The Dragon's Egg

by Pauline M. Ross

  The humming changed, to a loud kind of hiss. If I’d been alone, I’d have turned and fled, as fast as my legs could run. Standing still with those things shrieking all round me was as hard as anything I’ve ever done.

  “Hush,” Drusinaar said. “They won’t hurt us. They’re happy to see us.”

  “Look at them,” Hanni gasped. “They’re… everywhere.”

  It was true. They oozed out of holes in the walls and the ground was covered with great heaps of them. It would be impossible to walk without treading on them. How could we possibly get past them? It wasn’t in my nature to turn aside from a challenge, but these things were too alien for me.

  “We could go back,” I said, but Drusinaar had already set off, weaving through the heaps of the writhing creatures, but where she couldn’t avoid them, she simply walked over them. The humming changed to a deeper note, with an occasional high-pitched squeal.

  “They’re hideous,” Hanni said mournfully. “Do we have to go past them?”

  “If we want to find the egg chamber, yes. But you don’t have to come, Hanni. You can wait for us here.”

  “Let you leave me alone in the dark with those… things? Certainly not!”

  So, hesitantly, we crept after Drusinaar. The flickers shifted and rolled and flashed their tiny lights, but they did us no harm. I didn’t know exactly how they worked, but I was pretty sure they could have killed us in a heartbeat, if they’d set their minds to it. If they even had minds.

  At the far side of the cavern was another archway, and beyond it a straight tunnel which was mercifully free of flickers. As we reached it, I heaved a great sigh of relief. I hadn’t even been aware that I was holding my breath.

  Hanni muttered some Tre’annatha incantation under her breath, clutching her silver necklace.

  “It’ll be easier on the way back,” I said bracingly to her.

  She stared at me in horror. “Back?”

  “Of course. How else are we going to get out of this place?”

  That brought another outburst of Tre’annatha. I tried not to laugh, but she was so easy to rile. Poor Hanni.

  Drusinaar had got some way ahead of us, but she didn’t need the light from the lamp for the way was clear. A straight, smooth passageway, and at the furthest end, a blue glow. My heart sank again. After successfully negotiating the flicker cavern, what new threat awaited us?

  Another cavern, smaller than the last, the centre of it filled with a pool of vivid blue, so bright that the light filled the cave. Around the side, irregularly shaped openings in the wall – our route to the egg chamber.

  Drusinaar was standing at the edge of the pool, gazing into its depths. The surface reflected like a mirror, so that it was impossible to see beneath the surface. Impossible for me, anyway, but something held Drusinaar mesmerised. As I watched, she slowly raised one hand, and held it out horizontally above the water.

  “Drusinaar?” I said. “Do you see anything in the water?”

  No answer. She swayed slightly. In a panic, I grabbed the back of her wrap to stop her falling in.

  “Come away from the edge,” I said.

  Still no answer.

  “Drusinaar, you’re making me nervous.” Fear sharpened my voice, and she turned, a dreamy expression on her face.

  “There’s nothing to be nervous about. We’re home now.”

  “Home? You mean the egg chamber? That’s down one of these tunnels. Shall we try one of them?”

  “No. I want to stay here. It feels… nice.” Again she hugged herself.

  “Ah. The magic. Is the pool magic?”

  “The pool, the flickers, the refuge. The whole mountain is filled with it. Can’t you feel it, Garrett?”

  I had trouble answering her. My throat was tight, suddenly. She’d used my name! After all this time, she’d finally called me by name! I couldn’t speak, so I shook my head.

  “It’s everywhere,” she said. “All around us. When I breathe in—” She took a long breath. “—I inhale it. The flickers are full of it. This pool – the vapour is full of it.” Another long breath. “It’s wonderful. I feel wonderful. I almost feel… whole.”

  Almost. Such a small word, but what did it mean? Maybe if she stayed here, inhaling magic, she would become truly whole. Maybe she wouldn’t be broken any more. What a glorious prospect! And if she would call me by name, and look at me—

  “What is she saying? Why is she so close to the water?”

  Hanni’s shrill voice cut across my thoughts. She was puffed from rushing to catch up with us.

