Glancing at the sputtering squirrel, Zookie walked over to LT and poked him. “Get up, Lazy Bones. We need to talk.”
The tiger’s striped tail twitched twice and he rolled over, mumbling something.
“Come on. Get up,” Zookie said. “Or are you going to just live here with the wood elves?”
“I’ll bite your scaly tail,” the tiger mumbled. He stayed right where he lay.
An eruption of elf chatter startled Zookie. He spun to find Tim had taken a spear from one of them and was currently using it as a toothpick. Lena had her arm around one of them and playing with its long ear.
“The better to hear you with,” she said in a deep, wolf-like voice.
“LT, get up before I bite you,” Zookie said, growing impatient with the whole situation.
LT lifted his furry head and looked around with blurry eyes. “Huh?”
“We need to talk,” Zookie grunted. “All of us.”
LT looked around. Tim with a spear stuck between his teeth. Lena playing with an elf’s ear. A large squirrel with fur that was matted in some places and stuck out in others. He turned to the irritated dragon. “Did I fall asleep? And why does my head hurt?”
Chapter 8
LT pulled himself to wobbly paws. He stood a moment to make sure he didn’t fall over before positioning himself into a joint-creaking stretch.
“Sleep darts,” Zookie said. “A wood elf’s next favorite weapon, second to the spear.”
Lena took the elf’s hat, put it on, and carried him over to the LT and Zookie. Tim wandered over, too.
They stood in a circle, along with the wood elf like he belonged.
“A—” Zookie looked at the elf. “What are you doing?”
The little creature chattered away in elvish. He pointed at Zookie then to Lena. He waved his arms high over his head before crossing them over his chest like whatever he had just said was the final word.
“Okay.” Zookie drew the word out to about ten syllables. “Well, the squirrel wants us to pay a toll of five nuts each of us. Ten for Tim. What do you think?”
“Mmm, I like nuts.” Lena looked around like she thought there would be some just scattered around on the ground.
LT never liked the things. Dry and tasteless. They made him want to drink his weight in water. He stuck out his tongue in disgust.
“Especially pecans,” she said.
The driest of the dry!
“We don’t have any nuts,” Zookie reminded her.
“Did you know cashews aren’t nuts?” Lena asked. “Do we have any cashews?”
“We don’t have any nuts,” Zookie repeated.
“I’m hungry,” Lena insisted. “I don’t want to give our nuts to the smelly squirrel.”
“I heard that,” Chitchitchatterchitty said.
“We. Don’t. Have. Any,” the dragon said through clenched teeth.
“Where are we supposed to get them?” Lena said over her grumbling stomach.
The wood elf said something nobody understood.
“Is there—” LT began.
The wood elf interrupted him, chatting away. He gestured wildly, waving his hand around in short, twitching motions.
Growing thoroughly tired of all the blabbering going on so early in the morning, LT swatted the creature in the back of the head. He pitched face first.
“As I was saying,” LT said as the wood elf picked himself off the ground and muttered at the tiger. “Is there another way to Dragon Cave Mountain?”
There was a squeak from overhead. Chitchitchatterchitty hanging from a branch to eavesdrop lost his paw-hold and fell to land in the middle of the circle. He scrambled to his paws. “I couldn’t help but over hear,” he said. “Did you say Dragon Cave Mountain? You’re really going there? I thought you were lying.” He eyed Zookie.
The dragon’s lip curled in irritation. “Why are you eavesdropping on us?”
“Well.” The squirrel sat up on his haunches and twisted his front paws together. “I’ve heard tales—stories of the dragon clan’s treasure.” The squirrel’s eyes widened and got a far-off look in them. “Nuts for as far as a squirrel can see.”
“Don’t tell me you want to come, too.” Zookie sounded near the end of his patience.
The squirrel’s eyes snapped back into focus. “What? No! The way is dangerous. Uh. Um. I mean, I’m, uh, needed here.”
The wood elf said something.
