DragonSpell (37 page)

Kale stayed close to the tumanhofer’s side. “Will there be a battle?”

“More a contest of wills.”

For the first few minutes, Kale thought nothing was happening except a lot of staring. Then she noticed her friends fading. At first the colors of their clothing became pale, and then she could see through them like a mist. She no longer watched Risto, but stared in horror as one by one, her comrades disappeared to be replaced by a gleaming green cloud like the one at the cave entrance.

“My little friend, Kale Allerion.”

Kale looked up at Risto and saw his expression had changed. Now he looked again very much like Paladin.

“This has been a trial for you. But you have passed. You are worthy of being my follower.”

You’re Risto.

“Of course I am, dear o’rant girl. I am sorry for all the confusion. It was necessary to make sure you were the last of the Allerions and not some impostor.”

I don’t understand.

“The Allerions have always worked with me. You were stolen from us at birth. We welcome you back.”

Kale looked to her friends to see their reaction to this news. She saw nothing but the glowing mist shapes.

They might not have heard him mindspeak anyway.

“That’s right, Kale. Because they aren’t really there. You stand alone. You always have. You have no friends. It was all an illusion I created. I’ve gone to a lot of trouble to draw you into our family circle. And I am not the only one who awaits your arrival.”

In her mind, Kale saw a castle turret with an o’rant woman sitting by the window, gazing longingly across a forest. Kale fought a panic rising in her chest.

“I have cared for you ever since I met this woman who loves you.”
Risto’s voice in Kale’s head caressed her loneliness with warm, soothing tones.

“
I’ve kept you safe when I could, and agonized when you had to suffer. You must see that to come with me will make not only me happy, but you as well.”

Kale looked into Risto’s face. He looked so like Paladin, except for a hard glitter in his eyes, stern lines of disapproval around his mouth, and the tight angry line of his jaw.

“Believe in me, Kale. I will teach you the wonders of your powers. No one else can give you the answers you need because no one else is like you. I am the perfect guardian for you, Kale. No one wants to help you as I do. No one can but me.

“I would be greatly distressed should anything happen to you, and if you leave me, I’m afraid disaster will befall you. You would be destroyed. There is no doubt about that. Make the wise decision, Kale. Go, pick up the meech egg, and come.”

Kale remembered Pretender had told the kimens that he had mastered their weather and had the power to destroy them. He had lied.

She remembered Leetu saying that when Risto lied it sounded like truth.

She remembered Granny Noon’s advice.

“I stand under Wulder’s authority.” Kale spoke the words aloud.

Risto grimaced.

Her friends appeared with not even a wisp of the gleaming clouds clinging to their clothes. Metta sang. Her song soared with praise. Its trills and runs echoed off the stone walls. Shimeran and Seezle twirled in place and then began to dance. Dar pulled out his trumpet and blasted the air with a triumphant call.

Risto glared at them all.

“We won?” Kale asked Librettowit under her breath, keeping her eyes on the volatile wizard.

He nodded. “He tried to weaken each of us with evil words in our minds. We all stood firm in our allegiance to Paladin.”

Fenworth put a hand on Kale’s shoulder. “Caution, my dear. Do not assume. Tut-tut, my dear librarian. I think you spoke too soon. Look at our enemy’s demeanor.”

Kale glanced at Fenworth’s serious face, and then her eyes went back to the evil wizard. The man shook with anger. As each second passed, the tension in his body escalated. The energy of his hatred radiated from his eyes. Kale wanted to duck behind someone. Fenworth and Librettowit, who were wise. Lee Ark, Leetu, and Brunstetter, who were strong. The kimens and Dar, who somehow always gave comfort by their presence. Kale hoped Paladin would walk through the glowing mist at the cave entrance and banish Risto. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the giant urohm scoop up the meech egg and cradle it protectively in his arms.

The stone floor quivered under Kale’s feet. The air around the wicked wizard crackled. Rage poured out of his body into the small cavern. Vibrations of malice intensified, and the rock walls began to shake. Kale trembled, but she couldn’t tell if it was fear within that made her shake or the undulating world around her.

“Come close now,” ordered Fenworth. “Time for an exit. I think we’ll whirl. Kale likes to whirl. Hold hands. Let’s stay together, children. I want no one lost.”

Metta and Gymn flew to Kale, darted under the edge of the moonbeam cape, and burrowed into their pocket-dens. At the same time, her comrades gathered around Fenworth. A blinding light burst into the cave.

A roar of anger filled her ears and gradually diminished as if a distance was growing between her and the one who roared. Risto had been left behind.

“Destination?” Fenworth’s voice came to her, although she could not tell where he was.

She held someone’s hand. She thought it was Dar’s, small and slightly furry. A racing wind buffeted her.

