Dimwater's Dragon (18 page)

“Most Skytes would have flown away, but not this one. The fearless little Dragon reared back onto its hind legs, puffed smoke through its nose and beat his small wings furiously. The two of them looked like great warrior’s about to do battle, with Aiden standing over the Skyte growling and the little Dragon puffing smoke and hissing fire.

“Aiden shouted at the Skyte, ‘protect yourself,’ and then swung his sword over the Skyte’s head. The Skyte launched into the air and blew a ring of smoke into Aiden’s face. Aiden coughed and dropped his sword on the ground, stumbling backward a few steps, sputtering and hacking at the thick smoke. Aiden flailed his arms and fell to the ground.

“The Skyte was confused, for it had not meant to hurt the little boy. It had only blown the smoke to play with him. The Skyte flew down and landed on the boy’s chest. Aiden was still and quiet. The Skyte crawled up slowly toward Aiden’s face and sniffed.

“Aiden sprang up and caught the Skyte by rolling over, entrapping the little Dragon on its back. Aiden pinched the dragons mouth shut and playfully tickled it saying, ‘I got you,’ and laughed. The two of them became fast friends. Aiden took the Skyte home and with the help of his parents made a small bed for it in a basket. They hunted and played together every day from then on, becoming inseparable friends. Now, usually, Skytes and children don’t become friends. Most little boys during this time would never accept a Dragon in their home, but Aiden was different. He had a heart big enough to share his home with all. Aiden named the Skyte Boba.

“Some of the adults in the village tried to make Aiden take Boba back to the wild, Aiden always refused, telling them that every boy should be so lucky as to have a dragon for a friend, for there were many things that dragons can do that boys cannot.

“Boba was happy too, for he had never had a friend as nice as Aiden, to give him a bed and food. Boba felt lucky to have Aiden as his friend and wished every day could last forever so they could always play together.

“However, things never remain the same. One evening, after a particularly long day of playing, the sun went down, and a dark shadow of night fell upon the land for the first time. It was a darkness unlike anything that had ever been known before. It was hard to see anything at all. Worst of all, when morning came, the sun did not rise in the sky, and the world stayed dark.

“It was too dark for Aiden and Boba to play. It was too dark for them to climb. It was too dark for them to do anything. They sat in the house, sad that they could not play anymore. Then Aiden had an idea. He thought maybe if somebody could fly high enough in the sky, they could find the sun and bring it back.

“Boba liked the idea, but he cautioned Aiden they would have to find somebody very, very strong to fly so high that they could find the sun.”

Leatherback suddenly rose his head and looked at her, interrupting the story.

Njar called out from across the Glade, “You will be able to speak soon,” he said.

Leatherback glanced at the black furred satyr and then looked back to Kyra with questioning eyes. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Instead only a series of gurgling sounds escaped its mouth. Kyra laughed and patted on the head.

“Don’t worry, Leatherback, will speak soon enough. Shall I continue?” Kyra asked.

Leatherback again offered his high-pitched growl and then nestled his head firmly in her lap and began to purr softly. Kyra settled in again and looked up at the sky as she continued the story.

“Aiden and Boba set out to find somebody strong enough to fly and find the sun. First they found a Robin and told him of their plan and asked him to fly to the sun. The Robin flew high into the sky, but soon returned. He was too weak and slow to fly high enough to find the sun.

“Aiden and Boba continued on to find a faster bird. When they found a sparrow, they asked him if he could fly high to see the sun, and the sparrow promised he would try his best. It launched into the air, flying quickly up, up, looping and swooping through the sky, but it soon returned, exhausted from its flight. The sparrow said that it was not smart enough to find his way in the darkness and therefore could not fly above the night to find the sun.

“Aiden and Boba set out to find a bird that was both fast and smart and they soon found in owl. They asked him to fly above the night to find the sun so that the light would return to the world. The owl scoffed and laughed at them, asking who would want the light, for owls love to fly in the dark of night.

“Seeing that the owl was smart, but not wise, they set out again to find a different bird. Soon they found a great raven. The raven agreed to try. He spread his large, black wings and soared off into the darkness. Up and up he flew, but soon his wings were too tired and he returned back to the ground exhausted. He was just not strong enough to fly above the night and find the sun.

