The Dragons of Sara Sara (47 page)

"Arise girl. I thank you for your offer. I would step into your circle if I could but I cannot leave this grip." She patted Rees's hand on her hip. A disconcerted muttering arose from some of the warrior maidens.

"No. You misunderstand." Said Ellenaria loudly.

"I am bound to The Blue Tower. Only Rees can bring me out, and only so long as he maintains contact with me. The process can only be started with the Moon Gate, and Disk of the Sun. Rees may not like it, but he must hold me close while my work is being done."

She said this last with a smile that set the Maidens laughing again, and turned Rees's face to flame. Into the general mirth strode Jardine, and Riadia matching stride for stride. Her bulky skirts swirled around her but didn't impede her one bit.

"I see you Rees Rukul of Xu Gui." Said Jardine

"I see you Jardine of the Asha Altan, Stone Lion." Replied Rees.

Riadia acknowledged Rees with a nod and a glance, and turned her attention full on Ellenaria. The two women studied each other intently for a moment. Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, Riadia swept a low, if awkward curtsy to Ellenaria.

"My lady. Forgive me my boldness." She spoke in hushed tones. Meekness from Riadia? The Maidens were wide eyed in dismay. Jardine couldn't believe it. This must be a dream. Riadia. A curtsy. Meekness. Ellenaria didn't move or speak. Jardine cleared his throat. He was a rock. Nothing in his life had ever unsettled him, until now.

Riadia looked at Ellenaria briefly.

"My lady. May I speak?" She said. Ellenaria nodded briefly.

Riadia turned to address Jardine and the others.

"This person you see before you is The Keeper of the Blue Tower. She is Ellenaria. She is the Light. She holds you in this dream. Only by her whim alone do you draw breath. When you awaken from this dream you call life, it is because Ellenaria has awoken you. Take heed of she who holds you in the palm of her hand." Riadia glanced at Rees. "And take heed of he who holds Ellenaria in his hand." The symbolism was not lost on them. Those on the outskirts of the crowd heard as clearly as those in the circle. The word spread to other camps in a flash. Men and women filled the valley and covered the surrounding hills. All came to see this goddess who had appeared in their midst, with a boy from a plains village. She was known to all of course, from story and legend. The stories they told and retold were tales of the wonders of the gods who held them firm on the earth. Now one was come. The one who most hoped to meet one day when their time in the dream was ended. More than a few were worried that that particular dream had ended while they slept.

Ellenaria's voice rose as clear as crystal and carried to the furthest warriors.

"The dream continues. You are called to my service, in turn to serve the Lord of the Dragon Armies. You will join with him to defeat the Lord of the Dark, who must be kept chained in the Wheel of Sara Sara. Bring everyone to this valley. I will take you now to Antonin, Lord of the Dragons. The time is not yet, but close at hand when the Tharsians are routed. Quickly now."

For a moment there was stillness. It took some time,, but by late afternoon, everyone and everything packed the small valley between the hills. No one knew what to expect. No one expected what happened next.

 

 

 

Elsa and Desare stood for a moment knee deep in the snow drift. In the blink of an eye Ellenaria and Rees had disappeared again. Only their foot prints and those of the horses left. The wind was picking up, and the temperature was way below freezing. Neither of the two girls were dressed for this climate, and the cliff wall was some way off.

"Quickly Desare," Elsa took her elbow. "We had better hurry to the shelter before we freeze on the spot."

Elsa took her bearings, marking her direction with sightings on prominent features. Ahead the black wall of the cliff, directly behind, the unusual V shaped cleft in the mountain wall surrounding their frozen valley.

"Desare, can you run?" Elsa didn't wait for an answer, simply began running in the direction of the cave. With a start, Desare ran after her. Their laden horses they dragged along behind them. The snow was hard packed enough to run across, but the horses broke through the crust and had to surge forward in ungainly leaps and stumbles. It would have been impossible to ride them.

Soon they broke clear out onto a clear sheet of blue ice. The wind had swept it clean of snow, and instantly Elsa and Desare were sliding across the ice on their bottoms. The horses fared better, and carefully picked their way. Elsa sat there laughing at her surprise. Neither girl was hurt, and they climbed onto their knees to get up again. Desare found herself looking down into a city.

"Elsa." She shrieked. The sensation of almost falling into the depths was overpowering. Elsa looked at Desare in surprise, then looked where Desare was looking. Down. Her breath hissed between her tooth. There below them, and deep in the ice and quite unmistakable, was an ancient city. Elsa could feel life in that city too. Not human, and weak, but it was there.

She took Desare's hand. "Quickly, we must go. We must get to the cavern while the sun still shines. If we are still out here when darkness falls, we will die."

