Deelind and The Icefire

by Lance Dempster

  ‘Walk, don’t run!’ said Zara. ‘This is just flame, it feels wonderful!’ Deelind’s thoughts scrambled and she tried to hear Zara. Her stomach cramping in fear, she slowed herself to a walk as she heard Zara say, ‘We are dragon, flame does not harm us. Flame soothes us.’ Cool snow swirled in Deelind’s mind.

  Each time Deelind managed to get to the next set of dragons they breathed fire on her. She battled the overwhelming fear of being burnt alive. Her skin, hair and uniform were now alight, and screaming in pain she desperately slapped at the flames, trying to put them out. She could feel Zara struggling to push through Deelind’s terrified mind. Deelind wanted to run and pull her clothes off, but that would leave her body fully exposed to the flames. Looking left and right she could see there was no way out of the tunnel. Deelind ran, walked and stumbled down the tunnel of fire. Her skin bubbled and popped with blisters. The pain was excruciating. Tripping, she fell hard to the ground. This couldn’t be happening! She was burning alive. She had to go dragon and get to safety. In her dragon form she would be protected from the flames and then she could use her claws to dig into the earth to help her grip and move forward against the strong wind.

  Zara surged through Deelind’s mind with a force that rocked her to a standstill. Ice walls went up around her. ‘No! You will stop and stand here for a moment and listen to me. Close your eyes immediately. Stop screaming and take deep breaths,’ the frost in Zara’s tone demanded absolute obedience. Although she could feel flames licking her body and peeling her skin away, Deelind could sense the panic and the pain being pushed back under the force of her dragon’s will. She closed her eyes as Zara continued. ‘Remember what Blake said. What we see and what happens in the tunnel is not real.’

  ‘Well, it sure feels real and just for the record, this Walk of Fire thing is not fun!’ snapped Deelind, amazed that her thoughts had cleared enough that she could even argue with Zara.

  The ice walls dropped, and a blanket of soft, cool snow encircled her. ‘This is a human fear, Deelind. You keep thinking like a human and I keep reminding you that we are dragon, too. Fire does not harm us. For us fire is like a warm massage. You must allow yourself to feel what I feel. Your eyes are your trigger. Keep your eyes closed and your thoughts firmly wrapped with mine, experience fire as I do. We will walk this tunnel together using our other heightened senses.’

  Deelind took a deep breath, fighting off the urge to go dragon. She was determined to succeed. Failure in front of the Dragonknights was not an option. Digging deep, her thoughts merged with Zara’s, she staggered forward. The other senses came forward and at that moment she gave in completely, trusting where she was being led. Gradually, her steps became steady, her back straightened and she walked serenely down through the tunnel until she was past the last two dragons and came to a halt when the wind stopped. Opening her eyes, she saw the Dragonknights had formed a ring around her and were now blowing blue dragon fire on her. Trusting in Zara, she allowed herself to feel what Zara did. The flames felt like heaven and she just stood there absorbing them. They helped to cool her skin and put out any remaining fires on her body that her human mind insisted were still there. As the blue flame drew to an end, she looked over her body and could see that nothing on her was burnt. She felt her skin, clothes and hair. Everything was normal.

  Deelind felt Zara hug her in pride and ice crystals fell like celebratory glitter over her as Zara said, ‘You did it! You were in great pain and terrified and you still did it. I have a new understanding of human fears and I am amazed that humans even get up in the morning, never mind go into battle. Humans must be more dragon than they realise!’

  Smiling weakly, Deelind said, ‘Thank heavens that is over with. I never wish to repeat the experience. But those moments of being wrapped up with you through to the end were amazing and we did learn a bunch of new skills.’ Half-serious, half-joking, she said, ‘Maybe we can now do our obstacle course with our eyes closed.’

  Spotting Blake, anger filled her. Storming over to him, she began hitting him wherever she could reach. She heard splutters of mirth around her as she screamed at him, ‘Are you all completely insane?! If that was a Dragonknights idea of fun, I want no part of it!’

