Rojuun (39 page)

The elders nodded and discussed with each
other for a moment. Then the council leader asked another question.
“Liselle Human, do you know what this glow is, or can you tell us
what is so special about you that the creature would want to take
said glow?”

Liselle thought for a moment then shook her
head and held out her arms. Tears streamed down her face once more.
The tears hit a nerve with the elders and they relented. “Very
well, Liselle Human. You have been very helpful. Please sit down
and have some more wine,” he encouraged her. Rojuun did seem to be
fond of their wine.

After Liselle sat and accepted the refill,
the council leader spoke again. “Vevin-Dragon, we will ask you
questions now.” Vevin got up and moved forward. The dance that he
was doing was very subtle. Tathan watched it indirectly, out of the
side of his eye. The movement was hypnotizing.

“What was I going to ask?” the elder began
with a look of confusion on his face. Vevin continued the slow
dance. His head moved back and forth much like a snake. The elder
looked at his parchment and frowned. He rubbed his forehead and
closed his eyes. Much of the audience had gone back to talking
amongst themselves, totally forgetting about the hearing. The elder
closed his eyes and concentrated, breaking the spell he was under.
“Vevin-Dragon,” he said suddenly and the audience paid attention
once more. Many of them looked surprised. “What exactly are you?
The Rojuun have no knowledge of dragons and your actions are
extraordinary.”

Vevin still continued his hypnotic dance,
but he answered the question. “I am a dragon,” he said in a deep
tone that filled the room. It also filled their minds, much like
Mother Tree’s had done. “We are an ancient creature dating back to
the creation of life on Ryallon. Dragons are powerful and
mysterious. Your lives are too short and silly to understand us
fully.” Vevin smiled as he spoke, his words washing over the
Rojuun. They all nodded as though in a trance. “I am not a danger
to you and you like me,” he told them in a pleasant tone
reminiscent of the way Rojuun spoke to humans. Once again, the
Rojuun audience nodded. “Know that I have helped you, made you
safer and that I am friendly to you.” Vevin bowed as he finished.
All of the Rojuun nodded in agreement with his words.

After a moment of discussion, the council
leader held his hand up to quiet the room. “Vevin-Dragon, we are
very thankful that you have helped to make Garrrn Dwelling and the
nearby caverns safer. We like you a great deal and we thank you for
your efforts. We also consider it an honor that such a powerful and
mysterious being as a dragon would grace us with its presence.” All
members of The Council of Elders agreed with enthusiasm, as did the
audience.

Tathan sat in awe of Vevin, who gave him a
grin and wink as he took a seat.

“Tathan Human,” the elder said with a
gesture for him to rise. Tathan stood. “We ask that you and your
companions wait outside while we discuss matters.”

“Yes, Elder,” Tathan responded. They went
into a waiting room just outside of the council chambers. Food and
drink were brought to them. Liselle and Vevin fell asleep on a
lounge and Tathan nodded off as well. Two hours later, they were
called back into the council chambers.

“The council thanks you for your efforts in
safeguarding Garrrn Cavern,” the council leader began after the
companions had sat down. “However, we find your methods chaotic and
dangerous,” he said sternly. The other elders frowned in agreement.
“You kill many sstejj, but are reckless in your methods and the
fact that Liselle Human was taken for her glow is alarming to us.
We do not like unexplained glows in our society.” The elders
murmured in agreement that unexplained glows were bad and shouldn’t
be tolerated. “Do not feel badly about this. You are only humans
after all and can’t help your nature, I’m sure.” The elders nodded
in pity for them. “You will be teleported back to Puujan. Once
there, you may seek employment with another family or go back to
your human lands.”

The elder became very serious and leaned
forward. “The information that you gave us regarding the one called
Krraa and the matter of the sstejj are not to be discussed outside
of this room,” he said warningly. “Nor are you to discuss your time
in our territory. You are not to discuss it with other humans or
even other Rojuun. Is this perfectly clear to all of you?”

Tathan responded immediately. “That is
perfectly clear, Elder.” What he didn’t tell them was that he
wasn’t an obedient human by nature. The elder sat back and nodded
in satisfaction as did the other council members.

“That will be all then. You have received
sufficient pay and rewards. You will be escorted to gather your
things. Afterward, you will leave for the teleport room.” With
that, the elder dismissed them.

***

A while later the companions were sitting in
the common room of the White Tree Inn back in Puujan. Hulda had
rented them rooms for the next few nights. They were all tired and
needed time to recover.

Liselle sipped the wine Hulda had brought
them. “So where do we go from here, Cousin?”

