by Toni Cox
Finally, there were the other folk accompanying the warriors on their journey, such as Servers, Blacksmiths, Cooks, Weapons Smiths, Healers, Tailors, and so many others, Maia could not name them all.
When the gates that led from the courtyard of the stables to the city finally opened, the noise from the streets drowned out all others sounds. The peopled cheered and whistled. The children laughed. The elderly waved flags. Although many hearts ached with sadness at seeing their loved ones leave, their national pride at seeing their army go into battle to defend their people was such that Maia could barely contain her emotions.
Lady Luck danced beneath her, throwing her head wildly at the turmoil within her rider.
“Are you all right?” Blaid called back to her.
“Yes, I see now why your father insisted on riding through the city.”
Maia’s eyes sparkled as they threatened to overflow with tears. Sometimes, she wished her elemental powers did not include being able to feel the emotions of a crowd. Especially now that she had found her missing piece - she still did not know what to call what had happened to her when she turned into the falcon - she was more sensitive to it.
Right then she made the decision to make just one stop on their journey home. She would speak to Blaid as soon as they were out of the city.
They met up with the bulk of the army about ten miles outside the city in front of the intimidating southern face of The Hunter; a jagged peak eight miles high. Quickly, the Commanders sorted their commands into marching formation and, without any further delay, began their journey south.
“Until we meet again, Father. Make haste, but be safe.”
“The mountains are treacherous this time of year,” the king said, “but no one knows them better than the people of Elbendal. Fear not, my son, for the King’s Road is open once more and Grildor might see us sooner than she expects.”
“That is good news. Why have you not mentioned it before?”
“It has been a project of mine for the past three years. Word came to me last night that it has finally been completed. We shall be the first army to pass that way in over five hundred years.”
“May the Mother smile upon your journey.”
“And upon yours, my son.”
Lord Elderbow pulled Blaid close, hugging him to his chest. Maia could feel years of hurt melt off Blaid’s heart as he returned the gesture.
“Look after him, Siana,” the king said gruffly and kissed his daughter on both cheeks. “I will see you on the other side.”
“Aye, Father. Take care. And don’t you get lost now.”
“I shall beat you to Grildor yet if you do not get going,” Lord Elderbow riled her up, and she laughed - a sound loud and strong - and they stepped apart, suddenly conscious of their sentimentality.
“Time to hunt,” Siana said, and mounted her horse.
Maia and Blaid followed her example, and then watched the king and his Guard ride after his army. Only once he was out of sight did they turn their horses and head in the opposite direction.
They stayed in the shadow of The Hunter for another mile, turning off onto a narrow mountain trail, making their way at a slow walk. It took them another hour before they met up with the bulk of Siana’s Dragon Guard and the Horse Master that would take their horses back to the city.
As arranged, Maia saw all her belongings - the chest, her bags - stacked neatly beside the warriors, along with coils of strong rope.
“It is not far from here,” Siana said, and jumped off her horse.
The Horse Master came forward to take their horses from them. Maia patted Lady Luck farewell, then made her way over to her luggage. It was, however, no longer on the ground. Evenly distributed between Siana’s men, the extra luggage was barely noticeable; except for the chest, which two men carried between them.
“We will have plenty wings to carry your things,” Siana said next to her. “When you go on a long journey, you have to pack for every eventuality. That is why a large army travels so slowly. All the gear and provisions they have to take along wears them down.”
Maia nodded, having not only seen her father’s armies, but also having just witnessed Lord Elderbow’s army move out.
“That is why I prefer my army of dragons. My War Dragons. They can carry half their own body weight in gear and equipment and still travel twenty times faster than any army on foot or horse ever could,” Siana continued. “Come, it’s just over the ridge. Let us be airborne before this weather pulls in.”
Blaid fell in step beside them as they set out along the steep path up the mountain. Maia glanced at the sky, now no longer the bright blue of this morning, but grey and overcast, with blustery winds at the higher levels.
The path to where the dragons awaited them was not long, but it wound up a steep incline between boulders and overhangs, with treacherous footing, and then, on the other side, they had to traverse a dangerous scree slope before entering a dark cave. They walked through the dark in silence for only about a minute before Maia saw light at the other end.
“This is a sheltered little valley no one ever comes to,” Siana explained. “Except through this tunnel, there is no other way in. When we first started training the dragons, this is where we came. I sent ten men ahead in the early hours of the morning to bring our steeds. I take it your dragon will know what to do with the rest of them.”
“Midnight has seen to it,” Maia assured Siana, already knowing the whereabouts of the dragons.
Yet, as she stepped out of the tunnel-like cave into the grey light of the valley, even her breath caught in her throat. A sea of red covered the small valley; lining the ground, clinging to cliffs and overhangs, sitting atop peaks; and a cacophony assaulted them.
For a moment, Siana hesitated at the sight. Thunder rumbled dangerously overhead. Then Siana clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes, stepping forward onto a raised ledge so she could see over the crowd of dragons on the valley floor.
