The Dragon's Back Trilogy Read online

  "But what about the two warriors?" shouted the male thumping his massive fist on the table with a loud bang. "Is all lost? Are we doomed because they passed out of our control?"

  "Don't be ignorant! You know how I despise that! What does the prophecy say? Have you forgotten it?"

  "Oh, no, my Lady!" replied the man, his words tumbling out in a rush. "I could never do that. All true dragonmen can quote its words!

  'Long ago the words were spoken

  And their message can't be broken:

  Two shall bear the Dragon's token;

  Two who share a common sire,

  Will be marked by Dragon's fire;

  Two fulfill the world's desire.

  Tragic depths they're lifted from,

  Mighty warriors to become:

  Together greater than their sum.

  It is ordained and will not wait:

  One is the Key and one the Gate:

  To open or to seal our fate.

  Each will listen to a call,

  So they will mark the rise or fall

  Of all who on the Dragon call.

  If they...'"

  "Enough!" screamed the woman, “Do you think that I don't know the words, too! You don't need to remind me! Remember, man-child, I'm a lot older than I look! The question is, what are we going to do about the two of them? The prophecy seems to indicate that if we can keep them apart, they won't be able to use their strength against us. The one's mostly in our control now, anyway: just needs a little guidance. We've followed the fool's suggestion and plan to intercept that one. What I suggest is that you... Wait! I sense someone here! Who are you in the shadows? You, boy, stand up! Tell me your name!"

  The woman's words so startled and so compelled the watcher that he instantly sprang upright in involuntary compliance. "I am..." he started to say, then clamped shut his mouth, his first shocked thought had passed, and reason at last rose to defend his position: I do not have to answer! It's only a dream! She cannot hurt me!

  Then the dark bulk of the giant spun out of the way and she looked him right in the eyes.

  The watcher screamed! Her eyes were two bright firebrands of red! Dragon eyes!

  As the power of those orbs touched him, all warmth fled away. Cold as a voracious living beast consumed him, tearing at his flesh with vicious teeth of ice, drawing him into their frozen, life-stealing depths!

  Jason tried to scream! But no sound could escape his blue frozen lips.

  She laughed a cruel and wicked taunt. "Come to me, my mighty warrior! Join me..."

  Something warm and wet was being forced down his throat. Jason gasped for air then swallowed. The sweet taste of the life-giving liquid seemed oddly familiar. Instantly the deadly cold fled away.

  He opened his eyes to stare not at two consuming fires, but up into the concerned candle-lit faces of his GrandSire and Lot, the guard. The old man held in his hand his unstoppered Gryphonskin. Its precious contents had drawn Jason back from the sleep of death.

  "Aye, lad, ‘twas a dark vision that ye were seein’," came the guttural, rasping words from under a bushy black mustache, "I should’ve warned ya’. The first night in the Dragon can be a hard one fer those not prepared or protected."

  “S-Sir?” Jason’s still shaky voice sought the attention of the dark-haired guard through the semi-darkness.

  “Yes, Laddie? What be the thing that troubles ye?” responded the guard with kind concern filling his rough voice.

  “In my dream…” began the youth, then started again with a rush, “I saw scary people actually livin’ with the dragons! They mentioned a prophecy,” and Jason shook with an involuntary shudder, “about two brothers, just like Kaleb and me: ‘Long ago the wor…’”

  But the guard quickly placed his finger on Jason’s lips, saying, “Speak not the dark words in m’ home, laddie, lest those dragons seek us out! ‘Tis more dangerous than y’ know livin’ where we do. Aye, I have heard those words before an’ know that the cursed dragonmen put much store by them!”

  From Jason’s perspective, it looked like Lot and his GrandSire locked eyes and shared some deep dark secret between them.

  “No, it canno’ be!” said Thaddeus, shaking his head. “By the Gryphon, it shall not be!” then turning to his grandson he said softly, “Son, pay no heed t’ any dark dreams y’ see in the Dragon, nor listen t’ his twisted words, lest they make ye twisted, too. The Gryphon that I love will protect ye! So y’ have naught t’ fear from the Dragon’s lies!”

