The Dragon Savior of Tone: World of Tone: Book 2 (18 page)

“I understand you have been waiting for my arrival,” Terra said to the old one.

“Yes, for a very long time. I am glad you finally have arrived. We have much to talk about,” the old wizard said.

Fienna handed Terra some simple clothing, which he put on quickly. They sat near a small fire on carved rocks that sat about the round pit. The old sea nymph slowly sat down and a young female came out of the cave with some containers holding water. She handed one to the old wizard and the other two to their guests.

“What is your plan for the fighting to come?” the old one asked.

“Well, I simply plan to bring ten thousand dragons and burn out the dwarf village in front of your wall.”

“Ten-thousand dragons! By all the magic of Tone, can you control such a force?” the old nymph said in surprise.

“I already do. I also have one-hundred-thousand humans ready to join in at the point where the great avalanches sealed off the coastal valleys. The sea nymphs will do what they can, mostly gathering food for the dragons. You and the elves are the last.”

“The land nymphs will of course join you, but the elves are a different story.”

“I know of the elves. They will either help or never know the freedom of having their own lands.”

“I see. The village outside of our wall has a trader Solan, she has great power.”

“I will deal with her.”

“How, may I ask?”

“Don't worry about her; I will deal with her and her magic. I was forced into this by one such as her. Those who caused my entrance into this nightmare have made a deathly mistake,” Terra said with anger in his voice and a terrifying look on his face. The old one realized that an incredible power was about to be released upon the world. Luckily, the land nymphs were on the right side this time.

“I understand. What do you need us to do?”

“My dragons and I will sweep the village of the dwarfs with fire, you must follow to deal with those that survive. Can you breach your own wall?”

“Yes, we have ropes that we can lower and climb down. We are quite fast climbing down them, but it will take us a bit of time to get enough nymphs on the ground to attack. It will take us about the time it takes the sun to travel a tenth of its arc.”

“It will take that much time for my dragons to make their flyovers of the village.”

“When will you be ready to start?” the old one asked.

“Not the next moon-rising, but the one after that.”

“We will be ready.”

“How long will it take your fighters to walk to the next dwarf village near the great landslides?” Terra inquired.

“Sixteen sun-risings, perhaps a bit less.”

“I wish to stop to pick up the elves.”

“What I understand is that they have frozen themselves in time. We have no idea how to break that magic.”

“We will stop for one sun-rising and see if I can call them from their timeless sleep,” Terra explained.

“I know that this is not what you wish, but our survival requires you. No other can do what is needed. I hope you understand how grateful we are for your help,” the old one said for all his people.

“The Old Sinut will keep you informed and coordinate our actions. We would like to stay the sunset, if possible?”

“We would be glad to host you.” Terra stood and walked over to the old wizard. He knelt down and placed his hands on the nymphs shoulders. His hands began to glow and the old one felt a warmth flow through him. His ancient muscles strengthen and his joint pain disappeared. His bones grew stronger and some of his magic returned. Terra could not make him younger, but could give him some of his vigor back, as well as take the pain away.

“Thank you,” the old one told Terra with tears in his eyes.

“I need you strong for the fight to come. You are the nymphs' leader and I need you to be with me on this odyssey. What I did was for both of us and your nymphs,” Terra told him with a smile.

“Of course.”

The land nymphs gave Terra and Fienna a tour of their valley and provided raw meat for the dragons. Terra ate the cooked meat and plants. At sun-rising, Terra returned to his dragon form and they started home.

Chapter 28 - An Old Wizard Panics

(Time takes its toll, even on the powerful.)

- The Time of the Draman -

In the dark cave, the small fire burned down as the image of eleven small dragons flew above the mountaintops. The small white dragon's image looked directly at the old wizard and the fire flared as the image vanished.

“What happened?” the old wizard said to the darkness.

“His powers grow, no one will watch him through magic again,” the dark voice answered without the laughter that the old wizard normally heard.

“How powerful is he now?” the wizard asked.

“It is impossible to know,” the voice said, with a bit of concern.

“You sound concerned. Why?” the wizard said, with true fear in his voice.

“His power has grown faster than I thought possible.”

“I can still defeat him with your help?” the wizard asked in a questioning voice, with a bit of panic.

“No one can defeat me. You, on the other hand, are quite a different story,” the voice answered with the hideous laugh returning once more.

Chapter 29 - Preparations

(Preparing for a future journey can be difficult and tedious.)

- The Time of the Draman -

Terra returned to the crevice to continue the preparations. They first went to the coast to review the food that the sea nymphs were collecting. They had been very busy. One whole cave was full of smoke sea creatures. Fienna tasted it but said she preferred raw meat, but it was passable as food for dragons.

“We have been working hard,” the sea nymph king told Terra.

“I can see you have. We will need ten times this amount,” Terra said as he looked at the full cave.

“We will have it ready in twenty sun-risings. We have completed twenty-three hundred carrying harnesses. They're in the other cave down there.” The king pointed down the coast. Terra and Fienna walked with the nymphs to examine them.

“There is one change. I need half the food delivered to the humans at the base of the great falls near the Lake of Solan.”

“That should not be a problem. Do the humans know of this?”

“They will within three sun-risings,” Terra replied to the king.

