Child of Time (51 page)

Soon they passed the jagged peaks and Kiyan realized
that they were only the foothills for the real mountains. Ahead of
them towered a wall of mountains that made the prior hills ashamed
of the designation. These new hills must have been the result of a
titanic struggle between two massive tectonic plates. Thrusting
high into the atmosphere, these mountains seemed to scratch at the
very stars above their heads. When Kiyan reached these loft giants
he flapped his wings and sliced through the air in a steep climb.
Sheer cliffs and imposing rockslides passed quickly below the
group. Wheeling past a mountain side that looked like it had been
sliced clean and fallen into the valley far below, Kiyan saw holes
in the smooth cliff and could have sworn he saw a figure disappear
into the dark recess.

“We are almost there.” Sapphire informed them that
over the next ridge should be their destination. Sapphire held on
as Kiyan flew almost straight up the next mountain side. Reaching
the top he let his momentum carry him higher until he leveled out
into a glide. Below him sprawled a hidden valley high in the
mountains. Scattered around the valley were farms and dwellings
constructed from stone. Here and there light spilled from holes in
gigantic rocks that looked to have been setting there for eons.
Finding a dark corner of the valley, Kiyan settled down quietly.
Soft grass was underfoot and rock walls surrounded the patch of
grass. Turning around as he explored his landing spot, Kiyan saw
movement from the corner of his eye and bristled at the creatures
that he saw. They were huddled in a corner as they appraised the
invader to their home. Sharp horns sprouted from the shaggy head of
the creatures lending them a threatening element. A quick glance at
the shaggy body and six legs told Kiyan these probably were not a
threat but he wasn't taking a chance. A slight movement among the
otherwise motionless creatures betrayed an elf unlike any Kiyan had
yet seen. Hiding between the staring creatures was an elf that
stood nearly half the height of Sapphire.
This must be a young
elf.
Kiyan thought to himself. Despite being young, the elf
still was stockier and thicker than the elegant wood or water
elves. Kiyan stepped forward to introduce himself but stopped when
he saw and felt the raw terror rolling off the elf in thick
waves.

“You are scaring him you big dope.” Kiyan felt like
an idiot as he realized that the young elf was seeing a large
possibly starved dragon stalking toward him. Sapphire laughed as
she jumped off his back.

“G. g.. go away! I will bend the mountain down on you
and kill you all!” The boy was clearly terrified and was probably
bluffing. Kiyan shifted slowly back to his form but the
transformation was too much for the strange goat like creatures who
promptly scattered and re grouped on the far end of the pasture
leaving the young elf unprotected.

“I said go away or I will kill you all.” In spite of
the brave tone of the threat the elf was shaking like a leaf with
his back to the wall. Suddenly taking action the boy seized a small
stone and flung it at the now human Kiyan. Reaching out Kiyan
caught it before it hit his face. The impact was considerably more
than he had anticipated. The next rock Kiyan felt a slight
resistance as he stopped it in the air with his earth bending. The
rock hung in the air for a moment as the boy tugged at it.

“You are an earthbender.” Kiyan raised an eyebrow at
the terrified boy.

“I. I. I said go away.” Clearly out of options the
elf resorted to commands. Sapphire took a step closer to try
calming him but the boy bolted. His small size belied his speed and
he dodged the surprised forest elf and vaulted a low spot in the
wall. Kiyan sensed pain as the elf landed on something sharp on the
other side and sprinted away into the near perfect dark. Kiyan
sensed worry from Sapphire and didn't need any further incentive to
follow the boy. The dull grays and browns of the earth energy
glowing gave Kiyan all the light he needed to pursue the terrified
elf. Vaulting the wall Kiyan cleared the patch of brambles the boy
had the misfortune of falling in. The sound of rapid footsteps
combined with the elf's terrified mind was all the guidance Kiyan
needed. Running across the uneven landscape he heard a muffled cry
and a thud as the boy tripped. Kiyan had hoped to close the
distance more but the elf recovered himself and rushed blindly
forward. Kiyan was only a few paces behind the boy when he heard
another cry but no following thud. Kiyan's stomach sank as he saw
the dim glow of the earth give way to a void and the sound of
crashing water below. Without hesitation Kiyan followed the falling
elf over the edge.