Elsa's simple statement of fact was enough to get Desare moving and soon they were off the clear ice sheet and back on hard snow. The cliff drew closer, and they found themselves amongst the huge boulders that lay strewn about the cliff base. The way through was still clear, and Elsa kept on her direction by her sighting of the cliff shape. Then she noticed the markings on some of the boulders pointing the way forward. The path was now easy to follow, and quickly they found themselves standing below the entrance to a cave. The ledge in front of the entrance was not high, but difficult to access. Elsa scouted along either side for a way up for the horses. Desare was shivering so badly her teeth were chattering. Her breath was clouding like a fog about her, little crystals forming in her hair. Elsa found a rough way up for the horses and themselves, and they gained the entrance to the cave. The interior was pitch dark by now, but the setting sun was flooding through the deep V in the valley's western wall, and momentarily lit up the interior. The fireplace could be seen, and a pile of kindling. Quickly Elsa had a fire going and she and Desare began searching the cave. The horses stood quietly to one side, glad themselves to be out of the cold. A moment later the sun was gone entirely and the blackness of a frozen night descended on the valley. Elsa and Desare sat huddled together by the flickering fire. Desare had found a large wicker screen that was used to cover the cavern entrance, and with that in place, the air inside had begun to warm a little. There was only the dried meat they carried to eat, and melted snow to drink but it was all they needed. The horses had been tended with oats and water they carried in packs, and now both Desare and Elsa were nodding by the crackling embers of the small fire. Elsa could see no sense in mounting a watch. No one could possible know they were here, and no one would survive out there in the open at night anyway.

Elsa contemplated what Ellenaria had done when she had touched her. She had felt a fog lifting it had seemed. Everything about her came into sharper focus. She could sense things now. She could tell where everyone of her sisters were. She could speak to them in her thoughts. They could not answer her, but Elsa knew when they understood. She was letting them all know they would meet soon.

Had there been grass around then, she knew she would be able to hear it growing. Desare, half asleep beside her was dreaming of her home and a nice warm bed. thoughts of her mother flickering on the edge of the dream.

Suddenly Elsa found herself standing in a vast hall. A vast vaulted ceiling rose above her. The floor beneath her feet alternate black and white squares, with a gilt dragon emblazoned in the centre of each one. The walls were so far away as to be almost in total darkness. 'Where is the light coming from?' She thought. 'Surely this is a dream.'

Desare stirred beside her, and Elsa woke with a start. The cavern was unchanged. Elsa tried to ponder the meaning of the dream. She had to give up. It was beyond anything she could think of. Muttering under her breath, she dragged a huge bundle of the furs they had discovered over to near the fire and around Desare enough to get her covered. She then covered herself, in the end the flickering fire showed only the horses near the entrance dozing on their feet, and a huge pile of furs on the rocks near the fire. Both girls settled into a deep sleep, long overdue.

Unknown to the girls, Antonin was away to the east of them, himself making camp in the low scrub of the hill top redoubt. The wide bare plain around the small hill was featureless in the weak moonlight. The patches of snow glittered like jewels on a black velvet cloth. There was no sign of the band of followers. 'They must be encamped themselves.' thought Antonin. He would take his turn on watch when the moon was clear of a certain tree top he had marked. Till then he dosed, and thought of the events that had led him to this place. He knew he was to release the dragons from the frozen valley. He had no idea how that was to be done. He had to find Mordos and retrieve the Key to the Wheel. That meant meeting Mordos in his own forest. Still, Mordos would not know about the dragons. What had happened to Cinnabar and his Morgoth warriors? Antonin had no doubt there was trouble to come there. Even if he could retake the Keystone, he had to get it to Sara Sara and fit it into the shaft of the wheel. He had no doubt the Dark Lord would fight him every step of the way. Antonin had no idea how much time he had. A day? A lifetime? He only knew that somehow he would never be a simple farm boy again, free to ride across the plains with friends. All his friends had been dragged into this business with him, and now they were scattered across the world.

Antonin let his mind wander seemingly on its own. He thought of nothing. Slowly he could feel the others - a sense of the others - coming to him. Mei'An was in the Blue Tower waiting with the other Wind Readers for the Keeper to return. Strange? Yet the Keeper was coming. Not to the Tower, but here. 'No, let it drift.' Antonin murmured in his sleep like state. Elsa and Desare were close. Impossible. Yet he had such a strong sense of them that he felt he could have reached out to touch them. Quite unconsciously his fingers were trying to do just that. HIs other friends he could feel about him. Catharina, closer than a sister. He knew now he loved her deeply, but how to tell her. Edina, sworn to protect him, even with her life, and too a friend. Nareena, a girl of this land. He was in her debt for the life of her beloved, still out on the ice. Gaul. Quiet Gaul. His lifelong friend. 'Perhaps.' He thought, ' If I were to go off on my own, the others would be safe from the coming fury.' Antonin knew it was not possible. Everything depended on finding the Keystone and stopping the wheel.

Antonin fancied he could hear the pigeons calling in his father's barn. Suddenly he was wide awake. That was a signal. There were no pigeons here. Antonin was on his feet, sword drawn in an instant. He nudged his friends awake with his boot. Together they crept up to the stone ramparts of the hill top. Antonin nearly dropped his sword at what he saw. They were completely surrounded. Thousands upon thousands of warriors. As far as he could see in the moonlight. All around the small hill, and off into the distant tree line.

As he looked, he could see campfires being lit. Horses tethered, tents going up. He was still dreaming surely.

"Catharina?" He said in question.

