Skylantern Dragons and the Monsters of Mundor

by Scott Taylor

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  The camp fire had been reduced to embers by the time the mages had fallen asleep. Though someone had stayed wide awake. Gently, Tweak made his way past the encampment, making certain he was not heard. A short distance away stood the mouth to a deep cave. That must be where the ambassador is being kept, Tweak reasoned as he regarded the cruel Fabian and his vile friends. Yes, the ambassador had to be here, or else why would these mages be guarding this cave if not to keep this poor prisoner captive?

  Tweak made his ascent to the mouth of the cave. He heard Fabian groan in his sleep behind him and stopped dead, believing the despicable creature had awoken suddenly. The dwarf turned to look behind. Fabian had merely turned over in his slumber and continued to be unaware. Exhaling a sound of relief, Tweak continued up the steep hillside only to lose his footing completely, slip, and caused a plethora of stones to come tumbling, clattering down the dusty prominence.

  Fabian woke with a start and went for his sword. Tweak charged up the hill the rest of the way and managed to reach the mouth of the cave to avoid further detection.

  The stones came to a halt by the embers as Fabian rose to investigate. The other mages were still asleep. Someone else was here. There were footprints in the dry earth which did not belong to either he or his friends.

  Extracting his sword, Fabian began to climb the hillside. Tweak pressed his face against the rock and could plainly see the prince’s silhouette emerging closer with each step. Quickly the dwarf took retreat into the cave’s inner sanctum. He could hear the sound of cascading water in the distance. Maybe it was an underground river or lagoon. Maybe he could lose the prince there somehow, he knew how pretty tenacious Fabian could be.

  Looking behind, Tweak caught a glimpse of the boy’s outline against the moon as he approached the entrance.

  ‘Show yourself, whoever you are! I know you’re in here!’

  Tweak began to panic. He hid in the darkness of the cave, afraid of the blackness that encapsulated him, though even more afraid of the consequences should he be found. He took his chances with the darkness. Following the sound of water, Tweak made his way deeper into the cave.

  There was some light leaking in from a shallow tunnel high above. This offered some peace of mind at least. A short distance away the angry shouts of ‘coward, show yourself!’ continued as the prince searched.

  Tweak entered a grotto, the home of an underground river at the foot of a huge cascading waterfall. He found a niche in the cave wall and hid himself within its murky confines.

  He watched as the prince entered, letting his eyes examine the length and breadth of this yawning underground oasis. He also watched as the reckless youth entered the lake and began to wade outwards towards the falls. What was he doing? It was strange. It was like watching the involuntary amblings of a sleepwalker. Tweak rose steadily from his hiding place to get a better look. Most odd, he thought, watching as Fabian reached out with the tips of his fingers to touch the majestic waterfall. Strange, he considered, until he remembered an old fable he had heard of a similar encounter with just such an underground lake. There had been tell of a mystic waterfall that had the ability to entrance and lure humans to it by the sound of its crashes, making its victims want to drink their fill. Once the victim touched the water the waterfall would…

  Tweak jumped out of hiding, shouting a warning to the prince, but it was too late. Fabian pressed his hands against its torrent and was pulled in. On the opposite side of the falls there was no oxygen, only water, dense, overpowering water. From that side of the cascade Fabian could not escape. He pounded his fists against the force of the torrent, but it was like a wall, impenetrable. He was locked behind it, unable to breath, incapable of calling for help.

  Tweak didn’t know what to do. Fabian was a villain, but even he did not deserve this kind of fate. Outside slept the other mages. Tweak had to warn them. He rushed out of the grotto and made his way towards the light of the moon. He knew every second he wasted would most likely be Fabian’s last. He made such a sound as he lost his footing again, this time cartwheeling down the rocky ledge, and waking several of the other mages. Stopping but a hair’s breadth away from the still burning embers, and thanking his lucky stars that he had not caught fire as a result, Tweak opened his eyes at last to see five individuals standing over him.

  ‘Hi’ he spoke a little clumsily and with a sense of embarrassment. Quickly he came to his senses.

  ‘Who are you?’ Marl asked.

