Krysel

Copy Write 1999

This story and all White Witch World characters, places, and events are the sole Property of Anthony Olheiser, and can not be reproduced in whole or in part
Without the written permission of Anthony Olheiser.

I

Another bolt of shearing pain shot through Krysel's body! Her massive reptilian form collapsed splashing mud and stagnant water in all directions. She had just endured a day and two nights of endless running. No sleep, very little to eat, and constant agony from her injured wing, was finally claiming its do. The young dragon could run no further!

The cloud-covered sky was one thing working in her favor, no moon! The humans that pursued her through the misty swamp would have a lot of difficulty seeing, slowing their relentless pursuit. She had tried to get away! Her father had screamed at her to run while he created a diversion to give his daughter time to escape. Flight was out of the question with her injured wing, and now she could go no further!

The dragon's clouded mind began to drift, bringing up a vision of her, and her mother, sunning themselves in the desert. She watched her father circling in the sky above, his massive wings riding the warm air currents. How she long for those days again! Days filled only with the simple worries of day-to-day dragon life. Those peaceful days were shattered by the rise in power of the warlock, Hertenan, and his evil cult. A religion hell bent on destroying all dragons! Where had this warlock come from? How did he get his powers?

Krysel recalled her father coming home late several nights to their lair, exhausted from debating these questions with the council and what they were to do about Hertennan. Some argued that they needed to know more about the warlock's origin before they destroyed him. That way they would have the knowledge to prevent another like him from rising to power and threat again. Others on the dragon council maintained they could learn what they needed later, after destroying Hertenan, before any more dragons died needlessly. Krysel could see that the long centuries of peace had left all the different lines of dragons splintered in their own desires and beliefs, unable to unite as they had been before. Long ago, her kind had worked together to eradicate an evil that had enslaved the world of that distant time.

The female dragon could sense the humans only moments away from discovering her. She tried

to clear the fog in her mind the best that she could, preparing for the confrontation that was now inevitable. Krysel knew that she was going to be killed in the fight ahead, but she was determined that she wasn't going alone! The young dragon would destroy as many of her persecutors as she could, all away to the better end! That was why she had finally stopped running. To conserve what little strength she had left. Krysel would fight to her death!

Gradually, flickering torchlight began to illuminate the mist around her. Soon, dark silhouettes surrounded her huge form. Half submerged in the dark, murky water of the swamp, the dragon must have appeared already dead to the humans. They covered their nostrils from the rotten smell emanating from her infected wound.

This was perfect! Just as Krysel had planned. Soon they were all within her reach as they cautiously came forward to examine her more closely.