2,320 Years Ago
Jha’dor flew low and fast, his wings growing tired as he searched for a place to land.
They had long ago left the Nesh mountain range, and were now coming up to the westernmost of the giant lakes, Zektak. The thing was huge, rivaling a small sea than an actual lake. It stretched for miles before breaking off into two large rivers that led into one of the other two lakes that surrounded the Aras Mountains and the Arcosian Palace.
Jha’dor shuddered at the thought of being so near that place, but he knew he had no choice but to go this way. The large lake had come into view much faster than he had expected, and he wondered if they could reach the edge of the kingdom by tomorrow night if they kept up the same pace.
Turning his attention below, he found a little spot of land beside the lake that looked like a good place to hide. Going down in a slow spiral, he made his way with Gaylun still between his claws and Laurel hopefully still clutching a spike on his back. He had felt no change in pressure on his back, so hopefully Laurel had hung on through their impromptu flight. When he was close to landing, he stuck out his back legs and flapped his wings even harder.
“This looks like a good place to land,” Gaylun said, repeating Jha’dor’s thought.
This is going to be tricky, he thought, his muscles straining from the pressure. How was he supposed to land without crushing Gaylun? He floated in the air, each beat of his wings threatening to pull muscles and tear sinew. I have to drop him, he realized. My body can’t take the strain of carrying two people, and I don’t have the experience to land while carrying someone.
“Jha’dor, what are you waiting for?” Gaylun asked, his voice sounding slightly nervous.
Without waiting another second, he dropped Gaylun the remaining fifteen feet to the ground. Gaylun screamed as he fell, and Jha’dor heard a soft thump from the sound he made as he landed on the tall grass. There was a loud cry from his back, and he could feel Laurel trying to climb down.
Stupid girl, she could hurt herself too if she wasn’t careful.
Lowering himself again, he landed before she completely let go of him. Once on the ground, she screamed again and raced to where Gaylun had fallen, his moans echoing over the tall grass.
Jha’dor shifted back to his human form and watched from a distance as Laurel lowered herself and began tending to her brother.
“Any new wounds?” Jha’dor asked, and he wondered casually if it was worth keeping the two around.
“I’m fine,” Gaylun cried out. “But it would be nice if you didn’t drop me from so high up.”
Jha’dor ignored his comment and gazed up at the sun. While he had flown long, it had only been a hour or so and there was still plenty of daylight left to use. Touching the crystal that was embedded in his chest, he was amazed that he only partly felt the shifters curse. Compared to when he had spent those days flying after first gaining the gift, he barely felt ill at all and could fly for many hours more if needed.
Although, if I am being fair, I had only shifted for few hours and not an entire day and night, he noted to himself. It was a difference to keep in mind, but valuable nonetheless. It was good to know his limits and how long he could stay shifted as a dragon before needing to change back to avoid the Curse.
There was a moan from Gaylun and he turned to see Laurel helping her brother walk through the grass toward him. The boy’s face was a mess of dried blood and bruises, and his nose looked like it was broken. Laurel wasn’t better off either. Her face was blotchy and her eyes were red and swollen. Had she been crying during the whole flight?
“Is there anything you can do for him, my Lord?” Laurel asked in a ragged, almost pleading, voice.
Jha’dor looked over the boy and shook his head. “There is nothing that I can do for him.”
“But you have power,” Laurel said more urgently. “You can change your shape into the mighty dragon, and though you haven’t shown us openly, I have seen the crystal in your chest marking you as one of the chosen Drahli. Can you not—”
“Laurel, quiet,” Gaylun hissed at her, sounding like someone was plugging his nose. “It is not our place to question…his powers.”
Jha’dor raised an eyebrow and wondered what it had been that Gaylun was about say when he hesitated. And how very observant of Laurel. She must’ve noticed the crystal the first time we met. Not that it’s that hard to notice. But it does show how much of their education they received before their parents lost their place in the royal ranks. I wonder how much more she knows about the ceremony and the different orders?