“So Aiden and Boba set off to find a bird that was fast, smart, and strong enough to fly above the night and find the sun. Soon they found a great eagle. The mighty eagle spread its wings and gloriously declared that it would end of the night. The eagle launched into the air, his wings beating the air so fiercely Aiden and Boba had to shield their faces from the breeze the eagle’s wings created. The eagle flew high into the night and disappeared for a long time. Aiden and Boba were sure that the Eagle would finally find the sun and bring back the light, but a little while later the Eagle returned exhausted from his flight. He told them that he had flown to the top of the night, but could not get through it to find the sun.

“Aiden and Boba began to lose hope. It seemed now that the world was doomed to continue on in the eternal shadow of night. They returned home, tired from the long journey. The next morning Aiden did not wake up. His mother and father tried to wake him, but his eyes would not open. Boba even blew fire and roared, and tried to tickle Aiden’s stomach but Aiden still slept.

“Boba flew out from the hut quickly to find the medicine man. He brought him back and the medicine man checked Aiden thoroughly. The medicine man said Aiden had fallen under the spell of night and said the only cure would be to find the sun and bring it back.

“Boba cried for the first time in his life. There was no one strong enough to find the sun. He could not bear the thought of his friend never waking up to play with him again. Boba left the hut and looked up to the sky. The darkness was so daunting, but he knew that Aiden needed a friend now more than ever. Boba wiggled his tail, flexed his legs as he stretched his wings, and steeled his nerves. He wasn’t just any friend, Boba was a Dragon! Boba jumped into the air and beat his wings, flying up and up, leaving the village far below. The higher he flew the more tired his wings became, but Boba did not stop. He pushed higher until finally he reached the black blanket that covered the world.

“It was not at all like Boba had expected. He thought that the night was a large black cloud that he could fly through, but it wasn’t. Instead, there was a thick ceiling. Boba clawed at it and blew fire until he managed to rip a small hole in the blackness. White light poured through and blinded Bob. The light was so intense that he had to return to the village and rest. When Boba landed, the medicine man was there to give him water and food to help him recover his energy. The medicine man then pointed to the sky and showed Boba that the light was bright enough to reach them, but it was not enough to wake Aiden.

“Boba decided perhaps he would not be able to find the sun, but maybe if he made more small lights in the sky, Aiden would wake. Off he launched back into the sky, flying toward the ceiling of night. He furiously tore a second hole in the night and again a bright, white light burst through. Boba worked endlessly tearing holes, then flying back down to see if Aiden had woken. But, no matter how many lights appeared in the sky, Aiden would not wake up. The new lights just weren’t bright enough. Boba resolved to tear a hole in the night big enough for him to crawl through and find the sun. Up and up he flew until he finally reached the ceiling of darkness and clawed at it ferociously and blasted it with fire. His muscles ached and his wings could barely move, but he did not stop. He knew he had to help his friend. At last he burrowed through and wiggled out above the night.

“The light was so glorious, Boba almost forgot what he had come for. Almost.

“He flew on until he found the sun. He passed over the jet wall of night until he came to a crystaline cloud, and eventually found the sun resting upon a great cloud of gold. Boba told the sun what had happened to Aiden and asked him to come back. Boba could barely speak, he was so tired, and his wings only faintly beat. The Skyte fell and landed on the thick, golden cloud. His weary body sank into the mist partly, floating just enough that he did not fall through. He lifted his head to the sun and tried to repeat his request, but his words would not come. He then looked back to the covering of night, but he was too tired to even crawl back to the hole and returned to the village.

“When the sun saw that the little dragon had spent all of his strength, he scooped up the little Skyte in his warm, golden hands. The sun said the little boy was lucky to have such a friend, and was so touched by Boba’s sacrifice that he decided to chase away the night. His warm bright light once again swept through the world. Then, the sun created the moon where Boba had clawed through the night to find him, and set Boba down on the silvery surface. Boba was far too weak to return to the village, so he closed his eyes and slept on the moon. The sun then came down to the village to wake Aiden. When Aiden awoke, his family and all the other villagers were so happy they started dancing and singing. None of them even noticed that Boba had not returned. Just as the sun was about to leave, Aiden asked where Boba was.

