Dragon Tears (14 page)

“He’s right,” Redwing said. “That has to be what he’s waiting for.”

“What should we give him? What could he possibly want?” Allard asked.

“The gemstones,” Larkin said. “Dragons give gemstones to each other.”

The wizard dug into his robes and pulled out the small leather pouch that held the precious stones. He dumped them into his palm and looked at the dragons for advice.

“The sapphires would be best. Blue gems for blue dragons,” Larkin whispered.

Wizard Allard nodded, and holding his hand out in front of him walked slowly toward the waiting dragon. “Honored sir, please accept this small token of our gratitude for your kind assistance.”

The aged dragon lowered his head and sniffed at the wizard’s palm. His eyes flushed pink and whirled with pleasure as he curled back his lip. Using his front teeth, he picked the stones from the wizard’s hand. Then, without another word, the older dragon slowly backed into the sea and disappeared beneath the waves.

“We will guide you to the Floating Isles,” said the water dragon leader. “Our hunters will fish for your food, and lead you to fresh water currents. We will stay with you until you find the Guides. Abbiene will be your guide by day, and at night you will rest on the isles.”

The dragon leader lowered his head, waiting, but this time the group knew what to do. Wizard Allard placed three more sapphires in front of the dragon, and watched as the dragon picked them up with his teeth. Satisfied, the dragons’ leader backed into the water while a younger dragon approached the group.

“Hi, I’m Abbiene. I’m your guide until you find the Guides,” she giggled. “What are your names?”

While they introduced themselves, Patrik eyed the dragon. Her scales glimmered like raindrops in the sunlight with every shade of blue imaginable. She was small by dragon standards, smaller even than Larkin. Patrik found it impossible to determine how old she might be, but to him she looked very young, too young to be given the responsibility of guiding them across the sea.

“…so you see the Floating Isles aren’t really islands at all.” Patrik had lost the conversation, but the young dragon’s words had snagged his attention.

“What was that?” he asked.

“Oh, I just told your friends about the Floating Isles; they’re not really islands. They are the backs of the giant behemoths that live in the sea.”

“The what?” Patrik asked, wondering just how much of the conversation he had missed.

“Behemoths, giant sea creatures that no one has ever really seen.”

“Huh?”

Abbiene giggled. “I know. It seems impossible, doesn’t it? You see, these creatures are so big, even bigger than dragons. No one has seen them end to end.”

“Young one, that’s impossible,” Wizard Allard interrupted.

“No it isn’t. Honest.”

“Exactly what do these sea creatures do?” the wizard asked.

“They just float around following the fresh water currents. Over thousands of seasons, dirt, shells, seeds, and whatever gets stuck to their backs, creating the Floating Isles.”

“And we’re supposed to sleep on the back of these giant sea creatures?” Patrik asked.

Disbelief had turned Patrik’s expression into a frown, and Abbiene giggled again when she saw the look on his face.

“Oh, it’s perfectly safe. We water dragons rest there all the time. In fact, that’s where we hatch our eggs, and where the baby dragons live until they can swim and fish for themselves. All baby dragons know how to find their way to the Floating Isles. That’s why they sent me.”

Patrik couldn’t hide his dismay.

“I’m not a baby,” she said, seeing the worried look on his face. She puffed out her chest and held her head ridges high. “I’m almost ready to join the herd. I’m the oldest of the islanders.”

She scanned their faces, slowly moving her head from one to the next as if daring them to question her worthiness to guide them. Seeing only blank looks, she laughed with pleasure. “Good. Then let’s go.”

Chapter Thirteen

Wizard Allard led the group back to their campsite. Larkin trailed behind them, his steps slow and heavy. They hurried about the business of breaking camp, were packed up, and ready to go within a quarter sunmark. Rat, as usual, busied herself pawing at the packs and trying to undo them as quickly as they had packed them. No one noticed that Larkin was not helping.

As they began loading their bags on the dragons, Larkin sat down, refusing to allow them to strap on his harness.

“What’s wrong with you?” Patrik asked. “Abbiene’s waiting for us. Come on, get up. We need to get going.”

Larkin’s head hung low, his eyelids drooped, and a deep red blush colored his green scales brown.

“What’s going on here?” the wizard asked, walking up to the pair.

