The Dragon Savior of Tone: World of Tone: Book 2 (9 page)

Chapter 12 - The Village

(Visiting a new world is not always pleasant.)

- The Time of the Draman -

Terra's disgust with killing seemed to be increasing; the death of the four seemed to add to his sadness. He had little choice in the matter; the four would have killed him and the humans he was helping. He always felt like this after killing, even when he killed to eat it felt wrong. He knew killing was needed at times, and others could kill without a second thought, but he simply could not. He kept walking and pulled his mind back to the village he was approaching.

Terra had seen in his fly over that in front of the village were nearly a thousand of the males dressed in black. Terra wanted to avoid them, so he approached the village from the woods. He moved off the main path to enter the village from a side trail. He noticed when he flew over that a group of humans with about twenty carts was heading down that trail. They should be near him soon. It was just before sunset when he heard the noisy group approached the village. As they passed him, he stepped into the path behind the group. He put his hood over his head and stooped down. They came to the men at the entrance to the village, who waved them through. Terra followed and walked right by the two men. He split off as soon as he was in the village.

The village smelled and it was filthy. Rotting materials lay along the paths between the human-built caves. How anything could live here was beyond Terra's understanding. Small ones ran through the paths and their parents seemed to be searching through whatever lay about between the caves. Many seemed frightened and they held their young ones close to them.

The males that wore the black clothes controlled everything, and the other humans obviously feared them. He then came to a circle in the center of the village. He stood near a small cave fashioned with wood. Food was arrayed on flat surfaces facing the circle. Two humans, a younger and older female, sat with the food. They offered some to him for a Solanan, whatever that was. Terra turned them down. He saw a number of these caves scattered around the circle. On one side of the circle was a great cave, recently built. Two large wood plates covered the entrance. He recognized the wood, when dried it was hard as rock. The dragons used sticks from the tree to dig up small rock like creatures in the sand near the Great Water. They loved to crunch on them.

Terra heard a noise from one of the paths that came into the circle. The two females looked at the path, then at Terra.

“You need to get down. Get behind us. Hurry,” the older female said as they pointed to a place behind their cave. Terra did not yet want to be known, so he followed their instructions.

He could see a very ornate cart drawn by two beasts. In front of the cart were four of the males in black and four more in the rear. In the cart were three females dressed in very bright colored cloth. The group approached the wooden plates, which open from the inside of the great cave. They entered and the plates closed behind them.

“You can come out now,” the older female said.

“Why did you have me hide?” Terra asked as he got up.

“They would have noticed one as big as you and they don’t like strangers. They would have come for you. I assure you that would not have been pleasant,” the older female said.

“What is your name?” Terra asked.

“My name is Nolla and this is my daughter, Keenna.”

“I am Terra. Thank you for your help.”

“I suggest you leave the village. It is not safe here for one such as you.”

“I plan to, before sunrise.”

As the large man walked off, the two women looked at each other. “Do you think he's the one the girl told us about?” Keenna asked her mother.

“I can't imagine it to be any other. Look at his size. He seemed to know nothing of our village.”

“What should we do?”

“We must send a message to Naron. He should know of this,” Nolla said to her daughter.

Terra walked throughout the village until just before sun-rising. He saw hungry and frightened humans living in utter filth. He would change this soon, but first he needed to see the village on the other side of the lake. Terra walked to the edge of the caves and ran to the woods. He moved with such speed that few could see him in full sun, let alone in darkness.

When he reached the woods, he found a small clearing large enough to change into his dragon form. He was in flight over the lake as the sun rose. He had spotted a clearing near the other village on the other side of the great lake. He landed slightly after high sun. This village was surrounded by tall man-made cliff built of large cut stones. The cliff was about a dragon length tall. It extended to the shore, creating half a circle. Terra planned to swim to the village and enter from the water, since there were only two guarded openings in the cliff on the land-side. He saw more openings on the waterside.

He slept until sunset and then took his bag and strapped it to his back. He entered the water naked; his clothes would stay dry in the oiled bag. It was not long until he came to the edge of the cliff that extended into the lake. He slowly glanced around its edge. He could see a wooden platform about his height above the water, supported by cut tree trunks pushed into the lake bottom. He saw a vine hanging from the wooden platform. He swam to it, testing it with his weight, then climbed up the vine. He stepped into a dark corner and put his clothes on.

Terra walked down the platform. He found a vertical wall made of tree trunks about twice his height. He then came to a hole cut into the wall covered by a wood panel. Terra listened and heard nothing on the other side so he pushed on the wood. He heard cracking and a snap as the panel swung in. He stepped through and pushed the panel closed.

He found himself at the end of a path that led between human caves. Terra walked down until he came to a larger cross path. This village seemed to be empty. When he flew over, he saw a square area in front of the main opening in the human made cliff. He moved toward this area. The streets were clean, unlike the other village. Every opening in every cave was closed tight with wood panels. When he reached the square area, he saw at least five hundred human males moving around in very precise groups. They seemed to be practicing walking. They wore odd clothes that seemed to tinkle when they walked. They looked like hard little interconnected rings that formed cloth. They looked uncomfortable and difficult to move in.

He was in a dark enclave watching these men when he heard movement across the path. He saw a small panel open and then close. Then a panel slightly smaller than his body opened and a hand waved him in. Terra never felt fear so he squeezed through the panel into the cave. He was in a small dark cavern with a male and female human. It was lit with small odd-looking sticks with small flames upon their tops.

