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© Raven
The Summoning
Table of Content
- T -
© Raven
The Summoning
Part 1
"We have a hostage situation at the Dren's Avenue Cinaplex, all units respond."
Chris flinched as the message crackled over his radio. She reached down and grabbed the thing.
"Onmy way."
She fliped a few switches and the reconizable blue and red lights flashed above her. The car sped off to the movie theater. A hostage situation, they didn't really have to deal with many of those. Actually in the twelve years she had been on the force Chris had never had to deal with any of them. They were a thing of the past for the most part. People had learned that it didn't work.
As she pulled haphazardly into the complex she saw that she was by no means the only one there. Patrol cars lined the roadways, officers behind them, some with weapons drawn, others in a debate. She supposed it was about the hostage taker, whoever it was.
"Hostage-taker is a Caucasian male, dark hair, around six foot, appears to be armed with several hand guns, shotguns, and what appears to be an RPG.
" The lutendant was briefing Captain Jonson on the situation. He has refused to let us send in a negotiator. Says he'll shot anyone we send in. He hasn't made any demands yet, so we don't know what he's after."
Jonson nodded thoughtfully.
"Get me a megaphone."
The captain took a megaphone and held it up, facing the building.
"Sir, what are your demands?"
The offices quieted, waiting. No sound came from the building however and Jonson spoke again.
"We will make no attempt to harm you if you surrender yourself now."
Then wind whistled in nearby trees.
"Our priority is to make sure no one is injured."
Jonson lowered the megaphone and shrugged.
"Let us send in a negotiator."
There was a flash of light and a diamond-like shape flew at the barricade, trailing poorly-combusted smoke. Police ran to get out of the way, those not in the line of fire leaped to the ground as the grenade slammed into a patrol car. The car flipped in the air and landed on it's back and a voice rang out from the complex.
"No negotiators."
Brad just worked here. Why had this happened, everything had been a normal day until this lunatic had walked into the theater, gunning down the guards as he did so. Their bodies were still lying there, bloody masses attracting the flies. And to think he had been planning on calling in sick today. Man, life was a bitch. The man was sketching chalk runes all over the walls, weapons slung over his back. Behind Brad a child was crying, the mother vainly trying to quiet it. The man didn't seem to notice and Brad wasn't a fool enough do tell anyone anything. The man had finished one wall and now had turned to survey the hostages, his eyes staring at them over his slightly upturned nose. Brad found himself thin king rapidly. Not me, not me, not me... Finally the man reached down and grabbed the child's mother. He yanked her up, smacking the child across the child across the face when it clung to the woman. Dragging his victim behind him, he headed for the doors.
Chris had just accepted a cup of coffee from one of her co-workers when there was a movement at the theater's double doors. The drink was forgotten as every officer drew weapons and ducked down behind the cars. They were, unfortunately, unable to shoot; the man had a hostage, a woman, held in front of him. Another movement caught her eyes. A small child stood at the doorway, dark eyes watching his mother. Chris knew that on the rooftops of nearby buildings sharpshooters would be getting ready.
Jonson stirred from his seat as the hostage taker emerged from the building. He reached for his radio.
"All units see if you can get a clear shot."
But before he could get a response the man spoke. His voice was scratchy, as if he hadn't used it in a while. It rang with a deep boom however, a boom meant to cause fear.
"I want all cops to clear away from this building for two miles, or a hostage dies."
Jonson cursed. He had already started threatening hostages. Then his radio crackled, bringing some good news.
"This is unit 126, we have a clear shot. Do we take? Over."
Jonson breathed again.
"Take the shot."
Across from the theater a sniper prepared to fire, finger tightening over the trigger, sweaty with worry...
The woman the man had in his hand slipped and fell to the concrete. The man leaned over slightly to grab her by the hair and lift her up. At that moment the sharpshooter fired. Ping! The bullet bounced off the building behind the hostage-taker. The man looked up, eyes wide with hate. He flung the woman from him cocking one of his shotguns at the same time. BOOM! The woman fell, her back ripped to shreds from the weapon's fire. The corpse fell leaking blood onto the sidewalk. The child ran out to his mother, not understanding the situation.
From inside the building Brad saw the barrel of the gun come up again and he cover ed his eyes. There was another gunshot and when Brad looked again the child's own corpse was flung out over his mother's body, upper back and head shredded into an unrecognizable red and pink pulp.
Jonson put his face in his hands. "Pull all our troops out of his sight. Not to the two mile mark, just till he can't see them. And make a call to SWAT."
