Eshshah and I planned to stay at the cottage for the night, and then fly to our cove just before dawn. Once the rising sun began to light the sky, we would leave for the furthest island. We hoped to make it there in half an hour or less. If we felt like staying the night, we were prepared. I had packed extra provisions.
I went over the Healer’s visit in my head. “Eshshah, you’re probably right and we should confide in the Healer, but I truly want to do this ride. So, let’s not stay long on the island, maybe just the day. I’ll talk to her as soon as we get back. What do you think?”
“I guess another day won’t hurt. But as soon as we return, we must reveal ourselves to her. I have a notion she may know more than we think — I sense she is a person we can trust. I like her.”
That night I found it difficult to sleep. My unsettling dreams had me tossed about in a small boat while large waves crashed around me. I awoke with a start when I was thrown from the boat.
“We might as well get to the cove. I’m not getting any sleep, and it’s close enough to dawn.”
I gathered my pack and in the light of a small lamp, I secured the harness on Eshshah, quite pleased with my work. “At least this is an improvement over the rope. Again, I apologize for such crude gear.”
“Amáne, I know your heart. Soon enough we will rise to our proper position, and we’ll receive the honor we are due.”
“You mean due you. I don’t deserve any kind of honor.”
“You’ll need to stop thinking that way.” Eshshah reprimanded, “Dragon and rider are equal. We are a linked pair.”
“Sorry, I’ll try to keep that in mind.”
Everything was in order. I latched the cottage door and put out the lamp. Eshshah stooped down and put her foreleg out to give me a step up. I pulled myself up, swung my leg over her neck, grabbed the long leather straps and gave her the okay. With her muscular hind legs she kicked off and beat her wings in a powerful downward thrust. We were airborne and heading toward our cove. It was a swift exhilarating trip. My heart was ready to burst out of sheer delight.
We had about an hour before it would be light enough to leave for the island, and Eshshah was hungry again. I waited by the cliff while she hunted. She returned well-sated just as daylight broke.
I put on my pack and tucked my skirts up. A thrill coursed through me as I anticipated our upcoming adventure. Eshshah shared my excitement. It’s always an elated rush whenever we’d take off — a wondrous feeling, unlike any other experience I’ve ever known. In no time we were gliding smoothly over the glassy sea. My screams of joy were not restrained. I was in utter ecstasy.
We relaxed as we took in the fresh ocean air and felt like we owned the world. Watching the calm azure water pass under us, I could see to a great depth. A shark and several large schools of fish slipped by. Dolphins joined in a playful game as they danced in Eshshah’s shadow, keeping pace with us. It was magnificent. The beauty and peace of our flight overwhelmed me as we soared. But there was a twinge of guilt that kept me from fully enjoying our freedom. Maybe I should have confided in the Healer.
A sudden blast of hot wind interrupted Eshshah’s smooth course, and she lurched slightly. Pulled from my thoughts, I looked around and gasped — my stomach twisted. To my horror, whitecaps began to form on the waves that just moments ago were nonexistent. Out of nowhere, a strong wind whipped around us. A Valaira was surely brewing and we were in open ocean with no place nearby to land. The islands nearest us were small and offered no protection. It would have been more dangerous to be caught on one of them. Too late to turn around — our intended destination was closer than the beach we left behind. We had to continue on our current path, as we searched desperately to find a larger island — our only hope for safety.
The storm progressed and the waves grew in violence as they fell one on top of the other. The wind swept their mountainous tops and threw the salty spray in our faces — we were still flying too low.
As Eshshah lifted higher above the swells, a powerful gust rushed under her wings and threw her off balance. Unprepared for the sudden pitch, I lost my grip. I screamed as I slid off her shoulders toward her back. Panicking for something to hold on to, my hand closed over the leather strap just before it slipped out of my reach. My dragon fought to recover. She tried to hold level so I could pull myself back to the harness. The fury of the Valaira increased. Eshshah was tossed about like a ship on the raging sea — with me banging around between her wings. I was terrified that as powerful as my dragon had grown, she may have been no match for a full-blown Valaira — which was what we were in for.
