Hatch (The Dragons Of Laton) (31 page)

Theo nodded with concern. “Erik will want to hear this entire story, as do I! As soon as you can, meet me in his chambers. I’ll inform him you are coming.”

Sasha insisted that first she find a room near Ammon’s where she could store her medicines. She looked at three different rooms before choosing one directly across the hallway from Ammon’s. He wasn’t terribly fond of the idea of having her that close to him, but her ointments seemed to be soothing the burns, so he reluctantly agreed. Besides, it would be easier to keep an eye on her if she were nearby.

Once inside her room, Ammon dropped the bags onto a table and excused himself. “The king wishes to see me.”

Sasha never looked up as she pulled the jars from the bag. “Yes, yes, go, speak with him, tell him everything mind you! I’ll be there soon to explain the Kala-Azar. El, are you sure you got everything from the third shelf?”

Ammon rolled his eyes and left with Fulgid trotting beside him. Before entering Erik’s chambers, he checked himself over quickly and dusted off a few bits of ash from his vest. The armor had very likely saved him from burns across his chest as well. Looking down at Fulgid, he marveled at the thought of a fireball that powerful coming from such a tiny dragon! Could Sasha’s claim be true? How big would a fireball from a full-grown dragon be?

Ammon had barely started to tell what happened when Sasha arrived. He decided it would be best to just describe the events he witnessed and let her fill in the rest. Sasha plucked a crystal shard from her pocket and dropped it on the table. Erik picked it up and eyed it doubtfully.

Sasha pointed a bony finger at Fulgid who sat quietly at Ammon’s feet. “DoTaria has known for thousands of years to give calentar to dragons to make them breathe fire. How your civilization has managed this long without it is stunning to say the least. Without calentar, dragons have no defense against the Kala-Azar except to flee. That, my king, is what has happened to all of DoTaria.

For centuries these mountains were mined for the crystals and eventually the mines were depleted. The Kala-Azar are drawn to dragons like flies to rotting meat. The more dragons in one place, the more slugs appear. When the calentar mines ran out, there were over one thousand dragons here. In less than a week, hundreds of them were slain. To survive, the remaining dragons scattered across the countryside, and the people of Laton scattered with them. Eventually the slugs disappeared or went into hibernation, nobody really knows where they came from or where they went. Occasionally they still surface, hunting anything that moves and killing any dragon that stays in one place too long. The presence of a few hundred dragons here has awakened the slugs once again, and soon they will return! This whole city will be crawling with the loathsome things!”

Erik turned the crystal in his hands thoughtfully. “Dragons that breathe fire? I have a hard time believing this myth told to children. Yet Ammon is a truthful young man, and there was no denying the burns on his face and hands. There is no doubt something caused the people of Laton to leave, and leave quickly. Everywhere we look are signs of a people leaving in a hurry, yet no signs of a battle. To think a force of a thousand dragons are forced to flee from these Kala-Azar slugs. Are they that difficult to kill?” He placed the crystal down on the table, sat back and crossed his arms. “Where do we find this calentar if the mountains have been mined out?”

The old woman stepped closer. “Ammon told me of a large cavern with crystals! If you find that deposit, you’ll be able to defend yourselves, at least for a little while!”

Theo bent down and picked up the crystal. “It’s true. I’ve seen the cavern myself. It was filled with these. Tons of it. How much does each dragon need to produce this…fire?”

Sasha rubbed her hands together gleefully. “Tons of it you say? Are you sure? Each dragon only needs a fistful, but they must have it everyday! It takes at least a week of feeding before they can produce the fire! You must show me this cavern at once! Before the slugs return your dragons must be ready!”

Erik looked doubtfully at Theo, then at Ammon, and finally at Sasha. “Alright, I will send a few of my knights to go with you as soon as you’re ready. If this calentar works as you say, perhaps this may be our key to return home as well!”

Theo followed Ammon out into the hallway. “Do you really believe it was Fulgid that caused the fireball?”

Ammon shrugged and held up his burned hands. “I did not see it, but I don’t have any other explanation.”

***

Sasha leaned heavily on El as they reached the entrance to the tunnel, and Ammon shifted the bundle of the empty sacks on his shoulder as she studied the entrance carefully. “I thought I knew of every mine on the mountain, but this is one I’ve not seen before!”

The opening had been cleared to make room for the dragons during their escape, and once inside, Theo and Ammon lit the torches along the walls as they made their way deeper inside. When they finally reached the entrance to the cavern, the reflected light from their torches on the crystals lit the entire cavern up like the morning sky. Fulgid leapt about from rock to rock, the lights twinkling off his brilliant scales.

Sasha stood in the middle of the cavern gaping in astonishment. “Tons of calentar! More than I ever dreamed of! Do you know what this means? Do you have any idea?”

Theo shrugged his shoulders. “Does this mean these are the type of crystals you talked about?”

Sasha held her hands high and cackled gleefully. “Calentar! Enough to last an army for hundreds of years! A thousand years or more! Don’t you understand?”

