Chapter 7
Three days into the mid land forest Jokim camped by a small stream for the night, he had found an easily defended position because he had been followed for the last two hours, as he cooked a fresh rabbit over the fire he was trying to search the area to find out who or what was following.
He saw movement out of the corner of his eye; he turned as he loaded his crossbow, the muzzle of a silver wolf appeared out of a bush and advanced towards the fire, lips curled in a snarl, Jokim felt the rest of the pack, eight in total, this silver one was the alpha and most powerful.
“Welcome friend, join me” said Jokim quietly in dragon tongue. “You speak the ancient tongue, but can you understand me before I eat you” said the silver wolf as he moved closer to his prey, Jokim spoke with his mind in the tongue of the wolf, “Your spirits will speak for me, I am Jokim Rider of Aria Golden Queen of the dragons”.
The Silver wolf took another calculated step forward “So you guessed that we fought on the side of the dragons in the dark war, how do you think that will save you “, a silver glow appeared beside Jokim’s right hand and a blue glow beside his left hand, Jokim placed his crossbow on the ground and removed his leather overcoat revealing his Golden tunic, “how would I know that your pack totals eight, the blue female is injured and the grey has a scar on his snout if I was not in contact with your spirits”, the glowing orbs by each of his hands slowly expanded, when they touched the ground they took the form of translucent wolves.
The silver ghost wolf said “we fought with our friends the dragons, the riders are also our friends, the time approaches when we will again join the fight, until then protect the riders, build our army once more, you are their leader, unite the packs once more”, the silver ghost faded and disappeared, the blue ghost wolf advanced on the silver pack leader “my son, take your birth right unite the packs, if you need convincing that the rider is genuine bring forth the blue you are shielding Aria can heal her, the spirits go with you” she too faded and disappeared.
The silver wolf backed up a step, turned his head and called forward the blue wolf who was his mate, “if this is not trickery and you are the great queen’s rider, call her forth and heal the blue”
Gold light filled the area, “I need no calling Prince Brandor, and I hear and see all that my rider does, do not be surprised that I know the descendant of my great friend Sugrim, your mate dislocated her hip, she suffers great pain, please lay down ellana”, the blue limped forward and lay down, she was instantly surrounded by a golden glow, several minutes later the glow vanished, Aria spoke again “it may ache for a while but you will fully recover”, the golden light left the area.
Jokim looked at the silver wolf as the blue slowly got up and walked round the small clearing, “looks much better” he said.
Prince Brandor approached Jokim, “Thankyou friend, I will do as the spirits ask, but we will accompany you through this forest, there is a band of humans one days travel from here, they rob other humans and try to kill us”
Aria gave the pack food, then they all slept, the wolves took turns standing guard until dawn broke, a light mist hung low over the bushes but the rising sun promised a warm day.
Jokim set off down the track the blue wolf Ellana by his side the rest of the pack ranged out on either side, they stopped at noon for a short while, Prince Brandor was concerned that they were about to enter the area where the band of humans hunted, Jokim said “I will travel ahead we already communicate without sound, remember I have protection”.
With reluctance the silver wolf conceded and Jokim set off down the track, he could feel the pack 5 minutes behind him.
Two hours later he felt several minds ahead of him, he entered a clearing and instantly drew his swords, deftly deflecting six crossbow bolts, two men dressed in rags rushed out from the bushes with swords raised, Jokim’s swords removed his attackers sword blades with one swing leaving them with just the hilts, Jokim spun round and his attackers fell unconscious to the ground, four more vagrants broke cover firing their crossbows, Jokim deflected these easily.
A throwing knife appeared from behind him but stopped in mid-air, Jokim turned and plucked it out of the air.
“Show yourselves and cease your attack” said Jokim in dragon tongue, at the same time he instructed the wolves to circle the clearing, as expected a reply came in dragon tongue, “what makes you think you can succeed against all of us” a tall man came into the clearing, a longbow in his hand “ You are well skilled stranger but no match for us”, although not riders Jokim knew that they were descendants of rider stock, “fire your longbow if you consider it would gain an advantage I will not deflect the arrow” said Jokim quietly, the tall man loaded the arrow, drew back the string and fired, the arrow broke on contact with Jokim’s tunic, the rest of the band had now entered the clearing, surrounding Jokim.