“I think we should speak to Mother Tree
next,” Tathan replied, making sure that no one could overhear. The
feeling was back. Something was watching him, hunting him once
more. He had even jumped with his sword drawn on the way back to
the inn, alarming his friends.

“I agree with Master Tathan,” Sir Danth
said, sitting with his back against the wall again.

“Then it’s settled,” said Liselle with a
smile after Vevin nodded in agreement. “We’ll rest a few days then
off we go.”

They raised their glasses in a toast. None
of them saw the cowled woman staring from the window. Her dark
green eyes studied their every move.

###

Book 2: “Anilyia”
can be found at the
store where you found this one, or at Smashwords:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/51951?ref=johnhcarroll

Book 3: “Kethril”
can be found at the
store where you found this one, or at Smashwords:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/74403?ref=johnhcarroll

###

About the
Author

John H. Carroll was the youngest of seven
children and was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1970 where he was kept
in a dresser drawer with the clean socks. Luckily, he wasn’t kept
with the dirty socks or else he might have grown up to become
slightly warped.

As a child, John spent most of his time
wandering through the Mojave Desert in an attempt to avoid people.
He would stare at the sky, imagining what it would be like to
explore different worlds. One of his favorite memories is watching
his dad build the fuselage of Evel Kneivel’s skycycle in their
garage. One of his least favorite moments was watching that
skycycle fall into the Snake River. (Not his dad’s fault and he has
documentation to prove it, so nyah)

As a teenager, John spends most of his time
driving wherever he could in an attempt to avoid people. He would
stare at the road, imagining what it would be like to explore
different worlds. He was the captain of the chess team, lettered in
golf and band while in high school, and wasn’t beaten up anywhere
near as much as one might imagine.

As an adult, John spends most of his time
staring at a computer screen in an attempt to avoid people. He
stares at the monitor for hours, imagining what it would be like to
explore different worlds. He has been married to his wonderful wife
for fifteen years and they have three obnoxio . . . wonderful
children who always behave . . . when they’re asleep.

Emo bunny minions surround John at most
times. He is their imaginary friend and they look to him for
guidance. At one point, they took over the world. No one noticed
because they left everything exactly as it was. They gave the world
back after a week because it was depressing.

The Willden Trilogy is his first endeavor
into the field of writing. Other series and standalone works will
be forthcoming. In addition, John has written a number of short
stories he publishes for free because he likes you so much. (And
it’s good marketing. Shh) He writes in the evenings and weekends
whenever possible. Regrettably, the family mentioned in the
previous paragraph desires food and shelter, requiring the author
to possess a full time job until his writing makes him rich.

John H. Carroll’s author page at
Smashwords:

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/johnhcarroll?ref=johnhcarroll

You can follow his blog where he discusses
writing, emo bunnies, family and various other topics of
insanity.

http://www.ryallon.blogspot.com/

Follow him on twitter if you like insane
ramblings and random comments.

http://twitter.com/kookoo88

Find him on Facebook where he discusses
current projects and writing in general:
http://www.facebook.com/John.H.Carroll.Author

His Goodreads Page:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4479427.John_H_Carroll

New!
The Emo Bunny
that Should - Illustrated Edition:
With beautiful illustrations
by Arlene Rose.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/149577?ref=johnhcarroll

Emo the Bunny was a sad bunny. He
preferred gloomy days, walks over a cliff and misery of any sort.
One day he saw something very unusual. Normally he'd take a nap and
try to forget about it, but for some reason he took an interest.
Then things happened. Emo the Bunny hated it when things happened.
Caution: This story is not for normal children.

“
A Collection of Stories for Demented
Children”

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/98171?ref=johnhcarroll

Five short stories combined into one,
written for demented children and adults too. Text versions of
these stories can be found for free individually. I am charging for
the compilation in the hopes of earning a living from my writing in
order to support my own demented children. Some content may be
disturbing for younger, or sane, children.

My full-length novels are set in the world
of Ryallon. They are high fantasy with rogues, knights, dragons and
flower children. The Willden Trilogy is available as an ebook, with
individual books coming to paperback soon.

Willden Trilogy
(Written first)

Ryallon
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/31154?ref=johnhcarroll

Anilyia
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/51951?ref=johnhcarroll

Kethril
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/74403?ref=johnhcarroll

Dralin Trilogy
(Set before the
Willden trilogy)

Dralin
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/96981?ref=johnhcarroll

Ebudae
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/161921?ref=johnhcarroll

Pelya
(Coming Winter 2012)

Stand-alone Novella

Rain Glade
(Coming Fall 2012)