The Dragon Savior of Tone: World of Tone: Book 2 (12 page)

He came across another large walled village with perhaps another two hundred thousand of the squat creatures. This village was at the mouth of a long, deep crevice that followed along the edge of the mountains. At the base of the crevice was a dry bed where once fast moving water flowed. The village was built similar to the other villages, except it had two openings. One faced away from the crevice, while the other faced the crevice.

The crevice ended and as he moved up the curve of the mountains, they finally came to the end of the range. There was, in the distance, a great black mountain at least twice the height of any other Terra had seen until this point. He flew in his mind vision toward the great mountain, crossing the flat land. Lightning had destroyed the trees—only dead trunks remained. Even as he flew across this area the lightning constantly exploded between the black clouds and the few twisted dead full height trees left.

As Terra approached the dark mountain, he saw a set of low hills that surrounded it. It looked as if caves had been dug into the hills. He could see a few of the squat creatures huddling in the entrances of the caves. The hills formed a circle around the massive mountain.

The mountain sat in a lake of dull black liquid. The surface of the liquid rippled and seemed to be as thick as mud. Lightning struck all around the mountain, striking both the hills and the lake surface. The bolts avoided the mountain itself. It seemed to bend away from the sides and top of the black edifice.

Above the mountain, the clouds swirled into a vortex of deep black, which created a dark crown around its peak. The entire mountain and its surroundings were completely barren of life except for the squat creatures living in fear of the devastating lightning.

Terra, in his mind flight, flew around the monstrous mountain. He could see only one cave opening. It was slightly above the black lake and was even darker than the mountain itself. He could feel a hatred emanating from the entire area. It seemed to flow from the gaping opening in the mountain’s side like an ill wind.

Terra knew he would have to approach this mountain alone. No other creature could survive the lightning. His back ridge could absorb and deflect the terrible flashes of energy. The image of the mountain slowly changed back to a sand sculpture before him and his family.

The sand next to Fienna began to vibrate and mound up until it reach the same height as Fienna. It formed into an older, quite beautiful human female. She twisted as if looking around the area. She looked at Fienna, then Cardana, and smiled.

“She is a beautiful baby,” the woman said in a very odd scratchy voice. It sounded as if rocks were rubbing against each other, creating a voice of a sort.

“Thank you,” Fienna said.

“This is Tone. Tone this is Fienna, my mate, and my daughter,” Terra introduced them to Tone.

“I know of you from Terra and I know what is happening,” Fienna said.

“I am sorry I have to bring Terra into this, but I have no choice. He is the only one that can defeat the darkness. You see the dark one was my first-born and I failed him. I was able to control him, but he has become too strong for me. He must be gone, and soon,” Tone said with sadness showing in her face.

“You have shown us the other side of the mountains. I have questions,” Terra said.

“Ask them,” the sandy figure replied.

“What is the icy area in the mountains?”

“The ice is where the elves went. They suspended themselves in time with their magic. You have the power to clear the ice and release them. They betrayed their allies in the previous fighting. You must choose if you wish for them to join in this fight.”

“Why does the lightning attack the dead trees?”

“The trees are not dead. Their roots still live and fight the darkness in their own way. The dark one thinks the lightning kills the roots that spread throughout the dead lands. He does not understand that they are all connected. The tree roots hold the water and many seeds of the long dead plants. They have grown weak and soon will begin to lose their fight with the darkness. They need you.”

“Can they help in this fight?”

“Yes, but you need to help heal them.”

“I understand. Why are the clouds brighter over the mountains?”

“I push clear water through the mountain winds up into the clouds. The water breaks up the dark clouds. It blocks the expansion of his power.”

“I see. Fienna needs to be able to talk to you as I do.”

“I will listen for her and will answer if I can,” the sand woman said.

“Good. We need a place to leave our daughter, a safe place where she is protected against any attempt to harm her. Do you have such a place?”

“There is a location under the water near the sea nymphs' village. It is the safest place I can provide for her. It is a cave within the mountain that the sea nymphs call ‘Lampo.’ I can show you the hidden entrance. You must go through a series of tunnels under the mountain to get to a chamber as beautiful as your home.”

“Does it have air?” Fienna asked.

“Yes. And it will hold her and any you choose to protect her safely. Rest, Terra. You will need all of your power. You are my hope and the hope of all. You need to know one final fact. The dark one may be many places at any time, but must always be in one place at all times,” the figure said as it fell into a simple pile of sand.

Terra did not understand why Tone gave him information in such vague statements. He wished she would simply tell him what she wanted him to know. Perhaps, it was because she never talked to anyone but him, and did not know how to explain things to intelligent beings. What ever the cause it annoyed Terra to have to figure out what she was telling him.

At sunset Terra and his family returned home and he began to plan for the upcoming fighting.

Chapter 17 - Old Enemies Emerge

(Old enemies are the most dangerous and can destroy all, if not stopped.)

- The Time of the Draman -

In the Black Mountain, the ancient wizard slowly, and with obvious pain, sat down in his solid black, jeweled chair. He now needed his black gnarled staff to stand or even walk. His crippled body was riddled with the ravages of age. Using his magic, he was able to significantly slow his aging, but he could not arrest it completely. He could not count the number of set of seasons that had passed since the time of the great fights. He was young and strong then, but now his memories were all that was left to him. The room was black except for a small fire and a torch. Above the fire an image of the great land mass hovered. There was one bright light in the image near the coast. He looked at the dwarf holding the torch and told him to go. The dwarf moved, leaving him to his own thoughts.

