Dragon Valley Trilogy Page 23

  He was most of the way across when he heard the noise. It was a creaking noise that he tried to tell himself was just part of standing on a rope bridge. The board beneath his feet seem solid enough. There was nothing to worry about. He took another step and the creak sounded louder. A second later he knew he was in trouble. The creaking was more of a twang and he grabbed for the thick rope that formed the handrail just as he felt the ropes beneath him snap.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  WATCH DRAGONS

  Rhonan clung to the wet rope with numb fingers, wondering how he was managing to hold on as the rope bridge broke in two. The half he was holding swung down into the chasm and threw him against the cliff with a thud that hurt his shoulder and made him cry out in pain.

  A second pain, this time around his waist, seemed odd as his fingers slipped from the rope. He knew he was going to fall and he grasped desperately for the rope. Snow had slipped from the edge of the cliff and it fell right in his face, blinding him. One last grab for the rope told him it was too late.

  It took a second for him to register that he wasn’t actually falling. He was going up!

  It wasn’t until his feet touched the solid rock next to his uncle that he realised what had happened. Tryx let him drop gently to the ground then she landed to nurse her injured wing.

  ‘Well, I guess we won’t be going back that way,’ Falh said, with a nervous laugh as he stood Rhonan up and checked him out. ‘Perhaps it is a bit more dangerous than we used to think.’

  ‘I think my arm is broken,’ Rhonan said, clutching his right arm close to his body as pain shot up it with every breath. Tryx was nudging at him with great concern but the clumsy dragonet was causing more damage than good. She kept knocking his arm and Rhonan had to back away twice before she understood.

  Falh undid his leather belt and clipped it into a loop with the silver dragon that formed the clasp. Then he put it over Rhonan’s neck and gently slipped the injured arm into the loop. ‘That’s about the best we can do for the moment. We can’t hang about here because that dragon will be back soon.’

  Rhonan nodded, trying not to let on just how much his arm was hurting. He looked back at the rope bridge and couldn’t suppress a shudder at what would have happened if Tryx hadn’t saved him. Falh was leading the way quickly over to a narrow pass that led between two of the mountain peaks. It was only just wide enough for them to pass through and Tryx was forced to pin her wings right back to squeeze through.

  ‘At least that big blue dragon won’t get in here,’ Dyahn said, trying to smile but she only managed a wobbly lopsided grin that didn’t last long.

  The pass through the peaks was steep and Rhonan was using all his concentration to keep a steady footing. With only one hand to balance with it was a lot harder than he would have imagined. The rocks weren’t just loose, they were covered in ice and a strong, freezing wind whistled along the pass. Just as they reached the top of the pass Rhonan was about to call a halt for a rest but he almost ran into Kheron who had stopped right in front of him.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Rhonan asked, leaning back on the sheer rock face and regretting it as it stretched his injured arm.

  ‘Look,’ Kheron said in a quiet, awe-struck voice.

  Rhonan turned slowly and looked past his elven cousin and almost forgot about his injured arm. The peak of the pass looked out over the other side of the mountains. Part of it was still shrouded in shadows as the sun worked its way up into the sky. Down at the base of the mountains were small hills and on those hills were dragons – hundreds of them. Most of them were blue but a couple were shades of green. He couldn’t see one single golden dragon.

  Tryx was staring at the dragons with very little excitement. If this was her home then she didn’t appear to recognise it. If anything Rhonan thought she looked a little angry.

  ‘I see some houses way down there too,’ Dyahn pointed out. ‘Do people live there, Uncle?’

  Falh shook his head. ‘I don’t know. I never noticed the houses before and it’s been a very long time since I’ve been here.’

  ‘Do we have to go all the way down the other side of this mountain?’ Kheron asked, not looking bothered by the prospect but glancing at Rhonan’s arm a little nervously. ‘Couldn’t she just fly down from here?’

  ‘We have to get past the lookout yet,’ Falh reminded them. ‘After that she could fly down if she wanted – but I doubt her wing will let her.’

  ‘Where is this lookout?’ Dyahn asked.

