White spray kissed Súná’s face as she turned her face upwards. Water gushed from the cliffside, relentless and cold, pouring into the river that flowed past the foot of the mountains that formed the canyon. The height of the waterfall was greater than Súná had imagined, but she shouldn’t have expected anything less.
After all, it was the perfect place to find a dragon.
Frafí towered next to her, the cold spray lifting his gray beard so it tousled and twisted like the sail of a great boat. His stormy eyes glittered as he looked from the waterfall to Súná.
“You can still back out if you need to, Little Sun River.”
A wry smile touched Súná’s lips. She never grew tired of her uncle’s use of her nickname. Since she was a child, her hair flowed down to her waist in resplendent streams of gold. It was a name she loved dearly.
“Never, Frafí. My sword has to earn its name, and it can’t do that sleeping in my scabbard.” She drew her sword, its blade glinting in the dim sunlight. The sword’s handle was meant for one hand, leaving the other to carry Súná’s shield, a wooden disk painted with the writhing forms of wyrms with sharp, cruel teeth.
Frafi shrugged. “Just making sure. Few warriors choose their Naming Ceremony in such a fashion, let alone a Shield Maiden.”
Súná cocked an eyebrow mockingly. “Are you to say a Shield Maiden cannot slay a dragon?”
Frafí held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Not at all. I knew a Shield Maiden who killed a dragon, in fact. Hairy legs, though. An even hairier face. Tickled every time she kissed me.”
Súná laughed. “Wait until I tell Aunt Ilsa.”
Frafí winked. “This was before I knew Ilsa.”
Súná shook her head, not taking the bait. Frafí told more tall tales than a fisherman. She looked to the sky at the pale circle hanging behind the clouds. “We best start climbing before we stop to make camp,” she said. “Eludaé will soon drop her shroud.”
Frafí inclined his head. “Lead the way.”
***
As Eludaé cast the world in night, the clouds broke apart to reveal the stars. Súná watched them, mesmerized and pensive, as each one sparked and shined. Frafí snorted as he absently stoked the flames with a thin tree branch while gnawing on a haunch of roasted rabbit. Silence permeated the world save for the crackling of the fire, and the grinding of Frafí’s teeth on bone.
“Are those truly the eyes of the gods, Uncle?” Súná asked.
Frafí stopped his wolf-like chewing and followed his niece’s eyes to the stars. “So say the ancestors. Although others speculate they are the forges of the dwarf gods. It is said that each star will yield forth a sword fit for a champion.”
Súná rubbed the pommel of her blade absently. She pondered her uncle’s words, continuing to look at the silver fires that burned above.
I wonder if this blade I wield will be such a sword, she thought.
After some minutes of staring at the sky, she turned back to Frafí. “Are we sure there’s a dragon in that cave?”
Frafí nodded. “All the signs point to it. Mountain cave. Stories of men disappearing into it never to return. Smoke seen in the area with no explanation. There’s such a strong possibility that it’s a dragon, I’d bet my ship on it.”
Súná rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t dare.”
An odd expression came over Frafí’s face; a very serious expression that the shield maiden wasn’t used to seeing on her uncle. “I would not lead you out here on a fool’s errand, Little Sun River. Nothing would bring me more joy than seeing my sister’s daughter become a Dragon Slayer.” He was quiet for a moment, a faraway look veiling his eyes. “I had wished such a thing for Meiska.”
Súná bit her lip. She still remembered the battle that she had fought with Frafí’s daughter against an enemy clan. A fight that had birthed Súná into the world of bloodletting and gore, war cries, and the shrill song of steel.
For Meiska, it only brought the herald of Eludaé’s Valkyries.
The image of her raven-haired cousin, her eyes as blue as clear winter sky, haunted her in that instant. Meiska had been more of a sister than a cousin. The two of them had grown up together under the love of Frafí and Isla after Súná’s parents and brother had perished in a vampire raid. Over the years, Frafí had become more than an uncle. He had become her Father.
However, listening to him reminisce about Meiska—his true daughter, the carrier of his bloodline—made Súná question this entire ordeal. He had wanted this opportunity of dragon slaying for Meiska. Was Súná just a replacement? The next best heiress to his claim to Bonthur’s mead halls? All knew one could only join Bonthur if they had produced offspring who were worthy of the god’s War Blessing, and Meiska had been Frafí’s only child. Was Frafí secretly hoping, beyond all other hope, that Súná would somehow be able to bring him glory as a surrogate daughter?
