Ramaeka

By G. Corin

To
Maggie who kept me on track, my family for humouring me and the Starlight Crew
both past and present.

Contents

Contents  2

Prologue  3

Chapter One  5

Chapter Two   21

Chapter Three  34

Chapter Four  47

Chapter Five  55

Chapter Six   67

Chapter Seven   79

Chapter Eight  89

Chapter Nine  97

Chapter Ten   100

Chapter Eleven   111

Chapter Twelve  124

Chapter Thirteen   135

Chapter Fourteen   141

Prologue

It was a dawn of incredible
light.  The kind of light which somehow filters through to even the
darkest, dampest corner, revealing the smallest of details.  High in the
northern mountains of the Draconian world, Amaria, its silvery touch washed
across the shadowy hide of an enormous dragon perched outside a stone fortress.

Ramanae snorted in annoyance as
the light played across his black hide, he much preferred the shadows, where
his colour gave him the most advantage.  Not that he feared any beast or dragon
he thought arrogantly to himself.

His tail flicked back and forth impatiently as he waited for news from within
the fortress.  It was a massive and forbidding keep of black stone, built into
the very mountain itself.  A veritable warren, it housed close to five hundred
dragons.  An impressive number considering the mere size of a dragon. Ramanae
was the undisputed leader within these mountains; the largest, strongest and
most ambitious of all the dragons in Amaria itself.  At least as far as he was
concerned.  In his own mind he should be the ruler of all dragons not just the
small rabble collected within his mountains.

He growled in frustration,
raking his claws across the dark stone.  What he needed were strong, obedient
dragons to follow him against the other leaders of their world.  Today his mate
was to produce yet another youngling to add to their collection of twenty-six,
bringing him another step closer to the fulfilment of his plans.  Sadly the
last ten born had been a waste; none seemed to have that potential which he
truly desired.

It was not as if he was worried
over his mate or the child.  Ramanae did not tolerate weakness; rather he
merely waited to assess the possibilities of this child.  If it was not
deemed worthy of his blood, it would be destroyed; otherwise the youngling
would be taken from its mother immediately.  No child of his would be
reliant on another dragon for anything, nor would they be shown any affection
which might weaken them.  He was determined that they would be born warriors,
obedient only to their father.

The immense stone doors to the
keep shuddered open.  The female healer who had attended the birth strode
out, clearly happy to return to the sun and air, away from the dankness of
stone passageways.  He scowled down at her, what was her name? Crae?
Creel?  In her lesser form, the form now stolen and shadowed by those
ridiculous animals, humans, she looked tiny to him.  He despised using his
lesser form unless forced to; the resemblance to those dirty humans was
nauseating.  And though he would admit it to no other dragon, the size of his
lesser form made him feel weak and pathetic.

Of course it was only imagined
weakness, even then he was more magically gifted than any of the heathen
sorcerers that humans possessed.  He could physically rip a human to shreds
with his bare hands.

He realised the healer was
speaking and focused his attention upon her.

“They're both fine, you have
another son for your brood Ramanae.”

The disapproval is clear in her
eyes; she knew that he was raising his children as a private army, perhaps to
one day threaten the peace of Amaria.  Healers were always weak and given
over to sentiment, however her nature would not allow her to fail in her duties
and so she continued to attend the births of his many children.

With a cool nod, she transformed
smoothly into her greater form, much smaller than his own of course, and winged
her way up from the mountain.

Ramanae waited until she was out
of sight before he stood, stretching out his immense wings, and entered the
fortress.  He followed the twists of the stone passages to the birth
chamber, entering without knocking.  His stone coloured mate barely looked
up; she was tired from the effort of yet another birth.  He ignored her
and peered down at his tiny newborn son.

“He's small, and earth born too,”
he growled rather annoyed.  His children generally took after him or their
mother in their magic, being either stone born or magic born.  He was
disappointed, the child looked like another wasted opportunity, perhaps it
would be better to dispose of it now.  The booming sound of his voice awoke his
new son; he struggled weakly, opening small green eyes to peer up at his
father.  Ramanae growled at him, baring his immense fangs, however instead of
wailing in fear as most newborns were bound to do, the infant stared straight
up into his father’s eyes letting out a squeaky little growl.  Ramanae
couldn’t help but be impressed at his fearlessness.

He was suddenly aware of his mate
watching him, waiting for his decision.  Perhaps if they kept him, the babe
would grow into a more fearsome beast he thought to himself.

“We will keep him for now,” he
decided out loud.  His mate shrugged and closed her eyes, drifting away
into sleep as her mate instructed one of his older children to take the child
away.

The last thing she heard as she
fell into slumber was Ramanae's voice.

“Welcome to Amaria, Ramaeka.”

Chapter One

The impenetrable fortress of
stone has not changed at all over the fourteen years that have passed; the
light still fails to illuminate the darkness of its labyrinthine caves.  Little
has changed amongst the inhabitants of the fortress save that three more
dragonets have been born to Ramanae and his mate, two of which passed Ramanae’s
inspection.

Not that these births had brought
his father any joy thought Ramaeka bitterly.  In fact it had made him even more
demanding of perfection within his children.

With a sigh, Ramaeka adjusted his
weight slightly; blood was still dripping down his right leg.  One of his
sisters had been in an irate mood for some unknown, unimportant reason and had
taken a dislike to the cheerful expression on his face.  Though he admitted
thoughtfully to himself, it may also have something to do with the jar of cave
bugs he’d emptied into her bed.  A thoughtful gift in anyone’s book he thought
indignantly, certainly not deserving of a wounding!  A black eye perhaps, but
not a physical injury that would only make him weaker in his father’s eyes.

Looking down at the puddle of
blood forming around his feet, he noticed it had vaguely taken on the shape of
a dragon.  He wished fervently that he could take his greater form; it would be
easier to stand with four claws pressed against the solid stone.  However his
father had decided that unless they were in combat class his children would
learn to cope in their lesser forms.  When he was younger and had not learnt
that asking questions was prohibited, he had asked his father why.  The
question had earned a buffet to the head from one of Ramanae’s huge claws, as
he had staggered dizzily his Father roared at him.

“You obey me instantly, you don’t
ask questions.”

After that Ramaeka had tried to
stop asking questions and took to listening in on conversations or reading
books to quench his curiosity.  Privately he felt that it was easier for
Ramanae to lord it over his increasingly large children when they were in a
lesser form.  Not that he faced that problem with Ramaeka; one of the two
surviving dragonets born after him was already taller.  Ramaeka scowled to
himself over that, his height was a source of constant dismay to both himself
and his parent.

“Ramaeka,” boomed his father’s
voice.  “Enter.”

The last word ended on a snarl
which informed him that his father was not impressed.  Gathering his courage he
stood as tall as possible and attempted to stride into his father’s cave.

His father was sitting before a
gigantic raised slab of stone that acted as a desk; it was covered in books and
various papers.  A curious thing really Ramaeka thought, since his father
disliked reading and writing.  His father looked like an immense shadow; his
skin was the darkest shade of black, one of the colours of a mage dragon.  He
was just short of five hundred meters long, one of the two largest Empara
dragons.  Empara was the highest level a dragon could evolve to, supposedly the
height of draconic strength, intelligence and endurance.  Ramaeka wasn’t too
sure of his father’s intelligence, but he knew for sure of his strength, he had
been on the wrong end of it many times.

Ramaeka dropped a quick bow as
his father surveyed him with open contempt.

“Well?” he growled menacingly.

“Sir?” he asked enquiringly,
opening his green eyes as wide as possible in an attempt to look innocent.

“What do you have to say about
playing these ridiculous tricks on your brothers and sisters?” Ramanae asked
coldly.  “Ramalakere is not the first to come to me.  Last week you used an
adhesive spell to stick Ramajai and Ramakayd’s tails together during class, and
that was not the first offence you have committed.”

His father paused and looked at
him closely, bringing his fangs mere inches away from his face.

“What am I going to do with you,
Ramaeka?” his father’s eyes gleamed cruelly.  “If you were not so small and
useless, this could be passed over, but you continue to disappoint me.”

Ramaeka shivered, aware that his
father would dispose of him in a heartbeat, with the slightest excuse and
nobody would care.

“Well sir,” he began with his
brightest smile.  “I may not be as fat as some of my sisters but I’m still
smarter.”

“Impertinence,” his father
growled.  “Though at least you have some courage, it seems to be the one thing
you do have.”

He paused, looking Ramaeka over
intently, fierce green eyes missing nothing as Ramaeka tried not to tremble.

“See the healer about that leg
then report to the kitchens, you will work there for the next three weeks.”

“Yes sir,” Ramaeka bowed and
turned to leave.

“And Ramaeka.”

He turned back to look at his
father questioningly.

“If I find out you have tainted
the food at all, I will be serving you at the next meal, understood?”

“Completely sir.”

Relieved he retreated from the
dragon’s den, taking care not to limp.

It wasn’t that bad really, Ramaeka
thought optimistically as he left the healer, he was still alive, and he was
working in the kitchen.  Even though helping with domestic duties was seen as
the work of weaker dragons, he didn’t mind.  Not only did the kitchen drudges
know that he couldn’t boil water without burning it, but they were also
secretly fond of him.  He was often fed much better than the rest of the family
thanks to titbits that they fed him on both his ordered and impromptu visits
into the steamy domain.

Therefore he was feeling fairly
cheerful as he limped down to the main kitchen.  The kitchens were the one
place in the entire great fortress that could be counted on to be hot.  In fact
it would be almost unbearable in here if it wasn’t for the ventilation shafts
that ran throughout the kitchens.  Ramaeka entered the hot steamy room
breathing in the delicious smells of roasting meat and baking bread.  Bakara,
the main cook glanced up as he wandered in, nobody could enter Bakara’s
kitchens without him being aware.

“Hollair!” Ramaeka shouted the
customary greeting as he approached the cook.  “Oh great and noble Bakara I
have resigned as a warrior in training and have come to learn the noble art of
food preparation from your greatness.”

The cook snorted glancing him
over in amusement.

“And how long must we suffer your
presence this time little one?  I have feared your return since I heard your
sister screeching your name an hour or so ago.”

Ramaeka grinned at him.

“Her screeches could be heard
from the other side of Amaria I’m sure, and only three weeks this time, it
could be worse.  And don’t call me little!”  He finished with his fiercest
scowl.

Rolling his eyes Bakara pointed
at several baskets of tubers waiting to be peeled.

“Work on those then youngling,
and do not dare go anywhere near the food being cooked, it is not just you who
will be punished if the sweet course has pepper in it again.”

Ducking his head sheepishly,
Ramaeka moved over to the baskets and sat down as the cook bustled away.  He
had genuinely thought that it was nutmeg, not pepper.

Really to be fair, being tall and
cooking were the only two things that he was bad at.  He was magically powerful
for his age and element, strong and fast for his size, and definitely a lot
smarter than most of his family.  He had even gone beyond the basic reading and
writing that his father allowed in his children’s schooling.  Of course that
was because he had broken into his father’s library in an attempt to find a
spell that would make him grow a little faster.  He had never found that spell,
but he had delved into several complicated and fascinating tomes that had
taught him spells, such as how to turn someone’s hair different colours, how to
change water into wine and how to call up fire.  He’d beaten several of his
larger and older siblings in fights on the training field as well, but still
there was no pleasing his father.  Ramanae wanted huge intimidating dragons for
his army; mindless followers who would instantly do anything that he
commanded.  Ramaeka, unfortunately, was not overly good at following orders
without asking why, a trait his father hated.

Bakara dismissed him once dinner
was finished; Ramaeka was allowed to eat in the kitchen rather than with the
family.  This was supposed to be a punishment but Ramaeka saw it more as a
reward since his family was so horrible anyway.  As he curled up in his
sleeping cave for the night, Ramaeka wished that something exciting would
happen soon, if only to keep him from expiring of boredom.  It was bad when he
got bored; ideas had a way of popping up in his mind that seemed good but
always seemed to get out of hand in application.

It seemed as if Rama the creator
had heard his wish when a mere two days later, as he once again spent his
morning before classes peeling his way through a mountain of tubers, his
musings were interrupted as his mother strode into the kitchen.  She glanced
sourly at him then continued past as if he wasn’t there.  He continued to slice
the skin off the tubers, too used to her attitude to care.

“Bakara,” she screeched.  “Come
here this instance.”

Bakara was already hurrying into
the cave from one of the smaller cooking chambers.

“Lady?” he enquired.  “Is
something amiss?”

Ramaeka listened intently while
pretending to be completely absorbed in his task, when you were small and prone
to being picked on like he was, you picked up any information you could.  It
often proved useful in protecting himself from whichever of his siblings was in
a bad mood.

“Ramanae has just been informed
that the Conclave will be held here next week.  Empara Dragon Grean’s halls
were damaged in a storm and he is unable to hold the meeting there.”

Ramaeka peeked up through his
brown fringe at his mother; she was pacing agitatedly back and forth.

“Only one week to get everything
ready!  And Ramanae is insisting that we have a proper banquet with fourteen
courses!  And he wants the entire place cleaned and perfect!”

“My Lady, leave the cooking with
me, I will create a menu and then discuss it with you,” Bakara smiled down at
the near frantic dragon.  “After all you have so much to do getting everything
else organised.”

“Of course that’s exactly what I
was going to tell you,” she snapped.  “I will expect the menu by tomorrow
morning.”

With that she turned and stalked
out, muttering under her breath.

Ramaeka immediately looked up,
his heart pounding with excitement.

“The Conclave Bakara!  All the
most powerful dragons are coming here!” he squeaked in excitement.

“Yes little one, it would seem
so,” the cook frowned.  “This is going to be a lot of work.”

Ramaeka ignored his comment,
almost bouncing as he went back to work on the tubers with refreshed vigour.
The greatest of all dragons were coming here!  To his home!  To discuss matters
important to all of Amaria!  He desperately wished that he could watch the
meeting.  Hearing the wisdom of the great dragons was something many dragons
longed for though most never had the chance to attend such a meeting.

He dropped a tuber and frowned,
why couldn’t he listen in on the meeting?   If his father was anything to go by
the other Empara’s wouldn’t even consider the idea that a scrawny little dragon
might be hidden in the room.  They would be on the watch for the adolescent
dragons who were nosier than they should be.  He just needed to find a good
small hiding space so he could listen in on the proceedings.  Picking up the
escaped tuber, he gazed thoughtfully over the steamy kitchen, the smell of
cooking food almost overwhelming his sensitive nose.    Absently he watched the
steam rise, he couldn’t hide under the table, he would be seen instantly.  The
draperies hanging on the walls of the main hall were an option, but the
slightest movement would attract the attention of one of the dragons, plus he
would be close to the table and they could easily pick up his scent.  He
sighed, it would be near impossible to hide in the hall, even if he found and
cast some kind of concealing spell, his magic would probably be detected by the
more powerful dragons.  This was something he would have to think about.

He was still musing over
possibilities half an hour later when Bakara nudged him with his foot.

“Classes,” he reminded Ramaeka
before waving a kitchen hand over to start hauling away the tubers.

Ramaeka thanked Bakara profusely
before rushing out of the kitchens.  Being late for class was a really bad idea
and not just because he hated missing out on learning something new.  Panting
he fell in behind the last of his classmates who were trailing into the
classroom.

Good he’d made it on time, and it
was magic class, his favourite.  He hurried to the last spare seat at the
front, expertly dodging both the small objects thrown at him and the legs
thrust out to trip him.

“Settle down.”

Teacher Garain strode into the
room, quelling her pupils with a single look.  Ramaeka had never understood why
Garain had chosen to teach in Ramanae’s Spineback mountain territory.  She was
a short, stocky magic dragon from a hot region of Amaria with long rolling
plains covered with grasses as high as a Kainge dragon’s knee.  To voluntarily
teach in the cold, stark mountains seemed like a torturous decision to Ramaeka.

“Llessur, summarise what we
learnt last lesson please.”

Ramaeka grinned twitching in his
seat as he realised that Garain wasn’t carrying any books or papers.  That
could only mean one thing, today would be a practical lesson.  Next to him
Llessur lounged apathetically in his seat, sighing as he deigned to answer.

“We went over how to
theoretically use fire spells by throwing them at our enemies.”

Llessur was the son of two of
Ramanae’s supporters who worked in his territory.  While his mother was a stone
dragon, Llessur and his father were two of the few fire dragons to reside on
Ramanae’s lands.  Personally Ramaeka had never noticed any kind of spark in
Llessur.

“Sit up straight when you speak
child or I will find a way to keep your attention,” Garain growled softly.

Llessur sat up straight, covering
a fake yawn with one hand.

“Since it seems that Llessur
needs to be woken up,” Garain paused, her gaze lingering wickedly on the young
fire dragon.  “I suggest you all put away your things and follow me to the big
hall.”

Whispering excitedly, the class put
their writing tools away and rushed after Garain as she swept down the
hallway.  Ramaeka was just as excited as the rest, but he made sure to walk at
the very back where nobody would pay attention to him.

As they entered the training room
known as the big hall, Garain imperiously waved the students into a line.

“Now let’s see if you can use the
theory in a practical setting.  You all know how to summon fire.  Last week we
explored the idea of using that fire as a weapon in both long and short range
combat.  Alright let’s see if you retained anything I taught.”

She looked them over.

“Llessur, why don’t you go
first?”

As Llessur stepped forward
frowning, Garain summoned a chair with a flick of her wrist.  She lounged back
on it and gave Llessur a sardonic smile.  Ramaeka bit his lip to hide his grin
and focused on the targets set several lengths out.  They were shaped like
small wavaki, much like a dragon but slimmer and sinewy with double rows of
jagged teeth, red claws and a blue sail running down their spine.  They lacked
the bladed tail of a dragon, and of course had no lesser form.

Llessur, with a smirk, brought
forth a handful of fire with ease.  Being a fire dragon he was particularly
good with this spell.  He pulled back his arm and threw the fire which dropped
barely halfway to the target.  Scowling he summoned another fistful and threw
it harder.  Ramaeka watched with interest as the fire slapped to the ground
still lengths away.

“Would anyone else like to try?”
Garain asked mildly as Llessur stepped back red faced.

The other students shuffled their
feet, avoiding her fierce brown eyes.  If Llessur, a fire dragon, couldn’t do
it then how would they do any better?  Garain sighed, pinching the bridge of
her nose.

“Do any of you listen to me in
class?  Does anybody remember what I said about using the spell over a
distance?”

Rolling her eyes at their blank faces
she stood up.

“Ramaeka give me some hope for
the future of Amaria please!”

She gestured for him to come
forward.  Reluctantly he slipped past the others who glared, shoving him
through.  Should he pretend to fail or actually make a serious attempt?  Either
way he’d get it from his classmates whether it was for being too stupid to do
the spell or for showing them up.

“Anytime today Ramaeka,” Garain
said with studied patience.

Ramaeka looked at her out of the
corner of his eye.  She raised an eyebrow at him.  He shifted so that he was
side on to the target, raising his hand so that his palm faced up.  Garain had
told them in the last class to force the fire out with their magic, not to
physically throw it.  He pulled his magic up through his chest and into his arm
and hand.  A fire flower bloomed warmly on his palm, tickling his sensitive
fingers.  He had practised the fire spell a lot especially during winter.  Now
was the tricky part.  Slowly he turned his hand so that his palm faced the
target, the flame flickered gently.  Concentrate he told himself fiercely,
bolstering the flame as much as he could.  He compressed his magic into his arm
until he couldn’t fit anymore in; jamming it in firmly until the pressure made
his arm feel like it would explode.  He eyed the target down the length of his
arm.  Now he thought, releasing the magic with an audible bang.  His fire
roared down the hall as he stumbled backwards, sitting down hard.

“Well,” said Garain.  She walked
down the hall and prodded the ashy remains of the target with her foot.  She
peered down the remaining length of the hall.

“I would make that around the 200
length mark even after it hit the target.  Well done Ramaeka.”

She walked back to the class and
pulled him to his feet.

“Now that Ramaeka has reminded
you that we launch the fire with magic, not by physically throwing it, let’s
see if you can do better.”

By the end of the class nobody
had beaten Ramaeka on the range and power of his fire spell though most had
managed to hit the target.  Ramaeka was rather pleased by that though he was
smart enough to keep that to himself.

As the rest of the class filed
out at the end of the lesson talking excitedly, Ramaeka lingered hoping to talk
to Garain.

“Teacher Garain,” he began
nervously as she waved the remaining targets back to the storage cave.  She
blinked down at him.

“Ramaeka, why are you still
here?”

“I was hoping, I mean...” he
mumbled nervously.  “I heard that you could learn to control the fire spell
with your mind so even if your target runs you can send it after them.  And ah,
I was wondering...”

She shook her head.

“I’m sorry Ramaeka, but I’ve been
instructed not to teach magic that advanced unless Ramanae informs me
personally.”

She looked at his slumped
shoulder sympathetically.

“I will recommend you for
advanced learning, though I don’t know how much good it will do.”

She patted his shoulder before
sweeping out of the room.  With a sigh Ramaeka hurried after her, he had other
classes to attend.  Hopefully he would make it to the next one before anyone
remembered that they wanted revenge.

Later that evening Ramaeka made
his way back to the kitchen, his punishment duty and classes finished for the
day, hoping for a snack before watch duty.  As he passed close to the front
entrance of the fortress a commotion caught his attention.  Curious he turned
down the corridor towards the noise.  Slipping through the small crowd that had
gathered he peered at the group in front of him.  His father stood in the
centre.  He was surrounded by the hunting party that had left early that
morning.  One of them, a sister of his, was talking rapidly, pointing at
something at Ramanae’s feet.  Ramaeka was surprised to see his father smiling,
it was rather like seeing a roasted bird get up and start dancing, disturbing
and confusing.  At that moment one of the hunting party shifted slightly,
allowing him to see what was making his father smile.  A figure knelt at his
feet, its hands bound; it was incredibly dirty and clearly afraid.  Confused
Ramaeka wondered if the prisoner had been trespassing on their land.
Trespassers were rarely captured and brought back; usually they were given a
sound beating and escorted to the border.  Why bring it back?  He crept closer
to the group, hoping to hear something.  As he got nearer he noticed a strange
scent, it was vaguely familiar but at the same time completely exotic.
Unfortunately before he could get closer, the group swept away from him, his
father dragging the unfortunate prisoner behind him.

Before he could follow a dragon
grabbed his shoulder and informed him that he was wanted for watch duty.

As he shivered his way through
watch duty in one of the high peaks of the fortress, Ramaeka replayed the scene
in his mind over and over.  He was sure he knew that scent from somewhere, he
just couldn’t place it.  Perhaps the dragon was from another province, but even
then there was something blatantly wrong with the scent.

Determined he decided to find out
who the prisoner was somehow.  Silently he thanked Rama the Creator for
granting his wish for some excitement, he just hoped it wouldn’t lead him into
too much strife.

Unfortunately he had no time to
pursue the case of the strange prisoner.  An atmosphere of excitement had
descended upon the fortress, normally staid dragons hurried through the halls
whispering and joking with each other.  Every dragon worked frantically to get
the mountain ready for the most powerful dragons in Amaria.  Only Empara
dragons and occasionally Emira were allowed to become leaders of the different
provinces which were represented at the Conclave.   Ramaeka was scrubbing the
floor in the great hall where the Conclave would meet, daydreaming about the
day he would be a leader of a warmer district, when he heard footsteps.  It
served him right for not paying proper attention when his brother landed a kick
in his ribs.  He had been dreaming that he was the largest and most powerful
Empara in draconian history.  Wincing he rolled away from the foot and bound to
his feet.  You had to be fast around here to survive.

He glared at his brother who
sniggered at him.

“Poor little thing, did I scare
you,” he cooed at Ramaeka, his green eyes gleamed maliciously.

“No, I smelt your stench before
you entered the room,” Ramaeka retorted. “I just thought I’d let you get a kick
in because I felt sorry for you, slow as you are.”

Ramakayd was one of his more
cruel brothers who constantly went out of his way to pick on Ramaeka and he was
still smarting over the tail gluing incident.

His brother snarled at him and
kicked his bucket of water over.  Ramaeka refused to let the dismay he felt
show on his face as he watched the dirty water pool over his clean floor.
Luckily a senior dragon walked in and ordered them both back to work.  Ramaeka
watched Ramakayd storm out with a sigh, he would be sure to catch it later.  He
couldn’t wait until he reached the level of Earil so he would be considered
strong enough to leave home.  Not that his father would allow any of his
children to leave unless they were sent on a mission.

Kneeling he looked at the pool of
water, he really didn’t have time to clean it all up again.  Looking around
carefully he made sure there was no one watching.  Drawing on his magic he
whispered the spell he had learnt in the kitchens to get rid of messes.  He was
very pleased with himself when the water disappeared; he had once overheard Garain
telling another dragon that he had a strong talent for learning magic.  Since
then he had worked even harder at the subject, learning the few spells they
were allowed to learn as thoroughly as he could as well as the ones he wasn’t
supposed to know.  Tapping the side of the bucket he magically refilled it with
hot soapy water.  The fact that he had found a way to sneak into his father’s
private library had helped a lot.

The Conclave was only a matter of
days away now and he still hadn’t figured out where he was going to hide.  He
scowled to himself and scrubbed the stone floor ferociously, he had been over
every possible way of sneaking in and still he had nothing.  Stopping for a
moment he stretched his back, sniffing the good smells of the kitchen that
wafted in to the hall.

The idea struck him so suddenly
that he actually jumped.  The ventilation shafts!  One of the kitchen shafts
ran down to the main hall in order to entice guests with delicious smells.  It
would be steamy, slimy and dank with insects crawling all through it.  In other
words it would be perfect, his scent would be covered, and he would be higher
than the Conclave members’ line of sight.  He grinned happily to himself, and
searched the walls  for the small opening that he knew would be there, he had
to check the shaft out and make sure he could get in before they started
preparing the hall.  There it was.  He grinned gleefully, as he spotted the
partially hidden hole behind the massive curtains that covered the walls.
Excellent he thought, that would make it easy to climb up to, and he would be
even more hidden from the Conclave.  As the dinner gong rang out Ramaeka leapt
to his feet and gathered his gear, finally everything was coming together.

The next few days were possibly
the busiest of Ramaeka’s life.  Classes were only held in the mornings to allow
enough time to get everything done.  He felt as if he had personally scrubbed
the entire mountain, and prepared enough food for the entire world.  The one
thing that kept him smiling and cheerful was the thought that his perfect plan
would soon come to fruition.  He had checked out the ventilation shaft
properly, it was covered with a grill which he had loosened fairly easily with
a claw.  It had been just wide enough for him to wriggle into backwards in his
lesser form after climbing one of the tapestries.  His small size was
definitely a bonus in this case he thought triumphantly, let any of his siblings’
even try to get in.

The main problem was how to get
in without anyone seeing him.  He’d decided that it would have to be while the
Conclave was officially welcomed into the fortress.  Every dragon would turn
out to watch leaving his path hopefully clear.  He wished that he could view
the welcome, which would be incredibly pompous, designed to show off his
father’s power and riches.  He was willing to make the sacrifice however.

A trumpeting roar sounded from
outside, the sentry was warning of approaching dragons.  The Conclave!  Ramaeka
scrambled outside onto a rocky balcony and watched in awe as the most powerful
dragons in Amaria descended upon his rocky home.  There was almost every colour
imaginable, gold, grey, blue, and green, the list went on, each colour
indicating the element of the dragon.  Not one of them was less than four
hundred meters long, nearly every dragon an Empara.

“So is he here yet?” a voice
asked from behind him.

“Who?” asked Ramaeka, knowing
from the sound of the voice and the scent of the dragon behind him that it was
his brother Ramavata.

“Isahn the Great of course,”
replied his brother scornfully.  “Our father’s opponent, the progressive?”

Ramaeka remembered the name; it
was often spoken accompanied with much cursing by his father when he was in a
foul mood.  A shiver of anticipation ran up his spine, the two largest and most
powerful dragons in Amaria were going to be here.  His father always claimed
that Isahn’s progressive ways were destructive to their society.  Ramaeka had
never met anybody destructive to society before.  He scanned the sky even more
eagerly.

The flow of dragons was beginning
to clear, most of them now clustered in the entrance in their lesser forms.  It
was law that during an official Conclave all dragons were to keep their lesser
forms, it not only lessened the risk of fighting but also of bruised toes due
to the vast size of the Conclave members.

One of the dragons suddenly
called out, pointing up.  Ramaeka looked up so fast that his neck cricked, rubbing
the back of his neck he gazed at the immense dragon skimming the sky above
him.  The size of the dragon alone told him that this was Isahn; there could
also not be a dragon more opposite to his father.  Isahn was a blinding shade
of white, not a tinge of blue or grey on his hide.  While not as muscular as
Ramanae, he was long and lean, perhaps even larger than the black dragon.  His
very presence exuded power, making it suddenly hard to breathe.

The rest of the Conclave backed
away as he neatly banked, changing into his lesser form in midair and landing
neatly on his feet.  I have to learn how to do that thought Ramaeka admiringly.

As he leaned over the edge of the
small balcony to get a closer look at the dragon, bells began to toll,
signalling the start of the welcoming ceremony.

“Rocks!  Just remembered a chore
I need to do,” he called to his brother as he ran back into the mountainside.
His brother ignored him leaning over to view the proceedings.

Ramaeka raced through the
corridors, dodging several dragons hurrying out to watch the ceremony.  He
paused around the corner from the entrance to the main hall, peeking around to
make sure the way was clear.  Not a guard in sight.  He crept over and pushed
cautiously on one of the immense doors.  It didn’t move an inch, he heaved as
hard as he could but still it refused to budge.  Rama above thought Ramaeka
anxiously, this was one thing he hadn’t thought about, the doors were usually
opened by two large dragons.  Voices resounded off the stone walls behind him,
there were dragons approaching already.  As he looked around frantically, a
slither of light further down the hallway caught his eye.  The servers’
entrance! he thought in relief.

He bound down the hall praying to
Rama that it would be unlocked.  He could faintly hear the echo of footsteps
behind him; desperately he tested the door with a shaking hand.  It was
unlocked!  He slipped in thankfully, closing the door silently behind him.
Running across the hall he bound up on to the table, springing from there up to
one of the draperies and pulled himself up as fast as he could.  Yanking away
the grate with one hand, he gripped it with his mouth and quickly lowered
himself into the slimy opening of the shaft.  Frantically he wriggled back
ignoring the dampness, pulling the grate into place just in time.  As he set it
firmly back into the stone, four dragons walked into the hall in their lesser
forms.  Peering out cautiously, he noted that one of them was one of his many
sisters while the other three wore official looking clothing.

“There you go,” said his sister
sweetly.  “This is the main hall where the meeting will take place.  You are
welcome to check it for the safety of our leaders.”

The official dragons nodded their
thanks and began to systematically check the room.  Ramaeka held his breath,
not daring to breathe as they checked under the table and behind every drapery,
and in every nook and cranny.  I’m so dead if they find me he thought
desperately.  However they finished up without once looking at the small
ventilation shaft near the roof of the hall.  His sister took one of them out
of the hall with her to inform the leaders that all was clear while the other
two settled outside to guard the entrance.

Relieved, Ramaeka relaxed
slightly, letting out his breath with a soft rush.  He could smell the good
smell of roasting meat beginning to drift through the shaft behind him;
hopefully it would overwhelm his own scent.

It was a long wait.  Ramaeka
thought wistfully of the magic displays and exhibitions of power that would be
going on outside right now.  His father would be creating living creatures out
of rock and opening vast chasms in the mountain before their guest’s very
eyes.  His brothers and sisters would be exhibiting their great strength and
size with displays of their fighting skills.  He pushed the thoughts
determinedly to the back of his mind, having the knowledge of the most
important issues in Amaria would be worth the loss of entertainment.

Finally voices clamoured down the
corridor into the hall.  The members were approaching.  Ramaeka wriggled in
excitement, ignoring the slimy drip from the vent onto his head and arms.

Looking terribly strange in his
lesser form, his father led the dragons into the hall, his long black robe
sweeping imperiously across the floor.  There were sixty-two members in all;
they were soon seated along the length of the massive table centring the room.
Ramanae sat at the head of the table with Isahn facing him from the other end.
As the official guards of the Concave left the hall, closing the great doors
behind them, Ramaeka peered eagerly down at the dragon said to be the only one
that his father feared.  The first thing that he noted rather jealously was
that Isahn was tall, perhaps the tallest in the room.  In contrast with
Ramanae’s dark hair and pale skin, Isahn was white haired with a light brown
skin.  He had wide grey eyes and a kind open face.  Ramaeka pulled his
attention away from the dragon as his father stood up, as host he was
officiating the meeting, and he immediately called for it to begin.

“What are the issues to be
discussed?” he asked the older dragon to his left.  The dragon stood and nodded
to the other dragons.

“The issues to be discussed are
as follows,” he announced.

Ramaeka listened with interest as
he listed several laws under review, the guarding of the borders with the
Wavaki, budgetary issues and several duels to be judged.

“Also Lord Isahn wishes to
discuss a law to protect the sentient beings known as humans, making them
illegal both to catch and consume.”

“What?!” Ramaeka jumped as
Ramanae leaped out of his chair.

“That is preposterous,” he
snarled.  “There is no need whatsoever to protect humans; they are nothing more
than a pest and a half decent meal.”

“Perhaps,” replied Isahn calmly
in a deep, clear voice.  He looked politely at the Speaker who nodded for him
to continue.  “However, they are growing everyday in intelligence and strength;
they have also multiplied through many of the worlds that Rama created.  What’s
more we are more than able to support ourselves hunting in our own world.”

“So you believe we should fear
them?  Run like cowards and hide in our one small world.”  Ramanae was so
furious his hands were shaking.  Several of the other dragons murmured in
agreement with him.

“Nay, dragons run from no being,”
Isahn replied easily.  “But I believe they will grow into a great race one day,
and shared knowledge on both sides would be beneficial.  Indeed I have heard
rumour that Rama himself has recently created four new humans with his own
hands.  It is said that each of these four males has magic to change existing
humans into a new breed, a more powerful race.”

“Then we should hunt down these
new humans, and dispose of them.  Not all of us fear four puny humans Isahn,”
snorted a thin sour looking dragon.  Several dragons including Ramaeka’s father
growled in agreement.

Ramaeka was surprised to see
Isahn look amused rather than angry.

“And Rama?  Do you fear the
creator?  Because he is fond of his new creations.”

Many of the dragons shifted
uncomfortably.  Ramaeka wasn’t surprised; he shivered just thinking of having
to face the creator in battle.

“Bah,” his father snorted.  “From
all accounts Rama was tricked into a binding covenant to never interfere
directly with humans unless there is dire need; I fear no being that can be
tricked by a human.”

Isahn smiled, “Rama made the
covenant in respect of the humans wishes, and while he may not interfere with
humanity there is no such covenant protecting us from his wrath.  I have no
doubt that he could soon persuade you to fear him again Ramanae.  Surely you
must have some respect for him, after all you named every single one of your
children after him, and yourself too.”

His father glared down at the
calm dragon facing him.  The older dragon to his left coughed subtly.

“If you would be so kind as to
draft a proposal for the law Isahn, we will vote over the issue at the next Conclave.”

“Of course,” Isahn murmured.

The discussion turned to other
more dull issues, leaving Ramaeka to muse on the debate.  Humans had been eaten
by his kind for years, since they were created pretty much.  Their very name
meant small food in ancient Amarian, but Ramaeka had never seen one face to
face, or even seen one uncooked.  He had not realised they were intelligent.
He rather wished he could meet one to see if it was true.

Ramanae called for a refreshments
break.  Ramaeka glanced down at the dragons who were now milling around
gossiping with each other.  His father was talking to the thin, sour dragon,
who Ramaeka recognised now as Valek, he was a magic element dragon like
Ramanae.  While all dragons were magically powerful those of the magic element
were usually gifted in a particular area of specialised magic such as healing,
locating and creating complex spells.  Other dragons like Ramaeka as an earth
type, had magical ability mainly only over their own element.  Valek was
supposedly talented in healing magic; however he had heard rumours that the
dragon was more interested in poisons and toxins than in helping his fellow
Amarians.

Glancing over at Isahn, the light
element dragon was chatting away easily to a fire dragon and an ice dragon.  As
he watched Isahn casually glanced up, looking almost directly at him.  Ramaeka
tensed in fear as he scanned the wall, his gaze settling on the vent.  Ramaeka
met his clear grey eyes, his own widening in shock at his discovery.  Isahn’s
mouth curved up slightly and he winked slightly before turning his gaze back to
the two dragons who were debating some point.

His heart beating rapidly Ramaeka
slipped back further into the shaft.  How had he known Ramaeka was there?  He
waited in terror for Isahn to announce his presence, for one of dragons to come
and yank him out of the vent.  After twenty minutes, he heard his father call
the start of the meeting again, after another ten minutes with no announcement
from Isahn, Ramaeka’s curiosity overcame his fear and, despite his
apprehension, he slipped back up to entrance to watch the meeting.

By the end of the day Ramaeka was
wet, smelly and well educated on laws around grain and hunting rights.  He also
knew the situation at the border better than most of the dragons guarding it.
He desperately wished to get out of the vent and wash the smell off his skin
and find something to eat and drink.  So it was in relief that he watched his
father call time on the meeting and the dragons rise.  They would walk through
the rock gardens in order to stretch their legs before the banquet dinner his
father announced as he led the group out of the hall.  As soon as the hall was
clear, Ramaeka slipped out of the vent, taking care to replace the cover.  He
winced as he saw the marks his hands left on the drapery, however there was
precious time to fix that and he slipped quickly across to the servers’
entrance.  Putting his ear against the door, he was unable to hear any sound.
He quietly opened it and peered out, no one was there.  Slipping out he began
to make his way down the passage.

“Hey,” called a voice behind
him.  Ramaeka froze, unable to turn around.  Footsteps approached from behind
him; hopefully the person wouldn’t recognise him.  “Ramaeka?”

Rocks he thought and turned
around plastering his most innocent look upon his face.  Bakara was standing
behind a curious look on his face.

“What on Amaria have you been
doing?”

Grinning sheepishly Ramaeka wiped
his hands on his short pants.  Bakara glanced over his guilty face then rolled
his eyes.

“Never mind I don’t want to know,
go get cleaned up.”

Ramaeka nodded quickly and took
off at a run.  Ramanae’s entire family was to be present at the feast tonight,
even him, so he needed to get cleaned up fast.

One hour later Ramaeka stood
dressed in his finest, stiffest breeches and tunic, waiting impatiently to sit
down.  It had been a long day without food or water and he was starving.  The
guests were led into the hall by his father, who sat at the head of the main
table.  Each guest was led to a seat, which were interspersed amongst Ramanae’s
family.  Ramaeka was seated at the bottom table, where the more unfavourable
were seated.  Only the weakest members were ever seated at the bottom table.
Ramanae stood watching as the guests were led to their seats, a malicious
expression on his face as Isahn was led to the seat next to Ramaeka.  Ramaeka
was barely aware of the frowns and mutterings of the Empara dragons around the
room, he was concentrating more on not fainting with embarrassment.  And
possibly hunger too.  Why Isahn?  What if he brought up the ventilation shaft?

He glanced up anxiously, Isahn
smiled at him.

“I hope you don’t mind if I sit
here?” he asked warmly.

“N-no Lord,” Ramaeka managed to
stammer.

“Excellent,” Isahn looked up and
gave Ramanae a wide cheerful grin.

Ramaeka watched in awe as his
father glared at Isahn.  He turned away without saying anything however and
gave the signal to sit down and begin.  Ramaeka sat down in relief and waited
impatiently for Isahn to begin serving himself.  Guests always went first.  The
white dragon picked up the first dish, serving himself, then passing it to
Ramaeka with a smile.  Relieved he dished himself up a huge quantity of the
first course, mountain eel in a sweet garlic sauce, and began to eat with
relish.  Soft laughter caught his attention and he looked up to find Isahn
watching him.

“Slow down,” the dragon told him
not unkindly.  “I believe we still have several courses to go.”

Sheepishly Ramaeka slowed down
enough to chew three times before swallowing.

“Of course you must be
half-starved, after such a long day,” Isahn grinned wickedly at him.

Ramaeka looked up at the dragon
shyly, if he had wanted to the dragon could have had him in terrible trouble by
now.  Spying on the Conclave was illegal and severely punished with
imprisonment or banishment to the wavaki borders.

“Thanks,” he said softly.

“Don’t worry about it youngling.”

