DragonQuest (13 page)

“Laughter,” said Cam’s deep voice beside her. “His talent is laughter.”

“His name is Dibl,” said Kale.

“A good name.”

“Of what use is laughter on a quest?” asked Kale.

The dragon flipped over and put his small front legs down and proceeded to do a push-up. He stretched his chin high and yawned. His tiny eyes opened, and he gazed into Kale’s. The snap of connection secured their bond. Kale sighed with contentment. The little dragon’s lips pulled back, showing two rows of tiny pointed teeth.

“He’s grinning!” said Kale.

“So he is,” agreed Cam.

Fenworth joined them.

“Best thing to have on a quest,” he announced. “Never know when a good laugh will save the day. Glad you thought to bring him along, Kale.” He turned to the shorter, wetter wizard. “She’s my apprentice, you know. A bit impulsive, but trainable, I think.” He patted his beard, and a moth flew out. “Best we get on with this questing. Right, Cam? Can’t say I want to spend the rest of my life in this forest. Unpleasant place sprouts geysers and runaway vines.”

The old wizard took a look at the dragon stretched out in Kale’s hand, then threw back his head and laughed.

         
22
         

A D
IFFERENT
D
IRECTION

As Kale and the wizards returned from the forest, the entire camp came out to greet them. The dragons knew of Dibl’s birth and spread the word. Paladin’s warriors from the seven high races greeted the small yellow and orange dragon with smiles, laughter, and songs of joy.

Kale sat on a log by a small copse of slender heirnot trees. As the troops of soldiers filed past to look at the dragon, some admirers merely gazed upon Dibl curled in the palm of her hand. Some stretched out a finger to touch him lightly.

As the afternoon progressed, the camp became quieter. Kale pulled her attention away from the newborn long enough to notice that most of the troops had departed. The huge greater dragons carrying supplies and men had spread their wings and lifted into the air with quiet grace.

A shadow darkened her small spot at the edge of the meadow. She looked up to see Brunstetter looming over her. His massive fourteen-foot frame completely blocked the sun.

Brunstetter’s handsome face always looked gentle to her. Laugh lines fanned out from his clear blue eyes across tanned cheeks. His lips often twitched with suppressed humor. And Kale had seen this giant man tenderly scoop up a wounded kimen with as much care as a mother lifting a hurting child.

She smiled back at her friend. “Where have they gone, Lord Brunstetter?”

“To their fighting positions.” His rumbling voice held a note of sorrow. “We engage the enemy tomorrow.”

“Are you leaving too?”

“In a few moments.” Brunstetter touched the tip of his finger to her cheek. “We shall not see each other for some time. I have a message from my heart to yours.”

She blinked back sudden tears and nodded.

“The gift of laughter before the storm strengthens our resolve. It is good that Dibl came to us now.” Brunstetter moved his hand to rest it like a cap over her head. “You, little Dragon Keeper, are important in Wulder’s plan. I would give you wisdom if it were like a gem to be plucked from one of my crowns. But I can only whisper caution. I can only say, ‘Be still when dark clouds threaten. Listen for the word of Wulder.’”

He stroked Dibl, then stood and strode away to his magnificent dragon.

The group around the campfire that night had dwindled to the same number as before the landing of reinforcements. The peaceful atmosphere occasionally bubbled with friendly laughter.

Kale held the sleeping Dibl in her hand while Gymn lay curled around her neck. His tail flicked up to tickle her left cheek as he kept time to the music. Dar and Regidor had served a cold meal of field greens and sliced jimmin poultry, flavored with a spicy dressing. Now the two chefs played lighthearted tunes on various instruments from Dar’s pack.

Toopka danced around them with Metta sometimes balancing on the little doneel’s head and sometimes doing her own aerial dance above the merrymakers.

Leetu read a book, holding a lightrock to illuminate the text. Bardon, Librettowit, and Lee Ark played a game of benders. The two wizards rested against Merlander’s massive side and could be heard to say things like “Remember old Hoobenanny? I wonder where she is now.”

Kale smiled. “I just thought of something funny, Gymn.”

The green dragon stretched and lifted his chin to rub against her neck.

“If Chief Councilman Meiger and his goodwife, Mistress Meiger, were here, they’d be scowling and harrumphing and muttering about all these people. Master Meiger would say any ninny knows that wizards don’t exist, and doneels and tumanhofers keep to themselves. Mistress Meiger would say emerlindians don’t speak a language anyone can understand, ’cept themselves.”

Little Dibl rolled into a ball in her cupped hand and spun himself like a top until he twirled over the edge and fell into her lap.

“Dibl thinks it’s funny too.” She lifted him up and held his cool body next to her face. She giggled. “I assumed the mariones in the village knew almost everything there was to know. Now that I’ve been questing, I see they knew next to nothing, just like me. I’d like to go back and show them who’s smarter now.”

Quick as a flicker of flame, Dibl reached out and nipped her chin.

“Ouch!” She jerked him away from her face. “Why’d you do that?”

The little dragon gave a throaty growl.

“What is he trying to tell me, Gymn?”

The impression flowed into her from both dragons.

