by Karine Green
"Blue died, about a month ago. I dug into the rock and buried him in the pond where he said he someday wanted to be. I don't think he thought it would be so soon." Tears of grief, relief, and joy ran down her snout. "He gave up his magic to work with me, so he couldn't use his magic to heal himself."
Misty looked confused. "You buried the Water Wizard in the rock?"
Dunia nodded. "Yes, there is a rocky pond not far from our cabin. He liked the fact that it turns into a small lake after the snow thaws in the spring." She held up her black diamond claws. "Did you know that we can dig in rock- and then put it back together?"
Misty smiled and lowered her bow. "Yes, but you being an Earth Dragon can do it better than any of the other Elementals."
Mack smiled. "I have the clear claws. And, we are sorry for your loss."
"Yes, of course. I miss him, but I am just so relieved to see other dragons." Dunia felt nearly overwhelmed with a swirl of emotions. "Was that your pup?"
Méi scooted over directly behind Mack, "Do you know where the Stone Dragons live? Poor little Wren's mother passed, and we wish to return him home safely." Méi set back on her hindquarters and allowed Wren to poke his head out.
"Stone Dragons; Blue told me about them, and then I read about them. We were going to journey there, but a hoard of Seculars was running rampant throughout the region, so we decided to stay hidden for an extra two months. He said he couldn't risk me. He knew three Elemental Dragons were hidden, but ultimately he wasn't sure if I was the last one. We only recently heard rumors of a Water Dragon in South Dragons Ridge. I am just a black girl from the Bronx. I want to go home. This is a terrible place, with mad kings, and horrible death armies...Selective breeding…Crazy white people!" Her eyes widened. She continued to ramble on like a frightened pup. "I'm just so happy to see someone who knows what I have been through." Tears continued to flow down her snout. Dunia get a hold of yourself!
Mack smiled and nodded. "You are home, and you are among friends. Come, we have plenty left from my hunt earlier." He turned to Méi. "Are you and Wren full?"
Mei nodded.
Mack turned back to Dunia, "You are welcome to the rest of our kill."
"Thank you." She hurried over and ate the rest of the deer. She hadn’t been able to catch a deer yet. The meet was tender and tasted amazing. "Oh, thank you so much. Hunting is hard. I am an expert at scaring my dinner off. I have been eating the few fish I could snag from the pond."
"Let's rest up for the big flight, and let Dunia settle down a bit," Mack said, pulling out one of the map scrolls, and settling back down into a Sphinx pose. “Why don’t we help you catch up a bit.” He spread out the map.
Relief flooded into her. She had found the right dragons, and they would let her stay.
~~~
After resting, they helped Dunia gather her things, and secure her cabin. A few hours later, they flew high over the Shallow Sea and a massive set of very large islands that seemed to be nothing but dunes.
Mack felt Misty lean forward. "Ownagla, the island home of the Sand Dragons. No one knows if they still live there. Sand dragons are so homogenous they will kill and eat anyone, human or dragon, who ventures on their land. They are of Earth and Water."
"But dunes are dry," Mack said.
"Being of Water is what allows them to exist there. They can pull water easily from the ground because it is an island. Mack, you know how the hunters of Dragons’ Lance are backwoods and dumb. Well, some dragon villages are like that too. Best to leave the Sand Dragons alone."
He nodded. He had too much to think about right now to consider trying to contact a hostile group of dragons with his pregnant wife here.
As they approached the lava blackened area of Pumice Plains they found three rivers of lava that forked off of the main volcano.
Mack pointed. "Red Fork River. Doesn’t it flow through Pumice Plains?"
Misty spotted a cave. "Let's land there and see if we can use Suki's scope to spot them."
Suki looked confused. "But they are the same color as the rock." She squinted. "I can't even tell how many there are."
Misty smiled, "It shows friends? I assume the Stone Dragons in the simplest form of friendship would be at least convenient allies, if not true friends. Wouldn't that allow you to see the color change to yellow?"
"Yes, you're right," Suki said, taking out her scope.
