by Mark Robson
‘But . . . I don’t understand,’ Pell spluttered. ‘Without the Oracle dragonkind will die.’
‘No!’ Segun snapped, his pale eyes flashing with uncontrolled anger now. ‘That’s what the Oracle would have us believe. Why that meddling spirit has denied us our rightful place in society has been a mystery for centuries. The Oracle has had the dragons under its spell for too long. They are blinded by their loyalty to it. The truth is, dragon-kind will expand and flourish without the Oracle. Dragonkind will rise to dominate the world. No more dragon hunts. No more disrespect. None will dare stand against us. You must end your quest for the orb. The Great Quest must not be completed, or dragonkind will be tied to further millennia of servitude.’
Segun’s anger and intensity was intimidating, but despite the aura of power he emanated, Pell felt the fire of anger responding in his own belly. Of all the night dragon riders who could have been chosen for the Great Quest, the Oracle had found him worthy. Not Segun, nor any of his cronies, but Pell, rider of Whispering Shadow. It was his moment of glory and he was not about to give it up without a fight.
‘But what if you’re wrong?’ Pell asked through gritted teeth. ‘What then?’
One of Segun’s lieutenants sucked a sharp intake of breath between his teeth and Segun’s eyes widened with surprise before narrowing into thin slits that spat fury. There was a scrape of wood on stone as some of the men began to get to their feet, and a flash of steel sent Pell’s mind reeling. ’Ware ye the knife . . . ’ware ye the knife . . . The words of the Oracle’s verse echoed. As his eyes flicked to the knife that had appeared in the man’s hand, he flinched.
Segun’s hand signal to his men commanded an instant response. The knife vanished back into its sheath and the men sank back to their seats. Pell’s heart was racing as he carefully let out the deep breath he had instinctively drawn. Rather than shrink away from Segun’s potential wrath, Pell drew himself to his full height and looked him straight in the eye.
‘I am not wrong,’ Segun said softly, his voice beginning as barely more than a whisper, but rising rapidly. ‘Who do you think you are, Pell? You are nobody. Nobody! And you will remain nobody unless I decide to make you somebody. The Oracle has outlived its time. It must be allowed to die. Will you defy my will?’
‘It seems that somebody must,’ Pell answered, setting his chin forwards at a defiant angle. ‘I was chosen. It’s my destiny to find the orb. I can feel it. Though it saddens me to admit it, my companions were right – you cannot be the “brave ones” I seek. I shall direct my efforts elsewhere.’
He turned to leave.
‘Murvan!’ Segun’s command was loud and gained an instant response. The door flung open and six burly men marched in to block Pell’s exit. He turned back to face Segun, who was now the only person still seated. His lieutenants were already in motion around the table. Pell was surrounded.
He knew better than to try to fight his way out. He was big for his age, but still tender from his fall and there were a dozen fully-grown men here.
‘So what are you going to do now, Segun?’ Pell snapped. ‘Have me killed and my dragon will go berserk. You don’t want to see what she’s capable of when she’s angry.’
Segun smiled, but there was more cruelty than mirth in the expression. ‘I have no need to kill you, Pell,’ he said. ‘You’re not worthy of the attention that death would bring you. Don’t worry. You’ll be released soon enough. Right after we destroy the night orb. Maybe then you’ll see sense and take your place amongst our ranks as we ride to forge a new order across Areth. Take him to a holding cell, Murvan.’
‘Yes, my Lord.’
‘You won’t get away with this, Segun,’ Pell warned.
‘That’s Lord Segun to you, boy. And believe me when I say that I will get away with whatever I wish. The Age of Dragons is coming, and I will be its architect.’
Chapter Eight
Warm Stones and a Fresh Start
As Nolita took the orb from the saddlebag, the light level in the chamber brightened slightly. The orb felt almost greasy in her hands and she shuddered at the sensation. All attention was on the great chasm. A sigh like the breath of a dragon preceded the arrival of the Oracle. The misty being surged from the depths in a swirl of smoke-like vapour that twisted and twirled in a mesmerising pattern before resolving into the great dragon’s head-shape they had seen during their last encounter.
