The Heart of Oldra

by Georgina Makalani

  She jumped down from the tree and made her way forward. All of the trees around her looked the same. She squeezed her hand around the soft handle of the bow. Where would they have found a different type of wood?

  ‘Wyn,’ she called into the empty world around her. The noise startled a distant animal, and she heard the movement across the snow. But she couldn’t see anything. The snowy ground was more protected from the wind amongst the trees, so there would be footprints if he had come this way. ‘You have made Mama worry,’ she called out. ‘She only worries with reason,’ she added quietly, more for herself. Cora worried that her mother had seen something she hadn’t been able to tell them.

  She shook her head and carried on. After a while she was sure she saw something ahead and picked up her pace. How long before she found her brother? Or had he disappeared? How long had he been out here alone?

  A small clearing opened up amongst the trees with no sign of her brother. There were some indentations in the snow, but she knew they were not his footprints, more likely a turvie. She started to worry. She had thought he had just wandered away, but the longer she looked, the more she feared he had run. Except she wasn’t sure where to. He could have been taken—but again, who would do such a thing?

  The ground beneath her feet had become harder and she moved higher amongst the trees. Then she was standing in an open area, on a hill looking over the world around her. She took a step and then stopped as the snow at her feet slipped into a crevice. She carefully leaned over and looked into the open tunnel beneath her.

  It twisted through the rock beneath her feet. She moved along the edge, wondering where the tunnel led. She wasn’t sure how far she was from the cavern, and she hadn’t been here before. She looked across the hilltop and saw the twisted, crossing paths of exposed tunnels cover the entire surface. As though a labyrinth of tunnels had been woven beneath her and their tops had caved in long ago.

  She made her way carefully across the surface to where she thought it finished and found a single round hole in the snow. She lay down and peered in. It was a perfectly round cavern, and a small opening indicated that the tunnel appeared to lead to it. The light behind her allowed her to see it fully, and for just a moment she thought she could drop down into it. But she wasn’t sure how she would find her way through the maze of tunnels.

  Cora sighed, the sound echoing in the space. Then she sat back. There was no sign of her brother, and he would likely be calling for help if he had become lost in the pathways. She leaned forward again and cupped her hands around her mouth. ‘Wyn!’ she called, then sat back as the sound bounced back at her. She sat in the snow and waited, but there was no response.

  She was too far from the cavern now, and she considered heading back before night. She looked up at the sky again. She didn’t think they had ever flown this way, for she would remember the pattern of the tunnels if they had. Or did she not look as closely at her world as she should? It was different on foot.

  Dra landed softly beside her. She patted his side before climbing easily onto his shoulders.

  He is found, his deep voice rumbled through her.

  ‘Where?’ she asked.

  Deen had taken him hunting.

  ‘Without telling anyone?’ she snapped. ‘What was he thinking?’

  The boy is safe and more of a man than you would allow.

  Cora wanted to laugh at the idea. She’d had that very same thought not so long ago. What he could be doing at his age, and yet her parents would not allow it. So they all had treated him as a boy. Perhaps it came with being the youngest.

  Perhaps it does.

  ‘Do we have to go back?’ Cora asked. ‘I haven’t seen this part of the world, and I would like a chance to explore some more.’

  Dra lifted from the ground, and she looked over the patchwork of pathways beneath her. It was as she had imagined, and she was certain they had not flown this way before.

  Many have been this way. It was a Draga training ground for generations. Gerry was the last.

  ‘The last Draga?’

  The last to be trained. You are all Draga.

  Cora sighed. She wasn’t quite ready to try to fit back into what her mother wanted her to be. Dra obliged, flying out across the world, further and further from the cavern. Just as he entered flicker flight, where the world appeared to stop around Cora and every ice crystal showed itself to her, she asked, ‘Can you show me the new hunting ground?’

  It is far the other way.

  Cora nodded silently. She just wanted to fly. She allowed the transition to slip so she would experience the ice. Dra indulged her, and they flickered for longer than they usually did. Then Dra banked suddenly. Cora shivered at the lack of snowflakes surrounding them.