Black vans pulled up, just out of sight of the theater, white letters printed boldly on their sides. Black-dressed men and woman ran out from the vans, automatic weapons clenched in hand, and went to secure a perimeter within sight of the hostage-taker. By the time they were within sight it was too late to do anything.
The man had his chalk runes sketched all over the concrete and a helpless man in his hand. The two corpses created earlier in the day were still lying there, now warm masses attracting flies.
Brad was thrown t o the ground from the man's grip. He fell there and stayed. The man only had a knife gripped in his hand now, but with that knife he could cut brads heart out before he could blink. The man was dancing around the rune, waving the knife around and chanting.
"Akath emin kaliz TIAMAT!
Hrestor ganath trea TIAMAT!
Leni cim florta TIAMAT!
Sazor grni akath TIAMAT!"
Deep beneath the earth she stirred. She heard the ancient chant, summoning, or attempting to summon, the ancient queen. One great golden eye opened and saw the blackness of her earthen tomb. Then the memories returned. The running and the corruption of mortals. The council of dragons, the great hiding and slumber, till the ancient voices would speak again. Now it was time for the judgment. Were the humans ready? Had they slept long enough? She shifted her head, moving tons of earth. Was she the first awake? She stretched he consciousness out. She was. Then the first task was hers. She focused her attention upward, to the events above her...
SWAT attacked. Full breach. At the theater the hostage-taker was chanting in a circle.
"Down on the ground! Down."
The man looked at them and smiled.
"It is done."
Then the earth underneath the man started to crack and bend downward.
"It is done!"
The man was jubilant now.
"I have done it!"
The earth exploded upward in a golden flash and the man disappeared into the gaping maw of the creature. The head was followed by a great golden-scaled neck, then a body. As the last of the creature's center came out of the ground a pair of great, golden, winds unfurled. Then a great roar erupted over the streets. Followed by a single gunshot.
Bullets filled the air, flying towards the golden beast, which withered under the fire, thrashing it's head back and fo rth, blood flying to the ground. Finally the golden head fell from the sky, slamming down in a pool of it's own blood.
At the dragons death the others awoke simultaneously. No. NONONONO. It was too soon; the humans were not ready. Nothing could be done. The mighty beasts shed their earthen tombs and took to the skies.
As the smoke from the weapons cleared astounded men and woman approached the creature from all angles, dispute the authority's attempt to hold them back. One particularly fervent one leaped on the skull of the fallen beast.
"T'is a sign! The creatures of hell arise! The apocalypse is upon us!"
Many gathered to hear. Others circled the carcass.
"They are real... They truly are real..."
"This is terrible..."
"What shall be done..."
Chris found herself at the creatures side, near the base of a wing. She reached out to touch a golden scale.
"Marvelous..."
A tremor ran through the beast, causing many to step back.
At the beast's head the tremor knocked the preacher from his perch. A girl-child had just touched one of the creature's horns. A great eye opened and stared directly into the child's, great golden gaze meeting a small, frightened, blue one. The child heard a voice in her head. It sounded old, old and wise, like one who had seen countless seasons.
"Do not fear me. I shall not harm you. Come closer."
The girl obeyed, never taking her eyes from the dragon's.
"All is not lost for you, remember this. You can, you still have, the capacity to change. My people will be leaving your realm now but do not be so sad. We cannot live here as yet, but the time may come when we can return. Come hold out your hands."
Trembling, she did so.
A single, large, drop of blood oozed out from between two golden scales and fell in the girl's hands. There it withered and twisted, shaping itself into a coiled dragon.
"Take this pendant. Keep it until th e world is safe for us. And when the time is come shatter it on a black stone under the light of a full solar eclipse... I must go. Farewell."
She heaved a great breath and died.
The girl looked at the pendant. A shadow passed over her. She looked up. Dragons. The skies were full of them, all flying in the same direction. To the west. Towards the setting sun. For a full hour they passed overhead, until they were gone, and dragons had flown under earth's sky for what may be the last time.
- 1 -
© Raven
Part 2
The child clenched the Dragon Pendant to her chest. They sky wasn't ready; the sun could still be seen. Somewhere out there the bad men were searching for her. However, Casslia knew her life wasn't important. She may have only been eight, but she knew her sole purpose was the survival of the Dragon Pendant. She looked to the sky. The moon was there, hovering near the blazing ball of flame that was the sun. Soon now.
The first of the men crashed through the simple door to her family's simple house, the house they had lived in for three thousand years, ever since the Great Shortage. That first man took an arrow to the chest, falling into their house. The next one, armed with a pair of knifes bounded into the room. Caslia's mother had the Gun. It was an heirloom from before the Shortage, some said before the scattering. For thousands of years it's like had not been heard, they only had the ammunition for seven shots, but the weapon sounded in the cabin. The second man fell as well. Caslia's mother grabbed the Dragon Pendant from her breast and tore it off it's chain. She handed it to Caslia.
