Deelind and The Icefire

by Lance Dempster

  ‘Are you alright?’ came a voice in her mind that sounded like the woman she knew as Lady Lee mixed with the whisper of autumn leaves fluttering along a pavement.

  ‘Yes. I am just winded. I will be fine as soon as I get my breath back,’ she said, grateful for this method of speaking.

  ‘Stay where you are, and someone will come for you. I must go.’ Lady Lee’s voice faded as the leaves blew away in the breeze.

  ‘But—’ started Deelind and then realised the voice was gone. She lay still, not quite believing she was alive.

  ‘Geoff!’ said Miss Tibi’s voice. ‘Quick! A featherlite is down. Bring some food and water!’

  Surprised to hear Miss Tibi’s voice, she tried to turn to her, but found that she could only lie there and work at sucking in more air and breathing more normally. Slowly she stood up and shook off the broken bits of sunflower that had stuck to her body. It was strange to stand on sturdy dragon legs.

  ‘I don’t recognise this one and look how young it is! This is amazing!’ cried Miss Tibi. ‘Erline’s egg has finally hatched and melded already. It is completely white. What a beautiful featherlite! Quick, Geoff, give it food.’

  Seeing the plate of food in Geoff’s hand, Deelind launched herself at him, knocking him over and sending the plate of roast chicken into the air. In a single movement she snatched the chicken from the air and ate it in one gulp. She then dived straight for the other chickens which had fallen to the floor and swallowed them whole. Miss Tibi placed a huge plate of mixed meat on the ground in front of Deelind.

  ‘Eat now,’ soothed Miss Tibi. ‘It is normal to be very hungry after a melding.’ Turning to Geoff, Miss Tibi said, ‘It is so beautiful. Oh, what a lovely discovery, despite Blackthorn’s attack and Deelind being missing.’ Concern etched Miss Tibi’s face as she said, ‘If only we knew what had happened to Deelind.’

  On hearing her name, she said, ‘It is me, Miss Tibi!’ but all that came out was a roar.

  ‘Stop talking so much, Tibi,’ said Geoff, laying a hand on her arm. ‘You are upsetting it.’

  ‘I know. It’s just so exciting.’

  Geoff smiled broadly, ‘It is indeed. Why don’t you go get more food and call for Princess Lee. She will want to know about this featherlite.’ Miss Tibi quickly walked away and disappeared into a hole in the ground, still chatting away to herself. Deelind wondered if a moler had made the hole in the ground.

  Miss Tibi hardly seemed to be gone before she returned. Bustling up to Geoff, she said, ‘Princess Lee says she has already spoken with this featherlite and that she will need to talk with us later, although why, I don’t know.’ Deelind could guess why. Geoff and Miss Tibi didn’t know yet that she was the featherlite standing in front of them.

  ‘Here is more food,’ crooned Miss Tibi placing another large tray, this time filled with spaghetti and meatballs, in front of her. ‘Eat as much as you like.’ Deelind realised that in her dragon form she was much taller than Miss Tibi. Even though she was a young dragon, she was not a small one, yet Miss Tibi was clearly both familiar with dragons and comfortable around them. Deelind frowned to herself. Miss Tibi had helped raise her and been like a mother to her and Deelind felt a twinge of hurt that such a big secret had been kept from her.

  After finishing another plate of food, she felt much better and became more aware of what was going on. They were standing at the edge of the sunflower field next to her gran’s burning cottage. Looking up, she saw that what she had thought were fireworks were, in fact, fiery balls with bright sparks arcing off them. The fireballs streamed down on her gran’s cottage and surrounding area. Dragonknights flew above and around the cottage. Some were grabbing the fireballs, catching them with their claws and then flinging them skywards. Other Dragonknights were crushing them in their claws, causing them to burst into hundreds of small embers, which died out before they hit the ground. Some hit the cottage while others hit the ground. All around her gran’s cottage she could see molers popping out and then diving in the direction of where a fireball had struck the ground or was about to. The molers seemed to make the newly landed fireballs disappear underground, but in places where they had not got to them in time the earth turned grey and then black and the sickness spread outwards.

