Steve wiped his defiant expression from his face and started backpedaling. Rapidly.
“Nope. Of course not.”
Sarah gave her husband a smug smile. “Good answer, Paco.”
“I’m hungry.”
Together, husband and wife turned to look at the dragonlet. Sarah helplessly looked at Steve.
“What do we do?”
“Don’t look at me. I don’t seem to be lactating right now.”
Suddenly Pravara looked up at the distant clouds, causing Steve and Sarah to mimic her. A tiny speck had appeared and grew steadily larger. Pryllan had returned. Hanging limply from her mouth was some sort of dead animal. Apparently Pryllan had returned with lunch.
“How long does it take her to eat?” Steve asked, swallowing noisily. The last thing he wanted to witness was a dragon feeding, let alone two.
“No more than a few minutes,” Pryllan told them. “She’s a very fast eater. I keep telling her to slow down but it falls on deaf ears.”
Sarah pointed at Steve, but he interrupted her first.
“Nope. Put that finger down. Don’t even say it.”
Confused, Pryllan’s gaze darted between man and woman and then back again.
“How was Pravara? I see that she awakened.”
“Almost as soon as you left,” Sarah admitted.
“And you kept her entertained?” Pryllan asked, incredulous. “I am impressed. You have my thanks.”
“Don’t thank me,” Sarah informed her. “You can thank Steve. He even worked with her on improving her aim.”
Shocked, Pryllan stared at the fire thrower. However, at that moment, the first sickening crunch of bones sounded as Pravara took her first bite of lunch.
“We’ll be back in about five minutes,” Sarah assured Pryllan. She took her husband’s arm and teleported them down to the base of the mountain where she had gone earlier that day. After waiting close to ten minutes, to make sure all traces of the kill had been removed, Sarah returned them to the nest to find Pravara excitedly demonstrating her new skills for her mother.
“Most impressive, Pravara. Your aim has improved significantly. Your sire will be very proud.”
Pravara’s scales sparkled in the sun as she beamed with joy.
“I assume Kahvel has not returned?” Pryllan asked, once she had spotted the two of them.
“We haven’t seen him since he left,” Sarah answered.
“What did you find out?” Steve asked. He and Sarah sat down on the nearby rocks. “Were you able to find out anything useful?”
Pryllan nodded. “Indeed. I must say I rather enjoy snooping.”
Both Steve and Sarah laughed out loud.
“It’s more fun than you realize,” Steve admitted. He looked at his wife. “Some of us are better at it than others.”
Sarah elbowed him in the ribs. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Your jhorun is more suited to snooping around than mine is.”
“Oh.”
“What’d you think I meant? You know what? Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.”
“What I have learned,” Pryllan began, “is that the symptoms first appeared about three fortnights ago.”
“Roughly a month and a half ago,” Steve translated for Sarah’s benefit.
Sarah playfully smacked his arm. “I know what a fortnight is, thank you very much.”
Pryllan waited a few moments to make sure she could continue.
“Three dragons became infected after returning from a hunt in the far north. Within several days it had spread to five of us. Unfortunately, the infection rate has been steadily increasing ever since.”
“Do we know what these three dragons did to become infected?” Steve asked. “Did they all eat part of the same animal?”
“Unknown,” Pryllan answered.
“So is this a disease?” Sarah asked. “It’s sure sounding like it right about now.”
“If this is a malady, then it has been previously unreported until now. After contracting this malady, within two weeks the infected dragon would lose the ability to spit fire.”
Steve raised a hand. “What about when they lose the Collective? Would it, or someone on it, inform you if someone else had been kicked off of it?”
Pryllan shook her massive head.
“It doesn’t work that way. The Collective is a mental gathering of wyverian minds. If you choose to use the Collective then you open your senses and quiet your mind so that you can hear the voices of the others. If one voice is silent, we would be unable to determine which voice that is.”
“Have you noticed anyone disappearing from the Collective?” Sarah asked. “For example, can you tell how long it’s been since you’ve last contacted so-and-so?”
