Autumn always turns out to be a beautiful season. Some claim you can't compare it to spring, the season of rebirth, the eternal dance of hard-working honeybees and young flower buds, the streams of diffused nectar in the air enchanting the soul to a trail of happiness. The third season of the year or, as the legends of the Gems of Balance call it, the season of One's Fruit of Effort, had its own secret treats to offer.
Lados was experiencing nature's gifts of Autumn through his senses. He gazed along the harvested fields, run through by the oily river, far away to the mountainsides. There, trees were shedding their leaves performing their spectacular ritual. Lazy trees wore light green and golden yellow foliage, while hasty ones were in a hurry to put on their orange and crimson. He felt like he flew over the low altitude forests, admiring their color grading, before returning over the river's course. His feet, light as ever, touched the ground. He walked the plains carefree. Now and then, his ears picked up distant animal noises. The bustling earth dwellers were preparing for winter. Mothers called out to their young to gather around their hole, inside their nest. Birds would store seeds, leaves, fruit cores for the winter.
As if in a different, featherweight body, Lados turned his eyes to the sky. Blue-gray reigned as far as sight could reach. White, fluffy clouds journeyed in the gaseous sea, riding the waves of the wind. He stood there watching them shape shifting, expanding, forming and dissipating along their voyage. An unknown impulse urged him to focus on the mountains. He couldn't make out where the feeling welled from, but to him, it felt like a calling tickled his ears with its sweet, yet persistent melody. Was the Ox calling for him? He was indeed a man of the mountains, born in the confined plateau of Perrevi. Were its spirits in the know? Legends said, the crests of the Mountain Range used to be dragon dwellings, the ultimate protectors of the realm. Were the legendary dragons calling him? Did they even exist?
Daylight faded abruptly. Lados turned his eyes to the sky again. The once innocent clouds were now replaced by their much more threatening, darker siblings. Impatiently, they fought for space. They mingled together, pushed one another, collided. Lightning reflected at the top of their mass. In an instant, he found himself right next to the Godstone, the site of the Primordial Dwellers, the first settlement of their ancestors. Otherworldly hues were forced on the scenery, ashen and hot. Thunder burst from up above, cruelly striking the freshly plowed ground with a loud crack. A young tree caught on fire. Its leaves surrendered first, lifelessly tossed about, deadening his homeland.
Thick smoke was feasting on the burning branches, rising high. Amidst the smog, in front of Lados, a hulking figure appeared. He couldn't tell whether it belonged to a beast or a man. Fumes choked the atmosphere, as the figure drew closer. Thin, golden outlines pierced the fumes. A pattern started to appear. Most definitely, the figure belonged to a man, confirmed by the shining crest on what appeared to be his broad chest. The figure stepped closer. Lados could now discern the crest's design as it became brighter, a tail-eating dragon assuming the shape of an upright triangle, the infamous Trigold Ourovoros, striking fear in the hearts of the meek. On Lados' left, four eyes of deep blue glimmer appeared in short distance momentarily, only to go out.
A man emerged from the suffocating smoke, a majestic and frightful soldier. He had his left hand free, his right hand clasping the sewn hand piece of an extremely large sledgehammer. A broad, square, metal hammerhead was attached to its girthy, metal hilt, giving away its inhuman weight. Lados couldn't help admire but also feel intimidated by the beautiful weapon, adorned with silvery, incomprehensible symbols that seemed ancient. Four deep blue stones were perched on each side of the hammerhead, masterfully set there to enhance the weapon's power. His eyes shifted to the soldier. The man in front of him gave out a burning aura, a frightening aura.
His black armor has been tailored to his extreme needs. Pitch black, leather boots, reinforced with metal, clanged every time he set foot on the ground, joined by the sound of his large knee pads, hardened yet flexible. Blackened alloy embraced his thighs protectively, leaving no openings for assault. His torso, as broad and strong as Lados had guessed, flexed behind the triply forged armor. It seemed impenetrable. On his chest, the captivating, triangular dragon crest shone proudly amidst the discord, carving a clear path through the smog.
Under the protruding shoulder pads, Lados guessed the soldier had around the same wide shoulder line as him, supporting their muscular back, able to carry any load, just like the combination of the indestructible armor and that masterpiece of a sledgehammer. Arms and even fingers weren't left unprotected. Fine, separate black metal pieces, tied together, covered the wrist, the back of the hand and each of the phalanges, allowing the owner's palm and fingers to move freely towards their deadly duties.