The thoughts rattled about in her skull like sheep-bone dice. Taking a deep breath, she stared into the flames. “Meiska was brave, Uncle. And powerful. I’m sure she would have been able to complete this task with more valor and skill than I ever could.”
A long silence fell between the two of them. Súná was surprised to feel tears burning at her eyes. She rubbed them furiously with the back of her hand. What kind of Shield Maiden wept?
“Súná.”
She looked at Frafí, his large form glowing in the firelight. His eyes pierced her, not with anger or contrition, but with love and warmth.
“You misunderstand me, Child. I wanted this opportunity for both of you—for both of my daughters. Nothing would bring a man greater joy than seeing his own children wreathed in the glory of the gods.”
Súná parted her lips in surprise. Then she smiled, her heart swelling inside her chest.
“Thank you, Uncle.”
***
The wind wailed violently the next day, bringing in a sea of clouds that covered the rising sun. Súná’s hair whipped about her face as she studied the path before her that winded up the mountainside.
Another hour at most, she thought. Then I will meet my destiny.
She and Frafí did not speak as they walked towards their destination. Instead, Súná’s thought-cage buzzed with various sword drills. Shield guard. Strike. Side step. Shield guard. Strike. After she ran through all of her training in her head, she remembered the ancient stories of dragon-killings. Their weak point was usually the throat or belly. Never lose your shield, and keep your footing beneath you, treat their fangs like a collection of razor-sharp swords.
The sound of the waterfall drew her from her thoughts. They rounded a bend, and they were at the edge of the cliff. Water cascaded out of the open mouth of a cave like the wet, lolling tongue of a wolf. Súná approached the edge of the rushing water cautiously and peered inside. The darkness thickened greatly only a little ways in. There was room to walk without being swept away by the rushing water.
Though she could see no signs of a dragon, what she smelled confirmed its presence.
“Sulfur,” she said.
Frafí nodded. “A dragon indeed there be.” He pulled something from his pocket and handed it to her. It was a small stone looped with a leather cord. It was carved with the runes for “sun.” A sunstone.
“This will help you see in this accursed blackness,” Frafí said.
“It’s a wonderful gift, Uncle.” Súná smiled. “Thank you.”
Frafí stared at her then placed his hand on her neck, bringing her close. Their foreheads touched, and for a moment they stood there, the sound of water roaring about them. No words were spoken. It was ill fortune to bid farewell in such an affair, lest the farewell be permanent.
Frafí stepped back, releasing Súná. She nodded at him, then turned to face the cave. She placed the sunstone around her neck, then unstrapped her helm from her belt. Once it was firmly set in place on her head, she drew her sword, the sword that would soon be named.
She stepped into the darkness.
***
The dragon was already dead.
It was a black thing, the length of six horses. Its scales shined like volcanic rock in the light of the sunstone, its lifeless red eyes shining like embers. Súná circled it, her sword raised. About the serpent were an assortment of golden treasures and precious jewels, as well as the bones of deer, wolves, bears, and humans. Its den had been in the very back of the cave, far from the entrance where no natural light could reach.
Súná stared at the great creature with disbelief. What slayed this mighty behemoth? Tried as she might, she could find no discernible signs of a battle. The dragon lay on its side, and she saw no blood or any sort of wound to its belly or throat.
What happened here?
Was it possible that the dragon had perished from old age? Disease? While both plausible explanations, they seemed unlikely. There were no stories of dragons perishing from natural causes, at least, none that she had ever heard. But it didn’t matter. The dragon was dead.
And Súná wasn’t the one who killed it.
A shout of frustration escaped Súná’s lips and she kicked a pile of treasure sending coins sparkling and clinking into the dark. At least she should have had the opportunity to kill the dragon! She would have earned her keep. She would have been given the title Dragon Slayer. She would have brought pride to Frafí and honored Meiska’s memory. But now…
Súná slumped to the ground before the dragon’s corpse. She had come all this way for nothing.
She sat there for a long time, the magic of the sunstone repelling the darkness of the cave. Súná became so absorbed in her thoughts of self-pity that it took her quite a while to notice a faint whistling sound.
She stood up, her eyes searching the cave walls. It sounded like wind coming through a hole. After some examination of the walls, she found what she was looking for. There was a hole and from it came the whistling sound and the chill of wind.
Súná put down her shield so she could take the sunstone and hold it up to the small niche. Inside she saw something like a wooden lever.
