Windcatcher: Book I of the Stone War Chronicles

by A. J. Norfield

  Although he had not really noticed that he held it, Ca’lek let out his breath and relaxed his muscles slowly. As he heard the voices trail off, he looked around him, checking for a way back up. Part of him wanted to stay on the ridge, out of sight. But it could very well be that the scouts would stay here the entire day, as the cliff had an excellent viewpoint of the area……or worse, they could decide to push on. If that happened, they could probably reach—and discover—the others at the encampment, before he could warn them about the approaching danger.

  No, I have to get out of here as soon as possible, he thought. At least my horse is tied up further down the path, out of sight, and hopefully out of hearing range.

  Ca’lek moved one foot in front of the other, turning his stomach to the rock wall. He inched forward to his right, where he saw the ridge slope up a little. If he could find a foothold, it should not be too difficult to get up on that ledge again. The challenge would be not making any sound. Up there, he should still be behind the cover of the low bushes and out of sight of the men around the campfire. His leather boots were flexible enough for him to feel the rock below his feet, as he tested his footing each time before he put weight on it. Gripping a crack with his left hand, he pulled it a couple of times to make sure it would hold. Slowly, he put his right foot high on a small flat rocky point. He carefully moved his weight on it and stretched out enough for his right hand to grip the top ledge firmly.

  Kicking out his leg, Ca’lek peeked over the edge and saw the four men in deep conversation at the campfire. A few sticks of meat were stuck in the earth next to the fire to warm up. It suddenly reminded Ca’lek how hungry he was, and his stomach rumbled so loudly he was afraid the men heard it.

  When none of the men looked his way, he pushed further off and swung his left leg over the ledge and pulled himself on top of the plateau again, rolling onto his back, away from the edge to catch his breath. He listened, with his eyes closed, to any change in the conversation the men were having, while he felt his heart throbbing in his throat. As he listened, the conversation continued on as before, and he flipped on his stomach to take a look underneath the bushes. One of the men picked up the smoked meat and tore off a piece with his teeth, washing it down with a big gulp from his drinking bag. Good…they had not noticed him. He turned right and began to crawl along the cliff’s edge, keeping his body as low as possible. Slowly, the voices of the men became softer. He moved slowly, afraid to make any sound; it seemed to take ages before he decided he was far enough from the group to go into a crouching position and have a look around.

  The forest was not so dense here at the cliff’s edge, but a number of trees and low bushes gave enough cover now for him to move more quickly. Going around the clearing in a large arc, it took more time than he would have liked to reach his horse, but he had to stop every few steps to check if the group was undisturbed and to figure out his position in comparison to his horse. As he saw the group finally disappear behind part of a rocky slope, he dared to stand up and pick up the pace. Reaching his horse out of breath, the animal looked at him with blank wonder, having no idea of the danger around the corner. As he untied the mare, he walked past the front of her, underneath her large head. His hand gliding over her neck, he whispered his thanks for not making any noise. Turning her around, he jumped into the saddle and set off in full gallop. He would be riding against time now.

  As his eyes sparkled with wonder, Raylan slowly put down his sword and stuck out his arm. He hesitated slightly, not because he was afraid, but because he did not want to break anything. He let his hand slide over the shell of the egg. It felt warm to the touch and at the same time cool and smooth like tooled leather. The egg was so big that if he put both arms around it, he was barely able to grab his own wrist. The surface was not fully hard but more flexible like leather.

  As far as he could make out by the torchlight, it had a soft yellow color, with patches of light brown, making it look like a spotted egg he knew from some of the smaller bird species back home. The shell waved beneath his hand as his fingers moved across its surface. Letting his hand rest on the shell, he wondered what kind of bird would be big enough to lay such an egg, although he had never felt a bird egg before that was as soft as this one was.

  All of a sudden, he felt something bump against his hand, making his hand pull back—an involuntary reflex. A vague shadow moved inside the egg; something was definitely alive in there! He put his torch in the standard in the wall and moved closer to the chest. He felt the heat radiating from the stones and embers on the bottom. With both hands free, he put one hand on the shell of the egg to see if he had imagined the reaction of the creature inside it. After a few moments, he felt a soft bump on the inner side of his hand. Letting go with his right hand, he put his left on the opposite side of the egg and waited. Within an instant, he saw the shadow move and surely felt the now more familiar bump against his left hand. He felt a warm feeling resonate in his body as his lips broke out into the grin of a child seeing the wonders of the stars for the first time.

  “What are you doing?! Do not touch it! You are not allowed to touch it!”

  Startled, Raylan pulled back his hands. Turning around, he quickly picked up his sword to see who had snuck up on him. His gaze was met by a furious looking Xi’Lao, breathing heavily, torch in one hand and a knife in the other.

  Slowly, Raylan put down his sword. Raylan kept his eyes locked with hers, while keeping his attention on the knife in her hand. In their time traveling together as a group, he never heard Xi’Lao raise her voice or saw her filled with such raw emotion for that matter. In some way, it reminded him of the fury of the baker’s wife after he and Gavin had been caught stealing pies when they were younger.

  ‘A woman’s fury should not be taken lightly’, his father always used to say.

