The Dragon Who Didn't Fly

  “We all know about fear,” she said, “but if you don’t think about yourself and humiliation and danger for a moment, you’ll realize that not trying to fly means that someone might die. Could you live with that? I mean, assuming that you lived at all?”

  She put her hands firmly on her hips and stared at him. The sight of her stirred an old memory of the day he’d become aware of a new kind of animal approaching the land. He’d made contact with a fierce and fearless mind, that of a female human who had probably been around Serazina’s age.

  Now he realized that beneath the tumult of fear and vulnerability, Serazina had the same invincible spirit, now sparking in the black eyes that challenged him. You have this, too, they said. Look within.

  Her eyes were stern, and he wanted to turn away. Instead, he looked more closely and saw love in them and love in the soft curve of her mouth. That love watered his courage, and he knew that he, too, could be invincible.

  A week ago he wouldn’t have imagined that a human could love him. If that miracle could take place, maybe he could fly. They needed him to fly. And so did he.

  Druid took a deep breath and tried to ignore the sound of his bones cracking when he tried to lift his wings. He flapped slowly, trying not to look pained. “Just a little aerobic warm-up. Gets the heart going, and I have a really big heart.”

  He was out of breath already. Maybe he could ask them to come back in a few days, and he’d practice and practice, making a few test flights when no one was looking.

  Good idea, his aching muscles urged.

  But it wasn’t. They were all looking at him, and he thought about the ones who weren’t there—Tomo and Monti, Tolti, all the babies and young ones who deserved to have futures. He was the Keeper, and no matter how depressed he’d gotten, he’d never abandoned his responsibility to them.

  Now that responsibility had greatly increased, intertwined with his destiny, which, he now dimly saw, extended beyond the swamp. It involved cats and humans and perhaps the fate of the land the humans called Oasis.

  The immensity of it filled him, not with pride but with a purpose that gave strength to his wings.

  Destiny. He whispered the word, and his muscles responded with increased power, and his wings grew light. He flapped vigorously and felt himself lifting off the ground.

  His new human friends applauded, and Tara purred. “Think of flight, glorious flight.”

  Glorious flight. He raised himself ten feet above the ground without falling down. He soared up another ten feet and felt the delicious air hit his belly like a kiss.

  “Okay, just a little more warm-up and a very short spin, need to check the air currents, of course.”

  “Of course,” they echoed, trying to look knowing.

  Flight, glorious flight! Druid grew daring and rose higher and higher, flying along the coastline. Treetops waved in the distance and grass in the fields. Beyond, metal fingers poked into the sky. Far below, the humans and cat cheered. He dipped a wing at them and flew some more, circling and trying out a dip or two.

  He wasn’t going to think about the countless lost opportunities to fly. He was flying now because his friends had given him the courage, the friends who were now joined with him in a quest that would at last fulfill his destiny—and theirs.

  His wings warned him that this was enough for one trip, and he glided back to the beach.

  “That was so impressive,” Berto said.

  Serazina smiled. “I’ll never forget it.”

  “I’m proud of you,” Tara said.

  “And I thank all of you from my heart, which is very large and a little tired at the moment.”

  Tara pointed to the sky. “What’s that?”

  Dim specks became visible in the distance. Druid caught his breath. The closer they got, they more they looked like dragons.

  They were! He flapped his wings furiously, and they began to land.

  “Druid!”

  “Didn’t I tell you what a handsome dragon he’d be?”

  His mother!

  “Did I ever doubt you?”

  His father!

  “The time has come,” his mother said.

  Ten more dragons landed on the beach.

  Druid’s parents embraced him, shedding so many tears that the other creatures had to jump out of the way.

  “What great things you’ve accomplished,” his mother said. “No dragon has entered into close friendship with humans since they tricked the fire dragons. Here you are with two!”

  “And a cat,” his father added when Tara growled.

  “We sensed that something was happening while we were visiting some air dragons. Wisdom told us we might be needed,” his mother said. “We’ve been traveling for days. Avoiding the people of this land made the trip much longer. But now all that can change.”

