by D K Drake
“First of all, I am a Dragon Protector. My job is to protect Kisa, not you,” Taliya said. “Second, you’re on your own. I’m not leading you anywhere.”
“Good,” Javan said, joining them. He sounded angry. “Mertzer is better off without him. My dragon, however, is so loyal to me that I am sure he is already out searching for me.”
“And who are you?” Taliya asked.
“I guess we never were properly introduced.” Javan offered his hand to the girl. “I’m Javan, a Dragon Collector.”
Micah noticed a strange look of shock and recognition flash across Taliya’s suddenly pale face as she ignored his hand. When she finally spoke, her voice squeaked. “You said your name is what? And you’re a Dragon what?”
“Javan. Dragon Collector.” He dropped his hand and looked at Micah. “She probably can’t lead us anywhere, because she doesn’t know where we are or how to get us back to where we were.”
Micah studied the speechless Taliya. “You’re probably right. She’s just as lost as we are.”
“I know exactly where we are.” Color rushed back into her cheeks as anger overcame her shock. She brushed some ferns out of the way and began drawing a curved line in the dirt with a dagger she pulled from her boot. “This is the canyon that separates Keckrick from Varzack to the east and the Land of No Return to the south.”
The line started in the top right corner of her map area and ended in the bottom left corner. “Judging by the section of the canyon we almost landed in, we are here.” She put an X near the curve in the bottom right corner. “We came from here.”
She added another X in the top left corner far away from the canyon.
“Great,” Javan said. “All we need to do is travel northwest on foot across an entire country to get back to our dragons.”
“If only it were that simple,” Taliya said. She drew two horizontal lines across the map so Keckrick was divided into three distinct regions. “To get to my home, you have to go through this middle region of Keckrick known as the Dark Zone. Nobody lives here because it’s uninhabitable. Very few people travel through here, because if you go in, you usually don’t come out alive.”
“Why?” Micah asked. “What makes it dangerous?” He figured if he knew the dangers, he would have no trouble overcoming them.
“The rainstorms. The soggy ground. The abundance of man-eating animals. The lack of plants that are safe for humans to eat. The worst part is the darkness.”
“The darkness?”
“Yes. The canopy created by the trees and ivy is so thick that very little light gets through. You lose all sense of direction and time and generally go insane…unless a storm sweeps you away, the ground sucks you in, or an animal tears you limb from limb.”
“So I’ll fly over it.” Micah began surveying the area. “Where can I find an okty?”
“You are a funny man.” Taliya poked Micah in the chest with her dagger. “We don’t have okties here. Your father doesn’t allow us the luxury of air travel in Keckrick. The only way we get places is by walking or by floating on water.”
“Okay.” Micah pushed Taliya’s knife away from him. “Is there a river that will get me through this Dark Zone?”
“Indeed there is,” Taliya said. “But you can’t just slap a raft on it and float where you want to go. You need a boat. A big boat. One that can withstand the storms. Do you, oh great and mighty Micah, have a boat?”
Javan busted out laughing, and Micah balled his fists to keep from slapping the insolent girl. “You know I don’t have a boat.”
“Then I suggest you build yourself a hut and learn to live off the land because this,” Taliya said, waving her arm around, “is your new home.” She put her dagger back in her boot and began walking into the woods.
Micah called after her. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to find someone who has a boat I can borrow.” She spun around and put her hand over her dart gun on her side holster. “If either of you try to follow me, I will shoot you with a poison dart.”
“If we travel together,” Javan said, “our chances of getting through that Dark Zone alive increase significantly.”
“I like my chances just fine on my own.”
“So be it,” Micah said, “but you might not want to go that way.”
“Oh really?” She crossed her arms and cocked her head. “Why is that?”
“Because those spiders behind you don’t look very friendly.”
◊◊◊
Javan’s eyes widened at the sight of hundreds of peanut-sized black spiders that suddenly dropped by their webs from the trees above and dangled in the air behind Taliya. He had no idea if they were poisonous but wasn’t going to stick around to find out. “Run!”
Micah took off on a path to the right of the spiders. Taliya fell into step behind him, and Javan brought up the rear. They zigged and zagged around trees, hurdled rocks, and ran over slippery roots. The heat and humidity combined with the sprinting had Javan drenched from his own sweat within minutes.
The sweat didn’t bother him as much as the sound of the spiders swarming over the leaves and twigs and dirt behind him. They made such a racket that Javan glanced behind him. All he could see was a wide, pulsating cloud of blackness coming towards them. What kind of spiders chased people?
“They’re gonna catch us!” Javan yelled. “Run faster!”
The three picked up the pace and were right on each other’s heels when Micah said, “I see a clearing up ahead. We should be able to pick up our pace when we get out of these trees.”
“That’s not a clearing,” Taliya yelled, grabbing Micah with her left arm and reaching out her right arm to stop Javan from running any further. “That’s a cliff!”
They were all able to stop before toppling over the edge into the river forty feet below. As they stood there catching their breath, they turned their backs to the edge and watched the approaching spiders.
When they were about a hundred yards away, Javan asked, “Will those things kill us if they reach us?”
