by A. D. Adams
“I walked to the edge of the mountains; there I found a difficult, but passable, path around the lake edge. As for this village, I swam around the back. I found that a panel in the wood wall was broken, so I came in.”
“You crushed it,” Fienna laughed in Terra's mind for she was listening through their mental connection.
“I know, but they don't need to know how I got in,” Terra thought to Fienna.
They allowed Terra to stay in a small room in the back of the cave. He could not sleep. The room was too small and it smelled strange. Hopefully, he would find out at sunrise who he would be dealing with. Perhaps, they would be honest and decent humans.
Chapter 13 - Meeting the Draman
(The future is sometimes hard to recognize.)
- The Time of the Draman -
Rammy decided to go to Southlake first; it was a bit closer. She also knew that Rubbo was going to pick up a couple from Southlake and bring them to the gorge caves. They were the last of the founding families of village and would be a good addition to the guard.
She got on the runner beast and made her way to the southern cave exit. She rode at a trot so to not tire out her ride. She made a dark sleeping area and rested her beast for part of the sunset. Before sun-rising, she started off so she could be at the meeting location by high sun the next sun-rising.
Terra and the young couple were waiting when a tapping started at the cave entrance. Kinda opened the panel and there stood a human male a bit shorter than Kinda. He was small, but bulky. He was almost as wide as Terra. He had no hair on his head, but a thick black beard covered his face. When he walked in, he looked up at Terra and backed up a bit.
“Who the blaze is this?” the man said.
“I am Terra, a stranger here. Who are you?” Terra said to the little human.
“I am Rubbo. Why is he here?”
Kinda told Rubbo the story of the sunset before. She asked Rubbo if Terra could go with them. Rubbo said he could come to the meeting place, beyond that, someone else would decide. They quietly moved down some side paths toward the wall of the village. They entered another small cave. The little human pushed a large piece of odd shaped wood to one side and a hole appeared under it. One at a time, they entered the hole. Terra went last. It was a bit tight for him, but he managed it. They crawled, perhaps two dragon lengths, and came out in a wooded area behind a large boulder. There were three large bags near the exit. They had brought them across a few sun-risings before. Rubbo, Jeno and Kinda each took a bag.
“We have to hurry, we must be at the meeting by high sun,” Rubbo said as he moved off through the woods.
Terra could see the path he was following. There were a series of small markings in the wood or on rocks. The couple was completely lost and Kinda was tiring fast. Terra took her bag, which seemed to weigh nothing. They reached a small stream and moved opposite to the water flow. They finally came to an area where the streamed formed a small pool. They had reached the meeting place.
They waited until slightly past high sun when a male and female arrived. As they walked around the pool, another female showed up on a runner beast. She was a large, powerfully built human female. She had several of the shinny sticks that the ones who killed the villagers tried to use on him. Rubbo went to greet this female and showed great respect for her. Terra had moved into the edge of the woods and sat quietly watching.
“Rammy, we were not expecting you,” Rubbo said.
“I wanted to tell you,” she stopped talking when she saw the huge man sitting by the woods.
“Who is that?” she asked, pointing at Terra.
Rubbo took some time explaining what had happened. As soon as Rammy heard the story, she knew this must be the man that the youth talked of. She could hardly believe that her search was over before it started. She saw he was dressed in the clothes of the northern planters. They were unique, weaved as a single upper or lower covering with no sewing. It took time and considerable skill to make them. The cloth was sought after, since it was made from nearly indestructible and waterproof fibers. The plants that the fibers came from were water plants that only grew in the far north.
Rubbo took Rammy to the young couple and introduced them. They then walked to Terra and he stood. Rammy rarely had to look up at a man, but this one was the tallest man she had ever come across. She always thought Rubbo looked like a tree stump, but this man looked like a tree trunk. His hugely powerful legs tied into his thick midsection, his chest flared out to large shoulders and his arms were as big as Rammy's legs. He smiled and gave off an air of calm gentleness, which surprised her. Most people avoided looking directly into others' eyes, but Rammy found that is where you found the spirit of a man. When she looked into this man's eyes, she seemed to be enveloped into a gentle and almost overwhelming power. She felt as if he was in her mind. It was as if he was reading her spirit. She broke eye contact and somehow knew she could trust this stranger.
“I am Rammy. I understand from Rubbo you need our help.”
“That depends on what kind of help you can offer.”
This surprised Rammy, most lone individuals would be glad of any help. “I assume you would like us to help you deal with the men that attacked your village.”
The man smiled. “The men that actually attacked the village have been dealt with. I will personally deal with those that controlled them. I need help with other things. The few that I have met so far would be of little assistance, for I need thousands.”
Rammy was taken aback by these words. “I need you to talk to my father, perhaps he can help you.”
“Fine, where is he?”
“It's a sun-rising ride from here. I don’t have an extra beast for you.”