  I sighed. “The magic makes her feel better. She says this whole place is full of magic. I can’t detect it myself, but—”

  Drusinaar spun round, slipping out of my grasp, her smile lighting up her face. “Here – try holding this. It might help.”

  And before I could protest, she’d reached into her wrap and pulled out the glass ball. With a laugh, she grabbed my hand and tipped the ball into it.

  “There! What do you feel now, Garrett?”

  My name again! Mesmerised, I stared at her, the face so familiar and yet so different.

  “Can you feel it?” She was so eager to share it with me, but to my intense disappointment I could feel nothing. Not magic, anyway. Just a bubble of happiness that this place, strange as it was, had found a way to reach the girl inside that blank outer shell.

  Again, I couldn’t find the words, so I just shook my head.

  “Oh.” Her face fell. “Nothing at all?”

  “Let me try,” Hanni said, holding out her hand.

  Drusinaar turned to her with a puzzled expression, as if she’d forgotten who Hanni was. Well, I felt that way myself, sometimes. I’d look at her and wonder exactly why she was there.

  “No.”

  Hanni’s eyes narrowed. “What? But you let him hold it. Why not me?”

  “He’s my friend.”

  “Well, I’m your friend, too,” Hanni spat. “Who rescued you from the authorities at Drakk’alona? Who got you to Mesanthia? And is this all the thanks I get for looking after you?”

  “You want the eggs,” Drusinaar said coldly. “You don’t care about me or Garrett, you only want the ball and the eggs. So you can go back and be a queen.”

  For a moment, they glared at each other, two very different women. Hanni was clever and beautiful and had taken me into her bed, yet meant nothing to me. Drusinaar was, even now, not fully human, yet I would willingly have died to protect her.

  I held my breath. One word, the least sign that Drusinaar needed my help, and I’d have dealt with Hanni. But I didn’t think she needed anything from me, and a part of me wanted to see what this new, very different, Drusinaar would do. So I didn’t move, and that was a fatal mistake.

  Hanni lurched towards me and grabbed the glass ball from my hand. Drusinaar screeched in rage, and tried to grab it back. The two of them wrestled, pushing, shoving, Drusinaar trying to snatch the ball back, but Hanni held it firmly.

  “Stop it!” I cried, as they staggered closer to the edge of the pool.

  I raced round them, trying to get close enough to grab Drusinaar’s wrap, but she spun out of my reach. Another grab, but they danced away from me. I dashed after them, grabbed an arm that slithered away from me, then a sleeve which slid through my fingers.

  “Drusinaar! The water! Mind the water!”

  They teetered, too engrossed in their battle to see the danger. I made a final, desperate reach for Drusinaar’s wrap. I had it! Twisting my fingers round it to get a firm grip, I pulled hard. To my horror, it came free, leaving me holding a length of fabric in my hands as she slipped away from me.

  Hanni had the ball in her hands, skipping back a step or two. Her face was gleeful, triumphant. Drusinaar howled and came at her. I jumped between them, forcing them apart, until Hanni stabbed her elbow into my throat. I went down, choking and Drusinaar roared again and lunged.

  Then Hanni pushed, hard. Drusinaar shot backwards towards the pool, but even as s
he fell, she grabbed Hanni’s arm. She had a peasant’s strength, and Hanni was held fast. As I watched in helpless despair, they slowly toppled sideways into the pool, Drusinaar, Hanni and ball.

  The water roiled a deeper blue for a few heartbeats, and the surface heaved. Then, gradually, it settled back to smoothness.

  They were gone.

  31: The Egg Chamber (Garrett)

  Shock held me motionless. I stared at the place where they’d vanished, as the water settled back to smoothness. I could see nothing below the surface, and the pool was as placid as when we’d arrived. It was almost as if Drusinaar and Hanni had never existed.

  If I’d known how to swim, maybe I’d have risked going in after them, but then I’d surely drown and how would that help Drusinaar? Besides, that wasn’t normal water. It had made Drusinaar, poor, broken Drusinaar, feel almost whole. What kind of magic was it? None I’d ever seen before, and I didn’t want to tangle with it.