  She had emerged into a raging battle and the attack was on her gran’s cottage! Some Dragonknights were fighting the black creatures that had come from Blackthorn Farm. They were diving at each other. The Dragonknights were breathing thick streams of yellow, red and orange flames at the black creatures, while they, in turn, breathed sulphurous black flames at the Dragonknights. Neither seemed to be getting the upper hand and both sides had smoke curling from their bodies where flames had struck them.

  Gran! Instinctively she spread her wings and took flight.

  ‘No, no, no!’ yelled Miss Tibi, rushing forward trying to stop her.

  Geoff reached out and grabbed Miss Tibi, shouting, ‘Stop, Tibi! You know you can’t get so close to a featherlite about to take flight, especially a young, inexperienced featherlite, you could get badly injured.’

  At any other time, Deelind might have thought twice, but this was her home that was being attacked and her gran was in there. She had to do something! Using the rising heat from the burnt areas on the ground to gain height quickly, she circled the area, getting a feel for flying while surveying the battlefield. She arced this way then that, trying to spot her gran. Feeling warm air beneath her, she tucked into it to gain further height as she continued to circle and watch the battle above her gran’s cottage.

  There were three groups of Dragonknights flying in a relay. The first group was high in the air, getting ready to dive down and catch the next volley of incoming fireballs. The second group were flying upwards towards the first group, clearing up any the first group had missed or catching any new fireballs, while the third group were in the process of catching and crushing the fireballs. Each group appeared to be led by a Dragonknight in the front with the others coming behind in a V-shape formation. She noticed one Dragonknight flying higher than the rest, appearing to watch and guide the three groups of Dragonknights.

  Suddenly, she saw the third group break formation to engage in the battle with the black flying creatures that had spread out across the land above the cottage. The creatures snaked their way through the air, their poisonous, long tails lashing out at anything near them. Some were flying low to the ground and from their tongues quickly flicking the air and the slow, sinuous movements of their bodies they appeared to be hunting.

  One creature abruptly stilled and swiftly moved its head to focus on a patch of ground to the right of it, its body looping into strong coils forming a strike pose. A moler popped out of the ground to deal with a fireball that the Dragonknights had missed. The creature darted forward and grabbed the startled moler, ripping the moler’s head from his shoulders before the slightest sound escaped his lips. It was so fast the moler had stood no chance. Horrified, Deelind watched as other molers received the same fate.

  * * *

  It was an ugly battle, with all the fire, claws and ripping of dragon and moler flesh. Deelind kept circling, unsure where her gran was or which battle she should engage in. The fireballs were coming across the sky from Blackthorn Farm. A stray one seemed to be heading directly for Miss Tibi and Geoff. She dived for it and managed to catch it in her left claw. To her horror, her claws seemed to get stuck in the fireball and the heat began burning up them. She screamed in agony as the pain flowed up her leg. The heat was singeing her chest.

  ‘Fling it upwards! NOW!’ shouted the Dragonknight that had been watching from high above and was now next to her.

  Deelind tried to do just that but in her effort to do so she closed her claw even more tightly on it, causing it to explode into hundreds of small fireballs.

  ‘Good!’ said the Dragonknight. His deep voice crackled and snapped with the heat of dry logs burning in a fire.

  ‘Who are you? What about my gran? Is she alright?
I have to help her!’

  ‘I am Captain Roeland,’ he said and embers flared bright red and orange in his voice. His dark eyes seemingly pinned her in place. Deep red flames flickered in their depths. Deelind was suddenly aware of how large this dragon next to her was. He towered over her dragon form, the light glinting off his metallic, wine-red scaled underbelly. His massive, muscled body was kept aloft by large, strong wings beating the air powerfully. His air of absolute command and controlled power was enhanced by the black chevron design running down his back, wings and legs and the blood red feathers covering his wings and much of his head, back and tail. His feet were black, and his long, sharp claws were shaded a matt wine-red that flowed into black at the tips. He was dangerous. She had to fight the ridiculous urge to pull into herself so that he wouldn’t notice her. It was too late for that now.

