Aurora

by Mark Robson

  The expected strike did not come, but he could feel the warm, damp breath of the dragon against his back. He had gambled on her not wishing to harm her egg even though she knew the hatchling inside was dead. It appeared his reasoning had been sound.

  Elian cracked open the eyelid on his left eye and tipped his head to one side. He was rewarded with a terrifying view into the dragon’s open throat. Blaze’s jaws were spread so wide that her great cage of teeth surrounded him. Even as he began to take in the precarious nature of his position, the dragon’s huge forked tongue began to snake under his legs in an effort to dislodge him.

  ‘Oh no you don’t!’ he muttered, clinging to the egg even harder.

  ‘Don’t move, Elian! Stay exactly where you are.’ It was Tarl. He had come to help. ‘Blaze! Listen to me. Elian doesn’t mean any harm. Look at the plinth, Blaze. Your last egg has a great destiny. It is going to restore the Oracle. Isn’t that wonderful?’

  The tongue withdrew and slowly, the great jaws rose away from Elian. He heaved a sigh of relief and, for a moment, he thought he might pass out. His head spun and a wave of nausea swept through his gut and up into his throat. Tarl had done it. Blaze was listening at last. As the dragon’s mouth closed and her long neck lifted her great head higher, Elian began to relax.

  Uncoiling his body from around the egg, Elian climbed back to his feet.

  ‘Not yet, Elian! It’s too—’

  Tarl did not get to finish his warning. Blaze struck, her head arrowing down so fast that Elian did not have time to fully evade the strike. All he could do was twist and duck. The dragon’s lower jaw hit him harder than a charging bull, smashing into his right arm and chest and hurling him back across the chamber towards the plinth. Winded, he scrambled behind the minimal cover offered by the small pillar of metal.

  To Elian’s horror, he saw that Blaze had also swept her own rider aside. Tarl was also picking himself up some distance to the right. But Blaze was not finished. Her eyes were still intent on Elian and she was coming for him again.

  With a sweeping motion, Blaze whipped her head down towards him once more, but Elian was hurting too much to do more than cower behind the plinth. The side of Blaze’s jaw connected hard with the metal. There was a horrible cracking sound and the dragon’s head stopped dead. For a moment Elian had a second terrifyingly close view of the side of her jaw and her left eye before she reared backwards and let out another roar of pain. As she pulled away, one of the large outer teeth from the left side of her mouth fell loose and a drool of dark blood dribbled to the floor. The plinth had not shifted so much as a finger’s width.

  The dragon lunged a second time and then a third. Each time Elian dodged, keeping the plinth between him and Blaze’s anger. Her body was glowing brighter as her anger and frustration built. Elian knew from Aurora’s ability that if Blaze threw all her energy into intensifying that inner light, then he would neither be able to look at her, nor see her attacks coming. Fortunately, she was too agitated to use her abilities to the full.

  Everyone was shouting – everyone except Elian, who was too busy trying to stay alive. Tarl was bellowing at his dragon. Neema and Kira were yelling warnings to Elian. The roars of Aurora and Fang were also getting nearer as the two dragons approached through the tunnels. What got through to Blaze, Elian did not know, but as abruptly as she had attacked, so she stopped.

  Blaze backed off slowly and curled protectively between Elian and her hatchlings, some of which had woken with all the noise and were screeching their high-pitched protests. Her inner light dimmed back to a subtle glow. She eyed Elian suspiciously as she licked around her bleeding mouth with her long forked tongue.

  ‘Tarl? Can I get the egg now?’ Elian called, without taking his eyes from Blaze.

  ‘I’m not completely sure,’ he replied. ‘But I think I got through to her. She’s confused right now. My bond is not as open as it is normally. Don’t move. I’ll come and join you. If we do it together, I think she’ll be all right.’

  Elian waited while Tarl moved slowly across the cavern to where Elian was crouching. Together they then crossed the short distance to the remaining egg. Blaze watched their every move intently, gently crooning the whole while. Whether the noise was an expression of her physical pain from the blow to her mouth, or from sorrow at the egg that would not hatch, Elian could not tell.

