Authors: Kevin Outlaw
Nimbus backed away from the man’s touch. ‘If there is a path to the dead, there must be a path to the living. And if you guide those who want to die, there must be another guide who can take me back to my friends. Isn’t that true?’
‘I know of no such guide.’
‘But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t exist.’
The man planted his staff in the ground and leaned on it. ‘Naturally, this is your choice. You don’t have to come with me. But as far as you are concerned there are two options. You can come with me to the world of the dead, where you will be safe and happy, and where you can watch your family and friends, and where, eventually, they will all join you when they die.’
‘And my second choice?’
‘You stay here in the wilderness, and you never see anyone you love ever again.’
Nimbus stared at the horizon; it was gloomy and threatening. ‘But I’m sure I heard my sister’s voice. She helped me. Somehow. I’m sure it was her.’
The man leaned in close, whispering in Nimbus’s ear. ‘Do you really want to be here on your own for the rest of eternity?’
‘I won’t be alone, if my sister can talk to me.’
‘And what if you’re wrong? What if you never hear her or see her again?’
Nimbus’s head sank. Tears trickled down his cheeks. He had learned what it was like to be defeated when the black dragon had poisoned him, but only now did he understand what it felt like to be completely and utterly destroyed.
‘I’ve been crying a lot recently,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to cry any more. I don’t want to keep hurting. I’m not strong enough.’
‘Then you’ll come with me?’
‘I don’t suppose I would be much use even if I could go back.’
‘Is that a yes?’
Nimbus nodded reluctantly.
‘Good. That’s good. Let’s get started right now. We have a very long journey ahead of us.’
Nimbus looked over at the Wing Warrior sword. It was still glowing. ‘Shall I bring the sword?’ he asked.
‘No. You won’t need it.’
‘I think I would feel better if I took it along.’
‘Why? You have nothing left to fight for.’
‘It’s glowing. It glows when it wants to show you something.’
‘Remember, Nimbus. This is a limbo, a world between worlds. Nothing here is real. That sword is just your memory of the sword you once had.’
‘But...’
‘You’re confused. But death is confusing. Better not to try to understand it. Better just to come with me.’
Once again, Nimbus thought he could see a cruel expression beneath the man’s hood. No eyes, no nose, just an unpleasant mouth. ‘Do you have a name?’ he asked, nervously.
‘You may call me Guide.’
Nimbus wrapped his arms across his chest, and hunched his shoulders against the wind. ‘Okay, Guide,’ he said. ‘Lead the way. I will follow you.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Glass and Sky were stood on the outskirts of the village, staring off into the West where the distant sharp points of the Sanguine Mountains cut the horizon into shards of light and dark. At any second the dragon might appear, swooping across the wilderness in a poisonous smoke cloud. What would happen if she came back? How could the village hope to survive?
Sky touched Glass’s hand. Around them, villagers rushed frantically. Most of them, despite the mayor’s protests, were packing up, looking to move farther east in hope of outrunning the dragon. But in the East there were the Forbidden Woods and the Grey Mountains, places that were now no safer than anywhere else.
Sky knew there was nowhere to run. In the end, somebody would have to fight the dragon.
‘There’s big trouble ahead for us, isn’t there?’ Glass said, quietly.
‘I guess so,’ Sky replied. ‘But maybe if we can get Nimbus’s dragon to help us...’ She didn’t bother to finish her sentence. She wasn’t even convincing herself.
‘You kids leaving too?’ an old man asked, as he staggered beneath the weight of a heavy travel chest overflowing with clothes. ‘You should. Take a leaf out of everybody else’s book. Get out while you still can. Look what that dragon did to the street, and these houses. Destroyed it all. We’ll have nothing left at all if she comes back.’
‘What do you have you are so worried about losing?’ Sky asked.
The old man frowned. ‘Everybody has something they don’t want to lose,’ he said, staggering away.
Sky smiled faintly, and squeezed Glass’s hand.
‘I think he’ll be okay,’ Glass said.
‘Who?’
‘Nim. I think he’ll be okay. He’s been poisoned quite badly, but he’s strong and brave. I think he’ll be strong enough to fight it. He’s got a lot to fight for. He’s got us.’ Glass’s eyes glowed. ‘He’s got you, hasn’t he?’
‘Me?’
‘You’re as silly as the boys are sometimes.’
Sky shook her head. ‘And you’re as mysterious as your dad sometimes. Speaking of which, he’s been a long time.’
