Shadow of the Crown Page 15

  At the thought of Hartiel, the small sprite appeared. It now took on the form of one of the guards. Large smile and all. "I'm shocked they were so dumb. How this town is so safe is beyond me." Hartiel landed on top of Tosh's head and leaned backward. "So, this is where we get the dragon egg?"

  Tosh ignored the question and stepped forward, past the entrance and now onto the Dragon's Path. "Where have you been hiding, Hartiel? I've literally been traveling by myself this entire time."

  "I've been here, just sleeping. Am I not allowed a good sleep?"

  "Sprites sleep?" Tosh was answered with a sharp pull of his hair. "I'll remember that next time you ask me a question that sounds dumb."

  Tosh walked up the path while Hartiel flicked his hair. He was thankful there was no one choosing the walk on the Dragon's Path. guardians used to be abundant through the land and new guardians risked their lives to come here. Now he stepped where they once walked with the most annoying creature in existence sitting on his head.

  The path continued in ease. As the sounds of the street fair faded, the calls of the beasts above filled the air. What had been oversized boulders were now towering walls. Tosh moved with little issues, minding the rocks underneath his feet. Only a few more steps and he could rest. He had to just keep telling himself this. The time at the quarry at least helped him feel more relaxed amongst the stone.

  "If you just used your magic, we could lift ourselves up there or are least make some steps," Hartiel said.

  "And risk letting dragons know we're here? No thanks. There’s a reason scholars don't get chosen as guardians very often. We were never built for hard labor and relied on our magic. At least not until today."

  Hartiel floated down in front of Tosh's face. The sprite was still in the form of the guard from earlier. "So, you're telling me we are here, and you don't even know exactly what you're doing?"

  "No, I know what I'm doing. Devata showed me. Just because no scholars have made it this far, doesn't mean I'm clueless. Look, just trust me and we won't die."

  "Fine, we've gotten through worse things. A little rock-climbing won’t be so—"

  Their argument halted as the path stopped. Facing them was a cliff face dotted with caves far above them. In a few spots, Tosh could tell there were ledges he could stand on, but they were also likely to be hiding more caves with dragons inside. The scholar gulped, regretting the fact that he said he wouldn't use his abilities to create an easier path up. The thought of a dragon hearing the earth shifting was far more terrifying though than a vertical climb.

  "Good luck, Tosh. I'll just take a break for now. If you need my energy, let me know." Hartiel dived into Tosh's pocket and grew silent. The light the sprite emanated quickly diminished until even Tosh couldn't tell the sprite was there anymore.

  He took a deep breath and grasped onto the cliff side. Whoever had gone this way before had the good idea of creating small ledges on the wall he could grasp onto. The feeling of so many other people making the same journey sent shivers down Tosh's spine, but he needed to focus. He lodged his foot into one of the lower ledges and lifted himself off the ground.

  "No turning back now. Just one step at a time and we'll be there," he muttered to himself, reaching for the next ledge to pull himself up farther.

  The climb continued slowly up the cliff. Occasionally, he could hear the roar of a dragon nearby and see a few leaving to enter the caves. None of them seemed to be moon dragons, but he did notice a lot of them were air and fire dragons that were active in the area. He imagined finding a water dragon nest farther into the mountains near a hot spring of some sorts and the earth dragons were more internal. The only reason most guardians had fire and air dragon partners was simple enough to see. He held high respect for those willing to go farther in to get a dragon that couldn't fly or grow larger than a dog.

  A few more steps. He looked up at the sky. It was getting dark now. The bright blues were now changing to shades of pink as the sun dropped over the horizon. The high walls of the mountain ridges made it darker. Most of the shadows stretched into beasts that waited to strike their owners.

  "Now would be a great time to wake up and shine a light out here," Tosh muttered.

  In response, he felt Hartiel move around in his pocket. "If I gave you light then the dragons would see it. Didn't you say you wanted to get there in secret? Just pretend you are a guardian, and this is your destiny."

  "It is my destiny to get the damn egg, but that doesn't mean I have to suffer in the darkness."