‘Ah! The Orb of Blood!’ The Oracle’s voice rang in the minds of the riders like a giant bell. ‘I knew ye would not fail me, Nolita. Well done. Well done indeed! Come. Cast it into my well.’
Nolita stepped forwards with the crystal globe cradled in her hands. Although she knew it was irrational, especially as she disliked handling it, she felt suddenly reluctant to part with it. Thoughts of what she had endured to gain it flashed through her mind: the terrors of the Chamber of the Sun’s Steps, the horror as the orb sucked the blood from her fingers, and the dangers posed by the giant snake and the ravening pack of dogs. The orb was a liability, but despite this it felt strangely precious. It represented an achievement greater than anything she had ever dreamed possible – the conquering of her deepest fears. A moment ago she would have been glad to hurl it into the black depths of the great pit, but now . . .
It took all her resolve, but Nolita stepped slowly forwards to the edge of the well. The figure of the Oracle towered above her.
‘Go on, Nolita,’ Elian urged, mistaking her reluctance for fright. ‘There’s nothing to be afraid of here. The Oracle needs the orb. Throw it in. Get rid of it and we can move on. We’ve still got three more to find.’
‘Do it, Nolita. Be free,’ Firestorm added in the secrecy of her mind.
Nolita closed her eyes. She stood at the edge of the great well, but she felt no fear. Her heart felt free from its grip for the first time in a long while. If there was anywhere in Areth that she felt totally safe, it was here in the presence of the Oracle. So why was she hesitating? Taking a deep breath, she drew the orb momentarily to her chest and then pushed it away from her, opening her fingers to release it. There was no sound of its passage into the depths. No distant crash of smashing crystal. Nothing. She opened her eyes, half expecting to see the orb miraculously suspended in midair, but it was gone.
‘Ahhh!’ sighed the Oracle. ‘The first part of the quest is complete, but time is against ye and there is still far to go. Pell has strayed from the path, making your journey ahead both longer and more perilous. He has followed his heart, rather than my words. Do ye know where he has gone?’
It was Elian who answered. ‘To the enclave of the night dragons,’ he said. ‘He should have sought out the griffins. We learned this from Barnabas, but Pell misinterpreted your riddle.’
‘Indeed he did,’ the Oracle intoned. ‘And also ignored my direction to work together. Now we may all pay the price for his misjudgement, for he will alert Segun to the quest. The night dragon leader would have ye fail, and see me pass away for ever. He and his followers will look to stop ye by any means they can. They think to free dragons from the life purpose I bring, but they do not understand its importance. Without purpose, dragonkind will descend into anarchy. All that dragons have achieved in Areth will wither and fade to dust. There was a time when each dragon type looked to one of my race for guidance. Now I am the last of my kind. Agree with me or not, dragons no longer have a choice if they are to survive. The burden lays heavily on me, but I urge ye – complete the task without delay.’
Nolita shivered. Her part was done, but she was still trapped. There was no option for her to stand aside and let the others continue without her. In truth, whilst the thought of more dangerous journeying chilled her, the idea of being left behind with Firestorm was worse. Mastering her fear was one thing, but she had come to rely heavily on Elian and Kira for support and encouragement. To face her fear of Firestorm without their company was unthinkable.
‘What will Segun do?’ asked Kira.
‘I believe he w
ill attempt to reach one of the orbs before ye and destroy it,’ the Oracle replied. ‘If his efforts fail, however, beware. Segun is ruthless, and his inner circle follows him with unthinking loyalty. He will not hesitate to have ye killed if he feels it necessary.’
‘So we should go straight to the griffins and get the night orb before Segun has a chance,’ Kira said, looking around at Elian and Nolita for confirmation.
Elian met her eyes and gave a quick nod of support.
Nolita, however, remained staring at the Oracle. ‘No,’ she said slowly. ‘That road is not open to us.’
‘What!’ Kira exclaimed. ‘Why not?’