“The sun told Aiden that Boba had spent all of his strength and could not come down. The sun reached out to hug Aiden close, and whispered so that only the boy could hear. He told him that he had created a new home for Boba where he could fly forever and play all the time. The sun said that now the Skyte was a Moon Dragon. The sun said that in honor of Boba’s sacrifice for Aiden, each time he would go down to sleep, the blanket of night would come back to cover the world. But this time Aiden would see the many holes the Skyte had ripped in the blanket of night to bring the light back to his friend. The sun told Aiden that these small holes would be called stars. He then said the biggest light of all is the moon, and that if he were to look closely, Aiden would see Boba curled up, looking down upon him as he gave light to the whole world during the night. Aiden smiled when he heard that Boba the Moon Dragon would rule the night until the sun came back each morning to rule the day. Never again would the world be cast into total darkness.

“The sun returned back into its place and left Aiden in his village. From that day on, the world has been blessed to have the sun shining during the day, and the light of the moon and stars during the night. Even now, if the moon is full you can still see Boba watching over us, making our world a little brighter.”

Kyra reached down and gently raised Leatherback’s head so that she could look into his eyes. She smiled warmly as she could feel his body tensing in anticipation. “Don’t worry Leatherback,” Kyra said. “If you ever look up and can’t see the moon Dragon, do not fear for he has not abandoned us. My mother said that those nights are magical. She said that whenever the moon is dark and missing from the sky, it’s a special night when Boba can return to play with Aiden. Somewhere they are still climbing, exploring, and having as much fun as two best friends can.”

Leatherback purred loudly and nuzzled its snout gently against Kyra’s nose. She laughed and then rose to her feet as she patted the Dragon good night. She waved to the satyr chief who smiled and waved back at her and then disappeared through the portal back to her room at the Academy.

Over the next week and a half, Kyra alternated between spending time with her dragon and hunting with him, and training with Cyrus. Cyrus was fairly straightforward in his training. He would present a challenge or an obstacle and ask her to defeat it. Usually he would present the monster first and the information about its weaknesses after. They had long ago moved on from imps and had tackled scamps, giant spiders, and small wyverns.

This day started like any other. Kyra met Cyrus in the classroom and immediately she was set to her warm-up spells. She ran through several different wards, ranging from minor shields that would block a specific area of the body all the way up to large transparent shells that would encase her entire being and protect her for several minutes while allowing her the ability to continue to cast other spells.

After that, Cyrus closed the door and put a magical lock on it, as he always did. He conjured several orbs and set them hovering in the air in the classroom.

“Close your eyes, and fire when I tell you.”

Kyra did as she was told and used her ears to sense where the magical objects were. The orbs spun around her. She waited for the signal, summoning a series of lightning bolt spells in her hands that crackled and popped as she held her palms facing each other to concentrate the energy. When Cyrus gave the signal, she opened her eyes and sent all three bolts of lightning simultaneously. One went to the front of the classroom, striking its target and destroying the ball. The other two arced around her, one striking up near the ceiling and destroying a ball there while the third and final bolt went low between the desks to destroy the remaining ball.

Cyrus complimented her, but Kyra was tired of this exercise. She wanted to go after the creature that killed her mom, and so far she was no closer to that than she had been before she talked with Cyrus about this very thing. Her patience was running low. More than that, she had a dragon that now stood twenty feet tall and was nearly thirty five feet long, thanks to the satyr chief’s magic that accelerated his growth. While Kyra wasted her time repeating the same old training exercises that she did every day, Leatherback was learning to fly.

He wasn’t very good at it yet, but he could manage to glide twice his body length, which Njar said was quite a feat for his extremely young age. Kyra knew the satyr was right, for all the dragons she had read about took years before they could learn to fly. The satyr had explained that since the Middle Kingdom was located extremely close to the heart of the world, the place where the sacred seed was hidden from which sprang all life upon Terramyr, he was able to focus the magic in such a way that the dragon would grow over the next couple of years to full maturity rather than over decades.

If only she knew where this mysterious creature that had attacked her mom was hiding. With the dragon on her side, surely she was more than ready to face it now.

Something stung her backside and she wheeled around to look at Cyrus. The old wizard had an arched eyebrow and pointed to the floor at her feet.

“You are losing focus again,” he said. “Take care of the imp.”

Another imp. Kyra rolled her eyes and hardly had to muster any effort whatsoever to conjure a ball of ice from nothing to encase the imp. To make her point she called down a flurry of lightning bolts that destroyed the sphere of ice and obliterated the creature within.