“I felt him, but he's still near the coast. The light has not moved beyond the mountains,” he said into the darkness.

“He is preparing to come,” a deathlike voice said, followed by an odd disjointed laugh.

“We can defeat him,” stated the old wizard.

“We! You are the wizard,” the voice said in a laughing tone.

“You seduced me into betraying my kind,” the old wizard said to the darkness.

“You wanted power. I gave you the opportunity to gain it and you took it.”

“I have over a quarter of a million dwarfs in front of the valley path. No number of men and nymphs can defeat them,” the old wizard said with his old enthusiasm.

“This one is more powerful than any you have fought against, and you are ancient. The dwarfs will be slaughtered with or without your magic. You would need to be at the fight to use the magic you possess. You know what will happen if you leave this mountain,” the voice said with the hideous laugh.

“No, what will happen?”

“You will return from whence you came: the dirt.”

“You will help,” the old wizard demanded.

“If I can.”

“If you can. If you can! If I can be killed by this dragon man, you can also be killed by him,” the old wizard said angrily.

“You are truly a fool,” the voice said, laughing even harder.

Far from the dark wizard’s cave in the coastal Barrier Mountains, an old woman sat in her cave. She had been keeping track of Terra through the fog. She knew he had started his planning and had pulled together those he needed to defeat the dark one. The fog rolled into the cave and surrounded her.

“He has contacted the humans and they are now considering their path,” the voice of the many said from the fog.

“Yes, he will soon cross the mountains,” Telsen, the last of the Solans, told the fog.

“Do you think he will call upon the core powers?” the many questioned.

“I don't know, his power is greater than I expected. He may call upon them, but he may not need them.”

“You think he can destroy the dark one without the core powers?”

“Perhaps, but I think he may need them in the end.”

“Can he control all the power he would need to summon?” the voice of the many asked. The old one got up slowly and walked to the chest, where the amulets of the Solans were kept. She opened the lid and the light nearly blinded her and pushed the fog back. She had hung one of the amulets around Terra's neck when his parents had brought him to her for testing all those seasons ago. She remembered at the time that the center of all the other amulets had a very mild orange glow. Now the glow was so bright you could barely look at it. All the amulets together were now nearly as radiant as the sun.

“The intensity of these amulets shows his magic without even touching the core powers. He may no longer need them,” the old one said to the fog.

“He will come soon to see you.”

“Yes, and he will want to know many things,” the old Solan replied.

Chapter 18 - The Many, Start to Become One

(Combining many into one may be difficult, but is sometimes needed.)

- The Time of the Draman -

Terra and Fienna arrived back at their crevice home. Dawra and Hectise, as well as the Old Sinut and the king of the sea nymphs, were awaiting them.

“Let us talk in the cave,” Terra said as they all walked in and found various places to sit. Reicka and Faray, as well as the young one, sat quietly in the back of the cave.

“First, I found the leader of the humans, at least, some of the humans. They call themselves the Guards. They seem to operate in the background. They are now close to taking over the two main human villages that lie on the Lake of Solan. One village is controlled by a king, who rules by violence. The other is controlled by three sisters with enough magic to force their will upon those in the village. These leaders are quite vicious and dangerous.”

“These leaders, how do they actually control the villages?” Dawra asked.

“They have groups that follow their orders and apparently attack anyone who does not do as they are told.”

“The humans stand for such actions?” Dawra said.

“The Guards have taken steps, which will hopefully take control of these villages.”

“So, what about them joining us?” Dawra asked.

“I told them what I was planning and asked them to be part of the fight. I will return in six sun-risings to get their answer. Now, how many dragons will come with me?” Terra asked.

“We have over three thousand, but the numbers climb as we talk. I think we will have at least ten to twelve thousand within three sun-risings. The question is, how do we organize such a large group of dragons? Dragons rarely work together,” Hectise said.

“I think I have a plan to control such a group. Once we have most of the dragons that wish to come, we will have to find a place to gather them.”

“I know a place. It's in a valley not too distant from here. It could hold that many,” Dawra said.

“Good. I plan to break them up into small groups of twenty-five to thirty. The oldest will be the leader of the groups. We can create levels of leaders. Each level reporting to the next: perhaps three or four levels total. Eventually, we can have half report to Dawra and the other half to Hectise. Then the two of you can come to Fienna for your instructions,” Terra said.

In dragon society, the older the dragon, the more respect he or she commands. Sex had no bearing on the status of a dragon. Terra knew he had to follow this arrangement to create a structure the dragons would follow.

“That sounds like a good organization, but why split the dragons into two groups?” Dawra questioned.

“I may need to split them into more than just two fighting groups. I haven't completely thought out the structure. We may need many groups to fight in many areas at the same time. If we can train them to fight in different sized groups from the beginning, it will make it easier during the actual fighting to control what is happening.”

“Makes sense,” Hectise said.

“The dragons will have to be trained to work together,” Terra stated.

“I think I have a plan to do that. I have watched how fliers group together and how the herd beasts work in groups to protect each other. I think I can use what they do to train the dragons,” Hectise said.