The two of them applied
themselves to their meals, sharing only polite conversation until the last
course when the subject of humans came up at the next table over.  Ramaeka
watched as Isahn listened to the debate quietly.

“What does the word sentient mean
sir?”

Isahn glanced down at him.

“It means that they are like us,
they think things through and create new things.  It also means that like us
they can be destructive too.”

“I think I’d like to meet one,”
Ramaeka said absently, then he flinched looking up at the dragon nervously.

“You’re very curious aren’t
you?”  Luckily Isahn seemed amused rather than angry.

“My father says too much,” he admitted,
there was something sympathetic about Isahn that made you trust him
completely.  “But I like learning, there’s not really much to do up here except
fight, patrol and do what you’re told.  I think I would go crazy if I had
nothing left to learn, and it’s a good idea to stay ahead of the rest if you’re
small like me.  I wish I could learn more magic and more about the worlds
outside Amaria.”

Isahn watched him intently now,
holding his eyes with his own, Ramaeka felt as if he was looking into his very
mind.

“What magic have you learnt?”

“The basic stuff, the magic we
need to survive like making fire and tracking and fighting magic.  And some
stuff I’m not supposed to know like how to change the colour of something and
how open locks and how to turn a difficult baby at birth.”

Isahn blinked at that.  Ramaeka
felt himself blushing

“It was in one of the books I
read.”

Isahn grinned.  “Your name is
Ramaeka isn’t it?  Earth god in High Amarian.  Well little earth god, you are
rather intelligent for one of Ramanae’s brood.”

He leaned closer to Ramaeka.

“You may be interested to know
that I have recently started a school for talented children.  At the moment we
have thirty students, most your age or a little older.  If you ever need a
place to stay, you will be most welcome there and you will be under my
protection.”

“Thank you sir,” Ramaeka mumbled
shyly.

“You are absolutely welcome
Ramaeka,” Isahn nodded at him then stood as the other guests began to make
their way out of the hall.  Ramaeka watched him stride way in confusion, his
mind racing with everything the dragon had said.

A hand fell onto his shoulder,
glancing up he looked into the cold eyes of his father.  “Did he say anything
of importance to you boy?”

“No sir, we just talked about the
weather and he asked me about what I had learned in magic and stuff,” Ramaeka
tried to swallow the lump in his throat as his father tightened his hold on his
shoulder.

“That better be all,” he growled
ominously before turning and stalking away.

Ramaeka watched him leave,
rubbing his shoulder, Isahn’s offer running through his mind.

Chapter Two

Ramaeka
fidgeted as he stood in line with eleven of his brothers and sisters.  It had
been two weeks since the Conclave and his conversation with Isahn.  His father
had been in a foul mood since the meeting; on the few times that he had seen
him he had merely shoved Ramaeka out of the way roughly.  Today however he was
personally teaching Ramaeka’s class’ flight combat lesson.  The lessons were
held on a wide clearing at the edge of a massive drop down into the swift river
which flowed wild through the mountains.  The clearing was large enough to hold
thirty large dragons, an open space of dirty ice and slippery rock.  His father
crouched beside the regular training teacher, a huge stocky grey dragon by the
name of Tannis.  His name, which meant boulder, was extremely appropriate for
the dragon, he was as solid as a rock and being hit by his claw was like having
a mountain descend upon you.

Ramaeka
tucked his wings closer to his body, trying to warm himself in the cold
mountain air.  Surely there must be somewhere in Amaria warmer than this he
thought wistfully.  His mind wandered to Isahn’s offer again as it often did,
he wondered if it was warmer where the school was.  His father prowled back and
forth before twelve of the youngest dragons in the mountain hold.  He stopped
in front of one of the biggest.

“What are our
most powerful weapons?”

“Our claws,
our tails, our fangs and our magic, sir!” the dragonet responded rapidly.

Ramaeka winced
and mentally shouted at his brother, you forgot wings you rockhead!

His father
narrowed his eyes at the unfortunate dragonet in front of him.

“Is that it?”

The dragonet’s
eyes widened as he mentally went over what he had said.

“Um.”

Ramaeka sighed
internally; his siblings were rarely ever very bright though many had the same
sly cunning as their father.

With a growl
his father yanked his brother forward and grabbed his tail.  He dragged him over
to the edge of the cliff and dangled his son over the side by his tail.

“Does this
bring anything to mind?” he asked coldly.

The dragonet
squealed and squirmed in his father’s grip.  Ramaeka idly wondered if his tail
would stretch.  Having a longer tail wouldn’t really be such a bad thing.

“Wings, wings!”
the dragonet cried.

“Wings what?”

“Wings, Sir!”
he yelled.

With a grunt
the black dragon tossed him onto the ground by the other dragonets.  Ramaeka
snuck a quick look at his brothers tail, it didn’t look stretched he thought a
little disappointed.

He pulled his
attention back to his father who had begun speaking again.

“Those five
weapons are the most important in a dragons arsenal, never forget that,” he
paused.  “Today I want to see you use all five of these skills, pair up for a
free fight.”

With a sinking
feeling in his stomach Ramaeka glanced around.  Free fights were bad news,
there were no rules and serious injuries, even death were common results,
though usually that was with the older dragons.  He was the smallest in the
group so he was always paired with the dragonet who wasn’t fast enough to grab
a better partner.  None of his siblings wanted to look weak in front of their
parent by willingly pairing up with the smallest in the group.  Unfortunately
today the slowest dragonet was the one with the sore tail.  He scowled at
Ramaeka baring his long white fangs as he squared up in front of him, wings
half spread.

“You may use
any part of the terrain you wish, there are no rules.  Except you will cease
the moment I give the command.  Understood?”

“Yes, Sir!”
they all chanted.

As his father
scanned the group shrewdly, Ramaeka hunched in on himself knowing what was
about to happen.

“You two first,”
his father commanded pointing a single claw at Ramaeka and his partner.

The other
dragonets moved back creating a half circle around him and his opponent.  He
crouched low to the rock, spreading his wings and curling his tail slightly for
balance.  Through the rock he could faintly feel the shiver of power from the
earth deep beneath him.  Drawing strength from it he took a deep breath,
clearing his mind and focusing on his opponent.  His adversary was more than
twice as large as he was; he was also a rock element which meant that he would
be able to draw strength from the fortress behind them and the mountain below
them.  He was also furious from being humiliated earlier which would make him
more vicious.  On the plus side being a rock dragon, along with his bigger
build, meant that he was less speedy.  That and he was rather stupid and dull.

His father
brought his tail down with a bang.

“Begin.”

Ramaeka leapt
to the side as his brother bound at him, swinging his tail as he leapt.  He
narrowly missed his opponents shoulder and swiftly turned to face his brother
again.  With a roar the dragonet jumped forward sweeping out with his claws;
Ramaeka feinted to the left then dodged to the right, biting deep into his
brother’s ear.  Bleh!  That tastes absolutely terrible, he thought as his
brother squealed in pain.  His opponent whipped his tail around, luckily
missing him with the sharp serrated tip, but whacked him hard enough across the
head to stun him, seizing the opportunity his brother hit him hard with a head
butt.

As he
staggered back, his adversary pounced on him pushing him back against the rock
with his superior weight and size.  Between him and the rock it felt like he
was stuck in a vice.

“You’re so
dead,” he snarled into Ramaeka’s face, his breath unfortunately foul.  I need
to get into the air away from the rock, he thought desperately.  Wriggling his
tail free he raked it across the other dragonets side.  As his opponent recoiled
slightly in surprise, Ramaeka brought his head up to use the fire spell, flames
leaping from his mouth into the face of his brother who cried out in pain and
leaped back.

Ramaeka
scrambled to his feet and bound across the clearing, his brother snarling
inches from his tail.  He soared off the edge of the cliff, instantly feeling
more confident with the air under his wings; he could hopefully out fly his
heavier brother until Ramanae called time.  Sensing his opponent behind and to
the left he banked and dropped slightly, twisting around to claw across the
exposed stomach then dipping to miss the tail.  With a cry his brother turned
and shot flames at him which were swept to the side by the wind.  Ramaeka
plunged away flying as nimbly as he knew how, his enemy close on his tail.  He
dropped suddenly, his wings firmly pressed against his back, shooting down
towards the ledge, his opponent right behind him.  At the last minute he spread
his wings, inches above the ground, shooting to the right then to the left.
His larger brother managed to pull out his wings in time to slow his drop
slightly though he still hit the ground fairly hard, and bound to the right
with all his strength.  Unfortunately, he forgot to twist to the left and
slammed hard into a wall of rock.  Rock element though he was, the dragonet was
stunned and staggered backwards.  Ramaeka landed in a crouching position watching
his opponent warily as he shook his head in a daze.

“Enough,” his
father called scowling at them.  “Very average.  You two next.”

He pointed at
the next pair and turned away to mutter something to Tannis.  Ramaeka sighed in
relief moving quickly over to the side of the ledge, average it may have been
but he was still alive and that was what mattered.  In fact he thought
mischievously, he rather thought that he may have won.  He grinned at his
battered brother, who glared back baring his fangs.

Trying to keep
awake after hours of physical training could be quite difficult Ramaeka thought
several hours later as he fought to keep his eyes open.  It didn’t help when
the class was Amarian history and politics.  He choked back a yawn as his
teacher nattered on about the rise of the wavaki in the Era of Bones.  Most of
his teachers were weaker dragons who came to his father’s keep because they
liked his conservative view about draconian politics.  Ramaeka had long decided
that conservatives were the most dried up bunch of yammerers in existence.  In
return they called him insolent and stupid; they told him he asked far too many
questions that were not relevant.

“Ramaeka.”

A voice
knocked him out of his boredom, blinking he looked at the scowling teacher.

“Sir,” he
inquired politely.

“If you cannot
be bothered listening to my lessons, you may stand outside,” the dragon told
him sourly.

Sighing
Ramaeka stood and dragged himself out the entry of the small chamber.  He was
still leaning outside when the other classes were dismissed.  He winced as he
saw the brother he had beaten in combat class advancing on him, Ramanor looked
furious.

“You got some
lucky shots today lizard,” his brother snarled at him.

Ramaeka grit
his teeth together, it was best not to provoke his brother here where there
were few escape routes, but no dragon liked to be called a lizard.

“You hear me
lizard?” Ramanor taunted, smirking at his friends as they gathered around
grinning cruelly like a pack of wavaki.

Ramaeka
scowled, biting his tongue firmly to stop it spitting out the insults he wanted
to say.

Ramanor
smacked him around the head.

“Not so tough
now that father’s not here to protect you little lizard.”

Now that was
too much, first off his father had never protected him in the entire fourteen
years that Ramaeka had been alive, and secondly he was not that little!

“Really?” he
said to his brother coldly.  “I thought he was protecting you.”

Ramanor
snarled and swung his fist at Ramaeka.  He ducked around his fist and shoved a
fist full of fire down his brother’s pants.  As Ramanor squealed and danced in
pain, he ducked through the crowd of young dragons and ran for it.

He paused for
a moment as Garain emerged from another classroom.

“How’s that
for a fire charm?”

Several hours
later found him wandering through the massive network of corridors back from
the kitchens.  He had finally had a chance to get that snack after escaping his
brother and his friends by circling back around the long way.  He was
definitely going to be in trouble with his magic teacher tomorrow, but it had
been almost worth it to see the expression of shock on Ramanor’s face.

Ramaeka
shivered as a slight breeze caressed his face; it was always so cold despite
warming spells in every room of the fortress.  He tensed suddenly, there
faintly on the breeze, he was sure it was the same scent he had smelt the day
that the hunting party had brought in that prisoner.  It faded as quickly as he
had picked it; he walked in the direction of the breeze scenting the air.  Before
he got far he caught it again.  Sniffing he followed it down a smaller side
passage; the scent was getting much stronger, frustratingly familiar but
completely different as well.

At the end of
the passage a light glowed from an opening on the side.  As he halted in front
of it, Ramaeka was surprised to find the opening was blocked by solid bars of
stone.  Peering through one of the gaps he saw a forlorn figure sitting curled
up in the corner of the small room.  The only other thing in the room was a single
blanket which the figure had pulled around them self.  Suddenly they looked up
startling him backwards.  The prisoner hurried to the bars and called out to
him in a strange language.  He pressed himself against the wall, as far from
the cell as he could get.  The prisoner continued to talk in the strange
language, reaching out to him.

What is that
language?  He thought curiously, his fear beginning to fade since the prisoner
obviously couldn’t get out.  It didn’t sound draconic he thought, but then it didn’t
smell draconic either.  Everything clicked together in one blinding flash of
clarity.  This was a human!  The smell was familiar and different because the
only human he had ever met had been cooked.  He peered eagerly at the human,
his first chance to meet one face to face.  As the human continued to talk at
him he realised that it, no she, was in fact female.  Incredibly filthy, but
definitely female.

“Er, I don’t
understand what you are saying,” he said rubbing the back of his neck
unsurely.  The human stopped talking for a moment and looked at him closely.

“Ah, no
understand,” he tried again shrugging his shoulders in pantomime.  She nodded,
then she began to gesture, Ramaeka quickly caught on.  She was hungry and
thirsty.  He gestured to her to wait and hurried away.

It was no
problem for him to slip in to one of the smaller kitchens without being noticed
and snitch a few vegetable and meat pastries, stopping only to make sure they
weren’t made from humans.  He grabbed a few pieces of fruit as well and a jug
of water, tying the food together into a cloth bundle.  He quickly hurried back
to the cell.  When he got there the human was once again sitting in the corner,
blanket tucked around her, but she immediately jumped up as he approached.
Nervously he placed the jug on to the ground and carefully pushed it between
two of the bars.  The human slowly reached out took hold of it, smelling the
contents before drinking.  As she did do he pushed the bundle through the
bars.  The human carefully laid the jug down and took up the bundle.  She was
pretty smart, Ramaeka decided admiringly as she carefully examined each object
of food, obviously checking for poison or whether it was consumable for
humans.  She took a bite from a pastry then looked up and smiled at him.  It
was strange really, Ramaeka thought, that they ate a creature that looked so
much like them.  The human looked almost exactly like a female dragon in lesser
form, save perhaps that her eyes were slightly smaller and the tips of her ears
less pointed.  He felt decidedly squeamish at the thought of consuming someone
like her.

The human
pointed at the food and said something, Ramaeka blinked at her in confusion.
She pointed again and said the same word, then pointed at the jug of water and
said a different word.

“Oh,” said
Ramaeka.  “That’s what you call them.”

He carefully
repeated the words pointing at each object in turn; he then said the Draconian
word for each which she quickly repeated.  She then pointed at herself.

“Alekra” she
pronounced carefully.  Ramaeka pointed at himself and solemnly pronounced his
own name.  She listened intently and then repeated him.

“Ramaeka.”

He grinned
absurdly pleased, however before he could say anything else, echoing footsteps
marked the approach of another dragon.  The human, Alekra, quickly shuffled
back into the corner, hiding the food and water behind her under the blanket.
Ramaeka jumped up and ran up the passage, he slipped around the corner and
dashed in the opposite direction of the footsteps, not stopping until he got to
his sleeping chamber.  Pulling the curtain across the entrance, he flopped onto
his sleeper completely out of breath.  Isahn was right, humans were intelligent
he thought happily, she had said his name, and told him hers!  But what on
Amaria was his father keeping her for?  He transformed into his greater form
and curled into a ball tiredly.  Surely his father wasn’t keeping her to eat?
He could have fresh meat anytime he wanted, including human, so why keep one
alive in the fortress.  He yawned widely, he was too tired to think properly,
it had been a long day, and his entire body was still aching from almost being
crushed by a dim rock dragon.  He needed to rest and allow his body to heal,
tomorrow however he would try to see the human, no Alekra, and find out why she
was there.

It wasn’t
until after evening meal the next day that Ramaeka had the chance to sneak away
to see Alekra again, he had been given several days worth of punishment duty
for yesterday’s antics.

He collected
some more food and drink on the way past the kitchens, luckily Bakara wasn’t
there and he was able to sneak in and out without being seen.  He trotted back
to the passage, carefully looking around the corner in case any dragon was
about.  Rocks! he thought as he saw his father and his oldest sister Ramapaiete
standing outside the cell, he pressed himself back against the rock.  He
hesitated, tempted to stay and listen to their conversation, however they were
already moving up the passage so he slipped away, turning up the next opening,
a short corridor with small cells like the one Alekra was in.  Ramaeka slipped
into the closest wondering how he hadn’t noticed this area before.  His father
and sisters voices moved closer and Ramaeka listened intently.

“I want to
know,” his father was demanding.

“Of course Sir,”
replied his sister soothingly.  “But until we can figure out how to understand
her language, I don’t believe we can go any further.”

“Then find a
solution.”

His father
growled as they swept away down the hall.

He crept out
of the unlit passage and stared after them.  That was strange he thought, his
father actually wanting to talk to a human.  He walked down to the opening of
Alekra’s cave frowning.

Alekra was
sitting in her corner again with her head in her arms.

“Alekra,” he
called softly.

She jumped
looking up wildly.  She relaxed slightly when she saw it was him and moved to
the front of her cell.

“Someone’s
cleaned you up,” he said frowning, she looked even more draconic without all
the dirt and filth.  In fact she was rather pretty he thought, with light brown
hair and blue eyes.  It was clear though that she had been crying, and as she
reached out for the food he was offering he noticed that her hands were
shaking.

He waited
until she had finished eating and drinking before saying each of the three
words she had taught him yesterday, pointing at each thing in turn.  She smiled
slightly and pronounced the draconic words he had taught her, finishing with
Ramaeka.  They spent the next few hours trading words back and forth until once
again his sharp ears picked up someone’s approach.

“Goodbye,” he
said waving at her.

“Goodbye,
Ramaeka,” she replied in clear draconian.  Grinning he hurried away, perhaps he
should be a teacher when he grew up he thought, since he was so great at it.

The next few
weeks took on a repetitive nature, as soon as he finished lessons and chores in
the evening, Ramaeka would sneak away to see Alekra, taking food and drink with
him and coming away with more human words.  They usually had about two to three
hours together depending on when Ramaeka got there, before a dragon would come
to check on the prisoner.  They were possibly the happiest hours of Ramaeka’s
life.  He had never had a friend to talk to before, all his siblings either
ignored him or beat him because he was smaller than they were, plus he was the
only earth element dragon in the fortress.  His family and the servers were all
rock, ice or magic.  Despite being completely separated from the earth by great
rock mountains, he had somehow been born an earth dragon.  Though the servers
were kinder to him they still never had time to talk to him properly or wanted
to start a friendship with a son that Ramanae disliked so much.

Alekra didn’t
know anything about that stuff, and though their conversations bordered around
exchanging words, they were the most fun Ramaeka had ever had.

Despite his
best efforts however Ramaeka still could not find out why she was being kept
there.  Nobody seemed to know except Ramanae and a few of his oldest and
smarter siblings like Ramapaiete who were refusing to say anything about it.
Alekra herself didn’t seem to know either.  In a stilted conversation which
after several weeks they were now able to achieve he asked her about the
matter.

“Alekra, why
are you here?” he asked gesturing to try and get the question across.  She
frowned and shrugged.

“Dragons catch
me,” she replied in draconic gesturing as well.

“Why?” Ramaeka
asked in frustration.

“Eat?” she
suggested looking at him.

He shook his
head.

“There must be
another reason you’ve been here too long.”

Alekra looked
at him unsure of what he was saying.  He sighed, if he knew what his father’s
plan was he could try and do something, maybe help her escape.  Something warm
touched his hand; Alekra had placed her hand over his.  He looked up at her,
returning her smile, then he pointed at the blanket and told her the human word
for it.  She laughed and started to point at other objects, testing him though
he never made a mistake.  As they played Ramaeka vowed to himself that he would
figure something out.

Five days
later and his lucky break came.  He was relaying a message from one of the
watch points to his father’s personal cave.  However his father was already
with another dragon, the door had also been kindly left slightly open so that
he could hear everything said.

“We need to
keep this completely secret, do you understand that?”  Came his father’s harsh
growl.

It’s not
really easy to keep something secret when you’re having a secret meeting with
the door slightly open, Ramaeka thought to himself.

“Yes I
understand that sir, but we needed the spell if we want to overcome the
language barrier.”

“But from
Isahn of all dragons, he’ll definitely become suspicious,” his father growled
in frustration.

His unseen
companion sighed.

“Unfortunately
he is the only one with the book containing the spell.  He has the largest
library in Amaria.  It was a chance we needed to take.”

Ramaeka
listened even more intently, a spell to help them talk to humans! From Isahn’s
personal library too, he needed to get his claws on that spell.

“Alright,” his
father replied.  “There are courses we can take if he wishes to investigate the
matter further.”

“Absolutely,”
was his companions calm reply.  “My source will deliver the spell to us in two
days.  Once we talk to the human we can figure out the best way to set up the
breeding process.”

Ramaeka
wrinkled his nose in disgust.  Ew, breeding he thought.

“Aye, and once
we have everything we can begin capturing more, no dragon will ever be able to
put my mountain under siege,” his father growled.  “Not when we have a reliable
source of meat safe inside the fortress.  And humans are so much easier to keep
than other animals.”

He laughed
sinisterly.  Ramaeka backed away in horror.  He vaguely heard his father and
his companion continue talking but his mind was working in horror.  That was
why they wanted Alekra alive; they were going to farm humans.  The sound of the
two dragons saying their goodbyes brought his attention back to the moment.  He
quickly knocked on the door.

“Enter.”

Walking in he
tried desperately not to let any of his thoughts show on his face.

“Message from
watch point five, Sir,” he intoned.

“What is it?”
his father asked impatiently, waving the other dragon, a tall lean male, out of
the room.

“A campfire
was spotted several leagues away, Sir.  A patrol has been sent to investigate
then report back to you, Sir.”

“Alright,” his
father nodded to the door.

Relieved
Ramaeka rushed out, heading to Alekra’s cave.

He flopped
against the wall in front of the cell, half heartedly returning Alekra’s
smile.  His mind and stomach churned, he couldn’t eat another human again, not
after meeting Alekra.  They won’t be killing her for a long time though, he
pointed out to himself reasonably, not if they want to breed them.

“Ramaeka
okay?” came her soft voice.  He looked up at her worried face and smiled, she
was safe for now at least.

“Okay, Alekra.”

As she grinned
at him, he remembered the other important part of the conversation he had
heard.  The spell.  With that, he and Alekra could have proper conversations
and figure out what to do.  He would find a way to get it, no matter what.

Ramaeka kept
an eye and an ear out the next day for any information on when the dragon would
be arriving.  However no one seemed aware of what was happening.  When he tried
to follow his father, Ramanae had immediately spotted him and given him a
severe clip around the head that left his ears ringing.

I guess I’m not
as good as I thought at sneaking around, he thought sadly cradling his aching
head.  Which was unfortunate really since sneaking was the only thing he seemed
to be really good at.  He spent the evening with Alekra as usual playing word
games and attempting to have conversations.  As he stood to leave, she grabbed
hold of his wrist.

“Ramaeka
friend?” she asked gravely, her blue eyes serious.

“Yes,” he
replied solemnly and impulsively grasping her hands around the bars.  She squeezed
his hands, smiling back at him.

The stranger
arrived during the morning meal the next day.  His luck was definitely holding
up, he thought happily as he watched his father leave the hall with the rather
small and skinny female.  Impatiently he scoffed down his porridge and a loaf
of fresh bread, before grabbing a piece of fruit and leaving the hall.  He had
a history lesson in fifteen minutes, which gave him a little time to make his
first attempt.  Sadly his luck decided to fail him and his history teacher
caught sight of him and asked him to carry several objects to class for him.
Unable to disobey the order of an older dragon he grumpily took the objects and
headed to class.  He was so annoyed at his bad luck that he did not notice his
father and the strange female dragon until they were almost right next to him.
He glanced up quickly as he heard their voices.  They didn’t notice him as they
walked through the other dragonets heading to class.

“So I will be
able to understand it now?” his father asked.

“Yes sir, but
I must warn you Isahn is already investigating the matter,” the strange dragon
replied in a hoarse voice.  “There is already an investigator on the way now.”

“I don’t
understand why, it’s a human not a dragon”

“Be that as it
may sir, it is still illegal to bring a live human into Amaria.”

His father
looked thoughtful.

“Very well we
will have to change our plans slightly and let his suspicions die down.  Let us
go talk to this animal.”

They swept
away further down the corridor leaving Ramaeka to hurry on to class wondering
what they were going to ask Alekra.

As soon as
class was over he slipped away again, this time with more luck.  The way to his
father’s cave was completely clear.  Even better the cave itself was empty.
Looking around nervously to double check that no one was coming, he crept
inside.  The room looked almost enormous without his father in it, the shadows
flickering eerily in the light of the torches.  Ramaeka walked over to his
father’s desk.  If they had just used the spell it was bound to be somewhere on
top.  Sure enough one of the parchments on the very top of the messy desk was
entitled Zer Humane Apoki, or The Human Voice.  He grabbed it quickly, scanning
its contents.  It was a fairly simple spell done in three sentences and
requiring one drop of blood on the tongue and a swish of blood on each ear.
Eagerly he drew upon his core of magic, smiling as he found it glowing deep
within him.  He intoned the spell and with a quick prick of a fang he cut his
finger and ran it gently over each ear making them burn.   He then squeezed a
drop of his own blood onto his tongue.  A shudder immediately ran through him
and his tongue seemed to swell, almost choking him.  He clutched at his
throat.  And then it stopped.  He opened his mouth experimentally, everything
seemed normal.  With a sigh of relief he scanned the parchment one last time,
memorising it in case it hadn’t worked properly.  He carefully replaced it on
top of the desk and ran to the door.  Just as his father walked in.

Ramaeka wasn’t
sure who was more surprised, him or his father.  His father recovered faster
however and grabbed him in one huge claw.

“What are you
doing in here,” he snarled, holding Ramaeka up to his face.  Mind racing
Ramaeka grabbed at the first story that came to mind.

“Message from
watch point two, Sir,” he squeaked.  His father frowned, and then tossed him to
the ground.

“What is it?”

“Sign of
either a dragon or a wavaki in the far distance Sir, a small group sent to
investigate.”

“Alright,” his
father growled looking at him suspiciously.

Ramaeka edged
towards the door, where two dragons were standing.  One was the skinny female
who had arrived earlier; the other was a newcomer.  She was tall and stocky
with a fierce, determined face.  She looked at Ramanae with disapproval but
didn’t say anything as Ramaeka slipped by.

As he left he
heard his father talking to the newcomer.

“As you can
see, Yamari, I have absolutely nothing of interest for your investigation.”

But he does,
Ramaeka thought fiercely rubbing a bruised shoulder.  This dragon must be the
investigator he realised suddenly; this might be the only chance he had to get
Alekra out of here.  If only he could get a message to the investigator, surely
she would take Alekra to safety.  He turned and ran back the way he had come.
Soon he heard footsteps in the distance, if his luck was still good then his
father would craftily instruct one of his younger, weaker children to escort
the investigator out.  By doing so he was saying, look where you want I have
nothing to hide, you do not worry me enough to give you a decent escort.  At
least Ramaeka hoped that’s what he would do.

Looking down
the corridor he grinned as he realised he was right, Ramanor was escorting the
Investigator out.

Ramaeka
strolled towards them casually.

“Hey firepants,”
he called to his brother.  Ramanor’s face tightened with fury while the
Investigator looked on with interest.

“What do you
want lizard,” he snarled.

“Mother wants
you,” Ramaeka said with a bored look.  “But you can take your guest out first
if you want.”

His brother
hesitated.

“Where is
she?” he asked suspiciously.

“Third tower,”
Ramaeka told him with a yawn knowing his brother would be too lazy to want to
take the dragon all the way to the front and then have to go to the furthest
part of the fortress.

“Here lizard,”
he growled, insolently gesturing at the Investigator.  “You take her to the entrance.”

“No way,”
Ramaeka whined.  His brother immediately hit him on his sore shoulder, causing
Ramaeka’s eyes to fill with tears.

“You’ll do
what I say little lizard,” his brother said cruelly before turning and walking
away.

Relieved
Ramaeka looked the Investigator over.

“If we could
go now?” she asked impatiently.

“Yes Lady,
this way please,” Ramaeka told her, leading her down a side tunnel.

After a few
minutes of travelling, she stopped and scowled at Ramaeka.

“Where are you
leading me little one?” she asked abruptly.

He looked up
at her pleadingly.

“You have to
help my friend escape and take her to Isahn,” he said in a rush, terrified she
would get angry and leave.

She ran a hand
through her hair frowning.

“I didn’t come
here to get mixed up in a dragon’s debate.”

“Not a dragon,”
he interrupted her.  “A human.”

She looked at
him intently.

“Tell me
everything as we walk,” she said calmly.

So he did,
from the arrival of Alekra to his talk with Isahn.  He explained his father’s
plans and his visits with the human prisoner.  Through the whole thing the
investigator listened silently, nodding to herself occasionally.  When he was
finished, she looked at him.

“Let’s get
your friend to a safer place.”

Ramaeka beamed
and hurried along the passage.

Upon reaching
the cell they discovered four guards lounging about outside it.  They were
joking and talking, never even noticing the approach of the sleep spell that
the Investigator laid on them.

Ramaeka was
thoroughly impressed; he hoped he would be half as efficient one day.  His
companion gesture him forward.

“She’s your
friend,” she said calmly.  “Tell her she must come with me.”

He moved
forward and peered into the small cell.

“Alekra,” he
whispered.

The human
clambered to her feet her anxious expression clearing as she saw his face.  He
felt the Investigator move to stand beside him.  Alekra frowned and looked at
him nervously, now was the time to see if the spell worked.

“This is a
friend,” he told her pointing at the Investigator.  “You have to go with her.”

Alekra’s eyes
widened in surprise.

“I can
understand you!”

The
Investigator put her hand to the bars of rock which melted away before
Ramaeka’s eyes.

“Come,” she
told the human firmly.

Alekra
hesitated then walked out of the cell.  Ramaeka grinned happily and hugged
her.  She hugged him back fiercely, pulling back to look at him anxiously.

“Will you come
too, Ramaeka?”

“No,” he told
her sadly.  “My father would hunt me down; you definitely wouldn’t be safe if I
came along.  But I’ll show you out.”

“Alright then
Ramaeka,” the Investigator interrupted.  She looked at him with respect.  “Show
us out of this snake pit.”

He did so
gladly, whispering quietly to Alekra in delight.  He could understand
everything she said and she could understand him!

It was
possibly the best ten minutes of his life.

His heart
ached as he led the two of them out of the fortress and into the open.  The
investigator transformed into her greater form and waited patiently for the two
to say goodbye.  However before he could say anything Ramaeka heard a roar
reverberate through the fortress.  He grabbed Alekra and shoved her up onto the
dragon.

“Go,” he shouted
at them.  With a bound the dragon was in the air, and shooting away at an
incredible speed.

He had no more
time to think after that.  With a snarling roar his father bound like an
immense shadow from the mountain.

“You!” Ramanae
snarled at his son.  “Do you know what you have done?”

Ramaeka
cowered away from his father, terrified.  He transformed quickly, forcing
himself to concentrate mind racing.  It would take a lot more skill and power
than he had to stay alive in a fight against his father let alone beat him.
But if he could distract him long enough for Alekra to escape it would be worth
it.

“Months of
planning have been for nothing.”

Flecks of
saliva rained down around Ramaeka, his father was so furious.

Ramanae bared
his teeth at his son in fury.

“I should have
killed you when you were born you earthbound little lizard.”

As the great
black dragon towered above him; he crouched low to the ground trying to draw
power from the meagre amount of earth that collected in the cracks of the
rock.  With a roar his father launched himself at Ramaeka; he dodged, swinging
to the left.  With a bound he leaped up the cliff face narrowly avoiding the
razor sharp end of his father’s tail.  With incredible swiftness his father
turned and shot a spell at him causing him to drop down the cliff as the stone
exploded around him.  Rocks battered his body, stunning him temporarily
allowing his father to grab him with one massive claw.  His claws ripped
through Ramaeka’s side sending him spinning onto the cliff edge in front of his
father who promptly pinned him with his claw.  Ramanae roared in triumph as
Ramaeka struggled desperately, his side burning in agony.

Frantically he
looked around for any way of escape as his father leaned forwards, his immense
fangs bared.  Twisting his head around he bit deep into his father’s middle
claw, his jaws meeting in the middle.  With a yell of pain his father released
him, drawing back momentarily.  It was long enough, Ramaeka rolled across the
ground and over the cliff edge.  Clutching his side he managed to half open his
wings, slowing his fall before hitting the icy cold water of the river.

Weak from
blood loss he struggled to the surface, gasping for air.  As the fuzzy black
edges of his vision began to close in he looked back to see the cliff rapidly
falling back, his brothers and sisters launching themselves over the side of
the cliff as his father roared at them.  Turning away he let the river carry
him away as he relaxed into unconsciousness.

Chapter Three

Ramaeka awoke
to blinding pain.  His entire side felt like it had been trampled by a wavaki
then munched on by a giant flesh eating cave worm.  He groaned and tried to
touch his ribs, however before his hand got close a strong hand grabbed his
wrist.

“Easy there kid,”
a warm voice said from somewhere above him.  Opening his eyes he found himself
staring in to a pair of grey eyes.  Which were rather unsurprisingly attached
to a face.  He blinked as the face pulled back slightly and into better focus.
The face was attached to a dragonet just above his own age; he had a strong,
kind face and blond hair which was marred by a single black streak that ran
down over his eyes.

“Hey there,”
the dragonet said smiling at him.  “It’s good to see you awake.  Those are some
wicked scratches you’ve got there, looks like you tangled with a dragon or
something.”

Ramaeka
blinked again and looked closer at the figure above him.  He was human.
Suddenly everything that had happened came rushing back to him.  Alekra!  And
his father had tried to kill him.  He sat up, gasping as pain hit him.

“Where am I?”

“Hey easy,”
the boy said gently pushing him back down.  “You’re in the Capri Mountains,
north of Talok city.”

“Which world?”
he gasped.

“Looks like
whatever got him rattled his brains as well,” said a sarcastic voice to his
right.

Jumping,
Ramaeka looked over to see another young male human tending to a fire.  This
one had black hair that stood up in spikes and large amber eyes set in a thin
face.

“Aw leave him
alone Shady,” growled the first boy, he looked back down at Ramaeka.

“You’re in
Skyde, which is the only world I know about,” he told him calmly.  “You should
get some more rest, that wound and a ride over those falls would have killed
most people.”

Ramaeka leant
back obediently, his eyes already heavy.  Before he succumbed to sleep, he
managed a smile.

“Thanks,” he
mumbled.

When he woke
up again, the blonde human was sitting cleaning a long sharp looking knife.
There was no sign of the sarcastic dark haired one.  He sat up carefully.

“You’re awake,”
the blonde jumped up and rushed over to him.  He felt Ramaeka’s forehead and
checked the bandages on his side quickly as Ramaeka watched in fascination.  He
supposed he had somehow slipped into a human world while he was in the water.

“Here,”
offered the boy holding out a cup.  He took it and carefully sipped at the
contents, it was a broth of sorts though he couldn’t place the meat.  I hope
it’s not dragon he thought queasily.

“My name’s
Stripe by the way.”  The boy, Stripe, was watching him with interest.

“Stripe?” he
grinned despite himself, a most fitting name he thought.  The boy grinned
tugging sheepishly on the black lock of hair that hung over his eyes.

“Yeah that’s
what the folk that took me in called me; they didn’t really like me too much
though.”

“My family
didn’t like me much either,” Ramaeka replied shyly.  “I’m Ramaeka.”

“Nice,” Stripe
grinned.  “So Ramaeka what’s a kid like you doing way out here by yourself?
Did you actually get attacked by a dragon?”

“Well, yes,”
Ramaeka hesitated unsure of how much to tell the boy.

“I’m sort of
on the run from my father.”

Stripe smiled.

“S’ok, me and
Shady ran out on our families too.  Where exactly are you headed?”

“I’m not sure,”
he admitted.  “I don’t even know how I got here.”

“Maybe the
dragon caught you and flew you here to eat”

He winced at
that.

“No I don’t
think so.  It grabbed me but I managed to get away by jumping into the river.”

Stripe
frowned.

“Seriously it
was a dragon?  We better move in case it comes back.”

“It’s okay,”
he said quickly.  “I mean, I think I was swept pretty far along through the
mountains.”  He recalled Stripe mentioning that he only knew of one world, it
might be better not to bring up the fact that there were others.

Stripe seemed
to ponder that.

“All right, I
reckon maybe it’s alright then,” he looked at Ramaeka impressed.  “I can’t
believe you survived a dragon attack though, that’s impressive.”

Embarrassed
Ramaeka looked down, it was better if Stripe didn’t know the truth.  Rough
bandages around his chest and stomach caught his attention.  He ran his fingers
over them wondering how bad it was.

“You’re
actually healing really fast,” Stripe told him.  “In fact it’s a bit strange;
I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Ramaeka
shrugged uncomfortably.

“Really?  How
long is it supposed to take?”

“A wound that
size most people wouldn’t get the chance to heal from, but if they did probably
a month or so at least.”

Surprised
Ramaeka touched his wound again; he could feel the skin healing together.  He
had always taken it for granted that wounds, even severe ones healed within a
few days.  Obviously this was not a trait that he shared with humans.

“Um, my people
have always healed really fast,” he told Stripe nervously.

“Lucky, I take
ages to heal up,” Stripe groaned.

“So what
exactly do you and Shady do?” he asked curious.

“We
appropriate and then we sell,” replied Stripe with a wicked grin.  “It’s what
most street kids like us do.”

“Appropriate?”

“Steal.”  Shady
walked out of the surrounding forest.  “We steal.  You got a problem with that?”

“Not really,”
he replied honestly.

Shady scowled
at him then flopped down next to Stripe who had settled back down to cleaning
his big knife again.

“What’s that
for?” he asked curiosity making him bold.

Stripe looked
up and blinked in surprise.

“It’s a sword.”

Ramaeka looked
at him blankly.

“Er, it’s a
weapon to fight off enemies with,” Stripe explained.  “Here I’ll show you.”  He
jumped up eagerly, Shady rolled his eyes.

“Here we go”
he muttered to himself.

Ramaeka
watched in fascination as the blond boy swung the big blade around expertly.
He spun it so fast he could barely see the gleaming blade, neatly switching
hands half way through.  Then with a cry he gave it a twist and flick and the
blade landed with a thud in the trunk of the tree next to Ramaeka who flinched.

“Wow,” he said
in amazement, ignoring his wound he knelt and tugged on the handle.  It was
deeply embedded in the tree and he had to pull several times before the blade
slid out.

“That was
amazing.”

He carefully
handed the blade back to the grinning boy.

“I’ve never
seen anything like that before.”

“I taught
myself,” Stripe said with open pride.  “I spent months spying on the army
training in my old city.”

“Yeah, but
then you got caught,” said Shady dryly.

“I didn’t get
caught,” Stripe protested.  “I almost got caught.”

He turned to
Ramaeka grinning.  “They grabbed me by my pants as I was going over the fence.”

“So what did
you do?” Ramaeka asked in fascination.  Stripe was possibly the most
interesting person he had ever met before.  To his surprise Stripe blushed.

“Well, my
pants were a few sizes too big for me so I wiggled out of them and over the
fence.”

“He had to run
the whole way through the city completely naked,” Shady sniggered.

Stripe flushed
as Ramaeka laughed as well.

“You’re just
jealous,” he told Shady.  “Everybody got see what an amazing body I have, they
were all over me for weeks after that.”

Shady rolled
his eyes.  “You were only eight at the time, they thought it was cute.”

Ramaeka
watched and listened in fascination as the two humans argued.  He had never met
anybody like these two.  Alekra had been much older and calmer, plus they had
never really had the chance to talk properly to each other.  His family were
cold and distant with each other, each looking for a way to get ahead of the
rest.  Even Bakara, though kind, had been distant to him through age.  These
two were completely different, especially Stripe who almost glowed with
energy.  He hoped that they would allow him to stay with them for a while at
least, just until he figured out what to do.  Ramaeka pushed away his concerns
laughing as Stripe dropped a worm down Shady’s shirt.

Though Shady
pointedly ignored him, he spent a happy evening listening to Stripe’s tales of
fights and adventures that they had come across in their journey.  Stripe had
run away from home at the age of six, Shady, two years older, had taken him
under his wing and taught him the rules of the street.  Four years later, after
a run in with the sadistic leader of their gang, they had left their home city
and had been exploring the world ever since.

