The Beginning (8 page)

“He’ll be sitting on that lake all night and nothing will happen, Jahrra is such an idiot!” one girl said.

“I’m not going! What if the monster does show up and eats him alive!” another said.

“Wouldn’t that be a treat?” Jahrra whispered to Gieaun and Scede as they slinked in behind the rest of the students. Both Gieaun and Scede were trying very hard to hide their triumphant smiles.

The next few weeks crawled by as Jahrra both dreaded and anticipated the approaching night of the prank. As the time ticked away and as the moon grew more and more round, the tension slowly climbed with it. The schoolyard became a battle ground between those who were foolish enough to believe the monster existed, and those proud enough to insist it didn’t.

Jahrra feared that Eydeth would chicken out, and even saw a slight panic in his eyes when he thought no one was watching. As time wore on, however, he became more and more determined to show Jahrra he wasn’t afraid of a “stupid little Nesnan and her imaginary monsters”.

“You are going to look so foolish Jahrra! You shouldn’t have dared him!” many would say as they passed her and Gieaun and Scede on the way to class.

“Oh, leave her alone!” an auburn-haired girl finally said one day. “Let’s just hope the monster doesn’t show up! I would hate for anyone to get eaten!”

Jahrra remembered her from the twins’ Solsticetide party so long ago, Rhudedth was her name. She was the same girl that went for help when Jahrra had become entangled in the oak tree.

Even their teacher Professor Tarnik, normally oblivious to Jahrra and her friends, noticed the battle going on between his students.

“I do not know what all this nonsense is about a sea serpent, but it needs to stop this instant! If I hear another word about it in this classroom, you’ll be writing lines until summer arrives!”

This frightening threat from their tyrant of a headmaster forced everyone to keep their opinions contained to the schoolyard. By the end of the final week, one day before the full moon, Eydeth had rallied a large group willing to witness his bravery.

“We’ll all be camping on the lake shore tomorrow evening, and then I’ll row out into the middle of the lake. I’ll even make a lot of noise so your ‘monster’ can’t miss me.” Eydeth grinned malevolently as he swept past Jahrra and her friends.

“If you don’t show up, it’ll just prove my point further: that the monster is real and you were just too scared to prove me wrong!” Jahrra threatened back.

Eydeth turned and gave a quick look of consternation as Jahrra said this.
So, he has been thinking about backing down. What a coward!
she thought angrily. Eydeth’s look of fear, however, was only a fleeting one, and he gave her one last smug glare before marching on with his sniggering crowd of followers.

“Please. Even you, Nesnan, aren’t brave enough to go fishing for your own make-believe lake creature,” he spat over his shoulder, refusing to let Jahrra have the last word.

Jahrra breathed away her moment of irritation and allowed the corner of her mouth to rise just enough to make it look like she was smirking.

We will see who the brave one is tomorrow night, Eydeth
, she thought jeeringly, and then loud enough only for Gieaun and Scede to hear, “And we’ll be there to see it all, you just won’t know it. C’mon, we have a lot to plan before tomorrow night.”

Jahrra, Gieaun and Scede went to get their horses and started towards home. That night, Jahrra planned to stay at Gieaun’s and Scede’s, telling Hroombra, Kaihmen and Nuhra that they were going to go camping that weekend at the lake. Jahrra cringed at the thought of how easily their plans could be discovered, but as they rode through the farmlands and over the Aldehr River bridge, Jahrra tried to clear away her negative thoughts.
It’ll work out, it must work out!
she told herself confidently.

Before making their way towards Wood’s End Ranch, the trio stopped off at the Castle Guard Ruin for Jahrra to pick up some extra clothes and to say goodbye to Hroombra.

“Don’t let the lake monster get you,” he said teasingly.

The three children all froze in horror.
Could he know!?
Jahrra thought in a panic.

The dragon seemed deterred from their reactions. “I was only kidding, you know. The monster left that lake long ago.”

