Ramaeka (The Ramaeka Series Book 1) (3 page)

Before he could follow a dragon
grabbed his shoulder and informed him that he was wanted for watch duty.

As he shivered his way through
watch duty in one of the high peaks of the fortress, Ramaeka replayed the scene
in his mind over and over.  He was sure he knew that scent from somewhere, he
just couldn’t place it.  Perhaps the dragon was from another province, but even
then there was something blatantly wrong with the scent.

Determined he decided to find out
who the prisoner was somehow.  Silently he thanked Rama the Creator for
granting his wish for some excitement, he just hoped it wouldn’t lead him into
too much strife.

Unfortunately he had no time to
pursue the case of the strange prisoner.  An atmosphere of excitement had
descended upon the fortress, normally staid dragons hurried through the halls
whispering and joking with each other.  Every dragon worked frantically to get
the mountain ready for the most powerful dragons in Amaria.  Only Empara
dragons and occasionally Emira were allowed to become leaders of the different
provinces which were represented at the Conclave.   Ramaeka was scrubbing the
floor in the great hall where the Conclave would meet, daydreaming about the
day he would be a leader of a warmer district, when he heard footsteps.  It
served him right for not paying proper attention when his brother landed a kick
in his ribs.  He had been dreaming that he was the largest and most powerful
Empara in draconian history.  Wincing he rolled away from the foot and bound to
his feet.  You had to be fast around here to survive.

He glared at his brother who
sniggered at him.

“Poor little thing, did I scare
you,” he cooed at Ramaeka, his green eyes gleamed maliciously.

“No, I smelt your stench before
you entered the room,” Ramaeka retorted. “I just thought I’d let you get a kick
in because I felt sorry for you, slow as you are.”

Ramakayd was one of his more
cruel brothers who constantly went out of his way to pick on Ramaeka and he was
still smarting over the tail gluing incident.

His brother snarled at him and
kicked his bucket of water over.  Ramaeka refused to let the dismay he felt
show on his face as he watched the dirty water pool over his clean floor. 
Luckily a senior dragon walked in and ordered them both back to work.  Ramaeka
watched Ramakayd storm out with a sigh, he would be sure to catch it later.  He
couldn’t wait until he reached the level of Earil so he would be considered
strong enough to leave home.  Not that his father would allow any of his
children to leave unless they were sent on a mission.

Kneeling he looked at the pool of
water, he really didn’t have time to clean it all up again.  Looking around
carefully he made sure there was no one watching.  Drawing on his magic he
whispered the spell he had learnt in the kitchens to get rid of messes.  He was
very pleased with himself when the water disappeared; he had once overheard Garain
telling another dragon that he had a strong talent for learning magic.  Since
then he had worked even harder at the subject, learning the few spells they
were allowed to learn as thoroughly as he could as well as the ones he wasn’t
supposed to know.  Tapping the side of the bucket he magically refilled it with
hot soapy water.  The fact that he had found a way to sneak into his father’s
private library had helped a lot.

The Conclave was only a matter of
days away now and he still hadn’t figured out where he was going to hide.  He
scowled to himself and scrubbed the stone floor ferociously, he had been over
every possible way of sneaking in and still he had nothing.  Stopping for a
moment he stretched his back, sniffing the good smells of the kitchen that
wafted in to the hall.

The idea struck him so suddenly
that he actually jumped.  The ventilation shafts!  One of the kitchen shafts
ran down to the main hall in order to entice guests with delicious smells.  It
would be steamy, slimy and dank with insects crawling all through it.  In other
words it would be perfect, his scent would be covered, and he would be higher
than the Conclave members’ line of sight.  He grinned happily to himself, and
searched the walls  for the small opening that he knew would be there, he had
to check the shaft out and make sure he could get in before they started
preparing the hall.  There it was.  He grinned gleefully, as he spotted the
partially hidden hole behind the massive curtains that covered the walls. 
Excellent he thought, that would make it easy to climb up to, and he would be
even more hidden from the Conclave.  As the dinner gong rang out Ramaeka leapt
to his feet and gathered his gear, finally everything was coming together.