Ramaeka shook
his head in amazement at the two.

“You’ve had so
many adventures, more than anyone else I’ve ever met.”

Stripe grinned
as he settled back into his blanket.

“Yep, it’s not
always easy on the road, but it’s worth it as long as you’ve got someone to go
with.”

Ramaeka leant
back and looked at the sky, thinking longingly of travelling the road with the
two and leaving his family behind.  They would probably believe him dead anyway
and Alekra would be safe with Isahn, so why not go travelling.  He closed his
eyes and fell asleep thinking about a new life.

Ramaeka woke
early the next morning and after relieving himself washed quickly in the ice
cold river.  As he returned to the campsite he saw Shady kick Stripe lightly in
the side, the other boy merely grunted and pulled the blanket over his side.
Frowning Shady ripped off the blanket and dumped a cup of water over Stripe’s
face.  Ramaeka laughed as Stripe leapt up squealing.

“S’not funny,”
grumbled Stripe sleepily taking a plate of food from him.  Ramaeka grinned
cheekily and sat down to eat his own portion.

After the meal
a now wide awake Stripe checked Ramaeka’s wound.

“Wow,” he
said.  “This has almost healed up.  You’re going to have some massive scars
though my friend.”

“So he’s well
enough to hit the road then,” interrupted Shady before Ramaeka could say
anything.

“Well yes,
he’s definitely okay to travel.”

“Good, then he
can get going.”

Ramaeka’s
heart sank at that.  They were going to leave him here.  Stripe frowned at
Shady.

“We can’t just
leave him.”

“Yes we can”
retorted Shady.  “It’s actually very easy, we just walk away.”

As Stripe continued
to frown at him, Shady sighed.  He walked over to Ramaeka and pulled a small
golden disc from his pocket.

“Here kid,
this will keep you going for a while until you figure out what you’re doing.”

He tossed
Ramaeka the disc and walked back over to Stripe.

“There see?
He’ll be fine.”

“Come on
Shady, can’t we please keep him?” Stripe pleaded.

Ramaeka looked
at the disc; it was made of the metal gold, a rather weak metal.  He wondered
what it signified.  Sighing he stood up, he didn’t want to upset anybody and he
was sure he would be fine by himself as much as he would enjoy the company.  He
could always hunt for animals in his greater form if he needed to, though he
would have to be careful not to be spotted.

Crossing to
where Stripe and Shady were still arguing, he tugged on Stripe’s sleeve.

“It’s okay
Stripe, I don’t want to cause any trouble,” he said once he had the boy’s
attention.  He saw Shady smirk in satisfaction.

“But, um,
maybe you could point me towards the nearest city and tell me what to do with
this token?”  He held up the disc unsurely.

Stripe glared
at Shady.

“That’s it
he’s coming with us.  He doesn’t even know what a coin is!”

Shady was
staring at Ramaeka in shock.

“You honestly
don’t know what it is?”

Ramaeka
frowned, he wasn’t stupid after all.

“I know its
gold, but gold is a weak metal I don’t know what I would use it for.”

Shady stared
at him for another moment then looked over at Stripe who was glaring at him
arms folded.  Ramaeka watched in fascination as they seemed to have an argument
in complete silence.  He sighed.

“Fine, you can
come with us.  For now.”

He stalked
away and began gathering things together.  Stripe grinned and ruffled Ramaeka’s
hair affectionately.

“Don’t worry,
he’ll come around, he has a heart as soft as gold.”

Ramaeka beamed
at him and went to help Shady pack up the camp.

They spent the
next two weeks on the road.  Luckily the weather stayed fairly fine and shelter
was easy to find.  Everything quickly fell into a routine.  They each took turns
on watch at night, Strip and Shady rotated the cooking while Ramaeka, after one
spectacular failure at creating something edible, washed up.  Stripe often
claimed that he could still smell the well cooked aroma of the muck that
Ramaeka had claimed to be fish stew.  Ramaeka often tripped him up after
hearing such a complaint.

Shady ignored
Ramaeka for the most part, often engaging Stripe in conversation about people
or events that Ramaeka knew nothing about.  It didn’t worry him though, Ramaeka
was used to being ignored and he stored away all the conversations in his
memory in case they ever met one of those people.  Stripe never left him out
for long anyway.  Occasionally though Shady was persuaded to teach Ramaeka
about high finance.  Apparently the gold disc was a token of sorts used to
trade for goods.  He also demonstrated several techniques in the art of pick
pocketing, which, he informed Ramaeka, was essential to any self sufficient
child of the streets.  At the end of two weeks Ramaeka had become an expert in
at least two of these techniques.

Stripe’s
questions about Ramaeka’s early life sometimes made the young dragon nervous,
however he was easily diverted and they quickly became close friends.  Shady
hated hunting and fishing, preferring to scout out the land ahead, this left
Ramaeka and Stripe to take care of the food supplies.  Stripe taught him how to
knot and cast a fishing line, and how to hunt using both spear and traps.

The wounds
that his father had given him had faded to scars already.  There were three
scratches running parallel to each other.  They started under his right
shoulder blade down and around ending half way over his ribs.  Stripe told him
that they made him look interesting, like he had been wrestling a big cat or a
dragon.

“But I did
wrestle a dragon,” he’d said confused.

“Exactly,”
said Stripe with a barking laugh.

At the end of
two weeks of travel, Ramaeka looked up from setting up camp to see Stripe
jogging towards him a wide grin on his face.

“Ramaeka,” he
called.  “Come up and see the city.”

Curious he
jumped to his feet and ran up to meet him.  Stripe led him back the way he had
come to the crest of a hill.  As he pointed down, Ramaeka immediately spotted
the city.  It was shaped like a pentagon, immense stone walls surrounding the
houses and shops while farm land bordered the outside.

Ramaeka rather
thought it was beautiful, Stripe snorted when he told him that.

“Nah kid,
Talok’s alright but it’s nothing compared to Porkae, that’s mine n Shady’s home
city.”

“We’re a bit
dry on supplies and such so we thought we’d stop here for a week or so.”

“That sounds
good,” Ramaeka grinned.  “I can practice what Shady has taught me about
stealing.”

Stripe looked
at him sternly.  “You make sure you check with me or Shade first.  We know who
to target, can’t have you robbing a nobbler.”

“What’s a
nobbler?” he asked confused.

“A nobbler’s
someone who’s barely got enough to nobble together, you know someone that looks
like they might have some money but ain’t really got that much at all.”

Ramaeka
nodded.

“Right then
let’s get back to camp and see what the plan is.”

As Stripe
pulled him away, Ramaeka flicked one last look back at the city.  This would
definitely be an adventure for him.

Shady was
waiting for them when they got back and had begun to cook evening meal.

“Yeah I know
it’s your turn to cook,” he told Stripe impatiently as his friend protested.
“But we’re going over the wall tonight so we need to get things rolling.”

“You’ve been
in then?” Stripe asked eagerly.

“Yep, went over
at the same place as last time, met up with some of the old crew.  Old Ma
Dresden’s gonna put us up.”

“Great,”
Stripe grinned widely nudging Ramaeka.  “Her food is the best; a man could
thrive on edibles like hers.”

“What about
boys like us?” Ramaeka asked innocently.  Stripe sputtered as Shady smirked at
him.

“We need to
head out as soon as it gets dark though,” he informed them.  “They’ve got
serious guard on at the moment, apparently Gasha is moving up northwards.”

He and Stripe
exchanged a significant look, before he continued.

“The best hole
in their guard is swap over at evening.”

Ramaeka
interrupted him.

“Who’s Gasha?
Why are they guarding against him”?

Secretly he
almost feared that it was another dragon, maybe one who would recognise him,
though he’d never heard the name before.  Stripe hesitated before replying.

“You remember
the stories I told you about the Thief Lord who ran our gang in Porkae?”

Ramaeka
nodded, wide eyed.

“The one who
whipped your feet for making too much noise?”

“That’s the
one.  Well for about a year before we left he started to expand his interests.
Killed off all the leaders of the opposing gangs, brought off or threatened a
heap of Jinglers and Jabberers in the higher city.”

“Jinglers and
Jabberers?”

“Rich lords
and council men,” Shady explained coolly.  “They tried to fight back at first
but then he got hold of the Lord Governor’s wife.”

“What
happened?” Ramaeka asked.

“Skinned her
alive with a salted knife,” Stripe said shaking his head sadly.  “She was a
good un’ too.  After that they folded and Gasha, the Thief Lord, pretty much
ruled the city.  Until the General hit back.”

“We were
already gone by then,” Shady continued.  “But we heard Gasha had gathered an
army of bad men and he started attacking some of the other cities.  So the King
sent the General down with his army and they drove Gasha out.”

“Wait who are
the King and the General?” Ramaeka demanded.

Shady raised
an eyebrow at Stripe who frowned.

“The King is
the ruler of Quandin, the biggest kingdom in Skyde.  King Phaenin the third to
be exact.  General Graidy is the greatest soldier in the King’s armies.  He’s
amazing.”

“He’s okay
for a soldier,” Shady rolled his eyes at Stripe’s enthusiasm.  “Anyway the
General caught him between cities and flattened his army.  They drove the
survivors including Gasha back into the Great Forest and he just disappeared.”

“This was
three years ago, about a year after we left.  Then a year ago rumours started
drifting around that Gasha had returned.  Whole villages were wiped out over
night but nobody could trace the people who did it,” Stripe shook his head in
disgust.

“Until about
three months ago.  Gasha came out of nowhere with a massive horde, not just
made up of men but also creatures out of people’s nightmares.  He wiped out a
full third of the King’s army and has been working his way up the land since.”

“He’s
unstoppable,” Shady scowled.  “Which is why we’re staying as far away as
possible.”

He glared
meaningfully at Stripe who looked wistful.

“Mind you if
I had a magical sword I’d be unstoppable too,” Stripe grumbled.

“A magical
sword?’ Ramaeka breathed.

“Yeah,” Stripe
told him enthusiastically.  “It’s incredibly powerful, what I wouldn’t give to
have something like that.”

“If we could
get back to business kids,” Shady interrupted impatiently.  They turned back to
him sheepishly.

“So is it
dangerous then?” Stripe asked with a frown.  “If he’s close maybe we should
keep moving.”

“Na, we’re ok,”
replied Shady.  “They’re just taking precautions, the army’s actually heading
up the coast so they’re weeks away if they actually bother coming over here.”

Stripe nodded
looking relieved.  With that settled the three of them quickly ate dinner.
While Ramaeka washed up, Stripe and Shady cleared up the camp so that within
the hour they were ready to go.

Ramaeka
followed the two of them as they made their way down the hill at a light run.
Shady skirted the open areas, staying in the tree line as they approached the
city.  It took two hours to finally make it around the side of the wall to the
point that he had picked out.

“Right we
climb up here using the rope and it’s an easy jump to the tree on the other
side,” he whispered to them.  “When you get over, get into some cover and wait
for me.  Stripe you first when I give the signal, the boy goes next, then I’ll
bring the rope over with me.”

They nodded
with agreement and settled back to wait.  Shady watched the wall intently as
the guards walked past, barely looking over the side as they went.

As soon as
they had left he crept out and as Ramaeka watched in fascination, flicked a
long black length of rope over the top of one of the turrets.  He pulled it
tight and gave it an experimental tug.  Turning he signalled to Stripe who
bound up the rope with ease and disappeared over the top.  Shady pointed at
Ramaeka.  As he moved forward Ramaeka tried to suppress the wild excitement
fluttering in his stomach.  Before he got to the wall however a soft whistle
rang out and Shady wrenched him back into cover, running up flicking the rope
away from the wall.

He coiled it
rapidly then hid beside Ramaeka motioning him to be silent.  Ramaeka waited,
watching the wall as he nervously crouched beside the other boy.  A man walked
up to the edge of the wall and peered down frowning.  He stayed a few moments
before slowly moving on, though he constantly looked back over his shoulder.
Shady swore.

“We can’t go
over here anymore; I’m going to scout for another point this way.  You go the
other way,” he told Ramaeka pointing him to the right.

Before he
could protest Shady was gone, loping away down the wall.  Ramaeka hesitated, he
didn’t overly trust the dark haired boy and his instincts were kicking him in
the side of his gut right now.  He had never got anywhere without following his
intuition, so he figured he shouldn’t start ignoring it now.  He ran silently
to the left following the path that Shady had taken.  As he reached a bend in
the wall he heard a soft birdcall similar to the one he had heard before.
Peering around, he watched in anger as Shady bound up his rope and over the
wall.  As he watched, the rope gave a flick and disappeared.  He scowled, his
gut had been right, Shady was leaving him behind.  He waited unsure of what to
do when he heard voices from up the wall.  A blond head appeared over near the
place where Shady had gone over.  Ramaeka’s heart lifted as Stripe looked
around anxiously.  His sensitive ears picked up his voice as Stripe turned and
spoke to Shady behind him.

“Where is he?”
he hissed.

“I don’t know,
he went off the other way to find his own way over, come on you’ll get us
caught!”

Someone,
presumably Shady yanked Stripe back.  Ramaeka heard their soft footsteps fade
away.

He scowled
there was no way he was going to let Shady get the better of him.  He listened
intently; there were no sounds except that of night time insects.  Slipping
around the corner he looked the wall over, it was fairly rough.  To a dragon
who had been raised in a mountain fortress it was really no problem at all.

Using his
strong fingers and toes he pulled himself up the wall, finding cracks and tiny
jutting pieces of stone that would have defeated a human.

Within seconds
he was over the wall.  He dropped lightly to the earth, barely jarring his legs
despite the ten length drop.  He hurried into the cover of a dark alley way
several lengths from the wall.  He stopped for a moment listening for outraged
voices or the sound of chasing footsteps, but there were none.  He hadn’t been
seen.  He let out the breath he had been holding in relief.  Then sniffed.  He
grinned, Stripe and Shady had hidden in this alley as well, and he could smell their
familiar scent.  He followed his nose down to the end of the alley bounding to
the top of the wall at the end as he followed the scent onto the roof tops.  He
hurried after it jumping from roof to roof.

After several
minutes of running, the scent stopped.  Frowning Ramaeka looked around,
rooftops spread for miles around, but he couldn’t see any sign of his two
companions.  He sighed, that meant they had probably gone to ground then.  He
jumped lightly down onto a window sill then to the ground.

A faint whiff
of Stripe immediately struck his nose before the smells of hundreds of humans
and animals overwhelmed him.  He winced and forged forward trying to catch
Stripe’s scent over the stench of close living.  He wondered how people could
live like this in tiny closed off buildings without a patch of spare earth or
grass, save for the street itself which was cobbled.  He wandered through
several streets before eventually losing the trail in a dingy unlit alley.
Anxiously he walked back out into the street hopelessly lost.  So much for not
letting Shady get the better of him he thought darkly.

“You looking
for some company there love?” a smoky voice queried from the shadows of a
doorway.  Ramaeka jumped, he hadn’t even smelt the person’s presence over the
reek of the street itself.   Now he wondered how he could have missed it as the
smell of sweat, perfume and something rather sour assaulted his nose.

“Er, actually
I’m lost,” he replied shyly.

A woman
stumbled out of the shadows, she was dressed in very little and as she got
close to Ramaeka she pulled back her shawl slightly exposing her chest.

“Well look no
further sweetling,” she smirked at him.  “You’ve found what you’re looking
for.”

“Um,” Ramaeka
backed away.  “Actually I’m looking for my friends; I would really appreciate
it if you could help me out.”

The woman
stopped with a frown.

“Well ain’t
you a polite one then.”  She thought for a moment.  “Alright kid, you look a
bit young anyway, who you looking for?”

Ramaeka
hesitated, she probably wouldn’t know Stripe and Shady if they were visitors,
but Shady had said that someone was going to put them up.  Who was it?

“Ma Dresden!”
He grinned in relief.  “I need to find Ma Dresden.”

“Oh that’s
easy,” scoffed the woman.  “C’mon sweetling, follow me.”

He hurried
after her as she walked off down the street.

“I’m Ramaeka
by the way,” he told her smiling shyly.  She blinked at him in surprise then
smiled back.

“I’m Makkie;
it’s a pleasure to meet ya Ramaeka.”

He grinned.

“A pleasure to
meet you too Makkie.”

Within minutes
Makkie had led him to a large clean looking inn that had a sign reading Drunken
Dragon on it.  Ramaeka grinned wearily at the coincidence then followed Makkie
inside.

“Oy!” yelled a
strong female voice.  A large tough looking woman bustled into the front room
scowling ferociously at them both.

“We don’t want
your lot in here, out you go then.”

She shooed at
Makkie with her hands.  Ramaeka placed himself firmly in front of his new
companion.

“Excuse me
ma’am but I was supposed to meet two friends here.  I unfortunately got lost
and this lady was kind enough to show me the way.”

The woman
gaped at him.

“Well you’re a
strange little thing aren’t you?  And who was it that you we’re supposed to be
meeting then?”

Ramaeka smiled
endearingly at her.

“My friend’s
name is Stripe,” he said.

“Oh so you’re
the one they’re out looking for,” she smiled slightly, the effect softening her
work roughened face.

“You just come
into the kitchen then and set yourself down; I’ll send word out that you’re
safe and sound.”

“Please may
Makkie stay for something to eat,” he begged.  “She saved my life.”

“Well,” she
weakened at the pleading look on his face.  “Alright just for a meal then.”

Ramaeka beamed
at her and she chuckled, leading him and a shocked Makkie into the steamy
kitchen.  Which was where Stripe and Shady found him an hour later being fawned
upon by the serving women, kitchen hands and the cook.

Ramaeka looked
up as they entered the kitchen and grinned at their shocked faces.

“Hey,” he
said happily.  “You should try some of this apple pie stuff; it’s the most
amazing thing I’ve ever tasted.”

The cook
ruffled his hair beaming at the compliment.  Stripe stalked over glaring at
Ramaeka.

“Are you ok?”
Ramaeka asked concerned.  “I was going to come and find you but Ma said to stay
here.”

Stripe glared
at him and whacked him lightly across the back of the head.

“Do you have
any idea how worried I’ve been?” he said scowling down at him.

One of the
servant girls sniggered and Stripe stepped back flushing slightly.

“Never thought
I’d see you going all mother hen on somebody Stripe.”  Ma Dresden looked on in
amusement.

“Well look at
him,” Stripe blushed in embarrassment.  “He’s only a little fellow; somebody
has to look after him.”

Ramaeka rolled
his eyes and pulled Stripe down beside him on to the bench.  Really he had had
enough with the little comments, he wasn’t that small.

“Never mind
all that, try some of this pie stuff,” he said impatiently offering his friend
a spoonful.

“Don’t you
worry about that,” Ma interrupted.  “He can have his own.”  She dished up
platefuls of delicious stew for the two tired older boys, placing bowls of
apple pie and custard nearby for dessert.  She sat down herself across from
Ramaeka and Stripe.

“It’s good to
be able to sit for a minute,” she admitted.  “We’re mighty busy at the moment.
You’re lucky I had room left for you.”

“I could help
you Ma,” Ramaeka offered earnestly.  “I’m pretty good at washing dishes.”

She could ask
him to do practically any work he thought and he’d do it willingly if she kept
feeding him the way she had tonight.  Humans seemed to eat barely half as much
as what a growing dragon like himself ate.  Not willing to look greedy he had
held back while travelling with Stripe and Shady, but he was constantly
hungry.  Ma had taken one look at his face after his first bowl of stew and had
laughingly told him she liked to see a lad with a decent appetite.  It was all
he could do not to jump up and hug her; she wasn’t nearly as tough as he had
first thought.

She laughed in
response to his offer.

“Well aren’t
you just the sweetest thing, but that’s alright best not to let the staff get
lazy.”

She narrowed
her eyes at the kitchen staff who all immediately became deeply involved in
some task.  She glanced back at Stripe.

“I don’t think
you’ve been feeding the poor lad enough Mother Stripe.  That little thing ate
five bowls of stew and three bowls of apple pie and custard.”

Shady choked
on a piece of meat while Stripe stared at Ramaeka in shock.

“You really ate
that much?” he asked in surprise.

Ramaeka nodded
sheepishly.  “It’s the best thing I’ve ever eaten, better than yours and
Shady’s cooking.”

Shady scowled
looking at Ramaeka for the first time since he’d arrived.  Ramaeka was
unconcerned by his attitude, he’d lived with worse for the last fourteen years,
though he was a little annoyed that he had tried to leave him behind.

“And who’s
going to pay for it?” he demanded.

“I will,”
Stripe replied firmly.  “How much do I owe you Ma?” he asked turning to the inn
owner.

“Not a coin,”
she replied, “Ramaeka is my guest as long as he stays here.”

She stood up
and nodded towards the kitchen hearth.

“You might
want to wake your friend up lad; it’s about time she got going home.”

She bustled
out of the kitchen.

Ramaeka
immediately jumped up and walked over to the figure sitting by the fire.

“Hey Makkie,”
he said gently.  “Ma says it’s time for you to go home.”

He watched as
the under clad woman stretched and stood up.  She must be half starved too he
thought, she had eaten almost as much as him before sitting by the fire to warm
herself.

“Thanks kid,”
she said looking uncomfortably at where Stripe and Shady were gawking at her.

“Thank you,”
he replied firmly.  “I might still be lost without you.”

She smiled awkwardly
then made for the door.

“Hey Makkie,”
he called out.  She stopped at the door and raised an eyebrow at him.  He
fumbled in the pockets of his breeches and pulled out the golden disc which
Shady into her hand.

“Make sure you
get something warm to wear and something to eat,” he told her firmly.  “Take
care of yourself.”

She stared at
him in open shock, hand closing instinctively around the coin, before nodding
jerkily and rushing away out the door.

He closed the
door behind her with a smile as Shady and Stripe began to demand answers.

Chapter Four

Neither
Ramaeka nor Shady mentioned what had really happened outside the wall.  When
Stripe asked him, Ramaeka merely told him that they had been separated in the
dark.  Stripe had looked at him speculatively but let the topic drop.

“I wish I
could sweet talk everybody like you,” Stripe said wistfully, five days after
their arrival, as one of the maids ruffled Ramaeka’s hair as she walked past.

They were
finishing their breakfast in the kitchen.  Shady had yet to appear downstairs.

“Well it takes
a lot of skill,” Ramaeka replied wisely, licking his spoon clean.

“Teach me oh
great one,” Stripe pleaded dramatically grabbing hold of his hand.

Ramaeka leant
closer to his friend, glancing around mysteriously.  Stripe leaned in
unconsciously.

“Alright,” he
whispered.  “All you have to do is…”

He paused and
tapped Stripe on the nose.  “All you have to do is be nice.”

Stripe scowled
leaning away as Ramaeka sat back, laughing as his friend rubbed his nose.

“If you two
are finished playing around perhaps we could get to work?” Shady suggested
sarcastically from where he leant against the door way.

“In fact it’s
about time the little kid contributed to our finances,” he continued walking in
and grabbing an apple from the bowl on the table.

“Really?”
Ramaeka looked between the two of them hopefully, barely caring that Shady had
called him little again.  So far he had been lookout while the other two
alternately scouted out their target while the other did the actual hit.

“He’s barely
had any practice,” protested Stripe.

“Oh please let
me have a go,” he begged looking up at his friend pleadingly.

“Now I see how
you do it,” Stripe muttered under his breath.  He melted before Ramaeka’s
pleading wide eyed expression.

“Fine,” he
sighed.

“I’ll scout,”
Shady said calmly.  “Stripe’s on lookout.”

Ramaeka bound
out of his chair with a whoop.

“But before we
start, you need to put these on.”  Shady held up a pair of boots, Ramaeka
scowled at them.  The other two had insisted on buying the boots for him,
telling him firmly that he couldn’t be civilised without them.  Ramaeka would
have happily given up the experience, the contraptions pinched and rubbed at
his feet.

“No boots, no
stealing.”

“Fine,” he
grumbled yanking them on.

“Come on
then, let’s go!” he said ushering them out on to the street.

It was over
two hours before Shady spotted a likely subject.  Ramaeka waited as patiently
as he could, leaning against the wall of a meat shop, looking as innocent as
possible.  Stripe was positioned somewhere above him on the roof of one of the
buildings.  It was cold, drizzling and he was terribly bored.  Shivering he
pulled the over large coat that Stripe had given him tightly around his body,
scanning the street impatiently.

Finally Shady
gestured for Ramaeka to join him from an alley nearby.  He walked over as
inconspicuously as he could, following Shady as he climbed up some crates onto
the roof.  They joined Stripe several buildings down.  He was lying on his
stomach despite the rain leaking through his clothes.  Ramaeka copied his position
and leaned over.  The street below was surprisingly busy considering the weather;
people bustled back and forth between the shops.

“That’s our
target,” Shady announced pointing at a large beefy man with unfortunate taste
in clothing.

“He looks like
a giant plum,” giggled Ramaeka staring at the purple velvet clad figure.
Stripe sniggered beside him.  Looking over the street Ramaeka noticed a tall
arrogant looking man who was staring over the street, a sneer of disdain
twisting his face.

“What about him?”
he asked curiously.

Shady rolled
his eyes and pointed to several tough looking men standing nearby.

“That’s why,”
he told him.  “Those men are guarding him; it’s not worth the risk, even if he
does have anything on him.”

Watching
Ramaeka realised it was true.  Still there was something about the tall man
that called to his instincts.

“Come on then,”
Shady said impatiently.  He wriggled back, out of sight of the street.  Ramaeka
hastily followed, Stripe shot him an encouraging grin before turning back.  Shady
led him to the corner of the street.

“You know what
to do?” he asked coolly.

Ramaeka nodded
quickly, pushing away the excited fluttering in his stomach to concentrate on
the task at hand.  As Shady left, Ramaeka confidently walked around the corner.
He casually glanced around as he did noting the purple man on his left several
lengths down the street.  Several men with swords wandered past him, joking
with each other.  Movement caught his eye.  The tall arrogant man was moving
slowly down the street from his right.  As he walked Ramaeka noticed him glance
at the purple man.  It was only a quick look but it made Ramaeka suspicious.
Something strange was going on here.

The purple man
walked into the middle of the street and began to walk towards Ramaeka with a
mincing swagger.  This was too easy thought Ramaeka as he realised that the man
would walk past just inches away with his money purse in the pocket closest to
Ramaeka.  He glanced up at the tall man again, he was looking out over the
street as if casually observing the passer-by’s, he was also looking in
Ramaeka’s direction.

At the last
second Ramaeka made a quick decision and continued walking past the purple man
without making a move.  He continued up the street before stopping in front of
a grocery shop a few lengths down from the tall man.

He looked back
casually to see Shady’s scowling face as the older boy slouched down the
street.  As he passed the purple man his hand flicked out the way Ramaeka’s
should have and secured the purple man’s money purse before he continued past.
It happened so fast that a casual observer would not have noticed the
movement.  Ramaeka was not a casual observer and neither, it seemed, was the
tall man.

He gave a
shout and pointed at Shady who immediately took off.  The men guarding the tall
man immediately took off after him as did the tall man himself.  He shoved
Ramaeka out of the way as he stepped back to watch the events, and raced off
down the street.

Ramaeka shoved
his purse into his jacket and casually made his way down the street.  Once he
stepped around the corner he took off in the opposite direction to Shady, he
knew that Stripe would have followed his friend to see if he could help.
Several blocks away he stopped, panting, outside the doorstep that he had first
met Makkie on.  He had visited her several times since, to everyone’s shock.
He knocked twice, slipping in as soon as the door opened.

“What’s
happened?” Makkie demanded as she pulled him into the one dingy room.  He
leaned against the wall getting his breath back, pulling the torturous boots
off his sore feet.

“The job I was
doing went a bit wrong,” he admitted.  “I don’t know where Shady and Stripe
are, but Shady could be in a bit of trouble.”

“Stay here,”
she ordered.  “I’ll go see what I can find out.  I’ll knock three times when I
get back.”

He nodded and
settled back to wait.  He desperately hoped that Shady hadn’t been caught or
hurt.  The older boy had been cruel to him but Ramaeka didn’t want anything to
happen to him.  And he would never forgive himself if something happened to
Stripe.

After an hour
someone knocked three times on the door.  Ramaeka yanked it open expecting to
see Makkie.  Stripe and Shady quickly pushed their way into the room closing
the door behind them.  They were both out of breath and Ramaeka quickly found a
couple of cracked glasses and a jug of water.  Stripe smiled tiredly at him as
he gave him glass.

“Are you ok?”
he asked anxiously.

“We’re ok,”
replied Stripe.  “Makkie saw us hiding behind some rubbish and told us to come
here.”

“She’s finding
out what happened,” he added seeing the concerned look on Ramaeka’s face.

“This is all
your fault,” Shady snarled suddenly standing up and shoving Ramaeka backwards.

Annoyed
Ramaeka pushed him away, Shady wasn’t that much taller than him despite the
fact that he was four years older, and Ramaeka was tired of being pushed
around.

“It was a set
up,” he told them.  “It’s not my fault you made an attempt before I could tell
you.”

“He’s right,”
Stripe interrupted.  Shady glared at him furiously.

“You would
take your little pet’s side,” he growled.

“Because he’s
right,” Stripe glared right back.  “It’s always been the rule, if the hand
pulls out we wait to find out what happened before we make another attempt.
Ramaeka did the right thing.”

“Well now were
gonna have to ditch the city and we needed that purse,” Shady said sulkily.

“What happened
to the purse?” he asked.

“It was full
of bits metal, no coins,” replied Stripe sadly.  “It was a complete failure.”

“Well actually,”
Ramaeka said calmly.  “If you would both shut up for a second I could tell you
what happened.”

He quickly
described the way the tall man had been acting and why he had kept walking.
Just as he finished someone knocked three times on the door.  He quickly jumped
up and let Makkie in.  She smiled at them.

“You wouldn’t
believe what’s going on out there,” she said.

“What happened?”
Stripe asked quickly.

“Turns out
that man you hit was Lord Apella,” she grinned.  “He’s the richest and most
miserly noble in the area, he’s absolutely furious.”

“The purple
man?” Shady asked in surprise.

“No he was
just a decoy, Apella is a tall man.”

“Does he look
like he’s eating something sour all the time?” Ramaeka interrupted.

“That’s the
one,” she said amused.  “He’s looking everywhere for you.  I can’t believe you
managed to hit him despite the decoy and all the guards.”  She looked at them
with respect.

“But we…,”
Stripe trailed off and looked at Ramaeka’s grinning face.

“I can’t
believe it,” Shady looked at him in shock.

Beaming
triumphantly Ramaeka pulled out the bulging purse and chucked it to the dark
haired boy.  With a whoop, Stripe grabbed Ramaeka into a bear hug, spinning him
around, while Shady stared open mouthed at the coins in his hand.

They slipped
out of the city by the cover of night.  Ramaeka and Stripe had made a trip back
to Ma Dresden’s to collect their things, making sure to tip her generously from
their new riches.  From the resigned expression on her face Ramaeka guessed she
knew where the money had come from though she didn’t say anything.  The kitchen
staff had tearfully piled large amounts of food into a pack for Ramaeka,
ruffling his hair and pushing cakes into his hands as he sadly waved good bye.
Ma had laughed at his sad face and given him a hug.

“I have no
doubt we’ll be seeing you again one day you little rogue.”  She looked at
Stripe.  “Take care of him and yourself lad, there’s some nasty people and
beasts roaming the hills at the moment, especially with Gasha about again.”

She waved
goodbye to them both as they headed out to meet Makkie and Shady at the wall.
Makkie hugged Ramaeka and also told Stripe to look after him before
disappearing into the shadows.  As if he couldn’t look after himself, Ramaeka
thought amused as he watched her leave.

“I left her
some coins,” Shady told Ramaeka gruffly.

Ramaeka looked
up at him in surprise, then gave him a quick smile.

“Thanks,” he
said softly.

“We owed her,”
Shady replied looking away as if bored.

Ramaeka smiled
to himself.

“So let’s see
you climb then monkey,” Stripe said cheerfully.

“What’s a
monkey?” he asked confused.  Stripe just gave him a shove and pointed up.

Ramaeka bound
easily up the wall and dropped down the other side.  Shady and Stripe quickly
followed him and they jogged away from the city.

They stopped
for a break after five hours of running.  Ramaeka pulled out some of the fresh
bread and cheese that the kitchen staff had packed for the three of them to
share.

“So where are
we heading now?” he asked as they quietly ate their food.

“We’re heading
home,” Stripe replied.  “Our home city, Porkae, is about three weeks travelling.”

“Depending if
we get attacked or eaten by dragons, or worse,” Shady said moodily.

“We’ve made
the trip before,” Stripe rolled his eyes then yawned.  “Why don’t we keep
running for a few more hours then stop for the rest of the day?” he asked
tiredly.  “I could use some sleep.”

The other two
agreed and they picked up their packs and headed out again.

They stopped
again after four hours in a small well hidden glade that Shady spotted.  The
weather was cold but fine and they caught up with some rest.  Ramaeka was the
first to wake up.  Yawning he headed into the trees to relieve himself and find
some water to wash his face with.  He found a small brook only a few minutes’
walk away; the water was ice cold and refreshing.  As he splashed it on his
face he noticed several decent sized fish.  Dinner he thought happily, he would
get Stripe and the two of them could set up some lines.  Cheerfully he headed
back to camp.  Both Stripe and Shady were awake when he got back in.  Stripe
was cleaning his sword, something Ramaeka privately thought he was overly
obsessed with.

“There’s some
decent sized fish swimming in the stream,” he told Stripe flopping down beside
him.

“Excellent,”
Stripe replied happily, sliding his sword into its sheath and placing it
carefully beside his pack.

“I’ll grab the
lines if you want to find some bait.”

Ramaeka nodded
in agreement and jumped up to search for insects in the soil outside of camp.
If there were no insects he would use bits of meat from their supplies, however
it was better to save that as much as possible.  He quickly found some useful
looking grubs and worms and placed them into a bundle of cloth.

As he walked
back through their small camping site, Shady passed him.  As he passed Ramaeka
he shoved him out of the way.  Ramaeka winced as he hit his back against a
tree; he managed to keep a hold on this bundle of bugs however.  Stripe walked
over and hauled him to his feet.  Ramaeka scowled to himself as they headed to
the stream, he had thought that he had left that sort of thing behind when he
had escaped from his family.  He and Stripe cast their lines silently then sat
back to enjoy the peace.

“He’s jealous
you know.”

Ramaeka looked
up in surprise as Stripe spoke.  Stripe looked at him sheepishly.

“It’s just
always been the two of us you see, since I was six and he was eight, and he’s
always been really bad at sharing.”

“It’s ok,”
Ramaeka told him.  “I’ve dealt with worse.”

“Still you
shouldn’t have to,” Stripe told him firmly.  “I’ll have a word to him later.”

“How did the
two of you meet?” he asked curiously.

“I ran away
from home when I was six,” Stripe paused for a moment thoughtfully.  “I was
sick of being locked up in the cellar or beaten by my family, so I just ditched
one day and headed on to the streets.  Shady found me running away after I
tried to steal an apple from this huge vendor.  He took me under his wing and
taught me how to survive pretty much; he’s like a brother to me.”

Ramaeka
nodded.  “I wish I had someone like that when I was growing up,” he told Stripe
wistfully.  Stripe laughed.

“What do you
mean when you were growing up?  You’re still only a kid.  Anyway you have me;
you’re like my little brother.”  He grinned at Ramaeka who could only beam
back; his throat seemed to have swollen for some reason.  Stripe clapped him on
the back and lay back to enjoy the sunshine.

It was five
days after their conversation when Stripe came racing into camp just as Shady
and Ramaeka were finishing the breakfast clean up.  Ramaeka watched in surprise
as his friend shoved dirt on the embers of their cooking fire.

“Quick, pack
up,” he hissed at them.  They did so as fast and silently as they could.
Within minutes they were ready to go and Stripe beckoned them to follow him.

He led them up
to the crest of one of the surrounding hills.  As they approached the top he
dropped to the ground and wriggled forward on his stomach.  It had to be
something serious thought Ramaeka, Stripe was obviously scared by whatever they
were about to see.  His face was pale and he was sweating.  Glancing over at
Shady, Ramaeka noticed that he looked extremely grim, his jaw set like stone.

Stripe reached
the top of the hill and peered over, quickly ducking down then looking over
again.  He gestured Ramaeka and Shady forward.  Ramaeka carefully wiggled to
the top and peeked over.  His breath caught in his throat at the sight below
him.  An immense army marched across the flatland at the bottom of the hill.
Sun gleamed on weapons, every man that marched seemed to be armed with a sword
or axe.  And that was just the men Ramaeka thought fearfully.  He had seen many
horrific sights in his short life including death duels between full grown
dragons, but the hundreds of different creatures that marched along with the
humans made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.  There were gigantic
trolls and immense spiders; there were mixtures of human and animal as well as
many huge beasts that Ramaeka had never heard of before.  Strange hairy
creatures were being pulled along in cages as they snarled and slathered at the
bars.  Ramaeka felt the draconian instincts of his people rising up inside of
him, he desperately wanted to transform and be ready to defend himself and his
friends.  As he fought the growl in his chest down Stripe tapped his arm.  He
glanced over at his friend who blinked in surprise and looked at him more closely.
Ramaeka immediately got himself under control and raised an eyebrow
questioningly.  Stripe stared at him unsurely for a moment before gesturing
back down the hill.  Ramaeka nodded and silently slid back down the way that he
had come.

He followed
the other two into the woods where they crept away from the direction of the
army.  Cries unlike any Ramaeka had ever heard caught his attention.  Looking
up he saw large birdlike shapes, looking closely he noticed that some of them
were human and bird hybrids, while others resembled, very distantly to his
mind, dragons.  He shivered and hurried after the others into denser bush where
hopefully the flying creatures would not be able to spot them.

They travelled
away from the army all day until the flying creatures were small dots on the
horizon.  It was not until they were undercover of a small dry cave that Stripe
allowed them to speak.  It was strange Ramaeka mused, Shady was usually in
charge but whenever things got really dangerous it was Stripe who led them.  He
winced as he flopped down, all the running they had been doing lately was
making his feet hurt.  Though, really that might be because he was still unused
to wearing the horrible boots.  Ramaeka preferred to go barefoot so that he
could feel the earth beneath him.

Stripe dropped
down beside him and passed him a flask of water.  Shady huddled at the front of
the cave, nervously scanning the skies and trees every now and again.

“What was that?”
he asked quietly looking at the two older boys.

Stripe frowned
seriously.  “That was Gasha’s army if I’m not mistaken.  It’s even bigger than
I imagined though.”

Shady nodded
in agreement.

“I’ve never
even seen some of those beasts before,” he replied genuinely anxious.

“Me either, it
even looked like he had dragons with him,” Stripe absently tapped his fingers
against the flask in his hands.

“They weren’t
dragons,” Ramaeka interrupted firmly.  “I don’t know what they were, but they
weren’t dragons.”

“How do you
know?” Shady asked raising an eyebrow though he didn’t sound as challenging as
he usually did.

“Because I’ve
seen a dragon up close before, and that’s not what they look like,” he replied
as calmly as he could.  He looked up to see Stripe watching him closely and
smiled weakly.  Please don’t guess he thought desperately to himself.

Stripe turned
away and said to Shady, “It looks like they were headed west of Porkae, but
they could swing east.”

“Let’s hope
not,” Shady replied.  “We’ll head west as well then swing east across the
Dragon Mountains and down into Porkae.   That way we should miss them, no
sensible leader would take a full army across the Dragon range.”  He didn’t
look a hundred percent sure as he said this, Ramaeka noticed.

“No sensible
person would want to cross that range,” Stripe retorted.  He sighed and leant
back.  “It will have to do though.”

As he sat on
first watch that night and stared into the dark forest ahead of them, Ramaeka
desperately hoped that there were not actual dragons on the mountain range.
Explaining to his friends why giant flying monsters recognised him was a
dilemma he didn’t particularly want to face.  Telling them he was a monster,
according to their beliefs, was something he especially did not want to do he
thought morosely.  Enough he told himself firmly, all he could do was enjoy his
journey while it lasted.

He spent the
rest of his watch determinedly not thinking about anything.

Chapter Five

They travelled
fast over the next week, following game trails away from the main path.
Several times Ramaeka found himself mentally thanking his former teacher Tannis
for forcing his students to build up their endurance.  There had been no
sightings of any creatures or men from the army, though they continued to keep
an eye out.  Everyday Ramaeka watched the mountains change from purple
splotches on the distant horizon, to forbidding dark peaks.  Stripe worried
him; occasionally he would look up and see the blond watching him.  However
when he did catch him looking, Stripe just smiled and looked away.  All of this
running and hiding was much too nerve-wracking for a poor growing dragon like
himself he thought grumpily as he trotted along behind Shady.