  “I’m sorry, I meant no harm. I didn’t know we weren’t allowed to touch this…this, whatever it is. I wasn’t even sure if this was the chest we were looking for; and when I heard a noise from inside, I thought perhaps someone or something was locked up in it. Then I saw it move and the touch of it felt…wonderful!”

  Xi’Lao’s fingers around the knife relaxed, and Raylan saw a moment of doubt flash behind her eyes.

  “What do you mean it moved? You must be lying.”

  The initial tension gone, Raylan relaxed.

  “I’m not, come and see for yourself. It really moved. I don’t know why, but the bottom of the chest is covered with hot stones and embers and the egg moved.”

  As she stepped closer, Xi’Lao held her torch higher to increase the light. She noticed the red glow coming from the chest.

  “But it is not supposed to move, it should not, that is all wrong.”

  Raylan shrugged.

  “Well, I definitely felt something move in that egg, it seemed to react to my hands when I touched the shell. It felt very strange though, almost like leather,” he said, looking at the chest.

  Raylan looked back at Xi’Lao.

  “What? What did I say?”

  Xi’Lao looked at Raylan with wide spread eyes.

  “What do you mean reacted to you?” she said, blinking slowly.

  “Well, it seemed to push against my hand when I put it on the shell. It even followed my hand around, I think.”

  Suddenly, Raylan felt himself get nervous.

  “Why? What is so special about this egg? What kind of egg is it?” he asked, quickly.

  Turning back to the chest, Xi’Lao crouched beside the egg.

  “This relic is one of our Empire’s most sacred treasures. It is an artifact of ancient times, kept under strict supervision by the inner circle of grand monks, led by the monastery’s master. Very few people have ever seen it outside of The Inner Sanctum, where it was kept for hundreds of years. No one but the high monk has ever been allowed to touch it. The chance of damaging it was too great a risk. I have only seen it once, during a special ceremony of the royal family. It is believed to be one of the
guardians of the Tiankong Empire. Some people even say it is part of a prophecy that is centuries old.”

  Raylan moved closer, crouching next to her near the chest. She looked at the egg, her eyes no longer filled with threat and anger but soft and shining with admiration.

  “You obviously seem happy to have found this egg, and I am sorry if I was out of place by touching it. I never intended to damage it or hurt whatever is inside. It doesn’t seem damaged, so why the troubled look?”

  “Last time I saw it, it was completely solid, nothing but a stone fossil. It looks like something is happening to it, something which I thought would not be possible. I cannot explain it, but it feels like it is of great importance.”

  She spoke softly, under her breath, as she looked at him.

  “Raylan, what you see here, is a dragon’s egg…”

  Raylan caught himself staring at Xi’Lao’s face, mouth half open. He laughed and shook his head.

  “You’re kidding, right? Dragon’s egg? Ha! Dragons aren’t real…right? People created them to tell exciting stories of bravery and conquest. Vicious beasts that would attack villages and burn them to the ground. From what the stories tell, such creatures were supposedly many times bigger than a man, with long necks and tails…and…and wings that could equal the size of a main sail on our trading ships. You mean that kind of dragon? But come on, everyone knows that dragons never really existed.”

  He saw Xi’Lao smile.

  “Oh no, dragons are not made up and were once very real. They were powerful creatures, living centuries ago. The history of our Empire is filled with stories and references to these magnificent, intelligent and often wise creatures. Not just fiction but official government papers and reports. It is very much a part of our culture, even today. From what I have read, dragons can indeed be fierce opponents. However, they were not just savage animals. At some point, men and dragons even lived together in a thriving society. Many documents describe a very strong bond that could exist between a dragon and a single person. Unfortunately, the flow of time has made many scrolls unreadable; so, besides the facts that dragons once lived amongst us in the Empire, most information available is segmented.”

  Raylan did not know what to say anymore. He would never have thought it to be true, but the egg in front of him was bigger than anything he had ever seen. He wondered if it could be true. If dragons really did exist in the past…and if would one hatch from this egg.

  He surprised himself by wishing it to be true.

  How amazing would it be to see such a magnificent creature? he thought.

  He felt the same glowing warmth, which he had felt before, come over him again as he imagined all the possibilities. He wondered what such a dragon would be like. What would it look like? Would it have wings and be able to fly? Would it be smart or even intelligent? All these questions raced through his mind. It felt so much stronger than just curiosity. He felt he needed to know, and all of a sudden it dawned on him…he would do everything to let this egg hatch successfully.

  “If there’s really a dragon in there, I know it’s alive. We’ve got to take care of this egg and make sure it survives long enough for it to hatch. Do you have any knowledge on hatching dragon eggs?”

  Xi’Lao shook her head.

  “No, like I said many scrolls are in an unreadable condition, so specific details of that time long ago are scarce. I have no idea what the needs of such an egg are.”

  “Well, looking at the situation, I think we can assume that it likes the heat. Look at all those embers and hot stones. It is probably the same reason why they put the chest in the cave away from the cold rain and wind.”

  “That’s it!” said Raylan out loud, suddenly remembering the half empty wagon with dry wood.

