Fireclaws - Search for the Golden

by T. Michael Ford

  “She…she speaks to me sometimes. She wants me to be one of her servants, but up until now, I wasn’t ready, now I am.”

  “So you really are a Druid, after all?” I said, lifting her chin and looking into her dark eyes.

  “One of what she calls her new breed of Druids, I think. I’m not really sure what all that entails, but Ryliss is part of it, as well. All I know is that I have a lot to learn, and I believe Xarparion and Sky Raven have a lot to teach us both. They will provide a good home for Andi, too.”

  Together, the three of us, walked back to the main group arm-in-arm. Alex had apparently summoned a portal, its light blue glow a welcoming sight for us all. A squad of the golden female warriors stood strict guard while more staff hauled the dead bodies of the mercenaries out and pitched them off the mountain for the crows. King Alex was out of his armor now, but was still pacing around anxiously. Alera, the healer, following impatiently around after him, attempting to make him sit so she could heal his injuries.

  The Queen was still sitting cross-legged on the stone floor. Now, instead of the massive Jag’uri beast, Ryliss lay curled up in the fetal position with her head still on Maya’s lap. She sobbed inconsolably as the dark elf Queen rocked her patiently, giving her all the time she needed.

  Chapter 21

  Ryliss

  The next morning broke cool and cloudy, as did most mornings at Sky Raven. The altitude and the steam generated by the heated river flowing down the front of the fortress contributed to this effect.

  It wouldn’t have mattered much to me if our new sun had been blazing hotly; the dark stain that covered my heart was still too fresh for words, and no amount of sunshine could pierce it. I quietly left the quarters that Naurakka and I had occupied for the past five years, making a mental note that I should move to someplace smaller. But I realized deep down that it was the memories that I needed to come to terms with, not space issues.

  It was still early; most everyone had decided to get a good night’s sleep before tackling the task of figuring out how to coerce newborn Donatello into freeing the world’s dragons from their deep slumber. I hadn’t slept at all; I had obligations to keep, and a part of me wondered if I would ever sleep again. Slogging up the hill toward the keep’s great hall, I tried to focus on the issue at hand.

  I felt a gentle but cold breeze puff down the back of my neck and whirled to find Somnus pacing me quietly, his head just inches from my own. I have no idea how he does it; a creature his size weighing well over two tons shouldn’t be able to sneak up on a dark elf. But rather than vent my indignation, I gratefully wrapped my arms around his neck and just leaned my forehead into him for a few minutes, savoring the warmth and the animal closeness. Finally, I drew back and got a warm nuzzle on the ear from him before he nodded his head up and down patiently and turned back towards the stables.

  A few seconds later, an annoying buzz drove away all the warm thoughts I had curried from Somnus. Nia sped by and then reversed course to hover just off my nose.

  “Hi, Ryliss,…ummm…did you find the spot I suggested?” Nia asked carefully.

  “Yes, Nia, it’s a lovely place, right along a small creek, shady and cool. The spirit of a great cat can watch the spotted pigs when they come down to drink. She would have loved it there. Thank you for letting me bury her in your forest; I am in your debt.”

  “Well, it’s not really my forest,” the pixie gulped sadly, “but the animals are coming back and the Mother Tree is getting bigger. In a few years, we’ll have pixie families starting to roost there again and then the place will really be hopping.”

  “Rakka would have liked that,” I said, and then continued my trek up to the keep, trying to keep my voice from cracking and the tears from loosening again. Of course, the pixie followed me.

  “Now I remember, I was just coming to get you! Rosa is going insane and needs your help.”

  “When isn’t Rosa going insane?” I thought to myself, but might have whispered it under my breath. I stopped again and scowled at my pixie tormentor. “What is it now, Nia?”

  “It’s Donatello; he’s been a pain all night. Rosa kept him in her quarters, but I don’t think she got a wink of sleep; he’s not eating, and all he does is pine. None of us know anything about baby dragons!”

  “Well, don’t look at me! I majored in dragon sleep disorders, not pediatrics. Besides, they must be pretty self sufficient at birth. It’s not like the mother dragon is usually around when the egg hatches.”