  A bubble of water rose, heaved at the surface, disappeared. Then another bubble, which floated. The glass ball. It was too far away for me to reach, but as I watched, it drifted gently nearer to me, until it was practically at my feet. It was higher in the water than I’d have expected for something so heavy, as if an unseen hand was lifting it. But that was just my fancy, for when I reached for it and lifted it away from the water, there was no hand.

  But now I couldn’t leave, even if I’d wanted to. What if Drusinaar were somehow to be pushed back to the surface by the power of the blue water? Or Hanni? I had to be there to fish them out. And surely, even in regular water, a dead body would rise eventually? In two – maybe three days, their bodies would emerge, and then I could—

  No, I wouldn’t think of that.

  I was still wearing my damp cloak against the rain outside. Now I removed it, folded it into a cushion and sat with my back to the cave wall, watching, Drusinaar’s wrap in my hands. I’d brought a pack with food and flasks of water, in case we’d decided to carry straight on to the egg chamber. Now it meant I could stay and watch for any sign of their bodies.

  In a way, it was good to have some task to focus on, otherwise I don’t know what I’d have done with myself. Too numb to grieve, to shocked to think straight – I can’t guess what stupid thing I might have done. Thrown myself into the pool, probably. Because what was the point of carrying on? All of this, the whole journey, every step from the Western Keep, had been for Drusinaar. Now she was gone, and I was alone and lost and aching with misery, and I had no idea what to do.

  So I waited.

  I don’t really know how long it was. From time to time I ate or drank a little. I even dozed, sitting upright against that wall. When I couldn’t hold out any longer I went back through the flicker chamber to the town outside to find a water room. But although it was sometimes light and sometimes dark outside, I kept no count of days. As soon as I could, I came back to my post.

  Each time, I was eager, hopeful. Surely this time there would be something, some sign that two living creatures had fallen into that water? Each time, I was disappointed. The pool remained clear and empty, my things remained exactly as I’d left them.

  Except that one time she was there. Not floating, not dead, not even wet from the water. Drusinaar – back from the dead, standing on the edge of the pool, completely herself.

  No, not herself. Her face, the shapely curves, her hair thick and lustrous, hanging to her waist. And her eyes – her eyes were a vivid blue, the same colour as the pool. Everything about her was different. I stopped, astonished, and she turned to me with such a smile on her face, her eyes alight with happiness.

  “Garrett! You stayed! How good you are.”

  And then she rushed over and threw her arms around me. I was too shocked even to return her embrace. She pulled away.

  “Aren’t you pleased to see me?”

  “Of course, but… how…?”

  She chuckled, a low, throaty sound, one hand in front of her mouth. “I know – amazing, isn’t it? But this was what I needed all along – the Pool of Transformation. I talked to the mages and they told me everything. They said that—”

  “Wait. You talked to…? What mages?”

  “The mages in the pool. Or their spirits, I suppose. I’m not clear on that. But there are several of them down there. That’s where they all went, you know, to stop the moonfall – into Pools of Transformation. They explained what I have to do, to make everything work properly again.”

  “What about Hanni?” I said when she paused for breath.

  “Oh – gone.” Her voice was sad. So much emotion now in her face, her voice, her whole body. But then she smiled again, a secretive, intimate smile. “Kiss me, Garrett.”

  “What?” I couldn’t get my slow brain to understand what had happened. How could she be here, so different, so – alive? It was too much to take in. But she slithered her arms around my neck, her body pressing against me. So warm, so curvy, so womanly. Without conscious thought, my arms found their way around her waist, one hand resting on her hip. Such a delicious hip.

  Another chuckle, her face so close to mine. “Kiss me,” she breathed into my ear. “I want to feel – everything.” Her lips nibbled at my ear, and then my cheek. “Ooh, prickly!”

  That made me laugh. “I haven’t trimmed my beard in a while.”

  “No, it’s nice. This part is soft… mmm, so soft!” She rubbed her lips against me, moving slowly but inexorably towards my mouth. Needless to say, I couldn’t resist her. She was so enticing, and I’m only human, after all. I kissed her gently, experimentally, and she kissed me back with so much enthusiasm that I was swept away. I kissed her for a long, long time, and in the end, she was the one who broke away.