“What I have noticed,” Pryllan admitted, “is that the number of voices in the Collective has dropped. Whereas it is possible for the Collective to become all but silent, provided every dragon chose to shun contact with the others, however, no one has ever noticed it this quiet for this long. This malady is definitely affecting the Collective as more and more voices are going silent.”
Kahvel swooped in from the east, circling about overhead to give everyone enough time to make enough room for him to land. Folding his wings and laying them flat against his back, he regarded his mate with a troubled look.
“What is it?” Pryllan asked. “What has happened?”
“Rinbok Intherer believes he has just reached stage two.”
“Didn’t he just use the Collective to summon you?” Steve asked, confused. “Stage two is the loss of the Collective, right?”
Kahvel nodded. “It is. He progressed to stage two in my presence. I could see it in his eyes.”
“Don’t you guys have some sort of a doctor you can go to if you have any type of medical problems?” Sarah asked, exasperated. “I can’t believe there’s no one you can turn to for help in a situation such as this.”
“We dragons are naturally resilient to medical ailments,” Kahvel proudly informed them. “The services of a healer are rarely needed.”
“What about now?” Steve asked, raising an eyebrow.
Kahvel grunted but didn’t say anything.
“There is someone we might be able to turn to for help,” Pryllan said. She turned to look at her mate. “Do you think Sciathan could shed any additional light on the matter?”
Kahvel was silent for a few moments.
“If ever there were anyone that could, aye, I believe he would. Provided you can find him.”
“Who’s Sciathan?” Steve asked.
“One of us who has lived for many centuries,” Pryllan answered.
“So he’s an elder dragon,” Sarah observed. “He’d be perfect.”
“Ascertaining his location will be a problem,” Pryllan admitted.
Steve scratched his head. “Why? Oh, let me guess. Because no one who goes to see him ever comes back alive?”
Pryllan and Kahvel both stared at Steve as though he had just belched up a fireball.
Steve grinned at the two adult dragons. “Okay, that’s a little inappropriate. Sorry.”
“Can you ask this elder dragon what his present location is?” Sarah inquired as she mentally crossed her fingers.
Pryllan shook her head. “His voice has been absent from the Collective for some time.”
Steve sighed. He stretched his back and turned to look southeast, back towards the distant lake.
“Do we have an idea where to look?”
Kahvel approached Steve on his right and looked northeast.
“Do you see the three peaks to the north?”
“I see a peak off by itself and two others a little farther away on its left. Is that what you’re talking about?”
Kahvel shook his head.
“Not even close. You need to look further north. The three peaks sit side by side from one another.”
Steve squinted at the distant mountains and then held a hand over his eyes to s
hade them. Sarah tapped Kahvel’s foreleg to get his attention.
“I see what you’re referring to. Is that where we have to go?”
“Aye. That was his last known location. I’m not sure Pravara would be able to –”
Pryllan thumped the ground with her tail to get Kahvel’s attention. “Pravara will remain here. With you.”
Kahvel, noting the hostile tone emanating from his mate, swiveled his head to look at her.
“Caring for offspring is the duty of the female.”
Sarah rapped Kahvel’s closest foreleg and then rubbed her stinging knuckles.
“Excuse me? What did you just say?”
Pryllan stepped up to Sarah’s side and together the females glared at the two males.
Steve held up his hands and backed away. With a smile, he looked up at the towering gold dragon.
“What was it that you once told me before? Oh, yes, I have it. ‘Your female, your problem’. You’re not dragging me into this, buddy.”
Kahvel looked down at Sarah and then up at his mate. Both were still scowling at him. Well, Sarah was scowling; Pryllan was growling. Sarah wagged her finger at Kahvel.
“If we weren’t going to go find this elder dragon we’d be continuing this right now. Consider yourself lucky.”
Kahvel snorted; a thin line of smoke escaped from each nostril. He withdrew from the debate and retreated inside the cave.
