by Walls, Devri
The darkness enveloped Kiora again. When the light returned, she stood on the cliffs of the Garian Sea. She watched as another plume of smoke snaked its way across the sky, this one was blue. It dropped out of the clouds and plummeted straight into the sea. She nervously looked on, expectant of some other great beast exploding upwards, but instead the darkness began to close in on her again.
When the darkness began to clear, this time it swirled around her licking at her feet. Squinting, she looked ahead to make out the towering cliffs of the mountains that surrounded them. It looked familiar, two peaks, their sides swooping in towards each other creating a pass between them. There, between the two mighty mountains, stood a gate of enormous proportions. Iron bars swirling up and around, the two halves affixed in the center with a giant lock. Standing in front of the gate was the silhouette of a man, laughing.
The mist became thicker, obscuring him, and then faded, sending her back to reality.
“Wait! No, I haven’t seen anything yet!” She shouted at the mist. It didn’t matter. The vision was gone.
Moaning, Kiora blinked furiously trying to get the room to come into focus. Not three inches from her nose, leaning over her with anxious eyes, was Emane. Yelping, she scrambled backwards like a crab, pushing herself against the head of the bed.
“Emane? What are you doing here?”
He leaned back a little, his eyes still raking over, as if checking to make sure she was ok. “You had a vision while we were talking. Aleric suggested I bring you here while you finished it.”
Her face turned bright red, “You saw me have a vision!?”
“Yes, we were talking, remember? You just, fainted.”
“Oh no.” Pushing herself out of bed, Kiora shoved past Emane.
“Kiora!” he said stumbling out of her way, “I know your still mad at me but—”
“I have to talk to Eleana and Aleric.” Pushing the tent flaps open Kiora put her arm over her eyes to block the sun. “I was out all night?!”
“Yes, you stopped moaning after a while and Aleric figured you had fallen asleep.”
“You stayed all night?” she asked. Sheepish, Emane nodded. Kiora blushed, turning her head away. “I have to go.” She took off, weaving back and forth between the trees as she went. She could hear Emane’s feet pounding a little ways behind her.
“Kiora, where are you going?” Emane yelled.
“I have got to talk to Aleric.”
“You don’t even know where he is!”
“Of course I do, I’m following his thread,” she shouted back over her shoulder.
They ran right past the tent where they usually ate and into a part of the Hollow they had not seen. Kiora came to a sudden halt and looked around.
Emane caught up to her. “Now what’s the matter?” he asked leaning into a tree. Rolling to the side he put his hand on his chest taking in great gulps of air. He shook his head and mumbled under his breath, “You have got to be kidding me!”
“I’m sorry?” Kiora asked.
“You are in better shape than me, too.”
“Too?” Kiora turned in a circle frowning, “I like to run.” She took a step to the left, and then to the right, shaking her head.
“Of course you do.” Emane said pushing himself off the tree.
“Shhh.” “What is it?” he whispered.
“Something else is here. I thought I could feel Aleric and Eleana’s threads but now they feel… fuzzy.” Kiora frowned. “The thread of whoever else is here is overpowering theirs.” She started walking slowly through the trees, looking around each one. Emane followed behind her. Then she saw it. She turned around to warn Emane, but it was too late. He had already seen it.
Emane’s jaw fell slack, “Kiora, is that a… a…” he closed his eyes, breathing out.
“A dragon, yes. Turning back she peered through the trees trying to get a better look at the dragon. “But it’s not the one I saw in my vision.”
Emane took a step up behind her, putting his face over her shoulder he hissed in her ear. “There is more than one of those things?”
“At least four now.”
Chapter Six
DRAGONS
“WHAT?!” PRINCE EMANE SHOUTED jerking backwards.
Kiora cringed as the dragon turned its head toward them, letting out a thunderous roar.
“So Eleana, you now harbor eavesdropping children?” Its voice was deep, male, and resonated with a melodic quality.
“Those children are who we have been discussing,” Eleana answered calmly.