  Hartiel let out a sigh and readjusted in Tosh's pocket. "Fine, but if a dragon decides they are hungry and find a billboard advertising that their next meal is being delivered to them, it's not my fault." A small light flitted out of his pocket. At first, he thought it was Hartiel, but quickly realized it was a small ball of light the sprite had summoned.

  Tosh looked back up the cliff, now able to see the small ledges above him. There were only a few left before he would get to a ledge he could stand on. He lifted himself back up and climbed, the small light guiding him to safety.

  Once he reached the ledge and lifted himself up, he slumped against one of the nearby walls. Next to him was an opening to a cave. The entrance emitted warm air and he wondered if it was because a dragon was currently inside sleeping or not. He sat there for a while, catching his breath and watched the stars high above him begin to twinkle in the darkened sky.

  A roar filled the air and Tosh looked up to see a smaller dragon flying into a cave just above his head. Its scales shined bright in the twilight sky as a moon close to the mountains. The dragon dove into the cave, no longer visible to him. He recognized the dragon from the visions Devata had shown him before and smiled, realizing how easy this would be.

  Tosh rubbed his hands on his pants and took a deep breath in, preparing to climb the cliff side again. Higher above he could see more dragons flying into their caves to finish their night. The idea of seeing all of them converging while in the safety of the city below made him wish there was a way he could just find a life that was quiet. If they did bring the scholars back into freedom, this town was on his list of places he may move.

  Another dragon landed on one of the cliff sides. Its claws dug into the stone wall and clambered downward. The sound of the claws grating into the stone sent shivers down Tosh's spine. The beast was only a few feet away from him, capable of seeing him if the dragon turned its head in his directions. Sweat beaded down his forehead as Tosh watched the red scaled dragon continue its climb below him and into a tiny cave that barely fit the dragon.

  Tosh let out a sigh and turned to the cliff side and began his ascent to the moon dragon's cave. Unlike the small ledges that he had used to climb the previous wall, Tosh could feel what seemed like a root system. "Thank you Devata for an obvious sign of being on the right track," he mumbled, pulling himself farther up. As he pulled himself past the ledges the roots inside were nonexistent, yet he knew he had felt them each time he grabbed farther up.

  It only took half an hour of straight climbing to reach the next ledge. The cave was dark, leaving no room for Tosh to accurately see where the moon dragon was. He sucked in a deep breath and stepped forward into the cave. Unlike the tunnels in the quarry, the temperature rose exponentially as he traversed deeper into the one before him. He could hear the deep breathing of the dragon within, but the sound reverberated from the walls too much to tell where it was coming from.

  "Hartiel, I could really use more light than this," Tosh hissed.

  "Fine, I want to get a good eye on this dragon anyways." Hartiel climbed out of Tosh's pocket and flew up near his shoulder. His white light illuminated the walls of the cave that were covered in stains of blood.

  "Think it was guardians that didn't make it?"

  A loud roar came from behind them. Tosh turned around and could see a red fire dragon standing at the entrance of the cave. Judging by how slim the creature was, Tosh imagined it was the same dragon he had thought didn't see him.
>
  "If we don't hide, then we will be part of that mess too, Tosh."

  Tosh nodded his head and looked around. There wasn't much in terms of places to hide. His eyes scanned every inch of the cave quickly until they rested on a large boulder. He beamed in excitement as an idea passed through his mind. “Hartiel, I need your energy right now!"

  "Fine just get us out of here before that beast gets us."

  The dragon's eyes rested on Tosh and blinked. He stepped toward Tosh, his tongue flicking in and out, tasting the air for its next prey.

  "Okay, here goes!" Tosh stepped back toward the boulder and focused on Hartiel. He could feel the energy of the sprite, but also that of the dragon in front of him. Another, more clustered energy, was behind them. He imagined it was the moon dragon and her potential eggs. He pulled his mind back into focus, pulling the energy from just Hartiel.

  "Hurry up, I don't imagine that dragon wants to wait for you," Hartiel hissed.

