The Forging of the Dragon (Wizard and Dragon Book 1) (35 page)

For the first time in history the twi-beast flew. They shot through the hole and straight up toward the clouds, with Seagryn fighting to keep from being shaken loose by his own giddy laughter. He rode upward, higher still, passing through a layer of fog, back out into the blue, then forward, gliding out past the cloud cover over an endless carpet of evergreens. Seagryn belatedly realized his own danger and he glanced down in concern. His breath caught in his throat, and he would have been hard-pressed to say if it was fear or wonder that choked him.

He flew above the old One Land and saw not a single border drawn anywhere upon the green and white map below. Winter still clung tenaciously to the land it had possessed so briefly, but the sun on Seagryn’s back told him that spring’s youthful energy would soon prevail. It had been too long since Seagryn had felt the sun, and he reveled in the promise of its warmth upon his back!

But this would be a different spring from any the One Land had ever experienced. As the dragon began to test his wings, screeching with a terrible excitement, Seagryn at last had a moment to reflect on the warning Paumer had shouted. The merchant had been right.

He rode upon the better head of a monster — not upon Berillitha’s head, he realized, for Berillitha was gone. He could recognize some of her nature in this head’s sensible eyes — it seemed a far different personality from that reflected in that other face across the way. But that was the point — this was no longer Berillitha at all, it was Vicia-Heinox, and he — yes, Seagryn felt compelled to view this twi-beast as a he — would be a terrible addition to the many ills of the world.

And yet — perhaps by its very horror the dragon would perform its intended function and unify the fragments once again. To that end, Vicia-Heinox needed to be recognized as wild — not
trained
. Paumer’s training would have resulted in a dragon totally loyal to the red-and-blue, which would make the world subservient to its greedy master. And who could say what such a beast might become, under the watch and care of the evil Sheth ...

So the twi-beast was free, to find its own destiny, and to shape the world as it would. Had this been the Power’s purpose all along? Was this why he had been gifted — and Dark, and even Sheth? Seagryn still wondered. But since he didn’t know, he decided to sit well back on this better head and enjoy what would certainly be the ride of his life. For, in the end, while he couldn’t be certain this was right, it did feel a lot like justice.

Chapter Thirty-three

BACK ON KERL

“YOU’RE sure he’s coming?” Elaryl pleaded again.

As he had the last five times she’d asked him that question, Dark ignored her. He just gazed quietly at that spot on the far side of the snow-covered meadow where he’d remembered Seagryn would appear and waited.

“But how did he get down?” she begged again.

Dark sighed. “Elaryl — dear lady — he’s coming. When he arrives, I’ll depart from this place and leave you with him, and you can ask him all the questions about his dragon ride you wish to ask. He’ll describe it at length, in marvelous detail. So why should I spoil it?”

“What’s taking him so long!” she demanded, stamping her foot in the melting snow and splattering slush up onto Dark’s gown. “Sorry ...”

“As I told you before — he’s riding on Kerl. You remember Kerl? Isn’t that enough to answer your —”

He didn’t finish the sentence, for Elaryl had left his side. She sprinted with shrieks of unfettered joy across the clearing toward the rider of a stolid gray horse that had just that instant walked out of the woods. Dark watched without surprise as Seagryn tumbled from Kerl’s back in excitement, then picked himself up out of the snow and ran to grab Elaryl around the legs and lift her above him. Then he turned to look elsewhere as they kissed. After what he thought was a proper interval, he turned back around and walked toward them.

“I knew you would meet me somewhere!” Seagryn was shouting. “I knew if I just kept Kerl plodding onward, we would meet you somewhere along the way!”

“But how did you get
down
?” Elaryl demanded gleefully, squeezing his head tightly to her breast. When he managed to get his head free, Seagryn laughed aloud and told her.