These were questions for another time and place. Looking at the badly beat up Gaylun again, Jha’dor said, “No. I cannot heal you. Not from a lack of power, but from a lack of knowledge. I am still new to these powers and have not bothered to properly train myself with them.”
Gaylun nodded his acceptance of these words, as did Laurel, but there was a greater sense of sadness from her that surprised Jha’dor. The way she frowned reminded him of Olinar and of those times when he would show disappointment towards Jha’dor, and part of him hated to see her sad.
“But I promise I will look into the matter. If I cannot find anything in my book then when we reach our destination I will find a healer that can help,” Jha’dor said, hoping his words would encourage Laurel.
“Thank you, Lord,” Gaylun said with a bow.
Laurel bowed slightly too, and although her face was still sad, her eyes were filled with the same hope he had seen during their first encounter.
“But I cannot do that here,” Jha’dor continued. “We still have many miles to go. Once we have accessed your condition, Gaylun, then we will continue onward.”
There was a fallen log nearby that he instructed Gaylun to sit on, and he had Laurel wet a cloth from the lake. Uncle Claudus had taught him a little in the healing arts, but that had only been for cuts and scrapes. This was something more.
When Laurel returned with the wet rag, Jha’dor took it from her and then began roughly cleaning Gaylun’s face.
“Ow, that hurts,” he complained, pushing Jha’dor’s hand away.
“You have to be washed if we are to see how badly you have been hurt,” Jha’dor said. “Your blood has dried around your face and any wounds you might have and I cannot determine how badly you have been hurt without cleaning.”
Gaylun looked at him with the one eye that hadn’t swollen shut, and he licked his cracked lips nervously. “Alright. If its going to hurt then just get it over with quickly.”
Without waiting another second, Jha’dor pressed the cloth to Gaylun’s face and began again to clean him.
Gaylun went pale and screamed as Jha’dor pressed the rag against his skin, and for a moment Jha’dor thought the boy was going to pass out. In an instant, Laurel was there by her brother’s side as she held him steady from behind. Gaylun reached for her hand and squeezed it tightly as he took deep steading breaths. Jha’dor continued, and again screams rent the air through the forest.
Within a few minutes, Jha’dor had Gaylun’s face cleaned up. The rest of him was more bruised than anything else so there was little to worry about there. But his face… Gaylun’s face had swollen even more than it had before. Laurel stayed by her brother’s side but her face was grim as she looked over him.
“Is there anything you have that can help the swelling?” she asked gently.
“I don’t. As I said before, his best bet is to take him where we are going to be cared for by a proper healer. If there is one even there.” Jha’dor stood to leave them alone for a moment, but was stopped when Laurel caught him with an outstretched hand.
“Thank you,” she said softly. “We would not be here if it were not for you.”
“Of course it is because of me that you are here. Had we not met you would be back in the forest where we first met,” Jha’dor said, exasperated.
“That is not what I meant,” she said quickly. “I mean that you saved us. You have provided food and shelter when it would have been easier to kill us and leave us for dead. We were on the edge of starving as it was when you found us, but because of you we live.”
Jha’dor paused. Well, that wasn’t what he had been expecting. “He may still die,” he said.
“And if he dies, he dies,” she said simply. “Because of you, I have had a few more days with him than if we hadn’t found and joined you. But I do not think a broken nose and some bruises will be the end of him.”
“Hm, we will see.” Jha’dor looked to the sky and saw clouds gathering distantly in the West. “If we are to leave we will need to do so soon. Any storm that besets us will make it nearly impossible for me to fly.”
“Do you plan on hunting for breakfast?” she asked, glancing at the clouds too.
“No. We need to go now if we are to beat the storm that is headed our way. I will hunt tonight or tomorrow morning, but we must go if we are to gain any more ground this day.”
Laurel nodded in understanding and so did Gaylun, wincing as he did so. “Am I to ride in your claws again?” Gaylun asked.
“No. If you can climb onto my back this time you should both have a better ride.”
Gaylun thought about the idea for a moment before nodding his head slowly. “I think I can try.”
