The Ascending

by Jenna Elizabeth Johnson

  In an attempt to seek comfort from her stray thoughts, Jahrra absentmindedly clutched at her wrist, her fingers brushing against the wooden beaded bracelet she found there. Carved from wood harvested from the sacred trees of Ethoes, the bracelet had been a gift from her defense trainers. Like her best friends Gieaun and Scede, Viornen and Yaraa were a world, and a lifetime it seemed, away from her now. She only hoped they remained safe and out of the Tyrant’s reach back in Oescienne.

  Dashing away those forlorn thoughts, Jahrra shifted her fingers from the warm, wooden beads to the cool, smooth gems decorating the other bracelet she wore. But the beads on this trinket were no ordinary jewels. They were spirit stones, like the one in Jaax’s ring, but these ones were unique to the people who had created the bracelet for her. A gift from those friends she’d left behind in Lidien. In a way, having their spirit stones was like having them nearby; their strength and support readily available should her courage falter along this uncertain path.

  “All we can do is continue on our current course and hope to stay clear of the enemy,” Jaax was saying. “And hope they lose interest in Lidien.”

  Jahrra left her stray thoughts behind and glanced up at her guardian, sparing him what she hoped was an encouraging smile. She knew the dragon had many friends in Lidien, the majority of whom were active members in the Coalition. Although she didn’t care what happened to the traitorous Shiroxx and her companion, Rohdann, she did care what happened to the others.

  “Now,” Jaax barked with a sudden shift in mood, “are we going to spend all afternoon sitting out in this gloomy weather?”

  The green Tanaan’s wicked grin was a rare display of good humor. Ellyesce arched a dark brow and turned his pale gaze upon Jahrra. All she could do was shrug.

  “Come, let us leave this place,” the dragon continued, standing up and shaking like a dog. Streams of water flew from his leathery wings and drenched their make-shift camp.

  Jahrra stood and gasped, flicking icy droplets from her fingers. She frowned at the charred, smoking wood that had once been a small, but warm fire. So much for any chance of keeping the chill at bay. She narrowed her eyes and glared at her guardian.

  “Do you know how long it took to get that fire going?” she demanded, one fist pressed to her hip, the other gesturing toward the smoking fire pit.

  Jaax only grinned, a glint of something mischievous in his eyes.

  “Cheer up, Jahrra. I’ll build you a new one once we get to the cave.”

  Jahrra forgot her ire and looked to Ellyesce. The elf’s usual grim face held a slight smile.

  Jaax stepped back toward the clearing above, squeezing between his ward and his elvin companion.

  “I spotted it about a mile up the trail,” he threw over his shoulder. “It’s large enough for all of us to fit, even me and the horses.”

  Jahrra beamed. Well, that was good news indeed.

  “I consider it a gift from Ethoes herself,” the dragon said, “because there is a larger storm brewing in the west and heading this way. It should reach these mountains by nightfall. That gives us plenty of time to settle in and get a real fire going.”

  Jahrra wasn’t entirely certain, but she thought she heard a small snort from Ellyesce as the two of them eagerly left the small hollow place behind and headed for the horses. Phrym, as always, was pleased by Jahrra’s attention and so was Gliriant, Ellyesce’s white horse, by the looks of it. Jahrra still hadn’t decided if the elf’s mount was a semequin, like Phrym, or just an ordinary horse. She supposed he was. He was tall and lean, but well-muscled like Phrym. And he seemed to be just as loyal to the elf as her semequin was to her. Gliriant also exuded a bright intelligence whenever she looked into his dark eyes, an acute awareness she’d only ever seen in Phrym.

  Like obedient soldiers, Jahrra and Ellyesce followed Jaax farther up the mountain, sticking to the rocky trail that was narrow in some places and wide in others. Oftentimes, Jaax had to maneuver his massive body between the ancient and sturdy pine trees that frequented this part of the world. Along the way, the freezing, light rain which had been pestering them all morning receded into a cold drizzle, then stopped altogether.

  “The calm before the storm,” Jaax murmured, nodding his head toward the west.

