Longfang

by Mark Robson

  They held the new course until the nearest mountainside suddenly reared out of the falling snow in front of them. The turn to avoid crashing into the mountainside was tighter, but no less coordinated. They went left until they were flying parallel to the slope and hugging the side of the mountain with Fang still maintaining the shield. As far as Fang could tell, the dragons behind had not changed course to follow them.

  Minutes passed and a valley leading into the mountain range opened up to their right. They turned again, dipping into the valley and slowing. From the moment they entered the valley the wind drove the snow at them with increased fury. Visibility dropped still further, increasing the chance of crashing into an unseen mountainside.

  ‘This is madness, Fang!’ Kira told him. ‘Fire can’t possibly see where he’s going in this. We need to find somewhere to land and hide out. Preferably somewhere that will offer us good shelter.’

  ‘I agree,’ Fang replied. ‘The night dragons are passing the valley entrance behind us and they are showing no sign of following. I believe we have lost them for now. It would be sensible to sit out the remainder of this storm somewhere safe and discuss our options. I will keep up the shield for a minute or two longer and then take the lead. My sense of sight is far keener than Firestorm’s. Do not fear. I will lead us safely to shelter.’

  Longfang was as good as his word. He took the lead and found a cave large enough to shelter both riders and dragons in little more than ten minutes. Once out of the snow, Firestorm heated some rocks with his fiery breath and the two girls recovered quickly, brewing hot drinks and cooking food to help speed the warming process. The cave was not very deep, so Fang positioned himself in the entrance and remained camouflaged, hiding the presence of the others.

  Kira said nothing as Nolita heated a separate small pan of water with which to wash her hands and face. The proximity of Firestorm within the limited space of the cave made the blonde girl tauten. Kira knew that distraction was the most effective way to help her relax.

  ‘Well, the boys are probably at the Oracle’s cave by now,’ she said, doing her best to sound positive. ‘We’d better start concentrating on the next orb. I’ve been thinking about the dusk orb verse:

  Ever protected, the dusk orb lies

  Behind the cover, yet no disguise.

  Afterlife image, unreal yet real,

  Lives in the shadows, waits to reveal.

  What do you think? Any ideas?’

  Nolita’s eyes were distant and she wrung her hands as if still rubbing soap into them. She did not answer for so long that Kira began to think she had not heard the question.

  ‘I have one thought, but it’s nonsense,’ she said eventually.

  ‘Nonsense? Ha! I doubt it’s any worse than mine,’ Kira replied. ‘Go ahead. Try me.’

  ‘It’s the line “Afterlife image, unreal yet real”,’ Nolita said slowly. ‘I can’t get the idea out of my head that an afterlife image is a ghost. I don’t believe in ghosts, but no matter how hard I try to twist the meaning around, I can’t come up with anything else that fits the description.’

  ‘That’s exactly what I was thinking,’ Kira said thoughtfully. ‘Unreal . . . yet real. Does that mean ghosts are real? I don’t know. Someone seeing the Oracle for the first time might consider it a ghost. It looks unreal, yet it’s definitely real. If we accept the Oracle is real, then why not another form of spirit creature?’

  ‘A spirit creature sounds better than a ghost to me,’ Nolita admitted. ‘Yes. A spirit creature that lives in the shadows. That makes sense. But where would you find such a creature?’

  ‘In the place where the shadows dwell,’ Kira replied. ‘The verse says “Lives in the shadows” and the griffins told us to look for “the place where the shadows dwell”. I’ve never heard of anywhere that sounds like that. Have you?’

  ‘No,’ said Nolita, shaking her head. ‘So where do we start looking? Look – we’re in a cave. We’re sitting in the shadows. Does this make the cave a place where shadows dwell? Clearly not, or the orb could be in any one of a thousand places. There must be somewhere special. Somewhere that is identifiable as the place where shadows live – a place where a spirit creature lives.’

  They both fell silent. Where would they find such a place? It could be just about anywhere in Areth. It was Longfang who interrupted Kira’s thoughts to offer a solution.

