In The Dragon's Shadow: Absolution

By Rufin De Villiers

“This was not the path I had chosen. It was picked for me, and I was forced to walk down its narrow line. It is not something I will accept; it is not something I will submit to. I will fight it, and I will overcome it. What will you do?”

This place was familiar, in a way, somewhat recognisable but sti

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shawline Publishing Group
• Release date: Jul 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9780648733553

Rufin De Villiers

Having grown up on a small farm in the middle of nowhere, the canvas was always vast. Rufin's head is always filled with imaginary worlds and dreams, sometimes for fun, sometimes for escapism, hoping to one day share them with others. He has been writing stories ever since he could read, and has never stopped.

Book preview

In the

Dragons Shadow

Absolution

Rufin De Villiers

In The Dragon’s Shadow: Absolution

Copyright © 2020 by Rufin De Villiers.

All Rights Reserved.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review. 

Cover designed by Shawline Publishing Group Australia 

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. 

Printed in Australia 2020 

First Printing: July 2020

Shawline Publishing Group Aust

www.shawlinepublishing.com.au

ISBN- 978-0-6487335-7-7 Paperback

ISBN- 978-0-6487335-5-3 E-book

Dedicated to my family and friends, who have always tolerated my nigh-insane ramblings with a smile.

Thank you, Rufin.

Chapter I

Tempered Mediocrity

The sun had risen. The room basked in a light it seldom saw, the curtains ripped from the rail and sprawled across the dirty floor. Blood seeped into the cracks of the wood, soiled the carpet, and crept ever closer towards her feet.

She sat in the corner, hugging her knees, her face buried behind them and her eyes just peering over her legs at the mess in front of her. It was the first time she dared to look since it all had gone silent, and immediately she wished she hadn’t.

She released her legs, her knuckles white and her fingers stiff; she crawled across the wooden floor, her hands and knees tracking blood, but she didn’t care. Just in front of her were three bodies, mangled and dismembered. She didn’t know the other two and she didn’t care how they had gotten here; only the one mattered. She took his hand. It was cold and lifeless, completely at odds with whom he had been in life. Her eyes followed his arm till she found his face, and he stared back at her with an empty gaze. She knew life would never return to those eyes; she knew he was gone, the last of her family.

‘Kass.’ A voice called to her from the distance, the blurred haze she had found herself in. ‘Kasari!’

Her eyes refocused, and her mind returned. She was still in class, vaguely remembering how she had gotten here, but all eyes were on her including the lecturers.

‘Kass!’ the same voice called in a fierce whisper from her friend beside her, worriedly clutching her hand. ‘Let go.’

Kasari looked at her hand. The pen’s point had punctured the skin in her white-knuckled grasp, blood dripping to the table. Quickly she released the pen as if it was on fire; it fell to the table rolling a thin trail of blood. ‘Sorry,’ she said quickly, her voice quaking ever so slightly.

The lecturer gave her one last look then continued on as if nothing had happened, the disturbance over.

‘Kass, are you alright?’ came another fierce whisper.

Kasari grabbed her handkerchief from a pocket and wiped away the blood. ‘I’m fine, thanks, Trish,’ she whispered back.

The barrage of whispers continued, doing arguably little to remain unnoticed. ‘You spaced out again!’ Trish snatched the pen before it rolled from the table and tossed it back at Kasari. ‘Are you really okay? Should I fetch Zieg?’

‘Trish, quit it!’ She nudged her. This amount of blood was not even worth the mention, and a number of turning heads offered angry glares at their commotion. ‘He can see from there.’

Trish looked up and to the side, catching a glimpse of him before he looked away again. The pale narrow eyes that glared at Kasari marred his handsome face. That, and the thick jet-black hair hanging loosely around his head, was enough to draw any girl’s attention. But he gave the event little notice.

Trish peeled her eyes from him and gave her best friend a once-over. One wouldn’t think that under that mess of dark brown hair was such a pretty face. But just a glare from her piercing emerald-like eyes would send them scampering away. She was the clumsy ice queen for a reason. The dark demeanour that she forced others to see was all too often ignored or overlooked when she stumbled over her own feet or bumped into a wall; she had to force the façade. Trish could never understand why she did. ‘Let me see!’ She grabbed Kasari’s finger, but there was no wound. Trish looked her in the eye, only a little surprised. ‘Well… I guess it was just a prick.’

Not long after, the class ended, with no further disruptions or distractions. Zieg approached their row and stopped in front of them, his presence not noticed until he spoke, his stern voice only ever used for few words. ‘We need to go, Kasari.’

