Okay. So that explained how we got in here. What about the dragons she went to save?
I failed. Her thoughts were thick with sorrow. I risked you, I trapped Bataar and I did it all to try to save them – and I failed.
I patted her cheek gently. Wasn’t she the one who told me compassion was worth it? That it made us something better than we were? Was she trying to say that her compassion had been a waste?
You learn.
I was full of surprises – even to myself. But now, I just needed to cut her free and we could find Bataar and a way out.
You can’t cut me free.
Watch me try.
No amount of your kind determination and commitment to me will do it. The tree is alive and so are its roots. You will not be able to free me. I was not able to flame them as they pinned me to the ground. I could not shred them with my teeth or my great strength.
I swallowed.
Well, that was a problem. But all problems could be solved given time and ingenuity. I’d just have to find a way. I was not going to leave my dragon to her fate.
See, now that’s what I love about you, Tor. You don’t know when you’re beaten.
I wasn’t beaten. I wasn’t going to be either.
There is a way. A way that you can save Zyla, Zin, Kyrowat, and Hubric.
They aren’t in danger. Except maybe Zyla and that might be from me.
They were given the same fate as me the moment they stepped through the door. Ko Bearers may bring friends or supporters with them – but those supporters share their successes ... and failures.
What did that mean? Was she saying that Bataar had failed somehow and that was why she was tied down like a pig to be roasted?
Nice imagery. Not at all terrifying.
Sorry.
And yet somewhat accurate. My life is, indeed, linked to Bataar’s. And he does not seem to be faring well.
I’d kill him when I found him. Endangering my dragon? Putting her in these roots? He’d have to answer to me for that!
You’ll have to forget about Bataar ... and about me.
Never.
The longer you spend in indecision, the harder they make the test.
I wasn’t indecisive. I knew exactly what I was going to do. I was going to free Saboraak, and get everyone out of this ... this ... whatever this was.
An alternate dimension perhaps. Or perhaps an afterlife. It is hard to say for sure. It’s guarded by souls of past Ko Bearers. And the sooner you find one and begin your test, the better off your friends will be.
But if I left her ... what if Bataar failed? What if she became more and more entangled here, more and more distant until there was nothing left of her? I didn’t dare leave her. It had been bad enough when she was off saving the helpless but now that I had her back I certainly wasn’t going anywhere! They’d have to kill me and stuff me like a taxidermy ridge-cat to drag me from her. They’d have to pose me in those branches to get me where they wanted me. And that was all there was to it.
Why were my eyes wet? It must be a trick of this place. Maybe the air was drier here. I scowled at my wet eyes.
Your tears are touching. I will take them with me as I fade.
“You will not fade! Do you hear me?”
There was no answer. She’d better not be fading!
Her eye closed.
“Saboraak? Do you hear me? No fading!”
I clenched my jaw at her lack of response and then on instinct I kissed her cold cheek and sighed.
I was going to do this test, wasn’t I? Because that was where Bataar was and clearly, he was failing out like the arrogant little foot-eater he was. He needed good old Tor to come remind him how bad things could get if he failed. Because if anything happened to Saboraak, I’d make him wish he was a taxidermy ridge-cat.
Oh yeah, he’d be wishing for that. Or for anything other than the thrashing I’d be giving him.
Chapter Four
I CLIMBED UP IN THE nearest thick root that wasn’t actually Saboraak and looked around. Somewhere, there was the soul of some dead man – if Saboraak was right about that – who wanted to test me. How did you find someone like that?
I scanned the area. There was the tree – of course. Above me, its branches spread like roads and paths with glowing lights along the way. Beneath, the roots fanned and tangled over dark lumps.
Wait. Lumps. Just like Saboraak.
Oh, sweet Stars and Skies! Those were the remains of supporters, weren’t they?
A chill rolled over me. I’d better hurry. Saboraak said speed was essential.
Past the outermost branches – so far in the distance that it was hard to see – there was a narrow opening between the thick branches above and tangled roots below. Was there anything out there that could help? I squinted, but all I saw were more trees like this one – huge and sprawling.
Well, if I couldn’t figure out where these dead guys were, maybe they could figure out where I was. If time was so important, I’d better get to work.
“Ho!” I shouted, looking up into the branches above. Didn’t ghosts float upward? Or was that just in stories? I tried to look bold and defiant like a real Ko Bearer would. “Hey, you dead Ko Bearers! Show yourselves! You want to test me? Bring your test!”
There was no response.
Of course. No one was going to make it easy for Tor Winespring, were they?
I sighed.
Well, one option down. Maybe Kyrowat would have a better idea.
I turned to find him again and almost ran headlong into a silent, still man.
Where did he come from? I was dodging backward before I remembered my collarbone. I froze in pain.
The man didn’t twitch. He was far too substantial to be a ghost. He was my height and weight, but older – Hubric’s age maybe – and he carried a large blade on a long staff-like haft. Feathers were tied under the blade in decoration or for rank – I didn’t know which.