“I can run, I need no beast.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Rammy had orders for Rubbo and he left shortly after the meeting. The young couple went off with the two humans that had arrived just before Rammy. Rammy prepared her beast as Terra sat under a tree watching.
“Are you ready?” Rammy asked.
“Yes.”
Rammy started off at a trot; she thought he would get tired quickly and ask to stop. Terra trotted alongside the beast with little effort. By mid-sun Rammy was amazed that this man seemed as fresh and strong as when they started, whereas her beast was tiring. Something was bothering her, though she could not understand what. They came to a barren valley that caused the beast’s steps to echo through the rocks. She suddenly realized that there was no echo from this huge man. He moved in complete silence. The silence was almost frightening; she could not understand how he did this.
They stopped at sunset. The beast was dead tired and most of her muscles ached. Terra seemed quite ready to continue until the next sun-rising; he was unbelievable. They established a dark sleeping area and Rammy slept until just before sunrise. She found Terra sitting under a tree looking at the stars. She walked up to him and gave him some of the dried food she carried.
“Who are you?” she asked the big man.
“I am a human looking for peace and time to be with my mate,” Terra said, biting into a dried sweet fruit.
“You talk oddly. It's as if you were not raised by people.”
“You would not believe who raised me. Perhaps we should be leaving.”
“Yes, of course,” Rammy prepared her beast and they continued their journey.
As they approached the gorge, Rammy asked Terra to allow her to blindfold him. Only members of the Guards could know the entrance. Shortly after he was blindfolded, Rammy led him to an ancient landslide near the gorge. It was high sun as Rammy led Terra into the cave opening. Two men stood guard and greeted her as she entered. One of the men took the beast and led it off as Rammy removed Terra's blindfold.
Terra saw the dark cave and allowed her to lead him through a series of tunnels. He could see that there were a series of intertwined man made tunnels. Some openings had closed hinged wood panels. Rammy came to a panel,
which she then opened. Terra had to stoop over to enter through the panel and into a large cave. He did not recognize many of the fashioned wooden objects in the room. He did know what a chair and table were from his mother's cave, but the rest made no sense to him. He was raised by dragons and they had no furniture.
“I'll be back shortly, please sit down,” Rammy said as she walked through an opening in the far wall.
Terra looked around and found the objects in the room interesting, but odd and unnecessary. Dragon caves needed none of this to be comfortable.
Rammy returned and asked Terra to follow her into the cave beyond the opening. There was a large opening in the far wall that showed the waterfall. An older human male stood behind an odd looking table to the left of the opening. He walked around the table with a painful looking limp and leaned on the table.
“This is my father, Naron. He may be able to help you. Father, this is Terra.”
“I understand you want a significant number of us to help you.” Naron said.
“Yes, there is a great fight coming.”
“You need fighters,” Naron said in a questioning tone.
“As you say, I need fighters and more.”
“More?” Rammy asked.
“Much more, do you have organized human fighters?”
“Well, let’s first talk about why you need this group of fighters and much more,” Naron said.
“This world is dying. I plan to go to the other side of the mountains and deal with whatever is killing it. Helping me will benefit you. Not helping… well, let’s just say that you won't be in my favor, which I assure you is not a good place to be.”
“First, how do you know Tone is dying? Second, do you have any idea how difficult it will be to do what you suggest?”
“Tone herself has told me she is dying. I assure you that you have no idea what my companions and I are capable of. As for the difficulty, it must be done or we all will die. You must have noticed the changes in the world, the difficulty of growing food and fewer prey beasts to kill.”
Naron was surprised. This man was suggesting the world was a living being. For a moment, he was not sure what to say to this.
“You say Tone, this world, talked to you.”
“Yes, several times,” the man said without any dishonesty in his manner or voice.
Naron was taken aback by this. The idea that Tone was sentient never occurred to him. This man was correct though, the planters were having trouble growing food and the prey beasts were fewer each set of seasons.
“I am having trouble believing you. I do not know you and you are asking for the possible death of thousands to accomplish something that may be impossible.”
“Perhaps, if I heal your leg, that will help you trust me a bit more.”
“Many healers have tried to help me; at best they only relieve the pain slightly. The wooden shaft that hit my leg did a great deal of damage and healers have only so much power. On top of that, only women have the healer's power.”
“If I fail, you have proof I was lying to you, but if I succeed you may find me more believable.”
“Alright, try.”
“First, tell me of this wooden shaft.”
“It's a straight wooden shaft with a shaped pointed rock fixed to the end. It is thrown by a piece of wood with a vine strung between the ends. Why do you not know this?”
“I have seen such things, but my family called them by different names.” The dragons called them pain sticks. They could not penetrate the dragon scales, but they could pierce the thin membrane of the wings. The wounds were not dangerous to the dragons, just painful until they healed.