The next few days were possibly
the busiest of Ramaeka’s life.  Classes were only held in the mornings to allow
enough time to get everything done.  He felt as if he had personally scrubbed
the entire mountain, and prepared enough food for the entire world.  The one
thing that kept him smiling and cheerful was the thought that his perfect plan
would soon come to fruition.  He had checked out the ventilation shaft
properly, it was covered with a grill which he had loosened fairly easily with
a claw.  It had been just wide enough for him to wriggle into backwards in his
lesser form after climbing one of the tapestries.  His small size was
definitely a bonus in this case he thought triumphantly, let any of his siblings’
even try to get in. 

The main problem was how to get
in without anyone seeing him.  He’d decided that it would have to be while the
Conclave was officially welcomed into the fortress.  Every dragon would turn
out to watch leaving his path hopefully clear.  He wished that he could view
the welcome, which would be incredibly pompous, designed to show off his
father’s power and riches.  He was willing to make the sacrifice however.

A trumpeting roar sounded from
outside, the sentry was warning of approaching dragons.  The Conclave!  Ramaeka
scrambled outside onto a rocky balcony and watched in awe as the most powerful
dragons in Amaria descended upon his rocky home.  There was almost every colour
imaginable, gold, grey, blue, and green, the list went on, each colour
indicating the element of the dragon.  Not one of them was less than four
hundred meters long, nearly every dragon an Empara. 

“So is he here yet?” a voice
asked from behind him.

“Who?” asked Ramaeka, knowing
from the sound of the voice and the scent of the dragon behind him that it was
his brother Ramavata.

“Isahn the Great of course,”
replied his brother scornfully.  “Our father’s opponent, the progressive?” 

Ramaeka remembered the name; it
was often spoken accompanied with much cursing by his father when he was in a
foul mood.  A shiver of anticipation ran up his spine, the two largest and most
powerful dragons in Amaria were going to be here.  His father always claimed
that Isahn’s progressive ways were destructive to their society.  Ramaeka had
never met anybody destructive to society before.  He scanned the sky even more
eagerly.

The flow of dragons was beginning
to clear, most of them now clustered in the entrance in their lesser forms.  It
was law that during an official Conclave all dragons were to keep their lesser
forms, it not only lessened the risk of fighting but also of bruised toes due
to the vast size of the Conclave members.

One of the dragons suddenly
called out, pointing up.  Ramaeka looked up so fast that his neck cricked, rubbing
the back of his neck he gazed at the immense dragon skimming the sky above
him.  The size of the dragon alone told him that this was Isahn; there could
also not be a dragon more opposite to his father.  Isahn was a blinding shade
of white, not a tinge of blue or grey on his hide.  While not as muscular as
Ramanae, he was long and lean, perhaps even larger than the black dragon.  His
very presence exuded power, making it suddenly hard to breathe.

The rest of the Conclave backed
away as he neatly banked, changing into his lesser form in midair and landing
neatly on his feet.  I have to learn how to do that thought Ramaeka admiringly.

As he leaned over the edge of the
small balcony to get a closer look at the dragon, bells began to toll,
signalling the start of the welcoming ceremony. 

“Rocks!  Just remembered a chore
I need to do,” he called to his brother as he ran back into the mountainside. 
His brother ignored him leaning over to view the proceedings.

Ramaeka raced through the
corridors, dodging several dragons hurrying out to watch the ceremony.  He
paused around the corner from the entrance to the main hall, peeking around to
make sure the way was clear.  Not a guard in sight.  He crept over and pushed
cautiously on one of the immense doors.  It didn’t move an inch, he heaved as
hard as he could but still it refused to budge.  Rama above thought Ramaeka
anxiously, this was one thing he hadn’t thought about, the doors were usually
opened by two large dragons.  Voices resounded off the stone walls behind him,
there were dragons approaching already.  As he looked around frantically, a
slither of light further down the hallway caught his eye.  The servers’
entrance! he thought in relief. 