  Beyond the endless mountain peaks, Jahrra spied what he was talking about. Huge, dark clouds piled on top of one another like a raucous horde, hurtling over the mountains in their race to reach the next range. Already, brilliant white and pink streaks of lightning crackled across the sky, a beautiful yet deadly display of nature’s power.

  “How much farther is that cave?” Ellyesce asked from somewhere behind Jahrra.

  “Not too far,” the dragon answered.

  Jahrra took that information with a grain of salt. ‘Not too far’ could be anywhere between a hundred feet and a few miles, but it turned out, in this case, it was a much shorter distance than what she had anticipated.

  The trio crested one more rise before the trail widened out and sloped back down into a small, secluded canyon. A narrow ribbon of water trickled across the relatively flat space before gravity carried it farther down the mountain side. A few dozen yards in from the edge of the small fall, and well hidden by a mix of conifers and deciduous trees alike, was the entrance to a dark cavern. Jahrra gaped in amazement. Jaax had been right. This cave, if it was even twice as deep as it was tall, would very easily fit all of them.

  “Will no one think to check this cavern for us?” Ellyesce asked quietly.

  Jaax shook his head. “It is unlikely. This road we take is not the main one connecting the mountain cities, and only a fool would be traveling with that storm approaching.”

  He turned around and grinned at both of them. Jahrra only curled her lip and inclined her eyebrows. Well, if he was calling them fools, he was calling himself a fool as well. Regardless of Jaax’s meaning, Jahrra was glad to know they would be safe in this new haven, at least for the night.

  The dragon started forward again just as a gentle breeze rustled the leaves and branches of the trees above.

  “Jahrra, Ellyesce, take the horses inside. I’ll look for some fire wood.”

  Jahrra nodded and dismounted Phrym, leading him toward the gaping mouth of their sanctuary.

  “I’ll go first,” Ellyesce murmured, pulling his own horse and Rumble, the large bay gelding loaded with their gear, past her.

  Jahrra wanted to bristle, but it was smart to let the elf lead. He had some magical abilities, after all, and would probably be able to search for danger without risking discovery, or injury.

  When Ellyesce’s all-clear echoed back out to her, Jahrra encouraged Phrym forward. She trusted Ellyesce’s judgment in this, but when Phrym gave no protest, she felt even more confident about the safety of this place.

  The cave, not surprisingly, was almost bone-chillingly cold and smelled of damp, ancient stone. She and Phrym stepped into the darkness, and Jahrra wondered how they would find their way around without torches. As if reading her thoughts, Ellyesce conjured up a mage light, a glowing ball of pale blue luminescence floating just above his fingertips. This was the magic Jahrra had grown used to in the past few weeks, this subtle yet unnerving power. Yes, she knew magic existed. After all, it was her own race, the human race, who’d been transformed into dragons because of a magical curse cast five centuries ago. She’d caught small glimpses of sorcery in Lidien as well, and had even experienced it in the company of the Mystic, Archedenaeh.

  A twinge of sadness pierced Jahrra’s heart at the memory of Denaeh, the strange woman she’d befriended as a child in Oescienne. Not a witch living in the Black Swamp, waiting to devour the next child who ignorantly wandered into her domain, as local legend had claimed, but a Mystic, a powerful woman blessed with the gift of far seeing. She had followed them to Lidien, even though her guardian had no love for the woman. Jahrra hadn’t seen her since just before they left, and she secretly added Denaeh’s name to the list of people she hoped were still sa
fe within that great city.

  “We’ll have to rely on this until Jaax returns,” Ellyesce commented, indicating the sphere of light floating just out of reach of his fingertips.

  Jahrra nodded grimly and strained her eyes to see into the darkness that disappeared deeper into the cavern. And she tried very hard not to think about the types of creatures that might be lurking just out of the light’s reach.

  “I’m going to wait closer by the entrance,” she said, reaching into Phrym’s saddle bag and pulling out her journal and a pencil.

  “Don’t sit too close to the opening. The storm’s still a ways off, but lightning has a far reach, especially up here in the mountains,” Ellyesce answered, wrapping his cloak more securely about himself as he found a worn-down stalagmite to sit on.

