The Dragons of Noor

by Janet Lee Carey

  The Damusaun joined more dragons roaring fire. Taunier waved his arms and drew the flames into a wall. It grew along the mountainside, separating the men from the azure trees.

  The dragon circled over the grove with Taunier astride, arms out, keeping the fire wall in place. No folk below were harmed. No trees burned. Still, the men ran screaming as they fired their crossbows at the dragons.

  Thwack! The sudden sound came from below. A spiked ball hurtled past and struck the terrow dragon on Hanna’s left. The dragon let out a high-pitched wail as the impact thrust her backward. She doubled over, spiraling down. Hanna cried out in her dream, but her mouth made no sound. She searched the smoky hills below. Where were the spiked balls coming from? In the undergrowth she spotted four men hefting another metal ball onto the long wooden arm of an enormous weapon. She tried to scream a warning; again no sound came.

  Thwack! A second ball sped skyward. The Damusaun lurched back and crumpled inward. Blood spattered across Hanna’s face. The sky spun. Smoke. Burning. Blood. She was falling, falling …

  TWENTY

  SEALSKIN

  To swim is to fly.

  To fly is to dream.

  To dream is to live.

  —SEAL SONG

  The seals swam toward the tiny sparks of light glinting along the far shore. Bonfires to guide boats in, Miles guessed. But as they came nearer, the pod darted between dozens of sharp rock outcroppings, too treacherous for ships.

  On the faraway beach, sheer cliffs rose up from the sand. No welcome place to land even if a ship made it that far. That meant the fires weren’t beacon fires at all, unless they were the work of pirates who meant to cause shipwreck so they could go after the plunder.

  Eason was cautious. “Take us to the rock there, will you?” The meers were cold and tired, but they’d have to find a safer cove if pirates were waiting on the beach.

  Miles swam in a little closer with the pod until he saw who’d set the bonfires.

  Dragons.

  Nearly twenty taberrells and terrows were lined up along the base of the high cliffs. They were so still Miles thought they might be statues guarding an ancient dragon ruin. Then he saw a tail flip up. The turquoise scales along the tip gleamed.

  The other seals began to swim away as fast as flippers and tail allowed.

  Miles croaked, “Wait.”

  Black eyes and black noses turned toward him inquiringly. Then Meer Kanoae saw the two human forms Miles had spotted by the bonfires. “It’s Hanna and Taunier,” she gasped. “Alive!”

  “We’ve found them,” said Meer Eason in awe. “You brought us to them, Miles!”

  Miles warmed to his teacher’s praise. “We need to swim in closer,” said Kanoae, “find out what’s going on.”

  The group paddled through the bay. They were near enough to the beach to be seen now if they weren’t careful, so the seals and riders kept their heads down, moving silently in rhythm with the water. At the next rock outcropping, the meers climbed onto the jutting stone and hid with Breal behind a rough barrier.

  Miles swished his tail and kept to the water. He fixed his eyes on Hanna. She was speaking to the dragons. Her words were clear enough when he could hear them above the waves.

  “I rode the wind, or so I thought.” Hanna gripped Taunier’s arm and leaned into him. “But when I looked down in my dreamwalk, I saw I was riding the Damusaun.”

  A wave tumbled in, covering her next words.

  “… fire,” Hanna was saying. “The people below were running and screaming. Taunier was in the air, flying beside me on his dragon. He was herding fire to keep the men with axes away from the azure trees when—”

  Another wave. Curse this tide!

  Miles watched the she-dragon who’d carried Hanna and Taunier away from the Leena lower her head, her cheek flaps dangling from her jaws like long, ornamental purses. “You saw truth in your dreamwalk. We guard the Waytrees here near the place where the World Tree fell.” The dragon’s voice was louder than Hanna’s and carried well over the water.

  “All was safe in these ancient azure groves until last year, when Whirl Storms destroyed the great city of Kanayar. The King of Kanayar hungered for the tallest timber in Noor to rebuild his city. He broke the age-old treaty between men and dragons, and sent his Cutters to our woods.”

  The other dragons made an angry, rumbling noise. Miles felt the sound cross his sealskin, as if his black hide were a drum.

