The Spires of Dasny: 2: Queen of Dragons

by Cheryl Rush Cowperthwait

  The man next to them calls out. “Land by the oasis. Drink and eat. We will continue after the short break.”

  Ustice sniffs the air and there is the scent of water but he doesn’t see it until they crest a large dune. There he makes out the silhouettes of skinny trees, with all their leaves springing from their tops. Strange trees. Certainly nothing like the towering trees by the Spires.

  They land. The enemy dragons give a wide berth to him and Elky, as well as to the wizard and his dragon. Thankfully, Elky relieves him of the saddle and guides him to the oasis before he acts on his own and plunges deep within its refreshing ripples. He watches her as she takes a water bladder out to fill it. She still shows no signs of snapping out of the spell. She drinks and drinks and refills the bladder before returning it to the saddle. He calls to her mind, again with no response. He tries to slip into her mind but is met by a charge like a lightning bolt. Stinking wizard.

  As he rests on the sands, the first stars break through the bruised sky. How he wants to fly next to the stars with his Elky, the real one, not this ghost of a girl next to him. He hears her chewing, so at least she has something to eat. He doesn’t even know if these strange people are taking care of her besides keeping her under their spell. As he rests, he notices the air feels cooler and even the sand under his belly is cooler. The rest is good for him to recover some strength, to be ready for whatever comes next.

  “Riders, prepare your dragons. I sense the invaders’ rapid approach!”

  “Dragon, rise.” Elky’s spellbound voice commands.

  Ustice rises and allows her to work the saddle onto him and cinch it. He feels her stiffness as she climbs up his side and perches in the saddle. Her muscles move as if they carry weights. Nothing about her is normal.

  One small hand creeps forward and runs outside the saddle to the place behind his neck. It moves slowly. One stroke, then two. Then the hand withdraws. He tries again to call into her mind. “Elky!” Is that a flinch he feels? He can’t be certain and can’t turn around to look into her eyes. He takes a deep breath and latches onto the small wisp of hope as they catch the air and fly towards the battle.

  Chapter 7

  Lightning flashes on the horizon, ripping wide scars in the midnight blue sky. In the pulse of light, Ustice sees them. Only moving dots at this distance, but they are coming. He finds himself torn between hoping they are the dragons of the Spires and hoping it is some other dragons from these lands.

  Within moments, the man beside them shouts orders in a foreign language that sounds like talons scraping on polished marble. A wind blows towards them, at first picking up small amounts of sand irritating his snout and eyes. Then it hits them like a wall of stinging scorpions. They fly higher trying to rise above the assault but it is no use, the sand storm knows no limits.

  The order to land screams out next to him. They will have to wait it out. Once they land, Elky drops down against his back, minimizing the biting sands. The storm moves closer. He can feel the energy, the sparking of currents in the air—the smell of fallen rain. Having no experience in the land, he doesn’t know how long they have until it’s over them so at least the sand could give way to rain. Even dropping down to his belly, he has to shield his snout with an arm to keep the stuff out of his naris. He keeps his wings tight against his body to keep them from being shredded. The rumble of the storm is upon them. In his head he pleads for the rain to begin.

  He lifts his head briefly. That isn’t a storm rumble. That is dragons.

  One after another, the wingless dragons lift. The command to join them comes from the man who controls Elky. She sits up. Layers of sand fall against Ustice’s back. He gives a light shake of his hide and rises with the others. He mentally reaches out to the dragons, informing them they are hostages and Elky is under the control of a wizard. He waits for an answer.

  None comes.

  Flames break all around. As the foreign dragons charge forward, Ustice slows in the center of them, keeping her away from the onslaught of fire that must surely come. It’s difficult to see the oncoming dragons between the dark of night, the storm, and the blinding flashes of flame. He concentrates on reaching Elky by calling to her mentally, repeatedly. He needs her to use the magic to shield herself. By the Dragon of Evermore, he needs her to wake up!