“Vulkan!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Siana’s scream got lost amongst the sounds from almost four hundred Fire Dragons, yet Maia felt a stirring, a ripple spreading with Siana as the epicenter, and then something moved. To their right, from a cliff a little higher up, Vulkan appeared, the other dragons making space for him to pass.
Just as lightning flashed across the sky, Siana moved towards him. Vulkan dug his front claws deep into the edge of the cliff and then leaned forward, opening his maw wide, exposing his dagger-like teeth, and screamed back at her.
Fearless, Siana stepped forward. Vulkan closed his mouth and lowered his head. She rubbed his nose.
“It is time to go into battle, my friend. Are you ready?”
Despite Lunar bouncing excitedly between people and dragons, Siana’s men made quick work of distributing Maia’s luggage between their dragons.
“Are you sure it is all right?” Maia asked. “Midnight can carry it.”
“Your things are here now and so are my dragons. They won’t even feel the extra weight. Consider it a gift. Now, I assume my brother will fly with you.”
“Aye.”
“My men are ready to go and it seems the wild dragons are becoming agitated. Where is this dragon of yours?” Siana asked as she mounted Vulkan, heaving Lunar into place in the saddle ahead of her. Surprisingly, the wolf wagged her tail, squirming with excitement.
“He has been waiting. The valley is but small and filled with Fire Dragons. I will ask him to come if you say the word.”
“Go ahead, call your dragon,” Siana said, making it sound like a challenge.
“Hold on to your dragon, Dragon Lady.” Maia winked at her.
Siana managed to open her mouth to laugh before Vulkan shied to the side, taking up all of Siana’s concentration to keep him under control and Lunar on the saddle. Behind her, her dragon riders took to the air as one, taking the wild dragons clinging to the cliffs with them.
Down below in the valley, the cacophony took on a new level o
f intensity as Midnight’s immense black shadow settled over them and, with screeching and hissing, the Fire Dragons scrambled over each other to get out of the way. Soon, a twirling cloud of red surrounded the hovering black dragon above, and then, as they darted over the ridge, the noise finally receded.
Buffeting them with icy wind, lightning crashing in the distance, Midnight performed a slow, hovering descent before them, until his legs touched the valley floor and his head reached level with the ledge they stood on. Maia ran to him, leaning her head against the broad space between his nostrils.
Turning back, trying hard to suppress her smug grin, she said, “Aye, he is ready to go, Lady Siana.”
Vulkan, still terrified after Midnight’s display of supremacy, had backed up right against the wall of the cliff, but Siana had managed to keep him from taking to the air. Siana could not stop laughing. Lunar howled. Blaid still stood in the same spot, an indulgent smile on his face for the two women in his life.
“All right,” Siana huffed, still laughing, “we bow to you, Dragon Queen. Lead the way and we shall follow.”
“As you wish, My Lady,” Maia said with a smile. “Are you coming, Blaid?”
Without waiting for a reply, Maia turned and, holding onto one of Midnight’s large, protruding teeth, climbed onto his maw, ran over his face between his eyes, between his enormous, curving horns, and then jumped from one neck spike to the next until she reached the part of his lower neck where she could settle between two of the spikes for the flight.
With a swirl of black smoke, Blaid materialised behind Maia, placing his arms firmly around her waist.
“I respect Midnight too much to mount him via his snout,” he said.
The echoing whopwhopwhop of Midnight’s laughter reverberated in their minds, before his thoughts changed to something they could no longer understand. Vulkan uttered a battle cry and, in the distance, the scale of dragons rose as one into the dark sky.
Maia could feel how Midnight bound their hive mind to him and how he directed them without taking away their freedom or individual thoughts. Having studied the phenomenon of Soul Dragons since she found Midnight in the desert, she had been aware of their ability to connect to any living being, in various different forms. It was one of the reasons she could speak to him. But, reading about it in an old book and feeling it within her own body … she could find no words to explain it.
As Midnight left the valley floor behind and joined the Fire Dragons in the ever darkening sky, lightning crashing dangerously around them, Midnight opened the part of his mind to her that controlled the dragons.
See, now, Bright-Shining-Silver-Star, for you are almost complete. Watch. Learn.
Maia did not know what Midnight meant by saying she was almost complete, but as he opened his mind, the thought was quickly forgotten.
Her vision changed; the dark mountain range now lay clear before her and she could see even into the darkest valley. With her eyes, her ears, her skin, her wings, her smell, her experience, and another sense she had no name for, she could clearly see the air currents through the mountains and above.
Around and behind her, she could now identify the Fire Dragons, which had earlier been but a swirling mass of red bodies, as individuals, and know their disposition, temperament, strengths and weaknesses, gender, and all manner of other information.
The one thing, however, Midnight did not know was what every individual dragon was thinking. Through the connection she learned, with so many individuals, vital information could get lost, which was why Midnight connected to them through the hive mind.
To her, the connection vibrated; the sound dipping and peaking. Although Midnight had let her in, she was no dragon. She could hear and feel the connection, but she could not understand their language. Still, it was the most beautiful music she had ever heard.
As Midnight guided the scale over the mountains through the ever gathering storm, the one aspect that became more apparent than anything else was the oneness between the dragons. Through the hive mind, this total connection, they communicated flawlessly, without any misunderstandings.
