Dragon Tears Read online

  Rat jumped out of the tall grasses, wrapping herself around his legs, and almost tripping him. “Get back, cat!” he growled to no avail. The animal was determined that her human would pet and caress her. Patrik finally complied by scratching her ears, and with that the animal was content to lead the way.

  It took the better part of two sunmarks to reach the valley. Patrik knew that Larkin was waiting for him by Rat’s reaction. Her tail fluffed out into a large bottle brush and all the fur on her back stood straight up before she charged off into the bushes to hide.

  “Good riddance,” he said to her departing back. “Hello,” he called into the clearing. A shaft of green light answered his call as the dragon appeared, sunlight gleaming on his emerald body.

  “I think I found a way to stop this war,” Larkin said, not wasting any time.

  Patrik’s jaw dropped as he lowered himself to the valley floor. He was tired after the long hike and settled down into the dale’s lush grasses.

  “How?” Patrik asked.

  “First tell me what you know about the creation of the races,” Larkin answered.

  Patrik thought for a moment, his tongue peeking out from behind his teeth. “Not much,” he answered at last. “The subject has never really come up for discussion. Most of my lessons focus on trying to teach me how to use magic.”

  “Okay then, before I tell you my idea, let me tell you what dragons believe about how we were created.”

  Patrik sprawled out on the grass, his hands behind his head, listening in fascination as Larkin told him the story of creation. “So,” he said when Larkin finished, “this Skyhawk created us all?”

  “That’s right, and that’s how we are going to stop this war.”

  “What?” Patrik’s brow crinkled up in puzzlement “We’re going to go find him, and ask him to help. He used to help the races, and we need him now.”

  “But what if he doesn’t want to? I mean, you said he was angry because humans learned to use magic. What if he’s still angry?”

  “We’re going to have to convince him to change his mind.”

  “But how are we going to do that?”

  “I don’t know, but we have to try. He’s the only one I know of who’s got the power to stop this war.”

  “But you said he’s supposed to be in the Singing Mountains. How are we going to get there?”

  “We fly.”

  “What!” Patrik dropped the blade of grass he had been fiddling with and bolted straight up. “You can fly, but I can’t.”

  “I don’t hear you coming up with any better ideas,” Larkin said, curling his lower jaw in disgust. “Either you want to stop this war, or you don’t.”

  “But…but I’ll have to tell Wizard Allard. I can’t go charging off halfway around the world without telling him. He’d come looking for me, and worse than that he’d tell my parents, and they’d come looking for me, too.”

  All the boy’s excuses were straining Larkin’s patience.

  “What exactly is the matter?” he snapped at Patrik. “All you’ve done is bring up reasons why we shouldn’t go. We both agreed this war can’t take place, and this is our one chance to stop it.”

  Patrik scratched his head in thought, and then thinking aloud he said, “It’s only that we’re both so young. Your elders don’t take you seriously, and neither do mine. I can’t help but think that when we get there, this Skyhawk of yours will treat us the same way. I don’t want to get my hopes up and then be let down at the last minute.”

  Larkin considered the human’s words. “I can understand that,” the dragon said at last, “but at the same time, don’t you think we have to try? You told me what would happen to the world if this war takes place. We have to do something to stop it, don’t we?”

  Patrik sighed, “I guess you’re right. We have to try. When do you want to leave?”

  “I need to find out exactly where the Singing Mountains are located,” Larkin said. “All I know for sure is that they are on the other side of the Valley of Death.”

  Patrik’s face turned as white as the underbelly of a salamander. “What did you say?”

  “I said that the Singing Mountains are on the other side of the Valley of Death. Why?”

  “Have you lost your mind? Do you know how far that is? We have to cross the Sea of Lights to get there. And no one’s ever done that and lived to tell about it.”

  Patrik shook his head, and Larkin couldn’t tell if the human was thinking about backing out, or if he simply thought his new friend was crazy. The boy’s words cleared up the matter.

  “You’re crazy. Are all dragons as insane as you are?”

  “I don’t think so. I’m sort of different from the rest.”

