Perhaps it was the huge perspective involved that prevented him at first from knowing what he saw. After all, the moving surface had to be as large as the island that had housed their childhood orphanage! The unbelievable proportions involved could find no anchor in his limited reality.
Not until that living curtain of scaline rock blinked down and up, sending house-size boulders flying, did some inkling of Truth entered his darkness. "NO! Impossible!" he denied its existence out loud. "It can't be! The Eye of the Dragon?!!"
But his brother, though still a prisoner, had apparently known all along who or what he faced. In the voice of a seasoned warrior, Jason shouted his defiance, "Dragon, you have no claim on me, I belong to Another! I am a citizen of His Land. I invoke the name of the Swimmer-Son, who broke your mighty horn and carried away our chains! In His Name, I demand that you release me!"
The twin volcanoes behind them rumbled and the earth shook again beneath their feet. A tremendous blast of fire and smoke sent shock waves in every direction. Knocked onto the ground with his face in the dirt, to his total shock and amazement, Kaleb heard words within those rumbles. Words as big as mountains; thoughts as crushing as the weight of the Sea, impaled him on the naked rock: "Little man, Swimmer-bard, you have troubled me long enough! Your pathetic bother gave me all the permission I need, for he called upon my name; in his ignorance imploring me to rescue you from my enemy. Rescue you? I would as soon be rid of you! Warriors of Darkness, give this mortal the same gift you gave his accursed parents! Throw him alive into the sea!”
Too much! Too fast! Kaleb could not comprehend. The Dragon is alive! The land beneath his feet... Dragonsback itself is alive! And he wants Jason dead!
"NO!" he screamed, for the invisible dragons (he knew now what they were) were already carrying his brother away to judgment. Jumping to his feet, Kaleb raced after the retreating form.
I have been wrong, his shocked mind confessed as he ran. And Jason was right! The Dragon is real and has been using me all along!
Anger lit new fires within him. Thorns, seen in the light of Truth, were recognized for what they were, and then cast, while he ran, into that righteous fire to feed its flames. Unburdened and strengthened, Kaleb the avenger, leaped up after his brother. The force of his tackle broke the dragons' grip and the two men tumbled hard to the ground, snapping the bone in the older brother's left arm. Before they could even regain their feet, the invisible dragon horde attacked again, tearing and clawing, pushing and dragging Jason toward the precipice over the Sea. With his good arm wrapped about his brother’s waist, Kaleb found himself being carried along as well!
Jason, at last, had his bone-white sword in hand. In spite of his pain, Kaleb marveled at his younger brother's skill. Yet it was not enough!
"Hold on!" Jason shouted down to him. "The eagles are coming! They will come to our aid!"
But they would not come in time. Something incredibly sharp and strong suddenly ripped into Kaleb's shoulders and snatched him off his feet and away from his brother. "Jason! Help me!" he screamed in unbridled terror, for he realized that the invisible dragons had now attacked him as well and were pulling him over the edge.
A strong arm grabbed his waist. A scrimshaw sword flashed in front of his face.
But the terrible edge loomed too close!
This is it! thought Kaleb, and a sudden peace accompanied that acknowledgment. Out loud he shouted his own defiant words, "Mighty Gryphon, if You are truly the Opposite of this Monster who has possessed me, then I claim You as my Ruler! My brother is Yours, so now am I!"
Dragon screams ripped through the air as the shadowy terrors suddenly tasted defeat where they had hoped to dine on victory.
In captive triumph, Jason the younger shouted words of encouragement above the dragons' wail, “They cannot touch you now, my brother. Though they kill us, we will together walk the Gryphon's Land! They might win this battle, but we have already won the war!"
Dark shadows passed before his eyes and Kaleb saw something huge and dark forcibly rip the carved Swimmer’s sword from Jason’s hand. The powerful attacker then cast aside his prize as though it was worthless. The scrimshaw sword of Thaddeus, their GrandSire, fell unceremoniously into the dirt of Dragonshead.