‘He’s probably making sure the soldiers are ready for if the dragon comes back.’
‘I wish we could just hide somewhere until this is all over.’
‘No you don’t. Not really. You want to help Nim as much as he wanted to help us.’
The hot fingers of the sun stretched across the sky, burning away every last trace of cloud. Birds darted and weaved together, chirping and twittering playfully. If it was not for the destroyed houses and withered trees, nobody would ever think that the dragon attack had been anything more than a terrible dream.
‘Do you still wish you were a bird?’ Glass asked.
‘Now, more than ever. But I guess we don’t always get to be what we want to be.’ Sky glanced behind her, towards her house; but slowly her gaze drifted off farther down the road, finally coming to rest on the open doors of the tavern and the men who were stood around it in quiet conversation. ‘It would be nice to have the choice though.’
There was the sound of horse hooves and the trundle of wheels as Cloud appeared at the end of the street. He was riding in a rickety old cart, pulled by a magnificent black horse.
‘That’s Onyx,’ Glass squealed, clapping her hands together excitedly.
‘I convinced the mayor that selling me his horse was the best thing to do for the people of Landmark,’ Cloud said, pulling the cart to a halt and climbing down. The look on his face suggested that his method for convincing the mayor hadn’t involved much talking.
Glass ran up to Onyx, stroking his snout. Onyx snorted approvingly.
‘I’m sorry the cart isn’t better,’ Cloud said. ‘It was the best I could find at short notice. You’re going to roll around in there like a couple of cabbages.’
‘Better than walking,’ Sky said, hopping into the back of the cart and finding a seat.
‘And if we make good time, we’ll be at Crystal Shine before nightfall,’ Cloud said, helping Glass up.
‘And then what?’ Glass asked.
‘And then we get Cumulo out of that dungeon.’
‘Will Lord Citrine let us do that?’ Sky asked.
Cloud positioned himself at the front of the cart, taking up the reins. ‘I very much doubt it. But we’re not exactly going to ask for his permission.’
‘So this is a jail break?’
‘And you were thinking of going without me?’ Tidal said, popping up beside the cart. ‘Shame on you.’
‘We thought you’d gone,’ Sky said.
Tidal climbed into the cart. ‘I figured you might need my help.’
‘More likely you were scared of that dragon coming back for you,’ Glass muttered, under her breath.
‘I’m not scared of that dragon,’ Tidal snorted. ‘You just wait and see.’
Cloud snapped the reins and Onyx set off at a canter. The cart bounced and rocked as they passed the village border, heading out on the potholed road to Crystal Shine. ‘Let’s hope we don’t have to prove who is and isn’t afraid of Sorrow,’ he said.
‘Are you afraid?’ Tidal asked.
‘Of course. Sorrow destroyed every one of the old dragons, and every Wing Warrior.’
‘Except you,’ Sky said. ‘You’re a Wing Warrior.’
A look of sadness came into Cloud’s eyes. ‘I gave up that title a very long time ago.’
‘But why?’
‘It’s a long story.’
‘Good for a long journey then.’
‘And I’m not sure it has a happy ending.’
‘Please, Dad?’ Glass said. ‘You have to tell us now. Why is Sorrow so mean? Why does she want to hurt Nim?’
‘Sorrow wants to hurt everyone. Everything. She is evil in the most simple and purest form.’
‘You fought her once before, didn’t you?’
‘All of the Wing Warriors did. Twelve of us.’ His expression turned thoughtful. ‘Only I survived. I thought, or at least hoped, we had destroyed her, that the death of my friends had meant something.’
‘I think you just made her mad,’ Tidal said, taking a bite out of an apple he had found rolling around in the back of the cart. ‘Which means we have one very mad dragon with a nasty reputation for killing other dragons and Wing Warriors. How are we supposed to fight something like that?’
‘I honestly don’t know. But Cumulo has hatched, and he may have the answers we need.’
Tidal sat forward. ‘Cumulo is Nim’s dragon, right?’
‘That’s right.’
‘You had something to do with that, didn’t you? It’s no coincidence Nim found him.’
‘Nobody was supposed to find him. I hid the dragon, and the armour. I encased the sword in a mystic diamond that could only be broken by the hand of a Wing Warrior. Nobody knew where it was, and nobody was ever supposed to know.’