"Run!"
Her mother sounded the weapon again. Five more shots. Four. Three. She turned to face Caslia, still standing there.
"Take it! Run!"
Two. Her father was running out of arrows.
"Caslia listen to me. You know the stories, you remember your ancestor and the dragon, correct?"
Caslia nodded. "You know what you have to do?"
She nodded again.
"The eclipse will be here soon, that's why these men are here they want to stop us from our duty."
She nodded again, tears forming now.
"Remember wait until-"
A man jumped up behind her.
"Mommy!"
The woman leaped to the side pulling the ancient weapon up. BOOM! He fell back, his chest ripped to pieces.
"You must wait until the sun is covered completely by the moon."
She was breathless. Behind her Caslia's father had run out of arrows and had grabbed a steel axe from the back wall.
"Remember. The black rock. The Pendant. Now take this."
She shoved the Gun into Caslia's hands.
"GO!"
She ran.
Caslia sat against the Black Stone now, the fading light from the sun growing dimmer by the hour. She glanced upward again just in time to see the first sliver of the moon caver the first sliver of the sun. It was getting closer to the time. She cradled the Gun in her lap, waiting.
She had run from the scene of death as her mother had pulled out her sword. Caslia knew that blade would only kill a few before it's owner fell. He father might last a little while longer. Then.
"Ahaa!"
Her father's scream of pain echoed of the nearby hills and Caslia began to sob.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
She ran to the Stone.
Now she could hear one of the men rustling in one of the nearby bushes. She sat still and waited, praying they wouldn’t find her, knowing they most likely would. Please no, no, nonononono... It was too soon, the sun was still visible. The bushes rattled one more time and a man steps out from them. He was dressed in dark leather, meant for movement, as is the styles of the southern mercenaries. He noticed Caslia sitting there, with her back against the stone. He stopped, lo oking at the Gun and then spoke.
"Common little girl. Give me the pendant and I won't hurt you."
Caslia shook her head. She knew what he said was most likely true, but she would not give up the Dragon Pendant. Not even for her life.
"Just give. Me. The. Pendant."
He jumped at her.
Caslia's whisper could hardly be heard.
"No."
She fired the Gun. BOOM! The rattling noise echoed through the valley, it would attract the bad men like flies. The man in the leather fell back, a startled look on his face. He stumbled back two steps and fell, still looking surprised. Then the world faded into darkness.
The darkness was only total for a moment before Caslia's eyes adjusted to the new light. The world was bathed in blood. That was what it looked like; a blood-red light drenched the lands, turning the trees and grass black or a very deep red. Caslia looked up and saw an amazing sight. The moon had drifted in front of the sun; there was a black disk in the sky, surrounded by red flame, the same red flame that was causing the new light.
Caslia's attacker stopped and stared at the eclipse. Then he lowered his weapons. He looked at Caslia.
"Shatter the pendant, girl. Unleash the magic; bring the dragons."
She was confused: this m an had been going to kill her. She raised the Dragon Pendant above her head and prepared to throw it down on the black stone when seven more men leaped through the bushes and directly at her. The first man also jumped. He, however, jumped directly towards the seven new men, his sword cutting one down before they knew what was happening. Quick as a flash, though, they figured it out and quickly surrounded Caslia's defender.
"You looked, didn't you, Jantin? You always look at things, always questioning."
The man Jantin looked down his blade at his foe.
"Look up why don't you? Reach for enlightenment. Hear the spirits as out ancestors once did."
"I think not."
Snarling he leaped at Jantin, who parried the blow. And the next, and the next. Then the other five attacked.
Caslia watched, unable to do anything. Then she remembered the pendant. She threw it down to the stone.
The stone-of-dragon-blood shattered into pieces, flying every which way. Time seemed to freeze. Jantin was embattled with three of his remaining opponents, including the one who had insulted him, the others were dead at his feet and he had cuts covering him. Caslia was thrown back with the force of the shattering pendant and was in midair. Everything moved again. Caslia landed on her back and droplets of warm, liquid, dragon blood landed on her. Jantin took a thrust through his stomach and fell, screaming.
