Dragon Talker (12 page)

“How about a story?” Hental asked the question slowly, which gave his father pause. Hental was anything but reticent.

“What kind of story are you thinking about, Henti?”

“How about the one that tells us what happens when we’re dead?”

“Are you worried about Selma? If she is going to be okay?” his father asked.

“No, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“That’s good.” Tadeus relaxed for a moment, not feeling like talking about death with his nine year old.

“She is going to die.” He continued in a matter of fact tone, “I know that. I think she does, too.” Tadeus’s brow furrowed and Agardia stopped rocking the baby. Hental looked to each one in turn, wondering if he was going to get an answer to his question.

Tadeus scratched behind his ear. “Well, there are a couple stories I could tell.”

Lared broke into the conversation, “Does it involve carrots?”

Tadeus laughed. “No, but there are dragons. Throw me one of those carrots, please, my wife, so our boy does not fall down from lack of nourishment.” Smiling, Agardia threw a carrot to Tadeus.  He gave it to Lared and Lared wasted no time chomping down on the carrot, chewing loudly.

“Don’t scare them too much, my love.”

“Before Samora came, there were different stories, but I will start with the new stories, which are still much older than either of you.”

As Tadeus started the story, Agardia moved over to the fire and added the vegetables to the soup one-handed from the pouch in her apron as she held the baby in the other. Hental and Lared squeezed into the chair next to their father. Tadeus’s voice became deeper as he spoke, “First, there was the land and sky, but they were lonely. You see, they weren’t connected.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Lared interrupted.

Hental hit him in the arm and said, “Hush!”

Tadeus smiled, “Just listen to the story, Lared - it makes more sense if you don’t cut into it before it even starts. First, there was the land and the sky, but they were lonely. You see, they weren’t connected.” Tadeus paused, but Lared didn’t say anything, though he sunk a little deeper into the chair and crossed his arms, bending down his head occasionally to take bites out of the carrot. “A layer of water covered the land, separating it from the air.”

“Ohhh.” Lared nodded his head in understanding before asking, “but why was the water covering the land?” Bits of carrot flew out of his mouth as he asked.

“Lared, let the story breathe a little son. It’s like starting a fire: you need some air blowing to get things really going.” Hental punched Lared in the arm again. Tadeus warned, “Hental, enough for you, too.”

“What?! I’m just trying to listen.”

“You know, there are dragons coming, in the story… may I continue, my little thinkers?”

He waited until he got a yes from both boys and continued, “A layer of water covered the land, separating it from the air. It was hard for the air to see any land, but the mountain tops were near the surface and appeared as a large hazy shape under the water. One day, frustrated with the water, the wind blew and blew. Soon, huge waves were rolling across the ocean.”

“What’s an ocean?” The question this time was from Hental.

“It’s like a lake, only much, much bigger.”

“How much?” added Lared.

“One thousand times bigger than the biggest lake.”

Both boys “ooohed” at the explanation. Agardia smiled.

“Soon,” their father continued, “the waves were as tall as the highest trees in the forest and they were also just as deep. After each high wave crashed over the mountain top, the top of the mountain was free of the water for a few moments before the next wave covered it again. This was enough time, though, for the air and land to finally talk to each other.”

Lared asked, “What did they say?” as Hental asked, “When do we get to the dying part?”

“All in due time, Hental. What they said, Lared, and you have some carrot on your shirt, was a lot of things. First, it was, “Who are you and what are you doing there?’ You see, the air couldn’t understand how the land could be so solid and the land couldn’t understand where the air actually was. Try as they might, they couldn’t get much of a conversation going between the waves, and the air was getting tired of constantly blowing.

Tadeus leaned forward in his chair and lowered his voice, “Then, they hatched their plan. The wind stopped blowing so strongly so the water wouldn’t get suspicious.” Lared made a big deal of brushing the carrot bits from his shirt, but Tadeus could tell his son was listening. “The wind started saving up its energy, but it also went a thousand miles away and started making tornados that would dance over the ocean, keeping it distracted. The earth started drawing more dirt towards the mountain, but it did it all underground.”