It took all my strength to hold on as I tried to avoid her wings. I fought my way back up to her shoulders. Hand over hand I painfully inched forward. My palms bled from the rough leather straps, making them slippery and harder to hold. Each time I thought I would succeed, the anger of the howling gale beat me back again. How foolish of us to think we were ready for such a flight. I shouted encouragements to Eshshah. We had to keep going — we had no choice.
Eshshah struggled to keep us above the furious waves. With sheer effort I managed to get myself back to the harness and into a sitting position. I wrapped the leather straps tightly around my left wrist and hand, then pressed against her neck and held on for my life.
My skirts came untucked, exposing my bare legs to her rough scales. I bit my lip to keep from crying out every time my flesh was pinched between them.
We were still flying too low and the rising waves exploded in our faces, drenching my clothes.
Eshshah rose higher again. “Amáne, our only chance is to get above the turbulence.”
“Let’s go then! Do what you need to do,” I shouted.
She pumped her tired wings and slowly we rose high above the water. Higher than we had ever flown before. The height was terrifying, but the alternative was the Valaira. Our fear joined us closer, firmly linking us. We pushed ourselves beyond what we thought we were capable of. We were one as we fought — our minds melded together as I tried to offer her what little strength I could. Higher and higher we climbed. We reached an elevation where the air became thin and bitter cold. Cold doesn’t bother a dragon, but even as closely as we were linked, her venom running in my veins, I was still only human. The cold was numbing, especially with my wet clothing. I lost feeling in my hands that moments ago were screaming in pain. My legs burned with the effort of trying to hold on.
We finally rose above the Valaira, no longer buffeted, but riding smoothly in the frosty thin air. However, I wasn’t sure how long I could endure the cold. My body became numb. Ice formed on my eyelashes and my wet clothes. Dizziness overcame me.
“Stay with me Amáne,” Eshshah encouraged. “Hold on. I’m going to soar up here for a bit of a rest before we go back into the squall and find someplace to land.”
“Okay, Eshshah. Don’t worry about me, I’m all right,” I stuttered. I shivered so badly, my teeth were in danger of breaking. My uncontrollable spasms violently jerked me. In a short time, the spasms subsided as the drop in my body temperature made me drowsy — all I wanted to do was sleep. Lethargy set in and nothing mattered anymore, I just needed to close my eyes.
Then in triumph, Eshshah cried, “Look, there’s an island big enough for us to land. We’re going to make it, Amáne. I see a cave in the cliffs where we can take shelter. I’ll stay up here until the last minute, then I’ll dive in and head for it.”
“Eshshah, I don’t care if I make it. Just save yourself,” I slurred.
“Amáne you will stay with me. I need you. Fight! We’re almost there. Hang on tightly, we’re going in now.”
With that, she folded her wings and dove into the savage storm. We plummeted faster than I thought possible. My stomach slammed to my throat as I was wrenched from my stupor. I screamed in terror. No longer listless, I clung desperately to the harness as the wind pressure pushed me back again toward her wings.
As if the Valaira were a living evil thing who knew we were abo
ut to win the battle for safety, she suddenly hurled a blast of hot dry wind at us. It flung me from Eshshah’s shoulders. The leather straps, still wrapped around my left wrist, jolted me to a stop. They saved me from plunging into the water far below. But the force of my fall caused the leather to dig into my arm. It peeled my flesh to the bone as I swung from her neck by my wrist. My screams of pain competed with the howl of the Valaira. Eshshah fought to keep upright as she headed for the opening of the cave.
I strained to reach the harness with my free hand, needing to make it to her back before we landed. As my left wrist threatened to break with the force of our flight, I made one last lunge and caught the harness with my right hand. At that my strength failed. I couldn’t urge my body to make the extra effort to climb back up.
“We’re almost there. We’re going to make it, Amáne.”
Eshshah and I hurtled toward the entrance of the cave. She back-pumped with all that was left of her strength, but too late. She could not slow down enough as we approached the cliffs.
A strange calm came over me — I could see everything clearly. I resigned myself to the fact that the end of our lives was imminent. These last moments became like a vivid dream that moved slowly. There was a large cave halfway up the mountainside, like a mouth of a monster opened wide to swallow us. I noticed it was an unusual cave with colors that didn’t seem natural. It intrigued me to see it come at us so slowly.