They landed in the small, blackened cave. Suki took out the scope and scanned the area. She smiled. "They are all over. They are yellow...friendly like the sunshine. They see us and are coming this way. What if two or three are a yellowish green?"
Mack nodded, "Maybe they are afraid to hope things can change? Just proceed with caution. Let's keep Wren secret for now. You know, act like we left him at a safe place."
"Why are they being so careful? Stone Dragons can slightly change their scales to not match the lava rock so closely. They’re so perfectly camouflaged that it seems like they are deliberately hiding their numbers," Misty said.
Mack nodded. All the scrolls and books on battle strategy he had read over the years told him there was something fundamentally wrong here.
Even Misty is picking up on it, so it isn't the overprotective dragon hormone kicking in. Don’t forget, no human army has been able to completely take over the Stone Dragons.
"You know, the Mad King is a magical human. We already know he set the Elemental and Common Dragons against each other. There is no way to tell how they would react to us landing in their territory," Dunia said, narrowing her eyes at them so she could see them better.
"They have stopped moving. Only one makes his way here," Suki said, looking through her scope.
"Hide behind us," Mack said, moving in front of Méi. "With two Elementals in the way they will have a hard time getting through. Just in case things don't go as expected."
"He's here." Suki put the scope away, and drew her crossbow, keeping it at low ready balanced on the horn of the saddle.
Misty had her magic arrow drawn, but it was pointed at the ground. Her eyes were focused on the arriving dragon's face.
Yup, I chose the right rider. I don’t have to tell her to do things that are obvious.
"Elemental Dragons, we thought you were gone...extinct." A full grown male Stone Dragon entered the cave. He was as black as the lava rock around them, with varying gray stripes that formed diamond shapes. He was about the same size as the Elementals, but wingless. His features were more rounded than theirs. He blended perfectly with the surrounding landscape. Were he to lay down, he would have been camouflaged. "Forgive us for frightening you, there are dragon hunters in the land and we did not want to draw attention to you. Well, not any more attention than flying in would draw. The White Witch sent us the good news by a bird. Where is he?"
Dunia raised a forepaw and pointed to the West. "Hidden -- my rider has him hidden in an old abandoned Sand Dragon cave back on the islands. We had to make sure it was safe. She is using my saddle to keep him corralled."
"Yes," Méi said, nodding and pointing with her tail.
Thank heavens, Dunia thinks fast on her feet – paws.
Mack made a face like he was confused and shifted talk away from Wren. "What could a hoard of dragon hunters do against so many Stone Dragons? You could easily crush them."
"Forgive me, I should have introduced myself first. I am Yogan, the Chief of the Northeastern Stone Dragons. Welcome to Pumice Plains. And Great Dragon, that would depend on whether they were using magic. It's the magical hunters who pose the threat. We just trample and eat the stupid ones because they pose no threat," Yogan said, but his expression changed from relief at seeing Elementals to a slight bit of panic. "Come, let's go pick up the little pup." He motioned for them to follow him, back to their village. "We can go prepare for the journey. I think I know of a Stone Dragon willing to brave the water to help with the pup."
"I am Mack. This is Méi and Dunia, and these are our riders, Misty and Suki."
He is awfully eager to get his paws on Wren.
"We are not going anywhere with you," Misty said.
Mack nodded in agreement. It didn't escape her notice that Yogan didn't answer me completely. He stood ready to blow him out of the cave.
"I thought you were bringing the pup to us?"
Mack sighed, blowing a not so gentle wind around. "What is going on here? We aren't turning over the pup until we know it's safe. Our mission is to deliver him to his family. Where are they? What precautions have you taken to ensure his safety?"
Suki looked confused. She whispered to Mack. "They are yellow." She pointed to the other dragons in the distance. "It was only the one dragon who was greenish."
Mack smiled and looked Yogan in the eyes. "You mean; the dragons he didn't mean for us to see? Why have you brought an army out to meet us? Especially if you thought we were bringing a newly hatched pup. Why not just bring his family," he asked, not blinking? He quickly went over an escape strategy in his mind. In terms of fighting power; his small group was airborne. Additionally, he was an opposite power to the Earth and Fire based Stone Dragons, he alone could cause a great deal of damage to them.
