Bakkian Chronicles, Book I - The Prophecy (46 page)

Suddenly he was wrenched to the ground and darkness enveloped him. Now what? Who put out the lights? The howling wind had also disappeared. The air became stuffy. Had he stumbled into a hole? Gingerly he felt around him. Solid, pebbled walls met his touch. The ground continued to tremble beneath his feet. He blindly explored in all directions. More pebbled walls, not only surrounding him, but also encompassing him from above and below as well. Nudging the textured wall one final time, Steve sighed loudly. Maybe it was a -

“
Would ye kindly stop doing that?”

The voice came from nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

“
Who’s there? And doing what?”

“
Stop moving about, human. That tickles.”

A small chink of light appeared. Then bits of light appeared all around him as the walls about him separated. Steve gasped aloud. His “cage” was in fact a basket two hands made when they were cupped together. However, these were some massive hands! Not only that, he was soaring through the air! They were moving at such a tremendous rate of speed that the air was actually whistling through the huge fingers.

Holy crap, he thought excitedly, I’ve been snatched by a dragon! What is Kahvel doing? Wait. That hadn’t sounded like the dragon he knew. Besides, wasn’t Kahvel a gold dragon? This skin is green. Uh, oh. Looking up, he could see the heavily scaled belly of an enormous emerald-green
dragon
.

“
I just want you to know that I probably taste really bad.”

“
Not if cooked properly,” the dragon disagreed. “Be at ease. I have no intentions of eating ye.”

“
Where are you taking me?”

“
To Kahvel.”

Steve held his breath. “Are you friends with Kahvel?”

“
Am I friend to Kahvel? Aye, ye might say that. I am his mate.”

Steve plopped back down onto the massive palm in shock. A female dragon!

“
So you’re taking me to Kahvel, then? Has he been looking for me?”

“
Aye, along with the rest of yer companions. Kahvel checked on them just after sunrise, and that’s when he learned of yer disappearance. He enlisted my help. I just happened to find ye first.”

“
What’s your name? Mine is Steve. Steve Miller.”

“
I am Pryllan.”

****

Rhenyon and Sarah wearily trudged back to their camp to await the arrival of the others. They were the first to arrive for their fourth rendezvous since beginning their search for the missing Nohrin.

Sarah had been silent for the last two hours. Rhenyon sighed again. He had been trained in hand-to-hand combat, weaponry, falconry, horsemanship, and a slew of other useful skills. Consoling a distraught woman, however, was not one of them. He was determined to be optimistic, for Sarah’s sake, but the longer they went without news, the more dismal Steve’s future became. What was he going to tell the king?

Kern arrived just then, followed closely by Pheron. Rhenyon looked at both of his men and knew without asking for a report that they had been as unsuccessful as he had.

“
With regrets, no signs, sir.”

“
Acknowledged. We wait for Rhein, and we keep searching.”

Both soldiers nodded. Suddenly Pheron straightened.

“
Captain, do ye hear that?”

Rhenyon stood still, listening intently. Someone was shouting! “Can ye identify the source?”

Kern pointed to a bluff fifty feet or so above them. Shading her eyes from the sun,
Sarah
could just make out Rhein’s head. He was frantically gesturing while shouting about something.

“
Gather yer gear,” Rhenyon ordered. “We move in one minute. Lieutenant Rhein appears to have found something.”

In a quarter of an hour they joined Rhein up on the outcropping of rock.

“
What is it? What did ye find?”

“
My familiar made contact with a raptor, who witnessed a disturbance about four leagues from here, due north.”

Sarah held her breath. “Was it something to do with Steve?”

“
The raptor observed a human walking through a small valley when a large, green dragon passed directly over him. When the dragon flew off, the human was gone.”

“
Omigod! A dragon has taken him?”

Rhenyon smiled, putting his hand on her shoulder. “Be at ease, Lady Sarah. Kahvel has his mate looking for him, too.”

“
So?”

“
She is a green dragon.”

“
But what if it wasn’t his mate?”

“
When we find Kahvel, and he does not know anything about it, then we will panic. Until that time, we will assume his mate found yer husband first.”

****

It was a surreal spectacle to behold: two dragons in such close proximity to a human.
Pryllan’s
green tail was entwined around Kahvel’s golden one. She complimented him well, Steve thought. Both dragons were conversing amongst themselves, completely ignoring the increasingly frustrated human who was trying nonchalantly to be noticed.

There were joyous shouts in the distance as Sarah and the soldiers appeared over the bluff. She ran into his arms, sobbing hysterically, while all the soldiers breathed a
collective sigh of relief
. Sir Steve had been returned to them, appearing to be unharmed.

Sarah finally disengaged herself from her husband. “Are you okay? What happened to you? I was so worried!”

“
I’m okay. Minor headache, and a few aches and pains, but nothing significant.” He faced Rhenyon. “Where’s Jalen? I’d personally like to thank him for such a wonderful outing.”

