by Sarah Hite
“A dralic tried to take his head off.” They turned to see Torak land a few feet away and asked what he meant. The youth quickly told them about the lake fight and of how the dralic had picked him up by the head and flew off with him. He also told them Ketowa’s plan for his recovery. Kei-ata agreed with it and left the king to his rest. He decided to see the Master Shaman and help with the other wounded.
Later that day, Kwan landed with the rest of the council members. Alani and Elder went to the palace to check on Kyeon. Alani also wanted to visit Kym and see how her recovery was coming. Aarto went to check on the wounded, and Kwan slowly walked toward the courtyard. He did not know how to break the news to Moon. As he neared the Guest House he paused and looked around for her, but she was not in the courtyard. He decided to ask Kym if she knew where she was, but an excited cry turned him around. “Papa! Your back.”
He smiled, momentarily forgetting his troubles and embraced his son. “I’m glad to see you too.” He paused, knowing he had to tell Moon about Shaelynn. “Where’s your mother?”
Sayden looked down, his eyes suddenly sad and worried. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen her for…” He paused a moment to think. “… I don’t know, maybe two weeks. No one seems to know where she is.”
He pulled the boy closer to him and reassured him. “It’s okay. She’ll be back. Why don’t you help Torak? He’s helping the adults take care of a group of children who were separated from their families. You could show them around, and help the little ones.” Sayden agreed and ran off to find him. Kwan watched him go and sighed. He would need someone to play with if Shaelynn did not come home, especially since she was the only hatchling his age for miles.
After the boy had disappeared, he continued on his way. Kei-ata had returned to check on the king, and their nest, and met Kwan in the courtyard. Kwan asked him about Moon and the shaman told him the same thing. However, he added that he had sent Lang to find her. They spoke for a few more minutes before Kei-ata suggested that Kwan rest. He sighed and agreed, slowly turning toward the Guest House. As he neared the stone building, he passed Alani and Kym.
Kym saw he looked upset and asked her friend what had happened. She also noticed that Shaelynn was not with him. Alani sadly told her of how Shaelynn had been poisoned, captured, released, attacked by mountain cats, and how she had been found. She told her about the child’s recovery and lastly about the rockslide resulting in her second capture. When the story had concluded Kym remained quiet. She knew this news would break Moon’s heart. She secretly blamed herself for her recent disappearance as it was. She had been angry with her for not telling her about Akina’s illness, but later realized that she had done the right thing; she would have been too worried about Akina to concentrate on her own recovery. Then she had been too ashamed of herself to apologize and had treated the younger female badly.
They were silent for a while, until Kym sighed and slowly stood up. She was not fully recovered from the difficult nesting and her strenuous pregnancy, and was quite tired. Alani followed her and the two queens returned to the Queen’s Quarters where Kym checked her nest and curled up around the eggs. Alani watched her inspect the eggs and rebury them. “I envy you. I really do.”
Kym turned to look at her. “Why?”
Instead of answering, the southern queen turned and looked over to where Akina was asleep in the afternoon sun. Kym followed her gaze and smiled. “Your time will come.”
“Maybe, but I fear that time has passed.” Kym looked over at the smaller dragon, slightly confused. Alani was about a decade younger than herself, and was well within breeding age. The southern queen noticed her confusion and clarified. “There was someone, but he disappeared shortly before your arrival in the islands three years ago.”
“I’m sorry.”
Alani shrugged. “You have everything I have always hoped for, children, Kyeon, his siblings. You have a niece and nephew who care about you.” She turned to her friend and continued. “Did you know that Kyeon talked about you so much, that Seoung was beginning to get annoyed with him?” Kym smiled. She knew he worried about her, and cared for her safety.
“You’ll get there. If he’s alive, he’ll find you.” Alani offered the larger dragon a smile, however she did not fully believe her. They looked up when Akina yawned. The youth stretched and stood up. “Did you enjoy your nap?” Kym teased.
