by Adams, A. D.
“Why have you come? You owe me nothing,” Terra said in all sincerity.
“We all owe you our lives. That is not nothing! We will always be available to help you whether you wish it or not. That is the way true dragons repay a debt.” They all shook their heads in agreement.
“Perhaps I will simply not go. That would eliminate the problem,”
Terra said with disappointment in his voice.
“That would be a great insult to all dragons. You must go. You are the only non dragon to ever be invited, and you must go,” Dawra said with a great deal of conviction in her voice.
“I would rather insult the dragon gathering than cause injury to any other living thing. That is my way,” Terra said with as much conviction.
Sith broke in, “It may not be necessary for you to stay away. We have a plan. You see I found out that Voltac plans to attack you before the gathering actually starts.”
“So you wish me to what?”
“We have found a cave near the gathering place. In fact, you can see the entire bowl from it. When it is time for you to fly over the bowl, we will signal you and Fienna. You both will fly from the cave to the bowl and then land with the rest of the presented. They would not disrupt the gathering.”
“It sounds reasonable. What do you think Fienna?” Terra said with interest.
“We will do it, but I want to see the cave before we agree.”
“We can go now if you wish,” said Gopo with the excitement of the young.
Terra mounted Fienna, and they made the trip to the gathering bowl.
Gopo flew over the bowl to a cave in a mountain that shaded the volcano. Fienna finally agreed to the plan. It was set that Fienna and Terra would arrive the sunset before the gathering and go to the cave.
The other four would arrive the morning before and would fly the area on a regular bases to assure that they would not be found out. Dawra would arrive when she normally did and would explain her daughter and Terra would arrive shortly.
Terra was not thrilled with the plan, and over the next several sun-risings had to be convinced by Fienna to even go. He truly felt the best defense against such a threat was to simply avoid it. Fienna finally convinced him to go. They arrived the sunset before as planned and were met by the four. Fienna and Terra entered the cave as arranged and waited. They could see the other four fly the area several times before sunset fell. The next morning they watched as the dragons gathered.
Terra watched through Fienna’s eyes since she could see the dragons in much more detail than he could. Then they saw Voltac with several large males landing on the highest peek along the edge of the bowl.
They were obviously watching for the arrival of Terra and Fienna. As time passed, the bowl edges filled with dragons of all descriptions and sizes. There seemed to be more dragons than usual, and you could almost hear the talk about Terra being presented. The same ancient dragon, Stino, started the gathering, and the fly over was begun. Lina signaled Fienna to come. Terra mounted Fienna, and they flew from the cave. Fienna glided toward the bowl in a slow wide arc. Voltac saw them as she merged into the young dragons. He bulged and took off from the peak with four other males following. Six other males came out of the sun and dove into the bowl. Before Terra could do anything, the attacking dragons began to flame. Flames were hitting the new dragons flying in the presentation. The young dragons became confused and began to hit each other. The three in front of Fienna collided going down in a heap onto the ground. A group of four on the other side of the bowl also went down. Terra looked up at the group coming out of the sun. The sun seemed to fade, and the dragons came into focus. The word “STOP” was heard, and the six males were hit with a blast of invisible force. They all were blown back fifty dragon lengths. The bones of their bodies could be heard breaking under the power of the sound. All six fell scattering across the bottom of the bowl. Voltac was flying straight at Fienna and Terra. The four that took off with him scattered and flew in all directions trying to get away after they saw what had happened to their six companions. Terra looked straight at Voltac, and a word flashed into his mind. He used it with his sounder’s power. In a low and melodic tone, he said the word,
“SILLA”. In that instant, time seem to slow. The world seemed to stop.
Animal, sea creature, and fliers all seemed to be frozen. The word was everywhere in the bowl at the same time. It was not overpowering; it was just there. Voltac and his flame seemed to freeze in mid air. The flame dissipated into nothing, and Voltac’s body slowly became blurred, and then there was nothing but a cloud of dust. The dust held the shape of the dragon for a moment and then simply drifted to the ground. Then it was over. No more flames, no more attacks. The overwhelming silence was finally broken by a low and sorrowful cry from Terra. His feelings of sadness from what he had done seemed to penetrate every dragon at the gathering. What seemed a lifetime was only a moment. Fienna landed near the first group of injured young dragons. Without a word, he went from one to the other and healed them. Then Fienna took him to the second, and he did the same. Finally, he stood in front of the six that had attacked. A great voice came up from all the dragons of the gathering. “Leave them to Die”. Terra raised his hand and said so that all could hear. “I cannot. I have hurt too many.
I will not harm more.” Without a word, he healed each of the six dragons.
He then mounted Fienna and said in his sounder melodic voice. “I am sorry for what has happened here. I will leave and never return. I hope you can forgive me for the death of the mad one that attacked.”
Before Fienna could stretch her wings to take off, the other dragons in the gathering began to bugle “Stay, Stay, Stay” until the sound was beyond the hearing of all.
Stino landed in front of Fienna and Terra.
“It seems they want you to stay. If you had not killed him, we would have. You are now a dragon, and nothing can change that.”