‘Nolita is correct,’ the Oracle confirmed. ‘Ye must find Pell before ye continue the quest. Only the appropriate dragon and rider can retrieve each orb. Without Pell ye will fail.’
Kira muttered something unintelligible under her breath, though Nolita did not need to hear it to know the language was not polite.
‘Then we’re going to have to visit the enclave of the night dragons,’ Elian said thoughtfully. ‘Shadow is fast. Pell could be there by now, but if we go through the gateways, we won’t be far behind. I believe it’s safe to assume that Pell won’t be subtle with his enquiries. He’ll go straight to Segun. Let’s assume the night dragon leader will understand the riddle enough to recognise “the brave ones” as the griffins. Given what the Oracle has told us about him, what do you think Segun will do with Pell, Kira?’
Kira thought for a moment. ‘Lock him up,’ she said. ‘It’s the obvious solution. Fang agrees with me. He thinks Segun will have Pell confined somewhere that Shadow can’t reach him, and then go after the orb himself.’
‘Thou speakest sound logic, Kira,’ the Oracle confirmed. ‘It is as I have foreseen. Ye must go. Time is as much your enemy as any other. Ye must rescue Pell and attain the night orb before Segun can destroy it. Good luck.’
With this there was another breathy sigh. Dragons and riders alike watched with fascination as the misty apparition folded inwards, sinking back into the unfathomable black depths of the circular chasm. The light in the cavern dimmed slightly with its departure, leaving them all momentarily entranced and staring at the great well.
Kira was first to snap out of it. ‘Come on. Let’s get going,’ she said.
Nolita could not help but admire her. She wished she could find Kira’s strength and courage. Life would then be very different. The dusk dragon rider strode off up the ramp towards the mouth of the cave. There was an air of determination surrounding her. Elian turned to Nolita and waited for her to join him before stepping out to follow Kira. Nolita gave him a smile. He was so polite. She was sure he imagined himself as a knight of the air. There was a naïve nobility about the way he approached everything. She found it rather sweet, but knew he would need to grow up fast if they encountered Segun and his henchmen. Rumour had it that the night dragon riders did not stand on ceremony. They stopped at nothing to meet their aims. A sense of honour was fine, she concluded . . . up to a point.
When they reached the mouth of the cave, the mist outside seemed thicker than before.
‘Do not worry, Nolita,’ Firestorm said, his voice inside her mind startling her. ‘I can lead the way safely to the campsite we used after our last visit here. The flight will not take long.’
She did not answer. Any flight, no matter how short, was traumatic. Every time she got airborne there seemed to be new dangers to face, or think about, to say nothing of the inner battle she had to fight with her fear to climb into the saddle in the first place. Despite the Oracle’s words of praise for her success, and the pleasure they had brought, she still felt like an onion in a fruit bowl.
Nolita knew that even in fine weather they could not fly far or fast enough to find Pell and win the race to the night orb without using Aurora’s gateways. A shudder rippled down her spine. The thought of visiting the strange world on the other side of the gateway again was not a pleasant one, but there appeared little choice.
‘Come, Nolita. It’s time we went. The others are ready.’
Firestorm was right. Her fellow riders were already mounted. She closed her eyes, gritted her teeth and sucked in a deep breath.
‘There’s no way out of here other than on a dragon’s back,’ she muttered to herself. ‘It’s the best reason you’re ever going to have to climb into the saddle, so get on with it.’
The intimate shock of contact with Firestorm’s scales as she scrambled up his side was as disturbing as ever. Nolita had thought it would dim with time, but the experience seemed as intense now as it did that first occasion in the Chamber of the Sun’s Steps. Tears hovered in the corners of her eyes as she settled into the saddle and slotted her feet into the stirrups. Would it always be this difficult? she wondered.
Firestorm waited until he was sure Nolita was ready and then he ran forwards and launched off the ledge into the milky white air. As he had promised, the flight was short. The other two dragons stayed in close formation, one on either side until they descended to the familiar meadow by the wood.
