Kai exited the family cave with a mouthful of gold and rock that he had excavated and spat it out on the ground. Her father shook the dust off his head, and several pebbles dropped near Ryxa. He wondered what had caught his daughter’s interest as she looked down over the cliff. “Ryxa, what do you see down there?”
“I chased away some humans.”
Kai turned and waddled back into the den to continue his work.
It was then that Marcus pulled himself up onto the top of the cliff and walked straight up to Ryxa and spoke as if he was talking to a friendly dog instead of a dragon. He had never seen a dragon this close, except for a dead one. “Hello.”
When she turned her head she accidentally hit the boy and sent him flying; he had climbed beside her, and she hadn’t noticed. The dragon’s eyes widened with disbelief as the boy got up and dusted himself off. He was uninjured. “A human child? How did you get up here?”
“I climbed.”
“That’s impossible.”
“No, I climbed.”
Again Kai exited the cave with another mouthful of gold and rubble. “What are you doing with that human? Put it back! You don’t know where its been.”
Ryxa wasn’t sure what to say, so she opted for the truth. “Father, I didn’t bring him up here. He climbed.”
Kai fixed his eyes on the boy. “Ryxa, don’t be foolish. No human can climb that cliff. The only way up here is to fly or come up the back road, and that road is always full of dragons. You flew down there and picked him up. I want you to put him back now.” The dragon turned and went back into the dark cave with his fiery eyes lighting the way, all he could think of was what next.
Marcus walked to the edge of the cliff and stared down at the waves that were hitting the beach below. “Un oh.” It looked a lot harder going down than going up. In fact, it seemed impossible. “I don’t think I can get down.”
Ryxa sniffed the boy with such force that he had temporarily stuck to her nose, and when she released him, he fell on his bottom. She smiled as he got up. “You smell funny. It’s a bloody miracle that you didn’t break your neck getting up here. I guess you’ll just have to live up here and be my pet.”
Prince Marcus was not impressed. “That is not gonna happen!” The boy stared at the dragonfly that had come up the side of the cliff and hovered there, listening intently to the hum of its wings. He wanted to tie a rope to it and watch it fly around as his grandfather had showed him; he turned his attention back to the dragon as it flew out of his reach. “You’re so big. I could fit my head in one of your nose holes. My name is Marcus.”
“I’m Ryxa, and that’s my father Kai inside the cave. Marcus, how are you going to get back down?” She shook her big dragon head at the thought of the boy falling.
Kai spat out another load of gold and snorted at the sight of the boy. “Ryxa, what did I tell you? Get him out of here! I can smell him from here.”
“We’re just talking.”
Kai snorted and fire shot out of his nose. “Don’t get attached to that thing because they’re all going to be dead soon.”
Ryxa didn’t like the sound of that. What was her father saying? He wasn’t usually one to exaggerate. “What do you mean?”
“The Yurrosy are coming.”
Ryxa stared at her father and blinked several times. “They have a wizard to protect them. They have a shield. Everyone knows that.”
Kai laughed as he waddled back into his cave. “Some wizard.”
The boy stared at the pile of rocks and gold that was accumulating outside of the cave. “What’s your father doing?”
“He’s making our cave bigger even though you could fit ten dragons in there and we’re only four with my mother and my brother Sulphur. I guess he’s bored.”
Marcus turned and tried to catch the dragonfly that flew up the cliff when a rock gave way under his foot, and suddenly he was falling to his death, screaming all the way down until his nose gently touched the stones; Ryxa caught him and set him down on the beach. The boy was shaking from the fright and feeling sick to his stomach. Death had not come for him this time. “I’m not dead. Not dead.”
The dragon shook her head at his foolhardiness. “Next time you will be. Don’t ever try to climb there again.”
“You saved me!” Marcus gave the dragon’s leg a big hug, as best he could. He continued to shake as his heart pounded faster than he thought possible. The dragon’s hide was almost as hard as rock. “That was so close, so close.”
“I didn’t save you I was coming down here anyway.”
Marcus looked up at her red eyes and didn’t believe her. “No, you weren’t.”
“Yes, I was.”
“No, you weren’t.”
“Yes I was, and dragons can’t tell lies.”
Marcus stared at her as his heart finally started to calm down. He imagined the birds scraping his remains off that rock. “Really?”
“No, not really. I just told a lie by telling you that I can’t tell a lie.”
He looked up at the dragon and smiled; she was so big that he was getting a sore neck staring up. He liked her, even before she saved him he liked her. “My father says that people and dragons don’t mix. Why don’t they mix?”
The dragon turned her head and sent a fiery blast against the base of the cliff making the rocks bright red. “I guess we’re big, and you’re too little. Besides, we don’t have much in common. You don’t even have fire. And you can’t fly. It must be terrible not to be able to fly.”
“I’m not too little!”
“You fit in my nose hole. Remember?” Ryxa commenced walking with the boy.
“Oh yeah. Well, I might be small for a dragon, but I’m not a dragon. I’m big for my age and strong too. Why don’t you come home with my father and me will give you a reward for saving me. My father is King Darius.”
