The Dragon Guard: Fire and Shadow, page 4
You. He said if I want her back, you had to die. When I told him that wasn’t possible, that I couldn’t… he threw me to the ground and shoved my head in the river until I almost blacked out. He said it was the only way, and if you didn’t die, she would. If... if she dies… they all die.
What did this dragon look like?
Kyran looked up at him. He knew Mountain dragons were twelve-foot-tall on average, and this dragon was much larger. Being so close to the Southern Kingdom, he had seen Ice dragons on occasion and thought this dragon was even bigger that they were. I think he was bigger than an Ice dragon. His hide was dark grey, almost black, and he had orange markings.
Sounds like a Fire dragon. Allowed, he added, “I will look into it, but right now I will have Kangjoun show you to a den where you can stay. I don’t think you should return to Elmwood until you have recovered from your injuries.” Kyran nodded and allowed the prince to lead him out.
T’bora
A young female entered the caverns and heard the other dragons laughing about something she did not understand. She stopped just inside the entrance, allowing her eyes to adjust to the dim interior. Once she could see in the darkness of the tunnels, she preceded down the corridor to her chambers. She entered the main chamber of her home and set a bundle of plants on the sand covered floor. She slowly walked over to a pile of wood by the far wall and lit the logs ablaze with a quick release of flame. When the fire was strong, she turned her attention to a chamber beyond. It was dark, and cold within this other chamber, but she ignored it and passed through the small cavern to another room behind.
Here, she lit another fire then returned to the outer chamber for the bundle she had left there. Once she had returned, she set the bundle of herbs down on a stone shelf and began to sort through them. She divided them into small groups, separating them by plant types. She put the small bundles in order by potency and properties, starting with the painkillers. Next were the sedatives and inflammatories. She continued sorting the herbs and other plants into categories, before setting them each on stone shelves with the rest of her supplies.
When she was done, she took a tall, round cylinder of stone down from another shelf, and pulled another stone from its top. The base stone, or bottom section, was roughly one and a half feet long, and more than eight inches wide. The middle of it was hollow, and contained a few small pieces of honey comb. She carefully dumped the honey comb out, and broke a piece off the largest one. Then she put several large pieces of honey comb into the stone, along with the remaining small pieces. She wedged the smaller stone into the opening before placing it back on the shelf. Pulling another small bundle down from a space beside the honey stone, she took it over to another shelf, where she set it next to a smooth round stone. She broke several leaves from the bundle and placed most of them in a shallow depression in the shelf. She picked up the smooth stone and crushed the dried leaves into a fine powder. The fresh aroma of the plant filled her nostrils, and the minty smell relaxed her tense muscles. She scrapped the powdered mint into a small, hollow stone before setting the bundle of dried mint back on the shelf, and pulling down a pack of poppy flowers. She took two of them from the bundle and set the rest back in place. The two poppies were put in a large hollowed out stone which was filled with water from a flowing stream near the back of the chamber. She set the bowl at the edge of the fire and returned to the shelves.
Taking down a bundle of grass like plants, she separated a few stalks from the rest and peeled the leaves from them. Then she set the bundle back in its place and the leaves were set to the side with the mint leaves. She paused and looked around the chamber. She scanned the stone shelves that covered the chamber walls until she found what she was looking for. She sighed, somewhat aggravated, and turned to a top shelf. She stood on her hind legs and used the wall for support before reaching up to the top shelf. She could barely reach the small hide bundle. “I wish they would leave my plants alone,” she said to herself.
She pulled the bundle off the shelf, carefully dropped back to the floor, and returned to the shelf she had been working at. She set the hide down and opened it to reveal tiny white flowers that resembled tiny pearls clustered together, but much softer. She took a medium sized cluster from the hide and pulled the white puffs free of the stem. Then she preceded to crush them as well. She took several more plants and other organic materials and set them out on the shelf. She turned to a low, wide shelf that held a verity of hollowed out stones of different shapes and sizes and pulled down a wide, shallow, bowl shaped stone. She set it on the shelf and mixed several of the plants together with water and honey until she had produced a large quantity of a thick, cream like substance. She scraped the newly made ointment onto another piece of hide and wrapped it up before setting it on a long tray shaped slab of shale.
After several more minutes, she had quite a few other mixtures on the stone tray, as well as the leaves she had set to the side and a tall, slender stone that she had filled with the poppy infused water she had heated earlier. After quickly counting the different things she had on the tray, she slowly picked it up. It began to tip, so she set it back down and rearranged it. Picking it up again, she nodded to herself as the tray balanced. She carefully made her way from her den— not wanting to spill the tray’s contents— and down the corridor.
She kept to the wall and continued through the passages until she reached the entrance to another den. She stopped just before the dimly lit cavern beyond and called out. “Faeya? It’s Alaeya.” She was quickly answered and soon entered the den. She set the tray down just inside the entryway and picked up the hide containing the powered white flowers before making her way to a chamber at the back of the small den. She stopped and studied the young male before her. His breathing was raspy and wheezed with every exhalation. Faeya joined her a moment later and took the hide from her. As the boy’s mother prepared the treatment, Alaeya examined him. She listened to his breathing and checked his pupil response. He was awake, but not really conscious. He had a severe respiratory infection and had for a while. However, he was improving. She watched as his mother slowly gave him his treatment, then she spoke to her for a few minutes while the boy fell asleep. She promised to check on him again the next day and picked up her tray on her way out. Alaeya continued her rounds, until only the paste and the mint leaves were left.