“Shut up,” the squirrel replied. To LT and the others, he said, “But, I might be willing to allow you to pass on the promise of nuts.” His eyes shifted around. “One hundred. Each! Two hundred for the ugly one.”
“Un,” Tim said.
LT wasn’t sure, but that sounded like a lot of nuts. “That’s too much.” Zookie turned his long neck to give him a look. “What?”
“Fine,” Zookie said to the squirrel.
Chitchitchatterchitty looked smug. LT knew it was too many nuts. That little dragon sure needed to learn a thing or two about the world.
“One of my elves will go with you,” the squirrel said quickly.
“We don’t need more creatures slowing us down,” Zookie said.
“Plus, we already have the annoying one,” LT added with a glance at Lena who stood behind the wood elf, flicking its ear.
“Do you really think I’m dumb enough to let you wander off on only a promise?” Chitchitchatterchitty asked. “My elf will ensure your end of the contract will be fulfilled.”
“Are you saying I’d break my word?” the dragon growled, wisps of smoke puffing from his nostrils.
“I’ve only known you for, like, a day, but you do seem a bit shifty to me,” LT said. The dragon’s turned to look at him again. “What?”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” the squirrel said. “I don’t trust anyone.”
“Fine.” Zookie ground the word between his teeth, still glaring at LT. “But send one that can at least talk.”
The wood elf—ignoring Lena playing with his long ears—started blabbering at Zookie in a tone that sounded offended. This went on for several minutes before Chitchitchatterchitty smacked him on the back of the head.
“Shut up.” To Zookie, the squirrel said, “Obviously, he can talk.”
“Like us. The Common tongue.”
The dragon looked beyond annoyed. It amused LT. He wondered how long until the dragon blew fire and fried everybody to a crisp. That worried LT.
“Of course not,” Chitchitchatterchitty said like Zookie should have known that. “They have trouble forming their lips correctly.”
The elf twisted his thin lips around and made sounds. They came out sounding like underwater farts.
“But, he’ll be going along with you to make sure I, er, we get paid,” the squirrel insisted.
“Maybe Lena could teach him Common,” Zookie suggested.
Lena stopped making farting noises with the elf. “Huh?”
“Fine,” LT said around a yawn. “Everything is set. Can we go now?”
“Wait,” Zookie said. “My dad always assigned roles when he went out of the mountain with a party of dragons. We should do that.”
“Uhhhhh,” LT groaned. It was barely mid-morning and he was already growing sleepy again. If anybody asked, he’d just blame it on the sleeping dart’s poison still coursing through him. It certainly wasn’t laziness.
“Lena, you teach Woody here how to talk Common.” He patted the wood elf with a large paw. “LT, you make sure he doesn’t run away.”
“But—”
“Tim will be our protection. I’ll lead the group and keep an eye on Tim to make sure he doesn’t wander off.”
LT wanted to argue about his role in the group. How come the dragon got to lead? But a funny thought struck him. He giggled. It sounded a lot like he had a hairball stuck in his throat. He tried to hold it in, but that only made his striped body shake.
“Because he could use another eye.” The tiger burst out laughing.
“Un,”
Tim said, blinking his one eye at LT.
“What?” Zookie said looking confused.
He wasn’t the only one. Lena and Chitchitchatterchitty didn’t laugh either.
“He only has one eye…” LT began.
The wood elf busted out laughing, slapping his tiny knee with humor. The sound was so high-pitched that it hurt the tiger’s ears and effectively killed his humor.
LT eyed the wood elf. “Never mind. Can we go?”
At a nod from Chitchitchatterchitty, the circle of wood elves parted to allow them to pass. The elf that was to accompany them hitched up his breeches and sniffed with self-importance. He picked up a spear. Chitty snatched a hat off the ground and handing it to the wood elf before the creature walked away with the group led by Zookie.
“Don’t forget our deal!” the squirrel squeaked.
Chapter 9
LT slipped up to walk next to Zookie. “Dragons don’t collect nuts, do they?”
“Maybe golden nuts that will break his teeth.” Zookie snickered.