  “Yeah, I bet you are. Okay, so we’re going, but I still have to tell my master. There’s no way I can do this without his permission. What about you, don’t you have to tell someone?”

  “Nobody’ll miss me,” Larkin said, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he thought about Redwing. “Well, maybe one dragonet might. But I don’t think it’s a good idea to tell your master.”

  “Listen, I am not going to argue with you. I have to tell him. Either I tell him, or I’m not going.”

  Larkin’s shoulders drooped in the dragon equivalent of a sigh. “All right then, but I am going to be there when you tell him. After all, he is a magic user, and it’s my life that’s at stake.”

  “Don’t worry, I told you, he’s not like the others. He’ll understand.”

  ∞

  Wizard Allard did not only not understand, he absolutely refused to let the boy go.

  “That’s absolutely out of the question. You have no idea what kind of danger you will be putting yourself into and the risks you will be taking. No one’s ever even been to the Singing Mountains. No one’s ever even made it across the Sea of Lights, and you think I’m going to let a boy of twelve seasons, accompanied by a dragon that’s barely fledged, try to do it alone. You’re out of your mind!”

  Patrik sighed. The wizard hadn’t been surprised when the boy had shown up with a dragon flying overhead. Neither had he been surprised when the dragon landed, with a bump and a scrape, almost on his front doorstep.

  “I knew you’d been visiting a dragon,” Wizard Allard said. “I could smell dragon smoke on you. And there’s nothing in the world that smells the same as dragon smoke. Remember, I too was once visited by a dragon.”

  But when they told him of their plan, the wizard was surprised and angry. His bald head wrinkled up like a ball of wet silk, and his hand gestures made his robes flap like a grounded bird. Each time he paced the room they flared out behind him, causing Patrik to have to jump out of the way.

  “Do you have a better idea?” Patrik asked at last in an attempt to calm the wizard into considering the possibility.

  The question seemed to take Allard by surprise, and running a hand through his scraggly beard, he said, “Yes, I do. I’ll go to the Singing Mountains and talk to Skyhawk myself.”

  Larkin, who had remained quiet, spoke up, “That won’t work. You’re a magic user and Skyhawk won’t have anything to do with magic users. It has to be the young human who does the talking, because he has no magic.”

  The sun was beginning to set, and a shiver went through Patrik, but the boy couldn’t tell if the cool spring breeze had caused it or the words he’d just heard.

  The wizard stared at Patrik for several heartbeats. “You’re right,” he said to the dragon. “The boy has no magic. I’ve been trying for two whole seasons to teach him how to use it, and not once has he ever shown even a spark of magic. But, I still can’t let him go on this journey.”

  “Not even to stop the war?” Patrik asked.

  The wizard looked like a becalmed ship that had all the wind knocked out of its sails. “There is that,” he said at last.

  “It’s the only way,” Larkin said.

  “No it isn’t,” the wizard said. “I’ll go with you.”

  Rat
jumped out from behind the cabin and nearly knocked the wizard over with her affectionate greeting. She appeared to have lost her fear of the dragon, for she ignored Larkin as she rubbed up against the wizard’s legs.

  Wizard Allard was scratching the animal’s ears as Larkin spoke. “That won’t work.”

  “Why ever not? I can’t allow Patrik to go halfway around the world by himself, and I can’t sit home and do nothing to stop this war, so going with you seems the best option.”

  The dragon’s eyes began to spin, their yellow lights looking like bits of captured star shine. “You can’t go because I can’t carry you both. I’m not big enough.”

  “There is that,” the wizard said.

  “And what about Rat?” Patrik asked.

  The wizard ignored Patrik’s question and turned to Larkin. “Is there anyone else you know that might be willing to go with us?”

  Larkin’s eyes spun even faster. “I don’t know. There is one dragonet that has been friendly to me, but I don’t know how she feels about humans.”

  “Talk to her. Tell her about us and the war, and what it will do to the world,” Patrik said.

  Larkin nodded his great green head. “I will, but I better get going. It’s almost sundown and I have to be there to sing in the moonrise. I’ll be back in the morning.”