Shady called a
stop near a small lake.  While cover was minimal he told them that they would
need to stay and stock up their supplies before hitting the mountain range.

“It’s going to
take us around a week and a half to get across,” he explained.  “That’s if we
don’t get hit by bad weather.  From here there won’t be as much game or edible
plants so we gotta get everything we can.”

Stripe and
Ramaeka nodded in agreement.  Ramaeka watched over the camp for the rest of the
day while Shady and Stripe hunted.  He wasn’t quite as good as them with a
sling yet though he was the best at finding prey.  It was fairly easy when you
could smell it a mile away he thought to himself yawning as he lazily checked
the fishing lines he had set.  By the time the other two returned to camp he
had managed to catch three decent sized fish.

“Good work,”
Shady said approvingly.  Ramaeka blinked in surprise, it was the first time
that Shady had ever said anything nice to him.

“Th- thanks,”
he stuttered as Shady walked away carrying several rabbits.  Stripe grinned and
winked at him.

They ate one
of Ramaeka’s fish for dinner with tubers Stripe called potatoes before spending
the evening skinning and gutting their catch away from camp.

The next four
days were spent in the same fashion, cutting the meat into thin strips, salting
and then smoking the slices over green twigs to dry them out.  With his superior
nose and eyes Ramaeka found as many fruit trees and bushes as he could along
with edible plants and tubers.  Being at the base of the mountains it was
rather cold though the days were sunny.  Ramaeka wished that they could stay
longer by the small lake; it was the most fun he had ever had.  It was also
extremely relaxing after all of their running, they all quickly regained their
energy.

In fact, he
thought with slight annoyance, Stripe’s energy seemed to have doubled.  The
older boy was practically bouncing around getting in both Ramaeka and Shady’s
way.

“That’s it,”
Shady growled as Stripe accidentally upset the basket of pods that he was
stripping for the third time.  He jumped up and chased a laughing Stripe around
the camp.  Ramaeka bound to his feet, for once eager to assist Shady.  He
tripped Stripe as he ran past and sat on him.  Stripe looked up at him with a
wounded expression.

“Traitor,” he
said pouting.  Ramaeka just smirked at him.  Shady joined him and grabbed
Stripe’s legs.

“Grab his arms,”
he told Ramaeka.  “I think he needs to cool down a bit.”

Stripe
squealed and struggled as his two shorter friends carried him over to the ice
cold lake.  He landed with a huge splash and immediately came up spluttering.
He glared at the two of them, laughing hysterically, and swam for shore.

“You’re so in
for it now,” he announced as he bound up the shore.  “That water is absolutely
freezing.”

He grabbed
Shady and dragged him down into the water before turning back to Ramaeka.  Who,
being a brave and intelligent dragon immediately let out an embarrassing squeak
and turned to run.  He had barely gotten five paces away when Stripe caught him
and chucked him over his shoulder.  He struggled helplessly as his friend
turned and loped back to the water carrying him with ease, and plunged them
both into the freezing water.

Instantly
mirth turned to a clutching fear.  Ramaeka struggled wildly as images of wild
churning water and bruising rocks flashed through his mind.  The scars on his
side burnt as the icy water pulled him down.  Strong hands grabbed his arms and
pulled him up to the surface and close to the shore.  He breathed a sigh of
relief as his feet hit solid earth and he half crawled up onto shore, coughing
out water.

“You ok?”
Stripe asked pushing his black fringe back from his eyes.

Ramaeka
nodded, not meeting his eyes.

“I didn’t mean
to scare you,” his friend said anxiously.

“It wasn’t you,”
Ramaeka quickly reassured him, looking up.

“Well if your
both fine I’m going to get dry and start some cooking,” Shady said gruffly,
before walking back to camp.

“So what
happened then?” Stripe asked casually leaning back.

“I don’t
really know,” Ramaeka admitted weakly.  “I’ve never had a problem with water
before.”

“Until you
went over a waterfall after being attacked by a dragon,” Stripe said gently.
“That’s enough to make anyone scared of something.”

Ramaeka hung
his head.  “I feel so stupid,” he grumbled.

“It’s ok,
everyone’s afraid of something,” Stripe reassured him.

“Even you?”
Ramaeka asked peering up at his friend.

“Even me, even
Shady,” Stripe replied.

“Can I ask
what you’re scared of?” Ramaeka asked unsurely, it was a very personal question
really.  No dragon would ever admit to being afraid of anything.

“S’ok,” Stripe
replied.  He looked down at his hands.  “Um, actually mine’s kind of
embarrassing.”

“I won’t laugh,”
Ramaeka promised earnestly.

“Alright,”
Stripe took a deep breath.  “I’m scared of the dark,” he admitted.

Ramaeka patted
his friends hand sympathetically.  “Do you know why?” he asked.

“It doesn’t
matter,” Stripe said glancing away.  “It’s a pathetic fear anyway.”

“I don’t think
so,” Ramaeka replied firmly.  He was used to the dark having lived inside
mountains his entire life, but he could sympathise.

“I won’t tell
anyone what you’re scared of, I promise.”

Stripe smiled
at him.  “Thanks, now let’s get dry before I freeze to death.”  He stood up and
started back towards camp, pulling off his shirt.  Ramaeka stared at his back.

“Stripe,
what’s that on your back?”

On the centre
of his friend’s back was an intricate image.  It was shaped like a wedge from a
circle; the broadest part at the top covered his shoulder blades while the
point finished halfway down his back.  The wedge filled with both runes and
images, shimmered as if it glowed from beneath his skin.  Stripe turned back in
surprise and started to reply when suddenly there was a cry from behind them.

They both
jumped and turned as one.  Two mountain trolls had emerged from the trees,
attracted by the meat.  Shady was attempting to distract them from their
supplies by throwing rocks.  Stripe rushed forward with Ramaeka close behind.

What do we
do?  Ramaeka thought desperately.  Trolls had little magic but physically they
were nearly impossible to kill though they were sensitive to heat.  You could
throw them off a cliff and they would just bounce.  One of the squat, brown
monsters had turned its great hairy snout towards Shady, growling viciously as
it moved towards him.

Ramaeka
watched in horror as Stripe grabbed his sword and in four strides, leapt onto
the creatures back.  Rock brain thought Ramaeka exasperated, how are you
supposed to stab it when you’re bouncing around on its back.  Now you can
barely hold on because you’ve got a great whacking knife taking up one of your hands.

He was right
of course.  Stripe clung helplessly to its back as it bucked up and down trying
to dislodge him.  He whacked at it futilely with the sword at his hand, but was
unable to get a decent angle on the aggravated beast.  Shady threw rocks at its
head to distract it, narrowly dodging the giant swiping claws several times.

Which left the
second beast.

Ramaeka
swallowed as he looked it over, if he were in his greater form the thing would
be running from him.  Though it would be about the same size as him in that
form he supposed.  The thing wasn’t that intelligent he thought as it put its
great paw into the fire to grab the rabbit cooking on a spit.  It grunted with
pain, ignoring its companion’s wild dancing about, then reached in for another
try.

Ramaeka
grabbed the end of a stick from the fire and waved it in the trolls face.
Maybe if he could get it away from the camp, he could lose it somewhere.  He
dodged as it rushed at him with teeth bared, and swung away from the camp
towards the mountains.  It growled and chased him for several paces before
being distracted by several fish strung up on a nearby tree.  Running back
Ramaeka swung the still burning stick down on to its tail area.  No beast can
ignore that he thought smugly.  He was right.  With a roar of rage the troll
turned and raced at his attacker with surprising speed.  Ramaeka turned and
fled up towards the mountainside.

Panting he
dodged his way up the rocky hillside, ignoring the brambles and shrubs that
caught at his skin.  The troll crashed its way up behind him.  It had the
advantage over him, this was its territory and it was large and strong enough
to force its way through the clinging bushes much faster than he was.

A quick glance
back showed him that it was right on his heels.  He forced himself to speed up
though it didn’t seem to make any difference.  Ramaeka spotted a huge tree up
ahead.  Up the tree he thought frantically, it’s heavier than I am and the
branches won’t support it up top.

He shimmied up
the tree, clinging to it like a serpent, the beast’s hot breath on his feet.
Climbing as fast as he could, he made it three quarters of the way up before he
heard a cracking sound below him.  The beast was climbing the tree.  Heart in
mouth Ramaeka watched as it hauled itself up.  Then, with a resounding crack,
the branches beneath its feet gave way and the troll tumbled to the ground.

Ramaeka
crouched on a large branch, getting his breath back as he grinned down at the
beast below him.  It howled its rage up at him, gnashing its teeth together as
it raged around the clearing.  He stuck his tongue out at it.  Now all he had
to do was wait for it to lose interest which surely wouldn’t take long he
thought reasonably.  As stupid as it was he doubted that its attention span
would last that long.

Suddenly the
entire tree shuddered beneath him.  He clutched desperately at his branch as
the troll slammed into the tree again, causing it to shudder and rock wildly.

Oh rocks
Ramaeka thought, it was obviously not going to be losing interest in him.  The
troll hit the tree again, this time Ramaeka heard faint cracking sounds, two
more hits like that and the tree would topple.  Sorry, he thought guiltily
patting its bark, I didn’t mean for this to happen.  He looked around, hoping
to see a way out or at least signs of his friends.  No such luck, the trees
around the one he was on were just out of reach and the other side opened up
into a deep ravine.  I could change he thought, nobody would know.  But if his
friends did catch up and saw him...  There must be another way he thought
desperately.

Crash!  A
rumbling crackle went up the inside of the tree.  One more hit would do it
thought Ramaeka anxiously.  The troll was obviously thinking the same thing.
It looked up at him one paw on the tree, sneering cruelly as drool oozed down
its jaw.  What do I do? he wailed silently looking around desperately.

The other side
of the ravine caught his eye.  It was fairly narrow he thought.   If I can get
the tree to fall that way then it should stretch right across.

He patted the
tree and whispered an apology, just in case.  Looking down he saw the troll
lining up with the tree.  Drawing on his own core of magic he pushed the dirt
under the roots of the tree opposite from the ravine up hard so that it rocked back
towards the edge.  Please let this work he thought as the beast ran at the
tree.

There was a
roaring cracking sound that seemed to shake the ravine walls as the great tree
tumbled over, splitting slightly as it fell.  Birds went flying into the air from
the surrounding trees, cawing and chirping harshly.  By pure luck, Ramaeka
thought later, the tree slowly toppled over the ravine.  Its crown hit the
ground on the other side with a thud.

Ramaeka clung
on desperately, his feet dangling over the deep drop of the ravine, his arms
numb from the shock of the impact of the tree.  Slowly he hauled himself up and
onto the trunk of the now horizontal tree.  He groaned as he lay on top of it,
the feeling returning to his arms, and it wasn’t a good feeling.

A snarl broke
him out of his self pity in a hurry.  The troll was carefully making its way
across the fallen tree towards him.  He made it to his knees and began to crawl
as fast as he could across to the other side of the ravine.  Rustling told him
that the beast was following him closely.  This was so unfair he thought
helplessly, stupid troll not leaving me alone.  Get to the other side and run
he told himself firmly, ignoring his aching arms and crawling faster.

A shudder ran
through the trunk.  Looking back Ramaeka saw that the troll, confident that it
wouldn’t fall, was now bounding across the trunk.  Transform his instincts told
him, transform and fly away or even kill this thing for thinking it had a
chance against you.  No, he thought firmly and abandoning all sense of caution
he got up and ran.  He reached the end of the trunk just as the troll reached
him.  He dropped to the ground as it bound at him across the trunk, flying over
his head.  It hit the ground then turned quickly and leapt at him again.  Ramaeka
had an impression of huge yellowed fangs and nasty claws before a bolt of what
seemed like pure light blinded him.

He rubbed his
eyes frantically, trying to clear the spots.  As his vision cleared Ramaeka
realised a boy was crouching in front of him.

“Are you all
right?” the boy asked politely.  “I did not mean to blind you.”  He pressed a
soothing hand to Ramaeka’s head and his vision instantly cleared as did his
mind.

“Where is it?”
he asked jumping to his feet.  The boy rocked back in surprise.  Getting to his
feet he pointed over the side of the ravine.  Ramaeka peered over cautiously;
the troll was lying on its side, hundreds of lengths down.  Even as he watched
it moved slightly, and then crawled to its feet shakily.

“Tough
creatures,” the boy commented.

Ramaeka nodded
wearily.  “Tell me about it.  But how did you stop it?”

He looked the
boy over intently.  He was only about Stripe’s age, two years older than
Ramaeka, and was very ordinary looking, except for his eyes.  Their colour was
indescribable, more like a mixture of every colour possible whirling around
together, but separate.

The boy smiled
slightly.  “It is a technique of fighting with magic that I am particularly
good at,” he told Ramaeka calmly.

He had a
strange accent and a polite stilted way of talking but there was something
about him that made Ramaeka like him, despite the hairs on the back of his neck
standing on end.

“I’m Ramaeka,”
he introduced himself.

“My name is
Amar,” the boy returned bowing slightly.  “What are you doing all the way out
here by yourself Ramaeka?”

“I’m not by
myself,” he explained.  “My friends and I are camping….”

He stopped.

“My friends!
I need to go find them.”

Ramaeka turned
and ran back to the tree trunk and clambered on to it again.  He paused before
venturing out over the ravine and looked back.

“Er did you
want to come along?” he asked unsurely.  Amar looked him over for a moment then
nodded and walked over to a pack Ramaeka hadn’t noticed, settling it over his
shoulders.

Ramaeka forced
his aching legs into a run as he sped back down the mountain.  Why is it always
me that everything happens too?  He thought tiredly as he crashed down through
the shrubs.  Amar easily kept pace beside him despite the fact that he was
carrying a large pack.  Ramaeka noticed that he moved almost silently,
especially compared to his own crashing and stumbling.  As they got closer to
the lake where they had been camping he heard voices calling his name.

“I’m here” he
yelled, stopping for a moment to catch his breath.  A moment later there was a
flash and he was wrapped up in a painful embrace that was half hug and half
headlock.

“Are you ok?
I was so worried,” Stripe’s voice came from above him somewhere.  He managed a
choking sound.  Stripe immediately let go of him.

“Sorry” he
said sheepishly looking Ramaeka over for injuries.

“I’m ok,”
Ramaeka promised getting his breath back as Shady joined them.  “Just cuts and
bruises.  Lots and lots of bruises.”

Shady nodded
at him.  He had a bandage wrapped around one of his arms and several scratches
on his face.  Stripe was wearing what looked like two black eyes but other than
that the two of them didn’t look overly injured.

“What happened
with your troll?” he asked.

Stripe’s
expression of worry immediately changed to one of self satisfaction.  However
before he could say anything Shady interrupted.

“We’ll tell
you everything later.  We need to find somewhere else to sleep.  First of all
perhaps you should introduce your friend?”

He looked
meaningfully behind Ramaeka.  Ramaeka turned around to find Amar leaning
against a tree and watching them with interest.

“This is Amar,”
he explained.  “He saved my life by throwing light at the troll.”

“Magic
actually,” Amar murmured nodding at Stripe and Shady.

“You can do
magic?” asked Stripe his eyes narrowing.

“Yes,” replied
Amar calmly, he turned to Shady.  “There is a place further in that I had
chosen to camp at already.  It’s sheltered from the wind so no beasts will be
able to pick up our scent.  If you wish to join me that is.”

Ramaeka
watched as Shady and Stripe exchanged one of their strange non verbal
conversations.  Finally Shady nodded.

“Alright then,
let’s get going.”

He chucked
Ramaeka his pack and followed Amar up into the trees.

Amar was
right; the spot he had chosen was well sheltered.  Ramaeka fell asleep the
instant he lay down on the mossy ground.  Stripe woke him several hours later.

“Poor little
thing,” he said with a grin as Ramaeka rubbed the sleep from his eyes.  Ramaeka
shoved him over then stood up to stretch his aching legs.  Delicious smells
were emanating from a pot bubbling over a small fire.

“Isn’t it
dangerous to have a fire going if those things are still around?” he asked.

“Apparently
Amar can do magic or something and hide us,” Shady growled in his usual
sardonic tone.

“Really?”
Ramaeka asked in surprise looking Amar over more closely, cloaking and
protection magic was taught to the older dragons and something Ramaeka had
desperately wished he knew especially since coming to the human world.

“Yes,” Amar
replied placidly.  “I am rather skilled in the art of magic.”

“That’s great,”
Ramaeka looked at him hopefully.  “Maybe you could teach me some magic too?
And how to throw light at things?”

Magic he
thought, one of the things he missed most about his own world.

“Do you know
hand to hand combat?” Amar asked him.  “It will be easier for you to learn to
channel your energy and magic if you do have some knowledge.”

“Not really,”
Ramaeka replied unsurely, he definitely knew how to fight in his dragon form
but not in his lesser form.

“I’ll teach
you,” Stripe interrupted putting an arm protectively around Ramaeka’s shoulders
and glaring at the newcomer.

Amar merely
nodded politely.  “I will be happy to teach you along with Stripe.”

“That is if we
are headed in the same direction,” he added.

“Where are you
heading?” Shady asked.

“Porkae, and
then possibly north from there.”

“That’s the
same as us!” Ramaeka beamed.

“Whoa wait
just a second,” frowned Stripe.

Shady
interrupted him before he could continue.

“Would you
excuse the two of us please?” he asked Ramaeka and Amar politely.  He took
Stripe by the arm and dragged him away out of ear shot.  At least it would have
been out of ear shot if he was human thought Ramaeka humorously.  He absently
stirred the contents of the pot as he secretly listened to what they were
saying.

“We don’t need
anyone else travelling with us,” Stripe hissed.  Strange really since Stripe
was the one who had welcomed Ramaeka into the group to begin with, Ramaeka
wondered why he was refusing Amar.

“Look I don’t
want any other idiots tagging along either but this guy has skills we could use
and learn,” Shady replied in a whisper.  He waved away Stripe’s protest.

“These
mountains are dangerous, and you always wanted to learn magic.”  Shady paused
and looked at Stripes face; Ramaeka quickly ducked his head down and
industriously poked at the fire.

“You were
happy to bring the brat along which I still don’t get; you hate other people
tagging along as much as I do.”

“There’s a
difference between a badly hurt little kid and some random guy travelling in
the wild.  Who goes over the mountains by themselves?”

“Well I still
don’t trust that kid, there’s something strange about him.  Nobody heals that
fast.”

“I trust him,
he’s a little strange but I can tell he’s okay.”

Shady sighed.

“Look it’s
only to Porkae, I promise.”

“Fine,” Stripe
grumbled.

They both
walked back to the fire.  Shady nodded at Amar.  “You can travel with us to
Porkae if you want to”

Amar nodded
assent then pulled the pot off the fire and began to serve the contents.

“So what
happened when you ran out of camp?” Stripe asked Ramaeka.

Ramaeka
described everything which had occurred after he had run out of the camp with
the troll on his heels.  Even Shady was impressed, and Stripe laughed and
whacked Ramaeka lightly over the head when he told them that he had poked his
tongue out at the troll.

“You would
have deserved to be eaten, being cheeky like that.”

“It wasn’t the
smartest thing to do, but I didn’t think the crazy thing would even understand,”
he protested.  Stripe just laughed.

“So what
happened to your troll?” Ramaeka asked wiping his plate with a chunk of
traveller’s bread.

“Oh don’t get
him started,” Shady groaned, rolling his eyes.

Stripe grinned
smugly.

“I killed it
with my sword.  It was flinging me around trying to get me off its back but I
kept hitting it and Shady was throwing rocks at it.  Then it just took off
straight at him and I thought that’s it, I’ve gotta stop mucking around and
save my friend!  So I swung my sword around as hard as I could right through
its head.”

“Wow,” Ramaeka
looked at him wide eyed.  “Those things are almost impossible to kill!”

“I’m pretty
good,” Stripe smirked running a hand through his hair.

Shady
sniggered.  “Tell them what really happened.”

“That is what
happened!” Stripe protested.  Ramaeka looked between the two of them.

“So what did
happen then?” he asked Shady who grinned wickedly.

“The troll was
swinging him around like crazy like he said, but he could barely hold on let
alone hit it.  Then it came at me but when it stopped to pounce Stripe went
over its head still holding on to that over sized knife of his.  The beast
tripped over a rock and fell on top of Stripe.”

He paused and
grinned at Stripe.  “Stripe was sort of holding his sword up and it went
straight up through the troll’s mouth and into its head.”

“I like my
story better,” Stripe grumbled as Ramaeka laughed.  “And I still smell like
troll, even after I jumped into the water afterwards.”

Amar’s
presence was a strange addition to their group in Ramaeka’s opinion.  The boy
rarely smiled and always treated them with a polite indifference, though he was
a willing and hard worker.  He was an enigma to Ramaeka who despite his
upbringing and love of secrets was open and cheerful.

Amar kept his
promise and immediately began to teach Ramaeka basic combat along with Stripe.
The main problem he thought as he watched the two of them debate a point about
stance, was that they both knew different methods, both of fighting and of
teaching.

Stripe was
more impatient and wanted to move him on to the next lesson as soon as he had
tried the last.  He also knew less about the theoretical side of fighting
having learnt from experience himself.  However he had a passion about fighting
that made it easy to understand what he was talking about.

Amar on the other hand made sure he understood the lesson completely before
moving on; he was a far calmer teacher and more patient.  He explained the
theoretical application of fighting as well which Ramaeka enjoyed, when to use
what attack and why, and other basic strategy.  However he was less passionate
about fighting, preferring to use it as a defence rather than wanting to
continually test and push himself like Stripe.

Ramaeka didn’t
mind though, he soaked up everything they taught him with ease.  The fact that
he knew how to fight albeit in a different form allowed him better
understanding and he quickly got to the point where he could spar with both of
them without biting the dust too hard.  Of course the first thing he had learnt
was to fall properly.

He enjoyed the
lessons, even Shady got into them, sparring with Ramaeka since he was closer to
his level than the other two.  He still couldn’t beat any of them though and
Stripe and Shady made sure to rub it in his face until he took it upon himself
to put a fish in each of their beds, even Amar’s.  It was the first time that
he had ever seen any real emotion on Amar’s face; it had been worth being made
to do four hours of running and arm strengthening exercises.

As they got
further into the mountains though it became more difficult for long lessons.
The cold became so intense that by the time they had finished travelling for
the day all of them save Amar were too exhausted to do anything but eat and
sleep.  Amar always bullied Ramaeka into at least one lesson each night before
allowing him to sleep.  He told him that it would build endurance.  Ramaeka
told him exactly which of the five hells he could go to, which actually brought
a small smile to Amar’s face.  Unfortunately Ramaeka was too tired to care.
The mountains were even colder than his home had been; they were also covered
in ice and snow.

On the fourth
day of travelling in the snow and ice, an immense storm brewed up faster than
any Ramaeka had ever seen.  Amar grabbed hold of him as the wind pushed him
back, and hauled him forward.  He turned slightly and grabbed Stripe’s hand;
behind him he could see Stripe grab hold of Shady in the same fashion.  Amar
lead them surely through the storm and into a sheltered cave.  Exhausted they
slumped down trying to get their breath back in the thin air.  Amar, the only
one who had any energy, lit a fire before putting protective wards around the
cave.  Ramaeka watched him curiously; he hadn’t seen him do these wards
before.  Amar glanced over at him.

“These will
keep the entrance from blocking with snow and ice,” he explained.  “While these
will keep the cave from collapsing on us and this will stop the fire from going
out.”

He stopped and
sat down beside Ramaeka, digging into his bag and pulling out food to cook.

“Here,” he
offered a small cube to Ramaeka.  “This will give you a little energy, its
sweet.”

Ramaeka smiled
his thanks, took the cube and popped it in his mouth.  It was sweet, chewy and
tasted like honey and fruit, energy seeped from the sweetness into his very
bones.  He sat up straight and watched as Amar offered a cube to both Stripe
and Shady who took them gratefully.

“That stuff is
delicious, what is it?” he asked enthusiastically.  Amar smiled at him, making
Ramaeka blink in surprise.  He tossed him another piece.

“It’s called
krisim, it is a sweet made in my home,” he explained.

“I’m going to
visit your home someday,” Ramaeka promised feeling much more cheerful.

“If you are
feeling better, perhaps we may try a different type of lesson today?” Amar said
calmly.

“What kind of
lesson?” Ramaeka asked watching as the other boy melted some snow in a pot over
the fire.

“I believe you
have enough physical discipline to begin to learn the art of magic,” Amar
informed him; he turned to the other two.  “I will also teach both of you, if
you would care to learn.”  Shady nodded, Stripe hesitated for a moment then
nodded reluctantly.

“Very well,”
Amar folded his legs beneath him indicating for them to move forward and do the
same.

“First you
must learn to meditate.”

Stripe
scoffed.  “Meditation!  What good is that?”

“It clears the
mind, and it will also help you to find your core of magic.  If you cannot
master this then you will not be able to master magic.”

Stripe frowned
but did not reply.

“Now close
your eyes and concentrate on your breathing, clear your mind of thought and
your heart of emotion.”

Ramaeka closed
his eyes and immediately sunk into meditation.  He already knew how to do this
part; it had been part of every dragon’s routine in the fortress.  Everything
faded away except the beating of his heart and the rush of blood in his veins.
He quietened those to background noise and simply enjoyed the peace.  He could
feel the comforting throb of his magic at the very core of his being.  A soft
voice interrupted his peace.

“I am going to
help you this once to find your core and show you how to draw upon it.”

But I already
know he wanted to protest though he stayed quiet.  A firm hand drew him down to
his core which burned brightly.  He bathed in its glow for a moment before the
voice interrupted again.

“Now I want
you to call it, just a small thread.”

He did so with
ease, pulling a thin thread of it out.

“Now weave it
up through your body to your eyes,” the voice instructed.

Ramaeka had
never done this before.  Curious he drew the thread of power through his body
until it pressed behind his closed eyes.  “Open your eyes now.”

As he did so,
Ramaeka flinched.  Everything blazed with light.  Blinking watery eyes
concentrated and looked again.  This time the light did not surprise him and he
stared around the cave with wonder.  The cave itself glowed with a soft white
light, as did the few rocks on the ground.  The wards that Amar had set were
silvery white symbols.  Looking at his friends he saw that Shady glowed with a
steady gold light.  Stripe’s light was much stronger and blazed a very light
yellow.  Looking down at his own hands Ramaeka noticed a strong brown light
encompassing them.  Amar’s light however eclipsed them all; he burned the same
white as the cave and stones but with an intensity that was almost painful.

“That’s enough
now,” commanded the soft voice.  Ramaeka blinked letting go of his power.  He
felt the thread slide down back into place.  Opening his eyes again he was
almost disappointed to see that everything was just the same again.  His
friends were rubbing their eyes as if to dispel any lingering images.  Amar
offered him some water.

“What was that?”
Shady murmured sipping on some water.

“What you saw
was the life magic of those around you as well as the product of magic that I
have cast,” Amar explained.

“You all did
extremely well; I assume that you have meditated before now?”

Stripe and
Shady exchanged glances.

“We were
taught how to do it when we were kids, at a temple in Porkae,” Stripe said
gruffly.  “It wasn’t for magic or anything, just part of the lessons you had to
take if you wanted to learn how to read and write.”

“The lessons
were free to us street kids, and being able to read and write put you a step
above the rest,” Shady explained.  “The priests were sacred so they couldn’t be
forced to dob on you, and no one was allowed to take anyone by force from the
temple.”

“I understand,”
Amar nodded thoughtfully.  “And you Ramaeka?”

Ramaeka
gulped.  “Er, pretty much the same thing, my father made all of us meditate.”

“Just to relax
and clear the mind though,” he added quickly.

Amar looked at
him intently for a moment before turning back to the other two.

“It is useful
that you know this already,” he said.  “Teaching you magic will be much
easier.  But that is more than enough for today, you were meditating for over
an hour, something your body is probably not used to.”

Ramaeka stretched
in agreement, he was stiff and cramped after sitting in the same position for
so long.

“Here let me
cook tonight,” Stripe offered taking the pot and food from Amar.

As Stripe
cooked and Shady snoozed, Ramaeka sat and watched Amar.  The boy sat at the
front of the cave staring out into the storm.  He was strange thought Ramaeka
uneasily, and the colour of his life force had brought several strange
suspicions into his mind.  But they were so ridiculous he knew they couldn’t be
true.  As if reading his mind, Amar turned and looked at Ramaeka.  He smiled
slightly before turning back to the storm.  Whoever he really was Ramaeka
wasn’t going to question him, he decided.

Standing up he
walked over and joined him in the entrance.  The landscape outside was completely
shut off by raging wind and whirling snow.  Ramaeka shivered and pulled his
jacket closely around himself.  He was so grateful that Stripe had brought him
warm clothes back in Talok though he’d scoffed at them at the time.

“Can you see
the patterns in the snow?” Amar asked suddenly.

“Sorry?”
Ramaeka asked in confusion.

Amar pointed
out into the snow.

“If you look
into the snow you can make out shapes and patterns,” he explained.

Ramaeka peered
out into the white mass.  At first he couldn’t make out anything in particular
but after awhile he started to pick up shapes as the wind and snow shifted.

“Hey I see
what you mean,” he turned and grinned at Amar.  Looking out again he pointed to
a whirling patch.  “That looks like a fish leaping out of water.”

“That’s right,”
Amar giving him that small rare smile of his.  They sat together staring out
into the storm until Stripe called them back for food.

Chapter Six

The storm
lasted four long miserable days in which they were trapped in their cave.  The
most worrying aspect of their enforced stay was their dwindling supplies.  With
several days of travelling still to go once they were able to leave and unsure
of how long they would be caught there, they were forced to ration their food
and water.

It was the
worst thing to ever happen to him as far as Ramaeka was concerned.  While the
one meal a day was enough to sustain the other three boys, he was slowly
starving.  As a dragon he needed far more food than a human.  Even if he wasn’t
in his greater form, his body seemed to use up any energy from the food twice
as fast as the others.  He couldn’t complain though, he was smaller than all
three of his companions and shouldn’t need as much.  So complaining might just
make them more suspicious.

He sighed and
sat up unable to sleep anymore; his hunger pains were too sharp.  Amar was
sitting tending to the fire.

“Hello Ramaeka,”
he greeted him.

“Hey,” he
replied flopping down beside him.  The one good thing about being stranded here
were the magic lessons which Amar had been giving them.  They were completely
different from any Ramaeka had ever received from Garain.  They had moved on
from merely accessing their power to being able to call it up and use it.  They
also did at least two hours of meditation every day as well.

Stripe walked
over and sat down beside Ramaeka greeting both of them.

“Shady’s still
snoring in the back,” he told them with a grin.

They all
laughed, Shady’s snoring had become almost legendary and was a source of great
amusement.  At least when they weren’t trying to sleep.  Ramaeka smiled to
himself, after being stuck in a cave with them for so long Amar was beginning
to loosen up and become friendlier.  He and Stripe were getting along better
too.

“Hey Amar,
teach me some more about magic?” he pleaded turning to his newest friend.

“Very well,”
Amar replied making himself more comfortable.  “Perhaps I could explain a
little of the theoretical side of magic so that you may gain a deeper
understanding of its uses.”

Stripe groaned
and lay back.  “Well at least this might put me to sleep.”

Ramaeka
ignored him and looked at Amar eagerly.  “Go on.”

“You have seen
your magical core already,” Amar began calmly ignoring Stripe.  “That is your
magic in its raw form.  To use it you must use your will power to shape it in
the way that you wish.”

“So
technically you could use it in any way?” Ramaeka asked.

“Yes as long
as you have the will power to shape it,” Amar replied.

“Wait on, what
about spells and symbols and magic words, aren’t they what shapes magic?”
Stripe argued.

“Yes, for most
beings that is the easiest way to use their power.  They shape their power
using words or symbols that have specific meaning, but those words and symbols
have meaning only because we give it to them.  Every word, every symbol has the
potential for great power depending on how it is used.”  He stopped and fishing
in his bag he pulled out an orange.

“You see that
this is an orange yes?” he asked Ramaeka and Stripe who both nodded.  “Now if
you take a simple word like apple, that word does not really hold much power
except to create the image or idea of an apple in your mind.  However if I draw
upon my power and say the same word again while concentrating on the orange.”

He held the
orange up.

“APPLE.”

The orange
changed instantly taking on the appearance of an apple.  Amar passed it to
Stripe who examined it closely before handing it to Ramaeka.  He sniffed it; it
even smelt like an apple.

“You may eat
it if you wish,” Amar told him.

Ramaeka took a
bite; it was definitely an apple he thought cheerfully, and a good one.  He
offered it to Stripe who shook his head.

“You eat it, I
believe you.”

He looked back
at Amar.  “So why do people have complex spells to do that when they could just
say the word?”

“It is all
about willpower, knowledge, natural talent and versatility of mind.  The mages
that you see from areas such as Hangor or Caffric have very little natural
power.  Therefore they use what they have in conjunction with spells which
extract power from their surroundings.  However people such as us have immense
potential for power.  The more we use it and exercise it the more our power
will grow.  On the other hand if we cannot see what we wish to happen in its
full complexity then we must turn to spells and words in order to create that
which we wish.”

Ramaeka and
Stripe both stared at him blankly.  Amar sighed.  “So if I had not thought
about every aspect of the apple, from its skin to its seeds, then the spell
would not have worked completely.  If I thought only of what it looked like
then the skin would have changed but the inside would still be that of an
orange.  Do you understand?”

Ramaeka nodded
slowly.  “So you need to know everything about what you want it to change into
before you can change it?”

“Exactly.
This is why healers need to know what the body looks like and how it functions
before they heal somebody.”

Ramaeka chewed
on the last of his apple thoughtfully.  “So you need to know a lot of stuff to
use magic properly.”  It was strange he thought, in the magic classes at the
fortress they were taught to bring their power forth as fire or ice through
their mouths or to chant spells to make things work.  No one had ever mentioned
that magic could be used so differently.

“Yes, and that
is why education is so important,” Amar replied.

“But if you
had a really strong mind and a good imagination you could change at least the
outward appearance of something?  Or capture something and bend it to your
will?” Ramaeka asked.

“Yes you would,
though that is why most civilisations have a moral code they follow when it
comes to magic.”

Ramaeka looked
at him confused.  “Moral code?”

“Rules about
using magic so that you do not use it in a way that is harmful to others.
Enslaving a being is one of the worst things that you could do with your magic.”

“But what if
it’s not a person but a thing like wind or water?” Ramaeka persisted.

“As long as
you do not enslave the element itself then that is permissible, it is
enslavement of a sentient being that is wrong,” Amar told him.

“An element?” Stripe
asked puzzled, “Isn’t that what water and air are?”

“In a way,”
Amar said, “But there is also an Elementai or elemental for everything in
existence.  These are not sprites; a sprite is attached to one particular
plant, tree or stream.  One elemental can be every tree or the element of all
fire.”

“So kind of
like having individual gods for everything,” Stripe mused.

“Most of them
are extremely wild and roam throughout the worlds in their natural states.
There are some who have taken human form however and live amongst us.  Fate is
one of these; she travels in her human form, giving prophecies and
fortunetelling to the humans that she takes a liking to.”

“That’s so
strange,” Stripe said shaking his head in disbelief.  “And I thought that there
was only one world.  Where did you learn all this stuff?”

Amar smiled
slowly at him.  “I had a very good education,” he said, his strange
multi-coloured eyes dancing.

“What’s going
on?” Shady’s voice asked sleepily from behind them.  “Hey the storms died down.”

Turning around
Ramaeka saw that it was true, the wind had died away as had the snow leaving
only a light drizzle.

By the time
the storm had finished clearing they were packed and ready to leave, determined
to make up for lost time.  The mountains were extremely treacherous.  Nothing
in all of Ramaeka’s years of living in the mountains prepared him for the
constant avalanches and hidden pits.  After Shady almost disappeared down one
such hidden pit, narrowly avoiding death on the ice and rocks below, Stripe
tied them all together.

“Hopefully
this way if one of us falls we can haul each other out,” he explained.

“Yep or we at
least get to all die together,” Ramaeka grinned at him.

Stripe whacked
him lightly over the back of the head.

They spent the
next three days like that, resting only for a few hours at a time.  On the
second day they saw a massive shape flying in the distance.

“Dragon,”
Stripe murmured.  “Better watch out for a while.”

“Evil things,”
Shady grumbled not taking his eyes away from the wheeling shape.  Ramaeka’s
heart sank at that and he crouched lower to the ground.  How was he going to
explain the truth to his friends when they hated his kind, he couldn’t hide
forever.

“Actually they
are not so bad,” Amar interrupted his thoughts.

“What are you
talking about?” Stripe narrowed his eyes at the other boy while Ramaeka watched
anxiously.

“Dragons are
not so different from humans,” Amar said calmly.

“Except that
they eat people,” Shady angrily interrupted.

“Not all of
them, only a small minority actually enjoy the taste of humans,” Amar
explained.  “In fact there are some dragons that are fighting to pass a law
that bans hunting and killing humans.”

Stripe
sniggered.  “Dragons have laws?  You’re insane, they’re just beasts.  Where did
you even hear something like that?”

“I am well
travelled,” Amar replied unaffected by Stripes amusement.  “You learn many
things when you travel.”

“Yeah like
don’t get eaten by dragons,” Shady rolled his eyes.  “If we could stop
gossiping and start moving?  It’s headed off any way.”

As they
started walking again Ramaeka pondered on Amar’s comments.  It’s possible he
wouldn’t hate me he thought positively, though Stripe’s reaction was not a good
sign.  Determinedly he pushed the thoughts to back of his head, first he had to
survive the mountains then he would deal with other problems.

It was at
evening on the third day that they finally saw the bottom of the mountains and
in the far distance, signs of their destination.

Stripe gave a
whoop and jumped onto a rock pointing at the distant glow.

“Look,” he
called.  “Home is on the horizon!”

Shady leapt up
on to the rock as well with a yell.

“Porkae!
Finally were almost home.”  He grabbed Stripe around the neck and scuffed up
his hair.  Ramaeka laughed and climbed up beside them.  The glow was about a
day’s solid walking, he decided.

“So are we
going to make it there tomorrow?” he asked his grinning friends.

“Absolutely!”
Stripe replied.  “Even if we have to run.  By tomorrow night we’ll be eating
the most delicious food you ever tasted.  And you can eat as much as you want,”
he promised Ramaeka with a grin.

He grinned
back sheepishly, so they had noticed how hungry he was.  Turning his gaze back
to the distant city he decided that he would run the entire way if it meant
getting food as good as Ma Dresden’s had been.  Sometimes he still dreamt of
her apples backed with cinnamon and sweet pastry.

“You’re
drooling,” Shady interrupted his thoughts in amusement.

“I’m hungry
and you’re talking about food,” Ramaeka protested wiping his mouth.  As he did
so a pain shot up left leg.  Wincing he reached down and rubbed it.  Strange he
thought, must be so hungry my whole body is cramping up.  He jumped off the
rock and went to investigate the dinner that Amar was cooking.

Stripe kept
his word and made them run at least part of the distance to his home city.
Ramaeka admired the scenery as they ran through open fields full of animals and
crops.  It was still cold being so close to the mountains but it was also much
clearer than Talok had been.  The animals were all shaggy coated to protect
against the cold and roamed freely through the pastures.  How anyone knew which
animal belonged to who was beyond Ramaeka.  The city itself was bigger than
Talok and more open, there were no walls around the outside and the city
sprawled out around half an immense lake.

“Doesn’t need
walls,” Shady explained to Ramaeka as he ran beside him.  “Not many people can
bring an army through the mountains and if they come up the other way they can
be seen for miles.  Plenty of time for Porkae’s defences to get it together.
Strange though, all the animals roaming around without a herder.”

As they neared
the city it became obvious that there was something unusual in the air.  Black
smoke rose in patches throughout the city and there were no people at all
moving on the farms or near the start of the city proper.

“Something’s
wrong,” Stripe said stopping abruptly.  They all stopped beside him, staring at
the still city.  It was Amar who broke the silence.

“There is no
noise.  Even at this distance there should be the noises of the city.”

