by D K Drake
“Then let’s get them tied up and moved to the storehouse.” Micah used the string that held the bushel of humminglos together to tie the soldier’s hands behind his back and tossed the man over his shoulder. As he carried the man to the storehouse, he decided he was never going to underestimate Taliya again.
◊◊◊
The flurry of action from shooting the soldiers, retrieving her darts, and delivering the antidote had Taliya’s blood pumping and mind racing. She wanted to dance to celebrate the victory but needed to transition to a state of calm concentration as she stood on the portal she had only read about and studied endlessly in books.
She felt smaller than usual in the middle of the giant white portal made entirely of Dawn Stalker scales. She also felt a sense of awe knowing this circle had the power to take her anywhere in the Great Rift she wanted to go. The trick was figuring out where the openings were hidden while Javan, Micah, and the entire crew of the Iria stood all around the portal staring at her.
Lydia must have noticed that Taliya wasn’t sure she knew what she was doing because she crossed her arms and asked, “Are you certain this portal connects to Tulkar? We’ve never been able to transport to anywhere except Zandador as long as I’ve been alive.”
“I’m sure,” Taliya said. Maybe talking through her book knowledge would help her come up with a solution. “Every portal in the Zandadorian system is interconnected. The first king of Zandador built the portals so that anyone could go anywhere in the Great Rift whenever they wanted to travel. Most of the population lived in Zandador, so four portals exist in Zandador, two here in Keckrick, and only one in the remaining regions because fewer people wanted to live in those places.”
“Nice history lesson,” Lydia said, “but can we get to Tulkar already? We’re want to go home.”
“Right. Of course. And to do that, we have to find the slot that will take you there.” Taliya closed her eyes and pictured a fully-operational portal she had seen in one of her books. She could envision ten outer links but knew that the link for Xyies at the very top of the circle was a dead link. The other two links on the top half led to Gibbet and Tirza, two of the regions north of the Land of Zandador.
The two links to the left and right of the middle slot where she stood led to west and east Zandador. That left five links on the bottom half of the circle. The two on the left side connected to Upper and Lower Keckrick, the one furthest south connected to the Land of No Return, and the two on the right side connected to a town in the middle of South Zandador as well as a city in the middle of the region of Varzack.
She opened her eyes, faced the bottom half of the portal, and studied the circle. The one visible link on the outer edge of the portal coincided with the Nahat slot in Upper Keckrick. Somewhere between it and the bottom half of the circle was the slot for Tulkar.
“I know what to do.” Taliya walked to the southern end of the portal, dropped to her knees, and felt the scales. She talked as she let her fingers search. “The portal is constructed of seven-year dawn scales that feel cool and smooth to the touch. The way Omri blocked access to the other portals was by filling the open slots with slish, a white substance that hardens over time and resembles a dragon scale. But it has a slight roughness to it and no sense of coolness.”
“Okay.” Javan followed her and dropped to his hands and knees beside Taliya. “We’re feeling for a rough patch somewhere in this vicinity?”
“Exactly.”
Less than a minute later, Javan declared, “I found it!”
“Really? Let me feel.” Taliya bumped Javan out of the way and put her hand where Javan’s had been. Sure enough, the surface looked exactly like the scales around it but felt bumpy. “That’s it. Now all we have to do is find the Tulkar link.”
“I thought I just did.”
“Not quite. This is the link to the Land of No Return. I wanted to find this one first because the link to Tulkar is halfway between here and the already open slot for Nahat.” She pulled Javan to his feet and positioned him on top of the slish-filled slot. “You stay put to help me figure out where the halfway point is located.”
She stepped back toward the middle of the circle, approximated the midpoint between Javan and the Nahat slot, and skipped to it. “This has to be it.” She squatted and let her fingers dance all over the area. Sure enough, they encountered a slightly rough patch among the otherwise smooth scales. “Ha! I found it!”
When Javan didn’t say anything, she looked up to see his face contorted into a strange, pensive look as he kept his eyes locked on the slot that would lead to the Land of No Return. Why would he care about that place? No one did. That’s why it was called the Land of No Return. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” Javan shook his head. “Let’s just find the slot for Tulkar and get on with the day.”
“Umm…I just said I found it. It’s right here.”
“Oh. Right. Good.” Javan had clearly jumped to a different place in his head and was in no mood to share his secrets.
To keep herself from asking questions to discover what had Javan preoccupied, she turned her attention to the newest problem—the slish. How was she supposed to get the slish out of the slot without damaging the portal?
Chapter 14
Portal Travels
Javan stared at the slot at his foot. It led to the Land of No Return, the region Omri had banned his father to before Javan was born. What if his father was still alive? This portal could take him to find out, and the sword on his hip could help them both return.
“Javan.” Taliya waved her hand in front of his face and snapped her fingers a few times. “Javan, did you hear me?”
“What?” Javan shook himself out of his self-induced trance and noticed in the dim light of the setting sun that everyone except Micah had shifted to the right side of the portal, leaving Micah as the only one standing in the city square on the left side of the portal. Why the shift, and how had he missed all the commotion that must have accompanied the brief migration? “What’s going on?”