  ‘Just around the next bend,’ Falh replied a little hesitantly. ‘We didn’t often go past this point when we came up here.’

  Rhonan wasn’t comforted by the fact that his uncle looked very uneasy at the thought of going any further. Falh held one finger to his lips before he started walking again. Even Tryx followed silently after one last look over the landscape below.

  They had only gone a few paces around the corner when Falh called a halt. He looked concerned. ‘They’re all outside waiting for the warmth of the sun. They’re blocking the way we need to go. We have to go through their lair. There’s a cave just up ahead that will keep us out of their sight.’

  Rhonan was sure he wasn’t the only one to want to run back the way he had come. Nobody had said anything about going into the dragons’ lair.

  It was almost pitch black inside the cave and Rhonan wasn’t sure he wanted to go any further into it. He was hoping the cave was only a small one but his hopes were shattered when Falh drew a moonstone out of his pocket, lit it, and started walking deeper into the cave.

  ‘I don’t like caves,’ Dyahn said quietly with a slight shake in her voice.

  ‘It’s safer than being out there with the dragons,’ Kheron pointed out.

  A low grumble echoed around the cave and Rhonan was getting nervous when he realised it was Tryx. She didn’t seem happy to be here at all.

  ‘It’s okay Tryx we’re taking you home,’ Dyahn said, patting the golden dragon, who looked more green in the light from the moonstone.

  Home… miss home, Tryx said with a sigh.

  After only a few dozen paces they came around a corner and Rhonan stopped in shock. The cave opened up directly into the dragons’ lair about two metres from the ground.

  The first thing Rhonan noticed was that it was light enough to see. Light was coming in from somewhere other than Falh’s moonstone.

  ‘Why is it so light?’ Dyahn asked in a low whisper. She was standing behind Falh and peering cautiously down into the lair.

  Falh pointed up to the roof where masses of little blue lights looked like stars. There were so many that they lit up the lair with a soft blue light.

  ‘Glow worms,’ Falh told them quietly, but Rhonan wasn’t listening any more. He was looking around the lair with growing dismay. There might have been a dozen large blue dragons outside but there were just as many in here. They ranged in size from twice as big as Tryx, right up to the ones they had seen up on the plateau. The only comforting thing about being so close to them was the fact that the opening they were looking through would be too small for even the tiniest dragon to fit through.

  A slow moving river filled with chunks of ice wound its way through the lair and disappeared out through a small opening at the back end of the cave. Gems of all sizes were stacked in piles all over the lair, each with a dragon sitting on top. Rhonan stared at the black shiny rock that formed most of the walls of the lair. It reflected the light of the glow worms and something seemed so familiar about it.

  ‘Elf stone!’ Rhonan exclaimed a little too loudly and Falh drew them back out of sight for a few seconds.

  ‘Where?’ Falh asked, as he stepped back and looked at the piles of gems.

  ‘There,’ Rhonan whispered and pointed to the walls of the lair. They were made of black rock, glassy and smooth – the entire cave was made from elf stone.

  Nobody spoke - nobody knew what to say. Here was the elf stone that could save Shaldoh.

  ‘There’s enough there for e
very elf and thousands more,’ Falh said longingly

  ‘We have to help Shaldoh,’ Kheron whispered. ‘We need to get some and take it back to them.’

  ‘How?’ Dyahn asked with a shaky voice. Rhonan could understand her doubts, for even if they could get past all those dragons they would have to hammer out a chunk of elf stone and they had no tools to do so.

  ‘Look they’re all going outside,’ Falh pointed out. ‘We can go along this ledge while they’re not looking. There’s another cave just over there that takes us out the other side of the lair.’

  Rhonan looked at the ledge that was only wide enough for one person. It was at least two dozen steps and although it looked much more solid than a rope bridge Rhonan felt uneasy.

  Falh waited until the last of the dragons had left the lair and began to lead them along the ledge – but Tryx had other ideas. She stayed perched on the ledge and stared off out the front of the lair. She tipped her head sideways as if trying to remember something.

  Home, she said in an oddly distant voice. Home this way.

  With that the little golden dragon launched herself off the ledge and down into the lair.

  ‘Tryx! Come back!’ Rhonan hissed after her. ‘We need to go through the cave over there.’

  Home this way, Tryx insisted, and then paused to run a clawed foot through a pile of gems with a strange sigh of longing. Gems… She dropped the gems, looked straight out the entrance to the lair and started walking towards it.

  ‘What do we do?’ Kheron asked. ‘Do we follow her?’ The only reason they were sneaking through the dragon’s lair was to get Tryx home and she was going a different direction.

  ‘We follow her,’ Falh agreed. ‘And quickly. We have to stop her. Perhaps you should all stay here. I’ll go after her.’

  ‘If you go, then we all go,’ Kheron muttered defiantly and his father gave in with a quick shrug. There wasn’t time to argue about it. They had to slide down the side of the rock walls. Rhonan held his injured arm as close as possible to his chest but it still jarred painfully as his feet reached the floor of the lair. His ankle began to ache also but he ignored it. They had far more to worry about than a sore ankle or arm right now.

  They were up and running across the lair in a heartbeat and every step sent pain shooting through Rhonan’s arm but he refused to stay behind. They caught up with the little dragon just as she reached the entrance to the lair.

  Rhonan glanced around and sighed with relief that there weren’t any dragons in sight. The entrance opened out across the other side of the mountain and the sun was on the other side. The warmth-seeking dragons were nowhere to be seen.

  Home, Tryx muttered again. She began to pace up and down next to the sluggish river that ran into the lair. It ran past a rock face that was completely white and looked like a waterfall frozen in time.

  A low growl made the hairs on Rhonan’s neck stand up and this time he knew it wasn’t Tryx. The golden dragon was wading through the stream – taking no notice of anyone else. With his heart beating loudly, Rhonan dared a look behind him.

  Three dragons stood at the top of the entrance to the lair. They looked down on the group of humans with a mix of anger and impatience. Flames licked from their nostrils and angry red eyes glared at them. One of them nearly launched itself off the ledge at them but the largest one pulled him back.

  We watch – nothing more, the large blue dragon said with a hiss that said it would like to do far more.

  ‘What exactly are they going to watch?’ Kheron asked as all of them backed slowly away in the direction Tryx had gone. There seemed little chance of heading back through the lair and escaping that way.

  ‘Who cares, as long as they leave us alone,’ Dyahn answered, turning to splash her way through the stream.

  A larger dragon came flying over the top of the watching dragons. The large blue tried to call it back but it circled and then went to dive towards Tryx and her human companions.

  ‘Can we divert it with pet rocks again?’ Rhonan asked, knowing as he asked that there simply wasn’t time. The dragon was already committed to a dive and nothing could save them now. The other dragons, not wanting to be left out were also launching off their perch at great speed.

  ‘Look! Gems!’

  Rhonan turned to see Dyahn holding out the gem studded neck band that Tryx’s mother had given them. Most of the dragons stopped almost in mid-air, and hovered, staring at the glowing gems. Only one continued on, almost crashing right into them. It reached down long talons and grabbed at the tallest amongst them – Falh.

  Rhonan watched, horrified as the dragon swung away with his uncle dangling helplessly. The dragon, then seeing the gems, let the elf drop unceremoniously. The tall elf lay still, sprawled on the rocky, ice-covered entrance to the dragon’s lair. The dragon turned to join it’s fellow kin – advancing slowly towards Dyahn and the band of gems.

  ‘We have to get Father,’ Kheron said, ready to rush off to save his father.

  ‘We can’t help him just now,’ Rhonan pointed at the half-dozen dragons advancing on them. He looked over and saw his uncle move slightly. ‘He’s okay. We have other things to deal with for now.’

  Over here! Tryx urged her human friends. She looked longingly at the gem neckband but something else had her far more excited.

  They all backed over to her, with Dyahn still holding out the neckband to keep them from attacking. Rhonan realised with horror that Tryx had led them to a dead end. The small section of rock that was completely iced-over ended at the frozen waterfall. There was nowhere to go and the dragons were closing in.