  ‘What about the Grand Library of Harkesis?’ he suggested.

  ‘The Grand Library of Harkesis?’ she said aloud for Nolita’s benefit. ‘I’ve never heard of it. Do you know of a spirit creature living there, Fang?’

  ‘No,’ he sighed. ‘The Grand Library of Harkesis is the largest collection of information in Areth. If the answer to the Oracle’s riddle has been written down, you will find it there.’

  ‘That makes sense,’ Kira said thoughtfully. ‘But there will be so much to read and we don’t have much time. How will we find what we want to know?’

  ‘Ask one of the librarians to help you,’ Fang suggested. ‘Many are scholars in their own right and will know where to look.’

  ‘All right, Harkesis it is,’ she announced, meeting Nolita’s eyes and giving her an encouraging smile. ‘So where exactly is Harkesis?’

  Chapter Ten

  What’s the Connection?

  Jack was having trouble taking it in. He was flying on a dragon’s back. It was a surreal experience.

  His previous encounters with the dragons had always felt dreamlike. After his first sighting, he had wondered if the stress of combat was getting to him. Then there had been the fight when the dragons had destroyed three enemy aircraft. No one else had witnessed them tear those aeroplanes to pieces. His superiors had thought him delusional and sent him home on leave after his report on the incident, but they had been forced to change their tune after his last experience.

  Jack had been on an extraction mission, picking up a French secret service agent from behind enemy lines when he had encountered the creatures again. He had been reluctant to mention the dragons in this second report, but the French spy was difficult to keep quiet on the subject. Only when Jack’s Squadron Commander warned him that the dragons were a Top Secret project did he calm down. It had proved a good ruse to keep the man quiet.

  Jack had seen only two dragons this time. And there was no sign of the girl. Her dragon had made itself invisible. Could she make herself invisible too? There was no telling what strange abilities these people had.

  They flew west until they were clear of the battle lines and then they flew in gentle circles, apparently waiting for the second dragon and rider to catch up. Jack wondered what they were doing back in dangerous no-man’s land. Perhaps they had been killed, though Jack felt this unlikely. Bullets had not penetrated the scales of the dragons before. It seemed their scales were formed of a material far tougher than anything the British Government had been able to develop.

  Jack reached down and ran his fingers across one of the dragon’s scales. It felt surprisingly soft and warm. How could something so soft turn aside bullets? There were so many questions to ask.

  At last, the other dragon rose from the ground to join them and once again they flew westwards, away from the battle lines and deeper into friendly territory. Jack began to relax and enjoy the sensation of flying on this enormous creature’s back. After so many flying hours spent inside the cramped cockpit of fighting machines, it was a delight to stretch his legs and enjoy the ride.

  The light was fading fast now that the sun had dipped below the horizon. However, as the dragons began to descend, Jack suddenly realised where they were heading. He knew he should not interfere, but the riders had just saved his life. It did not feel right to let them fly into a trap.

  Jack tapped the shoulder of the boy in front of him.

  ‘You’re going to the burnt wood, aren’t you?’ he said. ‘Don’t. People have been watching it since last year when all the local dogs went mad and your dragon burned a path through the trees. My Sq
uadron Commander asked me about it because he thought I might have more information.’

  ‘Last year? But . . . never mind. Thanks for the warning,’ the boy replied over his shoulder. His eyes went distant for a moment before re-focusing. ‘My dragon has confirmed it. There are watchers. We’ll find somewhere else. Have you got any suggestions?’

  Jack thought for a moment. There was a decent stand of woods not far from the airstrip his squadron were using. So long as they approached low and from the west, it was unlikely anyone would see them coming. He knew he would probably get into trouble for this, but he didn’t care.

  ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I know a place where you can land in secret. It would be best if you told the dragons to go invisible.’

  ‘Only Kira’s dragon has the ability to camouflage himself,’ the boy replied. ‘And Kira’s not with us. It’s getting dark. We’ll just have to be as careful as we can.’

