“Now what is that?” Mortugal said. He had stopped in mid-air for the moment, watching the scene unfold with astonishment.
Xuhn peered hard. There were two figures atop the carpet from what he could make out. One was the Bnome, and apparently fighting that Bnome was another Bnome— no, a human!
“There’s a human on it!” Xuhn told the dragon.
Mortugal at once shot like an arrow towards the carpet. But before they could reach it, a figure fell from the carpet, and it was the taller human.
Xuhn let out a gasp. Mortugal dived down at full speed. The wind smacked Xuhn’s face hard and he could barely keep his eyes open, such that before he realised it they were ascending the skies again. Mortugal had caught the falling person in the nick of time. Xuhn looked down at the person Mortugal was carrying with his claws.
His heart skipped a beat.
“Vivek!” Xuhn exclaimed. What one earth was Vivek doing so far north?
The two stared at each other for a moment. Both as flabbergasted as the other.
“He’s got my skull!” Vivek said, snapping out, his finger locked in the direction of the Bnome fleeing on the carpet.
“What skull?” Xuhn asked, without a clue of what Vivek was saying.
“Just get it!”
“Do as he says,” Xuhn told the dragon.
“Sure,” Mortugal replied.
And Mortugal zoomed towards the fleeing Bnome. There was large white object beside the Bnome on the carpet that Xuhn reckoned was the skull. What Xuhn failed to understand was how a skull could be so big, for it was almost the size of the short Bnome.
Mortugal tried to bite the Bnome after he reached the carpet. Vivek kicked the giant skull with his legs. Xuhn recalled Vivek’s legs being broken when he had left Bindi, and he was surprised Vivek had recovered so quickly.
The skull fell down.
Mortugal tried to catch the Bnome, but Vivek cried for the skull and Mortugal had to dive fast. Too late, the skull hit the ground.
Mortugal released Vivek from his claws, and then the dragon landed beside the great skull.
Xuhn climbed down from Mortugal’s back.
“It’s a dragon skull!” Mortugal said, while Vivek examined it to make sure it was all right. The skull was unbreakable no doubt. Any other object after falling from such a height would have shattered easily.
“Is he the fabled beast of the lake?” Vivek asked Xuhn, pointing at Mortugal.
“Yes,” Xuhn said, and Vivek marvelled at the dragon for a moment.
“But tell me about you,” Xuhn said to Vivek, “how did you come across that Bnome? And your legs, weren’t they broken?”
“Bnome?” Vivek said, “You mean that short ugly person? There was another one too, but as I struggled with them he slipped and fell down from the carpet. I wouldn’t have wanted him dead, but it wasn’t my fault.”
“Forget about Bnomes,” Mortugal said, “tell me, where you found that dragon skull?”
“In the frozen lake,” Vivek said. Xuhn and Mortugal exchanged glances.
“Was there any other dragon in the lake besides you?” Xuhn asked Mortugal.
“None I know of,” Mortugal replied. “Like I said earlier, even if there was the skeleton of another dragon I would have never realised its presence, for I was sad and all I wanted to do was slumber.”
“And- and,” Vivek pointed excitedly at the forehead of the skull, below the horns, “there seems to be a map etched onto this skull.”
“Now that is something,” Mortugal said. “Could it be the same map Albor spoke of before he became unconscious?”
At once both Xuhn and Mortugal began to inspect the forehead of the skull. And sure enough, there were many lines and arrows etched onto it. There was also a circle— to which all the arrows appeared to be pointing.
“Me and mother compared this to the map of the known world,” Vivek said. “That circle lies in the sea in the south. And you won’t believe me, when you touch the circle a sudden wave of energy hits you, throwing you many feet away.”
Only did these words escape Vivek’s mouth that Mortugal touched the circle. The dragon jerked suddenly, and in a moment he had been thrown many feet away from Xuhn and Vivek.
“See that?” Vivek said.
Mortugal looked around with eyes so wide they seemed to pop out of their sockets.
“I- I had a vision,” he said, still in shock.