Amar was
right, Ramaeka couldn’t hear anything from the city and with his hearing he
definitely should be able to.  He scanned what he could see of the city, the
black smoke was definitely not good, and he could make out several buildings on
fire.  Birds hovered over the city, scavengers he thought grimly.  Other than
the birds there was no movement at all, turning northward he narrowed his eyes
against the glare of the sun.  There in the distance he could make out shapes
flying away from the city which were definitely not birds.  That army he
thought dismally, what’s his name, Gasha, has been here and gone.

“Come on,” he
told his friends who were still watching the city hesitantly.

“Wait Ramaeka,”
Stripe stopped him.  “We don’t know if there are enemies waiting in there, or what’s
happened.”

“I can tell
you what’s happened,” he replied grimly.  He pointed in the direction of the
distant army.

“That army we
saw has already been here and gone.”

Stripe paled
and ran towards the city, Shady right behind him calling out his name.  Ramaeka
and Amar followed the pair closely.  The stench hit Ramaeka’s sensitive nose as
they neared the city.  The smell of blood and fire were the strongest and he
tried to prepare himself as they walked past the first of the houses.

Doors swung
eerily in the breeze, almost every window had been smashed and many of the
houses were in flames.  Those were the first things that Ramaeka noticed.  Then
he saw the bodies.

They were
strewn about in the blood soaked street, some lay half in the houses as if they
had been shot down as they tried to get to safety.  Children lay beside their
parents; the army had done their work mercilessly.

“This is
insanity,” he gasped unable to catch his breath for a moment.

“This is war,”
replied a soft voice.  He turned to see Amar crouching beside the body of a
child.  His friend sadly closed the child’s eyes, bowing his head.

“Can’t you do
something?” Ramaeka pleaded.  “Magic them or something.”

“I can’t do
anything for the dead,” Amar looked at him steadily.  “I can help the living if
we can find any.  Will you help me?  I need you to stay calm.”

Taking a deep
breath Ramaeka pulled his emotions under control, if he could help anyone here
he would do anything.  He nodded at Amar, Shady and Stripe had disappeared
without him noticing.  But if this was hard for him it must be so much worse
for his friends who had lived here, had friends and family here.

“I do not
believe that there are any of the enemy left within the city, but we must be
careful.  We will work our way down each street and check every house.”

Ramaeka nodded
again his heart sinking at the thought of the huge city.  With only two of them
checking this would be an arduously difficult task.

“We can only
do what we can,” Amar said softly guiding Ramaeka towards a house by his arm.

They searched
house after house.  Every time that he opened a new door Ramaeka seemed to find
a new tragedy, some fresh horror to haunt him.  He didn’t understand this.  He
had seen full grown dragons battle to the death in sometimes senseless duels,
and he knew that his father had killed some of his own children as infants.
But this was wholesale slaughter, not even the human’s pets had been spared.
If this was war then he never wanted to see a part of it again.

Covered in
grime and mud, ashes burning his eyes, he continued to search without hope,
unsure of how long he had been working.  He had even lost sight of Amar at some
point during the afternoon and now the sun had disappeared and still he
continued to search through the darkness.  Walking into a new house he called
out hoarsely, not expecting a reply as he tiredly searched each room.  In one
of the back rooms he found the bodies of a man and a woman.  From the look of
the room and the bodies, the pair had fought hard to protect themselves.
Picking up a colourful rug he spread it over their bodies.

A whimper
caught his sharp ears.  Turning he scanned the room intently; everything had
been knocked over and destroyed.  However his sharp eyes caught sight of an
irregularity in the floor where the rug had been.  He ran his fingers over the
area, his nails catching slightly on the edge of a very well hidden trap door.
Who ever had built this had known what they were doing.

“It’s alright,”
he called out soothingly, his heart lifting at the possibility of finding
somebody who had survived.  “I’m not here to hurt you, I’m here to help.”

He lifted the
trapdoor up and peered down.  Five children squatted in the damp hole beneath,
staring suspiciously up at him.

“It’s ok,” he
said quietly.  “The army has moved on.  Let’s get you out of there and see if
we can find some food and water ok?”

The children
still didn’t move.  Reaching down he pulled one by the arm.  The little girl
immediately started to cry.

“Hush,” he
soothed her gently.  “Look at me I’m only a kid as well, I’m definitely not
part of any army.”

After some
persuasion he finally managed to cajole the rest out of the hole.  The oldest
was around his age and she quickly rounded up the children and took them into
the kitchen.  Ramaeka followed wondering how to get hold of Amar.

“Do you know
what happened?” he asked the oldest girl.

She shook her
head.  “No, everything was normal, Ma and Pa was getting us ready for schooling
then these giant bird things attacked the city.  Ma and Pa made us get into the
hole.”  She stopped there obviously unable to go on, tears flooding her cheeks.

“I’m sorry,”
Ramaeka said helplessly, putting his hand on her shoulder.

“Ramaeka,”
called a voice from outside.

“I’m in here,”
he called back.  “I found some survivors.”

Shady walked
in.  Ramaeka did a double take as he took in the appearance of his friend.  He
was covered in so much ash, blood and muck that Ramaeka almost didn’t recognise
him.  Tear tracks marked his face though he appeared calm.

“Good work kid,”
he croaked.  “Amar’s got a place set up for survivors, he sent me here to find
you.”

Ramaeka didn’t
question how Amar knew he was here; he just nodded tiredly and turned to the
children.  Between the two of them he and Shady managed to herd them to the
large building where Amar was looking after those who had managed to survive.
He was bandaging a man’s arm as Ramaeka entered and only looked up to wave
quickly.  Several haggard appearing women appeared seemingly from nowhere and
took the children under their wings.  Relieved Ramaeka followed Shady over to a
man serving water from a huge barrel of water.  He gave each of them a cupful
before waving them on.  There was little chatter in the room; it seemed as if
everybody was still too shocked to talk about what had happened.

He sipped at
his water as he followed Shady.

“Where did all
these people come from?” he asked voice cracking tiredly.

“Who knows,”
Shady replied shrugging tiredly.  “Found some hiding in a well, some of them
ran into the woods and hid, most just found themselves alive when they thought
they were dead.”

He drank the
last of his water and stood with a sigh.  “Still gotta check out the rest of
the eastern part of the city.  You coming?”

Ramaeka nodded
and, ignoring the ache in his feet and legs, followed him out.  As they walked
eastwards, Ramaeka noticed more people searching and helping others.

“There’s more
alive than I thought,” he said to himself.

“Not many
though, not from a city of thousands.”

Shady pointed
down one street.  “You check that one and I’ll check the next one.  Meet you at
the end.”

Ramaeka nodded
and got to work.

It was seven
streets later when he found Stripe.  It was the second to last dwelling on a
street which was full of small rundown houses.  Ramaeka noticed a light
flickering through one of the smashed windows.  Entering cautiously he called
out as he checked the rooms.  In the room with the light he found his friend.

Covered in
blood and dirt Stripe was kneeling beside the bodies of three men and two
women.  The tears that rolled down his face were the only part of him that
looked alive.  Ramaeka put a hand on his shoulder hesitantly, jumping slightly
as Stripe looked up at him.

“I hated them
but I didn’t want this to happen,” he told Ramaeka in a tone of bewilderment.

“I’m sorry,”
Ramaeka pulled his friend into an awkward hug as he began to sob.  He noticed
an open trapdoor made from stone.  They must have tried to hide down there he
thought and been dragged out.

“That’s where
they used to put me,” Stripe said pulling back and indicating the stone
trapdoor.  “When I did something wrong they would chuck me down there with all
the monsters.  Kind of a twist that the monsters pulled them out of there huh?”
He hung his head.  “I used to wish they were dead, does that make me a bad
person?”

“Come on,” he
pulled Stripe to his feet.  “I feel the same way about my family.  It doesn’t
mean that you really wanted them dead no matter what you say.  And you saved me
so I know you’re a good person.”

Stripe nodded
jerkily wiping at his face.

“I’m gonna get
something to cover them ok?”

Ramaeka helped
him to cover his family with several blankets that Stripe had found.  They
walked out together.

“Thanks Ra,”
Stripe said softly glancing over at him.  “Didn’t mean to go all mushy on you.”

“You’re always
mushy to me,” Ramaeka smiled at him, shoving him gently.  Stripe ducked his
head in embarrassment and started to walk up the street as Ramaeka followed.

“Hey,” Shady
called out to them walking down the street.  They stopped and waited for him.

“Part of the
King’s army just arrived; they’re finishing the search through the city.  Amar
said to bring you both back to get some food and some rest.”

Ramaeka sighed
in relief, help had arrived, and though he still wasn’t sure what a king was,
he guessed it must be a very good thing.

When he
arrived back at Amar’s base the area seemed to be dominated by men and women
dressed alike in green and gold.  Ramaeka stumbled over to Amar feeling
completely exhausted.  His friend was talking quietly to a stout, grizzled man
dressed in the same green and gold uniform.  However, even through his
exhaustion Ramaeka recognised a natural air of command about the man.  As he
sat down, Amar introduced the man as General Grady.  The General nodded at him
politely.

“Amar was just
telling me how hard you and your friends worked to help the survivors.”

Ramaeka
shrugged tiredly.  “We did our best; I never knew war was like this.”

The General
nodded grimly.  “This wasn’t war lad, this was a massacre.  But there will be
war as soon as we catch up to the miserable animals that did this.”

Ramaeka’s
stomach churned at the thought of more death, he bowed his head to hide his
reaction not wanting this commanding man to think him weak.

“Gasha’s army
will not be defeated by one battalion,” Amar murmured as Stripe and Shady
joined them carrying food and drink.  Shady silently handed Ramaeka a plate of
food and a jug of water.

“You mean
you’ve only got one battalion?” Stripe asked incredulously.  “Where’s the rest
of the King’s army?  We should be throwing all of our forces at them.”

“King Phaenin
feels that the rest of the army will be needed to defend himself,” the General
replied calmly.  “As that is where Gasha is ultimately headed, up to the
capital.  We were further south helping fight against raiders when we were
recalled.  Our instructions are to stop or at least slow his army down.”

“That’s
ridiculous!” Stripe exclaimed furiously his voice rising.  “The capital is at
the top of the peninsula!  What about all the cities in between?  All the
innocent people?”

The General
frowned sternly at him.

“He is our
King and when I became a knight in his army I took sacred vows to obey him
without fail.  I promise you this I personally will stop at nothing to destroy
this madman, I will gladly give my own life if necessary.  This is the third
city he’s wiped out in the last two weeks.”

He stopped and
looked at Stripe thoughtfully.

“We’re always
accepting new soldiers if you’re interested.”

“We’re not,”
Shady interrupted firmly ignoring Stripe as he scowled at him.

“Where are you
headed next General?  If I may ask?” Amar asked quietly.

“The next city
they will hit is Jangor,” the General informed him.  “He’ll find that one a lot
harder to take than this.”

“Why?” Ramaeka
asked absently chewing on a piece of bread.

“Jangor is a
natural fortress,” Amar explained.  “The city is set into the side of a cliff
and walled off completely at the front.  It is a trading city which is often targeted
by sea and land raiders, therefore its defences are impressive.”

“But not
enough without reinforcement,” the General interjected.  “Especially with the
flyers Gasha’s wrangled up, but perhaps if we can get there first they might
have a chance.”

“Can you get
there faster?” Stripe asked intently leaning forward.

“I hope so.
Gasha is taking the long way around along the great northern road.  There’s a
shorter way that only a few people know about,” he grinned.  “And I am one of
those people.”

“What about
the flyers?” Amar asked.  “Have you conceived a plan for fighting them?”

“I’ve been talking
to a few Dragons who might be willing to help out”

Ramaeka’s head
snapped up so fast his neck cricked, the others were staring at General Grady
in shock.

“Dragons?”
Stripe gasped.  “But we can’t trust them.”

“There’s only
a small group that still hunt humans and soon hopefully that will be made
completely illegal.  I’m not saying that I have their help yet, but I have
spoken to one dragon in particular with a lot of power.  He told me he would
try his best to bring some fighters.”

“And you trust
him to keep his word?” Stripe raised an eyebrow.

“I do,” the
General countered firmly.  “A dragon never breaks his word; they hold honour
even higher than us people.  Plus I know this dragon very well, as does the
King.”

“Sir?”

A soldier
saluted the General.

“Alright, I’m
coming.”  He stood up and nodded to the group.  “Lads, it was a pleasure
meeting you.  Perhaps we’ll see you on the battlefield.”

Ramaeka
watched him leave feeling slightly numb.  Was it possible he wondered, dragons
in an alliance with humans?  And which dragon was he talking about.  A hand
shook his shoulder pulling him away from his thoughts.  Stripe indicated his
plate of food.

“Keep eating
Ra, you’re going to need your strength.”

Though he
wasn’t hungry, Ramaeka forced himself to keep eating.  Never thought I’d see
the day where I didn’t feel hungry he thought faintly amused.

“What are the
three of you going to do now?” Amar asked.

“We should
fight,” Stripe replied immediately.  “Help stop this from happening again.”

“No way,”
Shady said flatly.  “We’re thieves not warriors.”

“What do you
think Ramaeka?” Amar looked at him.

“He’s too
young to fight,” Stripe dismissed instantly.

What did he
think? Ramaeka wondered to himself.  To tell the truth he was thinking that he
never wanted to see what he had seen today again, he just wanted to leave with
his friends and pretend it had never happened.  But you’ll know it’s still
happening, the annoyingly persistent voice in his head pointed out.  And that
was the problem really; it was time he started acting like a real dragon, and
fought for what he believed in.  He would have to tell them what he was, and
soon he thought as he looked at his friends sad, tired faces.  But not today.

“I want to
fight,” he said interrupting Stripe and Shady’s argument.

They all
looked at him in surprise.

“You’re too
young,” Stripe said.  “If we go to war then you’re staying here where you’re
safe.”

Ramaeka stood
up to his fullest height.  “I am not your son or your little brother, I am your
friend,” he told Stripe fiercely.  “And I can make my own choices, I want to
fight and make sure that this does not happen again and to make sure that it
doesn’t happen to you and Shady and Amar and everybody back in Talok!”

He glared down
at them.  Shady tugged on his arm and pulled him down.

“Touching as
that is, we are not going to fight.”

He waved at
Stripe to be quiet.

“I’m the only
one old enough to fight anyway, the rest of you are all under eighteen.  But
we’re not fighting, we’re thieves not warriors.  I know you love waving that
sword of yours around,” he said scathingly to Stripe who glared at him.  “And
maybe you’re decent enough at fighting one on one with someone who isn’t going
to try and kill you, but this is different.  There are no rules.  And if you
run off you’ll be risking my life and probably Ramaeka’s because we will follow
you.  Do you think you could live with yourself if one of us dies?”

He stopped and
stared at Stripe until he hung his head.  Really that was going a bit far
thought Ramaeka a little shocked.

“That’s a bit
unfair,” he told Shady.

“No he’s right,”
Stripe interrupted him dejectedly.  “I can’t risk your lives.  I’m going to get
some air.”

He walked
dejectedly out of the building; Shady followed him a moment later.

Ramaeka
suddenly remembered Amar.

“What are you
going to do?” he asked curious.

Amar smiled
tiredly.

“Follow you.”

“Me?” Ramaeka
asked in surprise.

“Yes, you my
friend.”  He stood up and stretched.  “Come, let us find somewhere to rest.”

Ramaeka
didn’t think he would be able to sleep that night but as soon as his head hit
the ground he was gone.  He woke abruptly to find Shady standing over him.  As
he sat up Shady passed him his pack.

“We’re leaving
if you still want to travel with us,” he said abruptly before walking away.

Ramaeka leapt
up and followed him to where Amar and Stripe were waiting.  Shady led the way
through the grim rubble of the streets and out of the city.

“Where are we
going?” Ramaeka asked Stripe in a whisper.

His friend
frowned down at the ground before replying.

“North-west,
up towards the capital.”

He sped up and
joined Shady at the front.  Ramaeka turned back and took one last look at the
ruined city before following his friends into the night.

Chapter Seven

By nightfall
the fallen city could no longer be seen as the fields gave way to an eerily
enclosing forest.  The dampening effect of the trees was only exacerbated by
the unnerving silence amongst the group.

Usually
Ramaeka and Stripe would be joking around, racing each other or trying to trip
the other up.  Amar would walk gracefully behind or beside them, occasionally
pointing out something of interesting or disappearing for awhile before
returning with some strange plant or fruit for them to try. Shady would be out
in front, scouting and pretending to ignore the rest of them, but dropping back
to make a sarcastic comment or observation every now and then.

Now they
walked single file, Stripe in the lead followed by Shady, Amar and finally
Ramaeka himself.  He wondered when they would stop for the night, they had been
walking all day without break and it was already getting dark.  I’ve done more
walking since I met Stripe and Shady than I’ve done since my father let me live
as a baby, he thought in disgust stopping to adjust one of his boots.  Horrible
human torture devices he thought fiercely, he didn’t care what the others
thought, he was going barefoot from now on.  Tying the offending items to his
pack, he turned to find that the others had disappeared.  He quickly hurried
after them.  The trees were immense in this forest, tall, dark and forbidding.
Ramaeka rather got the feeling that this was an ancient forest, and one filled
with a lot of wild beasts.  Not that he was worried of course, he was an earth
dragon.  Generally he got along with anything that grew and most beasts would
be scared off by the scent of a dragon, but his friends might not be so lucky.

Climbing a
small hill, following the group’s scent, he looked down into a surprisingly
open glade.  A small stream trickled down through its centre from the forest
covered hills.  His friends were quietly setting up camp beside the stream,
gathering dry sticks and grass for the fire.  He limped down to the water and
flopped down to examine his feet.  Despite his tough hide the horrid boots had
given him blisters.  He dunked them into the cold stream with a sigh of relief
and lay back.  After a few minutes Amar joined him, rolling up his breeches and
putting his feet into the stream as well.  They watched the fading sunlight
playing over the clouds in silence.

“Do you know
what this forest is?” Amar broke the silence.

“No, but if
feels old and grumpy,” Ramaeka replied with a yawn.

“Yes, it is
one of the first forests made when the worlds were created,” Amar said
quietly.  “Sometimes you can even meet some of the Avari still roaming here.”

“The Avari?”
Ramaeka asked genuinely curious now.

Amar flicked a
pebble into the stream.  “The animals, the first of their kind were created
before even Rama existed and are both powerful and dangerous.”

“That can’t be
right,” Ramaeka objected.  “Rama created everything in the beginning.”

“No in the
beginning there was nothing and everything.  Then there was darkness and
light.  There were many beings created before Rama was born, he is the last of
the first.”

Amar stared at
the passing clouds, still illuminated by the faint light of the descending
sun.  Despite his exhaustion, Ramaeka’s thoughts churned, had Rama really
created all nine hundred and seventy-two worlds and their peoples then?  That
was the tale, though only four hundred and twelve worlds had been discovered by
Amarian travellers.

“Come,” Amar
tugged at his arm.  “Tonight I will teach you to shape magic for use in battle.”

Immediately
distracted Ramaeka nodded eagerly and followed him to where Stripe and Shady
were sitting by the small fire they had built.

“Here,” said
Stripe gruffly, passing Ramaeka a small pot.  “Put some of that on your feet,
it’ll help.”

“Thanks,” he
replied with a meek smile.  “Amar said he’d teach me how to use magic in battle
tonight if you want to join us?”

He felt
strangely formal, having to ask Stripe, who usually just leapt in anyway.

“After dinner,
it’s my turn to cook tonight.”

Ramaeka nodded
then sat and opened the pot Stripe had given him.  It smelt almost like mint
and something else that tickled his nose.  Concentrating he tapped his magic.
It was becoming easier and easier to do so as he learnt how to use and control
it the way Amar did.  He looked at the pot again; there was definitely a glint
of magic in it.  This was probably expensive stuff.

He scooped a
little bit out and dabbed it over his aching feet.  The pain disappeared almost
instantly and he sighed with relief.

“That’s good
stuff,” he told Stripe, watching as the swelling on his feet went down.

“I got it in
the very south of the country from some monk,” Stripe explained as he dropped
several herbs into the cooking pot and stirred.  “Cost a fair amount but it was
worth it.”

Ramaeka hummed
in agreement.

After dinner,
once Ramaeka had cleaned up, Amar gathered them together for their first lesson
in magical combat.

“It is easy to
draw upon your magic, but to create a weapon of pure magic with any real
strength you will need to be able to hold the form at all times, even once you
have thrown it.”

He stopped and
held out his hand palm up; incandescent white magic began to swirl over top of
his palm.  Once it was the size of his fist he stopped.

“You need to
compress it, make sure it is completely solid,” he said concentrating on the
ball of magic which darkened, tightening in on itself.

“The more
compressed it is the more powerful, the more explosive.”

He pulled his
hand down leaving the magic ball floating in midair.

“You see if
you can control your magic, you can send it anywhere.  You can make it dodge
and chase until it impacts with your chosen target.”

The ball of
magic skimmed away from him, twisting around Ramaeka, who squeaked in
surprise.  Amar smiled and with a wave of his hand sent the ball flying into a
moss covered boulder across the clearing.  The ball exploded with an eye
watering flash.  When the smoke cleared Ramaeka saw that the rock had
completely disintegrated.

Stripe let out
a whistle and walked over to examine where the boulder had been.

“You can make
them as small or as big as you wish,” Amar continued blithely.  “But you must
remember your magic is also the force that keeps you alive.  If you use it all,
you will kill yourself.”

He looked them
over; Ramaeka raised his chin, he wasn’t afraid to try this.

“If you are
ready shall we make an attempt?” Amar asked.

“Definitely.”

“Absolutely.”

“I’m ready!”

He smiled at
them.  “Very well, there are three smaller rocks over here.  Line up in front
of one, they will be your targets.”

Eagerly
Ramaeka bound over to stand in front of a rock.  This was going to be simple he
thought smugly, after practicing the same thing with fire magic, throwing pure
magic would be easy.  Technically it was really the same thing.  He held out
his right hand and concentrated on pulling his magic into his palm.  He was
surprised to find that his magic seemed to have grown somewhat.  Amar was
right, the more he used it the more it grew.  He pulled some of it to his palm;
soon he had a lumpy ball the size of a small orange.

“Good,” Amar’s
voice murmured in his ear.  “Now make it solid.”

Ramaeka pushed
down on the wispy ball with his mind.  Immediately power squished out the sides
as if it was a cake filled with cream.  Scowling, he pushed the sides in too.
Now he had a square of magic, which was still leaking in small strands, he yanked
at one of the escaping strands and pushed it back in.  Several other strands
immediately started floating out.  Struggling he kept pulling them back in
while trying to concentrate on keeping the magic on his palm.  This was much
harder than the fire spell, with that you just released a stream of fire magic,
none of this making a ball nonsense.  A yelp beside him caused him to lose
concentration and he watched in dismay as his square, wispy magic ball
disappeared.  He sighed and turned to see what had happened with the others.

Stripe was
sitting on the ground holding his hand over his cheek.  Amar crouched beside
him and pulled his hand away to check his wound.

“Just a small
scorch mark,” he said calmly.  “Put a dab of that cream of yours on it.  You do
not need to hold it so close to your face.”

Stripe
grumbled as he got to his feet, he looked up and saw Ramaeka grinning at him.
He smiled sheepishly, and then winced as it stretched the raw burn on his
cheek.  As he dabbed ointment cautiously on his face Ramaeka glanced over at
Shady and sniggered.  Following his gaze Stripe laughed.  Shady’s ball of magic
had somehow grown tentacles which were reaching up towards his face.  He danced
around trying to avoid them before finally dropping it, yanking his hand away
and jumping backwards as it hit the ground with a bang.

Stripe and
Ramaeka howled with laughter, as Shady stared in shock at the small crater in
the soil.  The miserable ball in Ramaeka’s stomach unwound as the tension
between them melted away like snow in the summer sun.

“I didn’t know
you could dance so well,” Stripe choked out.

“Shut up,”
Shady growled.  “Don’t see you doing any better.”

“He is correct,”
Amar said unconcerned, “He is the only one who has managed to disintegrate
anything so far.  Perhaps you two should try again.”

Still
sniggering the two of them turned back to their rocks.  Ramaeka pulled on his
magic again; it seemed to come through even faster.  He tried to squish it into
a ball shape but once again threads of magic kept attempting to drift away.

Think he told
himself sternly, there’s got to be a way to tighten it up.  You’re a dragon not
a human, the voice in his head informed him; you shouldn’t even be doing this
in your lesser form.  Shut up he growled, scowling at the floating mess in
front of him.  Wait perhaps that’s it he thought suddenly.  I’m an earth
dragon, and earth is compressed, maybe if I treat it like that in my mind.

He closed his
eyes firmly and imagined the ball as a tightly packed ball of earth.

“Good, now
let us see you move it,” Amar interrupted him.

He opened his
eyes to see a solid ball of magic floating in front of him.  Ok don’t lose it
now he told himself.  Keeping a tight hold of it with his mind he slowly and
painfully floated it towards his rock.  Slowly inch by inch it moved closer
until it hovered above it.  Too tired to hold it any longer, Ramaeka let it
go.  It dropped onto the rock and exploded; he yelped and held up his arm to
cover his face as chips of rock zipped through the air.

“Well, that
was interesting,” Stripe commented.

Peering over
his arm Ramaeka saw that his rock had shattered rather than disintegrated.

“That is why
you need to control the ball until the moment it connects with the target.
Ramaeka’s ball started to lose its shape and intensity in that last moment
because he dropped it, therefore it caused the rock to explode rather than
disintegrate,” Amar explained.

“How is this
useful in battle though?” asked Stripe serious once again.  “It’s taken us four
hours to make two magic balls each.”

Amar held up
his hand, balls of energy flooded the air around him.  Gently he waved, making
the shimmering lights swirl around him.

“As you get
stronger and learn more, it will become much faster.  Eventually if you keep
training you will be able to control hundreds at the same time, and call them
up in an instant.”

He gestured
deftly drawing the magic back in to his skin.

Ramaeka would
have been more impressed but he felt as if he was the one who had been
shattered, not the rock.  He groaned and walked over to his bed bone tired.

“I think I’ve
had enough training for tonight,” he told them flopping on to his blanket.  His
right arm suddenly cramped with an almost crippling pain.  I’ve really over
done it he thought clutching his arm.  However after a few moments the pain
subsided to his relief.  Shady walked over and joined him, crawling into his
own blankets.

“Just one more
go,” Stripe said firmly.  Ramaeka watched as he drew on his magic.  He had
trouble shaping it struggling to keep magic from escaping out the sides or from
the top.  He probably can’t concentrate properly with everything that has
happened Ramaeka thought, he could certainly understand that.  Finally Amar
told Stripe to stop and get some rest.  The last thing that Ramaeka saw before
he drifted off to sleep was Stripe sitting staring into the fire, shadows
playing on his face.

By the time
they awoke the next morning gloom had once more settled over the group, the
levity of the night before forgotten.  Several times they passed soldiers
heading in the opposite direction.  Each time Ramaeka watched as Stripe’s gaze
followed them until they were out of sight.  He wondered if one morning they
would just wake up to find Stripe gone.  I’ll still follow you, he told the
Stripe in his mind fiercely.

As they walked
Stripe continued to try and get his magic into shape on his palm.  At one point
he was concentrating so hard that he walked into a tree.  Normally Ramaeka
would have laughed his head off, but today he was so depressed and worried
about his friend he couldn’t even muster a smile.  The ancient forest seemed to
be closing in on them again and Ramaeka was sure that at one point he saw a
huge hairy animal watching them from afar.  Finally, sick of the air of
despondency hanging over the group, he stopped in a small sunny glade and
dropped his pack.

“What are you
doing?” Shady asked frowning.

“Stopping for
midday meal,” he told him.  “We might as well, we’re all tired and we’re not in
a hurry to get anywhere.”

Shady and
Stripe both hesitated but when Amar sat down, they both dropped their packs as
well.  As they sat down, Ramaeka walked into the trees.

“I’m going to
find us something to eat, make sure you stay here,” he called back to them
ignoring their protests.

After only a
short trek through the dense undergrowth he was lucky enough to scent two
rabbits.  He stalked and killed them both in almost record time, apologising to
their spirits as he skinned them.  As he started to head back, he heard voices
coming from somewhere off to his right.  Curious he followed the sound taking
care to make no noise himself; there was no telling what was out here.  It was
almost half an hour before he finally found the source in an area where the
trees thinned into one of the strange sudden openings.  It was as if it had
once been carefully cultivated though it had obviously been abandoned for a
long time.  Two women were standing beside several apple trees, pulling ripe
fruit from the branches to fill their packs.  One of the women seemed to have
purple hair, fascinated Ramaeka crept closer.  The other woman was blonde and,
with a pang, Ramaeka thought of Alekra.  It seemed so long ago now since he sat
in front of her cave and talked to her.

Unlike Alekra
both of these women were clearly fighters.  They wore armour over leather
tunics, the steel of the armour decorated with intricate patterns and runes.
They were also covered in weaponry of all kinds which Ramaeka had never seen
before.  He leant forward to get a better view; Stripe would like to hear about
the different weapons they carried.

He must have
made some noise, because suddenly the purple haired woman swept a bow expertly
arming it and pointing in his direction.

“Who’s there?”
she growled.

He stood up
and walked out towards them, after all they had apples which were Stripe’s favourite
and would make a great addition to his supplies.  They both scowled ferociously
at him as he walked forward, the blond picked up a massive axe, hefting its
bulk with ease.

“Hello,” he
said politely smiling at them.  “Do you mind if I gather some apples too?”

“Yeah we do
actually,” the blond eyed him up coldly, fingering the blade of her axe.  “We
do not want our supplies contaminated by some man child.”

“Oh sorry,”
Ramaeka said confused.  “Er, are you allergic to boys then?”

The blond
glared at him; however the purple haired woman snorted in amusement, lowering
her bow.

“Let him be
Gelber, he’s just a boy,” she told her companion sliding the arrow back into
the quiver slung across her back.

Turning to
Ramaeka she looked him over.  “Tell you what little boy; you can have some of
the apples in exchange for one of your rabbits.  Game is unusually hard to find
in this forest.”

“Sure,”
Ramaeka said cheerfully, it wasn’t as if he couldn’t find some more after all.

“But wait,” he
frowned.  “Won’t you get sick, if I’ve contaminated it?”

The woman
laughed.  “Nay we won’t get sick; our tribe just do not get along well with men.”

“Oh,” Ramaeka
replied pulling off one of the rabbits.  “That’s good then.  But you’re not
from this forest?”

“Nor even this
world,” purple hair replied examining the rabbit.  “We have travelled here to
find the one they call Gasha.”

“Gasha,”
Ramaeka scowled.  “That evil son of a wavaki just massacred a city over that
way.”  He pointed back the way he had come.

“The General
is going to fight him and his army over at another city more to the north I
think.”

“Do you know
where?”

Both women
studied him intently now.

“No,” he said
slowly.  “I’m not really from around here myself, but my friends know where it
is, I can take you back to where I left them if you want?”

“We would be
grateful,” purple hair told him.  “We too seek to battle him.  He massacred his
way through our world, killing some of our sisters and many of our Girdin,” she
paused.  “My name is Parrit and this is my sister warrior Gelber.”

“It’s a
pleasure to meet two warriors such as your selves, especially if you mean to
fight Gasha,” Ramaeka told them bowing.  “My name is Ramaeka.”

Parrit grinned
at him.  “It’s nice to meet a male with a little respect.  The men of our world
would never refer to a woman as a warrior.”

“Well they’re
not very smart then,” Ramaeka frowned.  “I’ve never met two people who look
more like warriors than you two.”

He yanked off
his shirt, tying the arms and neck with string to make a sack for the apples.
Parrit kindly helped him to fill while asking about the massacre at Porkae.
The blonde glowered unnervingly at him as they worked causing him to fumble
occasionally.  He was relieved when they finished and he could finally lead
them back towards where he had left his friends.  As he emerged, Shady whacked
him lightly across the back of the head.

“You’ve been
gone for hours,” he said annoyed.

“We were
getting worried,” Stripe said frowning at him.

“Sorry,” he
replied sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.  “I ran into these two warrior
women in an apple grove.  They want to know where to go to fight Gasha.”

Stripe and
Shady both gawped as the two women followed him into the clearing.  Ramaeka grinned
as the two women glared at them.

“It is a
pleasure to have two of the women warriors of Shapir at our camp,” Amar said
formally, rising to bow slightly at them.

The women
blinked in surprise at that.

“Thank you
young one, it is nice to meet one with manners,” Parrit replied glancing coolly
at the other two boys.  Both quickly dropped their gazes blushing furiously.

“My apologies,”
Stripe said recovering himself.  “Any warrior who fights against Gasha is
welcome.”

“Thank you,”
Parrit replied walking into the glade and seating herself near Amar.  Gelber
seated herself across from her companion glowering at the rest of them, her axe
resting on her knees.

“Ramaeka why
don’t you give that rabbit to Shady to cook, I’m sure our guests will join us
for a meal,” Amar said calmly.

Ramaeka handed
the rabbit to Shady with a grin and went to find some water to clean up.  By
the time that he had come back, laden with some watercress that he had found by
a small stream, Shady had a pot of rabbit stew bubbling over a fire and the
women were telling the other boys their story.

“.. and he
slaughtered many of our Girdin which was an inconvenience.”

“What are
Girdin?” Ramaeka interrupted.

“Sorry,” he
added hastily as Amar frowned at him.

Parrit
shrugged.

“Our male
stock so to speak.”

At Ramaeka’s
confused expression she elaborated.

“Our people
are all female; it is rare that we allow men into our sacred forest and halls.
The Girdin live beyond our borders and in exchange for our protection they help
us with the burden of breeding.”

“So wait,”
Stripe said slowly.  “You protect their borders and uh, they help you have kids?”

“Exactly.”

“But they
don’t call you warriors?” Ramaeka asked trying to hide the unease he felt.
This was completely different from what his father had planned with Alekra.

“Nay, they
call us Langney,” Gelber said grimly.  “That means she-demon or unnatural witch.”

“Never the
less, they were under our protection and we failed them.  That and the murder
of several of our sisters spurred Gelber and I to take an oath to find and kill
the miserable rat Gasha.”

“This is a
grim undertaking,” Amar commented softly.  “Especially as you have been drawn
out of the sacred land.”

Ramaeka
watched with interest as Gelber and Parrit exchanged startled looks.

“What does
that mean?” he asked.

“It is unusual
for an outsider to know of our ways.”  Parrit looked intently at Amar for an
explanation.

“I have
travelled much in my time,” he said meeting her eyes fearlessly.

Uneasily she
looked away.

“We are not
permitted to leave our lands save once a year if we wish to breed.  By doing so
both Gelber and I have forsaken our vows to our people.  It is unlikely that we
will be allowed to return despite our council’s approval for our vengeance.”

“That’s tough,”
Stripe said.

“It is the way
of things,” she shrugged.  “Ramaeka said you would be able to point out the
direction in which Gasha was travelling?”

“Of course we
will explain how to get there,” Amar was telling them.

“Thank you,”
Parrit replied gratefully.  “I am surprised though that the three of you are
not headed into battle, having seen such atrocities in this city you left.”

“We can’t take
Ramaeka into battle,” Stripe said staring at his hands glumly.

“Don’t make
this about me,” Ramaeka interrupted firmly.  “I wanted to fight and I still do.”

“You’re a bit
young boy, even our younger warriors do not begin to fight until they are
fourteen,” Gelber said eyeing him with interest.

“I am fourteen,”
he replied fiercely.  “And I don’t care; I want to protect my friends.  And
anyway if this man can’t be stopped then he’ll just end up taking over and
killing everyone anyway.  Or at least making us slaves or something.”

“He has a
point,” Amar interjected calmly.  “Gasha has already ravaged several worlds.
His army has become immense from warriors, willing or not, that have joined,
that includes beasts and monsters of great evil who are willing to follow a
strong master.  The army at Jangor really has little hope against such forces,
but if they fall then this world will as well.”

“You think we
should let a fourteen year old go to war then?” Stripe said sarcastically.
“How long do you think he’ll last against an army like that?”

“I am saying
that at this point every man; woman and child should be given the choice.
Stand and fight now or run and hope that those brave enough to fight will pull
off a miracle,” Amar replied meeting Stripes glare steadily.  “Ramaeka is much
stronger than you seem to think.  There are few fourteen year old boys that
could endure what he has already endured.”

Stripe dropped
his gaze, fists clenching.

“You wish to
fight then?” Parrit asked Amar.

“I wish to
help, but I will not leave Ramaeka either,” Amar replied glancing over at him.

Ramaeka met
his gaze in surprise.

“Then you’ll
fight if I do?” he asked unsurely.  “You’re one of the most powerful people
I’ve ever met and I don’t think I’ve seen even a part of your real power yet.
The people at Jangor need you.”

“I know,” Amar
replied uncomfortably, ducking his head.  “I will not go without you though.”

Ramaeka rubbed
a hand through his hair, this was hard.  He knew that Amar was very powerful,
that he could change the course of the war.  He didn’t understand why he
wouldn’t leave without him, Ramaeka.  Stripe was right he was only a kid, and
this was a lot of responsibility.  Looking around at the faces of his friends,
he knew what he needed to do.

“Stripe,” he
said.  His friend looked up at him, face haggard from worry.

“I want to
fight, and I know that Amar will be a big help in the battle.  But you’re my
best friend and I won’t leave without you either.”

Stripe met his
gaze intently before looking over at Shady who was glaring at the ground.
Taking a deep breath he straightened, clearly having made up his mind.

“We fight then,”
he said firmly.  “Maybe we won’t make a difference but I won’t be ruled by
someone like Gasha.”

He glanced
over at Shady who looked back at him in frustration, before shrugging and going
back to his cooking.

“That’s the
spirit.”  Parrit leant over and whacked Stripe on the back almost sending him
to the ground.  Ramaeka grinned in relief as his friend smiled weakly at the
warrior woman, rubbing his back.  Finally the decision was made and a weight
seemed to lift off the camp, the light heartedness affecting even the two tough
female warriors.  The only person that remained gloomy was Shady who sat by
himself.  He ignored everybody, even Stripe when he tried to talk to him.
Stripe finally sighed and walked over to join Ramaeka.

“Will he be ok?”
Ramaeka asked his friend anxiously.  “I didn’t mean to upset him.”

“Don’t worry
about it,” Stripe replied scuffing up his hair and grinning as Ramaeka tried to
smooth it back down, scowling at him.  “I’m glad we made this choice, it didn’t
feel right leaving.”

“Yeah,”
Ramaeka sighed.  “I just wish Shady felt that way.”

“He does,”
Stripe said calmly.  “Deep, deep and even deeper inside of him, he’s just
scared.”

“Can’t blame
him,” Ramaeka said.  “There’s some scary stuff out there.”

“Like Amar,”
Stripe replied with a grin.  “He scares me a bit sometimes.”

“Me too,”
Ramaeka grinned.  “But I know that he’s good, probably more good than I am.”

“Definitely
better than you,” Stripe agreed laughing.  “He doesn’t steal fruit out of my
bag when he thinks I’m not looking.”

Ramaeka
grinned at him.  “Oh no, I know that you’re watching, I just don’t care.”  He
laughed as Stripe spluttered.  Despite the decision to head to war, things were
beginning to look up.

Of course just
as everything began to work out, things took a turn for the absolute worst.
They set out on a north east route, on a shortcut that Amar knew, heading out
of the ancient forest and into open land.  Around midday just as they were
discussing a short break, Shady gave a shout and ran back to the group, shadows
sweeping over the land behind him.  The six of them stopped, looking around
wildly; there was no cover in the open fields around them.  Parrit immediately
armed her bow, while the others scrambled for weapons themselves.

With a growl,
three immense stone coloured dragons swept to the ground, surrounding the small
group.

Chapter Eight

Ramaeka ducked
behind Stripe, hiding out of sight of the dragons.  The other five stood back
to back, trying to keep their weapons trained on the encircling dragons.  This
isn’t good Ramaeka thought desperately.  They were up against three adult
dragons; Shady and Amar were not armed with anything better than knives and
slings.  Peeking around his friends, Ramaeka looked the dragons over.  Two of
them were his siblings, the other a dragon he recognised from the fortress, and
all three of them were Naight’s, the eighth level of draconian evolution.
Really, really not good.  There were only twelve stages that a dragon could
attain, most only made the seventh level.  Gelber, the tallest in their group,
barely stood as high as the smallest dragon’s knee.

The largest of
the three reared back on to his haunches.