Her next stop was at the other end of the complex. She would pass her den on the way there and decided to drop off the tray before continuing to her last stop. She approached her destination with the two remaining items and was met by one of the dragons who lived there. “Shaman Alaeya! I’m so glad to see you.”
The female who spoke was not much older than she was. She looked rather haggard and wore out. Alaeya could tell she was not feeling well and handed her the leaves. “Here, these will help settle your stomach.”
“Thank you Shaman,” Faleta said taking the mint.
“I’ll see to your mate, then we’ll see to your check up.” Alaeya followed the older female into the den, and then watched her tired patient turn down a short corridor where she took several long droughts of water. She watched her for a moment longer before continuing on. She entered a chamber that contained only a few things, including what she had come to see. She studied the male in front of her and listened to his strained, pain filled breathing. She walked over and set the hide of ointment down before looking over his wounds. The burns had begun to heal, but would need constant care. He was asleep right now, as he was most of the time. The third-degree burns covered most of his left side and foreleg. They barely missed his wing and continued across his chest. She sighed and opened the hide. Dipping two talons into the cream, she slowly and gently rubbed the salve over the burns.
When she had finished treating the injured male, she turned to his mate, who had been watching from the chamber entrance. “Why don’t we leave him be and see to you, huh?” Alaeya said walking over. Faleta only nodded and followed the younger female to another chamber. “How are you?” the shaman asked.
She sighed, “Dizzy half the day, nauseous the other half, and I don’t sleep well.
“How’s your appetite?”
Faleta laughed, “What appetite? Whenever I eat, I have to throw up an hour later. It’s hard to eat anything more than a few bites.”
“Your appetite was beginning to increase when we met last month, correct?
“Yes, but now I can’t hardly eat anything. It’s not that I’m not hungry, but I just can’t seem… She trailed off and looked at her feet.
“It’s okay, it’s more common than you might think. Anyway, you’re almost through the first phase. The nausea will taper off during the transition; however, I will look into finding a solution to help you eat. If I can’t, I can put you on an eating regimen to help make up for the lost meals. Is there anything else I need to know?” When Faleta shook her head, Alaeya began the exam. Her belly was just beginning to round out with her growing clutch. The eggs would mature in another eight months.
The exam did not take long, and after another brief conversation, the shaman left. She started to return to her den, but was drawn farther inside the maze of tunnels instead. What she saw, she could not comprehend. There was a female Forest dragon laying on the hot stone floor. She was heavily pregnant, and seemed ill. Another dragon picked her up and threw her into a deep chamber used to store rocks for the cold seasons. The stones would be distributed throughout the outer dens, and would be added to the fires. Once warmed, they would be spread throughout the dens to keep them warm. Those who lived farther inside were kept warm by the volcano’s heat. The dragon who threw her in, turned around and Alaeya instantly knew who he was.
She walked over to where he was laughing to himself, and she did not like the way it sounded. When she reached him, she asked, “What is she doing here?”
“That’s my business. You are not permitted to help her, under any circumstances. Do you understand?”
“Yes, but I hope you understand that I have taken an oath to care for the sick and injured. It will be very difficult to break that oath.”
He smashed her up against the wall; her small size made it easy to overpower her. She was thinner than him, although she was fully grown; she had not grown much during her last growth spurt, and was quite a bit smaller than most Fire dragon females her age. Once she had reached her full size, he would not be able to push her around so easily. She looked up at him, her eyes shining with confusion and surprise. “If I want her to get help, I will have someone help her, but right now, the answer is no. If I catch you in there, without authorization, there will be consequences. I hope you understand that,” he said angrily. He let go of her a moment later and she dropped back to the floor.
She stared after him as he entered the chamber and winced as his captive whimpered. She heard the tale tell sounds of abuse as he beat her. She knew he said not to interfere, but she was a shaman, and she knew that she could not sit idly by and allow her to suffer. She shook her head and walked away in the opposite direction. She needed to talk through her confusion, and there was only one dragon she trusted to not say anything. She left the cave system, and headed into the hills beyond the volcano. At the edge of the foothills was a small cave system where one of the sentries lived. She had known this particular dragon her entire life, and she trusted no one else. She entered the cave and called out to the owner. “Grandfather? Are you here?”
The elderly dragon answered by coming to the entrance. “I can tell by the sound of your voice, you have a problem. Come in and we’ll talk about it.” He led her to a chamber farther inside the hills, where the floor was covered in soft sand. He settled down and asked her to join him. Once she had laid down she told him the problem.
“It’s T’bora.”
“I should have known he would have something to do with it, he usually does.” He looked her over and noticed a large bruise on her right shoulder. He stood up and traced the outline of the injury with a talon. “Did he do this?”