  “Aye, laddie,” added Lot, as he reached down and tenderly rested his rough hand on Jason’s forehead. “We who live in the shadow of darkness will set watch about y’ this night an’ call down His mighty eagles that they might do the same. Let the Gryphon and His watchmen guard yer night and ye’ll be troubled no more! Iffin ye want, I’ll leave the candle burnin’ but ye can rest knowin’ ye’ll be safe through this night. The Gryphon’s good night be t’ ye lad an’ t’ ye as well, master carver.”

  But Jason did not go to sleep until well after his GrandSire’s gentle snores had marked the passing of many hours.

  Two brothers, just like me and Kaleb…

  DRAGONSHEAD

  “It really is in the shape of a dragon! And we’re climbin’ out on its nose!” The uncharacteristic excitement in Kaleb’s shouted comments snapped Jason’s attention back to the present. His brother’s head popped into view from over a rise further up the trail and he began waving impatiently for the others to join him. Overhead, the sun had passed its zenith and the four travelers were nearing the summit of the pilgrim’s path up Dragonshead. “Hurry up, Jase! You’ve got t’ see this view!”

  “Your brother’s right,” Nathan called back over his shoulder to his apprentice. The flat area just above us is called the ‘Muzzle of the Dragon’ and the view from there is spectacular, especially from the tip of the nose!”

  “All right,” replied the youth and quickened his steps to catch up with his elders, relinquishing his place of voluntary solitude straggling behind the end of the line. “I’m comin’ and I’ll bet I can beat you to the top!”

  “Woah, youngun’!” cried his GrandSire with a smile. “Save yer energy, the journey’s not half over yet! Y’ still have t’ make it back down the way y’ came.”

  Jason noticed as he drew up close to the two men that the White-haired Heartlander’s breathing seemed raspy and strained. He immediately slowed his forward flight and affectionately gripped the old man’s elbow to help him make the last few steps to the top.

  “T’ain’t seen much o’ you all mornin’ long and haven’t heard nary a peep, either!” his GrandSire used the elbow Jason held to lovingly poke his grandson in the ribs. “Sumpin’ happen t’ yer tongue back there in the Pit?”

  “I think,” said Nathan from where he walked supporting the Heartlander’s other arm, “that that pretty young lass squeezed all the words out of him and he’s gonna be no good to me at all for a bard!”

  Jason stammered, turned fiery red, and for a moment proved the truth of the bard’s words before finally getting out, “It’s… It’s jus’ that she caught me off guard! I was expecting her mother t’ make a fuss over us. In fact, I was kind of lookin’ forward to Joannah’s big motherly hug goodbye. But after the mother got finished huggin’ the stuffing out of me, I… I…”

  “Y’ never thought her pretty daughter’d sneak up and give y’ another one! And a peck on the cheek, too!”

  “Aw, Grands, she didn’t mean nothin’ by that! Her dad said she’s always tryin’ to mother people! She wouldn’t hardly look me in the eye last night, so’s don’t go makin’ a big fuss over nothin’!”

  “Son,” said the old carver, chuckling in spite of his shortness of breath, “I’ve been around fer’ a mighty long time an’ I’ve seen me a heap of motherin’, and mark my words, what that bonny lass did t’weren’t none of that! Besides, iffin it didn’t mean nuthin’ what in the name o’ the Gryphon stoppered up that endless waterskin of question
s that usually pours out o’ yer mouth? Yer not sick are ye’?”

  By this time both of the adults were laughing so hard they were forced to stop climbing the trail.

  “No, I’m not sick,” Jason muttered, then continued to himself, At least with nothin’ I ever caught before!

  Seeking some distraction, the red-faced apprentice opened his mouth to encourage the stragglers up the mountain, but at that moment, the Heartlander’s laugh turned into a violently hacking cough that sent the old man stumbling to his knees.

  Quickly Jason unstoppered his own waterskin and raised it to his GrandSire’s mouth, saying, “Here, try some of this. It will ease your throat.” But in spite of his obvious need, the old Heartlander turned his head from the offered liquid and raised his hand to push it away from himself.