“Oh, the little dragon has a devious streak,” LT said. “How long until we get to Dragon Cave Mountain? Is there anywhere along the way we can ditch the elf?”
“I thought you said you knew where it was,” the dragon said.
“Of course I do,” LT stuttered. “I was just, uh, seeing if you knew. And, uh, I know it’s this way, I just haven’t been to the mountain recently and don’t remember how far it is exactly. From here,” he added lamely.
The dragon glanced sidelong at LT. “Well, I was out for a few days before my mmm—” He cut himself off before he said too much. “A few days. No more. Besides, we’re not getting rid of the elf.”
“What?” LT asked, stunned. “He works for the fat squirrel. It’s dangerous to keep him with us.”
“Lena likes him,” Zookie said. “If the elf keeps her out of my scales, I’ll let him tag along. Besides, I’m not going back on my word to Chitchitchatterchitty. It is his right as the keeper of the Shadowed Forest. We don’t have any nuts, but Dad will find some way to pay the toll.”
LT looked around as they walked. “I can see why they call it the Shadowed Forest.”
Zookie agreed. The trees around them were thick, but not so thick that they completely blocked out the sun overhead. Light filtered through the leaves, casting shadows everywhere. It made the forest look alive with movement. It was the perfect place for other creatures to stalk them.
Creatures with camouflage like LT.
“Hey, Lena,” the dragon called back. “How are the lessons going?”
The girl hadn’t waited long to dive into her new role with enthusiasm. Zookie wasn’t sure how much teaching was going on. It sounded more like Lena was just running her mouth nonstop.
“Okay,” she replied. She thumped the elf on the shoulder. “Pay attention. This is important. Repeat after me.” Lena stuck out her tongue and made a thhbt sound.
The elf repeated it perfectly and she burst out laughing. Tim’s rumbling chuckle rolled through the trees.
“I mean like real words,” Zookie said sternly.
“You need to lighten up!” She aimed her thhbt at Zookie, as did the elf. Once her point was sufficiently made, she snatched the elf’s hat off his head and stuck it on her own. She took off running with the elf giving chase. He jabbered all the way.
“Don’t go too far!” Zookie called after them.
Zookie and LT walked side by side. Tim lumbered somewhere behind them. Zookie could hear the elf’s constant chattering to Lena somewhere in the distance.
“What did I get myself into?” LT asked after a moment, shaking his head. He walked with his long, lean body swaying back and forth. Zookie could tell the tiger made sure he walked so his lightning stripe was on full display for him.
Zookie wanted to talk with LT. It would be a welcome distraction, but he couldn’t concentrate. His thoughts scattered across many topics. Trying to get home. His brother’s relentless teasing. Getting help for his mom.
The sun slid across the sky. Long shadows narrowed and stretched back out as the sun began its climb down from the sky. They ate as they walked, munching on whatever the forest provided. They had stopped twice to drink from a couple small streams they came across.
The woods thickened as they traveled deeper into the forest. Undergrowth reached out to grab at their legs and trees huddled closer together until the canopy of leaves overhead blacked out much of the sunlight. The forest grew dark.
Lena and the elf—everybody had taken to calling him Woody— walked next to each other at the head of the group. Woody pointed out various things, chattering the whole time. Lena merely nodded and muttered responses like “mhmm,” or “interesting,” or “I didn’t know that.”
At some point in the late evening, the two small creatures came to a stop and Lena turned a full circle. “Uh, we have a problem.”
The animal trail they had been following had completely disappeared into the thick forest.
“We’ll have to stop here for the night,” Zookie said. “It’s getting too dark to look for a new trail.”
“Speak for yourself,” LT said. “I can see just fine in the dark.”
“So can I, but Lena can’t,” Zookie said. “My dad says humans are completely blind at night.”
“I can see well enough to twist your horn,” Lena threatened.
“I don’t know about Tim or Woody.” Zookie ignored her. “Let’s just sleep here and we’ll start again in the morning. I’ll go look for food. Somebody start clearing out places to sleep.”
