by Sarah Hite
Lenten
A slight breeze cooled the kids as they walked down the path. The air was warm and the sun shone brightly. Pine and floral aromas wafted faintly on the breeze. Among these was a heavy, earthy order that the kids were not accustomed to; the musky smell came from the dragon who was currently helping Stone over a fallen log. They had decided to take the deer path instead of the road in an effort to keep soldiers off of their tail. As Ania climbed over the log, she thought back to what had happened several hours ago.
She thought of meeting the young dragon, who was at least ten feet tall. His scales were blue and green, a coloration indicative of the Mountain dragons.
“Why are you crying?” he asked. They had no choice but to tell him; after all, he was a dragon. When he heard about the egg he was shocked and agreed to help them on their journey. He led them back to the kitchen within minutes. On the way he said, “By the way, my name is Pai.”
When they reached the kitchen Ania went in to check on the egg. Flame called the others to the door and announced, “We found out what the dragons left behind.”
“What was it?” Stone asked. The others were also curious. Ania only smiled and picked up the egg, but Flame beckoned them toward the door.
When they had all left the kitchen, Ania and Flame laughed at the surprised exclamations and expressions from Lukair, Stone, and Tyanna. Lorex only scoffed. Their expressions quickly turned into a mass of excited voices as they all spoke at once. Ania smiled and turned from her friends to the dragon, who was about ten feet away digging into the ground.
“Pai, what are you doing?” Ania asked. Before he answered, he locked his neck in what seemed a strange position and discharged a small flame just large enough to warm the hole and the surrounding ground. “Bring me the egg,” he said, shaking his head to clear the air. Once he had it, he explained further, “It works sometimes, when it’s hard to keep an egg warm, or the egg is not responding to heat. First you dig a hole, and then you warm it; lastly, you put the egg inside and cover it with the warmed earth.”
Lukair looked at him for a moment, then mused, “You seem kind of young to know that much about warming eggs.”
“Young!” Lorex scoffed. He was leaning in the doorway with his arms crossed. “He could barely cough up that flame.”
Pai finished burying the egg and looked at Lorex, inspecting him with a critical, unblinking gaze. He broke off contact after a minute and turned to Lukair. “I studied under Shaman Kei-ata Lorbrein of the Dragons’ Keep for many years. I learned a lot about caring for sick or injured dragons, and even how to care for eggs.” He paused and looked back at Lorex, then added, “But he is correct: that was the first time I have ever breathed fire.”
Ania smiled up at him. “I’m sure your teacher would be proud that you did it to save an egg.” He looked at her and smiled back with a big toothy grin. “We should leave when the fog lifts,” he said. Ania brought herself back to reality and continued to study Pai as they walked. However, studying him proved difficult, as the sun had a tendency to reflect off of his scales and into her eyes. After the fog had lifted, she begun to notice the slightest hints of gold starting to come out on the ridges above his eyes and across his wings. When asked about them, he had to look at his wings, saying he had never noticed them, but Kei-ata Lorbrein would say it was a sign that he had just about reached his full growth. He would be fully grown when the gold had completely come in.
As they continued their southeasterly trek, Pai explained why he was at the old complex. “I was sent here to study the Dragon Guard, before the contact between our people was severed. When the Duke discontinued the Guard, most dragons retreated to the Keep, or their home clans.” He paused and looked off toward the distant horizon and said quietly and gloomily, “I was never told to return to the Keep, and no one came looking for me.” The teens were surprised by this, but he only shook his head and said, “It’s Pycan.” Then he leapt to the air to scout ahead for soldiers or other possible dangers and ignored their confusion. He returned several hours later to announce that the way was clear.
As they continued to travel, Lorex grew more and more displeased and annoyed. He had been walking behind Pai for quite a while now. Finally he stopped and said quite angrily, “Can’t you fly or something? Your scales are killing me! I can’t see.” Pai stopped, his expression somewhat dismayed; he could not help the reflections.
Flame looked at Lorex and said, “You could walk in front of him.”
Lorex glared at him and replied, “It’s hard to do that when he can step right over your head and be ten feet away.”
