I looked down at the one I was holding. “Who’s is this?”
“It belongs to Kavli. She is the leader of all dragons. The baby dragon that hatched is hers. It is only fitting for you to use it since Sievroth brought you here.”
She went through the others, telling them the names of the dragon associated with their talisman. When we were all set, she bowed and wished us luck. Gavin took us through the halls until he came to a large door.
“The true elementals lay in here. We have it set up as a sick room, so it is easier to check on them all.”
He opened the doors, and we stared inside. Cots were set up in rows throughout the whole room. Hundreds of elementals lay sleeping. Gavin led us to the king and queen. They were lying on a large bed together. I stepped closer, but Gavin put his hand on my arm to stop me.
“Don’t hurt them,” he said, looking unsure.
“I won’t, Gavin, but I need to look at them.” He let go, and I moved closer. I shut my eyes, concentrating on their magic. In seconds I was backing away. I looked at Tider. He could see auras, and I asked him what he saw.
“Nothing unusual. Their colors are all muted, but besides that, there is nothing to tell me what is wrong. Why? What do you see?”
“There magic is muted like their auras,” I said to Tider. “They both have grey magic encircling their own magic.”
“A curse like the water elemental king?”
“No. I don’t think so. It’s like their powers have been contained somehow.”
“A spell?”
“Maybe. Could they have been spelled?” I asked Gavin.
“Doubtful. It happened too slow to be a spell.”
“Maybe it was poison,” Abby said. “In one of my potion books, there was a spell that could slowly fix a person’s complexion as long as they kept taking it. It worked very slow, over the course of weeks, but it would keep their skin clear forever as long as it was consumed every few days.”
“Gavin, could they have been slowly poisoned?” I asked when he didn’t answer Abby.
“I suppose, but how could they all be poisoned at the same time. And wouldn’t they have noticed?”
“Not if it was a tiny amount of poison that could gradually build up in their bloodstream. They would never even notice something was wrong.”
“What would be causing it?”
“Since they are all still asleep, someone must be giving them the poison if that’s what is keeping them sleeping.”
“Only our most trusted guards are allowed in here. And everything we give them is checked to make sure it can’t hurt them.”
“We need to go to the dragons. There is nothing I can do for them. It isn’t a curse that I can defeat. We need to find the source.”
“We will go to the dragons first thing in the morning. For now, let’s get something to eat, and you can all relax for a couple of hours. It’s been a long day. I want to go speak with the guards about the Brotherhood of Flame too. We need to keep a better eye on them.”
We went to the kitchens where the cook prepared us a meal. We were all starving and ate everything he made. I wasn’t even sure what some of the things on my plate were. It was all delicious, and I started to feel better as soon as I finished. I thanked the cook and turned to Gavin.
“Is there a library in here?” I asked, not ready to lay down.
“Yes,” Gavin said. “I will show you once your friends are in their rooms unless you all want to come.”
I could see the decision in their eyes. They would come with me to keep me safe. “Go rest, guys. I will be fine. There are guards posted at the entrance. I will wake you if I need you.” They agreed after some more convincing, and Gavin showed them to the guest rooms before leading me to the library.
“Is there something you are looking for in particular?”
“No, I am going to browse if you don’t mind,” I said. I didn’t want him knowing I had void and was looking for a book on it. The air elemental queen’s book was giving me some new information, but maybe the fire elementals knew something the air elementals didn’t.
Gavin must have heard something in my voice. He told me he would wait across the hall in another room and to come get him when I finished. I thanked him, and he left. I started searching the shelves. The room was as large as the cafeteria back at the school and at least two stories tall. Every available shelf was filled with books. I kept searching but wasn’t having any luck. Even Mauevene came out to help me search the higher areas but didn’t find anything.
“Stop it,” Mauevene yelled, and I tilted my head up, my hands coming out to defend her. Sievroth flew around the room, his tongue snaking out every time he got close to Mauevene.
“Sievroth,” I yelled, “you get your butt down here right now. How many times do I need to tell you not to eat Mauevene? She is my friend, and it isn’t nice to eat friends.” Sievroth landed in front of me, his chest rumbling. “It’s not funny. Look at poor Mauevene. She’s never going to come out with you around.”
I heard Sievroth rumble again and gave him a light smack on the nose. “Bad, Sievroth.” I put my arms around his neck. “Don’t do that again, ok?”
He nodded his head and then took off into the air. He flew to one bookcase and hovered there, pushing his nose at one of the books. I ran to him and used air to lift myself up to reach the book he was pointing at. It was a plain brown leather book. There was no writing on the cover to tell me what it was. I opened it, curious to see what Sievroth wanted me to look at. Void was written across the first page. Sievroth had found the book I needed. I started reading before I was even seated at the table.
It started off talking about where void came from, but instead of ideas, this book was written by a void user. It said void users were created by the shadow king to help save the Earth from a disaster that would hit one day in the future. Until then, they were supposed to stay hidden from everyone. When they didn’t, and the elementals came into contact with them, it changed the prophecy.