Chapter 3 – Flying the Friendly Skies
“So how are we going to do this?” Steve asked as he turned to his wife. “I mean, I’m allowed to ride on Pryllan’s back but you’re not.”
“I would say she’s going to have to carry me. But are you really going to make me sit in her hand by myself?”
“Of course not.”
Sarah nodded. “Good. Thank you.”
“Just this once,” Kahvel’s deep voice rumbled, surprising them all as he poked his head out of the cave, “I believe it wouldn’t hurt to have you both on her back.”
Steve turned incredulously to the mouth of the cave.
“Aren’t you the one who once threatened me…”
“He advised you,” Sarah interrupted. “He didn’t threaten.”
“Whatever. He was steadfastly against anyone riding on a dragon’s back.”
“And yet you’ve done it before,” Sarah reminded him. “Besides, he isn’t talking about you, he’s talking about me. Kahvel, thank you for the offer, and your blessing, but I was there when Rinbok granted Steve permission to ride on Pryllan’s back. He didn’t say anything about me. Unless he personally gives me his blessing, I wouldn’t feel comfortable riding on Pryllan’s back.”
Kahvel briefly glanced east before returning his attention to Sarah. “I certainly would not tell him, nor would Pryllan. He’d never know.”
“But I would know,” Sarah insisted. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t do that.” She turned to Steve. “Are you saying that you want me up there with you?”
Steve hesitated so long that Sarah had to nudge him on the shoulder.
“As much as I would like to have you riding behind me, I gave Rinbok Intherer my word. I, and I alone, would ride Pryllan and no other. I realize he never once mentioned anything about you, but he made it adamantly clear he disproves of dragon riders. If I encouraged you to ride as well then I would feel as though I were violating Rinbok’s trust. I’m sorry, babe, I won’t ask you to do that. It doesn’t matter, though. I’ll ride with you in Pryllan’s hand.”
He looked over at Pryllan, who had been watching him intently.
“If I were to ride in your hand, could we still share senses, like we have before?”
Pryllan reacted with surprise as she stared down at him.
“Obviously. We have communicated over large distances before. Before the battle with the human sorceress Celestia I shared your senses when you were discussing plans with the king. Do you not remember this?”
Sarah tapped Pryllan’s leg. Once the green dragon was looking down at her, Sarah pointed at her husband.
“His memory is going downhill. Fast. It’s not his fault, he just can’t help it.”
Steve stared at his wife as though he was regarding a stranger.
“I’m standing right here. You do see me, right?”
Ignoring him, Sarah turned to look northeast at the distant mountains Kahvel had singled out earlier.
“How long will it take you to fly all the way there?”
Pryllan narrowed her eyes as she studied the distant peaks.
“Several hours, depending upon the velocity in which I choose to fly.”
“Can you make it there and back before sunset?” Steve asked.
“Provided Sciathan is there and we do not have to search the nearby peaks? Easily.”
“Then you three had better depart,” Kahvel told them. “The sooner you leave the sooner you return.”
“You and Pravara will be fine,” Pryllan assured her mate. “Have her show you how well her aim has improved.”
Curious, Kahvel turned to look back at their dragonlet, who was sitting complacently by Steve’s side. “Indeed? How has she managed to accomplish that?”
“With help,” Pryllan told him.
She opened her right front claw and waited for the two humans to jump on. Once they were situated, she partially closed her claw and prepared to depart. Just as she was about to leap straight up, her mate’s thought sounded in her mind.
Keep yourself safe. For Pravara’s sake. The humans are formidable and I am glad they accompany you. Do not be ashamed to ask their help should the need arise.
Surprised, Pryllan glanced at Kahvel, who was watching her. She nodded her head. Looking down at Pravara, Pryllan saw her offspring staring uncertainly up at her sire. She sent a reassuring thought to her family and then leapt into the air, eliciting a scream of surprise from Sarah, who hadn’t expected the abrupt departure.
