week passed, and it was back to life as usual. And that meant, to his great annoyance, that Viren was back to training with General Kauhea.

Currently, Viren was doing warm up exercises in the training courtyard. None of the soldiers passing by gave him anything more than a passing glance as they bustled around the barracks. The back of the fortress opened westward to the training courtyard with the three main barrack buildings surrounding it. The front of the fortress faced east and opened up to the main courtyard. The main courtyard was where the stable and storehouse was and was where imports and other business was attended to. Surrounding the entire fortress was a thick wall with two huge wooden gates that were enchanted to be fireproof. To the south and west the fortress is surrounded by mountains and to the north was a forest. There was a dirt road leading out the front of the fortress.

Viren had just finished his warmups when General Kauhea arrived. “What are you standing there doing nothing for? The heir of the Dark Lord shouldn’t be standing around doing nothing!”

“You’re right, sir. I shall remedy that next session.” Viren knew better than to argue, it would only be a bigger pain for him. He was used to this by now, the General always found something to criticize.

“Idiot! In battle, if you make a mistake, you’re dead! There will be no chance to ‘remedy that next session.’” Kauhea paused to smirk. “Obviously I can see that you are not going to win any battles.”

“How strange, perhaps that’s because of who my teacher is.” Viren tilted his head slightly, his words like icy venom. “A coward who loses his most important battle.” …Probably shouldn’t have said that.

The general’s face went red, and he clenched his jaw. ‘It wasn’t even that good of an insult! I guess his recent loss affected him more than I thought.’ He groaned inwardly. ‘I REALLY shouldn’t have said that.’ His thoughts were interrupted by the general.

“Well,” he said through clenched teeth, “I have decided what we will do today.” He seemed to relax a little, and that smug smirk crawled back onto his face. “We will be sparring with pikes.” ‘Great,’ Viren thought. He had almost no experience with a pike, and it was General Kauhea’s main weapon.

Viren and General Kauhea each got a wooden training pike with a blunted edge. The general grinned as he and Viren circled each other, while Viren kept his face impassive. He jumped back to avoid the first thrust of the spear and dodged the second one. Viren didn’t know how to block with this weapon, so he was forced to dodge while keeping hold of the long and awkward thing. He fumbled, and Kauhea used the opportunity to jam his spear into Viren’s ribs. He groaned as the sharp pain struck him, already dreading the bruise that would come later. Backing up a few steps, Viren took a moment to study his opponent. He might have been able to hold his own if he had his sword, or even the use of his magic, but he was allowed neither during the spar, and he couldn’t exactly drop the pike to dodge easier. He sighed as he prepared for the beatdown that was about to come, cursing himself for his earlier comment.

…

Viren was back in his room treating his injuries. There wasn’t much he could do but apply ice to his bruises and a little bit of disinfecting oil to the small scratches where the pike had broken skin, but it helped. And hey, he didn’t have any broken bones, which he considered a win. Although he supposed the General had taken care not to break any bones on purpose, as it would probably be frowned upon by Kastra. It wouldn’t do to humiliate his heir too terribly in front of the staff, though in private was a different matter. He fell back on his bed and groaned. “General Kauhea is literally Kastra’s right-hand man! Doesn’t he have better things to do than beat me up and call it training?!”

Yes, General Kauhea was his stepfather’s most trusted general and advisor. He was a brilliant general. His strategizing was only decent, but the command he had over his men was absolute, and his fighting prowess was incredible. However, none of these virtues were the reason why he was the right-hand man of Lord Kastra, though they certainly helped. Rather, they worked so well together because their goals aligned. Kastra wanted power and authority more than anything. He wanted to be a dark tyrant, conquering and ruling everything worth anything. Meanwhile, Kauhea cared about none of that. He only wanted two things in life, to fight and to be feared. You can see why they work so well together. And between the two of them, they made life for Viren incredibly difficult, not to mention literally everyone else.

A light knock on the door woke Viren from his reverie. He got up with a grimace and opened the door to reveal a rather nervous-looking servant. The servant cleared his throat and opened his mouth, then closed it again. Viren wondered what had got him so spooked. After regaining his composure, the servant opened his mouth once more.

“Lord Kastra wants to see you. He said to be there within the half hour.”