Súná furrowed her brow. What is this? She squeezed her hand inside the hole and wrapped her fingers around the lever. Then she pulled.
The floor trembled as a secret door began to open inward. Súná gasped and stepped back, raising her sword. The doorway was tall enough for her to walk through without stooping, but the light of her sunstone only reached so far. If she wanted to see where the door led, she’d have to walk inside.
Súná cast a look at the dead dragon. Then back at the door.
“Perhaps some glory will still be had this day,” she said.
She picked up her shield and walked through the doorway.
***
Súná followed the tunnel for only a short way. When it ended, she found herself in a small room, glowing with green lichen. In the center of the room stood a stone in the shape of a table.
There was something on it.
Súná approached the object, puzzling over what it was. It looked familiar…she thought she had seen some of them on a raid to a small island a year back. What were they called again?
The word echoed in her thought-cage. In the common tongue, it was called a “book.”
This one in particular had its pages bound in black leather, and on the cover was the design of a spider encircled by a web. Súná sheathed her sword and reached out to touch it, consumed with curiosity for the rare object.
“Don’t touch it, whelp.”
Súná started, quickly drawing back out her blade. Behind the table, appearing from the darkness was a woman, her hair long and dark, her eyes glittering like the golden coins found among the dragon’s corpse. Her skin was ghastly pale, and a shudder passed through Súná’s body as she realized what the woman was.
Vampire.
Memories flooded through Súná. Dark-cloaked figures coming upon her family’s farm. Her mother screaming as fangs flashed into her neck. Scarlet. Scarlet everywhere.
A flame of rage replaced the cold shudder of fear. The Shield Maiden squared off against the creature. “What are you doing here, monster?”
The she-vampire smirked. “I could ask the same of one of the children of Bonthur.” Her eyes roved over Súná, like those of a mountain cat taking in its prey. “No one is supposed to know of this place. I’ve already had to deal with one intruder.”
Sudden realization dawned on Súná. “You…you killed the dragon.”
“Yes, with magic. It had no business being here. This cave was mine long before it ever belonged to that creature.”
Súná gritted her teeth. “You took my chance for glory.”
The vampire scoffed, standing up straight. She was at least a head taller than Súná, a lithe, slender figure in the dark. “Glory? Glory is overrated.” Her eyes searched Súná’s for a moment, then seemed to rest on the tresses of her golden hair. “But…immortality. Now that’s worth something.”
Súná brandished her sword. “Today this blade will receive its name, for it will slay a demon of darkness.”
“Don’t you know not to count your chickens before they hatch?”
Súná let out a war cry, leaping over the stone table and its book, slashing with her sword. The weapon rang against something hard. At first, Súná thought the vampire woman had drawn a sword of her own. But she was mistaken.
The vampire had blocked the strike with a single finger.
“You are rather beautiful, Shield Maiden,” the vampire whispered. “And a fighting spirit. I think I’ll keep you.”
Great pain entered Súná’s body. As her sword and shield fell from her hands, she realized that the vampire had sunk her fangs into her neck. It felt as if she were on fire—pure, scorching fire. She screamed in pain, her voice echoing off the walls as the world began to fall into darkness.
***
The lights of her village twinkled in the dark valley under the bright eye of the moon. Súná stood beneath a cowl of snow-laden pines on the hillside, staring at the place she had called home for so many years. A place she could never return to.
She was sure Frafí was in that valley, in his home, with Aunt Ilsa. Perhaps they had eaten their evening meal. Perhaps they were sitting around the fire telling stories of Bonthur, or Eludaé, or the dwarf-gods and their star-forges. Or perhaps Frafí was in tears once again, lamenting to his wife that he did not know where Súná had gone. That there had been a dead dragon, with her sword plunged into it, but there was no sign of the shield maiden who had wielded it.
It had been made clear to Súná that she no longer required a sword. So the least she could do was give Frafí the impression that she had killed the dragon, though her body had never been found. It would be a mystery that would haunt her uncle all of his days. But if she was lucky, perhaps Bonthur would welcome Frafí into his halls.
Perhaps the ruse had been enough to fool even a god.
“Come, Súná.” The vampire woman with golden eyes stood in the shadows. “It is time to go. It is time that you learned to hunt for blood.”
The vampire was right. The former shield maiden could feel her thirst rising. Súná looked at her village one last time, then turned away.
“Yes, Mistress.”