Trish leapt from her seat in surprise. ‘Zieg!’ she snapped angrily, ‘don’t sneak up on girls like that!’

Kasari never broke his gaze, and neither did he; there was obviously tension here. Finally, Kasari looked away from him and to Trish, packing her things. ‘Okay, I best be off for today. I’ll see you tomorrow, Trish.’

‘No!’ she grabbed Kasari’s sleeve, her escape halted at least for the moment. ‘We made plans for tonight, don’t you remember?’

She did. ‘I’m sorry, Trish, I totally forgot.’ She broke the hold with a twist in her stance; only Zieg would have noticed the martial movement. ‘I’ll make it up to you, promise!’

‘I got nothing from that class,’ she mumbled while they walked the streets, straightening her bag’s strap on her shoulder. ‘It’s as if Mr Dines is speaking a different language.’

The city was alive with people at this time of day. The many buildings towering around them were emptying their staff for the day, and most would be heading home towards the trains and buses, much like they were.

Zieg barely acknowledged her. If he hadn’t spoken, she would have thought he wasn’t listening to her. ‘I’m not there for the trivial pursuit of knowledge that those people convince themselves of. I am only there for you.’

Kasari nodded. She knew this well enough already, yet he would never miss a chance to remind her. ‘I am one of those people, you know, Zieg.’

‘Those people are blind to what goes on around them; they do not know what we face every night for their sake, and you humour them.’ He threw his bag over his shoulder, placing it between them. ‘You are nothing like them, and you would do well to remember that.’

Kasari glared at the back of his head. She had known him a long time, and these outbursts were always aimed at her. He would barely speak to anyone else, but she didn’t consider herself fortunate for it. ‘Do not pretend to know my motives, Zieg. You have your task and I have mine. That is all.’

‘Yes,’ he spat, ‘and I will defend your life. For now.’

‘What say you, Zieg?’

The building was small and secluded. You would not have thought it to exist unless you took the right back alley at the right corner, and even then, it was well hidden. The guard would only answer for a select few, and it would only be on appointment. Inside it was quite different—expensive carpets and drapes wrapped the room in a golden light helped by the crystal chandelier overhead. At the end of the room was a raised podium, counting four wide steps to the top. At the top sat but one individual. His stern face and royal attire gave him an aura of authority and pride, exuded well before he needed to say anything. He looked to Zieg, expecting his answer as short as the question.

Zieg and Kasari were alone with him. Both sat kneeling before him at the lowest step, their belongings on the ground beside them. Zieg bowed ever so slightly; his respect for the authority clearly displayed. ‘Nothing to report, Lord Tyfis,’ he said quickly.

Tyfis stroked his expensively cut beard, his eyes now turning to Kasari. ‘And you, Kasari?’

She didn’t show him any respect, but she was careful not to show her contempt openly. ‘Nothing, Tyfis.’

Zieg shot her a look. ‘Insolence.’

‘Calm, Zieg.’ Tyfis lowered his hand; he remained expressionless. ‘Since her father was my predecessor, I overlook certain tendencies of this… prodigy.’

‘She is that in name only.’

Tyfis smiled at her, but she didn’t respond to it, keeping her eyes closed and her head lowered. His smile widened. ‘Forgive her. For me, Zieg.’ He raised his head slightly, just enough to look over them and to the muted television at the other end of the room. ‘The Order is sworn to protect her, for she is the next.’ The news on the screen did not appeal to him; he seemed to be waiting for something else. ‘And in this modern age, we need to hold our traditions close.’ The news ended, and his eyes found their way back down to the two before him. ‘Money for the reporters, influence for the politicians, blood for the clients, and death for the demons.’

Her eyes opened, her stare neutral, her thoughts empty, and her ears open.

‘I have a contract here,’ Tyfis began, reaching for a piece of paper beside him. ‘Normally I would delegate it to Zieg or someone else in the rank.’ He unfurled the page and held it for himself to read. ‘But perhaps you should take it, Kasari.’

‘Sir?’

‘As tradition, you remain in the Order for one sole reason, but it’s been seven years since we’ve last heard even a whisper.’ He crumpled the paper and tossed it at her lap. ‘Make yourself useful, sharpen your skills, and take that contract.’

Her fingers wrapped around the ball of paper; she stood with her things and walked off the mat towards the door. ‘As you say.’

The door closed behind her, and the icy wind from outside bathed the room for but a moment. Zieg looked at Tyfis, a glimmer of doubt in his eye. ‘Sir, should I accompany her?’

‘No need, Zieg.’ Tyfis motioned a hand for someone at the far end of the room; the servant hurried off. ‘This would hardly be her first contract.’