In front of the moon a silver-blue orb floated. Jantin's assaulters, their job done stopped and looked. The orb pulsated, throbbing in time to Caslia's heartbeat. It flashed and a great golden dragon flew out, fanning its wings on the air of earth for the first time in millennia. The orb continued to flash. At each blast of light another dragon sailed through, flying in every direction. Caslia noticed one, a dragon of dark blue, around thirty feet in length and horns and spines of black, flying towards them. The dragon landed and glared at the men, she slashed at them, gutting two. The third, the one who Jantin had talked to leap back out of the way, blade held ready.
"I will fight you if you attack, beast."
The dragon blinked.
"Begone."
Another blue light covered the man and he vanished from sight. The blue head swiveled to look Caslia in the eye.
"Do not be afraid girl. You have done well; your line has done well."
Caslia trembled under the dragon's gaze.
"What- what of him?"
She pointed a unsteady hand at Jantin.
The blue dragon bent it's head towards the man and breathed on him; his wounds slowly vanished and the blue light took him away like the other.
"He has learnt the first lesson. It is time for the second."
Caslia nodded.
"Come, we shall leave this sad place; there is still some work to be done.
Caslia looked into the dragon's great, green, eye.
"May I- May I ride you."
The creature smiled.
"Come, we shall ride the skies together."
Slowly and with great care the dragon lifted Caslia up near it's head spikes.
"Hold tightly. I fly rather quickly."
With a great push of the blue legs the two of them rose into the sky, joining the last of the dragons coming through the closing portal. They turned to face the mountains as the eclipse ended, revealing a new, more majestic world, ripe for life and learning.
- 2 -
© Raven
Part 3
The wind whistling around her. Blowing her hair in every direction, Caslia rode on the back of a golden dragon. She looked over the great creature's side and down on the farming village below. It was fairly small, containing fewer then thirty houses of different sizes, the smallest twenty being naught but shacks, the largest the village inn. Caslia had little more then looked at it when they swept past the farmers standing in their fields to watch the dragon, knowing little of the burden it carried.
Litt le did Caslia resemble the frightened youth who had shattered the Dragon Pendant, she was in her late thirties now, and a strong woman, with lengths of thick dark-brown hair. Her frame supported dragon-leather and dragon-scale clothing stitched together from the freely given, still-living, skin of a multitude of dragons. Her skirt, divided for riding, was small scaled, allowing easy freedom of movement and was the color of dark grass. Her blouse, also small scaled, was a dark red, with black sleeves. Tonight she wore a large blue scale cloak against the cold.
Caslia's golden mound drifted towards a cave, hidden high in the mountains, it was her home, and the meeting place for the great council. She was the only human to ever come to this place. Caslia Elflorn Lightna, Dragonbreath.
Caslia slipped of the golden head, her feet, imbedded in dragon-leather boots, breaking fresh snow. Around the entrance to the cave were carvings of the eclipse, and, more importantly, the events that occurred underneath that eclipse. The carvings were of a girl, looking surprisingly like Caslia, standing fearlessly before the stone and breaking the pendant. If she recalled correctly, the actual events were much different from that. She remembered that the actually breaking of the pendant had been rather rushed, and that people had died. The blood running on the ground was a much clearer, and far more accurate, memory.
She had seen the carvings before however, and walked past them with hardly a glance. The interior, with its warmth and inhabitants, was far more interesting. Once inside the cave heat spread through her body. The kind of heat that only came from fifty-odd dragons living in one place, the warmth etched into the very stones. Home. The warmth reaching her bones, Caslia took off her cloak, setting it in a pile by the entrance. She headed off towards the council hall, gathering place of dragons. She turned a corner. The cavern was filled with dragons. A multitude of colors, from the darkest black, to the most brilliant golden shine, if a color existed it was in this cave. In the center of the hall lay the fifty-seven councilors, some of the most powerful dragons on earth, they lived here all year round. Around the councilors sat the assembly. Gathered to watch the meeting, which happened every five years, these dragons spoke little, but rather listened and observed.
Caslia walked directly to the center to stand amongst the councilors. A young blue, attending, she assumed, his first meeting, stumbled moving out of her path. He stuttered apologies to the fabled Dragonbreath until her understanding stare silenced him.
As soon as she was within the group the hall was silent. An ancient white called out.
"Dragonbreath, our lady, presiding over council."
The silence felt like it reached past the void. Caslia smiled.
"I am honored to be here."
She knew her presence wasn't truly necessary for the happiness of these dragons, but with out a human here, impatient as they were, things would never get done. Mind you, the first half of the council was hardly interesting; it was only later when things began to heat up.
"The humans murdered three of my hatchlings. They must die."
