A turn out to the cave entrance showed a pale light filtering through the snow storm. It also seemed to be easing a little. Time to rouse the others. Coming back into the main cavern, Catharina realized just how hot she had made the place with her rocky fire. She smiled at the thought of the others faces when they saw what she had discovered. In a few moments she had the others up and staring goggle eyed at the fire. Even Desare, now fully recovered was ready for new adventures. After a quick meal the party was ready for the day. Antonin was fascinated by the burning stones, and burnt his fingers more than once. The rocks just appeared to burst into flame if heated enough. Even when doused with water, the hot gases would re-ignite from nearby flames, making the fire very hard to put out. He put some pieces in his saddle bags to investigate at a later date, when back in the city. Another look outside showed the storm almost gone. The wind had died to a moaning gusty storm and the snow had stopped falling. The area outside had been swept clean of rocks as far as Antonin could see. The snow however was many feet deep.
It was time to summon his army of dragons. He swallowed rather nervously, raised his arm, and struck the symbol on the wall hard with the heel of his fist. Three times in slow succession he struck it. Each time a low rumble shook deep in the earth. Small stones and dust fell from the cavern roof. The world seemed to be holding its breath. Antonin stepped to the edge of the rocky outcrop and called into the wastes.
"Nesathara, Omgorion, Dadahar, the time has come. Come to the Lord of the Dragons, for I have called you to battle."
He stepped back to the symbol and struck it again. "Gahar". Again, "Gahar." and again for the third time "Gahar." The rumbling in the earth did not abate this time. It seemed to be coming from the roots of the world. The vibration of it could be felt through the soles of their feet. Everyone was now out on the ledge with Antonin. The cloud cleared away as though swept by a huge broom and the sun blazed down on the glittering ice.
With a sighing sound, the entire lake of ice suddenly turned to water. One moment it had been solid frozen ice, the next moment it was water. Then the roar came. From away on the far side of the valley, where the mountain wall had fallen away at Antonin's last passage through the valley, the lake was pouring away across the empty landscape. Everything in its path was being swept away. The land itself was being reformed as millions of tons of water poured out of the valley.
The valley was vast. It was many miles wide, and even longer end to end, yet the mountain pass on the far side that had fallen away was a good mile wide, and the volume of water that was suddenly unleashed through it was enormous.
"That lake must have been frozen by some spell Catharina." Said Antonin. Then he noticed the rapidly falling water level. The ice had come up to the level of the cave entrance. Now the level was rapidly falling. Antonin and Nareena, who had also noticed the developing predicament looked around. Already the water had dropped enough to reveal that the group appeared to be stranded in the cave. There was no path down to a lower level. The roar from the distant outpouring was getting louder if anything, and the very mountains were vibrating.
"I would not like to be in front of that." Declared Nareena.
"Yes, but what of the dragons?" Replied Antonin. "What also of our predicament here?" Desare was peering over the edge of the stone ledge they stood on. The drop to the water was considerable, and getting longer every minute. She looked at the others with eyes wide in alarm. No one said anything. Everything had happened so fast that no one had had time to take it all in. They were quite obviously stranded in a cave that was now high up a cliff face, with no way down.
The girls went back into the cave to look around for something that might be of use. No one had any idea of what , but it was something to do. Antonin squatted on his heels at the cliff edge, and watched the vast lake rapidly disappearing.
He had no doubts that given time they could climb out, or help would come from those who had followed them, but how they would get the horses out he couldn't imagine. It seemed that all his call to the dragons had achieved was the emptying of the lake. Perhaps the dragons had been swept away?
The sun was now well above the surrounding ranges, and showed the path down the cliff face to be continuing on down to the depths of the valley floor. The valley still contained a vast amount of water. Even though it was emptying rapidly, Antonin thought it would still take many hours, if not days, to drain out so much water.
