Dragonlinked

by Adolfo Garza Jr.

  Smoke finished the last of the scraps and turned to them, tail wagging.

  Aeron squatted down and started to scratch Smoke’s ears. “I hope you’re doing well. I actually missed you, you bag of fleas.”

  Sharrah chuckled. “He does not have fleas. He gets a bath once a week that has special anti-flea ingredients. Martin usually does that, but I’m doing it while he is off with the study team.”

  Aeron smiled. “I know, I just like to tease him with that name. You don’t mind me calling you a bag of fleas, do you boy?”

  Smoke barked and licked Aeron’s face.

  Aeron laughed. “See? He doesn’t mind at all.”

  Sharrah shook her head and smiled.

  After a bit, Smoke turned back to his bowl, lay down, and started to gnaw contentedly on the bone.

  “I guess that’s our cue to head off,” Aeron said, a lopsided smile on his face.

  Sharrah smiled and said, “I guess so. But let’s clean up in here first.”

  She lead them to the wash-up sink and they took turns freshening up. Sharrah then scrubbed the bowl Mallory had given them.

  “I’m just going to set this over at my desk, and we can head off,” Sharrah said, taking the bowl with her.

  Later, when they got to Aeron’s room, Willem wasn’t there yet.

  “Hmm,” Sharrah said, “I thought he’d beat us here for sure.”

  “So did I,” Aeron agreed, opening the door.

  “Well, while we wait, tell me how your cavern exploring is going.” She sat in one of the large comfy reading chairs by the door. “How are the plans for the cavern tour coming along?”

  “Oh, just great!” Aeron said as he opened a few globe shutters in the room for more light. “I sure wish you’d reconsider and come with us.”

  “No thanks. I’m still not sure about caverns. And that nahual report has me even more nervous.”

  Aeron, now finished with the lamps, grabbed a notebook off his desk and sat in the other big chair next to Sharrah. “Yeah,” he said, “it’s a little scary knowing that an attack has happened anywhere near us. But as far as the exploring, I’ve been making a simple map of the areas I’ve been to in this notebook.” He handed the book to her. “I’ve been able to explore a few more caverns along the already explored areas.”

  “Already explored?”

  “Yeah. When people first started moving into the Caer, the caverns were explored fairly well. In fact, there are walkways that were enchanted along the main routes throughout the near caverns, and many rooms were enchanted out of the caverns as well, like these living quarters,” Aeron gestured vaguely to the rooms around them, “and the rooms we passed through where the lightglobes are processed and enchanted, the Magic Craft Hall proper.”

  “I see.” Sharrah nodded and returned to studying his map.

  “The cavern system is rather large,” Aeron said. “It will take me a bit more time to explore the ‘civilized’ parts of it. But then, I’ll start exploring some of the places where the going will be harder, because there are no enchanted walkways. I’m hoping to find more special caverns. Probably the first one of those paths I will tackle is the one that branches off here.” Aeron leaned over and pointed out a spot on his map where a branch was indicated, but not expanded upon.

  “I’m surprised there is an unexplored part so close to the Magic Craft Hall,” Sharrah said.

  “Well, you can’t tell on my simple map, but the passage quickly narrows. It’s too thin for an adult to pass through easily. If they could even make it, they’d get some serious scrapes. I can squeeze past with no problem, though, if I go sideways. I’m not sure why it wasn’t enchanted wider, but perhaps the passage ends not too far beyond what little I saw of it. Who knows?” He shrugged.

  “I’m not so sure you should go off wandering around the unexplored parts all by yourself,” Sharrah said, a look of concern on her face. “And not just because of what might be living there. Are those areas even safe?”

  A knock on the door interrupted them.

  It was Willem. Aeron let him in and said, “We wondered how we beat you here. We got food for Smoke, fed him and cleaned up after. We thought for sure you’d be here first.”

  Willem smiled and placed a large wrapped package he had brought on Aeron’s desk. “Well, I had a little bit of finishing up to do on this before I wrapped it.”

  Aeron eyed it eagerly, wondering what it was.

  “What is it?” Sharrah asked. She had risen from her chair and was also eyeing the package.

