***
Morris lay along the shallow mouth of the river bank. The water had toppled both him and his horse so far downstream that he no longer saw the dragon anymore. After clearing his lungs of excess water, he searched to find his horse. Wading in the knee high water, he saw the silhouette of the beast about ten yards off. He ran over to it, and gave it a shove with his boot. But she didn’t move.
He tried again, this time yelling, “Move!” to no avail. She was dead; her neck broken by the unexpected torrent.
Morris attempted to pull his belongings free from the saddle underneath the horse. His satchel was stuck and he slipped while fighting against it. Falling into the water he cursed loudly. A pair of hands grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him from the water.
Morris looked up to see that it was one of the Shlan warriors he had gathered. “Ssssssafe.”
Morris pulled free, still intent to retrieve his articles. “Give me a hand.”
The snake shook his head and helped Morris gather his things. “We cannot do thisss any longer. They have killed many of my people.”
Morris pulled off a boot and shook out the water and sand. “You will follow your commands regardless of foolish fear. That boy is still a priority objective and we will not simply let him go because he and his friends are dangerous. That is just more of an excuse to get him.”
The Shlan backed up, shaking his head. “No. They are massster archersss. The boy commandsss great magic. And they have a DRAGON at their command! A DRAGON!! We cannot contend with ssssuch thingsss.”
Morris put the boot back on, unconcerned. “I don’t care if they can muster up illusions that scare you, or that those two Rakki prove difficult. You will follow orders, you don’t have any choice.”
The Shlan started to walk away. “I am in command of Sssssshlan forcesss now that the leader isss dead,” he said, turning back. He pointed at Morris. “I commanded them to leave the canyon. You may face the dragon alone.”
Morris pulled out his sword and stabbed it into this man’s long lizard tail, pinning him to the ground. The creature screamed in agony but remained still. Morris calmly rounded the creature to look into his face. Without an ounce of sympathy for the Shlan, he whispered, “If you, or any of your kind, desert me during this mission, the entire Royal army will descend upon the Shlan. I will see to it that every man, woman and child are made into boots for my men. I will not tolerate defiance against the Throne, and I will make an example of anyone that attempts such blasphemous actions. Am I clear?” Those last three words echoed down the deep canyon.
The green skinned creature nodded quickly, and looked at the sword buried in it’s tail.
Morris slowly walked back and ripped his sword out. The Shlan screamed. As calmly as if he were just buttering his toast, Morris wiped the greenish black blood from his sword and smiled. “Good. I need a horse and you need to gather more men. Make sure, this time that they are capable of handling a simple task. Oh, and one more thing, I want a courier, your fastest available.”
“At once.” The Shlan bowed, tears of pain running down from his eyes.
***
Markus took a few moments to gather his thoughts and process what had just happened. From what he surmised, the moment he became the dragon, his emotions were heightened to levels of pure rage and power. He was no longer in control, as he was driven only by thoughts of destruction and vengeance. But of what?
Turning looked over to Crystal. “Are you okay? How do you feel?”
She sat up and rubbed her head. “I’m not sure. I have a terrible headache, but other than that I think I am okay. What just happened?”
Markus looked into the blue sky. “I don’t know. It was like being in one of my dreams. I think I saved us, but I really don’t know how.”
Crystal looked around. “Where are the others?”
“I don’t know. After we fell, I cast a flight spell and we wound up here. I don’t even know where 'here' is.” He sat up, and then got to his feet.
“We need to find them.” Crystal tried to get up, but yelped in pain.
“What is it?” Makus asked.
She grabbed the top of her head. “My headache is getting worse.”
Markus grabbed his bag, pulled out a blanket, wrapped it up into a ball and made a pillow for her. “Here, you need to rest for a bit. You were hurt pretty badly.”
“We need to keep moving. We need to find them.”
He smiled at her. “Didn’t your parents ever tell you that when you get lost, you need to stay wherever you are until they find you?”
She took the makeshift pillow from him. “I don’t think they had this in mind when they said that.”
“True. But right now you need to rest and when you feel better we can get moving.”
Crystal smiled at him. “You're wise, and it can be annoying sometimes. But, I guess you're right. If I know my father, he'll come for me.”
Markus sat down and looked through his bag. “I hope he does, he didn’t pack any of the food supplies into my bag, so we're not eating until he gets here.”
“Wait, look in my bag.” She pointed at his pack.
He shuffled through it and found the little travel bag she packed back when she followed them out of the village. “What about it?”
“I brought some nuts and berries with me, there should be some left. Not that I’m hungry right now, anyway,” she muttered.
Markus found a good handful of nuts and a few dried berries. “Yup. I guess this will have to do.”
Crystal closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m very tired.”
Markus felt the cold of the shadows as they grew deeper with the setting sun. He had lost track of time while he was using the healing spells on her and the day had slipped away. “The sun will be setting soon. It's going to get cold. I will make us a heat rock.” He looked around for a nice stone. Right by the river he saw a perfectly smooth egg shaped one, about the size of a sweet melon. He got to his feet and walked over to pick it up. “The waters have honed this one out perfectly. One thing for sure, these Barren Mountains have an endless supply of good rocks.”