“I don’t know,” Patrik said. “Larkin won’t let me put on his harness.”

Redwing, who was saddled up and ready to go, joined them. “What’s wrong, Larkin?” she asked.

The young dragon’s head drooped even lower. “I can’t go with you,” he whispered, not looking at any of his friends.

“Why ever not?” the wizard asked

“I just can’t.”

“Sure you can,” Patrik said. “We’ll just fly from one island to the next until we find the Guides. You can do that, can’t you?”

Larkin nodded. “It’s not that. It’s….”

Redwing nudged her friend. “What is it Larkin? What’s bothering you?”

The younger dragon raised his head, his blush deepening, and his yellow eyes tinged a dark brown tried to blink away unshed tears. He didn’t cry, though, phoenix dragons never cried. “If I tell you, you won’t like me anymore. You’ll think I’m strange, and worse than that, you’ll think I’m not a real dragon.”

“No we won’t,” Patrik said, reaching out a hand to pat the dragon’s head. “You’re our friend. You couldn’t do anything that would change that. Friends are friends forever.”

Larkin looked up into Patrik’s face, searching it and trying to determine if what the boy had said was true. He turned his gaze to Redwing, and the older dragon simply nodded her confirmation of Patrik’s words. Then he turned toward the wizard last, and seeing only acceptance on the older man’s face, began to speak. “I can’t go with you because I don’t eat meat. I can’t bear to kill anything, not even fish, so I eat only grasses, fruits, and vegetables. That’s why I’m so small.”

Silence followed Larkin’s confession, and he watched his friends’ reactions. Redwing appeared confused, and Patrik seemed as if he didn’t know what to say. Larkin understood their feelings because as far as he knew all dragons ate meat. Even the water dragons ate fish.

Wizard Allard stroked his beard as he thought, and finally broke the silence by saying, “I’ll be right back.”

They all watched the wizard as he strode toward the beach and the waiting Abbiene. Patrik stroked Larkin’s head ridges while they waited, and Redwing plopped her large body down in the grass.

“You are different,” Patrik said at last.

“I know,” Larkin said. “I’ve hidden my secret for many seasons. No one knows except you three. But I just can’t eat the fish their hunters will be giving us. I just can’t do it. And, I can’t go without eating.”

“That explains why you never wanted to hunt with me,” Redwing said. “I always wondered about that. I just figured you didn’t want to share your food.”

Larkin nudged Redwing with his snout. “And you still wanted to be my friend, even though you thought I was selfish?”

“Sure, you’re a terrific friend. It wasn’t that big a deal. You share everything else.”

“That also explains how Larkin always knew where the best salad greens and berries were located,” Patrik added. “I always wondered how he could find them so fast.”

“Do you still want to be my friend, now that you know the truth?” Larkin asked her, his voice hesitant as if he was afraid of the answer even though she had already clearly stated her opinion.

“Of course I do. It makes no difference to me. What you eat is your business, not mine.”

“That’s exactly how I feel, too,” Patrik said. “I think it’s kind of special. I’ve never met a dragon that didn’t eat meat, but then I haven’t met a whole lot of dragons.”

He grinned and rubbed Larkin’s head ridges. The dragon leaned into the caress, nearly knocking the boy over. Patrik gave him a shove, and the two began a playful wrestling match. Larkin held back with his nudges while Patrik did his best to knock the dragon off-balance. Redwing let out a sigh as if to say, “Kids!” and settled down to watch for the wizard’s return while Rat rubbed up against the dragon’s side, getting underfoot, and occasionally knocking Patrik over.

Patrik, Larkin, and Rat finally grew weary of their game, and settled down beside Redwing to soak up the warm morning sun. The wizard found them dozing in its rays when he returned a full sunmark later.

“Problem solved,” he said, nudging Patrik with his foot. “Let’s go.’

“What! How?” Patrik asked, jumping to his feet.

“Abbiene asked the hunters to gather edible seaweed for Larkin when they hunt. It may not be what he’s used to, but it will keep him alive while we cross the sea.”

Larkin bowed his head before the wizard. “I am in your debt, Allard. I won’t forget your kindness.”

The wizard cleared his throat, and looked down at his feet. “Well, there is that, I guess. Now let’s get going.”