  “Make love to me,” she whispered.

  That brought me down with a bump. “But you can’t…”

  A throaty chuckle. “I’m changed, Garrett. I’m a real woman now.”

  I was so much on fire for her, it was impossible to refuse. No need to refuse. She wasn’t a broken half-child any longer.

  With her robes and my cloak and shirt we created a makeshift bed against the cave wall, and I made love to my sweet Drusinaar. I’m reckoned a good lover, and I know plenty of tricks to help a woman to her pleasure, but I needed none of them. She was as responsive as… well, I’ve never known anyone reach the heights so easily, not even Tella. Three times we coupled, and three times she writhed and screamed louder than me, and then, exhausted, we slept.

  ~~~~~

  When I woke, she was dressed, sitting cross-legged a couple of paces away, gazing at me with those bright blue eyes, a smile curling up her lips. “I thought you would never wake,” she said softly.

  “Good morning,” I said. “Or is it evening?”

  She gave her throaty chuckle. “Does it matter? Come on, we have work to do.”

  “Work? What work?”

  “We have to awaken my brothers and sisters.”

  “Your…? Oh, the eggs? We’re going to find the eggs?”

  She nodded eagerly.

  I snatched a quick bite to eat and dashed outside for a piss, and then gathered all my things together, strapping on sword and knives, and stuffing things into my pack.

  “Oh… you’d better have this back.” I held the glass ball out to her.

  “No. I don’t need it any more. You can keep it. It will work for you, now.”

  “I’ll be able to see things in it?”

  A quick smile. “Yes. Once you learn how.”

  No time then, though. She was impatient to be off, so I pushed it into the pack. “Can you pass me the crossbow?” I said casually, trying to arrange things in the pack to make room for it.

  She picked it up and almost at once dropped it, with a squeal of alarm. It clattered to the ground.

  “Hey, careful! That was very expensive, you know.”

  “It’s bad!” she hissed. “It hurts me.”

  “Hurts you?” I picked up the crossbow and examined it, turning it t
his way and that. There were no sharp points or projections. “How does it hurt you?”

  She frowned. “I don’t know.”

  That sounded so much like the old Drusinaar that I couldn’t help smiling. “Aha, so you don’t know everything, then.”

  She laughed. “No, no. I know a great deal, both from books and also from the mages, and I can feel now, but my powers – it will take me a while to learn to use them fully. Fire…” She cupped her hand, and a glowing ball of flame appeared there. “Fire is easy. And I feel what you feel – in your mind. But other things… I need to learn, to practise. That’s why we must awaken the others quickly, so they can grow up and join me. I should have been transformed when I was fifteen or so, and then another fifteen years to grow to full power. Then I will be a mage, like the old mages. No, better, more powerful even than they were. And when there are enough of us, we will rule the world again, as we did before.”

  “And look how that ended,” I said, before I could stop myself.

  But she just smiled, and shook her head. “This time it will be different. The mages told me what to do, how to keep non-mages subservient and obedient.”

  “What, like slaves?”

  “Contented slaves. But not you, Garrett. You will always have a special place by my side, even when I rule the world, because I love you, and you love me, don’t you?”

  “I do, yes. I love you… so much.” I wasn’t an articulate man, and I couldn’t find any clever words, but she seemed content with simple ones.

  “There you are then. Come on.” She rose fluidly to her feet, all cat-like gracefulness now.

  She seemed to know the way, for she led me with great confidence through the winding tunnels. I don’t know how long it took us to get to the egg chamber – days, I supposed, for we slept along the way, or at least, I did. I didn’t care how long it took, for I was with Drusinaar, and every moment was a delight.

  There had always been a childlike innocence to her, but now there was so much more – not just intelligence, but a joyous wonder in life that infected me too. Everything was new to her, and she revelled in it. The food, the different textures of my shirt and trousers and leather vest, the cold metal of my sword, the warmth of my skin. We made love a lot, and she delighted in trying something different every time. And every time, she enjoyed it as much as I did.