Night of the Dragons

by Miranda Martin

  The rock is cool under my hands as I use it to pull myself into a standing position. The world spins slightly, but I close my eyes and hold it together until it subsides. First stop, food cave. I need water and maybe some more of that jerky. My stomach rolls at the thought of it. Okay, maybe just the water.

  I shuffle out of the cave like an old woman, hunched over and moving slowly, squinting at the bright sunlight. Yeah, that doesn't make things better. Shielding my eyes with my hand, I pick up the pace a little to get to the other cave faster, trying to get out of the bright light. It does not do my headache any favors.

  I hear the dragon-men inside before I step into the somewhat-cooler interior. Makes sense that they'd tend to congregate here. Isn't it a universal rule that everyone likes to be around wherever the food is? I know that was where everyone on the ship tended to go when they had free time. I feel a pang as a fresh wave of loss hits me. Okay, maybe I shouldn't think about that, especially when I already feel like I do. Pushing thoughts of the ship away, I move listlessly towards one of the empty stools.

  A pause in conversation.

  Then the men are an immediate swirl of movement, helping me to the stool, offering me water and food with only minor growls and snarls between them. Honestly, I don't know who hands me the water skin or who gives me the jerky. I can't seem to quite focus on anything. Thinking about exactly how terrible I feel is taking a lot of my energy. I'm not alert or very aware of my surroundings. Kind of hazy. I'm basically a sitting duck if any threat suddenly appears. Not that it would be much different even if I had all of my faculties around me, to be honest.

  I take a sip from the water skin. It helps a little. But it's no miracle. I force myself to take a bite of the jerky and start chewing just as slowly as I've done everything else so far. I don't want to accidentally trigger actual vomiting. Don't want to experience it and definitely don't want to face the embarrassing aftermath of puking up my guts in front of all of them. Thoughts swirling around that possible scenario, it takes me a few seconds for me to realize they're calling my name.

  I look up, seeing the worry on the men's faces as they glance at each other. When they don't say anything else, I let my head drop back down, too exhausted to keep it up like that for long. I hear them talking amongst themselves some more in that hissing tongue, the tone worried, urgent. But I can't even pretend to be okay just now if I'm the one responsible for that tone. I feel too terrible to expend energy on something like that.

  So I just sit there and keep chewing slowly on that jerky. It helps a little. But again, not enough to make any kind of real difference, any kind of significant dent in the cloud of illness surrounding me. I stay firmly in that cloudy haze until I realize they've stopped talking and started moving with a purpose.

  I look up as the activity level increases suddenly, too much and too fast for me to ignore. What are they planning? They’re grabbing bags and loading them with food and water, leaving the cave and coming back quickly with those bags noticeably fuller. They're careful to always have two of them still in the room with me as they leave and come back, taking turns.

  What's going on? Are they leaving? Are they going somewhere? Are they leaving me behind? I feel a bolt of alarm, but the wave of hurt is stronger than that, surprising me. It would hurt me if they left me. I don't know if I really expected that feeling. I mean, I've really only just met them. Yes, we've been through some harrowing experiences together, but still. I've grown more attached than I realized. Beyond the practical reasons. I was always vulnerable, physically. I know I'm dependent on them for my survival here.

  But am I emotionally dependent on them now too? That's a little troubling. I don't know if I want to be vulnerable in that arena now too. They already have such an advantage. I'm sinking into the spiral of those thoughts as they finish packing, but I don't realize they're done with their flurry of activity until Mikhos stops in front of me. I look up at his worried face just as he crouches down and lifts me easily in his arms.

  "What's going on?" I wonder aloud, even as relief flows through me at that clear indicator. They aren't leaving without me. Mikhos cradles me close, his pack already on his back as he murmurs something that sounds like it’s supposed to be reassuring.

