Fireclaws - Search for the Golden (29 page)

Donatello stuck his head out curiously, and noting the scrutiny of the much larger dragon, he squealed and launched himself back up around my neck with a pronounced shiver of fear and a digging in of tiny claws.

“This creature,” I said dramatically, “is the newborn king of the dragons. His name is Donatello; you may want to start working on your obeisance skills; he’s going to be living here for a while.”

“A…a…male golden dragon? Living here? With us?” they stuttered, each looking at the Royals for confirmation.

“Well, at least until he can fend for himself. After that, it’s Donatello’s choice where he lives, of course,” Alex confirmed, then watched in confusion as their eyelids fluttered and both twins fainted dead away in his arms. “Huh, I wonder if it was something I said.”

Rosa spoke up, “Well, we know that Donatello’s green glow seems to be the catalyst for waking up the dragons. At least it worked on Dusk and Dawn, but how do we wake up an entire world’s worth of dragons? It’s not like we can take him to every mountain peak on every continent and broadcast it. The dragons are dying as we speak!”

Darroth raised a stubby hand. “I might have an idea for that, but I’ll need to consult with Conlin Gruffrock to make sure it will work.”

“Conlin, our siege engine specialist?” Maya asked with some skepticism.

“Yup, should be slick if we can make it work,” the dwarf chortled and ran out of the room double time.

Ryliss

Three weeks later

The air racing past blew my hair straight back and made my eyes tear up as I hung on for dear life. Kaima was in one of her playful moods and was doing her best to leave her bigger brother in the dust. I giggled when I glanced back and saw Wyeth, a much better horseman than I, struggling with similar issues. Somnus was a few lengths behind, and from my vantage point, the huge horse’s nostrils looked big enough to suck in a pixie or two. His mane and tail appeared to blend into one solid line of blue flame that ran under the seat of the fire wizard and out the back as his massive hooves pounded the ground into submission.

In less than an hour, we had covered half the distance to the Dashern Lake Forest and the morning air was changing from mountain-cool to swamp-level warmth in a hurry. Finally, the mare must have decided she had won at least a moral victory so she allowed me to rein her in a bit, and we dropped down into a spirited trot. An instant later, Somnus was at our side carrying a laughing, scarlet-robed wizard and we slowed to a walk.

“Well played, My Lady,” he chuckled. “When you took off, I was adjusting my saddle and still had both feet on the ground. I thought Somnus was going to reach around, grab me with his teeth, and throw me on his back; I’ve never seen his eyes bulge out like that. See, I told you these two needed a good romp!”

“Yes, well, when the Queen herself practically makes it a royal command…” I retorted, stroking Kaima along her sweaty neck. “But then, you wouldn’t have had anything to do with that, would you, Wizard Parker?”

Wyeth tilted his head mischievously. “Well…not directly. I merely pointed out that, since the King and Queen prefer to fly now whenever possible, these two…” he paused, rubbing the stallion’s side, “are suffering horribly from a lack of exercise. You know they won’t let just anyone ride them; in fact, it’s a very short list, indeed.”

“But is that even your concern anymore? After all, you are a wizard now.”

He gave a rueful grin. “Ryliss, I’m pretty sure the Queen still sees Jaython and me as her stable boys first and big bad fire wizards a vastly distant second. To be honest, I wouldn’t have it any other way. If it wasn’t for these two,” Wyeth motioned at the Vakhas, “not only would I not be a wizard, but I wouldn’t be alive this fine summer morning to escort the most beautiful single woman in all of Xarparion or Sky Raven to a picnic.”

I felt my face heat up and hoped the bright sunshine wouldn’t show off my embarrassment too badly. I decided to go on the offensive. Raising an eyebrow, I gave him my best dubious look.

“You know the other dark elf women warned me about you, Master Wyeth.”

“Oh, and what did they say, exactly?”

“That you are a terrible flirt and that you go on a lot of first dates but very few second. But to your credit, all of them say you are a gentleman and very respectful of our customs. The fact that you are not being hounded relentlessly by pitchfork-bearing fathers says much.” I sighed in mock sorrow. “About the only bad thing I could dig up in my research was that many of the women were more than a little disgruntled about not getting that second date. If my analysis is correct, I would have to conclude that you are searching for something or someone.”

“Perhaps.” He smiled guardedly and looked off into the distance, then shook his head in self-derision and changed the subject. “Hey, did you hear? A merchant from Evinjote came through Xarparion yesterday and reported a bronze and a green in the skies there. That makes nine confirmed sightings, plus Dawn and Dusk, of course. It looks like the dragons are back, so whatever you and Donatello did, it must have worked.”

