The Black Opal

by Linda Jordan

  Mira dropped her reins, sliding clumsily off Shadow’s back. She turned to see Dylan walking towards the dragon, pulling Freddie out of his T-shirt.

  The dragon looked at him warily, but lay still, as if waiting for him to come closer.

  “Dylan, no. Come back here!” Mira started to run to him, but Edward grabbed her around the waist and held on firmly.

  Dylan turned to her briefly to say, “Sick tummy.” He kept walking toward the massive creature.

  The dragon lay with its head down. Dylan toddled up to it, laying Freddie on top of one of the dragon’s front legs as if he did this sort of thing all the time. He reached out to touch the red nose. The dragon groaned, then closed its eyes in apparent pain.

  Mira tried to move forward, struggling against Edward’s grip. The pooka nodded towards Dylan. She watched Dylan hold one side of the dragon’s head, trying to cradle it in his arms. Slowly the dragon rolled over onto its side, the spiny back facing Mira, the hind legs and tail convulsing. Dylan disappeared behind the dragon.

  Mira tried to get free from the pooka. Even if the dragon meant no harm, if it simply stood up, it would squash Dylan.

  “Wait,” said Edward.

  Mira felt a vibrancy arise from behind the dragon. She never before had felt such strong healing energy. It flowed smoothly like water.

  She felt her mouth hang open. Amanda came and stood next to her, apparently equally astounded.

  The dragon’s tail lashed. Grass and dirt flew up from the ground near the tail, but the dragon kept the rest of its body still. It bellowed in agony, shooting fire along the ground, scorching a trough through the meadow grass, narrowly missing the horses. The mares whinnied in panic and moved back. Then the huge beast began to tremble.

  With great relief, she saw Dylan stumble out from behind the dragon’s head, and totter away from it. He threw up vomit, neon, oily green. With a shock, Mira saw it coalesce, then writhe away into the grass. The dragon gave it a look of horror.

  Edward finally released her. Mira sprinted towards Dylan. The dragon stood up clumsily, shaking itself like a horse after a good roll in the dirt. It stared with unfocused eyes, but seemed free of pain.

  “Dylan, are you okay, honey?”

  “Kay now,” he said. “Hungry”

  Chapter 18 - Mira

  Mira watched Edward move towards the dragon and bow so deeply his long ears brushed the ground. He stood upright and asked, “Are you recovering now?”

  “Yes, thanks to the little one. Otherwise I would have died.”

  “What happened?” asked Edward.

  “Poison,” growled the angry dragon, glaring at the remains of a deer-like creature.

  “Who would dare to poison dragons?” asked Edward.

  The dragon stared at him and said, “The Queen’s Sorcerer.”

  “Why?” asked Edward.

  “We declined an alliance with her.” The dragon cocked his head at him and said slowly, “She wanted us to lay waste to the World of the Enigmatic Pearl and the World of the Flaming Ruby. We refused to participate in such useless destruction.”

  “Have others been poisoned?”

  “I do not know. I must find out,” said the dragon. He gently picked up Freddie with one set of front claws and walked clumsily towards Dylan, the ground reverberating beneath his weight. Dylan took Freddie and clutched the stuffed dinosaur to his chest. He stared at the dragon with a look of awe and delight on his face.

  The dragon said, “I am in your debt, little one. I am called Barinthus. A most gracious thank you,” he said, bowing his head so that it touched the ground and went lower than Dylan’s.

  “Welcome,” said Dylan, bowing as gracefully as he could in return. Then he ran forward and hugged part of the dragon’s snout not being able to reach his arms all the way round his head. The dragon made a sound somewhat like a chortle.

  “I must warn the others. Will you continue following this road?”

  “Yes, we are going to the City of the Black Opal,” said the pooka.

  “I will return and find you. Spend tonight within the stone circle up ahead. I will see you are safe and meet you this evening.” He spread his huge wings and leapt into the air.

  Mira felt the ground tremble beneath their feet. The dragon flew almost as fast as a small jet, his bright scales glittering in the light.