Then the invisible army carried the two entwined brothers out and over the edge. In the center of the Bay, forces they could not deny ripped them out of each other's grasp. From a height higher than the Dragon's remaining horn, they were released to tumble into eternity.
Kaleb screamed and struggled as something else tried to grab at his already torn shoulders. Powerful talons gripped at his legs and he kicked hard to resist them. From somewhere above him he heard Jason shout, "Stop fighting! It’s the eagles! The Gryphon’s eagles have come! Don't fight them!"
Without knowing why Kaleb relaxed the instant before the Sea swallowed him into its cold dark depths.
~ ~ ~
Jason cradled his unconscious brother's head in one arm while he desperately tried to swim toward the distant shore with the other.
“Ahoy! May we assist ye there laddie?” shouted a voice nearby.
Jason turned in the water to see a boat sailing toward them.
“Praise the Gryphon, yes!” shouted the struggling bard, his exhaustion turning to rejoicing.
The fisherman brought his craft alongside the brothers, calling out, “We heard your cries an’ saw you fallin’ from the sky, then suddenly ye slowed afore ye hit the water! ‘Twas the most amazin’ thing I’ve ever seen!”
And then strong hands used to handling laden nets and rough oars lifted both brothers from the sea.
“Thank you, kind sirs!” Jason exclaimed as they brought them aboard their small fishing boat. But his eyes were not on his rescuers, but rather scanning the sea.
“What be ye lookin’ fer, laddie?” questioned the older of the fishermen.
“For a friend and an enemy, who both also fell from the sky!” came the whispered reply.
From his position on the deck, Jason’s dew-washed eyes beheld a flight of eagles descend into the waters and swoop away with their captured prize, the white-robed Nathan.
Great tears, as salty as the Sea he had just been rescued from, fell from his eyes as the young man watched his friend's crossing to the Gryphon's Land.
But of the once-powerful blackrobed giant, Raven, neither he nor anyone else on Dragonsback ever saw rumor of him again.
One lone eagle returned, circled above that fateful spot, dove down to the water, and then rose again on powerful golden wings to carry a burden to Jason in the boat. The all but invisible messenger gently set before him, still dripping from the Sea, the master bard's pack, Gryphonskin, and sword belt, which miraculously still held Nathan’s unused blade. Jason first claimed the weapon, in case there might be further need to defend them from attack. So then, with a wary eye to the heavens, opened the pack to remove from it the carefully wrapped instrument that only a short while before had belonged to his friend.
Standing in the slowly rocking boat, with his sleeping brother at his feet and the lute of Nathan in his hands, Jason Ben-Timnon, full bard of the Heartland, raised voice and song in solemn commemoration.
ON EAGLES’ WINGS
On Eagles’ wings you flew away
They lifted you from briny foam
With dew-washed tear-filled fearful eyes
I watched them as they bore you home
Beyond the Sea, beyond the Clouds
The victor’s welcome awaits you there
With battles won and toils done
Your sword lain down, lay down your care
Your earthly pain came not in vain
For though you fell all was not lost
Your dreadful foe forever dies
But vict’ry came at such a cost
On Eagles’ wings you flew away
A bard of Truth slain through their hate
Your golden voice they silenced here
When dark and light plun
ged to their fate
And here I stand all empty now
With falling tears and broken heart
My friend, my teacher now is gone,
Gryphon’s singer and Swimmer’s bard
Into my hand your lute and sword,
Mantels of truth, have found their way
And so I pledge to take them up
And guard your Message from this day
On Eagles’ wings you flew away;
To speed you to that glorious shore
The bridge that most men have to walk
To honor you, they did ignore
On Eagles’ wings, on Eagles’ wings
From Dragonsback my friend was flown
His light still shines though he is dead
I’ll make the fate of Nathan known!
Farewell, for now, my faithful friend!
Now in my hands the task remains
Until the mighty Gryphon roars!
Until we meet and Gryphon reigns!
THE TRUTH AT LAST
“Are you both sure you want to take this step? From what you’ve told me, it could very well cost you your lives!”