“Then let us hurry. That storm looks to be moving fast,” Jha’dor said. Moving away from them both, he turned back into a dragon and breathed a small tuft of fire in excitement for the long flight.
Bending low he waited as Laurel guided Gaylun onto his back. Jha’dor kneaded the ground with his claws and wished he could give pointers for those times when Laurel gave him bad instructions, or when Gaylun couldn’t properly see where to put his foot next. As much as he loved being a dragon it was infuriating at times the limited communication he had available to him.
Once Gaylun was seated firmly on Jha’dor’s back, Laurel made her way up more gracefully than her brother and was seated in front of him within a minute.
“Hold onto me,” she told Gaylun. “Since you aren’t at your best, I’ll be the one to hold us here to Jha’dor’s back and you can hold onto me for support.” Jha’dor watched until Laurel gave him a nod. “We’re all set for you to fly my Lord.”
Facing north, Jha’dor took in a deep breath before unfolding his wings and running forward. With a few flaps of his great wings, they were in the air, and with a few more strained beats he was able to get them above the trees. To the east was clear blue skies, and to the west dark clouds were gathering and on the air Jha’dor could taste the tang of what he could only describe as electrically charged air.
Well he wasn’t wrong about the coming storm. If he didn’t hurry then he soon wouldn’t be flying for a good part of the day. He flew across Zektak in a northernly direction, and wouldn’t worry about heading northwest until he came to the Kuthala Mountains. He didn’t like that going westward would take him closer to the storm, assuming he could stay ahead of it, but based on Claudus’s letter the place they were searching for was somewhere near the desert and the two borders of the kingdoms. Sure he could’ve flown straight west into the storm, but he would’ve had to back track later once the storm had passed and he wasn’t too keen on spending more time out in the open.
The less chances I give my father’s scouts to find me the better, he thought.
But did it even matter? It had been almost a full week since he had left Vengluth and he hadn’t seen a single scout. That worried him. Either his father was playing some kind of mind game with him, or… well, he didn’t really have another explanation why his father wouldn’t send out scouts to find him. And what about the Arcosia? Nauvin, Klen’tar, and Mëthuse? He had broken divine law, surely they would’ve come after him as well.
None of this is making any sense. I have at least two different parties who should be after me and yet I have seen nothing to indicate they are.
There weren’t many Drahl shifters in his father’s employ, so that didn’t come as too much of a shock he hadn’t seen any of them. But the Arcosia? The very chosen of the gods? Something wasn’t lining up and he needed answers.
The end of the great lake came into view, and Jha’dor was about to turn westward when he felt thumping on his back, followed by shouting that he couldn’t make over the wind. Slowing down his speed, he craned his head around to see what the problem was with his passengers. Both Laurel and Gaylun were there, but they were frantically pointing and shouting at something far behind. Looking more closely in that direction, Jha’dor saw two dragons flying his way.
By Drahlros’s light, he cursed to himself, they found me.
The two dragons were too far away to really discern who they were, but Jha’dor had no doubt that they were after him. Regular dragons were solitary beasts and were dwindling in numbers to the point that they were becoming rarer to find. No, the real question was whether they were from his father, or if they had come from the Arcosia. He growled in acknowledgement to Laurel and Gaylun, and faced forward again.
Now the choice. He either stop and get Laurel and Gaylun to safety, or he could keep flying and hope to stay ahead of his foes.
He glanced back at the dragons chasing him, and grinned.
No. He wasn’t going to drop them off. He didn’t want to place them in danger alone, and they were honestly going to be in just as much danger with or without him. But this chase… this was his chance to really see what he could do.
Taking a deep breath, he roared his defiance to the sky and turned onto his chosen path heading north.
…
Jha’dor regretted his decision. After thirty minutes of flying he was struggling to keep up the pace, and the two dragons continued to gain on him over Zektak Lake. They were still a considerable distance away from him, but with each passing minute, Jha’dor would glance back to see they were growing ever closer.
