The Tale of Alexandria and Murtagh

I had been hunting all day and not come across a single animal. It was just about time to make my way to the old cabin whose origins were a mystery to me, where I would spend the night. As I was walking I came upon a patch of scorched earth with a large violet stone at its center. I could tell there had been two stones, but someone had already taken one. I picked up the stone, put it in my pack, and headed to the cabin. When I arrived I wasn’t surprised to see smoke coming out of the chimney. I knocked on the door.

A young man opened the door, sword in hand. We stared at each other in wonder for a few seconds. I looked him up and down, taking in his muscular figure, brown hair, perfect face and lastly his stormy gray eyes. “yyyy you’re Murtagh!” I stuttered.

“Yes, you must be Alexandra.” He said in an even tone.

“Yuck! Don’t call me that disgusting name. Call me Alex please!” he chuckled softly before saying,

“Ok, Alex.” He stepped out of the doorway, but before I stepped inside I asked,

“How did you know who I was?”

“I could ask the same of you.” he said evenly.

“Yes, you could, but I asked first.”

“Right, I met you many times in a dream where I knew you but you didn’t know me,” He said matter of factly. Then he paused for a second and said in a slightly warmer tone, “before you ask I didn’t have any control of my actions during the dreams. I was an observer only.” I knew he wanted to make it clear that he didn’t kiss me of his own free will. “I assume you knew me from the dream as well.”

“You assume right.” I answered mimicking Murtagh’s tone. My question answered I stepped inside the cabin. It was more like a small cottage than a hunting lean-to. It had a small bedroom that was only big enough to hold a bed, and a great room. The great room was mostly a living room, but it had a fireplace on one wall and a small kitchen tucked in to the opposite corner. In front of the fireplace was a couch that had a pullout bed. A small table and two stools sat off to the side of the kitchen. Having taken in the condition of the cabin I sat down on the couch. Once I was seated Murtagh spoke.

“So what’re you doing here?” he asked a little rudely. I ignored his rudeness and answered civilly,

“I’m on a two-night hunting trip. This cabin is about a days hunt from the house I live in with my father, Mykolas,” I paused, “Murtagh what brought you to this place?”

“I’d like to say you did, but that would be a lie. I didn’t know I would find you here or even if you were a real person. I was following a couple of creatures called Rasac. I lost their trail, and then I came upon this cabin.” I could tell he was editing a few things out and I had a good guess as to what one of them was.

“You know you don’t have to hide the fact that you found a stone too.”

“Huh, a stone?” He said confused.

“Yes, a stone.” I took mine from my bag.

“Oh, that. They’re not stones. They’re dragon eggs.” He said in same matter of fact tone he had used before.

“Wow, that explains why you were so hesitant to mention them.”

“Yes, but how did you know I had one?” he said warily

“Well,” I started knowing I was being scrutinized, “I could tell two stones had scorched the earth, and other than my father you and I are the only ones brave enough to go that far in to the spine. It was a guess, but it seemed logical.”

“Oh.” He said tonelessly.

“So,” I started, but was interrupted by a frantic tapping sound. Murtagh stood up and opened a cabinet revealing a cracking red stone/egg. When at last the dragon broke free it looked at Murtagh and moved towards him. Murtagh was entranced. He held out a hand and caressed the little dragon’s head. When he made contact there was a blinding flash of red light and Murtagh fell to the floor unconscious. I knelt by his head and made sure he was okay, and then looked at his hand. He had a small slightly raised, white iridescent oval on his palm. It was a symbol I had heard of but had never seen the gedwëy insignia or shining palm, the mark of a dragon rider. I traced the mark a few times with my finger in awe.

“What are you doing?” his voice shocked me out of my thoughts.

“Huh, Oh, I was just checking to make sure your hand was ok.” I said quickly, dropping his hand and getting up. He didn’t let it hit the floor, but looked at the mark on his hand. As he scrutinized his mark I stood up and lifted the squeaking dragon from the shelf and set it on the ground next to Murtagh. He looked at the dragon.

“Why do I get the feeling you are going to be a thorn in my side?” the dragon squeaked at him and nudged his side. “Yes, I understand you’re hungry now stop trying to invade my mind!” he told the dragon sternly. He got up and got some dried meat from his pack and fed the little red dragon.

“Murtagh how long ago did you find your egg?”

“About midday.” He continued to feed the dragon as he spoke.

“Oh, wonderful that means that if mine hatches it is gonna wake me up in the middle of the night.”

“Yes, it most likely will.” He said with no emotion.

We sat in silence for a while. I pondered what I would do if the egg hatched, and what I’d do if it didn’t. I decided I would need to speak to my father either way. And I might as well do it right now. I walked over to the wash basin. It was empty, but there was a bucket of water next to it. I moved the bucket in to the center of the room Murtagh’s eyes followed my every move. Finally when I was seated in front of the bucket Murtagh spoke. “What are you doing?” he asked quietly.

“I need to talk to my father.” I answered simply.