  “Oh, just a little something that I thought now was the perfect time to finish,” Willem replied. He looked at Aeron and said, “But first, I think Aeron should demonstrate some magic for us!”

  “Oh yes,” Sharrah said, excitement lighting up her eyes. “Show us something, would you Aeron?”

  “Sure,” he said. He walked to the center of the room and looked around. “There,” he said, pointing. “That chair. Watch this.” He carefully cast Meturato’s Gloom, anchoring it to the chair he’d been sitting in earlier. Aeron adjusted the range of the spell so that the very top of the chair’s back as well its bottom could still be seen outside the edge of the sphere of darkness.

  “Wow!” Willem said.

  Sharrah walked over, stood near the chair, and said, “Astonishing.”

  “Sit in the chair,” Aeron said.

  Sharrah looked at him, slightly worried. “In the chair?”

  “Yes,” he replied laughing. “Go on, you’ll be fine.”

  Sharrah hesitated before sitting down. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “I can see everything fine. Did you take the spell away?” she asked and stood back up.

  “Nope,” he said. “The spell only affects anyone outside the sphere of darkness. Inside, you hardly see any change at all.”

  Willem walked over and sat in the chair. “Excellent. This is pretty amazing. And I see what you mean, there is just a faint bit of blurriness to everything outside.”

  Aeron removed the spell and the darkness disappeared. “Now, how about some light?” He raised his hand, palm up, and the small globe of light of Dagur’s Gleam appeared over it. This time he was careful to anchor it above his palm.

  Willem’s face lit up and he walked over to Aeron. “That is so amazing,” he said. He held Aeron’s hand with his left hand and tried grabbing the globe of light. His fingers passed through the softly glowing orb. He laughed, glanced at Aeron, then looked back at the softly glowing orb, examining it closely.

  Sharrah walked over for a closer look. Willem, bemused, smiled at her and released Aeron’s hand. Aeron moved it closer to Sharrah. She stared at the light and asked, “It isn’t warm?”

  Aeron shook his head, “Not at all. It gives off no heat.”

  “It gives off a pretty good amount of light,” she said.

  “Not as much as a lightglobe,” Willem noted. “But a good amount nonetheless.”

  Aeron removed the spell and the globe faded away.

  “And the last spell,” he began, looking around the room once more, “will be on the mysterious package!”

  The package rose half a foot into the air.

  Willem laughed and walked back to Aeron’s desk, eyeing the wrapped item as it hung in the air.

  Sharrah, smiling, walked over and poked the package. It glided over the desk a few inches.

  “That spell is related to the spells used on the moss carts and moving chests and such,” Aeron said.

  He removed the spell and the package dropped to the desk with a light thud. “Now,” he said, looking at Willem, “you never did say what was in that.”

  Willem chuckled. “Actually, it’s for you. I’m sorry it took as long as it did, but I figure it’s also a good way of saying congratulations on making apprentice. It’s your satchel.” Willem slid the package to Aeron and smiled. “Go on, open it.”

  Delighted, Aeron quickly grabbed the package. He began removing the wrapping and eventually revealed the leather satchel within.
“Oh, Willem,” he said quietly, “this is beautiful.”

  “That has to be the most gorgeous carry-all I’ve ever seen,” Sharrah said, only slightly jealous.

  Aeron was slowly rotating the satchel on the desk, examining it from all sides. The clean simple lines were amazing.

  “It has an inside, too, you know,” Willem said, humor dancing in his eyes.

  Aeron smiled at him and carefully opened the satchel.

  “I included some sleeves to hold fountain pens and pencils, and even a holder for a small ink bottle. And there are a couple of pockets with snap covers for odds and ends.”

  “This is great,” Aeron said, still examining the satchel. He looked around his desk and grabbed a couple of pencils and put them in the sleeves in the satchel. A pen and an ink bottle followed. Next, he grabbed a notebook. It fit perfectly. Looking for more, he grabbed the jar of cream he’d used for his cheek and placed it inside.

  “It’s perfect!” he said, excitedly.