  Lightning branches and arcs, leaving jagged cuts in the darkening sky. It’s at that moment Ustice sees them: a horde of black wyverns charging in the storm. He stiffens. Storm Wyverns, his mind flashes. They don’t shoot flames; they produce lightning. With that horde he sees, they have the ability to annihilate the group he’s in. Lightning reaches much further than flame. He has to get Elky away. His attention divides between the eastern dragons’ attacks and the coming wyverns. Screams of the man riding close to them rattle Ustice. He watches him move forward barking out commands over the bellows of the storm.

  A branch of lightning shoots forward blinding Ustice. The dragon in front of him is hit. His long tail flips and crashes against Ustice’s head, sending him into a tail spin. Chaos hits the Xi dragons and riders, splitting from formation in an attempt to circle the wyvern. Ustice levels out. He feels Elky’s body slump against his back. Whipping his head, he sees she is knocked out. He breaks away from the dragons and heads towards the dune below. A rough landing jars Elky to slide sideways out of her harness.

  Ustice reaches his side and plucks her out of the saddle, cradling her in his claw. He forms an umbrella around her with his wings as he burrows into the side of the dune. Hopefully they can go undetected by the dragons. The noise is muffled but the thunder still belches overhead. Occasionally, the ground around him shakes. He envisions dragons dropping from the sky… but which dragons is anyone’s guess.

  Trickles of rain seep through the sand. Thunder shakes the dune. The sands are shifting, pushing his head into his chest. If it doesn’t let up soon, he’ll become so entrenched he may not be able to dig his way out. Dragons fall all around the dune, hard impact with each fall. He no longer hears the muffled roars of dragons, only the roar of thunder. Elky stirs against him and moans. They need to wait it out a little longer. The sound of thunder retreats. He hopes it takes the wyverns with it.

  Keeping Elky protected in his claw, he pushes his head up, shifting blocks of wet sand down his neck. Fragments of moonlight push through the fast moving clouds overhead, highlighting bloated shadows across the sand. Very few wyvern are there but several of the Xi dragons litter the ground. The lightning flashes in the distance behind him… whether by storm or wyvern, he can’t tell.

  Shifting his weight until he dislodges himself from the dune stirs Elky awake. Relieved, he lays her down as he shakes the rest of the sand from his back. He looks down at her smiling. Her eyes blink open. She slowly looks around them.

  Standing, she orders: “Dragon, stand.”

  Ustice sighs. He hoped the mild concussion had broken the spell holding her captive. He stands and allows her to brush the sand from the straps binding the saddle to him. Once she’s pleased with its cinching, she climbs his side and knocks the sand from her saddle before wedging herself in it.

  “Dragon, find the others.”

  An inkling of a smirk creases his face. Since he can’t reach her by breaking through her spell-locked mind, he does what he can to obey. He leaps and flies away from the now distant storm—in search of the others—their dragons, their people. As tired as he is, he flies high and fast, hoping to make it past the battle zone before Elky’s attention is diverted to the pitted sands strewn with dragons, riders and wyverns.

  At least the passing storm refreshes the air. As tired as Ustice is, he powers through the moonlight following a pathway he remembers from before they went to the kingdom hidden in the tropical area they recently left. The stiffness he feels in the saddle gives way after a while. He slowly turns his head to see Elky’s chin resting against her chest. “Good,” he thinks as he hurries toward his first memory of this foreign land.

  His wings
beat slower, aching from the long flight. Dawn will come soon. He needs the strength to surge forward. The further away from these foreign people who took them away, the better, but his thirst and hunger weighs against him. He can’t remember the last time he’s eaten. His belly rumbles at the thought. Below him, only the scraggly shrubs past the area of the dunes, still no water in sight. Even as his muscles rebel, he pushes onward.

  Faint light begins to tinge the sky. He feels a surge of strength shoot from his tail to his wings. Worrying that Elky will awaken, he pushes with all that is in him to cover more ground. It doesn’t last long. He has nothing left in him to give. Muscle spasms threaten to send him spiraling to the ground when he spots a rocky outcropping ahead. With any luck, it will provide a niche where at least Elky could rest in a sheltered place.