  It took about fifteen minutes to reach the woods. Judging by their apparent speed the dragons flew faster than his old scout aircraft. Aurora and Shadow landed and the riders dismounted. The dragons headed for the cover of the trees. As they followed the great creatures, Jack got his first proper look at the two boys. The one he had flown with looked no more than about fourteen. The other was older, possibly sixteen or seventeen. They both seemed far too young to be involved in secret projects, so it was unlikely the dragons were a part of any secret government plan – not that he had ever believed that story.

  Jack turned to the younger boy and lifted his flying goggles from his eyes so that he could see him more clearly. ‘Thank you,’ he began. ‘You have an uncanny way of turning up at just the right moment. I’m Jack – Jack Miller.’ He held out his hand. After the slightest of pauses, the boy grasped and shook it.

  ‘Elian,’ he responded. ‘And my companion is Pell. I’ve noticed that almost every time I’ve come through a gateway you seem to be nearby, and danger is never far behind you. Aurora, my dragon, says our destinies are intertwined. I don’t know exactly what that means, but perhaps if we talk for a bit, we might work it out between us.’

  ‘You speak English,’ Jack noted. The girl rider he met before had spoken English as well. ‘Where do you come from? Your accent is strange. I can’t place it.’

  ‘Actually I don’t speak your language at all,’ Elian said. ‘My dragon is translating for us. Don’t ask me how she does it, because I have no idea. I say something in my language and your mind hears it in your language. That’s as much as I can tell you. It’s the same in reverse for me. We don’t come from your world, so your language is alien to us.’

  Jack’s mind spun as he tried to imagine how such instant translation worked.

  ‘So when I’ve seen you disappear into those swirling grey cloud things, you were travelling to this other world?’

  ‘Going back to it,’ Elian answered. ‘My dragon is a dawn dragon. She has the power to open the gateways, but only at the moment of dawn. We travel through your world in order to cover vast distances in our own.’

  ‘You don’t use the gateways very often then,’ Jack observed.

  ‘Well, we’ve used them a lot recently, but time doesn’t move at the same rate here as it does in our world.’

  ‘Time . . . doesn’t . . .’ Jack repeated slowly. His words petered out as he tried to imagine what the boy was talking about. Accepting that the dragons were coming from another world was hard enough, but time not moving at the same rate? That was not only impossible, it was beyond comprehension!

  ‘How long has it been since we helped you collect your companion from that field?’ Elian asked.

  ‘The pick-up mission? Oh, ages! It seems like for ever ago now. That was back in February,’ Jack said quickly, his mind racing through a quick calculation. ‘About seven months.’

  ‘I thought as much. For me it’s only been a few days since that happened. In fact it’s only been a couple of weeks since you first saw us take off from the field where your flying machine was housed.’

  ‘But that was over a year ago!’ Jack exclaimed. ‘How can that be?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Elian admitted. ‘My dragon tells me that the relationship between time in our two worlds is not linear. I’m not sure what that means, but time is currently moving much faster here than it is in my world.’

  Jack thought for a moment. The boy appeared genuine. But the older boy, Pell, had said nothing. Throughout the conversation he had stared straight ahead, apparently unhearing and uncaring. It looked as if he was in a severe state of shock after his experience of no-man’s land.

  ‘I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about me, but I think I should tell you that my superiors want you to help us win the war we’re fighting,’ he began slowly, remembering the communiqué he had received from the General after his last report. ‘Your dragons appear immune to our weapons. The Generals would give a lot to have you on our side. I’m supposed to use whatever means possible to get you involved as our allies.’

  Elian stopped walking and turned to face Jack in the fading light under the trees.

  ‘Is that what you want, Jack?’ he asked bluntly. ‘We don’t use the gateways by choice. We’re involved in a dangerous quest. We’ve got precious little time to complete it and without using the gateways it would become impossible. To be honest your world scares me silly. I can’t imagine what caused your people to begin fighting on such a massive scale and I don’t want any part in it.’