  The Damusaun raised her wing to quiet them. “The Kanayaran king did not want those in other lands to know he’d broken his treaty,” said the she-dragon. “He sent his border guards to the Boundary Waters to keep other folk away.”

  And to kill them if they tried to cross, Miles thought bitterly.

  The Damusaun stepped closer to Hanna. “The king’s Cutters use saws and axes and root poison to fell azures and harvest the timber. There is only one grove left here on Mount Olone. We fight to save the Waytrees that bind the two worlds.”

  Meer Kanoae sucked in a loud breath. “So,” she said, “the dragons are on our side. I’m glad now I didn’t use my harpoon.”

  Miles tensed, wondering if the dragons had heard the remark, but the waves seemed to have covered it. He sighed, relieved. He wasn’t sure what his next move should be. He would wait a little longer here in the dark.

  A wave hissed on shore and drew away. The Damusaun’s large, triangular head hovered above Hanna and Taunier.

  “We told the King of Kanayar and his manling Cutters that the ancient Waytrees are bound together. If they poisoned the azure roots and chopped them down, other Waytrees of Noor would fall. We warned him of the terrible damage that would come to both Noor and Oth. But the King and his Cutters are dragon-deaf!” She lifted her head and breathed red fire. The other dragons on the beach did the same, until the red flames nearly obscured the black cliffs behind them.

  Miles felt the dragons’ anger, remembered the Waytrees falling, the deyas dying in Othlore Wood, and made his decision. With a flick of his tail, he entered the next wave heading for shore.

  “Miles?” called Eason. “What are you doing?”

  He knew the meers would need the seals’ help to swim in, but he gave no signal yet. He would see how safe it was first. Pulling himself from the pounding surf, he struggled along the wet sand. His seal’s body that was so lithe and graceful in the sea felt heavy and unwieldy now, as if he were weighted down with stones and wrapped tightly in a wet cloak. He wriggled toward the gathering, the heat of the bonfires crossing his slick sealskin. He rested a moment behind a black boulder. The dragons hadn’t noticed him yet, but they’d soon catch his scent. He focused on Hanna, working up his courage.

  TWENTY-ONE

  PILGRIM

  In days long past when NoorOth was one,

  both land and sea were full of magic.

  —THE WAY BETWEEN WORLDS

  The dragons’ fiery breath heated the night air, tightening the skin on Hanna’s cheeks. In spite of this, she felt chilled. They were of one mind about the Waytrees, but what about the Wind-taken? Had the dragons seen the stolen children in Jarrosh? Did they know where the east wind had taken them, and why? She had to approach the questions with care. The Damusaun expected the Kanameer to be knowledgeable, not uncertain.

  Another thing troubled her. She hadn’t found the courage to tell the dragons the rest of her dreamwalk, the terrible weapon she’d seen.

  Thriss leaped from Taunier’s shoulder to hers and flicked her tail. Hanna stroked the hatchling under her chin. She would start by telling them the queen was in danger. She had to pass on the warning before she asked them to help her find Tymm and the others.

  “There was more in my dreamwalk, Damusaun. The men had a weapon, a trebuchet, I think.” She frowned, remembering the device. “They used it to shoot large spiked balls into the air.”

  Hanna stopped, took a breath. “One of the spiked balls knocked a terrow from the sky. And then—”

  She paused a secon
d time, wiping her cheek with her sleeve, as if the queen’s blood were still there.

  “Tell us the rest,” said the Damusaun. The bonfires on the beach washed bronze light across the she-dragon’s attentive eyes. Hanna saw herself reflected in the queen’s slit pupils.

  She dropped her gaze to the battle scars on the Dragon Queen’s chest, like ancient script. “I was flying on your back, Damusaun. You were hit.”

  The dragons on the beach roared in protest. The queen wrapped her tail about her feet, and terrows stepped up on either side. The she-dragon shone between her sentries like an emerald in a golden crown.

  Since the moment the dragons had stolen them from the ship, Hanna had been afraid of the Damusaun. But her dreamwalk had joined them in some way. Now she was afraid for her. If bloody death were waiting for the queen, and if this attack was waiting for her, too …

  “Look.” Taunier pointed at a seal making its way awkwardly toward the fire. It must be a very brave seal to leave the safety of the waves and approach so many dragons. Hanna was about to turn back to the Damusaun when the seal held up its flipper and waved. The seal’s gesture was so comically human that Hanna laughed. But her laughter caught in her mouth when the seal began to change.

