DragonStone- Fatal Winds

by M A Bernier

  “Oh, just leave it on that pile.” Eryyn waved to a small stack behind Sernik.

  “Now, I know your mother, and I, taught you better than to just leave things lying around.” Sernik looked at Eryyn intently like a father waiting for an errant child to confess a wrong doing.

  “I always hated when you gave me that look.” Eryyn broke into a wide smile. “I usually put them on the shelves closest to the stairs for the apprentices to categorize, if they can when bringing them to the lower levels.” Sernik stood from the stool, walked over, and disappeared around the end of the bookshelf. Within moments he was returning with two large books in his hands. A few feet away from Eryyn Sernik stopped and looked at the stack of books on the floor then at the two in his hand. “What is it?” Reskin disappeared once more around the large bookshelf for several moments. Eryyn stood and was about to see what his old friend was doing when Sernik walked from behind the bookshelf.

  “Are all your books blank on the outside?”

  “Yes.” Eryyn replied, “most of what is written make little sense so the apprentices work with one another to try and find some sort of connection between books and organize them, at least loosely organize them. Why do you ask?”

  “Because." Sernik set the two books on the floor next to the stack of books Eryyn had not yet placed on the shelves for the apprentices. He removed several at once from the top of the stack, set them aside, and then picked up the remaining book. “This book has a mark on the outside of the binder, is there a reason?” Sernik turned the book so Eryyn could see the backbone of the book. On it was symbol, a straight vertical line no more than an inch long with a horizontal line crossing the center of the vertical line, like a plus sign. The horizontal line crossed from left to right with the right side curving upward and ending in a small, solid circle. Sernik had barely set the book on the pedestal when Eryyn hastily opened the front cover and began hastily turning pages.

  “That symbol looks like part of the larger symbol that Cadan put together from the pieces of paper we drew the birthmarks on.” Sernik stood next to Eryyn and watched as he flipped madly from one page to another. For several minutes he turned pages until one more turn revealed a symbol on the center of the page about the size of Eryyn’s palm. The two stared at it for what seemed an eternity. “That’s the symbol. That’s what Cadan put together except this symbol is complete.”

  “What does this word mean below the symbol?” Sernik pointed to a single word inscribed below it.

  “Treel?”. Said Eryyn he traced his fingers over the word as if touching the letters would reveal the mystery. He folded the corner of the page, closed the book and turned to Sernik. “Sernik, I think you may have found a path to follow. Now we have to see if there is a starting point.” Eryyn made his way, with the book in hand, to the stairs.

  “You're hoping the apprentices might have seen something which will tell you what that word means.”

  “I hope so, Sernik.” Eryyn said. “I hope one of them found something from the hundreds of books on the lower levels.”

  Rian was speaking with two apprentices when Eryyn, followed by Sernik, nearly ran into the room.

  “Rian!” Eryyn quickly opened the book in his hand to a specific page that contained the intricate symbol. “For the moment don’t look at the symbol, look at the word below it. Talk with your brother on the ground level and have all the apprentices look for this word, it could be the key to what we need to know about the disappearances.”

  “Excuse me.” A young apprentice, a girl no more than fourteen spoke. “I think it is actually two words.”

  “What do you mean?” Asked Eryyn. The young girl paused for a moment, then her eyes and face lit up as a thought suddenly sprung loudly into her mind.

  “I believe it refers to a city.” She turned and walked quickly with Rian, Eryyn and Sernik close behind until she stopped after passing several bookshelves. She walked in between two and led them several feet before stopping and kneeling to the floor. “There are several books here and the only thing I found in common several months ago was one particular expression.” She pulled out several books and handed them to Eryyn and the others. “Look at the pages I marked.” Each person opened the book to the marked page and read quickly. One by one they each found three words that the young girl spoke as she read from the book in her hand. “Eriflen of Tre’El."

  “Rian I’m going to see if EverGreen or Syl has heard of this ‘Eriflen of Tre’El’.” Eryyn said. “Have everyone focus on those words.” Eryyn and Sernik made their way to the first level stopping only long enough to ask Jaymee to come with them to the meadow. They quickly reached the meadow and found Syl was in communion with her father. EverGreen was still inside the dome in communion with his memories providing information to Ardant and his contacts on ships in orbit.

  Syl kept only enough of her consciousness aware of her surroundings within the dome to note the change as Eryyn and the others entered quickly. She could feel the quick beating of their hearts; they were excited about something.

  “Syl, EverGreen.” Eryyn approached the two, Syl opened her eyes and EverGreen lowered his arms while vines and roots entwined about him loosened as he too opened his eyes. “Eriflen of Tre’El” was all Eryyn stated. Eryyn watched as a light seemed to come into EverGreen’s eyes followed shortly by Syl having the same reaction. Syl and EverGreen then looked at one another.

  “It cannot be!” She said to EverGreen, “Tre’El is a myth even among the dragons.”

  “It has to be the answer Syl.” EverGreen replied then realized Eryyn and the others appeared ready to burst from excitement, he replied to Eryyn just as Miram and Alys entered the dome. “The memory of Tre’El was before my time as a protector.” EverGreen replied. “It was a city hidden at the bottom of the ocean and protected by an ancient magic no longer practiced.”