Air separated ahead of him and compressed behind as
Kiyan propelled himself faster and faster until he hit the
screaming elf. Holding him securely Kiyan altered the density of
the air in an attempt to absorb some of their kinetic energy. At
the last moment he extended his shields around the boy and hoped
that it would hold. The pair slammed into the floor of the canyon
with a resounding crash. The rock they landed on was splintered
into a hundred pieces but Kiyan's shield held.

“Are you alright?” Kiyan released the boy and began
examining him for injuries.

“I'm fine.” The elf shoved away from Kiyan and made a
single step before collapsing as his ankle buckled out from under
him. The pained cry cut Kiyan deeply. If only he hadn't chosen that
field to land in, none of this would have happened. It only took a
step for Kiyan to reach the young elf as he tried to crawl
away.

“Listen to me.” Kiyan grabbed the boy by the
shoulders and looked into the tearing brown eyes. “I don't want to
hurt you. If I wanted to hurt you I would have let you fall to your
death. Do you understand me?” Tears streamed down the boy's face as
he nodded. “OK, now let me see about your foot and don't try
running away.” The roar of the river filled their ears as it
crashed further down the mountain. Feeling the afflicted ankle
Kiyan could tell that it had been broken. At the touch the boy had
flinched and bit his lip but remained silent. Noting the pain that
his touch had caused, Kiyan chilled the area enough to numb it. The
bone had to be straightened.

“This is going to hurt a little.” Kiyan looked into
the elf's face who nodded slightly at the warning. Kiyan gave the
foot a twist as he yanked on it and felt the bone slip back into
place. There was a short cry but otherwise the boy only flinched.
Warm energy flowed down Kiyan's hand into the injury regenerating
the tissue and bone. A minute later Kiyan could sense that there
wasn't a trace of the injury left. He gave a final pulse of energy
and watched as the scratches from the briar patch disappeared.

“There. All better.” The boy examined his foot and a
look of wonder came over his face. Kiyan could tell that the boy
was still scared of him but not as much now. Kiyan looked up at the
cliff that they had fallen down and saw a smooth wall as far as he
could see in any direction.

“There is no way out of here unless someone finds
us.” Kiyan focused and saw that they were indeed trapped in a box
canyon with the cliff on one side with a waterfall flooding the end
and bottom of the canyon. The other side was as sheer as the side
that they were on. Open air and the distant sound of water crashing
far below as the river plummeted into open space told of their
chances on the final side.

“How often does someone come this way?” Kiyan made
conversation trying to calm the boy down as he felt the cool mist
from the waterfall born on a chilled mountain breeze.

“No one ever goes beyond the last rocca fold on this
side of the valley.” The elf shivered a little and wrapped his arms
around himself in an effort to retain some warmth.

“What is your name? I can't keep calling you boy.”
Kiyan watched the scowl cross the elf's face as he was distracted
by the slight.

“My name is Riftor and I'm not a boy. I'm nearly
twenty years old.” Kiyan realized that elves must mature much
slower than humans. Riftor looked and acted about ten years old if
that. Kiyan didn’t dare admit that he was the same age as the
elf.

“Riftor, can you promise me something?” Kiyan looked
into the elf's brown eyes as he nodded. “Can you promise not to
move no matter what you see?”

“What if you turn into that big blue scary thing?”
Kiyan smiled as Riftor guessed his plan.

“That is exactly what I am planning on. I promise
that I won't hurt you.” Kiyan knelt down until his face was the
same level as Riftor's.

“O.Only if you promise not to eat me.” Riftor was
quite skilled as a negotiator despite his fear and trembling
voice.

“Trust me, I don't eat people. In fact I recently had
a nice meal of delicious fruit. I'm quite full to tell the truth.”
Kiyan saw that the boy was shivering more as the chill set in.

“Promise!” Riftor insisted with a violent shiver.

“Fine. I Kiyan, Ice Dragon, do promise never to eat
Riftor. Satisfied?” Kiyan saw Riftor nod. “Ok if you stand right
there, nothing will happen to you.” Kiyan stepped quickly to the
other side of the ledge and began the transformation. He kept a
wary eye on the boy. The scared but obedient elf remained rooted to
the spot. Kiyan felt a wave of terror from Riftor as he reached the
full draconic change.

