Zero-Point Read online

  Alec felt his medallion and focused. He again began to pull dark energy from the beast and flow it into the pyramids. The dragon stopped, now in obvious pain. It twisted about, looking for the source of its new pain. Erin sensed the dragon’s thoughts and twisted the lines. Without Alec’s dark energy she didn’t have the same power, but she could feel the rightness of how to twist. The dragon stopped. Its dark energy reservoir had been depleted, the molten rock was starting to hurt, and the pain from the outflow of dark energy muddled its thoughts. Erin could tell that the energy lines inside the dragon’s mind were twisted in confusion.

  Stay still, she thought to the dragon. Do not fight us. I can help you. I want to be your friend.

  Erin could sense intense confusion in the dragon’s mind as it tried to understand. Then, Erin felt an additional mind push the dragon, a new compulsion and a determination that overrode the pain. The dragon clumsily tried to leap into the air. It failed and instead crashed into a pool of bubbling and frothing rock. Then it lumbered out of the pool, shedding clumps of glowing rock from its sides, and moved past the edge of the village fields and into the woods. It pushed through the undergrowth, knocking down small trees in its path; small fires sprang up behind it as the hot rocks ignited brush and grass. Soon it was gone, lost from sight among the trees.

  ✽✽✽

  Erin rode back to where Alec stood.

  “The dragon might have responded to my control if I had been able to stay close to you and continued to use your dark energy to boost my abilities.” Erin shook her head in consternation at her failure.

  “Your brother,” Alec fumed. “Unfortunately he froze at the critical moment. But I agree – saving him was more important. We should be pleased. We battled the dragon and almost prevailed against it.” He looked back across the smoldering wheat stubble. “I have some ideas on how I can improve my pyramids, so next time we can do even better. When I get it right, it will be difficult for the elves to counter this new weapon.”

  “You are not unhappy with Colin’s performance in the battle?”

  “Unhappy? I am pleased. He drew dark energy and did his part. I remember how terrified I was the first time you and I fought the Gryg. But, I do wish Colin would take my advice and practice more. He would be a lot stronger and more effective with dark energy if he would practice. He could start and stop the dark energy flow much easier.” He shook his head. “No, I am not unhappy with Colin. The one I am unhappy with is myself. If I understood material properties better, I could have made better pyramids. The dragon wouldn’t have had a chance.”

  Erin interrupted him, stopping his words. “Great Wizard, no one else could have done what you just did to the dragon. I sensed when the dragon’s master, whoever that is, called her away. If its master had waited a little longer before calling her into the woods, we would have won.”

  Colin rode up to them, still pale, but trying to show bravado instead of terror. “What an adventure! How fun! We fought the dragon and drove it off.”

  Alec looked at him with a level gaze. “I’m glad you consider this ‘fun.’ You nearly died. The dragon came close to eating you.”

  “Well,” Colin said bravely, “it didn’t, and now I’ve seen a dragon. You were right. It was bigger and more fierce than anything I could imagine!”

  Alec mounted his trogus and the three turned to ride back to camp.

  “Now what?” asked Colin. “Do we follow it?”

  “I sensed the dragon is hurt. I do not think it will bother us again this season. I think we have been successful in driving it off,” Erin replied.

  “That is good,” Alec said, thinking aloud. “The pyramids that we used to extract dark energy from the dragon are buried in the molten rock. It was the pyramids that allowed us to remove the dark energy from the dragon and weaken it. Without them, we might have been able to annoy it, but we would not have weakened it. We used all of the pyramids that I brought. The only things at home are my prototype and some spare parts. With some time before our next encounter with the dragon, I can make better ones.”

  “Why not reuse these?” asked Colin.

  “It will take several weeks before the rock cools and hardens enough to extract the pyramids. After the rock hardens, I suppose we could try to extract these, and see if anything is reusable.”

  Their discussion was interrupted by a rider, approaching them at full speed, an intense cloud of dust trailing him. He brought his trogus up short in front of Erin.

  “Princess!” he cried. “I bring you terrible news!”

  “What is it?” Erin asked.

  “Sometime during our fight with the dragon, the Pome villagers who were camped in the woods were attacked. Some were captured, and the others were slaughtered. Rand sent me here to ask you to meet him at the Pome campsite by the spring.”

  “That is awful! Do we know where they were taken?”

  “No Princess, but our scout said they left a trail through the underbrush where they were carried off. We do not know who attacked them, or why.”

  The messenger spurred his trogus, and the three of them followed. The dirt trail through the woods was well-trodden where, just yesterday, most of the Pome residents had fled their village for the supposed safety of the campsite by the spring.

  Colin winced when they reached the campsite. It was bloody with hacked-open bodies – old men, women, and young children – sprawled all through camp. Scavengers had already arrived and started to feed upon the dead.

  “What happened?” Colin exclaimed as Rand met them.

  “We do not know,” Rand said. “Our scout rode here to tell the villagers that the dragon had left Pome, and this is what he found.”