“Well, well
what do we have here?” he growled softly looking the group over.  Ramaeka’s
heart stuttered for a moment, they were talking not in draconian, but in human.

“They can talk?”
whispered Gelber to Parrit who merely tightened her hold on her bow.

“Yes we
understand your disgusting language little animal,” one of the smaller dragons
said coldly, her tail flicking idly.

“We’re not the
animals, you are,” Stripe yelled at her.

“I marvel at
your witty rejoinder human,” sniggered the dragon.

The other
dragon, the darkest in colour, moved restlessly, his tongue flicking out as he
inched closer.

“Can we eat
them or are we taking them back for Ramanae?” he asked eagerly, eyes hungrily
sizing them up.  The largest looked them over as well.

“We’ll take
the females back; we can use them for breeding.  One of the bigger ones each to
eat and we’ll take the smaller one with us too,” he decided.

“You will not
take either of us alive,” Parrit growled fiercely.  Gelber bared her teeth at
the largest dragon.

He laughed
exposing his huge fangs, each the size of one of Gelber’s arms.  “Excellent, we
need some stock with a bit of spirit; my father will be most pleased with both
of you.”

Ramaeka gulped;
there was no way he could allow any of his friends to be taken back to his
father.  But the terror of what his friends would say if he transformed kept
him frozen to the spot.  Even if he did change he wasn’t strong enough to beat
one Naight let alone three.  He was only a Skaire, the first level of draconian
evolution.

“Come now
little friends, let’s make this easier on all of us,” the largest dragon said
smiling toothily at them.

Out of the
corner of his eye Ramaeka saw the female dragon pounce forward, trying to take
advantage of their distraction.  Parrit responded instantly aiming and shooting
from her bow.  It was a lucky shot hitting the dragon between two of her claws,
a painful weak point.  The dragon snarled with pain dropping back onto her
haunches.  The other two both jumped to the attack as well, the smaller dragon
leaping at Amar and Gelber.

But Ramaeka
had little time to pay attention as the largest lashed his tail out at Shady
and Stripe.  Shady dodged quickly to the side while Stripe leapt on top of the
dragon’s tail.  Ramaeka backed away quickly, tripping over in his haste to get
out of the way.  Stripe ran up the dragon’s body, stumbling as his opponent
twisted frantically, snarling as he attempted to capture Stripe in his jaws.
Shady took the opportunity to run in and slam two of his knives into the
dragon’s side.  He hung on grimly as the large dragon roared in pain and
twisted frantically.

Tearing his
eyes away, Ramaeka turned to check on the other three.  Amar, Gelber and Parrit
were holding their own against the other two dragons which were circling them,
looking for a weak point.  While Gelber spat curses at the growling dragons,
Amar spun a glittering web of magic around the three of them.  It hovered
around them protectively, sparking where the dragons touched it.  The holes in
the web were small enough that the dragons couldn’t break through but big
enough that Parrit could easily shoot her arrows through them.  Ramaeka
couldn’t help but be impressed by the efficiency of Amar’s magic casting.

“This is too
easy,” Gelber smirked making a rude sign with her hands at the dragons.

“Don’t say
that,” murmured Parrit as she put another arrow to her bow.  “Every time you
say that something bad happens.”

Sure enough
the female dragon took that moment to prove Parrit right.  Leaning back she
drove her tail into the ground and murmured in her own language.  The smaller
dragon fell back licking his lips in anticipation.

“What is it
doing?” Gelber asked nervously.

“I don’t know
but it can’t be good for us,” Parrit replied eyeing the dragons uneasily.

There was a
crackling roar and suddenly the ground beneath them ripped open.  The women
fell back in surprise as sharp cones of rock burst through the earth.  The
protective web of magic faltered then disappeared as Amar was thrown backwards
by the emerging rock.  He quickly rolled to his feet.

“Get away from
the rocks,” he yelled out to Gelber and Parrit, his calm demeanour broken for
the first time.  He dodged back as the smallest dragon bound towards him.

Parrit grabbed
her friend by the wrist, spurred on by the boy’s tone of voice.  The female
dragon croaked another command which made the earth shiver.  Before Gelber and
Parrit had taken more than two steps, the rock liquefied and wrapped itself
around their feet.  It seeped up their legs, stopping at their waists and
firming completely.  Both women struggled wildly to no avail.  Gelber pulled
her axe up away from the clinging rock.

“You just try
it,” she yelled furiously at the grinning dragon.

“I suggest you
drop that,” the female dragon replied sinisterly lowering her long muzzle to
Parrit whose weapons were caught in the stone.

“Or I may just
decide to eat your friend instead of taking you both back alive.”

Gelber
hesitated, her face red with fury.

“Put it down
Gelb,” Parrit said.  “It will be easier to think of a way to escape if we’re
both alive.”

Frustrated her
friend threw her weapon down in defeat.

Both Stripe
and Shady hung on to their immense opponent as he writhed and clawed at them.
Ramaeka crouched back in shame, he desperately wanted to go to their rescue but
he was terrified.  There was very little chance that his siblings wouldn’t know
him once he attacked.  It was sad really that he was more afraid of his
friends’ reactions to the truth than fighting three immense dragons who could
easily eat him for a snack.

Unable to move
he watched the struggle helplessly.

The dragon had
finally thought things through; he dropped to the ground and rolled.  With a
yell both of the boys threw themselves clear, Shady landed lightly on his feet
and scrambled backwards, new knives already in his hands.  Stripe bounced and
rolled as he hit the ground, he clambered slowly to his feet as Shady backed up
beside him.  Ramaeka watched on in horror as the largest dragon was joined by
the female.  Together they began to advance on his exhausted friends.

The smaller
dragon lowered his head menacingly as he slowly advanced on Amar, keeping his
eyes on the magic that flowed around the boy’s hands.  Amar backed up slowly
until his back hit someone else’s.  Flicking a quick glance around he found
himself back to back with Stripe and Shady.

“You put up a
decent fight,” the female dragon told them condescendingly.  “Now why don’t you
give up your weapons and we’ll make this quick and painless.”

The other two
dragons sniggered their eyes gleaming as they leant in.

Suddenly the
smallest screamed in pain and reared back.  An immense column of stone and
earth protruded from his chest.  He grappled with it for a moment before slowly
toppling over sideways.  The remaining dragons pulled back in time to avoid
similar spikes.

Ramaeka gulped
and forced himself to look away from the confused expression on the dead
dragon’s face.  Remembering Amar’s lesson on controlling magic, he had drawn
upon his own earth magic, copying his sister’s actions with the rock.  Rather
than using a spell though he had simply shaped and forced a spiral of earth and
stone up with spectacular results.  Though that was a little lost on him at the
moment as he struggled not to be sick.  He just couldn’t allow his friends to
be eaten or worse.

The female
dragon howled in fury and launched herself at him.

He
frantically gathered his magic up.  It’s not enough he thought desperately, as
she swiped an immense claw at him.

“Stop,” the
largest dragon suddenly commanded.  The female pulled back in midstrike,
looking at her remaining companion in surprise as he stepped forward.  Ramaeka
saw his friends looking at him in wonder.  He edged towards them.

“What on
Amaria is this?”

The larger
dragon growled flexing his wings and leaning towards Ramaeka.  He scented the
air thoughtfully and looked at him intently.  Recognition flickered in his
immense green eyes and he roared with laughter.

“What is it?”
the female demanded looking between the two in furious puzzlement.

“Don’t you
recognise our little brother?” the largest dragon queried lazily flicking his
tail in amusement.

Ramaeka heard
his friends gasp, but kept his eyes on his siblings.  He would have to deal
with that later.

The female
leant down and peered closely at him, he scowled at her, his fists clenching
involuntarily.

“I don’t
believe it,” she said in surprise.  “It’s the little traitor.  But I thought he
was dead.”

“I believe we
all did,” her brother replied in amusement.  He looked down at Ramaeka.

“I’m very
impressed little brother” he said.  “You survived our father, that fall into
the river and you managed to kill a higher ranked draconian.  You even managed
to blend in with the natives.  Perhaps I could persuade our father to take you
back?”

“I never want
to go back there again,” Ramaeka growled at his brother.

“Wait a moment,”
Stripe interrupted suddenly.  Ramaeka turned to his friends slowly, dreading
what he would find.  Stripe and Shady were staring at him in horror and
disbelief as were the two women from where they were trapped.  Amar met
Ramaeka’s gaze steadily and nodded at him slightly.  Surprised Ramaeka dropped
his eyes.  Perhaps he would have one friend who would stand by him after all.

“Are you
telling me that you’re one of them?” Stripe demanded.

Ramaeka
hesitated a moment, but it was time to come clean, he couldn’t avoid this
forever.

“Yes,” he
replied quietly.  Stripe stared at him for a moment longer with growing hate
and anger before turning away in disgust.  Ramaeka flinched; it was almost like
a physical blow.

“But you look
like us,” Shady stated glaring at him.

“Dragons have
two forms,” Amar murmured softly.  Stripe looked at him sharply but didn’t say
anything.

“You’re a
monster,” Shady said in horror.  “I can’t believe we let you stay with us.  You
slept next to us!”

“Being a
dragon isn’t catching,” Amar told him calmly as Ramaeka flushed and hung his
head.

“As touching
as this is,” the largest dragon drawled.  “I think it’s time to bring this
comedy to an end.”

He and his
sister stretched gracefully and moved forward.

Finally
thought Ramaeka, finally I can take my greater form without worrying.

With a growl
he stretched out loving the feel of his body smoothly transforming.  His green
eyes glowed as they changed to slit pupils, becoming flecked with gold.  His
powerful brown wings spread out wide as his long tail slid out to balance him.

For the first
time in his rather short life, and he meant no pun by that he thought
humorously, he felt really connected to the world around him.  There were no
more cold desolate mountains between him and his earth, no more of the
limitations of his lesser form or his father’s orders.  He was free and he felt
powerful.

With this new
rush of feeling, it didn’t surprise Ramaeka in the least when his siblings
stepped back slightly in surprise.  They lowered their heads and growled
softly, tails twitching as he stepped in front of his human friends.

“He’s really
small, I mean compared to them,” he heard Shady whisper behind him.  That
brought him back to his senses instantly.

‘I’m not that
small’ he thought to himself grumpily.

He eyed his
siblings warily; if he wanted to get out of this alive he would have to keep
out of reach of their superior strength and weight.  If he could do that he
might have a chance of distracting them while his friends escaped.  Keeping one
eye on the two dragons he turned slightly towards the group of humans.

“I’ll hold
them off while you get out of here,” he told them out of the side of his mouth.

His brother
snorted in amusement, recovering from his momentary surprise at Ramaeka’s
transformation.

“I’d like to
see a little lizard like you try,” he told his little brother scornfully.
Ramaeka glared at him, his claws dug into the warm earth.  He could feel a
strong sleepy power below him.  It was as if Rama himself was offering his
strength and courage to him.

His eyes
narrowed as he caught the quick signal between his brother and sister.  It was
only a flicker of the eyes but in his tensed state Ramaeka missed nothing.  He
could hear the breathing of his friends behind him as they slowly backed away.

His brother
flicked out a massive tail from the right as his sister bound in from the
left.  They were incredibly quick, Ramaeka felt the breeze from his brother’s
tail spikes as he ducked and rolled.  As he rolled he flicked his tail back to
the left, grinning savagely as his sister let out a squeal of pain and fell
back.  He twisted in the same instance and latched onto his brother’s tail with
his jaws.  A moment later he was sailing through the air and slamming back to
earth with a thud, jaws still locked tight.  His brother spun and writhed,
twisting around to grab at Ramaeka.  Luckily he still had enough sense to twist
away from his brother’s grasping claws though his head spun.  He had no idea
where his sister was or his friends, he could only hope that they had managed
to flee while she was distracted.

His jaw was
beginning to ache from holding on as his brother continued to try and dislodge
him.  Despite the danger and pain he was in he still couldn’t help but grin to
himself.  His brother must look hilarious chasing his tail like a dragonet.

He winced as
he was slammed into the ground again.  Enough was enough he thought firmly and
he dug his hind claws deep into the earth below him.  Again he became aware of
the slow, steady strength below him.  This time he called out to it pulling on
it mentally as an anchor.

His brother
grunted as he tried to pull Ramaeka up again and found himself unable to raise
his tail.  He turned in pained surprise and glared at Ramaeka ferociously.

Uh oh, Ramaeka
thought, actually that had been a bad idea.  Sure enough his brother pounced
lightning fast and slammed his massive head into Ramaeka.  The tail ripped out
of his mouth as he went skidding backwards leaving a trench in the ground
behind him.

He was fairly
sure that if he hadn’t been connected to the earth he would be dead from that
one blow, however his natural element seemed to offer him some protection and
he merely felt like he should be dead.

He shook his
aching head trying to clear his vision.  There seemed to be two of everything
all tinged in black and yellow.  He only hoped that the blow to his head hadn’t
destroyed too many of his brains, they were all he really had.  He clambered
unsteadily to his four limbs, using his tail to keep his balance.  Tentatively
he slid his claws into the earth and touched that strange magic again.
Instantly his vision cleared and the bells ringing in his ears disappeared.

His world
seemed to be covered in shadow despite the shining sun.  He looked up quickly.
His brother was rearing over him, long neck snaked out as he lunged at Ramaeka
with jaws wide open.

Ramaeka turned
to scrabble away but he was too slow and he knew it.  He flinched, waiting for
the painful descent of those gaping jaws and long sharp teeth.

There was a
booming sound that made every other sound seem hollow and distant.  Shaking
Ramaeka looked around in shock.  His brother was feebly getting to his claws.
The right side of his hindquarters was a mess, as he staggered up he was only
able to stand on three legs.

Peering around
him Ramaeka saw Stripe standing with his legs spread apart, arm still out
straight in front of him as he stared at the damage he had caused.

It took
Ramaeka a few moments to realise what had happened.  Stripe had finally managed
to make a decent energy ball.

He saved my
life, he thought numbly, in spite of everything he still saved me.  Stripe
looked up as if he had heard Ramaeka’s thoughts, then he flushed and turned
away.  Maybe there was some hope there, Ramaeka couldn’t help but feel slightly
optimistic.  He turned his attention back to his injured brother who spread his
immense wings, glaring at them.

“I won’t
forget this,” he snarled eyes trained on Ramaeka.  He met them evenly without
flinching.

His brother
snarled a curse in Amarian under his breath before launching into the sky.  He
quickly ascended and disappeared into the clouds.

A hand touched
his shoulder.  He twisted around and looked down at Amar who smiled gently at
him.  His friend had a bruise over one of his cheeks which was rapidly fading.
Ramaeka remembered the third dragon, and quickly looked around.

“What happened
to…?”

“Amar got
her.  Burnt her to a crisp,” Parrit interrupted him looking him over warily.

“Strongest
fire spell I ever saw,” Gelber said striding over with her axe over one
shoulder.

“Her stone
spell disappeared when she died,” she added stopping beside her friend and
looking him over as well.

Ramaeka
shifted uncomfortably under their scrutiny and turned back to Amar who
shrugged.

“She was about
to attack you again, so I made sure that she could not.”

What about my
brother?  Ramaeka wondered silently.  Why not kill him too?  It was as if Amar
wanted to test him.  He hoped he hadn’t failed.  He silently shifted back to
his lesser form, regretfully folding away his wings.

“Will it be
back?” Shady asked staring in the direction the dragon had flown.

“It will take
a couple of days for him to heal,” Ramaeka said meekly flinching as Shady gave
him a cold look.

“But others
may come,” Amar said calmly.  “We should continue.”

“Not with that,”
Shady said fiercely pointing at Ramaeka.  “I won’t travel with a monster.”

“It could be
useful,” Parrit said thoughtfully.

“No,” Stripe
said firmly.  He looked at Ramaeka his face expressionless.  “I never want to
see you again.”

Ramaeka watched
him sadly as he turned away.

“Let’s go,”
Stripe ordered the others, ignoring his former friend.

As the others
turned and began to walk away, Ramaeka thought that he had never felt so bad in
his entire, often miserable, life.  As he watched, Gelber and Parrit turned
back for a moment.

“Come Amar, we
have much land to travel,” Gelber called.

“I thank you
but I will remain with Ramaeka,” Amar called back politely walking over to
stand beside Ramaeka.

Shady looked
back in surprise before glaring at Ramaeka one last time.  He and the women
turned and followed Stripe who never looked back.

“Well I
suppose you and I are on our own now,” Amar said calmly.

“Yeah I
suppose,” Ramaeka replied glumly.  He glanced up at his remaining friend.

“Why did you
stay?  I don’t understand why you need me, I’m fairly sure I know who you are
now.  I mean after using the power of the earth, it’s almost the same as yours.”

“Do you?” Amar
asked sadly.  “I do not think anybody truly knows who or what I am.  Most
people fear me or wish to use me as a tool.”

“I don’t,”
Ramaeka replied honestly.  “And right now I know exactly what you mean.”

“We should
head towards some cover,” Amar said quietly walking away.

Feeling
slightly guilty, though he wasn’t entirely sure why, Ramaeka hurried after
him.  He fell into step beside him and lightly punched his arm as he would have
with Stripe.  Looking up at his astonished face he grinned.

“Thanks for
staying with me.”

Amar smiled at
him.  “I should thank you.  I have never had a friend like you before.”  His
smile faltered.

“I am afraid I
do need you for a purpose as well as for your friendship, but I will not force
you in to anything unless you are willing to help me.”

“Of course I
am,” Ramaeka rolled his eyes.  “All you had to do was ask.”

Amar smiled,
his multicoloured eyes becoming flecked with blue as they did when he seemed to
be happy.

“You obviously
need me anyway,” Ramaeka told him firmly.  “I mean ‘Amar’?  What kind of name
is that?  It’s too obvious.”

Amar laughed
at him.  “No one else has figured it out as of yet smart dragon.  I am sure you
only started to realise when I taught you how to see magic, yet the other two
did not.”

“I can’t help
being smarter than the rest,” Ramaeka told him impishly, relieved that he had
cheered his friend up.

“Come,” Amar
said speeding up slightly.  “Let us find somewhere to shelter before dark and I
will tell you everything I can.”

Chapter Nine

They found a
place to shelter for the night and set about making up camp in silence.  Amar
waved Ramaeka aside when he offered to cook.  He’d learnt the hard way that
Ramaeka was terrible at cooking, he told him to rest instead.  Amar cooked a
decent meal of rabbit stew which Ramaeka bolted down, suddenly aware that he
was exhausted and starving.  The sudden cramping pain returned briefly to burn
through his legs as he ate; however he was too impatient to hear Amar’s
explanation to pay much attention and simply pushed it to the back of his mind.

When they had
finished Ramaeka sat back and looked at Amar expectantly.  His friend stared
into their campfire, turning an apple around in his hand.

“You are not
exactly what I expected,” he said softly after a while.  “I have watched your
father for some time, and when I saw it was one of his sons that I needed, I
expected someone a little more...” he hesitated, looking over at Ramaeka who
grinned.

“I know what
my family are like, don’t worry you won’t insult me”

“Very well,”
Amar said with a small smile, “I was expecting a much rougher and more arrogant
draconian and perhaps someone a little larger.”

Ramaeka
scowled at that.  “I am growing,” he grumbled.

“To be honest
I am relieved, I prefer you very much over your brothers and sisters.  For one
thing you seem far more intelligent, I was led to believe that Ramanae
preferred his children barely educated.”

“Yeah, well,”
Ramaeka looked momentarily sheepish.  “I used to sneak into the library and
Father’s office and read the books and scrolls.  Plus you have to be smart to
stay a few steps ahead of Father.”

“Yes, well.  I
caught the end of your clash with your father.”  He raised an eyebrow “You are
rather lucky that I turned my gaze that way just as you fell.  I opened a vent
between the two worlds and made sure that you drifted up beside help.”

Ramaeka leaned
forward in surprise.  “You took me through to this world?  Why?  And why to
Stripe and Shady?  Don’t tell me that was a coincidence.”

Amar
shrugged.  “It was a little, there are other more established heroes that might
have been a better choice, however Stripe was the closest”

He looked at
Ramaeka thoughtfully, “There is far more to him than meets the eye, like you.”

“As for why I
brought you here,” he blushed.  “I made a mistake, one that I believe I will
pay for many times over before the end”

Ramaeka
scratched his head thoughtfully.  “It wouldn’t have anything to do with the
covenant that you entered with the humans?  I heard something about it at the
Conclave not so long ago.”

“I wasn’t
aware that young dragons were allowed into the Conclave,” Amar said in
amusement.  “But yes, the human leaders came to me with the idea.  A binding
covenant in which I would not interfere with humans unless it was an extreme
situation and even then that situation is to be judged by human leaders.”

“Why would you
honestly enter something like that?” Ramaeka asked rolling his eyes.  “You made
everything!”

“Yes I know,”
Amar or Rama sighed and leaned back.  “Believe it or not, I am but a child in
my people’s terms.  They made it sound glorious, I was tired and I thought a
lessening of responsibility would be wonderful.  I thought it would be good to
let them grow and learn for themselves.  I was not expecting them to be so
destructive.”

“Someone once
told me that being sentient means being able to think things through and
create, but it also comes with the ability to be destructive.  I guess you
can’t really blame them since you made them that way,” said Ramaeka wisely.

“It is a
little more complicated than that, but I do not have time to explain the
history of existence and the creation of the delicate balance between good and
evil to you.”

Ramaeka looked
at his friend sheepishly, Rama looked rather miffed.

“Sorry,” he
said.

Rama frowned,
and then sighed.  “I should be the one apologising.”

Ramaeka
shrugged.  “It’s weird to think of you as a child, but good too.  So why do you
need me and why did you bring me to Stripe then?”

He couldn’t
help but notice that Rama looked rather abashed.

“Well,” he started.
“The covenant means that I cannot interfere with humans, however I still have
access to the draconian race.  My first born people.”

Ramaeka raised
an eyebrow curiously.

“This Warlord
is gathering power like nothing I have known before, if he is not stopped, he
will take over all of my worlds and there is nothing I can do about it.  At
least until he attacks Amaria, which, as you are probably aware, is completely
sealed off and hidden to humans.”

He paused for
a moment, looking Ramaeka right in the eye.  “However if a dragon were to
involve themselves in the war, it would be my duty to help him and protect
him.  There’s a clause in the Covenant that allows me to fight anything that
threatens my first born people.  I know it is a lot to ask, wanting you to get
involved with this human war, but I need your help.”

“Alright”

“That is it?
You are just going to go into war with me, no questions asked?” Rama stared at
him in surprise.

Ramaeka
grinned and grabbed a bit of fruit.  “Don’t be daft, I just asked a heap of
questions which you answered.  Anyway you’re my friend, my only friend.  So if
that’s what you want to do then I'm all for it.  It’s not like I have a lot of
options open to me right now anyway.”

Rama smiled
back shyly.  “If it makes you feel any better, you are my only friend too.”

“What happened
to all your people?” Ramaeka asked curiously.

“As I said, it
is a long tale.  To put it very shortly and inadequately, they all perished and
returned to the Great Mother in the war against the Shadow.  They used the last
of their powers to create me, the last of the first.”

“That’s sad,”
said Ramaeka, “But I’m glad they made you.”

The two of
them sat in pensive silence, watching the crackling fire.  Ramaeka wondered
what Stripe was doing, and how much his friend now hated him.  Maybe if I fight
well in the war he will forgive me he thought sadly.

He turned to
Rama.

“So why
Stripe?  Why did you lead me to him?”

“He is very
important to me too.  I was hoping that he would be able to overcome his
dislike of dragons when he became friends with you.”

“Well that
didn’t work,” Ramaeka muttered.

Rama smiled,
“Do not give up on him just yet, he has a good heart.”

Ramaeka
shrugged “So why is he so important to you?”  He asked.

“I mean, he’s
getting better at fighting but he’s not the greatest yet.”

“Did you ever
hear the rumours about the four humans I created?”

Ramaeka’s eyes
widened in surprise and interest.  “I did, just briefly.  They’re supposed to
have the power to change people into a new powerful race.”

“That is
correct, just humans though, not your people,” he smiled at the expression on
Ramaeka’s face.  “You are stuck the way you are for now I am afraid.”

“Great,” he
muttered.

“Stripe is one
of the four, though it will be a few years before he gains his full power.  He
and his three brothers were placed in separate worlds so that there would be
less conflict.  So you can see why he is important to me, he is a part of the
future.”

Ramaeka sat
still for a moment processing all that he had been told.  It made sense that
Stripe would be the future leader of a new people.  He had a sudden glorious
vision of what the future for humans could be like.  And Ramaeka was filled
with determination to help Stripe get there.

“Right, let’s
set out tomorrow for the city,” he said firmly.

“And for war,”
Rama added softly.

“Yes,” Ramaeka
nodded, “And for that too.”

Chapter Ten

They set out early in the morning both filled with determination.

“It should
take us around four days at a brisk pace to reach the city, if we take the
shortcut and if we only take a few rest stops,” Rama determined, he had already
decided that it was too risky for them to fly over though Ramaeka had assured
him that he would be able to carry him, probably.

“Does Stripe
know about the shortcut too?” Ramaeka asked.  “I thought it would be
further since we were heading away from the battle.”

“Yes, I explained the route to him just in case we were separated.  We
weren’t exactly going away from the battle, more parallel to it.  If we
head north from here we will join with the General’s shortcut in a day and a
half.”

Ramaeka nodded
and set out at a trot.

The first few days passed quickly, they stopped only briefly throughout the day
for Ramaeka’s sake.  They started before dawn and ran well into the evening,
eating their food cold and sleeping within Rama’s barrier of magic.

As they sat
eating a quick breakfast before dawn on the fourth day, Ramaeka suddenly
remembered a question he had been meaning to ask.

“Hey Rama,
since you’re, you know, Rama, can you see ahead and see what’s happening?”  Rama
raised an eyebrow.  “See ahead?”

“Yeah, can you
see the future?  Or even what’s happening now?”

Rama looked
thoughtful.  “Very few beings have the ability to see ahead in time.
There are so many limitless possibilities each triggered by the tiniest
decision, it would drive most insane attempting to sort it into anything
reasonably useful.  However when I am at home on my lookout I can see what is
happening currently.  Down here it is almost impossible.”

“Because of
all your power being tied up?” Ramaeka said curiously.

Rama sighed
and made a face.  “That and the covenant, I have been very foolish by the
One Mother.”

Ramaeka
frowned.  “Who's the One Mother?” he asked.

“A story for
another day,” Rama replied firmly, as he rose and grabbed his pack.  Ramaeka
sighed and followed suit.

“Oh, and
Ramaeka, please call me Amar.”

Ramaeka rolled
his eyes at the back of ‘Amar’s’ head as they set off again.  At least
they only had one more day of running and they would finally be there.  He
desperately hoped that Stripe and the others were still alive.  He was
suddenly wrenched from his thoughts by the most intense pain he had felt so
far.  It ripped up through his ribs forcing him to drop to his knees and
gasp for breath.

Amar turned
then stopped in surprise.  He ran back to Ramaeka and dropped down beside
him.

“Are you
alright?” he asked in concern, sliding his hands over Ramaeka’s ribs.
Ramaeka gasped in relief as the pain began to fade.

“I’m okay,” he
managed slowly getting his breath under control.

“What
happened?” Amar asked giving Ramaeka a stern look.

“I’ve been
getting these random pains for the last couple of weeks,” Ramaeka admitted.
“They seem to be getting worse.”

Amar’s hands
glowed softly as he checked Ramaeka over.  “How often do they occur?”

“Not that
often to begin with, maybe every couple of days, but now it’s several times a
day.”

“Hmmmm,
interesting,” Amar leaned back slowly.

“I’m not dying
am I?” Ramaeka asked nervously.

Amar smiled.

“No you are not
dying I promise, however...”

“There you are,”
interrupted a deep voice.  “I've been looking for you everywhere.”

The two of
them sprang up, looking for the source of the voice.  Slowly a figure
materialised in front of them, out of what seemed like thin air.

Ramaeka felt
Amar relax beside him, his friend placed his hand on his shoulder.

“Hello Thowra,”
he said with a smile.

The figure
bowed to Amar and gave Ramaeka a cheeky grin.

“Ramaeka, this
is Thowra the element of the wind,” Amar calmly introduced them.

Thowra, who
was now mostly solid, was tall and lean with wild white hair, bright blue eyes
and an impish grin.  Ramaeka couldn’t help but grin back at this strange
being.  So this was an Element.  Thowra certainly looked like the embodiment of
the wind; his hair whirled and waved as breezes caressed him, begging for his
attention.

“You were looking
for me?” Amar queried.

“Fate asked me
to find you, she’s not far away and she wants to see you before you go off to
play war, and your friend too.”

Ramaeka looked
at Amar inquiringly.  If they hesitated now they would lose precious time,
but if an element like Fate wanted to see them it was probably better to go.

Amar was
unconsciously biting his lip, staring past Thowra and down the path.

“I was not
aware that you were acting as her messenger,” he said.

Thowra looked
vaguely embarrassed.  “I owed her a debt,” he admitted.

“Very well,”
Amar said eyeing Thowra thoughtfully.  “Though I am uncomfortable with the
delay, I wish to be at the city when the battle begins.”

“It already
has,” Thowra said calmly floating around in a bored manner.  Amar stiffened in
surprise as Ramaeka stared at Thowra in horror, they were too late.

“But the
Warlord’s armies have not breached the city yet, nor will they for many hours,”
Thowra reassured them sending a puff of air to ruffle their hair reassuringly.

Amar bowed his
head.  “Lead on then my friend.”

Thowra didn’t
really walk, Ramaeka couldn’t help but notice, worried though he was, instead
he seemed to float, drifting along one moment then spinning past the next.
He wondered if he had enough courage to poke the element and see if he
was substantial.

After an hour
or so of walking or drifting, they reached a pretty little clearing in which
sat a young girl.

“This is where
I leave you my friends,” Thowra said cheerfully.  “I have a storm to whip
into shape not far from here.”

“Thank you
Thowra,” Amar murmured.

Ramaeka
reached out and touched the element as he drifted past.  Thowra looked
down at him in surprise and amusement.

“Ha you are
solid,” Ramaeka exclaimed with a grin.

Thowra
laughed.  “See you around dragon boy.”  With that he seemed to fade
into the wind again and vanished, though his laughter still echoed around
them.

With a quick
wave, Ramaeka followed Amar into the clearing.  The young girl looked up
at them with a warm smile.

“Hello Amar,
hello Ramaeka.”

“You know me?”
Ramaeka said in surprise.  “Are you really Fate?  But you’re only the
same age as me!”

Amar sighed
while the girl laughed.

“I do know you
Ramaeka, though you don’t know me yet.  Yes I am Fate and I am your age,
though my essence is older.”  She looked up at Amar.

“I am sorry to
call you away when you are so close to your goal, but there is some advice I
need to give you.”

“I knew it
would be important,” Amar said watching her intently.

Ramaeka beamed
as they sat down across from her.  Set in front of them was a huge meal
obviously meant for several people.

Ramaeka
drooled over the sight of it, unable to pay attention to the other two while so
much delicious food tempted his sight and sense of smell.  There were birds
baked in spices, hot pies filled with meat and gravy, steaming vegetables and
crisp fruit.  Best of all Ramaeka could smell the tantalizing scent of apple,
cinnamon and sweet pastry that surely must be apple pie.  Suddenly he realised
that Amar was talking to him.

“Sorry,” he
mumbled, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand and trying to look at them
rather than at the food.

“Now that we
have at least part of your attention,” Amar said sternly, though Ramaeka could
see purple glinting in his eyes which meant that he was amused.

“Ramaeka, this
is Zanir.”

Ramaeka smiled
sheepishly at her as Zanir giggled.

“Let us remove
this temptation before we speak of serious things,” she said pretending to be
solemn.  “Please join me in this meal.”

She indicated
the food set in front of her.  She raised her hand as Amar started to
protest.

“You will need strength for the battle.  It will be a while before you eat
again, and dragons especially need the sustenance.”

Amar
acquiesced with a nod to Ramaeka’s relief and they settled down to eat.

“Eat up
Ramaeka, I made plenty because I knew you would be here,” Fate grinned at him,
pushing her black hair behind her ears.

Ramaeka
grinned self-consciously, adding more food to his plate.

“Dragon’s are
meant to eat large amounts; it is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Ramaeka
attended the food with fervent admiration.  Even Amar applied himself
diligently though Ramaeka was unsure whether that was because of hunger or the
need to remove temptation from under Ramaeka’s nose.  Finally not even Ramaeka
could fit in one more bite and he turned to his host with a regretful sigh.

She looked at
them seriously.

“Are you
ready to know what I have seen for you?” she asked, her sombre demeanour a
strange contrast to her youthful appearance.  Ramaeka swallowed hard at the
sudden weight of magic that cloaked the clearing.  He and Amar both nodded.

Taking a deep
breath, she closed her eyes and held her hands out flat in front of them palms
up.  Slowly she released her breath, white mist streaming from between her lips
to settle over her palms.  Staring at it in awe, Ramaeka leant closer as he
noticed an image forming in the mist.  Squinting he saw the shape of a large
knife, no sword he quickly corrected himself.  The sword glowed within a cloak
of darkness, unable to penetrate its gloom, yet unrelenting in its light.  As
he watched, a figure of vivid light strode through the darkness, wresting the
sword from its grasp.  The darkness withdrew before the light of both figure
and sword, leaving them burning in triumph.  Instincts clamouring he noticed
that the figure of light was marred by a single streak of darkness, but before
he could get a closer look the darkness returned a sword of cruel burning red
in its grasp.  Darkness and light swirled together in a fluid mesh of battle
before the image completely faded and another formed.  In this one two small
figures of gold appeared, one blazed with power while the other took the form
of a small dragon.

“That’s us,”
he gasped.

The two of
them walked into what appeared to be a camp cloaked in darkness.  They
disappeared from view only to burst back through the gloom carrying, Ramaeka
noticed, the sword of light.  As the image began to fade, the golden Ramaeka
and Amar fled towards a distant city, sword in hand.

Zanir leaned
back coughing.  Amar quickly filled a cup with water and offered it to her.
She took it with a grateful smile and drained it in one smooth motion.
Ramaeka’s eyes began to water and he realised he had forgotten to blink.

“What was
that?” he asked blinking rapidly.

“It is what
you must achieve if you wish to win this battle and give your friends a chance
to win the brewing war,” Zanir told him.  “You must take the sword that Gasha
holds and return it to its rightful master.”

“And that is?”
Amar asked with a frown.

“Stripe,”
Ramaeka interrupted abruptly realising what his instincts were trying to tell
him.  “The figure of light had a streak of darkness; it reminded me of Stripe’s
hair.”  He paused.  “Also I remember he once said that the sword called to him
when he was young.”

Zanir
acquiesced to this with a nod.

“Impossible,”
Amar growled.  “This is not why I created him.”

Zanir looked
at him passively.  “You gave free will to all your creations,” she told him.
“Now you must suffer the consequences of that choice because you cannot take it
back without unravelling all of your work.  His fate is beyond your control now.”
She looked at the ground.

“Taking the
sword is only one of the many possible courses you could take, however the
consequences of most of the others would be...,” she shuddered.  “Horrific.”

Amar bowed his
head as Ramaeka watched him anxiously.  Finally he stood up.

“Thank you,” he said smoothly.  “For both the advice and the meal.”

“You are most welcome my lord,” she said warmly.  “Good luck to both of
you.”

“Thanks Zanir,” Ramaeka said coming to his feet and bowing politely.

“You are
quite welcome Ramaeka,” she replied with a smile.  “Farewell until we meet
again.”

He waved as
he followed Amar out of the clearing.  As they walked away Ramaeka looked back
once more, but the clearing was empty.  The only proof of their encounter he
had was the weight of the food in his belly and the image of the sword burned
into his mind.

They walked in silence for a while as Ramaeka turned everything over in his
mind.  He decided that he liked both of the elements, strange though they
were.  Perhaps if they survived the battle he would meet them again, he
might even get them to teach him about being an Elementai.

He was shaken
abruptly from his thoughts by Amar who had abruptly stopped.

“This is
impossible,” Amar said furiously.  “Steal the sword from one of the most
powerful humans in existence, against whom I cannot even lift a finger, armed
only with a single dragon who is a mere child.  A child!”

By this point
he was pacing back and forth in front of Ramaeka crackling with power, his eyes
blazing fiery red with anger.  Shocked and a little hurt, hadn’t he proven
himself in battle?  Ramaeka stepped back from him.

“If it
weren’t for these shackles this would not be able to happen,” he ranted,
holding up his wrists so that his sleeves fell back to reveal silver cuffs
carved elegantly with runes which Ramaeka had never noticed before.  “Through
my own stupidity and arrogance I have led us to this, listening to those
fumble-brained, silver tongued parasites.  I have allowed evil into my worlds.
I should break these bonds and wipe everything clean, start over again
completely.”

“No,” suddenly
Ramaeka was furious as well.  How dare Amar threaten everything he had come to
love in a temper tantrum worthy of the most flutter-winged dragon child?  How
could he fall apart now?

“You gave us
choices because it was the right thing to do, otherwise we would be just as
shackled as you are.  Yes agreeing to some of the things you agreed to was
rock-brained but you’re talking about wiping away Stripe and Shady and the
warrior women.  The General and Makkie.  Me.”

Amar dropped
to his knees, head in his hands, his eyes turning grey with despair like ashes
after the flames.

“But what can
we do Ramaeka?  This is impossible.”

“I thought
escaping my father was impossible,” he told his friend sternly.  “But it
happened.  Sometimes the impossible stuff is actually not that hard.”

He held out a
hand.  Amar stared at it for a moment before nodding and taking it.

“Forgive me
Ramaeka,” he smiled tiredly.  “You are probably correct.”

“Of course I
am,” Ramaeka grinned.  “You know that’s the first time you’ve acted like you’re
a child, I know you said you were really young for your people but I only
really understood that now.”

Amar blushed.
“Well now you know,” he muttered.  “Let’s find somewhere safe and come up with
a plan.”

Ramaeka nodded
falling into step beside him.  After a few moments Amar looked sideways at him.

“Thank you,”
he said.  Ramaeka just smiled.

They stopped
around midmorning to plan, hidden not far from the road on which the army
marched north though the main army had passed through already.

“Amazing
really, to get such a horde here at such a rapid pace.”  Ramaeka nodded in
reluctant admiration.

Between the
two of them they finally agreed that disguises would be the best way to
approach their problem.

“I already
look like a monster to humans anyway,” Ramaeka explained cheerfully.  Despite
the risk he really did love sneaking around and tricking people like this.

“It’ll be
easier than your invisibility spell.  That camp will be teeming, getting
through without bumping into something will be way too hard.”

Amar
acquiesced to that with a shrug.

“You are
correct.  So what disguise shall I don?”

Ramaeka
thought for a moment.

“I could use
my magic on you and turn you into a dragon,” he grinned.  “Or an apple.”

His friend
glared at him.  “Since your control over that aspect of your magic is
rudimentary at best we shall have to come up with something better.”

“Then we
should go closer and see what we can find because I don’t know much about the
things he has in his army,” Ramaeka admitted.

“If I remember
correctly,” Amar said thoughtfully.  “He has Sasayin mage-warriors, Barakian
soldiers and Killarian knights among his people.”

Seeing
Ramaeka’s confused expression he explained.

“All of whom
wear full body robes or armour.  The less of me they see the better.”

He nodded in
agreement.

“So how do we
get the armour or robes off them?”

“Well since
you mentioned the orange to apple trick,” Amar looked at him thoughtfully.
“Healers use similar techniques; if you think you are able I will teach you how
they send a patient into a deep sleep.  It can be done at a slight distance if
need be, which would be ideal for us.”

“You mean make
them sleepy while still hiding,” Ramaeka grinned bouncing as Amar nodded.

“Let’s do it.”

Amar
strengthened the wards around them before sitting across from him.

“Let us
meditate,” he murmured.

Taking control
of his breathing, Ramaeka let himself sink into the peace of meditation.  As he
relaxed he felt Amar’s presence bloom into his mind.

“Your power
has grown substantially,” the Amar voice murmured in his mind.  Surprised
Ramaeka realised that he was right; his core of power had grown.

“Magic is like
any other muscle,” Amar told him.  “It will grow stronger every time you
exercise it.”

“Now gather a
bit of your magic and draw it up.”

Ramaeka did so
with ease, drawing his magic up through his body.

“Open your
eyes,” Amar commanded softly.  “Now look at me and imagine how tired I am, how
much I need to sleep.”