  “What is it?” Xi’Lao asked, “Did you figure something out?”

  “Earlier, when we were looking for the escaped soldier and approached the wagons, I looked inside one. It still had a pile of dried wood stacked inside. At the time, I figured it was used to keep the soldiers warm during their march through the White North, but now I think that wood had a much more important purpose. I bet they used the wood to heat up this egg and keep it warm. Using the wood, you can easily heat up stones of the right kind, as some stones are known to store the heat inside and radiate it outward for a long time. That, in combination with the embers that are left over from burning the wood, should keep the inside of the chest nice and warm, even with the extreme low temperatures that they have traveled through. The only thing I don’t get is why the chest had not caught fire, but perhaps they worked the inside with a nonflammable paste; sometimes my dad would use something similar in his workshop. Perhaps they did something special with the egg, too, or it could be that the heat was all that was needed to revitalize the egg.”

  Xi’Lao nodded slowly.

  “If that is true, we need to make sure the egg stays warm enough. Perhaps we should add some more wood to the embers, as it looks like the embers are cooling down quite a bit.”

  “Good idea. And I think we better close the lid now, too, so the heat stays inside the chest as much as possible.”

  Both of them closed the lid of the chest together, flipping the clip to hold the lid in its closed position. Raylan moved to the side, and tested how heavy the chest was by grabbing one of the four handles on the side.

  “I can barely get it off the ground. It will be too heavy for the both of us to carry alone. Let’s go and get two of the others, so they can help carry it toward the wagons. Ca’lek and Richard could be back at any moment, so we need to prepare everything for our departure.”

  Walking out of the cave together, Raylan could not help but glance backward into the darkness of the cave. He did not like leaving the chest unprotected, even for a little while. He shook his head slightly. Best thing to hurry then, he thought, as he broke out into a run to look for the others.

  Raylan ended up looking for Harwin, Kevhin and Galen by himself to ask for their help in moving the chest to the wagons. Xi’Lao thought it was better if she reported their findings to Gavin straightaway. With the stolen item located, even if it was in a surprising state, the written report was quickly completed. Gavin chose to leave out the surprising state of the egg, but added some details on their stone warrior encounter. The pigeon was sent off with the news for the king.

  Before leaving on their assignment, it had been agreed that any news received by the king on the expedition would be forwarded to the Tiankong Empire immediately, for which Xi’Lao had left behind the Empire’s own bred homing pigeons. She said these pigeons could outfly almost any bird, but it could still take up to a week before that news reached all the way to the Empire.

  After moving the chest toward the wagons, Raylan restocked the inside with firewood, much to the amusement of Harwin, Kevhin and Galen who wondered why he went to so much trouble to bring firewood with them. But just when they started questioning him about what they saw inside the chest, they heard Peadar—who was on lookout—shout that Richard was approaching.

  As the four of them joined Gavin and the others, Richard rode up to where they gathered and dismounted. His horse stood restless from the sudden inactivity, scraping its right leg along the ground. Shaking its head, Richard gave a small pet on its neck, before handing the reins to Peadar and joining the encircled group.

  Kevhin threw him a water bag, which he gladly opened, taking a big gulp of cold water.

  “What did you find?” Gavin asked.

  Looking at his brother, Raylan was glad to see a morning of rest had done him good. Gavin seemed more aware, and gathering his thoughts before he spoke seemed to be less difficult. His eyes were clearer, although he still kept them closed from time to time when it seemed he was plagued by a sudden headache.

  “Nothing dangerous.”

  The words were ushered between two gulps of water. He closed the water bag and passed it back to Kevhin.

  “Thanks,” said Richard, before he continued, “I rode
out toward the east at a good speed for quite some time. Getting to the edge of this larger clearing, I spotted what looked like a path traveled sporadically. Following it through the needle forest, I made good time and rode a good distance.

  “The path seemed to go straight east, passing a number of smaller clearings and staying level most of the time. I didn’t see any humans, settlements or even animals. I was debating whether to turn back or not, when I found myself at the top of a large slope providing some oversight of the land to the east. The path ran down into a valley going east, while the mountain ranges to the north formed a natural barrier for as far as I saw, uninviting as ever. It was difficult to spot anything after that, as a number of valleys rose up and obstructed the view. I believe I saw chimney smoke rise from the second valley, but it was too far to go and check out, and I didn’t wish to risk being discovered. The path seemed to fork into another direction at some point, heading more south. I didn’t see the split in the path myself, but I saw a second path winding south at the bottom of the slope; so, I reckon both paths met up just out of sight from where I stood. The path southward looked less traveled but still wide enough for a wagon to travel on.”

  “Good,” Gavin mentioned. “We should be nearly done here. We recovered the item successfully. The wagon is loaded up with all the food we could find in the camp, and we have six extra horses to pull the wagon, in turns. They’re not in the best condition, as they look underfed. I imagine they had as much trouble as we did finding food for the horses, but the rotation should make it easier to travel constantly with the wagon.”

  “I see Ca’lek coming. It looks like he is in a hurry.”

  The entire squad looked up to Peadar, who had climbed back up to his high lookout point to keep an eye on the surroundings.