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

by A. D. Adams

  Chapter 46 - The Trees

  (Trees, a wondrous form of life.)

  - The Time of the Draman -

  At first light, Rammy left with the dragons. Terra knew she would have everything ready when they arrived. After her departure, Terra led the unusual group of fighters down the mountain's edge once more. The line of dead trees slowly crept closer to the mountains as they moved toward the dwarf village. The dark clouds and the lightning also were coming closer to them all.

  They stopped for the sunset and the dragons stayed in the mountains. They were not fond of lightning. Dragons could withstand a lightning bolt, but it was very painful and often left scars on their hides. Many older dragons had several such scars.

  During the next sun-rising, the tree line finally came close enough to walk to. They stopped just before sunset. Fienna had Terra eat a large meal before he tried to heal the trees. The land nymph wizard felt the magic change. He had only felt this when Terra was using his power. He sat in front of his small fire and contacted the Old Sinut. As he came into view, he saw Terra walking out to the tree line.

  “Something is happening,” the old wizard told his friend.

  “What?”

  “The magic is swirling around this area. Terra is walking out to the tree line.” The Old Sinut's image turned toward Terra and they both watched as he reached the trees and stood between two large dead trunks.

  Terra reached out his hands and touched one trunk with each hand. He reached inside himself to call upon his healing power. He felt his power flow from his core to his arms, but he knew he needed more magic than he had ever used before. He did not know if his body could provide the amount of healing the trees required. He began pushing his power out to his hands when he felt the magic flowing all around him. He knew there was other magic in the world, but he never paid much attention to it. He felt the surrounding magic, but he never needed it so he ignored its existence. In his mind's eye, an image formed of a multicolored fog surrounding him.

  All the fighters watched Terra and saw his central body begin to glow orange. The orange color flowed into his arms and then to his hands. The color spread to both tree trunks and then moved down to the roots. Then the color moved up into the dead branches. As the entire upper portion of both trees began to glow, the ground at the base of the two trees seemed to begin to light up.

  Terra began to push his healing power out to the trees. It felt much different from when he healed beasts. He could normally feel the bones and the muscles' knit together. The trees were different they were hard like a rock. As he applied his magic, he felt the wood soften as water was drawn into the thin hollow areas within the wood. The wood then began to swell and life slowly seeped into the trunks.

  As this was happening, he forced his healing into the upper branches. The water was pulled into the branches, and they slowly became a bit less stiff. He felt the intertwined roots leading to other trees. His magic traveled from root to root until nearly a hundred trees were glowing.

  Terra felt his magic reaching its limits. He delved into himself deeper until he touched the core of his being. He had not touched that part of himself since Fienna had been taken from him. He suddenly realized that was when he first tapped his true magic, the power that made him what he was. He reached into that power and his true strength opened to him. He forced it out into the trees. He felt his magic flow out in all directions. He could feel not hundreds of trees, but thousands, filling with life. Finally, he was reaching even his new limits. He slowly lifted his hands from the tree trunks, dropped to his knees, and sat back, resting to regain his strength.

  The old wizard watched as tree roots glowed so bright they shone through the soil. It reminded him of the veins on the back of his hands. After a hundred or so trees were glowing orange, the color stopped spreading. He looked to Terra and suddenly the glow from his body became so intense that it was nearly impossible to look at him. The entire area was now lit as bright as high sun. Then the glow spread out through the trees in all directions at once. In what seemed an instant in time thousands of trees lit orange as far as the eye could see.

  Fienna saw Terra drop to his knees and sit back. She ran to Terra, placing her arms about him. His clothes were gone, vaporized by the power of the magic. The trees remained lit and the dragons could see the magic still spreading. It looked like a fast moving fire as the blazing orange color spread from tree to tree. The underground web of intertwined roots blazed their light through the soil like a great web of an eight-legged spinner.

  “Does he have the power to heal a world?” Xillan asked the two wizards as he approached them. The old wizard looked up at the land nymph commander.

  “We don't know,” the old wizard replied.

  “He is far more powerful than I ever expected,” the glowing image of the Old Sinut said.

  The elves and their king watched in utter amazement at what this Draman had just done. Only one of the elven wizards had come with the king. The other had remained behind to help protect the mothers, children, and old ones. The elf wizard could not even imagine the power needed to do what this being had just done. He told the king that no one had ever possessed such magic. This Draman was perhaps the most powerful and dangerous creature on Tone. He made it clear to the king that betraying this human, or whatever he was, would quite likely mean the death of all the elves. He had no magic that could stop such power.

  Fienna helped Terra stand as ten guard dragons landed before them. Several hundred-land nymphs rushed to surround the dragons. Fienna helped Terra walk to their sleeping area. The dragons had heated several large rocks red hot as Terra sat down. He was tired, but not completely exhausted. In the past when he used large amounts of magic, he could barely move. He was becoming more powerful and recovered much faster than in the past.