“Oh… um are you going to tell him I’m here?” he said hesitantly

“Not if you don’t want me too. Even though I think he already knows.”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t.”

“Right, I won’t mention your being here unless you tell me I can. Now be silent if you wish to remain invisible.” I reached for the lump of magic in my mind, released some and said a few choice words in the Ancient Language. My father’s blue eyes, brown hair and face appeared on the surface of the water. “Dad I need to talk to you.”

“I’m listening,”

“Um, dad I found a dragon egg in the forest.”

“Yes, I felt it arrive this morning. I figured you’d find it.”

“So now that I’ve found it what do you expect me to do with it?”

“Wait and see if it hatches.” He said this like it was obvious.

“And after that.” I said a little impatiently.

“Take care of your dragon of course.” Again his tone implied this was obvious.

“What if it doesn’t hatch?” I said impatient with his stating the obvious.

“It will.” He said it with so much certainty I believed him completely. “I want you to come home the day after tomorrow like you planned. We’ll plan what to do after that. Oh and tell Murtagh that he is welcome to come with you as he will be needing my training as well, if I’m not mistaken.”

“I’ll see you in two days, Father.” I said a little insensitively.
I cut off the flow of magic and turned to Murtagh. “So it looks like I’m going to be staying here for a couple more days. What are your plans?”

“I think I’ll stay here for a while. I might take your dad up on that offer to train me. By the way how did he know I was here?”

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly, “but I can tell you that he is a magic user, and I suspect that he also has the power of foresight. I can tell you that I think he knew we would meet and that he hinted he knew I would find an egg, and just now it seemed like I was confirming to him things he already knew or saw coming to pass. Did you notice how sure he was when he told me my egg would hatch? Sometimes he says things like that that make me almost positive that he is a seer.”

“So your dad is probably a seer. Interesting.” His tone suggested that he was thinking out loud.

“It’s actually a tad annoying. I never get away with anything.” I said complaining a little.

“I can truly say I understand why you wouldn’t.” this comment made me wonder where he was from. these thoughts led to other questions like, why he had been following the Ra'zac or who his parents were. The gold in his horn and sword told me he had come from a wealthy family, but this information just made me wonder more about his past. I decided not to question him about his past though. He didn’t seem like the person who would want to talk about his past. I would wait till he was ready to tell me of his own accord. However I was going to find out more about why he had been following the Rasac. I was just about to question him when Murtagh’s voice interrupted my thoughts, “Alex.”

“Huhhhh.”

“Why is it that you can use magic? It’s not a common trait among humans.” On a whim I decided to tell Murtagh the truth.

“I’m not human.” I replied matter of factually.

“You’re not?” he said confused, “you look human for the most part. Your features are smooth and angled like an elf’s, and your skin seems to emit a faint glow, but I would write these traits off as just extreme human beauty. But you also have a magical aura, which, as I stated before, is very uncommon among humans. If you hadn’t told me that you aren’t human I would’ve believed you to be entirely or mostly human even given your appearance and aura.”

“You’d be half right. My father is human, but my mother,” I paused to make my revelation more dramatic, “she was an elf.”

“So you’re a half-elf. What other eleven traits do you have?”

“I have the usual physical traits, which are inhuman speed, strength, hearing, sight and beauty, and as you have already witnessed, the ability to perform magic. However I didn’t inherit the pointed ears, slanted eyes or immortality of the elves.” I answered without seeming like I was boasting. We sat in silence for a few moments, and again I was about ask Murtagh why he had been following the Ra'zac, but he beat me to the chase by asking,

“If your father is human why dose he have so much magical power?” again I decided to be totally honest with Murtagh. I felt like I could trust him even though I knew hardly anything about him. After a moments thought. I answered

“I don’t have the answer to that question, but I believe my father was a dragon rider. I don’t know for sure, because I’ve never seen his mark and any time I ask about his past he ignores me. But this would also explain how he knows so much dragon lore and history.”

“Dragon rider, half-elf, seer, I wonder could they be…” Murtagh wondered out loud to himself quietly. “You wouldn’t happen to know your mother’s name, would you?” he asked as if seeking conformation of something.

“Yes, her name was Lyara” I replied slowly, “Why?” I asked slightly suspicious.
“Just curious,” Murtagh replied to quickly for my comfort. I could tell he had another reason, but I didn’t press him. Instead I changed the topic.

“Murtagh, I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t mention my theories to my father.”

“Of course not. I wouldn’t want to cause any problems for you.” I studied him for a few seconds before quietly asking the question I had been trying to ask him since we started this conversation.

“Murtagh, you told me earlier that you were following the Rasac. Why were you following them?”

“They killed my only friend and companion in this world, and I was seeking revenge.” He said tonelessly.

“Oh! I’m so sorry for your loss.” We were silent for a while before I said “Well it’s late and I’m tired, so I’m going to bed. Goodnight Murtagh.”

“Goodnight Alex” he said as if courtesy was a reflex. Once more I wondered where and by whom Murtagh had been raised. I went in to the bedroom and went to sleep.