Bonded Spirit

  ***

  Walking hand in hand to the history building outlined in my schedule, Connor and I talked about the next few weeks; the different festival’s that would most likely take place and even on the guest that would be arriving. At the door, Connor turned me around. His palm on my cheek as his fingers touched the nape of my neck. Leaning in, his lips pressed to mine.

  “Mmm … to be without you for any time is too much time gone.” His soft voice shivered my skin.

  “Tell me about it.” Placing a gentle kiss to his lips, I embraced him, turning to the room.

  Inside; Karson was waiting with a hard stare at the both of us.

  Oh, no. What now?

  “Connor.”

  “Karson.”

  Both men grunted their greeting, and I rolled my eyes.

  “Did you want me to read?” I had to intervene.

  “Yes. You’re meant to be here at eight-thirty, not eight forty-five.”

  “Oh. Sorry. Won’t happen again.”

  A deeper scowl showed. “And I warned you about your distractions.”

  “I know. And I didn’t mean to be late. The food line was a little longer and you do realise I have to walk to my room on the ninth floor.”

  Karson narrowed his eyes. “Here.” He tapped the open book. “I want you to read this chapter.”

  I side glanced Connor as he dipped his head, with a wink and a touch to my cheek. He whispered, “I’ll meet you for morning break.” To pull away, was not fair.

  It was annoying he couldn’t stay beside me.

  I started on my reading. Half way through the chapter, Karson wanted me to dictate what I had discovered. It was pointless. I got three out of twenty questions.

  “This is ridiculous.”

  “Hmmm …” Karson didn’t deny my lack of attention. “You will grasp it eventually.”

  “Tuh. How stupid am I? I can’t even remember a section in the book. How am I supposed to remember a Ryder who died hundreds of years ago?”

  Karson’s frown deepened as he flipped through the pages. He was faster at reading than me. If I read more, I would have the same ability. “You told me last week that in Plumridge you studied the philosophers and the scientist. You knew of men’s discovery of the lands, and you knew of the planetary ways.”

  “Yeah.” I wasn’t sure where he was going. “But I can’t tell you every little detail about that stuff.”

  “Tell me about the moons.”

  “What.”

  “The moons. You know, chunks of rock in the sky. Three of them.” His amusement had me smile.

  “Er … there’s Alkina, the main moon. A silver grey, the largest and most followed. Alma, the orange moon of heat and birth, who is seen twice a year for autumn and spring. And then, there is Alana, the third and distant of the moons, the beauty of purple mist that is fullest during the cold of the year: Alma isn’t seen at all during those few months. Summer is when all three are visible for a short time, one either side of Alkina, before starting the cycle. They are referred to as the three sisters and are said to be the same size, but I’m not so sure.”

  “And the lands.”

  “Um … the lands?” Where was he going with this and what did the moons and the lands have to do with history, apart from the obvious. Without them, we wouldn’t have a history. But why now.

  “Tell me what you know of the lands,” he prompted.

  “Well … the lands are comprised of seven regions. Mostly referred to as the Regions, though sometimes called Realms. The Terrill Mountains in the north known as The Viper Lands, which stretched tens of thousands of feet high. Nothing but mist, ice and fog, which are home to the nasty vipers and vragons; and probably the delgori, but they’re sighted all over Dangora. I know that the Terrill Mountains are too high for any dragon to fly over. The air is too thin, and no Ryder can survive it. The best we can do is manoeuvrer through them, which is how most get lost in the Terrill’s. Everyone who enters beyond the MaBela Falls never return.”

  Karson nodded. “And what of the other regions?”

  “Oh, Um … There’s, Em’Adels region, which is where we are, the East of Dangora. Known by all as The Green Lands. There is the Sapherian region … known as the Wet Lands in the South of Dangora. The Wind Lands in the far west are home to the wild dragons; that’s A’Mystian region with Crested Dome Mountain. La’Kera is interested in visiting it when she’s older.” I paused, thinking of her endless excitement.

  “And there’s, The Red Lands, known as Roo’Bineyes region, which is known for red woods, red sand and even red clothes. Some say the land was red because the dust from Terrill’s constantly blankets the area, before dissolving with strong winds and snows that push south, to the Vera Desert. The Dust Lands, the centre of Dangora; known as the O’Pulsan region. No towns were established in its heart. It’s the land of dust storms, endless lightning strikes, and twisted winds that last for weeks. And In the far north-east, across the Dragon Sea, are the White Lands. That’s Dy’Monian region. Some say its pure white because of the viper bones that have been dust for so many centuries, but I’m not so sure.” I shrugged sheepishly with all I said.

  “That is good Rehema.” Karson snapped the book shut and walked towards the dark wooden wardrobe. “I know how to get you to remember your history.”

  “Er … how.”

  “You’re a visual and for you to remember what you do is based on what you see.”

  “Um … I haven’t seen the seven realms Karson.”

  “No. But you have seen many from them. The dragons come from the different realms, you have witnessed wizards and witches, and since arriving here, you have accepted the wild and untamed creatures that your town speak of, as riddles and myth. A single glimpse of them has allowed you to remember.”

  “I can remember the basics. If you have thirty Ryders in a war with the same name of something similar and a whole bunch of confusing ones, I get turned around.”

  “And that is where your problem lies.”

  “Meaning.”

  “You’re a visual. You see the moon, you see the dragons, and so you remember them. Can you tell me about the Ryders you met at the party?”

