She laughed, or at least I think she did, and she said sarcastically, “I want my siblings to be born, can you arrange that?”
“Umm, why did you hatch, do you know?”
She shook her head, which caused my heart to skip.
“Can I take a look at your egg?”
She growled low in her throat, “Do not touch any of the others, or I will kill you.”
I nodded slowly, suddenly regretful of my suggestion. I did have a big mouth. I walked toward the edge of the cavern, and traced the wall. The dragon turned and watched my every step as I made my way to the back of the cavern and her broken egg. The eggs themselves went up to my stomach, they were very large.
I looked at her egg, and what was around it, looking for some clue of why the flooding would have caused her egg to quicken and hatch. There was nothing obvious at first, but this whole corner of the cavern had small bleached pebbles around her egg. I frowned down at them and picked one up. It wasn’t a pebble, it was a bleached crystal.
I turned to the dragon, and almost jumped out of my skin. Her snout was only about two feet away. How in the nine hells could a creature that big move so damned silently?
“I’ll be back in a few minutes, I think I have a theory, but I want to verify it before I suggest the possibility. Does your mother’s memories not have the knowledge of how to hatch your siblings?”
She growled, “No. Only some memories are transferred, not all. She must have decided it was more important to know about our enemy, than how to hatch eggs.”
I nodded, “Do you have a name? Mine is Katrina.”
She chuffed and blew her breath in my face.
“Enidthalasarmaraya, but you may call me Enid. What is this time constraint you speak of, and why are you willing to help me when I attacked you?”
I said, “The human kingdom to the north of ours is attacking ours. We need to return with the dwarven steel as soon as possible to fight them off. If I can arrange peace between you and the dwarves, they will give us the weapons and shields.”
She growled out, “I see, so you do this out of self-interest?”
I shrugged helplessly, “Partly. In truth, the original agreement called for the death of the creature killing the dwarves. I argued against that because I believed it would be wrong, and the dwarves agreed to amend the deal to peaceful relations. So, in a way, I am doing this for you, as well as for myself and my people.”
She said, “I can scent the truth on you. Go, find out what you must find out, and return.”
I replied, “I’ll be back soon Enid, and I will appear right here, next to your egg. I also promise to come alone and bring no one else to your hatching ground.”
The dragon nodded, which was alarming at two feet away, and I teleported back to the entrance of the mine. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When my heart stopped beating like a hummingbird’s wings, I flew out and over the fence. I wasn’t completely convinced I couldn’t win a fight against the dragon, but I was sure it was very possible I’d lose. I’d never met a more beautiful yet intimidating creature in my life. It was also… exciting. I’d just spoken to a dragon! I suppressed a squeal of excitement.
Lynn asked, “What happened?”
I replied, “At first she just said she would leave the dwarves alone, but I mentioned making it more official than that. She seems willing to negotiate, but I don’t think she’s quite ready to meet the dwarves face to face yet. I need to speak to the master rune-wright.”
Holmarra nodded, “Follow me.”
We didn’t have far to go, we moved to the next tunnel entrance, and took it to the iron door. Once through we located him in the second room on the left. He looked up at us as we walked into the room with an impatient look on his face. I guess I couldn’t blame him for that, the last two times we’d visited him we’d wasted his time.
I didn’t bother with niceties, dwarves didn’t do niceties.
“What happens when a crystal gets wet?”
He grunted, “Wet? Nothing. If it’s submerged in water however, the magic is drained out of it, or cancelled out. The crystal will look like it was bleached out. We lost a number of them a long time ago that way to a flood.”
I gently tossed the bleached crystal to him and he snagged it out of the air.
He asked sharply, “Where did you get this?”
I replied, ‘There’s a whole pile of them around the dragon’s split open egg.”
His eyes narrowed, and I nodded, “That’s all I needed to know, thanks Donack.”
Holmarra asked, “What’s this all about?”
“I think I figured out why Enid’s egg hatched.”
Lynn asked, “Enid?”
I grinned, “The dragon’s name is much longer, but I’m not even going to try to pronounce it, she said to call her Enid.”
Holmarra asked, “Why is it important how she was hatched?”
I sighed, “Because, there are fifteen more unhatched eggs, and what she wants most is her brothers and sisters to be born. Be back soon.”
I wanted to giggle as I popped back into the dragon’s cavern, the look on their faces were priceless. But giggling into a dragon’s snout just wasn’t done. I fell back against the cavern wall instead and squeaked like a mouse.
Served me right.
I asked, “Hi Enid, can you feel and control your raw magic?”
Enid backed up a bit, “Of course, why?”
“Can you fill your scales, on your feet with extra, so it leaks into the water? By one of the other eggs?”
She looked confused, but she stepped back carefully by another egg, and I can only assume she tried, since I can’t feel magic at all.
“Why am I doing this?”
I replied, “I think sixty years ago, when the mine was flooded, the egg room was flooded. I think those crystals in the corner around your egg is what remains of your mother, she must have died down here after moving your eggs from the main cavern. I think when the water rushed in here it pushed all the crystals into the corner, around your egg. It’s just a guess, but when the water soaked the crystals, their magic was drained into the element, probably because it is water magic. I’m thinking maybe your egg at that point absorbed that freed magic from the water, like a sponge for lack of a better word, and quickened your egg.”
