The passage led to a staircase that climbed out into an alleyway. Upon looking up to the sky, Kai realized the alley was between one of the golden-topped towers and the main temple. The alley let them out into the wide open courtyard that Kai recognized from their arrival.
Aarav sat on a bench by the entrance of the highly decorated building but as soon as he saw Kai walk around the corner, he was on his feet and running toward them. He grabbed Kai and threw his arms around him, squeezing his friend in a giant bear hug.
“Thank the gods. They wouldn’t tell me anything except that you were all right,” he said.
Kai reciprocated the embrace. “I think I’m fine,” Kai said. “Was I really gone for two weeks?”
“Today is day sixteen,” Aarav said, finally releasing his grip.
“Have they been treating you well?”
“Pretty well. They basically just ignored me the whole time. I guess I’m not as interesting to them because I don’t ingest weird things,” he said with a hint of a smile. “They gave me a bed to sleep in and access to the kitchen. I’ve just been wandering around this place, going out of my mind with boredom and worry.”
“Sounds a lot better than what I was doing,” Kai said.
A look of realization and embarrassment crossed Aarav’s face. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking. What happened to you?”
Kai relayed his experiences as Bastion led them back to the main avenue. They had almost reached the opposite wind bridge by the time he finished because Bastion would ask question after question about the experience.
“I’ve heard many stories about the redwater,” Bastion said with awe and admiration in his voice. “I don’t know exactly what it is but, apparently, it is a big part of the Pyx culture. ”
That seemed like an odd way to say it but Kai understood what he meant. The memory of the redwater resonated through every part of him. He longed to be with it again. His body ached when he thought about it. It felt like there was a piece missing, like someone took out his heart.
“Are you OK?”
Kai looked up to see Bastion and Aarav staring at him with concerned looks. He realized then that he had begun to sweat profusely, even though he was not exerting himself nor was it particularly hot.
“Uh, yeah, I’m fine,” he said, stuttering unconvincingly.
“There will be aftershocks, probably.” Bastion nodded. “I’m not sure how it works exactly but it definitely has a lasting effect.”
Kai nodded. He couldn’t agree more. “I just want to forget about it and get to Sova without any more delays. Who knows what has happened to Raven after all this time?”
Bastion stopped and turned to Kai. “The three told you she was safe. Do you not remember?”
“Well, yeah, but I figured they were just saying that. How could they possibly know?”
“They have the sight,” Bastion said with a slight nod. “They have the power to see just about anything they want to.”
“Oh,” Kai said. Normally, he would have been skeptical about such a claim but after experiencing the power of the Pyx first hand, he knew that it was not an idle claim.
Kai thought about Rosalie and the Tower of Kings. If Raven was safe, then perhaps he could abandon his quest and return home. It would mean going back on his promise to Isabella but hadn’t he suffered enough already.
He gave his head a shake. How could anyone continue to respect him as a leader if he could not keep his word? How could he live with himself if he abandoned his friend? No, he must continue.
The trio arrived at the wind bridge that would take them across the lake. Bastion spoke the phrase and his companions imitated it. They were soon across and into the heartland of Evresh.
31
“I’m actually starting to like it up here,” Isabella said as she stared out at the vast, mountainous landscape. “It’s peaceful.”
“When the wind isn’t threatening to blow down our shacks,” Adina said. She took a sip from her canteen and set it next to her chair, which was made from woven bark and saplings, before she continued, “I wouldn’t mind something other than a hole in the ground to relieve myself in. After a month, I think it’s now time to dig a new one.”
Isabella laughed. “I will work on that tomorrow,” she said.
Adina stretched her legs before pushing herself out of the make shift chair. “I need to check on our patients,” she said and walked toward the group of sheds they had built from thin trees. The sheds were no more than lean-tos but they offered the recovering dragons protection from the hot sun.
The five dragons were still unconscious under the tents, kept alive by Adina’s medicine. The yellow-red called Nuze died after two weeks on the plateau without ever regaining consciousness.
The first week was the hardest for them but between Brendoth and Sisera, they transported enough raw materials to the plateau to begin building crude shelters. Their first problem, however, was how to get water up to the plateau but Brendoth already had a plan.
The red-white took the steel netting that was used to transport Caritha and motioned for them to follow.
“I’ll be OK,” Adina assured the young girl before Isabella mounted Sisera to follow the blue-white.
Brendoth led the pair to the beach where he proceeded to bury the netting in the fine sand with only the four corners poking out. Using water scooped from the sea, the dragon formed the sand on top of the netting into a large, deep bowl. Isabella and Sisera watched with fascination as the massive dragon created a sand sculpture before them.
When he was finished, Brendoth turned to them and asked, “So, who wants to guess first?”
Isabella laughed. “What do you mean, guess? This is strange time for games.”
“This is a lesson in improvisation. What do you think it is?”
“A sand bowl,” Sisera said with a smirk.
“Exactly that,” Brendoth said with a nod. “We need to transport water and a place to store it, right?”
The pair nodded in agreement.