What are they doing? It didn't matter, fear is a powerful motivator in the act of betrayal no matter where the heart stands. Maybe they are being forced to do something they don’t want to do.
Yogan looked at the ground. "Normal Seculars are evil, but they have nothing on dark Secular wizards. They have all the village young and are threatening to kill them if we don't turn over the hybrid hatchling. They believe him to be a half-breed Elemental; Water and Stone. This will give the wee pup command over three elements. But, the White Witch did not mention it. Is he such a pup? Please, twenty-five under the age of three will be lost. We can steal the infant away to The Dragon King, Lahay. He can help us free our young and keep the wee one safe."
Mack wasn’t surprised by this revelation. He just hoped Méi could keep Wren quiet long enough to fool Yogan into thinking he wasn’t here. "Is that what the Mad King...Lahay, told you? Misty, hand me that historical scroll." She handed him the scroll from the saddle bag. "The Mad King conspired with the Seculars to bring down the great nation of Shestafa. It worked better than he wanted it to. He wanted the Dragon nation for himself. He wanted to exterminate the Seculars and leave only Spirituals."
"What!" Yogan looked stunned, as he shook his head. He looked over the scroll Mack had just handed him. "No, this can't be -- The Seculars..."
Dunia shook her head and interrupted. "Knew too much about how dragons behave, sleep, mate, you name it. All this even though dragons do not live, and have never lived in Secular villages. Meaning, someone had to train them about the general behavior of dragons. And even now, the dark Secular wizards with your village pups are caring for Earth/Fire based dragon pups, despite having no knowledge what-so-ever on how to raise dragon pups of any sort, let alone ones that need both lava and burrowing training," Dunia said, trying, and failing to sound neutral.
Yogan shook his head. "This cannot be true. He is the Dragon King. We were liberated by him and his forces." But the look on his face suggested that he didn't doubt Mack and Dunia.
Dunia nodded. "It is true. Think about it; since when in the history of anything has there ever been a human Dragon King? Makani, here, is the Dragon King. His roots can be traced to the Lilac Princess." She nodded toward Mack.
Mack stiffened. Dunia! She shouldn't say things like that. I am not the King. He paused, as he noticed Méi nodding. I am not King, am I? Not, I have older family members, don't I? Surely one of them survived. I had such a big family, I can't be the only one. What about the Green Witch and her dragon hoard? Even though he knew everyone died, something about Dunia saying he was King made the Great Losing sink in further. He was the only one in his family left. Perhaps I should read over the scrolls LaDeara gave me when I get the chance.
Yogan looked at Mack, and then looked over the scroll that Mack had handed him again. "He betrayed us. Why? We were happy to be his dragons. We were happy to start over, and be at peace. Raise our pups to be good dragons. Why would he make us believe dark Secular wizards had kidnapped our pups?" He thought for a moment, before making a face. "Do such wizards even exist? Don't they need to connect with the element to perform the magic? How can they connect with the element if they don't believe in it?" He sighed deeply, closing his eyes, before opening them to stare at Mack. "No, we were happy to be his dupes, not his dragons. Please help us get our pups back, and keep the hybrid safe. We cannot afford to lose any more dragons. But, we cannot have him in charge of a dragon with command over three Elements. We must stop the Great Losing. We will all die out if we don't do something. The weather...it will destroy the humans without dragons to protect them."
"Agreed," all three Elemental Dragons said in unison.
"Hold on." He motioned for the small group of others to stop coming and motioned a smaller dragon to come forward. "Tell the others that the little pup did not make the trip and he will be delivered later. He's at a safe place. Send in Santarini's sisters, so we can prepare for the pup's arrival."
The smaller dragon nodded and ran out.
As soon as the dragon was gone Suki lowered her scope and Mack heard her whisper to Méi, "The small one just turned from yellowish-green to full green...right in front of me."
Méi nodded and glanced at Mack. He turned his left ear back to her to indicate he had heard her.
Now whomever the spy belonged to would think the pup was still far away.
