The Dragon Savior of Tone: World of Tone: Book 2

by A. D. Adams

  Chapter 17 - Old Enemies Emerge

  (Old enemies are the most dangerous and can destroy all, if not stopped.)

  - The Time of the Draman -

  In the Black Mountain, the ancient wizard slowly, and with obvious pain, sat down in his solid black, jeweled chair. He now needed his black gnarled staff to stand or even walk. His crippled body was riddled with the ravages of age. Using his magic, he was able to significantly slow his aging, but he could not arrest it completely. He could not count the number of set of seasons that had passed since the time of the great fights. He was young and strong then, but now his memories were all that was left to him. The room was black except for a small fire and a torch. Above the fire an image of the great land mass hovered. There was one bright light in the image near the coast. He looked at the dwarf holding the torch and told him to go. The dwarf moved, leaving him to his own thoughts.

  “I felt him, but he's still near the coast. The light has not moved beyond the mountains,” he said into the darkness.

  “He is preparing to come,” a deathlike voice said, followed by an odd disjointed laugh.

  “We can defeat him,” stated the old wizard.

  “We! You are the wizard,” the voice said in a laughing tone.

  “You seduced me into betraying my kind,” the old wizard said to the darkness.

  “You wanted power. I gave you the opportunity to gain it and you took it.”

  “I have over a quarter of a million dwarfs in front of the valley path. No number of men and nymphs can defeat them,” the old wizard said with his old enthusiasm.

  “This one is more powerful than any you have fought against, and you are ancient. The dwarfs will be slaughtered with or without your magic. You would need to be at the fight to use the magic you possess. You know what will happen if you leave this mountain,” the voice said with the hideous laugh.

  “No, what will happen?”

  “You will return from whence you came: the dirt.”

  “You will help,” the old wizard demanded.

  “If I can.”

  “If you can. If you can! If I can be killed by this dragon man, you can also be killed by him,” the old wizard said angrily.

  “You are truly a fool,” the voice said, laughing even harder.

  Far from the dark wizard’s cave in the coastal Barrier Mountains, an old woman sat in her cave. She had been keeping track of Terra through the fog. She knew he had started his planning and had pulled together those he needed to defeat the dark one. The fog rolled into the cave and surrounded her.

  “He has contacted the humans and they are now considering their path,” the voice of the many said from the fog.

  “Yes, he will soon cross the mountains,” Telsen, the last of the Solans, told the fog.

  “Do you think he will call upon the core powers?” the many questioned.

  “I don't know, his power is greater than I expected. He may call upon them, but he may not need them.”

  “You think he can destroy the dark one without the core powers?”

  “Perhaps, but I think he may need them in the end.”

  “Can he control all the power he would need to summon?” the voice of the many asked. The old one got up slowly and walked to the chest, where the amulets of the Solans were kept. She opened the lid and the light nearly blinded her and pushed the fog back. She had hung one of the amulets around Terra's neck when his parents had brought him to her for testing all those seasons ago. She remembered at the time that the center of all the other amulets had a very mild orange glow. Now the glow was so bright you could barely look at it. All the amulets together were now nearly as radiant as the sun.

  “The intensity of these amulets shows his magic without even touching the core powers. He may no longer need them,” the old one said to the fog.

  “He will come soon to see you.”

  “Yes, and he will want to know many things,” the old Solan replied.

  Chapter 18 - The Many, Start to Become One

  (Combining many into one may be difficult, but is sometimes needed.)

  - The Time of the Draman -

  Terra and Fienna arrived back at their crevice home. Dawra and Hectise, as well as the Old Sinut and the king of the sea nymphs, were awaiting them.

  “Let us talk in the cave,” Terra said as they all walked in and found various places to sit. Reicka and Faray, as well as the young one, sat quietly in the back of the cave.

  “First, I found the leader of the humans, at least, some of the humans. They call themselves the Guards. They seem to operate in the background. They are now close to taking over the two main human villages that lie on the Lake of Solan. One village is controlled by a king, who rules by violence. The other is controlled by three sisters with enough magic to force their will upon those in the village. These leaders are quite vicious and dangerous.”

  “These leaders, how do they actually control the villages?” Dawra asked.

  “They have groups that follow their orders and apparently attack anyone who does not do as they are told.”

  “The humans stand for such actions?” Dawra said.

  “The Guards have taken steps, which will hopefully take control of these villages.”

  “So, what about them joining us?” Dawra asked.

  “I told them what I was planning and asked them to be part of the fight. I will return in six sun-risings to get their answer. Now, how many dragons will come with me?” Terra asked.

  “We have over three thousand, but the numbers climb as we talk. I think we will have at least ten to twelve thousand within three sun-risings. The question is, how do we organize such a large group of dragons? Dragons rarely work together,” Hectise said.

  “I think I have a plan to control such a group. Once we have most of the dragons that wish to come, we will have to find a place to gather them.”

  “I know a place. It's in a valley not too distant from here. It could hold that many,” Dawra said.

