The Dragon Stone

by Andrew G. Wood

  With nothing else to go on, he inspected the smaller pillar a little more carefully and made an intriguing discovery. Across the top were markings, one of which he knew to mean dragon, a symbol that was also etched onto the ring he carried on the chain around his neck. Below that symbol was an indentation shaped like a hand. Thinking it the obvious thing to do, although unsure of the consequences Finley reached down and placed his own hand into the indention made on the pillar.

  After holding it in place for a few moments, and rolling his eyes from left to right expecting something to happen, he felt almost disappointed when that appeared to be the case. Finley slowly lifted his hand up unsure of what else to do. Surely this was the right place he was supposed to be, but yet there was nothing here. Unsure of what else to do, he positioned his hand back down again and thought to leave it in place for a while longer might have more success.

  As he was about to lift it up again Finley’s attention was drawn upwards, as a loud roar reverberated above him. He felt nervous and fearful as a great beast drifted down towards his position. Several scenarios quickly ran through his mind, although in all honesty, he did not know which to pick. Run was certainly the favourite, yet something told him not too; a deep voice from somewhere in the depths of his mind told him to remain where he was.

  Finley watched as the dragon landed down onto its truly massive clawed feet and tucked its wings in behind itself as a bird would do. With a neck that stretched upwards towards a large scaled head with wide jaws revealing its enormous pointed teeth, he realised running would have been a futile thing to do anyway. Standing at least ten feet taller than he did, the dragon leant its neck down slightly as if taking a closer look.

  With his staff still in one hand, he readied to move it, although quite what he was going to do with it, he had no idea. Knowing now he did not need the stave to channel his so-called power, Finley was unsure why he was even carrying it anymore. The dragon stopped just a few inches from his face, so close that Finley could feel the creatures breath on his skin and the smell of death it exhaled. “Who are you to summon the king of the dragons?”

  Finley froze in place. The lips of the beast did not move, yet he heard the words in his mind. “Did you just talk?” he shouted, thinking he was going mad. The dragon made a sound like it was mocking him, “Answer the question or die human.”

  “You are talking…well in my mind at least,” he added correcting himself. “And I am not human, I am a half-breed,” he then said correcting the dragon.

  “The gods do not allow such abominations to live. Yet I sense you are talking the truth,” the dragon replied, each word echoing in his mind.

  Finley felt strange that the dragon could somehow transmit words into his head, and although the beast was plainly not talking as he would, he was actually standing there having a conversation with it. So surreal was the situation, Finley actually forgot about running or being afraid even despite the warning of imminent death.

  “You have not answered my question halfbreed, and now you will die!” the words sounded in mind. Finley could do nothing but watched as the dragon arched back and opened its mouth wide before pushing its head forward and exhaling fire his direction. Finley thought it odd the flames merely went around him, whereas they probably should be burning him alive. Standing just as he had been a few moments before the dragon took a step back, visibly bemused as to what had just happened. “What are you?”

  Finley looked down at himself, just to check he was actually still all in one piece, before glancing back at the scorched earth behind him indicating he had not just been imagining the flames. “I told you. I am a half breed. I am here to link with one of your kind,” he added thinking there was no reason not to tell the truth about his being there.

  “You are a druid?” the dragon asked. Finley shrugged, in all honesty, he wasn’t sure exactly what he was anymore, but being as he had made a successful link with Sessi, he assumed that he could be fitted into that category.

  The dragon moved its huge, fearsome head much closer once more, “You carry something halfbreed. Something that does not belong to you.” Finley thought at first the dragon was referring to the staff in his hand and looked that direction first.

  “No, Halfbreed, you carry something I have not seen in a long time. You have the heart of my ancestors about your person, and I demand it back!”

  Finley felt threatened again, and while for whatever reason the dragon fire had not affected him, he was quite certain the teeth lunging his way would likely have more luck.

  Taking a few steps back, Finley held out his staff, although he had produced magic without it, he knew that with it in hand there was a greater chance of success. Finley thrust the stave forward pushing out as hard as he could, just like he had when fighting the balgraf outside of Lochgorm. The dragon recoiled back and roared in anger as it found itself forced back, unable to snap its jaws at the small figure stood defiantly before it.

  The two circled around slightly, neither willing to give the other any ground and neither willing to back down. “I don’t want to fight you,” Finley shouted as the dragon lunged forward again snapping its powerful jaws his direction. Once more Finley was forced to repel the attack using the only way he knew, even if he wasn’t sure how he managed to do it. The dragon tried arcing back and sending out another stream of fire his direction, but with the same result as earlier.

  Finley shouted again for the beast to stop, as it stepped slowly sidewards as if trying to manoeuvre around him. Finley just turned with it, always keeping a watchful eye on the creature, just in case it made another attempt at biting him in two. “Will you stop?” Finley shouted as loud as he could, not actually sure he could keep this up for much longer. With his staff held ready again, Finley stood his ground, and although the beast before him was vastly bigger, it dropped its head, “Very well halfbreed, you have proved yourself worthy.”