"Do we have any idea why the Mad Dragon King wants Wren?” Méi asked, pointing at Dunia and Mack with her tail.” It seems like he would want all of us."
Yogan shook his head. "No, if what the Air Dragon says is true, then you are all fully trained adult Elementals with riders. Your experience in your faith is too strong, and your education too vast to undo. They must start with infants. We must keep the King..."
"The Mad Dragon King, let's keep in perspective who we are talking about," Mack said.
Yogan half-smiled, "We must keep them from getting the hatchling and from hurting our pups."
Méi frowned, "Do you know what happened? The White Witch said the infant's mother died shortly after she found her."
Yogan looked sad, "I was told a dark Secular Wizard with Fire magic took my niece. Do you think this could be the Red Wizard who works with the Mad King?”
Mack and Dunia nodded.
Yogan nodded. “He held her in captivity with another dragon. We heard a rumor it was a Water Dragon. Of course, we now know that was true, but at the time, we thought it was wild speculation. We also heard that he forced the Water Dragon to breed with her. They told him if he didn't want her they would kill her and feed her to the other dragons...terrible... Water Dragons are healers by nature so..."
"So, we have a baby Stone/Water Dragon, because he couldn't bear to be vicariously responsible for her death by refusing her," Dunia said, immediately hating the Mad King even more.
"Hold on!" Misty said, tightening her grip on her crossbow, "If you thought that, how could you have thought for one minute that dark Secul..."
"It was all rumor. We didn't get reports until after she was gone, and didn't have confirmation until just now. It was just rumor and innuendo. We were too desperate for peace. We would have believed anything.”
Mack frowned. “Your people are war weary, and their endurance to fight is waning.”
“It was only a few weeks ago that those Stone Dragons returned home from South Dragons Ridge. That was when we learned the Water Dragon was real. It is also why I believe you about the palace behavior, even though I don't want to. Then we got the note from the White Witch she found an orphaned Stone Dragon near her castle grounds; which is about a hundred miles southwest of South Dragons Ridge.
We heard the three dragons had escaped to South Dragons Ridge, but it's such a hard journey through the water filled mountains… they are nearly impassable for a Stone Dragon. If one of
us gets trapped on the other side of the mountain he must master swimming...” His eyes widened and his tail stiffened, “In the water...if he is to return home from there." He crinkled his brow at the thought of entering the water. "Many resign themselves to stay in the South. I have heard, it's not so bad there. Although we have also heard that we aren't allowed to choose riders, the humans choose," he heaved a heavy sigh. "There is no freedom for a poor Common Dragon, not even the places that advertise it."
Mack thought for a moment. "Is there anything else about the Water Dragon. Do you know his name? Is he still there?"
"We heard from the ones who returned that Rini and Arlen, the Water Dragon, lived there very happily until the Seculars invaded the village. My niece, Sarnia, was jilted by him. She returned home for a while, but then ran away again. No one has seen her. With Sarnia’s testimony...What she told us, it made us rethink our position, but we didn’t know what to do." He closed his eyes tight and then reopened them.
Mack shook his head, "The Mad King went to great lengths to feed you lies, and make you believe the Seculars were behind this. I would bet just about anything the Seculars did not invade, and if it was then they did so at the direction of the Mad King or one of his two magical cronies. Now, you know the truth." He could hardly wait to pull Wren out and look at him closely.
"What can we do, oh wise Dragon King?" Yogan bowed his head and lifted his claws off the ground while keeping the pads of his paws on the ground. It was a display of trust to the dragon who outranked him.
Two female Stone Dragons entered, also bowing low, and closing their eyes. They all stood up. "These are Rini's sisters. They can stay and assist you. They have been hiding out here for months. They were in a Secular prison where they forced them to plow the fields, but we busted them out. This way no one is missing from the village, the infant will have a direct family member, and then we can plan to get rid of the wizards without raising too much suspicion; hopefully.”
"Chief." It was the smaller greenish dragon from earlier.
"Yes," Yogan said, looking at the dragon as he skidded to a stop next to him.