  The pixie was flying backward as she talked to me, and she shook her head dubiously. “I don’t know, but Rosa seems to think this one is different…maybe all that time in stasis damaged it.”

  I huffed in silent disagreement and continued to walk. “Where are we meeting anyway?”

  “At the twin’s grotto. Alex and Maya are anxious to find an answer to all this as soon as possible, so they want to convene everyone and Donatello there right now. The cooks have been frying up bacon, roasting a brace of boars, and bringing up cases of wine for hours, just in case this works!”

  Twenty minutes later, after negotiating the stairs cut into the cliff wall and the new passageway that cut deeply into the mountain, I opened the heavy door and stepped through into the cool grotto area that housed the twin dragons’ lair. Of course, there had been a lot of changes to the space since the last time I was here, primarily to make it more accessible by humans, the door being just one.

  Staff had brought up a number of small chairs and they were scattered around the outer chamber. Alex and Maya, both wearing robes, were seated and looked worried. Kerrik and Daphne were off to one side chatting in low, amiable voices. Hons and Alera were trying to bolster a recently cleaned-up Captain Higs. He had bathed, shaved, and put on clean clothes, even if they did hang on his thin frame like drapes. Darroth had even made the trek up from the deep forges to make an appearance, and of course Nia was there.

  Rosa finally made an appearance, coming out of the second chamber where the twins slept. She shook her head despondently. “I don’t understand it. I took Donatello in to see the twins, hoping that he would have some sort of instinctual response to wake them up. He just hissed and recoiled away as if he was afraid of them.”

  “You didn’t just leave him in there alone did you?” I found myself asking, a measure of new found protectiveness in my voice.

  “Don’t worry, he’s in his cage,” the old elf said with a reassuring wave of her hand.

  I shook my head worriedly and Maya, who had been watching me like a hawk since I entered the room, picked up on it right away. “What is it, Ryliss?”

  “I don’t know, my Queen, it’s just a feeling. Dragons are very smart, and goldens are the most intelligent of them all. We cannot treat him like a pet marmot in a box. Even a newborn is probably smarter than the average villager. If we want his help, we need to…”

  At that exact moment, a blur of golden scale burst out from behind the small waterfall that separated the two chambers and made a mad, spirited dash circling around the spectators.

  “He’s escaped!” Rosa gasped. “Hurry, catch him!” Rosa and the humans shot out of their chairs and nearly tripped over each other in their haste. In the meantime, the young dragon appeared to be having a wonderful time eluding them, even deftly flying between their legs and arms as they sought to capture him.

  I calmly got up and covered the door to make sure Donatello didn’t figure that one out, as well. He vaulted to the very top of the chamber, well above their outstretched hands and clung to a stone outcropping for a few seconds, chattering excitedly at them in a high-pitched squeak.

  Alex and Maya, of course, deployed their wings instantly and flew up to collect him. With a chirp of indignation, Donatello pushed off and flew circles around them both; this was one instance where the Comets’ wings were just too big to be effectual in this small an area. The stuttering chirp continued and I could have sworn he was laughing at them. In short order, the King and Queen were laughing a
t themselves, as well, as the irony of the situation took hold.

  As sometimes happens when she’s stressed, the Queen began to leak out a arcane glow. She looked around in embarrassment, which caused Alex to guffaw even louder and begin glowing himself. Soon the entire chamber was infused in the holy light of the Nova.

  Donatello had returned to his small perch on the ceiling when the two Comets had landed and began their display. As the bluish white glow reached him, he cocked his head sideways and extended his wings, almost like a plant positioning itself to take in the rays of the sun. Another laughing chirp exploded as the Royals toned down their display and finally tucked in their wings altogether. Donatello looked down at them, his marble-sized eyes glowing and lifted his chin. Suddenly, a greenish glow radiated out from the small dragon as if he were trying to emulate or even surpass the two Comets. Now the chamber was flooded with green light, exactly like it had been with the whitish blue just a few seconds before. It poured into every seam and beyond.

