CHAPTER ONE        Copyright 2016  A. J. Gallant

    MIDNIGHT CASTLE THREE HOURS BEFORE SUNRISE under a haphazardly cloudy sky. The nearly full moon emerged from behind a cloud, giving some light to Braeden’s castle that he had named Midnight because of the mysterious goings on within. It was soaked in magic like a drenched dog in the rain. At times, it gave him pause as to whether it was a good idea to remain in such an enchanted place, but he was as stubborn as he was courageous and so decided to stay. Besides, there was likely adventure in the castle itself. He wasn’t at all sure how long he could stay tied to one place. However, being King did appeal to him as it would to most.

    A burst of fire high over the castle. Some dragons liked to spew flame after dark because it was quite a sight to see against the night, even having friendly competitions with others. Some nights as many as a dozen dragons would gather.

     In another section of the sky, a complete circle of flame appeared, or close to it as another dragon was going around and around until she ran out of breath. And then two dragons side by side simultaneous spewing flame with the small one running out of breath first.

    A shriek made its way through the darkness. Dasheenta was having a nightmare; another dragon pursued her and as in real life she had no fire to defend herself. Another horrible scream escaped as she turned and scratched at the air; she was falling to her death. And then with a start, she opened her eyes. She stared longingly at the dragons accomplishing their fire dance. All that light against the night sky looked so beautiful. Dasheenta’s head jerked quickly to the right as she thought she heard something. Was something stalking her?

    High on the castle wall a window appeared where there had been none; a warrior woman gazed out wondering what land this was, sighting a black dragon as it loosed a ball of fire. Looking down she saw guards in conversation; that would not be permitted in her realm. How could one hear the slightest sound when one was chattering? A stealthy enemy would soon make corpses of them

    And then from the southwest came a firefly the size of a small cat, its illumination was awe inspiring with a halo of yellow light surrounding it. And then a light posse of the beetles arrived creating incredible light, thousands of them, up and over the castle they went, higher and higher until they surrounded a black dragon who just smiled at the insects, appreciating their beauty against the night, watching as they trailed off into the distance.

 The morning sun appeared to be resting on the horizon, rays peeking through clouds and lighting a shittah near the castle, a thorny tree with a reddish shade of bark, its feathery leaves said to protect the bark from hot winds. A Desert Hare was chewing on a blade of grass; the rabbit was the same color as the red desert sand though here it was visible, and even the coloration inside its ears was as red as the dunes.

    The town of Popiir, now considered a kingdom because of its castle, was on the outskirts of the Irahalak desert. The nearby forest was thought to have been conjured by a wizard as there were strange goings-on there, trees moving around and changing places with one another was only one thing that had been observed. Some nights purple lights were perceived amongst the whispering trees though no one dared to enter to see what was occurring.

    A doe stopped drinking from a puddle when the dragon screamed as she flew over. The animal bolted for the safety of the woods. The majestic Dasheenta was in a panic over something. The dragon had a black head with bright yellow eyes, and the blackness of her head seemed to bleed down into her red body, it was visually appealing. Unfortunately for Braeden, she was no ordinary dragon; she was the opposite of brave, and usually desperate to head in the opposite direction of trouble.

    Braeden stepped out of the castle and stretched. The King wore spiked shoulder guards with spiked bracelets, steel arm bracers over his forearms and a short leather covering over his manhood. His stomach was nicely rippled and his arms were also well-defined, making most men wary. On his waist, he carried a Brocathasdo sword and a jewel encrusted sheath that he found in the castle. This King was in his prime and an excellent specimen of a man.  And so handsome that women fought for his attention. “Dasheenta, what are you screaming about so early in the morning. And what were you crying about last night?” 

    “I had a nightmare. Look, Dragon!” she screamed as loud as she was able, which was deafening. “Up there, look!”

    Braeden was sure that even a mute would have been able to hear that shriek. Why couldn’t the castle have come with an ordinary dragon that was willing to defend Popiir valiantly? Instead of this broken, paranoid, frightened creature that felt inferior to just about everyone and everything. A pitiful sight is seeing a dragon panic.

    There was an enormous black dragon circling, and Dasheenta, having no fire, was afraid of just about everything, even her kind. She was sure that such a monster could do a lot of damage, sure that black dragon would kill her f he got the chance. Dasheenta had come with the magical castle that not so long ago had been able to fit in the palm of the Braeden’s hand.

    Braeden looked up, saw the dragon and then turned his head toward Dasheenta. “Fight him if you have to; you’re a damn dragon aren’t you? You will gain courage from battle.”

    Dasheenta pumped her wings as she hovered in place. “What? Oh, no, no, no! I have no fire, and you know that. Give your head a shake your Majesty. What am I supposed to do? Spit on him? And look how high up he is!”

    Braeden now stood akimbo and laughed. “Don’t tell me that you’re afraid of heights?”