The soldier wore no helmet, neither did he seem to need one at that moment. A stiff neck, undoubtedly hard trained, supported his head, the only uncovered part of his. As expected, short hair, soldier's hair stood tightly cropped on his head. His colors were a little strange. One could say he had brown hair, but a more attentive look would reveal the mosaic of ginger, brown, sometimes blond patches that gave out the impression of light brown. His untended beard was the same, surrounding his tight, thin lips. Who knows how long since this man last smiled? Had he ever smiled at all?
A threatening glow flared on his narrow, cunning, brown eyes. Lados froze on his track. The two men measured each other. Soldier and cook were of the same build, same height and towering postures, each two meters tall. One stood there unarmored, long hair waving, being tainted by the deadly smoke. The other, armed to the teeth, ancient weapon at hand, seemed able to take control of the surrounding catastrophe. Narrow eyes pierced through Lados' heart. He could feel them searching his soul, delving deeper, studying his existence. Suddenly, the measuring stopped. The sledgehammer twitched. Attuned to it, the soldier raised his arm, pointing to the north-western sky, where Lados thought he witnessed it turning crimson. Deep blue stones glowed in response. Thunder burst from the cloudy sky. Another tree caught on fire. This time, the fire perpetrator was known. The towering soldier drove his massive hammer to the ground, pounding it with all his might, blasting Lados away.
A terrified cry disturbed the night. Lados, eyes wide open, was desperately trying to catch his breath, after he jerked from his sleeping position. Lavender and bayberry aroma crawled in his nostrils and up his brain, informing him that he was home, on his fresh hay mattress. He felt Nerissa's tender touch on his back, it always made him relax in times of great stress. Little by little, his heart eased its racing. Slowly, his throbbing heartbeat returned to normal, followed by his breathing.
Nerissa remained silent through the minutes of recovery. She kept her hand on her husband's back, caressing him now and then. Lados had admitted how beneficial her touch was numerous times, how he needed to feel it when trapped in his own fears. She had the power to scourge out his phobias, grounding him back to reality. The wife wrapped her arms around him. Lados leaned against her chest. In her arms he could find peace. Nerissa had never complained about his weight being put against her body. It was remarkable that she could support and accommodate her large man with the same ease she could cradle a baby.
"What scared you?" she whispered in the dark, running her fingers through his hair.
"I had a dream, a bad one." he admitted.
As far as Nerissa remembered, Lados had a dreamless sleep or, so they called it. Everyone would dream at night, but few remembered afterwards. She had heard him describing a dream he had twice before. Both times were of no importance.
"What was it about?" she asked, planting a kiss on his forehead. Her locks poured over his face like a curtain. She moved them away softly, lending him an ear.
"I felt I was flying. I was all over the place. It was good at first." he took a deep breath. "The dream was pleasant somehow. I could watch the trees and the creatures of our land. I spent so much time daydreaming in my own dream watching the clouds. It was so soothing and happy."
Nerissa smiled at herself. She knew the dream would turn bad at some point, but given what he was describing, how bad could it go? Lados continued:
" At some point the dream turned to nightmare. It was when the sky turned dark. Our land was decaying, not winter's decay, where everything goes to sleep, but a real disaster."
"What was the disaster like?"
"A bolt of thunder hit our plains. Wherever it hit, the land would go on fire. It came from a triangular dragon."
At that point, Nerissa was absolutely thankful for the darkness, for Lados couldn't see her worried eyes, her irises dilated. She tried hard not to allow her body to stiffen, lest her husband knew her worries. Her palms grew sweaty. She tried to warm her hands under the blanket before caressing Lados again.
"Anything more?" she asked quietly, not wanting to sound upset.
"No, nothing more. Not something I can remember." was Lados' response
He decided he didn't want to upset Nerissa more. He sensed her heartbeat rising the moment he told her about the thunder. Maybe she thought it was a dark omen. With all the stories they had heard the previous day, it seemed possible a calamity was upon them.
"I think you were affected by the villagers' tales, weren't you?" Nerissa tried to sound funny.
"Maybe."
A few moments later, Lados was asleep in Nerissa's arms. It was her turn to lay worried and awake on their bed.