Wind Rider (11 page)

I watched it go. There where it hit, was a troll.
But only for a moment. Then there was great crater there. The troll, and the
kobolds around it, were gone.

The tree slowly began to heal itself. I could feel
green life returning to its branches, see it sprouting new leaves all around
me.

Then the trunk opened again, and
Woltan
slumped onto the landing. His skin was no longer hot
to the touch. He coughed once, and then he was breathing. His eyes were closed.

I touched his arm.
Woltan
.

I am… weary. But I survived, didn’t I? I’m
alive, somehow. What happened? I thought the art of conjuring demons such as
that one had been lost long ago.

Open your eyes and come back to us.

Woltan
opened his eyes.
“Thank you.”

“Thank the tree mother,” I said. “Without her, you
would have died.”

You and your friends, human, tree and dragon,
have saved me twice, now. I have saved you once. I remain in your debt.

Woltan
shook his head.
And
Gustaf
?

I could almost see the tree mother smile.
I
saved him too, but he is one of mine.

One of ours, now, too, though.

Let it be a half-debt then.

Around the tree the dragons circled, burning and
blasting the last of the enemy. Before we could go down and help, it was all
over. Where once young trees and tender saplings had stood around the mother
tree, now were dead bodies, broken and scorched wood.

I feel your despair, Anders, and the pain is
mine. But once you and your friends leave, the land around me will grow again,
and the bodies will sink into the ground, food for the worms and the plants and
the trees.

Still, so much blood.

And so much sap and heartwood. They must have
cut down more than a hundred of my kin before they found me. They were not all
very smart, my kin, but some of them had intelligence. I will hear their
screams ringing in my ears for a long time.

The dragons landed then. They had barely enough
space among the fallen trees and bodies.

Woltan
stood up. “We
must be going. This time, our trip will be much faster.”

I noticed
Gustaf
standing behind him, with his twin.
Are you alright?

Gustaf
nodded, and then
he did a strange thing, in such an evil time. He smiled.
I never thought I
would think in such a way, but I am fit to fly.

XII

In the end it was stuffed with
food, covered with the warmest clothes of the tree people, our faces and hands
covered with protective sap, and after a mandatory twenty minute nap that we
found ourselves in the air again, high above the forest, approaching the Stone
Mountain. I squeezed
Yesenia’s
neck and although her
scales were cold and stony, the warmth of her consciousness flowed into me.

Approaching the Stone Mountain, I wondered about
Kara. Had she reached her people, and delivered the Book of Id? Had she rallied
them to the aid of the old city? Had Cullen the smith
reforged
the broken sword of the
Kriek
king?

How were we going to find them? I reached out with
my mind as we reached the peaks of the Stone Mountain, as the dragons stopped
in their roosts, all except
Adalbjorn
, whose nest was
deep beneath the mountain.

I reached out my mind, and felt something, some
kind of network, a whole web of connected minds, that opened to me, but where
was Kara?

Kara?

We are in full council, Anders; that is why you
feel us all. Where are you?

At the summit of the Stone Mountain. Show me
the way and we will be there soon.

And the Tree Mother?

I sent a series of images of the battle to her —
the demons, the poison, the great old magic that sent them back to another
plane, the healing of the Tree Mother.

Those demons give us food for thought. We must
be prepared should the Dark Lord or his minions conjure any more.

We wouldn’t have been able to remove them
without the help of the dragons. Even the tree mother couldn’t have saved
Woltan
without their help.

The dragons are a great aid to our shared
cause. My dragon is eager to fight the evil that threatens and enslaves the
peoples of our lands. Listen, now, Anders: My people will watch the rest of
your flight through your eyes, and guide you. We have a space ready for the
dragons to land. I will try to be with you, but when I cannot, my sisters and
brothers will be your guides.

And the dark lord and his minions?

We believe that as long as they are on the far
side of you, they pose no danger of interference. You could teleport right now
to us, but you will get here almost as fast on
dragonback
.
Anyway, I don’t think we are ready to teleport a dragon. The gateway and the
energy expended would be enormous.