Ramaeka tried,
telling his magic of weariness, of the many miles they had travelled, sleepless
nights they had endured.  A bone deep weariness spread over him, sleep would be
wonderful he thought with a yawn.

He yelped as a
shock zapped through his body.  He opened his eyes to glare at Amar who was
trying not to laugh.

“You were
supposed to send me to sleep, not yourself.”  He sat back.  “Now try again.”

Grumbling to
himself, Ramaeka sank back into his magic.  Right he thought I have to send it
to Amar somehow.  He stared at his friend through his magic, how to send it was
the problem.  Perhaps he could just sink it in through his skin.  With that in
mind he reached out a hand and sent his power out.  However as he pressed it
against Amar his friend winced and pulled away.  Ramaeka frowned pulling his
power back.  That wasn’t going to work, if only they had a sleep potion or a
doze lily.  He stopped.  A doze lily he thought, maybe if I send the sleepiness
out like a scent or pollen.  He gathered his magic again pouring thoughts of
exhaustion into it and then gently wafted it towards Amar, imagining the scent
pouring through his airways sending him into slumber.

Amar fidgeted
then yawned.  His eyes began to droop and his head nodded.  He waved a hand as
if to ward off Ramaeka’s magic.

“Good,” he
yawned.  “Very good.”

With a grin
Ramaeka pulled his power back.

“Not exactly
what I expected but effective enough,” Amar told him before dumping a flask of
water over his own head.

He made
Ramaeka try it twice more before he was satisfied, then urged him to get some
rest.

“We will both
need our strength,” he urged when Ramaeka would have argued.  He rolled over
and fell asleep immediately; Ramaeka sighed in agreement and curled up to
sleep.

Several hours
later, wide awake and rested, they hid beside the road watching the stragglers
of Gasha’s army walk past and hoped luck would be on their side.  They had
chosen an ideal spot which allowed them to see the road for some distance
either way.  None of these few stragglers showed any wariness, testament to the
fear and awe that Gasha’s nearness afforded them.  They simply didn’t think
that anyone would dare attack them.

To fill in the
time Amar taught him about the different kinds of humans and creatures which
passed them by.  It was late afternoon before the right target appeared, a
Killarian knight in traditional black armour astride a huge war horse.

Right thought
Ramaeka nervously scrubbing his hands on his pants, I can do this.  Amar
squeezed his shoulder reassuringly while keeping his eyes on the road.  Taking
a deep breath he slid his power out towards the knight as the horse walked
steadily towards them.  After a few worrying moments the knight began to sway
in his saddle while the horse slowed to a stumble as it also succumbed to the
spell.

Its working he
thought gleefully as the knight slumped forward.

“Let’s get him
out of sight,” Amar said quickly moving forward.

And of course
that was the moment when everything went wrong.  The horse dropped to its knees
with a snort as it succumbed to the deep sleep, pitching the knight forward
over its head.  Jarred by the fall, the knight clambered to his knees, fumbling
with his sword as he saw Amar.

Ramaeka leapt
forward spell forgotten, changing shape so fast he thought he may have pulled a
muscle somewhere.  Sliding to the side of the knight, he whipped his tail
around slamming it into the man’s helm with a ringing clang before pivoting to
catch him before he could crash to the ground.  He winced as he saw the dent in
the man’s armour; he hoped Amar would be able to do something about that.

He looked at
Amar who blinked at him.  “That will do I suppose.”

They left the
man bound just off the road after seeing to his head wound as best they could,
the horse, still asleep, was left next to him.  Amar explained to Ramaeka, as
they slid the armour off, that the Killarian knights trained their steeds to
accept only their one master on their backs.  They would fight anyone else that
tried to the death.  As they donned the armour Ramaeka noticed that though it
was initially too large for Amar, by the time they had put it on it
mysteriously fit quite snugly.  Things would be easier if his friend could just
do whatever he wanted he thought wistfully as they started out for the camp.
He shook that thought off; nothing ever really came easy in his humble
experience.

It was late
afternoon when they reached the edge of the camp from which they could finally
see Jangor.   The besieged city was wrapped in stone walls which gleamed
red in the late afternoon light.  All around the walls were men armed with
bows sending continuous showers of arrows down at those of the enemy who were
harrying them.  The great walls had not been breached at this point, they
saw to their relief.  The invading army was immense; Ramaeka could not
even begin to estimate their number.  For every man or creature shot down
by the arrows there were several more resting in their camp to fill their
place.  And they were not just standing there idly Ramaeka saw, they were
bringing up great ladders to the walls.  Great winged creatures were
dropping rocks onto the defenders below.  A huge creature was batting at
the main doors with a tree; it looked much like a troll but was violently blue.
The arrows simply seemed to annoy the creature, barely making a mark on
its skin.

“Great Mother,”
Amar breathed.

Ramaeka simply
nodded in agreement.  The city was going to fall before long that much was
obvious.  His friend turned to him.

“If you would
like to back out now I will not blame you,” he said.

“Not a chance,”
Ramaeka replied grimly, “Not while Stripe and the others are down there.”   “All
right,” Amar sighed.  “I guess neither of us wants to take the sensible
path.”

The camp
itself was immeasurable, monsters and men crammed together, bickering and
fighting as they awaited their chance to march to battle.  They wandered as
inconspicuously as possible through the sprawling camp, making sure to rudely
shoulder past anyone in their way.  Most stayed out of their way, even a
small dragon like Ramaeka was bigger than a horse and its cart. It took almost
an hour of wandering towards the centre of the camp before they finally came
upon what they were searching for.

“There,”
Ramaeka hissed softly at Amar, flicking his nose in the direction of the
largest tent.

It was guarded
by two tall creatures.  They had glowing white skin and dull black eyes,
their long spiked tails twitching behind them the only sign of movement.

“You sure
about this?” Amar murmured.

Ramaeka nodded
and arrogantly stalked forward.  The element of luck was definitely on his
side he thought happily as one of the huge bright blue troll like creatures
ambled towards him.  Deliberately he swept his tail out as he passed the
creature almost directly in front of the tent.  It tripped over his tail
with a surprised yelp.  With a roar it leapt back up, turning towards
Ramaeka with its claws out.  Turning Ramaeka roared back at it, baring his
teeth in a vicious grimace.  Despite the fact that the creature was larger
than him, Ramaeka rushed it.  Gripping its arm in his teeth he swung it
forcefully towards the dead eyed guards who jumped back hissing in anger.
The blue troll leaped back at Ramaeka and the two rolled around in a vicious
whirl of dust and stones.

Out of the
corner of his eye, Ramaeka saw a slim figure emerge from the tent; fury was in
every line of its body.

“Stop this at
once,” it roared at them.  The man slid a sword from his belt and cut of
the troll’s head off in a movement Ramaeka couldn’t even follow.  The head
clumped down in front of his face as he crouched down in a position of
obeisance.  This man was the evil one he thought, the smell of it clung to
him, a truly horrific stench like decaying flesh.  And to cut off a
troll’s head in one strike! The man glared at him, sneaking a quick look
Ramaeka noticed that he had dark hair and yellow brown eyes much like Shady’s.
He rested the very tip of the sword on Ramaeka’s nose, a drop of foul blue blood
dripping on to his snout.

“There will be
no more of this,” he growled at Ramaeka and the crowd that had gathered around
the fight.

They all bowed
deeply, slipping away as fast as possible.  The man narrowed his eyes at
Ramaeka keeping the sword pressed to his nose.

“Who and what
are you?” he demanded.  His nasal voice had a sullen whine to it Ramaeka noticed.

“Wavaki,” he
growled in response, keeping his voice as low as possible.  “Just joined.”

“Well wavaki,
consider this your first and only warning, there will be no fighting amongst my
army,” he narrowed his eyes.  “Is that understood?”

“Yes Greatness,”
Ramaeka growled, bowing his head.

Rather than
wasting anymore words, the man turned and stalked back to the tent; stopping
briefly he shoved the sword into a terrified human man’s arms.

“Clean this at
once,” he demanded wrinkling at the smell of troll blood.  The man bowed and
stammered backing away as Gasha entered his tent.  Ramaeka also backed away
before turning and fleeing towards the edge of the camp where Amar would
hopefully meet him.

Suddenly a
figure appeared at his side yanking at one of his spikes.  Rearing around
Ramaeka started to swipe at the knight who had grabbed him before realising who
it was.

“Go, go, go,”
Amar whispered fiercely.  “I’ve got it.  Don’t ask questions just start walking.”

Trying not to
be conspicuous they walked as quickly as possible towards the edge of the
camp.  They had almost reached it when they heard a rising storm of noise
behind them.  Creatures roared and howled while the human’s yelled and cursed.
And beyond all that came a rising sense of power and that nasal voice at a
shriek.

“Find them!”

Sweat broke
out along the ridges of Ramaeka’s spine as the noise swamped them.  Men and
monsters alerted by the furore unsheathed weapons and claws, looking around
suspiciously.  There were still far too many of them between them and the edge
of the camp, far too many to fight in all the clutter.

“Ramaeka,”
Amar whispered fearfully.  Who would have known Ramaeka thought, even gods get
scared.

“Strip off the
armour.”

Amar looked at
him like he was insane.  “We will lose our cover.”

“We already
have,” Ramaeka said as yelling reached his sensitive ears.  That the people
yelling were pointing at the two of them had not escaped his notice.

“Strip and get
on.”

Amar ripped
off the armour rapidly, probably with magic Ramaeka thought with approval at
the speed.  Then, wincing he pulled himself onto Ramaeka’s back clutching the
precious sword, disguised in the Killarian knights sheath, to his chest.

“Hold on,”
Ramaeka called, swiping viciously at an approaching giant spider creature.  In
the near distance he saw Gasha wrapped in pulsing power point a finger at them.
He launched himself up with a roar, wings flapping furiously.
Flying with so much weight was harder than he had assumed it would be.
Suddenly a blast hit him from below, sending him flying upwards.
Amar yelled and clutched at one of his spikes.  Heart in his mouth,
Ramaeka looked down expecting horrific injuries from the evil man’s blast;
instead he found a friendly open face grinning at him.

“Thowra,” he
whooped exultantly.

The element
laughed, waved and dissolved back into the air.  Ramaeka swooped along in
joy with the second sudden blast of wind.  The enemy camp was far below,
not even the evil one could reach them here.

“Ramaeka, we
need to go down,” Amar yelled in his ear.  “The walls are breached; we
need to get the sword to Stripe.”

Looking down
Ramaeka saw that he was correct.  The enemy were swarming over the walls
like ants.   Angling his wings he sped downwards, gathering his magic as
he went.

Chapter Eleven

“Ramaeka,”
Amar yelled.  “Behind you.”

Ramaeka turned
around mid-flight in a manoeuvre so fast he almost flicked Amar off.  What
looked like a giant flying shell lizard was hurtling towards him.  Ramaeka
was used to quick thinking in battle though thanks to his father, and he
quickly threw the fire spell and dodged.  The monster withdrew its legs,
head and tail into its shell, the fire of Ramaeka's spell sweeping over it
harmlessly.  Thinking quickly Ramaeka hooked his claws around the edge of
the shell, holding on as they spun wildly.  The creature growled and
snapped at his claws with a dangerous looking beak.  He pulled back
quickly then jammed his tail spike into one of the creature’s leg holes.
As the creature screamed in pain he flipped neatly off forgetting that he
still carried Amar who yelled, grabbing at his neck ridges.

"Sorry,”
he yelled grinning wildly.

Continuing to
fly as fast as he could, Ramaeka noticed two more flying creatures
approaching out of the corner of his eye, one was a flying lizard, the other
was covered in spiky feathers.  He felt a shiver of magic on his back and
grinned, it felt like Amar had just glued himself on.

“Close your
eyes,” Ramaeka called. Closing his eyes he used a light spell he remembered
from battle training.  He banked abruptly as the brilliant light flashed
in his opponent’s eyes, blinding them momentarily.  With a squawk and a
growl they collided mid-air and spun away to the hard earth.  As he opened
his eyes again a clap of thunder boomed out and another flying lizard monster
went sailing past, its wings burnt to a crisp.

“Rocks,” he
said in surprise, swerving away.  Amar laughed behind him.

“I will
protect your back,” he called.

Ramaeka
laughed.  “Well what are we waiting for then.”

They were now
close enough to the city that Ramaeka could make out the soldiers and archers
on the wall.  It was now almost completely night, the last dim shreds of
day falling away before the darkness.  Torches began to blaze throughout
the fortress.  As Ramaeka observed the humans below loaded items into a
strange looking contraption, like a giant spoon.  Standing back one of
them hit a lever releasing the spoon which leaped up hurling its contents
towards the enemy.  Cocking his head around he tracked the object as it
hit the horde below, exploding on contact in an immense fiery explosion which
consumed those unlucky enough to be close to it.

"Ramaeka,”
Amar yelled bringing his attention back around.  Another flying lizard had
caught up to him and was grabbing at Amar who turned it into charcoal.
Looking back beyond that Ramaeka's heart clenched in fear as a wave of
darkness seemed to rise into the air.  Gasha had mobilized his entire
flying contingent to capture them and the sword.

"We need
to get to the city,” Amar shouted over the wind.

"Really?
I didn't realize,” he yelled back sarcastically grunting with effort.  He
could feel the weight of Amar's glare on the back of his head and rolled his
eyes.

"Hold on.”
He pushed himself harder than he had ever flown before.

"Dragon
boy,” a voice murmured right by his ear.  Thowra was easily keeping pace
with him.

"The gate
will fall soon,” he swirled away for a moment before reappearing on his other
side.

"The
creatures have almost broken through.  If it falls, so does the city.”

"I've got
my own problems at the moment,” he managed to gasp, his lungs burning.
How could he be expected to do more than he was already?

"Leave
that to me and my brethren,” Thowra grinned fiercely.

"But what
can I do?” he desperately tried not to whine, he would not whine.  Thowra
gave him a friendly buffet.

"Look to
your element,” he said.  "If they can’t get to the gates they can't
break through.”

With that the element whipped around and headed back towards Gasha's flyers.

"You
heard?” he called back to Amar.

"Yes and
it is even more insanity than raiding Gasha's camp"

"Just
more of the same then,” he panted.  With a growl he angled his wings,
curving down towards the gates, he had to trust Thowra to take care of the enemy
at his back.  In front of the immense iron gates four huge trolls were
ramming diligently with a black battering ram, its end shaped like the head of
a dromon, a terrifying monster of the sea.

"Brace
yourself,” he called to Amar as they hurtled downwards.  He felt Amar
change his hold, bracing himself for impact and took a deep breath calling up
his faithful fire spell.  They took the trolls completely by surprise
slamming into them in a fiery collision.  As the trolls and those unfortunate
enough to be near them screamed in pain, Ramaeka slid across the ground in
front of the gates. Before the pain from the impact could set in he reached
down and wrenched the earth power he could feel beneath him.  He had never
done anything like this before in the barren rock of his home and only the once
since leaving, the day his siblings had attacked.  Never had he felt such
overwhelming power, the immensity of it scared him.  Dimly he felt Amar's
presence on his back, his energy so similar to the flood drowning Ramaeka.
Fiercely he fought to control it, pressing at it with his will, forcing
it to channel through him.  The earth drew up the rock for him, crushing
it against the door; he used the heat of the deep parts of the earth to
smooth his barrier down.  Impenetrable, he burned into it, unmovable.

And then Amar
grabbed his mind yanking him back to the surface.

"You fool,”
his friend yelled pulling at one of his wings.  Ramaeka turned to look at
him, the movement taking more effort than it should have.  He was glaring
at him, his eyes sparking red and yellow.  He's afraid Ramaeka realised in
surprise.

"You were
not ready for such a thing,” Amar said hands shaking as he clutched at
Ramaeka's wing.  "You should not have been able to do such a thing.”

Ramaeka looked
at the gate, or rather where it had been.  Now it was a thick solid wall
of black rock so smooth not even a cave bug could find a foothold to climb it.
I did that? He thought dizzily.

"We need
to get over the wall,” Amar said his voice still tight.  Ramaeka nodded in
agreement, the soldiers and creatures around them were beginning to recover and
advance on them.  One of the trolls groaned and rolled over.  Ramaeka
winced as he pulled back on his haunches, both of his wings felt like they had
caught fire.  His left side where he had slid along the ground was a mess from
numerous cuts and bruises.

"I don't
know if I can fly,” he admitted softly to Amar, it was hard to breathe; he
thought he may have broken a few ribs.  Even if he had wanted to he
couldn't reach the earth’s power, it felt miles away.

"Yes you
can,” Amar placed his hands palm down on Ramaeka's head.  For the second
time in minutes strange energy flooded through him though Amar pulled away
before he could become overwhelmed again.  His ribs popped painfully then
eased, the pain from his side dulled to a light throb.  He felt rested and
wide awake though his magic was still a shadow of itself.  He bound into
the air with a whoop from under the very snouts of the trolls, flicking one with
the sharp end of his tail.  He beat his wings to gain height before
hitting a beautiful thermal and circling upwards.  Drifting on the wind
for a moment he peered through the rain to see where Thowra and his brothers
were.  The wind Element appeared to be enjoying himself; he had called up
cones of wind and had sent them spinning through the enemy.  The flying
creatures were sucked in and thrown about before being tossed out to crash into
each other or to tumble awkwardly to the ground.

Those who
escaped Thowra met his brothers who were apparently storm Elements.  They
paced the sky pitching shards of lightening and chunks of hail while rain
roared down on those below, pounding them to the ground.  Thunder shook
the air.  Ramaeka turned tail and fled towards the city, while he trusted
Thowra, he did not want the Element’s brothers to mistake him for the enemy.

As they glided down he saw the archers on the wall point up at him, raising
their bows.

"Uh oh,”
he muttered before dodging the first two, the third grazed his shoulder
before Amar waved a hand and made the rest swerve away.

"There,”
he called over the roar of battle and storm.  With dragon sharp eyes
Ramaeka picked up the figure of the General from where Amar pointed.
Taking a chance he dived, racing past cursing men on the wall.  He
banked a few meters above the ground, landing, to his embarrassment, in a
rather ungainly heap.  The General strode towards them sword drawn, his
face black with anger.

"Hold
General,” Amar quickly slid off Ramaeka's back holding his hands up to show the
General that he meant no harm.  The General halted in surprise, his eyes
sliding between Amar's sodden figure and Ramaeka still lying in a heap on the
ground.

"What in
Rama's name...?" he began still holding his sword at the ready.  Amar
stepped up to him talking quietly but rapidly.  Ramaeka ignored them for
the moment searching the faces around them for their former companions.
He didn't recognise anyone to his disappointment and with a sigh he
turned to check his wounds.  They were faded as if they had been healing
for several days already; he also had far too much energy considering how low
his magic was.

"It will
not last.”  Amar was standing beside him again.  Behind him Ramaeka
could see the General talking with several of his soldiers most of whom were
eyeing him suspiciously.  Join the line he thought wearily.  He
turned his attention back to his friend.

"I'm not
sure I want it,” he admitted.  "It feels strange.”

Amar smiled
crookedly.  “You will need it for the coming battle.  As long as you
do not do anything ridiculous it should last for a while, do not ask for more
as I have none.”

Ramaeka looked
at him worried.  "You're out of magic?  Is that safe?"

He sighed and
rested his forehead against Ramaeka's neck.  "It is complicated,” he
mumbled.  "And there is nothing safe about any of this.”

"You keep
saying things like that,” Ramaeka suddenly felt annoyed.  "Do you not
trust me or don’t you think I would understand?”

After
everything that they had been through since they had met surely he deserved
some kind of an explanation.

Amar looked at
him sideways for a long moment then slid a hand affectionately over his neck
ridges.

"I only
have limited power, not just because of the covenant or because my power is
tied up with my creations, though that is part of it.  This is not my real
body.”

Ramaeka
blinked at him, wondering if his ears were full of moss.

"I'm sorry?"

His friend
grinned mischievously looking like a child of Ramaeka's age suddenly.

"I have
guardians who watch over me, as I said I am still young.  I thought it
would be a good idea at the time, I do not remember my family and I thought it
would be nice.  Unfortunately the people who were appointed to watch over
me and keep me safe were not interested in being my family or even friends;
they just wish to control me.  So I had to find a way to sneak out."

"You
snuck out?” Ramaeka stared at him.  It actually sounded a lot like his own
home.

"Not
exactly.  Have you heard of a simulacrum?”

Ramaeka shook
his head fascinated.

"Well in
the simplest terms, I created a copy of my body and placed a measure of my
power within it.  I then linked it to my consciousness and well,” he
pointed at himself awkwardly.

"Unfortunately
I could only put so much power in without alerting my guardians, if I take
anymore my shackles will alert them.”

He fell
silent, letting Ramaeka chew it over in his head.  He wondered what the
penalties would be for Amar breaking the covenant; could he even do such a
thing with those beautiful, horrible shackles on?

"So
you're two people right now?” he asked curiously.  "What’s the other
you doing? Do you know?”

"Drinking
tea and reading a book on healing herbs,” Amar replied promptly.
"They like me to try and see things from a human point of view.”
He smiled and added.  "I am very bored.”

Ramaeka snorted then nudged him.  The General was approaching and he
wasn't sure whether he knew who Amar was or not.  Best to keep quiet just
in case.

The General
nodded at Ramaeka.

"Good to
have you on our side youngling.  Though it would have suited me better had
you been a little larger.”

"It would
have suited me too,” Ramaeka opened his jaw in a dragon smile ignoring the pale
faces of the guards behind the General.

"He done
as good as any o' the bigguns at the gate,” commented a ratty looking soldier
with red hair.  He saluted Ramaeka casually.  "Won't be gettin
in any time soon.”

"Won't be
gettin out neither,” another soldier put in dryly.

"Sorry, I
lost control a bit,” he admitted sheepishly.

"Ignore
'im,” the first soldier told him with a friendly grin. "Ye did a fine job.”

"We will
be talking about control in the near future,” Amar said sternly.  As
Ramaeka turned to give him his most woebegone look he relented with a smile,
reaching up to scratch him behind an ear to his pleasure.

"I will
say this, you are full of surprises."

Turning he
looked at the General.  "Where would you like us sir?"

The General
glanced up at the storm ridden sky.

"With the
strange weather we're having I doubt Gasha will be attacking anytime soon.
At least not in force until his reinforcements arrive.”  He switched
his attention back to them.  "If you could head towards the north
east of the city?  There have been reports of a few monsters breaching the
eagle ridge.  You'll find the lad you're after in that direction too,” he
smiled grimly as Ramaeka lit up at the hint of Stripe.  "He's been
fair useful too, very talented for his age and training or lack of.  We'll
call from the wall if we need you back.”

With that he
strode away followed by the other soldiers except for the friendly one.

"Reckon
I'll go with ye; make sure our boys n girls know yer friendly.”

Amar nodded.
"That would be appreciated thank you.”

He waved off
their thanks and led them east through the city.  As they ran along the
cobbled streets Ramaeka couldn't help but admire the city.  Like his home
it was carved into a sheer mountain range but unlike the grim bleakness of his
father's fortress it was obviously normally a beautiful place. Statues and
gardens centred every street; the houses were all built with the beautiful pink
native rock.  All of the streets were well illuminated by crystal lamps which
Ramaeka was impressed by.

Along the way
several soldiers attempted to stop Ramaeka but each time their soldier guide
glared and sent them away with barked orders.  Ramaeka formed the idea
that he was highly ranked in the General's army.  They met no one other
than soldiers as they went, their guide explaining that the citizens that
couldn't fight were hidden in the caves where they cooked and looked after the
injured. The city itself was only accessible from the south, the rest was
encased in the mountains or ridges as their new friend informed them

"They's
each named after some beastie" he explained in his thick drawl.
"Me name's Tameri by the by, Tam for shorten’n.”

"I'm
Ramaeka and this is Amar,” Ramaeka supplied keeping a wary eye on the houses
ahead.

"Ra and
Mar it is,” he grinned cheekily, blue eyes dancing.  Abruptly he stopped
holding up his sword.  The air in front of them twisted and Thowra's face
solidified in the whirlwind.

He was
smirking at the fright he had given them.  "I don't believe your
enemy will be attacking again tonight.”

"Thowra!”
Ramaeka sat on his haunches baring his fangs happily.  'You saved my hide
up there.”

Thowra just
laughed.  "That was the most fun I've had in years.”  He floated
upside down over top of Ramaeka.  "We'll have to go now though,
there's a big storm to brew a few worlds over that we're behind schedule on.”

"We
understand,” Amar reassured him.  “We are grateful for all you have done.”

Thowra shrugged and melted back into the air again.  The wind whipped
away through the city whistling cheerfully across the buildings.

"Strange
friends ye got,” Tam commented eyes wide.  "Though t'would be nice
iffen he coulda stayed 'n helped.”

"He is an
Elementai,” Amar told him.  "It is rare for them to involve
themselves at all, and while Thowra is a good sort his being here will attract
others.  Many of them would make trouble just for the sake of it.
Trust me you do not want mischief or death here.”

Tam shuddered
in response though Ramaeka wasn't so sure, it all sounded rather interesting to
him. Before he could say so screams reached his ears.  He bound forward,
racing three blocks and sliding around the corner.  He immediately ran
straight into trouble, literally.  He slammed into something big and fuzzy
with far too many limbs.  Fearsome fangs clacked above his left ear as
they tumbled over in a heap.  He yanked himself free, scrambling backwards
as the creature rolled on its back, its many legs waving wildly in the air.
As he retreated he stumbled against something.  Glancing down he
went cold as he realized it was a woman her face swollen and purple, eyes
bulging.  Horrified he leapt away crouching low to the ground, his skin
tingling with fear.  Behind him Tam swore as he rounded the corner but
Ramaeka kept his eyes on the creature as it found its feet and faced them.
At first he thought it was a giant spider, bigger than he was but when it
turned he realized it had the head of a boar, its tusks dripping in poison.
It squealed furiously at them blinking multiple red eyes.  Answering
squeals echoed from above them.  Three more of the monsters were hanging
victims in webs they had created between the buildings.  Now they spun
down on threads of liquid web.  Tam swept past Ramaeka notching a bolt in
his crossbow.  He aimed at the spider-boar on the ground, sending the
bolt through one of its eyes.  Dropping the crossbow he drew his sword as
the thing threw itself forward dodging and hacking at its legs.  The blood
and gore from its eye splattered over one of Ramaeka's claws making him retch
in disgust.

Amar ran over
to the nearest building, magic glowing faintly in his hands.  Gulping
Ramaeka forced himself up; he couldn't stay crouched like a baby when his
friends were fighting.  He hated spiders though and these things were a
hideous mismatch of creatures.  With a snarl he pulled his claws free from
where they had sunk into the cobbled street.  Grabbing the stones that he
had yanked free he hurled them at the closest beast.  It screeched as one
left a gash on its bloated, hairy body and launched itself at him.
Snarling and spitting he slid out of the way. The spider-boar reared back
and shot a translucent string of vile web at him; he dodged and heard the wet
thump as it hit the building behind him.  He ran forward and rammed his
head into its bulging stomach, driving it backwards and over, too winded to even
squeal.  Ignoring its struggles and venomous tusks, he slid his claws into
its throat and bracing himself with his tail, ripped its head from its body.
As he dropped the head with a squelch something hit him from behind
slamming his head into the ground.  Struggling dizzily to get up he felt
wet strands of web slap his ribs sticking him to the ground.  The pressure
on his back suddenly disappeared and he struggled to stand, pulling at the
sticky web.

"Easy
mate.”

Tam was at his
side hacking at the web.  As the last one fell free Ramaeka pulled himself
up and looked around.  Amar stood beside the blackened husk of the spider
he had fought looking tired but whole to Ramaeka's relief.  Tam slapped
his side affectionately; he had only a few minor scratches and looked rather
pleased with himself.  Beyond him, hacking the head off the last spider
was Stripe.  Eight other men watched respectfully at a distance, weapons in
hand.  As the head fell free Stripe stepped back and turned to them
panting.

"What are
you doing here?” he demanded.  "Are you helping Gasha?”

Some of the
men growled and stepped forward.  Tam rolled his eyes.

"Yeah
that be exactly what ee's doin.  Him and spidey pig was just dancing yeah.”

Stripe glared
at him.  Tam held up his hands in mock surrender.

"We're
fightin' under General's orders.  Yon dragon’s done more 'n most to save
our hides so if ye don't mind we'll be off ta do some work.”

Stripe ignored
him and walked up to Ramaeka.  "You lied to me, how am, I supposed to
trust you?”

"I don't know,”
Ramaeka replied honestly.  "Maybe the same way I can trust two human
thieves with my life.”

Stripe winced
at that.

"Everything
else I told you was true, I don't eat people, I hate my family and I was
attacked by dragons.  But if you can't believe me despite everything then
so be it, I'm still going to do what’s right and protect this city if I can.
You'll just have to get over it.”

He glared
right back at Stripe fluffing out his wings in frustration.

Stripe bit his
lip obviously struggling with himself.  Finally he sighed, shoulders slumping
as he sheathed his sword.

"Was it
your family who attacked you?” he asked quietly looking at the scars that stood
out vividly on Ramaeka’s side despite the muck and dirt.  Ramaeka shrugged
his wings settling back into place.

"My
father was going to kill my best friend; it was an easy decision to make.
He and my family give our people a bad name.”

"We'll
sort them out after Gasha,” Stripe grinned weakly.  Ramaeka snorted taking
the peace offering and nudged him almost pushing him over.  Stripe laughed
and shoved back.

"You're
warm,” he said in surprise.  "I always thought..."

He stopped,
tensing.  "What is that?"

Ramaeka and
Tam looked at each other confused.

"Can't
you hear it?”

As they
shrugged their confusion he turned towards Amar who had walked up behind him.
Silently he held up the sheathed sword.

"Oh,”
Stripe breathed reaching for it.  He slid the sword from the sheath
stroking a hand down the blade.  For the first time Ramaeka got a good
look at the sword.  The blade was tempered metal with a blue sheen to it
that he'd never seen in a metal before.  The hilt was wrapped in plain
black leather while the guard was shaped like the heads of two wolves; the
pommel was white crystal which seemed to glow.

"Where
did you get it?"

Amar smiled.
"An old acquaintance lent it to us.”

"This is
Gasha's sword,” Stripe stared at them.

"It is
yours now.”

Ramaeka
exchanged an amused look with Amar.  It was strange after all they had been
through to get the sword to hand it over so calmly.  He had expected
explosions or at least life threatening situations.  Stripe was nearly
speechless.

"I-I
can't,” he stammered clutching at the sword.  He swore as the keen blade
cut his palm.

"Now ye
have to,” Tam handed him a piece of cloth from his pocket.  "Sword
law, ye've given blood to 'er now.”

Stripe blushed
shaking his head but carefully wiped the blade before sliding it back into
its sheath.  He pulled off his old battered sword and looked around
unsurely for somewhere to put it.

"Let me
hold on to it for you,” Amar offered holding out his hand.  Stripe gave it
to him before buckling on the new one.  He took a deep breath before
turning back to them.

"Right,
what are our orders?”

"The
General wanted us to make a sweep of the eastern ridge and make sure it's
vermin free,” Ramaeka told him helpfully.

He nodded.
'We were headed that way too, we did a northern sweep, but I heard they
were over near Eagle Ridge.”

"Why
don't we group up 'n fan out?” Tam suggested.  "Keep yer wits and
swords about ye and call out iffen there’s trouble.”

Everybody
agreed and splitting into three groups of four they proceeded towards the east
a block apart.  Stripe fell in step beside Ramaeka's head as they went
cautiously up their street.  Amar and another soldier followed close
behind, eyes scanning the street and buildings.  Keeping an eye out
Ramaeka was finally able to ask something that was niggling at him.

"Where are
the others?” he whispered.  For a moment he thought Stripe wasn't going to
answer.

“Shady left
before we got to the gates,” Stripe mumbled.  “He didn’t want to fight.”

“Sorry,” he
said surprised.  Stripe and Shady had always seemed inseparable.

Stripe
shrugged.  “I think it’s better this way, he’s safe.  It’s just
strange not having him here.”

Ramaeka
nodded.

“What about
Parrit and Gelber?” he asked changing the subject.

Stripe grinned
slightly.  “They were mowing down the enemy last time I saw them.”

Ramaeka
huffed a quiet laugh.  That sounded about right.

He looked at
Ramaeka.  “So you really don’t actually eat people?”

Ramaeka
shrugged.  “It’s why I fought with my father, I like humans but not to eat.”

Noticing
Stripe still looked sceptical he added “There’s a law being put through at the
moment that bans eating humans.”  Stripe nodded thoughtfully.

Shouts erupted
from the group one block over to the right.

"Back to
work,” Ramaeka sighed.

"Stay
here and watch the street,” Stripe called to the other two.  "Yell if
you see anything.”

Ramaeka
saw Amar frown but shook his head at him.  He nodded and stepped into the
shadows while Ramaeka raced after Stripe.  Tam and his three soldiers were
fighting what looked like a cross between a troll and a mountain cat.  It
had brown fur with a cats head, huge yellow fangs and nasty looking claws.
Its body was squat like a troll and muscular, despite that it was agile
and quick on its feet.  Two of the men were bleeding from deep scratches
which they grimly ignored.  Right that’s it Ramaeka decided.  He
leapt out fangs bared, claws at the ready, tail spike raised and roared.
The creature screeched in shock and turned to flee.  Tam coolly shot
it in the back as it ran.  As his roar continued to echo through the city
Ramaeka could see other creatures fleeing in the distance.  Tam and two of
the other soldiers shot several with impressive accuracy.

"Nice,”
Stripe said impressed.  Tam hummed in agreement around the arrow he held in his
mouth as Ramaeka preened.  Loading the arrow into his crossbow he glanced
at them.

"Let's go
huntin' then.”

For the next
few hours they hunted through the east of the city checking every nook and
cranny under Tam's guidance.

"Lived
'ere for a few years when I was a lad,” he explained.  "Got to know
it inside out.”

While they
came across another few dozen creatures most fled ahead of Ramaeka's bristling,
growling form and were shot down by the others.  Stripe was inclined to
pout since there was little need to use his new sword until they ran into
another group of spider-boars which Amar called muskin.  If Stripe had
been talented with a sword before, now he was unstoppable.  The sword
flashed and spun as he decimated the muskin leaving only one for Tam to deal
with to Ramaeka's relief.  Other than the muskin and a particularly nasty
kelpie in a well, the only trouble they found was when Stripe checked a garden
for creatures.  Ramaeka sprang forward as he ran back out yelping.
Growling he looked for whatever creature that had dared to attack his friend.  Stripe
ducked behind him.  Honking and hissing a grey bird waddled after him.
Ramaeka lowered his snout and growled softly.  The bird
took one look at him and fled honking.  Tam was hooting with
laughter, when he turned to look even Amar was laughing while Stripe was bright
red.  Ramaeka cocked his head at him.

"I hate
geese,” Stripe grumbled still flushed.  "Bites hurt like anything.”

Ramaeka shook
his head and kept walking, hiding his grin.

"They
have beady black eyes Ramaeka!  They stare right into my soul when they're
not biting me, I swear.”

Tam slapped
him lightly on the shoulder.

"Yon
geese be the terror of the city lad.”

Stripe
grumbled and followed Ramaeka as the others muffled their laughter.

As dawn broke
above them the General found them making their way past the bodies from the
second lot of muskin.

The General
strode up and clapped Stripe on the back.  He nodded up at Ramaeka, Amar
and the others.

“Nice to have
you here,” he said calmly.  “That was some good work you’ve been doing.”

He gestured towards the dead monsters.

Ramaeka puffed
up his chest in pride.  “We do what we can,” he replied looking smug.

The other
soldiers hid their grins while Stripe rolled his eyes.

“Where would
you like us to battle next?” Amar asked politely.

The General
sighed.  “No need for that right now,” he replied indicating the walls
with a nod.

“The enemy is
retreating; we seem to have beaten the vanguard back for now.”

Stripe and
Ramaeka cheered while Amar leaned back in relief.

"I'll
meet yer later,” Tam said cheerfully saluting the General before jogging away
still full of energy despite the long night.

"He is a
good man,” Amar said while Stripe and Ramaeka both agreed wholeheartedly.

"Indeed.”

The General
eyed them thoughtfully.  “I don’t believe that will be the end of it, but
as we seem to have a little time we should eat and rest.”

Ramaeka agreed
profoundly, food sounded wonderful right then, it seemed ages since the meal
with Zanir.  With a sigh he slid back into his lesser form again.
Stripe blinked down at him.

"I
forgot how small you were.”

Ramaeka
scowled and shoved him.  "For that I'm eating your share too.”

Turning the
General led them away towards the centre of the city where there was supposedly
supplies being cooked for the soldiers.

After being
shown where to wash up and where they could rest they were led to the eating
area which was packed with people by the time they got there.  Men and a
few women lounged about eating or talking in quiet groups.  Several
servers stood behind massive cauldrons, the smell of their contents making
Ramaeka drool.  Stripe sniggered and offered him a dirty cloth to wipe his
mouth with.  Ramaeka ignored him and wiped it on his sleeve instead.
As they neared the serving area, Tam called out to them, waving them
over.  He sat with several important looking people and the two warrior
women of Shapir.

“I got yer
food for yer already,” he told them cheerfully gesturing at a bowl and a small
cauldron.

Ramaeka eyed
the delicious, still bubbling stew in the cauldron, and beamed at Tam happily.

“Food!” he whooped grabbing the cauldron and a spoon.

Stripe sat
down with his bowl as the men at the table sniggered at Ramaeka.  Tam
looked at Ramaeka, scratching his head unsurely.  "Ra, that ye?” he
asked.  "Yer shrunk.”

"Still me,”
Ramaeka reassured him.  "This is my civilized look.”  He
attacked the cauldron of stew vigorously.

One of those
at the table, a huge bald man raised an eyebrow.

“This child
actually thinks he could eat a whole cauldron of this stew?” he drawled in
raspy tones.  “I could barely get through two bowls.”

Ramaeka
stopped eating for a moment to look him over.

“This child
will eat this cauldron of stew and whatever’s for dessert,” he replied solemnly
before turning his attention back to the food.

The men’s
amusement turned to awe as Ramaeka devastated the cauldron then looked around
for more.

“Rama above, I
would never have believed it if I hadn’t seen it,” the man commented.  “My
apologies boy, allow me to get you some more.”

He stood and
went in search of more food as the other men laughed and patted Ramaeka on the
back.

“Well that was
certainly impressive,” Parrit commented, moving to sit beside him.  Gelber
grabbed a seat opposite.

“Thank you, I
try my best,” Ramaeka replied modestly, while eyeing their food.

Gelber
laughed, “Dragon or not, you are fine with me.”

Parrit nodded
agreement, tightening a bandage on her arm.  “As long as you don’t try to eat
us.  Trust me dragon boy, you would not like to do that.”

Ramaeka
nodded respectfully to her before grinning at Gelber.

“You two look
like you’ve been in a battle,” he commented cheekily.

In addition
to the bandage on her arm, Parrit’s left side of her face was black with
bruises while Gelber had a cut running from temple to jaw.

Gelber
laughed.  “You should see the enemy,” she smirked.

Ramaeka
grinned back at her, relieved that things were coming right again and they had
forgiven him.  Especially as his new friend was returning with a massive
bowl of something that smelt sweet and delicious.

As he finished the bowl of fruit and custard while the men encouraged him, a
messenger ran up, gasping for breath.

“Sir,” he
managed between breaths.

“Sit,” the
General commanded handing him a mug of water.  The runner sipped at the water
as his breath returned to normal.

“Sir,” he
began again.  “The enemy has reinforcements arriving.”

The men at the
table began muttering until the General held up a hand for silence.

“They were
expected though not so soon,” he said. “How many?”

The messenger
met his eyes for a moment then hung his head.

“Sir, when
they arrive they will outnumber us twenty to one.”

Ramaeka
shivered at the thought of such an immense army.  With so few men here it
would be near impossible to win this battle.  He met Stripe’s eyes and
knew he was thinking the same thing.

The General
nodded slowly, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

“You did well,”
he told the messenger.  Turning to the table, he waved to several of the
soldiers.

“I need you
to gather everyone who can be spared so I may address them,” he said calmly.

The men sprang
up and rushed away.

Within twenty
minutes most of the army as well as the city dwellers crowded into the eating
area.  Only those guarding the walls were left behind.  The General
climbed on top of the table and stood observing the soldiers and citizens.
They immediately quietened down, straining to hear their leader.