As they dropped the final few spans, visibility improved and Nolita felt as if they were falling from a dream into the real world. To her surprise, she found she was soaked as she dismounted. She had not felt rain within the misty air, but moisture had seeped through her jacket, leaving her feeling cold and clammy.
Kira organised the rebuilding of their campsite with businesslike efficiency. Nolita found it hard to motivate herself to begin with, but the realisation that the sooner she completed her tasks, the sooner she could sit by the fire and dry out, provided the necessary mental nudge. Kira insisted on adding enough layers to the roofing of the shelter to ensure that it was unlikely to leak on them in the night. Nolita refilled all the water bottles, and then worked with Elian to find enough firewood to see them through the night.
Before long, they were all sitting around the fire, drying their boots and jackets. Kira lashed branches together with twine and made a makeshift clothes-horse on which they draped their soaking jackets. She had also sent Elian to fetch three large round stones from the stream to warm next to the fire.
‘The stones will hold the heat of the fire for a long time,’ she explained. ‘If we wrap our spare tunics around them and place them at the bottom of the shelter when we go to bed, they should keep our feet warm tonight. It’s a trick one of the hunters in my tribe taught me for staying comfortable when it’s damp and cold.’
That night was the most comfortable Nolita had ever spent outside of a proper bed. When Elian woke her just before dawn it was raining and miserable, but she felt surprisingly positive. It was amazing what a difference having warm feet made to her night’s sleep.
The shelter had not leaked, so they awoke dry and warm. Nolita felt so good when she woke up that she crawled over to Kira and gave her a hug. Kira looked embarrassed, but pleased.
‘I’d hug you as well if I wasn’t worried about that knife of yours,’ Elian told Kira, giving a cheeky wink from the other side of the shelter. ‘Those warm stones were a great idea. I think I’ll start doing that every night, whether I’m camping or not.’
‘I wonder what an innkeeper would think of that,’ Kira said, clearly amused by the notion. ‘Come on. We’d better grab something to eat before we go through the gateway. There’s no telling what time it will be on the other side, or whether we’ll get a chance to eat while we’re there.’
‘At least we won’t have to worry about being chased by dogs now we’ve got rid of the orb,’ Elian said thankfully.
‘True,’ she replied. ‘But that other world’s so full of danger there’s no telling what’ll happen. It feels like we’re starting the quest all over again, and I suppose we are in a way. Here – let’s make it a fresh start on a full stomach. Have some bread and cheese. There’s not long until dawn.’
Pell was seething. He crouched next to the door and peered through the keyhole. It had taken a while to calm down from his initial fury. His hands hurt
from where he had pounded the door of the cell with his fists, and his throat was sore from yelling at the guards who had dragged him here. His rage had passed, but now his mind went over and over his options. He did not have many.
There was not much to see through the little hole. The passageway outside was lit, but his field of vision was severely limited. He could hear men talking quietly outside the door. ‘Guards probably,’ he realised. ‘But what makes them think they need to guard this door? It’s so solid there’s no chance of my breaking through it.’
They had not left him a light within the cell, but after a time his eyes had adjusted to what little seeped under the door and through the keyhole. The room was tiny – about two paces square, with nothing inside but a low cot with a rough rush mattress on one side and a small hole in the floor on the other. Given the stench emanating from the hole, it was clear this was his toilet facility. The smell made him want to vomit. What are the night dragon riders thinking of? he wondered. I don’t get it. Why have they got such a disgusting little cell in the enclave? Surely Segun doesn’t lock riders up regularly for having quests he disapproves of?
His best chance of escape was to get word to Shadow. He had tried calling to her, but she was not answering. She must be too far away, he thought. But how long will it be before she realises something’s wrong?
Even if Shadow did work out that Pell was in trouble, what could she do? There was no way for a dragon to get here. The passageway was too small, and he was being held deep within the rock. His only hope was to get to her.
There were two potential avenues of escape. The first involved fooling the guards, or overpowering them – neither of which seemed likely. The second was for someone on the outside to come and rescue him.