“Oh, quit exaggerating,” Ania said. She continued by saying, “Besides, I rather like the way the sun reflects off his scales, showering the ground with a rainbow of color.”
“That’s the problem. He reflects too much light; who knows who can see him,” he said while pointing at Pai threateningly.
Before anyone else could jump to his defense, Pai took off and stayed aloft for several more hours. He returned only to direct them to a secluded clearing, and then he took off again. Before he did, he requested that the egg be transferred to his care. Ania gave him the pack and he was gone. He had been gone for just a few minutes when a company of soldiers came through. The kids waited silently for them to pass and then waited several minutes more to be sure they had. Pai returned a moment later and reported that the brigade had moved off to the north.
“That was close,” Stone said, looking in the direction the soldiers went. Everyone agreed. Lorex shook his head and grumbled, “Too close,” and he continued walking southeast. The others followed. Pai gave the egg pack back to Ania and then took up the rear, shaking his head.
They made camp in a secluded outcropping of rock about an hour later. Pai had found it while scouting ahead. It had good defenses and an excellent view of the surrounding valley. They ate their dinner around a small fire and then decided who would serve as their watch throughout the night. Pai volunteered to take watch; he would wake them in the morning. As a dragon he needed less sleep and only asked to hunt once a week.
The next day they came to a river. It was wide, low, and stagnant. Pai had warned them about the river while scouting ahead that morning. It had been three days since leaving Pycan Peak, so the kids suggested he go hunting. He hesitated, but after some more assurances, he finally agreed. He promised to meet them later at a small lake downriver. The lake, he said, was surrounded by trees, and was not visible to the next village. Crisen was larger than Pycan by almost half and centered between the Brenson River and the Brens, a tributary that branched off just south of town.
The Brenson at this location was known as Cremla Darré—or as Flame interpreted, the “Death Giver.” He explained that someone always seemed to die after crossing through this section of the river. Lorex laughed and threw a fist-sized rock in the water, causing it to splash up onto Stone. “Ah! Lorex, look what you did!” she ex- claimed, wiping the scum off her face. She stalked passed him and took point. They found a place farther on where the water was deep and had a good current. Stone used the water here to try and clean the scum off her dress and face while the others tried to find a way across. They found several large stepping stones a little further downriver. From there, they followed the river into the woods where it met the lake. Pai was not yet there.
“Where is he? I thought for sure he would have beaten us here,” Lukair said. Ania looked around; she smiled and directed their attention to the trees.
“Guys,” she said. “He’s right there.” She pointed to the tree line where Pai was curled up just behind the first row of trees. He appeared to be asleep.
“Where?” Lukair asked. Tyanna shook her head, “I don’t see anything.”
“Right there. Don’t you see him?” she tried to point him out, but they could only see the forest. She took their blank looks and lack of reply as answers. “You really don’t see him, do you?” she said, a little brokenly. They shook their heads, so she went t
o the trees and spoke to him. He stood, yawned, and stepped out from the trees.
“How did you do that?” Stone asked. Lukair could not believe what he had just seen, “He really was there?” Tyanna shook her head and kept saying, “It’s just not possible; it’s not… it’s just not possible.” Lorex just stared, but Flame thought it was cool.
Pai looked from Ania to the other teens and back again. He explained that if a dragon did not wish to be seen, he could make himself invisible. He had thought it best to hide himself from any unwanted attention until they had reached the lake.
“But that still doesn’t explain how Ania could see you and we couldn’t,” Lukair pointed out; it was more of a question, so Pai answered by simply, saying, “She always could.” This only confused them more and succeeded in confusing Ania. Before she could ask what he meant, he suggested they get some rest and have something to eat.
Roughly an hour later, they had continued their journey. Lukair had been explaining to Flame the differences in the five lords who governed Altera. “Wasn’t Lord Kay- ton a friend to dragons?” Stone asked, trying to remember what they had been taught about him.
Pai shook his head. “We don’t know,” he replied. “He was always more of a neutral third party.” After the conversation had died down, Flame suggested buying horses in the next town. Pai snorted. “What? We would be able to cover more ground and it would be easier to keep up with you,” he said, defending his suggestion.