“Oh dear, oh dear. We’re being followed.”

The fierce cries of wild animals surrounded them. Sharp teeth nipped at Kale’s heels. She could not open her eyes to look, and yet she could see in her mind the black shapes of huge hounds racing beside them. Their red eyes pierced her soul and made her want to scream in terror. Throaty snarls raked along her nerves, and the air filled with a fetid smell of rancid meat.

“Detour!” Fenworth exclaimed, and the next moment water splashed against Kale’s legs, soaking her trousers and boots. The water stung small wounds at her ankles inflicted by the hounds’ teeth.

Even through closed eyes, Kale sensed the brilliance around her fade. The air turned bitter cold. Some barrier now muffled the sound of the wind. She peeked but wasn’t able to make out any shapes near by. She couldn’t even pick out the form of the one holding her hand.

“Oh dear, oh dear. I need help now. All of you, stay together and call on Wulder.”

How do I call on Wulder? Just talk to Him?

A streak of blackness hurtled past Kale’s right ear, sizzling the air and burning the side of her face.

Oh, Wulder, I don’t know if Fenworth is wise enough or any of us strong enough to get out of this mess. Please, help us.

In the distance, she heard dragon wings flapping against the air. She heard cattle lowing and blackbirds screaming, warning of an intrusion. The light intensified again, and she squeezed her eyes shut. The wind whistled.

Fenworth chuckled. “Reinforcements. Ahh! Now, where was it we were going?”

Reinforcements? What? Where?
Again her mind captured an image her eyes could not see. White-winged dragons, the dragons themselves of a multitude of colors, men in shining armor, Paladin on a great shining dragon, weapons that blazed. Too many formed in the darkness for her to count. They drove away dark, swift shapes and gave chase.

Kale felt as though she was being dragged through bushes. She lost her grip on the hand she held and felt an odd cylindrical structure form under her so that she sat straddling it in midair. The wind ceased. The light faded. Kale opened her eyes to view her surroundings.

She and her companions sat on the branches of a towering trang-anog tree. Close by stood an o’rant farmhouse, a barn, and a wagon. In the distance, Ornopy Halls stood elegantly basking in the bright spring sunshine.

Fenworth looked around anxiously. “Most uncomfortable! Did we lose anyone? Head count! Lee Ark, Leetu, and Brunstetter. Three. Should we count the meech egg? No, I think not. Don’t drop it, Brunstetter. I’m to take that home and raise it. Ridiculous, being a parent at my age. Where were we? Oh yes, three. One o’rant, two kimens, two minor dragons. Eight. A librarian and a diplomat. Ten. We’re missing one.”

“Who’s the diplomat?” Kale asked Librettowit who sat on the branch above her.

“Dar. Doneels are often considered quintessential ambassadors.” He cleared his throat and raised a hand to catch Fenworth’s attention. “You forgot to count yourself.”

The wizard bristled. “Nonsense. I’m the oldest, so I counted myself first.”

“You’re the oldest, and you didn’t count yourself at all.”

Three mongrel dogs charged from the open barn door, barking furiously. They surrounded the base of the tree. One stood with front paws against the smooth olive-green trunk and issued a challenge to the interlopers in its tree. Another leapt in the air, snapping at Brunstetter’s heels dangling just beyond its jaws. The third raced pell-mell around the base of the tree and furiously barked its opinion of anyone who dared enter its territory in such an unconventional manner.

The farmer and his wife appeared in the door of their home and gazed with amazement at the scene in their front yard.

“Bring a ladder, man,” commanded Fenworth. “We return, the conquering heroes.”

The farmer’s wife nudged her dumbfounded husband. He nodded to her and darted for the barn, coming out a minute later with a long ladder under his arm.

Kale turned to Dar sitting in a clump of broad trang-a-nog leaves on another branch. “What happens next?”

“We celebrate…and we go home.”

The words sounded as sweet to Kale as music. Home. Not to the Ornopy Halls, but to The Hall, The Hall in Vendela, Paladin’s Hall.

E
PILOGUE

Almost There

Dar traveled with her. Paladin had given him permission to enter The Hall and train for service.

Veazey and D’Shay had flown with the large dragons over the mountain pass as soon as the weather permitted. Merlander and Celisse carried Dar and Kale on the lengthy journey south along the Morchain Range. When they reached an area Kale recognized, she insisted they land beside the trade road.

“This is where I left Farmer Brigg’s wagon, Dar.”

She stood beside the bustling road and stared across the valley at the beautiful city of Vendela. Metta and Gymn flew around her head in excitement. They touched down on her shoulders, only to take off again, chittering to each other and turning loops in the air.