“Mean-spirited?” She clamped her jaws together. “I think it would be fun.”

This time Dibl bit her on the back of her thumb.

“Stop that!” She switched the dragon to her other hand and put the tiny wound to her mouth. “You need to go to bed.”

She slipped the dragon into the pocket that had once held his egg.

For the second time that day, tears welled in her eyes. “I think we’re all tired.”

Gymn jumped to safety as she shifted onto her side on the blanket pallet and determinedly closed her eyes.

“Good night,” she said through clenched teeth.

Kale felt a touch on her forehead like a kiss. The pleasant warmth of the caress almost woke her. But the cool, damp mist of morning all around urged her to pull the moonbeam cloak closer and sleep. A thought like a dream told her to rise from bed and search for something. She rolled over and sighed.

Again the urge to get up and seek someone or something disturbed her slumber. She looked around the gray dawn. Only ash-covered embers lay in the campfire bed. She could make out the forms of tents and sleeping comrades. Fog obscured the countryside beyond the camp.

Celisse’s head moved from side to side as she kept watch, but the dragon did not reach out to her rider. When Kale told Celisse that something had prodded her awake, the dragon answered that no one had stirred from their beds.

The hush of night hummed like a lullaby. Kale stood and stretched. She wanted to enjoy the sensation alone and walked toward the kimen falls. Following the sound of the stream, she came to the odd cascade.

She sat on the damp grass, her cape protecting her from the chill.

“I wish I could play a flute like Dar or Regidor,” she whispered. “I can hear a melody in my heart. The music says Wulder is wonderful, full of peace and wisdom, banishing worry and strife. If I were Metta, I’d know a song to sing.”

The gray mist swirled, thinning for a moment on the opposite bank of the rivulet. Kale saw a figure standing away from the bank.

“Who’s there? Leetu?”

She rose to her feet, reaching with her mind.

Her pulse quickened, and she took in a sharp breath. In only a moment, she’d found the stepping stones and crossed to the other side. She could now see the flowing cut of a court jacket, the froth of lace at the cuffs, the dark boots that came up past the man’s knees.

“Paladin,” she whispered.

He turned, and his face shone as if moonlight touched him.

The first time she had seen him, Kale had thought he was very handsome. But now she realized his attractiveness came from his expression rather than his features. Oddly, Paladin and Risto resembled each other—dark hair, blue eyes, a straight nose, a strong chin, and a high forehead. But Paladin’s face held laugh lines and tenderness in his gaze. Risto’s brow was furrowed with stern lines, and his haughty expression and cold eyes made her shiver.

Paladin held out one hand, and she stepped into his embrace. She rested her cheek against his chest and listened to him breathe.

“Paladin, I needed you.”

“I know, my child, and I need you.”

She tilted back her head to look up at his solemn face. “Are we going into Creemoor to rescue my mother?”

“No, Kale, you must go another way.”

“But—”

“I knew this would be hard for you to understand, so I chose to talk with you first. You’ll go to Prushing.”

“Why?”

“Here come the others. We’ll talk together.”

Out of the mist came Dar, Regidor, and Bardon.

The three men saluted their leader. In spite of the formal greeting, they looked bemused as if they too had come up out of their beds and followed a summons they did not understand.

“Gentlemen,” said Paladin, “your talents are needed elsewhere. You will go to Prushing to rescue someone from Risto’s clutches. His trail will be hard to follow.”

“Prushing?” Regidor tilted his head as he thought. “The capital city of Trese, located north of the Odamee Channel, and noted for a fishing industry and trade with the Northern Reach.”

Paladin smiled. “Yes, Regidor.”

“Who are we rescuing?” asked Dar.

“Another meech dragon, one almost the same age as our Regidor.”

“Another!” Regidor’s tail came up around his side, and he grasped it between two scaly hands. “Another? I’m the only meech dragon born in over a hundred years.”

“It seems we were mistaken. There is another.”

Dar nodded his head slowly. “And Risto has him.” He thumped one fist into the palm of his other hand. “That’s why Risto let us get away with Regidor. That’s why he didn’t unleash his wrath.”

“I thought Wulder protected us,” said Kale.

“Wulder did, but the fight could have been longer. Risto could have caused trouble after the egg was delivered to Fenworth.” Dar searched Paladin’s face. “I always suspected there was too little hubbub when Risto lost his prized possession. He had another egg. Was Regidor just a decoy?”

“A decoy?” Regidor tugged on his tail. “Nothing as grand as a meech dragon can be a mere decoy.”

Paladin placed a soothing hand on the young dragon’s shoulder. “Risto wanted you, all right. His plan was to use your life force to create another race. The other meech hatched around the same time as you did, Regidor. From our sources, we know that he bonded to Risto.

“Wulder has been quiet on the matter of this dragon. We proceed with care, seeking His counsel. We won’t stand still and wait, since we know that Wulder is ever opposed to evil. But without clear direction, we take small steps, only doing what we know will cause no harm.”

He let his gaze move over the selected warriors. “Risto’s plan for this other meech dragon is to control all orders of dragon in the land. He will maneuver this meech into a place of leadership and be the power behind the figurehead. With that knowledge, we move into position to stop him.”