Akina smiled and retorted, “Do you enjoy yours?” She came over and rubbed her head against her mother’s shoulder. “Do you know where Torak went?”
“I believe he’s with the other children; Sayden went with him. Why don’t you join them?”
Akina agreed and ran off to find them. She took flight and angled toward the army. Landing not far from them, she watched them for several long seconds before walking into their midst. She was not sure where to look, and decided to find one of the shaman, thinking they might know where to find the children. As she walked, she ignored the odd and curious looks from the warriors, and was careful to stay out of their way.
She had been looking for about an hour when two Ocean dragons came up to her, one was male, the other female. “Can we help you?” the female asked.
“I’m looking for my brother,” she answered. “He was with a group of children.”
The Ocean dragons looked at each other. “You must be the Princess Akina,” the male assumed. She smiled and nodded. “Torak talked about you a lot. I am Kuda, the chieftain from the Eastern Caverns clan, and this is my mate Aelya.”
Aelya smiled. “Our children are in the same group. I will show you where they might be.” She led the youth toward a clearing at the eastern edge of the army, where she had seen the children last. When they reached the clearing and found it empty, Aelya suggested she check the lake to the north. Sayden had suggested they go swimming.
Akina agreed to check the lake and Aelya returned to her duties. The princess checked her position and headed out, but she did not go far. She stopped to study a stone outcropping that jutted from the ground in her path. The stones were roughly fifteen feet tall and she decided to climb over the outcropping instead of fly. It took her a few minutes to reach the top, but she was enjoying the exercise. When she crested the highest stone, she leapt down to a lower one and worked her way back toward the ground. She was having too much fun to notice the dragon watching her from the tree line.
When she reached the ground the dragon spoke to her. “Having fun?” She jumped, not expecting him. He rose from the shade and approached; something about him made her uneasy. He was a little taller than most Mountain dragons and was much heavier than those she had met. He was dirty and smelled like rotten meat.
Torak! she called. He did not answer. She took a step back and glanced at the sky.
“You wouldn’t want to leave now would you? Be kinda rude.” The way he said that gave her the creeps. She glanced at the sky again, chiding herself for not flying. Torak! Again he did not answer. Father! She did not expect the king to answer, knowing he was probably asleep, but she wanted to hear his voice. This dragon scared her, and she did not know why. When no one answered her calls, she tried one more time, shielding her voice from only him. Can anyone hear me?
She glanced back at him just in time to see him prepare to pounce. She leapt away from him and tried to take off. She jumped into the air and rose to the top of the stones when he caught her by the ankle. He pulled her to the ground, hard. She felt something crunch and pain shot up her leg, only to be slightly dulled by the pain she felt when she hit the ground. She landed on her side and, slightly dazed, slowly rolled over. She did not see him move until it was too late. She jumped away, but was not fast enough, and her leg would not support her weight. He grabbed her and pushed her to the ground. Torak! she cried, terrified. She knew she was in trouble, and tried desperately to contact someone. Mother! Anyone? Her fear intensified when he pinned her there and climbed on top of her. She squirmed, trying to get away.
“Now, now, don’t fight. You’ll
only make it worse. If you relax, you’ll enjoy it.” His voice wormed its way into her ears like slime, and his stench filled her nostrils. She whimpered, and closed her eyes.
Duck! The sudden command startled her, but she managed to follow it. She was surprised further when he suddenly fell over, releasing her. Go! Now! the voice said. She struggled to get off the ground. Forcing her leg to work, she pushed off and flew away.
She did not go far, but landed about five hundred feet away. She hit the ground and rolled for several feet. When she stopped, she laid there, breathing heavily. After a moment she tried to sit up, but her leg pained her greatly and she fell back to the ground whimpering. She closed her eyes and cried, unable to control her emotions.
***
Where are we going? Palo asked.
“To the lake,” was Sayden’s response.
But I thought you said the lake was not safe? Eira pointed out.