“It’s not that,” Pai declared. “I actually agree with you, it’s just… oh, it’s a long story.” Leaving them to wonder at his objections he leapt off to see if it the way was clear.
Early into the afternoon Stone began to slow down. Pai had flown ahead to see if the way was clear; as he circled back, he noticed how far behind the others she was. He increased his speed until he was a mile ahead of them. Then he folded his wings and dove almost straight down. He spread his wings to their full length a quarter mile from the ground, making the membranes snap. The sound caused the group to look up. He flapped his wings hard to gain altitude and shot over their heads, causing them to duck. “Watch it!” Lorex yelled as he passed them. He landed heavily behind the group. Since he normally did not dive like that, and because he would usually land a little ways in front of them, they knew something was up. As they turned around to see what it was, he walked up to Stone.
When they reached the two, Stone was shaking her head, saying, “No, I just… I must not have slept well. I… I’m just tired.”
Pai snorted and butted her gently with his nose, nearly knocking her over. He had playfully butted the teens several times without knocking them an inch, so when she toppled, he knew something was wrong.
Ania had reached them first and instantly knew something was wrong. “Stone?” she asked. Putting a hand on her shoulder she turned her friend around and gasped. There were deep, dark circles under her eyes that had not been there that morning. Her skin had grown very pale, and she seemed about to collapse. Ania reached up and put a hand on her forehead. “You’re burning up,” she declared worriedly. As she took off her cloak and wrapped it around her friend, the others reached them. “Stone!” Lukair cried when he saw his sister. He took her in his arms and led her to a boulder just off the road. “Great. This will slow us down,” Lorex whined. Tyanna remained quiet, but there was worry in her eyes.
“That’s all you have to say, Lorex? Your sister’s sick, and all you can say is that it’ll slow us down?” Ania challenged. He did not answer but, instead, walked off the other direction and stared at the mountains, which had just come into view. Ania ignored him and turned to Pai.
He anticipated her question and offered a solution: “I noticed she was falling behind and came back to see why. It doesn’t look good; it came on too fast.” He shook his head.
Ania looked at him; she could tell he was worried, too. “How far until we reach the next town?” she asked.
“At least a day on foot,” he replied. They had passed Crisen earlier that morning and it would take almost a day to reach it as well. “I could get her there in a couple of hours, but… hmm.”
Tyanna had walked off several yards and now came running back down the road. “Pai! Get out of here! There’s a wagon train coming.”
He jerked back to reality and Ania took off the egg pack and thrust it at him. “Here, I won’t chance this falling into the wrong hands,” she said. Together the girls watched as he suddenly vanished. Ania smiled and watched him take off, the egg pack dangling from a fore claw. Together they joined the rest of the group.
A moment later the train came into view. It consisted of twelve wagons, one or two horses each, and each had at least four to six mercenaries; it was a merchants’ train. The lead wagon stopped the train next to the kids. The driver leaned out over the wagon and asked in a thickly accented voice, “Do you kids know how far ’tis till the next town?”
They looked at each other trying to decipher what the driver said, when Flame spoke up, “Actually, sir, we were just trying to figure that out ourselves.” He looked from the driver down the train and back again. Then he continued, “You see, sir, it’s important we get there as soon as possible.” Ania added, “But we think it’s about a day’s journey on foot, in that direction.” She pointed east.
At that moment a muscular, dark-skinned man walked to the front wagon. He spoke to the driver in the same accent that Tyanna had. “Miro sent me to see why we stopped.” Seeing the kids, he added, “But I can see why.”
Tyanna surprised everyone then by rushing forward, disbelief coloring her voice as she cried, “Jorell!”
Jorell looked down at her and, with equal surprise and delight, cried, “Tyanna! What are you doing here?”
They began talking in their native language, leaving everyone else to gawk at them. Ania was pretty sure she was telling him the whole story; she had thought she heard Pycan mentioned, but they were speaking so fast no one could tell. The driver finally cut them off. “Jorell!” he yelled over their conversation. With a look the driver asked him for an explanation.