  Jahrra waved a hand and strode the remaining fifty feet or so to where the filtered sunlight made it possible to see. Mimicking Ellyesce, she found a flat-topped rock to use as a seat. Peeling her journal open with care, she spread the well-loved tome out upon her lap and carefully leafed through the pages. She’d had the small book for years, adding drawings and thoughts to it as they came to her. Lately, she’d been spending time sketching. The last several pages had been filled up with all of the unfamiliar plants and animals she’d seen since leaving Lidien. Jahrra smiled as she traced her fingers over the intricate antlers of a small-footed rhoon, the pointed ears and long, rabbit-like legs of a memmit, or the beautiful spots of her personal favorite, a Saem River water cat. The river cats fascinated Jahrra because although they were considered mammals, they made their nests in trees and laid eggs. A rare sighting even along the river they were named for, water cats were shy and scarce. When she had reported the sighting to Jaax, he had raised a skeptical brow and suggested it was most likely something else. But Jahrra had been certain. Now, she worked hard to remember the details of the creature, so she could include them all in her drawing.

  Jahrra remained at the cave’s entrance until Jaax returned nearly an hour later with enough firewood to last them a week. By then, the sound of the thunder had grown deeper, like a giant rising from a nap only to grumble about his aching joints. The clouds, too, had proved their determination to cross the wide valley separating their range from the one just to the west. Soon, it was almost too dark to see.

  “Perfect timing,” Jahrra piped, snapping her journal shut and standing up to stretch. She should not have sat cross-legged for so long atop the boulder, but there was nothing she could do about it now.

  Ellyesce unfolded himself from his cloak and stepped forward, conjuring another mage light.

  Once Jaax had one of the great logs positioned where he wanted it, he breathed a great emerald flame over the damp wood until it caught. The low fire that resulted didn’t add much light to the cave right away, but at least it heated the frigid air.

  Jahrra sighed in delight as the flames worked to chase the ice from her fingers.

  “I didn’t think I’d ever be warm again,” she breathed.

  Jaax only snorted while Ellyesce smiled, extinguishing his mage light for good as the flames grew and brightened.

  The Tanaan dragon used his fire once more to blast away the dampness from the floor. As soon as there was dry earth beneath their feet, Ellyesce and Jahrra worked to lay out their sleeping blankets. Jahrra chose a spot as close to the fire as possible and stretched out. She really should offer to help make the meal for her and Ellyesce, but she was so tired that even her growling stomach couldn’t encourage her to get up.

  “I’ll see to the dinner,” Ellyesce finally murmured.

  A pang of guilt swept through Jahrra, and she rolled over on her bedroll.

  “Let me help,” she started, placing one hand against the ground to push herself up. The elf held up a finger and gave a slight shake of his head.

  “No, you rest. I can manage.”

  She opened her mouth to argue, but Jaax gave her a hard look. Not having the energy to argue with him, Jahrra released a huff of breath and plopped back down. Not for the first time since Ellyesce had wandered into their lives, did she wonder about his presence and his relationship with regards to her guardian.

  Squeezing her eyes shut, Jahrra drew upon the memory of waking up one night only to spy the elf moving across the hilltop towards Jaax’s house. She had been out of bed without anyone’s knowledge, and she’d overheard part of the conversation shared between the two. Only problem was, the exchange had been spoken in another language, but not in Kruelt. The dragons’ language she knew well enough, but whatever her guardian and his strange midnight visitor had discussed was unknown to her. The following days had been even stranger. Jaax had fallen back on his old habits, becoming the domineering, cold dragon she had remembered from her earlier years. There had been a tightness about him, an ever watchfulness with regards to his elvin friend. Jahrra had wondered exactly how the two knew each other and why Ellyesce made Jaax so uneasy. Her guardian seemed to be glad of the elf’s presence, but it was a forced gladness, in the manner a subject must be gracious in paying homage to a sovereign they did not particularly like.

