Guardian Dragons (17 page)

Each full suncircle the Guardian
Dragons prepare to pass through the magic barrier. They venture on
their mission to detect any unusual occurrences that might indicate
the creatures of the Dark Side are once again stirring.

Queen Thimat was to lead the next
faction. Keeping the group numbers to a minimum, so as not to raise
any agitation, they hide their presence as best they can. For the
most part, they are usually gone for thirty moonwakes and return
tired but content that all is well.

The dragon King Apsle would
normally lead this mission but he had left on a journey, some sixty
moonwakes ago. His long journey to meet with Queen Bodice of the
Myeaz antoid creatures, to investigate a rumour brought by
migrating birds that Vellar the fire giant is beginning to stir.
Vellar was ensnared and imprisoned by the ancient mage at the end
of the Serpent Wars, and then sent drifting into a magical slumber
deep beneath the hot sandy Murpell desert. The dragon King would be
gone many more moonwakes yet, so Queen Thimat had decided to
continue with the ceremonial trip to the Dark Side to ensure that
all was as it should be.

Deep in the tunnels of the
mid-mountains Queen Thimat wondered upon the rumours of the
powerful Vellar. Should he awaken then the world will truly be in
dire danger. Emperor Morte- Bielz, through the balance of magic,
had been able to create the fire giant as an Opposition Spell to
the creation of the Magic Wall. Vellar would have proved a mighty
foe against the dragons with the deadly gasses he breathes. Fire
breathing dragons are immune to all fire but their bodies will
easily burn in the gasses of Vellar’s magic breath. His poisonous
breath kills all who are capable of magic. She hoped in her heart
that her King would return home shortly with news that Vellar
sleeps, still. There should be no reason for his
awakening.

‘My Queen,’ a male dragon
interrupted her thoughts, ‘we are ready to pass
through.’

‘Yes, yes Ramdon,’ the Queen
replied a little agitated. ‘Let us begin the passing. I will go
through first.’

‘As you wish, my Queen, but it
would be preferred if one of us could take the first
risk.’

He bowed his huge head until his
nostrils touched the sandy cool floor within the Passing Cave. The
route they took led them to a place within the belly of the
mid-mountains where the dragons can access the Dark Lands in
secrecy.

‘Nonsense, I would not hide behind
another.’ Queen Thimat knew that Ramdon was a good solid soldier
and merely wanted precaution for his Queen. She looked into the
eyes of her Leading Commander and knew her King would be displeased
should she place herself at risk.

‘Very well Ramdon,’ she graciously
gave in, ‘you do well to remind me. I grow old and forgetful and
sometimes too complacent. I shall pass through once you have opened
the way.’

‘I thank my Queen for her
wisdom.’

Ramdon’s head disappeared from view
as he passed through the foggy haze that appeared to block the
large exit from the chamber. Queen Thimat observed the spectacle of
a huge male dragon without a head as an amusing image. Cautiously
the remaining parts of his body pushed forward as he continued to
pass through into the Dark Side. Once he had completely
disappeared, Queen Thimat followed, hoping that the dragons behind
her would not think of her as a headless body. She tried to put her
long neck and head through at the same time as her front legs. A
childish image she realised but nonetheless an image that kept her
mind on a humorous note. Worrying was for Ramdon. She had lived far
too long to allow her mind to fret over what should be a normal
routine check upon the creatures of the Dark Side.

The cavern was identical on both sides of the hazy barrier
with the exception of the freezing coldness of the Dark Side. They
followed their known route through the large tunnels until they
arrived at the open mouth of the cave. The bright white snow
reflected in the bright reaches of the large silver moon and
appeared as a sparkly covering over the tops of the mid-mountains
of Madzren. The dragon’s were ever fascinated with the sheer size
of the moons on the Dark Side. They appeared on a larger scale than
on the Light Side. Dayloon, clearly distinguishable covered
in
curious dark shadows that
appear to create deep grooves upon its silver glittering surface.
This moon, some races believe, carries the spirit of all that is
good. Whereas in contrast Nytloon pulsates with a mysterious orange
glow and blood red veins that appear animated. This moon,
purportedly, represents all that is darker.

The dragon’s took flight
immediately, while the climate was calm, but they were ever
prepared for the sudden chilled gusts that could easily divert them
from their course. Even a giant dragon could not fight against the
strong winds on this side of the world and would be forced to land
if the winds picked up. From high in the dark clear skies, they
carry the guise of any other group of flying serpents. It was not
unusual to see serpents in flight over Madzren, no creature would
be too suspicious of them, if they were to be spotted.

Chapter 25 A
Discovery

T
he ghosts of Madzren
take no interest in the moving shadows of the Light Land beasts as
they pass over, through the dark skies. These desolate souls merely
wander in total oblivion of their surroundings. Such pitiful
spirits, are all victims of the powerful monshaads, who have
mercilessly ended their mortal lives just to imprison their living
souls in the bleak dark mid-mountains of Madzren. Many races deem
that once a mortal life ends upon the world that the soul does not
die but passes on to the Realm of the Dead in the Kingdom of the
gods. If a living soul is forced to linger upon Aarabassa it will
still experience physical pain, but only through the lingering
images of memory, which cannot be erased. It is the nature of a
monshaad to exploit the weaknesses of any living force. Through
their skills of mind power, they enhance the belief of fear and
pain that the spirits remember, and then destroy any hope that the
confused wretched soul may have had. Equally, when a monshaad
chooses to devour the lingering essence of a soul, there is still
no release, it is further bound within the dark domain of the
monshaad’s mind and still cannot pass on to the Realms of the Dead.
It simply is no more, until released from the entangled depths of
its captor, which would mean the death of the monshaad, but this
has never been known to happen.