“I talked it into landing! That wasn’t easy of course — the two heads were bickering with one another all the time we were aloft, and whenever I managed to get one head listening to me the other just seemed to take offense. It was the beast’s first flight, of course, and it was none too steady on its wings, so I suggested it — he —” Seagryn corrected himself a bit sadly, “ — should land for a moment and try to get the movements of its — his — wings coordinated. That was almost a disaster in itself, since the dragon had never landed before, either! When he touched the ground, his heads were arguing over what to do next, and he didn’t start moving his feet, so we turned heads-over-tail along through the snow for a moment before finally skidding to a stop —”

“And you weren’t
killed
?” Elaryl demanded — rather unnecessarily given the circumstances, Dark noted, but he didn’t interrupt.

“I took my tugolith shape and bounced away.” Seagryn grinned at her. “I got a few bumps and bruises, of course, but that body can surely withstand injury!”

“Which bodes ill for the eventual destruction of the twi-beast, who was made from such,” Dark thought to himself, but still he didn’t interrupt. It was too happy a moment for this couple he loved.

“I immediately cloaked myself and ran away, not certain
what
the dragon might do to me if he caught me on the ground. I got as far away as I could as quickly as I could, and was deep into the trees when I heard a screech and saw the thing take to the air again. He was flying much better this time —” Seagryn said this reflectively, turning his eyes to the sky as if he saw the vision again. Elaryl kissed him hard to bring him back to the present, and he laughed and finished his tale.

“I had no idea where I was — Elaryl, you can’t tell anything about this world down here when you’re up in the sky! It — it looks like — a toy!”

“The Power’s toy?” Dark mused. “Sorry,” he added in his mind, in case that One might be listening in ...”

“As it turned out, I wasn’t far from that last Paumer House mansion we stayed in, and I knew old Kerl here was waiting in the stable. I cloaked myself and went in and spent the night. The next morning I got Kerl and we started this way! What about you? How did you get out of the bear’s den?”

“Oh, there’s not much left of the bear’s den I’m afraid,” Elaryl said with mock sadness. “Much of it collapsed inward. After Sheth screamed curses at you for a few moments, he disappeared. Paumer was furious, and he and his daughter had a terrible shouting match in the rubble. Poor Dark here had been knocked unconscious. By the time I got him awake again, Uda and her father were already packing up to leave. We had no horses of course, and Paumer is still terrified about meeting more Arlian soldiers, so we had a long debate over what to do next. We finally decided to sleep there one more night and start walking the next day — but Dark woke me up in the middle of the night and said we had to leave right then to come and meet you here!” Elaryl’s beautiful smile spread all across her face. “I didn’t argue!” She grabbed him tightly again, and Dark waited patiently for the question he knew would come next.

“Where are they now?” Seagryn asked him.

“They’re several hours behind us.” He shrugged, then added, “They’ll be very angry when they arrive.”

“Then we won’t be here!”

“You won’t, no.”

Seagryn frowned. “Meaning you will?”

“Meaning I will.” Dark nodded, and Seagryn looked at him with concern. “And no, you can’t change my mind — because — it’s not mine to change. As you know.” He smiled a brave smile then, and gestured northward. “Go on. Get on Kerl’s back and ride — he’s carried you both before. Cloak yourselves. Go back to Lamath — and live!”

Seagryn studied Dark’s face, wondering, pondering — choosing. But Dark already knew what the powershaper would decide. He wouldn’t ask. Seagryn knew better. Instead, he released Elaryl just long enough to grab the boy and hug him, hard. Then he stepped back, nodded, and murmured, “Well. Then this is it.”

“Yes,” Dark said emphatically. “This is it. Good-bye Seagryn. Good-bye Elaryl.” He leaned around them and waved at the horse. “Good-bye Kerl,” he shouted.

Kerl, of course, said nothing.

The three of them laughed, hugged once more, and broke apart. Seagryn put his arm around his wife and led her back to the gray horse that still stood rooted in the place where he had tumbled off.

“I can’t believe it’s over,” Dark heard Elaryl murmuring in relief, and he quickly turned his back lest they should see his expression — and know better.

“Let them believe it for a little while, at least,” he whispered quietly to the Power. He wished he could, but Dark already saw a screaming dragon circling in the air above a city on fire, and ...

“But why think of that now?” he asked himself as he set off briskly through the melting snow to meet Paumer and his furious lady. He would have to face Uda today and he might as well get it over with.

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The Forging of the Dragon
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