Moses and the Dragonborn, page 12
Allison screamed, “Wolves,” and everyone was instantly awake. When she screamed, the wolves leapt toward the Chosen lying on the ground. They would have all died if it hadn’t been for Moses and his wizard gift. Moses called forth fire and drove the wolves back long enough for those who’d been sleeping to get out of their sleeping bags and scramble to their feet.
Moses stepped in front of Allison and sent wizard fire out in a semi-circle. The light of the fire illuminated gaunt wolves with rheumy eyes. They danced away when the fire got near them, but as soon as it moved around the circle, they came toward them.
The wolves’ hunger was stronger than their fear of Moses’ wizard fire. One darted in and leapt toward Zoey’s throat, while another went for her leg. Denzel jumped into the air and kicked one, sending it tumbling away. Zoey, Zinc and Ben transformed into dragons and stood facing different directions in a circle with Moses. Allison stood in the middle of their circle.
They were using fire to keep the wolves from getting too close. In the light created by dragon and wizard fire, Denzel was fighting a battle of his own. He had gotten around behind the wolves that were trying to get past the fire to attack the Chosen in the circle. As Allison watched he grabbed a wolf by the tail and sent it flying through the air to knock other wolves off their feet. The wolves were big and heavy and strong, but Denzel would have been a match for any three who came at him at one time, but there were many more than that.
One of them jumped on his back and he went down. Others surged forward to share in a feast of human flesh. Denzel would have been their next meal if the dragonborn had not moved closer and blasted the wolves with fire. Denzel ran towards his friends bleeding from several wounds.
“Moses and I will hold them off, while the rest of you get ready to fly,” Ben yelled.
The mounting procedure would make dragon and rider vulnerable as the dragon had to get down on its belly so that the rider could mount and the rider had to turn their back to whatever threat was attacking.
“Wait. This be emergency,” Moses said, as he brought out the gateway. “Wolves and bad clouds mean we go Firehaven.”
Moses held out the gateway in the semi-darkness. The dragons kept the wolves at bay as Allison and Denzel went through the gateway. Zinc and Zoey went next. Ben and Moses followed them through, along with two wolves.
Back at Firehaven, the wolves stood next to Moses, drool hanging from their half open mouths, uncertain of what to do next. When Zinc shot a blast of dragonfire at them, the wolves bolted, but didn’t go far. They jumped over a sheep enclosure and each killed one before the dragonborn could chase them away. The wolves carried the dead sheep away with them. Meanwhile, Allison and Zoey healed Denzel’s many wounds.
ZACHERY GRUMBLED WHEN a brownie banged on his door with the news that the Chosen were back and there were two sheep missing from the field. He went to the dining hall where he found the Chosen waiting for him.
“What are you doing here and where are my sheep?”
“It be emergency,” Moses said, glaring at Zachery with his arms crossed.
“You always seem to be having emergencies. Maybe this quest is too difficult for you,” Zachery said grumpily. “Now someone tell me why I have two missing sheep.”
Ben and Zinc both started talking at once.
“One at a time,” Zachery said.
They both started speaking at the same time again.
“Okay, we will hear from Ben first because I like him best.” Zachery turned his full attention on Ben.
A look of annoyance crossed Zinc’s face.
“There was a cloud bank in front of us and wolves all around,” Ben said.
“Two wolves came with us through the gateway,” Zinc added.
“I guess that explains why two of my sheep are missing,” Zachery said.
“I want to know where those sheep came from,” Zinc demanded loudly. “There were no sheep here when we arrived. What world did you steal them from?”
“If all Zaltzburg’s are as nasty as you, I’m glad to be staying on Farne,” Zachery said. “I did not steal those sheep. I told other Watcher’s what was happening here and asked them to send me some animals. The sheep were a gift from the Watcher on Earth.”
“I recognize the one with the black spot over his tail,” Allison said. “It was born at Fairhaven my first year there.”
“You are forbidden to bring any more dangerous animals back with you unless they are good to eat.” Zachery paused. “Do you think wolf is good to eat?”
“Definitely not,” Ben said. “They are skin and bone and look sick.”
Zachery looked up at the ceiling as he scratched his head. “Use re-genesis gift on them and then maybe they will be good to eat.”
“The wolves are getting better than when we first encountered them thanks to re-genesis, but generally, animals that eat other animals are not good to eat, even if they’re completely healthy,” Ben said.
“Then you shouldn’t have brought them back with you.” Zachery wagged his finger at the Chosen. “I forbid you doing that again.”
“It’s not like we decided to bring them back.” Ben’s voice was louder than normal and sounded annoyed. “They were trying to make a meal of us as we came though the portal. It’s a good thing brownies are fur covered. Otherwise, we might have left Moses and the gateway behind. They tried to take a bite out of him and all they got was a mouthful of fur.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Zachery said. “The gateway is far too precious to ever leave behind. You can leave the Zaltzburg Prince, but not the brownie.”
“Moses more precious than Prince?” Moses asked in surprise.
“You are both of great importance,” Allison said.
“What are your plans now?” Zachery asked.
