“The dragon is being held by the power of a dragonstone,” Cerana explained. “Have you seen anything that could be it?”
“I don’t think so, what does it look like?”
“No idea, but I bet that the mother will know. Can you take me to her?”
“I think so, but this place is a bit of a maze.”
“Tell me about it,” Cerana said. “Are you good to go?” Cerana stood and dusted herself down, wincing at the pain in her ribs.
“Yeah, I’m good. Are you though?” Jana could see the discomfort her sister was in.
“I’ll live. Let’s go.”
The sisters walked quickly down the other corridor leading off from the room they were in. When they were halfway down, the big wooden door that was impassable to them from inside the room slowly inched its way open with a creak, but the girls were too far away to notice.
Nervously, the goblin Varros peered around the side of the door, relieved that no-one had seen him enter.
He knew exactly what he needed to do. His plan was slowly coming together.
CHAPTER 49 – The Cavern
Cerana wasn’t sure if she was just getting used to the heat inside the volcano, or if this latest section was just a tad cooler. But either way, she was not sweating nearly as much as she had been.
Jana had led them the way she thought she had come, but Cerana was growing anxious that her sister did not seem altogether confident that it was the way she had come. It was not until they had to sneak past a small opening that housed three goblin guards that she recognised it as being the correct route.
“It’s just up here now,” she whispered when they were safely out of earshot.
Cerana’s heart beat faster with anticipation and nerves.
They crept unhindered towards the small opening to the massive cavern, the sisters stopping to peer inside.
The site that beheld Cerana took her breath away.
Dramilath - Coviche’s mother and former leader of the black dragonflight - lay chained and defeated on the cavern floor. Coviche was enormous in her dragon form, but her mother was half the size again, and Cerana felt nothing but pity for the magnificent creature who was unable to move for the heavy chains and brackets.
The dragon’s eyes were closed as the sisters approached with caution and awe. Keeping their distance from the massive creature, they walked inside the cavern and towards her enormous head. They stopped in their tracks as a huge eye slid open and regarded them closely. The dragon took a deep breath, and the eye narrowed as if she were scrutinising the humans, trying to decide if they were friend or foe.
Cerana stood transfixed at the astonishing sight in front of them. They had found Coviche’s mother. The one being that apparently held Esteri’s cure.
That was the first step, but she had no clue whatsoever as to how to help this massive creature. The chains were so big, the sisters would not be able to move them, let alone release her from them. Cerana took a deep breath.
“My name is Cerana Proudstone,” she said, clearing her throat. “Your daughter Coviche sent me.”
The dragon’s massive eye opened wide at the mention of Coviche, and she tried in vain to raise her head. Instead, a low growl came from her chained mouth.
“We are here to help you. What can we do?” Cerana asked nervously.
Dramilath narrowed her eye again before opening it fully. Her long, thin black pupil then darted to the very edge of the bright yellow iris, held there for a few seconds, then fell back into its usual place. Then she did it again, the pupil moving sideways, to the corner of her eye, returning. Cerana was confused.
“She is trying to tell us something,” Jana suggested.
“Is that right, Dramilath?” Cerana asked.
The black pupil moved again, holding at the edge for longer this time, then returning.
“Is she looking for something?” Jana again suggested.
“Yes…I believe she is,” said Cerana. The pupil again darted away to the right of where the sisters stood, and in unison they followed its direction, their heads turning right. “Something over there,” Cerana pointed. The dragon’s eye widened, and she lifted her head very slightly from the ground, the massive chains rattling as she moved.
“I think she wants us to go over there,” said Cerana. But all she could see was a cave wall, albeit she was some distance away. “We will go see. We shall return, Dramilath.”