  Elian’s ribs and right arm hurt from the impact of the dragon’s strike, and the egg was both enormous and heavy. Even with Tarl lending his strength, they struggled to lift it. But no sooner had the egg made contact with the top of the plinth than it seemed to freeze in place. Elian and Tarl stepped back quickly and the same transparent resin-like substance that had formed the outer surface of the Dark Orb and the Orb of Vision oozed from the top of the metal stand. It spread rapidly around the egg until it formed a complete layer.

  As with previous orb formations, the clear substance began to contract. It squeezed the egg, crushing inwards to make its contents smaller and smaller until all that remained was a glowing ball of gold that looked precisely the same size as the previous orbs.

  Only when he was sure that the plinth had completed the transformation did Elian reach out to touch it. What would he feel? What qualities would it possess? His hand hovered over the orb for a moment, his arm trembling with anticipation. Taking a deep breath, he grasped it and a shock ran through his body that took his breath away.

  ‘Oh, my word!’ he breathed. ‘Oh . . . my . . . word!’

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Missing in Action

  ‘Is that who I suspect it is?’ Elian asked as the familiar throbbing buzz of a flying machine approached through the pre-dawn murk. They had deliberately landed in a quiet area a long way from the lines of fighting. There was no need to risk getting entangled in the fighting again. If it was not for the enormous time saving that moving through this world offered in travelling vast distances across Areth, Elian would not have let Aurora bring them back at all.

  ‘Yes, Elian,’ Aurora confirmed. ‘It’s Jack.’

  ‘But what’s he doing here?’ Elian asked. ‘We did what he asked and he led us to the final orb. I thought that was the end of our association with him. How does he even know we’re here this time?’

  ‘That is puzzling,’ Aurora said, her voice thoughtful. ‘It appears Jack has developed a curious sensitivity to our presence. He is concentrating very hard. He knows we’re close and that we dragons can read his surface thoughts. From what I sense of his intentions, he plans to come with us to Areth.’

  ‘But why? I don’t understand.’

  ‘It appears Jack feels he can help us get past Segun,’ Aurora said thoughtfully. ‘He has seen the gateways before. He’s determined to fly into this one when I form it.’

  ‘Will his aircraft pass through all right?’

  ‘I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t,’ she said, with the mental equivalent of a shrug. ‘I can’t see how he can hope to help us against the night dragons with his one flimsy machine, but he seems very convinced of his worth.’

  ‘Do you think we should stop him?’ Elian asked. ‘If he crosses to Areth, there’s no guarantee that he will ever be able to return to his world. Without wanting to sound pessimistic, it’s not going to be easy to run that blockade. If we don’t make it, there’ll be no way for him to get back.’

  ‘He seems to be aware of the risks, Elian,’ she said. ‘The Oracle made this man a part of our quest. I think we would be foolish to turn his offer of help aside, even if we cannot see an obvious role for him right now.’

  ‘Kira won’t be happy,’ Elian noted. ‘She doesn’t trust him. Not since the incident with the Red Baron.’

  ‘It’s not Kira’s decision. It’s ours. I say we let him come. I’ve got a strange feeling this is meant to happen.’

  ‘After what happened at the enclave, I’m not about to go against your instincts,’ Elian declared. ‘I can feel the dawn approaching. We’d better get airborne.’


  ‘You are quite right, Elian. At this rate you’ll be developing a dragonsense of your own, soon,’ Aurora noted.

  ‘I’m assuming that’s a joke,’ he replied. Although her voice had sounded serious, he knew her to have a dry sense of humour. She did not reply, leaving him to wonder. Instead, she turned to face across the open field in preparation for take off.

  Elian glanced across to where Kira was ready on Fang. She was signalling frantically and pointing towards Jack’s approaching flying machine. As he had anticipated, she did not look happy. Giving her a wave and a thumbs-up signal, he gave Aurora the word to launch. Kira would be livid if she found out that his apparent misunderstanding of her signals was deliberate, but he knew that if he played innocent, she would fall for it. She still considered him more naïve than he was, and he had learned there were times when he could use this to his advantage.

