The Stones of Fire and Water

by V. M. Sang

  He fumbled in the pack he had dragged behind him and found a small torch that he lit. It lit up the small cave. The smooth walls were not covered with stalactites and stalagmites like the limestone caves he had seen on Fusionem. He concluded these caves had been formed by the passage of the lava from the volcano.

  He held his torch up high. At first he saw nothing and then the light made something glimmer. He walked towards it, his earring getting warmer. There, on a small ledge, was a ring. Pettic picked it up.

  The ring was finely worked. In the centre sat a large ruby surrounded by diamonds. It was worth a small fortune, but that was not its value to Pettic. He jumped for joy and let out a great whoop.

  The two dragons, waiting in the outer cave, heard the whoop of joy and looked at each other. If dragons could smile, these two did so. They knew just what this noise meant. Pettic had found the artefact. They gave each other a further look and an understanding passed between them.

  Pettic squeezed out of the crack and into the larger cave where he found four large eyes looking at him.

  `I found it!' he exclaimed. `It's amazing it was here in my first searching place, but here it is.' He held the ring up for the dragons to see.

  `It's small,' said Crinilisk.

  `Well, it's for a human finger so it would be small to a dragon. Still, it seems to fit on my finger well enough. My little finger that is. I could probably squeeze it onto one of my other fingers, but it might get stuck there so I daren't risk it.'

  `We can go then,' said Bladmisk.

  `What about our eggs? We can't carry them.'

  Pettic came up with a solution and he took a blanket out of his pack and wrapped the three eggs in it. He then tied it onto Bladmisk's back round one of his spines.

  As soon as he had done that, the dragons waddled out of the cave and onto the broad landing area in front.

  They decided it would be better if Pettic went by boat. It was a long way for them to fly carrying an extra burden, so they agreed to meet him on the other side of the sea. They did not know the land across the sea so Pettic described a valley he had been through after leaving Monarlisk. The dragons could wait for him there. The journey would take him almost a month so they would need to be patient.

  Pettic set off walking back to the town where he had landed. He tried to work out if the captain he knew would be there yet but he had lost all sense of time while working with the dragons and Harrik. He wished he could let Harrik know what had happened though.

  When he arrived back at the town by the sea he found the same inn where he had stayed before. He asked when the captain was due back and the landlord told him in a few days, all depending on the weather. He settled down to wait and while waiting, he explored the town.

  One day he was surprised to see a man carrying several letters in a bag slung round his shoulders. The man seemed to go to several houses and leave the letters. He asked about it at the inn and the landlord told him about what they called the “post”. It seemed a person could write a letter and then send it by this “post” to be delivered to the recipient.

  Pettic decided he would write to Harrik and tell him what had happened with the dragons. Then he realised the only reason he had been able to communicate was through the magic pendant he was wearing. If he wrote, it would be in his own language and would mean nothing to Harrik.

  On further inquiries he learned of a man who lived in the next street who would, for a small fee, write letters for people who could not write. Pettic hurried to find this man and had him write to Harrik.

  In his letter Pettic suggested to Harrik he somehow try to contact some of the other magical creatures on Ignis and see if a way could be found to get them through a portal to Terra. Then he put the letter in the post.

  Feeling much better about easing what would have been Harrik's curiosity, he repaired to the inn.

  Within two days, the ship he had arrived and docked. Pettic hurried to find the captain to see when the ship would be departing and if he could book passage.

  `Well, we won't be leaving for about a week. I have to give my crew shore leave to visit their families. I too need to go to see my family.'

  `But that is the reason you gave over there!' exclaimed Pettic.

  The captain winked at him and said, `Haven't you heard the one about a sailor having a girl in every port? That's true. Girl, wife, kids! What one does in one port will never be known in the other now, will it?'

  Pettic did not know whether to be amused or incensed by this, so he shrugged and said he would be on the dock in a week's time.