Cerana and Jana walked the length of Dramilath’s colossal body, gaping in awe at the size of the creature. Her enormous chest heaved slowly as she breathed, like a massive set of bellows. There was nothing along the side of the wall where they walked, and to their frustration, nothing at the far end except a sheer wall of rock. Jana put her hands on her hips and studied the wall, searching for visible clues. Cerana walked up to the wall and ran her hands over the rough surface, looking for anything abnormal or out of place. Yet there was nothing, other than a small indented hole in the cave wall, around three feet from the ground, but it was empty. Cerana inspected the opening with her hand and was surprised to feel a chill as she felt into the small crevice. How can that be, in a volcano? she wondered.
She pulled away, puzzled. Standing back to survey a larger area of the wall, she spotted another hole – on a perfect level with the other, ten feet or so to her right. Inspecting this one, she found it also to have a chill as her hand entered. Almost as soon as her hand was fully inside, she shrieked and yanked back her hand as she felt a pulse of energy pass through her arm. Inspecting her hand, she saw no visible signs of damage, but she had not imagined the sensation. Opening and closing her fist, she felt a slight tingling, but it soon wore off. “Jana, help me with this,” she said to her sister, who was still scouring the cave wall.
“What have you found?” Jana asked.
“See this little hole? There’s another over there.” Cerana pointed to the first crevice she had found. “It’s weird, it’s so hot in here, but the hole is cold. Try it, tell me I’m not imagining it.”
Jana did as her sister asked, walking over to the hole and cautiously inserting her hand. “Oh, yes! It is cold!” she said. “How can that be?”
“I have no idea, but this one just gave me a shock.”
“Oh?”
“I wonder…put your hand back in, will you?”
Jana did as requested and inserted her hand. Cerana did the same, but this time there was no shock. Nothing happened at all.
“Damn it,” Cerana cursed, thinking it was far too much of a coincidence for two perfectly formed, identical holes to be found in a rough-walled cavern. Cerana was adamant this finding must be significant. It was even the location Dramilath was gesturing to, if indeed that was what the captive dragon was eluding to.
She removed her hand. Jana gasped.
“What is it?” Cerana asked.
“I heard something,” Jana advised. “Over there.” She had turned her head to her left and was staring at the far wall of the cavern, her hand still inside the hole.
“Like what?”
“Not sure, like a scraping sound. Just as you took out your hand.”
“Take out yours,” Cerana said, and Jana obliged. Both sisters listened hard but heard nothing apart from the slow, deep breaths of the enormous captive dragon.
“Okay, put it back in, but look where you thought the sound came from.”
Jana did as her elder sister asked.
Cerana watched too, as she slowly slid her hand into the opening. This time, both sisters gasped as a small section of the rockface opened upwards, revealing a perfectly square cavity that glowed with a strange purple light. Something was inside the opening, but they were too far away to tell what.
Cerana then removed her hand. But as soon as she did, the rock seemed to slide down, once again hiding the cavity. “It’s a keyhole,” she said, to no-one in particular.
“Or rather, two of them,” Jana corrected.
“Yes,” Cerana mused. “Wait here a minute.�
�� She dashed off to where the cavity had presented itself. But all she could see was an immense wall of rock, and no visible sign of the opening. Running her hand along the surface of the wall to see if she could detect any abnormality, she felt nothing but the rough rock. It had disappeared. She ran back to Jana and the keyholes. “It must need two hands in the holes to open it, but they’re too far apart for one person to reach.”
“Can’t we try something else instead of our hands? So we can get to that purple thing?” Jana asked.
“Exactly what I’m thinking too.” Cerana looked around their vicinity. “Try to find a couple of rocks or stones that might fit it,” she said.
The sisters managed to find two small rocks near the back wall, but when they inserted them instead of their hands, nothing happened. They tried again with slightly larger stones, but also without success.
“Right, let’s check it again with our hands,” suggested Jana. They did, and the square in the rock opened once more.
“It must be something to do with our hands,” Cerana surmised.
“What are we going to do then?” asked Jana.
It was a good question. The sisters needed each other to open the mysterious square as one alone could not reach between the keyholes, yet as soon as one hand was removed, it shut again. Placing inanimate objects clearly did not work, but she was confident this had significance to their cause, in one way or another. She had to find a way to get into the cavity.
