Whistlestop (9 page)

“
Stay calm, my children,”
the abbot said. “Please head back to your homes
quietly.”

Suddenly, there was an explosion of
light, as a giant flying beast landed in the center of the room on
top of the remains of the bonfire, scattering a cloud of embers. It
was at least a hundred feet from head to the tip of the tail. It
had large leathery wings, and a face that seemed half reptile, half
dog. Before Jerry could think, the abbot was standing between him
and the dragon. “Back off, devil beast!” the abbot shouted. The
creature smiled at him, baring its long fangs. “Why aren’t you
freezing to death, demonseed beast?” The dragon stretched its long
neck upward and pointed its mouth to the sky. A searing plume of
fire and smoke shot upward into the blackness of night. The
revelers had begun to move backward and those on the edge of the
group had escaped into the night. The dragon lowered its head to
the ground just a few feet from the abbot and closed its eyes. The
left eye opened, but instead of the bright green iris and black
pupil, the image of the Emperor of the Universe glared back at
them.

“
Surrender the Knight of
Winterpast to me, Abbot!” Karl shouted.

“
Why are you torturing this
poor beast, Karl?” the abbot asked. “The embers may keep it alive
overnight, but the rising suns will blind it most
certainly.”

“
The dragon is not
important, only the knight matters now. If you do not surrender
him, this dragon will destroy your damned temple and kill everyone.
Is one man’s life worth that much?”

“
Did you hear his words,
Abbot?” Lydia whispered in Rick’s ear.

He nodded and turned to Jerry. “What
do you say, Jerry?”

“
I can’t let that dragon
kill everyone here for me. Do you think the dragon will harm
me?”

Rick leaned toward Jerry’s ear and
whispered, “If that was what he wanted, we would already be
dead.”

“
Abbot, no!” Lydia
exclaimed. “Jerry hasn’t had time to learn anything yet. He will be
helpless in the hands of the emperor.”

“
Your cousin is correct,
Jerry, and I will not order you to go. That is a decision you need
to make alone.”

Jerry put his hand on the abbot’s
shoulder and said, “Tell Jeremiah everything. He will know what to
do.” He turned to Lydia who immediately threw her arms around him
and pressed her face against his neck. “It will okay,
Cousin.”

She kissed both of his cheeks and then
pushed him away. “You are very brave, Knight of Winterpast. I pray
we will see each other again.”

Jerry turned and walked toward the
dragon, which had pressed its neck flat against the floor so that
he could climb up on it. Jerry pulled himself onto the creature and
moved back to the point where its neck met its shoulders, turned
and sat down. He smiled and waved at the dwindling crowd. The
dragon rose from the embers, and jumped up into the air, flapping
its wings until the two had disappeared into the night.

The dragon flew on through the
bitterly cold night. Jerry was shivering from the cold, rubbing his
hands together to keep the blood circulating. Suddenly, he felt
warmth under his legs and butt. Was the dragon sacrificing its own
body heat to protect him? He hugged the beast’s neck and felt the
heat pouring into his body. The warmth and the drink soon drained
him of strength and he fell asleep.

He dreamed of dragons, but not the
attack by the one he now rode. It was a different world, full of
jungles and deep forests, a land of dragons. Large flocks of the
creatures filled the skies. They were all colors and sizes, which
he imagined showed their age or tribe. He dreamed it was nighttime,
and a group of dragons were gathered around the embers of a large
fire. There were a number of silver and black mottled globes
sitting on the embers. The dragons all were lying in a circle
around the globes with their heads facing the glow. Another group
of dragons was flying in low circles over the gathering. They
swooped and dived, performed barrel rolls and other acrobatics.
There was a series of low cracking sounds and the flying dragons
landed on the outside of the others, standing and staring at the
embers. One of the globes was cracking, then another and another.
The first egg popped open and a baby dragon screeched and a thin
blast of fire shot from its mouth. The other dragons began to jump
and spray the sky with their flames. More and more eggs broke open
until more than twenty baby dragons began to flap their wings and
take to the night sky. Jerry felt warm and overjoyed by the images.
A shudder ran through the beast Jerry was riding, almost waking
him. The birthing party was gone. Now there was a dark and dank
cavern filled with fireproof cages, each containing a young dragon.
They wore shackles around their necks and legs and looked
malnourished. They squawked for help, but their parents were
nowhere to be found. Five massive beasts were guarding the cavern.
They were giants, at least fifteen feet tall. Their skin was dark
green and leathery. They wore black steel and leather armor and
carried battle axes. A sixth beast sat on a stone throne, holding a
crystal ball in his right hand.

