by Melody Rose
Despite having gone on many flights with Monte, there was nothing quite like it. The sensation enveloped me with a sense of wonder and adventure I never experienced anywhere else. While Myels’s ability let me venture underwater and I had explored many parts of the kingdom of Andsdyer, there was nothing like sailing through the sky.
I closed my eyes and let the wind brush through my hair and slap against my face. When we reached a cruising altitude, I bent down to speak into Julei’s ear.
“Julei, I’m going to let go of you for a moment, okay?” I informed her.
“What?” Julei looked over her shoulder with a fearful expression. “Why?”
“It’s just for a moment, I promise,” I reassured her.
I unwound my arms from her middle and squeezed her shoulders for extra comfort. Then I stretched my arms out wide. I straightened my back, sitting up as high as I could. My chest expanded with the clean air and the unique experience of flying. When I closed my eyes and focused on the feeling, I could almost pretend I was up in the air under my own power with wings of my own.
Suddenly, I felt Julei’s back press against my front as she balanced her own arms outward. She mimicked my movements, with Neeto’s basket propped between her knees.
Then the girl let out a whoop of delight and surprise. My belly shook with laughter at her elation. I howled after her, letting my frustration out into the atmosphere. Together, we released one giant scream and then dissolved into laughter.
Julei quickly returned her hands to the basket and leaned forward a little as she laughed. “That was amazing!”
“There’s nothing quite like it,” I responded as I settled my hands on my knees.
“Hey, ladies,” Monte called out as he turned his long neck around to face us. “Warn a dragon the next time you are going to howl like wolves at a moon. I have sensitive ears.”
Julei blushed with shame. “Sorry, Monte.”
“He’s just giving us a hard time,” I assured Julei as I reached down to brush a part of Monte’s scales. “He doesn’t mean it.”
“I do indeed mean it,” Monte protested. “My ears are the most sensitive part of me.”
“Except his hair,” I whispered to Julei, who giggled appropriately.
“I heard that,” Monte snapped playfully.
“How come you have hair when the other dragons do not?” Julei asked innocently. She reached out to touch some of the white strands but then thought better of it and retracted her hand.
“How come some of you humans have brown hair and others have golden or red?” Monte countered. “There are as many different types of dragons as there are different types of humans. All creatures have some sort of uniqueness and variation to their species.”
“I see,” Julei replied thoughtfully. “I think you are one of the prettiest, though.”
“Oh no, Julei!” I lamented. “Don’t stroke his ego, he doesn’t need a bigger head than the one he already has.”
“Do not listen to her, Julei,” Monte said with a beaming grin. “You can compliment me all you want to.”
“Are there other dragons like you?” Julei asked. “Or were? I know what Reon did to the other dragons, but did you have others that looked like you?”
I could see Monte visibly swallow, the muscles in his neck squeezing. “Yes, there were. We lived along the coast of the eastern sea.”
“Monte,” I said hesitantly, “you don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to.”
“She should know,” Monte resolved. “Do you want to know, Julei? It is not a pleasant story.”
Julei sat quietly for a moment before nodding her head. “Yes, I do. If you are okay telling it.”
“It is painful, yes, but I should not carry the burden of their memory alone,” Monte declared. “Maybe if I share it, it will not be so heavy.”
“I am very strong,” Julei said as she sat up and lifted her chin proudly.
“Of that, I have no doubt, Julei Mason,” Monte said, a clear smile in his voice. “I grew up on that coast, in the yellow of the sand and the blue of the ocean. Even the rainy days were beautiful. We would fly along the water, matching our movements to the waves. Then, after we exhausted ourselves, we would rest out in the sand, sometimes under the shade of the palm trees.”
Monte sighed, the effect rippling across his whole body. “My clan was small but mighty. We acted as one unit, a large family. When I was elected to represent us at the dragon council and to the humans, I did not want to go originally. The thought of leaving the ocean never appealed to me. I never had the urge to travel and explore the rest of the land. As far as I was concerned, I had already found the perfect place.”
“It sounds beautiful,” Julei said softly.
“It was,” Monte replied with a nod. “It was one of the first places devastated by the contamination. Reon wanted to contain everyone in the center of the continent, so he burned the edges first, including the eastern beach.”
“He hurt my family too,” Julei said with a hard frown. “He almost killed my brother.”
“Yes, he did,” Monte said sympathetically. “That is why we are fighting, yes? To make sure he does not hurt anyone else.”
“Is there no way you can heal the beach?” The question was for me, and I didn’t quite know how to answer it. So, I didn’t, not right away anyhow.
“Julei,” Monte coaxed her back to their conversation, “Eva is very powerful, but my home has been burned and damaged for a very long time. Eventually, maybe, she might be able to, but right now, we need to focus on making sure that no other parts of Andsdyer end up like that beach. And no one else becomes sick like your brother.”
Julei squared her jaw with a resolve beyond her years. “I know.”
“Good,” Monte complimented.
“Can I ask you more questions about dragons?” Julei wondered tentatively.
“Absolutely,” the dragon’s voice perked up. “What do you want to know?”
“What do dragons eat?” Julei asked, changing the subject completely.