  “What makes you so sure of that?” Druid asked.

  “Either it does or you’re dead.”

  “I thought human weapons couldn’t kill me.”

  His mother avoided his eyes. “They haven’t killed a dragon yet, but we’re not up to date on their technology. It has been four hundred and fifty years since we told you that.”

  “Don’t remind me. But couldn’t I fly away before I was in danger?”

  “You’re too conscientious to do that,” his mother said, “So it’s success or death. You wouldn’t want it any other way.”

  Though Druid had expressed the same thought less than an hour ago, he resented hearing it from his delinquent parents. “I’m grown up now, Mother. You don’t have to tell me how I want it. I’ll decide, thank you.”

  His mother lowered her head. “You’re right. When I look at you, I see a tiny dragonling. Now, if you succeed, you’ll be joining the larger flock and us. You’ll meet a nice dragon and have dragonlings of your own.”

  “And I won’t leave them in some desolate swamp.”

  Her face hardened. “If you have to you will. Do you think yours was the only heart that ached?”

  All the dragons wept.

  Dragonlady and Dragonlord wanted to hear all the details of the Quest. Druid’s mother was especially interested in the Guardian. “You know him best,” she said to Serazina. “Tell us more. Tell us how he’s connected to the Quest.”

  “I wish I knew,” Serazina said. “He must be. No one else has the power to stop the people from killing Druid.”

  “If he does have that power.” Tara avoided the temptation to try to wash her paws. She’d learned that led only to a mouthful of sand. “Dragonlord, Dragonlady, two cats listened in on a meeting of important humans. One, named Malvern Frost, plans to organize humans to kill the dragon. The Guardian blocked the idea of an immediate attack. All the humans raised their hands to agree to the delay, but the cats read the Frost human’s mind. He’s going to force the issue. He’s going to set something into motion that the humans can’t ignore.”

  “What?”

  “The cats couldn’t find it in his mind. Some have stationed themselves at his dwelling, but a vicious dog lives there, and they have to be careful. As soon as they have any information, they’ll relay it to the swamp.”

  She turned to the cougars. “You need to be prepared for this.”

  “Don’t worry about us,” Tomo growled. “I know my responsibilities, and the word is out to allow any cat safe passage into the swamp.”

  “Maybe Berto and I need to get back into the village ourselves and walk around to see what we notice,” Serazina said.

  “Good idea.” Berto stood up and brushed the sand off his trousers. “Nice to meet all of you. It’s been a day I won’t forget.”

  “You’ll be back tomorrow?” Druid asked.

  Serazina nodded. “If all goes well.”

  Chapter 24

  Fiola was sitting in the living room, her arms folded across her chest, when Serazina came home. Her eyes were dull as dusty stones.

  “Your father has been arrested,” she said.

  Terror pulled at
Serazina like the sea’s treacherous undertow. “Why?”

  Fiola’s voice was as dim as her eyes. “Peace officers found him in the forest with a group of Earthers. The former Chief Healer was with them. They’ve been taken to the city for interrogation. No one is allowed to visit them. It’s rumored that they’ll all be executed.”

  “No!”

  “They’re suspected of conspiring to assassinate the Guardian.”

  “They have no evidence, no proof!”

  “I know, it isn’t logical, is it? Everything I’ve believed, all the times I haven’t cried, the ways I’ve been stern with you when I wanted to comfort you, all those sacrifices—for what? To see my husband killed? My Johar?”

  She rose unsteadily from her chair and staggered toward Serazina. “I can’t bear it!”

  Serazina hugged her mother while she wept. “I can’t tell you everything that’s going on, but the situation isn’t hopeless. I’m going to go see what I can do.”

  Pounding at the door interrupted her. “Open in the name of the law. We’ve come to arrest Serazina Clare.”

  “Go upstairs,” Fiola whispered. “Just a minute, please,” she called out.