  “To be honest, I have orders for four more satchels like this one,” Willem said. “And one of those is for Master Helfin! He saw this and liked it so much, he asked for one. And some other people saw me working on it and, well . . .” he shrugged his shoulders. “But I’m not going to make them exactly like this one. This is the Aeron version, and only one of those will be made.”

  Aeron closed the satchel and slung it over his shoulder. It was just a little large and hung a touch low. Even so, it was excellent. He turned to Willem and, while hugging him, said, “Thanks, Willem. It’s just really exactly perfect.”

  Willem blushed, hugged him back, and said, “You’re welcome.”

  Aeron dug in his pocket and pulled out the three marks. “Here. Though I feel three isn’t hardly enough for this beauty.”

  Willem said, “Oh, no, it is. Three covers the material costs quite well. And with what I will be making off the orders I already have for carry-alls similar to this one? No, this is fine. Thank you.”

  Aeron smiled. After a moment, he said, “Oh, and now that you’re done with this, do you have time for the cavern tour?”

  “Actually, I do. Any time the next few days you want to, we can go.”

  “Excellent!” Aeron said. “Well, the weekend starts tomorrow, so how about tomorrow evening, say an hour after dinner?”

  “Perfect,” Willem said. “Meet up here?”

  “Yes,” Aeron replied. He turned to Sharrah. “You sure you don’t want to go with us? I’m telling you, the caverns are spectacular.”

  “No, thank you. I’ll pass. You’re lucky I go this far into the cavern system,” Sharrah said.

  Aeron smiled at her and shook his head.

  “How long do you think the tour is going to take?” she asked.

  “Hmm,” Aeron replied, thinking. “Based on the times that I walked the tour while I was planning it, it should take about an hour and a half or so.”

  “That’s not bad at all,” Willem said.

  “Alright,” Sharrah said. “I will come along and wait for you two here. If you aren’t back in two hours, I will tell Master Doronal to send a search party.”

  Willem and Aeron burst out laughing.

  Chapter 8

  Leday, Duody 11, 1873

  Evening

  “Are you ready?” Aeron asked Willem. He opened his satchel and tucked a water skin inside.

  Willem looked inside his own satchel one more time and then closed it. He picked up the lantern that Aeron had told him to bring and said, “Yes.”

  “Listen guys, I want you to take Smoke with you,” Sharrah said. Smoke’s ears perked up at the mention of his name, and he opened his mouth, tongue lolling out as he looked from one to the other of them.

  Aeron sighed. “Why don’t you both come with us?”

  “That’s a great idea,” Willem said, smiling.

  Sharrah actually looked like she was considering it, but she shook her head. “No. Then no one would know we went. Who would send for help if we never came back?”

  “Sharrah,” Aeron began, “the explored caverns have been used for over two years now, since before the majority of the Caer even arrived. There’s nothing in them to be afraid of. I’ve walked my tour several times the last few days. In fact, I walked it again last night after you guys left. I haven’t needed a search party yet.”

  “You went last night again?” Sharrah asked, surprised.

  “Yes. I wanted to be sure my time estimate was correct. It was. We just have to not dawdle between so we have time to enjoy the view in each of the three caverns.”

  “Come along, Sharrah,” Willem implored. “It sounds amazing.”

  “Look,” Aeron said, indicating a note on his desk. “I always make one of those before I go. It shows the path through the caverns I will take and indicates what time I should be back. That way, if someone is looking for me and they find the note, they will know whether I am still out there or that maybe something did happen.” He looked at Sharrah. “Which it never has.”

  Sharrah let out an exasperated breath. “Fine.” She looked at them both. “Fine. Let’s go. But Smoke is coming with us. And I swear, if we die, I’ll kill you both.”

  They had been walking for about ten minutes along the passage beyond the ramp to the lower caverns, when Sharrah spoke again. “It’s pretty bleak out here.”

  “Yeah,” Aeron agreed. “In many places it seems pretty barren. But come here.” He headed to a pool ahead that the walkway passed around. The walkway was tight against the left wall of the passageway in order give the small pool a wide berth. He walked over to the edge of the walkway nearest the pool and kneeled. “If you look closely, you can see there are little fish in there. They are as clear as glass, with only the faint tracings of bones visible in their transparent bodies.”

