Firestorm (20 page)

Chapter Seventeen

‘Come,’ Pell commanded as the four riders neared the mouth of the Oracle’s cave. ‘Follow me.’

‘What gives you the right to give orders?’ Kira challenged, her eyes flashing with irritation. One look at Kira’s expression and Elian was glad he was not standing in
Pell’s boots. The Racafian girl was tough as nails. It would take a fool to face her down when she was in this mood.

‘I am clearly the eldest,’ he replied, oblivious to the danger signals. ‘I’ve seen sixteen rotations. It’s obvious I should lead. Besides, I’ve found a good
campsite nearby.’

‘Offal!’ Kira retorted, her voice sharp. ‘If the oldest is going to lead, we should listen to Fang. He’s the oldest dragon here. All of the dragons are older and more
experienced than we are. Why should it be a rider who leads? The Oracle seemed more dragon than human.’

It was a good point, Elian realised. He had automatically started thinking about the challenge they had been set. The verses were baffling. He knew he was unlikely to unravel any meaning from
them. If anyone could solve such riddling words, it would be a dragon. Dragons were renowned for their clarity of thought, and for wisdom born from long years of worldly experience. This was a
dragon problem. It was logical that a dragon should lead. To his surprise, Nolita interrupted the brewing conflict.

‘We made a promise – a pact – to work together,’ she said tentatively.
‘“Only in unity will ye find the strength to prevail.”
We don’t need
a leader. We need to agree.’

‘Nolita’s right,’ Elian said quickly, recognising the good sense in her words. ‘Kira, Pell’s already found a campsite. Let’s go and take a look. Staying
here’s just wasting precious time. We’ll need to work together to solve the riddles and get the orbs before the harvest moon.’

‘Fine then,’ Kira conceded reluctantly. ‘We’ll follow Pell to this campsite of his. The flight will give us all some time to think.’

Kira gave Pell a final withering look before leaping up Fang’s side and into her saddle. She was so annoyed with the night dragon’s rider that she gave no thought to getting Nolita
back into a dragon saddle. Nolita felt emboldened by the encounter with the Oracle. Something inside her had changed. She could feel it. When the great dragon face had appeared in the misty smoke
she knew she should have been a quivering wreck on the floor. Instead all fear had slipped from her like a cast-off robe and she had felt strong – strong and bold. The giant whispering voice
had spoken to them all, but in her head it had also spoken words of encouragement with an authority unlike any she had ever encountered before.

It was strange. Nolita could not remember what the Oracle had said to her in secret, but the echoes of its whispering voice had a lingering effect. Could she really be what the Oracle wanted?
Could she ride a dragon and complete a quest of great importance? Would she become a heroine like the ones she had always loved to hear about in stories?

She looked at Firestorm. He was hers and she was his. She knew she could not deny it any more. But although they had not yet left the Oracle’s cave, the bravery she had felt in the
presence of the powerful spirit creature was already fading. She took a step towards her dragon. He was watching her intently and she could feel his excitement through the bond. He wanted her to
ride him. She took another step, but then the flood of revulsion and fear swept over her again with renewed ferocity.

Nausea gripped her and she turned with her head in her hands.

‘No. I can’t do it. I’m not strong enough.’ Nolita’s voice was barely more than a whisper, but Elian heard every word.

‘Yes you can, Nolita,’ he said, misunderstanding. ‘Listen, I know the ride here was frightening. To be honest it scared the hell out of me as well. But not all flying is like
that. It’s normally smooth and predictable. It’s hard to describe how wonderful it can be. Come on – don’t miss out. Besides, I can’t leave you here. There’s
nowhere for you to go. Climbing down would be impossible. Did you see the cliffs as we landed?’

‘I tried not to look,’ she admitted.

‘Well trust me, the drop from the ledge outside the cave was vertical for several hundred spans. Let’s get on Ra’s back here. That way you won’t see how high up we are
until we’re airborne. As I see it, Ra’s your only way down unless you ask Firestorm to take you.’

Does Elian know how close I came to that? she wondered. She sighed and turned to eye Aurora with a mixture of suspicion and fear.

Elian could almost see the wheels turning in her mind. He watched her expression as she cast a glance back at Firestorm. There was a look of sadness about him. Was it guilt that made her look
away so quickly, or continuing fear?

