Ramaeka (The Ramaeka Series Book 1) (19 page)

He eyed his
siblings warily; if he wanted to get out of this alive he would have to keep
out of reach of their superior strength and weight.  If he could do that he
might have a chance of distracting them while his friends escaped.  Keeping one
eye on the two dragons he turned slightly towards the group of humans.

“I’ll hold
them off while you get out of here,” he told them out of the side of his mouth.

His brother
snorted in amusement, recovering from his momentary surprise at Ramaeka’s
transformation.

“I’d like to
see a little lizard like you try,” he told his little brother scornfully. 
Ramaeka glared at him, his claws dug into the warm earth.  He could feel a
strong sleepy power below him.  It was as if Rama himself was offering his
strength and courage to him.

His eyes
narrowed as he caught the quick signal between his brother and sister.  It was
only a flicker of the eyes but in his tensed state Ramaeka missed nothing.  He
could hear the breathing of his friends behind him as they slowly backed away.

His brother
flicked out a massive tail from the right as his sister bound in from the
left.  They were incredibly quick, Ramaeka felt the breeze from his brother’s
tail spikes as he ducked and rolled.  As he rolled he flicked his tail back to
the left, grinning savagely as his sister let out a squeal of pain and fell
back.  He twisted in the same instance and latched onto his brother’s tail with
his jaws.  A moment later he was sailing through the air and slamming back to
earth with a thud, jaws still locked tight.  His brother spun and writhed,
twisting around to grab at Ramaeka.  Luckily he still had enough sense to twist
away from his brother’s grasping claws though his head spun.  He had no idea
where his sister was or his friends, he could only hope that they had managed
to flee while she was distracted.

His jaw was
beginning to ache from holding on as his brother continued to try and dislodge
him.  Despite the danger and pain he was in he still couldn’t help but grin to
himself.  His brother must look hilarious chasing his tail like a dragonet. 

He winced as
he was slammed into the ground again.  Enough was enough he thought firmly and
he dug his hind claws deep into the earth below him.  Again he became aware of
the slow, steady strength below him.  This time he called out to it pulling on
it mentally as an anchor.

His brother
grunted as he tried to pull Ramaeka up again and found himself unable to raise
his tail.  He turned in pained surprise and glared at Ramaeka ferociously.

Uh oh, Ramaeka
thought, actually that had been a bad idea.  Sure enough his brother pounced
lightning fast and slammed his massive head into Ramaeka.  The tail ripped out
of his mouth as he went skidding backwards leaving a trench in the ground
behind him.

He was fairly
sure that if he hadn’t been connected to the earth he would be dead from that
one blow, however his natural element seemed to offer him some protection and
he merely felt like he should be dead.

He shook his
aching head trying to clear his vision.  There seemed to be two of everything
all tinged in black and yellow.  He only hoped that the blow to his head hadn’t
destroyed too many of his brains, they were all he really had.  He clambered
unsteadily to his four limbs, using his tail to keep his balance.  Tentatively
he slid his claws into the earth and touched that strange magic again. 
Instantly his vision cleared and the bells ringing in his ears disappeared. 

His world
seemed to be covered in shadow despite the shining sun.  He looked up quickly. 
His brother was rearing over him, long neck snaked out as he lunged at Ramaeka
with jaws wide open.

Ramaeka turned
to scrabble away but he was too slow and he knew it.  He flinched, waiting for
the painful descent of those gaping jaws and long sharp teeth.

There was a
booming sound that made every other sound seem hollow and distant.  Shaking
Ramaeka looked around in shock.  His brother was feebly getting to his claws. 
The right side of his hindquarters was a mess, as he staggered up he was only
able to stand on three legs.

Peering around
him Ramaeka saw Stripe standing with his legs spread apart, arm still out
straight in front of him as he stared at the damage he had caused.

It took
Ramaeka a few moments to realise what had happened.  Stripe had finally managed
to make a decent energy ball.

He saved my
life, he thought numbly, in spite of everything he still saved me.  Stripe
looked up as if he had heard Ramaeka’s thoughts, then he flushed and turned
away.  Maybe there was some hope there, Ramaeka couldn’t help but feel slightly
optimistic.  He turned his attention back to his injured brother who spread his
immense wings, glaring at them.