  ‘Whoa! Whoa, there little one,’ said Blake. Seeing him step back from her, raising his hands in the air and yelling, ‘Truce, truce!’ caused her to pause for a moment. All around her, Dragonknights had gone human and were now roaring with laughter. Some were even holding their stomachs. Deelind looked at the large, well-built Blake who was making as if he was hiding behind his raised hands and she felt her lips curve up at the corners. The situation must have looked ridiculous. She felt a bubble of laughter rise. Catching Blake’s eye, they both cracked up riotously.

  Once the hilarity had subsided and Dragonknights had congratulated her, Alpha squadron took to the sky to start their patrol, while the rest headed back to the mess hall. A little way in front of her, Captain Roeland and Corporal Lucy came in to land and walked over to her. She remembered they hadn’t been in the mess hall. They must have been patrolling while all the Dragonknights ate.

  ‘I hope you respected my wishes and there was no alcohol?’ Captain Roeland said to Blake.

  ‘Yes, Captain. I kept a close eye on her, couldn’t have her impaired when she was about to do the Walk of Fire,’ he said, nodding at Deelind as she mock-glared at him.

  ‘She and her dragon have done themselves proud,’ Blake continued. ‘I think that is the first time anyone has even done the walk with their eyes closed and in complete unity with their dragon. The others have seen her metal.’

  Blake turned to Deelind. ‘Doing the Walk of Fire at your age, with your current level of training and then passing it in front of everyone will have shown all Dragonknights that you are worthy of, what many believe to be, the last dragon egg melding. Of course, it was a little unfair to place the pressure of melding the last egg on your shoulders as well as putting you through the Dragonknight initiation. You didn’t get the tamer, more friendly, featherlite initiation that everyone else got, but this experience will serve you better. Now there can be no doubt about who you are and what you have to offer.’ Blake bent down and whispered in her ear, ‘Why do you think Lucy has been working you so hard? It’s not like you had to strengthen your arm in one summer. You still have a couple of years yet before you must be ready for Dragonknight training. We wanted you ready for whatever came at you in the Walk of Fire.’

  ‘Hmm,’ said Zara to Deelind and a chunk of snow fell from the end of a branch, ‘tricky bunch, this lot. There was plenty of dragon cunning involved. It is good news they were working with us and not against us because that nearly went very badly.’ Deelind mentally nodded.

  Straightening up, Blake continued aloud, ‘To be a Dragonknight you have to be able to face fear and conquer it. We were blowing blue fire at you which cannot harm you as you are a featherlite, but we made it look like normal fire. Blue fire of that intensity makes a person hallucinate and manifest your worst fears of the situation around you. My guess is you saw yourself burning.’ Deelind nodded and swallowed hard. That had not been fun. Tears pricked at her eyes.

  Seeing Deelind’s face, Lucy jumped in by pressing a small scroll into her hands and saying, ‘The really good news is you have passed your featherlite DKC. With all your studying and training this summer and completing the Dragonknight Walk of Fire, I think you’ve earned it.’

  ‘Really?’ said Deelind, looking at the scroll in her hand in shock. She could hardly believe it. She was one DKC down. She wrapped her arms around Lucy and gave her a big hug. ‘What a lovely surprise! Thank you so much, you know I couldn’t have done it without you!’

  Grinning, Lucy stepped back.

  ‘Congratulations, Deelind,’ said Captain Roeland with a rare smile on his face, ‘you’ve had a successful day all round. You should join the Dragonknights in the mess hall for the rest of the night. There will be lots of drinking, singing and dancing. It is rare for th
em to have an excuse these days to relax and celebrate, and there could not be a better reason to celebrate than a new melding after so many years. Welcome, featherlite,’ said Captain Roeland, inclining his head slightly, and with that he turned and left.

  ‘Come,’ said Lucy, hooking her one arm into Deelind’s and the other into Blake’s as she headed them towards the mess hall. For the first time Deelind felt a sense of belonging to this strange and beautiful world. Seeing Deelind, the Dragonknights started banging the table again, this time with their root beer glasses. They all stopped at the same time and raised their glasses to her. Then returned to their conversations. Deelind swallowed past a big lump in her throat. Austin walked up and gave Deelind a large drink.

  ‘No alcohol,’ said Blake.

  ‘No, sir, Captain Roeland has told me. This is apple juice.’