“Are you sure you wish me to stay?”
“I have been told you have lived with dragons all your life. You must know when a male challenges he will forfeit his life if he loses. Voltac challenged and died for it. The others will be punished for their part.”
“No, I do not wish any more pain to be inflicted because of this incident. I wish to forget it ever happened.”
“If that’s what you wish. Take your place on the cliff while we complete our gathering.”
Fienna flew to a low cliff, and the four dragons that had come with them landed around them in what seemed to be a protective stance.
When the Gathering ended Fienna, Terra, Dawra, and the four flew into the winds.
Chapter 48 - The Word Heard by All
(A Secrets End.)
351 set of seasons since the coming of the Averons
The old woman was sitting in her cave in front of her fire. She tired easily and even though it was a warm sun-rising, she seemed unable to get her old bones warm. She had opened the old wood box where she kept the long forgotten books of the Solans. She was just about to open one in her lap when a powerful force overcame her body. She was frozen for an instant, and she felt as if all her magic had been drained from her. The book fell to the floor as she gasped at the power of it. She slowly regained her strength and in a whispering voice, she said to herself. “By the magic, he called the powers together.”
She just sat there shocked by the realization that he had called upon the core powers. It had never been done. At least as far back as her knowledge went. The fog rolled into the cave and surrounded her, and the voice of the many spoke.
“What happened? Was it him?” the voice of many asked.
“It had to be; no one else could call that kind of power not even that bastard human wizard. I don’t know what he did or how he could do it.
It should take a great deal of training to call together that kind of force,”
the old one said in an oddly curious and concerned voice.
“His power is greater than we thought. He�
�s uncontrollable by us!”
the voice of many said with in almost a panic.
“He was never under our power. Any human who could survive what he has is beyond us,” said the old one.
“It is time to start watching him. Can you find him?” said the voice.
“Let me try,” The old woman concentrated on the flames in the fire and slowly a picture emerged. It was the boy standing in the middle of an extinct volcano surrounded by thousands of dragons. He was at the gathering of dragons. He was being accepted as a dragon. The old woman’s mouth fell open, and the voice said with surprise.
“How can this be? To survive with one or two dragons is one thing but to become a dragon in name is impossible. They hate all but themselves.”
“I know. We have underestimated his power. He is more than we ever expected. Much more.”
As the old woman pondered what she was seeing, the fog swirled around her.
In an underwater cave, the Old Sinut sat concentrating on a series of tubes boiling away. Even though he was underwater, the liquids in the tubes stayed separate from the water. As he worked, he suddenly became weak and was unable to move for a moment. It was as if a wave flowed over his body taking all his strength and magic with it. He floated in the water for several minutes before he recovered enough to move. He had never felt anything like it. He had no idea what had happened. He slowly drifted over to the black pool and steadied himself until he felt well enough to try to find his old friend. Finally, he was strong enough and began to concentrate on the black pool. Slowly, the old nymph came into view. He was sitting in his cave reading when the Old Sinut form came together slowly in front of him. The old one looked up.
“Are you all right? I can hardly see your form,” he said with concern.
The Old Sinut told his old friend the story of his weakness.
“Were you affected?”
“No. I think I may know what happened. It is in one of my old books.
Let me get it.”
The old nymph searched around in an ancient looking chest until he found a book wrapped in an odd silver-colored cloth. He brought the book to a table in the corner of the cave and slowly unwrapped the book. It was gold-colored and had an odd raised symbol on the front.
“This is the book of Dag. It’s written in the ancient tongue. I read something about what you described somewhere in it.” He slowly opened the book and turned the gold pages. The print was red, blood red. He turned page after page until he came to the one he wanted.
“Ah, here it is. It says that a Draman can call the magic powers of Tone together and use them as he wishes. Others would be stripped of their powers while he absorbs them all. It says nothing else.”
“What is a Draman?”
“I don’t know. I’ve read this book and all the others in this chest, and this is the only reference to the term Draman.”
“It’s mentioned in one of our old books too. This human boy is a Draman. He did this, but why weren’t you affected,” the old Sinut said while scratching his ghostly chin.
“He may have not called enough of the power to disturb the magic this far away,” said the old one.
“Yes, perhaps. I am weak. I have to go, I will talk to you later.”
“Yes, rest my old friend, you don’t look well.” the old one said as the ghostly figure faded.
At the heights of a giant black and foreboding mountain, a huge cave entrance opened into a large and shadowy interior. A beautiful woman dressed all in black was standing in the center of the cave near a large table wrapping a silver black cord around a great black shaft with a black jewel on it’s end. She was tall with golden-colored hair, but her eyes were a solid black with no white at all. Her skin was pale white, and her beauty seemed ageless. A hideous great black flier, two men high laid in the cave’s entrance preening itself. It was the largest of the great Averons with two black bands separated by a yellow band around its long neck.
Suddenly, the woman felt so weak she dropped to her knees, and the staff fell from her hands. She was frozen as her hands hit the table. It lasted only a moment, but the weakness stayed with her. The great flier let out a cackle and jumped to its feet. It hopped to its mistress, screeching, and cackling all the way. As it came close, the woman started to get up. Finally, she was able to stand by supporting herself from the table with both her hands. She put out her hand to stop the flier’s almost insane noise.