  “Good. I plan to break them up into small groups of twenty-five to thirty. The oldest will be the leader of the groups. We can create levels of leaders. Each level reporting to the next: perhaps three or four levels total. Eventually, we can have half report to Dawra and the other half to Hectise. Then the two of you can come to Fienna for your instructions,” Terra said.

  In dragon society, the older the dragon, the more respect he or she commands. Sex had no bearing on the status of a dragon. Terra knew he had to follow this arrangement to create a structure the dragons would follow.

  “That sounds like a good organization, but why split the dragons into two groups?” Dawra questioned.

  “I may need to split them into more than just two fighting groups. I haven't completely thought out the structure. We may need many groups to fight in many areas at the same time. If we can train them to fight in different sized groups from the beginning, it will make it easier during the actual fighting to control what is happening.”

  “Makes sense,” Hectise said.

  “The dragons will have to be trained to work together,” Terra stated.

  “I think I have a plan to do that. I have watched how fliers group together and how the herd beasts work in groups to protect each other. I think I can use what they do to train the dragons,” Hectise said.

  “Good, but there is one thing I want the dragon groups to do. I need an entire group of twenty-five to fly in a straight line and flame at the same time.”

  “That shouldn't be too difficult, but why do you need them to do this?” Dawra asked.

  “When we fight, I will need them to fly in waves of straight lines and fire the ground. We can use waves of fire to deal with those on the other side of the mountains.”

  “I understand. We will begin to train within the next few sun-risings,” Dawra replied.

  “Good. Now, may I ask if you have contacted the land nymphs?” Terra questioned, looking at the Old Sinut.

  “Yes, I talked to my friend. He s
ays they are ready to fight,” the Old Sinut said, as he adjusted his body on the rock he was sitting on.

  “How many will they have to fight?” Terra asked.

  “Twenty-one thousand and they are fully trained. I don't know how you plan to get to them. I know the dragons can fly, but if the humans join in it will be impossible to get them to the land nymphs' valley.”

  “Yes, I know. I think the humans will have to join the fight at the area where the Solans caused the great landslides.”

  “So you plan to only use land nymphs and dragons for the first fight,” the Old Sinut said.

  “Yes,” Terra replied slowly as his mind began to construct an image of the first fight.

  “How will we get the humans into the fight?” the Sea Nymph King asked.

  “First, I have to get them to agree to join us and then discuss the options with the humans.”

  “Do you think they will join?” the Old Sinut inquired.

  “Some will. The question is, how many. We need to start moving supplies to the valley of the land nymphs. How is the swimmers collecting going?” Terra asked the Old Sinut.

  “Very good. We already have a thousand dragon weights of swimmers smoked and packed. We also have fifteen hundred harnesses made.”

  “Good. Hectise and Dawra, we need the dragons to practice with the harnesses.”

  “Of course,” Dawra answered.

  “I need to meet with the humans in six sun-risings. I wish to take Fienna. I need to make sure Cardana is safe. I have found out about a mountain called Lampo near the sea nymphs' underwater village. It has a cave inside that will be perfect for her protection. I need the sea nymphs to help.”

  “I know of Lampo, but there is no entrance to a cave,” the Old Sinut said.

  “I will show you where the entrance is,” Terra replied.

  “I will personally guarantee her safety. No one will harm her when she is in our care,” the king announced.

  “I plan to take Fienna and Faray on a short trip in two sun-rising. Upon the next sun-rising, I would like to go to Lampo. Sinut, can you and Setilan come at high sun?”

  “Yes, we will be here.”

  “One final thing, these plans are just a start—they will change as time goes on. Thank you all for coming.” Terra told all present.

  Dawra, Hectise, and the Old Sinut left to start their various tasks. Terra and his family went to the small back cave for some privacy.

  Chapter 19 - Humans Start a Journey Home

  (Returning home can be a long and arduous journey.)

  -The Time of the Draman -

  Naron stood in the large cave alone. He walked to the elevated shelf in the front of the cave. Soon, eighteen of his sub-commanders would be arriving. Only Rubbo and Carlik would be missing. They had orders to take the Village of Southlake, for the man that had appointed himself king had drowned. His floater had sunk, as expected, during the attempted attack on Solana.

  Naron knew the news of the Draman, and that the pending fight would cause some joy, but also fear. He had made his decision, and they would fight with the Draman. He had been planning how to bring the Guards together for the upcoming challenge. It wasn’t long until the cave was full and Naron stepped onto the shelf with his staff.

  “Let's quiet down, we have much to talk about. I have called you together to tell you that the time has come to cross the Barrier Mountains. It is time to take back the land that was once ours. The Draman has come!”

  The room went dead still. It had been hundreds of set of seasons since the humans had come to the coastal valleys. It was hard to believe that it was finally time to take back that which had been taken from them.

  “How do you know this?” Teliko asked. Teliko was a man that was both a coward and corrupt. Naron had planned to replace him soon, but wanted to wait for the next growing season to end. Teliko had appointed his sister and brother, as well as his brother-in-law, as his lieutenants. They were all using their positions to extort money from the people they were assigned to help and protect. He had known about their activities for two sets of seasons. It took Naron a bit of time to get his spies in place to find out what was truly happening and who was involved. The possibility of breaching the mountains and the great fight had forced him to deal with the problem now. So he had Teliko bring his lieutenants with him to the meeting. They were being arrested as he was speaking. Teliko would be taken after the meeting. He had picked his replacement, who was waiting in the adjoining cave where he could hear what Naron was saying.

