by Linda McNabb
Brax stepped back without acknowledging Toby’s challenge, and Jerrik stepped forward. The older man looked sadly at Toby and beckoned him forward.
‘You recall that this gate was closed to keep the kings of your world out?’ Jerrik asked.
Toby nodded. He looked through to the waterfall on the other side. It fell softly into a large lake, which looked out onto a rolling countryside. Not a single person was in sight. The kings and their guards had given up and gone away a long time ago, but signs of their occupation were still clear. Old barrels, used to light the area at night, lay tipped over and their blackened contents spilled out into the lake. A light dusting of snow covered most of the ground and snowflakes were swirling in the winds.
Charred remains of old fires dotted the landscape, and several small forests had been destroyed for firewood to keep the entourage warm during the winter months the year before. A single tent had been left, and it was slowly being destroyed by the harsh winds that whipped along the mountainside.
Open gate, Brax ordered bluntly.
‘Me?’ Toby asked. ‘I’ve never opened a gate and this one can’t be opened anyway.’
Open gate, Brax repeated.
‘You know the words?’ Jerrik asked.
Toby knows words, Klel confirmed. He turned to the human child he had taken as an apprentice. Do as asked.
Toby swallowed back an argument as his master gave the order. He turned to face the gate and spoke the words slowly. They were in dragon tongue and did not roll off his own tongue easily. The last word fell clumsily from his lips and his mouth dropped open. The gateway opened and, off to his left, so did several others that were in sight. A slight golden glow hung about the edges of the gateways.
‘The words were said badly, and some were even missed out, and still you opened what you should not have been able to.’ Jerrik was not looking pleased that Brax had been proven right.
‘I’ll just make sure I never try to open any gates,’ Toby promised. He didn’t want to leave Dragon Valley. It had taken him a long time to find where he had come from and he wanted to stay. ‘I’ll never do any magic of any sort ever again.’
‘Just you being near one of the gates will make it weaken and become unstable. We cannot risk having you in Dragon Valley.’ Jerrik looked devastated to have to insist on him leaving. ‘Before you came to the valley, the gates never failed.’
Leave. Brax almost shouted in his deep, thunderous voice.
The rumble of Brax’s command echoed back across the valley — Toby knew he had lost all hope of remaining in Dragon Valley. He hung his head and turned away so that nobody would see the tears that stung at his eyes.
A rock rolled down the hill, and he stared at it as another tumbled down after it.
‘Why is the ground shaking?’ he heard Sanelle asking. Only silence followed. Toby brushed away the tear that rolled down his cheek as he looked up to see what was going on.
Both dragons and humans were staring with disbelief and shock out across the valley. He followed their gaze and saw several gates across the valley begin to glow.
‘All the gates are opening,’ Jerrik said in a voice so flat that he clearly didn’t believe what he was seeing. ‘We must despatch dragons to close them.’
‘They have already seen what is going on,’ Sanelle pointed out, as a dozen dragons rose from the villages around the valley and streamed towards the open gates.
Toby did this! Brax thundered, and turned on Toby as if he intended to flame him. Red flames licked the nostrils of the huge bronze dragon as he stepped closer to Toby.
‘And we told him to,’ Jerrik reminded the dragon bluntly.
A loud crack from behind made them all jump and turn towards the closest gateway. The stone archway that marked the gateway had cracked in several places, and one stone tumbled to the ground, narrowly missing Brax. A flash in the sky made them look upwards. A single bolt of lightning streaked across the sky and sounded like someone had struck the valley with a giant whip.
A stunned silence followed, punctuated only by the echoes of dragon cries from across the valley. Toby picked up the large stone and attempted to push it back into place in the archway. Now he had done what everyone had feared he would do. He had destroyed Dragon Valley!
Brax turned to the gateway and shouted the words to close the gateway. The golden glow faded slowly, and the valley was sealed off from Toby’s old world.
Everyone seemed to be waiting for Brax to speak, but he seemed incapable of doing so. With a rustle and flourish of his huge bronze wings, he rose up into the air with a tremendous leap and flew off to check other gateways.
