Windcatcher: Book I of the Stone War Chronicles

by A. J. Norfield

  Some nights ago, when Xi’Lao opened up a little about the dragon egg, she made it clear the importance this egg had for the world, or rather, how catastrophic it would be if it fell into the wrong hands. The historical information on dragons, led her to believe they were creatures of great power. Gavin gave her his word to defend the egg at all costs. This included keeping it out of enemy hands, even at the risk of losing the lives of everyone in their squad. Their task now solely consisted of getting the dragon’s egg back to Aeterra, where it could be kept safe until the king officially handed it over to the royal family of the Tiankong Empire.

  Peadar circled the wagon, nervously.

  “Come on Raylan. What are you waiting for? We have to keep going.”

  “But Gavin...” Raylan protested, as he could not turn his eyes away, no matter how much he wanted to.

  Fortunately, Galen did not hesitate to act. As the wolf snapped its jaws left and right of Gavin’s head, his brother dodged the incoming attacks as much as possible, using his swords to divert the razor-sharp teeth.

  Approaching from the flank, Galen came in swinging his war hammer low. Hitting the wolf just behind its foreleg, he used all his power and speed to push the wolf upward. Being pushed sideways on to three legs, the dark terror turned its head toward its sudden attacker, snapping its jaw at him.

  Grunting loudly, Galen pushed harder, his muscles bulging, straining under the weight of the stone wolf. His efforts were rewarded, as the movement of the wolf—and Galen’s forceful push—toppled the stone wolf onto its side. However, as it rolled over and lost its footing, its hind leg swapped Galen’s feet from under him.

  Raylan wanted to shout out a warning, but the words were unable to leave his throat, as the scene played out beyond his control. Losing his balance, Galen stumbled forward together with the wolf. In sheer horror, Raylan watched as the unlikely duo rolled over the edge of the stone arch. Both the living statue and the man disappeared into the dark chasm, on their way to meet the white, foaming, swirling waters at the bottom.

  Raylan saw his brother and Richard dash toward the edge, only to watch helplessly how their comrade disappeared into the depths.

  To make matters worse, the second stone wolf came flying through the air, landing heavily on their side of the now broken stone arch. This one completely ignored the men on the bridge and immediately started running toward the top of the path. It was going after the wagon.

  “Raylan, snap out of it. What are you waiting for? It must be coming after the egg. Go. Go. GO,” shouted Ca’lek, who was just reaching the top with the two spare horses in tow.

  Snapping back to his own troublesome situation, Raylan dropped onto his seat and whipped the reins to get the horses moving again.

  How the hell are we going to outrun this thing?

  Although the path sloped down again, it still followed the ravine. As the first trees swished past, the stone wolf all but overtook the wagon. Raylan tried his best to keep ahead of the dark creature, but the horses were near their end, and one of the wheels wobbled, dangerously unstable. At the same time, the wolf did not seem tired at all. It passed all the other people on the path, and came straight for the wagon.

  Trailing the wagon, it snapped its jaws at the back wheels. Harwin and Peadar tried to draw its attention, but their efforts went unrewarded. Ca’lek rode up front, shouting back to Raylan, in case the path did anything unexpected, and trying to keep Raylan informed about the wolf’s whereabouts. Raylan had no time to look for himself. The wagon pulled heavily in the turns as the weight of chest, fire wood, Stephen, and Regis’ remains shifted from side to side.

  Noticing that attacking the wheels did not do enough to stop the wagon, the wolf shifted to the side of the speeding vehicle. Its black shape ran so fast, it looked like its eyes were leaking, as the cold blue light seeped out of both sockets like smoke.

  Pulling away from the wagon slightly, the wolf suddenly slammed its full body weight into the side of it. Wood was heard cracking under the weight of the attack, but the wagon’s momentum prevented it from tipping over. Another two attempts did not do much either, the wagon’s weight worked in their favor, for once.

  “Rock left!”