Terra walked to the man, he knelt down and placed his hand on the his leg. Then, his hand began to glow a light orange color. Naron felt a slight warmth spread through his leg and then the pain was gone. This was the first time since he had received the wound that he felt no pain. Then he could feel his muscles twitching and moving. As he looked down, the covering over his leg was glowing orange. He also somehow knew that this man was a truly kind and gentle being. How he knew this, he had no idea. Terra removed his hand and stood up. For the first time in twenty sets of seasons, the pain was gone and his limp had disappeared as he walked around the cave.
He reached down and tore the leg cover up the seam and where once was a long ugly scar there was now a series of white lines. He flexed his leg and it was as if he had never been wounded. His daughter knelt down and was amazed at the total healing of her father's wound that had plagued him for most of her life.
“What are you?” she said, as she looked up at Terra.
“A man with a bit of healing power.”
“No one has that kind of power. Not the three sisters nor any healer I have ever seen,” Rammy said to the man.
“I do and always have had the power.”
“Why has no one ever seen or heard of you before now?” Naron asked.
“My family stays to itself. I need to know if you will help me or not. I wish to go home and start my preparations.”
“I must discuss this with others, before I make such a decision,” Naron told the man.
“When will these two villages fight each other?” Terra asked.
“Within a few sun-risings. Their floaters are ready. Both will launch them toward each other. They will meet, hopefully, in the middle of the lake.”
“I assume the floaters are those platforms in the water.”
“Yes,” said Naron.
“How did you arrange that they both would attack each other at the same time?”
“How did you know we arranged it?” Naron asked, no longer surprise at the information this man possessed.
“Groups do not magically prepare to fight at the exact same time. What will happen when one side destroys the other?” Rammy and Naron looked at each other.
“The boats will not return. They have been rigged to sink when they get near the center of the lake,” Naron said.
“Clever solution. I assume you will then take over the villages?”
“Well, yes. We planned to deal with Southlake first,” Naron said.
“Well, perhaps I can deal with the other village, if you join me.”
“The sisters’ magic is strong within Solana,” Rammy said.
“I assure you, they are not strong enough. You say you must talk to others before answering me. I need to do a few things and can come back in seven sun-risings. Can you give me an answer then?”
“Yes, Rammy will take you to the cave exit,” Naron said.
“No, thank you, I will leave from here,” he said as he walked to the ledge overlooking the waterfall. He turned toward the falls. The two watched in surprise as the big man quickly removed his clothes and stuffed them into his bag. He turned and stood in front of them naked. For the first time, they saw the amulet merged into the skin of his chest. Naron recognized it as the amulet of Tycarr. It was round with nine spokes about half the size of a man's palm. At the end of each spoke was a colored jewel. They could see eight of the jewels were shining bright but the ninth was not yet lit.
“I will meet you at the entrance to these caves,” Terra said as he stepped off the ledge.
Both Rammy and Naron ran to the ledge and looked over. At the base of the waterfall, mist collected into a great cloud. They watched and saw a disturbance in the mist. Then, from the cloud, a glistening white dragon rose. It was the dragon that had previously flown up the gorge and sat on the edge of the falls. The great wings drove the dragon up the side of the gorge. When it reached their ledge, the great head turned toward them and said, “seven sun-risings,” in a voice that shook the walls of the cave. The voice was of the man that had just been standing before them. They could see the amulet within the dragon's chest. The great dragon then flew up and over the falls.
“The Draman, half dragon, half man,” Naron said to Rammy.
Chapter 14 - Old Friends
(Giving good news to an old friend is always a joy.)
- The Time of the Draman -
The Old Sinut returned to his underwater cave. He was glad to have his tail back. When he was younger, it did not bother him to go ashore and have his tail change to legs. As he got older, it just started to be more uncomfortable, and standing caused him back pain. All sea nymphs had the one bit of magic that allowed them to change their tails to legs. The young ones found it to be a fascinating process and loved to do it often.
The Sinut rested for a while, letting his back soreness ease. He floated over to a large bowl filled with a heavy black liquid that mirrored him and the cave back to his eyes. He passed his hand across the bowl and said the ancient words that allowed him to see across the world. A picture formed of a bleak landscape with a great stone wall, fifty man-lengths high and five man-lengths thick. No gate appeared in it, only small defensive holes. Behind the wall was a long green box valley surrounded by some of the highest mountains on Tone. At the far end of the valley, a great landslide had filled the only exit.
He watched the view pass over the top of the stone wall. The view then concentrated on a small dwelling at the base of the wall. It finally passed through the dwelling’s main opening and into a small room. The Sinut could see an old one sitting in front of a small fire covered by a large piece of thick, warm-looking cloth. The Sinut said a few more words and his ghostly image formed above the old one's fire. Then, he looked up at the floating figure.
“It has been some time since you have come to me,” the old one said.
“The Draman has started his journey.”
“Finally, we have little time. My powers are failing,” the old one said in a tired voice.
“He wants to know if you will help once he starts this fight,” the Sinut said, as the old one laughed.
“I take it you told him about us?”
“Yes, of course. He will want to know how to get to you and how many nymphs can join him.”
