Fractured Families (The Pearl of Wisdom Saga Book 2)

by Jason Paul Rice

  “Isn’t there a man more qualified than me to lead a giant war? The man who raised me can surely command an army better than I,” Riceros pondered out loud. “Thou need to have confidence in thyself. Thou need useth thy attributes and forget about shortcomings. The dragons are much like the humans. Some are smart, others fast fliers or graceful and only a few can combine the three. The myth of dragons being all-knowing and fierce, devoid of emotion, simply isn’t true. We don’t steal princesses or hoard treasure as some of the tales might hath one think. Whilst there may be better men to lead an army in a conventional war for a kingdom or empire, this is very different. Certain people have been previously marked by the Gods to perform certain tasks and failure to uphold this shalt yield drastic results. We would hath loved to let the son of the dragon live free of care until thou were an adult, but it wasn’t to be.”

  “Do I stay here until the first battle starts?” Riceros asked. “No, thou hath more work to achieve on earth before the attacks begin. Many people will rally to defend thou while others shalt try to cut the Pearl from thy body and use it for their own devices. Be careful of whom thou trust with thy secret. We will alert thou as to the people thou can trust, but even with that information thou must be aware.” “I’ll be careful, I promise,” Riceros swore. “The demons can take the shape of humans and dominate their thoughts and actions. We hath been trying to find someone who can take over a demon to infiltrate their army. They can taketh over a human body anytime, so if thou see a sudden change in someone’s behavior, be wary. The best thing to do is “accidentally” nick them to draw blood. If thou see black, kill the demon.”

  “If you know the demons are going to strike again and they live on Venom Island, why hasn’t anyone gone there and killed all them?” Riceros asked. “That is a great question, young wise one. We never act in aggression. We exist to defensively protect the world. We expect the demons to go on the offensive again, but we aren’t certain. We don’t have substantial proof of the demons’ attack plans. This is based on gut feelings and previous track records. The Sky Dragons shalt never cast the first stone. I knoweth I may not have been much of a father thus far, but I did influence most of the happenings in thy life. I tried to make certain thou were always protected for this moment.”

  “Why do thousand-year-old dragons need an eleven-year-old boy to lead them into battle, can’t you lead yourselves?” Riceros asked. “Again, we are only here to help. The war is human versus demon so we need a human to lead and command us. It’s thy earth and while we have a vested interest in the matter, a human must head the attack,” Ikeros explained.

  Over the next few days, Riceros met most of the dragons around the castle-like gray cloud. Riceros had wondered why they lived in a gray cloud instead of a silvery white one until Ikeros explained the matter. Everyone believed gray clouds carried rain and were uninhabitable so nobody would expect the dragons to be inside a gray cloud.

  Riceros’ sore body had fully recovered and never felt stronger. His interactions with the dragons had taught him that everyone around the castle was unique. They all spoke in different tones, some sounded eloquent and he found a few actually stuttered. They all had different tendencies and quirks like blinking rapidly or scratching a chin with a wing tip. There were male and female dragons and Riceros learned about the families. The small group of seventy-seven was all related in some way or another, and there was a strong sense of love throughout the castle.

  Riceros found out the dragons only went outside the heavenly structure to help the humans, so they rarely left. They seemed to be content with talking and waiting to serve a noble purpose. They ranged in age from over one thousand to a spry one hundred. Ikeros had told him only about one in twenty dragon babies survive the rigorous birthing process and even more don’t make it through their first year. He further described the difficulty of a dragon even becoming pregnant and Riceros came to understand why only seventy-seven were around after one thousand years. Every dragon had a separate personality and Riceros couldn’t find any similar patterns among the different colored groups. Gold, silver or blue skin didn’t have a bearing on behavior generalities. Ikeros was right when he said the dragons were as diverse as humans. Riceros tried to learn what motivated each dragon so he could properly lead them.

  One of the biggest dragons named Epalon had vacated his room and Riceros decided to use the expansive area. He couldn’t see the sun inside the castle, but natural light filtered through the clouds for half the day and darkness persisted for the rest. Torches lit the interior of the castle near the heavens during periods of blackness. Riceros liked to use the bigger rooms to practice with his wings and long bow. Ikeros had made a longbow for Riceros to match with special arrows. The arrows had a twisted knot of cloth instead of a tip and were made of a mysterious wood Riceros didn’t recognize. He held the bow and pulled a blue arrow from the back quiver. Riceros extracted his wings and fully extended them. He flew up and over to a torch ten feet up on the wall to light his arrow, pivot with his foot, and loose a fire flier at a drawn target on another wall. The entire arrow would light as the flame ran to the back from the knotted cylinder after being released. The arrows hit the wall and sounded like they hit solid stone before falling to the ground and burning out. Epalon returned to claim his quarters and Riceros exited the blue dragon’s room. He threw the golden long bow over his shoulder and talked to a few more dragons before going to sleep.

  Riceros woke up on a deserted island on the Sea of Green. He found that he had been using his black board as a pillow and wondered what had happened. This island resembled the first one he had been sent to after the pirateer had thrown him from the ship. He looked to the board for answers, but nothing appeared.