I felt Ulrike’s mind interrupt.
Anders, we need
to get going. We are not dragons; we are just getting colder here on the peaks,
and
Adalbjorn
has no place to roost either.

I looked around me. We stood now all on the craggy
peaks of the Stone Mountain.
Adalbjorn
was perched
awkwardly between two peaks, his enormous body surely missing his home inside
the mountain.

We fly then. Kara and her kin will show us the
way.

And then I did something I had never done before:
I connected Kara’s mind to Ulrike, and to the others around us, and to their
dragons.

I felt
Adalbjorn’s
huge
and foreign intelligence.
We see the way. Let us fly.

Then we were in the air again, falling first, then
moving up. Although the protective sap warmed my face and hands, the cold wind
still numbed them. I concentrated on helping
Yesenia
navigate. We flew parallel to
Adalbjorn
and Ulrike,
high above the meadows that lay below the far side of the Stone Mountain. Ahead
lay forest, and somewhere in the forest, was the land of the
Kriek
, hidden from all eyes except their own.

I reached out and felt the life below me. The
plants were different from the other side of the Stone Mountain; they were
foreign, but seemed to welcome the touch of my mind — I could feel their
energy.

I tried to follow the link of Kara’s mind all the
way back to the
Kriek
city but it was too far; I
could only feel the plants and trees beneath me for about a mile ahead.

What I felt was calming, though. Here the plants
had not been trampled and burned by goblins, kobolds and trolls… the land was
happy, and growing, and neither swamped nor thirsty.

Relax and rest, little one.
Yusef
and
Sednar
are sending
Adalbjorn
and me their directions… You humans may as well rest. Do not fall asleep, or I
will have to swoop down and catch you, but you can relax your mind… We will not
break the link…

Aren’t you tired, yourself?

We dragons do not tire quickly; we tend to rest
for long periods of time, relative to humans, but then we are active without
need for rest. I think we will all be hungry soon, though… Rest a little, and
when you wake, we will hunt, perhaps, and then will be there. Listen to my
dragonsong
, and let it fill you with restful and peaceful
thoughts, and let yourself relax and perhaps even sleep; I will catch you if
you fall…

And so I let myself fall into a slumber as the
dragonsong
filled my mind and my limbs with its warm sunny
song. As the cold air raced over me I was filled with warm images and colors,
and with music that made my muscles relax. I felt one with the dragon, as if I
were sinking into her song. I could sleep now, I was sure, without falling off
her back… I let myself be one with the music and let my worries and my fears
empty out of me. And then, for a few minutes, at last, in the cold air high
above the green fields, I slept.

The wind burned my eyes when I opened them again.
We were descending in a great spiral, high above a tiny field in the middle of
what must be green forest.
You have slept longer than we intended, little
one. We are here, in the land of the
Kriek
. Can you
see your friend down below? We flew very high, to avoid detection and because
the air flows faster up there.

I blinked as I looked down. I could not make out
Kara, but when I used my third eye I could see her as a point of green light
down below, and heard her voice in my head.

Anders, it is good to feel your mind.

Can we really land on that tiny strip?

It seems tiny because you are so high up.
Yusef
says it’s adequate, and
Sednar
agrees.

But at the rate we are spiraling it will take
us several more minutes to get down there.

I think you weren’t the only one to nap. Tell
Yesenia
you want to drop, but hold on tight if she does.

Yesenia
?

Kara is right. Hold on tight. Here I go.

We fell like a flaming arrow, shooting down
through the cold air. I held on for dear life. We were going to crash into the
green grasses and shrubs, I could see Kara looking up at me now, a look of
horror on her face… and then, suddenly
Yesenia
opened
her wings part way and we zoomed around the field in three short spirals. She
opened her wings large then, beat them twice, and landed softly on the ground.

I let myself fall to the ground. My legs felt weak
and numb, and I almost stumbled with my first few steps. Then Kara was running
up to meet me, and I ran to her. Before I knew it she was in my arms, hugging
me.

“Anders, I was so worried about you.” She smiled
at me. “From so far away all we could
scry
a great
battle raging, but we couldn’t tell who was winning…”

“Gerard… He escaped again.”

“I have a feeling he won’t commit himself until
the final battle, and even then, I fear he will find a way to escape.”

