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  TAJA’S DRAGON

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One: A Strange Series of Introductions

  Chapter Two: Unfair Judgement

  Chapter Three: A Lesson Given, a Lesson Received

  Chapter Four: A Pleasant Surprise

  Chapter Five: The Unplanned Evening

  Chapter Six: In the Light of a New Day

  Chapter Seven: Blood, Sweat, and Tears

  Chapter Eight: The Witch in the Ward

  Chapter Nine: The First Gamble

  Chapter Ten: The Meaning of Sacrifice

  Chapter Eleven: Admitting Defeat

  Preview of Taja’s Dragon

  Ailey’s Dragon

  By: Lisa Daniels

  Chapter 1

  A Strange Series of Introductions

  As she stepped out of the inn, Ailey placed a hand over her eyes. The sun was bright, causing her a moment of discomfort after a restless night in the tiny inn. The couple who ran it were very friendly, even making fun of the state of their offering, and this endeared them to the rare traveler who stopped for the night. Ailey’s difficulty in sleeping was more a result of her inability to stop thinking than it was about the accommodations. The inn was at a small cross-roads about halfway between Yuezhi’s capital, Antakya, and the prosperous but deeply troubled city of Melzi. Melzi was the largest city in the neighboring country of Bagrada. Until two years ago, Melzi was one of the most populous cities on the continent. Then it was struck by a plague for which no cure had been found. Over one third of the population of the city had already died, and it as said nearly another third had contracted the illness, not that Ailey believed much of the gossip. They also said that the disease would kill anyone who contracted it within a day. If that were the case, the entire city would have already been wiped out. Regardless of how much exaggeration had come out of the city, one thing was certain – the illness was claiming more lives than any other plague had in over a millennium. And it was certainly true that no cure had been found. The number of people who had contacted her over the last two years was ample indication that healers were completely baffled by the ailment. Their frustration was usually punctuated by silence as the illness eventually claimed them. New medics would make their way to the city, but the results had been the same. Not everyone had died; there were still a few healers and medics in the city, one of whom had been there since the early days, but over three-quarters of those who had gone to help had died of the ailment. Over the last few months, the Medics Association had found it harder to send people to the city because so many of their people’s lives had already been claimed. They could not send everyone to one city, not when there was an entire continent that had other medical troubles, including war, a bizarre illness in another major city that only affected children, and increasing monster attacks. They could not afford to continue to send so many medics into the city with such high risks.

  It was strange, but the illness did not appear to occur anywhere else. Those who had fled the city with the disease had died, but no one they encountered had contracted the ailment. Of course, they had tried to keep people from leaving, but it was difficult as the governmental infrastructure had faltered under so much uncertainty. It had given them a strange data point that no one knew how to interpret. Apart from living in the city, there was no commonality among those who had contracted the plague. Just as many nobles and wealthy inhabitants had died as people in the slums who had succumbed to the illness. Three of the queen’s eight children had died, and one had recently started to show symptoms.

  At 33 years old, Ailey was old enough to have a wealth of knowledge, but still young enough to have the energy to make long treks without any assistance. Medics worked alone for as long as they could because the more ground they covered, the more assistance they could provide. Once their energy levels, or personal circumstances, required the use of a helper or companion, medics tended to settle into a region that they loved, offering their expertise to the lucky people who lived around them. There were some older medics who still chose to travel, like Ailey’s mentor, and there were young medics who settled down as soon as they had earned their medical clearance. It wasn’t exactly a safe profession, of which Ailey was well aware. Of the 25 people who had graduated at the same time as her, only 11 of them were still alive, nine of whom had settled down before they turned 30. Medics tended to be women, but that did not mean they were spared. Those who joined the profession usually did so knowing that there was a very good chance that they would not make it to 30. Medics were well-respected nearly everywhere they went because everyone knew what the Medic patch meant about a person. However, ailments and circumstance did not care, and it was the fact that medics actively went into dangerous places that meant they were less likely to reach middle age.

  Those who did reach middle age were among the hardiest and knowledgeable humanoids in the world. They were also incredibly cynical and could identify a lie almost before it was out of the speaker’s mouth. Any medic over 30 years old who was still on the road was not someone a creature of intelligence would bother.

  The vast majority of medics were humans, but it was not compulsory. Other species occasionally joined, though their motives were usually less noble. Some humanoids sent their young into the profession to learn more about humans, which was allowed as long as the humanoid worked as a medic for at least 20 years (most non-humans were at much lower risk because of their innate abilities, usually tending toward magic). Some humanoids joined out of curiosity, and they were required to make the same 20-year commitment. Occasionally, humanoids joined because they sought death, and they usually went into the most dangerous situations never to return.