Okay, it was a lot of assumptions, but it fit the facts. Plus, water dragons were highly magical, it made sense that magic was what would make them finish growing in their eggs, and make them viable. Obviously, that had been a freak accident. Normally I would think it would be the mother who provided the magic by taking care of her nest, since a live dragon’s magic would constantly be regenerated by its life, or something.
She said in awe, “The egg is taking the magic from the water, but I don’t think I’m old or powerful enough to feed them enough magic to make them hatch yet.”
“I don’t imagine it’s an immediate process, you probably have to feed them magic for a long time as they finish growing.”
She snuffled doubtfully, “But the dwarves have all those crystals.”
Oh crap, what did I do now?
Chapter Nineteen
“What are you saying?”
Enid said, “If they give me enough crystals, I can have my siblings now. It will take decades otherwise, I can feel it in me now that I’m doing this. I’m not old and powerful enough to do it right. Maybe in the future when I have my own eggs, I can do it the right way.”
I tried to imagine that, if this worked out in a few thousand years the blue dragons would be able to come back from the brink of extinction. I also knew just how much the dwarves loved their crystals and dwarven steel. How the hell was I going to get them to give fifteen small piles of it?
“Alright, so peace for both you and the dwarves, and you want them to give up fifteen small piles of crystal. What are you willing to give in return?”
Enid swiveled her neck moving her snout closer, “A never ending supply. They’ll e
ventually run out, but in two thousand years I will be ancient, too large to fit in this puny cavern, and when I pass I will leave ten times the crystals I’m asking for. And so will my siblings. Right now, their supply of crystal is finite, we will allow them to claim our dead bodies.”
“So much?”
Enid nodded, “Many of the dragons that were killed in the war with the demons were just hatchlings or young adults. Not only will there be more crystals, but they will also be far more potent with magic.”
I nodded slowly, it was a hell of a long-term investment, but maybe they’d go for it?
“Anything else before I go talk to them?”
She shook her head, “Perhaps, they now live in our cavern. This small den won’t do for me in a short few years, much less sixteen of us.”
I nodded, “I’ll mention it. I’ll be back as soon as I can, it may be tomorrow. Their whole civilization is based around those crystals, but I think I can convince them.”
In truth, I thought they owed the dragon race a lot. They’d built their civilization on the death of another, the least they could do was help them come back. Plus… more crystals in return later.
I kept my mouth shut though, and kept those thoughts to myself. I didn’t want to make any promises I couldn’t keep. I teleported back to Donack and the others, who glared at me. I shrugged helplessly, not really sorry that I’d dropped that information bomb on them and split earlier. If they thought they were startled, they should have been there with me when I saw the eggs for the first time in the cavern.
I took a few minutes to catch them up on what the dragon wanted, and what she’d offered in return.
Holmarra said, “I’ll walk you back to the tavern, you’ll wait there while my family discusses this and comes to a decision. You say she wants the crystals, and help with a new large cavern for her new family?”
I replied, “Yes, but the crystals are for the return investment when they grow older and pass from this world, which will give you an endless and replenishing supply. I think she’s willing to negotiate for the help with the cavern, she just isn’t sure what to offer for it, or what you would want.”
Holmarra nodded thoughtfully, and then walked off without a word. Lynn, Gerard, and I quickly followed. That hadn’t been too bad, and it’d only taken me an hour or two. Okay, it’d been terrifying and exhilarating all at once, but I’d enjoyed it. If the dwarves agree quickly enough, perhaps we could even get out of here in a day or two, when the weapons and shields were ready…
We were in the tavern eating lunch, and I’d just gotten done giving a more in depth report of my morning, including what I was thinking and what it was like down there.
Gerard shook his head, “You’re crazy, you know that right? What possessed you to look away from her, she could have bitten you in half before you even noticed.”
I couldn’t argue that, she’d snuck up on me with preternatural silence when I was studying her egg and what I’d originally thought were pebbles. I should have been keeping a mental eye on her if nothing else.
I nodded slowly, “Little bit, but hey, you married me. So, who’s crazier? Besides, talking with a dragon is a lot of fun.”
He snorted.
“Thank you, I enjoy conversing with you as well,” said dwarf Enid as she slipped into the chair and waved at the barmaid.
Lynn stopped breathing for a moment.
I asked with a casualness I didn’t feel, “So what brings you by?”
Enid scowled, “I got tired of waiting, plus I got used to dwarf food, cold fish just aren’t as satisfying as some beef stew and ale. You don’t think they’d mind, do you? I promised I wouldn’t harm anyone else, unless attacked.”
Gerard poked Lynn, who gasped in a breath. I pretended not to notice.
I shrugged, “I don’t think so? I think you’ll have to work out all the details with them, I’m just trying to get a starting point and common ground for you both to stand on when you meet.”
I noticed a few dwarves leave in a hurry, so I was sure the king would find out quickly.
Enid said, “You seem much calmer.”