He bound down the hall praying to
Rama that it would be unlocked.  He could faintly hear the echo of footsteps
behind him; desperately he tested the door with a shaking hand.  It was
unlocked!  He slipped in thankfully, closing the door silently behind him. 
Running across the hall he bound up on to the table, springing from there up to
one of the draperies and pulled himself up as fast as he could.  Yanking away
the grate with one hand, he gripped it with his mouth and quickly lowered
himself into the slimy opening of the shaft.  Frantically he wriggled back
ignoring the dampness, pulling the grate into place just in time.  As he set it
firmly back into the stone, four dragons walked into the hall in their lesser
forms.  Peering out cautiously, he noted that one of them was one of his many
sisters while the other three wore official looking clothing.

“There you go,” said his sister
sweetly.  “This is the main hall where the meeting will take place.  You are
welcome to check it for the safety of our leaders.”

The official dragons nodded their
thanks and began to systematically check the room.  Ramaeka held his breath,
not daring to breathe as they checked under the table and behind every drapery,
and in every nook and cranny.  I’m so dead if they find me he thought
desperately.  However they finished up without once looking at the small
ventilation shaft near the roof of the hall.  His sister took one of them out
of the hall with her to inform the leaders that all was clear while the other
two settled outside to guard the entrance.

Relieved, Ramaeka relaxed
slightly, letting out his breath with a soft rush.  He could smell the good
smell of roasting meat beginning to drift through the shaft behind him;
hopefully it would overwhelm his own scent. 

It was a long wait.  Ramaeka
thought wistfully of the magic displays and exhibitions of power that would be
going on outside right now.  His father would be creating living creatures out
of rock and opening vast chasms in the mountain before their guest’s very
eyes.  His brothers and sisters would be exhibiting their great strength and
size with displays of their fighting skills.  He pushed the thoughts
determinedly to the back of his mind, having the knowledge of the most
important issues in Amaria would be worth the loss of entertainment.

Finally voices clamoured down the
corridor into the hall.  The members were approaching.  Ramaeka wriggled in
excitement, ignoring the slimy drip from the vent onto his head and arms. 

Looking terribly strange in his
lesser form, his father led the dragons into the hall, his long black robe
sweeping imperiously across the floor.  There were sixty-two members in all;
they were soon seated along the length of the massive table centring the room. 
Ramanae sat at the head of the table with Isahn facing him from the other end. 
As the official guards of the Concave left the hall, closing the great doors
behind them, Ramaeka peered eagerly down at the dragon said to be the only one
that his father feared.  The first thing that he noted rather jealously was
that Isahn was tall, perhaps the tallest in the room.  In contrast with
Ramanae’s dark hair and pale skin, Isahn was white haired with a light brown
skin.  He had wide grey eyes and a kind open face.  Ramaeka pulled his
attention away from the dragon as his father stood up, as host he was
officiating the meeting, and he immediately called for it to begin.

“What are the issues to be
discussed?” he asked the older dragon to his left.  The dragon stood and nodded
to the other dragons.

“The issues to be discussed are
as follows,” he announced.

Ramaeka listened with interest as
he listed several laws under review, the guarding of the borders with the
Wavaki, budgetary issues and several duels to be judged.

“Also Lord Isahn wishes to
discuss a law to protect the sentient beings known as humans, making them
illegal both to catch and consume.”

“What?!” Ramaeka jumped as
Ramanae leaped out of his chair. 

“That is preposterous,” he
snarled.  “There is no need whatsoever to protect humans; they are nothing more
than a pest and a half decent meal.”

“Perhaps,” replied Isahn calmly
in a deep, clear voice.  He looked politely at the Speaker who nodded for him
to continue.  “However, they are growing everyday in intelligence and strength;
they have also multiplied through many of the worlds that Rama created.  What’s
more we are more than able to support ourselves hunting in our own world.”

“So you believe we should fear
them?  Run like cowards and hide in our one small world.”  Ramanae was so
furious his hands were shaking.  Several of the other dragons murmured in
agreement with him.