  “Elves,” Erin said quietly to Alec. He nodded.

  “Elves?” echoed Colin.

  “Look,” she said to Alec. “It was an elf cull. Elves coerced everyone into sleep and then went through the camp capturing the ones they wanted and killing the rest.” She sighed. “This must have been the elves’ plan all along. I didn’t see it. We have failed my people. We saved them from the dragon but didn’t save them from the elves.”

  “What will the elves do to them?” asked Colin.

  “They will enslave them,” Alec said darkly. “Turn them into mindless drones, as they tried to do to your sister and me, years ago, when we were captured.”

  A second rider came into camp.

  “What is it?” asked Rand.

  “Princess, we have tracked the dragon. It is traveling on the same trail as the captured Pomites, a few els behind them. We cannot reach the villagers to rescue them without first passing by the dragon.”

  “The dragon?” exclaimed Colin, nervously. “Must we fight it again?”

  “We need to rescue our people!” Erin exclaimed. “Even if we have to fight the dragon to reach them. Great Wizard, what do you suggest?”

  “If we have to fight the dragon to reach the Pome villagers,” Alec mused, “we will have to use pyramids to drain it of energy. I would like to make better pyramids, but if we don’t have time, I can use my prototype pyramid and the spare parts to build two other pyramids to fight the dragon. They are in Freeland City, but I can establish a portal here and port home with the assistance of my apprentices. I should be able to get everything assembled in a day or less and return with the new pyramids.”

  “You return to Freeland City and make your new wizard pyramids. First, I am going to hold a proper departing ceremony for our fallen citizens. Then I will take Rand and the riders and follow the captured villagers. If we do not follow, the track will go stale, and we will never have a chance to free my people. I must try to save them from the horrid fate that the elves intend.”

  “What if the dragon attacks you before I return?”

  “I can sense the dragon and we can avoid it if it tries to attack us. It is injured and I sense that it will take several days before it recovers enough to fly. In these hills, we can evade it on the ground. Colin can come with me and su
pport me with dark energy. We can mentally communicate our positions.”

  Alec reached for Erin and stroked her face, cupping her chin in his hand. He knew that her mind was made up. Once she had picked a direction, she committed to it with a fierce determination, and this direction involved trying to free her people.

  “The elves surely will be expecting you to follow, so be wary. I will catch up with you as quickly as I can.”

  “Good journey, my Wizard,” she said softly.

  5 – The Gulch

  “Everyone ready?” asked Erin.

  “Yes, Princess. Our camp is dismantled, and our riders are ready to go this morning. I double-checked to make sure we left nothing behind. And, we let our visitors from Pome know about the carnage to their kinsmen. We told them that they were free to return to their homes inside the village walls; I think some wanted to go to the camp by the spring and collect belongings from the captured and the dead, and do a proper departing ceremony for those slain.”

  “Thank you, Rand. I know it must be hard on them,” Erin said. And hard on me, knowing that I failed my countrymen and their families.

  “I helped Alec pack his supply wagons before he left yesterday, so I know he took all of his things,” said Colin. “Too bad he took our cook back to Freeland City. A good breakfast would have tasted good this morning.”

  “Well, where we are going, we don’t need extra helpers, nice though it was to have them.”

  “Come along then, Princess Erin, and Prince Colin,” Rand said. “We will meet our scouts up ahead.”

  They rode through the low hills and woodlands; normally Erin would have delighted in the fall colors, but the gravity of their situation overshadowed the scenery. Rand rode back to them. “Princess, the scout indicates we have a decision to make.” They goaded their trogus and followed Rand. Soon they encountered the scout at the entrance to a narrow gorge.

  “We are closing in but still well behind them,” the scout said. “The elf band with our captives is slower than us – the Pome captives limit the elves’ pace. We should be able to catch them late today. The elves went through this gorge. It is a shortcut through the hills. The other path takes an extra quarter of a day to reach the other side of the hills.”

  “Where is the dragon?” Colin asked Erin.

  Erin sensed. “The dragon is still out of my range, but the dragon’s tracks follow behind the captives and into the gorge. It should be in the gorge, lagging behind the captives.”

  Rand interjected, “Princess, I do not like this gorge. It is too narrow for us to take advantage of our trogus. In some places, we may even have to dismount and walk. I would prefer to take the longer path.”

  “But the longer path is not the one that the captives took. If we go that way, we will not be following the captives,” said Colin.

  “That is true, Prince Colin, but we can take advantage of the extra speed of our trogus on the other path. We will reach the other end at almost the same time.”

  “Sis, we should follow our people. You can sense the dragon if it tries to do anything.”

  “Shouldn’t we at least wait for your consort to catch up?” asked Rand.

  “Any word from Alec?” Colin asked. “I thought he would have already caught up with us.”

  “I have been communicating with my Great Wizard. He has been delayed by a broken axle on one of the carts. It will be almost nightfall before his group reaches us.”