Both Laurel and Gaylun continued to pound his back, shouting at him to stop or to lower them to the ground. But he ignored them. That time had passed and if he stopped to drop them off now, they would all surely be captured or killed if he did. Not to mention they were over the middle of a lake so large it could almost be its own sea. No, he would not drop them off in the middle of Zektak just to be unable to find them again.
The wind from the storm caught up with them and began blowing him sideways more, slowing his progress.
Why do I do this to myself. First it was with letting Olinar give his dying wish to me. Then it was letting these children be my companions, and now I let myself get caught in this predicament. He was losing ground. Soon the other Drahl dragons would be upon him and he would have to fight. But what would he do about Laurel and Gaylun? They wouldn’t be able to stay on his back during the fight, and if they got caught in the storm they’d have just as hard of time staying on too.
I’ve doomed us all, he thought miserably.
Again the thought crossed his mind that if he just killed Gaylun and Laurel his life could be so much simpler. But this time the thought seemed more distant, like a fleeting notion rather than an actual consideration. No. He had already given his word, it didn’t make sense to go back on his promise now. He would not allow himself to think like that again. Gritting his teeth, Jha’dor put on another burst of speed, hoping to gain some ground in this chase.
Within a few more minutes, he saw the northern shore of the lake and hope seemed to kindle within. The storm was not far from where he was, but if he could get close enough to the shore, he could drop Gaylun and Laurel into the water close enough to swim to land, which would free him up to battle with his fellow Drahl shifters.
Grinning, Jha’dor let loose a bellowing roar to the wind and pressed himself harder to fly faster to the shore.
When he was less than a mile away from the lake’s sandy beach he glanced back to see how far his pursuers were. One of the dragons, with scales of a copperish hue, was closer to him and not very far away. At least a hundred feet away. The second dragon was further back still, shining with a greenish glint in the light.
He didn’t recognize either of them, not that it mattered. He new that he only had a few seconds to do something with Laurel and Gaylun before turning and facing the Drahl warriors.
He flew for a few more seconds before dropping down low to the water and slowing down just a bit. With a twist, he folded his wings spiraled over the water, feeling both of his passengers fall off his back. Spreading his wings again he craned his neck and saw that both Laurel and Gaylun were swimming in the water. Jha’dor also saw the copper Drahl was nearly on top of him, and that he was nearly twice their size.
If only he wasn’t facing the wrong direction. If the copper got on his back they’d have an advantage over him and he’d be in trouble when the green showed up. Size meant nothing in the air. No. If he wanted a chance at winning this fight, he would need to even out the odds in some way.
But he didn’t have time to think of one. Within a matter of seconds, the copper shifter crashed into him and Jha’dor roared in pain as both tooth and claw sunk into his scaley hide around his back and the base of his neck. Reaching his head back to his pursuer, he bit down on the copper’s left wing and the acrid taste of iron hit his tongue.
Now it was the copper’s turn to scream as they released his back and neck. Anger swelled in Jha’dor and instead of releasing the copper from his jaw, he shook his head violently. The copper screeched in agony as part of its wing was torn away by Jha’dor serrated teeth.
In a sudden crash of water, Jha’dor found himself now swimming in Zektak Lake. Pushing away the wounded warrior, he swam to the surface and took in a gasp of breath with his great lungs, only to be plunged into the water again as something large and heavy slammed into his head.
The green one, he thought, frantically trying to get this second predator off of him.
He couldn’t see through the churning water where this new opponent was, but the tight grip around his head and neck told him enough of where they could be found. Curling his body, Jha’dor was able to wrap his limbs around his foe. Without stopping to consider what he was doing, he began thrashing, kicking and clawing to get his attacker off of him.
Because he of his movement, the water continued to churn and he still couldn’t see anything except the light of day up above, and the green Drahl’s grip on him tightened more, refusing to let go.
Fine then, Jha’dor thought savagely. Two can play this game.