The void users were supposed to work in secret to keep everyone united, but they couldn’t do that once the true elementals found out about them. Without them using the pure magic of void to create happiness, the elementals started to fight with each other. Eventually, it got so bad, the shadow king had to destroy most of the followers and send the true elementals away into their own realms.
This was a completely different story than what I had been taught, but it sounded more truthful than any other account I had read. I wanted to learn more, but I was falling asleep. I grabbed the book and headed for the door. I told him I was ready to go and asked to borrow the book. He was fine with that as long as I returned it before I left for the human realm. I promised him I would, and we headed to our rooms to get some rest.
Chapter Seventeen
We left through a different set of doors to get to the mountain after a quick breakfast. There were two guards at these doors, and they wished us luck too. Everyone seemed to be counting on us, but I still didn’t know how we were going to save the true fire elementals.
On this side of the palace, there was no desert. Only the base of the mountain. Gavin pointed to a plateau high above us. “That’s where the entrance is.”
I traced the path back to us. It was going to be dangerous. Parts of the trail were missing, and rock slides had taken down multiple areas of trees directly next to the path.
“This was safer last time I came,” Gavin said. “The guards are right. This is getting very dangerous. We need to find out what is happening before we can’t get to the dragons at all. They will die if we can’t take care of them.”
“Why?” Abby asked. “They are sleeping. They can’t go anywhere.”
“They are still alive. They are in a stupor. They need water and nutrients still. We feed them every few days. That is all they need. When they are healthy, they only need to eat once a month after they have reached full strength.”
“How are you feeding them if they are in a s
tupor?”
“We have a nutrient-rich potion that we mix with water. It is easy enough to pour into their mouths. They swallow without any trouble.”
“I wonder if that is what is poisoning them. Are you giving the same thing to the true elementals?”
“No. They have a different potion that they take. The dragon’s potion would be too powerful for them. It can’t be the potion making them sick.
“What about the water?” Abby asked.
“We drink the water too, and we are fine.”
“Yes, but you aren’t true elementals. The poison might be designed specifically for true elementals and the dragons.”
“Let’s check the dragons before we jump to any conclusion,” Richard said. “Then we can talk about this more.”
We hiked up the mountain, careful to watch for loose rocks along the way. Every time I heard a pebble tumbling down the mountain, I braced for a mudslide. I was so busy watching the side of the mountain waiting for boulders to come crashing down that I didn’t realize Adam stopped. He stumbled as I walked into his back, pushing him forward and against Tider.
“Whoa, everyone, back up,” Gavin said.
I peeked around Adam as we all took a few steps back. The path in front of us fell away into a giant hole. Gavin tossed a pebble into the hole, and we all listened, waiting for it to hit. Eventually, we heard a small ting.
“It’s at least a one hundred foot drop.”
“Is this normal?” I asked.
“No. This is really bad. We will have to go around. We can climb up the side of the mountain to get past this. We will need to be careful not to slip on the rocks. If anyone falls down into that hole, it’s a death sentence. You can’t survive it.”
“Except Richard and I. We could use air to stop our descent.”
“I could use water,” Tider said.
Adam and Abby didn’t say anything. Their powers wouldn’t be able to save them.
“We could fly everyone over again,” Richard said. “It will weaken us a little, but it’s less risky than climbing the side of the mountain.
“I keep forgetting you guys can do that stuff. I’m used to only being around people with fire elements,” Gavin said.
Working together, we managed to get everyone over to the other side of the hole in one trip. When we were on the other side, I let go of Richard’s hand and felt my energy decrease. We wouldn’t be able to work together like that again until I ate or got some sleep.
We continued forward, this time moving slower, watching for anything else that could potentially harm us. Only a few hundred yards up the path, another hole was forming. It was only two feet across, but as we watched, another inch of ground fell into the hole, making it wider.
We scooted past carefully, trying to stay as far from the edge as possible. We were almost to the entrance of the dragon’s lair. I wanted to move faster, but Gavin kept us moving slowly.
We climbed over a recent mudslide. The ground was still soft underfoot and even wet in some areas. As we crossed, I made sure my magic was ready in case one of us fell, but we made it without anyone getting hurt or needing my magic.
I stood in front of the entrance, a little let down. This was supposed to be the dragon’s lair. Their home. I was expecting grand doors with a guard that led into a beautifully decorated hall with fancy treasures everywhere. I thought dragons were treasure hoarders.
This was a cave entrance. I bent down, inspecting the rock. I could make out claw marks all along the walls. The dragons had created this by digging it out. I wondered how long it took them to do it. It was easily twenty feet tall and twice as wide.
Abby hesitated at the entrance, “Do you think this is a smart decision? The cave isn’t going to come crashing down on us, right? What if there are giant holes inside too.”
“It will be ok,” Gavin replied. “The cave was built by the dragons. They would have made sure nothing could hurt it. Plus, we will be able to see if there is any damage to the cave.”
“How?” I asked, peering into the inky blackness of the cave mouth.
“Watch.” He spread his hands and shot a blast of fire at each side of the cave. Something in the walls lit on fire, and the flame raced away from us into the cave, illuminating everything. “The oil will stay lit until we leave.”