Rapidly gaining altitude, Pryllan dipped her left wing down so that they started to turn to the north. Leveling off as she lined up the three peaks off in the distance, she found a suitable air current and adjusted the angle of her wings so that she barely had to use them to stay aloft.
Pryllan, can you hear me?
Pryllan bent her neck down low and glanced at her claw.
As we are communicating telepathically and not using our own voices, I would have to answer no, I cannot hear you.
Ha ha. You know what I mean. Can you bring Sarah into the loop?
I’m already here, Sarah’s thought came back at him, loud and clear. And I’d have to agree with Pryllan. I can’t hear you, either.
Aren’t you two a kick in the pants? Steve shook his head and grinned at his wife. You have to admit, this is pretty cool, right?
Sarah stared back at him. You had just better be careful with your thoughts. They’re going to get you into trouble.
Why do you say that?
I didn’t say that. I thought it.
You know what I mean.
Weren’t you just thinking about that time we were laying poolside at that resort in Hawaii?
Steve mentally choked. The tips of his ears turned bright red as he blushed furiously.
What is a ‘bikini’?
Now look what you’ve done, Sarah mentally scolded him. You’re going to make Pryllan blush, too, if you explain yourself to her.
Damndamndamn, Steve swore to himself.
There’s no ‘to yourself’ here, Sarah reminded him. Everything you’re thinking is being broadcast to the two of us.
Steve gave himself a few moments to compose himself. How would he ever be able to explain to a dragon how fetching he thought Sarah looked in a bikini?
So I assume a bikini is a piece of apparel?
Crap. I did it again.
You really enjoyed that trip, didn’t you? Sarah playfully poked her embarrassed husband in the ribs. Maybe we’ll make a return trip back there once everything has settled down here.
Can we change the su
bject please?
Steve fidgeted uncomfortably in Pryllan’s palm as he heard both Sarah and Pryllan laughing at him.
What would you like to talk about?
Steve raised himself to one knee and peered through the gaps in Pryllan’s claws at the passing mountains far below.
Are we still over the Bohanis?
Aye.
Are we close to Ylani? Sarah asked.
Are we close? Aye, you could say that. We have been in Ylani ever since we crossed the lake.
Surprised, Steve looked up at Pryllan’s head. I thought all dragons lived in Lentari.
Lentari, Ylani, it matters not to dragons. We live where we choose.
Yet the vast majority of you all choose to live around Lake Raehón. Why is that? Sarah inquired. Why not someplace else? Down south in the Selekais, for example. What makes the Bohanis more appealing?
Both husband and wife felt the dragon’s hesitation in answering the question. The two humans looked excitedly at one another. What was she not telling them?
You do remember that I can still sense your thoughts?
Steve shook his head. Sorry. I keep forgetting that.
The lake is home to Rinbok Intherer.
And he makes all the dragons live nearby?
Again, they felt Pryllan’s hesitation. Both husband and wife tried to keep their minds empty. However, before they could still their own minds thoughts of an enormous subterranean cavern flashed through Pryllan’s.
Steve jerked his head up. Sarah clutched at her husband’s hand in an attempt to get his attention before he could say/think anything, but she was too late.
What cavern?
Pryllan gave a visible jerk, which resulted in her lurching left. After a few moments of turbulence, the dragon was able to get her flight back under control.
As they would say in my world, the jig is up, my friend. Steve grinned up at the dragon. What can you tell us about this cavern?
Sarah punched him on his arm. Did you ever stop to think that maybe she shouldn’t be telling us about the cavern? Sarah shook her head and looked annoyed. Don’t press her for information if she’s not allowed to tell.
There is no harm done. As Kahvel reminded us, the Dragon Lord has progressed to the second stage. He is unable to use the Collective, so we have nothing to fear from him. The cavern I am referring to is located deep beneath the lake. It is home to not only Rinbok Intherer but is also the final resting place for all the great wyverian rulers.
Something Wyverian This Way Comes Page 5
