by Mark Robson
It was cold, of course. Bitterly cold. But the rhythm of Firestorm’s wingbeats and the gentle rising and falling motion of his body had become so familiar over the past two weeks that her fear of falling from his back had dimmed. It was the first physical contact with her dragon each time she flew that she dreaded the most. The act of reaching up and touching her dragon’s leg in order to mount him still filled her mind with black dread.
She knew it was irrational. Through her bond with Firestorm, she could feel his thoughts and emotions. To begin with she had been convinced he was trying to deceive her, but she could no longer deny the truth. The dragon cared deeply for her. But even her intimate knowledge of his feelings did not curb her physical reaction to his size and appearance. Nolita had learned ways to counter her fear of heights whilst flying, but she had found nothing that could help dim her reaction to Firestorm’s size and initial proximity.
A night dragon’s screaming cry rent the air behind her. The sound struck her with a force that was almost physical. She had allowed the snow to lull her vision and detach her mind from her situation. An attack by night dragons had always been a possibility, but she had not expected it to come so soon. Where were her friends? Elian was to her left, riding Aurora, but he was barely visible and there was no sign of the others. In the blink of an eye her fears were back with full force.
‘Hang on,’ Fire’s voice warned in her mind. ‘It’s too dangerous to stay with the others. We’re going it alone.’
Nolita did not reply. Instead, she clung with all her might to the pommel of her saddle. Firestorm dipped his right wing, turning positively away from Aurora for a few seconds before turning back to parallel his original course.
Another scream sounded. This one seemed to come from directly ahead. There was a short pause and then a bellowing roar unlike anything Nolita had ever heard before. Her heart was pounding hard and fast. A huge shadow suddenly blossomed ahead and slightly above them. It was a night dragon. There was no mistaking the sheer size of it. It cut across them, angling towards the source of the huge roar that had reverberated a few seconds before.
‘It’s all right. The roar was Fang,’ Firestorm informed her. ‘He’s going to draw the night dragons off and give the rest of us a chance to get away. It’s lucky he got their attention, or that one would have seen us for sure.’
Nolita wanted to feel relief, but she was too scared. The dancing white curtain of snow that had lulled her mind moments earlier had suddenly become a white veil of terror. Behind it lurked unknown horrors waiting to pounce.
‘Calm your breathing, Nolita,’ Firestorm continued, his voice soothing and gentle in her mind. ‘You’re breathing too fast. If you continue, you will overload your body and pass out. That would not be good. Breathe slowly. Think calm thoughts. Tranquil. Concentrate on each breath. Yes. That’s it. Slower. Not so deep. Well done.’
Little by little, Nolita regained control. The irony that a dragon, the primary source of her fear, should also prove its antidote was not lost on her. Still tense with fear, but back in command of her body, Nolita concentrated on staying in the saddle.
Another roar sounded behind them. It sounded like Fang again.
Kira’s so brave, she thought. If only I could be more like her. The cold wind numbed the skin on her face and at her extremities. ‘If only I could find something that would numb fear the same way,’ she added aloud in a whisper that was lost on the wind. ‘If only . . .’
Chapter Six
A Night in the Woods
‘Haven’t you learned anything on this quest, Pell?’ Elian sighed. He looked across the fire at the older boy and shook his head sadly. ‘You can’t work alone. None of us can. This quest is something we’re supposed to do together. The Oracle chose us to work as a team. Look what happened last time you tried.’
Pell stared back, his body tense and his face defiant. ‘But the orb could kill you at the next sunset,’ he protested. ‘I don’t want your death on my conscience as well.’
‘So you’re going to play the selfish card again,’ Elian responded, his tone mocking. ‘I want this. I don’t want that. Listen to yourself! You think you’re being all heroic and selfless, but you’re not thinking straight. If you and Shadow try to do this alone, the orb will kill many innocent creatures and possibly more people and dragons. Using Ra’s abilities we could possibly get to the Oracle without ever seeing another sunset.’