  “Is there anything else you can recall anything at all?” Eryyn looked at both Syl and EverGreen but both shook their heads no.

  “What about this Eriflen?” Alys asked. Again both shook their heads no.

  “There has got to be a way for us to find this city, if it still exists.” Replied Ardant.

  “None of you can if the memory I hold is true.” EverGreen allowed the rest of the vines to loosen from his body and retreat back into the ground. “Tre’El is also some kind of elemental word but I cannot tell why I feel that it is. It has something to do with base elements like earth, fire and other elements. If that is the case then I am the only one who can find it and lead you there but not in the form I am in now.”

  “What do you mean?” Asked Syl.

  “This form you see is not for my benefit, but for yours. I may have had a body once but becoming EverGreen I am essentially one with this planet. My true existence is not as you see me now but as one with the earth and trees, wind and water. It is to that I must return so that I can find this city, there is no other way.”

  “What are you not telling us?” Ardant could see EverGreen seemed to be holding something back.

  “Returning to this form you see now may not be possible for some time. I will not be able to communicate with you as I do now. I can guide and direct you with the elements but no more than that.”

  “How will we know you found Tre’El?” Syl asked. EverGreen pointed to the ground below them and small area of the grass changed to a white arrow then returned to its natural color.

  “I can give you a sign however, I am not sure how much time I will need. I don’t even know what I will be looking for.” Evergreen turned to Ardant. “I will leave the dome here so you can continue your search.” He turned to Syl and then to the others. “It’s time for me to go.” EverGreen walked past the others. Alys unmoving, stood as her eyes welled up with tears while she looked at Eryyn and then to EverGreen.

  “I owe so much of my happiness to you for saving Eryyn’s life.”

  “And now you feel helpless.” She nodded unable to speak. “Your friendship means more to me th
an you know.” He hugged Alys for a few moments before releasing her and leaving the dome.

  Outside the living dome Gydin and Rothyn were watching Cadan and Resam when they saw EverGreen leave the dome and walk the length of the meadow and fade into the edge of the woods. Although they were young dragons they could sense where he was going and what he was going to do.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The Dragons Heart

  Eryyn and the others made the trip to the southern tip of the continent by way of Markers stopping at random cities and villages. EverGreen had said it would take time for him to merge fully with the planet before beginning the search for an indication for where to reach the lost city. Almost a month had gone by before the first sign from EverGreen appeared in the form of a cloud pointing in a southern direction.

  During the month prior to the sign they gained very little information from the story tellers of the places they stopped. The lost city and Eriflen was nothing more than myth to the common person and even then most never heard of it. Tre'EL appeared to be all too real a myth to Eryyn and the others. What disturbed them more was the sudden stop in disappearances all throughout the continent and beyond. There were random reports of missing family members but not nearly in the amounts previously experienced. These disappearances left no sign and those missing did not seem to have any special birthmark. Alys had tried on several occasions to use her ability to find and location something or someone missing. Each time she had tried the trail stopped at the point where the ground had been depleted of its natural nutrients.

  “Syl.” Eryyn turned his head to dragon he walked beside. “Do you feel a something different recently?”

  “Yes.” She responded turning her head to him. “It’s like the pond still has ripples from one drop of stone but another stone has been dropped creating other ripples. What do you think it means?”

  “I feel something different is happening, I am sure it’s all connected, I just don’t know how.” Eryyn glanced at the others then back to Syl. “You have been unusually quiet since we left my home.” Syl did not answer right away. She walked for several more minutes not speaking until the docks at the ocean's edge came into sight as they crested the dunes. The last city, appropriately named Shoreline, had the same vague stories passed down from generation to generation about the lost city so Eryyn and the others learned nothing new. No one was surprised they had not heard the stories before. They were rarely told and then only upon request when reminded by a misspoken word or miss-understood expression. Syl and the others stood still as they watched people loading and unloading the boats at the docks. They stood at the crested dune several hundred feet from the water’s edge. The beach it itself went on in both directions for more than a mile. Most of the water's edge was broken by jagged edged rocks making this place the only area for ships to safely come close to shore. Although they had smelled the ocean and felt the salty breeze before reaching the crest of the dune, at its top the wind and aromas were unhindered and caressed them gently as if welcoming them to the waiting sea. Having arrived early, instead of immediately going down to the docks they merely stood and watched. One of the people below wearing the attire of a guardsman looked up at the watchers and waved once. It was Kel whom the guardsman trainer Heryn told Eryyn and the others would be manning the ship they would travel upon. Since the ten other ships were too small for Syl to ride upon the only ship they must take had to be the one coming into the docks now. Eryyn waved his hand once in return, he and the others saw several other workers look up; some dropped what they were doing at the surprise and frustration of their fellow workers. Although many knew the dragons had returned they were still a rare sight. Seeing a dragon standing, and apparently watching them closely, made some of them nervous. Syl knew this and understood; it was why she requested the ship to be manned by those more comfortable with her presence. The ship arriving dwarfed all the other cargo ships. It would not be able to come close to the docks. The group was ferried out to it while Syl flew the short distance to the waiting ship. On board the ship which would take them a long thatched structure occupied the top deck. It was long enough for Syl to sleep under if she wished although it was not necessary as she could protect herself from the elements with her wings. Eryyn and the others sat down upon the sand and waited, it would take the better part of an hour to load the supplies and change the crew before it was ready to depart. It was then that Syl addressed the others.