  Shaking her head and trying not to let it bother her, Jahrra decided that after dinner, she could help clean up. While she waited, she lay back down to rest her eyes a bit. Only, when she opened them again it was already late into the night. Just in front of her, the embers of the fire had died down to mere sparks, the heat not as intense as before. For a moment, Jahrra wondered if the cold had woken her, but upon further inspection of her surroundings, she realized she wasn’t cold. She turned over to peer out of the cavern entrance, hoping to catch a glimpse of lightning, but something huge and dark mostly blotted out the sky. Jahrra almost screamed. Some monster, the master of this cave perhaps, had returned to its home only to find it overrun with a small troupe of travelers. But then the shape took in a great breath, letting it out with a flicker of emerald flame. Jahrra mimicked the shadow and sighed with relief, her heart rate slowing. It was only Jaax, guarding the entrance to the cave. Of course.

  Feeling ridiculous, Jahrra turned over and tried to go back to sleep. The rumble of thunder and the rush of a gust of wind rippling through the trees outside reminded her of the perilous journey that awaited her. So turbulent and uncertain. Not the best thoughts to have while trying to fall asleep. Sighing again, Jahrra tried to focus on something else. The soft whiffle of horses breathing echoed strangely in the cavern, and she wondered what Phrym and his companions might be dreaming about. Hopefully, warm, green meadows and a long stretch of open land to race across. Jahrra smiled, but even those images didn’t help her much.

  As she waited for the darkness to take over, she peered across the smoldering coals and caught a glimpse of Ellyesce, an indiscernible shape lying still on the other side of the fire. She thought once again about the strange elf who had so abruptly stumbled into their lives. She recalled his haggard appearance and his frantic exchange of odd words with Jaax. And most of all, she wondered why, from the moment she had seen him in full light, he had seemed so familiar to her.

  Thoughts to ponder during the long hours of daylight travel, she told herself. Now, you must sleep. With the not so distant grumble of thunder echoing across the mountaintops, and the occasional crackle and pop of a hot coal nearby, Jahrra finally let go of her tumultuous musings and drifted off to sleep.

  -Chapter Two-

  A Lesson in Cards and Constellations

  For two days, Jahrra, Ellyesce and Jaax stayed put in their cavern. The storm, having reached their side of the mountain that first evening, raged on, pelting the landscape with lightning, wind, rain, and at times, hail. By midday on the second day of their retreat, Jahrra was ready to leave, storm or not. She couldn’t imagine staying much longer without losing her mind to boredom. Her sketchbook and other volumes only held her attention for so long, and she was dying to get away from the clinging darkness of the cave.

  On the morning of the third day, the travelers woke up to sheets of sleet tha
t gradually turned to snow. Jahrra groaned and raked her fingers through her hair in aggravation.

  Jaax, displaying the frustratingly calm patience only a dragon possessed, gave her a dubious look.

  “Will this weather never cease?” she complained wearily.

  “Eventually,” the dragon commented, “but likely not today, or the next. I anticipate at least two more days of captivity.”

  Jahrra glared at him. His voice had a chipper note to it, and she couldn’t tell, for the life of her, why.

  “Because the longer we stay hidden in here,” he answered when she asked, “the more likely the Crimson King’s men will grow weary traipsing through the snow. Besides,” he added with a sniff, “the snow itself will cover any tracks we’ve left behind. The weather, though foul, is a godsend.”

  Jahrra didn’t completely agree with him. True, the snow covered their tracks, and yes, only someone who was mad would be out looking for them in this mess. The problem was, the Crimson King was mad and the longer they stayed in one place, the more likely their enemy’s servants would find them, in her opinion. However, she knew better than to start an argument with her guardian. Especially when they were confined to a small space together, and she had nowhere to escape to should the conversation grow as unpleasant as the weather.

  Apparently done with their discussion, Jaax curled his neck around his body and proceeded to take a nap. He’d stayed up the entire night before to keep watch, despite his claim they were well hidden from scouts and spies. The storm had blustered on, dumping enough snow in the doorway to nearly block it completely. Jahrra wrinkled her nose at the wall of snow and reconsidered her earlier musings. Perhaps, the cave would be difficult to locate in the aftermath of last night’s blizzard, after all.