“I won’t
forget this,” he snarled eyes trained on Ramaeka.  He met them evenly without
flinching.

His brother
snarled a curse in Amarian under his breath before launching into the sky.  He
quickly ascended and disappeared into the clouds.

A hand touched
his shoulder.  He twisted around and looked down at Amar who smiled gently at
him.  His friend had a bruise over one of his cheeks which was rapidly fading. 
Ramaeka remembered the third dragon, and quickly looked around.

“What happened
to…?”

“Amar got
her.  Burnt her to a crisp,” Parrit interrupted him looking him over warily.

“Strongest
fire spell I ever saw,” Gelber said striding over with her axe over one
shoulder.

“Her stone
spell disappeared when she died,” she added stopping beside her friend and
looking him over as well.

Ramaeka
shifted uncomfortably under their scrutiny and turned back to Amar who
shrugged.

“She was about
to attack you again, so I made sure that she could not.”

What about my
brother?  Ramaeka wondered silently.  Why not kill him too?  It was as if Amar
wanted to test him.  He hoped he hadn’t failed.  He silently shifted back to
his lesser form, regretfully folding away his wings.

“Will it be
back?” Shady asked staring in the direction the dragon had flown.

“It will take
a couple of days for him to heal,” Ramaeka said meekly flinching as Shady gave
him a cold look.

“But others
may come,” Amar said calmly.  “We should continue.”

“Not with that,”
Shady said fiercely pointing at Ramaeka.  “I won’t travel with a monster.”

“It could be
useful,” Parrit said thoughtfully.

“No,” Stripe
said firmly.  He looked at Ramaeka his face expressionless.  “I never want to
see you again.”

Ramaeka watched
him sadly as he turned away.

“Let’s go,”
Stripe ordered the others, ignoring his former friend.

As the others
turned and began to walk away, Ramaeka thought that he had never felt so bad in
his entire, often miserable, life.  As he watched, Gelber and Parrit turned
back for a moment.

“Come Amar, we
have much land to travel,” Gelber called.

“I thank you
but I will remain with Ramaeka,” Amar called back politely walking over to
stand beside Ramaeka.

Shady looked
back in surprise before glaring at Ramaeka one last time.  He and the women
turned and followed Stripe who never looked back.

“Well I
suppose you and I are on our own now,” Amar said calmly.

“Yeah I
suppose,” Ramaeka replied glumly.  He glanced up at his remaining friend.

“Why did you
stay?  I don’t understand why you need me, I’m fairly sure I know who you are
now.  I mean after using the power of the earth, it’s almost the same as yours.”

“Do you?” Amar
asked sadly.  “I do not think anybody truly knows who or what I am.  Most
people fear me or wish to use me as a tool.”

“I don’t,”
Ramaeka replied honestly.  “And right now I know exactly what you mean.”

“We should
head towards some cover,” Amar said quietly walking away.

Feeling
slightly guilty, though he wasn’t entirely sure why, Ramaeka hurried after
him.  He fell into step beside him and lightly punched his arm as he would have
with Stripe.  Looking up at his astonished face he grinned.

“Thanks for
staying with me.”

Amar smiled at
him.  “I should thank you.  I have never had a friend like you before.”  His
smile faltered.

“I am afraid I
do need you for a purpose as well as for your friendship, but I will not force
you in to anything unless you are willing to help me.”

“Of course I
am,” Ramaeka rolled his eyes.  “All you had to do was ask.”

Amar smiled,
his multicoloured eyes becoming flecked with blue as they did when he seemed to
be happy.

“You obviously
need me anyway,” Ramaeka told him firmly.  “I mean ‘Amar’?  What kind of name
is that?  It’s too obvious.”

Amar laughed
at him.  “No one else has figured it out as of yet smart dragon.  I am sure you
only started to realise when I taught you how to see magic, yet the other two
did not.”

“I can’t help
being smarter than the rest,” Ramaeka told him impishly, relieved that he had
cheered his friend up.

“Come,” Amar
said speeding up slightly.  “Let us find somewhere to shelter before dark and I
will tell you everything I can.”