  ‘How far did you bring us?’ she asked, looking out at green trees.

  And then she was falling.

  Chapter 4

  Cora was sure she was standing in the driveway again. The blue lights flashed. Her heart ached at the news of her mother. Only it wasn’t her mother’s loss she was feeling. The world shifted sideways. She was falling, and then she was standing in the snow. It moved around her slowly, as though she was flickering on dragonback, but she stood still, unsure what surrounded her. The house she had walked towards in her dreams appeared before her and the snow disappeared, the sun warm on her skin. She looked around, knowing she was somewhere she had never been before, and yet she knew this place.

  It was the world beyond what she dreamt over and over, when her mother had learnt of her own mother’s death. It was her mother’s world. A large tree grew at the far end of a sea of green grass, and Cora walked towards it. This was the place where her father had come for her mother, but it had been cold, and the snow had been thick on the ground. She heard an odd squeal behind her, and she knew it was the door.

  When she turned, her mother stood on the porch, her hand reaching out. ‘Wake up!’ she cried.

  Cora blinked into the sunlight. Her whole body hurt as though she had been trampled by a dragon. She couldn’t quite focus on the world around her. The earth was hard, and she missed the cold snow. A shadow covered the sun. She closed her eyes again to the pain that wanted to overwhelm her.

  When she opened her eyes slowly, she was inside the cavern, her bed soft beneath her and the world dark around her. She sighed with relief and then clutched at her side as a sharp pain tore through her. She cried out. A tight bandage was wound around her chest, and she wondered what damage she had done. She wiped at a tear, waiting for her mother’s reassurance, but none came.

  She struggled to sit up, crying out again at the pain. Where was her mother? She tried to push up out of the bed and stopped. It wasn’t her bed. The soft, white, woven blankets she usually slept between had been replaced with furs. They were just as soft, but darker in colour and not hers. She glanced around but couldn’t see anyone. A fire burned low against the cavern wall, but she couldn’t reach it. Her leg burned with a pain more intense than the sharp pain in her ribs. It had also been tightly bandaged, with something long and hard strapped against it. She tried to move, but quickly realised it was too difficult, and a dark mark spread across the white cloth at her thigh.

  Where was her mother? She shivered, looking at the hard-packed earth around her. She was in a small cavern, like the hunting cavern by the lake or even the birthing chamber. Her mind was still foggy as she ran a hand up each arm. She wasn’t wearing her tunic, just her singlet. Gooseflesh rose quickly over her exposed skin. Her leggings had been cut short on both legs, exposing the bandaging on one and the scratched and bruised skin on the other. She started to shiver more uncontrollably.

  Her transition wouldn’t take, and the more she tried, the harder it seemed to be. She knew she wasn’t with the Penna, for her mother would be at her side if she was. She couldn’t run, and she couldn’t protect herself. She sucked in a breath only to cry out again as the pain sliced through her chest. She heard movement then and shuffled back against a wall,
trying to get out of the dim light of the fire. But with her injuries, she couldn’t move beyond the furs.

  The sharp pain continued in her chest and side as a dark shadow moved into the small space. She pressed a hand over her mouth to stifle the scream that was trying to escape. A strange sobbing noise started before she could hide. The shadow of a man dropped more wood into the fire. Before he turned, and as she pressed herself into the wall to try and escape him, she again cried out.

  ‘What are you doing?’ he asked, his voice gentler and more soothing than she would have imagined. All she could was cry again. ‘You will hurt yourself further,’ he said, squatting down before her.

  She tried desperately to scuttle away, but she wasn’t getting anywhere.

  ‘Let me help.’

  She shook her head. He nodded once and stepped back. Another form entered the cavern, with an arm raised in the air. The light increased, and Cora could see it was a woman. She rushed forward. Cora tried to push herself deeper into the wall, but she only succeeded in hurting herself further and cried out again, grabbing at her ribs.

  ‘You need to rest. You are hurt very badly.’

  ‘What happened?’ Cora managed.

