Shadow (22 page)

They stopped briefly at one such settlement late in the morning of the second day. Food was not a problem as the dragons were happy to hunt, but the four riders were getting sick of eating
nothing but meat. Shadow obligingly killed an extra deer, which they traded at the tiny village for some fresh vegetables and bread.

‘Have you seen any other dragons passing this way recently?’ Elian asked as he helped a villager hang the carcass of the deer up on a hook to be butchered.

The man shook his head immediately. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Don’t see many dragons out this way. You’re the first riders we’ve seen these last three seasons, or
more.’

On the one hand Elian was pleased they were not following directly in Segun’s wake, but on the other, it meant they had no idea if they had overtaken him on the quest.

Kira and Pell continued to clash regularly, but their disagreements appeared to be losing their fire. The two bickered over trivialities, but Elian noticed that Kira often provoked such
confrontations to subtly deflect Pell from arguments over bigger issues. The Racafian girl was devilishly clever. She was letting Pell feel he was leading, but all along she had him dancing to her
tune and he could not see it. If the older boy realised what she was doing, Elian knew tempers would flare spectacularly. It seemed to fall to him to mediate – not a role he relished, but one
he knew was essential if they were to see this quest through to the end.

Nolita was little better. She did not argue like Kira and Pell, but it was clear she was still having a hard time coming to terms with being a dragon-rider. She continued to face up to her
fears, but the constant stress was taking a heavy toll. The blond girl had been thin and undernourished when Elian and Kira had first met her in Cemaria. Although she ate a healthy amount of food
each day, Nolita continued to look gaunt, with no physical signs of improvement in her health.

Every time they stopped to rest, Nolita raced off to the nearest water to wash her hands. It was a part of who Nolita was. But a worrying string of other little rituals was now building up. She
had developed an after-landing ritual, a pre-food ritual, a post-food ritual, a pre-launch ritual, a pre-bedtime ritual and a start-of-the-day ritual. At each of these times, Nolita ran through a
set routine of actions in a particular order. If any of the patterns were interrupted, she became flustered.

Nolita rarely spoke to the others, even when they tried to include her in conversations. With Pell and Kira intent on power games, there were times when Elian felt as isolated as Nolita. At
least he enjoyed the company of his dragon. He knew Nolita could not even do that.

What had possessed the Oracle to place its life in the hands of such a dysfunctional group? Elian wondered. But despite their differences, he could see a certain method in the Oracle’s
choices. Each rider and dragon pairing had different, but identifiable, strengths. Nolita and Firestorm were brave. Pell and Shadow were strong and ambitious. Kira and Fang were clever and
tenacious. What qualities did he and Ra bring to the group? Ra was special. He smiled as his thoughts drifted and his eyes automatically sought out his beautiful golden dragon. What had he and Ra
been chosen for . . . ? It was a question that worried him often. If each rider and dragon partnership had been chosen for a particular quality required, what were he and Ra supposed to be good
at?

Chapter Nineteen

‘M-m-more mountains,’ Kira grumbled, her mouth struggling to formulate the words. The cold had taken her beyond shivering some time ago. She growled at her dragon
through clenched teeth. ‘What is it with d-d-dragons and m-mountains anyway?’

‘Mountains make good homes, Kira,’
Fang replied, his voice in her mind sounding perplexed.
‘They are beautiful, majestic and proud, yet they also offer challenges,
excitement, and sometimes danger. You humans choose to live in such boring places. You miss so much.’

The savannah lands of Racafi are beautiful! They’re also wild and dangerous,’ Kira snapped, a surge of passion and anger cutting through her torpor for a moment, allowing her to
speak more clearly. ‘It’s you d-dragons who’re m-m-misguided. I was n-never bored in Racafi. M-more importantly it was w-w-warm. I’m b-beginning to f-feel as if I’ll
never be w-warm again.’

The air was smooth, but very cold, as they flew over the foothills. This was just as well, as Kira was not holding on to anything. She had her arms folded across her chest and was rubbing the
outside of her arms in an attempt to generate heat.

She had lost all feeling in the tip of her nose, and her ears burned with the cold, despite being tucked under the lined flaps of her hat. She wriggled her toes in her boots, but they were numb
beyond feeling and her fingers ached inside her gloves. They would have to land.

‘I’ll admit the temperature where you lived was rather pleasant,’
Fang agreed.
‘But it made me feel lazy and listless. Nice for a change maybe, but not as a
place to live. In the mountains it is easy to feel alive and full
of vitality.’

‘It sounds as if we’re going to have a problem when this quest is over, Fang,’
Kira replied, switching to mental communication to save her aching jaw.
‘If
you think you’re going to convince me to live with you in some cave in the mountains, you’d better think again. Can you tell the others to look for a place to land, please? I
don’t care what Pell says, I need to sit near a fire and warm up. I’m frozen. Look. There’s some woodland over there. Let’s land near the edge.’

There was a slight pause.
‘I’ve spoken with the others,’
Fang announced.
‘Shadow is not happy. She and Pell want to press on to the Valley of the Griffins
with all haste.’

‘No surprises there then!’
Kira found it hard to believe the others were faring any better than she was, but then again maybe they were. Elian had lived on a high plateau
and Nolita came from a climate that was generally colder than that of Racafi. From what she understood, Pell would be in his element here. Kira did not know, and did not care to know, much about
his background. However, it was clear that he had lived near the foothills of a mountain range in Central Isaa.
‘Tell him it’s an emergency,’
she said.
‘Tell
him whatever you like. Just get them to land.’

‘All right, Kira. Hold on. We’re going down.’

Fang waited until he knew Kira was holding onto the pommel grips and then he folded his wings and dipped into a steep descent. They swooped down and landed next to the woods that Kira had
pointed out. Moments later the other three dragons were landing around them.