  Mira and Amanda stared at each other, then looked at Dylan. He seemed a little better after Mira gave him some bread to chew on. He had taken the poison from the dragon into himself and expelled it. She had no idea he could do such a thing.

  “Have you done this before, Dylan?” she asked.

  “Help dwagon?”

  “Yes, you helped the dragon. You saved him. Have you ever helped anyone else like this?”

  “Yes,” he said, then paused and said, “No.”

  Mira realized Dylan had tried to figure out what she wanted to hear. Magic wasn’t okay in their family, he had already learned, even though she’d been watching him summon faeries.

  They started riding again. She asked Edward, “How could they be sure only dragons would get the poison?”

  “Antelope are a delicacy for dragons and as dragons are occasional scavengers they often eat freshly killed animals, but I doubt very much if the Sorcerer cares who else ate the poison,” he said. “If the poison did not work, they would kill them another way.”

  “Are there many dragons here?”

  “In this part of the world alone, there are around fifty,” his voice was tinged with sadness. “Maybe another couple hundred within one or two days flight. Their numbers are diminishing. It is possible the Queen is slipping further into madness, we have feared this might happen if she did not relinquish her throne to another. Humans are not made to carry that much energy for so long. That is why they pass it on to others after a time.”

  Periodically, they saw huge birds circling over the hills. Edward identified them as vultures. She hoped dying dragons didn’t lay below the birds’ circles.

  An occasional dragon flew overhead. At least she thought they looked like dragons. They flew so high it was difficult to tell.

  “Do you know where the stone circle is the dragon talked about?” she asked the pooka.

  “Yes, we should be there soon.”

  “Will we be safe there?”

  “If Barinthus said we will, then we will,” Edward said, stoically.

  Mira wondered if all pooka were close mouthed or just Edward. She really wanted to know more about him, but he was so evasive. She didn’t know where to begin or how to ask. He fascinated her and she wondered about him constantly. She watched him lope alongside Shadow, his fur ruffled by the breeze, human-like speech, but beast-like exterior. The more she learned about this world, the more questions its inhabitants brought up.

  After about half an hour the circle came into view. It sat upon the top of a butte, which grew up from the surrounding plains. Around its base the main road circled, like a roundabout. They climbed the hill following a smaller, straighter road.

  They passed through an outer circle with a single row of tall, deciduous trees, all of which looked identical. A football field away stood the stone circle. When the dragon said he’d meet them at the stone circle, she’s envisioned something like Stonehenge. This only partly resembled it. While Stonehenge lay in decline, this circle felt new and still in use. Fabric weavings hung on poles, the bright colors flapping a little in the breeze. The stones were huge, almost identical, spikes of the same glossy, almost transparent, black rock from the canyon they’d stayed in a few days ago. Unlike Stonehenge there were only vertical stones arranged in a perfect circle with no capstones. Another football field would have fit inside. At the center there lay an enormous flat rock with massive stairs carved in it. “The speaker’s platform,” Edward called it.

  “What is the purpose of this place,” she asked.

  The pooka looked at her in amazement, then must have realized his rudeness. “I keep forgetti
ng you are not from this world. This is a gift to the land to thank her for taking care of us. It is also a gathering place for celebration. For instance, in the spring humans, pooka and others, bring the new ones here to be blessed by the community.” Edward removed his backpack, put it down on the grass and shook himself out much like a dog after swimming.

  “Are there any towns nearby?” asked Mira, leaning up against a cool, slippery stone.

  “No. We are still a traveling people at heart. We follow the herds and the seasons. This is a place we would travel to at the turning of the seasons. The differing tribes and peoples would meet here to honor this land and to celebrate and trade with each other. There used to be only a few settled places in our world, the City of the Black Opal the largest one. Although humans and pooka are becoming more settled, it does not necessarily reflect the wisest choice for our world.”

  What would it be like to live always on the move, with all the people you knew and loved? Always seeing new things or revisiting old ones? How would that change your outlook about life and what held importance?

