The Dragon Guard: Oceans and Pebbles

by Sarah Hite

  “I... I think so.” They helped him to his feet so Floran could check him for injury. Surprisingly, he only found a few minor injuries, mostly a nasty looking scrape from where he had hit the ground earlier in the battle, and possibly a few cracked ribs.

  “In all my life, I have never seen a Forest do anything like that,” Marltos said in awe. Humor returned to his voice as he said, “Remind me never to make you mad. Are you sure you are alright?”

  Kwan looked up at him, then around the area. The dralics were gone, the only ones remaining were those who would never rise. He nodded and looked back towards the hill where the wounded had taken shelter. “Report.” They filled him in, but the numbers were not good. In the several battles they had fought, it was always the same. The dralics would leave with only minor wounds, and maybe a few dead, but the dragons were always left with many wounded, if not dead. In his group alone, there were only twenty dragons still standing. Ten had been killed, ten more were critically wounded and could not easily be moved. Of the twenty on their feet, several had minor or moderate injuries; very few had escaped unscathed. Kwan knew he had to get his warriors to safety, understanding that his search for Shaelynn would have to wait. He only hoped that she was alright, and prayed that she was alive.

  ***

  Darkness was the only thing around when awareness returned. She had no idea where she was, only that it was dark. She concentrated on her breathing. If she could do that, maybe, just maybe, she would be able to find her feet. Slowly opening her eyes, she looked around. All she saw was the rough stone walls of what she assumed was a cave. Her head ached and she closed her eyes again, wondering where she was. The last thing she remembered was Pai going to get her something to eat. She had heard the Pebblines screaming and then he had not returned. She groaned as she remembered the dralic. He had destroyed the small clan and then had found her. Now, she was alone, in a strange cave, and was probably being held prisoner. She tried to roll over, but in her weakened state, found it was beyond her. She laid her head down and tried to figure out what to do, but drifted back to sleep instead.

  A little while later someone asked, Is it alive?

  I think so, was the answer.

  Shaelynn heard them, but did not look at them. She knew by the way they referred to her that they were dralics, but they did not sound like the dralic that had found her. These were female.

  Why did Caegain bring it here?

  I don't know. Maybe he wants to interrogate it, the second female replied.

  The first female’s response to that actually made Shaelynn smile to herself. He wouldn't! Look at the poor thing, so thin and sick. No one in their right mind would do that to a sickling.

  The other female scoffed. It's a dragon. It doesn't matter if it's sick or not, it's still a dragon. Shaelynn heard the dralic turn around. Dragons are the enemy; don't you forget that.

  Enough. The command came from a male, and made Shaelynn's heart sink. With a concerned female she may have had a chance, but with a male? Do you not have a job to do? It was not a question.

  Yes, sir, the second female replied. Shaelynn heard the scrape of claws on stone as the female left. What she heard next surprised her. Do you care about the dragon?

  Sir? the remaining female asked.

  She is right, this is a dragon and they are our enemy.

  She may be a dragon, but she is a child and ill at that; and who says the dragons are the enemy, some ancient war we caused by attacking them?

  Child, enough. His voice held a firm warning, but his next words were caring. Yes, the war began when we attacked them, and they have been our enemy since, and you are right to say that the war was so long ago, that we do not remember why we attacked them in the first place. You are also right that this is a child, and is here for no reason. He sighed, And you are right in that the child is sick. Whatever Caegain's reasons for the child are, I doubt they will benefit our race. So, again I ask, do you care for the dragon?

  Yes. This may be a dragon, but it is still a child and must be cared for.

  After a moment of silence, he replied, then the responsibility is yours. Caegain will not bother you, at least not for a while, he is gone and is not expected to return for several days. I also believe Mordag will not like what he has done. We are at war, death is inevitable, but Caegain takes pleasure in acts that should have none. Mordag will probably say to release the child when he hears what has happened.

  If he wants the child released, I will release her, but only after she gains some strength.

  What could have been a laugh escaped him when he said, Then perhaps you had better start by getting her something to eat, now that she’s awake.

  The female turned to look at Shaelynn, who could no longer hold back her curiosity. She had only moved her head, but it was enough to look at them with weary eyes. Somehow, she understood that no harm would come to her, at least as long as this Caegain was gone.

  Responsibility

  Torak looked up as a cool breeze wafted through camp. He noticed that the sun was beginning to set, they would be leaving soon. The councils had decided that moving under the cover of night would be more beneficial than traveling in broad daylight. In preparation for leaving, Torak and Akio had decided to have the children take a nap, to which Neela and Daro complained. They were quieted by Javi, who had said, "If the two of you do not want to sleep, then be quiet and let the rest of us sleep.”

  Palo seconded him, You can stay awake if you want, but you might regret it later. When we stop to rest, you will be so tired you will not want to get up when is time to leave again. Either way, I would appreciate it if you both let me sleep.

  Alamine looked up from where she had been taking a nap of her own. They are right children. It will be a long trip and you will not have the strength to keep up if you do not rest.