“You seriously didn’t hear anything I just said?”
“No.” Javan scratched his head. “Nothing. My mind was elsewhere.”
“That I believe.” Taliya led him off the portal to where Micah stood. “We have to get the slish out of the slot to make the portal work.”
“Yeah. We have to get that slish out of the slot.” Javan suppressed a smile. Something about that phrase was funny, but he didn’t dare laugh when Taliya sounded so serious. “What are we going to do about that?”
“We don’t have time to chip away at it with a chisel,” Micah said, “but a drop of Kisa’s acid will eat through it in seconds.”
“Say what?” Javan’s eyes widened. “You want to play with a dragon’s acid? Won’t it destroy the whole portal if we try that?”
“No.” Taliya shook her head. “The slish is a hardened rock that won’t be able to resist the acid, but the acid shouldn’t affect the scales surrounding the slish.”
“Shouldn’t? Are you sure?”
“Sure enough to try.” Taliya blew her Kisa-summoning whistle. A moment later, the boards of the bridge rattled as Kisa and Mertzer stampeded over it, charged across the open square, and stopped side by side in front of the trio.
Finally, Kisa said. Javan had to concentrate to hear her thoughts over the gasps and whispers of the crowd. I am ready to get out of this dirty place. Whom shall I teleport to Zandador first?
Relax, Varjiek said, making his appearance known as he landed beside Kisa. Nobody is leaving yet. The humans need something from you first.
Of course. Kisa strutted to the center of the portal and held her head and tail high. They want to admire my beauty.
“What is she doing?” Taliya whispered to Javan.
“She thinks you called her here to let everyone admire her beauty.”
That’s not why I’m here? Kisa turned and lowered her head so her eyes stared into Javan’s. People don’t want to
admire me?
“Yes, they do. And they are.” Javan gulped as he felt the heat emanating from the flared nostrils of the dragon. “We also called you here because we need a touch of your acid to make the portal work.”
Kisa cocked her head. Now you want to make the portal work? I thought you took my scales so you could break the portal?
“That’s true, but before we break it, we need to open some of the closed slots. That way we can send our friends back to Tulkar and us to a strategic place in Zandador that you haven’t been to before.”
“Kisa,” Taliya said, leaning down and sprinkling dirt on the Tulkar slot, “think of this as your very first opportunity to show off in front of hundreds of humans. If you put one little drop of your spit right here, I can guarantee this crowd will clap and cheer for you when your acid dissolves the slish.”
It would be nice to be recognized for both my beauty and my power.
You won’t be recognized for anything if you don’t act soon, Mertzer said. I’m sure I can claw out whatever is closing up those slots just as well as your acid can dissolve it.
“Interesting proposal,” Javan said, looking at Kisa. “Are you going to let Mertzer be the hero here?”
Kisa snorted. Out of my way.
“Gladly.” Javan backed off the portal along with Taliya.
Kisa wiggled her body, cleared her throat, and hovered her snout over the Tulkar slot. She then let a large dollop of acidy spit drop off the pointed end of her long, pink tongue.
The acid made no sound as it spread itself over the slish, eating away at it layer by layer. In a matter of seconds, a perfectly shaped triangle slot appeared amidst the scales of the portal.
“Oh good,” Taliya said, breathing an obvious sigh of relief. “It only ate the slish and not the scales.”
“I thought you were sure it wouldn’t.”
“I said I was sure enough to try, which meant I was only about ten percent sure the plan would work.” Taliya shrugged and smiled. “Sometimes risks pay off.”
Javan shook his head at Taliya’s bravery. He preferred to be at least ninety percent sure his plans would work before taking action. What had he missed out on or not accomplished because he had been too uncertain of the results to even try?
My cheers, Kisa said, her nose once again stuck high in the air. Where are my cheers?
“They’re coming,” Javan said, thankful for a reason to not dwell on the answers to the question he had just asked himself. He walked across the portal and encouraged the crowd to cheer for his acid-spitting Dawn Stalker.
◊◊◊
While Kisa strutted through the crowd and let the people gawk at her imposing figure, Taliya took one of Kisa’s scales from Javan and handed it to Lydia. “As soon as you return to Tulkar, put this scale in one of the open slots on the portal. Keep that scale in the slot until Javan returns. Don’t reopen the portal unless you are prepared to contend with Omri’s dragons.”
“Understood.” Lydia nodded and focused on Javan. “You realize this will cut us off from the rest of the world. We’re depending on you to win the throne and re-establish trade between all the regions of the Great Rift. Otherwise we will become a forgotten society with no hope for progress.”
“Then I guess I’ll just have to win.”
“Good answer.” Lydia offered Javan a nod and hugged Taliya. “It has been a privilege traveling with you. We will forever be in your debt for the humminglo flowers you sacrificed to keep Keckrick safe.”
“Thank you.” To keep herself from crying at the prospect of saying farewell, Taliya stepped back. “You better go. The longer we delay, the less likely we are to succeed.”
“Right.” Lydia held up Kisa’s scale and drew her sword. “Crew, let’s say our goodbyes and head home. A fight with some unwelcome soldiers awaits!”