  They ate their usual meal of bread and dried meat then made up their beds. As she wove through the trees casting a protective circle, against whatever spirits the Queen might send, the tremendous magic which lingered in this place entwined with her energy field. The enchantment grew so strong, Mira felt her skin tingling. She felt invigorated.

  As they groomed the horses, she realized Amanda had hardly spoken all day long. Amanda watched her brush Shadow. “What?” Mira asked finally.

  “Nothing,” said Amanda, her jaw tightening.

  “No, it’s not nothing. What is it?” she asked.

  “I don’t trust him.” She nodded over at Edward playing hide and seek amongst the stones with Dylan.

  “You don’t trust him with Dylan?”

  “I don’t trust him with us,” said Amanda, glaring at her.

  “After what he did last night?”

  “Just what did he do last night?” asked Amanda, her hands on her hips. “He disappeared and then returned when the coast was clear.”

  “Amanda, he was the huge demon who saved us,” she said, astonished her sister hadn’t worked that out. She felt indignant. How could Amanda be so stupid?

  “Did he tell you that?”

  “No, I didn’t ask. I didn’t need to.” She pulled hard on a tangle in Shadow’s tail and the mare stomped her hoof. “Sorry,” she apologized to the horse. “I’m not mad at you,”

  Amanda said, “Oh, I see. You’re so brilliant, you know everything. Well, let me tell you. I don’t trust him because he’s up to something. He’s not being entirely truthful, that much I do know. I don’t trust the dragon or anyone else in this place either. Not even you. I just want to get the hell out of here.”

  “Aren’t you forgetting something, like your soul?”

  “I’m doing just fine without it!” Amanda threw down her horse’s brush, stomped off to her bedroll, lay down and covered herself up.

  Mira continued brushing the horses, trying to let go of anger and frustration at her twin. Aste had warned her Amanda would be uncooperative, but Mira hadn’t expected combative. Most irritating was the knowledge that Amanda was right. Edward wasn’t being entirely truthful, he hid something.

  As twilight approached, a glowing dragon arrived. It was all sleek and silver. Mira caught the smell of fish and seaweed. The soft ground shook slightly as the dragon landed. Its head stuck inside the stone circle through the upright stones.

  “Hello,” the dragon said, in a silky voice.

  Edward stepped behind her and inclined his head. Mira took his gesture to mean she needed to be in charge here.

  “Hello,” she said, noticing this dragon’s head had wobbly, flesh-like appendages hanging from the massive head, almost like dreadlocks.

  “Barinthus sends his regards and said to tell you he will be here soon. I have come ahead to make sure you are safe before night descends.”

  “Thank you,” she said, bowing low as she saw the pooka do earlier. It seemed normal to bow to a creature as regal as this. “What is your name?”

  “I am Bastye.”

  Soon there came another thump as a chartreuse, lumpy little dragon landed and stuck its head into the circle. Then a tall, dark purple dragon with two heads landed very clumsily and both its heads went around an upright and into the circle, this one exuded the aroma of cedar trees. She wondered if the smells came from where they lived, from what they ate or if the dragons simply created the aromas. She hadn’t noticed one from Barinthus, although he’d been sick.

  More rumblings and thumpings came as other dragons arrived. Each dragon looked different from the last. A melange of colors, shapes and even sizes. They spoke amongst themselves behind the stones, gathering like a flock of hens, gossiping about the newcomers and the events of the day. When they all began to glow it looked like fireflies on a dark night. She felt overcome with awe.

  Mira was entranced by the dragons. Until Edward went over and spoke to the two horses, she hadn’t realized Shadow felt terrified. Mira finally caught images of dragons diving from the sky and horses, or were they unicorns, being ripped apart with claws and teeth or roasted to death by flames. She wondered if Shadow had survived such an attack or if it existed as some sort of racial memory. Edward laid his hands on the mares’ foreheads. As he did, they lay down and seemed to fall asleep. Mira felt no energy flow from him, what he did was extremely subtle and focused.