The sudden switch made both Monte and I chuckle with amusement.
“You know,” Monte said, “your brother asked me the same thing when we first met.”
“I know he did, but I was too shy to come close to you then,” Julei admitted with a hanging head. “But I like to think we are friends now, so I can ask you that.”
“I like to think we are friends as well, Julei,” Monte agreed.
The exchange warmed my heart, and a small smile spread across my lips. While Julei rattled off a list of foods that she liked to see if Monte liked them too, I send the dragon a quick mental message.
“Thank you for showing Julei some kindness.”
“She is a special young woman,” Monte replied. “And I like her. It is not difficult to do.”
“No, it isn’t,” I agreed.
The banter continued nearly all the way to the entrance of the Library. Julei continued to ask inquisitive questions about Monte and his life. I hung back, only interjecting every so often with a joke or a story about the two of us. Mostly, I let the two of them get to know each other. I figured the more comfortable that Julei was with Monte and the other dragons, the easier this journey might be for her.
Gideonia and Freja were at the head of our formation. Monte noticed their descent first and followed suit. Julei, surprised by the level change, reached forward and clutched Monte’s hair for something to hold on to. I winced at the sight, prepared for the dragon to snap at her.
However, much to my surprise, Monte didn’t say a word. He simply lowered our party to the group without so much as a gripe about Julei touching his hair.
Once we landed, I sent Monte a glare and a message. “Oh, so she’s allowed to touch your hair, but your djer’s not?”
“She is gentler than you,” Monte retorted matter-of-factly.
“Seriously?” My mouth gaped open as his comment. “That’s your excuse.”
“It is the trut
h,” the dragon replied with a soft shrug of his shoulders.
“We are here,” Gideonia announced, breaking up my irritated conversation with Monte.
I turned in the direction Gideonia was facing to see a large oak tree. Being winter, all of its high, strong branches were bare. The tree didn’t appear to be any different from the other trees in the forest. It wasn’t even the tallest or the thickest. All in all, the plant was rather ordinary.
At first, I thought Gideonia had tricked us and led us astray, just to shove it in my face. It wouldn’t have surprised me, but then I saw the base of the tree.
Near the roots, there was an archway carved into the tree. It was too pristine to be natural, the etching smooth. It looked like a mini door without a handle carved into the trunk of the tree.
The one problem was that Julei seemed to be the only one big enough to get through the door, if it even opened.
“That’s the entrance to the Library?” I pointed at it skeptically.
“Do you doubt me?” Gideonia snapped.
“No,” I drew the word out slowly. “I’m just wondering how we’re supposed to get in there.”
“You have to be invited in,” Gideonia informed us.
“Well, that’s convenient,” I commented dryly.
“Should we knock?” Hannan suggested.
Everyone’s eyes fell to me. I crossed my arms and huffed. “Oh sure, leave it to me to test the tiny, creepy door.”
“It is a chosen one thing,” Freja said with a smirk, throwing my own words back at me.
I made a face at her but stepped forward, nevertheless. With a closed fist, I dipped forward and knocked on the wood. A hollow echo erupted from behind the door and seemed to ring on forever, like a clock striking twelve. I stepped back from the door, a little frightened by the sound.
Nothing happened.
“Try again,” Hannan encouraged.
“They are coming,” Gideonia assured us with a hint of annoyance. “Sometimes, it takes the moles a while to get to the door.”
“Because they’re navigating through the Library?” I figured.
“That,” Gideonia said, “and the fact that they are blind.”
“The moles are blind?” I blurted out, unsure why I was shocked by that fact. Something in the depths of my elementary school memory told me that was true, but I couldn’t believe we were about to be guided down into a library by a group of blind creatures. How were we supposed to find anything?
As I exclaimed my surprise, the wooden door creaked open and revealed one of the largest rodents I had ever seen.
10
Pinkish claws wrapped around the door frame. They were frighteningly long, like butcher knives coated in dirt and grime. They pulled a furry round creature into view. His piggish snout stuck out farthest and sniffed the cold air, making a sound like a clogged vacuum. A tiny tongue slurped the air and licked the roots of his white whiskers. The rest of him was a charcoal black, and he had no eyes. To top it off, the thing was as tall as Julei, even on all fours.
“Holy shit,” I whispered with my hand over my mouth.
I had seen a lot of creatures during my time in Andsdyer, including mythical beings that I thought only existed in storybooks. But all of them had been a normal size, adhering to the laws of nature that existed even in my world. Countering all of that, though, was this enlarged mole that looking creepily like a rodent of unusual size.
The mole’s mouth popped open like a yawn. “How can I help you?” he said with a harsh voice that drew out each word into extra unnecessary syllables.
“Are we sure he’s not a sloth?” I whispered to Hannan, meaning it as a joke.
But intelligent Hannan responded to the rhetorical question. “That is most certainly a mole. A large one, yes, but a mole nonetheless.”
“Who questions my species?” the mole snapped.
Hannan and I froze on the spot. We glanced at each other, not making a sound.
“Come now,” the mole sniffed. “I heard you mumbling. I may be blind, but my hearing is quite excellent.”
