by N. Saraven
A spark twinkled in the golden gaze, but it disappeared just as suddenly.
“Well then, I don’t think that we need to worry. He is perfectly capable of finding them himself,” she said, turning back to her book. She picked some fruit from a little pot on the table beside her.
Veilon just stared at her, completely stunned. He was prepared for resistance, but the lack of interest startled him.
Silence fell on the room.
“Neila, is everything alright?” asked the kobold tenderly.
“Of course, why do you ask?” asked the Master, not even looking up from the pages.
“In an unknown land three dragons have gone missing, and you do nothing about it. It is more than unusual …”
“Aww, Veilon … if it wasn’t Halgor with them, I would worry. But the elven is perfectly capable of solving the problem,” mumbled Neila as she ate. Her eyes moved slowly as she read the lines, showing that she had difficulties doing so.
The paragon just stood there, stunned. At first he did not know what he should say or do, which annoyed him even further. Then something came into his mind.
“We do not know what’s out there. The elven was out the whole day. He could be exhausted. You really want him to stay in an uncharted terrain like this?” asked the kobold finally, breaking the silence before Neila could lose herself in the book again.
The Master’s eyes closed for a moment, and she took a deep breath. When she looked up, awareness shone in her eyes, which meant that she finally came back to the present.
A warrior always stays a warrior, thought Veilon, smiling faintly, although it melted away almost immediately. He knew how those typical fighter instincts could be awakened, which were always there and could not be silenced completely. Even if somebody wanted them to. These tolerated no feelings, always becoming active when certain impulses appeared.
Neila opened her mouth to answer when the door slammed open and Enargit stepped in wearing his dragonman form.
“Imagine this, Neila. I have found a plant that we were talking about earlier. It will be perfect for—” The words dropped from his jaws when he discovered Veilon. His smile also disappeared as the usual mask got its place back.
Although Veilon saw him only for a fraction of a moment, it baffled him. The shadow Leader behaved completely different from what he normally showed to others. What first entered was a lively person, with a wide smile, who only wanted to share his discovery with a friend.
However, this image disappeared immediately when Enargit realised they were not alone in the room.
“Did something happen?” he asked calmly, as he put down the plant on the table. Neila did not even glance at it, which caught the dragon’s attention. She stood up and stepped to the window, looking out at the darkened lands.
“Nighthunter and two others went missing. Halgor is waiting for us at the landing point,” summarised Neila as she turned to the dragon.
“How could this happen? Why did they even fly out? Nothing was planned for today.”
“He left without my knowledge.”
Veilon just stood there, more and more astonished and confused about the discussion. He understood nothing. Why should the Master of Varomor ask for permission to leave? Moreover, how come Enargit’s glance also flared up when it came to the subject? It was more than suspicious. Obviously something happened amidst the three of them, something of which the kobold was unaware. And for that information he would give up a lot.
“How can we know where they went?” asked Enargit, which made Neila shrug.
“Knowing the elven, near the border. I assume he became so occupied with whatever he was doing that he forgot about the dragons.”
The Leader snorted at this point, but even Veilon rose a brow.
“And now it is up to us to clean up his mess. Again …” She sighed as if she was expecting nothing more.
“How would you proceed?”
The Master fell silent for a moment, thinking.
“I’m thinking about Eryn. He has more keen senses than any of us. With help of course, two mages whom he can choose, and five trained dragons.”
“But …”
All eyes were on Veilon now. Pure disapproval shone in their gaze, which stunned the kobold even more. They looked at him as if he had no right to interfere, or if he did, he only said something stupid, as if he were nothing more than a rookie who tried to play with the big leagues. Furthermore, they obviously were surprised that he was still there.
“But?” echoed Neila with a disturbingly calm voice, which made the paragon’s forehead bead with sweat.
“The elven asked for you. I think, maybe, you should listen to him.”
“Well, now,” murmured Enargit, who exchanged an annoyed glance with Neila, as if they were up against a rookie, who now tried to cut in the adults’ conversation because he thought he might be smarter.
Veilon almost blushed in anger when he saw the condescending looks. What bothered him even more was that Neila seemingly shared this concept.
“Why would I obey? And since when do you agree with him on anything?” Neila questioned the paragon. She seemed not so much interested as irritated, mixed with wariness.
“Well … I’m not defending him. I find it logical. We don’t know what is beyond the borders. It is not a job for the wraith.”
The Master and the Leader exchanged those looks again. They had to listen to the ‘rookie’, but they only did it because he was too loud to ignore. However, his ‘folly’ irked them.
Veilon clenched his jaws in anger, constantly reminding himself that he must not say anything he really should not. Although he wanted to give them a piece of his mind.
“Then what would you do?” asked Neila with a tone, as if she would consider thinking about the ‘rookie’s’ ideas, although in truth she was not listening at all.
The kobold knew it was do-or-die time. He would not have another chance like this. His mind worked hard to put every reason in its proper order.
“We three with two dragons fly out. Whatever awaits, it is better for us to know about it first. And we have the most chance to defeat it, if necessary. Not to mention, maybe we will learn something, which should NOT be announced immediately during lunchtime. What would happen if Eryn went out.”