I shook my head. “I cannot take any of the credit. It was all Conlin’s and Darroth’s doing. It was their idea to use prisms and the fortress’ main battery.”

“The beam weapon that brought down the Kerr?”

“Exactly, but they rigged it to broadcast a very wide, low-powered beam instead of the narrow weapon. Somehow, they managed to piggyback Donatello’s magic to the crystals, bouncing Donny’s glow off particles in the atmosphere. It basically flooded half the planet at a time with his green light. We did it four times just to be sure. It was diluted enough to be nearly invisible and most people wouldn’t have even noticed. But apparently, the dragons reacted to it well enough. Dawn and Dusk swooned every time we discharged it.” I chuckled in remembrance.

“That can’t make Higs very happy, having a new male in Dusk’s life.”

“I doubt Higs needs to worry about rivals for Dawn’s affection in his lifetime. His devotion during their long sleep made an enormous impression on her. Besides, it will be a hundred years or more before Donatello even thinks of taking a mate. And our Guard Captain is just a normal human; their ultimate age difference and life expectancies have always been something they were both keenly aware of…” I said, trailing off as I noticed Wyeth looking at me intensely. “What?”

“Ah, the white elephant in the corner of the room rears its head at last,” Wyeth commented ruefully.

“What are you talking about?”

“Age differences…Ryliss, sometimes when you look at me I swear you only see the thirteen-year-old stable boy you met on your first day in Sky Raven.”

“Guilty, occasionally,” I confessed. “When you asked me to accompany you on this ride, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. It does seem strange to see you socially, even though you have grown to be a man.”

“A wizard man,” he corrected earnestly. “Ryliss, barring untimely death, we will both live another five hundred years or better. That dwarfs the age difference between us to the point where I don’t think it matters anymore. Besides, Maya is older than Alex…in fact; you remember him as a toddler, yet you don’t think their love is strange.”

“No, their love is truly epic.”

“Well then, let’s give epic a chance, shall we? Come on, the Vakha are ready for another run and we’re gonna be late for the picnic…people will talk!” He grinned and kicked Somnus mildly in the sides. The big horse seemed to have just been waiting for the opportunity as he exploded into a full gallop, leaving Kaima and me strangling in their dust.

The picnic was held in a large clearing in the Dashern Lake Forest, not far from the spot where Nia’s Mother Tree was planted and thriving. Wyeth and I were the only two who made their way there by conventional means. Rosa had opened a portal for easy transport of Helios guards, all the food and, of course, the picnickers. The King, Queen, and Nia naturally flew. It was a wonderful event, and good food and wine flowed freely, sending many to seek a brief nap in the afternoon shade.

I slipped away quietly and made my way through the forest to a spot along the river. Insects and small birds hummed incessantly, and the staccato barking of squirrels in the trees showed me a forest bursting with life and vitality. At one spot in the old trail I was following, I spotted deer pellets, and I paused a little ways further down to examine some fox tracks in the fresh mud. Arriving at my destination, I was surprised and gratified to see the grave already grown over with fragrant wildflowers. I sat down gently amidst them and just let my mind wander a bit, gazing out over the burbling stream a short distance below.

“A peaceful and beautiful spot, to be sure,” a voice said calmly, and I looked over with just a mild start to see the Earth Mother sitting next to me. She looked exactly like she did the last time I saw her, a stocky, dark-skinned woman in a hand-woven long green dress. The flowers intertwined into her hairpiece were still fragrant and beautiful.

“Hello, Earth Mother,” I sighed, part of me resenting the intrusion, but another part humbled to be in her presence. She did not acknowledge my greeting, and we continued to sit there in companionable silence for a few more minutes. Finally, when I could stand it no longer, I blurted out, “What? Are you here to mourn my friend as I am? Explain to me what the hell kind of creature I am now? Give me another assignment to further your master plan? Or chastise me for doing such a poor job mentoring Daphne?”

“What is there to mourn, young Druid? Your Jag’uri friend gave her life so that you might live, and she has no regrets. Her spirit is at true peace and waiting for the day when she will be reborn again. Life is amazingly simple; it is humans and elves who make it complicated.

As far as the kind of creature you are?” she breathed out in exasperation. “Well, Ryliss, you are an anomaly…a mistake…an abomination…a freak of nature, if you will. But, of course, I mean that in the nicest possible way.”