Crystal didn’t answer, she had already fallen asleep. Her injuries and his work at healing her, had taken a toll on her. He smiled and walked over just as the shadow of the far mountain ridge covered them. He sat down beside her and crossed his legs as he began to speak an enchantment spell over the stone. When the stone glowed light red, he laid it beside her.
For a while he simply watched her sleep. He did not know how much it would terrify him to think that she could be dead. It brought out feelings he had never had before. Now, he watched her chest heave in sync with her heavy breathing. He was relieved she had survived and his feelings of love for her had risen to the surface; at least in his mind. He wanted to tell her. But how could he?
He decided to sit up all night and make sure she was resting well, but soon enough he too succumbed to deep exhaustion and slipped into slumber.
***
Treb and Kiin found a good place along the mountainside to hide and rest for the night. Both had their blankets draped around their shoulders for warmth as the only wizards they had to cast warming spells had vanished and any ideas of creating fires were drowned down instantly with the thought of imps bearing down on them; although, the prospect of building a decent fire with the sparse amount of vegetation around them seemed highly unlikely, even if they wanted to.
“Treb, dear, you need to sleep.” Kiin came out of the cave to relieve her husband from his watch.
Treb sat on the edge of the path, his feet dangling over the side. The sight was a dizzying view. Even so, Treb’s eyes were constantly scanning the canyon below. His ears were attuned to hear the sweet voice of Crystal, even in the slightest. “No, I can stay up. You go sleep.”
Kiin put her hand on his shoulder. “Treb, you'll do no one any good if you wear yourself out like this. You need to sleep.�
��
He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “How can I sleep? The thought that I could one day face Shio and Fiona and have to tell them that their daughter was lost here in the Barren Mountains….”
“I know, I've thought about that too.” Kiin sat down on the edge next to him. She reached over and untied the leather straps holding the armor plating on his shoulder. Setting it aside, Kiin laid her head over on his shoulder, “You know something, we both have changed. That little girl is not just a child we care for, she is our daughter too. I love her and want the absolute best for her.”
Treb nodded. He was choked up thinking about the inkling of losing his daughter. “Crystal is a lucky girl. She was so sad to have lost her parents, but one day she will have four parents to love and care for her.”
Kiin put a hand up and tapped his chest. “Yes, but the only way we can do all we can for her is to be at our best. Go, sleep, and let me keep watch. I promise if I see or hear anything I'll wake you.”
Treb stood, dusting off his hands. “I will not sleep, but… I will rest.”
Kiin smiled with a nod. “Then go rest.”
Chapter 7: Gnomes
“What is she?”
“Oh, that tail is so nice.”
“Are they dead?”
The chorus of strange voices stirred in Markus’ ears, rousing him to awaken. His eyes circled the room, curious as to what had happened. The sky was gone and replaced with a stone ceiling. He blinked a few times and considered the possibility that he could still be asleep.
“Is he awake?” one of the voices said.
Markus realized the voices he heard were not in his mind and that he was no longer on canyon floor either. Turning his head, he looked around to see where he had been taken and by whom. A troop of small people stood around him and Crystal. They were just short of a foot tall, stout, and sported long white beards. Every one of them wore exquisite little clothes, embroidered all over with fine threads and made up of impressive fabrics.
Markus sat up quickly. “What? Who? Where am I?”
The dozen or so little people scrambled to retreat from him. The fear filled their eyes.
Markus noticed that Crystal was still sleeping. He reached over and shook her. “Wake up!”
She stirred and opened her eyes looking right at him. A soft smile spread across her lips as she stretched. “Oh, good morning Markus.” After a moment to yawn and blink, she suddenly realized her surroundings and sat up. “What's going on?”
“I don’t know.” Markus scooted over to her and took her by the hand. “What do you want with us?” He looked down at his feet. They were cold, and he was shoeless. “Where are my shoes?”
An old man walked up to them with the help of a cane, wearing a wide smile. “We just wanted to keep you safe. We found you and your friend sleeping in the canyon last night and were worried for you. These mountains are a dangerous place to be, especially for young things like you.” The old man pointed to Markus’ feet. “We found your shoes were in bad shape and needed some work. We are quite handy with that and took them to make them better. Your lady friend there did not have shoes, so we measured her feet and are having some made for her.”
“My people don’t wear shoes,” Crystal said.
Markus frowned at him. “What are you?”
The old man bowed. “I am King Brek of the Mountain Gnomes. This is the last kingdom of Gnomes.” He held out his had to introduce them to the location.
The cave they were in was a perfectly carved city made up of a lot of small buildings and homes with walkways and a crystal clear river running through it. The buildings and walkways were carved directly from the stone so that it looked like they had simply grown out of the rock. Along the walls were large glowing crystals that provided the light. Markus could see in the distance that there were little farms as part of the city, growing fields of large mushrooms.
Crystal cocked her head. “Gnomes, I thought all the Gnomes disappeared just after the Great War.”
“Most of my kind did not survive the war,” King Brek answered. “These mountains were home to our civilization and it was a great place. When the darkness came to the mountains and tainted us with dark magic, many of the Gnomes did not survive. My people lived beneath the mountains and were protected somewhat from the taint. Since then the mountains only inhabitants are those hideous imps that take fiendish delight in killing any of my people who dare to leave.”