That particular complaint, brought by a white by the name of Snowsbane, had been Caslia's hardest to overturn. She had suggested that she go and speak to the humans in question, but the drag ons had been far too protective of her. The argument had finally been closed when it was agreed to let them live within the golden, labyrinthine, halls. The idea was that they would turn any human from evil. The old white was about to call out the end of the meeting, when Caslia held up two fingers. He fell silent.
"Have you forgotten my proposition?" Caslia called out. Some of the dragons looked ashamed. "I will not have it put off until the next meeting [I]again[/I] by the end of this one we will have come to a decision about the Dragonprince." The hall fell into an embarrassed silence.
"I remind you," She said in a hard voice, "that he is the only reason you are here now. What are we to do? Leave him where you sent him?"
She nodded towards a blue in one corner.
"Wherever that was. Doesn't he deserve some respect?"
The dragons were silent.
"Decide."
Hours of heated debate followed. Some of the dragons claiming they owed this human nothing, others that the journey back would be too dangerous, and how could they know he was still alive? On the other side, a dragon's honor was said to be unbreakable, that they had nothing to lose, and it would be better to bring him back, and that Dragonbreath desired it. Finall y the blue came forward.
"We have decided. The Dragonprince shall return. A time for the ceremony must be set."
Recent rumors and turmoil notwithstanding the ceremony would go forward as planned. It was autumn now; three months after the last council, and in the altitudes humans were used to the leaves were changing colors and beginning to fall. In the dragon's heights the only sign of the changing season was a slightly deeper snow outside. Nevertheless the leaves were what Caslia was thinking of at that moment. It was surrounded by those leaves and those familiar fall smells that the ceremony would take place. At the site of the return, in fact. The Dragonprince would be summoned in the same place Caslia herself had shattered the Dragon Pendant and brought the dragons back. The site was a park now. A beautiful park, surrounded by a dragon-built city, dwelled in by those who had proven themselves, the Dragonfriends. It wa s sad that the city was so empty. The dragons had prepared it for many, but, sadly enough, few seemed to qualify for the title 'Dragonfriend.' As it was there would be a few hundred onlookers at the actually ceremony. In a city built to house a few thousand.
A golden dragon stuck her head within Caslia's chambers and thoughts.
"Dragonbreath, are you ready?"
"I am, thank you."
Caslia followed her mount down to the shimmering city to the end of the caves and climbed aboard her back.
"I am ready."
The golden dragon took to the skies.
Caslia's mount set her down within the park, near the stone. A small group of dragons and humans had already gathered. As Caslia came to the stone cheering erupted, both from the dragons and humans. As she approached the altar a dragon handed her a jade stone. "Would you do the honors once more, Dragonbreath?"
"I would be honored."
Caslia tuned the piece of jade over in her hands; it was in the shape of a sword.
"Is it the same procedure? I simply shatter the stone?"
The dragon nodded and explained that nearby dragons would focus the energies.
As the ceremony drew near the crowd silenced themselves. Feeling the solemn mood, Caslia raised the stone above her head, ready to send it flying to the black rock below. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a metallic glimmer... shaped as a tube... Before she could realize what it was the Gun made an enormously loud noise and Caslia felt bullets dot her side.
Caslia fell to the ground in pain, the sword-shaped piece of jade clattering down on the shrine, but not hard enough to break. Half the humans in the clearing had suddenly drawn swords and most of the Dragonfriends, taken unaware, were quickly cut down. Now the assassins had the dragons to deal with, but, unfortunately, not many dragons were in attendance. Battle raged around Caslia. The Gun itself had not gone off again, the assassins trusting their more primitive weapons to do the work. Already they had killed three dragons and all but a few of the Dragonfriends. The assailants had taken only minimal casualties. Caslia herself was still in pain from the bullet wounds. She doubted she would survive long if the dragons lost this conflict, and the thought of what would happen if she died at the hands of humans was terrible. Dragons would run rampart, killing all human in their wrath, exterminating them, as some wanted to anyway. Her death would provide the perfect excuse for a dragon-started genocide. Flailing her arms in a vain attempt to reach the nearest dragon her hand struck a large rock. It seemed to have been part of the altar at one point, as it was made of the same black material. Caslia looked at the altar. It's black surface reflecting dimmed and distorted views of the battle, the jade stone atop it. The Jade stone. With her failing strength Caslia lifted the stone she had grabbed and slammed it down on the sword-shaped, blue-tinged, stone.
The warrior, Jantin, called the Dragonprince back in his own universe glowered. He was depressed again, ever since the day he had looked at that damned eclipse and let that damned girl shatter that damned pendant... He had long since given up any hope of returning, but still hated this world he had ended up in. Even Earth was cleaner. It had dragons though, that was a plus. [I]So does Earth, now.[/I] He thought and put his mug down. At that moment a cold hand shot through his heart.