  Aurora leaped forward, accelerating rapidly until she gained enough speed to take off. The field was not large and the high hedge at the far end was approaching fast when she drove her body from the ground. Elian took a sharp intake of breath as his dragon skimmed the top of the greenery and powered upwards. When he looked back, Fang was safely airborne and following close behind.

  Jack’s flying machine had entered a gentle turn above them. Elian could just make out his face looking down over the side of the cockpit. The pilot was watching both the dragons and the sky immediately ahead of them.

  ‘Clever,’ Elian muttered. ‘He’s making sure he’s in position to make a dive for the vortex in case we try to go through without him.’

  ‘It would not work,’ Aurora said. ‘I could block him if I wanted, but his determination is admirable. Dawn is upon us. Let’s go to the meeting place. Hopefully the others will be there already.’

  Elian felt power building inside his dragon as the moment of dawn approached. As she drew it in, he felt a giddying rush of energy surge through the bond that made him feel as if he were swelling inside to the point where he might explode. The outpouring as Aurora formed the gateway was similarly intense. Elian did not need to look ahead to know where the vortex was forming. He could feel it in every fibre of his body.

  Fang overtook them, powering ahead to dive into the swirling round disk of grey cloud. As she disappeared, Jack’s machine whistled over Elian’s head, diving in front of Aurora to follow close on Fang’s tail. The wind was screaming through the wires as he pushed his aircraft to its limits to make sure of his goal. Elian caught a brief whiff of hot exhaust fumes in the moment before he and Aurora entered, and then the familiar wrenching twist and the feeling of floating in an eternity of nothingness carried him between worlds.

  They emerged to a warm late summer afternoon above the planned rendezvous point. Jack’s aircraft wobbled in front of them as he struggled to recover and regain his focus on controlling his machine.

  ‘Is Jack all right, Ra?’

  ‘He is fine, Elian,’ she replied. ‘The sensation of transfer is always more intense the first time. He is a little shaken, but his thoughts are settling. We should land and give him a chance to recover properly.’

  Although her words were positive, Elian could sense Aurora was worried.

  ‘So if Jack’s OK, what’s wrong?’ he asked, getting straight to the point.

  ‘There’s no sign of Shadow or Firestorm,’ she replied. ‘I had hoped they would be here by now, preferably with a lot of back-up.’

  ‘How much time do we have left?’

  ‘Tomorrow night will be the harvest full moon,’ she said. ‘We need to get the orbs to the Oracle by sundown tomorrow.’

  It was a sobering thought. They had a single day to get the orbs to the Oracle. However many dragons Segun had blocking their path it would be too many unless they got help from somewhere.

  They descended in a lazy spiral towards a large meadow on the western shore of the lake. They were far enough from the mountains for Elian not to fear any trouble from Segun and his followers.

  The dragons landed easily next to the water. Elian and Kira dismounted quickly, both watching with interest as Jack made a more cautious approach and touchdown.

  ‘What’s he doing here?’ Kira asked, her voice carrying a dangerous edge.

  ‘He wanted to come,’ Elian replied. ‘Ra’s dragon-sense was telling her to let him. She thinks his part in the quest is not over yet.’

  ‘But that’s ridiculous!’ Kira exclaimed.

  ‘That’s what I said about waiting while the eggs were hatching,’ Elian reminded her. ‘Ra’s instincts have proved true on more than one occasion. I’m not going to make the mistake of doubting her again.’

  Kira crossed her arms and clenched her teeth tightly as the airman’s machine trundled to a stop a few yards away. The engine sputtered and fell silent. Jack was out of his straps and out of the cockpit within a matter of seconds.

  ‘What ho!’ he called, jogging across to meet them. His eyes were sparkling with excitement. ‘This place is amazing – so bright and vibrant! I can’t believe I’m actually here – in your world. Thanks for letting me tag along. I confess I panicked for a moment while I was in that strange place between worlds. I thought I’d got stuck in the void. Can’t tell you how relieved I was when I arrived.’ He craned his neck and scanned the sky again. ‘Not as many dragons here as I’d imagined,’ he added.

  ‘What did you expect?’ Kira retorted, her words clipped. ‘A sky full of dragons? We told you dragons were rare here.’

