by Walls, Devri
“You want me to go with you? Where?”
“Do you not trust me?”
Kiora just looked at him, her mouth opening before she shut it again, nervously looking over to the section of trees where Eleana had disappeared.
“That is as much an answer as any. Eleana trusted me enough to leave you with me did she not?”
Kiora nodded. She had a sinking feeling that in the situation, only one answer would be the right one.
“What about Dralazar? He will know if I leave the Hollow.”
“A dragon’s thread is strong enough to mask yours. If you stay close, we should be fine.”
“Alright,” she ventured, “I will go with you”
“Curious Kiora, very curious. Climb on then.” He stretched himself back up to standing, his enormous legs unfolded in front of her. She was barely taller than his ankle.
“Morcant,” Kiora yelled up.Morcant flinched. “There is no need to yell, little one. Dragons have excellent hearing.”
Kiora shook her head in defeat. There was no winning with him. “Sorry, Morcant, I just wanted to know how to get on.”
He looked down at her and smiled. “You have not figured out a magical solution to that one yet?”
Kiora shook her head no.
“Good,” he grinned. “Because the other way is much more fun.”
His head rushed towards her with his lips curling back. She screamed as his mouth opened. Throwing up a bubble she vanished again.
Morcant pulled up short. “Kiora, I was picking you up.”
She appeared again, “with your MOUTH.”
Morcant chuckled, “Alright, if you don’t like that way, wrap your arms around my tail.”
She lay down on top of his tail, wrapping her arms as far around it as she could. Morcant lifted his tail up into the air, depositing her onto his back.
This was a far cry from riding on Arturo. The unevenness of reptile skin was exaggerated by his immense size. Every bump felt like a boulder underneath her. She shifted around trying to get comfortable.
“I would hold on if I were you.” Morcant shot back as he spread his wings.
“To WHAT?” Kiora yelled. The rush of wind from him pumping his wings was so loud she couldn’t even hear herself despite that Morcant heard her anyway.
“I don’t know, I’ve never ridden a dragon before.” He let out a bellowing laugh as his front feet lifted off the ground.
Kiora lurched backward, grasping at the uneven surface beneath her. Luckily her fingers found a hold on his uneven scales. It was horribly uncomfortable but at least she wasn’t hurtling back to earth.
Morcant rose higher and higher into air. While Kiora was quickly realizing that her finger holds were not going to be a permanent solution, her fingers were already starting to throb. There was nothing to hold on to and he was too wide to wrap her arms around. She needed something else.
He had asked her about magical solutions, she thought back to the few things she had read in the book, summoning came to mind. She had never even tried it but it was all she had. Closing her eyes she shut out the pain in her throbbing fingers to focus on what was needed. First she called it in her mind, focusing her energy on the item, trying to see it, feel it. Magic began to flow, pulling in instead of pushing out. Finally something rough materialized in her hands, a large coil of rope lay underneath her palm.
“Yes!” She sighed in relief, laying her head down onto Morcant’s hard skin. Shifting her weight over to her left arm, she let go with her right. Wobbling a bit, she stuck one end of the rope in her teeth to prevent it from sliding down his back. With a renewed sense of confidence she flexed her magic a bit, using it as she directed the rope out and around the side of the giant dragon. It swung easily out wrapping around his neck and back around the left side. Slowly sitting up she took hold of both ends of the rope. She could now sit up on his back holding onto the rope like reigns on a horse. She flexed her left fingers moaning. Those fingers were going to hurt for a while.
Morcant turned his head slightly to look back. “You continually impress me little one.”
Kiora just smiled. She had impressed herself as well.
They flew due east, circumventing Meros, into a land Kiora had not seen before. This new land was quite barren and the only word she could think of to accurately describe it was… depressing. Her people never ventured outside of the forest boundaries and now she could see why. They flew past boulders and dead trees, tall brown bushes that looked like nothing more than a bundle of sticks rooted into the dirt. The land was made of one color only, brown. A hundred shades of brown.