  “I must speak my friends." She paused allowing them to take a moment to shift their focus from the shoreline to her. “I, and my kind, have felt another evil awakening. It is old, very old, and perhaps even older than any of our kind for we cannot recall having felt this sensation before.” Syl looked at Ardant. He was silent as the others were. Having been the captain of a ship he thought destined to wonder the universe she was not sure how he had adjusted, if at all, to returning to Earth. “This is not the Earth you expected is it?”

  “No." He replied looking at the staff in his hand which Eryyn had given him. Ardant was accustomed to science and mechanical devices such as electronic scanners and communicators. Eryyn had given him the staff in friendship and as a gift for a way to communicate with the mages. He still felt uncomfortable with it in his hand, but at the same time dared not let it go for the reason he might not be able to reach Eryyn or any of the others. Most of the fully trained mages no longer carried the specially grown staffs as a means to tap into the Rootsource. They carried them as weapons and a way to communicate with one another. The first time Ardant met Syl and her two sons he was frozen not with fear but with shock. Having reacted so strongly to such an unusual event made him question for a moment if he was the right person to be in command of a colony vessel. The vessel housed more than ten thousand people trying to get back to Earth, presuming it had healed from the Great War. After meeting with the Lord of Dragons and spending time with them it was not long before he hardly even noticed they were so different in appearance. Their actions made them similar to humans underneath the scales, wings and fiery breath.

  “Many were not able to make the adjustment when they found out how different Earth was. As soon as the colony ship was detached into hundreds of smaller parts some made preparations and then left for other worlds they knew they would feel comfortable with.” Ardant looked at Syl’s large eyes, “I have made the adjustment, for the most part.”

  “It must sadden you that others or your kind did not feel they could stay.”

  “It does, but in a way I and many others accept it and are happy for them. We would rather see them at ease with their surroundings than to never feel they could fit in on Earth. We still communicate with them; most have founded small colonies in a nearby solar system we passed by when first returning to Earth. And perhaps that is not a bad thing after all, Earth can only hold so many people, or dragons. In time as the population grows it may be required we colonize other worlds.”

  “Perhaps in doing so you will find sisters and brothers of our kinds as well.” Syl replied. “I know they are out there, but I have never seen them. The elders have told us there have been times very long ago that other dragon from other worlds have been in communion with us, but they are so far it has not happened in my father’s time. I think if things were different he would welcome the chance to find them.”

  “The colony ship has a vast resource of information.” Ardant placed a hand momentarily on Syl’s large clawed foot. “When this is over I am sure your father would want to make use of it. For the time I was captain there were no encounters with dragons that I can recall.” Ardant said thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin. “However a colonist on a food expedition could have come across some sign or actually cousin of yours and made a note in their log.” Ardant turned, as did the others, to the sound of quick breathing behind them to see a young girl running up the side of the dune. She had brown hair, simple clothing and seemed to be running not out of fear but from excitement as they could see the smile on her face while she heade
d straight for Syl. Not far behind the young girl a young man, presumably her father was calling her name. The girl stopped just behind Syl whose large dragon head now faced her.

  “You’re a real dragon!” She had the expression of hope shining in her eyes like the sun. The girl was trying to catch her breath as the spoke.

  “Catch your breath little one.” Said Syl at which time the girl’s father caught up to them.

  “I’m sorry if she is bothering you." He turned to his daughter who stood and faced him with her eyes downcast. “Lila, I asked you not to run off like that.”

  “I’m sorry father, but I have to ask her, I just have to.” Syl and the others could hear the desperate plea in her voice.

  “Ask us what?” Ardant addressed the young girl as he knelt beside her. Ardant nodded once to the father letting him know it was no intrusion for the girl to be present. She looked at her father who nodded yes then she turned to Syl.

  “You're going to find a way to bring mother back, aren’t you?” They looked at the girl's father for an explanation.

  “Her mother disappeared several months ago, she had a small birthmark on her left arm.” Syl turned to the little girl.

  “We are going to do everything we can Lila, I promise.” Lila skipped and hugged Syl at her neck as best she could with her tiny arms.

  “Come now Lila, it’s time to go home.” She stepped back from Syl and the others and stood obediently next to her father as she wiped away a few tears of joy from her face. “Thank you, may your journey bring all those lost home.” He took his daughter’s hand, nodded to the others and walked back to the edge of town. The others looked at Syl and noticed two things, her eyes were almost red like flame but she had tears running down her face.

  “What is it Syl?” Alys walked over and stood before Syl, she cradled the large dragon’s head in her hands.