It wasn’t cold here among the trees – which must be a relief for him since he wore an elaborate pair of loose trousers that reminded me of Bataar’s and not much else. They were brightly patterned and carefully folded around a wide orange belt at his waist. He looked tougher than Bataar, though. Those muscles were lean and taut as the fibers of a tree branch. Where Bataar was lean and pretty, this man was leathery and oaken like aged wood.
I moved carefully to step around him and with a single twitch, he blocked me with his blade. His face hadn’t so much as shifted.
Well, this was going to be fun. Hurry, Tor – oh, and just avoid the weird guy with the big weapon while you hurry.
No problem, test. Happy to serve.
It was possible that the pain in my collarbone was making me crankier than usual. I moved the arm slightly, testing it and immediately wished I hadn’t. Pain blossomed from it so suddenly that my head spun and I gasped.
Quick as a whip, the older man darted forward, his free hand reaching for me. I tried to throw up both hands to block his advance, but the movement in my arm shot so much pain through me that blackness slid over my vision for a moment and I reeled in pain, almost losing my footing.
This was not helping.
His hand clamped over my broken bone and I gasped at the agonizing shock of it.
And then the pain was gone.
“To be tested, you must start in the same way as the rest.”
Chapter Five
I LET HIS WORDS LINGER in the air a moment. I should say something that indicated I knew about this place, but I didn’t know that much. If I didn’t establish some level of understanding, though, he was going to end up pushing me around. That was how the world worked. You had seconds to position yourself as intelligent and capable when you met someone and if you failed, then you’d start at a disadvantage and never really pulled out of it.
“You’re a Ko Bearer,” I said, firmly. A firm voice was important. It signaled confidence which most people mistook for competence.
“I am Gautm of t
he Goat Water tribe of the Kav’ai.”
Goat Water? That sounded like the worst possible tribe.
Try respect. It will get you further.
I smiled slightly. She was back!
For now. Focus.
Weak or not, Saboraak was still able to chide me. I liked it.
“I am Tor Winespring of the Dominion Dragon Riders,” I said. Maybe an overreach – after all, no one ever gave me that title, but I did ride a dragon. When she wasn’t being held in place by roots.
And when I let you.
Sure, sure.
“You called us quickly, Ko Bearer. That is a thing of honor. Are you ready to stand test under this Tree of Life?”
“This tree?” I asked. “There are more?”
The man smiled, though there was no humor in his eyes. He spread a hand out indicating the horizon. “In this grove alone, there are more than two hundred Trees of Life. And this is not the only grove.”
“Then why this tree?” I asked. Maybe there was an advantage somewhere else, if I looked for it. “Why not a different tree?”
“This tree has chosen you. In this time, during this Age, this Tree will draw out the truth and offer life ... or death. If you and your supporters die here today, you will nourish this tree for the coming Age.”
It was all I could do not to roll my eyes. He made it sound as if our deaths were as desirable to him as our lives.
I think they are.
Great. So, I was just walking fertilizer to him. I’d have to find a way to change his perspective on that.
“What do I have to do?” I asked.
“Follow,” he said, turning his back and beginning to walk without watching to see if I did or not. He reminded me of a frog in the way he walked and croaked out doom. I was never going to be able to shake that now that I’d seen him that way.
The green light around us was growing darker in tone as we walked – as if the sun were sinking behind the horizon somewhere – and as it grew darker, smells erupted from the ground beneath the roots. They leapt up in sparkly puffs, each scent different, and each scent evoking a memory for me.
I couldn’t have placed what scent it was, but one reminded me of a day I’d stolen a jammy tart. The gooey filling had been so good I’d licked up even the drips on the front of my shirt. Another reminded me of the day I met Saboraak, of the first time I heard her voice in my head. Another scent, of the feeling of drifting off to sleep after an energetic day.
One after another, they soothed me with pleasant memories. The Ko were starting to show on my arms, only slightly, as the moon – wherever it was – began to rise.
“Your companions will wait for you below,” Gautm of the Goat Water tribe said. He did not look back as he spoke. “Their hopes will feed your journey. Your success will be theirs. Your failures theirs also.”
“About that,” I said. “Couldn’t we just send them back? This isn’t their problem.”
He turned for just a moment, his froggy eyes narrowing. “Do you choose to break the code so soon?”
He was gripping the handle of that halberd awfully tight. Frog or not, he could gut me with one slash.
“No, of course not,” I said, and he relaxed his grip. I scowled at the relaxed grip. So, that’s how it was. Do as we say or die. Well, I could work with that, even if I didn’t like it. “Lead on.”
You’re much more troublesome about it than Bataar was. He sat for a long time at the base of the tree before he agreed to follow them, but when he did, he obeyed without question.
Because he’s a good little boy.
He is good. But he doesn’t relish being good. Why do you think he waited here until the roots began to cover me and started to hold him in place before he began the climb?
Climb?
You must climb the tree.
Good thing I got over my fear of heights a long time ago. Since meeting Saboraak, my life had become almost entirely vertical.
