Dragon Tears (18 page)

“Well, I just thought I might offer,” Allard said, turning his back on her in disgust.

When the young earth dragon appeared several sunmarks later, his words proved that Redwing and Larkin’s assessment of the situation had been correct.

“They would not accept your words,” the young dragon said. “All they would say is that you cannot leave.”

“We have to. You must make them listen,” Patrik said.

“They will not, but some of us believe you,” the earth dragon said, lowering his voice. “Many of the young ones feel we need to be part of the world above. Some of us have been going outside for short periods when the sun is not in the sky, and it will not hurt our eyes. We like what we have found there. We want to discover more of it for ourselves. If it’s going to be destroyed, we will never have that chance.”

He swivelled his head back over his shoulder, listening, and then lowered his voice even further. “I am Blokas. We will help you escape.”

“When?” Patrik whispered.

“First you must come with me to the fields. There you can eat and rest. Then, when everyone gathers here in the sacred cavern to honor Skyhawk, I will sneak away and lead you to the surface.” The young earth dragon moved in as close as he could to the others. “It is very dangerous. If you are caught, they will kill you, and they will exile me to the surface forever, where the light from the sun will kill me. You must do exactly as I say at all times.”

“We promise,” Larkin said, speaking for all of them.

They all followed Blokas down one of the tunnels, into another, down yet another, and within a quarter sunmark, they were completely turned around.

“It’s a good thing we didn’t try this on our own,” Patrik said. “We would have been wandering around here forever.”

“Or at least until we died,” Allard said.

When at last they entered the earth dragons’ grazing fields, they could only stand amazed. Overhead, almost out of sight was the cavern’s dirt roof, but in front of them, as far as the eye could see, were meadows of milky white grass, dotted with grazing cattle and other herd beasts, all of which had hides in various shades of white.

“I can’t believe this is all underground,” Patrik said.

“It is amazing, isn’t it?” Larkin agreed.

“Why isn’t there any color?” Patrik asked.

“No sunlight,” Wizard Allard answered. “It’s amazing anything grows underground at all. I’ve never heard of any living things that could grow in the dark, except maybe mushrooms.”

“Skyhawk is the Creator,” the young earth dragon said. “From him all things live and have their being.”

“I’m not going to argue with you on that, youngling,” the wizard said. “After seeing this, I’m willing to believe anything is possible.”

“It certainly fits in with the stories we were taught,” Redwing said. “Only we were never told about this.”

“It is one of Skyhawk’s secret mysteries and that’s why the Old Ones don’t want you to leave. They are afraid that if the secret ever got out, our home would be invaded. And since our eyes are so weak, we cannot live for long in the world above.”

Redwing touched her nose to the youngling’s. “Your secret is safe with us. We will never reveal this place or its wonders to anyone.”

“I must trust you on this,” Blokas said, “as I must trust you on the other things you have told me. I am risking my life in doing so, but since you are also risking your lives for what you believe, then I must believe my trust is not misplaced.”

He nudged Redwing with his nose. “You may eat here. Hunt and eat your fill.”

Redwing didn’t need a second invitation. She took wing and quickly brought down one of the cattle-like grazing animals. Rat also began hunting down smaller game and quickly pounced on a field mouse.

“Thank you,” Patrik said. “She wouldn’t hunt in the sacred cavern.”

“She was wise. She would have been killed if she had done so.”

Patrik and the wizard glanced at each other, both thinking the same thing. This was a dangerous place they had wandered into and neither one of them would be sorry to leave it.

“When will you be back?” Larkin asked.

“They will be gathering soon for the Skyhawk ceremonials. I must make an appearance, but once they have begun singing, I can sneak out. Be ready,” he said, turning to leave, “we will not have much time. We will have to travel fast.”

As Redwing worked on her third kill, Patrik and Allard relaxed in the tall grasses, their heads propped up against Larkin’s side.

“It’s very strange to look up at the sky and see dirt and rocks instead of sun and clouds,” Patrik said, gazing up at the ceiling of the cavern.

“I find this whole place strange,” Allard replied. “ I’ve never heard of plants and animals that could live without sunlight. And did you notice the tunnels?”