  Colin tired of the indecision. “Pick a route sis – you are in charge.”

  Erin pointed at the gorge and Colin spurred his trogus into the gorge. “Let’s go,” he called over his shoulder.

  Erin motioned to Rand to follow Colin into the gorge. The gorge quickly narrowed. In some places it was barely wide enough for them to pass in double file. It was easy to see where the dragon had traveled. Rocks were disturbed and marks were scratched into the soft rock walls on the narrow sides of the gorge. The occasional tree was broken to mark its passage, and torn underbrush abounded.

  After travelling several els through the gorge, Erin called a halt. “We are close enough that I can sense the dragon. She has stopped, probably at the end of the gorge. She’s waiting for something. We will wait for her to move on.”

  “I don’t like this spot,” said Rand. “It is a terrible spot for trogus, too narrow. The animals cannot maneuver. This would be a bad place to have to fight.”

  At that moment the trailing scout came riding up. “Lead Rand, some people have entered the gorge behind us. There are quite a few of them and they appear to be heavily armed.”

  Erin sensed. “They are at the very edge of my range, but I can feel there are several of them and they seem confident. I think they intended to trap us in the gorge, and we have sprung the trap,” said Erin.

  “This is not the place to fight. We need to either go forward or backward,” said Rand.

  “Forward is the dragon, and even weakened, we are ill-matched against her if we are pinned in the gorge. Let’s engage those behind us. We should be able to match up against them,” said Erin.

  Rand nodded in agreement and rode off to prepare the riders.

  “What is it?” asked Colin.

  “We walked into a trap,” Erin said, shaking her head in annoyance. “We are in this narrow gorge where our trogus are as much a liability as an asset. A force has entered the valley from behind to attack us, so we are going to take them on. I cannot tell for certain, but I suspect the trailing force is elves. We only have three elf rings with us: yours, mine, and Rand’s. All of the other riders with us will be vulnerable to the elves’ coercion.”

  ✽✽✽

  With some difficulty, the riders reversed their direction. Rand led them back down the gorge towards the following force while Erin sensed what she could discern about their situation.

  “The dragon is still stopped at the other end of the gorge. I don’t know if this band of elves is controlling her, or if they will call her to come back and attack us. However, if we attack the force behind us now, and best them, she would not arrive in time to be in the fight. The narrowness of the gorge would slow her, just as it is slowing us.” Erin paused, still sensing. “The force behind us is now spreading out in a defensive formation; they know we are coming to attack. The only way they would know that is if they have elf mothers sensing us!”

  “Sis, we can hide in those caves along the sides of the gorge. I can seal the doorway, and the elves won’t be able to get to us,” Colin said.

  Erin looked up over her head at several natural caves in the rock. “They aren’t big enough for all of us and our animals.”

  “No, but we can keep you and me and a few of the riders safe until your Consort could bring a large force to rescue us. The riders without rings are not going to be much help – they will be lost anyway.”

  “No. I will not sacrifice riders for my own safety.”

  “Mother says that sometimes you have to sacrifice riders for the greater good. You have to do what is best, and you are more important to Theland than a few riders,” responded Colin.

  “No. I will not selfishly sacrifice my riders just to save myself. And you. Besides, your idea is no good. If the dragon arrives, she could dig or burn us out. We cannot hide. We cannot run. We will fight.

  “You need to prepare to help me and provide dark energy to me. My Great Wizard is aware of our situation and is coming as rapidly as possible, but we will have to fight before he arrives.”

  Rand leaned forward. “We can attack and retreat. That will delay them until after your consort arrives with his force.”

  “No. He only has a small force, and he can’t sense the elves’ location as I can. We should attack now before they are fully ready.”

  “As you order, Princess.”

  The riders continued back down the path from whence they had just come. However, as they came close to the entry to the gorge, the first riders encountered a barricade of rocks across the path that made it impossible to pass
on a trogus. Five riders dismounted and climbed over the barricade. More riders moved on toward the barricade, signaling their positions to Erin and Rand by their battle whistles.

  “How did those rocks get there?” Colin said, staring down the gorge.

  “The elves,” Erin answered. “I can sense an elf mother in the woods beyond. She is twisting the lines, like the dragon did yesterday.” Erin dismounted. Using her elf ring, she reached out and started to twist back.

  “There’s a second mother!” she blurted. The second mother joined in and started to twist. “Help me,” she said to Colin.

  Colin dismounted and touched Erin. With his other hand he felt his medallion. Focus. His effect was weak. Focus! He tried to remember all Alec had taught him. Then, with much difficulty, Colin started to draw dark energy. He fed dark energy to Erin and she was able to increase her ability to twist the lines. The dark energy from Colin wasn’t as smooth-feeling as the energy she was accustomed to receiving from Alec and was significantly less energy than she was used to, but it was enough to twist the lines against the two mothers. Suddenly Erin felt a third mother join in the action. The elves were evenly matched against her and Colin.