“My apologies, Titus,” he said still laughing. “Perhaps I should make some introductions. This is my niece, Tyanna, and her friends. They are traveling to Locrin, and it would seem the little one has fallen ill, so now they must reach Lenten to find a healer.”
Titus looked them over, only now seeing Stone, and climbed down out of his wagon. He approached the group with a manner quite unlike a merchant, but more of a kindly grandfather. He looked her over and agreed the healers in Lenten would be an appropriate place for her. But he said if he had a choice, he would send them south to Aretell, the capital of the Omri province. “Aretell has the best healers,” he said, “and they don’t rob you blind.” After a moment of silent thought, he added, “Come on, climb in. The sooner we get her there, the better off she’ll be.”
The wagon train turned eastward and reached Lenten within five hours. Ania had been watching the skies and had seen Pai land a few miles east of town. She made a mental note of the spot as they entered town and watched silently as the train pulled up the main street. It stopped just outside the market square. Around the square they noticed the Lenten Winery, the Dragon’s Tooth Tavern, Haroldson’s Inn, Crista’s Baked Goods, and Cedric’s Butcher Shoppe. Lenten’s Community Stable was across the square from the butcher shop; a large barn, nearly as large as the market square itself.
The kids thanked Titus for the ride, and Lukair and Ania took Stone to the inn. Tyanna and Flame went to find a healer, after they put Ardál in the stableman’s care. Ania rented two rooms, one for the girls, and the other for the boys. They were in the girls’ room when they returned with the healer. He introduced himself as Garret. He shook his head gravely. Lorex left the group and walked around town, and then he returned to the inn after about a half hour. Garret had just finished his examination.
“I can’t find anything that would have caused this— no bite marks, no cuts, no marks of any kind. D
id you kids pass through anything? Any marshes, rivers, lakes… anything?” he asked.
“Well, yes. We had to cross the Brenson,” Ania told him.
Garret froze. “You crossed the Brenson? Where?”
Flame sensed where he was going. “Not there. We went around Cremla Darré,” he assured. “That’s right,” the others agreed in unison. Ania added, “We found somewhere to cross downriver with cleaner water.”
Lukair had gone quiet. He looked up at Lorex. “We did cross over cleaner water,” he said, his voice cold. He stood up and thrust a figure at Lorex. “We left Cremla Darré alone, but you… you had to throw a rock in it. That filthy water splashed all over her!”
“Don’t blame me,” Lorex cried, “I didn’t do anything to her.”
“No, you just didn’t take Flame’s warning serious. You never take anything serious. Now Stone’s going to die, and it’s your fault!” He stormed out the door not waiting for a response. Flame got up saying, “I’ll go after him.”
Lorex left the room right after Flame. “Tyanna, do you think you could talk to him?” Ania asked. She nodded and followed him out, leaving her alone with the healer. Ania turned back to the healer, saying, “Do you think you can treat her?”
“Now that I know she may have been infected with the poisons from those waters, there are a few things I can try,” he said in response, “but I can’t promise anything.” He placed a hand on Stone’s forehead, trying to gauge the fever. He sighed and shook his head, then left in order to gather what he would need in order to treat her.
Downstairs Flame treated Lukair to a flagon of ale. They sat at a corner table on the main floor drinking and talking. While they spoke, Flame studied the inn. Many lanterns hung from the tops of several large square pillars, and they lit the inn brightly. These pillars were arranged in a grid pattern about every fifteen feet with arches that ran between them. The inn had been constructed so that the entrance was higher than the floor. A short flight of honey-colored steps led from the front entrance down to the main floor. A landing branched off from the main stairs. A second landing was positioned across from the first with three steps leading from it to the floor. Three to five tables were on each landing and appeared to be where the more wealthy patrons sat. The majority of the tables were on the main floor. There was a large hook-shaped bar stretched lengthwise down the room between the two landings. Next to it was a large, unlit fireplace. At the left end of the bar in the corner of the room was a flight of well-lit steps that curled up and away from the bar; it lead to the rooms above.