“Well, what do you think of my home Kiora?” Morcant asked over his shoulder. She didn’t know what to say. It was the ugliest place she had ever seen.
“Hold on, Kiora.” Morcant pulled himself into a downward dive. Although grateful for the warning, she was sure was going to tumble right over the top of his head. Digging her heels into his side with a squeak she leaned back, laying herself out flat against his back. She wanted to see where they were headed, but didn’t dare lift her head in fear that it would offset the balance she had obtained.
Earth flew past her on all sides. It was a hole, just like the one she had seen the dragons come out of in her vision. The hole was enormous by her standards, but the tips of Morcant’s wings nearly brushed the sides as they plummeted downwards. The dirt was packed down, smooth, with occasional deep gouges where she was sure the tips of his wings had clipped them at one time or another. As they flew deeper the light became dimmer, the opening above her looking smaller and smaller. Then, the smell assaulted her and she coughed as it seared her throat and eyes.
“Dragon’s sulfur,” Morcant announced. “It’s a byproduct of the fire breathing. I understand humans are sensitive to it.”
“Yes,” Kiora shouted. “It’s a little strong.”
“There is no need to shout, child, how many times do I need to tell you that?”
“Sorry,” Kiora mumbled under her breath.
“Apology accepted. Now hold on, landings down here can be a little rough sometimes.”
Kiora’s legs and arms tensed even farther waiting for impact. As they approached the bottom of the giant tunnel, it curved, leading to an arched opening, which he nipped narrowly through before hitting the ground with a thud in a large dirt room. The walls shuddered and Kiora thought her arms were going to be ripped from their sockets as she struggled to hold on to the rope. Morcant walked a few steps to steady himself.
“There we are. Grab hold, Kiora.” He put his tail up for her to grab on to.
He set her on the ground before reaching his neck out above her. Gently blowing fire, he lit a massive torch hanging from the wall. “How was your first dragon ride?”
Kiora massaged her shoulders. “Painful.”
Morcant laughed. “Yes, I have heard it is not as smooth as a pegasus.”
Kiora looked at him in surprise. “Do you know Arturo?”
“Of course I do. All magical creatures from the war know each other, especially those that worked with Arian.”
Kiora’s eyes lit with excitement. She was a bit fascinated with the writer of her book. “You knew Arian!”
“Of course. He was exceptional, especially for a human.”
“What do you mean, especially for a human?”Morcant looked at her and slowly lowered himself down to the ground folding his wings across his back. “Most humans are not of his caliber.”
Kiora sat down leaning against the cold earth wall. It was an odd sensation. The wall was cold from the damp earth and yet the room remained inexplicably warm. She could only assume the heat was coming from Morcant.
Settling in she looked at him and waited for him to continue. But he did not. He stared at her and she at him.
Finally Kiora said, “You said you wanted to show me why Emane made you so mad.”
Morcant let out a long sigh and the temperature in the room increased, along with the smell. Kiora struggl
ed not to change her expression.
“Yes, I did,” Morcant said, “and here we are, in my home for the last thousand years.”
Kiora looked around the large dirt hole realizing that this is not where he had always lived.
“Where did you live before?”
Morcant’s eyes filled with a wistful look, remembering better days. “Ah, such a innocent question, with so many different answers. It has varied greatly over the course of my life. Some places happier than others.” He was lost for a moment in his own thoughts before he continued. “We lived everywhere and anywhere. We had freedom to live where we chose. Some of us chose mountain caves, others the forest, some were sea dwelling.”
“What about you? Where did you choose?”
Morcant smiled exposing rows of razor sharp teeth. “I chose to live in a valley between what you now call the Hollow and Dralazar’s lair.” His voice had taken on a lighter air as his mind took him to better days. “I made my home between two rolling hills, a river flowing between them, and lived there, happily, for some time.”
