Sprites Amulet
CHAPTER TWELVE: How to make a doorway.
The sun was starting to sink in the sky when Branwell led them down a steep bank-side to a wide stream over hung with trees. This stream was shallow with a lot of rocks they could use as stepping-stones as they made their way up it. Jude was glad he could at least keep his feet dry this time and of the opportunity to again hold Ruby’s hand to help her. Not that she really needed a lot of help as she nimbly leapt from rock to rock. Before they had descended down the bank into the stream there was still a lot of light in the sky. But under the trees a lot of the light had been cut out and it was a lot dimmer and very quiet, apart from the trickling of the stream over the rocks.
As they followed the stream, it was overshadowed by the trees all the way; they started to hear a distant roar. The roar increased in volume the further they went and the bank-sides of the stream started to increase in height.
Eventually, through the trees ahead, they could see that the roar was coming from a waterfall. The bank-sides opened out in front of them into a circular cliff face all around them, trees edging the top, with a dark pool of water in the middle. The waterfall was falling from the top of the cliff directly in front of them. They were surrounded by steep cliffs with no footholds to climb up the sheer sides; there was no way out apart from the way they’d come.
“We’re here,” said Branwell setting Connor down. Jude looked around, he couldn’t see anywhere else to go, no caves or doorways or holes in the ground, nothing. Connor untroubled by any of this threw a stone into the pool and peered in. Branwell led them around the pool towards the waterfall; it was a slippery treacherous path. When they stood next to the waterfall, getting damp from its spray, Jude could see that there was a gap between the waterfall and the rock face. But he could still see no cave or doorway of any sort. Branwell picked up a stone from the ground and traced a square doorway with it on the rock face muttering some words under his breath. He then knocked on it with the stone. A line of white light started to appear where Branwell had traced the doorway, very faint at first and then increasing in strength. Branwell pushed at the door and it swung inwards. Branwell glanced at Connor.
“You behave,” he said sternly.
The Sprite gave him an innocent expression.
They all stepped through the doorway, Branwell leading the way. It was dim the other side of the door, and became dark as the door closed behind them of its own accord. Balls of white light began to glow and increase in brightness along both sides of the tunnel they appeared to be in. As his eyes became adjusted to the light Jude could see two figures in front of them. Branwell stepped towards them. Their helmet-covered heads came up to the height of his chest, but they were both very broad with a feeling of solidness about them. They had long wiry hair under their helmets and small dark twinkling eyes over their beards. They both wore bright chain-mail armour and carried heavy axes. The slightly taller and older-looking of the dwarves stepped forwards towards Branwell and greeted him warmly. They talked in a gruff language Jude didn’t recognise, but he got the impression that they knew each other fairly well. Branwell introduced them to the Dwarf, whose name was Norin.
“Welcome to Ninque Oron,” he said warmly in his deep voice. “I will take you to Thorgar.”
They followed Norin along the tunnel; it was lit all the way by balls of white light. The tunnel opened up into a long fantastical cave full of stalagmites and stalactites, that the white light made glitter. They continued through this cave, Jude and Ruby gazing around in wonder. The passed through a further tunnel and entered another long cave with a stream running through it by the side of the path. The stream had obviously made the cave and worn the rock into incredible formations, some reminded him of the ripples left by the tide on a sandy beach. Water had also dripped down through the rock over the years and some of the formations looked liquid as if they were still dripping, but they were solid. The white light reflecting off the water made it shine and sparkle. Jude was in awe, he and Ruby were pointing out different rock formations to each other. Branwell looked ahead concentrating on their destination, he’d seen it all before it would seem. Connor just looked a little lost and cold.
“No trees,” he muttered to himself.
They began to hear a familiar roar of a waterfall ahead of them and then the cave they were following opened up into a huge underground expanse. Jude stepped into the vast cave and started looking around in wonder; he could feel Ruby by his side doing the same. There was a hole in the ceiling of the cave very high above them through which the last of the day’s sunlight came sparkling on a torrent of water, which flowed through the hole. The long thin flow of white water thundered into a large black lake below it sending white spray high into the air and inky ripples over the lake. In the centre of the lake stood a large island and on the island was built the Dwarf city. It reminded Jude of a large ornate, grey and white wedding cake. It had two tiers of square and rectangular buildings, one large one at the base of the island and another smaller one built on an outcrop of rock in the middle of the island.