  He slows to land, braking with his wings to give a soft landing, hoping to keep Elky asleep as he looks over their surroundings. The first recess he thrusts his head into shows a cluster of snakes. His claws reach the massive writhing bodies and bash them against the rock wall before flinging them down his throat. Not enough to make a full dragon meal but any protein will help his muscles recover. He finds a nice sized crevice between the boulders that trapped some recent storm runoff. Leaning down, he quickly drains it, darting his tongue out to sweep the remaining droplets off his muzzle. He kneels down, folding his wings and calming his screaming muscles. He closes his eyes for a moment since all the flying has dried them to where even blinking becomes a chore. As soon as he closes them, a flash shadows his lids, causing them to fling open.

  Chapter 8

  Breaking Through

  Hu’gan motions all to gather in close. He has found the land bridge from his vision. Once he instructs everyone to be ready for a fight, he leads his white dragon, Jenkor, across it and promptly disappears. His warriors hurry to follow him… behind them, Grifton, Belinda and myself.

  Light is grazing the sky where they enter the foreign land littered in twisted brush and dwarfed trees all bent in the same direction. It’s a slightly hilly area with no mountains, but clusters of rock formations rife with hiding places for the enemy.

  He motions everyone to rise higher and circle each rock formation to search for Elky and Ustice, most likely tucked close to their enemies. There doesn’t seem to be anything around the first several clusters that they fly over… nothing but a desolate landscape.

  They fly on. Jenkor flinches under Hu’gan. He passes his thoughts on to Dreyth and then the others. He sees a flash of green ahead. He feels like it is Ustice and reaches out to him.

  “Ustice! Is that you? Are you surrounded by the enemy? It is I, Jenkor.”

  Ustice’s eyes spring open. “Thank the Dragon of Evermore, you found us! No, the enemy is far to the east. We escaped during a battle, but be warned. Elky is under a spell. The enemy is or was trying to control her. Be careful when you approach.”

  Murmurs go through their line as the dragons share the information with their riders. This will be a delicate rescue mission. They have to get in and back through the portal as soon as possible, most likely with an unwilling Elky. Hu’gan lays his plans as they fly closer to Ustice.

  Elky is startled awake by the thrumming of many wings. Her eyes shoot wide. “Dragon, rise and attack! We are being surrounded.”

  Ustice rises to his feet and lifts into the air. The sparking of magic sizzles across his skin as Elky weaves a shield around them.

  “Flame them,” she shouts.

  Ustice rumbles as he flies closer.

  “I said, flame them, you beast! They will kill us.” Elky slams a fist against Ustice’s shoulder. He snaps his head around and glares at her before it sinks in that she is still under the influence of the spell. He inhales a deep breath and expels fire high above them.

  Hu’gan brings Jenkor closer. When he is in range, he leaps onto Ustice. Running the length of his head to his neck, he sees rage in Elky’s eyes. She lifts her hands to tear at him with whatever magic she possesses. He lunges and pins her arms down as Ustice brakes to land. The other dragons follow and land. Grifton jumps off Athan before he comes to a standstill. Hu’gan whips his head towards Grifton and tells him to stay back. Concern drips from Grifton as he shifts foot to foot.

  Hu’gan stares into Elky’s eyes, his own shimmering a piercing icy-blue. Slowly he releases his hands from holding her arms down and places them on her shoulders. Her anger fights him, glaring back with eyes narrowed to small slits, her jaw clenched tight. It is a battle of wills. Finally, her body slackens. Her head rolls to her chest. She is asleep. He removes her from the saddle and slips down Ustice’s side when Grifton races forward.

  “We must leave immediately to return home. She is under a deep spell and it will take work to release her. This is why I had to make her fall into a deep sleep or she would fight us all the way,” Hu’gan states, observing Grifton’s confusion.

  “She doesn’t know us? How can that be?” Grifton’s brows furrow.

  “Do not worry, we will change that soon enough. No doubt the Xi has tricked her into thinking that we are the enemy. I will hand her to you once you get back in your saddle. Hold her close. I don’t expect she will awaken until after we return to the Spires, but should you sense she is starting to regain consciousness, let me know immediately. We don’t know what she will do. She may think she is being kidnapped and try to jump.”

