Read The Dragons of Sara Sara Online
Authors: Robert Chalmers
The Dragons of Sara Sara
The Dragons of
Sara Sara
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Robert Chalmers
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Copyright
Robert Chalmers
The Dragons of Sara Sara - Awakening
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R.A.Chalmers
Publishing.
Wentworth Drive. Felixstowe. IP119LD
United Kingdom.
Published by R.A.Chalmers. 2013
First published in the UK by R.A.Chalmers
Copyright © Robert Chalmers 2013
as Robert Chalmers - 2014
ISBN-13:978-0980798562 (RA.Chalmers)
ISBN-10:0980798566
Printed in eBook format in Great Britain
Set in Baskerville Regular
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
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This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which is is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
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Dedication:
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Couldn't have been finished without my muse, Liz
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Contents
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Introduction
The Dragons of Sara Sara is a tale of an epic struggle familiar to us all. Of swords and warrior maidens, of farm boys and dragons. For even today, if you look closely at mountains you can see them moving ever so slowly, as the dragons that lie hidden in their craggy outlines slowly breath. Dragons have not disappeared forever, they are just waiting, perhaps for a story such as this.
For this is a story of the endless struggle between Darkness and Light, and set in a time that could be far in the future of the world. It's not a scientific future, but rather a future that has seen human beings returned to living relatively simple lives again. Trading in hand made goods, their weapons when needed are swords and spears. A great deal of time has passed since an age when the forces of Light and Dark clashed, almost destroying the world, and those sworn to uphold the Light - for it was they who won at great cost - have descendants now scattered far and wide, and the great battles have passed into legend and myth. But beneath a smoking mountain lies the ever moving prison of the Dark Lord, and his rage at his imprisonment is fuelling his lust for freedom. This has awoken the spirits of the descendants of the forces of the Light, and one of those is the rightful leader of the Dragon Armies. The Dragon Armies that will carry the battle to Sara Sara, the smoking mountain deep in the Blasted Landsâ¦
Antonin and Catharina, a farm boy and a warrior maiden have been friends since they were born in the same village, far out on the Star Field Plain. A tiny village in a remote landscape, where only the occasional Trader or Story Teller comes by. Life is peaceful and happy until the day that Sara Sara begins to rumbleâ¦
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Chapter 1
A wide grin lit up Antonin's face as he rode, lying low along his horse's back. The ground was flying by beneath the horse's hooves. They seemed to barely touch the ground. Looking past the wind whipped mane at his friend pulling away ahead of him, Antonin couldn't help but admire her riding skill. She too was stretched out along her horse's back. The saddle used by the Maidens was little more than a strip of leather with short leather stirrups, yet she seemed glued to the horse's back. He had grown up with Catharina, and although he was only a year older, it seemed to him sometimes that she was the eldest. She was nearly as tall as Antonin and he was head and shoulders above all the young men of the district. Yet she would glance at him in passing, with a secret little smile in the corners of her mouth and her dark almond eyes crinkling, and leave him stumbling. Catharina looked back over her shoulder, her long black hair streaming out behind her. A laughing shout came back to Antonin and he let out a wailing ululation in reply, thumping his horse's flanks with his ankles in hopes of catching up. He knew it was a lost cause, but they were out to race to the Great North Road and Catharina had started it. She had come pounding by on her horse as he had been ambling along the wide dusty road that wandered out from the village. Antonin had been going home to the farm. His father was no doubt waiting for him even now to finish his daily chores. The last of the day's work was instantly forgotten as the flashing dark eyes and long brown limbs of his friend filled his sight. In an instant they were thundering across the great plain that was their world. The Star Field Plain it was called and although it was part of Da Altai and bordered on Xiao Altai, the Queen's Guard was rarely seen in the land. The village of Xu Gui was the only village to be found this far out on the great plain, and it was so remote that few people even knew it existed. Far ahead of the racing pair away to the west lay the Blasted Lands. Access was all but impossible to these forbidding lands. The massive and formidable mountains of the Dragon Spine lay at the edge of the plain, a week's hard ride west of the village of Xu Gui. They formed a barrier that curved north and east for as far as anyone had ever travelled, and to the south in a tumbled wilderness of jagged peaks and escarpments all the way to the Sea of Storms. The smoking mountain of Sara Sara was deep in the Blasted Lands. Even on a clear day it could not be seen, being far over the horizon. Occasionally travellers or sheep herders would report seeing smoke smudges on the distant horizon. It was as rare as travelling peddlers though, and the mountain was generally forgotten about.
“The Great North Road would be coming into sight soon.” Antonin thought. “I'll never catch her!” He eased back on the reins a little to spare his horse. It was a long ride out to the Great North Road, and as he knew he could not win he would be content just to stay in touch with Catharina. Almost immediately Catharina began to slow just a little. She knew without looking that Antonin has eased the pace. Her laughter came back to him on the wind again. She was so full of life and the simple joy of living that Antonin thought his chest would burst with pride for her.