Rhenyon paused. “Jalen is still missing. I figured he was involved after he did not return when ye were reported missing. I have already informed the castle. They will find him. But what happened to ye? Do ye remember?”

“
Tell you all about it in a sec.” Steve turned to the green dragon. “Pryllan, thank you very much for the rescue. I owe you one, big-time.”

Pryllan lowered her long graceful neck down to meet Steve’s gaze. “Ye are welcome, human.” Raising her head back up, she looked at her mate. “Kahvel. Be safe.” Unfolding her wings, she took to the air and disappeared into the distant clouds.

Steve looked at the huge gold dragon. “Thank you very much for getting her involved. I don’t know how she managed to find me, but I’m damn glad she did.”

“
Ye are welcome, human. Yer disappearance was hampering our progress, so ye had to be found quickly.”

“
I don’t suppose you have anything to eat?”

The question caught Sarah off guard. When was the last time any of them had eaten? She hadn’t teleported dinner for last night or breakfast from this morning. She looked at Rhenyon, who was talking to his men.

“
Excuse me, sorry to interrupt, but I have a question.”

“
Yes, Lady Sarah.”

“
Ummm, with all that has happened, I didn’t get you guys dinner last night nor any breakfast this morning.”

Rhenyon’s face went blank as he realized she was right.

“
So my question is, what will the castle do if we miss a couple meals and you haven’t reported in?”

The captain’s eyes widened. “Wizards be damned! His Majesty will assume the worst and dispatch men to our last known location. Quickly, fetch the quill, ink, and some parchment!”

Rhenyon hastily wrote a progress report and handed it to Sarah, who sent it straight to the king’s desk. She looked at the captain.

“
How long before I check for a response?”

Rhenyon scuffed his foot on the ground. “Best to give him a few minutes so that I might properly be reprimanded.”

A few minutes later, Rhenyon was reading the king’s response. He had indeed dispatched several squadrons of troops which had just left the castle. They were called back. The king even went so far as to have the food pack filled with fresh food.

As they all ate, Steve relayed all that he could remember, from the time that he was thumped on the head to when he had discovered he had been snatched by a dragon.

“
Sorry to have put you guys through all of that,” Steve said. “What are you going to do about Jalen when you find him?”

“
I have not decided. I will deal with that later. For all we know, he could have been one of those that went over the edge of the cliff. How well did ye see their faces?”

“
Not well at all. I guess he could have been one of them.”

Finishing their meal, Sarah returned the pack to the castle. Rhenyon gazed off into the distance.

“
Do you see that ridge, maybe ten leagues distant?”

Both Sarah and Steve nodded.

“
That ridge,” Rhenyon explained, “is the southern border to the valley we are looking for, adjacent to Lake Raehón. We should be able to make that ridge by nightfall.”

“
I will see all of ye there, then.” Kahvel unfolded his wings and took to the air.

There was a much more laid-back attitude amongst the camp that night. Rhein was cracking jokes. Kern told several stories, heroic tales of high adventure that his ancestors were allegedly a part of. Steve juggled three fireballs. Sarah even hid Rhenyon’s prized daggers. The soldiers roared with laughter as their captain dumped the contents of his pack all over the ground, trying to determine what had happened to them, only to discover moments later they had mysteriously reappeared back on his belt.

Later, as they settled down for the night, both husband and wife snuggled close under the blanket.

“
I am so glad you are back. Don’t ever do that to me again.”

“
How did I know that I was going to get knocked on the head by one of our own?”

“
Would you like me to get the vial and heal you? That’s a nasty bump you have there.”

“
No, thanks, save it for the serious injuries. I can survive a lump on my head.” As she started to protest, Steve kissed her. “I’ll be okay. Hey, did you hear what Rhenyon said earlier?”

Recognizing her husband’s attempts to steer attention away from himself, Sarah shook her head. “About making it to the lake tomorrow? Yes, I heard.”

Steve sighed, becoming groggy. “I hope it isn’t too hard to find.”

“
You think an entrance to the dwarven realm is going to be easy to find?”

Steve snorted.

****

“
The entrance is somewhere around here? You’re kidding, right?”

They were all standing at the beginning of a large valley that stretched some fifty leagues from west to east. Fortunately for them, it was only about twenty leagues to the lake, which they could just see in the distance. Large groups of boulders were scattered here and there. There was also a lack, Sarah noted, of any vertical objects that were flat enough for a door to be mounted on.

Kahvel arrived then, landing with the grace of a swan. He surveyed the quiet valley.

“
There are a dozen or so dragons in the vicinity of this valley. We must be careful. And we must be quick. Ye do not want to be out here any longer than necessary.”

“
Any ideas on where to start?” Steve asked.

“
To reveal the exact location of their realm would violate the oath we dragons have taken with the dwarves.”

All seven people stared at the dragon in shock.