He peered out across the lake. There was something rising out of the water away out there. Antonin rubbed his eyes. Surely he was dreaming. The top most spires of a vast castle complex were being revealed by the falling lake surface. So there had been a city buried inside all that ice. The city of the dragons perhaps? He no sooner thought it than the water about the vast castle began to boil and steam as though in a huge cauldron. Suddenly a huge beast burst from the boiling surface and like a dark blue flash sped into the sky. Smoke and fire and roiling steam trailed behind it. The cry that it gave forth as it leapt into the heavens had the girls running the ledge to join Antonin. Antonin was staring in open amazement at the huge beast. He had never seen anything so large. Its body was very long. Five clawed talons on each of its four feet. It's vast tail whipping about as it beat gigantic leathery wings, and its head on a long neck moving snake like as it looked about. Its hide was a bright blue, its scales shining in the bright sunlight. The horns on its head seemed to crackle with lightning.
It gave a coughing roar, and fire belched from its throat and nostrils in shimmering waves. The huge creature was circling out in a spiral from where it had emerged from the lake. Its path would soon bring it by the cave. Antonin was not too sure he wanted to draw attention to himself. Just for safety he ushered the others back into the cave.
He heard a series of coughing roars "Oh no." He muttered as looking back over his shoulder he could see more of the great beasts hurling themselves into the sky from the depths of the lake.
"I think it may be best to stay out of sight for a moment." the others nodded in agreement. None were actually afraid, but there was no point in being stupidly bold either. Those dragons didn't look exactly friendly either. All except the first were glittering shades of green. The blue appeared to be the leader, it was certainly the largest.
●Chapter 26
There were now dozens of the beasts circling around the valley. The water level had not yet fallen enough to reveal land. The vast castle appeared to have been built on smaller mountain within the valley and it would be first to be explored. Some of the smaller dragons settled back onto the ancient battlements, some onto the cliff tops. Yet more still came leaping up from the watery depths surrounding the castle. Soon their numbers were uncountable. It seemed, thought Antonin, that his army was forming. Was he brave enough to lead them though? Would they recognise his authority? There was only one way to find out.
Antonin stood out on the ledge. In plain sight, it didn't take long before he was spotted. With a shriek of rage, one of the green monsters sped directly toward him.
Antonin drew his sword and held it up with outstretched arm. Filling his lungs he roared the word he had been given.
"Gahar." In a drawn out voice he knew the dragon had heard.
The dragon wheeled away in obvious surprise, circling back to the heights. Others now flapped slowly and ponderously by, watching Antonin carefully out of baleful eyes. They were a terrifying sight.
Drawing a deep breath again, the smell of sulphurous fumes in the air, Antonin called to the circling dragons.
"Nesathara, Omgorion, Dadahar. Come to your lord."
He didn't know what else to try - he had no other instructions, and it seemed the right thing to say.
The beasts were now finding their way to mountain crags to perch. The slowly emerging castle was covered with dragons, perched on every available space. Slowly the air cleared of dragons. There were dragons on the far crags on the mountain rim far across the lake. There must have been thousands of them.
&nbs
p; Suddenly Antonin had to leap out of the way as three swooped in the alight on the ledge with him. It didn't leave much room. Suddenly the three shimmered in a silvery haze, and Antonin found himself facing three human like beings. Very much like men, but not men. Their eyes were still the eyes of dragons, their skin was dragon skin, but with scales so small they appeared to be one smooth shiny skin. The voice of the first speaker was deep and guttural, almost impossible to understand at first.
"Who calls the dragons forth?" It demanded of Antonin.
He hardly had time to get over his surprise. Desare was by his side.
"Desare, this is not safe. Go back quickly." He tried to step in front of her to shield her. The dragon-man looked at them with an unblinking stare.
Desare ducked around Antonin. "No my Lord. I must give my message."
She stepped right up to the dragon-man. He towered over her, yet made no move. His companions had made no move, standing back watching.
Desare raised her chin.
"You are in the presence of the Dragon Lord Reborn. King of the Malachites, Lord of the Morning, Light of the World. You have been called to serve him. The battle comes. If you doubt this to be so Omgorion - yes, I know your name - then heed the One. The Keeper of the Blue Tower." The dragon-man stepped back a pace. The shimmering image beside Desare was that of Ellenaria, the Keeper of the Blue tower.