  Finley wasn’t sure if this was the actual dragon he was supposed to link with if so it would certainly make for an interesting partnership. Despite feeling his heart beating faster, he stepped gingerly forward and reached out to touch the beast with his hand, thinking that by doing so a link would be made; just as it had been with Sessi in the forest outside Lochgorm.

  The dragon snorted, and Finley felt a blow of wind blow on his face, as he touched the beast on the side of the head. To his surprise, the dragon laughed, or at least that was the sound he could hear in his mind. “You can not link with me fool halfbreed. I am the king of the dragons my mind is my own.”

  “Worth a try!” Finley said shrugging slightly and stepping slowly away, still not trusting the beast not to attack again.

  The two stood staring at each other for a few moments, before Finley spoke again, “So what now King of Dragons? I am here to link with one of your kind, so if not you then which one?” He asked. Not sure why he was stood in a stone circle conversing with a twenty-foot-tall, fire-breathing, winged lizard, he decided to explain to the beast just who he was. He started by telling the dragon about the forces of darkness, and that they were once more running amok across the lands of the elves, and possibly now even the dwarfs. “Look a few months ago I thought I was just a human boy living on a small farm in a small village in the middle of nowhere. Now apparently I am some great sorcerer, expected to tame a dragon and fight against Abalyon,” Finley shouted rather than talk at a reasonable level.

  The dragon made a strange sound. “Do not speak that name,” it replied clearly disgusted by the word.

  “Then help me. Please!” Finley asked lowering his voice slightly. There was another short pause before the dragon lowered its mighty body down to the ground, so its belly lay upon it. “Climb upon my back halfbreed, and I shall take you to where you need to go,” it said.

  “Really? I didn’t see that coming,” Finley mumbled under his breath, unsure if he could even trust the creature that had been trying to kill him just a few minutes earlier.

  “You promise you won
't try and kill me?” Finley asked as he tentatively stepped closer once more.

  The dragon made a laughing sound once more, “You have my word,” it replied as Finley awkwardly straddled his legs over the beasts back. “Hold on tight halfbreed,” the dragon told him as it shuffled back up onto its great powerful legs and spread out its impressively wide wings. With just a few flaps Finley was lifted up into the air, with his staff clasped tightly in one hand and a fist full of dragon skin in the other. Thankfully the dragon did not tilt or rock about too much as it lifted from the ground, its mighty wings flapping down hard as the pair of them soared upwards.

  With the wind blowing hard on his face, and the view given from his new elevated position, Finley felt this was something he could enjoy. The significance of the fact that he was riding on the back of a dragon, something that no other person alive had done, certainly not in his era, seemed irrelevant to him. The sheer joy of flying, an experience the like of which he had never thought possible overrode all other emotions.

  The journey though was only a short one, and after circling a few times, the dragon glided gracefully back down to the ground. They landed, and Finley rather regrettably clambered down, “That was actually quite fun,” he said patting the dragon on the side of the head as he did so. The beast merely chuckled, “You are certainly a strange little creature halfbreed.”

  “You can call me Finley if you like,” he replied looking around to see where it was they had landed. Having completely let his guard down, the dragon lunged forward just slightly, nudging him in the back.

  Finley turned sharply around, “I thought we had finished fighting?” he snapped a little angrily, quickly manoeuvring back into a defensive stance. The dragon tilted its head slightly, before laughing again, “I was not attacking you Halfbreed…Finley,“ the beast said calling him by his name. “Although I sense you were once called by another name…Zerus Maldhor”

  “I am not he. Despite what you might have heard!”

  The dragon laughed again, this time doing so for much longer, which only succeeded in annoying Finley.

  “Are you going to help me or not?” he eventually snapped.

  “Calm down little man,” the dragon replied apparently not impressed with Finley’s tone and demeanour. The two glared at each other once more, before the dragon moved its head to the left and looked over to a small opening in the rocks. “You will find what you seek in that cave Finley. Return to me when you are done.”

  Finley looked over to where the dragon was indicating and nodded his head in thanks, before turning and walking that direction. With his staff still in hand, he waded through the long grass towards the opening unsure as what exactly lay inside. His uncertainty grew as he heard a strange noise coming from within, making him pause just a moment in the mouth of the cave. Finley took a deep breath and took a step into the darkness as the sound called out again, echoing off the cave walls.

  Ten steps inside he stopped again as he saw a dark shape moving just in front of him. Unsure as to what it was, he took a couple of steps back, but the shape moved closer following him back towards the cave entrance and into the light. A small dragon, probably the size of a bear, stretched out its neck and let go a loud roar as if showing Finley who was the boss. “Hello,” he said waving a hand slightly as if it mattered. The small dragon leant back slightly and spewed forth a thin stream of flame, and although Finley was sure it would not have been enough to kill him, he was glad when the fire just bypassed him as it had done with the larger dragon.