The following morning, Lydia Amaranths
Iron-Heart marched toward the courtyard. Her face showed no
emotion, only stern determination. She was wearing the bright
silver armor of a Knight of Winterpast. A long sword hung from her
belt on her left, and a dagger on the right. She pushed several
monks aside as she entered the courtyard and headed toward the
floating globe. “Please milady, you must reconsider,” a monk urged.
She pushed her right hand outward and the monk flew through the
air, landing on a grassy patch. The rest of the crowd moved out of
her way. When she arrived near the fountain, she raised her right
hand toward it. The reflection on the globe began to change. Soon,
a castle appeared in the globe and she smiled
contentedly.

“
Stop!” the abbot shouted,
causing her to drop her hand and turn around. Rick noticed the
image of the trehbor’s castle and said, “This is madness, Lydia.
You can’t face the trehbor alone. You must wait for the elves to
arrive.”

“
Abbot, you remember last
night, right? My cousin was taken by a dragon of the emperor. You
expect me to wait around and do nothing?”

“
I only ask you not to face
impossible odds, Lydia. The trehbor is not our friend anymore. He
has sworn allegiance to the emperor. He will imprison or enslave
you, and that is if you’re lucky.”

“
He knows where the dragons
live. He will tell me, or I will cut his heart out,” she snarled as
she drew her dagger.

“
First, you must remember
the emperor’s words last night. He does not know Jerry’s true
genetics. That is a fatal flaw. This can still work out for
us.”

“
I refuse to sit and
wait.”

“
Let us say you are lucky
enough to keep your head, what will you do when you know where the
dragons live?”

“
I will rescue my cousin,
Abbot. I refuse to allow our only chance to save the universe to
fail because of my inaction. We both know Jeremy Davis Iron-Heart
II is the Chosen One.”

“
I am not denying that, my
dear, although I don’t think our fate is so preordained. All I’m
asking for is calm, rational decision-making. If we react too
quickly to the emperor’s threats, we will fail. There is a reason
Jerry is with the dragons now. We have to see where this takes
us.”

“
You do what you want,
Abbot. I choose to act!” She spun around and stretched out her
right hand and promptly disappeared.

“
Oh dear, that is
unfortunate,” the Abbot moaned.

A nearby monk asked, “What do we do
now, Abbot? Should we attempt to rescue her?”

“
We must pray the elves can
save her. Our presence in the Valley of Thrace would only endanger
things more.”

Jerry was beginning to wake up. His
mind was filled with unfamiliar voices, speaking over one another
as if he was in a crowded party and could hear all the
conversations muddled together. “What do we do with him?” a voice
asked.

“
He will come for him, and
then we are promised an egg.”

“
Only one egg for the
Chosen One? That hardly seems fair.”

“
Beatitude, that is not up
to us. If we want to make it home, we must do as he
says.”

In his mind, he saw the emperor
standing in front of him laughing. Then there were two dragons, one
of either side of him. A horrified looked crossed Karl’s face, just
as the two beasts shot blasts of fire at him. The emperor moved his
mouth to scream, but was instantly engulfed in flames. After a few
seconds, the fire faded and a charred skeleton collapsed to the
ground. “Yeah, you and me both,” one of the voices said. “Wait, I
think our guest is listening to us.”