Spring had come and gone. The approaching Summer Solstice Feast Day had brought many travelers to Vendela, capital of Amara. The sun sparkled on the city’s sheer white walls, shining blue roofs, and golden domes. Spires and steeples and turrets towered above the city in a vast variety of shapes and colors. More than a dozen castles clustered outside the capital, and more palaces were scattered over a hilly landscape on the other side of a wide river.

“This time I’m going in,” said Kale to her companions. “This time I’m not afraid of the proddings in my mind that say there are too many new things in Vendela for me to even count.” She felt again the pulse of the city, the many minds filled with their own thoughts and spilling into her consciousness. She easily blocked the torrent, controlling the flood of humanity and retaining her own identity. Her mindspeaking talent no longer made her uneasy.

“This time I’ll be able to ask questions and get answers. I’ll learn about Wulder and Paladin, and I’ll learn more about me as well. I may even learn about the Allerions.”

She put her hands on her hips and sighed with pleasure. “We’re almost there.”

“Almost there is not there. Come on, let’s go,” Dar said as he walked back to Merlander. “This time tomorrow you’ll have your leecent uniform.”

“Leecent? What’s leecent?”

“The lowest rank in Paladin’s service. Not that you’ll be treated badly for being the lowest, not in Paladin’s service, but—”

“Wait. Are you saying I’ll be Leecent Kale?”

“Sure.”

“And Lee Ark? The Lee means…?”

“Highest rank. Actually, he is General Lee Ark, higher than Major Lee or plain Lee.”

“Leetu?”

“Two steps down from Lee. Didn’t you know that, Kale?”

Kale shook her head slowly.
Master Meiger was right. I don’t know anything.

She grinned at her doneel friend. “But I’m learning!”

Tonight she’d sleep at The Hall. Tomorrow she’d wear a leecent uniform. There was a festival to see, and she had teachers to meet, classes to attend, a life to live.

Kale ran across the little hillside and jumped onto Celisse’s saddle. “Let’s go!”

G
LOSSARY

Amara (ä’-mä-rä)

Continent surrounded by ocean on three sides.

armagot (är’-muh-got)

National tree, purple blue leaves in the fall.

armagotnut (är’-muh-got-nut)

Nut from the armagot tree.

Battle of Ordray (ôrd’-rā)

Historic battle where Bisonbeck army threatened to overcome kimens. Urohms, aided by wizards and dragons, fought to save them. Ordray is a province occupied mostly by urohms in a southeast Amara, a wedge of land between the Morchain mountain range and the Dormanscz volcanic range.

beater frog (be’-ter frôg)

Tailless, semiaquatic amphibian having a smooth, moist skin, webbed feet, and long hind legs. Shades of green; no bigger than a child’s fist; capable of making loud, resounding boom.

bentleaf tree

Deciduous tree having long, slender, drooping branches and narrow leaves.

bisonbecks (b
’-sen-bek)

Most intelligent of the seven low races. They comprise most of Risto’s army.

blattig fish (blat’-tig)

Freshwater fish often growing to a length of two to three feet, voraciously carnivorous, known to attack and devour living animals.

blimmets (blim’-mets)

One of the seven low races, burrowing creatures that swarm out of the ground for periodic feeding frenzies.

The Bogs

Made up of four swamplands with indistinct borders. Located in southwest Amara.

borling tree (bôr’-ling)

Having dark brown wood and a deeply furrowed nut enclosed in a globose, aromatic husk.

bornut

Nut from borling tree.

brillum (bril’-lum)

A brewed ale that none of the seven high races would consume. Smells like skunkwater, stains like black bornut juice. Mariones use it to spray around their fields to keep insects from infesting their crops.

broer (brôr)

A substance secreted by female dragons through glands in the mouth, used for nest building. It hardens into a rock-like substance resembling gray meringue.

brook dabbler

A freshwater fish having silver scales on the belly, a coal black back, fins are the colors of a sunset.

brushwood

Spiny, dense shrubs having delicate purple flowers in the spring and black, poisonous berries in late summer.

chukkajoop (chuk’-kuh-joop)

A favorite o’rant stew made from beets, onions, and carrots.

cygnot tree (si’-not)

A tropical tree growing in extremely wet ground or shallow water. The branches come out of the trunk like spokes from a wheel hub and often interlace with neighboring trees.

crocodile melon

Shaped like a cantaloupe with hard, dark green, bumpy rind. Tastes bitter but not poisonous.

deckit powder

Yellow crystalline compound used for explosives.

doneel (do’-neel)

One of the seven high races. These people are furry with bulging eyes, thin black lips, and ears at the top and front of their skulls. They are small in stature, rarely over three feet tall. Generally are musical and given to wearing flamboyant clothing.

double-crested mountain finch

A small, colorful bird with a double crest on the crown of its head.