Patrik coughed to cover his laugh, and quickly harnessed up Larkin. Together they walked toward the beach and the hard-packed sand where the dragons would take off. It took a couple of tries for Larkin to get up the necessary speed, but soon he was in the air with Redwing and the wizard flying beside him.

“It’s a good thing a dragon’s eyesight is better than ours,” Patrik hollered to Allard, a couple of sunmarks later. “I can’t even see Abbiene from up here. Can you?”

“No, but they seem to know where they’re going.”

Patrik and Allard’s legs were cramped and aching by sunset and the first of the Floating Isles appeared beneath them. Even in the growing darkness, the island appeared huge, and Patrik had a hard time believing that it was really the back of a giant sea creature.

They dismounted quickly and were unpacking their gear when the hunters appeared. The water dragons plodded their way to the camp and deposited several huge fish and nearly a ton of seaweed at their feet. Rat sniffed the air and then charged straight toward the hunters’ catch. Patrik grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, and using both hands, pulled her away from the fish. Allard thanked them each with a sapphire before they turned and made their way back out to sea. Overhead, Abbiene, called down, “I’ll see you at sunrise.”

The island was nearly bare of living things. Rock, dirt, and scraggly bushes that only came to their knees stretched out as far as they could see. Allard didn’t know if it would be safe to light a fire so he asked Redwing to flame their fish. Charred black on the outside, only the inside was edible. And from Larkin’s grumbling, it was evident that the seaweed was also only barely edible. Rat, however, had no complaints. She devoured the fish as if she hadn’t eaten in days, and then sat back to give herself a bath.

Patrik and Allard’s legs strengthened as they flew day after day. Patrik couldn’t decide which was more boring, the endless expanse of sea that stretched out before them each day, or their monotonous diet of burnt fish.

“I’m almost out of sapphires,” the wizard said, one night as they sat staring at yet another plate of nearly inedible, overcooked fish.

“How long have we been flying across this flaming sea?” Patrik asked, fed up with both the water and the fish.

“Twenty-three sunrises, I think.”

“Isn’t there something else we can do? At this rate, the war will be over before we find the dragon king. Maybe Larkin should sing.”

The wizard raised an eyebrow at the thought. “There is that. It might work. What do you think, Larkin?”

The dragon, which had been dozing with his head resting on his front forelegs, raised his snout to look at them. He blinked his heavy eyelids several times causing his yellow eyes to glimmer orange like a candle flame in a darkened room. “I’m not sure that will work,” he said at last, “and besides I only know two songs, the one for sunrise and the one for moonrise.”

“Couldn’t you just invent one?” Patrik asked.

“I suppose I could. No one’s ever done that before. The songs we sing have been sung for thousands of seasons.”

Redwing nudged Larkin with her nose, and he turned his head to look at her. “I think you should try it,” she said.

Larkin scratched his head with one of his fore claws as he thought. “I guess I could. It couldn’t hurt.”

“There is that,” the wizard said.

“When do you want me to do this?”

“Now,” they all said in unison.

Larkin rose to his feet and lumbered to the edge of the island. Sitting back on his haunches, he lifted his head toward the sky. The others formed a ring around him, and waited. When the young dragon sang his first note, they could only stand amazed at the beauty of his song.

He sang it without words, each note high and sweet or low and sorrowful. They felt it pull at their souls. He wrapped the notes in a melody that spoke of things too beautiful to imagine. His song held a promise of things even more wonderful to come. It lured the listener to come to the dragon’s side. Even Rat was not immune to its call. She rubbed up against Larkin as he sang, winding herself under his chin as if trying get closer to the source of the music.

Finally, Larkin lowered his head as the last note drifted off across the water. Patrik felt tears fill his eyes as the song ended, wanting it to continue forever but knowing it couldn’t. Even the old wizard had to swipe his hand across his eyes a time or two before he could speak.

Redwing made her way to Larkin’s side, and rubbed her head across the dragon’s snout. “It was good,” she said. “Very good.”

In the darkness, no one could see the red blush that turned the green dragon brown. He cleared his throat before speaking. “I guess we will have to wait to see if it works.”

They didn’t have to wait very long. The moon had only moved one sunmark across the sky when lights began to appear before them. They danced in and out of the water, shimmering and glittering like a thousand diamonds on a princess’s ball gown.