The dragon stretched its brown scaly neck around one of the trees to get a better look at the two humans that stood staring at him. His head moved past Kiora without much of glance to focus in on Emane. “This is the Solus?”
“No, Morcant, the other one.”
Pulling his head back a bit, his eyes widened slightly in surprise at the sight of Kiora. Pulling back further, the dragon turned his massive head to the side looking at Eleana. “The Solus is a female?”
“Yes, Morcant, she is. Kiora, Emane, will you both please come over here?”
They picked their way through to where Aleric, Eleana and the giant dragon were standing. Kiora was not sure how the dragon had gotten himself in there in the first place. She glanced behind the dragon.at a huge section of trees that had been crushed like toothpicks.
Oh, that’s how, she thought.
Eleana put her hand on Kiora’s shoulder. “Kiora, this is Morcant. Morcant this is Kiora, the Solus. And this is her Protector,” she hesitated for a moment, before naming him. “Prince Emane.”
Morcant raised his eyebrows as Emane was introduced. “Did you say ‘Prince?”
“I did. Morcant,” she warned, “he is not his family, just as you are not yours.”
Morcant humphed. Poking his massive face forward, he nearly butted Emane in the head. Emane jumped back, looking nervously back and forth from the dragon to Eleana.
“That was an interesting little tidbit you kept from me Eleana.”
Eleana pulled her head higher, sliding between Morcant and Emane. “It was Epona’s decision, Morcant. You may take it up with her.
Pulling his head back to his full height, Morcant snorted in disgust.
Kiora could not get over how he sounded when he spoke. On one hand, the sheer volume was frightening. But on the other hand it was so melodic and the tone so beautiful she didn’t want him to stop talking.
“Morcant. I know it has been some time since you have had company,” Eleana chided stepping away from Emane. “But do you think you could perhaps try to recall some manners?”
The giant dragon smiled, exposing a very large row of very large teeth. He bent his head low to the ground in between Kiora and Emane’s feet. “I am very pleased to meet both of you.” His eyes shifted over to look at Eleana. “I apologize for my dreadful manners,” his voice dripped with sarcasm and amusement. “As Eleana mentioned, it has indeed been some time since I have had the need for conversation.”
Kiora looked down at him, a smile playing across her lips.
Morcant pulled his head up slightly so he stood nose to nose with her. “What are you thinking, girl?”
“Her name is Kiora.” Eleana corrected.
“Of course, Kiora. Those dreadful manners of mine.” He smiled wide again exposing his teeth. “What is it that you are thinking, Kiora?”
“I was thinking what a lovely creature you are.”
The dragon pulled himself up to full size, snapping a few branches in the process, letting loose a bellowing laugh. Kiora could feel her insides vibrating as the sound rippled through the forest.
“Lovely creature, she says! I like her Eleana, I don’t think anyone has ever called me that, not in at least three thousand years.” His laugh was still bellowing around them. He raised a foot and stomped the ground in sheer delight. The shock wave from the impact rolled through the ground knocking Aleric, Kiora and Emane off their feet.
“Morcant!” Eleana yelled
over him, “You are going to kill them all if you are not careful.”
Morcant abruptly stopped, looking down at the pile of humans struggling to stand. Kiora pushed herself back to her feet rubbing her elbow.
“Sorry,” Morcant chortled. “I had forgotten the frailty of man.” He clicked his tongue “Too bad really. You could do so much more without all those limitations.”
Morcant bent back down coming eye to eye with Kiora. “So, I am a lovely creature. Why do you think that? Do I not frighten you?”
Kiora shook her head. “No.”
“And why not?” Morcant sounded a little insulted.
“I can feel your thread, it is good. Much different than the others.”
Eleana’s head snapped to attention. “Others? What others?”
“The ones I saw in the vision. There were three.” Kiora looked around, Eleana and Aleric looked alarmed, but Morcant slowly raised his head up, just watching her.
“She has the gift of sight?” He tilted his head to the side. “What else can you do?”
Eleana cut him off before Kiora could answer “Later, Morcant. I need to know what she saw.”