Monshaads, it is understood, descend from an ancient human
tribe, probably the first humans upon Aarabassa. It is not
known
from whence they came
but these humans were enriched with the powers of magic. As the
race advanced so too did the power of their inherited skills of
magic and some chose to study the darker more sinister paths,
giving them immortality, but not in their human forms. Such beings
have abated to form an essence of foul gasses that feed upon the
energy of living souls, never satiating their hunger for power.
They cannot die because they are already dead. They are without a
living soul, though some believe they have a dormant soul. They
cannot be eaten by a serpent because they have no substance. They
have no blood for the vamplins to drink. Some are weak and foul,
others are stronger but still foul. Morte-Bielz is the strongest
and the foulest. Few know the secret of how to rid Aarabassa of
these evil entities.

There was little that happened
within the Dark Lands that Emperor Morte-Bielz did not know of.
Unknown to the Light Land Dragons, when they embarked upon their
visits the Emperor was indeed aware of their presence but chose not
to interfere, instead he observed through his own network of spies.
What use were a few more serpent bodies to him. He had bigger and
stronger serpents in his oceans. Let them believe that all was
peaceful in the Dark Lands. Very soon, they would know the thoughts
of his mind. Very soon they would know of his true
power.

Their flight for this part of the
journey was brief. They flew over the mists of the lost ghosts and
left behind the mid-mountains of Madzren. In the distance they
could see a dark cloud speedily approaching, growing ever larger as
it neared them.

My Queen I suggest we make our landing
Ramdon Mindtalked, conscious of what looked to be
dark storm clouds heading their way.

That is not a storm Ramdon. I know not what approaches but
it is no storm?
Queen Thimat
turned her keen eyes curiously towards the strange dark cloud in
the far distance.

We are above Dygore, an old abandoned vamplin layer,
Ramdon reminded his Queen.
We can make a landing and shelter
whilst we wait out the passing of this cloud.

Yes, Ramdon, that sounds reasonable. I see the retreat
below
she
agreed.

Leading the group of dragons down,
so they could shelter, Ramdon smelt the air for a clue of what the
ever-growing cloud generated. It was now moving rapidly towards
them. He hoped they would make it in time and get under cover
before the dark moving cloud was upon them.

Head for the level that holds the landing bays,
he Mindtalked to the other dragons.
This was a section that had accommodated the landing of the huge
flying basca.

Once he was sure his Queen was
under the protected roof, he also landed and entered the strange
warren of the vamplin lair. Giant black granite crags form strange
phenomena upon the lands of the Dygore. In times gone by the
vamplins had claimed them as homes and tunneled throughout to
create chambers and corridors. Probably up to ten families could
live within one lair. He had never been able to venture far within
this run down den, because of his size, but he was aware that it
had been left empty because it was too close to the mid-mountains.
After the Serpent Wars the vamplins did not feel safe so near these
mountains that neighboured with the Light Land dragons, whom they
consider bitter enemies.

Ramdon kept his body in the shade
but peered out at the encroaching cloud. It was beginning to take
shape and now separated as a mass of little dots. The dots were
moving individually. They had wings.

That’s most certainly not a cloud,
he thought.

‘They draw nearer,’ he mumbled to
himself.

‘They. Did you say they? Ramdon,’ the Queen asked, hearing
his
mumblings.

‘Yes, Queen Thimat. I can make out the shapes now and
we
have an army of vamplins
riding upon their bascas. It is as well that we sought cover when
we did. It would not do to confront them,’ Ramdon replied to his
Queen.

‘Indeed Ramdon,’ she agreed. ‘We
would be accused of spying and death can be the only punishment for
such a crime in these wicked lands. They would never understand
that all we seek is peace in the world.’

The dragons spoke no more, nor did
they Mindtalk, lest the vamplins detect their signals.

One basca steered and left the
group as it began its dissension to swoop down to the old lair.
Upon it’s back sat a tall slender vamplin female. Her heavy fur
cloak lifted up with the wind as she maneuvered her huge white
beast in a downward motion towards a landing platform above the
opening that the dragons had entered. They heard a thud as the
creature landed. Moments later another thud indicated that more
than one had sidetracked from the passing group. Had the dragons
been detected?

‘Why have you landed Lady Vatara?’
a gruff voice could be heard as the vamplins
communicated.

‘My basca tells me that a wretched
monshaad creature has frozen one of her wings,’ the female vamplin
replied. ‘She has bravely brought me this far but I fear she is
tiring with such pressure on only one wing.’

‘I am relieved at this opportune
moment my Lady, to speak with you alone. I overheard your
discussion with my Lord.’ The tone of the male voice shifted as he
dismounted and moved towards the other vamplin. ‘I fear your
brother does not truly support the Emperor’s innovative thinking.
You though, Lady, seem to understand the sense in sacrificing only
a few so the majority of our people can develop and grow strong. We
must accept the Emperor as our leader in this coming battle against
the Light Land creatures, for the sake of our survival.’

‘Yes, I know Sherat,’ the female
said, concerned. ‘I too am disheartened with my brother’s archaic
beliefs, but he does care for his people and he too wishes only for
our survival in the coming war.’

‘Should you need a commander,
Lady, know I am at your call,’ he bowed his head respectfully.
‘Will you take a place on the back of my basca, then your beast can
rest and take off when she is ready for flight?’

‘I hate to leave her in this place
of such solitude. I know there are only ghosts haunting these parts
but with a damaged wing she could not defend an attack.’ The female
vamplin Vatara was undecided in what to do.

‘She needs to rest her wing until
she has full use of it again,’ Sherat explained. ‘I will come back
for her, once you are safely returned. By then she should be ready
to take a slower flight back.’