  “That is a fair question. As you all know, the legend of the Draman has been with us from the time we came to the coastal valleys. We all thought it would be a woman, and the term Draman was not understood. I believe I now know what the term means. Rammy will tell you of the man she brought to see me,” Naron said, as he stood before them with the staff he normally used to support himself. Rammy came to the shelf and stood next to her father. She then told all those in the room of the man and how she came to bring him to her father.

  “This man told us that he planned to breach the mountains and deal with the dark one. He said Tone is dying and all of Tone's children should come to its aid. He was going to fight for Tone's existence with or without our help. I have decided we will provide all we have. For we all know that Tone is dying! We all have seen the planters struggle more each year to grow enough to feed us all. The wild running beasts have decreased in size and numbers. This may be the last chance for all who live on Tone,” Naron stated. He did not tell them that since the healing he somehow knew this man was the future of Tone.

  “What convinced you that he is the Draman?” Telico asked.

  Naron tossed the staff aside and bent down with both his knees, then stood up without help or pain.

  “I know because he healed my leg. Then this man stripped and turned toward us. Embedded in his chest was the amulet of Tycarr. Eight of the stones were lit; only the ninth was still dark. He told us he would return in seven sun-risings and stepped off my viewing ledge. When we looked to the waterfall's base, a great white dragon rose out of the mist. The dragon flew up to the ledge and hovered before me. With the voice of the man that had just healed me, the dragon said again that he would return. Upon the dragon's chest was the same amulet with the same stones lit. He is the Draman- a man and a dragon,” Naron said.

  “Then it is truly time for the world to change?” one of the people in the back asked.

  “Yes. He will be back soon and we need to start our planning. It's time to open the tunnels and prepare our weapons and food supplies. I have written instructions for each of you.”

  “We heard the floaters have left the two villages. Is there any news of them?” asked Kinen, the sub-commander over Solana.

  “I had a floater follow them and as they started their fight upon the lake, our modifications caused the boats to sink. Luckily, the so-called king of Southlake was one of those who died. The three sisters, unfortunately, still exist,” Naron said.

  “What of Southlake?” Kinen asked.

  “Rubbo and Carlik are taking the village as we speak.”

  “And Solana?” Nolla questioned.

  “We will take it after Southlake is under our control. I hope the Draman will assist us with the sisters.”

  “Do you think he will help?” Nolla asked.

  “I hope so. We have much to do and little time to do it. Rammy has your instructions, let's get started. Telico, could you come with me?”

  Naron and Telico walked into the adjoining cave where two large guards took Telico and tied his hands.

  “What is this, what are you doing?!” Telico yelled.

  “I know of your corruption and that of your family. You will be judged and, if found corrupt, you will pay the price. Take him to the confinement caves,” Naron said, as he shook his head in disappointment.

  “Zim, you will take Telico's place. Please see Rammy, she will give you the written instructions on the preparation for the fight that is
about to come. She will also give you a list of people who were involved in Telico's corruption. I'm sorry that you will have to deal with them. I will deal with Telico and his lieutenants,” Naron said in a troubled tone.

  “Thank you for your trust in me. I assure you, I will deal with the corruption. My area will be ready for the fight,” Zim said as he offered his hand. Naron took his hand and shook it, giving him a small smile.

  Chapter 20 - A New Life for Faray

  (Leaving home for the first time is both frightening and exciting.)

  - The Time of the Draman -

  Terra walked out of the back cave where he and Fienna slept. He found his mother and sister sitting with Sifar. He needed to discuss with them the possibility of Faray coming with him to see the final living Solan. Terra did not want to upset Sifar, who had attached himself to the two women. The first time Terra had met him, he was full of energy and a constant stream of questions. He was friendly and incredibly curious about the huge man. Terra found him both amusing and helpful. The young one now said nothing and would never be out of the sight of at least one of the women.

  Terra walked up to Sifar as he pulled back into Reicka’s side. He reached toward him and Sifar cringed in fear.

  “Sifar, he only wants to be your friend. Don't be afraid.” Reicka took one of his hands and held it out towards Terra. Terra touched him lightly. He could sense his terror and pain. Terra reached into Sifar's mind and calmed him. He gave him a feeling of security and love. He did what he could to heal the young one's mind. Terra had never healed a mind in such turmoil, and hoped he had done the proper thing. Sifar's mind became calm; he fell into a deep sleep. Since the killing of all those he knew, he had not slept for more than a few moments without terrible dreams awakening him. Now Terra could talk to his mother and sister.

  “What did you do for him?” Reicka asked her son.

  “I did my best to heal his mind. I hope I reduce the terror he seemed to be drowning in, but he will always have the pain. I can't fix the loss of his family. I remember when I came to the dragons; I never forgot my loss of you and father. It just became less and less painful over the seasons.” Terra said, as his mother hugged him with tears in her eyes.”