    “No, of course not.” Then she cleared her throat and under her breath said, “Maybe just a little. I’ve never been up that high. No reason to fly way up there. He’s just boasting.”

    The King considered that Dasheenta had more chicken in her than dragon, not to mention that she was most decidedly paranoid, but was she becoming even more so? Dragons passed over on a regular basis, and most could care less about the machinations of insignificant humans and usually paid her no attention either.

    “Isn’t that precious? Look; he’s coming down.”

    Dasheenta flew to the castle as fast as she was able though she got stuck in the entrance, unable to get past the portcullis, and now with her tail and rear end protruding out from the entry. The ground shook as the black dragon landed with a loud thud. Braeden didn’t think there would be much he could accomplish against such a massive beast.

    “What do we have here?” said the dragon. “I could smell the female from way up there, a comely dragon she is. And now I get to see the best part of her.” Ceriothian lifted her tail with his nose and sniffed forcefully. “She smells delightful.”

    Dasheenta was not impressed. “What’s going on back there? Who’s sniffing my butt?”

    “Dragon!” hollered Braeden. “You back your fat ass up! That is my dragon, and you damn well don’t have permission to mate with her.”

    Ceriothian turned and snorted on the barbarian, and the heat was like sticking his head in a fiery hearth. “You are as silly as you are small. A human can’t own a dragon. Are you going to mate with her?”

    “What a humorous dragon you are.” Breaden pulled his sword as if he could intimidate such a beast. “Now back away before I throw a spell on you.”

    Ceriothian shook his head disdainfully and went back to sniffing Dasheenta; the opportunity to mate was much too tempting to bother with this tiny fellow. She kicked him and knocked out one of his teeth, and it hurt. “She knocked out my tooth? Oh, I like them feisty. Come here you!”

   “You don’t want to be mating with her.” Braeden would endeavor to outwit the dragon, just like people, they weren’t all smart.

    “And why not?”

    Breaden scratched his head. “She’s of inferior stock.”

    Ceriothian brought down one of his huge red eyes to the barbarian’s level. “And why not?”

   “I would have thought that you might have smelled it, a superior dragon like yourself. She doesn’t have fire. And she a scardy cat, frightened of everything. And she has the ganawuwi disease, only affects dragons but you are a dragon.

    Ceriothian backed away from her. He had never heard of it, but it was best not to take chances. “What will that do?”

    “It won’t kill you, but all your scales will fall off and eventually you’ll have no fire.”

    Ceriothian envisioned such a dilemma, without scales he would have little defense against other dragons, and he did like to battle occasionally. “She still has all her scales as far as I can tell?”

    “Yes, but they will all fall off any day now.”

    Of all the luck. It wouldn’t be wise to mate with an inferior dragon and a sick one at that. He took to the air, his right wing almost hitting the barbarian as he lifted off, and it wasn’t long before he was out of view.

   Dasheenta struggled to back up. “Is he gone?”

    “He’s gone. Are you stuck?”

    “I think so.”

    “I’ll go the other way and see if I can’t raise those bars so that you can back out.”

    “All right then. What did he want?”

    “You couldn’t hear? He wanted to mate.”

    “Oh? Mate with me?”

    “He’s damn well to big to mate with me.”

    Mate with me? Why would anyone want to mate with me?I am such an inferior dragon. If only I had fire. She had an unexpected thought, and that was she might be receptive to hatching some eggs. Having baby dragons to raise might take her mind off of things. She might not be so scared all the time and eventually they would be able to protect her. Yes, under the protection of her children might just be the way to go? Did she dare consent? Mating with such a monster would be so frightening she might not survive it. But it was something to think about, and already she was preoccupied with baby dragons. But would they be normal or end up just like me? Normal I think; I know of no other dragons like me.

    The bars raised and Dasheenta managed to back out.

    In the courtyard, Braeden examined the rectangular rocks that took up a part of the area, surprised to find several with his likeness on it. On one, he was riding Finn, and on another, he was sitting on his throne. Although the images were relatively small, it sure looked like him he thought. The King imagined that magic could accomplish just about anything and often that was the problem. And how dangerous was it going to be to live in this castle?

    The ground, saturated from a thundershower that went through the area overnight, showed reflections of the magnificent castle. Braeden went from staring into one of the images to wielding his sword as several men looked on, impressed with the talent of the new Barbarian King. Battling no one, he was going through thrusts and parry movements, his muscular frame a sight to behold, his speed and the sound of his sword cutting through the air inspiring to hopeful knights. No one would want a battle to the death against such a formidable fighter. Braeden turned and saw a swarm of pink and black butterflies emerging from one of the fortress windows, many of them touching down in a puddle for a drink. The castle was a creation of magic, and no telling what secrets lay within.

    The scent of bacon, eggs and coffee found the barbarian.