I laughed, “You’re a little intimidating in your natural form my friend.”
Enid shrugged, and started to eat the stew as soon as it was put down in front of her.
She stopped for a moment and said, “I’ve been thinking, the dwarves seem to have trouble with flooding, and don’t appreciate water all that much. Maybe in return for help building a new large cavern, I can change a few things and make sure that doesn’t happen anymore. Water obeys me.”
“That may work. Enid, this is my husband Gerald, and this is Mage Marchioness Lynn Darish, a noble from my kingdom.”
Enid nodded, “I know, I watched you all hunting me.”
Lynn squeaked, and then cleared her throat, “It’s nice to meet you officially Enid. I regret the misunderstanding that started all this, we didn’t know what you really were.”
Enid nodded, “I was killing dwarves, I hold no blame toward you for this. I do have a question?”
Lynn replied, “What question?”
Enid asked, “What of the other dragons, do you know? The demons destroyed us blues, but I don’t know what happened to the reds, browns, or silvers.”
“Reds, browns, and silvers?” I asked carefully.
Enid nodded, “Of course, the fire, earth, and air dragons. Surely you didn’t think water dragons were the only ones? Were the others destroyed too?”
Enid dropped the spoon, and looked dismayed at our blank looks.
Lynn said, “I’m sorry. Dragons have been nothing but myth and legend for thousands of years. You’re the first one seen in all that time. I don’t know what happened to your cousins.”
Enid replied, “Perhaps one day I will search, I have the locations of their homes from my mother’s memories.”
I wondered if there were other continents, and if there could still be dragons on those. Now wasn’t the time to talk to Sia to find out though. Maybe Enid would find them, and the other races were able to hide a few eggs from the demons as well? It was almost too much to hope for, and I hated the demons a little more for their crimes of genocide.
She picked up her spoon and started eating again, which sounded like a marvelous idea so I joined her. Maybe I was crazy, I was sitting a few feet away from a shapeshifted dragon, and was completely relaxed and enjoying the company, if not the sad conversation. But perhaps the other three species had hidden away eggs as well at the end. Perhaps one day they’d come back too, and not just the blue dragons.
I wasn’t at all surprised, when King Nabrec, Queen Hammeana, Heir Vothick, Eldest Sanath, and Princess and second heir Holmarra came into the tavern. All of us looked their way.
Nabrec waved at another table, and his family settled there as he walked over to ours.
He said gruffly, “Enid, perhaps it’s time for us to speak together, and hammer out some kind of treaty and arrangement. We’ll not only be allies, but close neighbors.”
I almost giggled, because he was staring at her bowl of stew as he said the last two words. Apparently very close neighbors.
Enid said, “Thank you Nabrec, I’d be pleased to join you.”
I did giggle, when she got up and took her stew with her. Nabrec just shook his head, muttered something about dragons, and followed her over to his family.
Lynn looked around the tavern, and it was pretty much cleared out.
She stood and said, “Maybe we should give them some privacy. I think our part is done in this.”
I had to agree, and stood up. I had my bowl of stew with me as we went up the stairs to our rooms. What? A girl has to eat…
Chapter Twenty
This mission had a very rough start, but it seemed to be ending on a good note. From what I gathered, the dragons would get enough crystal to hatch the rest of the eggs and also get a new cavern, and the dwarves would get the dragon’s crystals when the dragons died, and would soon be able
to reopen the flooded mine once it was drained out. Enid would also be making sure the city was never flooded again.
As far as Enid and her siblings dropping by for stew, I wasn’t sure how they worked that out, but as we packed to leave just a day later, I knew they’d figure it out. Honestly, I was kind of jealous, I wanted a dragon neighbor. Enid had asked me to stop by on occasion though, I wasn’t sure when I’d have the time, but I planned to take her up on the offer. If for no other reason than to meet her baby sibs after they were born.
Baby dragons, it doesn’t get much cuter than that.
The swords, shields, and four siege devices took six wagons, and was way too much for me to teleport. I may have been powerful, but my limit was a handful of people along with a reasonable amount of stuff. Teleporting a larger amount of mass took a lot of energy out of me, and all that steel was just too much. The dwarven wagons weren’t ours to keep either, we’d have to unload them at Magehaven into our own wagons before sending them north, and I had the feeling it would take twice as many human wagons. Ten, instead of six, since the siege engines were wagons in themselves and we could keep those.
The dwarves weren’t for long goodbyes, and we set back out into the tunnels. It would take us a day and a half just to get outside, and another day and a half back to the capitol. I couldn’t wait to get out of these caverns, and out from under the mountain.
I wondered if we’d make it in time to stop Jendas at the pass. Ironcastle would have to hold out until we got there. I also wondered what kind of reception I’d be getting back in Magehaven. The fact my plan was successful may not matter, and although Bryce would prefer to have me killed, he could still make my life hell if he pushed things.
No point borrowing trouble, I’d find out when I got there.
I also wanted to visit mom and get the tablet, and see the goddess. Maybe I could find an hour during the trip to slip away and get that done, possibly after we made camp in the evening and verified the area was secure. I wasn’t sure yet.
Dwarven Steel Page 12