“So, I’ve created a bowl,” Brendoth said.
“It would fall apart if we were to try to lift it,” Sisera said.
“You’re so sure?”
“Definitely,” Isabella said in agreement. There was only one way the bowl would keep its shape. “Unless you used magic.”
Brendoth laughed and launched himself into the sky. “Then, I will be performing magic,” he said as he hovered above the sand bowl. “You will want to watch out.”
The blue-white inhaled and blew out a blistering stream of white-hot dragonfire which bathed the bowl in flame for several minutes. When he was finished and the smoke cleared what stood before them was a large glass bowl.
“Improvisation,” Brendoth said as he landed on the beach next to his ingenious creation.
Isabella tied a rope to both sides of the bowl. Each dragon took a side and they flew off to test the creation. They dipped the large bowl into the seawater and brought it back to the shore. After an hour, the water level had not changed in the bowl so they were satisfied that it worked.
“Seawater, won’t do,” Brendoth said. “There is a stream a few miles that way. We can fill it up there.
By the end of the day, there were four large glass vats filled with fresh water set on the plateau.
“Incredible,” Adina said when she saw the innovation.
Brendoth and Sisera tore down trees and flew them to the plateau while Isabella cut and lashed the logs together to fashion the supports for the lean-to’s. It was very hard work but Isabella was very proud of the results when they were finished. It took a week to create all the shelters thanks to help from the dragons.
The death of Nuze came as mild surprise. Adina had successfully forced the other unconscious dragons to ingest water while the yellow-red simply refused it. After just a few days, the dragon began to wither away and soon he was dead. There was nothing that they could do for him if he refused to be forced so when the mor
ning came when Adina checked on him and Nuze wasn’t breathing, she simply sighed and reported the loss to Brendoth.
“What do dragon’s normally do with their dead?” Isabella asked. “When Tyrath died, Sisera and Caritha took his body to a remote cave for his final resting place. I’m just curious if that is normal behavior.”
“Well I suppose there is no easy answer for that question as I am sure it is not easy for your people either,” Brendoth said thoughtfully. “Most dragons wouldn’t care what happened to them after they died though the majority of those would not want their bodies torn apart to make weapons or armor so they would want to be somewhere they won’t be desecrated. The hoarding types would want to die atop their hoard which many do because they seal themselves into wherever they store it and die there because they refuse to leave their treasures.”
“When the dragons were exiled, did the hoarders leave their treasures behind?”
“Some did. The one’s that valued their lives more than their treasures. There were some that went unaccounted for and I suspect someday their troves will be discovered with a rotting corpse on top,” Brendoth said.
“Is it true that some dragons would keep human slaves?”
“Aye, it is true,” Brendoth said with sadness in his voice. “Those are the dragons that most humans remember and tell stories about. That was a dark time in dragon history. The stories tell us about a time when humans and dragons lived side by side in peace. It was a time long ago, but as with all things, it was not meant to last and a number of dragons started to use their size and strength to force humans to do their bidding.”
“What could they possibly want from the humans they couldn’t probably do better themselves?” Isabella asked. That was a question that had been smoldering in her mind for a long time and Sisera could not provide a suitable answer.
“Mining,” Brendoth said. “Dragons cannot mine gemstones and metals the way humans can. The slavers were just as bad as the hoarders but for different reasons. The hoarders would destroy whole towns to add to their treasure whereas the slavers would take the whole town prisoner and put them in forced labor camps to work to death.”
“They are both disgusting,” Isabella said and spat on the ground.
“Agreed,” Brendoth said with a nod, “It was slavery that started the dragon wars. The dragonbloods, who were at the time the principal rulers in most places of the human world, came together to put an end to the horrid practice. The slavers took exception to these humans telling them how to live their lives so they retaliated. Long story short, it divided dragons into a number of camps. Those that supported the dragonbloods, those that supported the slavers, those that opposed the slavers but also thought it was wrong for the bonded to interfere, those that didn’t care either way, and so forth. Whether the humans planned it or not, it was the strategy that worked. The dragons were so busy fighting among themselves that they were destroyed by sheer numbers when the humans attacked. It was devastating. Thousands of dragons died until finally we came to an agreement with a group of powerful mages and were sent into exile on the dragon isle.”
“Why, though?” Isabella asked.
Brendoth turned to her. “What do you mean?”
“What good would come from it? If they were going to send away the dragons, why not forever? Wouldn’t that make more sense?”
Brendoth let out a gruff cough and smoke poured from his nose.
“I meant no offence,” Isabella said, holding up her hands in defence.
“Firstly, the dragons went from our own free will. We made the choice to save ourselves. We were not sent there by humans,” Brendoth said. His tone had raised to a dull roar.
“Listen, I’m sorry,” Isabella said, “Please calm down. I’m just trying to understand what happened.”
“I suppose that is really the problem,” the blue-white said, letting out a huff, “It was so long ago the stories have gotten kind of jumbled up. I’m no keeper of knowledge so I only know what I learned as a dragonling.”