Klel paused a second longer to look at Toby with sympathy before flying off after Brax. Tryx followed, leaving only Toby, Sanelle and Jerrik by the crumbling gateway.
‘Maybe I should go now,’ Toby said, feeling sorry for himself. He hadn’t wanted to open the gate in the first place — it wasn’t his fault that this had happened.
‘No,’ Jerrik replied, a little too quickly. Toby looked at the Elder of the village with a tiny spark of hope. Would they let him stay, after all? Jerrik coloured slightly and then indicated that they should go back down to the village. The old man walked quickly ahead of them, cutting off any chance for Toby to ask any questions.
Toby and Sanelle followed a little more slowly as they watched the golden dragons moving from one gateway to the next. Several muted cracking noises echoed from across the valley and Toby looked at Sanelle in despair.
‘Perhaps it was just a coincidence?’ Sanelle suggested hopefully. ‘Maybe the gateways were weakening anyway?’
Toby almost smiled at his friend’s attempt to make him feel better. He doubted that anyone else, except Merryn, would give him the benefit of the doubt. He wondered why Jerrik hadn’t insisted he go through one of the gateways to Arandyl before they had been shut again. What good would it do to let the whole village yell at him?
They fell silent as they reached the edge of the village. Almost the entire population of the village was crowded into the streets. Dozens of others were arriving from other villages on the back of dragons. People stared at Toby with distrust and fear, and they parted ahead of him. A hushed murmur rose behind them as the crowd followed them deeper into the village.
Merryn stepped from the crowd as they neared the large meeting cone, and she tucked one arm around Toby as if to protect him from the crowd. Her forced smile told Toby that she knew something bad was about to happen. What could be worse than being banished from his own valley?
Jerrik paused at the entrance to the main cone and waited for the three of them to catch up.
‘Only Toby is to accompany me up to the gallery,’ Jerrik said firmly.
‘Where Toby goes — I go,’ Sanelle replied just as firmly, and glared at her grandfather.
‘Me, too,’ Merryn added, with a little less force but just as much conviction.
Jerrik seemed about to argue the point, then nodded briefly before turning to walk up the narrow steps that wound around the cone. Toby, Sanelle and Merryn followed him up and paused at the small human-sized entrance to the cone high above the ground.
Toby looked into the cone and saw a small group of people and dragons waiting for them. He saw Klel, Brax and several of the other dragons. Next to them were six elderly men. They stood on a slice of rock that was perched atop a mighty stalagmite. The only access to this rock was via a rope bridge or by dragon.
Jerrik, who had not paused, was halfway across the rope bridge before Toby had started. This did not look to be just a public telling-off before he was thrown out of the valley. Dragons were flying in through a larger opening lower down, and they landed on the perches that were all over the sides of the cone. Toby consoled himself that at least that meant the gateways were no longer a danger. He felt Sanelle push slightly on his back and he realised that he had stopped part-way across the rope bridge. They reached the slab of rock and Toby wondered what he was supposed to do now.
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‘Now we wait,’ Jerrik said, stepping aside and ignoring Toby. Brax flew up to the small opening at the top of the cone. It was only just big enough to allow him to go through. A second later, a piercing howl echoed into the mountain cone. It went on for what seemed like five minutes, but was probably a lot less. All the dragons streamed out of the cone in a long single file.
‘Brax is calling a valley meeting,’ Merryn told Toby and Sanelle. Toby could tell by her face that she was very worried.
They waited for almost half an hour as dragons flew back and forth from villages all around the valley. It looked as though they were bringing every person from the entire valley to the meeting. Eventually the dragons retook their perches and sat silently waiting. Down below, the villagers were crowding into the cone and staring upwards at the gallery. The buzz of their combined voices made it impossible to make out any single conversation, but Toby had no doubt that he was the main subject of discussion.
‘Dragons and people of the valley,’ Jerrik began to speak loudly. Silence fell in an instant. ‘No doubt you are aware of the reason for our meeting today. Toby.’