  Fienna gave him food, and then he fell asleep in her arms. Few, if any of those whom had come on this fight, slept that sunset. They had seen something that was beyond reason or possibility. No one would ever forget the sunset the trees came back to life. They all watched the trees slowly losing the orange glow. In the distance, the lightning increased in intensity, but each time the thunder rolled across the treetops the orange color brightened throughout the trees.

  At first light, the trees were showing small leaves and buds. The orange glow had mostly faded, but a greenish glow was replacing it. It may have been the sun reflecting off the new leaves, but it was the first life appearing in this land for many a season.

  Terra woke with Fienna's dragon eyes staring at him. He was still tired, but he felt much better and he was very hungry. Fienna sensed his hunger and bellowed one word, “FOOD.” Everyone and everything stopped and food became the only priority. Soon, Terra had enough to eat for three sun-risings. He ate what he could and drank as much as possible. He got up, looked at the trees, and saw they had started to come back to life. He hoped he had done enough to keep them going for a few sun-risings. He needs time to recover, before he could do such magic again.

  Terra rode upon Fienna that sun-risings' walk; she would not allow him to walk with the fighters.

  Chapter 47 - Rammy Returns Home

  (Returning home is sometimes wonderful and sometimes hard)

  - The Time of the Draman -

  Rammy arrived at the caves with her escort of dragons. They would stay, as ordered by Terra, to protect her. She walked into the entrance and made her way to her father's cave. There she found her father with Nolla and Rubbo. They were planning how to move the fighters through the tunnels.

  When he saw Rammy, he opened his arms as she approached and hugged her.

  “I have missed you,” he whispered into her ear.

  “I have missed you too, father,” she replied.

  “What news do you bring?” Her father said as he released her.

  She told her father of what had happened at the dwarf’s village. She then described what had occurred with the elves and Terra's plans. She informed him that Terra wante
d him to open the tunnel to the dark side of the mountains. Finally, she explained the preparations needed after the tunnel was opened.

  “How does he intend to eliminate the avalanche debris?” Naron asked his daughter.

  “I wanted to explain that separately from what I told you earlier about the fight at the dwarf village. As I said, Terra led the fight by flying out first. He said a word and whatever stood in the direct path of his voice was vaporized into dust. It didn't matter what it was, dwarfs, rock walls, soil and weapons turned to dust. Living creatures turned into a mist of blood. It was frightening to watch. Nothing survived. The ground shook and the air stood still. I never felt, heard, or saw anything like it. The dragons called it death by word, I called it utter destruction,” she told her father.

  “I assume he intends to use this magic to destroy the rock and soil of the avalanche?” he asked.

  “Yes, I believe so. He made it clear that he wants no more of us to be harmed than absolutely needed. There was one other thing. He plans to take all the deaths upon his own spirit. He wanted no one else to take that much death upon themselves. He's not like any leader that I ever met. I, and all those who follow him, have become devoted to him and his cause. Yet he has no desire to command anyone,” she told all at the meeting.

  “Such individuals are rare. There have only been a few in the history of Tone. We are very fortunate he is here to help us, not destroy us as that dark wizard,” he told her.

  “Can we meet his deadline?” Rammy asked.

  “Yes, we can break through in less than one sun-rising. We have the food lined up in the tunnels and our fighters are ready,” Rubbo explained.

  “I think we should build some barriers to seal off the valley's entrance,” Rammy thought out-loud.

  “I think I could come up with something. It would have to be moved through the tunnels and set up as soon as we break into the valley,” Nolla said.

  “Good, you work on that and we will prepare the fighters and the movement of the food,” Naron stated, as he looked over the ancient maps before him. The maps had been copied and recopied over the long seasons. Naron did not know if they were still accurate or if they could be of use. Much effort had been made to keep them for the time when they would return to the far side of the mountains. Naron would bring them, needed or not.

  Chapter 48 - Trees Fight Back

  (All living things can defend themselves, even trees.)

  - The Time of the Draman -

  Another sun-rising of walking had been completed. The sun began to drop below the tops of the mountains as Fienna returned to her human form. The trees were now within twenty dragon lengths of the edge of the mountains. It was barely enough space for the fighters to walk through.

  The leaves upon the trees were now nearly full size. It was incredible to watch the trees leaf out before one's eyes. The dark clouds were close to the mountains, perhaps three thousand dragon lengths away. As they settled into their sleeping areas Terra noticed a few lightning bolts off in the distance, but the thunder seemed different. It sounded like it was echoing, but the land was flat without valleys that normally were needed for such sounds.

  As the light faded, the trees showed a low green glow that flared each time the thunder rolled across the land. Terra had noticed as they traveled that there seemed to be larger trees scattered through the thousands they passed. Terra wasn't sure if they grew during the sunset or they had always been there. The larger trees were growing taller and did not seem to have normal leaves. Instead, these trees had thousands of green, thin, sharp blades on each branch.

  The fighters watched the darkness come upon the land. The blades upon the larger trees were glowing brighter than any of the others. The lightning slowly increased and grew closer to the mountains as the darkness overtook the light.