  ‘Now get back and stay out of the way before you kill yourself, or worse, one of us.’ Fire roared through a forest and a tree exploded in a shower of hot sparks. ‘The rest will be answered later.’ He dipped his wing and flew powerfully and smoothly down towards the cottage.

  Wincing at the pain in her leg, Deelind watched him leave. Instead of landing to get her injury treated, she tucked into the hot air rising from the burning cottage to climb to a great height. Catching the updraft of hot air took her away from everything. The space and freedom flying gave her were a far cry from the deep, gloomy burrow she had met Mug in. From this height she could see several other Dragonknights in a variety of colours. No two dragons seemed to have the same hues and new patterns were formed with subtle changes in shades.

  Now split into teams of eight, the Dragonknights flew in well-practised manoeuvres. Focusing on one team, she saw two Dragonknights dive towards a fireball each while two others were already grabbing, crushing and flinging fireballs away to their left. Four other Dragonknights flew upwards to start the dive process over again. This seemed well-practised. Only a few fireballs now landed on the cottage or the surrounding area.

  Her cottage, her home, everything she knew was burning up. Oh no! ‘Gran!’ she yelled in anguish. What could she do?

  The cottage’s thatch roof was completely burnt away. Deelind could see the kitchen and someone pulling something out of it. Her heart lurched in hope. Was it Gran? Was she alright? The flames were rising high into the air. In the distance she could see and hear the local fire brigade coming down the road, but they would be too late. The cottage was too far gone. The fireballs were now targeting the outskirts of the town; however, they seemed to start out as black lumps and only on their descent did they ignite into flames and arcing sparks. How could this day be possible? When was it ever going to end?

  The fire engine took a direct hit and burst into flames. No one could have survived that. She swallowed hard in shock.

  Watching, she saw the fireballs land on the ground and create a grey ring around the town. What was going on? The people from the farm who had been carrying the buckets of plants were now throwing the plants onto the grey land. Bushes sprang up immediately. In disbelief, she watched the bushes produce pointed oval leaves. Savage thorns sprouted out from the branches. In a matter of minutes, it was over. A quick glance eastward showed that there now stood a ring of hedge encircling the town. Already large, the hedge formed a castle wall running around the town. A black mist crept over the top of the hedge, preventing her from seeing beyond. Quickly the mist became a dense cloud that completely hid the town.

  Her eye caught a robin flying next to the hedge. She cried out in horror as she saw several thorns fire out of the hedge and hit the bird. The poor robin died instantly, shrivelling up into a burnt corpse. She needed to warn the Dragonknights. They were in the midst of battle, too busy with the fireballs, defending the cottage, protecting any attacks on the manor house and fighting the black flying creatures. They may not know about the hedge and its thorns. She flew towards the fighting dragons.

  ‘Stay back!’ shouted Captain Roeland, who seemed to be keeping an eye on her.

  ‘The thorns! They are deadly!’ she screamed, but Captain Roeland was diving again for a fireball.

  Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye she saw a fireball, one that the other Dragonknights had missed, fly right past her heading towards the person who had been in the cottage kitchen. Again, she dived after the fireball. The ball was flying fast and she was struggling to catch up with it. Coming in closer to the person, she could see that it was Grimbell standing over a burnt body.

  ‘Watch out!’ she screamed, but Grimbell did not seem to hear.

  She tucked her wings in and streaked straight for the fireball. If she had the time she might have loved the speed she had picked up, but with the flaming ball now closing in on Grimbell she was completely focused on the task at hand. Finally, she was close enough to the fireball; however, she was out of time. Stretching out her left wing and swatting the fireball away, she skimmed past Grimbell and missed him by a hair’s breadth. The fireball hit the ground next to Grimbell at the same time as she struck the ground. Hard. Way too hard.

  She heard a loud crack as her left wing hit the ground. She felt pain like she had never felt before. There was the pain from the break, pain from the fireball and pain from hitting the ground. She lay there unable to move. Her left wing stuck out at an awkward angle, limp. The feathers on the top were burnt black. A searing pain moved up her left wing towards her head and chest. With the air knocked out of her, she battled to stay awake.