"Omgorion, It is so. You and your kind will follow your Lord once again to glory."
She was gone as suddenly as she had appeared.
Omgorion gave a slight bow to Desare and looked at Antonin.
"Then you wear the crown of our king?" He rumbled. His voice like rocks grating together.
Antonin threw off his furs and cape. The golden band glittered in the morning sun.
The three dragon-men stood unmoving for long moments, then still without a word changed back into dragons and sped away across the valley on huge wings, to the castle that glittered on the low mountains.
Antonin looked at Desare. He shrugged his shoulders. Desare looked back with a questioning gaze.
The others came out onto the ledge.
"What was that all about?" Said Nareena. The others were looking at Antonin and Desare.
"I don't know." Desare replied. "I felt compelled to say what I did. I'm sorry Antonin. err, My Lord." She quickly added.
"What? Ok, nothing. No - don't call me that. Well, not when there is just us anyway. Ok, I don't know. I don't know any more that the rest of you. I guess we will find out what happens next soon enough though."
He pointed to the track on the cliff face.
"We have company as well from the city it seems."
The track was crowded with gaping warriors. Some from the Star Field Plain, some from the city.
Rees, Elsa and Desare crowded forward to the edge of the rocky platform in front of the cave. They could see nearly all the way to the top of the cliff, and the path cut into the cliff face was crowded with warriors. Those from the city were easy to spot in the brightly coloured surcoats of yellow and gold and green. Their various houses represented by their bright colours. Most must have ridden hard to catch up with the main band in so short a time. The leaders of the various groups had short flags waving in the breeze, mounted on short staves on their mounts. A short staff strapped to their back, with a miniature pennant attached gave the foot soldiers something to focus on in the confusion of battle. Pressed among this colourful crowd were the burnished gold bodies of the Asha Altan and the Mare Altan. The browns and greens of their cloths were excellent cover as they seemed to merge into the greys and blacks of the rocks around them.
The path was not very wide, and very steep, and disappeared down the cliff face a good way below the ledge. Now the ice was gone, the cave had become a trap. As the water continued to recede, the warriors inched down the slope. There was much yelling and shouting as people tried to find ways to rescue those they could see in the cave. It seemed impossible though.
Suddenly Rees jumped back as a long rope came snaking down from above. 'Someone was trying ideas at least' thought Rees. He reached out and caught the rope. It's end just reached the path below the ledge, but he could not see the top because of the overhang of the cliff above. He felt the rope jerking in his hands and then an Asha Altan warrior dropped onto the ledge, a huge smile almost splitting his face.
"The mountains have some impressive challenges." He laughed as he gave the rope a flick . "We should take ourselves off the plains more often." Within minutes the ledge was crowded as more and more warriors, men and women alike came down the rope and dropped onto the ledge. It dawned on Elsa that it had turned into a game. Facing the danger of falling was too much of a challenge for the warriors to resist. She started yelling at the top of her voice. "No more - stop - no room." When it became obvious that no more could fit on the ledge, they started to fill the cave. Those who could not get onto the ledge had to continue on down to the path below. Laughing and shouting, and poking at their fellows, they pushed their way onto the already crowded path. There was much shouting and cursing as warriors tried to keep from being jostled over the edge. Antonin might be the Lord of the Armies, but no one took the slightest bit of notice as he tried to restore some order. The warriors were having too much fun. They didn't seem the slightest bit overawed by the sight of dragons perched on every possible outcrop of rock as far as the eye could see.
Antonin looked over the edge to see if the valley floor was being exposed yet.
It could now be seen in the depths of the water. but they would have a long wait yet. Now that the volume of water had lessened, it flowed out more slowly. Then he noticed that the warriors who had come down the rope and made it to the path, were pushing their way to the top again. They were going around again. Antonin shook his head and pushed his way back into the cave. He found Desare, Rees and Elsa with Nareena by the fire. They were showing some warriors how the black stone could be made to burn.
