Dragon Valley Trilogy

by Linda McNabb

  Both Rhonan and Dyahn moved closer to Kheron and watched. Several seconds later the air shimmered next to the flat stone and a massive blue dragon – easily as tall as the trees – sat before them, leisurely cleaning its claws with its tongue. It didn’t seem to have noticed them but Rhonan took several steps back anyway and was ready to run if it did. Dyahn was already heading for the trees and the tiny dragonet had leapt into Rhonan’s arms in fright. Kheron laughed.

  ‘It’s just an illusion,’ he said with a grin as he saw their worried faces. Then he stepped forward and waved at the dragon. It snorted fake flames at him then went back to its cleaning. ‘Take a look at the stone.’

  Rhonan picked it up, keeping a wary eye on the dragon, and saw that Kheron had drawn a small dragon with blue chalk on one side. Dyahn seemed very interested and tried to snatch it off him for a better look.

  ‘It’s like the pet-rocks I have at home,’ Dyahn said, looking from the rock to the dragon.

  ‘It’s nothing like them,’ Rhonan snorted. ‘They’re just lumps of rock that you’ve drawn pictures on.’

  ‘Actually, she’s right.’ Kheron said with a raised eyebrow. ‘This is the elf version of a pet-rock. The ‘pet’ will last as long as its image is on the rock. It won’t go more than a dozen paces from the rock though and I used to have a room full of different animals that almost drove my mother mad. She died a few years ago from a sickness that our healer couldn’t cure.’

  Kheron paused for a few seconds, looking to be reliving a sad memory, then he blinked and continued.

  ‘I liked dragons the most and my father taught me all about them. There are some with more horns and longer tails too. He has never mentioned golden ones though. I could have put a lot more detail on this one, but it’ll do for now.’

  Dyahn tried to snatch the rock again but Kheron took it and then placed it in the centre of the clearing. The little dragonet was still watching the huge illusion with wide eyes but must have decided it was no threat as she jumped down from Rhonan’s arms and went back to her apple.

  ‘It should frighten the dragonet’s mother away,’ Rhonan said with a confident tone as he took out his own sleeping mat and tried to find somewhere soft amongst the twigs and rocks. By the time he and Dyahn had laid down the little dragon finished the apple and spat the pips at Kheron. Then the little golden creature curled up in the crook of Rhonan’s knees, just like a kitten, and promptly went to sleep.

  Sleep wasn’t as easy for Rhonan though. It was cold and the ground was hard. He kept hearing noises that invaded his peace every time he was about to nod off. Finally he told himself to stop being such a baby and ignore them. After all Kheron, Dyahn and the baby dragon seemed to be sleeping peacefully. A low rumbling noise nagged at his consciousness as he tried counting sheep to get to sleep.

  ‘It’s just the wind,’ he muttered to himself. ‘You’re imagining things.’

  The rumbling became louder and still Rhonan convinced himself it was his imagination. It wasn’t until he smelt a fiery breath, so acrid that he almost gagged, that he suddenly sat up and looked around in terror.

  Kheron was already awake but he looked calm. He had his knees drawn up to rest his chin on and he was tapping the ground rhythmically. A huge bellow came from just outside the clearing and a loud thump of a tree falling echoed through the forest.

  ‘I told you her mother would be around somewhere,’ Kheron said with a sigh.

  CHAPTER SIX

  IN SEARCH OF A DRAGON

  Rhonan could just make out a glittering shape in the dark forest and held his breath as it came closer. A much larger version of the little golden dragon stopped right at the edge of the clearing. Her scales were more the colour of very faded bronze with only hints of gold around her face, and her eyes swirled in orange and red tones. She took another step forward when she saw the tiny dragonet but swerved unsteadily and leaned on a tree.

  Around the dragon’s neck was a narrow band of gold covered in a dozen glowing gems of many colours. She had her wedge-shaped head raised to the sky and another ear-splitting cry rent the air. Even the baby dragon appeared to be upset by the bellow of the huge dragon. The blue dragon was watching with interest but had not moved.

  ‘They’ll hear that in the village,’ Kheron said with an irritated frown. ‘We don’t want anyone coming out before we’re well gone.’

