by D K Drake
In the moonlight, she could see the dark purple hue of the ocean and hear the waterfalls behind her competing with the crashing waves in front of her. A hundred feet or more of fine bronze sand stood between the water and the combination of trees, cliffs, and boulders that marked the edge of the shoreline. “This place must look spectacular in the daylight.”
“I suppose.” Micah shrugged and walked off the portal. “We should be able to set up a decent campsite under some trees along the beach. You work on finding a good spot and building a fire, and I’ll find something to eat.”
“Sure.” She watched Micah disappear into the woods, then spoke to Kisa. “I know you’ll appreciate the beauty of the land. Walk with me, help me pick out a campsite, then head back to Javan. When you return, you’ll be able to teleport directly to the campsite.”
Kisa nodded her understanding and delicately stepped off the portal. Her front claws sank in the soft sand, and she snorted as she reared up on her back legs and shook the sand out of her claws.
“Really, Kisa? You’re going to let your obsession with being clean keep you from enjoying a moonlit walk on the beach? That’s a shame.” To show the dragon she had nothing to fear, Taliya took off her leather boots and cotton socks and jumped into the squishy sand. She giggled as it tickled her toes and began jogging down the beach. “Come on, Kisa!”
With the ocean on her left and the forest on her right, Taliya ran past rocks and shrubs before settling on an inviting cluster of tall, skinny palm trees. She pointed to the cluster and called to Kisa. “Found a spot. You won’t have to come far, and you can leave as soon as you check it out.”
The dragon hesitated before leaving the solid ground of the portal. Then she quickly pranced her way to Taliya as though the sand was made of lava. She disappeared the second she laid eyes on the designated campsite.
“Bye, girl.” For the first time in fifteen years, Taliya was too far away from Kisa to offer her protection. That thought made Taliya feel helpless and without purpose. “She’s not yours to protect anymore.” The reminder didn’t take the sting out of the new reality, and Taliya wondered if she would ever get used to the idea that Kisa belonged to Javan.
“Stop your sulking, and get to work.” Taliya obeyed herself. She used the large leaves from the trees to make three beds on the soft sand and began building a fire.
She finished her job before Micah returned from his hunting mission and before Javan arrived from Keckrick. Part of her enjoyed the soothing sounds of the crackling fire and crashing waves under the bright moon and starlit sky, but most of her felt out of sorts. She was in a new place that she couldn’t yet explore. She was hungry but had nothing to eat. She was tired but couldn’t sleep due to a growing suspicion that something had gone terribly wrong for Javan and the dragons in Nahat.
That suspicion grew worse the more time she spent alone, and she finally decided she couldn’t take the solitary inaction any longer. She picked up her bag and began marching toward the portal. She didn’t get far from the fire when she heard Micah yell at her from behind.
“Hey! Where are you going? I caught dinner.”
Without turning around, she declared, “I’m going back.”
“Back? Back to where?”
“To Nahat.” She paused and looked at Micah. “Javan should have returned by now. What if Omri realized what was happening and sent half his army along with his dragons to Nahat? They could be fighting a battle while we’re sitting here staring at a fire.” She took the two activation scales out of her bag and held them up. “We need to go fight with them.”
“Can’t we eat first?”
Taliya glared at Micah until he dropped whatever animal he had caught and wanted to cook. “All right,” he said. “I’m coming.”
“Good decision.” She waited for him to catch up to her, gave him one of the scales, and they walked to the portal together. Fortunately, none of the slots in this portal were filled with slish, making it easy to use. Micah put his scale in the Dusk slot while Taliya put hers in the Nahat slot.
The portal sputtered, threw off a few sparks, then shut down. Taliya started to panic. “It doesn’t work. The portal doesn’t work. That means we’re stuck here. Without our dragons. Without Javan. Without any way to get back to them. I’ve never been separated from Kisa before. Why did I agree to this plan?”
“Whoa! Calm down,” Micah said, putting his large hands on her small shoulders. “The portal isn’t supposed to work if Javan did his job.”