  Now it was time to wake them up, and the boys knew that Neela and Daro were not going to like it. They had fallen asleep after a while, but they had less than half the amount of sleep the rest of them did. Elder came to check on them just as the older children were walking up. The boys had decided to let Shanni sleep a little longer since she needed more rest, because she was the youngest, and because she was recovering from malnutrition. The elder looked them over and handed the boys several chunks of fresh meat. Two of the chucks were almost half as big as Shanni, and contained roughly the same amount of meat as a small deer. Out of the rest of the chunks, one was about half the size of the first two, and the rest were a third the size of that one.

  Torak took the medium chunk and began tearing it into small pieces while Akio passed out the smaller chunks to the Ocean dragons. The largest two, Elder had said were for the boys. He knew that Torak had not eaten since before his father was injured, and after speaking to Aarto, he discovered that Akio had not eaten all week. Neela complained about the larger pieces going to them, until Elder explained.

  He watched as Akio slowly woke Shanni and gave her the meat one piece at a time, but one of the larger of these pieces the boys had reserved for Alamine. The little Pebblines watched as well; they knew that they would get whatever the little Ice dragon did not eat, and seemed content to wait for it. When all but three were gone, the boys gave them to the little Pebblines. Palo took the biggest one and gave it to Tomel. Eira took the next largest after Palo offered it to her, and began to tear into it, leaving the last for Palo himself. However, he did not start eating it until he saw Zema start to eat the piece her brother had. After a minute, Tomel went to the other side of the chunk and slowly began to eat. He seemed content to let his sister eat as much as she wanted. After the children had received their meals, Lukair carefully woke Alamine-- who had fallen back asleep-- and gave her the other piece.

  When everyone was done eating, the boys moved the children closer to the interior of the camp. Elder carried Shanni since she was still half asleep, and quickly looked her over. She was beginning to gain some weight, but was still thin and weak. He was not sure if she wo
uld be able to keep up. Even though she was almost as large as the other children, at nearly three feet tall, and five feet long, she was still just a baby, only eight weeks old.

  The Ocean dragon children averaged three and a half feet tall and five and a half feet long. The Pebbline children were all under one-foot-tall, Palo, being the oldest among the tiny breed, stood no more than eight inches tall, and eleven inches long. As the youngest, Zema stood only five inches tall and was barely nine inches long. Their ages were between fourteen and three years old, with Javi being the oldest, and Zema and Tomel the youngest, with the exception of Shanni.

  However, their ages were a little hard to determine. Since the three breeds aged differently. This was Javi's fourteenth winter making him the oldest. Tomel and Zema were barely three years old, but in equivalent ages, they were not that much younger than the younger Ocean dragons, who were nearly three and a half years old. If they had been human children, Javi would be about fourteen, with the older boys aging about sixteen. Neela would be about twelve, and her younger siblings would be ten. Tomel and Zema would only be about six, with the other children in between, except for Shanni, who would only be about one-year-old as a human.

  As Elder studied the group, he realized that even though Shaelynn was three, she was smaller than all but the Pebblines. He suddenly found himself wondering where she was, and if she was all right. He had to shake off the feeling that they had let her down, and focused on the move. He would be leaving the boys in charge, but would be there if they needed him. Alamine would be traveling with them as well, but she would be focused on her impending nesting. He left to help Kyeon-- who would be walking-- get to his feet.

  Torak saw him rise and ran over to them. "Father! Are you all right?"

  Kyeon looked over at him with some difficulty, as he could not move his head very much, and said, I have been better. What… what have you been doing?

  “Akio and I have been asked to look after the children. There are ten of them, all refugees. Only one of them has family here.” He looked back at the children. Most were resting before the move, but a couple were wrestling amongst themselves.“I get the feeling that not all of them are going to listen to me, or Akio.”

  For some reason his statement amused the king. Just think of it as practice. As king, you will find that not everyone is willing to listen, or do as you ask. He carefully lowered his head to look his son in the eye. This should be a good lesson for you. Just remember, they will follow you if they respect you. Being that they are children, the younger ones will follow you just because you are the oldest. They think you know what you're doing. The older ones will be the ones who won't want to listen. If you can show them that you mean business, without being over bearing, and get them respect you, they will listen.

  Torak sighed, "Somehow I don't think that will be easy."

  Again, this seemed to amuse Kyeon. It will be alright, you will see. He caressed his son, and said they would speak again later, the army was beginning to move out. The last thing he saw before returning to the children, was Pai, slowly rise to his feet. Hana was there to steady him, and would continue to help him during the journey.

  Lukair joined the small group and quickly checked on Alamine before picking up Tomel and Zema, and setting them on his left shoulder. Alamine carefully climbed over to him and took her place on his right shoulder. She showed the children how to hold on to him as he guided Shanni into the center of the group. Torak took the lead, and Akio the rear. It was nearly dark, and the children grouped together, not wanting to get lost.

  They were surprisingly quiet, and only spoke to each other with their minds. When one of them had a question for Lukair, Torak would ask him quietly. They walked for a few hours before the army began to slow down as they reached their first obstacle. There were four obstacles they would need to get by. The first being the decent into the ravine below. It would take them several hours to move the wounded down the side of the ravine, and when they had, they would rest in the caverns at the bottom of the rise. Then they would need to cross the grasslands, which would leave them out in the open for most of the day. The third thing they would need to cross, and the most difficult for the wounded, would be crossing the Snaketooth Mountains.