  Deelind snorted incredulously. ‘Are you guys for real?’ Lucy, Blake and Austin looked at her enquiringly. ‘So, it’s okay for Dragonknights to breathe fire on me and trick me into thinking I am burning alive. I got to watch and feel my hair and clothes burn off and my skin blister and boil. In case it’s not clear to you, that’s a form of torture! But Heaven forbid, a drop of alcohol passes my lips! You lot have your priorities all wrong!’

  Lucy, Blake and Austin looked at each other. Their expressions were a little sheepish and then they broke out into laughter.

  Shrugging, Blake said, ‘Well, if you put it like that, you probably do need a stiff drink, but orders are orders!’ Deelind glared at him.

  ‘Aww, don’t be like that,’ said Lucy, wrapping an arm around Deelind’s waist. ‘You’ll soon come to love our brand of crazy and then you’ll be just like the rest of us!’

  ‘Yeah, don’t worry, Deelind. Austin, Lucy and I will be sure to make it up to you when you turn eighteen. It’ll be a blast, you’ll see!’ said Blake, dropping an arm around Deelind’s shoulders.

  Warmed by their comradeship, Deelind let Lucy lead them into the middle of the mess hall where they helped move the tables out of the way to make a dance space. ‘Music!’ Lucy called to Austin, who had hurried to the side of the hall to a table with an old-looking turntable on it. Deelind watched him place a record on the turntable.

  ‘As you can see, not only is Austin our head waiter, but he’s also our DJ and a fabulous one at that,’ said Lucy. The speakers in the ceiling above them suddenly blasted out an upbeat tune that would get everyone’s feet tapping.

  ‘Come, let’s dance!’ said Lucy, dragging Deelind onto the dance floor. Several other Dragonknights joined them and it wasn’t long until the dance floor was full with Dragonknights having fun. A few dances in Deelind saw Geoff and Miss Tibi come into the hall. They made a beeline for her and enveloped her in big hugs and congratulations. The music was so loud they couldn’t talk much, so Geoff whisked Miss Tibi off for a dance. It warmed her heart watching the two have fun together.

  Later in the evening as Deelind placed her empty cup on a table, she saw Blake heading out the hall. As if sensing her, he looked directly at her, gave her a small salute and slipped away quietly. It was time for her to do the same and she let Lucy know she was leaving. It had been an intense day and she was exhausted. Quietly she crept into her room, changed into her PJs and crawled into bed.

  CHAPTER 13

  THE PROPHECY

  The light of the morning sun pierced her eyelids. Covering her eyes, Deelind rolled over, groaning. She could hardly move. Her body was so stiff and sore. A long, hot bath was in order. She wandered to the bathroom and, through sleepy eyes, squinted at a large, green bottle with a tag tied to its neck sitting on the bath ledge next to the taps. Picking up the bottle, she read the tag:

  Aching Muscle Super Soak

  Heard yesterday was particularly tough,

  thought you might need this.

  Put 2 capfuls in your bath

  Don’t forget your crystal.

  Deelind held the bottle to her chest, her heart warming. Only one person knew about her time in the sickroom bath with the rainbows. This gift had come from Nurse Amy. Deelind had been stopping by the sickroom over the summer to chat with Nurse Amy and the nurse had known how hard Deelind had been training. She had kept a close eye on Deelind’s arm to make sure she and Lucy weren’t overdoing it.

  Flipping on the taps, Deelind followed the instructions. Before long, she was lowering herself into a bath that sparkled with mountains of bubbles. The hot, fragrant water swirled over her tired muscles and she groaned in relief. The scent was so soothing, she took in deep, slow breaths. This was exactly what she needed. The crystal in her hand threw out a rainbow flooding the room in a myriad of colours. A warmth from the crystal travelled up her arm and filled her body. As she lay there absorbing it all, a quick check in with Zara revealed that she was awake, too, and revelling in the sensations.

  ‘Quite a day yesterday, huh?’ she said to Zara.

  ‘Hmm?’ Zara said as a single snowflake wafted lazily in a breeze, ‘This bath is so good, definitely fit for a dragon. I don’t want to talk right now. I just need to wallow some more.’

  ‘Agreed,’ said Deelind and they fell into a long silence of pure contentment.