In a flurry of handshakes and hugs, the crew of the Iria bid farewell to Taliya, Javan, and Micah and wished them well in their endeavor to defeat Omri. As the trio watched from the grass, Cyr put an activation scale in the Nahat slot, and Andre put one in the newly uncovered Tulkar slot.
After a slight delay, the portal burst to life and whisked the crew away. Once the whirling flurry of colors dissipated, Taliya immediately began searching for the Dusk slot by starting in the center of the portal and walking directly east. It only took her a few moments to locate the slish-filled slot, and when she did, she whistled for Kisa.
The dragon seemed to sulk her way back to the portal and did not look happy about being taken away from her walk of fame. “Sorry to cut the party short,” Taliya said, “but we need one more drop of that acid, girl. This time it’s our turn to travel.”
◊◊◊
Micah stood transfixed by the events he had just witnessed and taken part in. How did Javan and Taliya get Kisa to do exactly what they wanted her to do without demanding she obey their every word? Reasoning with dragons rather than ordering them around like slaves was still a curious concept for him to grasp.
Then came the goodbyes. Real handshakes from genuine friends he would actually miss made his heart hurt. This, too, was a new concept. Never before had he parted from people he wanted to be around who wanted to be around him. He was used to being treated harshly by his mentors or feared by everyone else. As a result, he knew how to keep his distance from people, not live as a friend among them.
As he watched his friends disappear in the cloud of colors produced by the portal, he found himself questioning the sanity of letting himself experience the human emotions involved in friendship he had been trained his whole life to ignore. Watching the people he had come to care about leave was much too painful.
Not everyone left, though. Javan and Taliya remained. Were they his friends, or were they just three people working together toward a common goal? Could a Hunter really be friends with a Collector and a Protector?
Friends or not, they were going to be stuck together for a while, so he might as well make the best of the situation. It sure beat being alone. “How much longer, Taliya?” He approached her on the portal while she studied the acid eating away at the slish. “Every minute we wait brings us one minute closer to an attack by Omri, especially after he realizes the Tulkar portal no longer works. These people are not prepared to defend themselves.”
“It’s hard to tell now that it’s getting darker, but I think the slish is gone. Micah, you, Kisa, and I better go.”
“Wait,” Micah said. “Just me, you, and Kisa? What about Mertzer? I’m not leaving without him.”
“The portal is only big enough to send one dragon through at a time, and we only have one more set of activation scales that we took from the soldiers. We can send Kisa back for Mertzer once we get there.”
“Correction. You can send Kisa back for me and Mertzer as soon as you get there.” Micah marched over to his dragon and climbed on. “I’m not leaving without him.”
“But that means Taliya will be left alone in Zandador,” Javan said.
Micah hadn’t thought of that. Was it more important for Micah to wait with his dragon or travel ahead with his friend?
“I’m a big girl,” Taliya said, nudging Javan off the portal. “I can take care of myself, and you need to take care of business here. Are you sure you know what to do as soon as the portal resets?”
Javan held up one of the scales he had taken off Kisa that afternoon. “Put this in an open slot and wait for Kisa to return.”
“Exactly.” Taliya took two scales out of her bag and waved Kisa onto the portal. “I’ll see you all in a few minutes.”
She put one scale in the Nahat slot, and as she walked under Kisa’s body to get to the Dusk slot, Micah found himself yelling, “Stop! Wait for me.” He slid off Mertzer and ran onto the portal.
“You don’t have to come with me,” Taliya said. “I’ll be fine.”
“So will Mertzer. I’m ready to get out of this life-sucking humidity and return to Zandador.” To prevent her from arguing, he took the second sca
le out of Taliya’s hand and placed it in the Dusk slot.
The portal whirled and shook and blinded him with its brilliant colors. The last thing he remembered seeing was the look of sheer excitement on Taliya’s face as the colors swallowed them up and transported them to the Land of Zandador.
Chapter 15
Waiting for Javan
Ididn’t expect Micah to leave with Taliya, Mertzer said. Good for him. I think I’m starting to like the man who made me his slave.
Javan ignored the dragon’s observation and kept his gaze focused straight ahead. He tried to blink away the image of Taliya leaving in a flurry of colors with Micah, but it would be forever burned on his brain.
Why did he care? She was just a Dragon Protector who had agreed to help him collect two more dragons. He shouldn’t be jealous of her leaving without him and being alone with Micah. Besides, he’s the one who told Micah to go with her. Which in hindsight was foolish. He should have gone and let Micah stay to disable the portal.
Javan, Varjiek said, floating in a lazy circle above the city square, wouldn’t now be a good time to do something with that scale in your hand?
Varjiek’s words snapped Javan out of his stupor, and he stepped toward the portal. But it activated before he reached it.
“Oh, this isn’t good.”
And it wasn’t. The figures of several dozen soldiers appeared as the cloud of colors faded.
Javan did the only thing he could think of in the moment. He drew his invisibility sword and charged the portal.
◊◊◊
“Amazing!” Taliya’s insides felt like they had been shaken, scrambled, and rearranged, but she considered that part of the thrill of portal travel. She now found herself on the eastern coast of Zandador at the time of night when the moon had just taken over full control of the sky.