“We need to talk about that.” Ben sat down at one of the tables. “Perhaps you can help us come up with a plan over breakfast.”
Soon they were settled over a substantial breakfast of eggs, bread, and greens.
“This is good,” Ben said. “Do you have enough eggs to boil some so that we can take them with us?”
“We can spare a few,” Zachery said, “but only a very few. It’s not easy to feed this many brownies.”
“You should have thought of that before you took them from where they belong,” Zoey said. Zinc smiled at her in approval.
“They are happier here,” Zachery said. “You stay away and I will have more food for my brownies.”
Zinc appeared to be about to say something more, but changed his mind.
“We would be grateful for any food you can spare,” Ben said quickly. “Who knows what we will find to eat if we manage to get over the cloud bank.”
“I’m so tired of the puke gourds,” Denzel said.
“Puke gourds?” Zachery said puzzled.
“You eat them because you have to eat something, but eating those things makes you want to puke.”
Zachery scowled at Denzel. “I’ve had an almost constant diet of those gourds and little else for close to a thousand years.”
“You are a stronger man than me,” Denzel said. “I couldn’t have endured it.”
“It’s probably one of the reasons he’s half mad,” Zinc muttered.
“More than half,” Zoey whispered next to Zinc.
Ben gave Zinc and Zoey a dirty look and then turned to speak to Zachery. “So when we left, there was a cloud bank in front of us and wolves behind us. If we use the gateway to go back, we might find ourselves in the middle of a toxic cloud. And if there are no clouds, the wolves might still be waiting for us.”
“Why so many clouds?” Moses asked.
“The clouds must be forming over the sea that sits between Farland and Caroway. Caroway was the continent where the school for the Chosen was located before the war wiped everything out,” Ben said. “If I am right, Farland is the land mass we have spent the last few days travelling over.
“I’d forgotten that,” Zachery said. “But it’s coming back to me.” He giggled and clapped his hands and then pasted a serious look on his face. “If you go back, I can guarantee there will still be clouds over that sea. Most of it is shallow and the hot sun causes many clouds to form. There is no time of day when it would be safe to travel over that sea. It looks like your quest is over. There is no way to get to the other side and find the King.”
“Wait,” Allison said. “There’s got to be a way to continue, otherwise the Guardian would not have sent us.”
“No, no, no. It’s time for the Chosen to give up. You’ve tried, but there’s no way it can be done. You can stay here with me and be teachers and healers at Firehaven, except for you and you,” Zachery pointed at Zinc and Zoey. “You will need to find another place on Farne to live.”
“What! Ben exclaimed.
“Why are you so ready to get rid of us? What are you up too now?” Zinc asked. “And why wouldn’t you just send us back to Zargon, if you don’t want us here?”
Zachery began to giggle. Finally, he answered Zinc’s question with a question. “What makes you think Zachery is up to something? Maybe he’s just tired of troublesome dragonborn.”
“None of us are ready to give up,” Ben said. “That’s my grandfather and Zinc’s father we’re looking for. We have come too far and gone through too much to walk away from this quest.”
“Think, was there anything that would help us continue on?” Zinc asked. Then he answered his own question. “I thought I saw a mountain. It was in the middle of the bank of clouds. The top of the mountain stood up above the clouds. Did anyone else see it?”
“I didn’t,” Zoey said.
“You need a location to use the gateway to go somewhere, right?” Zinc asked Moses.
“Yes,” Moses said. “If I no see, might not arrive on mountain, but in water.”
“What if you gave the gateway to me?” Zinc asked. “I could use it, because I have seen the mountain.”
“Guardian give gateway to Moses. No one use but Moses.”
Zinc frowned and bit his lip, as he struggled to contain his irritation with Moses, then he put his hand out toward the brownie. “Be reasonable and give me the gateway. Zachery uses it, why can’t I.”
“That be different. He be Watcher,” Moses said, but he looked at Zachery and wondered if he would be able to get the gateway he’d given to the Watcher back when it was time to leave.
“Wait a minute. I saw that mountain. I can use my gift to take us there,” Ben said.
“What gift is that?” Zoey asked.
“The gift of being able to transport myself and others from one place to another,” Ben said.
“It is too far for your gift,” Zachery said. “You need to be able to see the spot where you wish to go. Besides, your gift will not protect you from the rain between here and there. You still travel through time and space, even if you do it very fast. You would arrive as skeletons. But don’t worry I have an idea. I’ll look into Zinc’s mind and then I can put the image into Moses mind.”
After breakfast, Moses was on his way to the mountain whose image Zachery had formed in his mind. Moses insisted that he go alone to make sure it could be safely done. He also wanted to know that there was a way forward from that mountain. There was no point getting everyone there, only to find there was nowhere else they could go.
While they waited for Moses, Zoey walked over to stand beside Zinc. “Don’t worry Prince,” she said quietly. “I’m sure there is a way for us to continue. We’ve come so very far. It can’t end without finding your father.”
Zinc smiled at Zoey. For the first time he didn’t mind her calling him Prince, he did not hear any mockery in her voice. Zoey’s presence helped curb some of the anxiety he felt as he waited for Moses.
