by D K Drake
◊◊◊
“This is a communication device?” Keeping a hold of the Destroyer’s arm with one hand, Micah took the thin, rectangular object Javan had been speaking into with his free hand. Rows of tiny squares with colorful pictures covered the top part. He touched one with a grey circle inside a black object, and the device suddenly became transparent. He could see everything he pointed the device at, but the back of it remained one solid block of black. “Javan, I can see your face inside this thing.”
“That’s the camera. Watch.” Javan leaned over, put his finger on some arrows in the bottom corner, and Micah could suddenly see his own face. “Now press the white circle.”
“Why?”
“Just do it. Don’t forget to smile.”
Micah didn’t bother to smile, but he did press the white circle. The device flashed, and his image appeared in a small square in the bottom left corner. “What just happened?”
“You took your first selfie.” Javan touched the image in the corner, and Micah’s frozen face filled the entire length of the device.
“This is madness!” Afraid of what the device would do now that his image was stamped on it, Micah dropped it and let go of his prisoner’s arm. He stepped backwards as the device clanked to the floor.
Javan scrambled to pick it up. “Careful, Micah. This is an expensive phone, and the screen is fragile. We don’t need it cracking after only one phone call.”
“Explain that phone call thing,” Taliya said. “How did you use that to talk to someone who wasn’t with us?”
“I can’t explain all the sciency stuff behind it,” Javan said. “I can tell you that most people have one of these things, and they are all assigned a unique number. When I punched the numbers that connected to Kenton’s phone, his phone made a ringing noise. He could see the number from this phone on his screen, so he knew who was calling. Once he answered, we could talk.”
“Amazing,” Taliya said. “We sure could use these in the Great Rift. What else do they have here that we don’t have?”
“That list is too long to even start,” Javan said, “but I can show you what else this phone can do besides make calls and take pictures.”
“It does other things?” Taliya’s eyes widened. “Show me.”
“Sure. We need something to do while we wait for Kenton anyway.” Javan led Taliya over to a smooth section of the cave’s floor and sat down. The light from the device lit both of their faces as they stared at it, mesmerized.
“While they are occupied,” Micah said, turning his attention to the Destroyer, “let’s get back to those questions you never answered. We’ll start with the easy one. What is your name?”
Rather than answer, she sat down, leaned against the wall, and closed her eyes.
Micah resisted the urge to kick her and instead took his belt off. “No name, no freedom.” He knelt, pulled her arms behind her back, and tied them together with his belt. But something about the cocky look she gave him made him believe one little belt wasn’t going to keep her contained if she didn’t want to be contained.
Chapter 32
Up from the Cave
Taliya drummed her fingers on the cold stone floor. Her mind told her it would be wise to take advantage of the opportunity to sleep like Javan and Micah were doing, but she wasn’t about to close her eyes while the Destroyer sat ten feet away with her eyes wide open, her back straighter than the softly glowing portal behind her. The way the alert eyes of the Destroyer stared at the dragon eggs made Taliya wary.
She checked the nest she had made for the eggs. Her small pink egg and Javan’s larger white egg nestled comfortably on top of the burlap sacks that had been used to carry them. In case they hatched, she didn’t want the babies to have to fight their way through the rough cloth after working to bust through their shells.
With nothing else to do, she inspected the eggs for cracks. Finding none, she sighed. “I wouldn’t want to hatch in a cave either,” she whispered to them. “Don’t worry. We shouldn’t be down here much longer.”
At least she hoped they wouldn’t. The longer they stayed, the smaller the large room felt. The fact that Varjiek was lying on his side and taking up as much space as was dragonly possible didn’t help. Every few minutes, he would shift his body and spread out a little bit more. He had inadvertently confined the four humans along the portal wall with his legs while his back almost touched the solid rock of the far wall.
Hmm. That wall had no door. Neither did the wall to her left or her right. How were they going to get out of here? Were they stuck? Was this as far as they would ever get on Earth?