A general murmuring and nodding of heads made Toby’s face flush, and he stared at the marbled streaks on the surface of the rocky slab they were standing on.
‘Toby cannot remain among us,’ Jerrik continued. A surge of agreement rose from the crowd, and Toby scuffed one of his feet angrily at the chalky surface of the rock. He longed to defend himself for the most recent disaster, but he knew that now was not the right time. Klel lifted off and glided over to stand behind Toby as if to protect him. Loud howls from the dragons all over the cone added to the din and signalled their agreement to the expulsion.
Jerrik raised his silver staff and silence fell instantly.
‘Yet that is not the main reason we are here.’ Jerrik paused while the crowd shuffled a little. ‘Because of the recent events with the gates, some permanent damage has been done. To repair the damage to the gates, we must rebuild them as we did when we first created them.’
‘And we cannot do that,’ interjected a second elderly man who stepped forward to join Jerrik.
An outcry of anger and questions rose from the crowd, but Jerrik remained silent, waiting for them to realise he was not about to answer their questions yet.
‘Porthan is right. We used our combined magic to build them. All seven Elders and our life-bonded dragons. One Elder from each of the villages within the valley.’
Toby looked up and did a quick count. There were seven old men with silver staffs and seven dragons. There seemed to enough to recreate the gates.
‘We each have a stone emblem mounted on our staffs.’ Porthan’s weak voice carried easily in the total silence. ‘It focuses our magic and the strands blend together to create a magic so strong it can cut through to other worlds.’
He held up his staff to show a brilliant green stone atop his staff. Each of the other five Elders held up their own staffs. Stones of various colours shaped in the form of a dragon adorned the staffs. Then Jerrik raised his but no stone shone from above the ornate silver handle.
‘The power of my family word, sapphire, was stolen many years ago by my son, Farren. He was to have his magic taken from him, but he ran off before this could be done. He took the family stone with him.’ Jerrik paused again, and this time the crowd did not speak. ‘Without it we cannot repair the gates permanently.’
Toby noticed the surprised look on Sanelle’s face. Clearly this was the first she had ever heard of having an uncle.
‘We must despatch searchers to all of the worlds.’ Porthan said, looking around at the crowd as if expecting volunteers to step forward. ‘Farren must be found and the stone returned to the valley.’
‘The very existence of the valley is in doubt if we cannot find the stone,’ Jerrik added. ‘We cannot guarantee that we can keep the gates secure or even seal them permanently without that stone.’
All caused by Toby, Brax snarled with a look that would make most people run in fear of their lives. And while Toby did feel like running, he knew there was no point. If any of the dragons had wanted to scorch him with flame or pitch him from the rock, they would have done so by now. However, he had a nasty feeling that this wasn’t the end of the woes to come from this day.
‘It is of little consolation but Toby will be banished back to Arandyl, the land with the least magic and where he was raised…’ Jerrik suddenly seemed reluctant to continue.
Porthan and several of the other Elders stepped closer, their heads bent close in a heated conversation. A minute later they stepped apart and Jerrik stepped closer to Toby with a sad expression.
‘Before he is sent back to Arandyl, Toby will be stripped of all magic to ensure the safety of those in that world.’
Toby’s mouth fell open and the blood drained away from his face. He was cold with shock. They couldn’t take away his magic! What was he without it but a failed apprentice at everything he had ever tried? He could feel the comforting arms of both Merryn and Sanelle, but he shook loose from them.
‘Can’t he stay here if you’re taking his magic?’ He heard Sanelle’s voice almost begging. ‘Surely he is no threat without magic?’
Jerrik shook his head sadly at his granddaughter. ‘His magic may return if he stays in the valley. He must be from a very strong family of sorcerers. His natural strength, combined with the dragon word that he has been given, may overcome any draining spell we can cast.’
‘We must do it now,’ Porthan interjected. ‘Before his very presence causes any more disasters.’