  Serazina went to her room and locked the door. She looked out the window that faced west. The dragon was there, and the cougars, and the vast expanse of the sea.

  And below her window a peace officer cautiously circled the house.

  Fiola opened the door. “What is this about?”

  “Citizen Clare, we’re not allowed to reveal the charge. It’s a serious breach of national security.”

  “My daughter is involved in no such thing.”

  “Didn’t think your husband was either, did you?”

  Serazina wondered if the branch near the window would bear her weight, but she couldn’t even think about it. The peace officer now stood beneath the tree. The others were coming upstairs now.

  The handle rattled. With a tremendous thump, the policemen slammed the door and knocked it off its hinges. Two of the policemen grabbed her and hauled her down the stairs.

  “Mother!” she screamed.

  “Don’t hurt her!” Fiola cried. “Where are you taking her?”

  “Local lockup, but don’t think you can bail her out.”

  Serazina kicked and struggled. “Let me go. I’m underage. You can’t take me to jail.”

  “There’s no age limit for traitors,” an officer said.

  Curious neighbors came out of their houses. She saw Berto and screamed his name. He came running over.

  “Dragon’s blood, what’s going on?”

  “Matter of national security,” the head peace officer said.

  “Berto, go to the city, tell the Guardian. If you see Tara first—”

  She heard a soft hiss. The kitten crouched in a tree in the front yard, her eyes unblinking.

  * * *

  After resting for a while, the water dragons prepared to leave. “But we’ll be hovering in the area,” Druid’s mother said. “If you need us, call.”

  “Something else you should know,” his father said. “We’ve communicated with a flock of fire dragons. They’re on their way here.”

  Druid’s heart contracted. “Do you anticipate the final destruction?”

  “We prefer to be optimistic. We hope you and your friends will persuade the humans to give up their miserable ways. But if you fail—”

  “Bad word,” his mother said, “discouraging word. Keep him floating on a sea of hope.”

  “If things don’t turn out the way we’d like or if you get killed—”

  “Dragonlord!”

  “I’m sorry.” Dragonlord’s eyes brimmed with tears. “I’m feeling emotional about this. I see my beloved son after so long a time, and I want to fly away with him to share normal dragon lives. The humans enrage me. Do I interfere with their lives? And it is a little sad to think of all of them dying.”

  “All of them? Serazina? Berto? What about Tara?”

  His father shook his mane. “Very sad indeed, but if we reach that point, the Quest has failed.”

  “Couldn’t I warn them?”

  “If you have the chance. But if you’re fighting for your life, you won’t be able to.”

  “What can I do?”

  “Succeed.”

  “But I don’t even know what I’m supposed to succeed at.”

  “Yes, that’s a problem.”

  The dragons began to flap their wings. “See you soon, we hope. If not, have a glorious afterlife.”

  * * *

  Phileas held the ancient manuscript. “So much needs to be done,” he said. “I’ve got to get the Earthers out of jail, and I need to find Serazina before she gets arrested. Somehow, I have to unearth Malvern’s schemes and dismantle them. But all I want to do is discuss this extraordinary testament.”

  “Discuss how?” Janzi asked. “Intellectually? Using the scalpels of reason and logic to dissect Zena’s vision and turn it into lifeless shreds?”

  Her words jarred forth the realization that this had been his exact intention. Now that the glow of reading the document and briefly living inside Zena’s revelations had faded, he knew he hadn’t been so threatened since . . . since he’d tried to go into Serazina’s mind and found her in his. And maybe before then, maybe when he’d begun to suspect that the old ways no longer worked.

  That suspicion had become fact. Zena’s testament tore apart any flimsy delusions remaining that life could go on as it had, but he had no idea how to adapt to a shifting, treacherous cosmos.

  “It’s not as bad as you think,” Janzi said. “You were moved by Zena’s words, deeply moved. You believed in the Lady, didn’t you?”

  “I did,” he whispered.

  “She’s still present and waiting to guide you. Phileas, you can’t get through what lies ahead unless you let Her into your heart.”