‘
I will not give up on you, Nolita,’
Firestorm whispered in her mind.
‘You are strong enough. The Oracle knows you are.
I
know you are. I’ll be ready
when you are.’

Elian took her hand gently in his. She was shaking. ‘Come on,’ he said, keeping his voice soft. ‘I’ll tie you to the saddle again. It’ll help you feel
safer.’

Tears rolled down Nolita’s cheeks, but she nodded and allowed him to help her climb up Ra’s foreleg and into the saddle. She minimised touching Ra’s scales with her hands. The
feel of them brought a sour taste to the back of her throat and the dizziness she had felt when flying in towards the cave threatened to start again the moment she settled into the saddle.

Elian was amazed by her reaction. He loved touching his dragon’s scales. He felt it incredible that someone could find the sensation repulsive.

Elian hoped fervently that Nolita would not be sick this time, but with the wind playing across the mouth of the cave, the launch from the ledge was unlikely to be into smooth air. Taking care
not to tie the rope too tightly around Nolita’s body, he secured her to the saddle and climbed up behind her.

‘Hold on tight, Nolita,’ he said gently. ‘This will probably be a bit rough again. Be brave. It won’t last long.’

Elian gave Ra the mental nod that they were ready to launch. Kira and Pell were already airborne on their dragons. In the tunnel behind them Firestorm waited patiently. The day dragon would
follow once they were in the air. Elian knew this was not going to be a typical launch as there was no room for Ra to extend her wings whilst they were in the cave. The only time she would be able
to stretch them out wide would be when they reached the ledge, by which time they would have run out of acceleration room.

‘
I’ll try not to drop too far from the ledge when we launch,’
Ra assured him, backing up a few more steps.

‘Good,’
Elian replied,
‘because if you do, I’ll not be surprised to see Nolita throw up whatever’s left in her stomach. She’s petrified, Ra, and
I’ve got to admit that I don’t blame her. I’m feeling a little scared myself. It’s one thing to fall off a cliff, but we’re about to deliberately run and jump off one.
You’ve got wings, but I haven’t, so I can’t help feeling this is an insane thing to do.’

Ra gave a snort of amusement and then shot forward with the fastest acceleration Elian had yet experienced. As they emerged into full daylight Elian took a sharp intake of breath, and felt
Nolita do the same as Ra leaped from the ledge. The dragon’s wings snapped out to full stretch in the blink of an eye. There was the slightest of lurches as she dropped until the lift from
her wings increased enough for her to settle into a stable glide. The drop lasted but a split heartbeat, yet it was sufficient to trigger a piercing scream from Nolita.

‘Relax, Nolita,’ Elian shouted in her ear. ‘Your screaming might break Ra’s concentration. I don’t want her to crash because of a silly distraction.’

Ra had used the trick effectively on him during his first flight, and it worked just as well on Nolita. She clamped her jaw shut tight and gripped the front saddle horn with all her might. The
air in the high mountain valley was still turbulent. They bounced and lurched through the tricky up and down drafts, following the two dragons ahead.

Ra gradually caught up with Fang and Shadow, and Firestorm moved forwards to settle into a formation position alongside them. The turbulence calmed abruptly as the four dragons flew out of the
tight valley throat and into a wider, less extreme valley beyond. Pell and Shadow turned to the left and descended towards an extensive area of woodland in the broad valley basin. The other dragons
followed. Within a minute or two they all landed gently in the meadow next to the eastern edge of the woods where a stream emerged from the trees.

No sooner had Ra landed than Elian began to help Nolita out of the saddle. He knew she would be keen to get off Ra’s back as swiftly as possible, and he could feel that Ra was eager for
the same result.

On reaching the ground Nolita staggered across to the stream, fell to her knees and began scrubbing her hands with fearsome vigour in the clear water. The frenzied cleaning clearly brought her
comfort.

Kira went to the edge of the woodland to take a look around. Pell followed a few paces behind her, his strutting gait oozing self-confidence. Elian strode to intercept them, anticipating an
explosion if he was not at hand to mediate.

