Dragons of Summer Tide (The Dragons of Hwandor) (40 page)

Jolss opened his eyes about midday and he was very happy to see Cyerant. Well, very happy until the lectures started. Clearly everyone in the company had an opinion of his having lost control and sending himself and his dragon into unconsciousness. Pelinar gave the mage a long and intensely disapproving look.

Just after midday a town along the banks of the river came into view. Captain Tarian explained. “This is the town where we were to spend the night docked last night. We will by pass it today because there is another town downriver which we will reach about dark and we can spend the night at their docks.”

It felt odd to the travellers to journey this way, just drifting along on the water. The company had become so accustomed to constantly riding and walking and there was an adjustment to the new pace. And though they were covering a great distance each day it still felt as if they were lazing around. The last non-bonded dragonet spent the afternoon standing on the railing at the bow of the boat just watching the waters ahead as if he were looking for something and at times the little dragon would spread his wings and grip the railing very tightly against the pull of the wind.

During the afternoon Veer learned what there was to know about the use of a fisherman’s cast net and three pronged fish spear. He also learned the rest of the first dagger dance that Pelinar was teaching him and the dragon warrior spent hours going over the steps until he had them committed to memory. After spending all day training with weapons Veer still had the energy to ask Cyerant to resume their daily training with swords. Pelinar watched on for some time an soon the elf was part of the session with Cyerant and Pelinar trading techniques and sparring a bit also.

Toward the evening the harper boy Devron came awake for a short time. Talyat was able to get the boy to drink some broth into which the elf had simmered many healing herbs. Talyat was amazed at the speed with which the wound on the boy’s neck was healing. As Devron started to drift back off to sleep, Talyat noticed a strange expression on the boy’s face for just a moment. It was as if the boy had seen something – but the child was sightless.

As darkness was creeping into the sky the Gardenia rounded a bend and a town came into view. A man came out onto the docks and waved Captain Tarian into an open space and collected the docking fees for the night. The humans took turns going into the town to visit a tavern. Shira and Veer brought back some wine for the elves. The company set watches and made an early night of it sleeping on the boat. Tarian was up very early, well before dawn and by the time the others were waking the Gardenia had already been drifting through the foggy river for some time. Veer soon resumed his constant weapon training. The travellers seemed to take up the rhythm of the day before. Even the little dragonet was standing on the railing at the prow of the boat again as he had been the day before.

Toward midday Devron stirred and awakened. As he opened his eyes he got a strange expression on his face and Talyat said to him. “As I suspected, you can see again.”

“Yes but it is strange, it looks different from how  I remember.”

The elf placed his hands over the boy’s eyes and asked, “And now, can you still see?”

“Yes!” The boy said excitedly. “But I can see myself and your hands.”

“It is as I suspected it would be.” Said the elf. “You do not see with your own eyes but you see through the eyes of another.”

“Someone else… who?” Asked the boy.

“Not who but what.” Answered Talyat. “Tell me what you remember about being wounded.”

“I remember that someone was knocked out and lying next to me and there were two puppies in here with me. Then I heard someone come down the steps into the cabin but it wasn’t anyone I know; he smelled sour like he had not bathed for days. Then I heard his voice and he sounded off, like a foreigner. I felt him cut me and then one of the puppies was licking my face. That is all that I remember until I woke up and could see again.”

“What was licking your face was not a puppy.” Talyat said.

“What was it?”

“A tiny baby dragon.” Talyat spent the next hour explaining to the young harper about dragons and bonding and that the dragonet had bonded the boy in order to try and keep the child from dying. He also explained that what the boy could see was actually what the dragon could see and that his own eyes were not working and that he was actually seeing through the dragon bond.”

After the injured child had gone back to sleep Talyat walked out onto deck and carefully explained to Captain Tarian what was happening to his nephew. Captain Tarian listened intently and then asked. “So the dragon saved the boy’s life by bonding with him and that gave Devron his sight back?”

“Not precisely,” Talyat answered. “The dragonet did save Devron’s life through bonding with the child. The boy’s sight has not returned though it is possible that even blindness may someday be healed through the bond. What the dragon does is shares what he sees with Devron so that while the human eyes are not working the child still has vision through the dragon. If the dragon stays close to Devron, the boy can see around himself.”

Jolss then spoke. “There is a story in one of my books about this kind of dragon. The dragon likes dark and shadow and tends to be awake at night and also likes caves and tunnels. The dragon can find minerals and things underground. It also shares whatever it can see with its bondmate and often bonds with those who have been blinded.”

Shira added. “That dragon has always liked to rest in the shadows and even rides on the backs of the other dragons to sleep in the day time and is awake all night.”

“I see,” said Captain Tarian.”

Over the next few days the boy recovered enough that his harping lessons with Talyat resumed. Everyone fell into a rhythm with Veer being the most active as he constantly trained in weapons on the deck. Pelinar was teaching him the elven battle dances and Cyerant often joined in for some of the training. Jolss spent hours engrossed in his magic books. Shira showed an interest in all things concerning boats and spent a great deal of time learning about the sailing of the Gardenia. Talyat and Pelinar began to have peaceful conversations. Myalnar observed everything and everyone and carefully studied the dragon book which he borrowed for a time each day from Jolss. Every day the non-bonded little dragon stood on the bow railings of the boat as if he were showing the way. And far in the distance the foreigners followed always watching but never again getting close. Most of the dragons just lounged around in the sun on the deck and went hunting or fishing each morning and evening and occasionally just jumped into the water for a swim.