"Aha, gods!" people looked at him.
"That... HURTS!" The world flashed in a white light.
Caslia flinched at the blinding light. A man appeared, clutching at his chest. He seemed about forty, maybe a little older, with dark hair, slashed through with small marks of gray. Over his shoulder he bore a single sword.
The pain in Jantin's chest stopped and he looked up. Battle raged around him, dragons and a few humans fighting more humans. Where was he? This place looks familiar...Then he saw the stone. This... is Earth...He saw the dragons clearer now, and realized what was happening. He drew a small crystal from one of his pockets. This had better work! Jantin threw the crystal down. As it shattered the light arched out, twisting in and about itself, writhing like a dieing beast. Then it plunged straight into the chests of the attackers. The men screamed as one, a huge, bestial roar reaching to the heavens. It was the last thing Jantin heard, the mage had warned him the crystal took a lot of energy... he had been right.
As he regained consciousness Jantin could see two nearby blurry shapes. He could also see others, further away, but could not tell what any of them were.
"Wh- Where am I? What is this place?"
A voice came to him, it was feminine, and seemed to originate from the smaller of the two shapes.
"Earth. You have been returned to your home Jantin, Dragonprince."
"Dragonprince? I ain’t no Dragonprince. Who are you?"
"No one you know, yet you should remember me. My name i s Caslia."
"Stonebreaker..." His voice faded off, lost again to unconsciousness.
Jantin regained consciousness slowly. He felt like he way lying on a stone covered in cloth. It was hard. As his eyes became more focused he could make out that there were carvings on the ceiling. A few more moments and he could make them out. With a shiver he realized he could recognize the scene. A child stood with her arms thrown down, above her there were dragons pouring out of a hole in the sky, joy on their scaly features. Behind the girl was another human figure, looking up at the dragons. With a shock he realized he knew the other figure. It was him.
Jantin stopped and stared at the eclipse. Then he lowered his weapons. He looked at the child.
"Shatter the pendant, girl. Unleash the magic; bring the dragons."
She looked confused. She raised the Dragon Pendant above her head and prepared to throw it down on the black stone when seven more men leaped through the bushes and directly at her.
Jantin shook his head and the jerking brought the woman besides his bead into focus.
"Caslia?"
She nodded.
"Have I been brought back?"
She nodded again and Jantin began to weep, overcome.
"Thank you, thank you so much."
she spoke for the first time. "Come we have work to do, and you must meet your new companions."
"Companions? Work? What work?"
"Dragons. And the world was not ready. Especially not now, now that most of the Dragonfriends are dead, and most of their city burnt. The work we have is to heal the world, to prepare humanity for its destiny." Jantin followed her through a door. And into a room crowded with dragons. They stood there, watching him. He watched them back.
"A destiny side by side with Dragons."
- 3 -
© Raven
Part 4
Caslia stood at the bow of the ship, her gray hair blown back in the wind. The years had gone by so rapidly. She was forty-nine years of age now, and it showed. Working at improving human, and dragon, life was no easy task. In recent years she had begun too feel older, the great muscles of a dragon under her no longer feeling as comfortable as they had used to. Nevertheless she regretted nothing. Caslia looked behind her. There were three dragons aboard, and the ship was thus larger than what she was used to. The vessel had three thick masts and a wide, flat, deck. At the back end was a cabin, which hosted Caslia, Jantin, and a few other Dragonfriends. The three dragons aboard kept the winds steady with their magic, keeping the ship on course and the storms away. Flamemark, a twenty-foot blue, with an angry red- scaled slash across his face that granted him his name was the largest and oldest dragon aboard. Right now he was having a conversation with Jantin.
Caslia walked up to the two of them. As old as Caslia felt now, she hate to think what she would feel like when she reached Jantin's age. The old warrior was sixty-four now and covered in scars. His hair was a deep silver-gray and the only thing that had not lost their shine was his eyes. His eyes, too, had changed though. They were no longer filled with the yearning passion of youth, but gleamed of ancient wisdom. Jantin no longer could protect Caslia against threats, he was too frail, and he only had one foot. The other he had lost ten years ago, saving her life from a disgruntled young man. He got around by wheelchair now, but he claimed it didn't hinder him anymore. He looked up at her and smiled.
"Hello, Dragonbreath."
Caslia smiled back down at him.
"Good morning, Jantin. And you, Flamemark."