“What about them?”

“They’re not like any tunnels I’ve ever seen. They’re smooth and perfectly formed. No human or dragon could have carved such tunnels out of rock and dirt.”

The wizard paused, stroking his beard. “I wouldn’t have believed such a place could even exist before I came here.”

“Me either. It makes you wonder if there is something to this whole Skyhawk-Creator stuff. I mean, look at this place. Obviously, it didn’t get here by itself. Someone or something created it, and I keep wondering why, if it’s true, we haven’t heard about it before?” asked Patrik.

Allard turned to Larkin and Redwing. “I know you are convinced Skyhawk is all powerful, but I don’t think I really believed until I saw all this. I was willing to take a chance that you were correct because it seemed we had no other choice. But, now I think we may really be able to stop this war if we can get him to help us.”

Larkin raised his head and joined in the conversation. “We dragons have known about Skyhawk from the beginning, at least that’s what we’re taught.”

“Then why don’t we humans know about him?” Allard asked.

“Maybe they did before humans started using magic. Our legends say that Skyhawk created both races, so it would make sense that we knew about him and each other,” Larkin replied.

“Then what happened? Why don’t people know about him now?” Patrik asked.

“I think I can answer that,” Allard said. “When the races split because of the magic that Blackheart gave to the humans, people began relying more on magic and less on anything else. Magic became the most important thing in their lives. They turned to magic whenever they had a problem.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Patrik said. “But if this Skyhawk could create all this and keep it secret for thousands and thousands of seasons, he must be incredibly powerful and wise. Why hasn’t he done something about magic before this?”

“Our legends say that after Blackheart split the races,” Larkin said, “Skyhawk got angry, especially with the humans. He left the world to fend for itself, since your people thought they could do it all by themselves. No one’s seen him since.”

Patrik scratched his head, and then turned over on his stomach to face Larkin. “If that’s true, then what makes you think he will come to our aid and stop the war?”

“We’ve got to convince him that he needs to do it,” the dragon said.

The wizard tugged at his beard as he thought. “What that means,” he said at last, “is that even after we find him, our real work has only begun.”

Redwing was so full that she waddled as she joined her friends, her broken tail sticking up like the rudder of a beached boat. She plopped her swollen body down next to them, contentment making her eyes spin golden with delight. “Finally I’m no longer hungry,” she said.

“I should hope not,” Allard replied, “but I am.” He pulled a dried fish out of his pack and handed one to Patrik. They were unwilling to risk building a fire to cook their meal since they hadn’t seen fire in any form in the underground cavern.

Patrik looked at the fish with distaste. “When we get home, I am never going to eat fish again,” he mumbled around a mouthful of dried flesh. He was about to comment further when a loud hiss interrupted him.

“It’s time. Hurry!”

The young earth dragon’s head appeared from one of the tunnels off the main cavern. “Follow me.”

They gathered up their packs and hurried through the grazing land’s long grasses. Entering the tunnel, a second earth dragon greeted them. “I am Sloken. I will keep watch from the back.”

“We will be going north,” Blokas said. “The farther north we go, the colder it gets, and the Old Ones don’t go there often, because like most dragons, they hate the cold. The Old Ones actually suffer painfully when they get cold. This is why our exit to your world is at the farthest reaches of our home.”

Although the travelers hadn’t thought past escaping the underground world, they quickly realized that the earth dragons would be taking them exactly in the direction they needed to go.

“Thank you,” Patrik whispered to Blokas.

“Thank me when you are free. Now, quickly, we need to hurry. We have to be back before the next assembly to honor Skyhawk.”

Neither Larkin nor Redwing was a match for the speed with which the earth dragons moved through the tunnels. More suited for flying than walking they lumbered along, bumping into the walls of the tunnel and desperately trying to keep up with the multi-legged earth dragons. Larkin’s injured foreleg slowed him even further, while Redwing’s swollen belly dragged along the ground. Patrik and Allard refused to leave them behind and slowed their stride to match that of the dragons. Patrik stumbled over Larkin’s tail and reached out a hand to catch himself. The tunnel’s smooth, glasslike wall, reminded him again of how strange their surroundings were. He found himself thinking about Skyhawk and the legends surrounding the dragon king.