“This is a different lake. I found it on my last hunting trip with Mother. The ground around the other one is too soft. It’ll give way before you know it, and the rocks at the bottom make it dangerous for unexperienced swimmers.”
“You do not talk like a three-year-old hatchling,” Daro stated.
Torak turned to the younger boy. “Sayden is my cousin. My parents took care of him while his parents were missing.” He smiled down at the half blood and added, “And he’s smarter than most adolescents.”
“No I’m not. I’m not in an adolescent class in Teachings. I may be older, but my sister’s definitely smarter. She spoke long before me, and was better at it too.”
“Okay, fine, but you’re only in the next level down,” Torak teased. His cousin smiled and the group continued on their way. As they walked, Torak explained that Shaelynn was his sister. They rounded a bend at the edge of a clearing and Sayden stopped in his tracks. “Uh, Torak, look.” He pointed to the far side of the clearing.
Torak’s breath caught as he saw what Sayden was looking at. Fear rising in his heart, he ran across the clearing, gliding part of the way. He slid to a stop in front of Akina. “Akina! Akina what happened? Talk to me!”
She looked up at him with tear filled eyes. “Where were you? I called for you, but you didn’t answer. Where were you?” she cried.
He looked at her, concerned for her safety and hurt by the blame in her voice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you.”
“You didn’t hear me? I needed you and you weren’t there!”
Sayden crept up behind him and said, “I’ll go get Kei-ata.” He ran off and took flight.
“Javi and I will take the kids back to the beach,” Akio told him, turning the children around.
Torak sat down with her, doing his best to comfort her. He wrapped his wing around her and gently pulled her to him. She jumped and pulled away, her fear still evident. She finally relaxed a little and cried into his shoulder. It did not take long for the shaman to join them, and he was not alone.
Torak looked up as three adults approached. “What happened?” a pale brown dragon asked, clearly alarmed. “Mother!”
She laid down on the other side of the child. Torak pulled his wing back and stood, going to the third dragon in the group. He looked up at their father, who stood, staring at the girls. What happened?
“I don’t know. We just found her like this.”
Kei-ata Lorbrein watched them for a minute before settling down in front of her. She looked up at him, eyes full of fear and pain, and tried to back away from him. He looked down at the queen. Whatever happened to her, has cause a great fear. I don’t think she will let me look at her. Perhaps it would be better if we found a female shaman.
She nodded and he called to Ketowa. The shaman answered and quickly responded to his request. He said he had the perfect shaman to help her. A few minutes later, the deep, slow wing beats of a very large dragon were heard over the trees, and a very tall, slender, pale dragon landed nearby. “Shaman Lieta! I wasn’t expecting you. I didn’t even know you were here.”
“I’m only here for a short time. I came to check the shamans’ supplies in North Wood and passed through Ciciana on my way. They said the army was back and thought you might need more supplies. Now what do you need from me?” Kei-ata told her the problem and she nodded. Then he requested that the king and his son join him behind the trees while Lieta saw to the child. He agreed and they left the females alone.
Lieta turned back to Akina and settled down in front of her. “Shh, I know you’re scared, but I need you to tell me what happened,” she said gently. “Do you think you can do that?”
Kym pulled her closer and offered her support. Akina looked up at them and slowly nodded. “He…he wouldn’t get off me. He wouldn’t let me go,” she choked, and started crying again.
The adults exchanged glances, a spark of anger lit the queen’s eyes. Kym tightened her hold on the child and said, “It’s okay, you’re all right. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
“Can you tell me exactly what happened?” the shaman asked. Akina wiped the back of a paw across her face, and pressed herself into her mother’s side. Kym began to rock her back and forth. Eventually, they were able to coax her into telling them what happened. When she was done, she finally allowed the shaman to see to her leg. Kym helped support her while she repositioned herself to show Lieta her damaged ankle. She whimpered and pulled back as the shaman tested the injury. “It’s fractured, but isn’t a full break. I’ll need cormin in order to finish up.” She asked Kei-ata to bring her a kit, and helped Kym calm Akina down while they waited. It did not take long for the shaman to bring the supplies. He spoke to her on the edge of the clearing for a moment, before returning to the king.