  Ailey was a full-blooded human, so it was only through her skill and intelligence that she was still alive. Her long, dark brown hair was in the usual style, braided and coiled around her head. This was often hidden by the hat she wore to keep her eyes shielded on her travels – she understood what caused cataracts and had no desire to undergo any of the remedies, not when it was so much easier to simply prevent them. Her clear, rich brown eyes took in the scene around her, considering how far she was likely to make it before she wanted to stop for the night.

  It was 9:30, which was much later in the day than she would have liked to be making her departure. Skilled as she was with medicines and healing, the experienced medic had no ability to rewind time. Still, if she pushed herself a little harder, it was possible to make it as far as Derbe, a small town just two days away from Melzi. Twisting her mouth and pulling her bag up on her shoulders, the woman set off on the road without giving much thought to the usual problems travelers encountered.

  Medics did tend to die young, but it was rarely as a result of interactions with other humanoids. Bandits, marauders, even dictators left them to their jobs because the last thing anyone wanted was to be blacklisted by the Medics Association. The Association had an impossibly long memory, and while they were kind-hearted and helpful, they were not forgiving of those who intentionally harmed one of their own. Being blacklisted by this particular group was a universal death sentence regardless of where a person was in the world. It never paid to upset those whose sole purpose was
to help others – especially when they were as well organized and communicative as the Medics Association.

  So Ailey began her day wary of the numerous dangerous wildlife she could encounter as she headed toward the small town. The sun made its steady passage across the sky as the medic considered all of the possible issues that could have caused the plague. She had been contacted by over a dozen other medics and healers in the city over the last two years, so Ailey was aware what had already been tried and what suspected problems had already been ruled out. The problem was that she had been on the other side of the continent when the plague had broken out. In the beginning, everyone had expected the cause to be easily found and resolved. It was only after a full year had passed that the Medics Association had begun to get seriously concerned, and sent some of their more experienced professionals, including Ailey’s mentor, Ester. Ester had tried to keep Ailey apprised of what was going on, but communication had suddenly stopped about a month and a half ago. Ailey had written one of the other medics asking what had happened. If Ester had contracted the ailment, she would have said as much in her final farewell. Instead there had been a letter about what she wanted to try next, then nothing. None of the medics that Ailey contacted could tell her what had happened. Ester had simply vanished. She had been full of her usual criticisms and instructing one day, then the next she hadn’t shown up. Ester never showed any signs of having the ailment, so someone had been sent to her home to see if she had been attacked. It wasn’t entirely uncommon for desperate family members to end up getting violent when a medic refused to give up supplies. The only sign that she had been there that morning had been a half-eaten breakfast still at the table. The woman’s cloak and hiking shoes were gone, so that meant she likely left willingly. The guards in Melzi were too busy to look for a medic who appeared to have left of her own volition, and of course the medics could not afford to go out looking.

  Ester had been in the city for nine months, and in that time, she had found some strange similarities between the plague and other fatal illnesses in the distant past. All of her findings were well documented in the notes Ailey now carried.

  Of course, Ailey’s primary purpose was to find the cure, or better yet, the cause. But she clearly had a personal reason for going beyond offering her assistance and knowledge. It was the reason why she had chosen to go to Melzi instead of Antakya. Usually, she would put the wellbeing of children first, and the ailment in Antakya only affected children. Her instincts had told her to head there first, but as soon as Ester went missing, Ailey changed her plans. Unfortunately, she had been a long way from either destination. Fortunately, they were in the same direction from her location. It meant she would be able to keep going on her current path, helping those who had requested assistance along the way. The battles raging on the borders of several of the countries in-between her location and destination had slowed her down considerably. They may not have requested aid from the Medics Association, but Ailey could not just ignore the wounded. Now that she was only a few days away from Melzi, the medic was determined to reach the city as soon as possible. If that meant missing out on sleep, so be it. Her nights were spent considering the notes her mentor had sent and trying to devise solutions that built on the knowledge and findings provided to her.

  As she walked, Ailey’s mind was going over everything she knew and determining the best actions to take once she reached the city, starting with examinations of both patients and other medics.

  The medic was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she did not notice the shadow that moved along the tree lines. It appeared shortly after Ailey finished eating her lunch, and together they progressed toward Derbe. So lost in her own thoughts, Ailey didn’t even hear the rustling in the brambles near the forest’s edge, followed by a flow of whispered cursing. The only time the medic looked up was when the gurgling roar of a chupacabra deep in the forest jolted her from her reverie. Gauging the distance based on the echo from the roar, Ailey moved a little faster. They weren’t known for attacking humans, but she knew from her own experiences that a starved chupacabra would attack anything that it thought too weak to fight back. With the closest town several miles away, it was best to be careful. The next time she heard the sound, it was much fainter. Comfortable that there was little in the way of danger nearby, Ailey returned her thoughts to the problems she would face.