‘I am aware.’ Zieg dared not show his anger, his doubt. ‘This is not her purpose, however.’

‘No, it is not. But having her around and not doing anything is a waste of my time and her talents.’ The servant reappeared with a steaming clay mug of tea. When Tyfis took it from him, he hurried off out of sight. ‘She is one of the most skilled we have. You know this; you have competed against her numerous times.’

‘I do not doubt her skill.’ Zieg looked away. ‘I doubt her motive.’

Tyfis sipped his tea. ‘So long as I hold her leash, she will need to do as I say. She is bound in duty and fate to face the Dragon.’

She stood out in the open. It seemed to be a construction site far from the suburban jungle behind her, just as she preferred it.

There was a noise, subtle, and just to the side. She knew exactly what it was. It was why she had come here, and it was her target, her contract.

Without warning it struck, sprinting from out the darkness at full speed, its teeth bared. With a quick movement, Kasari spun out of its way, delivering a hard heel to the back of its head. After the tumble, it wrenched itself off the ground and faced her, slightly more composed. His eyes glowed with an ominous red glow, his skin pale and his body thin. He glared at her with his mouth open, fangs where teeth should have been. ‘I was expecting an assassin. To think they would have sent a helpless little girl. Exciting.’ He sneered angrily, an unmistakeable grin across his face.

Kasari ignored him; she wasn’t here to talk. She raised her left hand, holding a sheathed blade, slightly curved, adorned with fantastic patterns and golden decorations upon the scabbard and a brilliant royal red sash wrapped around the hilt, holding the blade sealed.

She unfurled the sash with a few quick tugs and unsheathed the sword. The long slender silver blade glimmered in the moonlight. The shine would have been beautiful had she noticed it, but she was beyond such things. The scabbard fell from her fingers, the blade’s grip firmly in her hand. ‘This blade was not meant for your kind, but it will suffice.’

‘Her line has existed for centuries, and every few decades one is born, one with a power unlike the others. A subtle power.’ Tyfis sipped his tea. He didn’t care if Zieg was listening to him or not, as he wasn’t particularly speaking to him or anyone. ‘When her father found this power, he began to train her. He knew, as does everyone, that the one with that power is the only one who can face it.’

‘The Sorceress,’ Zieg mumbled. This was hardly original news to him. He recognised what she was, and while her past was shrouded in secrecy and concealed from everyone—even if they were in the Order—he knew because she had once told him. To her it wasn’t a secret that needed to be kept; to her it wasn’t a duty she would abide by; to her it was something less, something trivial, something she obviously hadn’t accepted, or refused to.

‘There are plenty of mages, witches, warlocks, but there is only one of her kind. It has been so for more than a thousand years. Special,’ Tyfis scoffed, taking another sip. ‘That is why we keep her around, Zieg. That is why we tolerate her presence, and that is why you watch her.’ He glared at the television over Zieg’s head but still didn’t see anything of interest. ‘And it is the only thing the Dragon fears. That power.’

Blood spilled to the ground, staining it red. The cold sand and pebbles glistened in the moonlight. The battle was decided.

A roar came from him, last and desperate. His fangs receded back into his mouth as he fell silent, then slipped to the ground.

Kasari stood a few feet from the creature. She watched the corpse as it withered before her, her eyes glittering with a magical blue light. Then she lifted the scabbard from the ground and sheathed the sword. It sealed with a snap, and that was all it took.

Tyfis placed the empty clay mug aside and took the moment to glare at Zieg. ‘I need you to watch her more diligently.’

‘Has something happened?’

‘No, not yet, but I need you to keep this from her for now.’

‘I shall do as you say, sir.’

Tyfis nodded. He liked the show of respect he always received from Zieg. ‘There have been sightings.’

‘Sightings?’

‘Dragon sightings.’

Her apartment was small yet warm. There were just enough memories spread through the rooms to keep her complacent but not to hold her back. Pictures adorned the walls, and oriental artefacts stood on tables. The sash-wrapped sword was one of them, held up on a desk by a wooden stand.

Kasari left the shower, a white nightgown clinging to her clammy skin. She stood at the window, taking a look at the city from so high up. Her fingers found the glass and here, in the dark, she stared out at the buildings and the twinkling lights for a long while. She considered today’s events, what had happened, and what was to come. It filled her with a quiet anxiety she could not explain, dangerously close to overflowing. But she would face it; she would overcome it. After all, it was her destiny.

Chapter II

From the Depths

A month had passed. Not much had changed in that time. The normal life Kasari strived for carried on, and Zieg’s careful watch over her remained though now she had less time, her evenings filled with the contracts Tyfis had given her. In the