The most common color of dragon was copper, and they noted most of these were about the same size as the first one they had seen. The black ones were always big, but most of the others were of more than one color, like Hermes. All appeared to have a metallic sheen.
“So where are the piles of gold?” asked Jack.
“I guess they don’t keep them in this room,” said William.
“Why do you suppose they’re here?”
“You mean in this room?”
Jack rolled his eyes. “No, Will. On Esper.”
“How would I know?”
They made their way around to the other side of the giant chamber and saw Rachel, Maya and Charlie ahead. They heard Maya laughing; as they approached, the reason became obvious. Steve was cavorting with several smaller dragons, taking turns chasing and being chased, trading barks and whistles of glee.
“Baby dragons,” said Jack. “Is that why this place smells so sour?” William hadn’t noticed it before, but the air did have a certain odor.
“Are you seeing this?” asked Maya. “This is definitely a good sign. We must have something in common with them.”
“Steve does, anyway,” said Rachel.
“Maya, Jack mentioned something. Have you noticed the smell?”
She sniffed. “You’re right, it does seem off.”
Rachel shrugged. “Every animal smells different. Maybe that’s just how dragons smell. We’re in a closed space, so it’s bound to be strong. A cave full of bats can be pretty foul.”
They returned to their assigned den just as Hermes arrived, followed by the strangest dragons they had seen yet. Two ridges ran down their backs instead of one, with a concave space between them where they carried several animal carcasses each. “Cargo dragons?” asked Jack.
“Looks like it,” said Maya.
“Will this suffice for your needs?” asked the Ambassador.
“Hermes…may we call you Hermes?” asked William.
“What is a Hermes?” asked the Ambassador.
“It’s a name we want to call you, instead of just your title.”
The Ambassador stared, as though waiting for more explanation. “I do not understand why I need two names in your language. But very well.”
“Hermes, we are not accustomed to eating meat raw, and we have no means to cook it. Do you have wood? Dead trees,” he added when the Ambassador failed to understand.
“We will bring wood.” Having no need for wood themselves, it took a while for the dragons to collect it, but when they did it was far more than they needed. They piled most of it to the side for future use and built a small cooking fire in the center of their den.
“Goats,” said Rachel, looking at the carcass that had been deposited on the dusty floor. “I bet this is why game is scarce; the dragons have hunted the area clean.”
“By the looks of it, they sure eat a lot of it,” said Maya, gazing at the dragons out in the main chamber. The meat was piled in the center and was being devoured raw by the crowd of dragons that surrounded it. There was no fighting, but it was hardly polite dining.
“Why are those ones eating alone?” asked William. He nodded toward a few stationary dragons.
“I noticed them earlier,” said Maya. “They haven’t moved since we got here. I’m not sure, but they look like they might be sick or injured. At least their scales didn’t look right.”
“How do we know what looks right?” asked Rachel.
“Well, not the same as the others, how’s that?” said Maya. Rachel shrugged.
“Hang on a second,” said Jack. “Did that blue one just eat a rock?” They all looked where Jack pointed and waited. “There, that one did, too.”
“Hmm. Maybe it’s a digestion thing,” said Maya. “Some birds do that too.”
After their meal William and Jack took another walk around the chamber. Maya had warned William to take it easy on his leg, but he was restless, having spent far too much time sitting still since they were trapped. Jack tried conversing with passing dragons, but none spoke as the Ambassador did. Aside from the Ambassador the only form of communication they detected was whistling, or trumpet-like bellows from the larger dragons. They were attempting to negotiate their way out of the main chamber when the Ambassador showed up. “You are the master of your people?” he asked William.
“Uh…I’m not sure what you mean. I am the leader of this group.”
“The Elder wishes to speak with you.”
“Can Jack come with us?” asked William.
The Ambassador stared at William. “What is a Jack?”
“This is Jack,” said William, pointing to his friend.
“This is not a man?” asked the Ambassador.
“Of course I’m a man,” said Jack.
“Jack is his name,” said William.
The Ambassador seemed confused. After a short delay, he said “your Jack may come.”
The route was long and convoluted. They passed many cross-tunnels as they descended, and the tunnels became more rugged and the floors more littered with rocks and pebbles. Jack grabbed a handful from a small pile and inspected them as they walked. “Look at this one.”
“What is this? A sapphire?”
“Amethyst, I think. Hard to tell in this light, though.” William went to hand it back, but Jack waved it off. “Keep it. Give it to Melissa,” he said.
“Are you sure? This could be worth a fortune.”
“If I’m right, there’s more than one fortune to be had here.”
“So you’re not worried anymore?” William smiled at the quick change in his friend’s morale at the mention of money. “What about Rachel?” he asked.
Jack gave him a sidelong glance. “What about her?”
“Why not give this to her?”
“She doesn’t feel that way about me.”
“It sure looked like it before,” said William.
“People act different when they think they’re about to die.”
William didn’t argue the point. They walked on in silence until they were surprised by the sight of several dragons working in a large chamber. Where others had wings attached to their shoulders, these had what appeared to be hands, or at least the draconian equivalent. Unlike wings, these appendages faced forward, but Hermes urged them on before they could see what they were doing.