  ‘You fell,’ the man said. Cora looked at him and then shook her head to try and remove some of the fogginess. He was the man she had dreamt of. The only dream that was not of her mother’s past. She wondered if her mother had seen him.

  Cora rubbed her hand against her temple. She was lost in a dream. She had to be. ‘Where is my mother?’ she asked.

  They looked at each other, and then the girl crept closer. ‘I think you are far from home.’

  ‘Who treated my wounds?’

  ‘I did,’ the girl said.

  Cora nodded once to show she understood. ‘Dra,’ she murmured, gritting her teeth against the burning pain in her leg. ‘How far did I fall?’

  The stories of her father’s fall returned in a flash, and for a moment she saw her mother’s desperate attempts to stop his bleeding. She could taste the same bitter panic at the back of her throat and wondered what else these people had done for her. ‘What happened?’ she asked again.

  ‘You need to stop trying to move,’ the woman said, edging closer. ‘You have some nasty breaks. You are lucky it is not worse, but if you continue to move about you might do more damage with those broken ribs.’

  Cora put her hand to her side, cringing at the pain. ‘Heal them,’ she demanded.

  They looked at each other again, and then the woman took another step closer. ‘I can’t,’ she said softly. ‘I can only hold them in place until they heal themselves.’

  Cora was confused. ‘Don’t you have a healer?’

  ‘Who is Dra?’ the man asked instead of answering her. ‘Was he travelling with you?’

  She nodded. Her head was getting harder to hold up, and the sharp pain in her chest wasn’t easing.

  ‘Why didn’t he help you?’ he asked.

  ‘Maybe he couldn’t find me, or he was hurt. I don’t know what happened. We flickered, the world was different, and then I was here.’

  ‘Different?’ the girl asked.

  ‘No snow,’ Cora breathed as she gave up her struggle and eased herself back into the furs. ‘I need Dra. He will bring my mother,’ she thought aloud. ‘She is the best healer...’ The world blurred again, and Cora was lost to darkness.

  The world continued to swirl around her. Her mother’s young and distressed face came into view. Blood smeared across it and large tears ran unchecked, desperation in her eyes as she looked at someone else. ‘Pira, please,’ she begged.

  ‘Don’t leave me,’ Cora called into the darkness as she sat up. Then she groaned and held her side again.

  ‘I’m not going anywhere,’ a man’s voice murmured.

  ‘Pira?’ Cora asked carefully into the dark. Had she lost her way completely?

  ‘Dra and Pira. How many did you travel with?’

  The woman appeared again and raised her arm, and the light increased. She had some skill, if not as a healer. Cora wondered just who these people were and what they might want.

  ‘Have you given her water?’ the woman asked the man, as though Cora couldn’t answer for herself, and they both shook their heads at the same time.

  ‘I need to get up,’ Cora said.

  ‘You need to rest,’ the man said.

  ‘Please?’

  The girl handed her a cup of warm water. Cora hadn’t realised just how dry she was until she put it to her lips.

  ‘This will make my need to get up more urgent,’ she said softly, looking into the cup.

  The man lifted her up into his arms quickly, and Cora’s heart raced.

  ‘Watch the leg,’ the woman said, and then they were outside in the dark. The air was cool but not cold. She wondered if there was any snow in this world.

  Cora was worrying about just what the man might do when he set her down carefully and disappeared back inside. She stumbled a little, but the woman supported her and then helped her remove enough clothes to relieve herself. Who knew broken bones could be so debilitating? As soon as Cora could get to her mother, she would be fine. Assuming they didn’t need to reset anything.

  ‘Teven,’ the woman called. The man reappeared, scooped her up and took her back inside.

  Cora sighed with relief when she was placed back on the bedding. Teven carefully covered her back up.

  ‘Where is my tunic?’ she asked.

  ‘Damaged,’ the woman said. ‘We had to cut it away.’

  Cora put her hand over the mark on her chest and willed it to warm her.

  ‘Where did you get that?’ Teven asked, his eyes on her hand.

  ‘I was born with it,’ she said. ‘I am so cold.’