The dragon smiled back at her, showing a mouth full of bladed teeth. Actually only the upper teeth of a dragon were the sharp spear-like blades many feared. The bottom jaw was made of mostly small, serrated teeth. Caslia had learned that for the most part the upper teeth were used for two things: ritual (an non-ritual) combat amongst dragons, and for actually killing prey, including any unruly humans. Nevertheless Caslia feared no dragon, as a whole the dragons believed her to be a sort of savior, a holy figure. Jantin she wasn't sure about. She believed they let him live from a desire to please her. Not that it mattered; Jantin proclaimed he wanted to die by a dragon's weaponry.
Flamemark spoke for the first time since her arrival.
"We are nearly there, Dragonbreath."
"So soon?" She asked, surprised.
"I thought it would take a few days yet."
The grin grew larger.
"We travel faster than any human or wind powered ship ever could."
Jantin spoke from his wheelchair.
"Well, technically we are wind powered." He faltered when the dragon looked at him.
"Well, we are! Magical wind is still wind. Gah!"
Jantin, said a perfect image of a disgruntled old man.
"Dragons!"
Caslia gave a slight smile.
Jantin would never change; he had always been rouge. At least since his return. Before, back during his first stay on earth he had been a serious minded fellow, now, after is... journey... he was more carefree, happy, uncaring. The uncaring was a pretext, she knew he actually cared for what happened to earth, to dragons, and to her. He saw her as a daughter figure, one he had saved before, and would do again, given the chance. Not that he would have the chance. He was no longer a man of action, held down on his wheelchair, and besides, this was Caslia's last trip, after this was over it would be a return to the golden halls, to live the last of her days in peace and light. Jantin she worried about. She thought he might kill himself, or get a dragon to do it for him; she would have to watch out for him. The daughter watching the senile father.
"Well." She said, breaking into Jantin and Flamemark's friendly staring contest. The two actually liked each other, despite the pretended distaste. She didn't really understand.
"If we're here we should commence."
"Aye, Dragonbreath." Flamemark said. Jantin and I will follow you to the bow." Jantin muttered under his breath and started wheeling toward the front of the ship. By the time he got there Caslia was already standing at the figurehead, as if held up by the wind. Caslia reached slowly into her pocket. She pulled out a small amulet. It was a dragon, curled around a stone, all done in blue crystal. Inside the crystal was a blue liquid, which gave the gem a mystic reflective property. She had seen -and used- such gems before, they contained a pre-made magic. Extremely powerful, the only thing required to set off t he spell was to break the stone in the right place. This was such a place. Caslia raised the stone, feeling quite silly, she always felt there should be more to it than this, some add words, if nothing else. She brought the stone down on the ship's figurehead, a dragon curving around a spike. Blue gem-water flew and Caslia threw the two pieces of the stone down into the sea. The water rose to meet them, frothing at their touch. The pieces reflected the sun once and sank out of sight. Caslia retreated off the bow. Jantin smiled at her. "Well done."
She shrugged.
"So now we wait? When will... he come..?"
"When he feels so inclined." Flamemark said sarcastically. Jantin wheeled over to the ship's railing.
About an hour later Jantin called them over.
"Something's happening."
Indeed, something was. A fine mist was rising from the water.
"It's getting colder, too."
Caslia realized he was right; the air certainly had a chill to it. Over the next half an hour the air grew steadily colder, and frost began to form in the water around the ship. Caslia was worried the ship might accumulate enough ice to be weighed down, or the freezing water would crack the hull, but consoled herself that the dragons aboard would undoubtedly grab her -and probably Jantin- and take to the air. She had personally seen Flamemark use his body as a boat. He was very buoyant. The icing was soon complete, and by looking over the side of the ship one could see a thick layer of ice that extended quite a distance into the horizon.
Jant in wheeled about.
"I'm getting a bad feeling about this."
No one replied to his remark, due to the rather loud rumbling that was beginning to fill the air. The rumbling grew to its climax and five hundred yards ahead of the ship the ice began to crack and jut upwards. The noise was unbelievable; Jantin was shouting but Caslia couldn't hear him. The ice began to crack to the left and right of the center bulge, ice-cold water leaking out of the cracks and running over the ice, only to freeze again in a clear sheet of ice. Then [I]he[/I] emerged.
From the center bulge an enormous dragonhead shot forth into the sky followed by a long neck. The head was easily a hundred yards long each deep blue-on-blue eye larger than several humans. The creature's scales were a pure along his back and sides with a blue tinge on its underbelly; along its back were spines the same darkest -blue of its eyes. Then from the secondary bulges two giant wings emerged. The axis of each wing was tipped with an enormous black claw, the wing membranes were the same white of its body and through them one could see where the thin wing bones supported them, tinged with the same blue of its underbelly.
