Amáne of Teravinea - The Chosen One (The Teravinea Series Book 1) (20 page)

“This key will open any lock that may bar your way. Say the name of the late dragon, Aperio, and it will open for you,” explained the Healer.

Lastly, I pulled my helmet over my pinned-up hair and buckled it at my throat. Gallen made sure not a wisp of hair strayed.

“How do I look?”

“Like a very dangerous young man on a serious mission.” Gallen tried to make light in this tense moment.

“It’s time, Amáne,” said the Healer.

With somber faces, Gallen and Dorjan stood straight and gave Eshshah and me a sharp salute. They bestowed their blessings, each giving me a kiss on my forehead.

Adding on a positive note, Gallen said, “We will see you tomorrow night. We expect to hear the details of your successful mission.” It did lift my spirits to believe I would be telling my tale to them soon ... I hoped.

I hoisted myself in the front of the saddle, then held my arm down and locked wrists with the Healer as she swung up in the space behind me. We buckled in and I gave Eshshah the word.

She gave a powerful push off the ground and effortlessly made her first downstroke. We were airborne — the added weight of the Healer and the extra gear we carried was nothing to her. I heard a slight gasp from the Healer. As Gallen and Dorjan’s clothing whipped in Eshshah’s downdraft, I turned and watched them until they were no longer visible.

The night flight was refreshing, and on any other occasion would have been enjoyable. Instead, we rode in complete silence. Just the soft beating of Eshshah’s wings as we sailed smoothly through the moonless sky. I concentrated on the plans we’d tried to perfect in such a short time, mentally going over the route I was to take through the bowels of the castle. The names of the dragons to ignite the lightning ball and the one to activate the key were ingrained in my memory. My spear was in its holder to my right. I touched it lightly as I went over some mental strikes and parries. I noted the Healer was also lost in her own thoughts.

In what felt like no time at all, we arrived at the Dorsal Outpost. Eshshah knew exactly where to find the push-rock that opened the outer door. The rock slid open noiselessly and Eshshah flew into the large entry cavern landing perfectly — so unlike the landing we experienced when we first found this place. It seemed like so long ago.

I whispered “Sitara” to turn on the light shields and offered my hand to the Healer as she slid off Eshshah with her satchels over
her shoulder. I started to dismount so I could show her around what I considered Eshshah’s and my second home, but she stopped me.

“Amáne, there is no time. I can find my way around here. You must leave now. My blessings are upon you. May your ancestors smile upon you and ensure your first quest be a success. You’re a noble and brave dragon and rider pair. I thank you. I’ll be forever in your debt.”

“Thank you, Healer. You will owe us nothing.”

With that, Eshshah turned back toward the entrance and leaped off the ledge. She unfolded her wings after a short free-fall. Our first quest had officially begun.

My mind reeled with the gravity of what we were about to attempt. Quite a contrast from my childhood desires to have a quest, a mission in life — this was not practice with wasters, not sparring with Kail at my cottage, nor was it the training bouts with the Healer, Gallen and Dorjan. We were going forth with real weapons to use on real people, with every likelihood that any given confrontation may end in death — even that of my own. I began to see our success was of more consequence than I had ever thought.

We turned toward the north and flew almost parallel with the eastern coastline, heading for the point that juts out at the center of our kingdom — the City of Teravinea. We flew high but not at the height where the cold was unbearable. Eventually, we would swing wide around the point and come at the castle from the sea. We hoped Dorjan was correct in his assumption that the battlements on that side would no longer be guarded. There, we would find the Castle Outpost. Under Dorjan’s instruction, Eshshah knew how to find the push-rock to open the stone door.

Earlier that day we had forced ourselves to discuss my possible demise. I fervently begged her to not take her own life, but
to choose another rider for the good of Teravinea. My death would not be in vain. It was a short conversation neither of us wanted to bring up again.

We had a three-hour flight. I knew I would do better than to worry and agonize over all of the ramifications should we fail. I pushed out of my consciousness any thoughts of what my death would mean to Eshshah. Nothing negative was allowed in my head or my heart. I avoided any unfavorable influence that would affect the success of our mission.

I closed my eyes and began even breaths before panic could rise in my chest. Once I started the actual search for Ansel, it should go easier for me. Adrenaline would kick in and my mind would be occupied instead of imagining unpleasant scenarios.

“Amáne, I see the castle,” Eshshah said at last. Her eyesight was far superior to mine, even with my added abilities. A few minutes later I saw the fortress majestically rising from the towering cliffs — the water churned white foam at their base far below.

Eshshah slowed her pace to study the castle from this angle as it appeared to grow before us. I had never seen nor imagined such a massive structure. Suppressing my awe and small twinges of fear, I clicked into fight mode. Training my eye on the battlements, I searched for any sign of a guard. Thankfully, as Dorjan had predicted, this side was not patrolled. They had no need to keep watch, as any ship would have been sighted from another part of the fortress. This area was only accessible by dragon, and everyone assumed there were none left to worry about.

We came to the corner of the cliffs that towered above a rocky beach at the mouth of a river. This was the landmark Eshshah was looking for. She turned in. We flew only a short distance. At about the same height as our Dorsal Outpost, she spotted the push-rock.