Reaching with his own clawed hands, he searched out the green’s neck. He found it when his back landed on the soft sandy bottom of the lake. Panic began to swell within Jha’dor from the lack of air and he bound both of his hands around his assailants throat. Filled with terror, Jha’dor now only wanted to reach the surface as soon as possible before his lungs gave out on him, and so he squeezed. He squeezed with everything he had while at the same time he kicked and clawed with his legs. The water had cleared enough around his head that Jha’dor could see the green dragon’s face twisted in a silent snarl at him as the water slowly turned red with blood around them. With his refusal to let go, Jha’dor became desperate and did the only thing left he could think of. He dug his taloned fingers into the green warrior’s neck and squeezed with all his might.
In an instant, he felt something snap under his fingers, the warrior looked stunned for a second and then and the grip the green had on his snout loosened. Pushing the limp form away from him, Jha’dor swam as hard as he could for the surface. Each second was agony as his body began to buck and twitch from the desire to draw in a breath of air. When he finally reached the surface, he spluttered and spat out gobs of water and tried to fill his lungs with the life giving air.
When he had recovered enough from his panic at possibly drowning, he looked around for the copper Drahl. But the copper could not be found anywhere, and the waves were beginning to get bigger from the approaching storms winds. Worry for Laurel and Gaylun filled him, and he wondered if the two were alright.
They would’ve had to swim around all the fighting if they had caught up to us, and that’s assuming they are still able to swim in this mess. I need to get in the air again so I can see them.
But that would be tricky. Flying in stormy winds was never advisable to any Drahl shifter, and Jha’dor wasn’t keen on pushing through the constant gale. But how else was he supposed to find them?
Growling in frustration, Jha’dor began swimming towards land. It wasn’t a long swim, and he was soon walking on all fours again. Doing a quick assessment, he found that he had a few lacerations along his back and in the leathery folds of his wings that had been given him by the copper, but nothing else that could keep him from functioning. Looking out over the lake, Jha’dor still couldn’t see his two companions over the growing waves. Hoping the water hadn’t claimed them yet, Jha’dor spread his wings and bounded into the sky.
Fortunately, he didn’t have to fly high to spot Laurel and Gaylun. Down below they were swimming in water that was now tainted red with blood, and behind them drawing ever closer was a woman with long brown hair.
That must be the copper I fought. She must’ve changed back to a human to avoid the pain I caused her wing.
The warrior had nearly reached Gaylun since he appeared to be the slower swimmer, and she had pulled out a long knife that glinted menacingly in the sunlight.
No! Jha’dor thought savagely. I will not let you harm them.
Going into a steep dive, Jha’dor opened his mouth and roared at the woman. She froze in her pursuit and gazed up at him in horror. He caught a final glint of steel before closing his eyes and slamming his head into her as he plunged head first back into the lake.
Spreading his wings in the water, he used them to help propel himself back up to the surface. He could see Laurel and Gaylun from below so he angled himself to come up out of the water right beside them.
Both of them screamed in terror at his arrival and Jha’dor gave them a toothy grin.
“Is that you, Jha’dor?” Laurel asked, her eyes wide with fright.
He nodded his head in the affirmative, and then gestured for them to climb on.
“You want us to get back on?” Laurel said tentatively, clearly unsure if she understood him correctly.
He nodded again, and both Laurel and Gaylun swam over.
“My Lord, you’re hurt,” Laurel cried out to him.
He merely nodded. He knew that, and he also knew that he would need time to heal before they could fly off again once more.
“Are you sure you want us holding onto you?” Gaylun asked over the wind. “We don’t want to hurt you.”
Jha’dor nodded again, and he gave a low grumble that reverberated strangely in the water.
Clearly sensing his anger, both Laurel and Gaylun found a place to hold him. Once he was sure they had a good grip, Jha’dor used his powerfully built body to propel himself forward to shore and cutting through the ever-growing waves as the wind blew stronger from the west.
There will be no more flying today, Jha’dor thought again as the excitement left his body. And I cannot change back into my dragon form for some time until I have sufficiently healed enough to do so.
Frowning and wincing in pain, Jha’dor made his way back to shore with his two charges.