“A vision?” Xuhn asked.
“Yes. I- I think I saw a mirror, located in the deep sea… and I also saw a female dragon.”
“A female dragon?” Xuhn asked raising a brow. Was Mortugal sure he wasn’t saying stuff that was the concoction of his own mind?
“Yes,” Mortugal said, lost in thought.
Then a crazy idea came to Xuhn’s mind.
“Could the mirror be the Hatred?” he asked the dragon. “The dragon king said there was a map in the lake. Undoubtedly, this skull is the map.”
“That’s… not impossible,” Mortugal admitted. “The mirror can be the Hatred. After all we don’t know what Hatred looks like.”
“Perhaps all you need to do after finding it is to break it,” Xuhn said.
Mortugal nodded.
“But it’s the female dragon that is confusing me. It’s almost like I know her. I wonder if I dreamt about her a long time back.”
“I thought Corpsia was your love,” Xuhn said, wondering why Mortugal should dream of any other girl—dragon or immortal human—when his entire life seemed to revolve around Corpsia.
“Yes, but… I don’t know. It’s not like I am attracted to the female dragon. It’s just that I seemed to have known her.”
“What are you two exactly talking about?” Vivek asked, with an expression that declared he had no idea of what Xuhn and Mortugal were talking.
Xuhn considered his old friend. He would have to explain a lot of things to Vivek, perhaps right from his encounter with the vampire Mitral. Before that however, Vivek must answer Xuhn’s questions.
“First tell me about your legs,” he said to Vivek, “weren’t they broken?”
“They were,” Vivek said, just a hint of unease in the air, “mother and I tried an special ancient treatment on them that worked.”
Vivek was refraining from telling Xuhn something. Xuhn could almost detect that in his words.
“A special treatment?” he asked Vivek.
Vivek took in a deep breath.
“I am a werewolf— at least half.”
Vivek, a werewolf? Was he kidding?
“You two want talk up in the sky?” Mortugal asked before Xuhn could react to Vivek’s statement.
They climbed on top of Mortugal, and off he flew towards the south.
The two old friends shared everything that had been happening. Vivek told about his secret that his father was a werewolf, and how he had discovered the skull at the bottom of the lake searching for Xuhn’s body.
Apparently Vivek’s mother had told him to bury the skull in the morning when he first found it. But he failed to resist his curiosity and excavated the skull in the dead of the night when his mother had been sleeping. He had touched the circle on the forehead several times sitting against a wall so that he wouldn’t be thrown away.
After sometime two men-- the Bnomes-- appeared at the window and entered his room. They forced him on their carpet along with the skull and then they flew away. As for the treatment that fixed his legs, Vivek said that his mother had brought a special medicinal paste from the werewolves. It had been a risky treatment and apparently Vivek could have even died.
Xuhn told his own story to Vivek, who listened with much awe and wonder. By the time Xuhn finished night had fallen. Xuhn couldn’t help believe that the entire day had gone away, so lost he was in talking with Vivek.
Then Mortugal declared that they were about to reach Northang. The dragon said that he was tired of flying, and wanted to spend the rest of the night in the ancient land of the dragons instead of No
rthang. He descended down to a valley between the snow clad mountains.
Xuhn and Vivek climbed down from his back. Only now did Xuhn realise that due to all the sitting, he could barely feel his buttocks. He did some simple exercises to get the blood flowing in his body once again.
There was a herd of wild mountain sheep resting not far from where Mortugal had landed, and the dragon was able to catch two of the sheep. One he ate all by himself, while the other he gave to Xuhn and Vivek. They started a fire hitting stone on stone, and roasted the meat after Mortugal skinned the sheep for them with his sharp claws.
It was the best meal Xuhn had had in a long while, and he felt truly energised. After Xuhn and Vivek had eaten all they could, Mortugal gulped down the remains of the sheep in an instant.
“We could have eaten that in the morning,” Xuhn complained.
“Er, sorry,” Mortugal said, sticking his tongue out to show he had done it by mistake.