“True, but something’s wrong.” Taliya shook her head, ducked away from the too relaxed Micah, and picked up the scales. “What if Omri isn’t the problem? What if the people of Nahat are mad because we cut them off from the rest of the Great Rift? What if they attacked Javan and did something with him before Kisa teleported back to him? We have no way of getting there to help!”
“Varjiek and Mertzer are there. Kisa will find them. I wouldn’t want to be standing between a Collector, two of his dragons, and a third dragon he can communicate with. They’ll be back soon enough.”
“How can you not be concerned?”
“Because I’m too hungry and tired to think about anything except food and sleep.” Micah started walking back to the campsite. “If Javan and the dragons aren’t back by morning, then we’ll decide what to do.”
“You want to wait until morning? We need to figure out something now!”
Micah ignored her and kept walking. Raging with frustration, she marched back to the fire. Although the idea of eating sounded enticing, she had no intention of sleeping without first knowing how she would return to Keckrick, Kisa, and Javan.
◊◊◊
As Micah carefully turned the pheasant he had caught over the fire, he considered what to make of their current situation. Should he go find Mertzer, wait for Mertzer to find him, or travel north to Noon Territory to hunt a Noon Stalker and continue his own quest for the throne? If Javan had been harmed and couldn’t complete his collection, the only way to stop Omri would be for Micah to hunt three more dragons.
That was a near impossible task to accomplish in a mere two months, and he would certainly need Taliya’s help. But would a Protector be willing to help a Hunter harm three dragons for the greater good of the Land of Zandador?
He glanced over the fire at Taliya who had her nose stuck in a book. He opened his mouth to ask her what she was reading when a cacophony of animal shrieks and rustling leaves cut through the night.
Micah jumped to his feet and drew his sword, ready to fight whatever predator was responsible for the disturbance in the woods. However, the quick action caused him to drop the bird in the fire. The flames engulfed the meat, ruining the meal.
“So much for dinner,” Taliya said as the shadow of two large dragon figures appeared on the sand. The wingless one disappeared, and Javan slid off the other.
“Hey, guys,” Javan said, walking up to the fire. “I sure am glad to see the two of you. I didn’t think we were ever going to get out of there.”
“What happened?” Taliya’s eyes grew wide as she looked beyond Javan. “Where are Kisa and Mertzer? Are they okay?”
“They’re fine. Kisa couldn’t teleport two dragons this far at the same time, so she went back for Mertzer. She’s going to take him to the portal area instead of here. That way he can easily zip into the woods and get away from the ocean.”
“That doesn’t explain your delayed exit,” Micah said, glaring at the Collector. Why did Javan seem relaxed? “Taliya was getting concerned.”
“Really? Huh. Sorry about that, but it couldn’t be helped. See, right after you left, dozens of soldiers arrived before I could disable the portal. They started blasting people with their Jolt Blasts, but Varjiek put an end to it. He swooped down in invisibility mode and began knocking the soldiers down with his tail.
“It was so funny watching those soldiers try to fight an invisible enemy, and I could hear Varjiek talking junk and laughing at them the whole time. In the
middle of the chaos, I managed to sneak onto the portal and stick Kisa’s scale in the Nahat slot.”
“That happened right after we left?” Micah asked.
“Yup.”
“That was hours ago,” Taliya said. “We’ve been worried. What took you so long?”
“I haven’t finished my story.” Javan paused to sniff the air. “What’s burning?”
“A bird that took me forever to catch.” Micah put his sword away and crossed his arms. “This better be a good story.”
“It is.” Javan nodded and continued. “Once the people in Nahat saw the soldiers start to fall, they decided they wanted to fight. They rallied together, overpowered the confused soldiers, and tied them up in the storehouse with the other captives. I tried to leave, but they insisted on cooking me a feast first. I ate so much that I’m stuffed!”
“How nice for you,” Micah said through clenched teeth. He had to hold his arms a little closer to his body to keep himself from punching Javan.
