We rise steadily, the black sky and cool wind washing over me like a cleansing shower of rainfall. After we level out, Thann turns around. His perfect face is a silhouette against the darkness, and I can’t help but smile a little.
“Are you okay?” he asks, his voice beating against the wind.
“Yes, I guess so.” I hesitate, not sure if it is safe to talk. “Are you?”
“My wrists hurt like a bagger, but I’m fine.”
“Hey, Thann?”
“Yeah?”
“Who is that guy…the little man?”
“It’s Yaren. He works for my mom.”
“Oh.” I think for a moment, contemplating the small man, the dragons we are on, fleeing the Destroyers. “Do you know where we are going?”
“Nope…no idea.”
“Oh.” I reply again. I am disappointed by his answer and more so that Thann seems undisturbed by our lack of information. “Hey, Thann?” I don’t know if I am being a pest, but I can’t seem to stop myself.
He swings his golden head around toward mine, and just for an instant, in the dimly lit night sky, my breath is taken away by his pure beauty. “Hmmm?” His voice is a hum singing in harmony with the wind.
“What made you wake up? Did you know you were in some weird daze for most of the day? It was like you were under a spell or something.”
He doesn’t answer at first, and I wait as the wind whips my mud encrusted hair around my face. He eventually responds. “Don’t know…might have been the different Destroyers’ Power. I just remember waking up…coming to…whatever you call it, on a Lav with you behind me. I started filling in the missing pieces.”
I remain quiet. Although it is early fall, up this high it is chilly, and I begin to shiver. Soon my teeth are chattering. But Thann, as usual, seems unaffected. A piece of me wants to nestle in closer to him. For warmth. Or just the feel of another human body against mine.
Maybe it is just his body…his firm stomach muscles erupt under my right hand, and once again, I feel pulled toward him…but not just physically. It is something more, something so different than with Koree that I bite my lower lip, thinking about the two different boys who have somehow entered my life.
Just then, Koree’s face explodes in my mind…his piercing green eyes and coppery curls. That dimple…his olive skin and angular jaw. My stomach spirals out of control and tingles travel up my spine. I suddenly miss him so much that my heart actually hurts.
More images of Koree spin in my mind. “You look nice,” he told me. His intense, green eyes haunt me as I continue to hold Thann’s waist, almost wishing it were Koree’s. I remember the feelings that washed over me when he was staring at me, the shiver up my spine…the squirming in my stomach. His dimple…teasing me in a way I have never been teased before. But then, there is something about Thann…
As my mind bounces back and forth between both boys, the dragon begins to descend. Trees become larger and Mount Gareth shadows before us, greeting us like an out of place, over dressed host. Why are we going toward the mountain…Siv Gareth’s mountain? It doesn’t make sense.
I strain my eyes against the darkness. Yes, I am sure it is Mount Gareth. My heart skips a beat… it has to be a trap. Thann’s friend has led us right to Siv Gareth…to his hideous mountain…the ostentatious amethyst mansion on top of it…the prison right below it.
I gulp for air, memories of Siv Gareth, crowding every thought out of my mind, as the little black dragon lands directly next to the mountain. Mount Gareth…so close that the smell of dirt and freshly dug earth overwhelms me. Ocean waves blast against the other side of the mountain, brutally slamming water against it.
Thann hops off the small Ebony with ease. For some reason, I struggle to dismount, but Thann holds his hand out for me. I take it willing with my right hand, my left hand dangling by my side. I land on a slick surface, and my feet slide as I struggle to regain my footing.
Ocean waves continue to crash against the mountain, and the smells of salt and water and earth float into my nostrils. I swallow it up for a moment, like an alcoholic taking a forbidden drink.
“You be followin’ me,” Yaren tells us in a soft voice. I marvel at his odd accent.
“Okay,” Thann quietly replies. Then he turns to Yaren, his voice a rare solemn whisper. “Why are we here at the mountain…couldn’t we have just flown the dragons to Harcourt?”