Kiora began to expound the vision. She told them as much detail as she could remember.
“None of it made sense,” she finished. “I thought the smoke must have called the dragons, but then one went into the sea and nothing happened.”
“No, Kiora, it all makes sense.” Eleana sighed. “You’re right, the smoke signal is how Dralazar calls his followers to him. You saw only two of the signals. According to what I saw in the Wings of Arian he has set out at least five.”
“But the one went into the sea,” Kiora said, “it didn’t call anybody.”
“I am afraid it did,” Morcant rumbled. “The Garian Sea is home to both the Merfolk and the Merserpents. You also saw the gate.” His eyes flicked to Eleana’s. “That is most interesting.”
Kiora was about to ask what was so interesting about that, but Emane said, “Merserpents? I have never heard of such a species.”
Aleric choked, shaking his head violently at Emane.
Morcant swiveled his head over so that, again, he was nose to nose with Emane, clearly enjoying how the proximity between them was making the young prince extremely uncomfortable. “Never heard of them?”
Emane struggled to keep his composure with dragon teeth flashing before his nose. “No.”
“Well then,” Morcant chuckled, “perhaps you have heard of the Rockmen?” Emane shook his head.
“The Chaoses?”
Another no.
“How about the Shapeshifters?”
No again.
“Fallen Ones?”
“Yes,” Emane said quickly, relieved to finally understand something.
“Well then,” he moved even closer to Emane’s face. “I suppose you’re not a total loss.”
Kiora cringed, Morcant was horribly condescending. Emane’s face had turned red under Morcant’s mockery and she watched as Emane’s hand moved to the hilt of his sword.
Morcant’s eyes narrowed at the movement, his voice changing from the melodic happy sound they had been hearing to a threatening low rumble with an underlying hiss. “So, the Prince wants to pull his sword?”
Emane realized what he had done and whipped his hand back to his side, but it was too late. Morcant’s temper had snapped.
“You are all the same,” Morcant’s voice was growing louder, booming through the trees, “thinking that you are better than the rest. You humans have no idea what is in the world around you and yet you claim your superiority over it.” Smoke was beginning to pour out his nose. Eleana yelled, trying to calm the situation but could barely be heard above the volume of Morcant. “And you, because you were born into the royal family you claim superiority above them all.” Morcant’s voice had grown thunderous with tiny bits of flame flickering around his mouth.
Eleana looked very alarmed. Kiora could see her mouth moving but could not make out what it was she was trying to say. Aleric was running to Emane.
“A thousand years I have been in hiding. Why? So that war would end. So that you and YOUR kind could live in peace. So that you could breed the Solus.” He threw his head back into the air and bellowed. “A THOUSAND YEARS!” Fire shot from his mouth into the sky. It lit up the forest as far as the eye could see. Morcant looked back down at Emane. “We have waited for you and your kind to save us all, and you can’t even tell me WHO WE ARE! We, who have sacrificed our lives, our happiness for yours, and YOU DO NOT EVEN KNOW WE EXIST!” He punctuated the last words, his voice thundering like drum beats.
Kiora watched in horror as with the last words, fire again exploded from Morcant’s mouth. The scene played out in slow motion. As the fire burned a path toward Emane, Aleric stepped quickly in front of him to throw up a shield. The shield had barely gown large enough to cover the two when the fire impacted, exploding off to the side. The fire continued its assault and it was clear Aleric was faltering; the strength needed for such a shield was putting tremendous strain on him.
Something had to be done. Acting on an instinct Kiora didn’t understand, she raised her hands towards Morcant’s head, pushing every ounce of energy she had in his direction. Just as before, when she had made the shield that had stopped Raynor, she could feel the magic traveling down her arms and out. The force of it slammed into the side of his head throwing it sharply to the left. Fire scorched a line across the trees in the newly determined path.
Morcant’s mouth slammed shut before he bellowed, “ELEANA!” His head swung back around and down to Eleana’s face again. “HOW DARE YOU!”