They reached a chamber whose entrance was guarded by two pairs of large black dragons. Hermes led the way into the corridor, William and Jack following, the guard dragons bringing up the rear. William reminded himself they would already be dead if the dragons had wanted to kill them, but his heart pounded anyway. There was still a chance they could say something wrong to get themselves executed, and there would be no way out this time unless the dragons allowed it.
The Ambassador stopped short just before the corridor ended. “I have taught the Elder most of your language, but I shall remain in case there are words he does not know. Heed my warning: the Elder is old and wise. Do not speak any untruth, for he shall know and it will not go well for you.”
William and Jack both swallowed hard and nodded. They followed Hermes into the den, and before them sat the fattest, oldest-looking dragon they had seen so far. He was ash gray, aside from his tiny white eyes, and his legs were indistinguishable from his body. His wings, if they could be called that, were mere stumps. His head was his largest appendage, massively over-sized for his body. “Come closer,” he said with a raspy voice. “My eyes do not see as they once did.” William and Jack obeyed. “Strange,” he said, gazing intently at the two human visitors. “Strange it is to see creatures from the old legends.”
Though today’s lifestyles are comparable to those of the late Middle Ages on Earth, most Esperians enjoy better health and longer life expectancies than their medieval counterparts. This is in no small part due to better understanding of germs and the necessity of cleanliness, but it is also believed that many of the diseases on Earth were not present among the Colonists, leaving
fewer maladies to plague their descendants.
Still, the lack of modern medical technologies such as genetic testing, radiological imaging and targeted drugs has reduced lifespans by as much as twenty years.
Planet of Hope: A History of Esperanza
William’s mouth hung open. Muffled pounding sounds drifted in from some distant tunnel as the Elder stared, waiting for his answer. “We—we’re creatures…from your legends?” he asked.
“Does this surprise you?” asked the Elder, his sharp eyes seeming to pierce their way into William’s thoughts.
“Well…yes, it does.”
“And why is that?” asked the Elder.
William glanced at Jack, who looked just as bewildered. “Because to us, you are creatures from our legends,” William said.
The Elder lifted his head slowly and peered down at William and Jack. “Do your legends portray us kindly?” he asked.
William hesitated. What if Hermes was right? What if the Elder really could detect lies? Even if he couldn’t, it was still unwise to try. “No, not all of them,” he said. “The oldest legends speak of battles between men and dragons.”
“As do ours, though they give few reasons for it.”
“This makes no sense,” said Jack. “How can two species share legends of each other if they aren’t from the same planet?”
“That which you fail to understand,” said the Elder, “may be clear to another. The Ambassador has never before seen your kind, yet his memory holds a language similar enough to yours that he learned yours almost immediately. It is obvious our peoples share a past—yet the details are hidden from me. There may come a time when we will know more about this past, but it is today that concerns me.” The Elder craned his head forward as far as his thick body allowed, nostrils flared and smoking, and fixed a firm gaze on William. “Why have you invaded our home?”
Jack interjected before William could formulate his answer. “We were hiding from other men.” Jack made no mention of their mission, and William knew his friend well enough to know the omission was deliberate. Jack must have thought it best not to reveal this detail, but why? And did it count as lying? He decided to follow Jack’s lead for the moment.
“Why must you hide from your own kind?” asked the Elder.
“They wanted us dead,” said William. “Or at least to cause us harm, and steal our possessions.”
“Men battle other men?” asked the Elder. “No dragon has harmed another in my lifetime, nor in the lifetimes of my own Elders. This does not speak well of your people.”
William dropped his gaze. “If you knew our history, you would know it is far too common for men to harm each other.”
“Do not presume to teach me what I already know. Our own legends tell enough of your brutal nature. I am sure you will understand I find it hard to trust creatures so willing to kill.”
“But we weren’t trying to kill anyone,” said Jack. “Those other men were trying to kill us!”
Wafts of smoke spewed from the Elder’s snout. “A more credible explanation is that you came here to kill dragons. This is more to your nature.”
“Forgive me, Elder,” said William. “I don’t want to offend you, but do you really believe five humans and a dog could do serious harm to your people?”
“You came armed,” said the Elder, looking at William’s sword in its scabbard.
“What? This piece of junk? It can’t do serious damage to anything.” William drew the sword to show the Elder, but a black guard dragon tore it from his grasp, the sword a mere toothpick in its massive jaws. William made no attempt to retrieve his weapon as the beast presented it to the Elder. After a brief inspection the Elder and Ambassador exchanged whistles, and the latter gave a sharp whistle that was answered by one of the dull gray dragons they had seen.
It took the sword in its odd-looking hands and inspected it from many angles. To William’s horror he bent the sword and snapped it in two. Jack caught William’s arm before he could try to reclaim his blade. “Don’t be stupid, Will. Let it go. It’s broken anyway.” William relented, and the gray dragon sniffed the broken sword, after which it whistled to the Ambassador.
The Elder turned back to them. “You are correct. This sword would have harmed none but the weakest of dragons. But you may not have known this, and we are aware that you have other weapons.” He drew a deep breath and continued. “Still, your explanation is not without merit. I will ponder your fate.” With that he closed his eyes.