The towns continued to grow larger as the Gardenia and her crew drifted south. The towns were spaced out so that the current would carry a boat to the next town by half a day so that the boat would leave one town and drift by another at midday and then reach a town to spend the night by sundown. Captain Tarian had explained that coming back up the river was much slower and so the towns which were half a day apart while going downriver were a day apart when coming upriver against the current. Boat traffic on the river increased and in the second week of travel they started to encounter the large barges moving grain and other food down river to the great city which served as the capital of the Kingdom of Hwandor.

As the boat drifted down the river day after day the companions and crew continued their daily rhythm. Into the river fog before dawn, run with the current all day and dock at nightfall. The nights were growing colder, not as cold as the northerners and elves were accustomed to feeling this time of year but cold enough to tell of the approach of winter. Even some of the days had a bite of chill in the air. Still the small dragonet sat on the prow of the boat every day while travelling. To those on other boats and in the towns, it looked as if some sailor’s bird sat on the front of the vessel.

One evening Captain Tarian said. “That little dragon sitting on the bow of the boat every day reminds me about the custom on sea going ships. There are not many sea going ships because the seas are so rough and dangerous but there is a custom that all of them need to have a dragon carved onto their prow. A sailor won’t step foot on a ship without a dragon’s been carved on her. It’s bad luck to pull a rope or an oar on a ship if there is no dragon.”

Jolss said. “In the dragon book there is a tale of ships from over a thousand years ago. Back then the dragons on the front of the boat were real and they helped t read the winds and the currents in the shifting seas.”

“I recon that makes good sense then,” said Tarian. “If you aint got real dragons for luck anymore then you’ll need to carve them on. Sailors are full of traditions and customs about what is lucky and unlucky. I recon that most of the customs have good reasons for being followed.”

Shira asked. “I’ve heard you, Dalnt and Cralnar talk about things on a ship being bad luck. I wondered why you never step on or over a rope on the deck, you never step over a fishing line or pole, you never stand near the mast if you are not working on something there. Dalnt told me that it was bad luck to pass between a person and the railing if he is within a few feet of the railing. A lot of it seems like superstition.”

“I recon that it does look like superstition to those who aren’t accustomed to boats,” said the Captain. “But they all have a reason for being considered bad luck. For instance, you never stand around near a mast because day after day it may seem safe but if anything in the rigging ever breaks, well that is where it is going to fall or even worse swing down like a hammer. So eventually sailors just say that it’s bad luck to stand near the mast. Same for stepping over a rope, you can do it a thousand times and be fine but if you are ever astraddle a rope that has slack and the wind shifts hard it could snap tight and over you go. Same thing for a fishing line or pole, it can suddenly be pulled by a fish and trip you. And passing between a person near the side of the boat and the railing is just plain dumb.”

Veer said. “It sounds like common sense more than superstition.”

Captain Tarian looked thought full for moment and then said. “I guess you could argue how uncommon good sense really is but yes our sailing and boat customs have good reasons behind them.”

Occasionally some of the humans would go ashore in the towns for supplies or to sit in a local tavern for a while. A few evenings the elves slipped through the town in their cloaks and hoods and walked the forests beyond for a few hours early in the night. Veer learned an impressive number of the elven battle dances and he was becoming quite formidable with many weapons. Cyerant was also learning some of the elven sword work to add to his own training. 

Jolss spent his days reading his magic books and he committed quite a few spells and lessons to memory. He also learned a great deal about the relationship of dragons to magic. From time to time when there were no other boats around to possibly see, he would practice some of his spells. One day he created a waterspout on the river for a few seconds and another day he turned a section into ice thick enough for a man to stand on. One day under the cover of a gentle rain he threw a small lightning bolt at a stone on the shore. Many evenings he would go ashore in the towns to buy spell components and he was starting to carry numerous pouches of components from his belt and hidden away in his clothes. Jolss was becoming quite a good mage and bolstered by his bond with the dragon he was able to unleash some powerful spells.

One evening Veer went into a town to buy some yew bow-staves in order to make himself a new bow. His old bow had been new at the start of summer but it was now far too easy for his strength. He made a new bow which was stronger so that it took all of his strength to pull it. No one else on the boat even had the strength to string it and much less had they the ability to pull it.  He also had to make new arrows which were stronger and would not snap as they came off of the string of the new bow. Even the bowstring had to be strengthened in order to not snap. He gave his old bow to Dalnt and started teaching the sailor how to use it. None on the boat had ever seen a bow as thick, heavy and strong as the new bow that Veer had made and which only he had the strength to use. A few evenings after docking Veer went ashore to find an open field to test the bow and even the elven bows could not reach the distances he was able to send an arrow now. Pelinar showed Veer a couple of things with carving and fletching that the elves did in order to lighten their arrows while maintaining strength so that the arrow would fly farther and have better accuracy.

Myalnar taught Cyerant to play an elven game of strategy and they played numerous games of it daily. Some evening Myalnar would withdraw and sit with his hands on the stone around his neck communicating with the other High Council Elves. From time to time he would share news of what was happening back in the Elder Mountains. One evening he gathered Talyat, Pelinar and Cyerant together and spoke to them. “The High Council has waited until the first snows in the high mountains for our efforts to begin. The snows have started and the foreigners are starting to be slowed by them. The battles have begun and the dwarves are also getting involved now.”

Cyerant seemed surprised. “Elven armies are starting to fight the foreigners?”

“No,” said Pelinar. “The foreigners have been working in small search parties based in a few larger camps. The valleys and passes are all small so no large army can manoeuvre. Our dancers will be working in small teams appearing out of the snow for moments at a time. And the dwarves, well they have their own manner of fighting. We elves strike like a precise arrow the dwarves are like rolling a boulder downhill.”