  Jack nodded. ‘I don’t blame you,’ he said. ‘Only a fool would get involved in a war that wasn’t his own. This war has dragged on for years. The propaganda would have us believe we’re winning, but I’m not convinced. These past months the Germans have been all over us in the air. Their tactics have been superior and it’s hard to see what we can do to turn the tide. What I don’t understand is why you keep appearing and helping me. You talk of destiny. Is there something you want in return?’

  The two dragons had found places where they could lie comfortably between the trees. Elian did not answer straight away, but continued walking until he was alongside his dragon. He had the far away look in his eyes that Jack had noticed when they were in the air. Then it struck him. The boy was communicating directly with his dragon by a kind of mental link. If the dragon could mess with their minds to make the boy and Jack understand each other, then why should the boy not talk directly to his dragon’s mind?

  ‘Our two dragons alone wouldn’t make much of a difference here, Jack,’ Elian told him. ‘Your war is beyond our ability to end. But you might be able to help us. Have you ever heard of a place where shadows dwell? Or anything about a dragon orb?

  Neither question meant anything to him. Jack shook his head.

  Elian shrugged and then rubbed his hands together to warm them. It was getting cold now the darkness was setting in.

  ‘Aurora feels you must be tied up with our quest somehow,’ Elian said, puzzled. ‘The gateways keep opening near you. But what’s the connection?’

  Jack watched the boy as he concentrated on the conundrum. He looked serious beyond his years. Was it normal for youngsters in the world of dragons to embark on dangerous quests?

  ‘Perhaps I could help if I knew a bit more about this quest,’ he said. ‘What is a dragon orb?’

  With a suddenness that startled him, Pell spun round, a look of unbridled fury on his face.

  ‘You don’t want to know about dragon orbs!’ the older boy spat. ‘They’re cursed. Death and misery follow them. The sooner I get rid of the dark orb, the better.’ As abruptly as his hostile outburst began, Pell’s focus disintegrated again and his voice became distant as he continued. ‘It’s killed too many. Maybe Segun was right in wanting to destroy it.’

  ‘We’ll reach the Oracle tomorrow, Pell,’ Elian told him soothingly. ‘Don’t worry. The orb has claimed its last victim.’

  ‘So many . . .’ Pell continued, showing no sign of having heard Elian. His eyes stared into space and tears rolled unchecke
d down his cheeks. ‘So many men. Young and old. It killed them all. So many . . .’

  Elian drew Jack away, leaving Pell next to his dragon. He was muttering incoherently now. Jack had seen the reactions of enough newly arrived pilots, fresh to the horrors of battle, to recognise the look in his eyes. The boy looked on the edge of losing his sanity.

  They moved a short distance away and Elian began to speak in a low, urgent voice.

  ‘Our quest is to find four dragon orbs and use them to restore a spirit creature known as the Oracle,’ he said. ‘We have found two so far, but each has harboured a danger that has taken us by surprise. The first caused the incident you referred to last year with the dogs. Pell has recovered the second, but it has a deadly quality unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Immediately after we flew away from your broken machine the orb killed many men on both sides of the battle lines. I expect someone will soon link these deaths to sightings of our dragons and you’ll be asked more questions. Please believe me, we don’t come here to cause harm. We’re just travelling through.’

  ‘How did it kill them?’ Jack asked, instantly wondering if this orb could be used as a weapon.

  ‘We don’t know and we don’t want to know. We just want to get it to the Oracle before it kills again. It’s deadly.’

  ‘So why don’t you go now?’

  ‘I told you,’ Elian said patiently. ‘We have to wait until dawn when my dragon can open another gateway.’

  Jack fell silent. It was a lot to take in. Dragons, deadly dragon orbs, gateways to another world that only opened at dawn – it sounded like something from a fairy story. However, he could not deny the reality of it all. He had just flown here on a dragon’s back. That was an experience he would never forget.