  The light was fading fast by the time she neared the little town. Ailey stopped to retrieve a well-worn message from her bag, a note that mentioned a couple who had been seeking assistance with fertility. The couple lived just outside of the town. It would be best to get that resolved before she ate and tried to sleep. Once morning came, Ailey wanted to be on the road around sunup.

  As she opened the letter, the medic felt someone bump into her. Her eyes moved up and looked into the face of a beautiful young woman who looked like she had been attacked. There were tear stains down her lightly dirt-covered face. The young woman’s light brown hair had been styled simply to keep it from her face, but some of the hair had been pulled out of the hair style and was now sticking out at odd angles. Judging by the amount of bramble in it, the young woman had been in the woods. Her faded skirts were torn and a bit of blood had dried on her calf.

  The young woman opened her mouth to talk, then her eyes caught sight of the medic’s patch on Ailey’s arm. Immediately the pleading look in her eyes disappeared, and the young woman’s greenish-hazel eyes looked into Ailey’s. “Shit. You're a medic. Should have known.” She began to turn back the way Ailey had just come and away from the town, when the medic stretched out her arm.

  “Then you know to give me the coin purse back.”

  The young woman let out a long sigh. “Yeah, I know.” Her empty hand suddenly held Ailey’s hefty coin purse, offering it to the medic. The young woman looked up at her target. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were a medic. You really need to wear patches on both arms, you know. I couldn’t see it from over here, and it would be unfair to be judged because it was hidden.”

  Ailey made a sound of disapproval and shook her head. “Well, ignorance is no excuse for doing something illegal.”

  “Hey,” the young woman said, giving Ailey her full attention, “I think we are just both lucky that I’m not a bandit. Think about that the next time you go wandering along a dangerous road, your mind completely somewhere else. If you advertised better, people would be less likely to kill you and regret it later.”

  Ailey looked down at the girl and gave a nod. It was a fair point, although it still seemed wrong. People should refrain from killing anyone, not just medics. But medics already had it rough without additional risks.

  “Good luck to you, Ms. Medic.” The young woman turned to leave.

  Ailey was a medic, not a guard or law enforcement. And she certainly wasn’t the kind to try to persuade others into a better way of living, not unless they asked for her professional opinion. Still, there was a part of her that felt bad for the young women she encountered in places like Yuezhi and Bagrada. Ailey was well aware that her home country, Ancusa, was one of the few were genders were treated as equals. They had the same expectations of everyone, regardless of gender. They were impossibly high expectations, but that was what made the country so envied. Located far away from the other landmasses, Ancusa was a smallish country located on a very large island. It was incredibly rare that the people who lived there would leave, but there was very little that was normal about Ailey. It had been more than two decades since she had left, and she had no plans on returning. Still, she knew that she had been incredibly fortunate to have been born there. Ailey had grown accustomed to the strange, constrictive clothing worn in other countries, even if she would have liked to have walked around topless as all people did in Ancusa. She could not get accustomed to the disparate way women were treated elsewhere though.

  “You don’t have to leave, you know.” The young woman turned around and the medic stuck out her hand. “Ailey.”

&nbs
p; The woman looked down at the hand, then looked up, her eyes narrowed. “You’re a medic. Not a lawdog.”

  “Yes. And I am introducing myself, not trying to trick you into giving yourself up.” She moved her hands out as if to indicate their surroundings. “We are too far from anywhere for you to think of me as a threat.”

  “The town is just right there.” The young woman pointed toward a hill.

  “That can’t be right. I should have another mile…” the medic pulled out a piece of paper.

  “Come on.” The young woman grabbed Ailey’s forearm and pulled her to the top of the hill. “There. The illustrious anthill of Derbe.”

  Ailey looked over at the young woman. “Are you from there?”

  “What?” She looked upset for a second. “Gods no. Never from that little piss place. Not as an origin or an adoptive home. I’ll never live there.” She offered up no other information.

  Ailey looked at the defiant face staring down at the town. “Well, it was nice meeting you, young lady. Now if you’ll-”

  “What? That’s it?”

  Ailey looked at the girl. “Were you expecting more? Maybe that I would call the guards on the thief lurking outside the walls?”

  “No.” She wrinkled her cute little nose. “I mean, like a thank you for showing you the town. I accept gold.”

  For the first time in over a month Ailey let out a loud laugh. “You walked me up a hill that I would have already crested if you hadn’t tried to rob me.”

  “I did apologize. I didn’t realize you were a medic. It would have saved me several hours if I had noticed that a lot earlier.”

  The medic frowned, “You mean you aren’t staying in Derbe?”

  “Did you not listen to me? I avoid little places like that. They are little death traps for someone like me.”