‘Right!’ Pell drawled. ‘I suppose you and Aurora are going to stop the sun in its tracks for me while I deliver the orb. Excellent! I’m almost tempted to take you along with me just to see you try.’
Elian sighed again. Pell was enough to drive even the most patient of people to distraction. It was a shame, he reflected. There were many things about him that Elian found enviable: the boy’s physical strength, striking good looks, fitness and determination. Unfortunately, his manner and appalling lack of sensitivity made him easy to dislike.
‘That’s just the point, Pell. We can stop the sun,’ he said. ‘Don’t you remember how we got to the night dragon enclave?’
‘Ah, yes! Of course!’ Pell said, his voice rising as if he had just made a momentous discovery. ‘The other world – the flying machines and magical weapons. An entertaining fantasy to pass the time, I’m sure. Unfortunately, I have to deal with reality, Elian. The orb is deadly. I don’t have the luxury of daydreams.’
Elian stared at him and took several calming breaths to keep from losing his temper. It was incredible! All this time Pell had not believed a word about their adventure. They had travelled through gateways that only dawn dragons could create – gateways that had carried them into the strange land of France, where many hundreds of thousands of men were engaged in a terrible war. They had risked their lives in a strange world to rescue him, but he refused to believe it. It seemed likely Pell did not believe Nolita had gained her orb either. Given the unusual skills each of their dragons possessed, Elian had assumed Pell’s acceptance of Aurora’s ability to open the gateways between worlds. Now it appeared he would need to see first hand to believe it.
‘The night won’t last long, Pell,’ Elian said, his tone as cold as the air around him. He had to work very hard to keep the rest of his response civil. ‘As soon as the others get here and the sun rises, you’ll see. I’m going to get some sleep. I suggest you do the same while we have the chance.’
Pell did not reply. Neither did he move. Elian gritted his teeth at the boy’s stubbornness and eased down onto his side, drawing his blankets around him.
‘What if the others don’t find us, Elian?’ Aurora asked. ‘I’ve not heard anything of Fire and Fang since we split up. If we go through to the other world, they will have to escape the night dragons on their own. I don’t want to abandon them.’
‘Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,’ Elian replied, snuggling down as best he could on his groundsheet next to the fire. ‘That’s not a choice I want to make. Can you keep watch tonight, or are you too tired?’
‘Do not fear, Elian,’ she replied. ‘I will keep watch. Dragons can go several days without rest, if necessary.’
‘Good. Let me know if you sense anything. I really need to rest while I can.’
Wrapping himself in all the blankets he had, Elian settled as close to the fire as he dared and closed his eyes. He tried to relax, but although he felt bone-weary he quickly realised that sleep would not come easily. The cold was a part of it, but by no means the main reason. Thoughts were running around inside his head like swarming flies, uncountable and confusing. Trying to follow any one through to a conclusion was impossible. Others continually intruded, dragging his mind first in one direction and then another.
This quest had seemed straightforward to begin with: find and retrieve four orbs. Framed like that it sounded as if it should be easy, so why was it difficult? Many complications arose as a result of the people the Oracle had chosen. Nolita revealed her fears even before the quest began. Pell’s arrogance and ego m
ade it worse. Kira was clever and strong, but her continual clashes with Pell did not help. Then there were the complications of travelling through the other world and invoking the wrath of the leader of the night dragons. Somehow, despite these obstacles, they had secured two of the four orbs. But even the orbs possessed nasty characteristics that served to complicate matters further.
Elian mulled over the events of the past two weeks and tried to make sense of them. The more he thought about it, the harder it was to see any sense in what the Oracle had asked them to do. The dragon spirit clearly knew the nature of the orbs and had sent the plinths to their current resting places at some time in the distant past, but why? There seemed no logic in it. The plinths apparently generated the glass-like skin of the orbs, so why not just keep them in the Oracle’s cave? Dragons were noble to the point of stupidity at times. He felt sure that the Oracle only needed to ask and dragons would line up to donate blood, or even the beating heart from their chests to see the Oracle reborn. So what was this quest really about?