  Grifton’s jaw drops. He can’t imagine his little sister looking at him and thinking he would bring her harm. His chin quivers at the thought. He turns back to Athan and climbs into his saddle, extending his arms to grasp Elky and pull her to him. Tears race down his face as he holds her tight. Hu’gan jumps back onto Jenkor and leads Grifton, followed by all the rest, back to the portal for the race to the Spires.

  I glance over at Grifton and my heart is in conflict. I want to be happy we have Elky back. I am happy we have her with us again… but I worry. What did those sorcerers do to her, where she can’t even recognize any of us or our dragons?

  “First things, first, Sparrow. We do indeed have her once more, and we didn’t have to battle the Xi. Ustice did everything in his power to save us from tracking her all over this odd land. His heart is grieving, too. He has no contact with the Elky, his fated rider. I only hope Hu’gan can release the spell that has her trapped away from all who love her.”

  Leaning over, I hug his scaly neck. I don’t know what I would do if our connection were ever severed. I cringe at the notion. Dreyth turns his mighty head to look at me and winks a giant eye, reassuring me. We have miles and miles to travel before we will begin to see familiar landscape. As I glance around at Hu’gan’s warriors and even Belinda flying next to me, I see them dart eyes at Grifton clutching his sister tightly against him. He’s strapped a waist harness around her, but I’d hate to see the battle if she awoke before arriving to the Spires. Directly behind Grifton’s dragon Athan, flies a solo dragon: Ustice. His face is a blend of concern and fierceness. It’s good fortune he isn’t under the same spell they wove over Elky.

  Dreyth rattles in my brain. “He gave me a quick rundown of how they were captured and what the Xi did, or rather the leader of the Xi. He had been put under the same spell when they were captured. It only began to wear off once they were in the Kingdom of the Xi people. He isn’t completely sure but he thinks the spell broke when the ground he slept upon went into bloom. Ustice is distraught wishing he would have snatched her out of the house she was in, and took her to where he had awoken from the spell.”

  Not wanting to speak my words for others to hear, I keep my thoughts open for Dreyth to hear. “Is there any comfort you can give Ustice? I would feel horrible if it were you and you had those thoughts of what you should have done. Ustice did all he could and he should know that. Like you said, he brought her away from the battle and towards us. What more could he expect of himself?”

  “Oh, my little Sparrow. Your thoughts are human thoughts. They make sense and I understand them, bu
t—we are dragons. We are the protectors. There is not a time when a dragon will not be woefully second-guessing any actions that could have either harmed or saved their rider. There are only two cures I know. In the case of harm to their rider, only an exorbitant amount of time to heal the dragon’s mind—time far longer than a human life or the second, and far better choice, the rider is saved and once again in full melding with the dragon. In those two variables a dragon hangs suspended. That is the place where Ustice finds himself at this time. All words to the contrary mean naught to him, likewise to any other dragon in the same situation. It is the dragon’s way.”

  My heart is heavy. Understanding all that Dreyth shared, I can’t help but shake my head in wonder. When I think back to when I first met Dreyth, I’m horrified at how I acted and thought. I’m grateful I’ve moved from that mindset and Dreyth still was willing to have me as his rider.

  I hear a soft chuckle before his words. “What is a life, except for learning? Even a dragon isn’t born with all knowledge or answers.”

  I smirk. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to live thousands of years and accumulate the amount of knowledge a dragon holds.

  “Perhaps you won’t live the thousands of years but the years you live will be greatly enhanced.”

  “What do you mean by that?” He always has a quirky way of saying something where at times I’m not quite sure what he means.

  “Your knowledge is already enhanced by living with us and learning of things not taught in schools. You have a direct contact of history of thousands of years.”

  I hadn’t thought of it in that light but it’s true. I’ve learned a great deal since living in the Spires. As much as I sometimes wish we didn’t have so many students in the Dragon School, I’m glad they’re given the same opportunity to learn from the dragons. Only a small percentage of people will have this opportunity… and for hundreds of years when the Dragon School was closed, no one had that choice.