  The week passed slowly for Pettic, but eventually he boarded the ship. They pulled away from the quay and through the harbour entrance and were soon at sea.

  The first few days were calm with a light breeze and sunshine, but then Pettic saw dark clouds rolling in from behind them. The wind rose and he felt the first splashes of rain. The sea began to become choppy, as the captain called it. (Pettic would have called it rough.)

  The ship wallowed in the waves. One minute she was high in the air and the next deep in the trough of the wave. Pettic descended to his cabin, but the motion here seemed worse because everything around him was stationary in the cabin but he could feel he was moving. He began to feel quite ill.

  This went on for what seemed like a week to Pettic, but after a couple of days the storm had blown itself out and the ship was once more on an even keel and ploughing her way towards the further shore.

  The captain said the storm had lost them at least two days, if not more as the ship had been blown slightly off course. As the sailors tried to establish exactly where they were, Pettic worried about the dragons. Would they get impatient waiting for him and begin to cause problems for the population around the valley? He needed to get back to Monarlisk, too, before he decided to eat Cledo. What did Cledo think of him? Did he think Pettic had abandoned him?

  Eventually, five days late, they docked at the original town where Pettic had started. He jumped from the ship as darkness approached and he looked for the inn where he stayed before and booked in for the night.

  Early the next morning, nearly a week later than he anticipated, Pettic left to find the valley where he had told the dragons to wait. He hoped they had found it and he said a silent prayer to whatever deities ruled this world. Dragons were unpredictable to say the least and they could have decided to do anything.

  It took him another six days to reach the valley. When he entered it he could not see the dragons at first and he thought perhaps they had not found it. Either that or they had decided to go off on their own. Then he spotted the movement of something large and red behind some rocks. He called out to them.

  `Crinilisk! Bladmisk! I'm here. Come out so we can talk.'

  The huge form of Bladmisk lumbered out from behind the rocks.

  `We decided to hide if anyone came into the valley,' he said. `We daren't risk our eggs. They're not far from hatching.'

  `What?' exclaimed Pettic. `What happens if they hatch either before you get to the world of Terra or even here? How are you going to get them through?'

  Crinilisk came up and said,' We thought we could wrap them in a cloth, just like the eggs. They'll be a bit bigger, and they'll squirm, but I'm sure Bladmisk can manage them. I can always carry one if necessary.'

  `Look, you sort that out. I have to go to see Monarlisk. First he has my dog and second I want to tell him you're here. Don't forget he has something against you, Bladmisk. You took his mate from him. I don't want a fight on my hands. I'll need all my powers of persuasion to get him to allow you into his territory.'

  Bladmisk sighed. `All right, but I doubt if you can appease him. We might have to fight again. This time it would be to the death.'

  More worry for Pettic. He left the dragons and continued on his way towards Monarlisk's lair with a heavy heart.

  A bark resounded as he climbed up the sides of the volcano. Cledo, regardless of Monarlisk, bounded towards Pettic and jumped up, put
ting his forelegs on his master's shoulders and nearly knocking him to the ground.

  `Steady, boy,' said Pettic, his face nearly split with a grin. `I'm just as delighted to see you. Come on, let's go and take Monarlisk his trinkets.

  The big black dragon was basking in the sunlight outside the cave where Pettic had left him. He raised his head.

  `Well, did you get them?'

  `Of course, or I'd not be back.'

  `Let me see. Ah, yes. Just the things I wanted. I managed to get a few more things while you were gone.'

  He sighed.

  `It'll be a long time before I manage to get a decent hoard.'

  `Monarlisk, I've much to tell you. What I have to say isn't good.'

  Pettik went on to tell the black dragon all he had learned about magic and dragon fertility.

  `This is worrying,' said the dragon. `My species dying out? And all because people are beginning to disbelieve in magic? This is terrible.'

  `There is a solution though, I think.'