Hental was running the images through his head, wondering how any of this could relate to death, but he trusted his father to go a little longer. “The earth and sky were patient, and this went on for a year, the earth slowly gathering itself in one spot and the wind sending tornados around the sea.”

“What’s the see?” Lared asked.

“That’s another word for ocean.”

“Then,” he countered, “why don’t they just say ocean. Why do they need two words for the same thing?”

Tadeus was used to these types of questions and found a quick explanation was the best way to go or Lared would stew on any unsatisfactory answers. “What do you call your brother?”

“Huh?”

“What do you call your brother?”

“Hental.” Lared’s brow was furrowed in a good imitation of the look his father gets when he’s looking to see where a question from one of the boys is going.

“And,” Tadeus asked, “What else do you call him?”

“Henti. We all do.”

“And what else….when you think we aren’t listening?”

“Lop-foot and Thunderbrain.” Lared hunched his shoulders up, in case Hental decided to punch him.

“So, why do you have all those names for him when one will do?”

“Ohh. I get it.”

“All right, so where was I?”

Hental jumped right in, “The earth was gathering itself and tornados were flying around the sea.” To Lared, he added quietly, “Log Head.”

“That’s right. All this preparation was going on, but the ocean wasn’t stupid. It knew something was going on, and the ocean was afraid. When it was between the air and the land, it always knew what was going on. The ocean was in control, but what would happen, it wondered, if the air and land connected? Would they plot against the waters? Would they be mad that the waters had kept them apart? It didn’t want to take that chance.”

“When the land finally forced its tallest mountain range taller and the wind began blowing the waters away from the mountain, the ocean was enraged. It brought its strongest currents to the mountain and started wearing it away from underneath. At the same time, it crashed against the mountain constantly, creating such a roar that the wind and land couldn’t hear each other.”

“The water also clung to the rock, seeping into any and all cracks it could find. Once inside a crack, the water froze, breaking up the mountain. It didn’t take long before the mountain crumbled back into the sea. Nothing is stronger than water. The land was alone once again. It knew that it would need some help if it was going to ever defeat the ocean.

“Deep in the earth, it started to create creatures that it could use to fight the water. These creatures had to be impervious to water.”

“What does impervus mean?” Lared asked.

“It can’t get in, like the roof is impervious to rain.”

“But our roof leaks!” Hental punched Lared after his little brother said that.

“Our roof is mostly impervious to rain, and don’t hit your brother, Hental. These creatures were completely impervious to rain.”

Hental interrupted, “I know what they are…dragons!”

“That’s right, and dragons they were. The first was the mightiest, the blue dragon. The blue dragon could use water’s own power against it by freezing it.”

“That’s Samora,” Lared elbowed Hental as he said it. Before Hental could elbow him back, his father gave him the leave-your-little-brother-alone look. Hental rolled his eyes instead and shook his head.

“That’s right, too, Lared. Samora was the first. Then, the earth made seven green dragons. These dragons were smaller and fast. They were fire-breathers. The earth made seven sisters and brothers for them - red dragons. They were in-between Samora and the green dragon’s size, but the red dragons’ fire kept burning hours after the fire of a green dragon would die down.  The fastest of all dragons, the White Dragon, was made next and was the first to catch up to Samora, passing all the other dragons on the way.”

“These sixteen dragons headed to the surface to battle the ocean. As they did, the earth made one more dragon. This dragon was huge, like the blue dragon, but black. Nobody knows what this dragon can do because it has stayed behind, waiting in the deep dark. Some say it is the dragon of death. Others think it is the dragon that can conquer all the other dragons, a weapon that the earth is saving in case the dragons ever turn against it.”

Hental asked, “What do you think, tatush?”

“What do I think? …I think….I think it is time for supper.”

Hental cried, “No, finish the story” while Lared yelled, “Yea! I get the first bowl!”

“There’s a lot more to the story and a lot more stories, Hental. I’ll tell you about the Battle of the Dragons after supper, okay?”

“All right, but I better know what happens when we’re dead at the end of it.”