  Was it all a dream? Did I imagine everything? It couldn’t be just that. The board stayed blank for the rest of the day and night. Riceros remained confused and tried to sleep despite the hunger and worry. He felt the lump on his back and couldn’t notice anything different. Everything around the area seemed smooth and he didn’t find a split in the skin. Riceros started to doubt his crazy adventure had ever happened. Maybe the sun made me delirious and none of this ever happened?

  He woke up after minimal sleep and looked at the water. He saw a redheaded mermaid wiggle up on land with a very small swordfish under her arm. She used her long sharp nails to cut off a side of the fish and take the skin off. She started a fire and the fish’s extreme length extended over either side of the flames. Riceros grabbed gobs of steaming swordfish and his growling stomach welcomed the offering. He spent all morning checking the board for information, but none was to be had. The mermaid gave him belief everything wasn’t just a dream, but the board wouldn’t show any words. Riceros got furious and thought about throwing the worthless black slab into the water.

  Suddenly, writing appeared, “Sorry to send thou away in your sleep, but thou hath more work on earth to tend to. We are sending thou to the Pearl Islands. Thou shalt meet a woman who will lead yo to your destination.”

  Relief rushed back into Riceros. He finally knew his experiences weren’t just a warped sense of reality. The mermaid invited him into the water to embark on his next challenge. She pulled him through the warm waters and all the events seemed to hit Riceros’ mind at once. Panic attacked him after being overloaded with life-altering information. The boy was expected to be the hero of the world and anything less would be complete failure. The pressure slammed down on him. If the demons were to win, he would be the person to blame. He started to doubt himself until he remembered what Ikeros had told him. Focus on your strengths, not weaknesses. He had flown up near the heavens to talk with the dragons. Nobody other than Riceros could honestly say that. Confidence trickled back in and by the end of the swim, the terror and chest tightness had subsided.

  The mermaid let go of Riceros before his feet met the sand. A wave washed him farther out. He flailed around, slapping at the water and hoping the mermaid would return. She didn’t. His black board
stayed above water but the waves kept pulling his head under. He swallowed the briny green liquid and choked. He thought he would die until a wrinkled hand grabbed his armpit.

  A gray-haired woman, smaller than Riceros, pulled him onto shore. The woman’s soaked blue dress clung to her petite body. She rubbed Riceros’ face and looked concerned until he spit up a bellyful of sea water. He coughed and tried to catch his breath. “Thank you,” he exclaimed to the frail-looking woman. She had green eyes and a thoroughly wrinkled face. She couldn’t stop smiling and staring at Riceros.

  Once he recovered, he asked, “Where am I?” “Why, you are on Fire Island. I am to take you where you need to be,” she said in a cute, old lady tone. “Who are you?” Riceros asked.

  She grabbed both sides of his face and four matching eyes met. “I am a vessel, no more, no less. I abandoned you once and never thought I would see you again. They convinced me I would see you once more,” she rambled. “You know who I am, young man. I’m sure they told you about me. I am sorry I had to let you go. I was only an elderly woman without a husband. The choice was for your benefit.”

  “What is your name?” Riceros wanted to know. “Judithe Parylus. The dragons tried to hide the Pearl inside me. I remember the day I went out for a swim and that golden dragon flew down. I thought it would surely set me to flames. Then, Ikeros asked me to perform my noble duty. He reached down with those razor-sharp claws and picked me up with such gentleness my skin never split. He took me all the way up to the gray lair in the clouds. He hid the Pearl inside me and I expected to take the object of such rage and horrors to the bottom of the Sea of Green. The Pearl was supposed to help the humans fight against the demons, but it had killed more humans than demons. The treachery and destruction the Pearl had created showed the dark side of the human race and it was time to get rid of the Pearl, once and for all. A few months later, we realized we had an amazing situation on our hands.”

  They walked inland and up a hill. Riceros understood his tiny size after seeing his mother. Barely taller than a dwarf, but much skinnier helped to explain his slightness. The two talked more, with his mother apologizing profusely for giving him to Jon Colbert. She asked many questions about the Duke and had genuine concern for the son she had to send away. She looked relieved to find out nobody had revealed Riceros’ secrets and let him grow up as a normal boy without the weight of the world on his slender body. They went through a small village and his mother purchased some dried foods for the trip. Closure on his mother and father still couldn’t make Riceros forget about the people who raised him. However, it did get his mind to stop meandering about the subject.

  They moved deep into the forest and for a woman in her early sixties, Judithe moved extremely well. They went up and down numerous hills and she barely slowed the pace. Riceros felt complete, and as they lay down for the night, he looked up at the stars and moon with confidence. He still wasn’t sure where his mother was taking him, but he enjoyed the time they got to spend together. The totality of everything hadn’t fully hit Riceros despite the short attacks of panic.

  He woke up at sunrise and didn’t see Judithe. Twenty minutes passed and Riceros realized she wasn’t just out looking for fruits. He looked around again and found the dried beef and pickled berries with writing in the dirt. It said, “I love you. You made me so very proud.”