In an age before memory, an age only whispered about in legend and story, it was said a great battle had taken place in the Blasted Lands between the Light and the Dark. The evil one, the Dark Lord had lost the battle in that age, and even still was confined to his prison. Chained in the Great Wheel of Sara Sara. A huge millstone in the heart of the mountain, rotating on an axis that passed right through the world. It was said that the smoke that issued from the mountain was caused by heat from the wheels turning. The Dark Lord was sealed in a chamber in the wheel. The warriors of the long dead Dragon Armies in a past age had imprisoned him and his minions there. The wheel rotated an inch in a thousand years the stories said â it would be many ages before the Dark Lord's chamber was again exposed. No one knew when the stories had been written. No one knew when that age had been. Only the Blasted Lands and Sara Sara still remained.
Not thinking of any of this, the youngsters raced across the High Plains of Da Altai. It was nearing time to be home. Time to help with the evening tasks. Animals to feed, horses to attend to, wood to chop. The daily life of farm and village that was governed by the seasons. There was always something to be done, and the sun seemed to linger on the horizon some days as though loath to depart. Antonin was a farmer's son. Antonin's mother was ever patient, like all farmers wives. She knew her life was to support her husband by running a smooth household. She knew also that Antonin was deeply attracted to Catharina. Even though in his youth he didn't realise the depth of that attraction.
Catharina was some way ahead of Antonin, nearing the Great North Road. He didn't want to slow down too much. She would surely pour scorn on him. Sometimes he was at a loss with the village girls, and it was worse with the Warrior Maidens. Let them win a race, and they laughed at you for being weak. Win at all cost, and they pouted and would not talk to you for a week. Or worse, just flick their hair over their shoulders and walk away all stiff and proud. It was all very confusing.
Catharina thundered across the Great North Road in a shower of stones and sparks from its black surface. Antonin slowed his horse to a walk as he approached the road. The Great North Road ran across the wide plains of Da Altai, from South to North, as straight as an arrow in flight. The country of Xiao Altai lay far to the South, and was seldom visited by the local people. No one went to the North. At least none went north willingly, and then went no further than the city of Ha Hu on the far side of the pass through the Dragon Spine Mountains. Beyond that lay the Great Sandy Blight. Far in the north, the Great Sandy Blight began as small dunes, then rapidly became a sea of moving dunes that none had been known to cross, and few returned from. No one knew its boundaries.
The people of Antonin's community and the people of the village where Catharina lived knew only a steady and productive life. The village was called Xu Gui. It had a stream that ran by on the western side. Weeping willows lined the banks. The village focal point was an inn that served as a meeting place for the villagers and the wider community. The Dog and Girl inn fronted onto the village common, and served well mostly for what it was. The place where people came for a jug of ale, to listen to travelling song men and story-tellers, and to listen to the men who drifted by on rare occasions, with tales to tell of strange events in faraway places. It was even rumoured that the Queen herself had once stayed at the inn. No one believed that though.
Catharina had ridden hard. She was a little annoyed with Antonin. She had seen him slow his horse and thought that he was losing just to please her. “Antonin, just you wait.” She cried. Laughing, Antonin managed his horse as it sidled and stepped across the black surface of the road. Catharina now sat her horse some distance on the far side. “Wait?” he called. “I could wait until the Wheel turns.” They were now a little to the west of the Great North Road and sat their horses, facing the homeward direction. Catharina glared at Antonin. Her horse whickered at sensing her unrest. A small dust cloud raised around them both, seemingly out of nowhere. “Don't you know better than to speak of such things!” Said Catharina. The horses stood puffing and blowing. Antonin looked at Catharina. Even when she was angry, she was beautiful, but he knew better than to say anything. He had tried that once, and earned himself a whack across the shoulders with her spear haft. Catharina was a Warrior Maiden, and had little time in her life for what she saw as the soft ways of the village girls.
Catharina belonged to the Stone Lion sept, the hardest of them all. There were no men in the septs of the Maidens, they had their own societies. All fought side by side in war though, and all belonged to the larger group, the clan. Not a tribe, although some used this term in a sneering manner. Never within the hearing of the warriors though.
