Firestorm (13 page)

‘How “not entirely accurate” are we talking here?’

‘I’m afraid that’s a question for which I have no answer,’
Ra admitted.

Elian considered the possible problems that might arise as a result of misunderstandings. Having already seen some of the destructive capabilities of these people, apprehension tightened the
muscles of his back and shoulders as he imagined what they could do to him if he were perceived as an enemy.

‘Let’s hope no one finds us, then,’
he thought.

Chapter Twelve

Elian found it impossible to sleep next to Kira for long. Cuddling up close whilst they were shivering with cold was fine. It felt good and comforting, especially after seeing
the strange fighting and the flash bang fires earlier. They both drifted into an uneasy sleep quite quickly. However, once he had warmed up, Elian woke up feeling uncomfortable. Kira’s
breathing was settled and her body had relaxed into sleep. Taking care not to wake her, he eased away and arranged all the blankets over her.

Fang was also asleep, so Elian repositioned himself within the hollow circle Fang had made and waited for morning. As dawn approached, Fang stirred and Elian climbed the dragon’s side to
peer out from under the cover of his wing. The increasing light revealed a lush green countryside rich with vegetation and perfect for farming. What his father would give to have land like this to
cultivate! It was a farmer’s paradise.

Kira appeared silently beside him. Her face betrayed nothing of her thoughts, but Elian felt more comfortable with the silence than he had the previous day.

The wait for dawn to break was a nervous one. They were all anxious to leave this strange land and return to Areth. Fang’s wound needed urgent attention and every moment they stayed
increased the chance of their being discovered. They saw one of the strange dragon-like things launch across the field and climb into the slowly brightening sky. To Elian’s excitement he
could see that his deduction had been correct. The beast was not alive, but a man-made contraption. The machine had a single rider and Elian wondered if the man would notice them as he gently
circled into the sky above. The heartbeats dragged into an eternity, but finally the sun peeped over the horizon. It was time for them to move.

Elian and Kira crouched low to Ra’s back as they launched. On one side a line of trees masked their take-off. On the other side Fang shielded them as much as possible with his camouflage,
carefully positioning himself between Ra and the men and machines now moving around their great houses.

‘He’s seen us,’
Ra announced as they accelerated.
‘The one in the air is looking at us right now.’

‘Have others seen us as well?’ Elian asked.

‘No. Just the flying one. No one on the ground appears to have noticed. But I can feel the surprise of the one in the air. He’s debating if we are real.’

At the crucial moment of dawn, the boundary between worlds was at its weakest and Ra was able to open a far bigger gateway than she had when they had escaped the dragonhunters. It was wide
enough for the two dragons to enter side by side. They plunged into the vortex and out of the war-torn world. The mind-twisting wrench of passage, the momentary sensation of weightlessness, and the
dizzying effect of emergence were just as disorienting to Elian as they had been the first time. He half expected to reappear above the same water hole in the savannah that they had left from, but
the view that met his eyes was very different.

Jack reached an altitude of about five hundred feet and began a gentle turn to the left, seeking to gain as much height as practical before striking out for the enemy lines. As
he climbed, he scanned the brightening sky for hostile aircraft, but the airspace above, around and below him remained clear.

It was as he was passing about six thousand feet that he noticed a strange shape in the corner of the airfield. Although the sun had peeped above the horizon up at his altitude, lighting the
blue, blue sky with its bright golden rays, he could see that down on the ground dawn was still a few moments away. What
was
that long, sleek thing? If he didn’t know better, he would
have said it looked like a dragon.

For the first time in ages, Jack laughed aloud in the air. A
dragon
! What was he thinking? This war must be getting to him. He rubbed his goggles with the back of his glove, suspecting a
smear of oil, but the goggles were clear. For a moment he returned his attention heavenwards, scanning the sky for hostile aircraft. He couldn’t afford a lapse in concentration over something
so ridiculous. He looked down again at the huge, bronze shape and then across to the hangar area where a number of machines were being brought out onto the field. Why didn’t anyone on the
ground react to its presence? Was he the only one who could see it? Truly, he prayed he wasn’t going mad.

Suddenly the colour of the object changed from a bronze/brown to a resplendent gold as the sun cleared the horizon at ground level. To Jack’s further amazement a grey, swirling vortex that
looked somewhat like a tiny spinning disk appeared in the air not a hundred yards from the thing. The vortex was strangely two-dimensional. Jack could see it swirling, yet from directly above, or
to the side, it looked invisible, without depth.

The golden thing, whatever it was, suddenly launched towards the vortex with surprising acceleration. As it ran, great wings unfolded and began to beat. A quick comparison with the aircraft
being wheeled out of the hangar revealed a wingspan greater by a considerable margin than that of the aircraft below. Then it was gone; swallowed by the swirling vortex, which promptly collapsed
and vanished.

Jack blinked a few times in rapid succession. There was nothing but empty space below him. His colleagues were going about their normal business. If it had been real, then surely someone on the
ground would have spotted it. He would wait and see if anyone mentioned it later. If they did, then fine – he would share what he had seen. If not . . .

‘Go and find some enemies to scare, Jack,’ he muttered to himself under his mask. ‘Talk of dragons will do no one any good.’

Elian’s first breath drew in clean air, tinged with the pungent scent of pine. It was warm, but not with the tropical heat of the savannah. The air here had the feel of
summer about it. They were gliding across a huge area of dense forest, which marched right to the curving shores of a large lake, and onwards again from the far shore into the distance. To the
north, great mountains of purple-grey rock thrust thousands of spans into the blue sky. Bright patches of snow speckled the mountaintops with majestic white, whilst occasional puffs of fair-weather
cloud and a few lenticular caps to the leeward side of the distant peaks punctuated the blue heavens. As they neared the lake, the sun set the surface of the water sparkling with dancing gold. The
scenery was breathtaking.