Asking Aurora was pointless. The dragon had only one answer: this was their destiny. She saw the quest as her life purpose and did not question the reason for it. For all that she was a creature of experience, wisdom and knowledge, he felt she was blinkered by tradition.
After a while Elian heard Pell laying out his groundsheet and settling down nearby. To his annoyance, the older boy’s breathing soon slowed into the slow steady rhythm of sleep. Elian felt a stab of envy. How did Pell do it? With all that he had gone through today: the trials against the night dragon rider, Dirk, Shadow’s injury and then the trauma of the orb’s killing spree, somehow he was still able to relax into sleep. Maybe it was exhaustion, but if that was the case, then Elian felt he should be able to do the same.
The little fire popped and snapped occasionally as it gradually ate through the small supply of sticks and melted down into a pile of glowing embers. The fallen tree reflected the heat of the tiny flames, but there was not much energy from it. Elian began to shiver and the muscles in his back and shoulders ached with tension. He tried to relax, but his efforts triggered an even more intense bout of shivering. His jaw began to ache and he suddenly realised that he had been unconsciously clenching his teeth.
‘How long until dawn, Ra?’ he asked eventually.
‘About three hours.’
Elian groaned and sat up. He carefully added a small pile of sticks onto the remains of the fire and blew gently across the embers until they flared back into life. If I can’t sleep, I might as well be warm, he thought.
The short hours of darkness dragged. The snow persisted, and the treetops creaked and swayed in the breeze. An occasional shower of icy snowflakes dropped through the thick canopy of snow-laden needles, shaken loose by the wind. The air was motionless in the lee of the fallen tree, but Elian listened intently to the voice of the breeze in the upper branches, all the time hoping to hear Firestorm and Longfang approach.
As the first hints of dawn began to lighten the eastern horizon the temperature dropped still further and Elian’s heart sank with it. Where were the girls? Had the night dragons captured them? Was Segun holding them prisoner? Should he and Pell leave and concentrate on getting the dark orb to the Oracle, or should they try to find the girls first?
‘What should we do, Ra?’ he asked. He could feel his dragon listening in on his thoughts, but she had been strangely silent. Aurora normally had strong opinions, but she had not volunteered any thoughts at all during the night.
‘We should prepare to leave and hope the others arrive in time to make the decision easy,’ Aurora replied. ‘I suggest you wake Pell now. We don’t have long.’
‘That makes sense,’ he agreed, ‘but you avoided the real question.’
‘Yes, I did, didn’t I?’ she said and promptly fell silent again.
Elian could tell he was going to get nothing further, so he did as he was told. He climbed to his feet and brushed the loose snow from his blankets before folding them and tucking them into his saddlebags. Stepping across to where Pell was gently snoring, Elian nudged him in the back with the toe of his boot. Pell went from totally asleep to completely awake in an instant.
‘Wha . . .? What?’
‘Time to get up,’ Elian said tersely. ‘Dawn is nearly on us. We need to be in the air when the sun breaks the horizon if we’re to use the gateway.’
‘Oh, the gateway,’ he mumbled. ‘Right!’
Even though he did not sound in the slightest bit convinced, Pell was quick to get up and start packing his gear. Elian had to give him credit for his motivation. Pell was clearly determined to get going early even though he must still be exhausted after the previous day’s adventures.
As the fire had stayed alight through most of the night, there was enough heat in the embers to brew a hot drink before moving out from under the trees. The heat of the sweetened liquid was most welcome after such a freezing cold night and, despite not having slept, Elian felt remarkably refreshed by the hot liquid lining his stomach.