“I told you I wouldn't hurt you.” Kiyan tried to
soften his voice but it was still deep enough to make Riftor jump.
“Climb on my back and we will get out of here.”

“I.I.I think I'm going to w.w.wait for someone to
come and find me.” Riftor was shivering violently now.

Kiyan knew he didn't have time to argue any longer.
The elf was clearly going to be hypothermic in a few minutes but
was too terrified of Kiyan in his draconic form. Knowing his next
action wasn't going to help him win points with Riftor, Kiyan
lunged forward and seized the elf carefully in his claws and shoved
off. A piercing scream split the air and Kiyan hoped that no one
was near enough to hear. A few flaps was enough to drive Kiyan
above the edge of the canyon. Spotting a bit of light where he had
originally landed Kiyan headed that way. A few more flaps and Kiyan
was hovering over Sapphire clutching the squirming Riftor firmly.
On the ground around Sapphire a vine with several glowing flowers
provided the light Kiyan had seen.

“Hold him.” Kiyan's deep voice growled with his
annoyance. Sapphire scowled but quickly subdued Riftor when Kiyan
set him down.

“I told you not to scare him!” Sapphire scolded Kiyan
while she struggled with Riftor.

“I saved his life when he ran off a cliff, I heal his
broken foot and scratches and he makes me promise not to hurt him
or eat him and....” Kiyan's rant was interrupted by Sapphire.

“Eat him?” Sapphire looked horrified at the
thought.

“Yes.” Kiyan continued where he had been interrupted.
“I try to save him from hypothermia and he won't have any of
it.”

“HELP!” Riftor screamed as Sapphire grew a few vines
around him and rooted them to the ground. “You are agents of the
darkness! HELP SOMEONE!”

“No, no, poor thing, no wonder you are scared of us.”
Sapphire sat down just beyond the restrained elf's reach. “We are
here to fight the agent of darkness.” At this Riftor seemed to calm
down enough to stop struggling and sat heaving, his breath leaving
small white clouds in the air and steam rising off his soaked
cloths.

“Really?” Riftor finally caught his breath enough to
talk calmly.

“If I were a drakken, you would have been dead before
you had escaped this spot.” Kiyan threw his arms into the air in
frustration.

“Shhh.” Kiyan earned another scowl from Sapphire.
“Yes really and I know for a fact that Kiyan over there won't hurt
you no matter how scary he is.” A third scowl told Kiyan that he
had better behave or else.

“Riftor, I already promised I wouldn't hurt you. What
else do you want?” Kiyan was still hoping no one else had heard the
outbreak. Sapphire threw Kiyan a look that told him he might have
earned the “else” that had been threatened.

Riftor was quiet before answering. “I'm cold and
hungry and I don't like these ropes.”

Kiyan didn't hesitate before bending the water off
the elf and reached into the food bag laying in the middle of the
pasture and produced a particularly tasty yellow fruit and a
handful of nuts. Standing over the startled elf he laid out a few
ground rules.

“No yelling, screaming, biting, kicking or running.
If you yell, scream, kick, bite or run we will tie you back up and
only let you go in the morning. Understand?” Riftor nodded his head
as he eyed the fruit. With that Kiyan bent the vines off Riftor and
gave him the food.

“OK, now that we are friends, that is Kiyan and I am
Sapphire and...” Sapphire glanced around them into the dark. “Luke
is somewhere around here.” Kiyan at the mention of Luke remembered
a pressure on his wrist and pulled up his holographic sleeve
revealing a silver bracelet. Holding it up for Sapphire to see
Kiyan saw a puzzled then amused look come over her face.

“It really is getting dreadfully cold out here
tonight.” Sapphire shivered and pulled a cloak out of her
backpack.

“Not really, it is almost always like this at night.”
Riftor hardly paused from eating to talk.

“My forest never gets this cold.” Sapphire sat next
to Riftor and wrapped them both in her cloak.

“You're a forest elf aren't you?” Riftor munched
happily on a nut.

“Yes as a matter of fact I am. In fact we came all
the way here to find the mountain tribe hero.” Sapphire paused and
glanced at Kiyan. “Would you know where to find him?”

“Yep! I know where he is. Most people don't know
where to find him because he is a hermit. I found him.” Riftor
paused. “Are you the luminous one?” Excitement lit up Riftor's
face.