  “Oh!” Sharrah exclaimed. “I see them now. That’s amazing.”

  “I wonder what they eat?” Willem mused.

  Smoke wandered over to the pool and sniffed it. Sharrah laughed and said, “No Smoke. Sit, boy, sit.”

  Smoke sat and wagged his tail.

  Aeron smiled and said, “Here, watch this.” He closed the shutter on his lantern. “Close yours too,” he told Willem.

  After Willem closed his, darkness enfolded them.

  Smoke barked. There was an echoing bark a moment later from behind them.

  “I don’t know about this,” Sharrah said, groping for Smoke in the darkness.

  “Just wait a bit,” Aeron said. “Your eyes will adjust.”

  Sharrah found Smoke and put her arms around his neck. He made a happy whine and licked her cheek.

  “Now,” Aeron said after a few minutes, “do you see anything?”

  “It’s still pretty dark,” Sharrah said. “But . . . are those stars?”

  “No,” Willem replied, “they can’t be. They’re moving.”

  Little motes of light of various size and color seemed to be floating or dripping or, flying? It was impossible to say.

  “What are those?” Sharrah asked.

  “Those are tiny little bugs and worms on the walls,” Aeron replied. “Look in the pool.”

  Sharrah gasped. “The fish. They—are those their eyes?”

  Aeron laughed and said, “Yes, they are.”

  The fish had vertical bands of soft light spaced across their bodies, and their eyes were two small globes of light. Along their razor-thin backs was another stripe of light of a different color.

  “This is astonishing,” Willem said.

  “Just wait,” Aeron said. “This is only a tiny taste.” He opened his lantern. The relatively bright light blinded them momentarily.

  “Wow,” Sharrah said, shielding her eyes with her hand.

  Smoke barked again.

  Willem started laughing and said, “My eyes need to readjust to the brighter light.” After a moment, he opened his lantern as well.

  “Let’s continue,” Aeron said. “We’re almost to the first cavern I want you to see.
”

  They passed up a few openings where walkways split off to the left and right. Aeron continued along the main path. After several minutes, the passage opened up on a cavern. It was impossible to see anything very far in, the lantern light only projected so far. The walkway continued on into the cavern, but Aeron stopped after about five feet.

  “Alright,” he began and turned back to them, “this is where we will close the lanterns. But when we close them, I want you to close your eyes this time. I want you to see everything at once, not slowly as your eyes adjust.”

  Willem raised an eyebrow and Sharrah looked dubious.

  Aeron laughed and said, “Trust me. Please.”

  “Alright,” and “Fine,” they said.

  Aeron closed his lantern and Willem did the same. “Okay,” Aeron said, “close your eyes. No peeking!”

  The silence was profound, only broken every now and then by the soft drip of water, sometimes close, sometimes far.

  After a bit, Aeron said, “That should be long enough. Open your eyes now.”

  Sharrah breathed in loudly. “Oh my.”

  A long, drawn-out “Wow” was all Willem managed.

  Before them were various fungi of fantastical shape and softly luminous color. All around on the ground were patches of lichen or moss glowing faintly. More could be seen on the walls and, dimly, on the ceiling above. What looked like oddly shaped small plants were scattered about as well, several giving off light. Some plants glowed from their stalks, some from their leaves, and all in various patterns and colors. Stalagmites and stalactites, large and small, were everywhere, damp and darkly glistening in the soft light.

  “Am I dreaming?” Sharrah asked.

  “No,” Aeron replied, a large grin on his face. “As amazing as it might seem, this is not a dream.”

  “Good,” Willem said. “That means I can come back and see this fantastic wonder whenever I want.” From the corner of his eye Willem saw something moving over to the side. “Oh my goodness,” he said. “Look over there. Is that a walking stick? It is! Look at it, over there!” He pointed excitedly at the large insect.

  “It can’t be,” Sharrah said.

  “I dunno,” Aeron remarked, “though it’s pretty big, that sure looks like a walking stick to me.”