  When the beam touched me, it was different than what I had felt before with the Royals. Theirs was a promise that law and order would prevail in the universe and all would be well in the world. The green light touched on a much more personal level. It promised that sins would be forgiven, relationships healed, and new life cherished and never forgotten. For a second, I was transported back to the banks of a small stream in a quiet, dark forest. There, a large black cat lounged lazily and stared out over the banks where some small spotted pigs were frolicking in the mud. The cat looked up at me and its great blue eyes shone with love.

  “Please do not grieve for me, my Mother; I would not have you remember me with tears, all is well with me. I died defending the one that I loved the most in life; there can be no higher honor.”

  I gasped, “But the pain, Rakka! There is so damn much pain!”

  “Open yourself to the young dragon’s light and you will be absolved of the pain and guilt, and remember only the good times. Know that I will watch over you always, and someday we will walk these woods together again, I promise. Now go, you have much to accomplish yet! And I have small spotted pigs to haunt…”

  I snapped out of the trance, tears streaming down my face. On the ceiling, with a huff that plainly said, “beat that,” Donatello chirped and turned off his glow. I felt a touch on my arm and Maya was standing next to me, a deeply concerned look on her face.

  “Are you alright, Ryliss?”

  I took a deep cleansing breath and the relentless pain was mostly gone. I even managed a ghost of a smile. “I will be, Sister…I will be.”

  Donatello’s large orbs had tracked Maya when she had left the main group and ventured to the door next to me. Now his nostrils twitched and, with a very un-dragon-like bleat of recognition, the little guy launched himself at me with abandon. He hit my chest with force, nearly knocking the wind out of me; instinctively I tucked him into my arms and sheltered him from harm. He crooned his approval and climbed up on my shoulders, draping his long neck down around mine and sighed contentedly.

  “I never would have believed it!” Rosa beamed and pointed at me. “You, young lady, are assigned babysitting detail until further notice!”

  “Thanks a lot, Rosa,” I said sarcastically, but I had to admit he did feel wonderful perched up there. Perhaps life was about to get a little better.

  Right then, Higs, who had gone to check on the twins in the midst of all the commotion, tore back into the room excitedly. “I saw Dusk blink! I think they are coming out of it!”

  Of course, we all had to rush into the chamber with the two dragons to see for ourselves. Alex excitedly grabbed a handful of bacon and a bottle of the citadel’s finest wine, and pried open Dawn’s huge mouth. Tossing in perhaps a couple pounds of the fatty delight, he pulled the cork on the bottle with his teeth and fast-poured the entire bottle into her reptilian jowls.

  Maya, with Higs’ help, was performing the same procedure with Dusk.

  “If you close their mouths and stroke the underside of their throats, it should provoke an automatic swallow response,” I supplied helpfully. Of course, Alex and Maya were the only ones in the room strong enough to lift the massive draconic heads off the sand. They did, and everyone else took turns stroking the long scaly throats of the two girls.

  A few minutes into the group operation, Dawn shuddered and swallowed hard, her huge eyes fluttering and her breath sounds becoming more rapid. Alex sat right down in the soft sand and cradled the head of his adopted daughter, stroking her eye ridges and scratching under her chin. A keening wail of abject pain filled the room as her eyes snapped open and she willed herself into her naked human form.

  Alera rushed up with a blanket to cover her, Dawn apparently not having the energy to form clothing, as well. She moaned and rocked for a few minutes with her eyes pressed tightly shut as the healer examined her briefly. Hons filled a large glass with more of the fine wine and brought it over for Alex to administer. He held it to her lips and she swallowed it greedily, finally opening her bleary eyes slightly.

  “Am I dead?” she whispered, looking up into Alex’s face. “If it wasn’t for the pain, I would think this was heaven…the taste of bacon and fine wine on my lips and you holding me…”

  “No, it’s not heaven, missy!” Maya interrupted, half choking on her own tears of joy. “And I’ll thank you to remember that’s your father you are mooning over.”

  The dragon girl winced, still in obvious pain. “Damn…can I at least have more wine?”