A large flat ferry was waiting by a jetty near them and they climbed on to it, a leather clad Dwarf pushed them towards the city with a long wooden pole. As they approached the city it appeared to be a hive of activity with stocky Dwarves bustling along the streets. Jude could see the houses more clearly now, they were all stone built and beautifully ornamented with carved geometric designs. As the ferry pulled up at a jetty and they disembarked he could hear the noises of the city; the deep voices, the clash of metal and bang of stone. They followed Norin through the city streets, staring around them in wonder. It was a well ordered city the streets running in a grid pattern. The people all were busy about their different trades, Jude saw and heard metal and stone workers. Eventually they came to the outcrop of rock in the middle of the city and climbed a set of wide steep steps around it up to the top. At the top was the hall of the Dwarf King. It was a huge black and grey stone hall many stories tall, intricately carved with geometric patterns. The door way to the hall was enormous and made of stone slabs; Jude couldn’t guess how on earth they could be moved. They walked through the doorway and were literally dwarfed by the hall within. The vaulted roof, high above them, was supported on enormous carved columns. They walked between the columns to the end of the hall where a throne, carved from a single slab of rock stood. The hall was brilliantly lit by more white balls of light. Sat on the throne was Thorgar, King of the Dwarves. His long hair and beard were white and he had wrinkles on his face, but no other signs of age did he seem to show, his body was thick set and sturdy. He seemed to have all the vitality and strength of his youth still.
Branwell approached him and then knelt with his hand on his chest. “Greetings, King Thorgar and greetings from Taule of Aldea.”
Thorgar rose from his throne and approached Branwell. He stood up and the King clasped his shoulders heartily, smiling.
“It is good to see you Branwell,” he said in a rich deep voice. “Who are your companions?”
Branwell introduced them briefly, Jude, Ruby and even Connor, momentarily overawed by his surroundings, bowed to him.
“I’m afraid I bring you grave tidings.” Branwell presented the scroll from Taule.
“It would not be regarding our Orcish friends would it,” he said taking the scroll and opening it. “We have seen them recently in our mountains, something virtually unheard of in these times.” Thorgar read the scroll and his face became grave. He turned to Jude and Connor. “You both have stories to tell, I believe.” They told him what they had found out in turn. Connor surprisingly respectful, Jude was sure it wouldn’t last.
When they had finished Thorgar said. “Grave tidings indeed. We had also suspected that they were up to something, they showed signs of organisation which was unsettling.”
Branwell told him of their encounter with the Orcs and the presence of a Dark Elf with them. Jude noticed he skipped over quite a bit of the encounter with the Elf.
&nbs
p; “A Dark Elf,” said Thorgar thoughtfully. “One of those has not been seen for a long time. But with Orcs? That is most puzzling. However she may indeed be organising them, but to what end. It would certainly appear that the Orcs are preparing for war.”
“Will you join us in the fight against the Orcs?” asked Branwell earnestly.
“Ha, when have we Dwarves ever said no to a bit of Orc slaying. I have to tell you, my people have been solely grieved by the Orcs sniffing around our mountain. I have forbidden them to engage them in fighting so as not to risk them discovering the secrets of Ninque Oron.”
“You will join us then?”
“Of course,” said Thorgar slapping Branwell on the back joyfully. “We would not miss it for the world. We must feast tonight to celebrate your coming and the fighting to come. We have hidden away in our mountain too long.”
The Dwarf feast that night was something to behold, Jude had seen nothing like it before. The large hall was filled with a table that stretched the length of it and it groaned with food, whole roast sheep, wild boars, grouse, huge loaves of bread and wheels of white crumbly cheese, plus large barrels of beer. Thorgar sat at the head of the table, with his guests on his right and left. The Dwarves knew how to have a party. They greatly enjoyed their food and beer and entertained each other with jokes, stories and songs. Jude found he was really enjoying himself, especially with Ruby sat next to him, who delighted in every joke, song and story. He found her laughter really infectious, and he could see the Dwarves appreciated her enjoyment of their entertainments.