Kira was a tangle of limbs as she tried to dismount. It was embarrassing, but her body refused to respond properly and she slid, out of control, down Fang’s side. The thump as she landed
jarred through her body, winding her. Time blurred. It seemed that no sooner had she registered the shock of the impact than Elian was there. He helped her to her feet and supported her with an arm
around her back, talking to her in a low, comforting voice. Fang’s voice was there in her mind as well, apologetic and concerned. She suddenly realised she had no idea what either of them was
saying. Their voices were echoing and overlapping in a confusing barrage of noise. Nothing made any sense. All she could discern was that they were worried about something.

Now that she was on the ground, Kira felt warm -warm and tired. She started to fumble at her jacket in an effort to remove it, but someone stopped her. A flash of anger sparked. Why didn’t
they leave her alone? They’d landed now. What did it matter to anyone if she used the time to rest?

The rim of a cup was placed against her lips. The contents were warm and sweet. It tasted heavenly. Where had that come from? Was that the crackle of a fire? Her eyelids felt so heavy, but the
warmth of the drink as it slipped down her throat was wonderful. She reached up to the cup, trying to tip it in an effort to drink faster. This too was denied.

‘Don’t take it away!’ she mumbled. ‘More.’

The cup was placed against her lips again and again, but the person controlling the cup only allowed her small sips. She wanted to cry out against the restriction, but found that the warm, dark
tunnel of sleep offered the easier path.

It was the tone of Pell’s voice that brought back her focus. He sounded frustrated and annoyed, and she knew instinctively that she was the source of both emotions. The corners of her
mouth tweaked up into a smile. It felt good to have such power that she could annoy him without even trying. She cracked her eyes open just wide enough to see. How long had she slept? It was still
light, but the sun looked as if it was sinking into the west.

‘You’ve been a rider longer than any of us. Don’t tell me you’ve never flown too high, or for too long in cold air. It takes quite a while to recover. You must know that.
I did it on my first day with Ra, and it nearly got both of us killed. It looks as though Kira pushed even further than I did. I say we give her as long as she needs.’

That’s fighting talk coming from Elian, Kira thought. He seemed so soft and easy-going. It was good to see him standing his ground. There was a noticeable silence. Pell wasn’t
rushing to answer him. Elian had struck home with that comment. Kira tucked away the thought for future reference and carried on listening.

‘Very well,’ Pell sighed. ‘We will leave for the Valley of the Griffins first thing in the morning.’

‘Have either of you ever seen a griffin?’ Nolita asked, her voice sounding small and pathetic. ‘It’s just that I was wondering how big they are.’

Kira surreptitiously opened her eyes a crack further to try to see how the boys reacted. She had never seen a griffin, though she knew from stories they were reputed to be half lion and half
eagle. How a creature like that had come into existence was difficult to imagine, but the dragons were confident they were real and that they lived in these mountains. The dragons were rarely
wrong.

‘No, I’ve never seen one, Nolita,’ Elian replied.

‘Me neither,’ Pell added.

There was a slight pause. ‘Ra tells me they’re similar in size to a small horse, but not to mention horses in their presence,’ Elian said. ‘Apparently they hate horses.
She also tells me that they don’t originate from this world, but from the world on the other side of the gateways.’

‘How does she know that?’ Pell asked, sounding dubious.

‘She says the story goes back many years to one of the most famous quests in the dawn dragon archives. Aside from the Great Quest, it was the only one known to involve several dragons. The
Oracle gave them the joint task of bringing many strange and dangerous creatures from the other world to Areth. It seems the men there were hunting these creatures to extinction.’

‘Why did the Oracle care?’ Nolita asked, her voice distinctly shaky. ‘And if they’re dangerous, why bring them to our world?’

‘Ra says she doesn’t know for sure, but thinks the Oracle foresaw something in the future of Areth that involved these creatures. It was a long and dangerous adventure for both the
dragons and their riders. Many of the creatures were hostile to the idea of changing worlds, but somehow they were convinced to come. Apparently there were not many of them, so Ra doubts they will
ever present much of a problem to the people of Areth. I shouldn’t worry too much, Nolita. The creatures all live in remote regions of our world and, from what little I’ve seen of the
other world, I’d say they’re far better off here.’

‘So there won’t be many of these griffins, then,’ Nolita said thankfully. ‘That’s good.’

‘Well, Ra doesn’t think so. Only a handful came through the gateway, but that was a very long time ago and no one has had much contact with them since. She tells me the griffins are
fiercely territorial. They are also known for their strength and bravery. The story hinted that they may have brought some great treasure from the other world that they now guard
jealously.’

‘Could that treasure be the night orb?’ Pell asked suddenly. ‘That would make sense, wouldn’t it? The Oracle sends us to “seek brave ones’ counsel”. The
brave ones are guarding something precious. Maybe that something is the very thing that the Oracle needs to survive. Perhaps our task is to take it from them.’

Kira nearly laughed aloud. Pell was so predictable, and his thinking so single track. This could cause a problem, though. Now that he had the treasure idea in his head, changing his perspective
would be all but impossible. It was like his idea to go to the night dragon enclave all over again.

Elian was shaking his head. ‘I don’t think so, Pell,’ he said. ‘That doesn’t sound right to me. If the Oracle wanted us to take something from the griffins, surely
this would have been hinted at in the rhyme. Listen:
Release the dark orb – death brings me life. Take brave ones’ counsel, ’ware ye the knife. Exercise caution, stay pure and
heed, Yield unto justice: truth will succeed.’

‘But it
does
hint at that,’ Pell insisted.
‘Release the dark orb – death brings me life.
We have to release the dark orb from the griffins. We may need
to kill some of them to get it. That’s not too hard to see, is it?’