Chapter Nine

They found a
place to shelter for the night and set about making up camp in silence.  Amar
waved Ramaeka aside when he offered to cook.  He’d learnt the hard way that
Ramaeka was terrible at cooking, he told him to rest instead.  Amar cooked a
decent meal of rabbit stew which Ramaeka bolted down, suddenly aware that he
was exhausted and starving.  The sudden cramping pain returned briefly to burn
through his legs as he ate; however he was too impatient to hear Amar’s
explanation to pay much attention and simply pushed it to the back of his mind.

When they had
finished Ramaeka sat back and looked at Amar expectantly.  His friend stared
into their campfire, turning an apple around in his hand.

“You are not
exactly what I expected,” he said softly after a while.  “I have watched your
father for some time, and when I saw it was one of his sons that I needed, I
expected someone a little more...” he hesitated, looking over at Ramaeka who
grinned.

“I know what
my family are like, don’t worry you won’t insult me”

“Very well,”
Amar said with a small smile, “I was expecting a much rougher and more arrogant
draconian and perhaps someone a little larger.”

Ramaeka
scowled at that.  “I am growing,” he grumbled.

“To be honest
I am relieved, I prefer you very much over your brothers and sisters.  For one
thing you seem far more intelligent, I was led to believe that Ramanae
preferred his children barely educated.”

“Yeah, well,”
Ramaeka looked momentarily sheepish.  “I used to sneak into the library and
Father’s office and read the books and scrolls.  Plus you have to be smart to
stay a few steps ahead of Father.”

“Yes, well.  I
caught the end of your clash with your father.”  He raised an eyebrow “You are
rather lucky that I turned my gaze that way just as you fell.  I opened a vent
between the two worlds and made sure that you drifted up beside help.”

Ramaeka leaned
forward in surprise.  “You took me through to this world?  Why?  And why to
Stripe and Shady?  Don’t tell me that was a coincidence.”

Amar
shrugged.  “It was a little, there are other more established heroes that might
have been a better choice, however Stripe was the closest”

He looked at
Ramaeka thoughtfully, “There is far more to him than meets the eye, like you.”

“As for why I
brought you here,” he blushed.  “I made a mistake, one that I believe I will
pay for many times over before the end”

Ramaeka
scratched his head thoughtfully.  “It wouldn’t have anything to do with the
covenant that you entered with the humans?  I heard something about it at the
Conclave not so long ago.”

“I wasn’t
aware that young dragons were allowed into the Conclave,” Amar said in
amusement.  “But yes, the human leaders came to me with the idea.  A binding
covenant in which I would not interfere with humans unless it was an extreme
situation and even then that situation is to be judged by human leaders.”

“Why would you
honestly enter something like that?” Ramaeka asked rolling his eyes.  “You made
everything!”

“Yes I know,”
Amar or Rama sighed and leaned back.  “Believe it or not, I am but a child in
my people’s terms.  They made it sound glorious, I was tired and I thought a
lessening of responsibility would be wonderful.  I thought it would be good to
let them grow and learn for themselves.  I was not expecting them to be so
destructive.”

“Someone once
told me that being sentient means being able to think things through and
create, but it also comes with the ability to be destructive.  I guess you
can’t really blame them since you made them that way,” said Ramaeka wisely.

“It is a
little more complicated than that, but I do not have time to explain the
history of existence and the creation of the delicate balance between good and
evil to you.”

Ramaeka looked
at his friend sheepishly, Rama looked rather miffed.

“Sorry,” he
said.

Rama frowned,
and then sighed.  “I should be the one apologising.”

Ramaeka
shrugged.  “It’s weird to think of you as a child, but good too.  So why do you
need me and why did you bring me to Stripe then?”

He couldn’t
help but notice that Rama looked rather abashed.

“Well,” he started. 
“The covenant means that I cannot interfere with humans, however I still have
access to the draconian race.  My first born people.”

Ramaeka raised
an eyebrow curiously.

“This Warlord
is gathering power like nothing I have known before, if he is not stopped, he
will take over all of my worlds and there is nothing I can do about it.  At
least until he attacks Amaria, which, as you are probably aware, is completely
sealed off and hidden to humans.”