Thinking hard, Cerana did not at first hear the commotion behind them.
“C, look out!” yelled Jana. Cerana turned, and just managed to sway out of the way as an arrow fizzed past her nose and bounced off the rockface where she stood. Four goblins rushed past Dramilath’s huge head, yelling, shouting and shrieking as they came. One of them stopped running to fire another arrow, but the goblin was still some way back, and Cerana easily dodged this one. Jana nocked and loosed an arrow of her own, but it went sailing harmlessly past the onrushing green creatures who did not break stride.
“Further down the wall, split!” Cerana shouted to her sister, who nodded and ran away along the cavern wall as Cerana ran the opposite way, trying to split the goblin pack. “Take out the archer!” she shouted as another arrow whizzed past her. A glance told her there was only one archer, and three goblins with shortswords and daggers.
Cerana cursed as her plan to divide the goblins did not work. The three bearing swords all ran towards Jana as if they had the same idea of taking out the enemy archer. The goblin bowman stood around sixty feet away, nocking another arrow. Cerana did not have time to get to him before he could ready another projectile, and the closer she got, the more chance he had of hitting her. So she ran towards Jana and shouted, “Jana, go! Behind the dragon!” Dramilath prevented the archer from having her sister in his line of sight, and as she ran and ducked for cover behind the massive dragon’s tail, the bowman cursed before turning his attention to Cerana.
Sprinting as fast as she could, ignoring the pain in her ribs and leg, Cerana made ground on the slower, shorter goblin swordsmen, but they closed on Jana’s position. An arrow narrowly missed her as she ran, but the archer now realised that she too intended to seek cover. To counter, he ran towards her, closed the gap, nocked another arrow and loosed. Cerana was at the tip of Dramilath’s tail, and as she saw the arrow flying towards her, she leapt over the massive appendage and rolled to safety at the other side, just as the arrow ricocheted off one of Dramilath’s tail spines.
The other goblins advanced on Jana’s position, but rather than panic, she rose from her cover and let fly an arrow towards the archer. The surprised goblin did not react in time as the deadly projectile thudded into his windpipe. Open-mouthed, the goblin’s eyes bulged for a second before he fell face-first to the floor.
With no time to celebrate, Jana sprinted away from the onrushing goblins who were almost upon her. Cerana was almost within striking distance and could now concentrate on the three goblin swordsmen since Jana had skilfully taken out the dangerous archer. She dashed forwards as Jana swerved around to her right, leading the chasing pack of goblins. Cerana saw her sister’s plan and straightened her own route, closing the gap even further as the goblins ran around in an arc. As the little beasts no longer ran in a straight line, Cerana gained ground and was now behind the last chasing goblin. She slashed at him with her dagger, catching his exposed arm. He shrieked and turned towards her, but she had caught his sword arm, and he could not lift it in time before Cerana plunged her dagger into his stomach below his leather jerkin.
As she removed the blade, the two remaining goblins stopped running and turned towards her, not knowing which of the women to attack first – and falling straight into the sisters’ cleverly evolving trap. Jana ran onwards to firing distance, turned and let fly an arrow which hit one of the goblins at the bottom of his scrawny neck. He tried in vain to reach the protruding missile, but death took him before he could grasp it.
The one remaining goblin stood his ground, his shoulders heaving as he caught his breath. There was a stand-off between him and Cerana, and he looked over his shoulder to see Jana with an arrow nocked and pointed at his head. He turned his head between the two sisters, realising he had nowhere to run. Cerana could see in his eyes; he was trying desperately to work out what to do. He finally bared his teeth, raised his sword let and out a shrill battle-cry. The goblin turned away from Cerana and glared at Jana. He managed to take just one step towards her before the arrow pierced his left eye. Jana’s deadly projectile passed through his head, coming to a stop with the metal tip protruding from the back of his skull. The astonished look on his face quickly faded as he crashed to the ground.