Eleana held her hand up to silence him and then spoke calmly. “Morcant, you almost killed Emane and Aleric. I understand that your kind have short tempers, but that will never happen again if you are to work with us.” Morcant puffed smoke through his nose, his eyes still flashing with rage. “It also might be worthy to note, that was not my doing.”
Morcant just stared at her, nostrils still flaring with tendrils of smoke escaping. Eleana turned her head to look at Kiora and Morcant followed.
“Her?” Morcant asked.
“Yes, Morcant, her,” Eleana snapped. “She is what prevented you from destroying Emane and Aleric with that ridiculous temper of yours.”
Kiora felt her knees go weak. What was wrong with Eleana? She had just watched this dragon nearly kill two people and now she was directing his anger in her direction. But instead of breathing fire at her, his eyes softened and his face regained the calm look she had seen earlier.
No sooner had she relaxed than Morcant’s head came shooting towards her. She panicked. Morcant bent down towards Kiora when suddenly she was gone. He stopped and looked around for a second before bellowing with laughter. “Well, Eleana, I was concerned about a female Solus. But it appears I have now been outsmarted by her twice. Come, little one, show yourself, I do not wish you any harm.”
Kiora appeared next to Aleric and Emane.
“Gone to protect your friends have you?” Morcant asked.
Kiora nodded. “Your mood seems to change quickly,” she said, her green eyes fixed solidly on Morcant.
“I’m sorry,” Emane said a little too suddenly, and a little too loudly. “I need to go.” He turned on his heels and stomped though the charred undergrowth.
Kiora turned and watched in shock as Emane left, where was he going?
“Emane,” she called. He did not respond. “Aleric, what is he doing?”
Aleric moved to follow Emane, and then stopped, turning back. “Morcant, if you don’t mind, I will leave you to speak with Kiora.” He dipped in a respectful bow.
Morcant nodded his affirmative.
“Thank you.” Aleric hurried off after Emane.
Morcant eased himself down in front of Kiora snapping the few remaining trees near his tail. Folding his massive wings neatly on his back he cleared his throat. “I must admit Kiora, I find you very curious.”
She sighed
in frustration. “Why is that?”
Morcant’s eyebrows rose. “You seem annoyed, why?”
Why? She looked over at Eleana. Eleana smiled and gestured towards Morcant as if to say, tell him. Then she too turned and gracefully disappeared into the trees. Kiora’s eyes widened a bit, realizing that she was now completely alone with Morcant.
Morcant turned to see what Kiora was concerned about. “It is just you and me I see.”
“Yes it is.” She tried to stand tall to mask the explosion of nerves.
“Now, back to what I was saying. You seemed annoyed and I asked you to tell me why.”
She stared at him for a while before finally opening her mouth. “I am not sure that I would like to be the cause of you losing your temper again.”
Morcant’s laugh bellowed through the trees. “Curious,” he grinned at her, “I give you my word I will remain calm. I wish you to speak freely””
Wondering if she had a death wish, she spoke freely. “Morcant, you almost killed Emane because you didn’t like what he said. And now you act as if the incident never happened. I don’t understand how you can be so casual about almost taking a life over something so insignificant. Emane and Aleric are not just my friends, but also an important part of what we are trying to do. And you almost took them from me!” The words had poured out of her before she could stop them.
“Very interesting,” Morcant said.
Kiora was getting angrier by the second. “Interesting!? There is nothing interesting about it. You have a foul temper Morcant, just foul!” She watched as Morcant’s eyes narrowed, just as they had with Emane. “See!” she yelled, pointing. “You promised to remain calm and look at you, it’s happening all over again.”
“I am angry at your lack of understanding. But I gave you my word that I would not lose my temper.”
“You did give me your word,” she said softer, “but you didn’t give a second thought to Emane.”
Morcant puffed smoke through his nose and rose to his feet, branches popping and snapping around him. “Come Kiora, I will show you what it is that causes these bursts of anger you are seeing.”
Realizing what it was he wanted from her a knot formed in her chest. He wanted her to go with him. Away from Eleana, Aleric and Emane, he wanted her to leave the Hollow.