She looked over at her shoulder, not having noticed it form. She slowly nodded. “He smashed me up against a corridor wall. I didn’t notice it bruise.”
“Why did he push you?” her grandfather asked, growing concerned.
She snorted and said, “I asked a question.” Her voice was lined with sarcasm. He gave her an odd look, and she continued. “T’bora has a Forest dragon. I don’t know why she’s here, or where she came from. All I know is that she’s ill, and needs help, and that he… doesn’t have her for anything good. When I left the caves to see you, I could hear him beating her.”
“And you didn’t stop him?”
“I wanted to, but he has forbidden me from helping her. He said that if I get caught, there’ll be consequences, and I got the feeling they had something to do with Magrell.”
“Magrell. Long has your brother threatened you with the possibility of becoming his mate.”
“He’s not my brother.”
“Alaeya, I know you don’t like him, I don’t like him, but your father was his father too.”
“He still isn’t my brother. My family, would have more self-respect than that,” she repeated stubbornly.
He shook his head. “Look, the two of you are as different as night and day, but you do come from the same blood. The difference is that you are more like your mother, and he is more like… a typical Fire dragon.”
She snorted. “He’s anything but typical.”
“Perhaps. I try not to know what’s in his mind. However, I do know yours, and I know you. You are an enigma, an oddity.” He put a paw on her good shoulder. “You are a Fire dragon, but you don’t act like a Fire dragon. You are quiet, kind, and put others before yourself. You know who you are, and where your place is. You follow your heart, and I know you won’t allow his threat stop you. I only have one more thing to say: don’t get caught. Now go, tend your shoulder, and tell me if I can help.”
She smiled and nodded. Then she slowly stood up and winced as her shoulder stretched. “I’ll be back.” She quickly nuzzled him and left, knowing what she had to do. She would wait until nightfall, when her brother was not likely to be awake. Then she would execute her plan.
Defiance
Later in the darkest hours of the night, Alaeya crept down the corridor. Even though no one was awake at this hour, she still made herself invisible when someone came through, or she heard a noise. She slowly and carefully made her way to the deep chamber where T’bora was keeping his prisoner. She did not want to scare the young Forest dragon any more than he already had, so she stopped in the entrance and looked down at her. The female was lying near the back of the chamber. Alaeya estimated that there was only six feet between her and the stone. Her eyes were open, and staring at the far wall. Even from this distance, Alaeya could see the pain and fear in her eyes. She leaned down and called to the other dragon.
Hey, are you alright? The Forest dragon jumped. She looked around fearfully and backed up. When she continued to look around, the shaman realized that she was still invisible. Sorry. Perhaps it would help if I actually showed myself. She silently scolded herself for forgetting she could not be seen, while at the same time revealing her presence, and jumped into the chamber. The Forest dragon tried to back away more, but fell before she had made it two feet. She did not try to get up, but instead lay there. She closed her eyes, breathing heavily.
It occurred to Alaeya that she was not just hurt, but her initial thoughts were right, she was ill. She crossed the chamber in a matter of seconds; her lengthy stride quickly covering the distance. Hey, easy, easy now. Don’t waste your strength. My name is Alaeya, Shaman Alaeya. I’m here to help you.
Alaeya looked down into the terrified, pain filled eyes that now looked up at her. You’re a… a… shaman? Her voice was strained and barely audible. The pain and fear that drenched it was backed by another emotion, one Alaeya could not read.
Yes. I will help you the best I can, but I can’t if you don’t let me. I will not force you to accept my help, but if you want it, I will.
Why… why would… you… help me? I thought… Fire… dragons only… helped other… Fire dragons. She closed her eyes against a wave of pain that made thinking difficult.
Alaeya had not realized what the other breeds thought. She was ashamed of her kind, and that shame shone through her eyes. I’m sorry. I didn’t know that’s what everyone thought of us. You must think Fire dragons are cruel and heartless creatures, but not all of us are. If you will let me, I will show you.
Dai knew she needed a shaman, for both her and her clutch. After a brief moment, she consented and gave the shaman her name. Alaeya helped her to her feet and looked at her wounds. There were cuts from T’bora’s claws and scrapes from where the rocks had grazed her hide. There were also bruises, cuts, and a few open wounds from where he had hit her. As she continued her examination, she quickly realized the sad truth— this was a full grown adult female, who was heavily pregnant and nearly full term, and in her present condition would not likely survive the nesting. She looked down at the small breed before her and asked, How far along are you?
I don’t… I’m not… sure. I was… ten months… before… before he… She started choking and was caught in a fit of coughing. Unable to finish her sentence, she looked up at Alaeya with pleading eyes.
Alaeya sighed. I will do my best to help you, and your clutch, but I can’t keep him from hurting you. I can however, make sure your eggs are safe. Dai nodded and let Alaeya examine her belly for other injuries or internal damage that could harm the clutch. Surprisingly, she found none. Well, the good news is your eggs are fine. The bad news is that due to your illness, and recent trauma, it’s likely that you could go into labor at any time. I’m hoping I can get you well enough to nest. If not, I’m afraid the chances aren’t good.