She had flown over that valley with Arturo, she was sure of it. It was beautiful, a far cry from where he was now.
“Why did you leave?” she asked timidly.Morcant’s eyes hardened a bit, “Humans.”
“I don’t understand.”
“No, you don’t. Because after your race did what they did, they chose to forget that we existed.” Morcant settled in further leaning his enormous body against the wall. “Well, little one, would you like the long version or the short version?”
“The long one, of course.” She smiled.
“You truly are a curious one, Kiora. You remind me much of Arian,” he said before beginning his account. “Before the last war with Arian, dragons roamed the land. We lived wherever we chose and kept to ourselves, removing ourselves from the previous wars and squabbles that ran rampant amongst the magical community and your kind. When that war broke out, it was different; both sides were recruiting heavily, each one with their own version of events. Species by species we picked sides. As a general rule, species stayed together with only a few exceptions.”
“Like the Guardians and the Fallen Ones?” Kiora interrupted
“Yes,” Morcant continued, “As well as humans and dragons. Despite what your kind believes, humans and dragons are very much alike. We are fickle and impressionable.”
The humans were split with almost a third following Dralazar. He promised them everything they desired. Money, power, riches, land. They believed his promises of glory and followed like cattle to the slaughter, and slaughtered they were. Dragons are not tempted by such things and as a result sided with whichever side could best argue their stance. Reasons and arguments changed daily, so daily the dragons were switching sides. All but one of us.”
“You?” Kiora interrupted again.
“Yes. The chaos that the dragons caused in the battle was frustrating for both sides. You would be fighting a dragon on the battlefield one day, only to find them on your side of the line the next day. It is difficult enough in a battle to keep track of who is on what side without that. Imagine it, Kiora— a huge battlefield, through the fighting and the yelling you see us swooping through the lines, changing sides mid battle. They would see a member of their side do something they didn’t like and they would switch, just like that. Impossible.” Morcant shook his head. “I was the only one never to switch to evil. I never once believed Dralazar.”
“That’s amazing,” Kiora said softly.
“I don’t see it as amazing,” Morcant growled. “I see the rest of my kind as pitiful. After the war was over and my side had won, I was overjoyed and celebrated with the victors. Unfortunately all of the very recently converted dragons celebrated as well. If they switched sides during battle you can imagine how fast they switched sides once a conclusion had been reached,” he growled. “They cheered and blew plumes of fire into the air as if they had been fighting for good the entire time.”
The humans, however, could not forget the sight of the dragons on the battlefield. Each had been attacked in one way or another. After the battle, under order of the King of Meros, they set out to destroy any remaining sources of evil including the dragons, all dragons. It was impossible to know which dragons had done what, so we were all to be brought to justice. I had no choice Kiora. Those of us left were forced to flee and hide. The humans were methodical; searching everywhere a dragon had been known to live. The solution was to live where no dragon had ever lived, and here I am.”
“How many of you are left?”
“I am not sure. If I had to guess it would be under ten.”
Kiora looked confused “Don’t you keep in touch with others of your kind?”
“No.” He shook his enormous head. “Although they were quick to switch after the victory, once the extermination began they fell firmly onto Dralazar’s side. I fear their fickle ways may have been cured with the threat of extinction.”
“And yet you remain on our side?” Kiora asked incredulously.
“Yes,” he snorted, as if even he found it ridiculous.
“Why have you stayed true?” Kiora asked, pulling her knees up to her chest, fascinated with the tale.
“The choices that the humans made, including their choice to move dragons into the source of myths and legends, did not change what I knew to be true.”
“But you got so mad at Emane back at the Hollow.””
He stood up and stretched. “I said it didn’t make it less true. I didn’t say that it didn’t make me angry.”
Kiora was quiet for a while. “So, what is it that you believe?”
Morcant looked down at her from his full height, Kiora felt very small.