  The woman nodded to the man, and then the lights dimmed. ‘I will return in the morning. Teven will keep you warm.’

  ‘No,’ Cora murmured as the large man lay down beside her. Despite her uncertainty, she rolled into the warmth he radiated. She ached. She closed her eyes to it, but her leg continued to throb. Arminel would have something for that too, she thought, lying beside the rigid man. It was almost as though he was too scared to touch her. But she hurt, and she didn’t want him to. She just needed his warmth.

  Cora woke warm and comfortable. She sighed at the relief. It must have been a dream, although it was unlike any dream she’d had before. The only thing close was when she had dreamed of the man in different clothes. She looked at the wall before her and then the furs she was curled in and realised with bitter disappointment that it wasn’t a dream.

  Her ribs were still tightly bound, but they didn’t hurt like before, and a heavy hand rested on her side. She rolled carefully and groaned as her leg caught on something and the hand moved around her back to pull her closer. When she looked up into his face, there was something familiar about it. Not just that she had dreamed it, but as though she already knew it. His eyelids fluttered open, and he stared at her for a moment with brilliant amber eyes before releasing his hold and moving back.

  ‘Good morning,’ she said, pulling the warm furs back around her. ‘Where is your mate?’

  ‘My what?’ he asked, shuffling further away from her.

  ‘The woman—you are bonded?’

  He shook his head.

  ‘Why is there only two of you here?’

  ‘There isn’t,’ he said.

  Cora groaned a little as she sat up. The ribs were better, but they would be sore for some time. ‘Where?’

  ‘You are the stranger here,’ he said. ‘We are to learn what we can in case you are a risk to the clan.’

  ‘Makes sense.’ Cora tested her ribs a little by moving her arms and then groaned again. ‘We would do the same.’

  ‘Who are you?’ he asked too loudly. Cora turned as he brushed himself down and stood by the fire. His clothes were very different from her own, but his features were similar. Cora had not travelled to the world her mother had come from, and she wasn’t s
ure if she was disappointed or relieved.

  ‘Who are you?’ she asked, reflecting his tone.

  He glared at her for a moment and then cleared his throat. ‘I am Teven.’

  She waited, but he said no more. She reached out then, but she couldn’t sense Dra or any of the other dragons. She wondered if Dra had been lost or if they knew where to search for her. She might very well be stuck here, she thought as she wiped away the tear that surprised her.

  ‘I am Cora of the Penna,’ she said quickly when he stepped forward, holding up a hand. A shiver crossed her skin. She wanted nothing more than to transition, but it wouldn’t come.

  ‘Cora,’ he repeated, and she nodded.

  ‘Who is Dra? And Pira?’

  ‘Pira is here?’ she asked, the excitement taking over.

  ‘You spoke of him in your sleep.’

  ‘I called him Pira?’

  He nodded once.

  ‘Mama’s dreams,’ she murmured. ‘He is my father.’

  ‘What do you mean by Mama’s dreams?’ the woman asked, coming back in. ‘Here.’ She packed the space behind Cora with soft cushions, and Cora leaned back with a nod of thanks. She closed her eyes and blew out a much more comfortable breath.

  ‘Hello?’ the woman asked, poking her shoulder sharply. ‘Dreams?’

  Cora sighed before she opened her eyes. ‘What is your name?’

  ‘Rhali,’ the woman said.

  ‘Cora of the Penna,’ Teven said slowly.

  ‘What do you dream?’ Rhali asked her.

  Cora wasn’t quite sure how she could explain herself. These people might be too different from the Penna, and as yet she didn’t even know who they were. ‘I dream of my mother’s past. When she first came to the Penna, my father fell and she saved him. Last night I dreamt of her memories from that time.’

  ‘You sounded very panicked,’ Teven said.

  ‘She thought he would die. He fell a long way.’ She took a breath and looked over the two beside her. There was a closeness there. It may be that they were bonded, although it was strange that he had stayed with Cora in the night. ‘Where is Dra?’ she asked. She could hear the wobble in her voice, fearing the worst. She closed her eyes and again stretched out for him, but she still felt nothing.