  It was Ca’lek’s shout from the front, as a huge boulder was seen, lying on the path’s left side. Raylan carefully steered to his right, approaching dangerously close to the edge of the path. An idea sprang to his mind as he saw the boulder approach. Correcting the wagon’s course, he steered the wagon as narrowly past the boulder as possible. He figured if he was not able to squish the wolf between wagon and boulder, at least it would have to slow down, dropping back behind them.

  However, as the wolf noticed the obstacle, it did not slow down at all…it actually sped up.

  It was still not running at full speed?

  Coming up to the boulder, the wolf ran up the left side of the mountain slope and leaped to the top of the boulder. From there, it launched itself directly toward the wagon…there was no escape…

  For the second time since the conflict started, Raylan saw a wolf pass over his head like a dark shadow of death. There was nothing he could do as a chaos of fangs and claws threw itself directly on top of the horses. Crashing toward the ground, the legs of each of the horses snapped like twigs, and the entire wagon began to roll. Horses, wagon and cargo half somersaulted, half twisted off the path. A disarray of flesh, stone and wood crashed down the slope. Tree trunks and rocks rushed by. Raylan felt himself being thrown clear, barely missing a dead tree stump in midair. Slamming into the ground, he slid on his side into a stone boulder. With his heart pumping pure adrenaline, he jumped up at once, unaware of any injuries. He saw the remainder of the wagon continue its downward crash.

  The steep slope was littered with small boulders and trees; the ground was filled with the fallen needles of dead trees. It softened Raylan’s landing, but also made the ground a slippery slope all the way to the ravine’s edge. The wagon smashed into a large boulder, breaking in half with the sound of shattering wood and bending metal. The horses now seemed dead, as their limp bodies tumbled along the slope. Raylan heard the wolf growl, in anger, as it got tangled up in the reins and four pair of legs. Its heavy stone body was dragged along by the dead weight of the two horse carcasses and approached the edge of the ravine fast, but that did not concern Raylan in the least. Before he actually saw the wolf disappear over the edge, his focus was drawn to the fact that the back part of the wagon had split open upon the rock, throwing Stephen and the chest out of it. For a moment, he was confused by the bandaged person flying through the air, until his mind caught up to the fact that Regis’ remains had been in the back, too. Raylan already started moving as Stephen hit the ground next to his wrapped up comrade. The chest hit the ground almost at the same time, springing open because it lacked a proper lock. The dragon’s egg instantly launched out of the chest and started tumbling down the hill with incredible speed.

  NO!

  Sprinting down the slope, trying to make an impossible choice, Raylan felt despair rise inside of him. Save the egg or save his comrade? Both were on course to end up plummeting into the abyss. It seemed like it did not matter which he chose, as the distance was only increasing no matter how fast he tried to run down the slope.

  Later on, whenever he thought back on that moment, it was always a bit on the hazy side. The dragon’s egg picked up speed, tumbling down, bouncing off the ground for small moments at a time, until—or so Raylan believed—it skimmed off a dead branch lying on the ground. The change of course sent the egg flying directly into the thick trunk of a tree, where the egg shattered—instantly—from the sheer force of the impact. Raylan’s breath stopped in his throat; his eyes opened wide in a mixture of despair, terror and disbelief. As pieces of the egg’s shell flew past the trunk, he saw the dragon smash backward into the tree. Its body hit the wood with such force, pieces of bark flung into the air. Raylan saw its limbs, its head, and what he would later recognize as its wings, whi
pped around the trunk. It let out a high yelp on impact, before sliding to the ground. There it remained, still, at the foot of the tree.

  At the same time, Raylan noticed a large, blurred shape pass him. It turned out to be Harwin, who was forcing his horse on a suicide run down the slope, chasing after Stephen, who was still sliding toward his doom.

  Regis’ remains were the first to reach the end of the slope. Launching into the darkness of the ravine, its silent flight the only funeral it would ever receive.