A blurring to their right drew Elian’s attention as Fang shed his camouflage and appeared alongside them.

‘Where are we, Ra? This doesn’t look, or smell, like Racafi.’

‘
I’m not surprised, Elian. We are in northern Cemaria, several thousand leagues from your home.’

‘Where? Good grief, Ra! This type of travel is a neat trick, but aren’t we as far from Orupee here as we were in Racafi?’

‘True, but Longfang needs healing, and my dragon-sense – my instinct, if you like – opened the gateway here for us to see that need fulfilled.’

Elian considered that for a moment as they glided down and across the lake towards the far shore. It made little sense to him.

‘Isn’t there a day dragon in Orupee that could have helped?’ he asked. ‘I thought dragons roved all over the world.’

‘
Most likely, but it would not have been the
right
day dragon,’
Ra answered haughtily.
‘Dragonsense is not something that can easily be explained to humans. It
has to do with destiny and purpose. A dragon has a sense of “rightness” when she is following her destiny. Beware, though, for this should not be confused with safety. There are no safe
paths, and not all encounters work out as a dragon might wish. A true dragon always follows dragonsense, though. If I were to do as I pleased, rather than following the purpose for which I was
born, my existence would cease to have meaning and the world would be a poorer place. Time and again throughout Areth’s history, it has been dragons following their dragonsense who have
shaped the most pivotal moments, averting disasters and setting events in motion that have been to the benefit of all. There is nothing of chance in this. It is inbuilt. It is the greatest of the
abilities we have been blessed with.’

They descended further and further until they were almost skimming the surface of the water. As they approached the narrow strand of clear ground between water and woods on the far side of the
lake, Ra tilted into a turn and Elian could sense her pleasure as she deliberately trailed the tip of her left wing along the surface of the lake like a giant gull.

With admirable accuracy her turn brought her perfectly over the narrow beach area and she back-winged to a gentle landing. Fang landed just a few paces behind. The dusk dragon let out a hiss as
he settled and Elian heard Kira’s sharp intake of breath as she experienced echoes of her partner’s pain.

‘Are you all right?’ he asked, turning in his saddle.

Kira nodded, but her face looked pale. Elian moved to put his hand on her shoulder, but the glare he received stopped him before he had raised his arm more than halfway.

What is it with her? he wondered. She’s more prickly than a prickle-pig! Aloud, he addressed Ra, whose head had twisted round on her long neck until she could regard him closely with her
huge eyes. ‘So where’s the day dragon, Ra?’

‘About ten paces in front of you, Elian. Do you not have eyes in that little human head of yours?’

Elian looked ahead and realised that what he had taken for a line of blue-grey rocks was actually the head and neck of a dragon protruding from the tree line. Its body was largely hidden amongst
the pines. The dragon looked nothing like he had expected. He had always imagined a day dragon to have glorious blue scales, and a proud, upstanding posture. This dragon looked tired, washed-out
and grey.

‘What’s the matter with it?’
he projected, looking at the dragon with a mixture of curiosity and caution. Something was not right here. There was no sign of the
dragon’s rider. Was it a rogue?

‘He
is worried and a little depressed,’
Ra answered, her emphasis and tone clearly disapproving of Elian’s use of ‘it’.
‘Human troubles, I
believe.’
She snorted, though whether she did so in amusement or in disapproval of Elian’s diction, he could not tell.

‘Dragonhunters?’
Elian asked, his eyes instinctively scanning the tree line for signs of movement and his heart accelerating at an alarming rate.

‘No, not hunters. It’s his rider; she doesn’t want him.’
Ra’s tone was scathing.

‘Doesn’t want him!’
The shock of it brushed aside Elian’s momentary panic.
‘I don’t get it. You said
we
were predestined. Is this
dragon’s rider different?’

‘No. The bonding leaves no choice,’
Ra said firmly.
‘She is Firestorm’s rider whether she likes it or not. According to him, the girl’s mind is filled
with a maelstrom of fear. Worse, it appears she is more terrified of him than anything else. She runs from him whenever he draws near. He is devastated. For a day dragon, courage is the most
important attribute in a rider. The day dragon fraternity value their reputation for bravery above all else. A cowardly rider will make Firestorm the laughing stock of his kind.’

‘Can Firestorm help Fang?’
Elian asked, worried for a moment that they had come here in vain.

‘
Yes, he has already agreed to do so. His depression won’t prevent him from helping us. It is a matter of honour for a day dragon to assist those in need.’

‘Excellent.’

Elian remained close to Ra as Fang limped forwards and turned to allow Firestorm to see the wound. Kira ran to be by her dragon’s side, but then paused, dithering for a moment before
stepping reluctantly away to the side. Longfang looked at her and Elian felt he could almost hear their exchange as he observed the expressions on their faces. Kira was not happy to have to stand
so far away, but she did as she was told.

Firestorm turned his head on his long neck until his nostrils were no more than a handspan from the gaping hole in Fang’s thigh. The day dragon paused and stared intently at the wound for
a heartbeat before drawing in a deep, slow breath.

‘What’s he going to do?’
Elian asked.

‘He’s going to breathe his fire over the wound,’
Ra replied.

‘He’s going to sear the wound! I could have done that last night!’

‘No, Elian. Firestorm isn’t going to sear it. Watch and you’ll see.’