The stone door slid open silently and we landed in a large entry cavern. It was a similar layout to our Dorsal Outpost, hewn into the cliff. But unlike Dorsal, the wall to our right had a door that connected to a passageway leading into the corridors of the castle. It was through this door I would return with Ansel.

As we surveyed our surroundings, our hearts sank. We could see there was truth in what Dorjan had said when he marveled at its extravagance. There was certainly evidence that at one time it must have been lavish. As we took it all in, it was obvious not much remained of its former beauty. The hooks were still on the walls where tapestries had hung, and there were areas where it looked like paintings had been removed. Anything of value was no longer at the Castle Outpost. Broken pottery lay in shards at our feet. Dorjan would be sorely disappointed.

My anger was immediately directed at Galtero, who, I was sure had played a large part in the looting of this outpost. I had a good idea that whatever he didn’t want from here, he gifted to foreign kings to impress them. Maybe one day I could help bring the Castle Outpost back to its grandeur.

Pushing my disappointment aside, I slid from Eshshah’s shoulders with my spear and my pack, landing silently. Both of us sniffed the air to make sure the outpost was not occupied. Like the Dorsal Outpost, a faint dragon scent was present. Eshshah detected a trace of human presence, but she assured me there had been no one in this place for a long time.

Our first task was to create a ruse. We needed to make it appear we had escaped with the castle’s prisoner by a rope down to the beach and made our getaway in a small boat. There had to be no hint a dragon was involved.

I retrieved a small grappling hook from my pack with a long rope attached. Searching for a suitable spot near the entrance, I wedged the hook to make it look like it had been cast up from the ground below. I threw the other end of the rope over the edge. It was just long enough to be believable that someone could both enter and escape the cave using this method.

Leaving my pack in the entryway, I leaped back onto Eshshah and tied another rope to an anchor on the saddle as she dove out of the cave. She hovered while I climbed down, and dropped to the beach at the mouth of the river. Eshshah stayed airborne and circled low — we couldn’t leave dragon prints. This part of our plan required that I run back and forth between the beach and the rope dangling from the cave entrance. It would appear that rescuers had come in from a boat, taken Ansel and escaped the same way. The only bad part of this plan was that my feet are small. If anyone actually thought about the prints or were skilled in reading them, it might not be wholly believable. But what would their other conjectures be? I was sure a dragon would not figure into their theories. Lastly, I dug a trench at the waterline where a small boat would appear to have landed and been drug up onto the beach.

Satisfied I’d set the scene as well as I could, I caught a hold of the rope hanging from Eshshah, climbed up to the saddle, and we flew back to the cavern.

I dismounted and retrieved my pack. Removing the lightning ball, I secured it to my belt along with the pouch that held the two small medicine vials. I hoped I would not find him in poor condition. If I did, I trusted the contents of the vials would be enough to aid in Ansel’s escape. I doubted I would have the strength to carry a man all the way out. The last loop held a small skin of water.

I closed my eyes and took long slow breaths until I could unclench my hands and still my shaking body. Taking hold of my glaive I turned to my dragon as she softly hummed to me. “Okay, Eshshah, this is it. Are you ready? Will I even be able to do this?”

“Yes, Amáne. You can. You must. I will be with you in open thought transference. You’re not alone. Remember that. Please be careful.”

She put her face down to me and grabbing her fangs I pressed a kiss on her nose, then leaned my forehead against her for one last comforting breath.

Astride Eshshah once more, I gave her the word and she dove off the ledge.

We flew along the battlement wall following the river, watching for any sign of guards in the towers. We saw no one. I made a mental note of the distance I would have to travel to get back to the outpost where Eshshah would wait for us. I fought my discouragement as I saw it was much greater than I had hoped.

At last we came to the tower that rose above the dungeons far below. I gave Eshshah’s neck a long hug and another kiss. Grabbing my spear, I quickly slid off the saddle and made my way down the rope, silently landing on the battlements. Swallowing my fear, I watched her fly off. Time pressed on — I had to be in and out before daylight and already the ruse we set up at the river mouth had taken up more than we had counted on.

Getting my bearings, I checked my surroundings before sprinting from the shadows where I’d landed. I headed toward a tower door where the stairs would take me down into the recesses of the castle.

Dorjan explained that these stairs, and in fact all of the steps in the towers and outer walls, were built unevenly. This was to trip
up enemies who hadn’t learned this particular castle’s stair pattern. He taught me the pattern, but even still I had to catch myself a few times as I miscounted. I decided I should slow down a bit. It would be a disaster if I were to clatter down to the bottom should I lose my count.

Descending the tower’s spiraling stairs, I checked the arrowslits in the wall to see where I was in relation to the ground level. My one consolation was that since the Castle Outpost was much lower than the battlements, where I started my run, we would not have as many levels to climb back up to the entry cavern. In fact, once I got to the dungeon level, we would only have to go up three levels to get to the Castle Outpost height.

The drop in temperature told me I had reached the underground level, but I continued to descend. The air became more dank. The stairs grew slick with moss the further down I went. My progress slowed. At each level a doorway opened up into a corridor. I carefully peered out the door to check for guards. To my surprise the corridors were always empty. Was Galtero that egotistical to think no one would dare oppose him; or that ignorant not to guard his fortress better? I was, however, very thankful. Either way, it was to my advantage.