  As they all watched, the large green trees began to glow brighter and small greenish sparks flickered at the ends of the green blades. Suddenly, a large bolt of grayish-white lightning exploded toward the trees from the dark clouds. A large tree flared and formed a green bolt of lightning, which reached up into the sky and struck the descending sky bolt. A huge explosion of light and sound came from the clash of the two great bolts. The entire area lit with blinding light, as all movement froze in an instant of illumination. Small, harmless greenish sparks showered down like rain from the explosion.

  During the sunset, this scene repeated itself time and time again. No one slept that sunset, due to the thunderous sound rolling across the land, which then reflected back off the mountains. The continuous flashes of blinding light also made it near impossible to sleep. Toward sun-rising, the lightning finally subsided and slowly moved back away from the mountains.

  The leaders met with Terra at first light, seeking his thoughts of the sunset's activities.

  “I believe it was an attack by the dark one. He must have thought he could get the lightning close enough to strike at us. He didn't count on the trees developing a defense against his lightning. Life seems to be able to learn and the trees now can protect themselves and fortunately us,” Terra told the group.

  “Do you think he will try again?” the elf king asked.

  “Of course he will. We are reclaiming the lost land and now the trees have come back to life. He must realize that he is in a fight that could end with his death,” Terra replied to the king.

  “Nothing will stop the elves from fighting until all of Tone is freed from his influence,” the king said as the others looked at him with doubtful expressions on their faces.

  “We have two more dwarf villages to eliminate. After that, I must personally deal with the dark one. No one can help me with that.” Terra said in an oddly sad voice. Killing was still obviously loathsome to him.

  “Do you think the trees will continue to help us?” a fairy asked in a small squeaky voice from a dark enclave in the rocks.

  “They will help, as they can. I can feel them gaining strength, but they have limits,” Terra answered.

  Chapter 49 - A World Returns - An Old Wizard Panics

  (As an enemy advances, an old wizard fear grows.)

  - The Time of the Draman -

  The next several sun-risings went smoothly except for the lightning attacks each sunset. The trees seemed to become stronger every sunrise. The attacks stopped on the third sunset. Although a few lightning bolts happened during sunlight, they were fewer and weaker. The sun seemed to lighten the clouds causing the lightning to lose its strength.

  The trees now had a full leaf cover. The low green glow from the trees had disappeared, but the trees were now so green with leaves that the sun reflected green colors onto the land. Small plants had started to come through the soil below the trees. The once damaging rain from the dark clouds now fed the trees with needed water.

  At first light, Terra turned into his dragon form. He took off with Fienna to look over the fighters and dragons. He flew high and could see the trees had greened for as far as the eye could see. He also saw lightning explosions in the distance. The trees were still fighting the lightning attacks. They seemed not only to be holding their own, but also perhaps winning.

  He landed and changed to his human form. Terra, with Suti at his side again led the fighters on their long walk.

  The dark wizard sat in front of his small fire. Above the fire was an image of the landscape surrounding his mountain home. He could see that only about a third of the millions of trees had started to green. Unfortunately, each sun-rising thousands more showed life. He had no idea how this was happening. He could not penetrate the magic that shielded that being.

  He moved in to view the lightning attacks. He saw the large sparkling trees shooting green lightning up to meet the sky lightning. Even when a bolt of sky lightning made it to a tree, it only caused mild damage. On top of that, the damaged trees were completely healed by the next sun-rising.

  “Do you see what is happening?” the old wizard said to the darkness.

  “Yes, I see,” th
e voice said from the darkness without its odd laughing tone.

  “How is it possible? Did he do something?” the wizard asked.

  “ I assume he is healing the trees.” The voice replied in a concerned tone.

  “Do you know how much power that would take? It's more than I have.”

  “Yes. I would say he is significantly more powerful than you are. What do you plan to do?” the voiced asked with a little of its laughing tone returning.

  “Me! You have more power than I.”

  “True, but he does not know I exist. He is coming for you, not me,” the voice replied with the sarcastic laugh returning.

  “Perhaps the dwarfs can stop him,” the wizard said in a mumble.

  “They will delay him, not much more,” the voice replied.

  “The Dark Solan is on her way. She can help.”

  “The witch will never make it, the trees will deal with her. They have already cut her path off. You will have to face him alone,” the voice said with an ugly laugh.

  “Trees can't kill a Solan,” the old wizard said. The voice just laughed in response.

  Chapter 50 - A Solan Meets Her Victims

  (Those you harm may come back to harm you.)

  - The Time of the Draman -

  The Solan had left the dwarf village and moved toward the dark mountain as soon as she could. She feared meeting the one who had destroyed the other Solan. She had to stop each sunset due to the rough terrain. At first, there was no change in the land. The trees were as dead as ever. She had come to the gap between the curved mountain range and the large black mountain in the distance. She moved into the dead trees that lay between the coastal mountains and the home of her master.