The man and his wife looked at each other briefly for mutual confirmation. After receiving a slight nod from his wife, the husband turned back to the Swimmer who had questioned him. “Yes, we are sure!” he replied intensely, but softly, as though he did not want to be overheard. “Both Anna and I have come to see the blackrobes for the hateful terrors that they are. After being with them for three years, we can no longer sit back and ignore it when they tell us it is right to do wrong if, in so doing, the results are good. If the root of the tree is bad, so is its fruit! And that’s only the surface!”
Less than a manheights behind them the dark canvas of the sail crackled noisily as the wind picked up. The black Pascal ship lurched slightly as it gained new speed, propelling them over the dark, infinite waters of the Bay.
“And we also have our family to think about,” added Anna, squeezing the hand of her husband for emphasis. “I think the dragons are already influencing the boys and they’re both only infants. Back in the beginning, those dragonmen offered us many wonderful things (power, security, wealth), but they never warned us about the chains and poisons that come with them. They never told us we’d have to be locked away in the caves for months at a time and rarely get to see the sun! We became slaves of the caves, slaves of the society, and eventually slaves of the hidden shadows themselves. We have lived in fear for too long! Until we met you we had no hope of escape. Yes, with all of our hearts, we want to belong to your Gryphon! We want to be free! And we want our sons to be free as well.”
A glowing halo glittered around the woman’s face as the afternoon sun filtered through her golden, wind-blown hair.
“Yes,” said the man again, “we are ready. If your Gryphon will have us, we’ll do whatever it takes to become His children. Please, tell us, Swimmer, what must we do?”
The young bard smiled at them and answered them in a resonant, deep voice, “The ‘doing’ part’s already been done for you; the price has already been paid by Another! A gift has been off…”
But at that instant, Anna screamed as something unseen pulled her violently away from her husband, dragging her toward the side of the small boat and the bottomless Bay beyond. “Timnon! Help me! They’ve found us!” she pleaded as sudden blood stains marred the light green shoulders of her tunic.
Before her stunned husband could even react, the Swimmer-bard had leaped after the helpless woman. White bone saber in hand, he cut a wide horizontal arc through the air with the clean sharpness of that scrimshaw blade. As the weapon passed less than a handbreadth above her head, the terrified woman suddenly dropped hard to the wooden deck where Timnon, her husband, a moment later, gathered her into his arms.
“Take her by the mast!” ordered the bard, swinging his sword wildly in the air at the invisible winged attackers. “It will be harder for them to get at you there! I will defend you with my life, but you must do as I say!”
The silent captain chose that moment to move closer to the bard and rapidly sign his concern over the man’s erratic behavior.
In response, the sword-wielding bard shouted, “Captain, we are under attack by the shades of the Dragon! See the claw marks in this lady’s shoulders? Make haste! Head for land if you value your life or ours!”
The mariner let out a startled gasp, then hastily sprang to comply.
The action that took place next would have reminded a casual observer of a litigation in a Thornhouse. The two defendants were huddled near the central pole of the mast while their dagger defended them using not a thorn, but rather a white saber carved from the tusk of a mighty fish. The only problem: the accuser, his crack team of prosecuting daggers, and the massive thorns they employed were all invisible!
While he defended those huddled behind him, the Swimmer-bard shouted instructions to them. With a deliberate quick swipe of his blade, he cut the leather strap of his second waterskin. Dropping it behind him, he instructed the man and his wife, “I don’t know how many of them there are, but it’s a lot, so listen carefully to what I have to tell you! Timnon, quickly, pour some water from my Gryphonskin onto her wounds! Both of you, then drink some of its water. Your eyes will be opened and you will see the shadows to defend yourselves!”
Then the rules of the conflict suddenly changed. The prosecutors launched their full combined attack, not on the pole-bound defendants, but on their lone defender. Those razor-sharp claws and powerfully flapping wings might have been unseen, but the damage they inflicted was nonetheless real.
Buffeted and bleeding, the bard defended himself by becoming a moving target with a whirling blade. In spite of his discomfort, he continued to stay near his charges and offer them instructions.