  Pettic went on to tell Monarlisk about how he thought the renewal of belief in magic on the world of Terra may offer a solution for, if not all dragons, then at least some of them. He outlined his plan and to his surprise, Monarlisk agreed to allow Crinilisk and his enemy Bladmisk to enter his territory and try to cross into Fusionem.

  `Only if you'll allow me to come too,' he told Pettic. `A mere two dragons will take a long time to re-establish our species on a new world.'

  Pettic reluctantly agreed, not quite knowing how he was to take three dragons and a dog through the portal. Then there was the problem of getting them through the archway when the moon was full in order for them to get to Terra.

  On returning to Crinilisk and Bladmisk, Pettic found the eggs had indeed hatched. He found Crinilisk tearing the flesh of a deer, chewing it and then regurgitating it into the mouths of the hatchlings who were squabbling violently for the meat.

  `It's not unusual for the hatchlings to harm, or even kill each other,' said Bladmisk, pulling a little green hatchling off a red one and preventing it from doing much harm, `but with only three we need to be careful. Usually we don't worry too much. It weeds out the weaklings, you see.'

  Pettic did see, but nevertheless was appalled that a parent could so casually talk of the death of his young.

  `I've talked Monarlisk into allowing you to enter his territory,' he told the two dragons. `He wants to come through with us though. He's promised not to fight you as long as you respect that this land is his.'

  Crinilisk answered quickly, with a mouthful of meat.

  `That's not a problem, is it, Bladmisk?' she said with meaning.

  `I can manage to not fight him as long as he doesn't harm my hatchlings or try to mate with my mate.'

  They agreed and the next day a man and his dog, three adult dragons and three wriggling babies approached the portal.

  Chapter 6

  The party came to the place where Pettic had arrived on Ignis. He recognised the doghead rock and stood looking at where he entered this world.

  He tied the babies into a blanket, ignoring their cries of distress then tied the blanket onto Bladmisk's back. He had told the dragons he thought anyone touching him would go through the portal. At least that had been the case with Cledo on leaving Terra.

  He asked Crinilisk if she would carry Cledo. She agreed, but the wolfhound was reluctant to get on the dragon's back and Pettic had to lift him on, no small task as he was a big dog. Then Pettic tied him on, much to the dog's chagrin, and he struggled against his bonds until Pettic spoke severely to him.

  Pettic told Crinilisk and Bladmisk to come close and Monarlisk to hold onto his jerkin. Pettic then slipped the ring onto his little finger and, putting his arms around the necks of Crinilisk and Bladmisk, Pettic and the group moved towards where the young man thought he had entered.

  As they approached the cliff, a mist seemed to rise up out of the ground. Pettic knew then that this was the place and stepped confidently into the mist.

  He continued walking, half expecting to emerge further down the mountain, but to his pleasure he found himself hugging two dragons in the middle of a ring of stones.

  He had done it. He had brought the dragons through. He looked round and saw everyone had passed, all except for the tip of Monarlisk's tail. That seemed to have been left behind. It seemed there was a limit on what could come through. Still, he had done it.

  It was daylight but, by the sun, it seemed to be late afternoon. The trees were bare so Pettic knew it was winter, but winter of what year? He had no idea how the time had run there compared with here.

  As he tried to think what to do with the dragons, because they obviously could not stay so close to the capital city, he heard a scream.

  `Oh no,' he thought. `We don't need someone discovering us. No one usually comes here.'

  He turned to see Lucenra, with her hand to her mouth, standing with a shocked look on her face.

  `It's alright, Lucenra,' he called to her. They won't hurt you.' He then muttered to himself `At least I hope they won't.'

  The princess slowly approached. `A-are you sure?' she stammered. `They are dragons, aren't they?'

  `No, and yes in answer to your questions. At the moment they need me so I think they'll be co-operative.'

  `What do you mean, they need you?'

  `It's a long story,' sighed Pettic. `I can't tell you here.'

  At that moment, Cledo got fed up with being tied up on a dragon's back and let out a shrill bark.