  Stephen tried his best to slow down. He grasped at anything he could get his hands on, but ended up with nothing but loose needle leaves in his hands a dozen times. Unexpectedly, he reached the more rocky ground at the end of the slope. As the edge approached, he was only capable of preventing his premature exit from this world at the very last moment. Launching off the edge, his hands finally hooked onto a sturdy tree root, stopping his momentum just in time to be left dangling with nothing but air and raging water beneath him.

  As Raylan neared the spot where the dragon lay, he dropped to his knees from exhaustion. His head started to thump, making him feel a bit hazy, while he panted deeply from the run down the slope. He looked up and saw Ca’lek and Harwin, racing down toward the edge. Harwin, who was in front, turned his horse left as he approached the spot where Stephen held on for dear life. Jumping off at full speed, the veteran warrior slid to a halt, with his heels in the dirt, and dove forward on the rock with his arms stretched forward to grab Stephen…not a moment too late. As Harwin stretched out, the scout’s hands slipped from the root, only to be grabbed an instant later by Harwin’s iron grip. Grabbing hold of Harwin’s arms with bloodied hands, Stephen tried to pull himself up, only to come up short in strength. Ca’lek quickly jumped down from his horse to help Harwin pull his fellow scout up, allowing Stephen to climb back onto solid ground again.

  “Thanks,” said Stephen, meekly, as they waited for the color to return to the scout’s face.

  “I’ve been there, my friend. I know the difference a helping hand makes,” said Ca’lek, with a smile. Harwin just gave a short grunt and a soft pat on Stephen’s shoulder.

  Seeing that Stephen was saved, Raylan’s gaze returned to the young dragon at the bottom of the tree. Its body a pale yellow, it lay motionless between the roots of the tree. Wanting to approach it, Raylan tried to stand up but felt his head spin and his vision blur. As he brought his hand up, he felt his hair stick to his skin where the boulder apparently hit his head. He could not remember feeling any pain. Holding his hand in front of his face, it showed bright red blood. His trembling hand was the last thing he remembered, before all light and sound disappeared from his world, as he slumped forward onto the ground unconscious.

  Chapter 7

  Life

  “Too…early…”

  Who’s there?

  “Not…ready yet.”

  Ready for what?

  “It…hurts…”

  Where are you?

  Raylan found himself in a deep well. Too dark to see anything with only a small light at the top, where the opening of the well was. He could not remember getting there, or when he started climbing for that matter; but there he was, clinging to the wall, finding his footing by touch only, trying to climb toward the top.

  “It’s cold…”

  What’s cold?

  He could not pinpoint where the voice came from.

  Are you at the top of the well? You need to help me. I’m stuck down here.

  “I cannot…too weak. Need…you.”

  There was a buzzing in his ears as he climbed upward, and his head hurt like hell. He climbed another couple of steps.

  “I am…hungry. And cold…so cold.”

  “Hold on,” called out Raylan.

  He started to feel desperation flow through him. He forced himself to climb faster. The light came closer.

  “Get away from me. It hurts!”

  The sudden outburst echoed through the well. Raylan forced himself to climb even faster, disregarding the danger of slipping and falling. He did not know how, but he swore he felt the voice’s distress. It urged him onward…upward…toward the light.

  I’m getting closer. I’m almost there…

  “Hurry…”

  As Raylan finally reached the top, the light blinded him, for a moment. Slowly blinking a couple of times, the tree tops came into view, blurry before coming into focus. He lay on his back, staring up to the sky.

  “Easy now.”

  He looked sideways and saw Xi’Lao, sitting next to him.

  “Where…”

  Cutting him off, she said, “You are safe. You collapsed and blacked out. You hit your head pretty hard from what I can tell. Fortunately, we stopped the bleeding.”

  He held his hand to the side of his head, where the pain radiated. He lifted his head to find the dragon.

  Misinterpreting him, Xi’Lao quickly continued, “The stone wolf went over the edge. Stephen seems okay, for now. His hands are pretty raw, and he has quite a few black and blue spots. But, he is quite talkative. I am most concerned about his leg. It took another big hit and dirt has found its way into the wound.”

  “Where are you?”