  Nathan also busied himself pouring water from his Gryphonskin into the shellbowl from his friend’s pack. To Jason’s surprise, the still coughing Heartlander readily accepted this gift which immediately eased his discomfort.

  Still winded from his exertion, Thaddeus raised his eyes to seek those of his grandson. “I’m sorry, lad,” he whispered. “I was not rejecting you, only your gift. The water of the Dragon would not’ve helped m’ hurt, only made it worse. Y’offered what y’ had an’ for that I’m thankful, but Nathan gave the Gryphon’s gift an’ that was what I truly needed.”

  Questions filled Jason’s mind, but he lost his opportunity to ask them for Kaleb took that moment to come running back down the trail like an avalanche, shouting as he came, “Hey, are you three gonna’ take all day to make the last few manheights of this climb? If y’ want to take a rest there’s some benches under the trees at the top. Besides, its gotta’ be time to eat. I’m starved!”

  So saying, that human avalanche lifted his GrandSire to his feet and, with the old man’s arm over his shoulder and his own arm under the other’s pack, he rumbled back up over the top of the rise. The two bards stood there for a moment with their mouths open, then spying each other, burst into laughter.

  “After you!” said the bard with a courtly bow.

  “But of course and thank you!” Jason replied in kind, also bowing before springing up the mountainside. “Beat you to the top!” he shouted over his shoulder.

  To his surprise, he didn’t.

  ~ ~ ~

  Lunch was an extension of Joannah’s kitchen. They seemed to have most of its food and many of its implements spread before them on the chiseled scaline benches.

  “You can drop off what you don’t need on the way back down!” the guard’s wife had told them as she continually encouraged them to stuff more and more into their packs that morning. When ever-watchful Shoshanna had cautioned her about the excessive weight, her mother had replied with a twinkle in her eye, “Good food’s always hard makin’ up but a delight goin’ down.”

  Jason smiled. Remembering her words as he patted his well-stuffed stomach, he thought to himself, We sure have been well rewarded for the extra effort it took to carry this up! And it sure will be easier ‘goin’ down’ because of it! I might not be any lighter, but my pack sure will be!

  “Hey, Jase, ya’ ready to do some explorin’? There’s a trail leadin’ down toward the point, out between those two smokin’ mountains! That’s got to be the Dragon’s Nose out there!” With his stomach filled Kaleb seemed much more amicable and Jason, knowing that he and his brother would soon be parting company, wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.

  “Can we go and explore for a little while?” Jason deferred to his GrandSire. “I promise we won’t be gone for long!”

  “An’ why are y’askin’ me, Laddie? Have y’ fergotten that y’re bound to another, now?”

  his GrandSire responded with a twinkle in his eyes. From his reclining position under the shade of a large, broadleaf coree tree, he seemed to have much recovered from the exertion of their upward climb.

  Embarrassed by his breach of etiquette, Jason lowered his eyes, bowed his head, and turned in the direction of his new mentor. Drawing his shortsword halfway out of its scabbard, he then noisily pushed it back into its resting place with the open palm of his hand. I HAVE OFFENDED, PLEASE FORGIVE.

  “You know, Thaddeus my friend,” commented the bard, “I think he does that quite well. It takes a man to gracefully admit his mistakes without defending himself. Surely such a man can be trusted to go wandering off on his own for a bit, don’t you think so, my brother?”

  But Thaddeus’ response could not be heard over the youthful yelp of joy that escaped from the lips of the apprentice bard. “Come on, Kaleb! Let’s go before they change their minds!”

  And with that, the two brothers were gone in a noisy rustle of flying coree leaves, disappearing through the dense trees down the sloping path toward the smoking vents at the edge of the Dragon’s Muzzle.

  Truly free! thought Jason, the warm breeze brushing past him as he ran. Outside! For the first time in my life, I’m outside with no one to supervise me!

  The exhilaration of sudden independence brought wings to his feet and the downward slope of the land gave him a sense of flight as he leaped down the unobstructed path.