Once the wings were free they reached forward to grip incomprehensible amounts of air and force it down with a mighty sweep. The surge of ice-chilled air hit the ship a few moments later and carried the dragon into the air, pulling its gigantic body and long tail from the ice. The dragon reached to touch the sky before setting his claws down and making an ungentle landing on the ice. With a screeching noise a rippling shockwave of ice slammed out from the dragon's landing. The only thing that saved the ship from total destruction was the powerful draconic magic protecting it.
"Iceale..." Flamemark breathed.
The dragons on board the ship took to the air, flying steadily towards their ancient monarch. Flamemark bent to the ground to allow Caslia and Jantin onto his back before leaping into the sky with the rest of his kin. Iceale watched his lesser brethren approach him with something akin to annoyance, as if he did not have the time to be bothered by these creatures, creatures Caslia had always believed nothing was greater than. She had been disastrously wrong.
As Flamemark set them down the titan spoke, though no audible voice touched their ears.
WHAT IS THIS? WHY DO MY BRETHREN MINGLE WITH SUCH PATHETIC CREATURES?
As he finished speaking one giant claw came down and landed atop Jantin, whose visage was mixture of awe, horror, and understanding. The blow drove Jantin's corpse through the surface ice and into a frozen tomb. The claw raised, ready to annihilate Caslia next but Flamemark quickly placed his body between Dragonbreath and the tyrant.
"Iceale, last of the Seven, stay your claw. This is Dragonbreath, the one who summoned us back to this realm. Please."
Caslia trembled beneath Flamemark, unsure what to do for the first time since she had become Dragonbreath; she had always had a voice amongst dragons, but she was sure this giant would care nothing for her, and ignore anything she might say, she could already tell he barely paid heed to Flamemark.
PERHAPS YOU ARE RIGHT, YOUNGLING. MOVE ASIDE, LET ME LOOK AT IT.
Flamemark moved reluctantly to one side and Caslia found herself face-to-face with Iceale, last of the Seven. Why couldn't the last survivor have been the Gold? In her present state she could not recall his name.
YES. THIS ONE IS DIFFERENT. SHE DESERVES GRE ATER THAN THE OTHER ONE.
Caslia was filled with a hope and a dread as Iceale lifted his claw and opened his mouth. A blue mist rose from amidst his teeth and he spoke strange words in Draconic. Caslia suddenly felt very cold.
Flamemark regarded Caslia's totally frozen form with a kind of horror. That block of ice that looked human had once been Dragonbreath. He couldn't get his claws around the idea. Iceale brought his gigantic head close to her frozen form. The human was frozen in an unflattering poise, no grand movements, no arms reaching for the sky. She was just frozen. A sharp gash appeared in the side of his head and a single drop of blood fell on the ice statue. Another drop collected into a small gem in the shape of the human who had been Dragonbreath. This gem floated towards the nearest dragon.
WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
"Flamemark, eldest."
AH, WELL, FLAMEMARK, YOU SHALL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR GAURDING THIS STONE.
His voice raised.
HEAR ME! THIS HUMAN SHALL NEVER BE WOKEN WHILE I LIVE! IF I FALL YOU MAY LIVE HOWEVER YOU WISH, BUT UNTILL THAT DAY YOU ARE MY DRAGONS AND YOU WILL LIVE AS I INTENDED YOU SHOULD. THERE SHALL BE NO COOPERATION WITH HUMANS, NO BUILDING OF GREAT WORKS WITH THEM. YOU ARE DRAGONS, FREE FROM THE CHAINS OF LESSER RACES! HUMANS ARE NONE OF YOUR CONCERN, NOR MINE. THEY ARE TO BE INGNORED FOR ALL TIME, UNLESS I AM TO DIE, IF I FALL YOU MAY ELECT A NEW ELDEST AND HE SHALL DESIGN YOUR LIVES, BUT UNTILL THAT DAY THIS HUMAN REMAINS FROZEN, AND THE REST ARE IGNORED. SPREAD SUCH NEWS AMONGST THOSE OF OUR KIND THAT REMAIN! AND IF YOU CARE FOR THESE PATHETIC CREATURES YOU HAD BEST WARN THEM TO STAY OUT OF OUT WAY! GO!
With a rush of air those assembled lifted from the ground as one and flew away in all directions, to live as they had in ancient days, before they had been blinded by the human who had woken them an age ago. Flamemark stayed a mom ent longer before making a bow to Iceale, gripping Caslia in his claw and taking off in the direction of the council halls, to put Caslia's frozen form in a proper resting place, and await a time when he could once again count a human as a friend.
- 4 -
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