  Why is he reassuring me? I look over at the others, their packs also on their backs, their weapons in hand once again. They look like they did when we were traveling across the desert. I can guess where we're going now. I rest my heavy head against Mikhos's chest as the group moves out with me in tow, heading purposefully down the path to the waiting red desert below.

  The sun is pounding on us again, Mikhos's wings flaring to help us skim the dunes, the others arrayed around us, their eyes watchful, scanning around us alertly. I have no idea where we're headed, where the end of this trip is taking us. But I do have some context I can chew over. I do know, for example, that they were likely having a discussion about how worried they were about me before they started packing. Maybe they're trying to do something to alleviate that worry. Maybe they know of something that could help me?

  My mind immediately flashes back to that plant they gave me yesterday. Maybe they want to get more of that plant for me? But then why would I have to come too? They just gave it to me when I woke up last time.

  I sigh, closing my eyes and turning my head in against Mikhos's cool, hard chest. I don't know with any kind of certainty where we might be going or what the motivation really is here. And, practically speaking, I can't do anything about it. I'll find out when we get there, in any case.

  Deciding to just let things happen—more because I'm exhausted than because I've reached any kind of real Zen state—I take a deep breath, relax, and let them worry about the journey.

  15

  We travel for some time.

  None of the dragon-men let down their guard the entire time, always scanning the area around us as their legs eat up the distance, untiring and steady. They trade off carrying me, the other three always arranged around the one whose turn it is. Protecting me. Even in my state, I realize that and it warms my heart. Yeah, I'm definitely more involved than I realized, but what can I do about it?

  We stop midday to rest and eat. At that point, I'm still not feeling any better than when we left the cliff face. Actually, I feel a little worse, probably from the amount of sun exposure we've gotten and the heat that goes with it.

  Mikhos props me up, murmuring something in a soothing voice as Emerald unpacks a water skin and brings it over. I clear my throat as I look at it. Maybe now is a good time to figure out a few more basic words that would be pretty helpful. And maybe focusing on something else for a bit will also distract me a little from how crappy I feel.

  To that end, I point at my throat and then the water skin, miming that I want the water. Emerald hands it over to me eagerly. I smile at his sweetness and take it, but try again.

  "Thirsty?" I say out loud, trying to get them to understand I want the word for wanting water.

  "Ress-fine," Fire interjects.

  Anguis nods.

  "Ress-fine," Emerald agrees, realization dawning.

  "Ress-fine," I repeat.

  They smile back at me, though worry lingers behind their eyes. At least I'm getting better at their accent. I take a sip of the water as Mikhos offers me a piece of jerky next. I mime wanting it once again and he knows exactly what I'm looking for this time, providing the word for hungry. Or, I think it's the word for hungry anyway. They should know I mean food if I say it, in any case.

  I have some of the jerky, feeling only slightly better for the food and water. I can feel them all watching me, even though they try to be polite about it and not stare at me outright. They're worried. I don't need to be psychic to see that. And I can't even reassure them about it. I feel too shitty and I know exactly what's happening to boot.

  I'm dying.

  There's no way around that hard truth and I've had plenty of time to come to terms with it. I know they can see things are serious as
well because we don't stop for long before we're moving again. This time I'm in Fire's cradling arms as we move forward.

  Periodically, Emerald offers me water and Anguis offers me more jerky, with Mikhos keeping a sharp lookout while they're distracted. But we don't stop again until the suns start to set. I open my eyes when Emerald finally sets me down. I know I've lost some time because I don't remember when he took over the task of carrying me, or when the suns fully set for that matter. I use the word for thirsty and Mikhos hurries over with a water skin. I take a few sips, which is all I have the energy for. When Fire offers me more jerky, I take a bite, but then refuse the rest. My tender stomach just can't take anymore at this point.

  I put my hands together and tilt my head against them, closing my eyes.

