The Dragon's Kiss

"Harrow! Harrow!"

Kel repeated the man's name as she trampled through the loose dirt she'd been working all morning to turn.

The old man finally looked up from his work, squinting against the sun.

"How many times have I told you to call me-"

He froze as he followed the direction of Kel's anxious pointing.

"We need to go," he finished, instantly turning back toward the house.

Leaving their tools and open bags of seeds, the two set off in the direction of the cabin. Surprisingly, given his age and usual demeanor, Harrow moved extraordinarily fast.

When they arrived at the house, Harrow merely had to mention the word 'soldiers' before Nesta rapidly ushered them inside and ran to shut and fasten all the window coverings. While the old woman was busy, Harrow grabbed Kel's shoulders.

"Quickly, Child! Where is that sword you're always swinging around?" he demanded.

"Ah.. that?" Kel hesitated.

She usually kept the sword wrapped up and hidden away in the out building. It wasn't that she was purposefully hiding it from the old couple; she had just figured it would be better to keep it out of sight.

"I left it…" she trailed off, her eyes gravitating toward the door.

"Out there? Nevermind then," Harrow growled before releasing Kel and stomping toward the kitchen, a string of muttered curse words following him.

"I can go get it! There's still time," Kel insisted, trailing behind. "But, are you preparing for a fight?"

"Those are enemy soldiers," Harrow grumbled, shifting through one of the lower cupboards. "What else could they be doing here if not looking for a fight?"

With a satisfied grunt, he stepped back, holding a large, rusty butchering knife.

"We won't go down so easily though!" he declared, brandishing the cleaver.

There was at least one other reason for the Serin soldiers to come to Tael, however--a much more plausible reason than to conquer the obscure village as Harrow was implying.

Kel was in the midst of debating whether to reveal the truth of Mr. Thomas's situation and possible reason for the soldiers when Nesta came stumbling back into the main room.

"I found these!," she announced, shoving a tattered sheath into Kel's hands and raising an antique-looking bow.

"No arrows, though.." the old woman muttered worriedly as Kel pulled a long gleaming dagger from the sheath.

"Why do you have these-" Kel began, sliding the dagger back into its case. "No, nevermind that. I really don't think we should provoke the-"

The thudding of horse hooves and steel boots against the dirt interrupted her.

The soldiers had already arrived.

"Shhh, be ready, Kel!" Nesta hissed, poising with her gaze fixated on the door.

Are they crazy? Kel shouted internally. These old geezers think they can fend off a group of trained killers with a rusty kitchen utensil and useless bow?!

As Kel was tugging on Nesta's arm while simultaneously giving Harrow a panicked look, the door suddenly burst open.

"We come by order of the esteemed Emperor of Serin to claim th-"

"AAAGGH!" Harrow jumped at the man standing just inside the door, reciting from an open scroll.

With a nearly imperceptible eyeroll, the man with the scroll quickly yanked his sword from where it hung at his side, landing the hilt square against Harrow's stomach.

Groaning, Harrow slid to the floor.

No! Kel thought, watching in slow motion as the old man fell.

If she had been alone when the soldiers came, she might have chosen to attack them as well. But Harrow and Nesta didn't stand a chance against those men. For the sake of all of them, it would be better to comply.

So why were Harrow and Nesta trying so hard to do something so foolish?

The thud of Harrow's body against the ground brought Kel back to her senses.

She had to stop this. Now.

Immediately, Kel pulled Nesta to the ground as the woman prepared to lunge and slid across the floor to where Harrow lay at the soldier's feet. With one hand, she cradled the old man's head while she wrenched the knife away from him with her other hand.

He was clearly in pain, but she didn't doubt he'd make another strike at the soldiers regardless. She knew well that the second time he attacked, it wouldn't be the dull end of the sword aimed at him.

"As I was saying," the armored man sighed, "we come by order of the esteemed Emperor of Serin to claim this land on behalf of the glorious Serin Empire. We hope for your cooperation.."

The man paused, shooting Nesta an icy glare as she slowly raised her weapon once again.

"But we will use force if we must," he finished.

Nesta returned the man's stare with a fiery glower of her own, but obediently threw her bow to the ground.

Harrow, who had been fighting against Kel's grip to push himself back up, also gave up, relaxing exhaustedly back down onto the floor.

"Wise choice," the soldier smirked, rolling the parchment and tucking it away as he turned back to his subordinates. "Now, you two check the house, and you two check the yard. The rest of you follow me."

While the two soldiers assigned to the home eagerly completed their assignment, Kel and Nesta laid Harrow down on top of the short table in the main room to inspect his wound.

"That was too rash," Kel shook her head, poking gently around the red mark on Harrow's abdomen. "They could have killed us all in an instant."

"I.. didn't know.. mmph!" Harrow panted, swallowing a groan as Kel worked, "that they.. only wanted.. Tael."

Nesta nodded in agreement. "Thank goodness that's all!"

Kel paused, her eyebrows raised.

They only wanted Tael?

That's all?

"Then what were you fighting for?!" she hissed, pressing her fingers into her forehead.

If not for defending their land, why would the couple even bother taking up arms against the soldiers? Especially when they were clearly outmatched?

Kel felt a warm touch on her hand and glanced over to see Nesta looking at her.

"For you, Dear. We were fighting for you."