The Ambassador took his cue. “You are to leave now,” he said to William and Jack.
“But we haven’t had a chance to convince the Elder—hey, watch it!” Jack succumbed to the large black dragon that pushed him into the corridor. William followed quickly. “Well that was rude,” said Jack as they followed the Ambassador back up the corridor. “The Elder acts like he’s some sort of royalty.”
“I don’t care,” said William. “Royal or not, he shouldn’t have had my sword broken.”
The Ambassador looked back at them over his shoulder without slowing. “The Elder is not royal, if I understand the word. But he is not to be disobeyed. And you were foolish to bring a weapon into his presence.”
William limped as quickly as he could to catch up. “Hermes, tell me honestly. Do you think the Elder will release us?”
The Ambassador continued forward without so much as glancing in William’s direction. “It is not for me to decide.”
William cut in front of the Ambassador and stopped short, halting the dragon in its path. “I’m not asking you to decide. I’m asking what you believe the Elder will decide.”
The black and silver scales shimmered in the lamplight as the dragon stood silently before answering. “You are alive. This is more than I expected.” He pushed past, leaving William with his mouth hanging open.
“You had to ask,” said Jack as they followed.
“Where have you guys been?” asked Rachel as they returned.
“We met the Elder,” said Jack.
Maya looked up from the equipment she was cleaning. “Oh, that’s not fair. I was hoping I could see him.”
“It wasn’t the experience you were hoping for,” said William as he flopped to the dusty rock floor.
“What’s with him?” asked Rachel.
“He’s sore because they broke his favorite sword,” said Jack.
“Make fun if you want, Jack, but it was my only sword.”
“You still have your shield,” said Jack, the smirk on his face poorly concealed. “It’s a really nice one. Where’d —”
“Want it jammed in your mouth? It might stop that constant flow of—”
“Forget the sword, forget the shield!” said Maya. “Tell me about the Elder. What was he like? What did he say?”
William answered through clenched teeth. “The Elder, in his infinite wisdom, has deferred his decision as to whether we may leave until later.”
“You mean we’re still prisoners?” asked Rachel. “Didn’t you explain why we were here?”
“Of course we did,” snapped William. “But apparently humans have some sort of past with the dragons, and he’s convinced we are violent creatures bent on destroying them.”
Jack filled them in on the details, occasionally interrupted by William’s angry comments. Rachel grew as angry as William, but Maya’s reaction was one of curiosity. The possibility that dragons and humans had interacted long ago fascinated her. “It explains why the Ambassador learned to speak with us so quickly,” she said.
“That’s what Chronos thought,” said Jack.
“Who’s Chronos?” asked Rachel.
“That’s what I decided to call the Elder. After the god of time. I figured we should stick with the theme.”
“How does it explain it?” asked William. “I’m sure our ancestors interacted with Roman soldiers, but if we met one today how quickly would we learn Latin?”
Maya rubbed her chin before answering. “Well…we aren’t the same as the
m. And really, only the Ambassador learned English. From what you described he taught the Elder—I mean Chronos. None of the others speak English, right?”
William nodded. “Right. As far as we know, anyway.”
“I think the dragons are more specialized than we are. We’ve already seen lots of different looking dragons, and they appear to have different functions.”
“Like bees,” said Charlie. “Only smarter.”
Everyone turned, surprised both by the unexpected break in his silence, and by the significance of what he said. The insight was obvious once stated out loud, and it had come from the last person William expected.
“You may be right Charlie,” said Maya as she grinned at the Guard. “We’ll have to watch for other similarities.”
“Well, does anyone know when bees—or dragons—go to sleep?” William asked. “I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m exhausted.”
Was it day or night now? Who could tell? They had spent so long underground under such stress that William guessed they had gone more than a day and night without sleep. His suggestion of bedding down for the “night” was accepted with tired enthusiasm. Charlie offered to take the first watch, but William told him to sleep instead. “Prisoners don’t keep watch, Charlie.”
Someone tossed a cloak over the lantern that had been left in their den, and William fell asleep immediately. Untold hours later the smell of roasting meat and the growling of his stomach coaxed him awake. Maya was preparing their breakfast, Charlie helping by tasting the samples she gave him. Rachel snored in the corner, but Jack was absent. “Bathroom,” said Charlie in answer to his query. This reminded William that he hadn’t relieved himself since they had gone underground, and when Jack returned he showed William where the dragons had set up their waste facilities.
It was simple and effective. An underground stream flowed along a channel in the floor of a hidden alcove. Whether the source was a spring or snow-melt William was unsure. It flowed from a fissure half way up one wall, and down the channel and out a drainage hole at the other end. He couldn’t see where it went from there, but it neatly solved the problem of waste removal without using valuable resources. For dragons, who stood on four legs, the arrangement was perfect. For humans it required an awkward squat, but it was better than stinking up a corner of their own den. According to Maya’s tests, the water that flowed into the “bathroom” was safe to drink, which solved another problem.
The Defender of Rebel Falls: A Medieval Science Fiction Adventure (The William Whitehall Adventures Book 1) Page 15