“The Gryphon’s Son can set you free forever from these blackened fiends! He has that power!”
Parry! Jump! Thrust! Dodge!
“The gift He offers you is His own life! He drowned in the Source of the River in your place!”
Deflect! Stab! Sidestep! Slash!
“The Swimmer-Son took on Himself all your poison, thorns, and chains! He died! But then He stood alive again and victorious on the Dragon’s Head!”
Stumble! Recover! Bleed! Thrust!
“All you need to do is call on Him! The life He won He offers to you as a free gift! Ask and you’ll receive! With Him, With His free gift, even though these dragons kill us all, we will never, ever die! We will stand together with the Swimmer-Son on the Gryphon’s Land!”
The bard’s sword swung faster, he jumped higher and thrust harder. It seemed like the very words he had spoken had returned to minister strength to him. He leaped upon the gunwale of the small ship, on the side closest to the outrigger. Not content to wait for them to come to him, the rampaging bard used the added height to meet his enemies even sooner.
“Call on Him!” he shouted to the man and his wife and his voice rang with all the power and authority of the Gryphonsbreath. “Call on Him and the Dragon will be defeated! Call on the Gryphon’s Son and you will win forever!”
The vessel they were in suddenly began rocking violently back and forth from side to side. Still, the Swimmer-bard rode the ledge and beat back his unseen enemy. Unseen, but not unheard, the hideous, tormented, screams of an army of dragons filled the air.
“Mighty Gryphon!” shouted Timnon above the din. “We do call on You! Save us! Make us Yours! Give us the Gift of Your Son!”
“Yes, Gryphon!” Anna agreed, raising her voice as well to challenge the unholy noise. “Your Son died in my place so that I could go free! Gryphon’s Son! Come! Now! I take you as mine!”
~ ~ ~
A short while later the weary and bleeding swordsman pulled himself up onto the shore of Dragonsback. Only then did the Swimmer-bard discover that he alone had survived. A monstrous dragon, many times larger than the rest of his dark ilk, had gripped the outrigger in its huge talons and the
n sprung upward on powerful wings, flipping the fragile craft completely upside-down. Both new Swimmers had been caught under the boat as it descended into the endless depths, thereby sealing their fate.
Having sought to deliver two souls by his words, the Swimmer bard had been unable to help them with his sword. Shamed by his failure, he quickly fled away from the family grieving further down the shore.
~ ~ ~
“Is that the way it really happened? Gryphon have mercy! Can you ever forgive me, Jase? Can Nathan? Can even my Lord, the Swimmer? I’ve helped to kill an innocent man! His blood… His blood will forever stain my hands!”
The kind fishermen had efficiently set and splinted Kaleb’s broken arm while his brother talked.
A shadow briefly darkened the two brothers. Startled, they quickly looked up only to recognize its unthreatening cause. The tiny fishing boat had passed beneath the false-bridge, guided by their rescuers to a landing at Mann’s Point. Kaleb (injured by the dragons, but now fully awake for the first time in his life) softly poured out his heart to Jason his brother, “I was so wrong! I can’t believe how wrong! I’ve hurt so many people. I even helped kill two different men! Are you sure the Gryphon wants me after the way I’ve lived? I mean, I feel that He does, it’s just that I’ve been believin’ lies for so long I hardly know what’s true or not. You say N… Nathan tried to help our parents? He didn’t flip their boat?”
"See it again in your mind, my brother,” easily assuming the teacher role formerly held by the master bard. “The outrigger was facing toward us. The Swimmer was also on this side of the boat, standing on the edge of the boat closest to the outrigger; yet the outrigger went up and over the boat carrying the man with it! Nathan had been standing in the most stable point of the boat, where the weight of the outrigger and the weight of the boat balanced each other. From that position, he tried to fight the overwhelming Enemy. It's possible his activity might have swamped the boat, but never could it have flipped it up-side-down. That would have taken an army to accomplish! Or perhaps a monstrously large dragon lord!"
The Dragon's Back Trilogy Page 56