  Doubt crept back in because she was leading Riceros. He sat, confused, trying to make a quick plan. He pulled the board from his sling and words were already on it, “Follow the path to the top of the hill. The path splits in two. Take the left option and continue on that trail.”

  Riceros forged on with the black board leading the way until nightfall. He couldn’t sleep that night because of tremendous lightning storms mixed with intense thunder strikes. The next day, the soaking wet boy continued to follow the directions on the board. He walked and looked at the board, “Thou art going to the Black Stone of Rockarius. The location where he found and held the Pearl of Wisdom. He obtained the name Rockarius because he found the Pearl on the rock or Stone as it has become known. His original name of Crag Norn needed spicing up a bit, so our hero took on a new moniker. Thou shalt find a friend near the Stone and all thou need do is simply wait.”

  The board only provided directions from there and Riceros saw the enormous Stone with an even larger creature next to it. Dioneer smiled at the boy. “How are you, old friend?” Riceros joked. “You can speak?” Dioneer asked in a stunned manner. “Just learned apparently, where did you go?”

  “I stayed on that island while the mermaids took care of me and made me feel better than ever before,” Dioneer replied. “That should bode well for the rest of our adventure,” Riceros opined. They waited at the Stone, and Riceros wondered how long they would have to wait. Riceros was an inquisitive boy who always liked to know what was going on with a proper explanation. Cryptic messaging of just enough information to continue the challenge really tested his patience, but he sat on the Stone waiting to be found.

  RUSSELL

  A grinning little girl in a yellow dress approached Russell on a narrow dirt path in the woods, holding something behind her back. “What’s your name?” Russell asked. “I’m the girl whose daddy you killed,” she replied coldly. Russell’s face became flushed and he nervously asked, “What are you talking about? I didn’t kill your father.”

  The tanned, blond girl showed the object to Russell. His jaw dropped when he saw that the girl had produced a severed head. He instantly recognized the face as that of the man he had killed on the Main Island. “Make my daddy come back,” the girl shouted, and threw the head at Russell. She screamed, “Murderer, murderer, murderer.”

  Russell Seabrook jerked around so violently, he woke up. He had avoided the nightmares a few times over the past fortnight, but now he tried to avoid sleep altogether. The four adventurers were behind schedule and Russell couldn’t do much to speed the process along. The Imp Wizard had started aging rapidly after exhausting his remaining supply of Fuji Dust. Gray was getting the better of his normal light brown beard. The dwarf hunched over when he walked and had grown quite feeble. Russell carried Dragon-Eyes on his back most of the time now and the strong young man barely noticed the extra weight. He would almost forget about Dragon-Eyes until the little man would shift around, reminding him of the precious cargo.

  They had made their way around most of Fire Island and only four days remained to reach the Stone of Rockarius. Russell still felt in constant danger even without passing through any towns or seeing any people in the past week. He had to keep a close watch on their surroundings to protect the defenseless group from more thieves popping up out of nowhere. Russell experienced the pressure of being the leader of the group with Dragon-Eyes sleeping much of the time.

  The Imp woke up, startling Russell. He went over and helped his friend up. Dragon-Eyes grabbed his arm and took a few steps before letting go. “How could this have happened to me?” said the old man who wallowed in self-pity.

  “Stop feeling sorry for yourself. We will be pulling up to the ports of Gama Traka before you know it. You will get your Fuji Dust and all will be right with the world,” Russell encouraged.

  A concerned look came over Dragon-Eyes’ face, whose sleepy eyes were quite watery. He said, “She won’t continue to love me if I get old. She claims she will, sure, but I know what will happen. No woman could love me without the Fuji Dust.”

  He showed Russell the warts on his arms and chest, which had returned from lack of the anti-aging solution. “She loves you, that doesn’t just go away because of a few blemishes. She will stay by your side, no matter the circumstances, you heard her. I still love Gamelda after I found out how old she was,” Russell said. He thought about how the wizard used to counsel him on life’s matters, but now he needed to be there for his mentor.

  “Shireez knows how old I am, but she isn’t used to this disgusting, old-looking man I am becoming. Trust me, if Gamelda stopped using the Dust, you would sing a m
uch different tune,” Dragon-Eyes stated. “Not a chance, I love her soul,” Russell countered.

  The girls woke up and the group enjoyed a fast snack before plunging into a long, deep valley in between two red-rock mountains. The sun shone brightly against the baby blue backdrop without a cloud in sight. Russell shaded his eyes and led the hikers along the pebble-strewn terrain. Dragon-Eyes spoke from Russell’s back, “If my calculations are correct, we will barely have any time to sleep until the end of this journey. We’ve fallen very far behind after the three-day storm.” Russell turned his head so the man on his back could hear and spoke, “You three can take turns sleeping on my back, if you can hold on and not fall off. I don’t need to sleep.”

  Thunderous flapping sounds interrupted the conversation and he looked up at the sky. A single, black storm cloud blotted out the sun. On looking closer, he saw an enormous black dragon. The beast swooped down into the valley and closed in on the four scared onlookers. The dragon looked almost like Russell expected one to look.