“
That isn’t possible, he’s
just a man,” another said.

Jerry opened his eyes to see more than
twenty dragons staring at him from the other side of the metal bars
that held him in a small cave next to a giant chamber where more
than a hundred dragons clung to the walls. He was lying on a pile
of straw. “Hello?” he said. The dragons looked at one another.
“Were you just talking about me?”

“
Maybe he did
hear.”

“
No, he was having a stupid
dream. Humans can’t hear us. They aren’t evolved enough for
that.”

Jerry stood up and replied, “Well,
this human is evolved enough. Your endless jabbering woke me
up.”

A dragon stood up and looked at him.
“Okay, human, my name is Beatitude. If you can hear me, say my name
out loud.”

“
Beatitude,” Jerry replied.
The dragons moved backward in shock.

“
Archimedes, you’d better
get over here,” a voice said. A giant black dragon clung to the far
wall of the cavern. It jumped into the air and flew over to the
cage. The other dragons scurried to move out of its way as it
landed and stared at the others. “The human can hear our thoughts,
Brother.”

“
Don’t be ridiculous,” the
dragon said. “You all must be dreaming.”

“
Excuse me, Archimedes, I
can certainly hear you talking,” Jerry noted. The beast swung its
head around to face him. “You’re the one who kidnapped me, right? I
wanted to thank you for sharing your body heat with me. I thought I
would freeze to death.”

“
So, you are not human.
Then what exactly are you?”

“
My cousin says I am a
Halfling.”

“
And what pray tell is your
non-human half?” Archimedes asked.

“
Perhaps the Emperor will
give us more eggs for a Halfling?” another voice asked.

Archimedes turned his head and
glowered at the others who backed off further. “Our deal is done
and set, Brothers and Sisters. I will not stand for such talk.” He
turned back to Jerry and waited.

“
No one seems to want to
tell me, Archimedes,” he admitted, “but obviously not a dragon.”
The dragons burst out laughing. “My father is a Knight of
Winterpast, and I thought my mother came from the same place,
although I do not know for certain. She looks totally human to me
and bore me in the way of humanity.”

“
Well, Halfling, I’m afraid
this changes nothing,” Archimedes said. “We have too much to lose
to go against the emperor.” The dragon turned around and began to
walk away.

“
Archimedes, I saw your
memory when I was riding you from the temple.” The beast stopped
but did not turn. “I saw your home world, and it is a beautiful
place.” Archimedes turned his head but otherwise didn’t move. “What
is that place called?”

“
Evermore,” a new voice
said. “Please tell us what else you saw.”

“
I saw a large bed of
embers covered with eggs surrounded by a tribe of dragons. The eggs
began to hatch and baby dragons emerged. All the adult dragons were
celebrating.”

“
What color were the eggs?”
a new voice asked.

“
Quiet, all of you! Please
say that is the end of this memory, Halfling,” Archimedes
begged.

“
No, there was more. The
eggs were silver and black. After that vision, I saw a huge cave,
full of cages, each containing a baby dragon. It was being watched
by six terrible monsters.”

“
The Cavern of Death,” a
voice said.

“
Shush,” said another,
“those words must never be spoken.”

“
Archimedes, have you seen
that place? How else could the Halfling have seen it?”

“
Quiet!” Archimedes
screamed as a blast of fire shot upward. “No more talk of that
place. If you all must know, the emperor placed that memory in my
mind so that I would obey him. I don’t know if it truly exists or
not. It is best we put the past behind us. Hoping against hope will
not bring our children back. We must accept that they are dead.” He
turned to Jerry and growled, “Never mention that place again or I
will incinerate you!”

“
I apologize, Archimedes.
The last thing I want to do is to cause more pain. If that place
exists, I swear as a Knight of Winterpast, I will do my best to
rescue them. You have my word.”