“It’s chilly, isn’t it?” Vivek said with a shiver. Vivek wore thick woollens, and Xuhn wondered if he had been wearing them when the Bnomes had captured him.
“Has it become colder in Sura?” Xuhn asked.
Vivek realised Xuhn was asking so because of his clothes.
“No, those short men— Bnomes, right?— they brought all the woollen clothes I had.”
“Seems like they wanted to keep you from freezing here in the north,” Mortugal said.
After sometime they went to sleep. Xuhn had all sorts of dreams about Ritika. He dreamed of becoming a vampire and going about Bindi killing his fellow villagers. No wonder, he awoke several times during the night.
The following morning they headed south on Mortugal’s back. Not a long time later the snow below became less, and Mortugal declared they had crossed the border and entered Northang.
“Should we search for the girls?” Xuhn asked, when he saw an area that resembled the place where the five of them had last been together.
“I don’t know,” Mortugal said. “I can’t carry so many people. There will be five in total!”
“But we can’t just leave them here, can we?” Xuhn argued.
“To tell you a truth, I don’t think it’ll be that easy searching for them,” said Mortugal. “I think we should have told Breda to find and bring Ritika and her mother to the place where we camped together. But that night emotions were running high,” Mortugal stressed the word emotions, and Xuhn reckoned it was to remind him of the fury that had caught him that dark night, “and I forgot all about it.”
“So we just go south to the sea in search of Hatred?” Xuhn asked.
“Yes,” Mortugal said, “because once we do that a lot of things would solve. After we destroy the Hatred I can drop you two in your village, and then come here again for the three ladies. How does that sound to you?”
Xuhn thought for a while. He didn’t want to see Ritika or Ruponi again for a long while, despite wanting them to be safe. He sighed, Mortugal was right,
“Let’s go to the sea then.”
Chapter 26
Six days it took Mortugal, flying as fast as he could, before they had the first glimpse of sea. But the sight of the water in the distance brought them a sense of achievement like no other.
It was warmer in the south than in Dragonland or even Sura. The country to which the sea coast in the south belonged was Ebigol—another country with a human majority. Both Xuhn and Vivek had taken off all their upper clothes due to the heat and had tied the woollens by the sleeves around Mortugal’s neck— who protested much for that.
It was dense forest below, and they had crossed the last village almost an hour ago.
Finally Mortugal descended down to the sea shore. Xuhn jumped down from the dragon’s back and lay down on the sand at once, enjoying the feeling of wet sand underneath him. It was the first time he had been to a sea beach, despite hearing countless times of how wonderful sea beaches were.
“Now what are you doing?” Vivek asked.
“Try it yourself!” Xuhn replied. He had been sleeping on hard ground for the past few days, so now the soft sand almost felt like his old bed. It made his aches go, letting relaxation flood every bit of him.
Vivek didn’t follow Xuhn’s advice though. Stupid half-werewolf, Xuhn thought, watching Vivek and Mortugal wade about the sea shore as the tide washed their feet. Vivek had placed the dragon skull only a couple of feet from Xuhn. Now Xuhn gazed at the lines on the forehead of the skull and wondered who had etched them. Would they even lead to Hatred?
It was a queer thought, but he hoped that it would take them some good time to find the Hatred, whether it resided on the sea floor or some small island. Despite some rough moments, he was rather enjoying the course his life had taken ever since he decided to investigate the true identity of the village newcomers. He smiled. Only a month ago he would go near the frozen lake to cut wood and wonder if he might see the fabled beast someday.
And there was the beast in front of him. Xuhn was going to have one crazy tale to pass down to his children and grandchildren.
He pushed himself up, not quite liking the sun on his skin— since they had been under the hot sun almost the entire day without a shade. Xuhn went to the canopy of the trees. A sharp pain hit his feet. He jerked his leg and looked down to see it was a small crab that had pinched him, angry at him for having stepped on it.
There were coconut trees growing along the coast and Mortugal plucked some coconuts for Xuhn and Vivek. And to fill his own stomach, the dragon went fishing.