Isabella nodded. “Makes sense,” she said. She had more questions but Brendoth seemed to be getting a little too worked up by the subject matter.
“Apophis could tell you, for sure. I think that we are established enough here that I can report to her our situation. You will be alright on your own for a few days?”
“Oh, sure,” Isabella said. “Sisera will agree too. We have no problem hunting on our own. The only thing would be the water vats but if they are full we will be alright, for some time.”
“Good,” Brendoth said. “I will leave in the morning.”
Twice in the month they had now been on the plateau, Adina had sent her and Sisera to replenish the stocks of medicinal herbs but all the ingredients she needed were easily found in the surrounding mountains so they never had to travel very far away.
Isabella and Sisera passed the time by training or swimming in the river, but they were always sure to keep an eye out for trouble. They set up a signal flare so that Adina could contact them in case of emergency.
“Sometimes I wish that life could always be this easy,” Isabella said to Sisera one day as they were picking fruit from a wild apple tree they found.
“Why can’t it?” Sisera asked.
“You know why,” Isabella said simply as she was not interested in starting an argument.
Thankfully, Sisera chose to leave it alone as well and the two continued to work together in silence. The dragon would bend the higher branches do the girl could pick the riper fruit.
“Someday, we will,” Isabella said after a long while.
“We will what?”
“Oh, you didn’t read my mind,” Isabella said, jokingly surprised. “We will converse like normal?”
“Don’t push me,” Sisera said with a groan.
Isabella laughed and playfully stuck her tongue out at the dragon. “Someday, we will get away from everything and adventure the world.”
“You sound like a dreamer.”
“Maybe I am,” Isabella said with a shrug, “but I still like to believe it.”
They spent the next hour passing the time by picking shapes out of the clouds until those clouds began to turn dark and sent them running for cover as thunder and lightning began to crack overhead.
32
“I must say that I am getting excited to meet this Zellox fellow,” Santaal said to his brother as the two men watched ocean waves crash against the side of the ship they were sailing on. “From what we have seen so far, he seems like a person who could probably help us.”
Tarak nodded in agreement. “It is evident he is a well-connected man,” he said.
Thus far, they had traveled with nothing but the best. The horses were magnificent animals that carried the three men to the western coast of Solotine in half the time it would normally take. The tack that the horses wore was also of the finest quality.
When they reached their destination, a seaside village, they dismounted their steeds at a richly decorated estate. In addition to a massive stable, the sprawling estate had its own personal harbor where a small fleet of ships of all sizes were docked. They boarded one of the smaller ships and immediately set sail, heading north.
They had been on the ship for two days but had seen very little of their guide as Gars very rarely left his cabin. That suited Tarak just fine. He was content to enjoy the scenic voyage as well as the luxurious amenities offered on the ship. There was a group of servants who worked tirelessly to attend to every need of the two brothers.
“Pardon my interruption, sirs.” The ship’s captain approached the brothers perch at the bow of the ship. “Master Gars wishes me to inform you that we will be arriving at our destination before nightfall.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Tarak responded with nod, “how is our host?”
“Alas, he doesn’t do very well on the sea. He does send his apologies.” The captain gave a curt bow and left to return to his duties.
The brothers sat for hours a
t the front of the ship, a habit they acquired when they were children and traveled frequently with their father, who was a highly regarded soldier of fortune.
“Do you remember that time you jumped off that fishing boat because you thought you could swim fast enough to keep up with it?” Santaal said.
Tarak smiled. “Aye, that was in Asta. When I had been rescued, Father had missed the company he was supposed to join up with. He whupped me good for that one.”
“Rightly, so,” Santaal said with a laugh. “That would have been a huge payday. It actually turned out to pretty good. That was one of the few times that he spent more than a couple days with us before he had to go back to work.”
Tarak crinkled his brow. “We ended up spending a whole week there, didn’t we?”
“Yeah,” Santaal said with a nod. “Remember we ate that monster crab on the beach?’
“I remember that I couldn’t sit to eat it,” Tarak said.
The brothers shared a hearty laugh.
“Seems like a hundred years ago, now,” Santaal said, leaning his head back on a crate.
“What do you think happened to him?” Tarak asked after a few moments.
Santaal shrugged but didn’t reply.
They sat in silence for a long time, each man deep in his own thoughts. They didn’t speak again until a large harbor came into view on the coastline that the ship had been following. Beyond the harbor, a huge fortress came into view.
“That must be it,” Tarak said and the two men went to collect their belongings before they departed the vessel. When they returned to the deck, the ship was just being tied up to the dock. Gars had reappeared, though he still looked to be under the weather, and was supervising a few of the crew as they set up the gangplank.
“Good voyage, mates?” he said as the brothers approached.
“Very pleasant,” Tarak said. “Better for us than it was for you, it seems.”
“I don’t have strong sea legs,” Gars said with a nod. He motioned to the dock. “Shall we?”
Dragon Flight: Sisera's Gift 3 (Dragonblood Sagas Book 5) Page 23