Dormanscz Range (dôr-manz’)

Volcanic mountain range in southeast Amara.

druddum (drud’-dum)

Weasel-like animal that lives deep in mountains. These creatures are thieves and will steal anything to horde. They like to get food, but they are also attracted to bright things and things that have an unusual texture.

drummerbug

Small brown beetle that makes a loud snapping sound with its wings when not in flight.

emerlindian (e’-mer-lin’-dee-in)

One of the seven high races, emerlindians are born pale with white hair and pale gray eyes. As the age, they darken. One group of emerlindians is slight in stature, the tallest being five feet. Another distinct group is between six and six and a half feet tall.

ersatz (er-zäts’)

Imitation, substitute, artificial, and inferior to the real thing.

Fairren Forest (fair’-ren)

A massive forest of mostly deciduous trees in southwest Amara.

fire dragon

Emerged from the volcanoes in ancient days; these dragons breathe fire and are most likely to serve evil forces.

fortaleen (for’-tuh-leen)

Bush with two-inch long thorns.

glean band (gleen)

A bracelet delicately woven by kimens out of vines from the glean plant. It wards off wasps and other stinging insects, as well as poisonous reptiles.

grand emerlindian

Grands are close to a thousand years old and are black.

granny emerlindian

Grannies are both male and female, said to be five hundred years old or older, and have darkened to a brown complexion with dark brown hair and eyes.

grawligs (graw’-ligs)

One of seven low races, mountain ogres.

greater dragon

Largest of the dragons, able to carry many men or cargo.

gum tree

Tree with sticky leaves and yellow, rayed flower heads, the center of which may be plucked and chewed.

hadwig (ad’-wig)

A sling-type weapon with a spiked ball at the end.

halfnack bird

Brightly colored, medium-sized bird.

jimmin

Any young animal used for meat. We would say veal, lamb, spring chicken.

kimen (kim’-en)

The smallest of the seven high races. Kimen are elusive, tiny, and fast. Under two feet tall.

lightrocks

Any of the quartzlike rocks giving off a glow.

major dragon

Elephant-sized dragon most often used for personal transportation.

marione (mer’-
-own)

One of the seven high races. Mariones are excellent farmers and warriors. They are short and broad, usually musclebound rather than corpulent.

meech dragon

The most intelligent of the dragons, capable of speech.

minor dragon

Smallest of the dragons, the size of a young kitten. The different types of minor dragons have different abilities.

moerston bark (môr’-stun)

When chewed, it soothes hunger and freshens the mouth. Bumpy, brown, and thin.

moonbeam plant

A three to four foot plant having large shiny leaves and round flowers resembling a full moon. The stems are fibrous and used for making cloth.

Morchain Range

Mountains running north and south through the middle of Amara.

mordakleep

One of the low races, associated with freshwater sources, shape shifters.

mountain dewdrops

Small white flowers growing close to the ground in an almost moss covering.

mullins

Fried doughnut sticks.

nordy rolls

Whole-grain, sweet, nutty bread.

o’rant

One of the high races. Five to six feet tall.

parnot (par’-not)

Green fruit like a pear.

pnard potatoes (puh-nard’)

Starchy, edible tuber with pale pink flesh.

Pomandando River (po’-man-dan’-do)

River runnning along the eastern side of Vendela.

quiss (kwuh’-iss)

One of the seven low races. These creatures have an enormous appetite. Every three years they develop the capacity to breathe air for six weeks and forage along the sea coast, creating havoc. They are extremely slippery.

razterberry (ras’-ter-bâr-ee)

Small red berries that grow in clusters somewhat like grapes on the sides of mountains. The vines are useful for climbing.

ribbets (rib’-bits)

Ball game played between two teams, similar to soccer.

River Away

Marione village in eastern Amara.

rock pine

Evergreen tree with prickly cones that are as heavy as stones.

ropma (rōp’-muh)

One of the seven low races. These half-men, half-animals are useful in herding and caring for beasts.

scarphlit (scar’-flit)

An oily substance used in medicinal potions.

schoergs (skôrgz)

One of seven low races. Hairy, short, and lean.

speckled thrush

Small bird with white speckles on a brown background.

Tale of Durmoil (der-moil’)

Folktale relating when the fire dragons emerged from the volcanoes.

trang-a-nog tree

Smooth, olive-green bark.

tumpgrass

A tall grass that grows in a clump, making its own hillock.

urohm (ū-rome’)

Largest of the seven high races. Gentle giants, well proportioned and very intelligent.

Vendela (vin-del’-luh)

Capital city of the province of Wynd.

Wittoom (wit-toom’)

Region populated by doneels in northwest Amara.