“I'm sorry to hear that,” Crystal said sympathetically.
“Why did you bring us in here? And…how?” Markus asked.
Brek motioned for them to stand and follow him. Markus and Crystal tried to stand, but had to hunch over to make concession for the low ceiling of the cave. He led them into the city. “We have a sense of these mountains. We can feel the comings and goings of things above. When some of my guards sensed you up there, we thought you had died. When we went to check, we found that you were merely asleep. As I said, the imps are terrible monsters and would kill you if they found you, so I ordered you brought here.”
Crystal, still holding Markus’ hand, asked, “How did you get us here without waking us?”
“And, did you happen to bring our stuff? We had a bag,” Markus added.
“Oh, moving you wasn’t hard. We carried you through the stone with ease and brought you here,” Brek said.
“Through the stone?” Crystal asked.
Brek stopped at a natural pillar which held up this part of the ceiling. He put his hand up to it and pressed his fingers into it, wriggling them around like a child might do when playing in water. “As I said before, we are mountain Gnomes, stone is not difficult for us to pass through. That is why there are no entrances or exits to our kingdom. We need none and the imps do not need a way in.”
Markus repeated himself. “Our stuff?”
“Oh, we brought it with you,” Brek said. “It is back at my place. I am afraid we had to inspect that too.”
Markus became upset. “You went through my bag?!”
Crystal tugged on his hand. “Be nice.”
“We were not certain if you held good or bad intentions and needed to know,” Brek said, his voice steady. “What you brought with you might provide that knowledge. Do not worry, we took nothing and have found nothing to worry us. Save, perhaps, an odd spell book that we cannot read.”
Markus cleared his throat. “Well, that book is special. But, not evil.”
“I see. We have a belief in our culture. A person is only as good or bad as his story. Perhaps you would like to have something to eat with me and tell me what brought you to these mountains.” Brek pressed on, expecting them to follow.
Markus and Crystal looked at one another and decided without words to follow along. Crystal paused before walking. “Markus, they’re touching my tail.”
Markus noticed the Gnomes looking at her fur with greed in their eyes.
“Excuse me?” Crystal cried, snatching her tail away.
“Oh, my dear, you have lovely hair,” a female Gnome said, attempting to run her hand through Crystal’s fur again.
Crystal nervously smiled and pulled it away again, slowly this time. “Uh, thanks. We have to be going.”
“Do you? I would love to show you my workshop.” The woman Gnome was eager.
Markus smiled diplomatically and shook his head. “Thanks, but King Brek wishes to have a meal with us. Perhaps later.”
“Oh, yes, later. Do come by,” the woman said, eyes still glued on Crystal’s tail.
Markus held Crystal closely to him as they walked on with the king. Along the way, the Gnomes of this kingdom were coming out to watch and Markus felt like they were in a parade.
“Markus, their staring at my tail,” Crystal whispered.
Markus and Crystal realized that entering the house would be impossible considering their size. So, King Brek ordered everything to be brought to them. The servants set a place for them on the
ground with a finely crafted blanket for them to sit upon. Markus noted the incredible craftsmanship of the cloth in the blanket.
King Brek, his wife, and several of the noble Gnomes all sat down to a dinner. Markus was pleased at the invitation, for he had thought about food all day; even in his dreams last night. When he saw what they were bringing to the table, this stomach jumped for joy. Plates of steaming rocks, stones, some gems, and mushrooms filed his gaze. Markus just about asked what the stones were for, just when he noticed one of the other Gnomes pick up a small rock and then eat it.
“These are our finest mined stones,” King Brek said with pride. “The pickled emeralds are aged perfectly and the steamed granite is one of my favorites.” He picked up a piece of the steaming stone and bit into it like a cookie. With elation, he ate it up.
Markus’ mouth dropped at the sight and Crystal’s eyes were so wide that they threatened to fall out of her head.
King Brek swallowed his bite and cocked his head, rubbing his stomach. “What is the matter? Do you not like them?”
Markus cleared his throat and considered how he might approach this. Obviously this feast of fine delicacies for the Gnomes would never do for him and Crystal. And he figured it’d be highly insulting to tell them the truth. But, how could he say anything else? “Uh, your majesty, I am sure this is a perfectly wonderful meal, but…Uh…I am afraid that we cannot eat stones of any kind.”
Every one of the Gnomes stopped and stared in shock, as if Markus had just said that he didn’t eat anything at all. King Brek was at a loss for words for a few moments. Finally he said. “Surely you mean you cannot eat composite rocks, the gems are soft and so well prepared.”
Crystal smiled nervously and shook her head. “No, I'm afraid that none of them are edible for our kind.”
“I do not mean to insult you at all,” Markus said, trying to be polite.
King Brek set his rock down and looked at his fellow Gnomes, then back o Markus. “No insult, young man, but I was simply not prepared for such a thing. What, then, do your kind eat?”
Legacy of Dragonwand: Book 2 (Legacy of Dragonwand Trilogy) Page 5