The people of Da Altai lived in villages, or on small farms. They were all old Altarins, and from the youngest child to the oldest person were fierce in battle, and hard working in peace. The villages were few and small, scattered thinly across the vast upper plain of Da Altai. The farms were mostly clustered within a day or two's ride of villages. It was said that in ages past the people had truly been in tribal groups, and wandered their vast plain seeking water and food for their herds of horses. Legends told of an age before memory began, when the Altarins had been part of a great warrior nation. Back in the days of the Dragon Lord. It was just legend though, and a great tale for the children. Horses still served as a mark of a man's wealth. Possession of goods counted for little in this practical society, and the warriors had no need of anything other than their weapons and horses when they needed them. The villages all had smiths, and weapon makers. The warriors could make their own weapons and their lives depended on it. They were part of the village and farm community. The guardians of peace on the plains. Antonin sat his horse now, thinking to himself and smiling.
“One day I'll figure out what it is I'm supposed to say to a girl, that doesn't make her angry â or worse, scornful.”
The horses cooled in the settling afternoon air, starting to fidget and side step about each other. Catharina hadn't spoken for minutes. Simply looking at each other with faint smiles. Neither would openly admit it of course, but they were both young and in the prime of life, and took a great deal of pleasure from simply being in each other's company.
“Antonin.” Said Catharina finally. “You worry me sometimes with your disregard for the teachings of the Elders.” She spoke now without heat though and Antonin felt he needed to explain.
“Catharina.” He said. “It is not that I lack respect for the Elders, the teachers, but the old stories have been much on my mind lately.”
Catharina just gave a quiet “harrumph!” and looked at Antonin with a steady gaze. He was a thinker, and she recognized this. Even if she was a bit concerned at times that he did too much thinking for his own good. “Well, it's true Catharina.” He continued on regardless. “You have seen Sara Sara with your own eyes just this last week.”
Catharina still gave him only a grunt in reply. She could be infuriating at times. All this did was loosen Antonin's tongue even more. “You saw the mountain, same as I did. Same as the other Stone Lions did. Same as the Water Carriers did.” Antonin's horse sidled away and back as Antonin's voice rose in pitch. It thought another chase was in the making.
“The stories all say that when Sara Sara smokes and thunders, then the prison wheel of the Dark Lord is turning.”
A little embarrassed at his outburst, Antonin snapped his jaw shut and scowled at Catharina. “Why won't the girl answer me?” He wondered under his breath. He should have known better.
Catharina swung her horse around, almost unseating Antonin as the horse's head swept by him. Catharina leant in close, her scent filling Antonin's head. With a steely glint in her eyes, but a rapidly forming smile on her lips, she shouted, “Because I leave the talking to you - farmer!” Kicking Antonin's horse in the rump, she spurred her own mount away across the plain toward the Great North Road that they had crossed at a gallop, only minutes before. Antonin's horse; Asifa â Storm in the old language â had been expecting sudden movement and in less time than it took to blink was at top speed, thundering after Catharina and her horse. The chase was on again. The high spirits of the two young people, a farmers boy and a young Warrior Maiden were matched only by their high spirited mounts.
Catharina was some way ahead, and looked like she might hold the lead all the way to the road. Suddenly Antonin's horse faltered in its stride. Asifa never stumbled or faltered on a race but now he stopped dead in his tracks, almost throwing Antonin over his head. It was only because Antonin was a born rider that he managed to stay on. The horse stood stiff legged, the whites of his eyes showing as he rolled them about, trying to look in every direction at once.
Then Antonin heard it. A low, deep rumbling in the earth, apparently from the direction of the Dragon Spine Mountains. Within moments a wave of sound passed beneath Antonin's horse, speeding onwards to the east. Rapidly catching up with Catharina. She was now almost back to the Great North Road. Antonin and his horse didn't move a muscle. Both seemed to be holding their breath. Even the insects normally chirruping in the short grasses and low vegetation were silent.
As though something had slowed down time, Antonin watched helplessly as Catharina's horse suddenly stumbled and pitched into the dust. Catharina sailed over the falling horse's head. She had just glanced back looking for Antonin and was not prepared for the sudden fall. All went quiet across the plain save the distant, disappearing rumble of the sound wave moving through the plain toward the Four Ways â the branch road near the village â and on toward the farms and village.
Neither Catharina nor Khrif her horse moved. As if awoken by a pail of cold well water, Antonin suddenly spurred his horse into full stride, racing to where Catharina lay unmoving on the dusty plain. With only yards to go, he saw Catharina's horse Khrif struggle to her feet. Stamping and snickering, she was ready for flight in an instant, but with Catharina still on the ground and not moving, Khrif stayed with Catharina. The bond between horse and rider had been built since they were both youngsters. Khrif meant Autumn in the old language, and noted the time that both Catharina and her horse had been born. Antonin slid Asifa to a halt and leapt from the saddle in one motion. Quickly he ran his eye over Catharina. She appeared to have no broken bones that he could see and only a small trickle of blood from a graze on her forehead. Her breathing was shallow though, and Antonin was at a loss for what to do. Quickly he grabbed the goat skin water bag from his saddle and trickled a small stream over Catharina's forehead, washing away the traces of blood.