“Arian taught me about the power of goodness. He showed me how powerful good magic was because of its source. And I saw Dralazar on that battlefield.” His teeth snapped together. “He would promise them the world, but would throw them to their enemies if he thought it would benefit him.” Morcant stretched his neck out and rolled his head, stretching and pulling in each direction. Then he settled back down to the ground, heaving a large sigh as an old man whose body has passed its prime. “But, little one, I did not bring you all the way here just to talk about me. I would like to hear about you.”
“I am not very exciting.”
“Exciting or not, you are the Solus. And as such, you must have certain qualities that qualify you.”
Kiora’s stomach knotted up, she still had not figured out what it was about her that had qualified her for this. And although excited about her new found abilities, and the sudden exception of those gifts, she was troubled heavily with feelings of inadequacy.
“I don’t have much to tell you. I didn’t know I had magic until a few weeks ago.”
“Very interesting, you have progressed rapidly,” Morcant began. But then his head snapped to attention.
“What?” Kiora started to ask, but Morcant silenced her with a look.
He slowly shook his head back and forth and let out a slow “Shhhhh….” Morcant stood spreading his wings and shot out of the hole.
Kiora watched him in utter confusion. She strained her ears to hear what was going on, but heard nothing.
***
Dralazar sat back in his throne room, waiting for a reply from his smoke summons. His mind replaying the moment Kiora threw a shield strong enough to stop a pegasus. It should not have been possible, not without extensive training at least, and yet he had watched their escape through the pack leader’s eyes.
“Vitraya!’ His voice bellowed through the caves. He needed to find where the Solus was hiding and flush her out. They had to ferret out the Hollow.
Vitraya flew in, her wings black as night with hair to match.
“Yes my lord,” her voice was dark and cold.
“I need the Fallen Ones’ assistance in finding the Guardians.”
She looked at him intently, her eyes were so dull it was difficult to tell if they were gr
een or gray. “She is with the Guardians?” she spat.
“Of course she is with the Guardians,” he spun the heavy silver ring around his finger grinning at her, “I hope your jealousy will speed your hunt.”
Vitraya hissed, throwing her stringy black hair over her shoulders.
Dralazar continued. “Raynor is not picking up any magical threads and the Hounds cannot get a scent.”
“That does not mean that she is with the Guardians. There are other ways of masking those things.”
“Yes, Vitraya, there are,” he spat back at her, his voice rising with carefully controlled anger. “I do not appreciate being questioned.”
“Of course, my lord,” Vitraya said, dipping her head. Her heavily jeweled dress sparkled with each movement.
“I want the Guardians found and their defenses brought down.”
“We can bring them down, but only for a few minutes.”
“I understand. I want you to find where they are hiding. Then I want you to come back here.”
“My lord?”
He leaned forward, slowly enunciating his words, “I want, the Solus.” Dropping back into his chair he finished, “After you find where the Hollow is, you will come back here, and then we will attack together. We must make the most of the few moments that we will have.”
“Why does my lord not come with us now?”
His anger broke and he rose out of his chair, “I told you I will not be questioned!” Sitting down, he took a deep breath and spoke through clenched teeth, “I will not be alone when you return. Now GO!”
Vitraya bowed and flew out of the throne room.
“Insolent little monster,” Dralazar grumbled. Once his forces found the Hollow, Eleana could pose a problem; one that he had already anticipated. The dragons were on their way, and would provide more than enough firepower to distract Eleana during the attack. Then Dralazar would be free to do what he needed to do— rid himself of the Solus.
As he turned to go, already celebrating his victory, a vision stopped him in his tracks. Pushing the vision outward he watched. What he saw brought laughter bubbling to the surface. He would go to Hollow, for the pleasure of destroying it, or more appropriately, the pleasure of watching Eleana’s devastation as he destroyed it. But is seemed the Solus was somewhere else entirely. A problem all too easily dealt with.