  Larkin stretched his wings, flapped them with wild strokes, kicking up dust and leaves. Patrik and his master covered their faces to keep the debris from clogging their eyes and noses. The dragon hunched down, pushed off with his forelegs, and was airborne.

  “See you in the morning,” he hollered down to the two humans.

  The wizard turned to his apprentice. “Well, boy, this is really something. We’ve got a lot to do. We’d best get to work.”

  Patrik nodded, and then added, “What are we going to do with Rat?”

  Chapter Seven

  It was the question about Rat that delayed them the most. Redwing had been agreeable to the expedition saying that anything was better than sitting around listening to the elders day after day. Older than Larkin, Redwing was also larger, so it was decided that she would carry the wizard and their supplies. They used a couple of horse saddles, modified to fit the dragons’ backs to serve as harnesses for the long voyage. The dragons were packed and ready to go with the wizard’s scrolls carefully stowed away in a waterproof skin.

  “We will need those scrolls,” Allard stated. “They’ll help guide us to the Singing Mountains,” not bothering to tell them that he had no idea how to get through the Valley of Death. “We’ll deal with that when we get there,” he muttered to himself as he rechecked the scrolls to make sure they were safe.

  Patrik took one last look around, trying to determine if they had forgotten anything. Rat, appeared to have gotten over her fear of the dragons for she followed every step he took. Into the cabin and back again, loading and unloading, adjusting and readjusting their supplies, the animal never left his side.

  “It’s almost as if she knows we’re going away,” he said to the wizard.

  “There is that,” Allard replied.

  “So what do we do with her?”

  “What can we do? She knows how to hunt and where to find water. She’ll just have to make it on her own until we get back.” And then mumbled, “If we get back.”

  They mounted the dragons, grabbed hold of the straps they had added to the saddles, and prepared to take off. Larkin flapped his wings, scrunched down for take-off, and let out a yelp of pain and surprise, stalling in mid-leap. On his back, with her claws dug into the dragon’s scales, sat Rat.

  Wizard Allard coughed back a laugh. “I think she has decided to come along for the ride.”

  “But we can’t take her,” Patrik said, alarm making his voice squeak. “She’ll fall off.”

  “Not with the way she’s dug herself in, she won’t.”

  Larkin turned his neck all the way around to stare at the animal. His eyes spun, and the cat cocked her head to one side as if she was listening. Larkin appeared satisfied with whatever passed between them, for he turned to face forward and said, “I’m ready if you are.”

  “You’re going to carry Rat?” Patrik asked

  “If it’s okay with her, it’s okay with me.”

  “What if she falls off?”

  “She won’t.”

  Patrik wasn’t so sure and tried to push Rat off Larkin’s back. She hissed at him and dug her claws in deeper. He tried again, and this time she snarled and took a bite out of one of his fingers. He jerked his hand away and shrugged. “Don’t blame me when you fall off, cat.”

  “Let’s go,” he said to Larkin.

  ∞

  Their days and nights fell into a monotonous routine. They rose at sunrise, flew until dusk, set up camp, and repeated the process the next day. The first night out, they rigged a saddle and harness for Rat. With the cat securely tied into place, Patrik was silently relieved, and the days passed in a mind-numbing blur with little change except for the storms.

  The only thing that relieved Patrik’s boredom was the thrill of flying. At first, the boy was too afraid to look, and kept his eyes squeezed shut. But it wasn’t long before his curiosity took over. He marveled at the way the world below him appeared. From the air, everything looked tiny and simple. Even the tallest trees seemed like toothpicks, and mountains mere molehills. Whenever the dragons caught an up current or a downdraft caught them, he whooped with joy at the sudden surge of power that bounced him around in the saddle like a toy boat in an eddy. It wasn’t long before flying each day became the day’s main goal, and when it was time to land for the day, he couldn’t hide the look of disappointment on his face.

  Twelve days had passed as they flew over mountains and valleys, lakes and forests. They tried to determine how close they were to the Sea of Lights, but it was impossible.

