Chapter 28
The small yellow bird flew straight through the cloud formed by the explosion of water falling from high above. It reappeared on the other side and perched on a ledge, looking back at Ariel.
He looked at the turbulent water at his feet, plotting a path across the haphazard bridge formed by rocks that had fallen from the cliffs above. He placed a tentative foot on a flattish stone and allowed his forward progress to propel him, inches above the flowing torrent of the river. He stopped before a larger gap and judged the distance before leaping. As his sandal hit the boulder, he lost traction and lurched suddenly, causing him to slip to one knee before regaining his footing.
He paused and looked up anxiously for the small bird, but it had disappeared. He looked left and right and then, realizing his mistake, turned toward the thundering fall. It sat, still and miniature, studying him. The cool mist of the vapor enveloped him, causing small rivulets to drip down his forehead into his eyes. He drew a dirty hand across his brow and refocused on the precarious path before him.
'Follow your heart to find the treasure that you seek. Be bonded to your mission and your helper,' their trainer had instructed prior to dismissing them.
Was this what he had meant? Ariel wondered again if it had been a mistake to follow the bird. Perhaps the dream was clouding his judgment.
By its perch was, what appeared to be, the mouth of a small tunnel. Inexplicably, the yellow bird darted into the hole, disappearing from view. Ariel scrambled to the opening, but the darkness was impenetrable. A faint chirping, however, was discernible. He poked his head inside and looked around.
'Sssssss,' an ominous voice called.
'Hello,' he called into the murky interior, but met only silence.
The hole was just wide enough to allow his shoulders to pass through while kneeling. He pressed himself forward into the cave's mouth.
'Sssssss,' the sound came again, this time accompanied by the excited chirping of a bird.
Unable to see more than a cubit into the tunnel before him, he began crawling. Within a few seconds he was immersed in nearly suffocating darkness. He continued forward, relying on touch to negotiate the twisting tunnel. Occasionally, his path became blocked and he had to reach around for an opening. The tunnel swerved left and right, angled up and down, and still plunged on. At regular intervals, he heard the chirping bird or that strange sound of compressed air, but otherwise he moved ahead without any sensory input beyond the texture of the rock on his hands and knees.
Ariel didn't know how long he crawled through the passageway, but soon realized he was able to discern his surroundings. He didn't notice a source for the illumination. It appeared as if the light were just there, all around him. He picked up a loose stone and traced the faint lines and wrinkles that ran across the joints of his fingers, glowing in the stone's light. He held it closer following the subtle movement within, like clouds of fog dancing on the wind.
He realized the rock was radioactive and emitting its own light, giving the interior of the passage the soft glow which allowed him to more easily navigate. Ariel quickened his pace. As he journeyed deeper into the tunnel, the glow increased in intensity. He also noticed the warm movement of air against his face.
'Well that explains the noise I heard,' he muttered to himself, surprised by the ambient quality of his voice in the confined space.
The passageway was fringed with small clusters of moss and tough, woody plants that grabbed and pulled at his garments and hair. This bramble thickened and slowed his pace, as he repeatedly had to stop and untangle himself from gnarled ligneous fingers that grasped and clawed. He pushed through an especially dense patch of shrubbery. He struggled against its grip, pushing with great effort. Abruptly, he heard a ripping noise and pitched forward awkwardly. His hands shot out before him and landed on a slick, smooth surface.
The angle dropped sharply and he slipped on the steep slope. His chest landed against the wet slickness as his momentum increased. Within seconds he was sliding rapidly toward a luminous circle. His fingers sought a ridge, or an edge, anything to slow his progress, but they found none. He careened helplessly toward the growing and glowing hole.
As he passed through the radiant ring, his world spun in a dizzying kaleidoscope of light and dark. He was falling, tumbling head over feet, arms flailing as he tried to stabilize his fall. Ariel opened his mouth to scream, but the sound stuck in his throat. Gravity overtook inertia and his body stopped pinwheeling. He dropped like a stone toward a vast blackness below, highlighted by a radiance that encompassed everything but that emptiness.
Ariel gulped in air as he hit that tarry stillness. He was gripped with cold darkness and sucked down. The icy slap of the surface stunned him and left him momentarily motionless. He hung in the void, attempting to reorient himself. He became aware that he was rising at about the same moment his mind recognized the familiar sensation of water on his skin. Far above him the surface of the dark lake glowed.
With strong, eager strokes he swam toward the light. He broke into the warm air above and gulped it in. Wiping the water from his eyes, he looked around trying to make sense of where he was.
All around him was an iridescent canopy. It was a vast bubble of light interrupted by occasional shadows. The center of the dome was crowned with a small bright circle of pure, white light. This opening allowed a perfect cylindrical shaft of light to penetrate the dark, like a golden dagger from the heavens.
With eerie grace, a dark presence slid along the edge of the shaft and receded with incredible speed. Similar shapes were moving throughout what appeared to be a giant underground cavern. It was immense, big enough to contain the entire academy complex several times over. The walls glowed with an internal light that he recognized as identical to the tunnel he had passed through. Closer to the surface of the water were heavily branched trees that seemed to be growing right out of the water. They did not appear to have leaves, but were twisted and gnarled with bare branches creating intricate silhouettes against the luminous backdrop. He noticed one not too far distant and began swimming toward it.
The ominous screeching noise came again and he looked around, trying to discern its origin. As he swiveled his head back and forth, attempting to identify the source, his eyes caught a quick glint of yellow perched in the branches of a tree near the point where the shaft of sunlight hit the surface of the water.