In my dream-like state I had plenty of time to gather the last of my energy to pull my legs up so they wouldn’t get ripped off at the entrance ledge. We almost succeeded in entering the mouth without a mishap, but the tip of Eshshah’s wing caught on the stone ledge and she tumbled head over tail. I felt my feet hit the stone floor, and was pleased my legs were still connected to my body. Propelled backwards full speed, my head struck the ground. I felt no more.
I found myself hovering over a beach where I knew I had been before, but couldn’t remember when. The white pebbles below softly glowed in the weak light. A cave opened before me and I caught a glimpse inside. I saw a dragon, which for some reason didn’t surprise me. She was very still. There was a smaller shape to her right, partially under her, and laying in a pool of blood. I looked more closely and found something familiar about those two figures, but I couldn’t bring to mind what it might be.
Feeling a presence behind me, I turned around to find my mother. She smiled at me, and it warmed my heart to see her again. We both turned to observe the scene in the cave. The dragon stirred, and although quite tangled in her wings, she managed to turn her head and nudge the shape next to her. There was no response from the small figure. Then the dragon lifted her head and the most mournful sound came out of her — a sound I had heard once before.
Over her keening I could hear my mother’s soothing voice, “Your dragon needs you Amáne. It’s your decision, but I would counsel you to go. I long for you stay, but I don’t believe it is your time, yet. Listen to her, Amáne. Go to her.”
I faced my mother, yearning to remain with her, but my attention shifted to the dragon in the cave, and I realized I knew her. It was Eshshah, and she needed me. My decision made, I bid my mother farewell and then turned back toward the cave. Like a flash of lighting I found myself lying on my back in searing pain, next to Eshshah. There wasn’t one part of my body that was not in agony as I shook from the cold, the shock and the pain.
“My head,” I groaned, reaching my free hand to the mat of hair at the base of my neck. It was wet and sticky. My hand came away bloody.
“Eshshah?” I moaned.
Trying hard to focus, I could just make out Eshshah’s golden eyes staring at me in anguish. She moved her muzzle toward me and breathed her healing warmth on my aching head to relieve my pain and begin my healing. Her warm breath was not enough to raise my body temperature — my tremors continued. I doubted I would ever be warm again.
“Eshshah, are you all right?” My voice quaked, barely a whisper.
Not answering my question, she said in alarm, “Amáne, I didn’t hear your heart.”
In truth, she was probably right, because there had only been one other time that I’d spoken with my mother after she joined her ancestors. It was on that same beach in the shadows. I must have been dead, or near dead, to have met with her on the other side. Eshshah had called me back — again. I feared had I not returned to Eshshah, it would probably have meant the end of her life as well. Shaking off that disturbing thought, I replaced it with another, “I can’t feel my legs.”
“They’re pinned under me,” Eshshah said. “I can’t move off without fear of crushing you. You’re tangled too closely in the straps.”
I found myself restrained in an unnatural position. After tumbling into the cavern, I ended up on my back on Eshshah’s right side, feet toward her tail. My left arm was painfully stretched across the front of my body by the leather straps that made up my harness. Blood dripped down my arm and onto my chest from the laceration on my wrist. Moments ago these straps had saved me from being tossed into the sea. Now they held me bound to Eshshah.
My pack was trapped under me, adding to my pain — though fortune was with us it had not been lost to the Valaira. Groaning, I inched my free hand behind my back, slowly willing it toward the opening of my satchel until my fingertips felt the haft of my dagger. With stubborn persistence I managed to extract my blade. I brought it around and sawed at the straps that held my left wrist. Concentrating on cutting the leather, I suffered through the added pain. The taut leather strap popped free. I squeezed my eyes shut, gritted my teeth and moaned, cradling my wrist to my chest.
“Ugh, that’s going to leave a scar.” I grumbled, trying to make light of my agony.