  Strangely the red-haired elf didn’t seem bothered by the large dragon that was only a few feet away. The horse wrenched itself free and retreated to the centre of the clearing next to Kheron. Then it saw the blue dragon and bolted out of the clearing whinnying loudly. The sound seemed to irritate the mother dragon even more but she made no attempt to come into the clearing.

  ‘Will she attack us?’ Dyahn asked quietly as she shrank back behind Rhonan for protection.

  ‘My dragon is a male. They are fiercer and stronger than the females,’ Kheron explained patiently and pointed to the illusion. ‘But she does seem keen to get her baby back. She might just be desperate enough. She’s a lot smaller than any dragon my father described. And he never mentioned them wearing jewelled bands.’

  ‘And when she realises ours is just an illusion?’ Dyahn asked nervously.

  ‘Let’s give her back the dragonet and see if she’ll leave,’ Rhonan suggested.

  ‘Dragons don’t usually back down from a fight, but it’s worth a try,’ Kheron said with a thoughtful expression. ‘How do you plan to get her to go out there?’

  Rhonan gave the little dragonet a shove towards her mother but after two steps she turned and ran back to Rhonan, burying her little head in his shirt and shaking.

  ‘I don’t think she likes it when her mother is angry,’ Dyahn said and Rhonan managed a grin, despite their desperate situation. Their own mother was best avoided when she was in a temper too.

  Rhonan picked up an apple and rolled it slowly out to the edge of the clearing. The baby dragon heard the noise and turned to watch it roll. She didn’t move and Rhonan was sure it wasn’t going to trick the dragonet but as soon as it stopped she crouched down low and stared at it. She crept forward slowly and then with one huge leap she launched herself upon it. The apple, and dragonet, rolled just outside the moonstone light and everyone held their breath to see if the plan had worked.

  The horrible keening of the mother dragon stopped suddenly as she saw her little baby within reach. She leaned down, her long neck bending at an unnatural angle, and nuzzled the tiny creature whose whole attention was on the apple.

  Apparently satisfied that the baby dragon was okay, she nudged the dragonet ahead of her and slowly walked off into the darkness, grumbling loudly as she left.

  Stop running off…

  ‘Who said that?’ Dyahn asked, turning around in a circle.

  Rhonan frowned as he looked into the darkness. Had someone from the village come to see what the noise was all about? Had Uncle Terac followed them? The voice had sounded odd and distant and already Rhonan was wondering if he had imagined it.

  ‘I don’t see anyone. Getting rid of the dragon seemed a little bit too easy,’ Rhonan said and looked at Kheron for confirmation.

  ‘Yes, she should have attacked anyway, just to prove her strength. Also they dislike all other creatures to the extent that they will kill any they see, even if they pose no threat. The villagers are in big trouble.’ Kheron spoke candidly and then realised he perhaps should have been a little more sensitive as he coloured a little. ‘But the fact that she has obviously been around for a few weeks and hasn’t attacked may mean that she won’t.’

  ‘We can’t just go off and leave mother and the other villagers in danger,’ Dyahn said bluntly and jumped to her feet. She looked about to charge off into the trees if they didn’t agree with her but Kheron waved his hand to tell her to sit down again.

  ‘We won’t be going anywhere until we know why the dragon has come this far south.’ Kheron stared out into the darkness as he considered the problem. Then he gave a big sigh. �
�I’m too tired to think for now. We should get some more rest.’

  With that the elf sat back down on his mat and yawned, then he lay down and closed his eyes. Rhonan stared at him in wonder. How could he just go back to sleep as if it had all been just a bad dream? There was a dragon wandering around the forest and it might attack the village at any moment! He was about to protest that Kheron was uncaring when the elf opened his eyes and looked at Rhonan with undisguised irritation. ‘Dragons can’t see very well in the dark. She won’t attack the village in the night. For that matter I can’t figure out why she would be living in a forest where it’s always dark.’

  Both Rhonan and Dyahn took a long time to go back to sleep after the mother dragon’s visit but they did eventually nod off from sheer exhaustion and Kheron shook them awake several hours later.

  ‘We need to track the dragon and see why she’s here,’ Kheron said as he picked up the moonstone and the flat pet-rock then walked off in the direction the dragon had gone. ‘We can eat later and we have to find the horse as well.’