He smiled teasingly and went back into the Ruin. Jahrra couldn’t help but let out a relieved laugh, giving very little thought to Hroombra’s insinuation that the lake actually held a monster at one time. Soon all three were racing their horses up the sloping fields, tossing the colorful spring flowers all around them.

They arrived at the ranch a few hours before sunset, and after a good meal and a tantalizing story from Kaihmen, the three were soon fast asleep, dreaming about the full moon spilling its light down onto the silvery waters of Lake Ossar.

***

“Jahrra, time to get up!” Gieaun hissed. “We need to get to the lake early just in case Eydeth gets the same idea.”

Jahrra grumbled and Gieaun shook her head. She had been having such a wonderful dream: her lake monster had come to life, and it was a water dragon that guarded the lake. It kept out the twins and their friends, snapping viciously at Eydeth’s heels and lifting Ellysian by her ridiculous skirts and dangling her over the water. The monster allowed only those whom Jahrra approved into its territory.

“Huh?” Jahrra moaned, eyes still shut.

“We need to get to the lake!”

Gieaun sounded overly dramatic.

Suddenly, Jahrra realized that tonight they would be trying to pull off the greatest prank of their lives. She quickly sat up and started dazedly gathering her things.

“What time is it?” she asked, stifling a yawn.

“Just before sunup, it’s early, but . . .” Scede whispered somewhere next to her, the darkness of the room still hiding his face.

“I know,” Jahrra said, cutting him off, “the sooner we get there, the better chance we have at succeeding.”

The three friends dressed and ate as quickly as they could, and before the sun even crested the eastern hills they were on their way down the road leading south towards the lakes. The morning air was cool, but held the promise of a warm spring day. The birds were singing tirelessly, and the world was waking up all around them. Before they knew it, the group was leading their horses down the lane that opened up onto the boardwalk of Lake Ossar. To their delight, the lake was completely deserted.

“Where are we going to tie up the horses?” Jahrra asked, almost panicking for not thinking of that major detail beforehand.

“Down the beach a ways,” Scede said. “I thought of that last week. When I was out collecting seaweed I spotted a grove of trees about a half-mile down the beach. They’ll be safe from harm there and the distance and the rumble of the ocean will cover up any sound they might make.”

Jahrra smiled at her friend, the deep relief she felt spilling out onto her face.

“Then we can walk back to them tonight. The full moon will make it very easy to see,” Scede continued.

Jahrra was a little reluctant about tying Phrym and the other horses up so far away, but even the small bears that lived among the dunes avoided domesticated horses. They knew that saddled horses often meant hunters.

“I think we should unload all of our supplies onto our island first and then take the horses out.” Gieaun nodded toward the hiding place for their canoe.

Scede freed the small boat from the reeds and the girls piled in their sleeping gear and food. It only took one trip to get everything to the island, and once there, Scede tested the lake monster once again.

“Perfect!” he said with glee as the great head rose above the water, dripping and gurgling eerily.

“In the moonlight that will look absolutely frightful!” Gieaun added.

Scede double-checked to make sure his horn worked as well, blasting out a deep bellow that reverberated across the lake, frightening a flock of water fowl into the air. Convinced that their trap was set and ready to go, the three friends raced their horses down the beach toward the small willow grove. The copse was no more than half a mile away, just as Scede had said, and it grew next to a tiny stream that made up part of the Oorn River delta. Once Jahrra had tied Phrym securely to a thick branch, she made sure there was plenty of fresh grass and water nearby for him to enjoy.

“I’ll be gone until late tonight, but you’ll have to stay put and look after Bhun and Aimhe.” Jahrra tugged on his smoky mane. “We’ll be back later, I promise.”

Phrym whickered his agreement, nudging her roughly with his soft nose.

Jahrra smiled warmly, but as she pushed the horse hair out of his eyes, she became aware of a peculiar feeling. She stopped brushing aside Phrym’s mane and instead rested her hand on his forehead as she slowly looked around, her smile fading fast. The hairs on the back of her neck began to stand on end, and she got the strangest feeling that she was being watched.