  Draethor started to glance down at the empty bed where Fabian had laid, then looked at the other mages.

  ‘Where’s Fabian?’ he asked suddenly.

  ‘Come quickly!’ Tweak said. ‘We haven’t a moment to lose! Fabian is in trouble!’

  ‘Quick, show us!’ demanded Marl urgently.

  Tweak led the mages into the cave, directing them to the grotto and the waterfall where the young prince had his hands flat against the impermeable wall of solid water. This was dark magic. The unfortunate boy was trapped behind the falls. He had been trying to force his way out to no avail. His lungs were about to give up.

  ‘Don’t touch the water!’ Tweak warned. ‘The water will pull you in just as it did Fabian!’

  ‘Then how do we…?’

  Justas Marl quickly noticed Tweak standing next to the waterfall, a section of his long bushy hair was touching the fall’s waters and yet he didn’t seem to be affected. Marl even went so far as to point this fact out to Tweak who panicked and jumped clear of the water when he realised. Then it dawned on him. Only humans were affected.

  Marl grabbed Tweak’s hand and thrust it into the cascade, and then pulled it out again. This caused a panicked shriek on Tweak’s part, but when he realised he was impervious he took a deep breath, made a quick leap of faith, and entered the cascade. Only moments later he emerged again carrying the sagging frame of the water’s recent victim.

  ‘Place him down over there’ ordered Marl. Dreathor helped Tweak to carry out the instruction. They waded through the waters till they reached the stony banks, and then placed the inanimate body down on the floor.

  ‘Just hope I remember how to do this’ Marl muttered, bending over Fabian, pressing both his hands down over the boy’s chest. He pumped hard about 30 times in a minute or so, and removed his hands to administer oxygen by blowing into the victim’s mouth. He did this over and over again, though there was no response. He pressed down again, counting the seconds as he did this, then shouting ‘come on, damn you. Come on!’ He forced his breath down the victim’s throat, then again, and again. He then felt the gentle hand on his shoulder and the grim missive that their new friend was indeed dead.

  Marl rose slowly, barely believing the evidence of his eyes.

  ‘Fabian’ he said, leaning against the stone wall of the grotto for support. ‘I would have followed him to the gates of the underworld. He was the seventh mage, the most powerful mage. And now he will not live to realise his full potential. And what was he doing in here in the first place?’

  ‘I believe I had something to do with that’ uttered Tweak with a slight reservation to speak clearly.

  Marl turned to regard the little dwarf. They all regarded him.

  ‘And who are you exactly?’

  The little dwarf started to look worried and with good reason.

  ‘I’m Tweak, chief magician…chief jester to the house of René. I…I followed Fabian here as he was instrumental in the disappearance of the ambassador of the pioneers of Sinistrom sovereignty, and…’

  ‘Are you accusing this man of something, dwarf?’ Justas Marl spoke as he was beginning to take offence.

  ‘Accusing?’ Tweak answered, beginning to feel as though he was on trial for everything that had just happened. ‘I saw his alter ego. I saw the dragon rise, create terror in the streets, billowing flames if you please! I saw the dragon snatch the ambassador from the sky and damn near…’

  ‘Hold your tongue!’ Marl spoke fiercely, crouching before
the little man so that their eyes were level. ‘Did you actually see the kidnapping? Did you actually see Fabian take the ambassador? Did you see it, Dwarf?’

  ‘Yes!’ Tweak tried to back away, but his passage was blocked by Draethor who was standing directly behind him.

  ‘I saw the dragon with my own eyes!’ he stammered.

  ‘No’ corrected the mage. ‘I didn’t ask you whether you saw the dragon or not. My question to you was, did you see Fabian? Do not play games with me today, dwarf!’

  Justas Marl turned away and stopped. He was beginning to lose his patience with the small minded dwarf.

  ‘I asked you who you saw’ the tall man calmed his voice, though it was still knotted with certain grief.

  ‘I told you, I saw the dragon’ Tweak answered, frustrated.

  The taller man turned on his heels and crouched once again before the dwarf.

  ‘And that is why you saw only what the enemy wished you to see. You didn’t witness Fabian take the ambassador at all!’