  “Nope,” Alera chipped in, “you need water and lots of it! Alcohol won’t rehydrate you properly, and go easy on the bacon, too; your stomach may not be able to handle all that fat right away…I’m thinking of prescribing oatmeal!”

  “Aw, it is hell, after all…” Dawn quipped weakly, finally in an upright position and looking around. Her watery eyes finally rested on her sister. “Why isn’t Dusk awake?”

  “We’re working on her!” Maya gritted, as Darroth vigorously rubbed her throat while Higs leaned into her ear and begged her to come back to him. Perhaps a minute later, our prayers were answered and Dusk swallowed mightily and then produced a dusty, hacking cough that enveloped and almost froze Hons.

  Alera religiously followed the same regiment that had revived Dawn, including the threat of oatmeal. In the span of a half an hour, both girls were in human form, fully blanketed and sitting up. They were unsteady but curious about what had happened.

  While the dragon girls were being administered to, Donatello had come out of his temporary swoon around my neck. Nose twitching, he crept up and attacked one of the sacks of bacon that were strewn about the room. All that could be seen of the little guy was his tail flopping about with great animation outside the woven bag. However, the sounds of his crunching were loud enough to interrupt polite speech. Shortly thereafter, Dawn pointed and growled, “What exactly is that creature and why are you allowing it to eat our precious bacon?”

  Donatello stuck his head out curiously, and noting the scrutiny of the much larger dragon, he squealed and launched himself back up around my neck with a pronounced shiver of fear and a digging in of tiny claws.

  “This creature,” I said dramatically, “is the newborn king of the dragons. His name is Donatello; you may want to start working on your obeisance skills; he’s going to be living here for a while.”

  “A…a…male golden dragon? Living here? With us?” they stuttered, each looking at the Royals for confirmation.

  “Well, at least until he can fend for himself. After that, it’s Donatello’s choice where he lives, of course,” Alex confirmed, then watched in confusion as their eyelids fluttered and both twins fainted dead away in his arms. “Huh, I wonder if it was something I said.”

  Rosa spoke up, “Well, we know that Donatello’s green glow seems to be the catalyst for waking up the dragons. At least it worked on Dusk and Dawn, but how do we wake up an entire world’s worth of dragons? It’s not like we can take him to every mountain peak on
every continent and broadcast it. The dragons are dying as we speak!”

  Darroth raised a stubby hand. “I might have an idea for that, but I’ll need to consult with Conlin Gruffrock to make sure it will work.”

  “Conlin, our siege engine specialist?” Maya asked with some skepticism.

  “Yup, should be slick if we can make it work,” the dwarf chortled and ran out of the room double time.

  Chapter 22

  Ryliss

  Three weeks later

  The air racing past blew my hair straight back and made my eyes tear up as I hung on for dear life. Kaima was in one of her playful moods and was doing her best to leave her bigger brother in the dust. I giggled when I glanced back and saw Wyeth, a much better horseman than I, struggling with similar issues. Somnus was a few lengths behind, and from my vantage point, the huge horse’s nostrils looked big enough to suck in a pixie or two. His mane and tail appeared to blend into one solid line of blue flame that ran under the seat of the fire wizard and out the back as his massive hooves pounded the ground into submission.

  In less than an hour, we had covered half the distance to the Dashern Lake Forest and the morning air was changing from mountain-cool to swamp-level warmth in a hurry. Finally, the mare must have decided she had won at least a moral victory so she allowed me to rein her in a bit, and we dropped down into a spirited trot. An instant later, Somnus was at our side carrying a laughing, scarlet-robed wizard and we slowed to a walk.

  “Well played, My Lady,” he chuckled. “When you took off, I was adjusting my saddle and still had both feet on the ground. I thought Somnus was going to reach around, grab me with his teeth, and throw me on his back; I’ve never seen his eyes bulge out like that. See, I told you these two needed a good romp!”

  “Yes, well, when the Queen herself practically makes it a royal command…” I retorted, stroking Kaima along her sweaty neck. “But then, you wouldn’t have had anything to do with that, would you, Wizard Parker?”