“Be very quiet, here,” Blokas hissed. “We are passing the sleeping caves, and there might be a sick or injured dragon resting there.”

The tunnel took a curve to the right and Patrik noticed that it began sloping uphill. They climbed steadily, losing track of time in the dim twilight that lit the tunnels. Patrik felt as if they had been climbing for sunmarks. The nature of the tunnels changed as they took another sharp right-hand turn. The artificial smoothness of the walls gave way to rough, jutting rocks and crevasses, and the floor was uneven and bumpy.

Blokas brought the group to an abrupt halt. “We have to go now, if we are to get back before the next gathering,” he said. “Follow this tunnel straight up, and you will find the exit.”

“It is hidden behind an overhanging rock,” Sloken said, “but you will know when you have reached it for there is nowhere else to go.”

They turned to leave but Patrik stopped them with a hand on Blokas’ head. “Wait, we haven’t thanked you yet.”

The wizard, understanding what he should do, pulled out his pouch and dumped all the rubies he had onto the ground. “Please take these with our gratitude,” he said.

Both the earth dragons’ heads jerked up in alarm. “It is forbidden,” Blokas said.

“No one may own Skyhawk’s jewels. The penalty is death,” Sloken said.

“That is not our way,” Larkin replied. “In our world, the jewels belong to everyone.”

“Please take them,” Redwing said. “You may need them in the upper world as both dragons and humans consider them to be very valuable.”

“We cannot,” Blokas insisted.

Patrik rubbed the side of his nose, thinking. “We will hide them for you at the entrance to the upper world. They will be there for you if you ever need them. That way no one can say they are yours and that you took them from the dragon king.”

The two earth dragons nodded their agreement before they turned and left.

The travelers hurried up the incline, anxious to be out of the caverns. The tunnel began to narrow and became even more uneven and bumpy. In less than half a sunmark, the tunnel ended.

“Where’s the opening? I can’t see it,” Patrik asked.

They peered up at the ceiling that was now only about six foot-lengths above them.

“Neither do I,” Larkin said.

“They said it was behind an overhanging rock,” the wizard said. “Larkin, stretch your neck up there and take a closer look.”

The dragon obeyed. They watched as he stretched out his neck and his head disappeared around the side of the rock.

“It’s there all right,” he said, as he came back down. “Only there’s a problem. I don’t think Redwing’s going to fit through the opening.”

Chapter Seventeen

“That can’t be,” Patrik said, climbing up and around the rock to see for himself, with Rat tagging along behind him. The giant cat bounded through the opening and sat on its edge licking her paws. Patrik eased himself back down the way he had come. His expression told those waiting below that what Larkin concluded was true.

“I can stay here,” Redwing said. “I’ll be fine. There’s fresh water and plenty to eat. Larkin can probably carry both of you if you leave the packs with me.”

“No!” they all said together.

“That’s not going to happen,” Patrik said. “We need you, and you’re going with us.”

“The boy’s right,” Wizard Allard said. “We started this together, and we’re going to finish it together.”

“But if I can’t get through the opening, how is that going to happen?” Redwing asked.

“We’ll just have to make the opening bigger,” Larkin said.

“But we don’t have enough time,” Redwing protested. “They’re going to notice that we’re gone and come looking for us. And, you’ll be wasting time needed to get to Skyhawk.”

“We’re wasting time standing here arguing about it,” Allard said. “You’re going with us. We’re not leaving here without you.” He turned to Larkin. “Hoist Patrik and me up there. We can start digging from the top, while you and Redwing dig from the bottom.”

Standing on the dragon’s head, the two humans were up and outside within seconds. Patrik took a deep breath of the clean, fresh air and then looked around. They had emerged into a pristine forest, much like the ones back home.

“We made it across the Valley of Death,” he shouted, throwing his arms around the wizard in his excitement.

Allard, stood stiff as a pine tree as the boy hugged him, then relaxed enough to pat Patrik’s back. “That we did, boy. That we did. Now, we need something to dig with.” He gently pulled himself from the boy’s embrace.