Tidal laughed through his nose and tossed his apple core out of the cart. ‘Smells funny to me.’
‘You smell funny to me,’ Glass said.
‘Shut up, Stink Witch.’
‘You shut up, Bog Breath.’
‘Both of you shut up,’ Cloud said. ‘I thought you wanted to hear about Sorrow?’
‘We do,’ Sky said. ‘Where does she come from?’
‘Nobody knows. But she is ancient, maybe as old as evil itself. Hold on.’ The cart bumped over a particularly deep pothole and rocked so badly Glass nearly fell out. ‘Sorry about that. And there are some trees coming up here. Watch out for low branches.’
The children ducked, and clung to the edges of the cart as leaves and branches crackled and snapped around them.
‘So, what has Leaf taught you about dragons?’ Cloud asked.
‘Just the basics,’ Sky said.
‘So you know there were twelve dragons?’
‘Why only twelve?’ Tidal asked.
Glass giggled. ‘Tide doesn’t go to Leaf’s classes, Dad. You might need to start at the beginning.’
Tidal gave Glass a shove. She shoved him back.
‘Twelve dragons,’ Cloud said. ‘Flame, Fang, Smoke, Smog, Earth, Mayhem, Chaos, Wrath, Time, Hurricane, Snake, and Mother. The oldest of all the old things.’
‘Who gave them their names?’ Sky asked.
‘Mother, the golden dragon. She gave birth to each of them, and named them on their first birthdays based on the unique abilities each one possessed.
‘Flame and Fang, the twins, breathed fire so hot it could dry up the oceans and melt the snowy mountaintops, and they both had particularly nasty bites, but their brothers and sisters all had different talents. Smoke, it is believed, was supposed to be a fire breather, but he never learned how, and could only produce clouds of smoke that were impossible to see through.’
‘What good is that to anybody?’ Tidal scoffed.
‘Perhaps one day you will learn the strength of being unseen, although I’m sure that goes against your nature.’
Tidal hunkered down in the cart, folding his arms and scowling angrily.
‘The next dragon was Smog, who could breathe great gouts of acrid black smoke. Smoke so black it hurt your eyes and made you cough and wheeze.
‘Then there was Earth, the first of Mother’s daughters. She was the most magnificent jade dragon. Her scales were dark green, and light green, and every shade in between. Unlike her brothers, her breath was not a destructive force. Instead, she had the ability to breathe life into that which was dead. It was the most incredible of all the dragon gifts, but unfortunately it was also the most limited, and extended only to the rebirth of plants and trees. We had always hoped that perhaps one day...’ His voice trailed off to a surprisingly small whisper. ‘But some things are not meant to be.’
‘What were Mother’s other daughters like?’ Sky asked.
‘Mayhem, the next dragon to be hatched, was very different to her sister. She had the destructive fury of her brothers, and she could scream so loud that rocks would shatter, towers would crumble, and animals would run wild in the woods. She was sweet once you got to know her, but few people ever did.
‘After Mayhem, there were no new dragons for many years. Mother couldn’t stand the children bickering and fighting among themselves. They gave her a headache, and never allowed her a minute’s peace. However, eventually her children were old enough to look after themselves and went out to make their own nests in various parts of the world. Mother started to get lonely, and in no time at all, there was another egg.’
‘Another girl?’ Glass asked.
‘No. Chaos came next, and he had the power to breathe lightning and summon rain clouds. He was very unusual, and had little time for his brothers and sisters.’
‘Didn’t he love them?’ Glass asked.
‘He loved them well enough. He just wasn’t always sure how to show it. He was possibly the saddest of all the dragons, and certainly one of the ones I regret not spending more time with now he is gone. Another pothole coming up, hold on.’
The children laughed as they were jolted around inside the cart, bashing into each other.
‘I wish they’d fix this road up,’ Cloud muttered, enjoying the bumps far less than the children did. ‘Now, where was I? Oh yes. The next dragon was Wrath, who could breathe a terrible wind that caused anything caught in its blast to age instantly. Trees withered and died, and sailing ships rotted to dust.’
‘How horrible,’ Sky said.
‘It was horrible. So horrible a gift that Wrath only ever used it once, and even then she didn’t want to.’
‘Was that when you were fighting with Sorrow?’
‘That’s right.’
‘What happened?’ Tidal asked, interestedly.
‘Hey, wait,’ Glass said. ‘There were more dragons. I want to hear about the other dragons first.’