Ryxa liked the sound of that. A reward would be the very best kind of present. “A reward you say? What kind of reward?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Something good.”
Dragons were very curious creatures. What sort of a gift would a human give a dragon? The fact of not knowing what she would get excited her and she could imagine lots of things. Perhaps it would be something to eat? Something sweet? The dragon thought about it and couldn’t resist she simply had to know what her reward would be. That way she could see more humans up close. “Climb on my back and I’ll fly you home.”
She was so big it took Marcus a couple of attempts to climb, and as he did so, he wondered if it was such a good idea. He was both elated and frightened of taking to the air on the back of a dragon. It certainly would be scary up there but when would he ever get another chance. One had to seize upon opportunity when it presented itself. “Dragon, fly straight, or I might fall off. And not too fast.”
“Marcus, are you scared of heights?”
“I climbed that cliff didn’t IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!”
Ryxa rose higher, and the prince discovered that he didn’t like being this high, scarier than he thought. Marcus thought he would love it, but all he could think about was falling. He was so scared that he found it difficult to breathe. Marcus closed his eyes tight as the ground moved further and further away but then slowly opened them; first one blue eye and then the other. He thought it wasn’t so bad as long as she didn’t drop him. Marcus doubted that anyone else in the whole world was flying on the back of a dragon. He felt a little like the king of the world way up there.
“I might not catch you next time so hold on tight.”
“It won’t be much of a reward if you bring me home flat like a squashed bug.” Marcus held on tight with both hands grasping under the corner of one of her scales, like holding onto a sharp rock.
The dragon pumped her mighty wings, and soon they were so high that he thought that even the dragon would die if it fell from this height. The sound of the dragon’s wings was too loud and was hurting Marcus’s ears. They flew so high that everything below looke
d tiny; he considered that it would take a long time to hit the ground and that there would be a hell of a lot of screaming before he hit. But what a magnificent view; he was going to be dreaming about this adventure. It must be wonderful being a dragon, getting to fly every day. The things they could see and all the places they could visit.
“Ryxa, could you fly to the moon if you wanted?”
“Nope. Once you get so high, there’s no air to breathe.”
Marcus wasn’t sure if he believed that. “Where does the air go?”
“I don’t know.”
Were they heading in the wrong direction? Was she a danger to him? Maybe Ryxa was just pretending to be nice? What if she was going to eat him? One thing was for certain; escape was impossible. He should have listened to Stone because he was right about most things. “This is not the way home!” the boy shouted. “You’re not gonna eat me?”
Ryxa turned her head so she could look at him as she flew. “Of course not. I would have already eaten you by now if I wanted to. Dragons don’t eat people. I just want to show you something.”
Marcus believed her so he was again able to enjoy his situation. He was starting to feel comfortable on the dragon’s back; in fact, he thought he could get used to this. What if his father could see him now on the back of a mighty dragon? He couldn’t wait until he saw their faces as he flew in on her back. When they went through a cloud, everything was white, and he couldn’t see a thing when he emerged there was an enormous mountain in the distance. “Is that what I think it is?”
Ryxa again turned her head toward the boy. “That’s the dark lands of Jahor and the home of the Yurrosy. See all those caves in the side of the mountain?”
Marcus tried hard, but they were just too far away for him to see; they looked more like specks to him. “I don’t see any caves.”
“Well, anyway, those caves are full of red dragons. They say the Yurrosy can control some of them, but I wouldn’t let them control me. My father says that red dragons are more susceptible to magic.”
The kingdom and towns were starting to come into view. Marcus was now able to see how they were spread out from the base of the mountain, too many to count. The Yurrosy’s castle seemed scary to him, looked like it had ugly upside down teeth. Were there two castles stuck together? He could also see more than a dozen warriors fighting one another to hone their skills, and they were vicious for what he thought was practice. One had run another one through with his sword. “So those are the people that want to kill us? But why?”
“My father says that it’s their nature to kill and conquer, and every kingdom they kill makes them stronger. That’s why they’re so big. He also said that because you people were too stupid to band together to stop them that you deserve your fate, that you should have killed them all when you had the chance. But you guys are lucky because you have a wizard.”
If Ryxa could only see his face now, she would know that the wizard was beyond protecting anyone. Marcus wasn’t supposed to talk about Adorok but couldn’t resist. “Our sorcerer is sick and old. His magic is not what it used to be. We have a crystal in the village that powers our shield, but now it’s weakening, and Adorok doesn’t have the strength to power it up. I see all the worried faces. If they get into the kingdom, we’re all gonna be dead.”
That was dreadful news. The dragon considered that Leeander might not survive for much longer, and her father was probably right, what a terrible fate for Marcus and his people. Ryxa didn’t want to imagine what would happen to the boy on her back, but it wouldn’t be good, if only her dragons would help, but they had a rule not to interfere with humans. People lived in their flightless world and needed to be left to it. She considered Marcus different than a lot of the other humans she had met. He was the first one that was brave enough to get on her back. “How does your shield work?”