“I am ready for more,” she said.

Cyrus nodded and snapped his fingers. Kyra heard a rushing sound as wind picked up within the room, sweeping the desks off to the sides. A black fog rolled in and then the floor dropped out from beneath her. She fell into a black abyss that swallowed her whole. The air was hot and humid, causing her to sweat almost immediately. When she finally felt a solid surface beneath her feet again she was nowhere near the classroom she had started in.

“Very well,” Cyrus called from the darkness. “Let’s conjure forth something a little more ambitious.”

There was something in Cyrus’ voice that unnerved Kyra. She wasn’t sure what it was, but she definitely felt uncomfortable. The darkness swirled around her, unyielding in its attack on her senses. The fog was so thick that it not only hampered her vision but it dampened her hearing as well. Something moved in the shadows, breathing heavily and walking with labored, lumbering steps that shook the ground every time its massive foot fell. Something made a scraping sound off to her left, as if a large iron ball of spikes was being dragged across stone.

This time she did not wait for a signal from the old wizard. She put up her large ward that encased her entire body. Next she summoned forth four orbs of light and put them in orbit over her head. The rays of white and yellow light managed to penetrate the darkness for a few feet around her, but they did not defeat the shadows. Something shimmered in the distance, just beyond the reach of her magical light. It flashed a few times and then was gone, disappearing further into the black fog. Kyra called forth a wind to sweep away the fog, but all it did was stir it up. Black vapors swirled around her as one of her magical lights was swallowed and overtaken by the darkness.

A terrible screech sounded from behind her. It was like claws on glass, high in pitch, yet shrill and holding the promise of something sharp and ferocious. She turned around and directed a column of fire ten yards in front of her. Again she saw a quick flash, a shimmer in the darkness. Could it be scales? Was she to fight a dragon? Surely many people come to Kuldiga Academy to learn how to fight dragons, but she doubted that Cyrus had the power to summon one, especially given what Njar had told her about the curse.

No, it must have been something else. Eyes perhaps, that certainly made more sense. Any number of creatures have eyes that shine similar to what she had just seen. Something tapped stone behind her. She whirled around again but this time she had no time to create a spell. A large beast standing upright on massive hind legs lunged toward her. Luckily Kyra’s ward held and the beast was deflected by her protective shell. The creature reeled backward and screamed loudly, revealing a mouth filled with fangs the size of her fingers and a face that could almost pass for a large human except that it was covered with fur.

The beast stepped in close and tested her shell with a finger. Kyra studied the monster, noting that it was nearly humanoid in shape, somewhat like a great ape. It stood roughly nine feet tall with arms and legs as thick as tree trunks. Each hand had two fingers and a thumb tipped with sharp, curved claws. The torso was extremely blocky and covered with a dark gray fur, but as solid as if the animal had been made out of boulders. There were no ears that she could see upon the creature’s head, but it had three eyes that watched her every move.

Something slammed into the shell down and toward the left. Kyra just barely caught a glimpse of the massive tail as its spikes clashed against her protective shell and then scraped back across the stone. Nothing she had ever heard or read about fit the description of what she saw in front of her. Her shell held against the tail’s assault, but the vibration she felt from the strike was enough to get her refocused on the fight at hand. The beast cocked its arm back as a human might before launching a punch and then it brought it forward with tremendous force, striking with its fist against the shell. Kyra jumped back as a small fracture appeared in the translucent shell, leaking a golden light through the crack. She knew if she did not think of something, she was going to fail this exercise.

Kyra summoned forth a spear made of ice and magically hurled it at the beast. With unnatural speed, the monster turned aside and allowed the spear to sail past. It then turned back and growled with a voice so loud that it shook the shell around Kyra and made her chest vibrate from within. As she watched thin lines of spittle drip from the beast’s fangs, she felt the urge to scream and cower in fear.

The young sorceress did not let it stop her. She gathered her courage and summoned forth another column of fire, just under the monster’s feet. The flames rose up and singed the creature’s hair, but the spell did little to deter the creature. The monster leapt up out of the flames and landed on the shell that protected Kyra. The ward started to crack and she heard many popping sounds the same as one might hear if a bolt of lightning were to strike nearby and shoot off small tendrils in every direction. Tiny fissures tore through the shell, informing Kyra that she had only moments left before the beast could get her.