  A low rumble came from the dragons’ throats. Taunier gripped Hanna’s arm as the seal’s body grew long and lean, as the tail split into legs and the flippers thinned and lengthened into arms. Hanna held her breath. At last the boy rolled over, got onto his knees, and stood shakily before them.

  “Miles!” Joy and fear combined in that one word, joy because her brother was alive, fear because the last time the dragons had seen him, they’d set his giant falcon’s wing aflame. Did they know it was Miles who’d attacked them in falcon form?

  Still, nothing could keep her from racing down the beach and throwing her arms around her brother. Taunier ran up and thumped Miles on the back. He was cold and wet, and his dripping clothes smelled of seaweed, but that didn’t matter at all. He was alive. Hanna drew back and looked at her brother. How had he come here? Where were the others? What about Breal? Where was the Leena? She felt the dragons waiting behind her.

  Face them. Speak.

  But before she could say a word, Kaleet snarled, “Shape-shifter.”

  There was a rattle of displeasure in his voice, and she heard low-toned agreement from the one-eyed male and the rest of the elder dragons. Why did Miles have to shape-shift here on the beach right in front of them? Hanna wondered.

  She cleared her throat. “This is my brother, Miles. He’s on our side.” The words dulled in the wind. Our side. Did the dragons understand what she meant by that?

  A long silence followed. Miles shivered beside her. He stole a glance at the one-eyed male who’d burned his wing, shuddered, and looked away. The bonfire burned bright, but he did not step any closer to warm himself.

  A thin line of smoke trailed from the Damusaun’s nostrils. Hanna thought, I should say something else. What?

  Miles took a deep breath, then walked forward. Touching his fingers to his forehead in a meer’s greeting, he bowed from the waist to the Dragon Queen. The hiss of sweeping water was the only sound along the shore. Miles kept his head low as the wave drew back, leaving a line of foam along the sand.

  “Abathan, Damusaun,” said Miles. “I have come a long way with my sister and the meers to find the Wind-taken children and save the greatest Waytrees of Noor.”

  The one-eyed male stepped closer to the queen. “Our prophecy does not speak of a shape-shifter, Damusaun.”

  The Dragon Queen glanced down at her broken talon, then up again at the dripping boy. “I see the danger you see, Endour. A shifter can renew or destroy.”

  “Please, Damusaun,” said Miles. “Give me the chance to prove myself to you.”

  His wet cloak clung to his back, and his hair stuck up wildly. He was still bowing. Hanna wanted to say something in his favor, but Taunier gently held her back.

  It began to rain. The queen stared at Miles a long while, then shook the drops from her scales. “Rise, pilgrim.”

  Relief flooded through Hanna as the taberrells and terrows gently beat the sand with their tails. When the soft applause subsided, Miles trailed back down to the water. Standing ankle-deep in sea foam, he cupped his hands to his mouth and called, “Come in.”

  Hanna let out a squeal of delight as she spotted Breal paddling through the dark sea swells, flanked by seals carrying Meers Eason and Kanoae. They rode a cresting wave into the shallows, where the meers slid into the waist-high water and fought the pounding surf the last few feet to shore. Breal bounded up and shook the water from his fur as Kanoae and Eason dragged the Falconer’s trunk onto the beach.

  TWENTY-TWO

  DRAGONS’ COUNCIL

  I came to the blue azure forest,

  where the boughs held up the sky.

  —THE MISHTAR, DRAGON’S WAY, VOL. I

  The hard coastal rain swept up the beach, driving them all back into the dragon’s cave. High above, Hanna saw the broad shelves extending from either side of the sheer walls, where she and Taunier had stood facing the dragons only hours before. Now she was walking with Miles and Taunier by the dark pool of freshwater at the bottom of the crevasse.

  Her head spun. It had all changed so fast. Miles and the meers were in Jarrosh. The fearful dragons dragging their long tails just ahead of them were now their companions in the war against the Cutters.