  The smaller one stepped up to him as if curious. Despite the teeth on this beast not being as big as those on the large dragon, he did not doubt they were not sharp and as a result did not fancy getting bitten. The dragon then emitted another roar as it snapped its jaws towards him, and it was then that Finley took his opportunity and reached out to touch it on the head as he had done with Sessi. Both he and the dragon froze in time as the connection was made, as both bodies and minds linked together.

  As Finley strolled slowly away from the cave, the big dragon was stood waiting just as it had said it would do. The smaller one followed a few paces behind, stretching out its dark reddish- brown wings before tucking them away and its eyes now a sparkling blue colour matching Finley’s own. “You have what you came for halfbreed now be gone from my valley. Climb aboard, and I shall fly you out.”

  “Thankyou…Will the little one keep up?” he asked.

  “Arach…My name is Arach,” Finley then heard a new voice speaking in his mind. He turned quickly with a smile, “Can you keep up Arach?” he asked aloud.

  “I’m the fastest dragon there is. That old lizard is the one who needs to worry about keeping up.”

  Finley chuckled at the remark, and although having a strange creature speak to you through some form of mind trick, he thought he and Arach would be getting along just fine. After clambering up onto the old dragon’s back, he held on tightly as the magnificent beast once more took to the skies. Arach it seemed was true to his word, and although much smaller appeared to move just as quickly, although it had to be noted with a lot less elegance than the bigger creature seemed to do.

  Finley once more felt the cool mountain breeze on his face as they soared majestically through the skies, and although he doubted they were more than a few hundred feet from the ground, the view was something to behold. Moreover, the distances he travelled on foot were now achieved within just a few minutes, and it was not long when he spotted the campsite where he had left Moira. Only from his new perspective, he could see trouble approaching the unsuspecting dwarfs' tent.

  Chapter 14.

  From his advantageous viewpoint, Finley could see movement below. Dark familiar shapes swiftly covering the ground and closing in on the small canvas tent where he knew Moira would be. A terrible thought came to mind, as he recalled the dwarfs conversation about her not living much longer, foreseen by her own grandmother, and Finley knew he had to act fast if he was to change what had not yet happened.

  “That is my friend down there, and the balgraf are closing in to attack her,” he had to shout to hear even his own voice such was the noise of the wind rushing past him.

  “Then your friend is about to die,” The dragon replied rather coldly, sounding as if it was not his problem and did not care what happened to a dwarf.

  “You know, considering you are the King of the Dragons, King of the skies you’re not very helpful,” Finley replied already regretting the words as the last shouted from his mouth.

  As the dragon dived much quicker than he thought possible, Finley struggled to hold on. Veering sharply left then right before levelling out just a few feet from the ground and then landing with a thump still some distance from where Moira was camped. Arach glided down at a much slower pace and landed far more gently than the elder dragon.

  “You take one of my children and say I am not helpful!” the dragon said wriggling slightly to try and force Finley from his back.

  Finley already felt a little sorry for speaking without actually thinking about it, and as he climbed down apologised. “Will you please help my friend? Sometimes I say things I do not mean,” Finley said trying at least to sound sincere. The dragon, however, declined once more, stating that he could not interfere with the lives of mortals and that Arach would explain further. Finley just gave a hard glare but nodded his head in acceptance, and although very annoyed the dragon was not willing to help, reiterated his thanks and that perhaps one day they would meet again.

  With little time to stand around and talk, Finley turned and started running up the slope to where he knew Moira was located. Arach, he knew was once more airborne and flying just twenty feet or so above him. “Can you see the balgraf? Have they reached the tent yet?” he shouted not thinking that he probably didn’t have to communicate in that way being as they were linked. The reply came shortly after, “I can see the dark creatures, they are circling around a…” Arach did not know what to call it, as Finley realised the young d
ragon would never have seen one before. “A tent” he called up explaining what it was he was referring too.

  “A short person is standing alone beside the tent,” Arach then spoke, sending the words to Finley’s mind. “One of the dark creatures is almost upon her,” the dragon added. Finley knew he was never going to get to Moira’s aid in time, but Arach might just be able to assist. “Can you help her please, just until I can get there,” he asked pushing his legs as hard as they could go despite feeling cramping pains in them.

  Arach darted ahead, moving through the air as swift as an arrow leaving him lagging behind. Finley found himself cursing the so-called king of the dragons for not dropping him off a little nearer, as he finally reached the top of the incline where the ground finally levelled off. The temperature immediately dropped now he was for all intent and purposes out of the valley as he could feel the colder winds blowing on his face.