“It’ll take about ten or twelve bites,” Taliya said, “but considering the number of spiders here, that shouldn’t take long.”
“Then we should jump,” Micah said.
“Jump?” Javan looked at Micah. “Are you insane? We have no idea how deep that water is.”
“I’d rather take my chances with the water than wait to get eaten by spiders.”
“Me, too,” Taliya said.
The quick-moving spiders were only twenty yards away. “Fine,” Javan said. “Let’s jump.”
Just as the spiders were ready to crawl up their legs, the trio turned around, screamed, and leapt into the air.
Chapter 22
Cost of Survival
Desperate to get away from the spiders, Micah flailed his arms and kicked his legs as though running in mid-air to force his body as far away from the cliff as possible. Three frantic seconds later, he straightened his legs, anchored his arms by his sides, and braced for impact.
His legs smacked safely into the warm water, but the water burned as it rushed up his nose and into his ears. His dreadlocks wrapped around his face and made it impossible for him to see anything while the current pushed him down and forward.
He held his breath and scrambled against the current. His body flipped and swirled and spun in all kinds of directions. The more he swam, the less confident he became that he would ever reach the surface.
Air. He needed air. He had to breathe in air.
Where was the surface? Had he been swimming down instead of up?
He couldn’t die. Not yet. Not like this.
Would anyone care if he died? Would his father? Would he? Was there any kind of life after death?
Before any more disturbing questions had time to flash through his mind, his head popped to the surface. He coughed the water out of his lungs and replaced it with huge gulps of air.
Although his situation had improved, he still found himsel
f surging forward in the middle of the river. Not good. He had seen Taliya’s crude map and knew the only place this river could be headed was the deep, rugged canyon they barely avoided earlier.
Taliya and Javan must have realized the same thing. He saw their bobbing heads in front of him, and they were both trying to swim towards the left shoreline. They were closer to the shore than he was, but he wasn’t about to let them reach dry land first.
Inch by inch, he made it closer and closer to the bank. He didn’t like that he moved forward faster than he moved sideways, but his resolve to free himself from the water strengthened with each stroke.
Up ahead, he watched Javan reach for and miss a low-lying branch that stretched over the water from a sideways growing tree. Taliya made an attempt to grab it. She missed and continued floating downriver.
He intended to succeed where those two failed.
As he approached the branch, he surged his body upward and reached for it with both arms. His left hand slipped off a wet leaf, but his right hand wrapped securely around the sticky bark. “Haha! Got it!”
He swung his left hand back up and found a good grip. After taking a few deep breaths, he let go with his right hand, turned his body halfway around and re-gripped the branch one foot closer to the shore. Then he made the same move with his left hand.
By continuing the hand over hand movement, he eventually made his way to the shore and plopped himself safely on the dry, grassy land.
Survived. He survived. He survived the spiders. The fall. The water. He was invincible! But what about Javan and Taliya?
He looked downstream and didn’t see either one of them past the bend in the river. Could he be so lucky as to have both of them gone? With them out of the way, he had free access to both of their dragons.
Only he had no idea where the dragons were and needed the girl to take him back to her home. Javan, however, was expendable. It would be easier to capture Varjiek by killing Javan than it would be to hunt the dragon on his own, but he would prefer to take his chances with the dragon. Something about killing another human being who wasn’t trying to kill him just seemed wrong.
“Please still be alive.” Micah picked himself up, shook off what water he could, and ran along the bank of the river in search of the Collector and Protector.
◊◊◊
The fallen tree Javan and Taliya had smacked into was starting to crack. “Hurry!” Javan yelled into Taliya’s ear. His left shoulder touched her right shoulder, and they were about ten feet from land. “This thing is about to break.”
“I am aware. You don’t need to tell me what to do. I don’t like it when people tell me what to do.”
“I’m just trying to encourage you to move a little faster. Otherwise we’re gonna be sucked back into the river.”
“Stop yelling at me. I’m moving as fast as I can.”
Javan took a deep breath, bit his lip, and stared straight ahead while the water slammed into his back. Why was this girl being so difficult? He almost wanted to let go of the log just to get away from her. Then he noticed an insanely long, ridiculously round red snake slithering into the water.
Was it coming for them? Would some other creature get to them first?
“What have we here?” A dripping wet Micah crouched at the river’s edge by the roots of the tree Javan was clinging to. An unwelcome creature had gotten to them first after all.
“Great,” Javan said. “You’re alive.”
“Won’t be able to say that about you for much longer,” Micah said. “As for the little lady, it looks like could use some help. Again.”
“I am perfectly capable of getting out of this river on my own,” Taliya said, “but if you want to speed up the process by pulling me out, I guess I’ll let you.”
“The only way you’re getting my help now is if you help me get back to my dragon.”
The log creaked and jerked forward as the last of the snake’s body disappeared into the water. “Okay,” Taliya said. “Fine. I’ll take you there. Just get me out of this river.”
“Gladly.” Micah reached out his hand, and Taliya grabbed the lifeline. Within seconds, he had her out of the water and safely by his side. That made three times in one day that Micah had rescued the damsel in distress. Javan found that hero role of Micah’s infuriating.