Chapter 19

When Yuri woke up after the next morning, after his long swim, he was famished. His original idea was to leave right away, but he decided he wanted to stock up on fish before he did. Yuri turned his fishing rod into a spear and walked out into the frigid water. It no longer bothered him; instead, he found it invigorating. The fish were not suspecting any company with spears in the cold water and fishing was good. In short time, Yuri caught nine fish. He cooked them over a fire and devoured them in short order.

As Yuri began the long walk home, he began to notice a few changes in himself. For starters, he was even more comfortable in the cold; in fact, he preferred it. Though he could go shirtless, he kept enough on so that people would not think there was something odd about him. He also wore a scarf to hide the blue scales riding up his neck.

He brought out the flute as he was walking and continued to practice. As he did, he thought,
I sound nothing like the master who gave this to me, but I don’t sound like a dying bird anymore.
He had been working on a song for Hental, but he couldn’t play fast enough yet. Instead, he was practicing what he hoped would be a slow, sweet song that his mother might like. And, if it was really good, he could save it for Miriam - a girl back in Mandan he always liked talking to.

Yuri stopped a half-mile from a small village of two to three hundred people. He could see the wisps of smoke coming from the fires in the huts in the distance. The trail, which had been densely surrounded by trees, was moving into the open. The trail also split. One path went straight into the village and the other led to the south, going around the village. As he was trying to decide if he should go through or around to avoid trouble, he saw a rock come flying out of the bushes to his right.

Without thinking, he caught the rock before it hit him in the face. A sharp pain ran up his arm and his hand started bleeding immediately. He heard laughter from behind the bushes. He dropped the rock and shook his numb hand. Blood flung to the ground. “All right, you little rats. Come on out before I come in there.”

Two boys came out behind the bushes. The smaller boy, about three and a half feet tall stood behind a taller boy, who was holding a sling in his hand. Yuri shouted, “That’s a mighty fine shot you took.” The boy with the sling looked at Yuri’s hand. “and yes, it hurts. So tell me, why try to take my head off?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you’re not from here. Maybe you deserve it.” Both boys took a step back as Yuri took a step forward.

“Well, that’s not very kind. I must have passed by this village at night coming through the first time. What’s it called?” Yuri shook his head again while he waited for an answer, noticing that the pain and bleeding had stopped.

“What do you care, stranger? Just leave.” The older boy put another stone in his sling, slowly, all the while staring at Yuri.

“We got off on the wrong foot, and I think I’m just going to keep walking, but I would drop that rock if I were you.” Yuri put his hand on the knife he kept nestled in a sheath between his belt and waist on his right side. “You are starting to make me angry.”

The boy let go of one strap of his sling. The rock fell to the ground. Yuri shook his head, took his hand off his knife, and started walking down the trail leading south. Ten feet down the trail, Yuri stopped to check on the two delinquents. He turned his head back in time to see a rock hurtling towards his head. This time, he couldn’t catch it and it hit him square on the forehead, knocking him down.

Yuri knew he was bleeding before he hit the ground, though that thought was buried under a lot of pain. Lying on his back, he listened for the boys. Looking up, he saw that the boys were gone. “Damn little monsters.” He pulled back his hand, which had been on his forehead, and saw that it was covered in blood. He could feel blood running down the side of his nose. He was tempted to shout, but the throbbing in his head convinced him not too. Instead, he slowly got up and began walking towards the village.

It didn’t take long for Yuri to realize something was wrong. The smoke wasn’t coming from the cooking fires of the huts; it was coming from what was left of half of the huts in the village. The huts were spread out enough that only a strong wind could have moved a fire from one hut to another, and last night had been still.

Dragons burn down villages now and then, and that was Yuri’s first thought, until he looked closer. There was none of the destruction one would expect from a dragon attack - no smashed-in walls, broken trees, deep claw marks in the ground, nor any trails in the dirt made by a dragon’s tail. These fires were man-made, or mage-made. Even though he knew it wasn’t dragons, Yuri felt a pull on his amulet. Something was connecting with him or him with it, but he couldn’t tell why or what the connection was about. The destruction around him kept him from dwelling on it. He was no longer angry, the feeling replaced by a general confusion.