The Dragon's Lair (30 page)

The dragon adjusted his glasses and looked at the text.

"At the beginning of the world, there were five places it is said that Time began," he said. "Each of those places is the birthplace of one of the five elements—fire, water, air, earth, and the substance known as ether, the element of magic, made by the light of the stars. At each of those places, an immense and beautiful tree grows, each one different. They are known as World Trees, because their roots run deeply throughout the earth and are all connected. Each of those trees is guarded by an ancient dragon, one of the Five Daughters of the first dragon ever to be born in this world. They are sometimes also called the Five Guardians.

"The oldest of all these trees is Sagia, the great oak that grows in the Enchanted Forest. Sagia's magic is what protects the forest, and keeps the magic of this part of the world alive. The tree is protected by the Guardian known as Marisynos. It is her egg that the Nain found one day. They took it back to their mountainous realm, not realizing the anguish that action would cause its mother—mostly because they are stupid and selfish."

"They think they are protecting it," Ven said. "They have it somewhere safe and warm—"

"And hidden away from the only one who can bring it to life," Scarnag said dryly. "You cannot imagine the mother's agony—having to give up searching for her child because to do so would mean abandoning her guardianship of Sagia. The Nain have no idea how much pain they have caused her, and are causing her still. It's an unforgivable offense."

"Unless the mother chooses to forgive it," said Ven. "Nothing is unforgivable, really. The Nain don't want to harm the baby dragon—they miss the one they lost more than they know how to express. That's what they are trying to do—make up for that loss the only way they know how."

Scarnag continued to play with the gemstones, but said nothing. Finally he sighed.

"You know, I really don't have time to be torching the Nain, although I have to admit it has been fun. There is a lot of work to be done in a library—cataloging of books, maintaining materials—I'm really very busy keeping up with it. I'll make you an offer: tell the Nain who I am. If they want to make amends to me, they will immediately return that unborn dragon child to the Lirin, who will give it back to its mother. You should deliver it—the Lirin may attack the Nain if they come themselves, thinking it's an invasion."

Ven sighed. "Yes, that's exactly what would happen."

"If they do this, and do it immediately, I may one day consider giving them back their history, a little at a time. It's going to take me a while before I want to meet any of them—old wounds take a long time to heal. But you have taught me something about forgiveness and making amends, boy. It feels a lot better than carrying the acid of hatred and anger around all the time."

"Yes, I believe it does," Ven said. "I'm counting on that in my own situation."

"Tell them my terms," the dragon continued, "and also tell them they have until the next turn of the moon to accomplish them. Otherwise, I'm going to continue to burn their settlements—and one day I will come after that egg myself. One thing I learned from the Nain as a child, even if I haven't believed it of them for centuries—family is everything. There are all forms of family, and dragons are a very big one. I feel responsible to Marisynos to make sure her child is returned to her. There are few enough dragons in the world as it is."

"I'll pass along your terms," said Ven. He rose from the carpet. "Thank you for hearing me out and not eating me."

"My pleasure," said the dragon. "Would you like to sign my guestbook on your way out? You'll be the first." He pointed with his tail to a large stand on which an even larger book, dusty and leatherbound, sat open, an inkwell next to it. "No one ever came by to visit who wasn't trying to vanquish me. It would be nice to finally have the signature of someone who just came by to talk."

"I'd be honored," Ven said. He walked over to the guest book and brushed the dust off the first blank page, then took the quill from the inkwell.

Black powder fell from its tip.

"I guess it's a little dry from age," said the dragon. The red streaks in his hide glowed brighter with embarrassment.

"Not a problem," Ven said. "I have a waterskin."

He mixed a few drops of water with the ancient powder to reform the ink, then carefully wrote at the top of the page:

I am honored to have been your first guest.
Thank you for your hospitality, and especially for not eating me
.

Cordially, and with warm affection,
Charles Magnus Ven Polypheme

"There," he said, laying the quill beside the inkwell.

"Thank you," said the dragon, sounding pleased.

"Might I ask two more questions of you?"

"Certainly," said Scarnag. "Librarians love to answer questions."

"First—are you the one starting the fires near the Enchanted Forest, or in the Wide Meadows?"

The dragon snorted in disgust.

"No, that's the work of those human idiots who think it's a good idea to burn off brush for farmland. I wouldn't even eat one of their stupid identical cows for fear it would give me diarrhea. You might want to suggest to the Lirin
and
the Nain that they get together and put a stop to
that
—before they burn down the Enchanted Forest. What's the other question?"

"The scale I gave you—did you donate that long ago in a noble cause that saved the world?"

The dragon smiled slightly.

"No," he said. "I was not yet hatched when that occurred. But my mother was alive—and this is the scale she gave." He took the scale from its case, held it up to his hide, and tilted it to catch the light. The color was exactly the same. "When you first showed it to me, I thought you were going to bargain for everything I had, and I would have given it to you to get this back, because it's all I have of her. I never knew her, you know."

"Yes," Ven said. "I'm sorry."

"Where did you get this, by the way? I didn't even know it existed, but the moment you showed it to me I knew what it was, and from whom it had come."