Varjiek shifted and scooted his body. This time the tip of his tail brushed the wall to Taliya’s left. And the wall opened. Briefly. It closed back up once the dragon’s tail stopped touching it.
“That’s bizarre.” Taliya checked the eggs again. Certain they were safe, she climbed over and around Varjiek’s legs, careful not to touch the legs of Javan or Micah along the way. The Destroyer remained silent and still and watchful.
Ignoring the feel of the Destroyer’s eyes on her, Taliya touched the wall she had seen open moments before. An electric charge forced her to jerk her hand back. She shook the sting of the shock away and mumbled to herself. “An invisibility shield. It’s not over the portal like in Zandador but shielding the entire room.”
Taliya tickled Varjiek’s tail. The end of it flopped up and down, breaking through the shield. “Good job, boy.” Taliya took advantage of her small size and jumped through the opening. She found herself in a corridor, and she followed it all the way up to another room. This room had a hole in the ceiling, and through the hole she could see the sky. “Earth!”
Taliya found footholds in the rock wall that led through the opening. She hoisted herself through it and scrambled onto the rough surface. She could see water. Across the water were buildings. Lots and lots of buildings of all different shapes and sizes.
They were near a city. Interesting.
“Don’t move.” A rough voice sounded behind her, and cold steel touched the back of her neck.
Maybe wandering in a strange dimension on her own wasn’t such a great idea after all.
◊◊◊
She’s here.
The two words broke into Javan’s mind and disturbed his restless sleep. “Who?” he muttered, refusing to open his eyes.
Skylark.
“Where?” That name was worth opening his eyes for. He scanned the room, but the only dragon he saw was Varjiek.
I can sense her approaching. His tail wrapped around his legs, and his back arched in a rigid line. Will she recognize me? How do my scales look? Should I go to meet her? Should I wait for her to come to me?
The barrage of fifth-grade level questions coming from his dragon made him chuckle. “Varjiek. Buddy. Chill.”
“What’s going on?” Micah appeared by Javan’s side. “And where’s Taliya?”
“Taliya’s gone?” How did he overlook that obvious fact? “How did she get out? The only way to leave the room is to use stalker dust to break through the invisibility shield protecting this place.”
Scales attached to Noon Stalkers work, too. She used my tail to get through the shield.
“When?”
Not too long ago.
“Why didn’t you wake me up then?”
“I’m not following the sense of this conversation,” Micah said.
She’s getting closer! I must go to her. Varjiek stuck his head through what looked like a wall.
“Wait!” Javan’s echoing scream brought the dragon’s head back into the room. His large eyes glared at Javan. “The second you leave this room, you are to remain invisible at all times. Dragons aren’t supposed to exist in this dimension. If you’re spotted, you’ll be killed or captured. Don’t let yourself be spotted. Understood.”
Understood.
“Good. Now go meet your girlfriend.”
Varjiek vanished, and a whoosh of cold air swept ove
r the cave.
“Javan,” Micah said, “you are not making sense.”
“I saw my first glimpse of Earth!” Taliya burst through an opening in the other side of the cave followed by a man in a brown leather jacket and matching leather cowboy hat. “The buildings were far away, but I can tell they are different than what we have in the Great Rift. I so can’t wait to explore. They also have different weapons here. Kenton has this thing called a gun. Check it out.”
She pulled a pistol out of Kenton’s shoulder holster and waved it around. “Kenton used it to scare me when he didn’t know who I was, but I’m not really sure what it does.”
Javan held his hands up. “This is not a good place to find out.”
“Whoa, little lady.” Kenton reached for his gun. “I’ll take that—”
Two loud explosions ended Kenton’s sentence. He tackled Taliya as a bullet ricocheted off the ceiling and another bounced off the wall.
“Take cover!” Javan threw his body over the dragon eggs, and Micah covered the Destroyer as the bullets pinged around the stone cave.