“I’m all right, Witic, my pet. Go back to the cave entrance.” With the sound of her voice, the flier calmed down and slowly moved back to the entrance always keeping an eye on its mistress. On the wall of the cave hung an amulet; she just now noticed that it was glowing. It had done nothing since the four Solans; she stopped in mid thought as the glow diminished. She weakly walked over to the amulet. She had not been able to even touch it since that sun-rising, so many hundreds of seasons before. Pain would shoot through her when she tried, but perhaps now. She reached for it, and a bolt of energy burnt the tips of her fingers. She shouted with pain, “What is happening!”
Chapter 49 - The Dragon Healer
(Helping New and Old Friends Is Always a Pleasure.)
351 set of seasons since the coming of the Averons
Terra had been in a deep depression all the way home from the gathering. He had killed a dragon. None of the dragons present did anything but trumpet his great victory over Voltac, but Terra had gone into sadness so deep that Fienna was worried about him. She had never felt sadness like that, and she realized that Terra had a deep and overwhelming loathing of harming anything. When they returned to the cave, Terra went to their secret pool in the cave’s recesses. He stripped and dove in. He stayed there until sunset saying and thinking nothing. When he finally got out, Fienna felt a bone chilling cold. Terra was half frozen from the water; she was in the outer cave giving him some time. When she felt the chill through his body, she rushed to the pool. There she found him laying naked and shivering on the edge of the pool. She immediately heated a rock near his small body. She was angry with what he had done and let him know it. He finally warmed up, but he refused to leave the pool area. Sunrise after sunrise he stayed near it in a profound depression. He would only see Fienna, and he seemed to be better only when he was physically touching her. Slowly, she convinced him to come into the main cave and then finally the lake.
She swam with him and his natural joy seemed to return. Dawra knew of Terra’s sadness although she didn’t understand it. He was incredible during the fight. His power was overwhelming. Any dragon would have been proud, but he was different.
Since the gathering, a few dragons that had been injured were coming to Dawra to ask how to find Terra. She told Fienna, and they decided that no other dragons should know of their home because Terra was not capable of healing anyone in his present state. So Dawra told those who came that she would contact them when Terra could heal again. Terra finally agreed to meet with the injured dragons. It was unusual for dragons to ask for help since they trusted virtually none, even their own kind. They would prefer to suffer rather than ask for help. This didn’t seem to stop the mothers with their children from coming. Finally, a place on the beach was setup where he would come the sun-rising after the half moon. All dragons knew when and where he came, and dragons of all sizes and colors started to come. Almost all were female or their dragonettes. The four that had helped him at the gathering had since moved into caves around Terra and Fienna’s home.
They would help to protect him when he was healing. Fienna didn’t much like this, but they never came to the crevice and disturbed them.
Only her mother, Lowlack, and Setilan came to their home and were welcomed. As the full moon risings passed, Fienna and Terra’s lives became more settled and routine. Fienna now went hunting without him. Not often, but once in a while, and he was able to be alone. He liked this but only for short periods. He truly preferred to be with her and she him.
Terra had rarely been called to come to an injured drago
n, perhaps because they were so solitary creatures. Injury due to accident was the primary way dragons died, usually alone. A bad storm had just ended, and the almost black rain clouds were slowly moving inland allowing the sun to penetrate through small gaps in the clouds. Terra had gone to the lake and was lying on the small beach Fienna had created. Fienna was in the cave doing something. He was finally feeling better. He had realized that Fienna was right, and there was no choice but to kill. Terra always liked the effect of the light rays passing through the small holes creating a moving illuminated area on the ground. As he watched the clouds move across the sky, he saw a small figure of a dragon approaching. Even from this distance, he could tell it was Dawra. She was in a hurry. Instead of slowly spiraling down, she flew straight into the crevice and landed on the flat rock in front of the cave opening. He walked up to Dawra just as Fienna was coming out of the cave.
“There’s been a bad accident. Kindel, a young female with a dragonette, was blown into the cliffs not far from here. She’s near death. I was there, and she looks bad.”
Fienna looked at Terra, and he nodded his head. “We’ll come,” she said.
Terra mounted Fienna and followed Dawra to the broken body of Kindel. As they spiraled down, he could see four dragons gathered around the injured dragon. She was the most badly injured dragon that Terra had ever seen. It was amazing she still lived. There was a cut as wide as his outstretched hand all the way to the bone that went from her neck to her tail along her breastbone. Her tail was bent and broken open with extruding bone. Her neck was similarly broken. One of her left wings was completely mangled with parts of the bones missing. Her right wing was only slightly better. Terra could see up the side of the cliff where she had hit and the bloody trail down the rock to her present position. He dismounted Fienna and walked over to Kindel. She was in agony. Terra had no idea where to start, so he walked to the enormous gash down her breast. He put his hands on either side of the gash, and they started to glow. First, he took as much of the pain away as he could.