  The voice in his head came at the same time he heard an unfamiliar animal sound not far from him. He bolted straight up. He could not quite place the small growl he heard, right away; but he instantly recognized the voice.

  Looking at the tree some feet away, he saw the dragon standing on its legs, shivering. Its sleek body gracefully curved. Nervously, it swayed its head back and forth at the people surrounding him. Those not injured—or not looking after Raylan—moved in on the dragon, as it awakened. The dragon snapped its jaws at whoever came too close, hissing and growling. Its head moved from left to right, trying to keep everyone in its line of sight. Its left wing hung strangely limp at its side. It did not look like it was able to move it.

  Getting to his feet, Raylan darted forward.

  “Stop it. Leave him alone. You’re frightening him!”

  “What? Him who? What are you talking about?” Gavin said.

  Raylan pushed Richard and Ca’lek, who had been closest to the dragon, away.

  “Back. Give him some room.”

  As he turned around, he crouched down.

  “Easy now…it’s me. I’m here.”

  The dragon turned toward him. It blinked slowly with its inner eyelids. Raylan stretched out his hand as slowly as he could. Still trembling from his battered head, he reached all the way out, letting his open hand hang, in midair, in front of the dragon’s head.

  “Careful, Raylan. It nearly took Peadar’s hand off when he tried that before,” said Richard.

  The dragon slowly stretched out its neck, as he limped one step closer. His head was sleek, with deep eye sockets in which the most beautiful eyes swirled around. It looked like the eye consisted of three smaller pupils, spinning around like sparkling vortexes. A tear, around the vortex, ran a small stream of black to the edge of the iris. The iris was a deep yellow. The color changed, slightly, as shades of gold and orange moved when the eye refocused. His neck was flexible, protected by a series of spikes, forming a flat collar that started at the jaws and went over the top of his head. The spikes had, what looked like, hardened skin stretched between them.

  His pale, yellow skin had scales cascading over each other. Differing in size, here and there, the scales covered most of his body, except for a softer belly area and the inside of his legs. He was about the size of a large street dog, if not for his long tail. The dragon could easily be picked up if one wanted, but one look at his mouth would make anyone reconsider. Two large fangs and a row of sharp-looking teeth lined his mouth; some showed even when his jaws were closed.

  Raylan held his breath as the creature inched closer. Halting just before him, the creature looked at Raylan, flicking his forked tongue through the air. For a moment, Raylan was afraid he had completely misjudged the situation…of course, the voice was not rea
l, and the feelings was just confusion from hitting his head. He was probably about to lose his hand to an unknown beast.

  His thoughts were interrupted, by a single gesture of complete acceptance and innocence, as the dragon stretched his neck forward and slid his head into the palm of Raylan’s hand. The dragon closed his eyes at the first touch of their skin. The feeling was indescribable as it rushed through Raylan in a tidal wave of warmth. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he felt the warmth go up his spine, arriving at his head. His surroundings brightened as he saw the sunlight increase in density. Colors became more vibrant, sounds became more intense.

  As the voice entered his head, clearer than it ever was before, he knew there would be no going back, nor would he ever want to.

  “You are mine, and I am yours. My name is Galirras.”

  The bond was made. He realized he would do anything to protect this creature. The connection felt like a multitude of love, although love was not the right word for it. It was different from love between humans; the word love was too limited to describe it. Love was fleeting, unnatural butterflies in your stomach. This feeling was rooted much deeper. It was as if this creature, this beautiful being, had always been a part of him, and he of it. Raylan could not imagine that it had ever been different, while clearly, the reality was that he had not even known about such a possibility this morning. It felt as natural as breathing air or moving your body without thinking. It was there in the world, and he had no choice but to accept it.

  “It is too early. I was waiting for you. What took you so long? I do not feel well.” The last words came out as a soft whimper.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t understand. I still don’t. Please, help me understand,” said Raylan. He moved closer to the dragon, putting an arm around him.

  “Who are you talking to?”

  It was Peadar, who moved closer, seeing that the potentially dangerous situation was disarmed when the dragon showed his acceptance of Raylan.