Yaren pauses for a minute. “Dey be passin’ de new law, de law dat kill you, boy. Dere be Destroyers all over. Hundreds, maybe t’ousands. Dis be de place dey not expec’ you. An’ dis be de way yourn mom tol’ me to take you.”
Thann nods his head. I struggle to make sense of what Yaren said…not sure if it is his odd accent or the words he actually spoke. Hundreds, maybe thousands of Destroyers? My hand instantly flies up to my neck, as if by doing so I can hold it onto my body. Still, Mount Gareth does not seem like a reasonable place for us to be, no matter what Yaren says…or Thann’s mom.
We follow Yaren for about fifty paces, and he stops next to the mountain. I tip my head back and gawk at its vastness. We are at the back side of the monstrous mountain, and although it has always been here, ever since I can remember anyway, I have never been this close to it. Wordlessly, as he leans his head back as if evaluating the mountain, Thann slips my right hand into his and entwines his large fingers around mine.
Yaren takes a few more steps toward the mountain and then stops. I watch, both interested and confused as he pushes his small, weathered hands against it, feeling and groping for something on it. What can he be doing? And why?
I wait quietly by Thann’s side, his hand still holding mine – warm and rough and large. It feels so comfortable to have my hand in Thann’s, as if they had been formed for each other. Still, I am distracted by what the little man is doing.
My eyes snap open in surprise when a piece of the mountain slowly spins in a circle, a revolving door of mud and dirt. A grinding sound reverberates in my ears, a pathetic contrast to the distant ocean waves that endlessly blast against the mountain.
Yaren continues to push. I am in awe at the moving door in the mountain, wondering how it works…who built it…and why. I spot boards, thick, rough wood encasing the mud and dirt…camouflaging it. Brilliant, I think.
Yaren steps through the door, motioning for us to follow. Thann pulls on my hand, and we take off at a silent trot toward him. But, just like I am pulled in two directions about Thann and Koree, the same feeling overtakes me at this moment. I think of letting go of Thann and running. I know I can find my way home…get to Entho’s clinic. It isn’t too far away. Memories of Entho’s words muffle in my mind. “I’m safe here…because of what I can offer the Alliance. It’s getting bad out there…in the city.”
I think for a minute, knowing what the Alliance will do with me…if they even allow me to live. I know how I will end up after all of my Weapons training…like Lanton and Dorgan. Like the two dead Destroyers I killed. Or worse. “Imprisonment…” Entho’s words trail off in my mind. And, do I even know if Entho is alive? My heart squeezes shut at the thought. He is a healer…but he is also a Light Skin, and with the Purity Law…
I am wrenched, pulled in two distinct directions so strong that I stop dead in my tracks. Do I continue with Thann…follow him into the ominous mountain? Or do I break free and run home to Entho? I dawdle, my footsteps slowing to a crawl, as I continue to toss the two options back and forth in my mind. Thann stops abruptly, turns around and faces me. In the dim, grey light I can barely make out a puzzled expression encompassing his face.
“Come on,” he whispers, none too patiently. “It’s the only way.” I can feel his breath on my face, we are that close. I cock my head to the side and study him for a second, then breathe him in deeply, the essence of Thann. It is like breathing pure, unpolluted country air. The air I just recently learned about.
Just like when I shot my arrow and made a bull’s eye and won the competition, just like when I aimed an arrow at Siv Gareth, and w
hen I yelled at Bello about Dragon Academy, I make my decision…quickly and decisively. I follow Thann blindly into the mountain.
Yaren has pulled ahead, and darkness surrounds us…I can barely see the outline of Thann’s body. But quickly Yaren returns with a flaming torch. It outlines his aged, wrinkled face. He has leathery, almost black skin and white curly hair. And although he moves agilely, he appears to be about one hundred years old. “Yourn mom be sendin’ me after you. Didn’t know ‘bout de girl. Who she be?”
“This is Teak. Teak Frain,” Thann whispers back.