He removed the woollen clothes tied around his neck and threw them to Vivek, who almost fell in his attempt to catch them all.
"You know," Mortugal said, "bury those clothes in the sand. You don't even need them anymore. They are just a burden for me."
Xuhn was scared when Mortugal disappeared under the surface of the sea. He resurfaced soon with a big fish in his jaws, which he threw to the air and gulped down in an instant. Mortugal was a dragon of the water without a doubt.
The island. A pinprick in the middle of the sea with not another piece of land in sight. Just one tree grew in the island, which had an area of a few square metres. They didn’t know if the island was where Hatred was but they landed anyway. They had been flying for way too long and Mortugal was very tired.
The sun was just setting in the horizon. Endless sea surrounded on all sides, and Xuhn wondered why the island had chosen to emerge at such a desolate site. At least it should have looked if there were other small islands nearby— as if the island was a living being.
“The skull,” Mortugal said to Vivek.
“What do you want to do with it?” Xuhn asked as Mortugal held the skull with his claws. The dragon touched the circle on the skull’s forehead. At once Mortugal went flying metres away and landed in the sea water.
“I don’t see the point of that,” Xuhn said, picking up the skull that had fallen when Mortugal was thrown away. Why should the skull throw away its handler for no reason?
“I think the Hatred’s here!” Mortugal said. There was a seriousness in his face Xuhn had rarely seen on him.
“Are you sure?” Xuhn asked.
Mortugal climbed back onto the island.
“The female dragon,” he said, spilling with excitement, “I think I heard her speak this time— she was saying something like ‘here’!”
Xuhn and Vivek exchanged looks. His amazement reflected in Vivek’s eyes.
“It can be,” Vivek said with a shrug. “I mean, this place has every chance of the Hatred being here.”
Xuhn agreed with Vivek. But where could Hatred be? The island was bare except for the tree. It had long arm-like leaves that seemed odd on the slim trunk.
“But where is the mirror?” Xuhn asked Mortugal.
Mortugal’s eyes swept the island, as if expecting to find it lying on the sand. Then Mortugal looked towards the sea.
“Can it be in the sea?” Mortugal asked.
“Like at the bottom of this isla
nd?” Xuhn said.
“Exactly,” Mortugal said.
“There’s no other place more likely,” Vivek said.
Mortugal jumped into the water.
“You two stay here, all right?” he said to Xuhn and Vivek, “I will go and check the bottom of this island quickly.”
Xuhn bit his lip and nodded.
“All the best.”
Mortugal stared at Xuhn and Vivek for a moment, then he dived into the depths of the sea.
***
Mortugal kept to as near the island as possible. The more he went down the lesser the rays of the sun reached the depths, and the less clearly he could see. The island was probably a lonely submerged hill that didn’t form part of any mountain range. The size of the hill expanded as he went towards its foot.
Mortugal marvelled at the different types of sea creatures that he saw. Besides fishes of different shapes and sizes, there were a host of other living organisms that he never knew existed. There were creatures with tentacles longer than his tail. There were beings that looked like giant insects. Plant like organisms that moved about, and what not. And after a certain depth he even began to see creatures that could produce their own light.
And as he neared the bottom of the island, he saw a faint glow down below. He swam fast, a feeling in his gut telling him it might have something to do with the Hatred.
He finally reached the bottom of the island to discover that the glow was indeed coming from a mirror lying in the middle of what looked like a shipwreck, which occurred a long time ago. Only the frame of the ship was there, and most of the other components lay scattered around it.
But the mirror wasn’t alone. Not less than two hundred Bnomes sat in concentric circles around it. Their eyes were closed, but they had weapons in their hands.
Mortugal had never known Bnomes could breathe under water, though there was also the possibility that, like him, they were simply capable of holding their breath for a very long period of time. But the Bnomes didn’t surprise Mortugal much. If Malthur was intent on protecting the Hatred, then it was only natural that he should position such a large number of Bnomes around it.
The Banishment of the King Page 17