  After they had passed through the tiny mountain range, they would need to cross the river. This would be the hardest for the children. By the time they reached it, they would be exhausted and most would not have the strength to fly over it. The river was the last thing that separated the Eastern Caverns from the rest of the island.

  Torak stopped the children under a group of trees several feet from the edge. He wanted to give them a chance to rest, and waited a few minutes until most of the army had begun the decent before he had the children try it. He did not want them to lose their footing and accidently get trampled. He left them in Akio and Lukair's care and went to find the easiest path for them. He saw a small ledge about a third the way down, and knew it would be an easy flight for the older children. He looked behind him,“Akio, come over here."

  The young Ocean dragon joined the prince on the ledge. "What is it?"

  "Do you see that ledge? Do you think you could take the older kids and fly down to it? Lukair and I will take the younger ones and walk down the side, and join you when we get there."

  Akio nodded. "I could, but is it not kind of exposed? If the dralics found us, we would be out in the open."

  "Hmm, then we had better move fast." He noticed another ledge about half way down, under the cover of trees. "Once Lukair and I get the younger kids half way to the ledge, take the older ones down to that one. The trees there will give you some cover."

  Akio nodded and they turned back to the rest of the group. "Well, what did you find?" Lukair asked.

  "We're going to head for a ledge not far down the side. Neela, Palo, Javi, Daro, Eira, the five of you will go with Akio and fly down to ledge. Lukair and I will take the rest of you and climb down the side," Torak told them.

  "Why us first?" Neela complained.“Why can I not stay with my sibs?”

  "Can they fly?" Akio countered annoyed.

  "No, not yet, but that still does not answer my question," she responded.

  "The five of you are going to fly down to that ledge. You will wait for the rest of us there," Torak stated, firmly. Alamine also agreed with the boys and requested that she do as she was told. Akio guided them to the edge and Torak watched as they took flight. Neela was the last one to leave. She looked back at her siblings, then glared at Torak. She huffed, and jumped into the air.

  Torak sighed, he was beginning to understand that Neela was going to be his biggest problem. He turned back to the ledge and studied the stones. Lukair joined him and spotted a deer trail. He could barely see it in the fading light. They returned to the remaining children and again Lukair put Tomel and Zema on his shoulders. He guided Shanni to the ledge and waited for Nori and Eika. They would follow Torak down, and Lukair would follow with Shanni.

  Torak left the rise first. He carefully climbed down a few feet, then turned back to the little Ocean dragons. "Eika, you first." She looked down at him nervously, and he extended his paw to help her. She tried to step off of the cliff face, but nearly fell. "Turn around and back down the trail." She nodded and slowly began to back down. He helped her find her footing, and slowly turned her around so she was descending the ridge sideways. After a few minutes, she reached his side.

  He looked up at Nori, "Okay, it's your turn." Nori nodded and copied his sister's motions. About halfway to Torak, he slipped, and slid several feet. He dug his claws into the earth in an attempt to stop. Torak climbed up to him and helped the boy steady himself. He helped him down to Eika and went back up to help Shanni. She was obviously scared, and looked up at Torak with frightened eyes. Lukair helped her balance on the edge while Torak helped her down, one foot at a time. They continued to reassure the hatchling as they slowly climbed down to the other two.

  Carefully, they made their way do
wn to the ledge below and joined the others. "Can we rest here a moment and gain our bearing," Akio asked. The sun had set and he was not sure where the next ledge was. Torak agreed and told the children to stay there, and listen to Lukair and Alamine.

  "Where are we supposed to go?" Neela demand. As Akio and Torak spread their wings to find the other landing, she added, "Where are you going? You cannot just leave us."

  "We'll be right back, we are going to see how far it is to the next stopping point," Torak replied as he turned away. Neela huffed and turned back to her siblings; she continued to complain and mumbled under her breath about being deserted, and how Torak was going to get them all killed. She stopped and looked at Alamine, then quieted down. The boys assumed the adult had reprimanded her. However, Torak ignored her complaints and focused on finding the other ledge. His vision was better than Akio's at night and he found the trees first, and guided the younger adolescent there. The next thing they had to do, was figure out how to make the trees visible to the children.

  The two boys quickly explored the crop of trees. After several minutes, they met at the tree line. "If only we had some moonlight," Akio said thinking out loud.

  Torak turned to the younger dragon. "You just gave me an idea. Stay here, I'll be right back.” He took flight before his friend could respond, and flew back to the higher ledge. He hovered just passed the edge and asked, "Lukair, can we use your armor to reflect the light so we know where the tree line is?"

  Lukair removed his shield from where it hung on his pack. The shiny metal plate reflected the small amounts of light that slipped through the cloud cover. He handed it to Torak and watched as he took the shield down to the trees and leaned it against a large stone. It reflected enough light to guide them to the landing, but not enough to attract attention. Torak and Akio returned to the children and Akio took the older kids down to Lukair's shield and guided them into the trees.