“Does every Door of Heavens lead to a tree?” I asked the Ko Bearer.
He stopped for a moment as if surprised by my question before continuing at his steady pace. We were nearly at the trunk of the tree. It glowed faintly in the receding light.
“Of course,” he croaked. “What other point is there to the doors? Of course, in a time of great trouble, you could travel between them, but they were gifted by the Great Ones to mark their chosen ones with the Ko, to test the chosen ones with the Truth, to train the chosen ones with the Trial. That is why we are here – the guardians. We have given over an epoch of our time in the life-after to guard the ways of the Great Ones and test the chosen ones who come after.”
“Who were the Great Ones?”
He looked back at me again, shocked. “Things have gone very badly in the world of men if you do not know these things already!”
Apparently, there wasn’t going to be an explanation any time soon.
I suspect they were a group of humans from the past with great magical abilities. Somehow, they built this other world.
Gautm was leading me to a place along the tree trunk that had steps of fungus spiraling up the side. We were almost at the first step when a shadow stepped into the fading light from around the side of the trunk.
Zyla stood there quivering with pent-up emotion. “I demand to go up the tree and be tested.”
“Only the chosen may be trained in the Trial,” Gautm said as if by rote.
“I came through the door. It’s my right,” Zyla said, her face flushing.
“Only the chosen may be trained by the Trial.”
“What makes him chosen and not me?” she asked. Were those tears gleaming on her face?
“The chosen are marked by the Ko – set apart by fate for the roles they must play. Only they must face the Test. Only they must be trained by the Trial, but they may bring a cohort to support them in their trials.”
Gautm tried to step around her but she countered every move with a shift of her own, blocking our path.
“He doesn’t know enough to pass the Trials,” Zyla said. Her bottom lip quivering. “He doesn’t know the precepts, okay? I do. I’ll take the test for him.”
Was she kidding? I could do my own dirty work! But the look she shot me wasn’t contempt. It was fear. As if she was nervous about my fate.
“Only the chosen may be trained by the Trial.”
The sound she made of frustration mixed with desperation got to me. I didn’t like that her offer to take my place made me feel warm to her. I hated that. What right did she have to take my place? Or to want to? What right did she have to care about me when she hadn’t cared only yesterday.
I hated that she was crying. I hated that she wanted to do something for me. What did she want from me? I should know how to feel about her. I should know what to think about everything she’d done. But I didn’t. Could I trust her claim that she was trying to help me?
I felt too raw to trust.
I felt much too raw for the affection ... was it maybe even attraction? ... that I felt welling up in response to her bravery. It was this willingness to take this trial for me that drew me in, even though she insulted me by implying that I couldn’t do it myself.
“Just go away, Zyla,” I said. I felt tired from feeling too much. I just needed her gone. She was too confusing. “I’ve got this.”
“I just want to help,” her words were thick with tears. But anyone could cry. Anyone could mess everything up and stand silently while innocent people were killed and then cry afterward. That didn’t make her a friend. It didn’t make her trustworthy. It didn’t make her someone I wanted to be with. So why did I feel like crying, too?
“Let’s get on with this,” I growled.
Zyla seemed to shrink in on herself like a wilting flower. Good. Maybe that would simplify things.
Gautm took the opportunity to push past her, intoning, “All who come must not hesitate. For with every hesitation, disaster grows.”
That means hurry. When Bataar lingere
d, he lost some of his strength. I felt it happen to him.
I hurried after Gautm, but as I passed Zyla, our gazes met and something in her eyes stabbed deep into my heart.
“I just wanted to keep everyone safe,” she whispered.
Which is all I’d been trying to do, too.
“I just want you to be safe.” Her whisper was barely audible that time.
I tore my gaze from hers and followed Gautm up the fungi staircase to the warren of branches above.
Chapter Six
“THE PATH,” GAUTM SAID as we climbed, “Is different for each of the chosen. You will climb the tree branch by branch. Up, down, left or right, you will follow the path that reveals itself to you. Just as in life, each life is different, and each one must follow the path that is revealed to them.”
Sure. But it was easier to get somewhere if you knew where you were going.
“Where do I need to end up?” I asked.
“At the end.”
“Which is where?”
“At the end of your path.”
Yeah. That was so helpful. Thanks, guy. I never would have figured that out for myself.
I think that’s all he knows. He said the same thing to Bataar.
Which meant it was all he was willing to say, not that it was all that he knew.
“Any hints on which way to take?” I asked. Maybe if I asked the right way he’d have a different answer.
“Look for the lights. Each one is a new discovery. Meet it with the truth of the precepts and you will know your path.”
What if I didn’t know the precepts? That would make things more difficult, wouldn’t it?
Do you happen to know the precepts, Saboraak?
Saboraak?
“When you reach each light, you must taste it. What you do from there, will determine your course,” Gautm said.
Weird. Taste it? I hoped they tasted good. Now that he mentioned it, I was pretty hungry. But I was always hungry.
Dragon Chameleon: Episodes 5-8 Page 9