  "Don't rush me," Tosh grumbled. He could feel the energy flow into his own body from Hartiel's. He only needed a little bit and soon he could feel the earth underneath him rumble. Walls formed around himself and Hartiel until they were in cased in a shallow boulder.

  "So, we're an egg? And how do you propose we get out of here and get the egg?"

  Tosh put a finger to his lips a hushed Hartiel. "We're not a target anymore. Which means that fire dragon will want something to tame his hunger, even if it's more carnal than what he originally asked for."

  Hartiel didn’t need to ask what Tosh meant. He could hear the dragons outside both letting out a loud roar, acknowledging the existence of the other inside the small cave. Their roars turned to screeches and then even that faded away as the two pushed one another out of the cave into the open air. Despite sharing caves so close to one another, Tosh knew well enough that the creatures were territorial over their own small chunks of land just as any elf.

  Tosh waited a few more minutes, verifying the fight wasn't going to end quickly. The sound of the roars and screeching had long since disappeared. Tosh still had energy left over from when he had pulled from Hartiel and concentrated on pushing the earth back into the ground or crumbling dust. Returning the stone back to its original form was far less taxing than forming the safety egg around the two of them.

  "Not doubting you again, that's for sure," Hartiel mumbled. He flew farther into the cave, his light a large beacon for Tosh to follow.

  It was only a few feet before he reached mounds of tattered fabric, sticks, and bones from multiple animals and a few other more sentient species lying around. The sight sent chills down his spine, wondering if some of the bones belonged to guardians who had failed to capture an egg for themselves or if he would be joining them soon as well.

  Many of the nests scattered in the cave were empty except one off to left of the center of the clusters. There were a few eggs inside of the nest ranging in colors like red and blues. He was looking for only one specific egg. Hartiel lowered himself so Tosh could better see each egg.

  "We're looking for a moon dragon egg?" Hartiel asked, still scanning.

  "There should be one. I mean it's a nest from a moon dragon. It shouldn't be that hard to find something so simple. It's a white egg. I swear if Devata misled…" Tosh paused, and double checked each egg. Not even one was the milky white that he was expecting to find. "Fuck, that damn tree has shit directions if this was where it told me to go."

  Hartiel flew toward Tosh and smacked him. It didn't hurt, but the attack did surprise him. "Don't you dare speak ill of Devata. I'm sure this egg is here. We just need to look in another nest." Hartiel flew off to the others, hovering for seconds before shooting off to another. "Here! I found the egg!" Hartiel was at the end of the cluster, floating above a tiny nest that looked almost abandoned.

  Tosh stepped around the nest he was at, avoiding any objects under him that would crunch with a misstep. After a few minutes of maneuvering, he reached Hartiel. The nest was smaller than the others with barely any cloth or items filling it. The egg inside was white with small gray spots across the shell.

  "I can't believe you found the egg," Tosh gasped and reached out to grasp it. He expected the warmth of any other egg out there that was incubating still but was instead welcomed by a cold exterior. "It's...dead..." He picked up the cold egg and lifted it up above his head. If this was to be the end of his life, then he would smash the egg as his last action.

  Hartiel flew up to the egg and placed his hand on it. "Tosh, I don't think it's dead. Not yet at least." His glow focused on his hand and lit up the egg. "As I thought, it's faint, but it's alive. Look," Hartiel pointed with his other hand at a small mass inside the egg. Seconds passed and then a small pumping motion began before going into a frozen state.

  Tosh brought the egg back down and held it close to him. "Did the mother just give up the child?"

  "Well moon dragons aren't very viable in the wild. Most don't live past adolescence, so it was probably abandoned to die.” Another screech from outside of the cave echoed toward them. "If we don't get out of here, then we will be dead too."

  Tosh tucked the egg under his arm and looked around for a way to escape. The light from Hartiel bounced off each wall creating false exits. He turned around once more and saw it. It was thin, but he could see Hartiel's light bouncing farther into a path that he could just barely get through.

  He clambered over the nests, now knowing they were all empty. The claws grating against stone grew louder now. His ears perked up, noticing another sound mixed in with the roars of the dragon. Metal clanging together and the sound of a man outside as well. If his ears weren't deceiving him, it had to be a guardian climbing in and not the dragon from before.