Neila made a maybe-you-have-a-point grimace. Nobody could deny that the wraith had many good qualities, but keeping keen information to himself was not one of them. If he was not convinced that something should stay hidden, he could not keep it quiet. In some cases it proved to be a very difficult job to make him see why something was important to do so.
The Master glanced at Enargit questioningly, who sighed in agreement. ‘Why not’ was written all over their faces. Apparently the ‘rookie’ got a chance to prove himself. Although Veilon was hurt to the core by this treatment, now was not the time to be angry about it. There was a job to be done, so he could not let his pride get in the way. Even if the situation was beyond condescending.
As more and more were these days …
“Call up Goldenrain then, would you?” said Neila to Veilon, as all three of them started for the door. Although this question made the kobold halt. He stared at her with widened eyes.
“I let Goldenrain home not long after we left Lexénia’s stronghold. How did you not know …?” gasped the Ruler, which made the golden eyes foggy and confused. Then she left without any further words. Enargit followed her, but Veilon was so astonished that he had to run to catch up.
The companions took off. Neila was paired with a middle-aged shadow dragon named Blacktooth. Veilon got an ambitious young reptile, Nightfang.
Every dragon who learned the common tongue could choose a new name for themselves which the others could call them. Their original names were so complicated they did not try to teach them.
Enargit led the little group, sensing the sign Halgor was sending. This made it much easier to find him, despite the darkness. Against the latter, they used a spe
ll which allowed them to see even in pitch-black. The gained picture was mostly black and white, however, which gave a spooky look to everything around them. The contours became sharper, yet still everything blurred together. Overall they could still see better with than without it, so it was worth it. Especially since not even the Moon helped them with its light, as it was a new moon.
The forest stretched under them, grim and intimidating, which made an experienced warrior wary as well. Even taller trees stood scarcely, looking over the others’ canopy, as if they wanted to see everything from above. Nobody knew why they grew so much taller than the others; they proved to be ordinary woods which just decided to make themselves bigger. However, these trees could be used as perfect guidelines, as in sight-points for the border.
The companions now headed for what they called ‘the trinity’—three of these huge trees grew somewhat close together, forming a triangle. They meant the Border, and only experienced mages and dragons were allowed to pass them, with permission. A rule Halgor usually dismissed …
In the middle of the tree-made triangle sat Halgor on a trunk, exhausted, probably hungry, but as wary as he could be in the given situation. After the dragons landed, the elven seemed truly amazed who had come. He even gave a sigh of relief. Although when his gaze met Veilon’s, his expression showed that it was not an easy task. The elven nodded at him stiffly; he replied with a grimace.
They understood each other.
The Master stepped to Neila with a smile, who just slid down from Blacktooth. He was happy to see her there, although when he wanted to get closer to kiss her, those cold, golden eyes made him stop.
“Where could the dragons be from here?” asked Neila with a firm voice.
“I don’t know.”
“I hoped when we got here you’d already have something …” She turned away, walking to Enargit, who stared into the dark thicket around them a few steps away. They silently started to discuss something.
Halgor just blinked in surprise, unable to answer anything.
“What the …” he gasped, as he followed Neila with his eyes. “What should I’ve done?!” he pouted aloud, which made Veilon step to him.
“Listen to me!” he whispered sharply, so only the dark elven would hear it. “You must stay silent, whatever happens, whatever they might ‘accuse’ you with. You … must … stay … silent!”
“But … what …?!” Halgor turned to him.
“I could hardly convince her to come, and honestly, what I had to live through because of this … I WILL NOT do YOUR job again!”
The Master stared at him, completely stunned. He did not really see the other’s dark eyes, only sensed them perfectly.
“What do you mean?”
“Neila now thinks that we have become some kind of best friends forever, so she started to handle me in that way. I had enough of it, thank you, so from now on, you’ll solve your own problems or find another to string along!” He walked away to join the others.
Halgor could not really make anything out of his hostile tone, yet he sensed that the kobold tried to help him, or at least, gave him a warning. He fled from the Tower so many times in the last seasons that he became out of the loop. The elven did not really know what was happening with Rita, or how Agony and Talek got on with their duties. Not to mention the shadow dragons’ studies or Neila herself. He had no clue whatsoever how she felt, or what could be her problem. Every time he tried to talk about it, a huge argument was the result. The last one became so serious, he started to elude his mate completely.
The dark mage sighed. At the moment he could not imagine how or when they would or could overcome this situation—or how he could, or should, help to improve it.
Then he heard a call, so he too joined the others.
“So, as we planned,” said Neila, “Enargit will try to locate the others. Nobody from us ever became a dragon before, so we couldn’t do it with our minds. But even if we could, he has the most chance of success, in my opinion, if they are nearby.”
“Define ‘nearby’ …” murmured Halgor, who stood with arms folded. If the others heard him, nobody reacted.
The Leader stepped away a little from the others, crouched on the ground, and closed his eyes. He emptied his mind, concentrating only on the task at hand.