  "Tired?" I ask, opening my eyes to look around at them. They give me another word. I repeat it well the first time again, but I don't have much time to savor that small victory. Everything's fading as sleep starts to claim me, insistent and inevitable. I didn't even do anything besides lie in people's arms all day, but it feels like I've run a marathon without a break. I feel myself being picked up and set back down, this time on one of the bedrolls they've brought along.

  I only open my eyes a little when I feel one of them settling in behind me and another in front. It's Emerald and Anguis. Mikhos and Fire settle down above my head and below. All of them are facing out, away from me. On guard even when they sleep. Feeling oddly comforted by that, I let myself be dragged down into a deep sleep. Not that I have much of a choice.

  The next day is much of the same. I start the day off in Fire's arms and decide to occupy myself learning some more words. I pick up my hair and then tug lightly on his, looking up at him expectantly. He smiles and gives me the word for hair. I also learn basic features like lips, eyes, and nose, before I'm handed off to Emerald. Where I learn arm and hand before I have to take a nap. Because being carried around is so much hard work.

  If I didn't feel so terrible, maybe I'd fantasize about being a really high-maintenance princess or something. Fantasizing about being an invalid princess just isn't the same. When I wake up again, I'm in Anguis's arms. From him, I learn the word for anger, screwing my face up in a frown and pointing at it. Humor lights his eyes when he gives me the word for that emotion. Though I guess it could be the word for frown. I'll figure it out eventually.

  When we stop for a rest and food, Mikhos sits down next to me. I realize I still don't know the word for sand. Since it's literally everywhere here, I figure that's another one that should be high on my vocabulary list. So I take a handful of the fine stuff and show it to him, the grains falling through my fingers as I try to hold it. He knows what I'm asking for and gives me the word, his eyes and voice gentle. I commit that to memory as well. By the end of that day, I have about twenty new words that I keep repeating to myself, trying to embed them in my memory so they'll be easy to retrieve when I need them.

  That night, we sleep just like we had the night before. At least the exhaustion from the travel lets me sleep without dreams for once. By the third day, I'm feeling worse again and don't even have the energy to try to get more new words.

  Emerald and Mikhos are murmuring about me, looking worried. As do Anguis and Fire. I wonder if I can even make it to wherever it is we're headed. How much longer are we going to be slogging through this never-ending sand, only taking the minimum amount of breaks? It feels like we've been out here forever. If I knew how much longer we had, I could at least mentally prepare for it. But it could be another hour or another week. I have no idea.

  I'm staring at Anguis's chest, trying to figure out the best way to ask how much longer we have, when I feel the ripple of excitement go through him. He picks up his pace just as the others start murmuring to each other as well, also starting to hurry. Something's happening!

  Perking up, I turn my head to look around. Are we there, wherever there is? I don't know what I'm looking for as we crest the next sand dune, but I don't have to know. It's obvious where we're going when I see it. There's no missing it. My breath catches, my eyes widening as I take in the enormous oasis. My mouth drops open as the dragon-men keep walking, their steps a little more hurried now that our destination is in sight.

  Green.

  There's just so much of it. I stare at the lush forest, packed with both trees and brush of some kind, the rich green soothing to my eyes after all the damn red that I've been seeing. I can see the water vapor from multiple waterfalls in the distance, the sun creating pretty rainbows as it hits just right, adding an almost fairytale feel to the place. Not that it needs the extra touch after all that desert.

  As we near, I see the rich, glossy leaves close up, the thick tree trunks, the healthy roots. It's easy to see the obvious health of the plants. There must be so much water here to sustain this much vegetation. I frown as I reach that obvious conclusion. I wonder why the men don't just set up camp in or around this place rather than the tiny oasis near their homes. More water would be great. Maybe the caves are more easily defensible?

  As we cross the boundary between the desert and the oasis, I reach out with my hand to feel the leaves as we pass by. They're cool to the touch, the canopy above us shielding much of the ground beneath from the harsh rays of the sun.

