by Greg Curtis
Of course others were going to say that what he was doing was wrong. Ry was absolutely going to be one of them – which was why he was grateful that he hadn't told her. But she would have tried to stop him. Tried to tell him he was one man alone. That he couldn't fight the Dragon on his own. But it was Fair Fields! It was his home even if he never lived there again. He had to protect it. And he had a plan. Sort of. But everything hinged on his arriving before the Dragon. And of course arriving there in one piece – preferably not inside his mount.
“Samual.”
Elder Bela's voice came from behind him, catching Sam by surprise. He should have expected that the Elder would realise he was doing something. He would have felt the magic when he'd cast the shape and come running. It was significant nature magic after all. And a spell that Sam shouldn't be able to cast.
“Would you like to tell me what you're doing?” It wasn't a question.
“What I have to do. I have to stop the Dragon. Permanently.”
“You can't do that! Not on your own. And you can't get there in time.” The Elder repeated what they both knew to be true. Or what they had believed was true until Sam had woken up this morning. From the moment he had opened his eyes he had understood the truth.
“Elder, I won't be alone. And I can get there in time. Because I know where the Dragon is going.”
It had come as a surprise to all of them a week before when they had seen the Dragon unexpectedly get into a giant balloon. Or rather, a gondola as large as four baskets, held aloft by six balloons and towed by a pair of steel drakes. They had expected him to send his army for him while he stayed behind on his island cavern where it was safe. It was what after all he had always previously done. But this time it was different. Sam didn't know why. None of them did. But he had awoken this morning knowing exactly where he was headed.
“Fair Fields.”
“Yes but I know exactly where in Fair Fields he's going. Mount Andrea.”
“Mount Andrea?” The Elder sounded surprised. But then he started considering Sam's idea, staring off into the distance as he thought.
“Why?”
“I don't know exactly. I woke up this morning knowing where but not why. But I think it's because Mount Andrea and especially the caverns underneath it and the surrounding peaks, are similar to the cavern beneath his island. That there is some form of ancient magic there. And that from them he can continue his campaign.”
“I think that's why the original Dragon fled there at the end. He too was using the island originally. But at some point he knew it wasn't enough. He needed a base on the Continent of the Dragon's Spine. And so that was where he ran to.”
“He didn't run fast enough and so the spell took him down. But he still made it there, and was there long enough to prophesise his coming victory. To scribe it into the cavern walls. But he died before he could complete it. This new Dragon is following the same path. But he's not injured or dying.”
“And your plan is?”
“To destroy the caverns before the Dragon gets there. If I destroy them then Dragon is left helpless, or at least no more powerful than before. Then it's just a matter of killing him.”
“Destroy –?” The Elder stopped in mid question when he spotted the bundle by Sam's feet. “Is that …?”
“Yes.” Sam nodded. “I took it from the wagon this morning. How else can I destroy a mountain?”
“By the Goddess!” The Elder paled. “You know that's a one way trip?”
“Maybe. But I have a plan for that too.” And even as he said it he could see his plan arriving. Finally. It was just a smudge in the sky. But it was a big smudge.
The Elder turned as he saw where Sam's eyes were looking, and then stopped for a bit and stared. Not many people had ever seen a Roc before. Not many would see one again.
“You called a roc?” He said it as if it was a surprise. But really he should have felt the power of the spell and guessed. Actually he had felt the power. That was why he'd come. He just didn't know what the power was being used for and hadn't expected that this was what he would find.
“Again, I woke up this morning knowing the shape of the spell I needed.”
Sam didn't understand how he could have woken up with such knowledge, though he suspected it had something to do with the various deities who it appeared were getting involved. Perhaps the Goddess. Maybe the All Father. He hoped it wasn't Alder. Or the Red God. But whoever it was he was almost sure that they were acting in some way. And if they were choosing to act through him to stop the Dragon, then that was fine as far as he was concerned. The Dragon had to be stopped. He had given his word to Ry that he would protect her people. He had more or less said the same to the elders. He was a knight of Hanor. Sam would never go back on what he had sworn.
Still, it worried him. He had never been used by the deities before. Very few had. And there were always stories about it happening and most of them claimed that it had ended badly for the one used.
Just then though as he watched the roc grew larger in the sky, he realised he had a more immediate problem. The giant bird – an eagle grown to enormous size – was no domesticated steed. He needed the bird's power of flight to get him where he needed to go in time, but he didn't want to be bitten in two by its massive beak before he even took off. And it had only come because he had called it; not because it liked him or felt any desire to obey. Rocs were wild. As wild and free as the dragons themselves. And nearly as dangerous.
“Are you sure about this Samual?” Elder Bela was surprisingly restrained as he asked the question.