“Cloud surround island, but mountaintop above,” Moses said. “There be other mountains. Ben use gift. We go next island.”
“Well then,” Zachery said. “It’s time to be on your way.”
“What? You don’t want us to stay and play games with you?” Zinc asked mockingly.
“What kind of son are you?” Zachery asked. “You’d think about staying here to play games with me when your father is out there somewhere?” Zinc couldn’t tell if the Watcher was serious or mocking him.
“Nooo,” Zinc said emphatically. “I don’t want to play games with you. I will never want to play games with you, but you were always trying to get us to do that when we first arrived, and now you can’t wait to get rid of us.”
“I have brownies and I like them better than you. They play games, they work hard, and they cook good food. They make me laugh and some of them are even Chosen of the Guardian.” Zachery liked what he was saying and clapped his hands and laughed.
Zinc scowled. “You must be mistaken. The Guardian of the Six Worlds would never choose brownies to be Chosen.”
“Guardian chose Moses.” Moses held out the gateway he’d just used. “Give Moses gateway, wizard gift, and gift that heals Farne.”
“You’re different. You went into the place between time and space and are no longer just a brownie,” Zinc said.
“I be brownie. I be Chosen,” Moses said stubbornly.
Zachery stopped clapping and stepped closer to Zinc, so they stood face to face. “The brownies are discovering who they really are, and I have no doubt the Guardian has a special plan for them.”
Zinc stepped away from the Watcher. “The Guardian’s plan is for them to serve the dragonborn. So it has always been and so it always will be.”
Zachery burst out laughing. “I am the only dragonborn on this world and I say they will be a free people. What they do for me, they do out of gratitude, not because they are forced.”
“You are not dragonborn. You’re a lizard man with a tail.” Zoey laughed harshly and Zinc joined her.
Zachery swished his stubby tail back and forth with a scowl on his face. “Not nice of you to say so.”
“Okay,” Denzel broke in. “Are we going to stand here and talk all day? Or are we going to go save the King of Zargon?”
“Yes, it is time to be on our way,” Ben said.
“I hope there are no more emergencies,” Zachery grumbled. “I am tired of having dragonborn visitors. They never treated me well on Zargon and they don’t treat me well even here on Farne where I am the Watcher.” Zachery’s last words were spoken forcefully as if to remind the Chosen from Zargon that they should show him some respect.
Moses used the gateway to move the Chosen to the island mountaintop. After that Ben used his gift to move them from one mountainous island to another. Below each mountain they landed on, green tinged clouds swirled over a dead sea. Every time they landed on the top of a mountain, Allison, Moses and Zoey sent forth the gift of re-genesis. The last mountain they landed on was not an island, but part of Caroway. There were no green tinged clouds below this mountain.
“We have been going in the wrong direction to find my father,” Zinc said. “If Ben is going to keep using his gift to move us we need to go in that direction.” The direction Zinc pointed in led away from the mountain range.
“I can’t keep doing this. It uses too much energy,” Ben said. “We need to go back to flying.”
Allison and Moses laid their hands on Ben so he would be ready to fly when the others were. After a short rest Zinc took the lead and they flew off in search of King Zane. Below them stretched an arid land devoid of any sign of life, plant or animal. There were not even the cacti much of their water had come from, or the vines that grew the gourds they had eaten far too much of.
CHAPTER THIRTY
WATCHER’S JOURNAL YEAR 937
I have asked the Chosen not to return to Firehaven unless it is an emergency. Who knew that a Zaltzburg could be so annoying? He gave me no peace over my decision to bring brownies to Farne. I have found two more Chosen among the newcomers and can only assume that the Guardian intends the brownies to be part of Farne’s re-genesis. The more I think about it, the more convinced I become that the Guardian does not approve of slavery. My only concern is how the dragonborn will respond when they learn these brownies have disappeared because of their link with other worlds.
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
CATCHING FISH
They flew for three days and saw no signs of life. There were no clouds in the sky, toxic or otherwise. There were no new dangers to face until the third day when their water gourds were empty and no food remained. They stopped in the shade of a sand hill to rest because the dragonborn were finding it increasingly difficult to keep flying without food and water. When they were out of the sun, Allison and Denzel dropped the scales and eye protection the Watcher had given them since keeping it required energy they did not want to spend. Zinc noticed that Zoey’s lips were dry and cracked. His felt the same way.
“Okay Prince, it’s time for you to put your gift as a dowser to work and find us some water,” Zoey croaked.
“Don’t you think I’ve been trying,” Zinc croaked back. His mouth and tongue were so dry it was hard to form words. “There is no water to find in this land.”
“What direction do we need to go to find the nearest water?” Ben asked.
“I don’t know. All I know for sure is that my father is in that direction.” Zinc pointed in the direction they had been flying. All they saw in the direction Zinc pointed was more dry and barren land devoid of life.
“For now, you need to stop thinking about grandfather and focus on water,” Ben rasped. “We won’t do the King any good if we die out here in this desert.”