  ‘Change! Quickly change!’ said Grimbell.

  The world began to dim but something was shaking her. With each shake, it sent pain streaking through her body, keeping her conscious.

  ‘Stay awake until you have changed! Breathe, breathe!’ urged Grimbell and she opened her eyes to see lines of fear etched on his face.

  Struggling to get her lungs to work, Deelind was finally able to suck in a mouthful of air. She moaned.

  ‘Focus inwards and change back,’ Grimbell said, his brow furrowed in worry. ‘Think what you want to say. Don’t try to speak. I can’t understand you if you speak aloud in your dragon form.’

  Grimbell? He can talk. Talking in my head? she thought, dazed.

  ‘Of course I can talk. Now focus before it’s too late. Think of something relaxing and human!’

  She was so tired and sore. All she wanted to think about was her bed and sleep, a deep, comfortable sleep. It was enough. Without any effort Deelind changed back into human form. It was a relief to feel her body return to its normal shape. Right on its heels followed hunger, coursing through her, leaving her feeling cold and weak.

  Grimbell rolled her onto her back and covered her with his jacket. Now staring straight up at the heavens she saw a striking dragon. It was bright green and contrasted beautifully against the clear blue sky. As it arced here and there and circled the sky, she could see every shade of green with hints of yellow in the feathers and scales coming together to create the colour of a new grapevine leaf in the morning sun. Life and vitality radiated out from this dragon as she tracked its path through the fighting Dragonknights.

  ‘Who is that?’ she said, pointing with her good arm.

  ‘Princess Lee,’ said Grimbell glancing upwards.

  Princess Lee? Stunned and transfixed, Deelind watched as the dragon let out a scream followed by a stream of golden yellow and fiery red flames. The flames hit both the Dragonknights and the black creatures at the same time. The Dragonknights were unaffected by the flame but the black flying creatures screamed in pain. Their bodies caught alight and they abandoned the battle heading straight towards the town.

  A Dragonknight was locked in battle with one of the black creatures. Another Dragonknight Deelind recognised as Captain Roeland came swooping over the head of Princess Lee who was still breathing fire. He pointed the tips of his wings together and dived head first at the black creature. His wing tips hit the creature in the centre of its head, piercing its skull and splitting the head in two, followed by its body. The
two halves of the creature’s body fell towards the ground. Captain Roeland stretched open his wings. Once past the dead creature’s falling body and missing the ground by an inch, he quickly did a sideways loop, grabbing one half of the falling body in his talons. He flew his trophy back towards the top of the mound.

  Some of the black creatures were still trying to get back to the cloud that now extended over the entire town. The Dragonknights that had been fighting them were in pursuit. ‘Watch out!’ she shouted telepathically. ‘The hedge shoots out deadly thorns!’ No sooner had she sent the message than a Dragonknight closest to the hedge lurched and fell out of the sky. To her relief the rest turned and headed back.

  ‘No…’ moaned Deelind.

  ‘What is it?’ said Grimbell.

  ‘A Dragonknight has just fallen,’ said Deelind and Grimbell sighed heavily.

  She watched Princess Lee soaring in the sky, not noticing until too late that Grimbell had taken her damaged arm and pulled it to reset the bone. She screamed and her stomach rolled with nausea from the pain. As Grimbell placed her arm on top of her body he said, ‘There, the worst is over. I have reset your arm. You may still fly again.’

  She tried to lift her head but felt too weak to do more than just lie there. The ground vibrated near them and an old moler’s face popped out of the ground.

  ‘Get someone to take her out of here. She needs medical assistance,’ said Grimbell. ‘The attack is over for now.’

  ‘We have lost a number of molers today. Did you save the woman in the cottage?’ said the moler.

  ‘I am afraid she is dead. Our losses have been heavy today.’

  ‘Have you seen what Blackthorn is doing with the hedges around the town? We will never be able to get him now!’ shouted the moler who turned and dived straight at the ground, disappearing before her eyes.