The Black Dragon

by W. D. Newman

CHAPTER 8

  UNEXPECTED MEETINGS

  After a restful night of grazing on the prairie grasses near the bamboo patch, the horses were refreshed and seemed eager to get back to the Twilight. However, after their initial burst of speed, when they first emerged from the woods onto the open fields, Jonah reined them in. The elf slowed them down and set a pace that was fast and yet comfortable enough for Amos to lope along at their sides with Louise upon his back. Also Gob and Nob had threatened to jump from their horses if Jonah did not slow down and, if they survived, walk all the way back to the Twilight. Even so, they made it back to the Twilight in remarkable time.

  Louise had not been back to the elfin forest since her adventures there this past summer, so when they arrived, she was shocked to see the castle that now occupied the field where the tent city had once stood. As they approached the stone walls, the castle gates swung open to admit them into the courtyard and, when they dismounted, elves from the stables rushed forward to care for the weary horses. The tack was removed and taken back to the stables to be cleaned and oiled. The horses after such a ride needed to be walked, rubbed down, and groomed before returning to their stalls. While the horses were being led away, Amos transformed back into his human form and followed Louise, Jonah, and the two dwarves to the keep.

  Fires were burning brightly on the hearths along the main hallway, but no one stopped to warm themselves. When they reached the end of the hallway, a pair of thick wooden doors marked the entrance to what was now known as the Center Room. Each of the doors was five feet wide, fifteen feet tall, and bore the elfin rune for their home world of Faerie. Jonah pushed the doors open and everyone followed him into the expansive room.

  The walls of the Center Room were paneled with dark mahogany and, like the mantles in the great hall, carved with fantastic scenes from the elves’ home world of Faerie. High above their heads, a glass domed ceiling allowed natural light to illuminate the richly detailed carvings on the walls and, beneath their feet, the bright marble floors sparkled and shined with flecks of gold that were embedded in vibrant veins of pinks and grays.

  In the center of this magnificent room there stood a small unadorned tent. The tent, a simple brown canvas tent, looked out of place in these fine surroundings, but this was no ordinary tent. This was the Center Tent and the magic that defined the Twilight was bound within it. The tent also housed the Merlin Tree that connected Camelot to the elves’ home world of Faerie.

  Jonah led them across the marbled floors to the tent. He pulled the flap back and held the door open for them to enter. Louise closed her eyes and stepped inside. The tent was small on the outside, yet through some feat of magic, it was expansive on the inside. To the left and the right of the door she had just entered, the tent wall disappeared into the distance, and the ceiling of the tent was lost in the darkness above her. Jonah led them away from the entrance and over a hill to a small fire burning within a circle of logs. There were three people sitting before the fire. One of them she recognized as Marcus, the elfin mage who ruled here and was known to all as the Keeper. The other two were too short to be elves and too thin to be dwarves, but they looked so familiar. When it finally dawned on Louise who they were, she was shocked and then her shock turned to anger.

  "Ben? Casey? What are you doing here? How did you get here?"

  Her two grandchildren stood up and approached her. Both were wearing warm, hooded elfin cloaks.

  "Grandma?" said Casey, "What are you and Amos doing here?"

  Louise ignored Casey's question and turned her anger on the Keeper.

  "Is this your doing?" She planted her hands upon her hips and fixed the Keeper with an icy glare. Ben suddenly felt sorry for him. He had been the recipient of that glare before and he knew the Keeper was in for a stern lecture. "I want to know how they got here, why they are here, and how soon can you get them back!"

  "I did not bring them here," Marcus answered. "But I am beginning to suspect that their fates may be further entwined with Camelot than I ever imagined. Why they came here is a remarkable story. The timing of their arrival makes it even more incredible."

  Louise turned from the Keeper to Ben. "I can't imagine this is Casey's idea. Do you mind explaining this to me?"

  The last adventure they had in Camelot happened when Ben sneaked here against his Grandma's wishes. Now here he was once again being asked to explain to his Grandma exactly what he was doing here. Although he was in Camelot this time because of a necessity, he still felt a heavy guilt as Louise waited for his explanation. Unable to look at his Grandma and feeling his face turn bright red, he poked his sister in the ribs. "You tell her," he whispered.

  "We wouldn't be here if you had stayed off the ice, like I told you," Casey whispered back, "so you tell her."