  “My heart.” Suddenly that neglected organ began to fill with warmth. He didn’t know if he would succeed in whatever disasters awaited him, but he knew he could choose no other way.

  “Serazina said she could stay in this country if Oasis would learn to balance heart and mind.”

  “The Lady speaks to her,” Janzi said. “I think we need to talk to her as soon as possible.”

  His pager buzzed. “Yes?”

  Renzel Dal’Rish said, “Guardian, we have a call from a young man named Berto Albregetti, and he insists that he has to speak to you. He’s very agitated.”

  Phileas felt an unpleasant premonition. “Put him on.”

  “Guardian,” Berto said, “they’ve arrested Serazina and taken her to the Oasis West jail!”

  “I was expecting that. She’s accused of meeting with the dragon.”

  “So did I.”

  “I must hear everything.”

  “Not while Serazina’s in prison. I’ll meet you there. I’m going to try to go inside.”

  “Frost will arrest you, too.”

  “If I can keep him from hurting her, I don’t care.”

  Phileas hung up. “I’m going to the Oasis West jail,” he said, “by hummer plane, I think. There’s no time to lose.”

  Janzi stood up. “I’m going with you.”

  * * *

  The peace officers put Serazina in the back seat of their car and drove her to the jail, across from Town Hall, where the mayor had given her the key to the city. He should have given her the key to the jail.

  Serazina tried to hang onto irony, but it proved a flimsy defense against terror when the guards took her down to a small room in the basement where Malvern Frost sat.

  “Excellent. Sit down, Miss Clare.”

  She couldn’t let terror win. “Am I under arrest?”

  “That depends on how you answer my questions. Bear in mind that the security of Oasis West may depend on what you say. Let’s begin. Where does the filthy dragon live?”

  The simultaneous assault of his hatred and a picture of Druid dead and dismembered shifted the focus of her fea
r. She had to save Druid, because he was funny and wise, and because he had the biggest heart she’d ever known.

  “The dragon could be anywhere. He travels the length and breadth of the swamp. And he’d know if you invaded. All the animals of the swamp would warn him.”

  “Or you would?”

  “I would do anything to save Oasis from you. I’m not saying anything more until the Guardian comes.”

  One of the peace officers standing in the room shifted nervously. “Commander Dal’Rish gave us specific orders, Councilor.”

  “And we will obey them as soon as we have the information we want. How do we know that this girl hasn’t told the dragon everything he needs to know about Oasis West in order to destroy it? Shall we give him the chance while we wait for the Guardian?”

  “He wouldn’t,” Serazina said. “He’s never done anything to the humans.”

  “But he will.”

  “What? She heard the hiss of deadly intent. “When will he? What do you have planned?”

  Malvern’s face, momentarily creased in panic, smoothed out again. “I plan against the inevitable attack of the dragon. I have said this before. It’s a matter of public record.”

  He turned to the guards. “Only think of the treachery that lurks in the so-called innocent heart of a young girl. The Godlies are right. Corruption can find a home anywhere.”

  She fought panic. “Even in the greedy heart of a Councilor,” she said.

  “That’s quite enough.” Malvern moved closer, the smile of nightmares on his face. “Everyone leave the room, please.”

  * * *

  The Guardian piloted the plane towards Oasis West. “I’ve never been in one of these before,” Janzi said. “I like the way the wings adapt to the air current, now fluttering, now stretched out for gliding.”

  “It’s all computerized and of much less interest to me than the dragon. Tell me about him. I can’t believe I’m asking that.”

  “I didn’t directly observe him, but Serazina was expressive on many sensory levels in her description. Phileas, I can’t believe we’ve spent hundreds of years fearing him. Serazina told us that Tara says his life is in danger.”

  “It is,” Phileas said. “Who’s Tara?”

  “Serazina’s cat.”

  “I see. Every question seems to take me deeper into the realm of the impossible.”

  “That’s why you needed to read Zena’s words. None of this is the kind of sense we’re used to.”