“I’m glad you had time for a feast.” Taliya picked up a stick and threw it in the fire. “We haven’t had a chance to eat anything yet. We were too busy finding food and wood for this fire and setting up camp so we would have a place to sleep tonight. And now that our very late dinner is ruined, we will have nothing to eat. So you can take your stuffed self and chill in the bed I made you while our stomachs rumble from hunger all night long.”
Javan held up a bag. “Or you can eat the food I brought.”
“Oh.” Taliya cleared her throat and changed her tone. “That would be nice. Thank you.”
Micah watched with amusement as Taliya held her chin high and took the food from Javan. She had said everything he had wanted to say, but because she began her rant before he could, she was the one who had to endure the embarrassment of misjudging Javan.
Micah also noticed that Javan didn’t say anything more to Taliya to make her feel guilty for trying to make him feel guilty. He simply sat by the fire and let them eat in peace. Interesting. And admirable.
This Collector knew how to treat people well, and that was a skill Micah desperately wanted to learn.
Chapter 16
The Dreaded Trip
Taliya woke up with the sun and strolled down the beach while the guys continued to sleep. She soaked in the feelings of the sand between her toes, the cold water lapping at her ankles, and the warm breeze blowing through her hair.
The orange and red hues of the rising sun played with the deep purple ocean, and the stunning beauty of this quiet haven beckoned her to stay. Her heart and mind agreed. They knew the next stop on the journey would be Oer, and that was the one place in the Great Rift she never ever wanted to go again.
She had been gone for fifteen years, having escaped with the help of her father at the age of seven. Would her parents recognize her? Did they miss her? Had her father told her mother where she had gone?
Not that her mother would care. She had wanted to give Taliya away long before Taliya ran away to explore the jungle of Noon Stalker Territory that loomed behind the city walls. She remembered the look of disappointment rather than excitement on her mother’s face when she returned from her exploits as well as the look of relief when she was sentenced to a life of slavery as her punishment for leaving the city limits.
She had often wondered if her mother had suggested that punishment to the governor just so her mother could be rid of her once and for all.
Memories of that miserable year as a slave in the governor’s house made her feel queasy. She dropped to her knees in the sand to keep the food she ate last night from coming back up. O how she dreaded having to face that place and those people again!
“Are you okay?” Micah said, sprinting up to Taliya. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead, and his breathing was faster than usual. He almost seemed worried about her. “You don’t look so good.”
“I’m fine. Just nervous about returning to Oer.” She stood, brushed the sand off her knees, and nodded in the direction of the campsite that she was too far away from to see. “Is Javan still asleep?”
“Yes. You want to wake him up while I keep running down the beach for a bit? We should probably get going once I return.”
“I say we let him sleep. It’s been a crazy few weeks, and we could all use a quiet morning to recover.”
“A nice long run on the coast followed by a swim in the ocean does sound rather appealing.” Micah slapped Taliya on the back. “Deal. Let’s take the morning to ourselves and head out right after Varjiek returns from his noon meal.”
“Noon?” Any color she had left drained from her face. “That soon?”
“You really don’t want to return to your hometown, do you? What has you so scared?”
“Scared? Me? Nonsense.” She motioned down the beach with her hand. “You enjoy your run. I’ll be ready to go long before Varjiek returns.”
To end the conversation, she trudged back toward the camp. She wasn’t scared. Apprehensive? Sure. Nervous? Absolutely. Terrified? Most definitely.
But Taliya the Dragon Protector was not scared of anyone or anything.
◊◊◊
“No,” Javan said, shaking his head. Sleeping late into the morning had him feeling renewed and ready to win the current argument about how best to get to Oer and who should make the trip. “They aren’t coming.”
“Then I’m not going, either.” Taliya plopped down and sat crossed-legged in the sand in the spot where her bed was the night before. “We’re a team. All of us. Including the dragons. Where we go, they go.”