  “Um …” I bit my lip. I was drunk that night and somehow I was able to recite several Ryders to him with a description of what they looked like.

  “So. For your history, we are going to make this a little different to what I would normally do.”

  Karson turned his attention to the mahogany cupboard. He pulled out a dusted trunk and unlatched the hinges, handing me several large wooden slates; each with an image on it.

  “Line these up … over there.” He nodded to the table.

  I placed the first slate down and instantly realised this was a map of Dangora. I had seen glimmers of this map, most my life, but nothing to this detail. The vast land was divided by small seas and even larger lakes and forest with desert. The Viper Lands in the north were always the most stand out. Walt always talked about going to Thurston, when things were tough. It was the mining capital for minerals and metals. Thankfully, we never did. The tail of The Terrill’s touched into Dy’Monian lands in the northeast. Turning my eyes to the far west of the Wind Lands, taking in Crested Dome Mountain; following the line of dense trees of Eldridge Forest; fading to the golden sands of the Vera Desert in The Dust Lands and darkening to brown sand of The Red Lands in the north. Finding the township of Plumridge nestled north of The Ridge, and a distance from Bela Lake and several hours journey from the coastal mouth, which was referred to by many as the Tonsil

  I traced my finger along the grooves and over the rivers, passing Plumton, across The Spine, across the Dragon Sea and into Em’Adels region, and after what was an age; Stone Heart Valley met my fingers, all the way in the far east of The Green Land. The small heart shaped land was as it had always been; here on this grand scale it was tiny. We were mere ants to the size of the real creation.

  I scanned the different cities, the main loc
ations jumped out at me. Eldridge Forest in the south of the Sapherian region was home to the elves. Walt always had tales about them singing songs to trees and making them into homes, like a house, but without actually cutting the wood or even moving other trees. O’Pulsan region was referred to as the unwalked land since it was nothing but dust; The Vera Desert spread most the centre of Dangora from Scale Bay to the Dragon Sea boarding the south of the Eyes River to the Eldridge Forest of the Wet Lands.

  In the south east of the Wet Lands was Mildura, the capital of Dangora and the largest city in all the lands. Walt told me there were so many people there, that you couldn’t stand still without bumping into them. I turned my eyes to Stone Heart, taking in the Dalgety River as it flowed into the Dragon Sea in the east. Taking note of the Moon Isle and Tear Drop Island, many other smaller islands that dotted around the main realms. We were blessed with so much open space. The dragons could fly across the regions without much bother, but it was the north, which was the most eluding. The Terrill Mountains stretched over a thousand leagues in length; according to this map from west to east, three quarters of Dangora’s length alone.

  I walked my fingers south-east from Plumridge to Stone Heart repeatedly, lost in thought and the memory of my home, from the smell of honeysuckles, plums and all things orchards. The fresh water from the Argon, even the fields of over run rabbits; the small range of hills in the east known as The Ridge; the south of rich bushland with willows, oaks and tall pines in the distance that was why the vipers attacked; to burn our woodland, and our homes, to eat the ashes.

  “How far is it to Plumridge?” I asked.

  Karson was still shuffling through the trunk and handed me the last slate to place. He peered at my point on the map. “Two, maybe three days via a shuttle. One day at most on a dragon.” Karson stood. He placed a wooden box on the table; I reached across to pick out several coloured blocks.

  “Blocks?”

  “It will be a test first. Tag these in order and you will remember.”

  “You want me to pretend these blocks are dragons … Ryders?”

  “Yes. You will mark them, list what you know and place them where you need. Here.” Karson handed me five of each sign. “Mark them as the First Chosen.”

  “There’s only five. What about the Dy’Monian. Hang on. There isn’t even a white one in here.”

  “You won’t find any information on the Dy’Monian.”

  “Oh. Right.” No point arguing with him. I pressed my lips together.

  “Use these tags, label them as the first five, and place them on the map where you remember they ruled.”

  “Um … that’s a little easy.”

  “Is it?” His question annoyed me, only when I realised what he meant. It wasn’t about the Ryders ruling the region; it was the area the Ryder lived the most in.

  Nicolas Woodbain Bond of Kl’Ors; Roo’Bineyes, were discovered in the south of the Wet Lands, but they mostly lived and ruled in Roo’Bineyes region and occasionally in O’Pulsan region of Alvina. I proceed with the remaining four. Once I placed the First Five down, I glanced at Karson for any clue if I had them right. His thumb pressed to his chin as he studied the map and my efforts. He dropped his hands to the map, tapped it idly.

  “Well, did I get them all?”

  “What makes you think you failed?”

  “Um … I’m not sure. It’s where they ruled the most. Right?”

  “Yes. Having this map, the blocks, and the tags, you can line things up much more appropriate. And for your worries. You got them all correct.”

  “What! Really? I got them all right? Even the Em’Adels Ryder!” I peered down at the first Em’Adels who took up life in Deep Rock in the south.

  “Yes. This will be your history lesson from now on. Tag the blocks of the most important dragons. We’ll start at the beginning of The First and work our way forwards.”

  “This is so much better than reading over big books.”

  A smile showed on Karson. “You’ll list the basics, age, names, births, deaths and perhaps renowned for … depending what you read,” he emphasised. I was reading, just not as weighted as it had been.

  Or boring, pointed out La’Kera.