    The cook waddled out obviously having a little too much to drink. Braeden received a large steak on a silver platter; he nodded to his servant, took the meat and commenced to eat, slightly burned, just the way the King liked it. He finished it, fat and all and tossed the bone. Silly dragon. Whoever heard of a scardy dragon or one that didn’t have fire? Dasheenta is useless and yet for some odd reason; I like her. I guess she’s entertaining if nothing else and as beautiful as any dragon I’ve ever seen. I pity the poor thing, but nothing can be done about that.

    Training in the far corner across from the stables was a group of men, the sound of sword against sword adding atmosphere to the morning. He was trying to raise an army before word got out of such a unique castle and a horde of devils showed up to claim it. Twelve days ago the place was nothing more than a rundown village, but with the aid of magic and a conjured castle, Braeden had kept his word to be King. It was only if they could build him a castle, which he was sure was an impossibility at the time, but magic had reared its ugly head. 

    Zack, Braeden’s friend, left the others to hone their skills as he approached. “Your Majesty, another beautiful morning.”

    “Sure, until some army shows up and kills us all.”

    Zack laughed. “Always looking on the bright side I see. Should I start digging my grave?”

    “I would if I were you.” And the King had to laugh. Perhaps he had gotten out of the wrong side of the bed this morning. But he knew it was going to be a monumental task to defend this patch of soil from brigands and God only knew what else.

    Finn, Braeden’s horse, exited the castle, urinated for a good long while and then apparently stopped to listen to the conversation. Instead of the stable, the horse was residing in the castle, much to Zack’s chagrin.

    “You know, the longer you let that horse live in the castle, the more he’s going to think he belongs in there.” And with that, he gave the horse a harsh look.

    Finn pushed Zack and knocked him down into a mud puddle, making him furious. “Horses belong in the stable!”

    Finn reared up to show his displeasure, telling Zack that he would kick him if he weren't more civilized and that he would sleep wherever he pleased.

    Zack shook his head and growled. “I’m sorry Finn; I forgot that you were running things here. Everyone listen, we’re taking orders from the horse now! The horse is the king.  Maybe people should live in the stable and run around like animals.”

    Finn nodded vigorously.

     The kingdom was starting to take shape though there remained much to accomplish. Many houses needed to be torn down and replaced with others. The barbarian wasn’t going to be king of a ramshackle kingdom if one could even call it that. It was more like an old town with a magnificent castle that seemed out of place. The castle was enormous and searching through it’s every nook and cranny would take time, but that is what Braeden intended. Anything that had the slightest potential for adventure and he was usually game even though he might feign otherwise. God only knew what treasure or trouble was hidden within, but he was going to find out.

    Zack continued to stew about Finn and had a momentary lapse of judgment, perhaps a brief moment of insanity as it had been building for awhile. Almost as a reflex, he slapped Finn on the rump, and the horse’s hoof went right for his head. The barbarian swept the feet from under his friend, and he couldn’t have come closer to a fatal blow to the head.

    “Zack! Are you alright? Have you gone mad?”

    Finn was attempting to get around Braeden so that he could trample him, but the barbarian wouldn’t permit it. “Finn, calm down, we don’t kill our friends.”

    “I don’t know what the hell I was thinking!” He got up and dusted himself off.

    “Finn, stop it! We are all friends here. Zack just thinks of you as a horse; he doesn’t know any better. He’s a bit on the dumb side; you know that.”

    Finn nodded.

    “Hey! I’m right here I can hear you.”

    “Finn, you need to calm down. Zack has saved my life in the past, and you never know it could happen again.”

    That resonated with Finn as he was, of course, no ordinary horse, and the animal would live as long as the barbarian remained alive, and the horse knew it. Finn would defend Braeden to the death even if the enchantment didn’t exist. They had fought many battles together and had a great fondness for one another.

    Zack stood and did realize how close he had come to death, necessary to respect the animal otherwise he would bury him. “I don’t know what came over me Finn, and I promise that I will never touch you again unless you want me to touch you. I have no idea how that would come up but I’m just saying.”

    Braeden looked at the horse and then at Zack. Finn stared at Braeden and then gave Zack a stern look, and so for the barbarian’s sake, he decided not to kill him, at least for now. And who know, that hunk of meat might come in handy at some point.

    Jourdan, one of the few knights that had the potential to be a knight, moved forward towards them though he was looking up at the castle, seemingly thunderstruck. Jourdan stood and gazed with his mouth open, making Zack and the King wonder what if it were some monster though it was a different look than fear on the big blond man’s face. They moved back to be able to see what he was looking at and their mouths hung open as well.

    Zack and Braeden spoke simultaneously. “She’s mine!”

    She stood in the window, black hair and chain mail armor that only covered half of her breasts. On her beautiful head, a chainmail cap to match. Wouldn’t be much aid in defense against a sword, but it did add something to her ensemble. The beauty was holding a round shield and resting a sword over her shoulder. And from the angle they were viewing her exquisiteness, they could even see her nipples.

    The King rushed into the castle with Zack hotfoot behind.