"Desare, I don't suppose you know what Mei'An and Luan are doing do you?" Antonin asked hopefully. Desare shook her head.
"Mei'An is in the tower Antonin." She replied. Some of the nearby warriors looked from Desare to Antonin. Their looks suggested surprise at the familiar term of address, and finger talk flickered between the maidens. Elsa laughed and actually went red in the face. She looked at Desare then flicked a message to her friends. It was their turn to look embarrassed. One leaned over and put an arm around Desare.
"Don't worry child, these rough warriors would mean no harm or disrespect."
Desare blinked slowly and smiled a secretive smile. Her eyes sparkled as she glanced at Antonin then looked back to her companions.
"I know I am but a child, only fifteen summers yet, but I know where my destiny takes me. It has been revealed to me by The Keeper of the Blue Tower." At mention of the Keeper, the warriors went silent. Desare lowered her long lashes and poked at the fire with a stick. The maidens around her laughed quietly. 'She would do.' thought more than one.
When Desare looked up, with pure innocence shining on her face and said "Two others are on the same path." With a glance at Elsa and Rees. The howls of laughter had the maidens rolling on the ground. Elsa pushed her way out to the ledge, her face burning. Rees looked from one to the other, a question in his expression. "What?" He said. "What?" He would never fathom the secret lives of women. "Women." He muttered. This set the maidens off into further gales of laughter.
Antonin stayed out of it, just the hint of a smile on his face. He was actually more concerned with their current position. There were thousands of dragons outside. Thousands of warriors as well. Those from the Star Field Plain seemingly bent on risking death on the rope. Everyone seemed to have forgotten that along with their horses, they were stuck in this cave. Well the horses still were. 'We aren't stuck here at least."' Thought Antonin. 'But the horses are.'
Mei'An would be no help anyway here that he could see. If she was busy with the Keeper of the Blue Tower, then he wo
uld find out eventually if what they discussed concerned him. He wished he could figure out what was going on with Desare too. He had a vague idea, but couldn't bring himself to even think about it. She was as he had just heard, only 15 summers. It would be years yet before she was allowed by the Circle of Women to marry. "Ahh." He grumbled aloud. Why was this line of thought even in his mind at this time anyway. Some of those around him looked at him in surprise. He was dumbfounded. What a thought. Crazy. He must be very tired. That was it. Well, he'd set guards to await the fall of the water. Also to watch for the return of the three dragon masters, and get some sleep.
'Marry Desare? How stupid can I be getting. I will marry, but it will be Catharina or no one.' He muttered to himself as he finished issuing the orders for the watch and settled into pile of furs to sleep. What he didn't see was the smile on Catharina's face. She had very sharp ears. So did Nareena. Her smile was less sure. There was nothing to do but wait for the water to empty from the valley.
●Chapter 27
Cinnabar stood on a distant mountain crag watching the events unfold in the valley. In the turmoil no one had seen the flash of light as he opened a gateway and stepped out onto the bleak mountain side. He had only located the place by pure chance. Antonin's sudden disappearance from the scene had taken him by surprise. It had been the call to awake the dragons that had startled him. The echoes had rumbled through the world itself. Such a disturbance had to be investigated. For one moment he thought that the Dark Lord had finally broken free from the Wheel. That would have meant disaster. For him at least. Although he was sure no one knew what he was up to, his very actions would leave him revealed if he came face to face with the Lord of Darkness. He knew he would not survive such a meeting. Not unless he held both the Keystone, and the Great Seal of the Creator in his possession. To think that that fool Mordos of the Tharsians had stolen the Keystone almost from within his grasp left him reeling with a blind rage. The air around Cinnabar began to crackle, and forks of blue light streaked out into the roiling waters. Startled dragons lifted into the air to investigate. With a curse at his own lack of control, Cinnabar stepped back through the gate and disappeared in the thin line of light that winked out. He had seen what he needed to see, and he had left none too soon. The mountain side where he had stood erupted as the dragons unleashed a torrent of fire upon the slopes, white hot blasts of pure energy blasting the mountain top to dust.
The Dragons of Sara Sara Page 46