When Jude could see Ruby yawning and leaning ever more heavily on his shoulder, he had tried to hide his own tiredness for as long as possible, he persuaded her to get to bed. Branwell as usual was showing no sign of tiredness and was exchanging fighting stories with the other Dwarves; Connor curled up asleep at his feet. Jude found Norin and asked where they could sleep for the night. Norin picked up Connor and led the way, Jude half-led and half-carried Ruby who was leaning heavily on him with a tired, happy smile on her face. He had to admit that the Dwarves brewed good beer; he was finding things a bit wobbly himself. He was sure it was mostly tiredness; he hadn’t drunk that much after all. Norin took them to a little square guesthouse, in the lower tier of the city, at the bottom of the wide steps. It was furnished simply with square wooden furniture and animal skins. Jude made sure Connor was tucked up in bed, he hadn’t stirred at all. He escorted Ruby to a bedroom; she turned to him at the door said “Goodnight” and kissed him fleetingly on the lips, closing the door after her. Jude stood looking at her door for some minutes with a smile on his face, still feeling her warm lips on his. Then walking as if in a dream, found his own room, collapsing into the wooden bed. He felt like he’d never been in such a comfortable bed before, it was heaven and then he was sound asleep.
He was disturbed in the night by someone opening his door and coming over to his bed. He sleepily opened his eyes and looked up at a pale face with a halo of red hair.
“Can I sleep with you?” she whispered with a shiver. “I’m cold.”
“Hmm.” He woke up properly. “Yeah, sure.”
She crept into bed and curled up next to him. She felt cold even with a robe on and he put his arms around her. She sighed contentedly and wriggled like a cat getting comfy before settling down. He rested his head on the top of hers and her breathing soon slowed as she fell asleep. Her scent was the last thing he remembered as he fell asleep, her now warm body snuggled up to his.
As Jude slowly began to wake up the next morning, it was with a sense that he was happy, he couldn’t place why at first, just that he was warm, content and happy. As he woke up some more he remembered a cinnamon smell and a warm body next to him as he fell asleep, he realised they were both still there next to him. He delayed waking up too quickly enjoying the sensation. As he drifted further up from sleep he realised things didn’t seem quite the same as he remembered last night. The body next to him wasn’t as soft now as it was last night and it had sharp nails. Plus he seemed to have something heavy draped over the top of him and behind his back. It was peculiar, it was also really hot. He opened his eyes, didn’t believe what he saw and closed them again. Ruby had got into his bed last night, he hadn’t dreamt it, he knew it had happened. He opened his eyes again; looking down he saw the same mane of red hair he’d seen as he’d closed his eyes last night. But now it was around a head with a snout and red shiny scales. The warm body curled up around him, in fact all around him, also had red shiny scales and a long tail, which was curled over his legs and up his back. Hair the same red as Ruby’s was along the ridge of its back and its arms with their ivory claws were in the same place as Ruby’s had been when she fell asleep last night in his arms. His body felt tense he didn’t dare move in case it woke up, he tried not to breath too loudly. This surely was the same dragon that had saved him from the Orcs the first time. Looking into the face which was in exactly the same position as Ruby’s had been last night, the eyes slowly opened and looked into his. He saw Ruby’s green smiling eyes looking into his, the mouth curling up at the corners and showing a row of sharp white teeth.
“Ruby?” he asked cautiously. Her smile widened and her legs and tail curled further around him holding him closer. She had a happy contented look on her face…he couldn’t say he was familiar with dragon facial expressions.
“Erm…Ruby…you’re a dragon.”
Her forehead creased and she looked puzzled, he thought. She looked down and seemed to notice for the first time what she looked like. She started and uncurled herself from around Jude to look at herself properly.
“Jude,” she said in a slightly more husky tone than her usual voice. “I am a dragon.”
She got out of bed and looked at herself some more, walking around the floor, she shook herself.
“I remember now,” she said excitedly. “I remember who I am. When I was a dragon I remembered only the dragon part of me and when I was human I remembered only that part. I couldn’t reunite the two until now. I am whole again.” She jumped back on to the bed and wound herself around Jude and back on to the floor again. She breathed warm air from her snout into his ear, it tickled. Her scales felt smooth and supple against him, her hair brushing against him.
Her could not believe what he was seeing, but it obviously was Ruby. The dragon seemed to move in the same way she did and had her mannerisms, and her eyes and hair were exactly the same.
“It was you in the alleyway, wasn’t it?” he asked. “You chased off those Orcs that were going to catch me, didn’t you.” He remembered how he’d found her asleep soon afterwards.
“It was,” she said. “I didn’t have any memory of who you were as I’d met you in my human form. I just had a strong sense that I must save you, your scent seemed familiar, but I didn’t know why.”
“In the Orc cave, as well, that was you wasn’t it?”
“Yes, again. I found myself, in my dragon form, on a hillside and I could smell your scent again and the stench of Orcs. I thought I should try and follow it to make sure you were okay. I found their hide-out and helped you escape.”