“Only that it has to be Elder. I was given this spell for a reason. I have to have faith in that.” But his throat was dry and his hands were threatening to tremble as they held on to the rope. It only got harder to control his fear as the bird grew ever larger.
The roc was enormous. Easily as large as a steel drake. And far faster. The steel drakes were slow and awkward flyers. The roc was fast, agile and powerful. More than a match for them in the air. Its enormous talons would shear through steel plate with ease and it could easily dodge their fire. Then Sam looked at the roc's wings as it spread them out wide as it prepared to land and gulped. The wingspan was enormous and the blast of air that blew off it as it banked buffeted them all.
Despite that, when it alighted in front of him, there was barely a sound. The giant bird was truly graceful.
Sam gathered up his pack, swung it over his shoulder, and wrapped the rope around his arms before walking toward the great bird. He realised that if he was going to do this he had to do it quickly – before his nerve gave out. He was not actually a fearless warrior after all. Not when he was facing a bird that could kill him in a heartbeat. Not when he was powerless before it.
With every step he took toward the roc he kept his eyes firmly fixed on its nearest eye. While he could see the fierceness and savagery in it, he was mainly looking for any sign that it was about to attack. He also noticed with every step he took closer to the bird how much higher off the ground that eye seemed to get. The bird had to be standing at least twelve feet tall, even when it wasn't completely upright.
Luckily the roc didn't attack him. Instead it stood there calmly while he approached. Soon he was directly under its neck, standing in the shade.
The next part was a little tricky as he had to use his Earth magic to raise the ground underneath him a little so that he could reach what he needed to. And he worried that it might startle the creature. But it didn't. The roc seemed remarkably accepting of the ground rising beside it, if not completely calm.
Soon he was standing at neck height, and unwound the rope as he prepared himself for the next step. This was the part that he thought would upset the roc most. It was a wild animal. It did not want to be tethered. If it had been a horse he would have expected it to start bucking and kicking. But it had to be done. He could not ride on the back of the bird without something to hold on to. And so, carefully, with his heart thumping furiously in
his chest, he tossed the rope around its great neck, and prepared to be bitten in half.
But he wasn't. The rope twirled around the roc's neck and the end almost ended up in his own hand by itself. It didn't quite, slipping out of his grasp as it swung away. But then it swung back and he caught it. After that it was simply a matter of tying it so that it became a collar.
Sweat was trickling down his forehead by the time he had finished. But despite his fear the roc did not attack him. Maybe that had something to do with the gods as well. He didn't know.
Then came the tricky bit. Clambering on to its back. He had prepared for this as best he could. And so he was wearing soft leather forester's boots instead of a proper soldier's heavy boots so he didn't upset the creature. His armour consisted of only his breast plate and back plate to save weight. The rest was his normal wear, though the clothes were heavy and warm to allow for the cold wind he guessed he would feel high up. He also carried no shield and no battle axe; only his favourite greatsword strapped to his back so it didn't get in the way.
Gingerly he climbed onto the bird's back and despite his fear the roc allowed him to. It seemed accepting of him, despite his fears.
After that he found himself lying there on the bird's back, hanging on to the rope as the angle threatened to send him sliding off, relieved that it seemed the bird wasn't going to kill him. It took a little while to come to terms with that. And then a little longer to look across to where the Elder was still standing, and realise how small he looked.
“Elder,” he called down to him. “Can you please tell my wife where I am and that I will do everything I can to return to her as quickly as I can. Also, please give her my apologies for this.”
And he knew he had to apologise. Ryshal had been gone by the time he had awoken with the understanding of what he had to do. She was teaching some of the children the art and meaning of dance, and he had woken knowing he had no time to find her. But maybe he also hadn't tried because he hadn't wanted to face her? To tell her he was once more running off into danger. And to have to see the fear in her eyes and hear the pain in her voice. In some things he was just a frightened man like any other.
“I shall.” Elder Bela nodded to him, never taking his eyes off the roc as he did so.
“Thank you.”
With that done Sam gave the command and instantly felt the muscles of the bird tense beneath him as it spread its wings wide. Then he was all but squashed into the roc's back as it leapt into the air, something that caught him completely by surprise.
But then he hadn't known what to expect. Sam had had no thought at all of what flying would be like. And his first thought was that it was surprisingly uncomfortable as the wings beat the air and the bird's mighty back muscles danced and flowed underneath him. But at least in flight he was lying flat, the bird's tail no lower than its head. He wasn't going to slide off.
The next thought he had after he came to terms with being so high above the ground, was how small everything below looked. It had only been a matter of a few moments surely and already all of the new city of Shavarra was laid out beneath him. If he fell he thought, he would be falling for a very long time before he hit the ground. He did not like that idea at all. In fact it made him feel ill, and his hands tightened on the rope until his fingers were white.