“Oh,” he nods. “Yourn mom be happy ‘bout dat too den.”
I wonder what that means as he leads us down a mud encased hall, dampness spewing over us like mist from the mountain. The smell of the ocean creeps in, but now it is dank and salty and fishy. I force back a gag as mud and dirt trickle onto my head, caking onto my skull and mixing in with the dried up black river mud I put there not so long ago.
Yaren stops suddenly, kneels down, and swipes at something on the floor. Then he pulls open another hidden door. This mountain is full of surprises.
“You be getting’ down in de tunnel and you be runnin’. You be runnin’ till you be gettin’ to de udder side. You don’t be stoppin’ for nothin’ or nobody once you be down dere. You just run till de tunnel ends.” His voice is smooth, lyrical. Oddly enough, I detect no fear in it.
“You be goin’ straight. No turnin’. De tunnel be havin’ turns in it but you be goin’ straight if you want to get to yourn mom.” His eyes travel to Thann. Thann nods his head at him. “And when de tunnel be endin’ you be liftin’ up de lid you see on de roof of de tunnel, and you be at Har. Court.” He says Harcourt like it is two distinct words.
He stands up, then, his small figure a good luck charm. Or maybe bad luck, I can’t be sure. He stares at Thann and Thann nods his head at him again, and I know some silent form of communication has just passed between them.
I am rigid, locked in place. Yaren closes his eyes, moves his hands in an up and down motion in front of Thann and me. Then he reaches into his pocket and sprinkles dust of some sort on us. I sneeze suddenly, loud and protesting at the odd smelling dust. I immediately cover my hand over my nose as Yaren and Thann both glare at me for a split second.
It is eerily silent for a few moments until Yaren’s voice floats over us. “De Angels be wit’ you,” Yaren chants in a weird, yet enticing melody.
Thann squeezes Yaren into a bear hug, literally lifting him off the ground. “Thanks, Yaren…I owe you,” he tells the little man. He sets Yaren back down, as if he were a doll or a small toy. Then, without another word, Thann steps down into the tunnel, his mud encased head disappearing from view.
I stand still, fear coursing through my veins at the thought of going into a dark tunnel I know nothing about. But Yaren grabs my hand, thankfully my right hand, and I ponder at his strength…how such a small man can have such a strong grip. “You bein’ next little missy. You be stayin’ with Thann and you bein’ okay.” With that he shoves me down into the tunnel, my feet making contact with a rickety wooden ladder.
I step down onto it gingerly, wondering once again if I am doing the right thing. I hold onto the rustic ladder with one hand, feeling the steps with my feet. It is so dark I can’t see anything, and I panic for a minute.
Where is Thann? I put one foot down onto the rung of the ladder. Then the next. I breathe in and out. In and out, gasping for pure air, but all I get is a murky, dense mixture of dirt and dead fish. I force back another gag when suddenly, what little light I have disappears with a loud thump. The door above me has slammed shut, and I know I am trapped…deep in a tunnel. I shoot my head up, start to scramble back up the ladder to the only freedom I know.
But large hands, familiar hands, grip my waist. Thann. It has to be Thann. His firm hands guide me down the ladder, and my boots land with a soft thud on the tunnel floor.
He reaches for my hand again, and the familiar feel of it calms me. He laces his fingers around mine, and it feels like I am home, that I have waited my entire life just to hold this huge hand.
“You ready?” he asks.
I stop. Am I ready? Will I ever be ready? “Sure,” I answer, more calmly than what I feel inside.
Thann takes off at a rapid pace, his long legs flying under him like machines pounding against the black earthen tunnel. Since I am connected to him because he holds my hand and my future tightly in his, I have no choice but to follow.
So.
I.
Run.
Other Books by L.L. Crane:
Mark of Power Series:
To the Moon
Into the Black Night (to be released)
Blue Spectrum Chronicles:
Forbidden Rain
Vanishing Rain
Rain Born (to be released)
For more information:
www.llcrane.com
[email protected] Author’s Note: