Amáne of Teravinea - The Chosen One (The Teravinea Series Book 1) (9 page)

I found myself hovering over a beach where I knew I had been before, but couldn’t remember when. The white pebbles below softly glowed in the weak light. A cave opened before me and I caught a glimpse inside. I saw a dragon, which for some reason didn’t surprise me. She was very still. There was a smaller shape to her right, partially under her, and laying in a pool of blood. I looked more closely and found something familiar about those two figures, but I couldn’t bring to mind what it might be.

Feeling a presence behind me, I turned around to find my mother. She smiled at me, and it warmed my heart to see her again. We both turned to observe the scene in the cave. The dragon stirred, and although quite tangled in her wings, she managed to turn her head and nudge the shape next to her. There was no response from the small figure. Then the dragon lifted her head and the most mournful sound came out of her — a sound I had heard once before.

Over her keening I could hear my mother’s soothing voice, “Your dragon needs you Amáne. It’s your decision, but I would
counsel you to go. I long for you stay, but I don’t believe it is your time, yet. Listen to her, Amáne. Go to her.”

I faced my mother, yearning to remain with her, but my attention shifted to the dragon in the cave, and I realized I knew her. It was Eshshah, and she needed me. My decision made, I bid my mother farewell and then turned back toward the cave. Like a flash of lighting I found myself lying on my back in searing pain, next to Eshshah. There wasn’t one part of my body that was not in agony as I shook from the cold, the shock and the pain.

“My head,” I groaned, reaching my free hand to the mat of hair at the base of my neck. It was wet and sticky. My hand came away bloody.

“Eshshah?” I moaned.

Trying hard to focus, I could just make out Eshshah’s golden eyes staring at me in anguish. She moved her muzzle toward me and breathed her healing warmth on my aching head to relieve my pain and begin my healing. Her warm breath was not enough to raise my body temperature — my tremors continued. I doubted I would ever be warm again.

“Eshshah, are you all right?” My voice quaked, barely a whisper.

Not answering my question, she said in alarm, “Amáne, I didn’t hear your heart.”

In truth, she was probably right, because there had only been one other time that I’d spoken with my mother after she joined her ancestors. It was on that same beach in the shadows. I must have been dead, or near dead, to have met with her on the other side. Eshshah had called me back — again. I feared had I not returned to Eshshah, it would probably have meant the end of her life as well. Shaking off that disturbing thought, I replaced it with another, “I can’t feel my legs.”

“They’re pinned under me,” Eshshah said. “I can’t move off without fear of crushing you. You’re tangled too closely in the straps.”

I found myself restrained in an unnatural position. After tumbling into the cavern, I ended up on my back on Eshshah’s right side, feet toward her tail. My left arm was painfully stretched across the front of my body by the leather straps that made up my harness. Blood dripped down my arm and onto my chest from the laceration on my wrist. Moments ago these straps had saved me from being tossed into the sea. Now they held me bound to Eshshah.

My pack was trapped under me, adding to my pain — though fortune was with us it had not been lost to the Valaira. Groaning, I inched my free hand behind my back, slowly willing it toward the opening of my satchel until my fingertips felt the haft of my dagger. With stubborn persistence I managed to extract my blade. I brought it around and sawed at the straps that held my left wrist. Concentrating on cutting the leather, I suffered through the added pain. The taut leather strap popped free. I squeezed my eyes shut, gritted my teeth and moaned, cradling my wrist to my chest.

“Ugh, that’s going to leave a scar.” I grumbled, trying to make light of my agony.

Eshshah turned her healing warm breath on the carnage that was my wrist. It became instantly bearable — on its way to healing. Remarkably, it was not broken. Finally, I had loosened myself enough to shift my body so Eshshah could free my legs. I eased up slowly to a sitting position using her leg to support me. After a few moments waiting for my head to stop spinning, I pulled myself painfully to my feet — careful to not slip on my blood that pooled on the floor.

My first concern was her wings, as I noted their unnatural angles. She rolled to her four legs and carefully opened them, testing for damage. I helped her search for rips as she stretched them out one at a time. She breathed her healing power to mend the few we found. Satisfied, she folded them properly. After such a violent crash, I was thankful she had escaped relatively unharmed. Still shivering, but aware we were at last out of danger, I threw my arms around her neck and hugged her tightly. My tears flowed as I gave in to my emotions.

The wind still howled inside the cave, creating spirals of dust and leaves that twisted around us. The deafening roar added to my aching head.

“Let’s see what kind of place we’ve been cast into,” Eshshah said. “I need to get you warmed up before you break all your teeth with your chattering. Maybe there’s somewhere I can start a fire — your lips are blue.”

“Where are we?” I stammered. “Eshshah, this isn’t a natural cave. It looks like it was man-made — or at least humanly expanded upon. We’ve landed in some kind of entrance cavern. But entrance to what?”

Although dusty and uninhabited, I could see it had once been a magnificent entrance. The path we had cleared as we slid in the dust on our terrifying arrival revealed polished stone inlays of intricate designs. I knew of nothing like this in Dorsal.

Eshshah put her nose in the air and sniffed. “Dragon — but it’s an old scent. There’s been none of my kind here for a long time. This may have been a dragon and rider outpost to guard the outer reaches of Teravinea. My ancient memories recall such places.”

One wall was occupied by a large fireplace, but the wind was too savage to even attempt a fire. Set into the back wall was
a massive wooden door made from an unusual type of wood. I didn’t recognize it as any I’d seen in Dorsal. It was ornately decorated with carvings — pastoral scenes of a castle I assumed was Castle Teravinea, and its surrounding hillsides and vineyards. There were dragons and riders flying above the castle. It was a beautiful work of art that I would have liked to enjoy more. It would have to wait for a later time. At that moment, I needed relief from the sound of the angry wind — and to find a place where Eshshah could start a fire. My tremors didn’t let up.

With Eshshah’s help, I drug myself to the back of the cavern until we were in front of the door. Not sure about how to open it, I pushed experimentally in the middle. To our astonishment the door split in two and slid open silently in both directions, each half disappearing into the wall. It led into an immense corridor that extended left and right. The left passage dead-ended with a similarly carved door, several paces from where we stood. There were three other carved doors, one directly across the passageway from us, and the other two to the right. The corridor then led a little further and angled to an unknown end.

Moving into the main corridor, I turned and touched the edge of the door we had just entered. It shut silently behind us, at last bringing quiet relief from the fury of the Valaira. I turned to Eshshah and breathed a sigh of relief.

The passageway was lit by natural light from an opening high up in the ceiling. Protected from the elements, the intricate stonework beneath our feet and the tapestries on the walls were beautifully preserved. More art that I couldn’t wait to appreciate — later. Pain still wracked my body. I was too disoriented to even focus on my surroundings.

We felt no sense of danger in this place, but instead a calmness permeated. I was awestruck by the thought it had been a
residence of dragons and riders. Dragon lore songs echoed in my mind and I wondered if I knew the names of any that had walked these same floors.

Eshshah and I decided to first try the door at the end of the corridor to our left. I applied light pressure, and like the previous one, it split and slid easily into the walls on either side. My jaw dropped at the sight of the room that opened before us. What we saw beyond this door was my idea of paradise at that moment. It was an impressively large cavern with tile mosaics covering the rock walls and a polished rock floor. But that was not what made me catch my breath. Directly in front of us were pools of steaming water. Underground hot springs fed into two bathing pools. There was a low waterfall pouring into the smaller one, which was raised with steps leading up to it. This smaller bath then overflowed into the larger bathing pool, which then emptied through an opening at the back of the chamber, then on into the sea.

I threw my pack down, then released Eshshah from the leather harness. Without further hesitation, I walked up the steps to the smaller pool, tested the water — which was perfectly hot — then stepped in, bloody clothes and all. There were no words to describe my bliss. I lowered my numbed body slowly into the steamy water, ignoring the sharp sting in my fingers and toes. Eshshah, pleased her rider would finally be warm, moved to her pool. With an audible sigh of relief, she let herself relax in the warmth of the hot springs.

“This has to be what it feels like to truly rest with my ancestors on the other side,” I sighed.

“Don’t say that, Amáne,” Eshshah responded.

“Sorry.”

I slipped out of my clothes while I soaked, and scrubbed them until they were as clean as I could get them. The blood stains would probably never wash out completely. I threw them over the edge of the pool and exhaled out all the terror we had experienced, as I sank back into the deliciously hot water.

After all my fears had soaked away, and Eshshah gave me another healing treatment, we emerged from the bathing cavern. Feeling refreshed, we began to explore our newfound palace, which was what it seemed like to me. I’d never been in any place so extravagant. Since we were the only dragon and rider in all of Teravinea, I felt like it belonged to us — there was no other way to enter, but by dragon.

The other three doors outside the bathing cavern opened to sleeping chambers. In the first chamber, there was a large fourposter bed with a canopy and heavy brocade curtains in a deep red color. They draped over a feather mattress, raised up on a dais. I sat on the bed experimentally and sighed at how comfortable it felt. I should have had no problem laying back and letting sleep take me right then. But my excitement would never have allowed it. A short distance from the bed was a large hollowed-out indentation in the floor, perfect for Eshshah. Dragons are quite comfortable sleeping on a stone floor.

All the furnishings had dust covers, and upon their removal we found a large ornately carved chest, a matching wardrobe, and a small table with two chairs that occupied the corner. The furniture style and craftsmanship were completely new to me. Running my hand over the smooth surface of the table, I marveled at the beauty of the wood as well as the intricacies of the carvings. I wondered if they had been purchased and flown here by dragon from some exotic land, or if possibly the dragon riders who occupied this outpost had used their spare time in making their surroundings more beautiful. The work was certainly done by capable artisans.

Upon opening the wardrobe, I found it stocked with clothing — all men’s, since all but two other dragon riders were men. I removed the smallest tunic and some leggings that I decided I would wash later and try on. As large as they still would be on me, they certainly made much better riding attire than my skirts and gowns. Once we got back to Dorsal, I could alter them to fit me better.

The other sleeping chambers were outfitted with similarly beautiful furniture. One was a bit larger and contained three smaller four-poster beds complete with the same ornate canopies and curtains as in the first chamber, except these were dyed a deep green. There were also three indentations for the dragons that would have occupied this cavern. The last sleeping chamber was done in a dark brown and had two large beds and hollows for two dragons. The outpost could accommodate at least six dragons and their riders — probably more if they made use of the entry cavern.

We made our way to the other end of the corridor finding a kitchen on the right that was fit for a manor. Long wooden tables for preparing meals were positioned around the room. A basin carved out of the rock gurgled with water redirected from a spring. Beside
this, a larder for storing food. The brick stove took up the wall to our right. Three arches opened under it for the wood fire to blaze. A fireplace with a spit was on the far wall, as well as a stone oven, and quite a supply of pots, pans and cooking utensils. The kitchen itself was not that large, but had everything needed to cook for one dragon rider or ten.

Across the corridor from the kitchen was the dining cavern. It held a large long table with benches on either side. Along the walls were cupboards with bowls, dishes and tankards, spoons and knives. The walls were decorated with hanging tapestries depicting scenes from old Teravinea. So much beautiful artisan work that I couldn’t wait to examine more closely.