“Un,” said Tim as he started ripping out small trees by the roots and tossing them away. He stomped the ground with his big, bare feet, flattening out the earth.
LT yawned and watched him work, perfectly willing to let him do it all. Lena stole Woody’s spear and ran off with it. The small elf gave chase.
Zookie shook his head and pushed his way into the woods. He wandered a short way until he found a pond filled with fish. They were small but there were enough of them to feed everybody. He moved to the side of the water and crouched out of sight in a bush. He swiped a paw through the water when one of the fish swam too close to the edge.
When he had a decent pile of fish, he gathered a large leaf as delicately as he could with his sharp claws and piled his catch into it. Using the leaf as a bag, he moved back towards the camp.
Along the way, he noticed a bush of ripe blackberries. Thinking of Lena, he began the laborious task of collecting them into another leaf, trying to not crush them.
The task took enough of his concentration that he didn’t notice movement somewhere in the bushes until it was right on him. It was a rustle of a bush right next to his head that attracted his attention.
He pulled back and spread his wings to look as big as possible.
The wood elf burst out of the undergrowth and Zookie breathed a sigh of relief.
Not only was Woody missing his spear, but he was sans his floppy hat, too. He glanced around before approaching the dragon. He chattered in elvish, his face turning very serious. He gestured widely as he spoke, his tone dark and foreboding. After a few seconds of feverish talking, he abruptly stopped. He nodded his head once and turned to disappear back into the bushes.
Zookie shook his head. “Weird creatures.” He collected their dinner and made his way back to the camp.
After eating, the strange collection of creatures lay around the spot Tim had cleared. Nobody spoke as night settled in around them. The forest did enough speaking for them. Bugs chirped. Frogs croaked. Nightbirds called mournfully in the distance.
The night was dark and moonless. Even the stars that managed to peek out from the fast-moving clouds twinkled with a little less luster than normal. It was like a blanket of gloom hung over them in the sky.
One by one, they fell asleep while the forest sang their lullaby. Before letting sleep overtake him, Zookie lifted his head to take in the group. Tim lay on his side, his mouth open and a lon
g wad of drool hung from the corner. The elf lay on his back with his arms and legs splayed out in all directions. LT was curled into a tight, striped ball. Lena had again folded in on herself against him, though the night was warm enough she hadn’t commandeered his wing for a blanket.
As much as he fought it, his thoughts strayed back to his mom. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw those dark human shapes closing in on her. He heard their calls and the dog’s howling barks. He felt the fear he had felt then all over again as that human who seemed to swallow the night glided toward her.
His worrying thoughts turned into nightmares when he fell asleep.
Chapter 10
Something poked Zookie’s side. He twitched and kicked out. One of the dogs had caught him—buried its teeth into the dragon’s side.
Another bite.
He tried to twist away from the dog, but it bit him again.
With a roar, Zookie jumped up and brought a paw down on the creature. He stretched his long neck at the dog, razor-sharp teeth bared, and opened his eyes.
Lena lay under his paw, staring at him with wide eyes.
He stared back, confused. Was Lena a dog? Was she like a were-hyena? Did she turn into a canine at night?
He blinked and shook his head. No. It was night. She’d still be a dog if that were true.
A dream, then.
He lifted his paw. “Did…Did I hurt you?”
She shook her head, her eyes glued to him. Her voice shook when she spoke. “Did you hear that?”
Zookie sniffed back the smoke curling from his nostrils and took a step back, letting the girl climb to her feet.
“Did you?” she asked again.
“No.” Zookie was surprised by how strained his voice sounded. “I don’t hear anything.”
“Exactly,” she whispered. She looked around the dark forest.
It took a moment for him to figure out what she was talking about. When he finally worked it out, the completely silent forest pressed in on him like a physical presence. No bugs. No frogs. No Nightbirds.
“This can’t be good,” he said.
LT lifted his shaggy head and snorted. His nostrils twitched. “What’s that smell?” he said with disgust.
Dragon Cave Mountain Page 4