Toby gulped down the dismay he felt and stepped forward slightly. He glanced back at Sanelle with a small smile to show that he was okay. He looked at Klel and Merryn before turning to face the Elders and dragons. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said simply. ‘I never wanted to cause trouble.’
Several of the Elders stepped forward, and soon Toby found himself inside a circle of grim-faced men with silver staffs. Not one of them looked pleased at what they were about to do.
Toby knew that this was what had been done to Blaise a year before when Sanelle’s half-brother had tried to take over the kingdoms in Arandyl. He had never thought about it then, but he suddenly wondered if it was going to hurt.
Although he had no intention of asking if it would hurt, he didn’t get a chance to even take another breath before he felt the cold touch of silver on his arms. Three staffs were on each arm and the stoneless staff of Jerrik was pressed firmly against his forehead. Toby looked up and met Jerrik’s eyes as the elderly sorcerer began to speak. He was sure he saw a small tear glistening at the corner of Jerrik’s eye. Then the Elder blinked and seemed to look right through Toby as he chanted the words that would take away Toby’s magic.
There was no pain, no sudden surge of magic leaving his body. No indication at all that anything had changed as the seven sorcerers stepped back and filed off across the rope bridge in silence.
Most of the dragons also flew off. Brax, however, waited and came close enough for Toby to smell the slightly acrid breath as the dragon snorted. After a brief second of staring at Toby, the bronze dragon seemed convinced that the boy was no longer a threat.
Leave now. Never return. No hint of kindness or remorse softened the words and Brax flew off without a backwards glance.
Toby felt unable to move just yet, but he doubted it was anything that the sorcerers had done. He heard the sounds of the cone emptying, and soon only Klel, Tryx, Sanelle and Merryn were left with him.
‘Come to the house and get some things before you go,’ Merryn said quietly, her eyes not quite meeting his. Klel didn’t speak as Toby let Merryn take him by the arm and lead him across the rope bridge. He was aware of footsteps behind him and assumed that Sanelle was following. A flap of wings told him that Klel and Tryx had taken off.
As they reached ground level, Toby felt suddenly grateful for the comforting arm of Merryn. The stares from the villagers were neither angry nor accusing, they
were cold and dismissive. They had already banished him even though he had not yet left. He felt Sanelle take his other arm and they hurried him through the village to Merryn’s small cottage.
CHAPTER FOUR
VISITING KAYLENE
The small knapsack slung over Toby’s shoulder banged against his back as he climbed towards the gate. It contained all he owned, which wasn’t much. Sanelle was scrambling up the hill after him, but Merryn had remained in the village after a tearful goodbye.
‘Surely you can talk to Brax?’ Sanelle was begging her grandfather as the older man walked slightly behind Toby.
‘It is for the good of the valley,’ Jerrik replied. ‘If Toby stays he will destroy us all.’
Brax and Klel had flown up to the stone arched gate and were waiting patiently, one on each side of the gateway. Tryx was flying in circles above Toby and Sanelle. Toby slowed as he came level with the gateway. He stared through it. It was not the gate he had come through when he first arrived at the valley. This one looked out on sweeping, snow-covered mountains ranges and a large ocean in the distance. There was no sign of villages or towns for as far as Toby could see.
He glanced back across the vast valley that had been his home for the past year. Dragons were heading for gateways in the distance, carrying those who had volunteered to search the different lands for Farren.
‘Then I will leave with him,’ Sanelle said stubbornly.
Her grandfather turned to stare at her ‘Do not throw away your future so easily,’ he replied mildly, clearly assuming she was making an idle threat.
‘If Toby goes, I go,’ Sanelle insisted, at which Jerrik looked uncertainly from Sanelle to Brax.
Toby wondered why Jerrik was so bothered about Sanelle leaving. She didn’t live in the valley anyway; she lived in Arandyl with her mother.
Boy goes, Brax proclaimed when Jerrik looked about to change his mind.
Klel go, too. Help find new master. The golden dragon stepped forward and knelt down for Toby and Sanelle to climb up on his back.