  `I must get Cledo off Crinilisk's back,' he said, walking over to the dragon and untying the dog. Cledo immediately rushed over to Lucenra and greeted her with licks and jumps. She bent down and fondled him, and he was ecstatic at her attention.

  `I swear he loves you more than me,' said Pettic with mock jealousy. Lucenra laughed.

  `It would be polite to introduce us,' came the voice of Crinilisk. `Is she your mate?'

  `No, she isn't. She's the sister of the Prince I'm trying to rescue,' he told them `Her name is Lucenra.'

  `It's cold here,' Monarlisk complained. `We're creatures of the heat. We don't much like the cold.'

  `It'll be warm where I'm sending you,' Pettic told the black dragon. `You won't be here for long.'

  They came to the conclusion the dragons should go to a valley near to Pettic's castle. No one lived there and so there was minimal chance of them being seen.

  Pettic gave the dragons directions to the valley, with instructions to return here in time for the full moon. He took the blanket from Bladmisk's back and the dragon carried it in his mouth. The hatchlings began to make squeaking sounds and shouted their discomfort as the three dragons flew off.

  `Now I need this whole story,' said Lucenra as they walked back to the city.

  `When we get back,' said Pettic. He looked around. I left in the summer,`he said, 'It seems now winter. Is it the same year I left? You look no different.'

  `It's been a year and a half since you went. Pettic. How long were you on Ignis?'

  `Probably about eight or nine months, what with all the travelling around across the sea and everything. I had to get it all done within a year or Monarlisk would have eaten Cledo.'

  Lucenra's hand flew to her mouth. `Oh, no! she exclaimed 'That would have been terrible.'

  The pair soon arrived at the palace gates. The guard on duty saluted as they passed through. They went up to Pettic's apartment where Lucenra said she would send for some hot water so he could have a bath and be changed before meeting her to talk about his adventures in the world of Ignis.

  Once Pettic was dressed, he went to Lucenra's apartment. Her eyebrows rose as she listened to Pettic's story. She ordered a passing servant to bring the evening meal up to her apartment so they could continue talking.

  She examined the ring and tried it on. She was delighted that it fit her fourth finger, proving that Pettic's fingers were much bigger than hers.

  Pettic enjoyed the evening and realised he had miss
ed Lucenra and her intelligent conversation. Lucenra too had missed Pettic. He had been her brother's friend and companion, but he had spent almost as much time with her. When he arrived he was behind Torren in education and so took many lessons with the younger girl. A friendship developed between them and they still enjoyed one another's company.

  The next morning, Pettic met Lucenra as they had planned and they went to see Blundo. His apprentice opened the door and admitted the pair. The magician stood as they entered and bowed to the princess.

  `Good morning, Your Highness,' he said to Lucenra. He turned to Pettic. `It's good to see you back, My Lord. I can only assume you have been successful or you wouldn't be here. May I presume to see the artefact with the gem?'

  Pettic handed the ring to Blundo.

  `So it was Ignis this time eh?' he said. `I'm all agog to hear about it.'

  The telling took all morning, what with Blundo's questions. He became very interested in the use of coal and steam and thought it might possibly be able to be used on Fusionem. When Pettic went on to talk about how the rise of science seemed to be accompanied by a decrease in magic, he was, being a magician, not so sure.

  When Pettic told him of the infertility of the dragons and their arrival on Fusionem he frowned.

  `Are you sure it was a good idea to bring them through?' he asked. `They're known to be untrustworthy at the least and downright evil at the worst.'

  `I don't think they're actually evil,' replied Pettic. `They seem to me to be very self-centred and completely lacking in empathy, but that's the worst you can say. They also have no idea of honour, of course.'

  `Well they're here, so we must do everything we can to help them get through to Terra.'

  `I think there could be a problem there,' began Lucenra.

  The others looked at her.

  `What problem, Princess?' said Blundo

  `Pettic told us he emerged in a passage in a cave. Suppose the dragons don't fit?'