  Neither of them argued, even though Rhonan wasn’t keen on tracking a dragon, as they hurriedly picked up their packs. The blue dragon followed, walking noiselessly through the forest, and shot imaginary flames at trees that didn’t burn. As soon as they left the clearing they were plunged back into gloomy darkness. Just how they were going to stop the dragon from attacking the village was beyond Rhonan’s grasp. It was far too big to restrain and he doubted it would leave just because they asked.

  Rhonan’s ankle was still very sore but he tried to ignore it as he struggled to keep up with Dyahn and Kheron. There was very little skill involved in tracking the mother dragon, as it had knocked down trees in a wide path as it travelled through the forest.

  ‘She wasn’t big enough to cause a path this big,’ Rhonan mused as he examined the amount of felled trees. ‘She looked very unsteady on her feet.’

  After a long walk they reached the edges of a wide, deep gully with sides that seemed impossible to climb.

  ‘I guess she flew down there,’ Kheron said needlessly. There was no other way down and there was no sign of destruction across the other side of the gully.

  ‘Now what?’ Rhonan asked, rubbing his ankle and feeling relieved to rest for a moment. There seemed very little they could do now.

  ‘We go down after it,’ Kheron said with a grin and a gleam in his blue eyes. He looked delighted at the prospect of confronting the dragon but Dyahn’s face dropped into an expression of shock and dismay.

  Rhonan felt his own heart skip a beat as he cast an eye over Kheron’s arrow quiver and broad bladed sword. Even with his own arrows they were hardly a match for a fully-grown dragon! An illusion was also little use against real claws and flames. He was about to ask how they were supposed to get down the gully when a screech filled the air and they all shrank back several steps in automatic self-preservation.

  With a glare of pure hatred the mother dragon lifted out of the gully and hovered near them. She glared at the blue dragon and screeched loudly.

  ‘Ah, now I understand. She’s injured,’ Kheron said and pointed to her right wing and spoke with unseemly excitement considering their situation. ‘See how she’s favouring that right wing and she has a long gash down her side too.’

  ‘Won’t that make her even more angry?’ Rhonan asked hesitantly as he hoped the blue dragon would be enough to stop her attacking.

  ‘She looks a lot whiter than she did last night,’ Dyahn added, edging behind Rhonan for protection. ‘Are you sure it’s the same one?’

  ‘She has the same gem-studded band so I think it is,’ Kheron continued, irritatingly calmly as he studied the injured dragon. ‘Just hovering like that must be causing her intense pain. Even her right leg is hanging limply. I’d say she’s come here to die.’

  The pale bronze dragon hissed a long jet of flame and dove at them with a desperate lunge. Kheron dropped the pet rock stone and they all ran a dozen paces back. Rhonan began to wonder at the sanity of coming looking for the dragon as he tripped over a log and landed heavily on the forest floor with pain shooting through his ankle.

  The mother dragon took no notice of the children and she swiped furiously at the huge blue dragon. The illusion hissed flames that made the real dragon flinch for a second and then all of a sudden she sank to the ground, right in front of the blue dragon.

  ‘She’s realised it’s not a real dragon,’ Dyahn whispered, terror clear in her voice.

  ‘Get ready to run,’ Kheron said in low tones as he crept over to the others. Even he was now seeing how dangerous their situation was.

  ‘I don’t think she could attack anything,’ Rhonan pointed out.

  The mother dragon was half-laying on the ground, one wing extended limply and a look of exhaustion on her scaly snout. Another set of wings drew their attention back to the mouth of the gully.

  ‘It’s the baby dragon,’ Rhonan stated as the tiny dragon flew into sight. She flew directly towards her mother then back-winged to slow down but obviously had very little experience as she went tumbling head over tail and ended up face first into a tree trunk

  Tryx. Must find own way home.

  The tiny dragonet rushed up to the mother dragon and nuzzled at her neck with a whimpering sound.

  ‘The dragon spoke!’ Kheron said slowly as he stood up and stared at the sad scene. ‘Dragon’s don’t speak.’

  ‘This one does,’ Dyahn said, stepping forward to get a closer look.

  ‘Don’t get too close,’ Rhonan said, trying to hold his sister back but she pulled away and kept moving in closer.