I felt a shove from behind me as Monte leaned his head down and pushed me forward. I mouthed protests to him and dug in my heels, but the dragon propelled me forward, my feet making drag marks in the dirt until I was directly in front of the mole.
The scent of him slammed into my nostrils, and I held back my gag. Manure and sulfur crawled up my nose and clouded my brain. I opened my mouth to breathe that way, but the potency of the smell affected even my taste buds. I coughed.
The mole turned his face up to me, though the thing was only a foot or two shorter than me. He stuck his fleshy nose in my face, and his flared nostrils made me want to retreat.
“I do not know you, human,” the mole declared, “but you have brought quite the party with you.” The mole sniffed the air again, that gurgling noise echoing in the forest. “Three adult humans, one babe, three dragons, a cat, and a butterfly. Quite a scouting party you have there, my dear.”
I chuckled nervously. “You can tell all that by our smell?”
“Everyone has a distinct smell,” the mole drawled. “Only one of these I recognize. One of the dragons has been here before.”
My gaze whipped around to Gideonia. My eyebrows shot into the air expectantly. I gestured with my head, indicating that she should talk to him.
Gideonia scowled at me but did as I asked. “Polonis, it is a pleasure to see you again.”
“I would say the same, but alas, I am blind,” the mole called Polonis said with a grin. His lips pushed back to reveal two buck teeth and a series of small incisors. Then he released a chortle that sounded like rocks in a blender. “Though it is still nice to have a visit from one of the queen’s advisors. How is Queen Irena?”
Freja, Hannan, and I all shared skeptical glances. How long had that mole been underground?
“Unfortunately, the late queen passed on quite some time ago,” Gideonia informed the mole.
“Oh dear,” Polonis said as he crinkled his brow. His lips twitched upward. “Sometimes we go long stretches without talking to anyone up top. We lose track of current events. Have you crowned a new queen then?”
“We have.” Gideonia grimaced. “She is here with us.”
“Ah.” Polonis rubbed his massive, clawed paws. “I would like to meet her if possible.”
Gideonia’s eyes snapped to mine and nudged her own head towards the mole.
“I think you should introduce yourself,” Monte suggested in my mind.
I scowled but took a step forward all the same. “I’m Eva. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Polonis.”
“So informal, you must not have been queen long, my dear,” Polonis said with a hint of amusement. “Come closer, child of Irena, and let me feel your face.”
The mole reached out his baseball glove paws, swiping for my face. I leaned back and away with a disgusted look on my face. I couldn’t help it. The last thing I wanted to do was put my face against his grimy palms.
“I’m not Irena’s child,” I said, correcting the mole while staying out of his grip. “I’m not related to her at all, actually.”
“I see,” Polonis said wisely. “You are one of the travelers from one of the other dimensions.”
“You say that so casually,” I admitted, unable to hide my surprise.
“I assist in the Library, child,” Polonis said with a frown. “There are few things I do not know. One of them is not what you look like. Please come forward so I can get a sense of your features.”
As much as I wanted to say no thanks and high tail it in the opposite direction, something told me that I had to appease this mole if we had any chance of making it down into the Library. I inhaled then exhaled and took a brave step forward. My whole body clenched under the anticipation of his touch. I close my eyes and tensed when his frying-pan paws pressed against my cheeks.
Rough little bumps, like sandpaper, rubbed around my skin. It distorted my face as he pushed my features aro
und. I physically bit my tongue and held my breath so I wouldn’t have to inhale that rancid smell, made only worse by his closeness.
“He’s almost done,” Monte assured me in my mind, sensing my discomfort.
“Give me a swarm of contaminated bees any day over this,” I commented back, doing my best to remain still as the mole scratched down my jawline.
The tips of his claws tickled down to my chin, and I shivered, the nerves along my spine exploding with discomfort. Polonis clapped his hands together and cooed while I took the liberty to move backward with a giant step.
“Thank you for that experience, Eva,” Polonis said with something that resembled a smile.
I gulped. “You’re welcome.”
“I take it you would like to visit the Library?” Polonis guessed with another sniff.
“Yes, please,” I replied. “Me and my companions are looking for something.”
“We would be happy to assist the Queen of the Dragons,” Polonis said with a short bow. “Unfortunately, we do not have an entrance suitable for your dragons. They will have to wait above ground.”
“That’s fine,” I answered as I shot a glance at Zulu, Gideonia, and Monte. They all agreed by nodding. “They will wait for us here.”
“It may take some time,” the mole warned. “The Library is quite vast, and one loses track of time in there.”
“We understand,” I replied, eager to get down there and find the key as fast as possible.
“Oh.” Polonis held up a single claw. “You will need a light source. The Library is kept in complete darkness.”
“Why?” I asked dumbly.
“Eva,” Hannan whispered sharply, “they cannot see. They get around by smell and touch.”
“Your male companion is correct,” Polonis confirmed. “All visitors are required to bring their own form of light.”
“We can use our torches,” Freja offered.
“I am afraid not,” the mole said regretfully. “Due to the sensitive nature of the materials we keep, we do not permit any type of flame down in the Library.”