They were as one. The many that are one, she thought. Everything they did, they executed to perfection and with synchronised harmony. During this time of travel, the dragon riders, even Siana, ceded their control of their dragons over to Midnight and, as one, the scale swarmed through the hidden valleys Blaid had shown them on their way to Elbendal.
As the weather became ever worse, soon turning from storm to snow storm to blizzard, the importance of the scale’s oneness became ever more apparent to Maia. The Elves clung, freezing and afraid, to their dragons’ backs as the storm raged about them. Lightning illuminated the jagged peaks and thunder echoed deafeningly off the mountainsides, yet the dragons flew on with a single mind, combining their knowledge of air currents, atmospheric pressure, atmospheric charges, cloud formations, snow quality, and a range of other information Maia vowed to read up on if she came out of this alive.
Picked a bad day, Blaid spoke to her in her mind. I hope the army on the ground is faring better.
Army camped in sheltered valley, Midnight assured them.
They had expected bad weather. Or rather, Lord Elderbow had warned them that the higher mountains would see a blizzard before nightfall. Maia knew enough to listen to the people of the country and dressed accordingly, yet even nestled close to Midnight’s warm hide and with Blaid’s arms wrapped around her waist, she could not still her shivering.
Until now, enthralled by the cohesiveness of the hive mind, she had pushed the freezing cold and stinging ice particles to the back of her mind. Blaid’s thoughts in her head awoke her to her surroundings and her own peril.
Gathering her energy, she created a warming bubble of air to surround the two of them. She could not stop all the snow and sleet from coming through, but enough so that it no longer covered their clothes. Soon, her shivering stopped and her thoughts cleared.
How much further, Midnight? Surely this storm cannot go on forever. How fare the other Elves?
Tenacious as their dragons, Midnight answered. Hold on, Bright-Shining-Silver-Star. One more peak. One more valley. One more ridge. Clear sky beyond.
As Midnight foretold, the plains on the other side of the Elben Torrs saw none of the storm. With the mountains so high, they caught the weather on the western side of the mountain range, while the plains to the east lay barren.
Freezing temperatures still reigned on the plains to the east of the mountains and when the dragons finally landed, the Elves quickly made camp, setting up their tents within a circle of Siana’s War Dragons.
The wild dragons, as well as Midnight, scattered across the flat and empty plain, huddling together in twos and threes, letting the icy wind blow over their hides, waiting for the sun to rise.
“I did not know dragons could fly in weather such as that,” Blaid said as he lit the tiny travel stove to keep them warm and heat water for tea.
“Neither have I ever seen it,” Siana, who shared the tent with them, admitted.
“They joined their knowledge and used it to navigate the storm. It is Midnight’s ability as a Soul Dragon that lets him merge their minds to become one. It was only together that they were strong enough to conquer the storm. It is called a hive mind.”
As Maia said it, she realised she was the only one aware of what had happened over the mountains. Midnight had only shared the experience with her. Siana and Blaid stared at her, open-mouthed.
“I thought your dragon was only giving them orders to fly where he wanted them.”
“Midnight asked them to follow. He did not order them. They accepted his leadership of their own volition. If they had refused, he would have accepted it.”
“But … back in the valley, they were terrified of him,” Siana countered.
“Not at all. They simply bowed to his supremacy.”
“You really can talk to your dragon, can’t you?”
“We communicate with ou
r minds. I will ask him to speak with you in the morning, if you wish. Midnight and I are also soul forged; a bond so strong that nothing can ever tear it apart.” Maia considered Siana’s face for a moment before she continued. “There is, however, no need to speak to your dragon to form a bond. The work you have done with Vulkan is incredible and I can show you some other techniques you can try.” Maia turned to Lunar and patted the wolf on the head. “Besides, look at the bond you have with Lunar. You can have the same bond with Vulkan. Stronger even, I think. Your relationship is still young. Midnight and I have been together for half my life. Give it some time and you shall see. You will rule the skies.”
Siana’s face, and her Eläm, softened at Maia’s words and she felt the last bit of the initial resentment fade. The two young princesses looked at each other, smiling, understanding each other on a level where Blaid could not follow.
He busied himself with stoking the fire.
When the sun finally rose on the eastern horizon and they climbed out of their tents, a wondrous landscape awaited them. Hoarfrost covered the plains as far as the eyes could see, broken only by the warmer, red humps of the sleeping Fire Dragons. A glittering red and white landscape, completely still and ethereal.
Lunar bounded out of the tent ahead of them, leaving paw prints on the crunchy, white ground. Midnight’s black shadow covered them momentarily, before moving on to the sleeping forms of the dragons on the plain. They stirred, one by one, as his shadow touched them.
“My men will make a quick breakfast,” Siana said. “How much time do we have if we want to reach the opposite border of Levandor before nightfall?”
They had discussed their travel briefly, but in detail. One day and night for crossing the Elben Torrs; one day for crossing Levandor; one day rest and hunting for the dragons; two days for crossing Serengate; two more for crossing Bron; and another day for reaching Shadow Hall once within the borders of Grildor.