Theo and Ammon looked at each other blankly. Mildly irritated, Sasha threw an empty sack at them. “It means the return of the dragons to Laton! We can take back the city and drive the Kala-Azar back to whatever pit they came from! We will not hide from the slugs anymore!”

Ammon shook one of the sacks open as he began filling it with bits of crystals shards. “You mean the Laton dragons are still out there somewhere?”

The old woman’s shrill voice echoed through the cavern. “Yes! The whole city is out there! Scattered across the land!”

Theo paused after he placed a particularly large crystal into one of the sacks. “Sasha, just how many dragons out there would come back because of these crystals?”

The old woman picked up a fist-sized crystal and held it up to the torchlight. “Not as many as once was. I’d guess about twelve hundred or so now, maybe a few more. They’ve continued to breed even though they’re scattered far and wide. The furthest is about a weeks flight from here.”

She tossed the crystal to Ammon who jumped to catch it. Stepping over the pile of bags she stood in front of Ammon looking up at him curiously. “You and your golden dragon! Just as it was written!”

Before Ammon could ask what that meant, a full bag of crystals suddenly struck him in the back of the leg and nearly knocked him to the ground. “Hey!” Rubbing his calf, he looked up as El snatched another bag and turned away to fill it. “What was that for?”

Sasha looked quizzically at El, then at Ammon and grinned.

***

Fulgid led the way back out of the tunnel carrying a couple small bags of calentar on his back. Ammon, Theo, and El each struggled under the weight of the bulging sacks they carried. Sasha had filled so many pockets in the rags she wore that she rattled with each step. As they headed down the steep slope to the city, Ammon walked beside her, offering his arm at the more treacherous spots while El steadied her on the other side. He kept a wary eye on the boy. For whatever reason, El seemed to disliked him and he wasn’t going to give the boy a chance to hit him from behind with another sack of calentar.

He studied the boy as they walked. It was difficult to say what El looked like with the hood always drawn tightly over his head. Even his facial features were carefully hidden from view. He was shorter than Ammon by nearly a head, yet moved with the grace of an experienced hunter. Perhaps the strangest thing Ammon noticed was that El never spoke or looked anyone in the eye. Suddenly it occurred to him that perhaps the boy was disfigured. Sasha’s comment about Ammon’s
pretty face
would certainly explain the boy’s attitude towards him! He suddenly felt pity and decided to ignore the resentment and be friendly, as Boris had been to him. In time El’s attitude would change.

Theo struck up a conversation with Sasha and Ammon took the chance to walk a bit closer to El. Speaking quietly so only the boy could hear he asked. “What did she mean when she said, ‘as it was written’?”

The hooded head turned slightly but said nothing and moved away to be closer to Sasha. Ammon looked down at Fulgid and shrugged. “I tried.”

Fulgid suddenly bounded forward, cut in front of El and tripped him with his tail. Ammon stopped in mid-step watching helplessly as the boy stumbled down the steep hillside. The heavy sack of crystals swung wildly on his back as he desperately tried to slow his descent. With an undignified stop, he crashed into a small clump of saplings. Even from a distance, Ammon could feel El’s eyes glare at him from beneath the hood before he stomped off. Fulgid pranced back to Ammon’s side, the picture of innocence.

He looked down at Fulgid and tried not to smile. “Was that really necessary?”

The little dragon yawned as if nothing had happened, and strolled ahead.

***

Once inside the palace, Sasha ushered them to her quarters where she could prepare the crystals. She produced a large brass bowl and pestle from a pile of her belongings and squinted at Ammon. “Before your king will agree to giving his dragons calentar, he will likely want a demonstration and your dragon is the only one that has had enough to make fire. You must bring him to the courtyard, away from anything that will burn and show him.”

Ammon rubbed his bandaged forehead, remembering the heat of the blast. He wasn’t sure this was such a good idea. “How do I make him breathe fire?”

Sasha filled the bowl with crystals and stopped to look at Fulgid. She grabbed a few small shards from the bowl and tossed them into the air. The dragon jumped and snatched them from midair with a loud crunch. She grinned.

“Dragons are empaths. They understand the feelings and needs of their links. If he feels you need fire, he’ll produce it. You just have to let him know you need it.”

***

It was nearly time for the evening meal to be served, and Ammon stood nervously in the center of the large courtyard. The dragons were already in the hold eating their meal, while the knights impatiently mingled at the edge of the courtyard waiting for everyone to arrive. Fulgid lay contently on his back, soaking up the last few rays sunlight, completely oblivious to the growing crowd around him.

Erik’s clear voice rang through the courtyard. “Knights of
Gaul, I’ve summoned you here to witness a demonstration of sorts. According to the…resident…of Laton, our dragons can breathe fire by consuming this.” He held one of the crystals high above his head. “We’ve all read the myths of fire in the ancient books, and there may be some truth to it. Young Ammon and his dragon have apparently already used it in defense against one of the slug-like creatures responsible for the desertion of this city. Of all of us, only Ammon has seen these so called dragon-killing slugs, but I feel it is unwise to dismiss any potential threat. Ammon…you may begin!”