  Eventually she roused herself out the bath, both she and Zara feeling heaps better. Food was next on the list. Her stomach was making alarming noises. Dressing quickly, she went down to the dining room for breakfast and saw she was the only one there. She was later than usual and everyone else must have eaten already. Grateful that it was just her and she could eat in peace, she filled her plate with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages and buttered toast. She sighed with pleasure on the first bite. It tasted so good and she was famished.

  After making short work of her breakfast, she grabbed her bag with her Elp ensconced in his pocket and went to the Great Hall in the hopes of finding Mug. She spotted him climbing the vines in the corner of the hall near the royal stateroom with several other children from school.

  ‘Morning, Mug,’ she called up to him.

  ‘Hi, Dee,’ he panted as he slipped down the vine, landing on his feet in front of her. ‘Haven’t seen you in a couple of days.’

  ‘Yeah, I know. My study and training programmes have been so full-on. I have exciting news, though. I’ve just got my featherlite DKC!’

  ‘Wow! That is great news. You’ve more than earned it,’ he said, high-fiving her.

  ‘Four more DKCs to go and I feel worn-down,’ Deelind admitted to her best friend.

  Mug tilted his head and looked her over. ‘You are looking tired. Do you think your featherlite training will ease up, now that you have your DKC?’

  ‘I don’t know. I hope so. I know I need to catch up to my age group in all the subjects, but I could do with it easing up on this one subject so that I can get the other DKCs done. I’ll still have to do the training and strengthen my arm but maybe it doesn’t have to be as intense. Perhaps I’ll have a word with Corporal Lucy. She might be feeling the same. She looked just as tired as me yesterday.’

  ‘Speaking of which,’ said Mug, ‘Congratulations on passing your Walk of Fire last night!’

  ‘How on earth do you know about that? That just happened last night, and I’ve only spoken to you so far.’

  Mug laughed. ‘You’ve been buried in your books for so long you’ve forgotten that news travels fast around here. Trust me. Everyone knows. Especially when the topic is featherlite Deelind.’

  Deelind groaned loudly.

  Mug’s grin grew even broader. ‘You should be proud of yourself. Your Walk of Fire is considered exceptional. Not only are you the youngest to ever do it, but you were also given a tough initiation with the least amount of knowledge or preparation on the back of a hard afternoon of training. And in case that wasn’t enough, you nailed the walk when you were clearly terrified at the start of it. Reports say that it was the oddest thing seeing you come to a dead stop, close your eyes and walk the rest of the way in deep communion with your dragon. Apparently, the connection wa
s so strong, all the other dragons could sense it. As for me, I couldn’t be prouder to call you my friend.’

  ‘Stop, Mug,’ she implored while laughing, her cheeks on fire. Jeepers, there was just no privacy in this place.

  A small flock of birds landed on a snow-laden branch, chirping amongst themselves and scattering clumps of snow in all directions as they hopped about. Zara snorted, ‘They’re dragons. Dragons like to gossip. Of course, we’re not nosy. We’re just curious creatures.’

  Unaware of Zara’s exchange with Deelind, Mug just chuckled and said, ‘but if you need any help with your Moler DKC just let me know. I’d be happy to help you prepare.’

  ‘Thank you. You might regret that when I take you up on your offer,’ she laughed. ‘I know how much you love studying! I’ve been wanting to catch up with you and go over some things, but time got away from me. I have a rare day off today and wondered if we could go to Cracker Jack’s for something to drink and catch up there?’

  Mug raised his eyebrows, curiosity shining in his eyes. ‘Sure, that sounds great, but first I need to go to the Money Tree.’

  They took the yellow vein from the Great Hall, down the cliff face to Brakenhill Village and out the back into the forest. Deelind could not believe her luck as she sped past a herd of White Hart deer grazing in the forest next to the river. The forest became denser and denser the further she went down the valley. She popped out of the vein into a clearing in the forest at the end of the valley, landing perfectly on her feet. Maybe she was getting the hang of this! She fervently hoped so. Mug, who had been ahead of her, was waiting by the river. The river and rainbow vein disappeared into the ground at the base of the mountain range. She looked up at the steep mountain cliffs. They were so steep and almost impossible to climb. She turned from the mountain and looked at the Money Tree, a flat-topped tree sitting on top of a small hill in the centre of the clearing. Mixed in amongst the rich green summer leaves was golden fruit in the shape of coins. Some coins grew in bunches while others hung singly under a leaf.