The harnesses were designed to carry a sack of water and food on each side of the dragon. This would keep the weight balanced as the dragons flew. Luckily, dragons only ate once every ten to sixteen sun-risings. They did not lose water through their skin like humans, so they usually only drank when they ate.

Terra and Fienna returned to the crevice to rest. They planned to get Cardana just before sunset. They walked into the back sleeping cave and lay down by the small pool. Fienna fell asleep in Terra's arms, and he soon dozed off. Terra woke to the sound and the feel of water. Fienna was splashing in the small pool and waving him in. Terra slipped into the water, and they made love. They later dried off and went to pick up his mother and Cardana.

The next sun-rising Terra flew back to the human caves. He could not land directly on the ledge outside Naron's home cave, so he began his change to human form in midair. As his change completed, his feet dropped onto the small ledge. No one was there, so he looked around and found a stack of connected flat skins. The sea nymphs had taught him to read with similar sheets. He understood the writing. It seemed to be a telling of the humans’ past. He sat and read until Naron walked into the cave.

Naron had been working on bringing his entire Guard together. He had so far collected forty thousand in two locations. One was outside Solana, and the other was just west of Southlake. Each day, more of the Guard arrived. He had not expected Terra to be sitting in his cave, completely unclothed and reading his family history of the human race. His surprise was short lived. Despite knowing this being's power, he was still surprised that he could read.

“Terra, I wasn't expecting you,” Naron said to his visitor.

“I need to discuss some things with you.”

“Alright, but first, how is Rammy doing?”

“She's fine and helping the dragons to train. I haven't checked her progress in the last two sun-risings, but I will when I return”

“I think you will be pleased with her training skills. What have you come to discuss?” Naron said as a young woman walked into the cave. She stopped when she saw this huge naked man sitting in front of her.

“Uhm, sorry, sir. I can come back,” the woman said, obviously embarrassed.

“No, wait. Terra, this is my assistant. Her name is Tezza. Tezza, this is Terra the Draman and the leader of this world's fighters. He will be my leader as well as yours.”

Terra smiled at Tezza as he stood placing the history on the chair. He then walked over to the small woman. She had a bad scar on her face from a childhood accident. It caused her considerable pain when she ate. He surprised her by reaching out and touching her face. She felt warmth in her cheek, and it seemed as if a gentle spirit surrounded her whole body. After only a few moments, he gently removed his large hand, and she felt her cheek. The scar was gone. When she moved her jaw, there was no pain. He walked back, picked up the history, and sat down. Naron smiled at her.

“Go look in the image metal. I think you will be happy,” Naron told her. She walked to a shiny metal disk attached to the wall. All she saw was a thin white line where the scar once was. Tears came to her eyes and she turned to look at this man, this gentle giant of a man.

“Thank you. I-I don't know what to say,” she blurted out.

“It is an honor to do you a kindness. Help someone else to repay me, if you wish,” Terra told her. She wiped her eyes and stood looking at her healer.

“Sit down, Tezza. Well, Terra what did you want to talk about?”

“Basically food for the dragons. I need you to move a great deal of dried food through your tunnels.”

“How much food?” Naron asked, as Terra looked about the cave they were in.

“About one hundred full caves of this size,” Terra said as he held out his arms to indicate the entire cave.

“I think we could do it. How will we get this food?”

“Sea nymphs will deliver it to you at the base of the waterfall. I assume you have a cave opening down there.”

“Sea nymphs, they're part of this?”

“Yes, they are. Unfortunately, they cannot fight. They need a body of water near them, but they can supply food.”

“We have several large caves at the base of the waterfall for storage of swimmers we catch. Moving the food to the other side of the mountain through our caves will be tedious, but it can be done,” Naron said looking at Tezza.

“I will start the planning immediately. When will they start delivering the food?” Tezza asked, finally coming back to her senses after her healing.

“They will start in three sun-risings.”

“We will be ready,” Naron said.

“This history talks of fight after fight throughout human memory. It is missing something. Something very important,” Terra said, holding up the sheets.

“I think it's one of the most complete histories there is.”

“It's missing love. Humans love; they mate in pairs for life. They have children and want peace and happiness for themselves, their children, and their villages. Without love, humans would be vicious beasts, and that's not what most are. I am sure most fought not because they enjoyed the fight, but to protect those they loved. Never forget love,” Terra said with a smile.

Naron felt ashamed of himself. This man raised by dragons, the most dangerous and powerful beasts on Tone, had more humanity than anyone he had ever met. There was much to learn from this one.

“I must be going. Tezza, it was a pleasure to meet such a beautiful human. I wish you happiness and love. I will be back in seven or eight sun-risings to see how things are going,” Terra said as he walked to the ledge. He turned and waved, then stepped off the ledge. Tezza ran over in fear. As she looked down, she saw the great white dragon rise from the mist and fly straight up and over the waterfall.

“Amazing individual, is he not?” Naron said to the young woman.

She had no answer to this, just an amazed look on her face.

Chapter 30 - A Time of Peace before the Storm

(A time of calm is sometimes followed by a great storm.)

- The Time of the Draman -

For the first time since the birth of Cardana, the little family had a bit of time to rest and enjoy each other. Fienna had stopped feeding her baby, but the sea nymphs and dragons still left them on their own as much as possible.