The sisters ran to one another and hugged hard. “We did it!” Jana exclaimed, proud of their small victory.
“We did, my love. But there will be more of them. We must hurry.”
“But how? We can’t get into that opening!” Jana’s elation had quickly turned back to despair and frustration.
“I think I might just have an idea,” Cerana said. “Come, help me with this one.”
Cerana grabbed the dead goblin by his wrist, holding a thin, bony hand aloft. With her free hand, she drew one of her daggers from its sheath, the blade smeared with blood.
“We need an extra pair of hands,” she said. “I don’t think this one will be needing his anymore.”
CHAPTER 50 – What Would a Dragon Do?
Three silver rings adorned the index finger of the severed green hand that Cerana placed inside the first keyhole. Two were plain, and one was inscribed with letters of a language Cerana did not understand. She wondered briefly how the goblin had come by them; whether they were given to him, or more likely stolen. Whichever way, it mattered not should her plan succeed.
The only sound in the vast cavern was that of Dramilath’s heavy breathing. Jana kept watch of the far doorway where the four goblins had spilt from, in case the commotion had alerted any of their friends. Cerana was in front of the second keyhole, strangely hesitant to insert the second severed hand, which had no rings at all on the long, thin fingers.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before gently laying the hand inside the crevice. She opened her eyes, turned, and relief swept through her like a tidal wave as the small square in the rockface opened, spreading a pale purple glow on the cavern floor below it.
It worked!
“Come, Jana! It is open!” she yelled excitedly.
The sisters ran towards the newly formed cavity, which was almost a perfect cube of around two feet on each edge. The purple glow came from a beautiful amethyst crystal; a foot long and four inches wide, floating in the dead centre of the cube and slowly rotating as if on an invisible axis. It was hexagonal, with each end tapering to a sharp point. Each of its six sides appeared perfectly smooth and unblemished.
“What do you think it is?” asked Jana.
“I’m not sure,” replied Cerana. “But I would guess that this is the dragonsto
ne.”
Jana gasped. “This is what is controlling the dragon?”
“This is what Dramilath wanted us to find, I’m certain of it. I could almost feel something inside my head, telling me this is what we are looking for. Maybe she was trying to help us.”
“Like I felt with Coviche…” Jana pondered.
“Yes. I think they can get inside our heads, Jana. Even as weak as Dramilath is, her powers have not faded completely. We must help these magnificent creatures.” Cerana looked to the captive dragon with pity and sadness.
“What about Esteri? We need to help her too!” Jana exclaimed.
“My love, of course we do! But we cannot take all these goblins alone, however many there may be. And there’s still that mage to contend with, remember. We have no chance on our own. We need the help of the dragons to rescue Esteri, which means we must help them first.”
Jana knew her elder sister was right but still was desperate to find Esteri. It had never occurred to Jana that Esteri could be held within this mountain when first she entered, looking for Cerana. She had never given up hope of finding their youngest sibling alive: finding her and taking her home so no-one could harm her again.
All of them going home, living as a family once more without a care in the world.
She wondered if things would ever return to how they once were. The last few weeks of their lives had adversely affected all three sisters, in differing ways. The damage it had caused them all mentally - as well as physically - may never be fully repaired.
But hope remained.
Firstly, they needed to find Esteri, and Jana would do anything to get there. “You’re right,” she said confidently. “Let’s do this.”
Cerana nodded. “Here goes,” she said, reaching into the cube with trembling fingers. She was half-expecting to encounter some unseen resistance from the crystal as she grasped it, but instead, she felt a warm glow emanating from the stone.
The purple light spread over her hands and arms, bathing her in its radiance. She gently pulled it towards her, out of the cube. As she did, it illuminated the gloom of the cavern with a soft, purple glow. It was as light as a feather in Cerana’s hands, and she wondered how something so beautiful and seemingly harmless could have such an effect on a mighty being like a dragon.
The Kiss From a Dragon Page 27