  I don't recognize any of the plants, which I guess is to be expected, but they're gorgeous. I almost feel like I'm in Jurassic Park. Or maybe Congo. I really hope there aren't ridiculously smart killer gorillas here though. Or dinosaurs. Or whatever the equivalent is on this planet.

  I turn my attention back to the men, who are carefully gathering up various types of plants and what looks like maybe a fruit? It's colorful and kind of roundish. Now that I'm paying attention to them, I also see that the men are looking around warily, even more tense now than when they were out in the desert. The realization gives me pause too, dampening my enthusiasm a bit. If they're acting like that, there must be something to be wary of, right?

  We keep moving, the men stopping here and there to grab something that catches their eye. But we keep moving inexorably in one direction for quite some time. They know where we're headed.

  As we walk, I get an appreciation for how large the oasis truly is. I can't even see the other side of it from here. I finally see where we're going after about maybe twenty minutes of pushing through the foliage. Rock, directly ahead of us, the same striated red stone that the cliff face we came from is made of, and a cave entrance that the men make a beeline towards. As we near, the fresh green scent of the oasis slowly gets overtaken by the rich scent of damp earth. The humidity is higher here. There must be water nearby.

  Mikhos leads the way into the dark cave, the temperature dropping a little more, though it's still warm.

  I'm not thrilled to be entering a dark cave, but nobody really asked my opinion. We go deeper inside, the ground tilting so we're actually going underground. That's comforting. We pass other connecting tunnels that form a kind of underground network, weaving in and out of each other. After the first couple of turns, I have no idea how to get back out on my own. Everything looks too similar.

  As I stare at the walls around us, I realize it actually doesn't look so much like a natural cave system anymore as it does the result of something burrowing, some huge creature that could dig something this big. I'll just add that to the list of reasons why I'd rather not be here, shall I? At least it doesn't get darker the deeper we go.

  It's easy to see why when we finally enter the tunnel that had been providing the illumination we were walking by. Wow. The walls and ceiling are lined with some kind of glowing plants, giving off a green-blue light that easily illuminates the tunnel enough for us to find our way. The ceilings are especially dense with it, pockets of concave areas sporting thick strands of the stuff. It glints off the water the men have been wading through underneath us as well, creating a reflective, serene scene that I can't help staring at. I look around in awe at the picture it makes.

  "Beautiful," I
whisper, trying to see everything at once.

  It doesn't even look real. Almost like...I'm on some kind of alien planet. I mentally smack myself on the head. But it really is a lot like that glowing forest in Avatar, in my defense. Though I much prefer my company to the blue people in that movie.

  The dragon-men are on even higher alert now, their weapons pointed ahead of them as they walk with slightly bent knees, ready for anything. It puts me on edge too as I watch Mikhos reach up to one of the pretty, glowing strands, his height allowing him to reach it without a problem. He plucks it easily and walks over to me, his eyes scanning the tunnel as he does so. When he reaches me, he hands it to me, telling me the word for eat that I've just learned that day.

  "You want me to eat it?" I ask in low voice, looking down at the glowing plant. I use the same word for eat they taught me.

  He nods, the others making agreeing sounds.

  I look down at it, glowing just as brightly in my hands as it did when it was hanging on the ceiling. Actually...it looks a lot like that plant they gave me before, the one that made me feel so much better so fast. Same small leaves and thin strand. But it looks a lot fresher. And then there's the glowing. It must be the same plant though, right? That's the only other one they made me eat. Maybe it'll have the same effect!

  Excited now, I rush to take a bite, so done with feeling like this. It has that same slightly sour, spicy flavor as the one I ate before, but it's much richer, the taste somehow more alive. And the cool sensation that flows through me is much stronger than before too. It sweeps through me like a cool, refreshing breeze, quieting my headache, settling my stomach, easing the aches and pains I've been dealing with. In less than a minute, I feel like absolutely nothing is wrong with me. Like I'm the picture of perfect health.