‘It’s a good spot,’ Kira conceded grudgingly to Elian as he approached. She gave Pell a sideways glance and Pell’s lips twitched for a moment into an expression that
Elian interpreted as smug satisfaction. ‘The water looks clean,’ Kira observed. ‘The tree canopy is dense and there’s plenty of material to build a shelter. I’ve
already seen rabbit and deer, and there’s lots of bird life. We can send the dragons out hunting whilst we build our shelter and set a fire. What do you say, Elian?’

‘I’m fine with that, but what do the dragons say?’ Elian asked, deliberately furthering Kira’s earlier point about dragons being equal to humans.

‘We should stop here. Thinking time would be useful. Firestorm agrees,’
Ra said.

‘Ra and Firestorm are in favour,’ Elian relayed aloud.

‘Fang too.’

‘And Shadow,’ Pell said. ‘A shelter won’t take long to build if we all help. Is Nolita all right? She seems a little strange. Is all that washing necessary?’

‘It is to her,’ Kira snapped. ‘Washing helps her cope. Her fears are so strong they stop her enjoying things that we take for granted. Unfortunately her worst fears are of
dragons and heights. She’s done well to get this far.’

Pell burst out laughing. To Elian and Kira his laughter sounded cruel.

‘This isn’t funny,’ Elian said, with cold frankness, forcing himself to contain his irritation within a mental wall of ice. ‘Nolita had to face something that terrified
her to get here today. Are you as brave?’

‘I fear nothing,’ Pell said, glaring at Elian with anger in his eyes as if the mere suggestion that he might suffer fear was a deadly insult.

‘Only a fool fears nothing,’ Kira retorted quickly. ‘Even the bravest hunter is scared sometimes. It’s his ability to turn fears into strengths that makes him
brave.’

Elian ground his teeth with frustration. Kira seemed set on antagonising Pell with every sentence. It did not take the wisdom of a dragon to see that the label of ‘fool’ would not
sit well with him. Without care, their fragile pact would be destroyed before they had begun. To his surprise, however, Pell did not rise to the bait this time. Instead he fixed Kira with his icy
eyes and stared. If Kira was intimidated she did not show it.

‘Listen!’ Elian said firmly. ‘We all have our differences. Live with it. All this arguing isn’t getting us anywhere.’ With a flash of surprised insight he
recognised some of his father’s inflections in his speech. ‘Kira, I know you’re skilled at woodcraft. If Pell and I collect the makings of a shelter, can you begin clearing a
suitable site and start building with what we bring you? Nolita can start collecting firewood and I’ll ask Ra to coordinate a hunt. I’m sure the dragons will be able to bring us plenty
of fresh meat.’

With clear tasks to perform, the group worked quickly and efficiently. Pell and Elian began by finding and stripping straight branches to build a framework for the shelter. Kira scouted the area
until she found a suitably flat space between two trees and not too far from the stream. Pell brought a long, straight branch that proved perfect to form the main supporting bar. This she lashed
horizontally between the two trees at waist height. Then she sorted the rest of the branches and trimmed them to appropriate lengths with her belt knife.

Over the next hour she constructed a lattice framework between the crossbar and the ground that formed a one-sided roof, leaving a wedge-shaped shelter underneath. With the framework complete,
the four young people set to collecting ferns and large leaves. These they placed in overlapping layers, all pointing tip downwards, over the framework. Layer upon layer went on until not the
slightest glimmer of light could be seen through it from beneath. Then they collected more ferns and bracken and piled the fronds in a thick carpet inside the shelter to act as an insulating layer
between their bodies and the ground.

The shelter took almost half a day to complete. Once finished, Pell and Elian stacked the firewood that Nolita had collected and supplemented it with larger branches, too large for her to manage
alone. Kira also found several sources of dry tinder. When she was satisfied that they had plenty of wood on hand to sustain the fire through the evening, she lit the fire and set a pot of water to
boil.

By this time it was late afternoon and they relaxed for a while in silence. They watched the dancing flames and listened to the crackling of the wood, all thinking through the words of the
Oracle and trying to decipher them.

A whoosh of air overhead heralded the return of the dragons. To Pell’s obvious pleasure, it was Shadow who deposited a sheep at the edge of the trees. Pell and Elian worked together to
butcher the carcass, removing the best cuts. If they had cured it, there would have been enough meat to last more than a week, but they took only enough for the next couple of days. Shadow
obligingly finished off the remains, bones and all.