The Dragon Dimension

by D K Drake

  “Micah is not my best bud, but he did get us from village to village and do a good job of convincing the people he is on their side. Right now he’s on his way to Nahat. He had to take a different route because Mertzer doesn’t deal well with water.”

  “That’s an understatement.” Javan recalled the way Mertzer froze on the beach the night Javan attempted to collect him. Had the dragon not been so scared of the water, Javan would have been able to ride away on him before Micah arrived and cut off his tail. “But what about the blockade?”

  “It was the only way we could think of to stop the Iria, and we lit the torches to make sure the Iria could see us since we can’t see her.”

  “Why not just clear the boats out of the water and allow the Iria to sail smoothly all the way to Nahat?”

  “The gatekeepers are more likely to let her through if she has a local escort. That’s why we’re here. To escort the Iria to Nahat.” She wrapped her arm around his elbow and led him to the edge of the water. “It’s hard to escort a boat we can’t see, and I have a hunch the Iria is already here. She may be invisible, but that doesn’t mean she’s quiet. Can you have Varjiek uncloak the boat?”

  What if this was a trap? What if she only wanted the boat uncloaked so her people could attack the crew and steal the humminglos for themselves? “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

  “I’m on your side, Javan. I promise.”

  Javan’s gut told him to take a chance and believe her, but his experience with Gesha told him women couldn’t be trusted and that he needed to run far, far away.

  You can trust her, Kisa said. I always have.

  Javan had to make a decision. He wasn’t sure he should trust Taliya, but he was sure he didn’t want to live in fear of trusting his gut.

  He uncurled her arm from his, took a few steps downstream of the blockade and addressed a dragon he couldn’t see. “Varjiek! Varjiek, if you can hear me, uncloak yourself and the boat!”

  Chapter 47

  Slithering Guards

  Reaching the hilly terrain hadn’t been a problem. Finding a place for Mertzer to leap over the river on a moonless night proved to be the challenge. So Micah decided to hunker down for the night on a soft patch of knee-high grass between two hills. The valley was just the right size for Mertzer to nestle into, which pleased Micah. The dragon deserved a cozy place to sleep after all the running he had done over the past few days.

  Micah, on the other hand, found himself too troubled to sleep. He would have to face his father in the morning to ask him a favor, despite having gained no additional dragons on Omri’s behalf. That alone would put him on his father’s bad side and could prevent Omri from even talking to him.

  If Micah could get Omri to listen to his plan, though, he would be able to save Keckrick. He would also eliminate Javan in the process. That should make him feel powerful and happy, but for some reason, the idea of killing Javan made Micah feel nothing but guilt and dread.

  Morning came way too soon for Micah’s liking. He rubbed his bloodshot eyes and hiked up the nearest hill. Reaching the crest brought with it a view of desolate rolling hills as far as the eye could see.

  Grass filled the valleys that the river didn’t wind through, but the hills themselves were covered with rotting stalks of harvested humminglo plants. The sad sight hurt his eyes and overwhelmed him with the sense that he was standing in a mass graveyard. It wasn’t so much the death of the flowers that concerned him; it was the death of all those who had lost their lives because of the flowers that made him shudder.

  When had he become so sensitive? This attitude was unbecoming and would never do in the presence of Omri. Micah shook it out of his system, marched himself down the hill, and mounted the sleeping Mertzer. “Mertzer, wake up.” He kicked the dragon as hard as he could. “Time to move.”

  Mertzer roared to life, sprung to his feet and littered the ground with a stream of poison.

  “Okay. Maybe that wasn’t the best way to wake you up.” He patted Mertzer’s neck as his way of apologizing. “But we do need to get going. I think I spotted a good place to cross the river not too far from here.”

  Mertzer snorted, stretched and began trotting through the valley that paralleled the river. After they passed the fifth hill, Micah nudged Mertzer up the next one. “Yup,” Micah said, looking down at the river from the top of the hill. The water took a sharp turn through the hills and appeared to be barely wide enough to fit two canoes through. “You can make that jump. You’ll be able to build up plenty of momentum running down this hill. Just keep going when you get to the bottom and leap over the gap. From there, it’s a straight shot to Nahat and back home to Zandador.”