Jokim smiled, “kneel before Aria your queen” said Jokim as a bright gold glow surrounded him, the glow expanded rapidly and took the shape of Aria, almost filling the clearing, the band of robbers had backed away from the golden mist, Jokim stood at its centre, Aria’s voice filled the air “My rider said kneel, do I need to force compliance” the robbers knelt without hesitation, the tall man was the last, “we know the legends my queen is it really about to come true”, he said nervously.
Aria surveyed the scene then said, “My rider Jokim will instruct you, we need to build an army ready for the return, we already have friends assisting us, they are here you will no longer attack them, they will help you in the times to come, show yourselves”, on this command the wolf pack entered the clearing, Jokim was surprised that the pack had grown to thirty, they were wary of the humans, Prince Brandor and Ellana took up positions either side of Jokim, Aria’s Golden mist form faded and disappeared.
An uneasy unspoken truce ensued throughout the night, Jokim went to great lengths to instruct the tall man in Aria’s plan, dawn had broken before the talks concluded.
To the relief of the band of robbers Jokim and the wolves left mid-morning, the tall man had to raise an army, the hard work started today; he had always believed the legends but had never thought he would be part of it.
Two weeks later during cover of night Jokim and the wolves skirted the capital city, passing through small settlements until they regained the cover of the forest.
A few days later the forest gave way to rocky outcrops leading down to the west plains, it was here that Jokim and the wolves parted company.
The plains provided little cover so Jokim started travelling at night, on the fourth morning he made camp in a small copse, well hidden from the lightly travelled track, the sun was warm casting dappled light into the copse and he slept lightly as always.
Just after mid-day Jokim’s senses woke him, he could hear a voice close by the copse, “I feel a void in the dark, it is close, keep searching”. Jokim felt with his mind, he could see four horses, 3 kings guard and a dark wizard.
Jokim selected a gold tipped bolt and placed it into his crossbow then waited, as the guards reached the edge of the copse the dark wizard came within range, there was a noise like wind and the dark wizard fell, the bolt buried deep in his skull, Jokim launched himself forward, his swords killed two guards before they saw him, the third managed to draw his sword before he fell.
Jokim wiped his swords and placed them back in their scabbards “I am sorry Aria, I had no choice”, he said, Aria replied “it will be a few days before they are missed but the wolves have also destroyed a patrol in the south, that one may be discovered sooner”, Jokim set off in full day light to get clear of the area.
Jokim did not rest for three days and nights, then on the outskirts of a settlement he found a safe place and slept.
When he awoke after the much needed rest night had already fallen, Jokim had a small snack from his pouch then set off westward again, he could smell the sea nearby mixed with the scent of hawthorn flowers from the shrubbery that lined his path.
&nbs
p; As he approached the small fishing village a figure stepped into the path ahead, “welcome Jokim”, said Talgar, “long time, but you still look the same”, he continued, Jokim could see the blue tunic even though the night was dark and moonless.
“I am glad to see you Talgar, how is Shanay?” said Jokim, a reply came in silky tones, “I fair well rider of my queen, I see you are well”, Yes Thankyou Shanay”, said Jokim.
The two riders chatted as they approached a shack at the edge of the village, as they walked up the garden path the door opened, “Elena told us you were arriving” said Calar inviting them in, his wife Wenley was preparing a meal, the baby Elena sat in a high chair at the oak table, a plate hovered in front of her six inches above the table, “please put the plate down” said Wenley.
The plate slowly dropped to the table, Elena looked up with a big smile on her face “Talgar, Jokim Shanay, Sapphire here” she said happily, Jokim placed his hand on her forehead and spoke in dragon tongue, much to everybody’s surprised she replied in dragon tongue, “is this Sapphire speaking” said Jokim, but a playful male voice replied loudly “no sorry it is not me, my rider speaks for herself, her dragon side is far in advance of her age, as are all riders now”.
Jokim and Talgar looked at each other, “Aria” said Jokim, “Sorry Jokim I could not contact you we have all been busy, the 12 blue eggs all hatched at the same instant, the elite guard have their hands full, is Elena ready to move” Jokim turned to Calar and Wenley “are you ready it is time,” the couple nodded and the riders left the house, instantly the shack was transported to the cavern.