"I don't know Antonin. One minute nothing, the next - this. These are the warriors of the Star Field Plain. How? Where?" Her voice trailed off.

Antonin could just make out two people coming toward where he was on the low hill top. They seemed to be glowing with some strange light, and so close together that one must have an arm around the other. For all the activity out there, there was still no sound. Nareena stood there looking about at the scene, mouth hanging open in astonishment.

The two glowing figures drew closer and to Antonin's great astonishment he recognised his friend Rees. With his arm around a naked woman. Well, almost naked. He was not sure if she was or not. Some filmy material clung about her, giving the appearance of not being there.

What was Rees doing? There was no doubt about the woman's perfect beauty, but after a poke in the ribs from Catharina he closed his mouth. Catharina whispered in an awed voice.

"It - she, is the Keeper of the Blue Tower. Antonin, be very careful here. It is not out of amorous desire that Rees has his arm around her waist."

There were two warrior maidens following close behind, leading pack horses.

They stopped a little way down from the stone capped ridge.

"Antonin, Catharina, Nareena, all," a pause. "You are with friends now. Please come forward. It is I, Ellenaria and Rees. Your army has come."

Antonin and the others stepped forward to greet their friends. Relief flooded every part of Antonin's being. All his friends were gathering to him where hopefully he could protect them. He had an army at last. They no longer fought alone. Now he could meet the Great Houses of Hua Guo with pride and honour. Now he stood some chance of defeating the hordes raised by the Dark One himself.

Antonin strode forward to greet his friends. Within arm's reach, Ellenaria called

"Stop my Lord, you must not touch me. I am not actually - here."

Antonin looked at Rees, who simply shrugged his shoulders.

The Keeper looked at Rees.

"My Lord. Rees. You must now place me again between the Disk of the Sun, and the Orb of the Moon Gate. The Wind Readers await me, and I must return to the Tower. I have been too long away. Hurry now my Lord."

With one step she slid out of Rees's hold. She drew a sharp breath as though in pain.

"Hurry my Lord. The Sun and the Moon." The gauzy haze about her started to fade. Rees leapt at the trunk on the pack horse, ripping it from its fastenings. He flung back the lid and scattered the contents on the grass. The Disk and the Orb he placed at either side of Ellenaria's feet. Her shimmering colours steadied, and with a last smile at Rees her image became once more the small statue that fitted in the treasure chest.

A chill wind whistled across the hill top. Antonin realized he could now hear the small sounds from the camp all about him.

Rees righted the trunk, and carefully replaced the objects in their proper places. He worked quietly, occasionally glancing at Antonin.

Antonin had changed since they had last been together. Rees couldn't put a finger on it, but there was something.

Finally the trunk was tied securely onto the pack horse again. Catharina was the first to speak.

"Rees my friend, it is good to see you again. You must tell us how this," she swept her arms in an all embracing gesture "came to be here?"

"It is the doing of the Keeper of The Blue Tower, Ellenaria. We got into some trouble with Tharsians who were determined to take Desare." Rees paused and swallowed.

"In desperation we tried to use the treasures that we carry, and it seems to have worked."

It was obvious Rees was avoiding something, and Antonin spoke up.

"Rees. Where is Desare? Where is Elsa?"

"Antonin, this is the strange thing. After Ellenaria healed Desare, she took us all to a windswept ice filled valley where she commanded the two girls to go to a cave to wait for you. She then returned to the camp of the warriors and gathered all together, to being us here. Exactly where that ice field is I do not know Antonin."

Antonin was delighted. He knew exactly where it was. He knew exactly where the girls were. They could not be left alone. Antonin cast a glance at the sky. The moon shone nearly full in a cloudless sky. It was low on the horizon, and the light was weak, but it was enough.

"Rees, Catharina, Nareena, we move on to the valley tonight. What these warriors want to do I do not know, but we go now."

He was in action as he spoke. Gathering up his blanket and saddle and readying his horse. The others needed no second telling. In minutes all were mounted and ready to ride out. The vast camp surrounding them was now buzzing with activity. No sooner had Antonin mounted his horse than Jardine appeared within the stone circle.

He reminded Antonin of a rock himself. Antonin leant down to speak quietly with Jardine. He hesitated a moment then turned and ran back into the encircling camp, gathering a trail of warriors behind him as he went. Antonin said nothing to the others, just spurred his horse down the slope and headed west toward the distant valley where his friends waited. He hoped they were still safe.

It didn't take long to clear the camp of the warriors. Clear lines were visible between various groups and although they received a good deal of attention in passing, no one tried to stop them, or challenge them. Soon the three riders were away into the darkness, only the weak moonlight to light the way. The horses could not be pushed too hard. The trio settled into a steady pace across the rough terrain. They began to climb, and Antonin led the way. He remembered the mountain that guarded the icy wastes beyond and recalled that they had a long way to go yet.

Nareena rode close by his horse's right flank. She knew this country like the back of her hand, and although she let Antonin take the lead, occasionally she called quietly with corrections to their course. Antonin was no fool, and he knew full well Nareena was the guide, but for safety's sake he did not want her in the lead.