Kyeon joined them a moment later and spoke to Kym. She shook her head and looked down at the frightened child. He slowly lowered his head to look at her. Hey, hey, look at me. I need you to understand that he will never touch you again, or anyone else, but I need you to show me who it was. You’re the only one who can point him out.
She looked up at him and slowly nodded. “Okay Papa.” Lieta said that she would be alright, and after the completion of her exam, she informed the couple that he had done nothing more than pin her down, and had scared her more than anything. Once the cormin had hardened they would be able to take her back to the palace.
Kei-ata watched from the edge of the clearing with Torak. He could tell the boy felt bad about what happened. Don’t worry, she’ll be okay. She’s not really mad at you. She just let her fear control her for a minute, kind of like when your hunger took control of you. He nodded and slowly approached the rest of his family. The shaman watched the prince join them and turned when Sayden burst through the trees. The look on his face said all. “Sayden? What happened? Show me.”
He followed the boy through the trees to a patch of torn up ground. Trees had been broken, rocks overturned, and the deep gash through the dirt confirmed his suspicion. This was a crash site, and it was fresh. Sayden looked over the torn up land and suddenly cried out. He took off and flew a short distance to the base of a nearby cliff. “Mother! Mother wake up!” He nuzzled the side of her face but she did not move. He looked up when Kei-ata’s shadow crossed over them.
“Go get your father, and Shaman Lieta or Ketowa.” The boy nodded and ran off. Shaman Lieta landed with her kit only a moment later; together the shaman cared for her injuries and cleaned her up. Kwan arrived as they were packing a deep gash on her left shoulder. When they were done with it, Lieta started cleaning the mud off of her right foreleg. The Forest dragon stood, frozen with fear from the scene before him. Kei-ata went to speak to him; they had only spoken for a minute before Lieta called him back. She had cleaned off the foreleg, but would need help setting the break she found. Moon’s lower right foreleg was badly swollen and the bruise that had spread throughout the area was so dark, it was nearly black.
“We need to get the swelling down, or we won’t be able to set it. Do you think you can frost it?” the head shaman asked.
She shook her head. “She’s already cold. Frosting it would only make her worse. We’ll have to warm her up before I can ice it. I think we should have one of the healers wrap it until then. If you want to find Layon, I’ll take her back to the palace.” He nodded and went to find the young man. Kwan helped Shaman Lieta pick up his unconscious mate. When she had a good grip, she launched herself into the sky and flew back to the palace. Kwan and Sayden followed close behind.
Kyeon looked up at the sound of wing beats and saw the shaman carrying his sister. He would have to ask them about her later, right now, he had to tend to the matter at hand. Kym and Torak helped Akina while he went to find one of the commanders. He saw a dragon flying high and after a minute he called to them. Flier! Who goes?
Lang Ryou, Sire. It’s good to know you have returned. Kyeon told him what happened and outlined their plan to catch the perpetrator. The Forest dragon agreed with it and angled toward the beach. He landed in a spray of sand, drawing the attention of every dragon in the area. “Lang! Thank the Ancestors you’re here,” one of the warriors exclaimed.
“Are you here to take command for your father?” another asked. The confused look on his face told them he did not know. “Your father, Chief General Ryou, was badly injured in battle. He has been moved to the palace.”
Lang sighed and looked down. “I will have to see him later. For right now, I need everyone on the beach in parade formation. The royal family is coming through.” His tone went from one of discontent, to that of command. The dragons around him hurried to comply, spreading the word as they went. Three hundred Mountain dragons, two hundred Forest dragons, one hundred Desert dragons, and fifty Fire and Ice dragons combined, fell into formation-- tallest in the back, smallest breeds in the front-- just as the king crested the hill. Lang had asked that the commanders line up to the right of the formation, all at the king’s request. “Everything is ready, my Lord.”