Another piece of the log snapped and sent Javan flying forward. He was now parallel to the land. And closer to the snake. “My turn.” Javan’s voice squeaked. He couldn’t believe he was asking Micah for help.
Instead of reaching out his hand, Micah leaned over the water and looked straight in Javan’s eyes. “Unfortunately, I need you dead so I can enslave your dragon. Father’s orders. You’re on your own.”
Javan’s heart went cold at the thought of Varjiek becoming Micah’s slave, but all he could do was cling to the log as he watched Micah smirk and walk back upstream.
“Hold on,” Taliya said. “We can’t just leave him there. You have to help him, too!”
“No.” Micah calmly walked to Taliya, took her by the arm and dragged her away with him. She didn’t go quietly, though.
“What’s wrong with you?” Javan could see her trying to break free from Micah’s grip as she protested on his behalf. “Get him out of the water. We’re going to need him to get through the Dark Zone. The more people we have, the better our chances of getting through there alive.”
If Micah responded, Javan didn’t hear what he said. Because Micah and Taliya were gone, leaving Javan alone. In a strange place. Hugging a breaking tree. Being battered by cold water. Unable to move or defend himself.
Something slimy and scaly brushed Javan’s leg. “Ahh! Snake!” That was all the incentive he needed to transition from victim to survivor. In one smooth motion, he hoisted his legs out of the water and onto the top of the log so that he was able to straddle the tree.
Without skipping a beat, he pulled himself to his feet and leapt to the land. The log couldn’t handle the pressure and broke off. It sailed downstream and seconds later was squeezed to splinters by the massive red snake that had entered the water minutes ago.
Not wanting to wait around for the snake to strangle him, Javan took off in the direction he saw Micah and Taliya go. He wasn’t about to leave her alone with Micah, and he certainly wasn’t going to let Micah cut off Varjiek’s tail.
He knew the hatred he felt toward Micah wasn’t healthy, but he let it eat at his heart, anyway. He had to make Micah pay for imprisoning Javan’s mother, capturing Mertzer, destroying Gri, and leaving Javan in the river to die.
◊◊◊
Micah wanted to stuff a sock in the girl’s mouth to keep her from saying another word as they searched for a place along the river’s edge to set up camp. Her constant chatter about his heartlessness and stupidity and evilness made his head hurt. He almost turned around to get Javan just to shut the girl up, but he knew it was too late. Javan was gone.
Omri would be proud of Micah for leaving Javan in the river. So why wasn’t Micah proud of himself? Why didn’t he go with his gut, reach out his hand, and help Javan? Why was capturing Varjiek more important than saving a man’s life?
Before he had a chance to ponder any more strange questions, something sharp dug into his back. He released Taliya and reached for his sword, but his hand didn’t quite touch the handle. Whatever had dug into his back made a low whirring noise and had him completely paralyzed. He could see and hear, but he couldn’t move or talk.
“It’s about time you let me go,” Taliya said. “If we hurry, we might still be able to save Javan.”
“No need,” Javan said. He walked up from behind and held his sword to Micah’s throat. “I managed to get out on my own. But I’m not about to let you take one more step toward Varjiek or Mertzer. Your days of dragon hunting are over.”
Micah was strangely relieved to see Javan alive but could tell by the hatred in his eyes that he was a more dangerous enemy than ever. Fortunately, Taliya recognized that as well and
inserted herself between Javan and Micah.
“Whoa.” Taliya pushed Javan back. “I’m going to berate you, but first I need to make sure I’m not going crazy. Do you hear some sort of whirring sound? I don’t know what animal makes that noise, so it’s making me kind of nervous.”
“You’re not crazy. I hit him with a stun ball.”
“A stun what?”
Javan picked an odd-shaped ball off his belt and held it up. It was sheer black with two rows of tiny white spikes. “When you throw it with the right spin, it activates the claws that attach to and paralyze the target.”
Micah thought stun balls were a myth. He had seen them before, but no one he knew or heard of had ever been able to throw them in a way that made them work. He found himself impressed and furious at the same time; he was impressed with Javan’s throwing skills yet furious that he had become a target. All he wanted to do was blink, but that ball in his back was forcing him to keep his eyelids open.
“Interesting.” Taliya handled the ball for a minute and returned it to Javan. “Now for the berating. I get that you two don’t like each other. I appreciate that because I don’t like either one of you. I’m not about to kill you, however, because I need your help and his help to get back home.”
“If I don’t kill him now,” Javan said, “he’s going to kill me as soon as that stun ball in his back stops stunning him. So move out of my way.”
“Do you want to see your dragon again?”
Micah saw Javan’s eyes soften at the mention of Varjiek. He cared about his dragon. Micah had never seen that kind of compassion for a beast in the eyes of his father.
“Of course,” Javan said. “But I won’t if I let Micah live.”
“Micah,” Taliya said, turning to him, “Javan is going to put his sword away and let you live. In return, you are going to play nice and not harm Javan in any way, shape or form as we travel from here back to my home. If you do attempt to hurt him, I will refuse to continue the journey, and you will never see your dragon again. Understood?”