She knew that if she wanted to find her mother’s killer, she could not admit defeat to Cyrus now. If she asked him for help, there was no telling how long it would be before she was able to avenge her mother’s murder.

The sorceress in training acted on impulse rather than wisdom, trusting her gut and instincts to know what to do in the situation. She darted out to the right, using her ward spell to create a directional blast at the same time. The explosion was near deafening, and the flash of light that came from the giant bolt of lightning she called forth out of the ground blinded and deafened her momentarily. She heard the beast howl as it was thrown to the side as the pressure in the area changed. She could hear the howling grow distant as the creature’s body was flung upward from where the shell had been. A few seconds later she heard a large crash and felt the vibrations as the monster landed several yards away from her.

Assuming that she only had a second or two before the beast regained its senses, she turned and ran toward where it had landed. Her three remaining orbs of light hovered over her, following her as she sprinted through the darkness. The creature roared again, somewhat incoherently, but strong enough that Kyra took the threat seriously.

With a flick of her left wrist she cast the three orbs of light at the creature. They slammed into his face and pummeled him. The gargantuan beast swatted at its own face clawing and ripping at the orbs of light, trying to get them off. The distraction was exactly what Kyra was hoping for. She called forth several large spears of ice over the beast’s body and dropped them down. Two of them missed, but the three others struck their target. One drove through the beast’s left thigh and the other two pierced its torso. Kyra jumped into the air and called forth a ball of lightning between her hands. She came down on the beast’s chest and drove the ball of lightning into its face before tucking into a roll and escaping just before the beast swatted at her with its claws. The beast writhed and howled on the ground in pain, but Kyra was not done yet.

Remembering how she had defeated the ghoul at the dragon’s nest, she called forth a tornado and dropped it down on the beast. The wind swirled furiously, sucking in the black vapors from the area around her. Next she brought the column of fire down from the sky into the center of the tornado. The beast spun slowly, sliding across the stone and grasping with its claws to try and regain control. When the column of fire drove through the monster the fight was over. The beast let out one final howl and then collapsed inward on itself as the tornado pulled it in and crushed its now lifeless body.

In the distance, Kyra could hear slow clapping. A moment later she found herself back in the classroom standing in the middle of the floor with Cyrus near the door of the room. The old wizard was smiling ever so slightly and continuing to clap. Kyra breathed heavily and moved to lean upon a nearby desk to catch her breath.

“I have never seen someone so young defeat the Baukin before. In fact, I would wager most of the recent graduates from Kuldiga Academy could not defeat such a creature.”

Kyra, still breathing heavily from the exertion, nodded her appreciation of the compliment. She did not collapse as she had after the fight with the creature at the dragon’s nest, but she could feel that she had used much of her energy in the fight. Still, she wanted to show strength to the wizard. She was tired of training, she wanted the real fight. Surely if she was half as good as he said she was, then she should be ready. She pressed off from the desk and forced her burning lungs to make do with shorter, even-paced breaths.

“So when do we leave?” Kyra asked.

Cyrus stopped clapping and looked at her confused. “Leave?” He shook his head and folded his arms. “We aren’t going anywhere.”

Kyra’s face blushed and she could feel the anger rising within her. “Surely the thing that killed my mother was not more powerful than this thing,” she said.

Cyrus pointed at her and shook his head in disbelief. “You think your mother would fall to this? This is not the same being that broke into your home and killed her. This creature didn’t even have any magical powers. It had a natural resistance to magic, and an unnatural amount of strength, but this was no demon. It is going to take months of training before you are ready.”

Kyra wanted to argue. No, she wanted to fight. Perhaps the old man was playing it safe because he was scared. There was a part of the young apprentice that wanted to test her strength against the wizard and see who came out on top. Luckily, the rational part of her brain took over as she remembered her mother’s words. Kyra chose quiet acquiescence and the appearance of submission. She forced the anger out and nodded her head. She would continue with this day’s lesson, that way Cyrus would have no reason to watch her or restrict her activities. Then, when she was free for the day, she would take Leatherback and see if they could hunt down clues of their own.

After the apprentice had calmed down Cyrus motioned to the books on the far shelf near the desk. “Go and pull the book entitled
Masters of Shadow
and use the index to find the section on what is called a shade. The rest of today will be spent studying that creature. You are not ready to fight it yet, but I believe that is what broke into your mother’s home.”