Ven took a deep breath, then told the dragon the story of the Gated City, how he had met Madame Sharra, and about the reading she had done for him. He told Scarnag about how she had appeared to him again, before he left Kingston, and what she had said.

The dragon listened intently.

"So what she said to you, about not seeing your footprints—did that make you believe you are going to die soon, then?"

Ven shrugged. "I don't know if it did. But I guess it's a possibility I never thought about until she said it."

The dragon nodded. "The young don't think about death much, I suppose. It's a little like you're wrapped in Black Ivory yourself—protected from life, and from the dangers it poses. You should keep that envelope with you all the time, just to remind you what awaits you, good and bad, in the world.

"Black Ivory is an interesting thing. In some ways, it's the best example of something that is totally and completely dead. And yet that is one of the things in all the world that can mask the vibrations that something, or someone, gives off in the process of being alive. It can hide something's true name, making it invisible even to those beings who can see things that are hidden. So it knows more about life than almost anything. It is, in a way, the ultimate librarian."

"What are some of the others?" Ven asked. "Is there anything else that can hide a person besides Black Ivory? I have a lot of bad people looking for me, but I don't want to live in a cave forever."

The dragon thought for a moment. "The only one I can think of, the only one mentioned in the books, is the sea. But there may be others. I can research it for you, if you want to come back."

"I'd love to," Ven said. "Thank you for the invitation—and for telling me your story. I should be going now—I have an egg to bargain for and deliver, and a friend that really needs to get home."

"Before you go, take these," said Scarnag. He patted the colorful book with the engraving of the World Tree, and another box, with his tail. "The first one you may keep—I have another copy of it. But the book in the box is one of a kind, so it's on loan
only
." He pulled off the top.

Ven peered inside.

"You can open it, if you're careful," said the dragon.

Ven unwrapped the book from its packing of silk and picked it up. The box it was in was lined with gold, and smelled of ancient magic.

The leather cover was imprinted with the raised picture of a dragon. Inside, each page bore a picture of a dragon as well, beautifully detailed and colored, but with no words.

"Thank you," Ven said, his voice filled with awe.

"Remember, on loan only," said the dragon. "And dragon late fees are
dreadful
."

Then he extended his claw and held out the red gems he had been playing with. Ven took them; they were hard and shiny and deep ruby red. "Take these as well. I've been playing with them for centuries, squeezing them in anger, remembering the great wrong that was done to me. I guess I don't need them anymore. I hope you will keep them to remember what you've taught me—and what it sounds like you've learned yourself."

Ven stared at the little gems.

"Thank you. What are they?"

The dragon smiled broadly, showing rows of pointed teeth.

"Kiran berries," he said.

24
A Promise Fulfilled

So I hurried back to my friends
.

And we hurried back to where we had met the Nain
.

Along the way I told them everything that had happened. It felt wonderful to be able to share the story, even the parts that the dragon had originally wanted kept secret, without having to hold anything back. Clemency seemed to have forgiven me, and Ida—well, Ida is Ida. She sat in the corner of the wagon and stared at me, smirking occasionally and making rude comments
.

But that's nothing new. I hope she has forgiven me as well
.

With Char, it's like nothing ever happened
.

All the way to the Nain outpost, Clemency handled the driving, which was good, because the ground between the dragon's lair and the rocky foothills was hard to navigate. Char, Ida and I were occasionally sick. Amariel slept most of the way
.

W
HEN AT LAST THEY GOT TO THE BURNED OUTPOST, THE NAIN
were waiting for them. Garson had seen them coming from a lookout in one of the higher peaks of the foothills. As a result, Tuck was lying on a stretcher, waiting for them.

The Lirin forester was doing much better. True to their word, the Nain had patched him up and bandaged him, though he had been kept in their prison, which had seemed to have no visible impact on him. By the time the children saw him, he only had a sling on his arm and a bandage on his chest.

When Ven told the Nain the story of the dragon's lair, that Scarnag actually was Ganrax, and what his demand for amends was, the Nain were silent for hours. Tuck, Char, Clem, Ida, and Ven sat in the wagon and played cards or mumblety-peg while the Nain discussed what to do. Finally, they returned in the middle of the mumblety-peg championship, announcing they had made a decision. Everyone was happy except Ida, who always won mumblety-peg games and hadn't gotten to her turn yet.

A procession was set up, with Nain guards led by Garson escorting them with great solemnity inside the foothills through a tunnel hidden by many layers of rock slabs. Even Tuck was allowed to come inside, an honor few Lirin had ever experienced.

The tunnels within the hills did not appeal to the Lirin forester and the human children, but to Ven it was like returning home, even though he had never been inside one in his life. Something about the way the stone sang inside the earth, the way it smelled, the colors of the different layers of rock was just beautiful to him. It made him feel happy deep inside, probably back in his blood to a time when Polyphemes still lived underground, before Magnus the Mad decided to go upworld, move to the seashore, and open a factory building ships. It made him giggly, the way his father and brothers got when they were drinking rum.