◊◊◊
Micah didn’t move until the pinging stopped and a little metal case smaller than his pinky rolled to a stop at his foot. He picked the object up and studied it. “Why were we scared of this?”
“That, my boy, is a bullet.” Kenton pointed his weapon at Micah, and the two locked eyes. “On its own, it’s harmless. When it is filled with a charged powder and shot through this gun, it can cause some serious damage.”
“The eggs!” Taliya didn’t seem to notice Kenton’s underlying threat and rushed across the room to Javan.
While those two were distracted, Kenton stepped so close to Micah that his gun touched Micah’s hip. “The little lady tells me you’re on our side. If I find out otherwise, I won’t hesitate to put one of these bullets right through your skull.”
“That won’t be necessary, but you might want to keep one of those bullets ready for this Wordless Wonder.” Micah pulled the Destroyer to her feet. “She’s the real enemy.”
“Doubtful. I’ve spent the better part of your father’s reign hiding from the special unit he commissioned to capture me and kill my dragons. That unit is the reason my Dawn Stalker is dead. How do I know you are not part of that unit here to finish the job?”
“I no longer take orders from my father. I think for myself these days and want to see him deposed.” Micah smiled. “As a matter of fact, I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he finds out you are alive and have been hiding on Earth this whole time.”
“I haven’t been here the whole time.” Kenton lowered his gun but kept his eyes narrowed on Micah. Those blue eyes radiated a cunning intelligence and seemed to be assessing the risk Micah posed. When he spoke again, his words were edged with caution and a hint of trust. “The lifespan of humans is insignificant in this dimension compared to the Great Rift; I would have died centuries ago had I come when your father began hunting me.”
“But my father has had the portal locked down for centuries. I don’t recall hearing of any breaches in security apart from the time I caught Esmeralda trying to get through.”
“The soldiers who fail to guard the portal don’t always report their failures to their king.”
“Oh.” Micah took a moment to consider that. If Omri didn’t know of any portal activations, he couldn’t punish those who allowed it to happen. “So how long have you been here?”
“I brought Javan through the night he was born. As the fulfillment of the prophecy, this was the safest place for him to live while we waited for the Battle of the Throne year to approach. When I discovered grown dragons can survive in this atmosphere, we stayed, planning to return once Javan won the throne.”
“You and your dragons have been able to survive on Earth for 150 years?”
Kenton laughed. “What has Javan been telling you about his age?”
“Nothing.” Micah scowled. “I just assumed he was at least 150. He certainly looks that old.”
“Maybe he does look that old in Zandador, but he’s only been alive for a little over fifteen years.”
Micah’s eyes went wide and his mouth went dry as he looked at Javan. A child was leading this expedition in an effort to overthrow a 700-year-old king? They were doomed. The entire Land of Zandador was doomed.
Chapter 33
Farm Life
Thrilled to be out of the cave, Taliya fed off Skylark’s intoxicating energy as the invisible Noon Stalker flew fast and low over the ocean. Since everything below her was a blue blur anyway, Taliya kept her eyes closed and her arms wrapped tightly around the dragon’s neck. She loved the smell of the salty air as well as the way the wind burned her skin and blew through her braided hair.
She focused on that rather than the things she wasn’t happy with at the moment. She didn’t like being separated from her dragon egg that Varjiek was carrying along with Javan and Micah. And she certainly didn’t like the fact that the Destroyer—who couldn’t even be polite enough to tell them her name—was sitting between her and Kenton.
Skylark banked to the left. The movement prompted Taliya to open her eyes. They were now racing over brown and green patches of land broken up by the occasional lake or sprawling city. Part of her wanted Skylark to slow down to allow her to take in the details of the landscape. The other part wanted Skylark to speed up and fly forever.
Then again, her bottom and legs were growing numb from the long flight. She was thus glad when the dragon slowed her speed and coasted down to a grassy meadow. Hills and trees and the glint of a lake in the distance were the only other things she could see. She was expecting this dimension to look different than Zandador, but it looked eerily similar.