“Will it come to that, you think? A final battle?”

Kara stared at me for a moment. Behind me, I could
hear dragons landing. It was suddenly too loud to talk.

What do you think?

I don’t know or I wouldn’t have asked.

I mean, what do you feel, in your blood?

I stopped for a moment to ponder that question.
How could I ask my blood a question?
Feel it,
came the answer, unbidden.
I filled my body and mind with war, felt it course through my blood;
yes,
there would be a final battle. I was sure of it.

There will be a final battle. Not now, though.
This is just our first test.

Kara stared at me another moment.
Almost the
same exact thoughts are written in the book of Id. I think you have your own
book of Id, in your blood. That is why the dark lord wants you, and our book.
Your blood and the book contain all the secrets and prophecies of this era that
is ending.

I turned around to see all the dragons had landed.

Kara smiled, and made a big gesture.
Follow
Yusef
, he will lead the way.

It was then that I realized that Kara had not come
alone. Her dragon stood waiting, standing on his short strong legs.
Yusef’s
eyes twinkled in the sunlight.

I dismounted and stood beside Kara, and watched
Yesenia
move over to
Yusef
.
Whatever had made me think they were solitary creatures? How little I knew
about dragons, even if my mind and aura had melded with one. The pleasure visible
in their eyes to see each other again filled me with a strange warmth. Could
Yusef
have as strong feelings for
Yesenia
as I had for Ulrike, and for Kara? I felt like asking
Yesenia
,
but not here. Not now. Still I could feel the waves of pleasure emanating from
her; she was happy to see him, that much was clear.

One by one the dragons followed
Yusef
into the forest, weaving between the trees. The other
riders gathered behind me and Kara, rubbing their legs.

“Will they be safe?” I asked.

The dragons will be fine.
Yusef
has picked a meeting place for us
Kriek
that
accommodates their needs, and they have escape routes, as well, should we be
attacked. We have temporary roosts so they may rest, water to drink — and
tomorrow they will hunt.

We walked behind the dragons now. It felt strange
and painful to walk after so much time on
dragonback
.
I could see the others stopping to rub their legs as well. Kara smiled at us.
I
was sore for several hours, but the pain goes away, eventually. My people are
at work already making harnesses which should make our lives on
dragonback
easier.

Woltan
looked weak
still, but he smiled.
I would rather be sore than dead. These dragons have
saved my life twice over.

What happened?

Demons, Kara. Demons of a level I thought could
no longer be called by humankind. One of them bit me, and only the art of the
tree mother and the power of the dragons kept me from passing on to the next
world. I felt myself fading and saw demon spawn everywhere around me. We need
all the art and wisdom of the
Kriek
to counter this
new threat.

How did you get rid of them?

Anders and the others pushed them into another
plane; they created a rift between the planes, and then sealed it. I don’t
think we’ll be so lucky next time.

I fear that the dark lord may have discovered
some other ancient tome; he still seeks the Book of Id, but he already has dark
magic that we thought lost, if he is able to conjure demons of such power.

We were walking along a path that must have been
widened for the dragons. Every once in a while we came to a burned down stump.
Up ahead I could feel strong magic — at first I thought it was the dragons, but
then realized it was human. We were walking up to a great circle; I could feel
and see the circle in my mind, and inside the circle were lines that connected
everyone in it. So many were in the circle, so many were the connections
between them that it seem almost like a solid circle of green light, shining in
my inner eye even though we were not yet upon it. At intervals in the circle there
were dragons; they too were connected, and at equal distances around the
circle.

Somehow, instantly, I knew.

It was the great gathering, the
Kriek
council. One thousand strong, all their minds melded.

Awaiting our arrival.

Kara must have sensed my unease. “They are
assembled to make plans of war, to come to the aid of
Woltan’s
people. They are assembled to honor the dragons that honor them with their
presence. And they are assembled to greet you, Anders, the three-blooded prince
of the prophecy. As a guest, but also as kin. You have nothing to fear here,
bloodsinger
. Remember that. No matter what else happens, we
are your kin.”

I know. That’s why I don’t want to embarrass
myself.