He almost laughed at the sight of the small creature. He felt foolish and irritated that an impulsive decision to follow the bird had led him to this position. Ariel thought about the words of his instructor, 'Follow your heart to find the treasure that you seek. Be bonded to your mission and your helper.' At the moment that he had seen the bird, his heart told him to follow, but now he wasn't so sure.
The small golden bird seemed to be looking in his direction. What other choice was there at this point? He changed his course and began swimming toward the tree where the bird perched.
Ariel circled the tree, trying to find a branch within reach. He located the lowest one and stretched toward it, just brushing it with his fingertips. Frustrated, he tried again, just missing. Taking a different tact, he lowered himself beneath the water, then pushed down forcefully, propelling himself up out of the water. He reached upward and grasped. His hand closed around the limb and he began pulling himself out of the lake.
Several cubits above him sat the little bird, perched unconcerned. Its small head darted around, reacting to the sounds echoing off the walls of the cavern. Its feathers were muted in the low light, but the color created a focal point against the monochromatic environment of the underground world that they occupied.
What was he supposed to do? He had followed his guide deep inside the mountain, fallen hundreds of cubits into the murky water and sat in a tree, trapped in a cavern with no discernible way out. The bird didn't seem concerned about his predicament. What now?
That screeching echoed again and his eyes picked out one of the swooping, shadowy
figures rotating around the cavern, seeming to glide on the warm updrafts that rose toward the light. The shadow passed overhead he followed its rapid progress through the air. A subtle movement in the foreground caught Ariel's eye and he refocused on the canopy above. Something moved several cubits beyond the bird, staying close to the trunk.
He squinted, his eyes trying to make it out. The shadow glided along one of the larger limbs. A protrusion formed and stretched out toward the beam of light, becoming visible. The head of the serpent rotated and looked directly at the little yellow bird.
Suddenly, Ariel was in the dream, helpless as the mouth of the serpent crushed the life from the small golden body. He shuddered as the head of the large, black serpent began its descent toward the creature. Realization ignited his fury. This was not right. The little bird did not deserve this fate. He would not allow it!
He burst into action. Swinging his leg high, he pushed up and began climbing toward the bird. He let out a yell hoping to scare it away, but it just looked at him as he ascended toward it. The serpent had a sizable advantage and increased its pace, seeming to sense Ariel's intent.
Frantically he scaled the branches, disregarding abrasions and bumps in his hurry to save his little guide. He scrambled quickly and erased the advantage that his adversary held. He kept his eyes focused above as his hands and feet plotted a frenetic route up the tree. As he closed in on the bird's perch, the open mouth of the serpent rose up, fangs sharp and menacing in the half-light. Ariel reached out desperately in front of the bird. A stab of pain burst on through him as the serpents mouth closed around his exposed forearm. The bird, sensing its danger, flitted away and ascended toward the light.
Ariel turned his attention to his inflamed arm, where silvery drops of his blood dripped around the edges of the serpent's engorged mouth. The snake's body began twining around Ariel's extended arm. He grabbed at it with his free hand, trying to pull it loose. The heavy black body released its hold on the tree and dropped across Ariel's face, throwing off his balance. He fell, once more, crashing through branches. As the two hit the water, the pressure that held his arm disappeared and he was able to swim. He stroked back toward the tree, feeling a leathery body brush against his leg.
Near the trunk of the tree, he dove, knowing that he would have to time things perfectly. He opened his eyes under the surface and located the limb. He thrust, reaching up just as he crested the water and catching the woody hold. Before he could pull his legs from the water, a weight seized one thigh. With a sudden constriction, the serpent had him and his hand slipped off of the branch, pulling him under.
In the darkness, the beast encircled his waist and rolled, coiling itself up his body. He fought furiously as the powerful force of the constricting body slid around his throat. With a sickening stab, the fangs entered under his chin and above his cheek.
He thrashed about, grasping for anything to hold. He was spun over and over, arms flung out above the water. 'Help,' he thought. A vice-like grip suddenly grasped his wrist, arresting the spinning. Both he and the serpent were jerked upward, out of the lake. He found its neck and squeezed with all his might. The jaws slackened and let go. He continued to exert pressure on the beast, as the coil that held his body relaxed. Soon the immense snake hung limp in his hand. He released and watched it fall to the water below.
Ariel looked up at the talons that gripped his wrist, pulling him upward toward the shaft of light. As he caught sight of the sharp beak outlined against the blue sky, his hold on consciousness slipped and he slid into darkness.
'I am proud of you, Ariel,' the voice said.
'Proud of me?'
'You have fulfilled your mission and shown your mettle. There is a time coming when you will be tested. Your quest today was meant to help prepare you for that time. I will need your strength of will and character.'
'Was I supposed to follow the bird?'
'You must trust your instincts. I give you those. And they led you to protect the weak and innocent. That is the greatest treasure in the universe. A spirit of bravery and strength, willing to risk all for another; that is more precious than anything. That is your mission, Ariel. I need you for that mission.'
'I don't understand.'
'You will.'
'But what about the helper?'
The light came in a sudden rush. Ariel's eyes shot open. For a second all that he could see was the overwhelming light. Slowly, his vision returned and the strong beak outline was again silhouetted against the sky. But they weren't moving. The snowy, feathered head swiveled and a deep purring sound vibrated its chest as the animal nestled against his side familiarly.
He immediately knew and loved this creature. This was Shadow, his pair bond.
'I've never known of anyone being bonded with a griffin,' he laughed as he stroked the soft fur of its back.
Tail of the Dragon Page 29