  "Please, Casey. I don't think I can."

  Casey looked at her brother and her heart melted. She simple could not be angry at him, after coming so close to losing him. She turned to her Grandma and cleared her throat. "We used the leaves that Marcus gave us last summer. That's how we got here."

  "Okay," said Louise, "now you can use them to go right back home."

  "No we can't," Casey replied. "It's not that simple."

  Louise raised her eyebrows and pushed her sleeves up. For a moment, Casey thought she was actually going to try to spank her, but Louise just crossed her arms and waited for Casey to elaborate.

  "Grandma, Ben and I went for a walk today," Casey began. She paused and glanced back at her brother. Ben was staring down at his feet. He looked so fragile. Casey felt a lump rise in her throat as she continued her story. "There is a vacant lot near our house that has a small pond on it. We wanted to see if the pond was frozen and it was." The lump in her throat would not go away. The horrible image of Ben trapped beneath the ice bubbled up fresh and new in her memory. Overcome with emotions, she began to cry. "I told him not to, but he walked out onto the pond anyway. Then there was a loud pop and the ice gave way. He went under, Grandma! It was awful," she sobbed.

  Amos put his huge arm around her and pulled her close. Casey buried her face in his furs and cried, while the gentle giant stroked her hair and tried to calm her. As the sobs racked her body, her brother realized she could not finish the story.

  "When I plunged through the ice," said Ben, in a soft voice, "I couldn't find the hole to get back out. I was trapped underneath the ice and running out of breath." He paused, still staring down at his feet. "If I hadn't had the magic leaf, I would have died."

  Louise paled, and for a moment she was speechless. She rushed over to Ben and yanked him into her arms. "Thank goodness you are okay. If I would have lost you because of this place, I would not have been able to live with myself. Come here, Casey."

  Casey ran to her Grandma and Louise pulled her close and squeezed tightly. "I am thankful you two are okay, but I still do not understand why you cannot use the leaf to go back!"

  "Ben cannot return by way of the leaf," said Marcus, answering for the kids, "because if he did, he would return to the same place and point in time that he left. He would be trapped beneath the ice again."

  "Then we will have to return through the Merlin tree."

  "Yes, but if we are to save Gabriel and Hob, there will not be enough time to take the children back - we must begin making plans at once. When we have rescued our friends and secured Merlin's staff, we will then have to deal with Zoltan."

  "Do you have a strategy for combating this dragon?" asked Amos.

  "We cannot conquer him with magic. He is simply too strong. We will have to trap him and overcome him with brute force. Our dwarven and elfin smiths are working together now, forging great chains and hooks. Our carpenters are constructing catapults to fling these chains and our masons are strategically placing large boulders so we can anchor him down.”

  "What on earth are you going to do with him if you do manage to subdue him?" Louise asked. "You can't exactly ke
ep him on a leash!"

  "Once we have him chained to the ground, the first thing we will do is immobilize his head. When we have his head secured, so that he cannot move it, we will bind his jaws shut so that he cannot make fire. After that, we will reinforce the bindings and make them permanent."

  "And then what? Will you be able to kill him?"

  "We will try. And if we are unable to kill him, we will starve him."

  "Starve him?" Gob asked, rubbing his stomach. "What a horrible way to die."

  "Yes," said Nob. "There must be another way to put an end to him, something that will be quick and painless."

  "Starving him will not kill him," Marcus answered. "When his hunger becomes too great to bear and he begins to weaken, he will go back into the sleep-stone state. It will almost be like Merlin's sleep spell, except this time it will be his survival instincts kicking in and trying to keep him alive."

  "And what if you can't subdue him?" asked Louise.

  "Then we will begin evacuation of Camelot, and escort you as safely as we are able back to the Merlin tree."

  "Okay," said Amos, rising and stretching. "What are your plans for getting Gabriel and Hob out? What makes you think they are even alive?"

  "Elves have a life force, or magic, that connects them to their world and to each other. Whenever life ceases for one of our people, we all feel that loss inside of us. That is why we withdrew to the Twilight after the first war against the witch and her army of snow golems. Many of our brethren were killed and the grief was almost too much to bear." Marcus paused, a faraway look in his eye. A momentary cloud of pain crossed his face, and then suddenly the Keeper looked old and stooped. It only lasted a second though and it swiftly passed. "As Keeper, I feel that loss stronger than anyone. Gabriel's life force is strong. If he were dead, I would know it. All elves here in Camelot would feel that loss."