Most of his senses went dull, except the part of his mind which scouted the surroundings. Every hunter sensed if they were being watched, if a mind focused on them. Enargit strengthened this part of his mind as much as he could and scouted the landscape. He looked for the unique aura of the dragons.
With this method, everything could be located anywhere, and anybody could learn how to do it if they had the resources. However, not even the two strongest mages could find a dragon like this.
The method itself contained both Gained and Intuit Magic; both must be used at the same time. It also was one of the few spells in which the Gained part lacked the resource. To find a dragon only by its unique aura, a mage had to become a dragon themselves at one point in their lives. The criteria could not be bypassed in any way.
This was the only way through which one could completely and fully understand what it means to be a dragon—when they discovered the rare, subtle nature of a reptile, which just could not be observed by simply knowing one. However, this kind of shape-shifting required a skilled dragon mage’s guiding.
No proof existed that this had ever happened in the history of Magic.
This kind of magic could take a while, however, even for a strong mage like Enargit. While the Leader was occupied, the other dragons lay on the ground, softly talking and looking around. Neila just stared into the darkness with arms folded, as if she had turned into a statue. Her hair was braided, which Halgor now measured with an unsure look. The elven sat a few steps away from her, staring at her back. If she sensed it, she never showed.
Veilon only glanced around to evaluate the situation, then turned to the thicket. A lot of noises surrounded them—rattling, snorts, strange snuffles. Something cracked, a soft fuzz as a leaf hit the ground. Insects buzzed, shades whooshed amidst the branches, looking for food.
Everything was familiar, yet different. The shades seemed strange; the rattling of the leaves sounded peculiar when they landed. Not to mention the hot air, which made Veilon change his clothes also. Nowadays he got used to a deep-green, short-sleeved tunic, embroidered with the same colour. He wore knee-long, black breeches with leather sandals, unique to the kobolds. He tied back his dark hair, letting his pointed ears to be seen. His dark appearance seemed to be in contrast with the paragons’ colour-loving nature. It still was more suitable for this ‘night-hunt’ than the elven’s tawny clothes.
The kobold waited patiently, as he listened to the different sounds all around. He would never say it out loud, but he still got chills from this place. Everything looked new and unknown, and from what they could gather so far, most of them were pretty deadly too.
As the paragon looked around, he discovered a huge flower on a tree nearby. He stepped to it, baffled. He had never seen anything like it before. He recognised the plant from its leaves, but nobody knew about its flower, if it had one. As it turned out, it had a gorgeous blossom, and as he got closer, he smelt something sweet in the air. The scent was too sweet, almost somnolent.
He could not reach the flower, as it grew high on the tree trunk. But when he stepped under it to study one of its leaves, which hung down on a tendril, he felt something drop on his hand—nectar, as he realised a moment later.
Veilon turned back, and without disturbing the concentrating Enargit or the closed-eyed, persumably sleeping elven, he motioned Neila to him. The Master joined him, looking up at the flower. Curiosity shone in her eyes, which made the paragon smile. They discussed silently the discovery, which brought back memories—when he studied at Varomor, and they had long, freed talks like this.
His heart ached in sweet agony.
“Unbelievable.” Neila sighed as she glanced at the huge bl
ossom.
“I too never thought that this plant could be so huge. Look at these vines, growing into the bark itself. I wonder, is it feeding off the tree too?” the Ruler mused.
“No, I don’t think so. Otherwise it would not have leaves like this. Rita mentioned something about these plants. She called them creepers. It suits them.”
“Indeed.”
They did not realise, nor care, but Halgor did not sleep behind them. On the contrary, when he heard the muffled voices, he immediately looked around to see what was happening. His anger could not have been bigger when he saw his mate alongside his rival, chatting about the plant as if they were on a trip. His eyes widened when he saw Neila smile, then chuckle. After Cameron’s leaving, nobody saw even a try of a smile from her.
But now …
The elven nearly scrambled to his feet just to end their mirth, when Enargit opened his eyes.
“I do not find them anywhere!” gasped the shadow dragon hoarsely. Every eye was on him now.
“What?” Neila frowned, stepping to him.
“I cannot find them. We must fly farther, and try again.”
For a few moments, everybody fell silent. Halgor and Veilon looked even more surprised than Neila. The mages knew even they could scout far out to look for something, and they could just guess how much stronger Enargit was. The fact that the Leader could not get a hold of his subjects meant a great problem.
“Wait a moment. It’s impossible for them to get so far, whatever happened to them in the first place,” argued Halgor, as he stepped to the others.
“Not if they were made to leave …” cut in Veilon. His tone and expression were grim, which made the two shadows exchange worried looks in the background.
“Which way should we start?” asked the elven, with which he earned Neila’s disapproving glance. She obviously was making plans already and he disturbed her. Not that he cared …
“The Moon is high up already, so wherever they are, we must hurry. They must be frightened enough already,” murmured Neila.
Although a little argument was born from the discussion, where and how they should search next. Enargit and Neila had the idea that they should move east first. After a while, when they reached an uncharted territory, they would stop and search. If the result was still nothing, they would move along a circle to the south until they reached the original starting point, then move along east again, repeating the process.