Still, he had to endure. And as the roc rose ever higher into the air he tried to concentrate on its feathers just in front of his face. And on how long the journey would be. His best guess was two days. The Dragon had left his island nearly a week before. His drakes were much slower than the roc and the distance they had to travel to reach their destination was much greater. Added to that they had to tow the great balloons. If he was lucky Sam hoped, he would have time. Time to do what he had to do.
But it would be close.
And to think; the Fire Angel of old had apparently flown around on the back of a phoenix! Sam couldn't even begin to imagine what that would be like. Warmer he suspected. Though the rope collar would probably have burnt through in a hurry – along with his bones!
This was safer. And though he hated the sight of the ground far below, his only chance. He just had to hang on.
Chapter Forty Three
Mount Andrea. Heri wasn't sure he wanted to see it. Not this close. Not ever. The Caverns of Andrea were a cursed land according to the stories. The mountains were filled with trolls and other deadly creatures; the caverns beneath them a honeycomb filled with ghosts and spirits. As for the mountain itself in the middle of the series of peaks, it was the original Dragon's ancient home. And while everything he knew could be attributed to the tales of the bards who spun them for coppers, there were enough stories of the place that Heri knew there had to be some truth in them.
Still, here he was. He was also exhausted. His shoes had long since worn out and now he was barefoot as well as dressed in worn out rags. He was sure he'd lost a lot of weight as he'd walked across the realm to get here. He didn't even know how many days he'd spent walking here. One day tended to drift into another after a while when all you did was walk from dawn to dusk.
Now though he was here and the next stage in his torture began. After all he had stopped walking. It had to be time for something new. Something probably even worse than the endless walking on his badly blistered feet.
That something began with his pulling the twisted shoot he had gained in Stonebridge out of his jacket pocket and holding it up in front of him. He wondered why. And despite his exhaustion he started paying attention. This could be the thing that finally got him killed after all.
The snap wolf hadn't. That had surprised him at first as the monstrous beast followed him around. He'd expected it to kill him at any moment. And going to sleep that first night after Stonebridge had been terrifying. He'd wondered if he'd wake up. But he had, and in time realised the simple truth. It was guarding the shoot. So it would make sure that no one tried to harm him as long as he was carrying it. But it would also stop him from trying to run off with it. And the gods only knew what it would do when it was time for him to put the shoot down somewhere. Would he then finally become its dinner? And had that time finally arrived?
“It is time.” The words came out of Heri's mouth but they weren't his words. He wasn't at all sure whose words they were. Only that it was obviously those of the one who controlled him.
The words were also powerful in some way. He didn't understand how exactly. Maybe it was magic? But he felt the power in them, almost like the roar of thunder echoing in the distance.
Another thing occurred to him. The words weren't spoken in common. He didn't know what language they were spoken in – the tongue was one he had never heard before – but still he somehow understood them. That had to be magic of some sort. More foul magic ruining his life!
No one answered Heri at first, and that seemed to annoy the one controlling him. Enough that a couple of moments later he or she raised Heri's voice a little more and repeated the statement after prefacing it with a very distinct 'I said'. Whoever the 'I' was Heri didn't know. But he gathered from the way he emphasised the words, that the speaker thought it should mean something to whoever he was speaking to.
“I heard you.”
Another voice answered him or her, and this time at least it wasn't someone using Heri's mouth. He was grateful for that. But not so grateful that the voice was coming from somewhere just in front of him and all he could see was empty air. More accursed magic!
“Then why didn't you answer?” Heri's master seemed unhappy.
“I was enjoying a pleasant little nap. And anyway it can't be time. It's too soon.” The other voice sounded tired, as if he wanted to return to his nap.
“It's been five thousand years!” Heri's master snapped at the other voice.
“As I said, too soon.” The voice let out a disinterested yawn. “Wake me in another ten.”
“There will be no world in another ten thousand years!” Heri's master sounded annoyed. “Or had you missed th
at. And show yourself!”
Ten thousand years? Heri wasn't sure he wanted to believe that. Or anything else that was coming out of his mouth. But he had no place to object in this conversation. And in any case he forgot the matter completely when the other speaker finally appeared in front of him. Or rather a part of him did.
An eye unexpectedly appeared, hanging in mid-air maybe fifty paces from him. But how did an eye do that? Unless it was attached to an invisible body! A body that had to be absolutely enormous. The eye was huge and golden and had a slitted black pupil. And it was definitely a creature not a man. Not anything even remotely human. Even ignoring its size, that eye was not of any man or race he had ever seen before. In fact if he'd had to guess he would have said the owner of the eye was a giant lizard.
“Fine!” The eye sounded somewhat irked, as if it was being forced to do something it didn't want to do. “I'll wake my children. But really, it seems unnecessary. And why are you wearing that form? It seems so … tiny.”