Eshshah turned her healing warm breath on the carnage that was my wrist. It became instantly bearable — on its way to healing. Remarkably, it was not broken. Finally, I had loosened myself enough to shift my body so Eshshah could free my legs. I eased up slowly to a sitting position using her leg to support me. After a few moments waiting for my head to stop spinning, I pulled myself painfully to my feet — careful to not slip on my blood that pooled on the floor.
My first concern was her wings, as I noted their unnatural angles. She rolled to her four legs and carefully opened them, testing for damage. I helped her search for rips as she stretched them out one at a time. She breathed her healing power to mend the few we found. Satisfied, she folded them properly. After such a violent crash, I was thankful she had escaped relatively unharmed. Still shivering, but aware we were at last out of danger, I threw my arms around her neck and hugged her tightly. My tears flowed as I gave in to my emotions.
The wind still howled inside the cave, creating spirals of dust and leaves that twisted around us. The deafening roar added to my aching head.
“Let’s see what kind of place we’ve been cast into,” Eshshah said. “I need to get you warmed up before you break all your teeth with your chattering. Maybe there’s somewhere I can start a fire — your lips are blue.”
“Where are we?” I stammered. “Eshshah, this isn’t a natural cave. It looks like it was man-made — or at least humanly expanded upon. We’ve landed in some kind of entrance cavern. But entrance to what?”
Although dusty and uninhabited, I could see it had once been a magnificent entrance. The path we had cleared as we slid in the dust on our terrifying arrival revealed polished stone inlays of intricate designs. I knew of nothing like this in Dorsal.
Eshshah put her nose in the air and sniffed. “Dragon — but it’s an old scent. There’s been none of my kind here for a long time. This may have been a dragon and rider outpost to guard the outer reaches of Teravinea. My ancient memories recall such places.”
One wall was occupied by a large fireplace, but the wind was too savage to even attempt a fire. Set into the back wall was a massive wooden door made from an unusual type of wood. I didn’t recognize it as any I’d seen in Dorsal. It was ornately decorated with carvings — pastoral scenes of a cas
tle I assumed was Castle Teravinea, and its surrounding hillsides and vineyards. There were dragons and riders flying above the castle. It was a beautiful work of art that I would have liked to enjoy more. It would have to wait for a later time. At that moment, I needed relief from the sound of the angry wind — and to find a place where Eshshah could start a fire. My tremors didn’t let up.
With Eshshah’s help, I drug myself to the back of the cavern until we were in front of the door. Not sure about how to open it, I pushed experimentally in the middle. To our astonishment the door split in two and slid open silently in both directions, each half disappearing into the wall. It led into an immense corridor that extended left and right. The left passage dead-ended with a similarly carved door, several paces from where we stood. There were three other carved doors, one directly across the passageway from us, and the other two to the right. The corridor then led a little further and angled to an unknown end.
Moving into the main corridor, I turned and touched the edge of the door we had just entered. It shut silently behind us, at last bringing quiet relief from the fury of the Valaira. I turned to Eshshah and breathed a sigh of relief.
The passageway was lit by natural light from an opening high up in the ceiling. Protected from the elements, the intricate stonework beneath our feet and the tapestries on the walls were beautifully preserved. More art that I couldn’t wait to appreciate — later. Pain still wracked my body. I was too disoriented to even focus on my surroundings.
We felt no sense of danger in this place, but instead a calmness permeated. I was awestruck by the thought it had been a residence of dragons and riders. Dragon lore songs echoed in my mind and I wondered if I knew the names of any that had walked these same floors.
Eshshah and I decided to first try the door at the end of the corridor to our left. I applied light pressure, and like the previous one, it split and slid easily into the walls on either side. My jaw dropped at the sight of the room that opened before us. What we saw beyond this door was my idea of paradise at that moment. It was an impressively large cavern with tile mosaics covering the rock walls and a polished rock floor. But that was not what made me catch my breath. Directly in front of us were pools of steaming water. Underground hot springs fed into two bathing pools. There was a low waterfall pouring into the smaller one, which was raised with steps leading up to it. This smaller bath then overflowed into the larger bathing pool, which then emptied through an opening at the back of the chamber, then on into the sea.
Amáne of Teravinea - The Chosen One (The Teravinea Series Book 1) Page 6