  ‘What are you talking about? You’re mad’ Tweak accused the tall man.

  Marl fought back the impulse to simply lock his bare hands around the dwarf’s gullet and squeeze the life from the imbecilic little yokel.

  ‘I am talking about an enemy that can change himself and mimic any form, any shape he desires, even a dragon. I am talking about an enemy that wanted to discredit the prince in order to start a war between the people of Mundor and the Sinistrom. I am saying, if you’d just take those cotton balls out your flaming ears and listen, that that corpse lying there tried very hard, and came all this distance to try and rescue the ambassador and avert war!’

  Tweak noticed the tall man pull a knife from its sheath, and then felt its cold metal against his bare throat.

  ‘It has taken us a long time to find the seventh mage! That would be five decades, fifty long years to be exact. Give me a reason why I shouldn’t gut you right now.’

  A bright light glared in their faces suddenly, brighter than the brightest sun. The seven individuals shielded their eyes.

  Marl felt himself drop the knife. Tweak likewise felt the metal’s edge ease suddenly from his neck. The light vanished quickly and in its place there was a blue dragon, and definitely not the same fiery red creature they had seen previously.

  ‘By the ancients’ whispered Marl, unable to believe his eyes.

  Before them stood a Loch Water Dragon, similar in appearance and size to the one which Fabian had turned into on that previous encounter, only this one was a different hue entirely.

  ‘It makes perfect sense’ spoke Iron May, realising the ingenuity of it. ‘He adapted to his imminent drowning by becoming a Loch Water Dragon.’

  ‘It is true’ remarked Marl taking a few steps towards the large creature standing before them. ‘Loch Water Dragons are at home in mystic waters, probably explains how he was able to survive for as long as he did in those falls. He has the ability to adapt to every danger. Ingenious!’

  The dragon splayed its webbed wings apart and instantly took flight. The ceiling of the grotto broke and shattered as the powerful beast burst through solid rock in a bid to escape this subterranean world. No mere confinement would ever imprison this free and uninhibited spirit again! The mages quickly scrambled to safety as rock and dust fell and billowed, filling the cavern around them.

  Topside, the dragon stood majestically under the sight of the moon and stars before changing back into the boy they all thought to be dead.

  ‘I did it!’ the boy announced weeping tears of joy, and looking down at his hands, his human hands. He looked up only to see Marl, his new friend and teacher, approaching him with his arms open wide.

  He embraced the young prince. Tweak looked on, both relieved that his old friend was still alive, yet gripped by remorse that he had judged his friend and prince wrongly, and had treated him with not only suspicion, but prejudice as well.

  ‘We thought we’d lost you’ Marl wept, embracing Fabian. ‘My brother…I thought I had.’

  Brother. This was unexpected, though welcoming. Fabian had never had any brothers or sisters, only a father who did not understand or appreciate his own flesh and blood, and sometimes even berated him before the entire court. Yes, brother sounded good.

  ‘I’m prepared’ claimed the prince, breaking their embrace. By the look in his eyes he was ready, ready to harness the power at a single command. It was as easy as a common reflex.

  Chapter 9

  Urban Cloud, city in the sky;

  The pit, residence of the beast:

  Cougar Chuko looked up at the mass of flesh, sinew and fangs that was chained to the metal bulkhead. It seemed tame for the moment anyway, tranquilised for the protection of the guards and owners that came to care and tend to its every desire. Standing over thirty feet tall, it lurched sleepily in its manmade cage while Chuko’s two right hand men tried to keep it still with long support rods.

  ‘He’ll be hungry in a few hours’ observed the Cougar confidently, his hands clasped behind his back. ‘Tonight’s menu boasts a truly inspired dish I like to call, Mort ă la Ambassador.’ And he kissed the tips of his fingers as he finished his line: ‘it truly is to die for.’

  ◆◆◆

  The early sun was barely visible on the horizon. Tweak looked up at his former friend. True the little guy was finding it difficult to express his guilt feelings. Finally, he said,

  ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything. When I saw that dragon in the marketplace…When I saw it carry the ambassador off to the gods know what hellish destination, and after I’d seen you transform into that…’

  ‘How did you see that?’ the prince interrupted. ‘How Tweak, when I never let anyone see my gift and transformation!’