He and Pell stumbled out from under the snow-laden trees into the dim pre-dawn light. At some point in the early hours the snow had stopped. Elian had not noticed, as the wind had continued to stir the branches and shower him with loose snow every now and then. Out from the cover of the trees, the snow depth had increased significantly overnight. Within a few paces from the edge of the wood, Elian was knee deep. Rather than risk the uneven footing underneath the smooth white carpet, he waited until Aurora emerged from the trees and climbed onto her back.
‘Any sign of them?’ Elian asked again, not even daring to hope. He felt Aurora reach out with her mind, but he knew the answer before she vocalised it.
‘No. Nothing.’
Pell was mounted on Shadow beside them.
‘Let’s get airborne,’ Elian called. ‘We’ll see if there’s any sign of the girls from the air and make a decision then.’
Pell shrugged. As far as Elian could tell, Pell did not care about the girls. He didn’t get on with either of them, so he might be happy if they did not show up. Elian did not relish the idea of continuing the quest without the other two dragonriders, but he knew he would do what he had to, if only for Aurora’s sake. This quest meant everything to her. He would not let her down.
Shadow leapt into a bounding run, hampered by the deep snow. With her huge wingspan she was able to power up into the air without too much difficulty, but Elian watched her with a certain amount of trepidation. Would his dragon, Aurora, be able to get up enough speed to get into the air?
‘Just watch me!’ she said in his mind, clearly eavesdropping on his thoughts again. ‘Hang on tight, this could be interesting.’
‘Interesting’ did not begin to describe it. Rather than running through the snow, her movement was more like a bounding gallop. The rhythm was most unusual and made staying on her back difficult. Elian bounced up out of the saddle with every leap, his bottom meeting the leather with a painful thump every time her forelegs hit the ground. Her wings extended and drove down hard in an effort to lift clear of the surface. On her first sweeping stroke, her wingtips caught the surface of the snow, causing her to tip forwards and hit the ground hard. Somehow she kept from falling forwards and continued bounding faster and faster. The second stroke was more successful, pulling her up into the air. Another rapid beat and her trailing feet lifted clear of the snow. They were airborne and pumping upwards, settling quickly into a more familiar rhythm.
No sooner had Elian begun to relax into the saddle when his heart was set racing a second time.
‘Night dragons!’ Aurora warned suddenly, her voice loud in his mind. ‘Segun and his dragon, Widewing, are coming with others. There are at least four of them and they’re all coming this way.’
Chapter Seven
Left Behind
‘Have you sensed any sign of the others yet, Fire?’ Nolita asked again, huddling down as best she could against Firestorm’s back.
‘Sorry, Nolita,�
� Firestorm replied, his tone glum. ‘I must have picked a wrong valley earlier. Somehow we turned further left than I realised. When we came out of the mountains we were heading almost due north . . .’
‘And the others were heading south,’ Nolita finished.
Her heart sank as she considered the implications of having lost contact with the others. If she and Fire did not find them soon, she would be forced to spend a night alone with her dragon. The thought made her stomach churn. It was the strength and support of the others that had kept her going on the quest so far. Without them she was lost.
Nolita began to feel her old fears creeping out of the dark corners of her mind. They were like sinister shadows lurking at the edge of her senses, waiting to pounce. Kira and Elian had encouraged and emboldened her more than she had ever thought possible. She did not want to think what it would be like without them now. For the first time since her brief trial at the day dragon enclave, she was alone with her dragon.
‘Don’t worry, Nolita,’ Fire urged, sensing his rider’s rising panic. ‘We will catch up with the others, I promise. I will fly all night if necessary, but please don’t be foolish about this. I don’t want you to freeze to death. You don’t need to stop long. I can light you a fire in seconds so you can get warm and we can move on.’
‘Thanks, Fire,’ Nolita replied, feeling genuinely touched. She paused. Firestorm was so caring, but she could not totally banish her fear of him. It was his size, nothing more. Knowing him intimately through the bond, she now accepted her fear was irrational, but even being convinced that he meant her no harm was not enough to banish the feelings.