  The scholar didn't wait for his theory to be proven and scurried into the small crack. "Hartiel, get in my pocket now before they see us," he hissed, pushing himself farther into the small pathway.

  As Hartiel dove into Tosh's pocket, the scholar could hear footsteps near the front of the cave. They were then followed by a beam from a flashlight. As the footsteps got closer, Tosh could just barely see the figure. Behind him was a red dragon and the person was a cait shidhe.

  The cait shidhe kicked one of the rocks across the cave and let out a loud curse. "There's no fucking moon dragon in here. I thought you said you knew an egg was in here?"

  The dragon behind the cait shidhe let out a small grunt in response.

  "That scholar must have gotten here before us." He let out a loud scream, his voice echoing through the entire cave.

  Tosh didn't need to tell Hartiel anything. It was Azrael out there now. If Devata had sent him to collect the egg, then it meant Kalio was also onto this mission and had sent the dragon guardian after him. He forced himself into the crack in the wall, egg in hand, ready to find the dragon guardian that would rescue them all.

  Seventeen

  It was quiet. Her endeavors in Ombramoor were now behind Kalio and she was back on her throne. Everything had run smoothly while she was gone. Most of the capital had seen Kalio’s dragon, Ream, return, but there were no celebrations. If the rebels had been nonexistent, she would welcome a party with her people. Perhaps later she would discuss this with the bank of Narishma if it was in budget. Even a simple parade would be nice.

  She hadn't received any reports back from Azrael since she returned and Anjuu had yet to show her face either. She had to sell some of her own jewels to pay for the entire guild to kill Anjuu and thus far, even they failed to produce any results.

  "At this rate I might have to get her myself." She let out a deep sigh and leaned back into her throne. Once, the throne felt cold and unwelcoming with the swords attached across the back. Now it was her only safety outside of her room. So long as she sat here, the people had to acknowledge that she was their queen.

  Her rest was interrupted with a soft snort from behind her. Kalio turned around to see what it is and furrowed her brow. Lying in the corner was an oversized wolf sleeping. Pers
ius. She’d recognize that northern dire wolf a mile away.

  Kalio stood up and stormed over to the wolf. 'What are you doing here?" The wolf raised its head and blinked in confusion. "Don't give me that shit." Kalio took a step back and focused her energy into a swift kick in the dire wolf's stomach.

  The wolf curled into a tight ball and let out a soft whimper. "You don't have to be so mean to get your point across," the dire wolf grumbled. The wolf stood up on all fours. Its pelt detached from the creature’s body to reveal underneath a man with only the fur pelt to keep him somewhat decent. "I told you it's close to hibernation time."

  "Don't give me that shit. I don't need you sleeping in my throne room." She grasped onto the skin walker's pelt and pulled him up. "I have a mission for you, and I don't need you to sleep through it." Persius let out a soft yawn. Kalio grew more frustrated and shook him until he was fully awake. "Do you understand me, dog?"

  "Yes, I understand you...My Queen. What do you need from me today?"

  Kalio pointed to the door behind them. "Get out of the capital, head north and collect your tribes. There's going to be a war brewing soon and if I am to entrust you, then I need an army from you."

  Persius shifted his weight. "I mean I can try and form an army, but you're asking some big sleeping giants a hell of a favor."

  Kalio opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted immediately by someone barging in behind them. She tossed Persius aside and turned around to see Mestre still trying to catch her breath with guards standing behind her, their hands on their pistols in case she did anything.

  Unlike Mestre's usually calm demeanor, she was holding a dagger in one hand and a bottle of a dark blue liquid that was dripping on the floor in the other. Kalio kept this in mind once Mestre left to have someone clean up the floors. She hadn't seen Mestre since the last meeting and wondered what invention the ren zhe had come up with today. Perhaps it was only a demand for a new test subject, but the wide smile stretching across her face made the woman look more like a frog that had devoured a fly than someone who needed a new supply of anything.