  This is what the eagles must feel when they fly! Oh, to be able to leap up and leave the world behind! What joy! What peace! Freedom!

  So light and yet so alive did Jason feel that he easily swept past his older brother. The race that ensued revealed much about the character of the runners: the younger ran for the sheer joy of it, but the older to claim a threatened title he knew nothing about till that very moment.

  Jason didn’t even know he was in a competition until he slowed down to negotiate a reversal in the pitch of the roadway. His brother, breathing hard, sprang past him with a shout of victory and surged ahead over the top of the rise.

  Three things had limited sight of their surroundings: the speed and effort of their downward flight, the dense green canopy of trees that surrounded them, and the fact that the path they followed ran through a narrow valley formed between the two smoking mountains.

  Suddenly, as he cleared the hump of the rise, Jason found himself out in the open only several manheights away from the gaping chasm of a sheer drop of unimaginable depths. Taken completely off guard, he froze and skidded to a halt on the edge of doom. If he had continued running at his previous breakneck speed, he would have truly discovered firsthand what it felt like to soar like an eagle!

  Kaleb!?

  Kaleb lay at his feet scratched and bleeding slightly, still resting where he had slid in a desperate effort to stop himself. White-faced, the older youth clung to his savior, a stout black railing carved from native scaline.

  “L-looks like I-I won,” the older youth managed to say, but his still shaking voice conveyed little victory.

  The double shock of sudden relief and overwhelming vertigo combined to send Jason’s whole world reeling. He stumbled to his knees next to his brother and closed his eyes until his head stopped spinning.

  “Yeah,” he finally managed the weak reply to his brother, “but the prize almost cost both of us very dearly.”

  “Oh, don’t let it worry you! I had the situation under control the whole time!”

  Jason always knew when his brother lied to him, for the older youth habitually rolled his shoulders ever so slightly just after he had told an untruth (but he had never revealed this insight to Kaleb).

  “Musta’ banged my back a little,” said the older brother, rolling his shoulders furiously as if to relieve the pain.

  Only then did Jason comprehend what lay over the chasm beyond his brother’s form. He gasped as the expanse of the vista stole his breath away. From their lunching spot they had seen limited glimpses of this panorama through the green veil of the trees, but that appetizing taste had not prepared him for the wondrous reality of the full banquet. The whole world lay at his feet.

  Cities, towns, roads, forests, mountains and the River: all were made miniature by their great height. He could see forever! Al
most the entire Dragon’s back lay exposed to his gaze.

  “Do you believe this view? This is incredible!” he exclaimed to his brother.

  But Kaleb, as though only seeing it himself for the first time, seemed to be momentarily awestruck by the sight and uttered not a word. At last, he managed a single low whistle that spoke volumes.

  Jason, undeterred by the silence, filled its void with his own voice. A living cataract of words flowed out from the excited youth, a verbal deluge tumbling out into empty space and over the yawning precipice.

  “I never imagined it would look like this, but it is in the shape of a dragon! We really are on its nose or ‘Muzzle’! The foreleg we just climbed up is hidden from view because of the position of the head. All you can see is just the very top of Mann's Pointe tower. The other leg lies off to our right: if you look you can just see its outer edge jutting out from the side of the cliff. I imagine that both of the hind legs, are either hidden on either side by the mountains or are too far away to be seen. It gets hazy in the distance, but I can still see the details very far away!"

  If someone he knew had asked Kaleb at that moment why his younger brother started lecturing him about things he could just as well see on his own, the youth (if he was in a good mood) would have chuckled and replied, "Oh Jase always starts babbling up a river whenever he gets either nervous or excited. Almost fallin' off the Dragon's nose and then seeing this view of the world at his feet was a huge mixed dose of both of those, rolled up into one. If I know my little brother, he'll keep talking for hours! And, no, I don't mind listening to him. Remember we've only ever had each other to talk to for ten long years! "Then, with dark memories taking hold, the troubled young man would drown his own voice in silence as he turned and let the continuing torrent of his brother's words and the familiar flow of that other voice wash over him like a flood.