I winced. “Those are the same words you used to describe Daphne when we first met.”

“You are correct, and you two are more alike than you imagine. The only difference is Daphne was born as she is and you were created.”

“So this new class of Druid…”

The being next to me nodded animatedly. “…is an experiment, as well.”

“To what end, Earth Mother?”

“Ryliss, I have to admit I find the human world fascinating. By the term ‘human,’ unfortunately, I am lumping elves, dwarves, and the other humanoid races into the same pot. But you humans are a dangerous breed if left unchecked, and next to me, you are the most destructive force on the planet. Always clear-cutting forests, slaughtering animals, polluting the air with your incessant fire-making, and you don’t even have the decency to control your populations when you over-breed. Humans could learn a lot from lemmings, you know.

“As entertaining as this has all been, as I told you before, I have wiped the slate clean on this planet many times, and I will do it again at some point. Cockroaches, especially, have been making a strong case for sentience when this experiment has run its course, and I am tempted to give them a shot. But until that day, I will work with the experiment I have. It occurs to me that the old model of Druid, you know…the solitary hermit living alone in the woods that everyone makes fun of because he talks to pigeons…is outdated. I wish to try something different.”

“So that’s where Daffi and I come in?”

“Yes and there will be others, as well. Instead of hiding away in the deep forests, I want my new class of Druids to engage humankind more openly. Show them the error of their ways, yes, but do so as partners to some of the more enlightened rulers. In other words, work the system from within. You always wanted to travel and see the world, Ryliss; I am giving you that opportunity. Each of you will have unique talents. You already know most of Daffi’s, and yours are extreme intelligence and the draco-cat manifestation, which you will be able to control someday.

“As for my master plan? There is none.” She tittered in her high-pitched voice. “You are conversing with a being who is responsible for naked mole rats, poodle moths, goblin sharks, and the platypus; do you really believe there is a master plan? No, young Druid, life is a grand experiment, an adventure; and even I do not know where it ultimately leads. Your employer, Rosa, likes to believe she is this world’s preeminent scientist, and as far as bipeds go, she may be right. But compared to me, she is not even worthy of mention. I have a billion or more experiments running at any given time. Some succeed and some are dismal failures; such is the way of these things. I trust you. Your assignment is to go out into the world and do what you think is right.”

The Earth Mother smiled and patted me on the shoulder. “Oh, yes, the last item on your list of questions. I have no complaints about your mentorship of Daphne. What she required was not a chastity monitor as you presumed. Rather, what she needed was someone to show her that she was capable and destined for something bigger than just the life of a simple forest nymph. You held her up to a higher level of expectation and treated her like an equal. You and your friends broke her out of the mental cage she had put herself in and taught her to care. You should have seen how she stood up to Alex in his own throne room when it was suggested that she be left behind! The old Daphne would have folded and cowered just walking in the door. So, job well-done, my young Druid. Now I perceive that I have kept you too long from your friends, and they will be worried. We will talk again someday…”

Suddenly, she was gone and a small speckled deer was standing there calmly munching on some grasses. The doe looked at me quizzically as if trying to determine why I was sitting here alone in the forest; after a few seconds, she flicked her ears dismissively and wandered off into the trees and disappeared. I spent a few more minutes in silence at Naurakka’s grave, then walked in a half-daze back to the picnic grounds.

Half an hour later found me sitting on a broad, horizontal oak branch thirty feet above the picnic grounds. I had a wooden cup of sweet lemon juice and water in my hands and I was watching with interest the small games, storytelling and general goofing off occurring below.

“Mind if we join you?” Rosa said, plopping down next to me. I saw a very satisfied and sleepy Nia sitting balanced on the enchanter’s shoulder. “Well, it does look like everyone is having a good time. Nia here has hit the dessert table at least four times; staff had to go back to Sky Raven to get more ice cream.”

“Hey, I was hungry after yesterday!” the pixie complained, stifling a burp and a yawn at the same time.

“Yesterday?”

Rosa smiled. “You’ll be pleased to know that Alex, Maya, Nia, the twins, Kerrik, Hons, and a bunch of graduating students paid a visit to Wizard Verledn and his castle at dawn yesterday. It appears that when he lost that demon mage, Lebahn, Verledn lost most of his magic, as well. Let’s just say the wizards he held as slaves have been released and the castle destroyed, ground down to pea-sized gravel. And Wizard Verledn was sent to an early rendezvous with whatever entity he sold his soul to…good riddance!”