“We’ll only be gone for a few days. After we talk to your dad in Oer and pick up Ravier in Japheth the day after tomorrow, we’ll come right back here. Varjiek is the only one who can fly, so he is the only one we’ll take.”
“Mertzer can run almost as fast as Varjiek can fly,” Micah said. “He won’t slow us down.”
“He will when we get to the river,” Javan said. “He hates water and will not want to cross.”
“Not a problem,” Micah said. “Once we cross, send Kisa back to teleport Mertzer to the other side.”
“Kisa is the problem,” Javan said. “She’s amazing when she can teleport, but she is much slower than Mertzer and Varjiek. Plus she’s exhausted. Teleporting two dragons such a long distance zapped her energy. She was zonked out when I checked on her, and she is in no shape to travel anywhere today.”
“I left Mertzer once,” Micah said. “He’s my dragon. I’m not leaving without him again.”
“You don’t have to leave without him,” Javan said. He cleared his throat and stood tall, knowing Micah wouldn’t like what he was going to say next. “You can stay here.”
“And miss the action? I don’t think so.”
“I do. You need to remain hidden. We’re going to have enough trouble finding the dragon eggs and getting through the portal. We certainly don’t need the Destroyer knowing you’re alive and back in Zandador. If that happens, we’ll have the added complication of keeping you from getting killed.”
Micah huffed. “Hiding is cowardly, but I’ll stay. When this is over, though, you are going to help me find and eliminate the Destroyer. I won’t hide forever.” Micah kicked the sand and walked away.
“Now we must take Kisa,” Taliya said, standing up and whispering. “We can’t leave her here alone with a Dragon Hunter.”
“She’ll be fine. Micah knows she’s my dragon, and he can’t touch her. Besides, we don’t have a choice.” Javan took Taliya’s hand and led her slightly inland to where Kisa was curled up and snoring loudly under some trees. “Look at her. What do you see?”
Taliya gasped. “She’s…filthy.”
“Exactly. She’s so tired that she doesn’t care that her body is covered with a dusting of dirt and her tail is buried beneath some leaves. We can’t take her anywhere, and we have to trust Micah to look out for her.”
“But that’s my job.”
“Not anymore.” Javan tried to suck the words bac
k into his mouth as soon as he said them, but the damage was done. Taliya bit her bottom lip, and tears filled her suddenly sad eyes. He needed to do some fast talking to keep her from crying. “I mean it’s your job to look out for all dragons, not just Kisa anymore. That includes Varjiek on this trip and whatever Dusk and Midnight Stalkers I end up collecting. Please come with me and be Varjiek’s Protector.”
Taliya sniffled, threw her shoulders back, and uttered one word. “Fine.”
“Then it’s settled. You, Varjiek, and I will leave as soon as Varjiek returns from eating.”
Did I hear my name? Varjiek swooped down through the trees and landed beside Kisa. The Dawn Stalker kept snoring.
“Yes,” Javan said. “We need you to fly us to Oer. Do you know how to get there?”
I know the city. Its walls are high. Its factories are loud. Its people are mean.
“He says he knows where to go.” Javan reported Varjiek’s relevant thoughts to Taliya. “Time to get our stuff and leave.”
“How exciting.” Taliya turned and sauntered away, looking and sounding like the least excited person in the world.
◊◊◊
Varjiek kept to the coastline as he flew Taliya and Javan north. Once they crossed the wide river that cut Zandador in half and dumped into the ocean, he adjusted his flight to more of a north-west trajectory that sent them flying slowly over hundreds of miles of the Noon Territory jungle. They needed to wait until nightfall to approach her father and were thus in no hurry to reach Oer, located along the northwest corner of the Noon Territory border.
Taliya clung to Javan as she studied the vibrant green plants and the sparkling blue waters of the winding rivers below them. She wanted to jump off and play among the foliage and waterways. What plants and animals did they have here that weren’t in the rain forests of Keckrick?
Varjiek must have read her mind because he dipped down and drifted just above the tops of the trees. She reached over and let her fingers touch the fuzzy leaves.