  Standing inside the stone circle was like being twirled in the middle of a gaudy, glittering, Christmas light display. Everywhere she looked glowing dragons moved. They were so colorful, one the orange of a pumpkin, another the color of lilacs, yet another a respectable teal color. Every now and then one would pull its head out of the circle to make room for another to see. They each seemed to glow at will, as if they could turn it on or off. Some looked like dragons from European fairy tale books; others looked like the dragons from fancy Chinese pottery. Soon the entire circumference of the circle filled with dragons, vying for views of the outlanders.

  Maybe the dragons had never seen people from other worlds before. That would explain their curiosity. She’d certainly never seen a dragon before today.

  Mira glanced over to see that Amanda had crawled out of her bedroll. She and Dylan looked equally captivated. They kept turning in circles and looking at all the beautiful dragons.

  Mira felt a fast wind blow behind her and the ground shook again. Right in the middle of the circle Barinthus landed. None of the other dragon seemed to carry three colors at once. Sometimes Barinthus would only be one color, then he’d add another, then he would be all three at once. It was dizzying trying to find a pattern to his color changes. She wondered if any of the other dragons could change color.

  “Greetings, everyone,” he said, flapping his large, translucent wings. Did moving his wings in a certain way, convey meaning as well?

  “I have gathered all of you here to make an announcement. As a result of the deaths of Mirrasau and Esooth and the attempted poisoning of several other of us, we have cast our votes. It is unanimous, this weir is at war with the Queen and her sorcerer. The other weirs will give us their answer within the next day. Only if the Queen leaves her throne and gives us the Sorcerer shall we reconsider.”

  She felt saddened to hear of the deaths of two such amazing creatures. Why were the three humans and Edward here for this announcement? What part did they play in this secret?

  Barinthus continued, “Tomorrow shall be a burning day. We will take Mirrasau and Esooth to the heights and weep and flame for them one last time. Then we will know whether the other weirs join our fight and will plan our strategy. Let anyone beware who is near the Queen in the next several days. Our vengeance will be swift and painful.”

  The air around her filled with smoke and heat. Until the breeze cleared it, she could hardly see. Dylan clung to her leg, not understanding the words, but from the serious look on his face, Mir
a realized he got the message. Amanda stood close by, as did Edward. She could feel his warm breath on the top of her head and his furry leg behind her hand. His fur felt very soft. He said, “This will certainly get things moving.”

  Barinthus’ scales glittered even more and he began to glow with excitement. He reminded her of a spinning mirror ball. The noise from the other dragons died down. “These three humans and this most noble pooka have done me a great service. The littlest one of them took the poison into himself and healed me. The other three are on a mission that can only help us. If they are in need of any assistance, I ask you to help if you are able.”

  The dragons stomped their feet and Mira felt like she stood in the middle of an earthquake. She was afraid the stones might fall. How deep in the earth did their roots grow?

  The meeting broke up shortly after. The dragons all had a last look at them, especially at Dylan. He seemed to hypnotize all of them.

  Barinthus came to over to speak. He said, “Thank you again, for saving me,” to Dylan. “As I said, I am in your debt.”

  Dylan nodded and then looked up at Mira. She said, “He doesn’t speak well yet, but I’m sure he’d say, ‘You’re welcome,’.”

  The dragon turned to her. “I understand what you are trying to do. We can give you until Aine begins to wane, four days. After that, your attempts will be useless. We will attack at dawn on the fourth day. If you have failed, you must be out of the castle by then. We will destroy it.”

  “Would you destroy the Black Opal?” asked Edward.

  “No, that we will save so the breath of this world can continue. Too long have we left the responsibility of caring for the worlds to humans. It is long past time we returned to our work of weaving the fabric of the worlds together. But we will destroy the Queen, her sorcerer and her army. As I said, if she names an heir, we will reconsider. The Sorcerer is forfeit.”

  Barinthus lashed his tail and his eyes lit up with anger. “It is time for sleep now. I will guard you. I must think.” Other dragons watched the outer circle, waiting for the Queen’s spies to appear. He curled up in the center of the circle and seemed to be asleep, except that his eyelids were cracked slightly open.