Talgar walked with Jokim for a while, “are your travels completed, do you return to Aria”, asked Talgar, ”no, I head for Eagles Rock in the south to oversee the nursery, now that the blues have hatched the rest will soon follow” replied Jokim.
About an hour later Talgar said “Shanay calls”, and vanished, Jokim continued on alone.
Two months passed uneventfully then Jokim reached the lower slopes of the southern mountain range, he made camp in a small cave before starting his climb to the centre of the range and Eagles Rock.
As dawn arrived Jokim removed his full length leather coat, laid his crossbow and longbow on it then folded the coat over them, they instantly disappeared, he finished his chunk of bread and some leftover rabbit from supper then stepped out of the cave into the morning sunlight.
His gold tunic sparkled in the dew filled morning light, the gentle slopes below the cave were mist covered waiting for the sun to burn through.
Jokim started his ascent, the gentle slope turned into a steep incline leading to a vertical climb of fifty feet leading to a wide ledge which sloped upwards at a fairly steep angle, this took him to another vertical climb of one hundred feet, Jokim rested on the narrow ledge he found at the top.
Making his way along the narrow ledge for about thirty minutes he found an arch in the cliff face that led through to what appeared to be a chimney, the hand holds were good and he climbed easily, he continued this ascent for four hours resting only once, he reached the top as darkness was falling, the gentle slope he found led to a series of caves, Jokim camped for the night in these but was unable to light a fire as this would be visible for great distances.
The morning saw a light frost on the slops outside the caves, the sun would not reach this area for several hours, the altitude and the frost made it hard to breathe but Jokim continued his journey upwards slowly and carefully.
After a further four hours Jokim reached a passage through the mountain, travelling became easier, he stopped to sleep as darkness fell beneath a rocky shelf that stuck out from the side of the passage; this gave him some shelter from the falling snow that had just started.
Jokim was pleased to see that only a light dusting of snow met his eyes when he awoke, three hours of walking over loose shale and a recent rock fall led him to the exit of the passage, from here he could see that he was in the centre of what looked like a dormant volcano, below he could see the dome of Eagles Rock.
The walls surrounding Eagles Rock were filled with hundreds of large caves, each one had a large ledge in front of it, as Jokim remembered all the dragons that lived here a thousand years ago, a challenge entered his mind, “Declare your purpose or die” Jokim looked up and saw the eight foot wingspan of a giant eagle bearing down rapidly on his position, he broadcast “Dragon rider one” the eagle veered off and landed on a rock beside Jokim, “welcome Queens rider we have been expecting you” Jokim nodded “ I will descend now, what are the thermals”, the eagle put his head on one side then Jokim heard “Follow me rider I will lead you through”, the eagle dropped off the rock and opened his wings raking them back for descent, Jokim took a step forward and jumped into the air in front of him.
The wind rushed past as Jokim followed the eagle in a vertical dive, the roof of Eagles Rock approached fast then the eagle opened its wings and levelled out, Jokim opened his arms his suit instantly responded by filling the gaps giving him wings, almost at the centre of the volcano the eagle started spiralling down, Jokim followed and they landed safely beside an entrance.
The eagle nodded to Jokim then took off, picking up the thermals he rose rapidly until he was just a dot in the distance above.
Jokim made his way through the entrance and down the winding corridor, the huge cavern he entered at the end surprised even him, it was immense, the eggs were grouped in fives as far as he could see, a raised area in the distance caught his eye, thirty minutes later he was standing on it next to a group of gently rocking eggs, “it starts already” he said to Aria, the thought came back “yes, I will transport the families and riders as soon as they are born, it will be safer”.
The next four hours were spent walking round the vast cavern, when he returned to the raised area he noticed steps carved into the wall leading to a doorway, Jokim made his way up the stairs and through the doorway, inside he found a chair, table and a shelf that would serve as a bed, on the shelf laid his full length leather coat with his crossbow and longbow.
Beside the fireplace he found a sack of food and a pile of logs, he wasted no time lighting the fire, a pot of water had vegetables added and was placed on the fire.
Aria, Golden Dragon Queen Page 6