“What are you doing? You know the law. No one is allowed out on the village paths after sunset,” the man said.

“I am new here. I do not know your law,” Terra said, not understanding the word law.

“Who are you?” the female said.

“I am Terra. I came here to see your village.”

“This is not a place to visit. The king is a harsh master and his men are violent and dangerous,” the male said.

“Who are you?” Terra inquired.

“I'm Jeno and this is my wife, Kinda. Our families have lived in this village for generations. In fact, my wife's family started the village. We are leaving as soon as we possibly can.”

“It's that bad here?” Terra asked.

“Yes, we stayed because we thought it would be possible to get the village back. The bastard who calls himself king brought in too many Defenders. At least that's what he calls them. They are actually killers who have been promised land and wealth to help keep him in power. We realized we could do nothing to stop them, so we plan to leave. We have a friend in the village that will take us to the caves,” Jeno said with anger in his voice.

“Caves?” Terra said in a questioning tone.

“The caves are in the walls of the great gorge.”

“You mean where the water falls from the lake?”

“Yes, have you seen it?”

“I have been there,” Terra said.

“You can't go outside until sun-rising or they will take you,” Jeno said.

“Why have you come here,” Kinda asked with suspicion in her voice.

“I wanted to find out about this village. I come from the far north. My village was attacked by men dressed in black. They killed the entire village except for my mother, sister, and me, of course. We were away when it happened. They seemed to come from the village on the other side of the lake. I went there and it's a disgusting place where all seem to fear the leaders. I came here to see if this place is any better. I need to know who I can trust, who can help me in these valleys,” Terra said.

“You want revenge?”

“I want to know if there are some good humans in these valleys. Is there anyone that can help me or do I have to deal with things myself?”

“You are a big man, the biggest I have ever seen. You are not big or strong enough to fight all the men in the two villages. There are good people, most are good. These villages fell into the hands of evil rulers. I think people were searching for protection or just someone to take care of them. They allowed those who told them what they wanted to hear to rule. Too late, they discovered the cost,” Kinda said.

“Then no one here will help.”

“You have come to the wrong place for help. We know some who could perhaps assist you. We plan to leave at sun-rising to join them. You are welcome to come with us and we will introduce you to our friends. They will have to decide if they will or can help,” Kinda told him.

“Perhaps that would be the best thing,” Terra said.

“By the way, how did you cross the lake and get into the village? There is no bridge over the lake and all the gates of the village are guarded,” Jeno asked.

“I walked to the edge of the mountains; there I found a difficult, but passable, path around the lake edge. As for this village, I swam around the back. I found that a panel in the wood wall was broken, so I came in.”

“
You crushed it,
” Fienna laughed in Terra's mind for she was listening through their mental connection.

“
I know, but they don't need to know how I got in,
” Terra thought to Fienna.

They allowed Terra to stay in a small room in the back of the cave. He could not sleep. The room was too small and it smelled strange. Hopefully, he would find out at sunrise who he would be dealing with. Perhaps, they would be honest and decent humans.

Chapter 13 - Meeting the Draman

(The future is sometimes hard to recognize.)

- The Time of the Draman -

Rammy decided to go to Southlake first; it was a bit closer. She also knew that Rubbo was going to pick up a couple from Southlake and bring them to the gorge caves. They were the last of the founding families of village and would be a good addition to the guard.

She got on the runner beast and made her way to the southern cave exit. She rode at a trot so to not tire out her ride. She made a dark sleeping area and rested her beast for part of the sunset. Before sun-rising, she started off so she could be at the meeting location by high sun the next sun-rising.

Terra and the young couple were waiting when a tapping started at the cave entrance. Kinda opened the panel and there stood a human male a bit shorter than Kinda. He was small, but bulky. He was almost as wide as Terra. He had no hair on his head, but a thick black beard covered his face. When he walked in, he looked up at Terra and backed up a bit.

“Who the blaze is this?” the man said.

“I am Terra, a stranger here. Who are you?” Terra said to the little human.

“I am Rubbo. Why is he here?”

Kinda told Rubbo the story of the sunset before. She asked Rubbo if Terra could go with them. Rubbo said he could come to the meeting place, beyond that, someone else would decide. They quietly moved down some side paths toward the wall of the village. They entered another small cave. The little human pushed a large piece of odd shaped wood to one side and a hole appeared under it. One at a time, they entered the hole. Terra went last. It was a bit tight for him, but he managed it. They crawled, perhaps two dragon lengths, and came out in a wooded area behind a large boulder. There were three large bags near the exit. They had brought them across a few sun-risings before. Rubbo, Jeno and Kinda each took a bag.

“We have to hurry, we must be at the meeting by high sun,” Rubbo said as he moved off through the woods.

Terra could see the path he was following. There were a series of small markings in the wood or on rocks. The couple was completely lost and Kinda was tiring fast. Terra took her bag, which seemed to weigh nothing. They reached a small stream and moved opposite to the water flow. They finally came to an area where the streamed formed a small pool. They had reached the meeting place.

They waited until slightly past high sun when a male and female arrived. As they walked around the pool, another female showed up on a runner beast. She was a large, powerfully built human female. She had several of the shinny sticks that the ones who killed the villagers tried to use on him. Rubbo went to greet this female and showed great respect for her. Terra had moved into the edge of the woods and sat quietly watching.