“Jahrra, what is it?”

Gieaun had noticed Jahrra’s change in demeanor, and started to follow her gaze.

“Nothing,” Jahrra said blankly, still looking off toward the wilderness of the dunes. “Just thought I–”

Jahrra cut her sentence short, as if she were suddenly caught up in some kind of a trance. After a few moments of staring blankly into the rolling dunes, however, she snapped out of whatever had taken hold of her. “Oh well,” she breathed uneasily, “must be nerves, that’s all.”

She shook off the last dregs of the odd sensation and she, Gieaun and Scede began the trek back towards the lake. As they walked, the trio laughed at how Eydeth might react when he saw their dreadful beast.

Jahrra, with tears of mirth streaming down her cheeks, proclaimed, “I bet he faints! He’ll wake up in the morning in his boat in the middle of the lake, and we’ll be there, laughing!”

She stopped walking through the deep sand and bent over in hysterics.

Scede copied his friend. “Yeah, then we can ask him what happened. We’ll tell him that we decided to show up the next morning to see if he survived or not!”

“Oh, I can’t wait until tonight!” Gieaun added, barely able to breathe.

Once the three had regained their composure a little, they continued on up the sweeping beach, the roaring ocean to their left and the pale, stacking dunes to their right. Finally, they reached the boardwalk and soon the lake itself came into view.

“It’s about three hours from mid-day,” said Jahrra, shading her eyes and checking the location of the sun. “Do you think Eydeth will show up before then?”

“My guess is he’ll show up just before sunset to make camp,” Scede said boorishly as he brushed his dark hair out of his eyes. “We’d better not take any chances, though. Let’s just try to get some rest before they come.”

The three paddled out onto their island and pulled their boat in after them to hide it. After about an hour of waiting, they grew tired and decided to lie down for a nap.

“Don’t worry,” said Scede, “we couldn’t possibly sleep until moonrise, and the only thing that matters is that we are awake by then.”

Jahrra and Gieaun nodded, and they were all soon lulled to sleep by the gentle lapping of the water and the rhythmic rustling of the reeds.

***

In the distance, the gentle ocean breeze collected the fine grains from the top of a sand dune and tossed them over its razor-thin peak like tiny flecks of gold.  Sitting beneath the ridge on the eastern slope was a figure wrapped in a stained cloak, here among these sandy hills for one purpose, and one purpose only. This odd creature had been sent, some time ago, to spy on the old dragon that haunted this province like a dormant plague, to watch his every move, to memorize his every action. The Korli dragon had led a very dull life for years, leaving his rubble pile seldom and receiving letters with little meaning behind them.

Fourteen years ago, however, something extraordinary happened. A younger dragon of the Tanaan kruel arrived bringing with it a tiny Nesnan infant. From that moment on the crouching figure now seeking solace behind the shifting sand dune had been intrigued. It no longer kept its eye focused primarily on the dragon, but allowed itself to watch the girl as well, sometimes following her and leaving the Korli behind.

The wind ceased and the mysterious being shuddered and shook, attempting to remove the sand that had piled on top of it. It turned its hooded eyes back onto the lake, a blue mirror several yards below about a half mile distant. The creature didn’t often come out in broad daylight like this, but the young girl and her companions had been coming to this place so often of late, and tonight would be the culmination of whatever it was they had been planning.

After watching the children settle down on their island of reeds, the cloaked figure stood, stooping a bit from some pain it experienced. It blinked gratingly at the bright noon-time sun, then slinked over the top of the dune, leaving an avalanche of pale powder in its wake. Trudging through the sand proved awkward, but the walk was downhill, and once it reached the bank of the small water channel below, movement became easier. The shrouded figure welcomed the shade of the small trees growing beside the stream, and before long it heard the puffing and snickering sounds of nervous horses.