  The mother dragon tipped her head towards the three youths as they approached and Rhonan knew instantly that this dragon was about to die. She was no danger to them at all.

  Take Tryx home, the pale dragon begged and a tear slipped from eyes that had faded to a shade that matched her pasty cream-coloured hide.

  ‘Where is your home?’ Rhonan asked.

  ‘The dragons live up in the mountains,’ Kheron told him.

  Bad dragons! The mother dragon hissed with an energy that did not match her weak appearance. Keep Tryx safe from bad dragons.

  ‘I’ll take her home,’ Dyahn said, walking right up to the dying dragon and patting the dragonet gently.

  The mother dragon seemed to sink with a sigh of relief then she forced herself up onto her front legs. Rhonan was about to step forward and drag Dyahn back but the dragon leaned a little closer to the young girl and then stopped.

  Girl take neckband. Find gateway.

  Dyahn looked back at Rhonan and Kheron for a second, unsure what she was supposed to do.

  Girl take band. Tryx must go home! the dragon urged with a voice so weak that Rhonan barely heard it. A long sigh slipped from the dragon as her head sank slowly to the ground and lay motionless.

  ‘She’s dead,’ Kheron said sadly as both he and Rhonan came to stand next to Dyahn.

  Mama! The baby dragon whimpered and nuzzled at the dead dragon’s head.

  ‘She wanted us to take her baby home,’ Dyahn said in a stilted, quiet voice. ‘We should take her home.’

  ‘We should take the band from the mother’s neck,’ Rhonan told his sister. He stepped forward and found a small clasp under the dragon’s neck. ‘It seemed to have something to do with it.’

  ‘What do we do with the mother though?’ Kheron said, walking around the large bulk of the dead dragon. ‘We can’t just leave her here and she’s too big to move.’

  Rhonan had pulled the neckband gently from under the dragon’s head and was looking at it a bit closer when he heard Dyahn gasp. He looked up, wondering what could be wrong now and saw the mother dragon beginning to fade to a milky white and then slowly became a mere wisp of white mist that drifted off in the small breeze that circled the gully.

  ‘I wonder how this helps to take the dragonet home?’ Rhonan mused as the gems faded to a dull glow. He lay the band on the ground and the tiny dragon came ov
er to snuffle around it.

  ‘I don’t know, but we’ll have to take her with us and work that out later. If we hang around too long we might run into your hunter-uncle,’ Kheron answered. He picked up the pet rock and rubbed off part of the design on the back. The blue dragon flickered and vanished.

  The threat of running into their Uncle Terac was enough to make Rhonan suddenly keen to get moving. ‘Can I see the stone?’ he asked and Kheron handed it over a little reluctantly. Rhonan looked at it closely but when he went to give it back his cousin had already walked off into the forest. He slipped the stone into his pocket.

  Dyahn grabbed hold of the dragonet as Tryx wandered around sniffing at where her mother had been. She wanted to hold the dragonet but the little dragon had other ideas. After one last look at where her mother had been she hopped, flew and ran ahead of them, turning to check they were still nearby as they headed deeper into the forest.

  ‘The mother dragon wanted you to take this,’ Rhonan said to his sister, picking up and holding out the neckband. It was rather heavy and he wondered if he should be offering to carry it for her. Kheron had paused to let them catch up then he continued into the forest.

  ‘It’s pretty,’ Dyahn said as she took it. ‘But why isn’t it glowing as much as it was before?’

  Neither Kheron nor Rhonan had an answer and Dyahn looked at it for a few minutes longer before she slipped it around her waist and clipped it snugly closed.

  ‘Look, it’s a perfect fit,’ she said with a grin and then ran after the dragonet.

  The horse hadn’t run far and they found it a short time later.

  ‘I think you had better ride for a while,’ Kheron said, turning and catching Rhonan limping.

  Rhonan didn’t really want to ride while the others walked but he knew Kheron was right. Now was not the time to be moving slowly. He mounted the horse and they set off deeper into the forest. He knew the forest extended a fair way to the north but after two days of travelling through the dense trees he began to wonder if they were going in circles. His instinctive sense of direction told him they had kept a true northerly course but it seemed impossible for a forest to be so large.