  The dragon bristled at Micah’s final words, and Micah could feel a chill run through Mertzer. Micah could tell the dragon didn’t want to cooperate, so he reached for his whip that hung from his belt.

  Before he unhooked the whip, he remembered what Javan said about dragons having thoughts and feelings. Maybe beating them into submission wasn’t the best way to get them to take action.

  “Don’t worry, boy,” Micah said, abandoning the whip and stroking his neck instead. “I’ll make sure you’re treated well.” He leaned forward, wrapped his arms around Mertzer’s neck, and slammed his heels against the dragon’s scales. “Now get me to Nahat!”

  Mertzer jumped into motion and flew down the hill toward his biggest fear. Micah fully expected Mertzer to stop short of the water. He had shown the dragon a touch of kindness, and that kindness was certain to be repaid with rebellion.

  But instead of slowing down near the bottom of the hill, Mertzer sped up, transferred all his energy into his hind legs, and leapt over the river. He cleared the water by a body length and kept right on running as if solid ground had been under his legs the whole time.

  Pride in his dragon for dealing with his fear surged through Micah and propelled him all the way to the gates of Nahat.

  ◊◊◊

  It feels so good to be off that boat and back in the air! Varjiek coasted through the early morning sky with his wings wide, head high, and tail wagging behind him. I’m glad your girl showed up last night and freed me from having to keep the boat cloaked.

  “Correction,” Javan said, making sure to hang on tight in case the dragon decided to start flying in loops. “Taliya is not my girl. If she was, she wouldn’t have chosen to ride on the lead boat with that guy named Anley.”

  Is that why you’re so grumpy? You’re mad she didn’t come back to the Iria?

  “I’m not grumpy or mad.” The moment the words came out of his mouth, Javan knew they weren’t true. “Okay. Maybe I am. Just a little. But that’s because I promised Kisa I would convince Taliya to return to Zandador with us. I can’t convince her of anything if she won’t let me talk to her.”

  She will if you save her people.

  “That’s out of my control. If Micah doesn’t come through--”

  Then we will fight.

  “I don’t know anything about fighting a war.”

  All you have to do is sit on my back and yell. Varjiek let loose a long streak of fire that burned the clouds above them. I will take care of the fighting.

  “Hopefully no one will have to face your fire-breathing wrath.” Javan smiled and tapped Varjiek’s shoulder. “Now that you’ve had a chance to spread your wings and breathe a little smoke, let’s get back to the boat. We have to make sure those humminglo plants get safely to the portal today, or Micah will have nothing to negotiate with.”

  As they banked back toward the Iria, Javan’s thoughts turned to Micah. Would he follow through with the plan or was he too bitter over the loss of Kisa to do anything to save the people of Keckrick?

  ◊◊◊

  Once the humminglo fields gave way to the grass as high as Mertzer’s legs, Micah had been able to spot the walls of Nahat in the distance. Fortunately the grass didn’t slow Mertzer down, and Micah had found himself in front of the gates to the city within an hou
r of having woken that morning.

  Taliya had explained that the city was shaped like a large, wide J, and that Micah would be entering in the top left corner of the J. The portal, however, was located in the middle of the hook along the river in the lower part of the city. So once inside, he would still have a bit of a journey ahead of him.

  Vines covered the iron gates and surrounding stone walls that stood three times higher than Mertzer’s head. Countless numbers of snakes slithered in and out of the vines, making him feel helpless and terrified. Micah could feel their eyes on him and could hear their hissing grow louder and louder.

  He knew he should tell Mertzer to blast them with his poison, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to enter the city they seemed to be guarding. What if they had taken over the abandoned buildings and tried to squeeze the life out of him the way that sea monster had done?