  ‘Now what?’ Rhonan asked nobody in particular and wasn’t surprised when nobody answered.

  Tryx wasn’t taking any notice of the impending attack, she was staring at the icy wall. Rhonan wondered what could possibly be so interesting about ice and he stared, trying to work it out. He could see his own reflection in the ice, and that of Tryx too but apart from that it wasn’t terribly interesting. Then something caught his eye. Was it a glittering reflection of Tryx? No, there it was again. Something deep in the ice had moved.

  ‘Look at the ice,’ Kheron said. He too was staring at the ice. It looked to be melting before their eyes. A golden shape, much bigger than Tryx flashed past and Rhonan turned to see what it had been, but there was nothing that could have caused a reflection.

  Just then someone grabbed his good arm and pulled him back towards the ice. He struggled to keep his balance as he twisted, trying to see what was going on. Who was pulling him back? He wanted to grab hold of Dyahn, to keep her safe, but his only good arm was stretched behind him, being tugged on. Thankfully Kheron grabbed the little hunter just as he too seemed to be pulled backwards as well.

  Hurry! Gateway close soon! someone yelled from behind them. It was an odd, musical voice that confused Rhonan even more. His feet slipped from under him and he felt himself drawn back. He cringed, expecting to hit the rock wall but after a brief cold sensation he landed heavily on his back on something soft.

  He lay, clutching his arm as he stared up at what clearly could not be happening. He could see a large rock archway and through it were the huge blue dragons. They were hissing flame and one charged towards the water but stopped short. In the background, Falh was slowly sitting up and looking around for the rest of his party.

  ‘Close it quickly, Klel,’ another voice urged. ‘We’ll be in big trouble if it gets through.’

  ‘Wait – my father is still there!’ Kheron shouted.

  Rhonan struggled to his feet and limped a little as his ankle gave way under his weight. His sister, Kheron and Tryx were next to him. But where were they? They were standing on the soft grass of a hillside, beneath a sky so blue it didn’t look real. Kheron was busy trying to break free from the firm hold of a young blond-haired boy about the same age as them. He was reaching out towards where they had come from and yelling to his father.

  Rhonan took his right arm out of the makeshift sling. Pain s
tabbed through his arm and shot up to his shoulder but he ignored it and took a stone and chalk from his pocket. What they needed here was a diversion and he knew exactly what to do.

  After a quick look to ensure the picture had not been scuffed in his pocket he flipped it over and re-joined the line that had been rubbed out back in the forest. He was hoping that the blue dragon that Kheron had drawn back in the forest would be enough to frighten off the attacking dragons.

  On the other side of the archway a dragon made another dash towards them and this time the blue head of the angry dragon came through the water. It glared around, then hissed flames at them all. Rhonan’s dragon illusion sprang into being and hissed flame back at the real blue dragon. It hesitated for a second then turned its glare onto Rhonan. Rhonan stepped backwards and fell heavily, clutching in agony at his arm. The blue dragon advanced and then swung to Kheron and made to dive towards him.

  ‘Go away!’ Dyahn shouted and threw the neckband directly at the real blue dragon’s head. The neckband missed and went right through the waterfall and to the other side. The blue dragon twisted back to get the neckband. He withdrew from the gateway completely as he picked it up to examine it with glee. Then the dragon made to push through the water again but slammed straight into the rock face instead. It drew back, looking stunned and proceeded to slam itself into the rock over and over with no success.

  Rhonan watched as Falh struggled to his feet and hurried off into a large bush to one side of the lair entrance. He was looking around, confused, and vanished out of sight a second later.

  Gate shut.

  It was said with such a sigh that Rhonan looked to see who had said it. A golden dragon, larger than Tryx – but smaller than her mother had been – stood next to the blond-haired boy.

  ‘But they have a neckband, Klel!’ the blond-haired boy said in a worried tone, staring through the waterfall and taking no notice of the new arrivals. ‘Whose neckband is it?’

  Get it later. Do not worry, Toby, the golden dragon said gently and turned the boy away from the waterfall. Tryx home.