I could see into the cave with the fire burning softly on both sides. The ground was smooth from years of people walking across it. We walked through the tunnel, occasionally pausing when we thought we heard a noise, but it was always silent when we stopped.
The farther we walked into the cave, the hotter it got. Gavin gave Abby and Tider another potion to help with the heat. The cavern we came to was filled with sleeping dragons. I shook my head in wonder. The fire glittered off their scales as their bodies moved up and down in time with their breathing. They were all different colors shooting a rainbow into the sky as their chests moved.
Some of the dragons were massive, while a few were only twice as big as Sievroth. I stared at the dragon closest to me. His scales were a deep green color, but the color changed to a light orange as it traveled up his neck. It was beautiful.
“They are amazing,” Abby whispered.
Gavin laughed. “You don’t have to whisper. You won’t wake them.”
A crack echoed across the chamber, making me jump. After a second, the echo died away, and the chamber was silent again.
“What was that?” Adam asked.
“It sounded like…” Gavin moved around the chamber quickly, crossing to the other side. I followed him, but I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. A nest was built behind the sleeping dragons. Two dragons had their necks stretched around the nest, trying to protect it. They were both dark blue, but one of them had silver streaks outlining some of her scales. The other one was only blue.
One of the eggs had a crack across the top of it. As we watched, another crack appeared, and the same noise filled the cavern.
“It can’t be. We haven’t had a dragon birth since the stupor began, and now we’ve had two in one year. This definitely means you are the one. You can save them.”
He moved forward, placing his hands on the egg. He gave it a light knock. Another crack reverberated across the room. I moved into the nest, placing my hands on the egg too. It wasn’t large, about the size of a basketball, but it was hard. I tried to gently lift it, but I could barely move it. It felt like it was made of rock.
The egg warmed under my hand, and I looked down at it. It was starting to glow a light orange on one side.
“The baby is heating up the egg so it can be cracked. Their eggs are almost indestructible. Only high heat can soften them enough for the baby to break free. It won’t be long now. He is almost there.”
“It’s a he?” Abby asked.
“Probably. Most of the dragons are male. Very few females are born. They are the rulers of the dragons.”
I looked at the sleeping dragons protecting the nest.
“They are sisters. This one here,” he said, pointing to the largest one, “is the queen and the other females are called little queens. The queens always protect the nests.” The queen was the blue and silver dragon. Her sister was the blue dragon. I wondered if all the females were blue.
Another crack sounded through the cavern, but this time Sievroth bellowed as he came flying into the cave. He landed as close as he could to the queens. He stretched his neck over them to tap the egg with his snout. He blew a steady stream of fire at the egg, turning the whole thing orange.
“Stop Sievroth, you’ll hurt it. It needs to get out on its own,” Gavin said. Sievroth shook his head and snorted before continuing to blow more fire at the egg. When Gavin tried to stop him, Sievroth flicked his tail out and hit Gavin, causing him to fly halfway across the cavern and land in a crumpled heap. Richard ran to make sure he was ok.
“Sievroth, what are you doing? Why would you hurt our friend?” I asked. Sievroth shook his head at me again and stopped his flame. He touched
his snout to me, and I saw a picture of a baby dragon, stuck in the egg, too weak to crack it open. “He’s too weak?” I asked.
Sievroth nodded and went back to heating the egg.
“Abby, come up here. I’m going to need you. Something is wrong with the baby dragon. Sievroth says it’s too sick and weak to get out on its own. That’s why he is heating it. You will need to try to heal it when it finally gets out.”
“I don’t know how to heal a dragon, Sally.”
“I know, but we have to try. We can’t let it die or be drawn into the stupor.”
More cracks came from the egg, and Sievroth stopped his flame. He reached for the egg with his claw, slowly tapping one sharp claw against it over and over. The noise echoed through the chamber, making it sound like a hundred eggs were cracking open at once.
Finally, Sievroth’s claw pierced the egg. He removed it and started the same process a few inches down. When his claw went through this time, a crack appeared between the two holes. A few more and the baby should be able to push the egg out of the way and get out.
It only took a few more minutes for Sievroth to crack the egg. The shell started to slide away, and the baby’s head emerged. It was a beautiful green color. It let out a small mewling noise, and I quickly encouraged it to keep pushing. It needed to get out of the shell. I didn’t want to lift it in case I hurt it.
I kept my hands out to stop the egg from tipping over and hurting the baby dragon. Slowly, it maneuvered it’s body so it was clinging to the edge of the egg with its claws. It sneezed and lost its grip, tumbling into my arms. It tried to get its wings out, but they were slick with moisture from the egg. Sievroth let out his grumble, and the little dragon trembled, turning its head quickly to look at Sievroth.
“Stop laughing at the baby and help it,” I told him. He shook his head, and I heard his voice in my mind.
“She is a little queen. She barely made it out of that egg, She has a lot of will, but she is dying,” he said, his voice becoming sad.
Buried Embers (Elemental Seekers Book 3) Page 17