“It knocks out anyone that walks through it with evil in their hearts, and they stay knocked out for four days. When they wake, they are too weak to fight from lack of food and so they just wander off and don’t come back. Ryxa, I can see the caves now! How far do they go in?”
The black dragon didn’t like what she saw in the distance. “I don’t know. Two dragons are coming at us fast. Hold on tight!”
The acceleration made Marcus scream. The two red dragons were on her quickly, with a massive fireball just missing the both of them; the heat from it catching the boy’s shirt sleeve on fire, but he quickly extinguished it. She flew as fast as she could and still felt the flames touch her tail. Ryxa climbed and climbed, leaving one behind, but the other managed to follow her. At the angle she was flying Marcus was barely holding on but Ryxa knew she had no choice because he would not survive a direct blast of fire. She turned, and they hovered face to face as both she and the red dragon had to rest.
“You invade our space black dragon, and now you die!” The red dragon took in a mighty breath and concentrated hard on the kill; it would release supercharged fire that could indeed kill Ryxa. But it would only have one chance as it would take days to recharge to be able to repeat the feat, and only some dragons could manage it.
Ryxa grabbed and held the red dragon’s mouth shut, forcing him to swallow his fire and choking on it, although she didn’t want to kill him she felt that she had no choice. Not being able to expel the fire the red dragon exploded from the inside as pieces of him tumbled down toward the ground below, smoking and smoldering. The other dragon had come up behind her and produced a fiery blast; the boy had no choice but to jump off or be burned alive. His only hope was that Ryxa would once again be fast enough to save his life; he screamed his loudest all the way down.
The red dragon turned and gave her a face full of fire, then rushing him Ryxa kicked him back, and dove for the boy. But he was already too close to the ground and out of reach. Ryxa knew she couldn’t make it to him in time, but she flew her fastest.
CHAPTER THREE
STONE WALKED INTO THE GREAT HALL with three other knights that were also in armor and bowed to King Darius. Stone’s coarse facial hair was but a shadow and that made him appear to be even more handsome, he turned many heads of the opposite sex. It was a private meeting, and the news wasn’t good. Abram, Lance, and Braxton also bowed and were directed to have a seat near where the king was sitting at the head of the table with his raven on his shoulder, staring despondently at his chalice. They all had a drink of red wine from red goblets. Silence filled the room as they waited for Darrius to speak and he was in no hurry to do so; he had awful scenes of war swirling in his head. They had faced hardships before but not like this. The king rubbed his tired face.
“Go on now.” The king’s raven Berhtram flew off the king’s shoulder and out of the room.
The walls lined with paintings of kings and former Knights that had served the kingdom; some of their weapons that they had used in famous battles also hung on the walls. Stone’s likeness was also up there although he had tried to get the king to take it down until he passed but to no avail; he didn’t like his own brown eyes staring back down at him. He had saved the king’s life not once but twice. Stone desired to toss his dagger at his rendering on the wall.
Alexa burst noisily into the hall and marched straight up to the king; the king’s daughter dressed in armor and had almost as much attitude as beauty, with the most beautiful blue eyes. She was always confident and never one to back down from a righteous battle. Alexa was blonde and curvaceous and as strong as most men. She grew up chopping wood alongside Stone even though he was five years her senior. Alexa had never been one to mince words. “Father, why the hell wasn’t I invited to this meeting? I know what’s going on.”
“Alexa, technically you are not a knight. Women can’t be knighted. How are you ever to get married dressed like that?”
She placed her hand on the hilt of her sword and shook her head. “And I’m not marrying that jackass just to join our kingdoms. They don’t have nearly enough fighters to save us anyway.”
“Fine,
don’t marry him.”
She noticed Stone smiling up at her. “Believe me, I’m not. And where the hell is Marcus I haven't seen him all morning?”
Stone and Alexa had been friends since childhood, and although Stone was a beast in battle, he still couldn’t seem to impress the princess. “I imagine he’s headed for the cliffs to tease the dragons. I forbade him, but you know the boy. Tell him not to do something and that’s what he’s going to do.”
The king shook his head. “Stone, why on earth would you let him do that?”
Stone removed his brown hair from his eyes. “I didn’t let him. I forbid him to go anywhere near those dragons, but when the boy gets something in his head, you can’t knock it out with a rock. He’s a little like someone else we know.”
Alexa turned and looked down at stone. “Is that meant for me? Lucky for you there’s no big rock nearby.”
Stone shrugged and smiled.
“As if I don’t have enough on my mind.” Darius finished his wine and slammed the goblet down. “Oh hell, I’m just going to say it. The shield went down last night.”
Alexa pulled up a chair and sat down. “You don’t mean completely down?”
“I do. Anyone could have wandered in here. Anyone or anything.”
“No shield whatsoever?” Lance asked.
Darius was becoming annoyed. “Do I have to repeat myself?” The King strummed his fingers impatiently. “And furthermore, when Adorok was indisposed last week supposedly working on a new spell he wasn’t. He was flat on his back and couldn’t get up. Honestly, I don’t know if he’ll last another month.”
Knights of the Dragon (of Knights and Wizards Book 1) Page 2