  Marl who was near enough to overhear the conversation betwixt the two discerned the word “gift” used instead of the word “curse”. The boy was indeed learning, he thought.

  ‘I guess I was being a bit of a busybody as usual’ Tweak stated with much embarrassment. ‘I called upon the mirror’s magic to reveal to me the truth of why you suddenly ran away, and why the king had you dragged back wrapped in a blanket. It was all rather suspicious. What the mirror showed me was unbelievable, but the mirror never lies. I could neither deny nor forget what I’d seen. The mirror showed me you in the woods, saving a child from a carnivorous pitcher plant. I chose to ignore that good deed in favour of the transformation that miraculously took place. The dragon in the marketplace was identical to you, that is the dragon you become.’

  ‘So what changed your mind about me? Why apologise to me if you think I am evil?’

  ‘I don’t think you’re evil. I heard Marl say that the Sinistrom employed a trickster to take your dragon’s form, and that it was this trickster that spirited away the ambassador—not you. To tell you the gods honest truth, I wouldn’t put it passed the Villeforms or their wicked masters. I understand this has been some terrible misunderstanding. Please, I’m sorry.’

  Fabian witnessed the tear forming in the dwarf’s eyes and thought that he had made him suffer long enough. He had obviously learned his lesson.

  ◆◆◆

  The sun was finally up over the desert. The seven travellers, accompanied by Tweak, making eight in all, continued on their journey. The trail had gone dead a while ago which meant that they had to rely on magic to show them the rest of the way.

  They even stopped to ask a titan and a fern sprite for directions. The fern sprite was as tall as a man, though the titan was the size of the largest poplar and wore sandals and a long flowing gown of silk.

  ‘Did either of you two gentle folk see a dragon come this way in the last few of days?’ the prince asked respectfully.

  The fern sprite looked up at the titan towering above him and shrugged. It was a very unusual question for someone to ask, though the titan raised his arm and pointed in the direction he had seen the winged creature travel.

  Hours passed and there was still no more signs
that a dragon had passed this way.

  Following the trail another several miles, our adventurers reached yet another impasse. They stopped for a moment. Tweak had a way of finding things that nobody else could by way of conventional superstitions and means. He knelt on a flat bed of dry earth and unfolded a small piece of material that was no larger than a handkerchief. Upon the material he placed a sharpened stone, and two other, more polished stones next to it. These stones had strange symbols engraved on them. He said a mantra and instantly the stones began to move by themselves.

  ‘Show me where the Sinistrom ambassador can be found’ he commanded.

  The sharpened stone in the middle began to vibrate, and then tilt upwards towards the sky on its own. Tweak looked up, puzzled.

  ‘Why, according to this stone the ambassador is…up there!’

  They all looked up.

  ‘That’s impossible’ Draethor exclaimed.

  ‘Not necessarily’ prompted Tweak remembering his mythology. ‘Some dragons have been known to sleep amidst the clouds. Clouds can be cradles to those that know the ways of magic.’

  ‘Do you know the way?’ Justas Marl asked the dwarf.

  ‘Of course I do! I am a magician you know…Alright, I am just a humble fool, but I am well versed in magic!’

  Tweak said another mantra and in a heartbeat a rather sizeable cloud sailed down from the sky and alighted at their feet.

  ‘All aboard!’ the dwarf uttered spryly, stepping onto the cloud.

  ‘You’re not getting me on that!’ Draethor exclaimed, folding his arms.

  ‘It’s perfectly safe’ Tweak assured him.

  ‘I’ll stay here if it’s all the same to you!’

  The dwarf muttered under his breath,

  ‘Big sissy.’

  The cloud rose, lifting Tweak and the remaining six mages higher into the ether. Above all other cloud, they matched stature with the heavens. As the white motif of veil and nimbus gave way suddenly to blue sky they witnessed a sight completely alien to them: a city…a city in the air. It was merely hovering there like a bird. This wasn’t magic, Tweak thought, this was something else, not new, but old, older than magic, older than myth…this was science!