“Why didn’t you stick around, all we saw of you was a claw, we weren’t even sure if you’d come to rescue us or eat us.”
“I was shy,” she curved her head away from him over her shoulder coyly. “I had no memories of you, I didn’t know who or what you were. I was acting purely on instinct and intuition. Some people are afraid of me as a dragon. I felt you must be important to me and I didn’t want to mess up something when I didn’t even know what that something was.”
“Have you got all your memories back then?” he asked.
“Most of them I have. I feel whole again and all that I am is together within me. I can feel my memories within me now; I just have to open the door to them all. But I’m not going to do it all at once, I want to savour it, it’ll be more exciting that way.”
“How did you end up at Ravenscar?”
“I reme
mber getting lost when I was a dragon.”
“You got lost?”
“I am very young for a dragon you know. I flew into a grey mist and I was unsure where I was. Then a bolt of green lightening hit me knocking me out of the sky and that’s all I remember as a dragon.”
“Who or what would be able to do that to a dragon?”
“I don’t know. Someone found me in my human form, wandering the streets naked, without any memory.”
“So they took you to Ravenscar.”
“Yes, and then you helped me escape. Thank you for that by the way.”
“Hey, no problem. I should be thanking you, you’ve saved my life twice now. You’ve been here with me and I haven’t known it was you or been able to thank you.”
“I didn’t know it was me either,” she said rubbing her cheek gently against his arm. “I’m glad I saved you.”
He looked into her eyes and stroked her cheek.
“You feel so smooth and your scales are such a brilliant red. You really are beautiful, in a fairly scary way what with the claws and sharp teeth and everything.”
“You’ve handled finding out I’m a dragon very well,” she smiled at him. “You didn’t shout or scream once. Which is pretty brave of you considering you went to bed with a human girl and woke up with a fire-breathing dragon.”
“You took my breath away. I think I was too scared to scream.” He quickly felt to see if he still had eyebrows and hair. ‘Fire breathing dragon.’ He was relieved to find all his hair unsigned.
“Don’t worry, it’s not as easy as you’d think to breath fire you know.”
“How easy or not it is to breathe fire had never really crossed my mind, to be honest. So how do you breath fire?”
“It’s a secret, I couldn’t really explain it anyway.”
“So how do you change from one to the other, from dragon to human?”
“Don’t you like me as a dragon?” she asked curling her tail around him and stroking his hair with the tip of her tail.
“I love you as a dragon, especially when you’re saving me from Orcs.”
“But what about when I’m not rescuing you,” she asked sulkily. “I thought you said I was beautiful as a dragon.”
“You are beautiful as a dragon,” he replied softly looking in to her eyes. “I don’t know which is the more beautiful the dragon you or the human you.”
She wriggled against him in pleasure at the compliment.
“You think I’m beautiful as a human as well do you? I don’t have any shiny scales thou.”
“I’ve always thought you were beautiful,” he said still looking into her green eyes. He felt the familiar desire to kiss Ruby, but how do you kiss a dragon, those teeth looked very sharp. He stroked her mane of red hair around her face. He felt her tail curl further around him. There was a sudden bang on the bedroom door.
“If you two want breakfast you’d better get up,” shouted Branwell through the door. They both jumped apart. How did he know Ruby was in his room, he thought looking at the closed door. He felt slightly embarrassed, especially as she’d come into his room quite innocently. He felt the need to defend her honour. He felt a blanket being pulled from the bed, he turned around to see that Ruby had changed back to her human form and had pulled the blanket around her naked body. He looked away again quickly.
“You weren’t so shy about looking at me without clothes on earlier,” she said cheekily.
He looked back cautiously.
“Yes, but you had scales on then.”
“I am starving, let’s not miss breakfast,” she said pulling her gown on under the blanket, Jude looked away again. She put her hand on his shoulder to turn him back round when she was dressed.
“Thank you for helping me find myself.”
“I didn’t do anything, really,” he said modestly.
“When I was a dragon I couldn’t remember who I was, but you saying my name connected me with the human Ruby and it all fitted into place. Thank you.” She looked into his eyes, was she going to kiss him now, he hoped so.
“Mmmm,” she sighed. “I can smell freshly baked bread. Come on let’s get some breakfast.” She jumped up and skipped out of the room, leaving Jude sat on the bed, heart thumping. He got up slowly and followed her downstairs.