  “I just don’t know,” Wizard Allard said on the evening of their twelfth day. “According to the scrolls it takes almost a full quarter season to make it from the royal city to the shores of the sea. But that’s on horseback. There’s no way to judge how far we’ve come on dragon-back. No one’s ever done it. However, we must be getting close for the scrolls say that the sea starts where the Highlands end, and since we’re in the Highlands the sea can’t be that far away.”

  It was storming again as they tried to set up camp at the end of their twelfth day of travel. Rat scrambled to get under the lean-to, but the wind kept ripping the stakes from the ground. A particularly violent gust caught the tarp and blew it into the fire. Patrik leaped for it, jerking it out of the flames.

  “Maybe we should go on and try to out-fly this storm,” he hollered over the wind.

  “Very dangerous for the dragons,” Wizard Allard shouted back. “The wind gusts are too erratic.”

  While the two humans made camp, Redwing and Larkin left to hunt for food, and Rat was off doing whatever it is that cats do. Somehow, Rat always managed to bring back an extra rabbit for the stew pot, and Larkin had become particularly adept at finding edible grains and berries, pointing them out to Patrik so he could gather them for their evening meal. It puzzled Patrik that Larkin always knew where to find human food, and he questioned the dragon about it one day. Larkin merely shrugged his huge shoulders, and said, “I can smell them.”

  Redwing, however, showed no interest in anything except hunting down four-legged prey. The red dragon had been an excellent addition to the expedition. She filled their days with stories about the dragons, their beliefs, and their habits. Older than Larkin, she had accumulated more dragon knowledge, and both Patrik and Allard listened in eager anticipation as she shared that knowledge with them.

  In the evenings, she lit their fires for them, as Larkin still hadn’t learned how to flame. One blast of dragon fire started even the wettest wood, for which they were all grateful after a day of flying in the rain. So far three days out of twelve had been spent fighting the spring storms that came in from the Sea of Lights. The storms m
ade flying not only miserable but also difficult as the gusts tossed them around like balls in a kitten’s paws.

  Patrik tried again to stake down the tarp. This time he moved it back into the shelter of the trees. With the wind partially blocked, he was able to get the lean-to anchored, and Rat promptly moved in. The boy quickly joined her, pushing the large animal aside with a rough shove. “Move over, cat,” he grumbled. “All of us have to fit under this thing.”

  Wizard Allard soon followed them carrying one of their packs. “It’s cold rations tonight,” he said, tossing the pack to Patrik. “Unless, of course, you want to try to cook something out there.” He pointed to where the dragons had started the fire.

  “Not me,” Patrik replied, reaching into the pack for a handful of dried meat and a cold hard biscuit.

  The fire sputtered in the rain, and both of them knew it wouldn’t last until the dragons got back. Shivering, they pulled out a couple of dry blankets from the pack, and curled up inside them. The smell of wet animal fur filled the lean-to, and Patrik did his best to stay far away from Rat. However, in the small shelter, it wasn’t nearly far enough.

  “You stink,” he said to Rat.

  The animal opened her sleepy eyes and stared at the boy as if she understood exactly what he had said. She held his gaze for a few heartbeats and then lowered her head and went back to sleep.

  “When do you think the dragons will be back?” he asked the wizard, hoping it would be soon for their great size would help to block the effects of the fierce storm.

  “Not for at least another sunmark. They haven’t been gone all that long, and they need at least two sunmarks to hunt and eat.”

  Patrik stifled a groan as he shivered from the cold. His blanket was beginning to get wet, and he was still hungry. He looked over at the fire and this time allowed a groan to surface. It had gone completely out and without Redwing’s help, there would be no way to restart it.

  Wizard Allard had promised both dragons that he wouldn’t use his magic at all, not even if it was a life-threatening emergency. It was one of the stipulations Redwing had asked for before agreeing to join the expedition. She believed, and the wizard had found himself agreeing with her, that any magic use would turn Skyhawk against them. And since there was no way of knowing exactly where the great white dragon lived, Allard had agreed not to use his magic.