  ‘Yes, you did, Kira,’ he agreed. ‘And I believed you. It’s just . . . another world. The air smells different. Fresher. Cleaner. And it’s peaceful. Beautiful!’

  Jack kept looking around, his eyes never resting, as if he were trying to soak up every detail.

  ‘Why did you come, Jack?’ Elian asked. ‘And how did you find us? We were trying not to advertise our presence.’

  ‘I felt you arrive,’ he said slowly. ‘It was strange. I knew the instant you came through the vortex into France last night. At first I thought it was my imagination, but inside I knew. Then I had the most vivid dreams about where you had landed and where you were camped. I can’t explain why exactly, but I knew I had to find you – to come with you. I’m not sure why, but it feels right for me to be here.’

  ‘But you might never be able to go back,’ Elian persisted.

  ‘I’ve spent every day for the past three years wondering if I would survive to see another,’ Jack said, smiling sadly. ‘The risk of coming here did not seem any worse. So many of my friends are gone.’

  ‘But your family . . .’ Kira began.

  ‘Will be told I am missing in action when I don’t return from the early sortie,’ Jack said, shaking his head. ‘Who knows? By the time I do get to return, maybe the war will be over.’

  ‘You may have exchanged one danger for another,’ Elian said. ‘We need to complete our quest by sundown tomorrow, or the Oracle will die. We don’t know yet how many hostile dragons are blocking our way, but our chances of survival are not looking good. We were hoping we would have some friendly dragons waiting here to help us. It looks like our friends didn’t make it.’

  ‘Do you want me to go and scout for you?’ Jack offered.

  ‘There’s no need,’ Kira answered abruptly. ‘I’ll do it with the Orb of Vision.’

  A short while later the three sat by the water’s edge. Their mood was sober.

  ‘Over three hundred,’ Elian whispered again. It was the third time he had said the number aloud. ‘How can we get past three hundred dragons?’

  He picked up a flat stone and sent it skimming across the water. It skipped five times before sinking below the surface with a final skidding splash. He picked up another.

  ‘A diversion?’ Jack asked. ‘Something to draw them off?’

  ‘Yes, but what?’ Kira snapped. ‘We had this argument with Pell last time we considered running the blockade and there were only fifty of them in our way then. There’s nothing that we can do to
draw and hold the attention of that many. Whatever we do, Segun will just despatch an appropriately sized group to deal with it.’

  ‘We would need an army of dragons to catch his attention!’ Elian muttered.

  ‘Like this one, you mean?’ Aurora interrupted.

  Elian looked around startled. From the look on Kira’s face, she had just had a similar message from Fang.

  ‘What? . . . Where? . . . Good grief!’

  ‘Now that’s more like what I was expecting to see!’ Jack exclaimed. ‘What an amazing sight that is!’

  ‘Amazing is right!’ Elian agreed, pumping his fist into the air with joy. ‘Yes! They did it! Pell and Nolita did it!’

  The sky to the south was full of approaching dragons – all of them blue, except one. Shadow swept down and skimmed across the lake, turning to pass just over their heads and touch down behind them. All three ducked as she flew over them. His dramatic arrival was repeated by Firestorm who, in turn, was followed by another day dragon.

  Suddenly there were dragons landing all over the meadow – dozens and dozens of them. Elian tried to count, but kept losing track. He started laughing with happiness. He caught Kira up in a hug and danced around in a circle. He was grinning so hard his face felt as if it might split in two. The day dragons had come. The day dragons had come!

  Together, Elian and Kira ran to greet Pell and Nolita and the four riders drew together in an enthusiastic huddle. Kira even hugged Pell, which was something she had never thought she would do. Jack followed Kira and Elian at a more sedate pace, even as Barnabas followed Nolita and Pell from the opposite direction.

  ‘Did you get it?’ Pell asked urgently. ‘Did you find the egg?’

  ‘Yes, we did,’ Elian replied, completely astonished. ‘How did you work out it was an egg?’

  ‘Barnabas told me,’ Pell confessed. ‘He’d solved the entire riddle poem by the time I got to the day dragon enclave.’