  Reliving that scene rendered him breathless and unable to speak. Mertzer shifted back and forth, awaiting orders. Micah wanted to tell him to run away, but he couldn’t form the words.

  More snakes gathered below them on the ground.

  The hissing became so loud it hurt Micah’s ears.

  Then a long red snake with golden specks bared his fangs and flung itself off the top of the gate straight at Micah’s head. Micah reached for his sword, but he didn’t need it. Mertzer snatched the snake in mid-air with his jaws and tossed it to the side. Without pausing to get permission, the dragon stomped the legless creatures on the ground while smothering the gates with his poison from top to bottom.

  The snakes that could scurried away. Those touched by the poison wouldn’t be scurrying anywhere ever again.

  After a moment or two of silence, Mertzer kicked the gates and backed up as the iron crumbled to the ground. He tilted his head to look at Micah, and Micah nodded to urge him forward.

  From now on, Micah would let the dragon take control during life-threatening situations. He had earned that right. More importantly, he had earned Micah’s respect.

  Chapter 48

  Nahat

  Two steps inside the city walls made Micah realize he had been foolish to fear snakes living in this place. Nothing lived here other than the occasional weed or daring shrub that was brave enough to poke through the hollow houses and blackened buildings.

  How long had it been since someone strolled down these pebbled streets? Had it always smelled of loneliness and death? Or had it once been as vibrant as the villages he and Taliya had visited on the way here?

  Micah recalled the faces of the people he had met along the way. They looked up to him with admiration and respect rather than fear and disdain like the people of Zandador who knew him well. But the people here in Keckrick didn’t know him. They thought he was a good guy. They believed he could and would help them.

  He knew that if he didn’t interfere, his father would turn all the villages Micah had visited into death towns like this one. For what? Flowers? He couldn’t let that happen.

  Standing up to his father wouldn’t be easy, but it was necessary. People’s lives depended on it. “Okay, Mertzer. I’ve seen enough. Speed it up and head south. We have to get to that portal as soon as possible.”

  That’s all the nudging the dragon needed. In the next instant, the abandoned buildings became nothing more than a blur as Mertzer raced down the empty streets.

  ◊◊◊

  “Are we there yet?” Sounding like an impatient kid on a long road trip, Javan slumped against the railing of the top deck of the Iria. They had clearly not arrived at their destination, but with the morning half gone and no Nahat in sight, he felt compelled to ask the question anyway.

  “Shouldn’t be too much longer,” Lydia said, pacing behind him.

  “Better not be.” Orlan stood on Javan’s right and casually sharpened the tip of his spear. “I’m ready to get off this boat and back home to my family.”

  “I’m ready to be free of these folks from Upper Keckrick,” Lydia said. “They claim to be ‘escorting’ us, but I believe they will attack the first chance they get.”

  “I’m not so sure.” Javan couldn’t argue that the dozens of boats in front of and behind them did provide a sense of captivity, but he also wanted to give Taliya an opportunity to prove herself trustworthy. “They had a chance to attack about an hour ago when Varjiek flew away to find food.”

  “Perhaps.” Lydia strolled to Javan’s left and surveyed the boats in the water ahead of them. “We’ll find out their true intentions soon enough. Look. The city is coming into view.”

  Javan looked beyond the boats and observed two towering gates with wavy bars of iron blocking the passage through the water into the city. A stone arch with the city name of Nahat engraved into it stretched over the gates and rested on top of the intimidating rock walls that surrounded the city.

  Warriors armed with bows and arrows also stood guard atop the walls, prompting Javan to check the sky for Varjiek and the land for Kisa. He couldn’t spot either dragon, although he didn’t really expect to see them. Kisa liked to sleep after eating her morning meal. He had thus instructed her to get her rest, then follow the river, find a good hiding spot outside the city gates, and wait for him to come get her after they delivered the plants to the portal.

  As for Varjiek, he was too focused on feeding himself to worry about the humans. He knew he wouldn’t be seeing Varjiek until after noon. Still, what good did having dragons do Javan if they weren’t around to help in threatening situations like this?