  A freshwater stream filled the pool. Hanna and her friends drank, and Breal lapped the water noisily as the dragons dipped their long orange tongues into the pool. The water tasted of the forest and good green things. The dragons are fighting for the Waytrees. There must still be enough growing here to bridge the way to Oth, to Tymm. She swallowed, tasting hope.

  Behind a large rock, Hanna opened the Falconer’s trunk and changed into clean clothes, soft gray pants and a top that wasn’t stiffened with harsh weather and grime. It would have been blissful to bathe and wash her hair, but there was no private place for this. She felt the dry cover of The Way Between Worlds, grateful the Falconer had made the chest watertight. Before closing the lid, she pulled out a clean cloth and the wound-care tincture. Kaleet had a nasty cut on his shoulder.

  “May I?” Hanna uncorked the tincture bottle and held it up. Kaleet narrowed his eyes, sniffed the bottle, and puffed indignantly. He’d been one of the most outspoken against her. She worked to hide her trembling, so near his muscular jaws, as he let her clean the gash. He smacked his heavy tail against the wall once as she wiped sand from the wound, but he gave a nod of thanks when she was done.

  She would have liked to clean the ugly marks on the queen’s right foreclaw. But it would draw attention to the puncture wounds Miles had made, trying to rescue her. The dragons had seen her brother shape-shift from seal to boy, but she was fairly sure they hadn’t known it was Miles in falcon form who’d attacked them, and she didn’t want to get them thinking. Hanna bit her lip. The Damusaun was a warrior. The puncture wounds were small compared to the many crisscrossed scars on her chest and her severed talon. Reluctantly, she put the medicine away.

  At the pool, the younger dragons caught wriggling fish in their swift claws. A few terrows showed off, skewering a trout on each talon and roasting them with their fiery breath. Breal barked in appreciation of the show, and Miles and Taunier laughed at Thriss, who tried the trick and dropped her trout on the sandy stone floor.

  Later, as Miles, Taunier, and the meers sat talking with the dragons around the central fire, Hanna finished her meal in silence by the wall and planned her next move. She’d seen what was left of the nearby forest as the Whirl Storm blew her to shore. Azure Waytrees grew up on the mountain slope a long way from this cave. She needed the dragons to fly her to the deyas in the azures, who could help her to Oth in search of Tymm and the other children. Miles and Taunier already seemed intent on joining in the dragons’ fight against the Cutters. She hoped she wouldn’t have to cross into the Otherworld alo
ne.

  The discussion on the far side of the cave centered on the trebuchet she’d seen.

  “We will destroy the manlings’ new weapons,” said Kaleet.

  “Weapons?” asked One-eye. “The Kanameer saw only one trebuchet in her dream.”

  “There may be more, Endour,” argued Kaleet. “We should burn whatever we find.”

  It seemed a good idea to Hanna, but the Damusaun shook her head. “Do that, and the Cutters will come running to the telltale flames and douse the fire,” she said. “Better to take the weapons out and drop them in the sea. We will use the covering of night for this.”

  “We?” asked Kaleet. “The Kanameer’s dream was a warning, Damusaun. We do not want you near the trebuchets.”

  “A warning, I agree,” said one-eyed Endour, backing up Kaleet.

  The tip of the Damusaun’s tail brushed the water. Ripples raced across the dark pool. The cave was all too silent.

  Hanna fed Thriss a bite of fish.

  At last the queen spoke. “Kanameer?”

  Hanna tucked Thriss under her arm and approached the queen.

  “Tell us, do your dreamwalks foreshadow what is to come or only what might come?”

  Hanna frowned, thinking. “They do both, Damusaun. Some of my dreamwalks come true.” She thought of the great black tree she’d seen. Would she find that tree in eastern Oth?

  Kaleet slowly shook his head. “The Kanameer saw you shot down, Damusaun. She, too, was falling in her dream. You should not risk your lives. Stay clear of the Cutters’ camps until the trebuchets are destroyed.”

  The Dragon Queen beat the water harder with her tail. Mighty splashes rained down. Breal, who got the most of it, shook his fur, sending a smaller shower over Meer Eason.

  “Are you telling me what to do?” the Damusaun growled testily.