“We’ll hike up to the house from here,” Kenton said, sliding off Skylark once Varjiek landed beside them. “It’s about a half mile away, but this is the best landing spot for the dragons. It’s close to the barn where they live and eat. Plus it’s secluded enough for the dragons to wander around without fear of being spotted.”
“I think it’s sad that dragons have to be kept a secret from the people of Earth.” Taliya patted Skylark. “I hate to imagine how dull my life would be without dragons.”
The Destroyer behind Taliya grunted and joined Kenton on the ground. That was the first sound the woman had made since coming through the portal. It may have been a sound of derision, but at least it proved the woman was listening to the conversations happening around her.
A wave of fatigue washed over Taliya as her feet hit the soft grass. She fought it back by inhaling deeply. Oxygen from Earth’s air filled her lungs. She didn’t have time to be tired. She needed to see and do as much as possible before returning to her own dimension. First, though, she needed to care for her dragon.
She took her egg from Javan and cradled it in her arms. “We need to get these eggs into a warm, moist environment in order to hatch.”
“Of course,” Kenton said. “I have a place prepared. Follow me.”
Kenton led the way up a gradual hill. They stopped at a large steel building that had two dragon-size doors, three large doors, and one human-size door. The Noon Stalkers entered one of the dragon doors, and the five humans carried on. Further ahead, Taliya noticed four more buildings. The one on the far right had two levels and windows marking each level. The other three had only those large doors that matched the ones in the dragon building. No windows were built into the walls.
“In here.” Kenton led them into the windowless building closest to the house. “I used to have chickens, but they were too scared to lay eggs with the dragons roaming around. I finally sold them, but I kept the incubator. It hasn’t been used in a while, but it should do the trick until the eggs hatch.”
Kenton took a rope and stuck it into a wall. A warm light filled the box with the open top. He fluffed some straw in the bottom of the box and placed the Dusk eggs inside.
“Let’s go up to the house. I’ll make everyone breakfast, and we
can get acquainted.”
“I’ll eat later,” Taliya said. “If these eggs hatch, someone needs to be here to welcome the dragons to the world.”
“You go ahead.” Javan yawned. “Eat some food. Take a shower. Get some rest. I had a little nap back in the cave and can take the first watch here.”
“I’m more awake than you. I’ll be fine here. Please. Go. I need some quiet time after the morning we’ve had.”
“If you’re sure.”
“I am. Go.”
As soon as Javan left, she peered over the edge of the glowing box. “All right, you two. It’s time to bust out of those shells and show me your faces.”
◊◊◊
From his seat at the bar in the kitchen, Javan kept everyone in his eyesight. To his left, he could see the Destroyer and Micah. She sat on the floor in the corner of the living room with her hands tied behind her back. Micah utilized the only furniture in the room. He sat in the recliner mesmerized by the sixty-inch color television mounted on the wall. The murmur of the voices as Micah surfed through channels indicated Javan was clearly back in his familiar, modern-day world.
To his right, Javan could see out the window over the sink to the barn where Taliya waited with the eggs. In front of him, Kenton—who had a bizarre resemblance to Indiana Jones—whistled while he cracked eggs, fried bacon, and flipped pancakes. He looked like he had everything under control, but Javan felt obliged to ask, “Are you sure I can’t help you?”
“You’ll just get in my way.” Bacon sizzled. Sparks of grease jumped onto the stovetop. “What you can do is explain why a Hunter and a Destroyer are in my house. They could be working together to make sure you never return to Zandador.”
“That might be the Destroyer’s plan, but I trust Micah.”
“Why?”
“He’s proven his loyalty. He was willing to sacrifice himself so I could collect his Dusk Stalker.”
“What?” Kenton flipped a pancake over his shoulder. The half-cooked pancake splatted on the floor. “You mean to tell me you could have avoided this entire trip? You should be in Midnight Territory looking for a Midnight Stalker right now, not waiting for a dragon to hatch.”