  "What about Hob?" Gob asked, wringing his hands. "Do you know if he is alive?"

  Marcus smiled at the two worried dwarves. "I cannot feel the life force of dwarves or men, but take comfort; I am certain that if Gabriel is alive, then Hob is alive as well."

  Nob gave Gob's beard a sharp yank and Gob howled with pain. "You know, he's right. Hob would not let anything happen to Gabriel! If Gabriel is alive, then Hob is certainly alive."

  "You're absolutely right!" Gob agreed, grabbing for Nob's beard. As the two dwarves pulled and tugged on each other's beard, Marcus finished answering Amos' question.

  "As far as plans go, Jonah will leave in the morning with Gob and Nob, to examine the cave-in. Gob and Nob will have to determine if an excavation is possible. If so, Jonah will ride back to the Twilight and we will send all of our resources to begin the excavation at once. If they determine that we will be unable to dig them out safely, then they will return to the Twilight and we'll decide on an alternate course of action."

  "Do you have any ideas on what that alternate course of action might be?"

  "We will have to infiltrate the gnome mines to attempt a rescue. That will be our last resort to rescue our friends. We can ill afford a war with the gnomes while we are trying to deal with Zoltan."

  "You are right," Amos agreed. "The gnomes are best left undisturbed. I will accompany Jonah, Gob, and Nob to the Black Hills. I have the scent of this dragon now and I believe I could smell him a mile away."

  "Very well," Marcus replied. "I am glad for your help."

  "Well, what on earth did you need me for?" Louise asked the Keeper. "It sounds like you have everything planned out. Actually, it sounds like you already have your plans in motion, so why do you need my counsel?"

  "Louise, as Keeper I can see the many paths that lead to future events. These are revealed to me in visions. When I see these visions, it is like looking at a reflection upon still waters. However I cannot see the future where Zoltan is concerned. The visions concerning the dragon are like looking at a reflection upon troubled waters; everything is jumbled and distorted. Because of this, for the first time since I have been Keeper, I am flying blind. Yes, I have made plans and some of those plans are indeed in motion, but the best laid plans can often go awry. That's why I want you here. You have much wisdom to offer. You also have something else to offer; something I do not have."

  "And what is that?"

  "Intuition," Marcus answered with a smile.

  "Excuse me," said Gob, "but we have an important question to ask."

  "Very important," Nob added.

  "What is it," Marcus asked.

  "Don't you think we could do a lot more planning on a full stomach? I know we could. It's already time for our mid-day meal and after such a harrowing ride to fetch Louise, we are quite starved!"

  Marcus threw back his head and laughed and the others joined him. Gob and Nob turned red and began to yank on their beards.

  "I don't see what is so blasted funny about starving to death!" Nob growled.

  "We are not laughing at you my friends," said Jonah. "Your spirits make us all happy, that is all. Come, let's go to the kitchens."

  They left the Center Tent and, after a big meal in the kitchens, spent the remainder of the day getting reacquainted and touring the new castle. That evening, the Keeper joined them for a magnificent supper in one of the smaller dining halls. When everyone had finished eating, he stood and bade them goodnight.

  "You are tired. Jonah will show you to your rooms for the night. Rest well and we will see what tomorrow brings."

  Jonah led them down long, dimly-lit passageways to their bedrooms. The rooms were not huge, airy rooms that one would expect to find in a castle, but snug and cozy rooms with proper beds, rugs on the floors, and warm fires burning on the hearths. Amos, remembering how loudly the dwarves snored, declined an offer to share their room and opted for a room of his own. Louise, Ben, and Casey, however, did share a room and soon they were resting comfortably in a giant bed, snuggled beneath deep layers of downy blankets and fluffy quilts. Within minutes, Louise's soft snoring and the occasional crackle of the dying fire were the only noises that disturbed the night.

  "Ben?" said Casey.

  "Yes?"

  "Are you asleep?"

  "Yeah, I'm asleep."

  "...Ben?"

  "Yeah, Casey, what is it?"

  "...I'm glad you're okay."

  Ben smiled. That was as close as his teenage sister would come to telling him that she loved him.

  "I love you too, Casey. Goodnight."

  *****