  The boats ahead of them slowed to a stop as they approached the gates, and the Iria did the same about a hundred yards away from the lead boat. Taliya and her new buddy Anley stood on the bow of the rectangular boat and addressed the lead warrior on the wall while holding a few of the humminglo plants they had borrowed from the Iria last night. Javan strained to hear what they were saying, but he was too far away to make sense out of the mumbled shouting.

  “I don’t like this,” Lydia said. “Those archers on the wall have a huge advantage. We have to take that advantage away by striking first, especially since we only have a limited amount of arrows left after that animal attack in the dark zone.”

  “Just wait,” Javan said. “This the first the guards have heard of our plan. Let Taliya do her thing and talk us into the city.”

  “It’s taking too long.”

  “It’s been two minutes. That’s not long enough to even explain the short version of the plan.”

  “Fine. She has two more minutes. Then we attack.”

  Before Javan could say anything else, Lydia stormed away. Seconds later, he heard her warriors scrambling into place behind him and along the lower deck.

  “Hope your girl comes through,” Orlan said. “Lydia loves to fight.”

  “You have to tell her to wait.”

  “Stand in the way of Lydia and a fight? I’m not crazy.” Orlan touched the tip of his spear and seemed satisfied with its sharpness. “If those gates don’t open in less than two minutes, you better find cover, because arrows will be flying.” He patted Javan on the back and walked away.

  A tense minute passed.

  “Please open the gates,” Javan prayed. “Please have them open the gates.”

  The gates remained closed and the dragons nowhere to be seen as thirty more seconds ticked away.

  With twenty seconds to go, the soft rustling of arrows being pulled out of quivers hit Javan’s ears. Not good. He had to stop this before it started. He turned to yell at Lydia’s warriors to put their bows down, but the creaking of the opening gates cut him off.

  He turned back around and melted against the railing as the boats began drifting through the gates. They had avoided this fight, but would they be able to prevent an onslaught from Omri and his dragons?

  Chapter 49

  Special Delivery

  Aboom followed by a flash of pink that shot into the sky caused Micah to pull up on Mertzer’s scales. The dragon slid to a stop on the cobblestone road between two empty tents.
“The portal,” Micah whispered, feeling lightheaded after the sudden stop. He gave himself a moment to get oxygen to his brain and assess his surroundings.

  Rubble from the city’s destroyed buildings rotted behind him. The road he and Mertzer stood on wound through a field of deserted tents and ended at the edge of a river. A bridge with gaps in the railing and more than a few missing pieces of stone arched over the water at a height just high enough for a boat as big as the Iria to pass under.

  Docks that led directly into long, flat-roofed mud buildings lined the opposite side of the river with one exception: a wide space between buildings to the left of the bridge. That is where the flash had come from, so that is where the portal had to be located.

  Micah could make out specks of people scurrying in and out of buildings as well as piles of plants in the open area around the portal. He could also make out the all-too-familiar sounds of whips cracking and soldiers shouting.

  He didn’t see any of Javan’s dragons or the Iria, however. “Looks like we beat them here. Guess we’ll have to sit and wait. But waiting is boring.” Micah rubbed the stubble on his cheeks as he thought through his options.

  They could storm over the bridge, take over the portal and go home. Only Micah wasn’t quite ready to return Mertzer to his father. He also needed a bit of bargaining power if Omri didn’t approve of Micah’s plan.

  That left him with the waiting option, but he could wait a little closer to the action. “All right, Mertzer. Here’s the plan.” Micah dismounted, adjusted his sword strap, and checked his whip. “I’m going to head back to Zandador with the huge humminglos once the Iria arrives. You stay here to rest and take cover in the rubble. If I’m not back by dusk, you’re free to leave the city to hunt. Just be sure to return to this area so I know where to find you.”

  Mertzer didn’t move, so Micah slapped the dragon’s leg and pointed to the rubble. “Go!”