“I am afraid I
have bad news,” he stated calmly.  “The rest of the enemy has arrived, and
we are now outnumbered twenty to one.”

This statement
drew forth cries of horror and fear from those listening.  The General
silenced them with a wave of his hand.

“The King has
ordered me to save this city,” he said.  “However, it is very unlikely
that we will be able to succeed at this.  Therefore I am giving permission
for those who wish to leave to evacuate through the secret passages down to the
sea.”

“And if we
wanna stay?”

Ramaeka
glanced around and saw that it was Tam that had spoken.

“Then attend
me at the wall in ten minutes,” the General replied nodding at the man.

He stepped
down from the table.  Immediately people began to move, the city dwellers
rushed away to pack their most precious things while the soldiers congregated
in small groups.  Ramaeka could see them arguing and debating whether to
stay or go.

Stripe put a
hand on his shoulder.  Amar and the warrior women stood beside him.

“I don’t
suppose you have any dragon friends around?”

Ramaeka shook
his head.  “I wish,” he said fervently.  "The only dragon's I
really know you wouldn't want here.”  He looked at his friends.

“Will you
stay?” he asked.

They looked at
each other.

“It seems to
be a hopeless cause,” Parrit remarked thoughtfully.

“My favourite,”
Gelber smirked running a finger over the edge of her axe.

“To the wall
then,” Parrit replied.  They both looked at the other three.

“I’m staying,”
Ramaeka said fiercely.

He desperately
hoped that they wouldn’t see through his words to how terrified he was.
To his relief Amar and Stripe both nodded in agreement.

“Alright then,”
Gelber said.  “Since we are all in agreement, let us proceed to the wall.”

Chapter Twelve

As they walked
towards the wall they noticed men and women heading towards the north of the
city where it was hoped they could escape.  While many kept their gazes
averted as though ashamed, some glared defiantly at those headed in the
opposite direction as if daring them to comment.  All of them moved
quickly, hoping to get through before Gasha found the exit.

Gelber spat on
the ground.

"Cowards,”
she grumbled.  "We have no need of their kind in a real battle.”

Some of those
fleeing glared at her but thought better of contradicting the tall powerfully
built woman in armour, battle axe slung casually over one shoulder.

Ramaeka
couldn't blame them in the slightest.

"Now dear
one, you know they just wish to leave more for you,” Parrit replied mildly.
She caught Ramaeka's eye and winked while he hid a grin.

"Ye
cannae blame them.”  Tam fell into step beside Amar ignoring Gelber's
glare.

"Many
have ne'er seen battle before, just defended the walls from roamin' bands of
rogues and the like.  But like ye said tis better this way.  I like
ta know who'ers got me back ain't gonna rat out on me.”

"You
speak truly,” Gelber nodded approvingly.  Tam grinned, white teeth
flashing, and bowed slightly to her and Parrit.

"T'will
be a pleasure ta fight beside two warriors such as yer selves.  I've heard
much o' the warrior women o' Shapir.  Ne'er had the honour of meetin' any
though.”

As the women
nodded looking pleased, Tam turned to Ramaeka.

"What
about ye, Ra?  Will ye be fightin'?  Now I seen yer human face, I
gotta say ye might be a wee bit young, though no one'd dare say ya ain't fought
like a great warrior.”

Ramaeka
shrugged at least he could be honest about his past now.  "I've been
trained for battle since I started walking when I was three.”

"You
didn't start walking until you were three years old?” Stripe raised an eyebrow.

Ramaeka snorted.

"Three
weeks old, not three years.  Anyway that's all my father would allow us to
do.  Five hours a day of theoretical learning, Five hours of labour and
chores, six hours of battle training.  Except for meals and punishment
duty, which I got a lot of, the rest of the time was your own.”

Tam whistled
impressed.

"I'm
definitely glad you're fightin' on our side.”

The others
nodded in agreement.

“For one so
young, you must be very accomplished,” Parrit commented.

Ramaeka
shrugged.  "Not according to my father.  Compared to my brothers
and sisters I'm really small, I was always a bit of a disappointment.
Comes from being the only earth dragon in the family.”

"Your
father's an over grown lizard,” Stripe said fiercely.  "When we’re
finished beating this son of a troll into the ground where he belongs, we'll
take care of your family.”

Ramaeka just
grinned and shrugged again.  To be honest he wasn't sure what he thought
of the idea. He hated his father with a passion, but he was still his father.
Fighting his family wasn't something he wanted to think too hard over.

By now they had
reached the wall where other humans had gathered.

Ramaeka looked
them over curiously.  They were certainly a mixed bunch; he hadn't realized
what a range they came in.  He saw every colour from snow white to those
as dark as his father's dragon hide.  He wondered if their colour
indicated their element type like it did with his own kind.  The clothing
they wore varied just as much.  Some like Parrit and Gelber wore light
armour, while others were fully encased.  Ramaeka looked forward to seeing
how they ran and manoeuvred in such gear. Some like Tam and Stripe wore rough
breeches and shirts, others long robes.  Ramaeka even noticed one
laughing, joking, heavily tattooed group who wore only skin tight black shorts
and, if they were female, bands of the same material across their chests.

Tam grinned
when he saw where Ramaeka was looking.

"Good eye
mate, them there are Selkies.”

"Selkies?”
Ramaeka stumbled over the unfamiliar word.

"Aye,
fierce fighter’s fer all they like a bit o' fun.  All types o' fun at that.”

Tam seemed
amused by Ramaeka's confused expression while Stripe looked the group over
curiously.

"What
kind of fighters are they?” Gelber asked absently fingering the edge of her
weapon.

"Brilliant knife
fighters,” Tam told her approvingly.  "They're shape shifters like Ra
'ere only they turn inna sea dogs, what some call seals.  They're
unstoppable in water 'n hard ta kill on land.  Unusual for 'em to be in
this world specially up north, but there’s a couple'a small colonies scattered
about.”

Some of the
Selkies glanced up at them and noticed their stares.  They grinned
wickedly, one winked at them while another waggled their eyebrows Stripe
blushed while Ramaeka smiled and waved to their amusement.

Tam laughed
but before Ramaeka could ask what was so funny the General stepped on to the
stairs ahead of them so that he could be seen by everybody gathered.
Everyone hushed instantly, eyeing him intently.  The General seemed
unconcerned by the tension in the crowd; he nodded at them all calmly.

"I wish
to begin by thanking you all for staying, I know this may seem a hopeless
cause to some.  We are thoroughly outnumbered.  Many of the enemy are
creatures from our nightmares who we hoped were mere stories.  They have
many powerful mages and countless strong warriors.  However we are not
without hope.  There are amongst us great and honourable warriors from
many different worlds, the first such alliance in our history.  Yes Gasha
has bound many to his will, but by doing so he has brought us together as well.
Now as much as I would like to continue attempting grand speeches to fire
you up,” He paused and grinned as some of the crowd whistled and cheered.
Ramaeka was sure most of it came from the group of Selkies.

"Let us
get down to the practical.”

Ramaeka listened
in fascination as the General outlined a plan based on defence rather than
attack. Only by defending the walls would they keep the enemy at bay for as
long as possible.  Hopefully this would allow the rest of the world to ready
themselves, and perhaps even allow time for their allies to attempt to come to
their aid.  It sounded like a fair plan to Ramaeka however Stripe frowned
tugging his lip thoughtfully.

"What’s
wrong?” he asked once the General was finished and the individual groups were
being called up to find out their assigned positions.

"It seems
like a sound plan to me.”

Stripe shook
his head.  "Maybe...  I just think we should do more than just
hold them here.”

Gelber patted
his shoulder sympathetically.  "I agree my friend, but his is the
wisest course.

"If we
can't do anymore than hold him back for a few days, what’s anybody else going
to be able to do?” he asked bluntly.

Ramaeka
watched as the others exchanged uneasy looks.  It’s true he realized the
leader of this world’s best General and great warriors from many different
places were here.  Would anyone else have time to find more
great fighters even if they did give them a few extra days to organize
themselves?

"We'll do
what we must lad,” Tam said gently.  Stripe shook his head again.

"I'm
going to talk to the General.”

Ramaeka
started after him but Tam grabbed his arm.

"Let 'im
go Ra, the General'll sort it out yeah.”

Ramaeka sighed
but stayed where he was watching Stripe approach the General.

"Let us
discover which position we have been assigned,” Amar said leading them over to
where the General's officers were waiting.

"Since
you're fightin' then Ra, I was thinkin',” Tam gave him a sly sideways look making
Amar frown.

"I'm not
much bigger 'n Mar, so maybe you 'n I could team up.  Mar could cover us
with 'is magic from below.”

Ramaeka
thought it over.

"Depending
on what the General had planned I don't see why not,” he replied slowly.

"Though
I'm not sure how long I can stay up with a human on my back, I’m getting a
little low on energy.  And as long as Amar doesn't mind.”

Tam slapped
him on the back affectionately before raising an eyebrow at Amar who had been
fairly quiet.

"I do not
mind,” he smiled slightly.  "As long as you keep him within my sight.”

Ramaeka winced
feeling bad for his friend and the position he was in, only able to defend
Ramaeka. He really hoped the General understood.

Speaking of
which he looked over to see how the General in question was reacting to
Stripe's frustration.  He was frowning and shaking his head as Stripe argued
with him.  Not so well then.

Tam was
talking to one of the senior officers pointing at Ramaeka and Amar.
The officer nodded and pointed along the wall.  Tam saluted and
headed back over.

"Sorted,”
he grinned.  "We get ta work from the central guard tower inna centre
o' the wall there, a grand place to launch from right mate?”

"We're
not mates,” Ramaeka replied absently as he kept an eye on Stripe.  Really
he was far too young to even think about having a mate.  Tam frowned at
that while Amar hid a smile behind his hand.

"Where
Ramaeka comes from a mate is a long term romantic partner,” he explained
smoothly.  Tam's hurt look cleared up instantly.

"Er right
ye are, we are definitely not mates then, just friends,” he said hurriedly
glaring at Gelber and Parrit who were openly laughing at him.  Still smiling
Amar turned to Ramaeka.

"Here the
term mate is often used as slang for friend.”

Ramaeka
flashed Tam a grin.  "That’s a relief; I'm not really old enough for
that stuff.”  He wrinkled his nose in distaste.

"So I see,”
Tam replied dryly.  He herded them towards the wall stairs where Stripe was
still talking to the General.

"It seems
Stripe may be getting his way after all,” Parrit observed in her quiet way,
nodding towards the pair.  Ramaeka frowned uneasily as the General slowly
nodded at what Stripe was saying.

"I hope
it is not something that will get us killed,” Parrit added calmly.  Stripe
trotted down the steps to meet them, an air of grim triumph about him.

"What
have you done?” Amar asked suspiciously.

"Nothing
really,” he shrugged.  "Just offered a few suggestions we might have
a chance to use.”  He changed the subject abruptly.

"Where
are all of you positioned?”

"Me, Tam
and Amar are in the central guard tower on the wall.”  Ramaeka looked at
Parrit and Gelber inquiringly.

"I will
be assisting the archers to the west of your tower,” Parrit said.

"And I
will be assisting with the catapults and ballista’s until I can get a little
closer to some of those delicate creatures,” Gelber's smile was all bared teeth,
her eyes glinted wickedly.

"What
about you?” Ramaeka interjected still suspicious.

"Not far
from your tower,” he replied.  "At the command post with the General.
Don't worry Ra; I'll be safe as kittens there.”

Ramaeka
scowled but nodded.  Stripe was definitely up to something but he was
stubborn as a rock when he wanted to be and Ramaeka wasn't going to get anything
out of him.

"Right
then ma... er friends,” Tam glanced quickly at Ramaeka.  "Let’s get
ta where we should be yeah?  Good luck to ye all, may the Lady Mischief be
on yer side.”

The others
murmured similar sentiments before heading on their way.

As Ramaeka
headed up the steps after Tam the pain hit him again with more intensity than
he had felt before.  Gasping he grabbed his left hip as the muscle
strained and the bone shifted.  His legs gave way and he would have
toppled down the stairs if Amar hadn’t grabbed him from behind.  He sat
down hard, trying to catch his breath.  He pulled his clothing away from
his hip and gulped in horror.  He could see the bone of his hip moving,
the muscles around it bulged and writhed beneath his skin.  Amar crouched
beside him and placed a glowing hand on his side.  Immediately the
movement subsided as did the pain.  Ramaeka wiped the sweat from his
forehead with a shaking hand.

“Are you
alright?” Amar asked softly.

“No,” Ramaeka
wailed quietly.  “Stripe’s about to get himself killed, after which we’re
all going to die and in the meantime my body hates me.”

Amar looked
amused.  “Your body does not hate you.”

“Are you two
coming?” Stripe called from above.

“Don’t say
anything to him about this,” Ramaeka whispered urgently to Amar who nodded and
helped him up.

They caught up
with the other two at the central command post where Tam and Amar wished Stripe
luck before heading towards the tower.  When Ramaeka would have followed
Stripe grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop.

"You
alright Ra?”

"I'm fine,”
he said quickly.

“They'll be
aiming for you,” Stripe said quietly.  "Be careful and don't take any
risks.”

Ramaeka rolled
his eyes.  "I have a feeling you'll be taking all the risks before
anyone else gets a chance.  Don't do anything stupid, at least not without
me alright?”

Stripe laughed
and gave him a one-armed hug, scruffing his hair with his free hand

"No
promises made, no promises broken my friend.”

"So does
this mean you forgive me for being a dragon?” Ramaeka asked giving him his best
hopeful look.

Stripe shook
his head grinning with sheepish embarrassment.  "Suppose so.
Now shoo I've got work to do.”

Ramaeka ran to
catch up with the other two who were waiting at the entrance to the tower.
Two archers were already inside the tower they nodded before returning
their attention to their weapons.  The three of them passed them by and
went to the very top which was half covered and half open, the perfect
launching point for a small dragon Ramaeka thought pleased.  Less pleasing
was the view of the enemy.  Heavy drums began to pound as the army marched
forth, even with dragon sight Ramaeka could not make out the end of the mass
below, it flowed right back into the trees.  He swallowed hard.

"Should I
change now?”

"Nay,”
Tam said softly staring out over the flood of humans and creatures.  "Best
not to let em target ya too early.”

"Tam is
correct, they will be searching for you after the feats that you achieved
yesterday,” Amar affirmed.  "That they do not know of your secondary
form works in our favour.”

He frowned
suddenly and leaned forward.

"Hmmmmm.”

"What?”
Tam and Ramaeka demanded at the same time.

Amar tapped
his lip thoughtfully.  "Not all of this army is real'.

"Say
again,” Tam frowned while Ramaeka leaned forward to peer intently at the enemy;
it looked real enough to him.

"It is
very good work" Amar admitted impressed.  "Indeed I have
not seen the like before, Gasha may be cruel and arrogant but he is talented.
The back third of the army on the field so far are illusions.”

"Are ye
sure?” Tam demanded.

"Absolutely,
there must be four or five powerful mage's working the spell other than Gasha
himself.  No Ramaeka, look through your magic do not rely on your eyes.”

Ramaeka
obediently pulled on his magic wincing at the sorry state it was in.
Looking out now he saw each being below shone with their own power and
life force, except as Amar said, the back third which were merely glittering
shadows.  He whistled impressed.

"Ye're
definitely sure?”

"He's
right,” Ramaeka confirmed.  Tam bit his lip then nodded decisively.

"I'll be
right back.”  He bound down the stairs.

"Why
would he do that?” Ramaeka asked.  "Doesn't it waste a lot of power,
especially just before a battle?”

"Gasha
rules on fear and trickery,” Amar replied watching the horde approaching.  "It
seems that we are about to learn that first hand.”

He pointed
downwards.  Following his direction Ramaeka saw the human warlord himself,
riding a strange mottled green lizard which Ramaeka had never seen before.

"Soul
shaker,” Amar murmured.  "Beware of those Ramaeka; they have the
ability to injure your very essence.”

His mouth
suddenly felt very dry; there were so many strange and terrifying beasts here.

"Why did
you make them?” he whispered feeling nauseous.  "All these evil
beasts do is bring pain and fear.”

"That's
what humans say about dragons,” Amar reminded him.  "Every creature
that I made has a reason for existing and every one of them has the ability to
destroy, including humans and dragons.  When I myself was created, a set
of instructions were ingrained into my very being.  Nearly everything I
made was according to those instructions including free will.  The
delicate balance between good and evil existed long before I did.”

Ramaeka
frowned, it was a lot to try and understand especially when he was so tired.

"Nearly
everything?” he asked changing the subject slightly.

"Well,
dragons were mine,” Amar admitted with a crooked smile.  "Some of my
creations have been warped by sick minds like Gasha.  Speaking of whom, it
seems he wishes to talk.”

Attention
diverted Ramaeka peered over the edge of the tower again.

"How do
you know?”

"The
white cloth they are waving symbolizes a truce in which the two sides may
converse without fear of attack.  Though it is unusual to use the pelt of
one of your own creatures as a symbol of good will.”

"Well at
least it wasn't one of ours,” Ramaeka grinned with morbid humour.  The
white rag that one of the soldiers was waving was indeed furry and speckled
with blood.

"I wish
to speak with whomever is in charge of this rabble.”  Gasha's nasal voice
was amplified enough that Ramaeka was forced to cover his ears.
After a few moments the General's voice boomed back.

"I am he,
state your purpose thief.”

Ramaeka
smirked as Gasha glared up at the wall.

"Let us
talk of thieves then.  I believe you are currently sheltering two such
creatures behind your pathetic walls.  I will have what belongs to me
returned.”

"And what
is it exactly that you seek that you must bring your slaves here with you?”

"Do not
be coy,” Gasha hissed.  "You have my sword you scum sucking fool, return
it immediately.”

One of the
knights who stood behind Gasha and said something quietly.  The warlord
visibly pulled his temper back under control.

"I shall
be fair, open your gates and surrender, return my sword with the heads of the
thieves and I shall allow all those within the walls to live as my slaves.
Refuse and this city and all within will be nought but ashes by next
sunrise.”

There was a
long pause, Ramaeka could see the smirks on the faces of those around Gasha,
they knew he would not let them live.  The warlord himself stared
arrogantly at the wall, waiting.

"That
does sound unreasonably fair Gasha, though I think it would be hard to turn
stone into ashes,” came a new voice.  A voice which Ramaeka recognized
instantly.  What was Stripe thinking?  Why was the General allowing him to
speak?

"Who are
you?  I will only talk with your leader not some ill bred idiot.”

"Well I'm
afraid I want to talk to you Gasha so I suggest you clean the muck from your
ears and listen carefully.  Especially because I have something that
belongs to you.”

Somewhere in
his chest Ramaeka's heart gave a great whump then flopped down into his
stomach. What are you doing?  He thought fingers digging frantically into the
stone of the tower.  Gasha stepped forward, scanning the wall intently, his
fists clenched.

"Who are
you, you pox ridden scum swimmer? I will skin you alive.  I will make you
beg for death before I even think of allowing you to die!”

"Yeah,
yeah,” Stripe interrupted coolly.  "You might actually remember me from
Porkae old man.  I was one of your little thief boys about eight years ago
when you were still the thief lord there.  You had my feet caned once for
walking too loudly, but then that might describe a few of us I suppose. If it
helps I was the little blond kid with the bit of black in his hair who was so
good with locks.  I once broke into the Lord Treasurer's house for you.”
There was a long pause as Gasha absorbed this.

"Ahhh yes
now I remember, little Stripe.  And where is your friend?  What was
his name now?  That's right, Shadow wasn't it?”

"So you
do remember me, I'm honoured.”

"You were
a loyal and talented servant to me once.”  Now Gasha's voice was silky soft.

"Your
reward would be great if such loyalty still proved true to me.”

"I'm sure,”
Stripe replied wryly.  "But that's not why I wanted to chat.  I
wanted to offer you a deal.”

"I'm
listening.”

"I want
to challenge you to a one on one fight.”

There was
complete and utter silence for a long moment.  Then Gasha exploded into
laughter.  Taking their cue the horde quickly followed suit.

"I could
have sworn I did not include insanity when I made him,” Amar said grimly.  "Obviously
I was distracted at some point.”

Ramaeka was
too numb with horror to reply.

"Why
should I even consider your childish challenge?  I remember you Stripe.
Always sneaking away to watch the soldiers train when you should have been
working.  Trying to secretly fumble your way through their exercises, imagining
yourself a great warrior indeed.”

"Because
if you don't I'm going to make sure you never find this sword again.  You
may have noticed yesterday that we had a little 'natural' help with your flying
monsters.”

Gasha ground
his teeth.  "Elementai are fickle creatures at best.”

Ramaeka could
almost see Stripe shrug casually.  "Maybe but are you willing to take
that chance?  I wonder how many worlds away they could take it before they
lose interest.”

"And what
did you wish to wager on this challenge?  Do you want me to promise to
withdraw my horde if you win?  If I win are you going to throw open the
gates to us?”

"Don't be
ridiculous,” Stripe scoffed.  "If I win you'll be dead, if you win
I'll be dead and you'll have your sword back since I'm going to fight with it.
All I need is a guarantee that nobody on either side will interfere until
the fights done.”

Gasha looked intrigued;
several of his officers began to talk to him rapidly.

"Yer
friend's a brave 'un.”  Tam had returned while Stripe spoke.

"He's a
rockhead is what he is,” Ramaeka growled.  Tam chuckled.

"That
too.”

"Can I
trust your people not to interfere?  Perhaps we should exchange hostages?”

"Not a
chance,” was Stripe's firm reply.  "You don't need to be scared
Gasha, they'll stay out of it as long as yours do.”

"Fine, I
accept,” Gasha spat clearly annoyed by the taunt, juvenile though it was.
"One hour from now directly in front of the gates so your people
will find it hard to shoot me down.”

"Agreed.
Let's push your lot back a hundred or so yards as well shall we?
Give us some room to manoeuvre.”

"Very
well.  One hour.”

"One hour.”

As the army
retreated, Ramaeka stormed down the stairs ignoring the startled archers, Amar
and Tam followed hastily.  They found Stripe at the base of the wall
listening to what the General was saying while he checked his weapons.

"Are you
out of your worm ridden mind?”  Ramaeka was so angry his voice squeaked a
little as he yelled at his friend.

"It's a
good plan Ramaeka,” the General interjected kindly as Ramaeka glared up at
Stripe who took a step back.  "If it works.”

"Thanks,”
Stripe muttered as Ramaeka went red with fury.  "Did you know your
eyes go all dragony when you’re angry?”

"I like
this plan.”  Gelber and Parrit had also arrived.  "I wish only
that it was possible for me to accompany you.”

"That's
because you are as crazed as he is,” Parrit said fondly rolling her eyes as
Stripe and Gelber exchanged wicked grins.  Ramaeka grabbed Stripe by the
shirt and shook him slightly.

"You're
going to die!” he yelled.  "I'm going to have to watch you die!
I told you not to do anything stupid without me!”

"Calm
down Ra,” Stripe patted Ramaeka's shoulder soothingly.  "I know what
I'm doing, believe it or not, and even if I didn't the challenge has been made
so let's work out what I should do out there.”

"But I
haven't even been through my reasons of why you're an idiot yet.  It’s
such a long list it may take a while.”

"Perhaps
you should tell us what you have in mind Stripe,” Amar interrupted kindly
before Ramaeka could actually start on his list.  He shot Ramaeka a look
that reminded him that they had already gone on their own suicide mission the
previous day.  But that was different he thought mutinously, we actually
stood a chance.

Relieved
Stripe quickly began to elaborate on his plan.

"Gasha's easy to anger which I can use to break his concentration, he's
bound to make mistakes when he's in a rage.  He's alright as a fighter,
maybe just above average.  Plus I have his weapon of choice which means
he'll be forced to use something else which he doesn't handle often so he'll be
uncomfortable.  He was very reliant on his sword.”

"Will
that not work against you as well? As you have just acquired the sword
yourself",” Parrit interrupted.

"A little,”
he admitted.  "But that's the thing with this sword, it's like it
knows me.  It already feels more natural than my old one.”

"Alright,
'ee's easy ta distract 'n 'e won't be comfortable inna physical fight.
Anythin' else?”  Tam asked.  Stripe nodded.

"He's
left-handed, weaker on his right.  Normally he gets others to do his dirty
work for him so he doesn't fight all that often.  And the last time he saw
me fight was when I was eight years old so he's bound to underestimate me.
He could never really believe anyone was better than him at something. If
it was just a physical fight I think I would stand a fair chance of winning.
Unfortunately he's far more powerful than I am.  I'm hoping if I
keep him distracted and keep moving around I might get a chance to slip under
his guard and kill him.”  He stopped and looked at them expectantly.

"It's
the closest we've got to a decent plan at this point,” the General observed
shrugging.   "You seem to have a firm grasp of strategy for your age;
I suppose you would have to grow up fast living on the streets of Porkae.
However I would advise you against underestimating Gasha in any kind of
fight.  He is extremely cunning and he will do anything to win.”

Stripe nodded
seriously.

"Isn't
there anyway you can protect yourself from his magic?” Ramaeka asked giving up
on sulking for now; he'd never been very good at it anyway.

"There
is one thing,” Stripe grinned holding up a hand which started to glow.
"I've been practicing and I haven't been using my power to fight
with so I'm still fresh.  I thought I'd better save it just in case.”

Amar shook
his head.  "I continue to be surprised by you two,” he said wryly
which Ramaeka knew meant he was impressed.  "I would keep that hidden
until you get desperate, let him underestimate you.”

"How'll
ye get the lad down?” Tam asked the General.  "Seein' as the gates be
blocked.”

"I
thought our dragon might be kind enough to drop his friend below.”

Stripe
smirked.  "Gasha will hate that.”

"Indeed,
you must be very careful Ramaeka, keep an eye out for any attacks. I'm sure
Amar will cover you from the tower just in case.”

Ramaeka
squared his shoulders feeling strangely relieved that he would be involved,
despite the fact that he was taking his friend to his certain death.

"And if
Gasha or his mouldy horde does anything that even smells like cheating I'll be
down to pick you up again whether you like it or not,” he told his friend jutting
his chin out stubbornly.

"Agreed,”
Stripe slapped him on the shoulder, his eyes already gleaming fiercely with the
thought of the coming battle.  Parrit handed over a flask of water and
some food.

"Eat and
drink only a little, you do not wish to be weighed down in the fight but you
will need the energy.”

Ramaeka and
the others waited patiently as Stripe ate and drank before he began to warm up.
As the hour drew to a close he visited the privy and then joined them on
the top of the guard tower.  The others wished him luck before stepping
below to give Ramaeka room to change.  Drum beats signalled the end of the
hour.  Ramaeka suddenly found it hard to swallow.

"Are you
scared?” he whispered.

"Terrified,”
Stripe replied softly.  "I can do this though.  Trust me.”

Ramaeka
nodded.  He slid into his greater form and let Stripe clamber on his back.

"Hold on,”
he warned and launched himself over the edge.

Chapter Thirteen

As they glided
down, Ramaeka kept a sharp eye on the Warlord.  If his temper was as bad as
Stripe had implied then there was a very real possibility that seeing Ramaeka
would cause him to attack.  After all it wasn't every day somebody stole the
most precious treasure of a feared Warlord.

However,
despite some ominous stirring and a few growls from amongst the horde, Gasha
made no sign that he was interested in attacking though his eyes followed
Ramaeka intently.

Ramaeka back
winged neatly, landing so that Stripe would have the walls of the city at his
back rather than the horde.  Growls rumbled unbidden in his chest as Gasha
smiled coldly pointing a long elegant finger at him.

"I won't
forget about you thief.”

Stripe slid
off his back as Ramaeka pushed down his urge to fight and tear this human
apart.  At his friends warning look he backed away, baring his fangs
disdainfully with a soft snarl.  When they had stolen the sword he had kept his
eyes averted to avoid Gasha’s wrath now, up close again, he could finally take
a good look at this human who had caused so much pain and suffering to others.

The man was
tall and imposing, cold grey eyes peered arrogantly down an arched nose.  A
dark trim beard framed a small cruel mouth.  He was also seething with magic
Ramaeka realised, and from the different colours that swirled within him, not
all of the magic was his own.  He fought down a shudder.

"He goes
unharmed until we finish our business together,” Stripe said sternly.

"Of
course,” Gasha gave him a mocking bow.

"Now if
your friend would back off, perhaps we could begin some time today?”

Stripe ignored
the jibe and leant his forehead against Ramaeka's cheek, probably knowing that
he was angering Gasha with his casual dismissal Ramaeka thought darkly amused.
He leaned into his friend slightly though he kept his eyes firmly on the human
and his distant horde.

"If this
doesn't work out, I know you won't run so I want you to do something for me,”
Stripe murmured.  "Finish him off before the horde gets here.  If you cut
off the head of the serpent, its body might wriggle for a while but it’s
powerless.  The city will have a chance that way.”

Ramaeka nodded
imperceptibly.  If there was nothing else he could do then he would see his
friend's plan through to the end.

As Stripe
stepped forward towards Gasha, Ramaeka eyed the horde.  He could see several
knights and soldiers in the front ranks attempting to subtly hide crossbows and
longbows, just waiting for him to take flight.  In order to gain height to get
back over the wall he would have to angle out towards them slightly, and they
knew it.  Each was probably hoping to be the one to bring him down thinking it
would put them in Gasha's favour.

Ha!  Well good
luck to them he thought scornfully, backing up to the wall on the left of the
sealed gate.  He wasn't going to be caught out so easily, let them think he was
backing up to gain momentum.

With one last
look at Stripe, Gasha and the twitchy horde, he turned and easily scrabbled up
the wall, climbing it as easily as he had scaled the walls of Talok.

Leaping from
the top of the wall, he glided down to the base of the stairs where he could
change form away from prying eyes.  As soon as he had changed he turned and
charged back up the steps.

"Did I
miss anything?” he panted, pausing at the General's command post.

"Just the
disappointed expressions on the enemy’s faces when they realized you weren't
going to fly,” one of the soldiers reassured him with a grin.

Ramaeka waved
his thanks and ran back to the guard tower, half collapsing against Amar as he
peered over to see what was happening.  Both Stripe and Gasha still stood
facing each other, they hadn't begun to fight yet to his relief.  He accepted
gratefully the flask of water Tam handed over as Amar filled him in.

"So far
they have merely insulted each other and each other’s parentage.  I believe
Stripe may have won that skirmish though I will not repeat what he said to do
so,” Amar told him still holding him steady.  Ramaeka grinned as Tam laughed.
Travelling with Stripe and Shady had definitely exposed him to some creative cursing;
he could well believe Stripe had won such a fight.

"Aye a
strong imagination on that un,” Tam agreed.  "Shoulda seen their faces
when ya climbed yon wall, was like they'd just bin told ta eat dirt.”

"They
should have realised I wasn't that stupid,” he retorted wickedly.  Amar hushed
them, and Ramaeka turned his full attention back to the duo below.

Stripe was
yawning at something a red faced Gasha had said.

"That's
all very nice,” he drawled.  "But I thought we were here to fight, not
compliment each other.  Why don't you stop standing there trying to look pretty
and we'll get down to business.”

"I was
attempting to allow you a few more moments of life, but if you insist,” Gasha
snarled obviously trying to hold on to his temper.  He stalked forward drawing
a sword from his belt, its blade black as night, reminding Ramaeka of the
vision Zanir had shown him.  Stripe drew his own blade still smiling brightly.

"Promises,”
he said striding forward to meet Gasha

They met with
a shuddering clang of metal on metal  Gasha used his height advantage to press
down on Stripe, forcing him back a few steps before he broke away whipping his
bade down towards Gasha's right.  The Warlord caught his blade quickly, sliding
his own down along Stripe's towards his chest. Stripe fell back, sweeping out
with his foot while bringing his blade up to meet Gasha's.  Gasha stumbled back
a few paces breathing hard.  Both were beginning to sweat in the midmorning
sun.

“Stripe is
holding his own well,” Amar murmured beside Ramaeka.  Ramaeka felt rather than
saw Tam nod in agreement.  Personally he couldn’t really tell.  Why couldn’t
humans just fight like sensible creatures, with the claws and teeth Rama above
had given them?  Or well the Amar beside him.  This whole oversized knife obsession
was driving him to insanity.

Down below
Gasha had begun to talk again as the two of them slowly circled each other.

“I’m impressed,”
Gasha said watching Stripe for any sign of weakness.  “You’ve actually learnt
something since I last saw you.”

Stripe smiled
coldly.  “What can I say, with a sword like this,” he moved the sword slightly,
catching the light.  “It’s hard not to be good.”

Gasha’s eyes
flickered down at the subtle movement and Stripe took the opportunity to lunge
in lightening fast.  Ramaeka was impressed despite himself by how fast Gasha
recovered himself, yanking sideways so that Stripe’s sword sliced across his
chest rather than into it.  With a furious yell the Warlord swept out a foot,
hooking it around one of Stripe’s legs and yanking.

Stripe rolled
to his knees as soon as he hit the ground, barely avoiding Gasha’s black
blade.  He was forced to shuffle awkwardly backwards and parry on his knees as
Gasha brought the sword down over and over in a black rage.

“You stupid,
flea-bitten mongrel,” he snarled eyes wide with fury as he drove Stripe back,
spittle flying from his mouth.  Stripe scrabbled in the dirt, throwing a
handful of dirt into Gasha’s face causing him to stumble backwards.  Ramaeka
sighed in relief as Stripe regained his feet, though unfortunately he wasn’t
fast enough to take advantage of Gasha’s discomfort.

They both
stepped back again desperately trying to catch their breath, both sweaty and
dishevelled.  Stripe was reasonably unscathed save for a few minor scrapes and
bruises as far as Ramaeka could see while Gasha’s chest bled sluggishly.  Maybe
Stripe could do this he thought gleefully.  If he could hold Gasha off for long
enough for the loss of blood to catch up that is.  To his surprise however the Warlord
was smiling as he caught his breath, face covered in dirt.

“So you like
playing in the dirt?  Well allow me to extend your playtime.”  Smearing his own
blood down the black blade he pointed it at the ground in front of them
muttering so softly even Ramaeka couldn’t make out exactly what he was saying.

“Here we go,”
Amar murmured.  “This is when the battle will become truly interesting.”

“What’s he
doing?” Ramaeka demanded unable to take his eyes away as the ground began to
shift down below.

“Magic,” Tam
said disgusted.  He spat contemptuously over the side of the wall.

Ramaeka gasped
as three figures burst out of the ground, pulling and ripping limbs free as
they climbed out.  All three stood over a head taller than Stripe; their stone
bodies carved in intricate detail, Ramaeka could even make out the creases and
folds of clothing.  Their faces on the other hand were completely blank Ramaeka
saw as they turned to look at their master.

“Is this
cheating?” he asked Amar softly.  “He’s using other creatures.”

“I do not believe
so; they are merely physical representations of his power.  As I told you he is
rather skilled when it comes to magic.”

“He doesn’t
use it like us though; he has to use words and chants.”

Amar smiled
quickly at him.  “He did not have such a good teacher.”

Ramaeka
snorted in amusement before focusing back on Stripe.

Gasha was
laughing cruelly.  “Let’s see what you can do against my mud monsters
Stripe-dog.”

Stripe slowly
sheathed his sword to Ramaeka’s surprise, looking around he realised everybody
else was confused by the move as well.  Gasha frowned and waved the monsters
forward.  Stripe crouched slightly, grey eyes steady as he watched the mud
monsters.  He brought both of his hands up to chest level, palms to the sky.

“What’s ‘e
doin?” Tam asked confused.

“I don’t
know,” Ramaeka muttered.  Amar shook his head as well.

“Perhaps he is
creating an energy blast as I once taught you.”

Stripe’s palms
began to glow; Ramaeka guessed that Amar was right, though there was something
strange about the way that Stripe had balanced himself.  And surely he knew one
blast would not be enough to destroy all three, it was too slow to gather more
than once.  If there was one thing that Stripe was good at it was planning and
strategy so it just didn’t make sense.

However
instead of forming the energy into a ball to throw, Stripe slowly closed his
hands, still glowing with energy, into fists.  The first of the mud monsters
put on a burst of speed and slammed a huge fist down at Stripe who dodged.  Its
fist hit the ground with a resounding boom, creating a dent and sending up a
thick cloud of dust.

Ramaeka
desperately strained his eyes, trying to see anything through the dust haze.
There were a couple of sharp cracking sounds, muffled thumps and quick flares from
what he assumed were Stripe’s hands.  As the dust settled, it revealed Stripe
standing on the chest of a half destroyed mud monster.  He leaped off and
headed towards the second creature which swung a huge clumsy fist at Stripe’s
head.  He ducked easily and pounded a fist into its stomach, blowing half of it
out the other side.  He followed that immediately by stepping up onto the
exposed rock of its lower stomach, bringing him into easy reach of its blank
face which he destroyed with a cruel swing of his right fist.

Ramaeka
whooped, Stripe was brilliant!  Who else would have thought of using their own
magic as destructive armour?  This was more like it.  Finally some proper
fighting.  Tam laughed and cheered beside him as Amar shook his head in bemusement.
As they quieted down to watch the third mud monster grab at Stripe; Ramaeka
realised that he could hear a soft scraping sound.  Frowning he turned to look
around the tower, nobody was moving, all of them breathlessly watching as
Stripe knocked the creatures hands away.  Strange he could have sworn that it
was coming from the other side of the wall.  There, something had clunked
slightly like muted metal hitting stone.  An awful sinking feeling filled
Ramaeka’s stomach as he realised what it might be.

“Amar,” he
whispered.  Amar looked at him surprised by his tone.

“I think
there’s someone at the base of the wall.”

Amar looked
confused for a moment before he paled as understanding dawned.  He touched the
rock of the tower wall and Ramaeka could almost feel his magic trickling down
through the stone.  In the distance the horde was moving restlessly, he could
see them adjusting weapons, readying themselves.  He watched in increasing
horror as Stripe’s fight with the mud monster led him closer and closer to the
wall, as Gasha raised his cold black blade a hint of a smile on his lips.

“Change
Ramaeka,” Amar said urgently.  He needed no second bidding, changing faster
than he had ever changed before despite the ache in his muscles.

“I’m with ye,”
Tam said bounding on to his back almost before the change had finished.
Everything seemed to happen at that moment, almost simultaneously and yet
excruciatingly slowly.

Stripe
finished off the last mud monster with a punch to the head, hands still glowing
bright.  Eight arrows headed out from the shadows of the wall as Ramaeka roared
a warning and launched himself into the air.  Distracted, Stripe looked up and
saw the arrows.  He dropped to the ground behind the meagre protection of the
decapitated mud monsters torso, the light stuttering and fading from his hands
as he lost concentration.  One arrow scraped his shoulder while another buried
itself in his calf muscle.

A score of men
ran out from below the wall even as the arrows were still flying through the
air.  The fastest had almost reached Stripe before Gasha stepped up to him,
raising his sword as Stripe fumbled to draw his own.

“The sword is
mine Stripe-dog,” he heard Gash taunt as he brought the blade down.

The first of
Gasha’s men slammed into him, flinging him away from Stripe and sending him
sprawling before the blade hit.  The man yanked off his helmet and stood over
Stripe, knives at the ready.  All of this Ramaeka saw in moments, then in a
blaze of fury he and Tam arrived at the fight.  He was almost numb with rage as
he decimated the remaining men that escaped Tam’s flashing blade, using both
tail and claws to keep them away from Stripe.  Finishing the last man he
whipped around, determined to fulfil his promise to Stripe by finishing Gasha
and then somehow getting all of them back up to the top of the wall.  He was
just in time to see Gasha run the man with the knives through with the black
blade.  With a cry of anguish Stripe pulled his sword free and threw himself at
Gasha despite his wounded leg, hacking and pounding so hard he drove the Warlord
back several paces.  Tam ran forward and grabbed the slumped figure hauling him
over to Ramaeka.

“Get ‘im up
top,” he yelled.  Mouth dry Ramaeka stared down at Shady’s pale face as he was
pushed into his claws.

“I’ll ‘elp
Stripe, just get back ‘ere fast.”

Ramaeka
tightened his hold on the messy, bloody bundle of Shady and threw himself in
the air.  He narrowly missed a wave of arrows from the city walls as they
destroyed the first rank of the rapidly approaching horde.  Flapping hard he
dropped Shady gently beside Amar.

“Help him,” he
growled.  Noticing his friend’s hesitation he added.  “Take him down to the
healers; I’ll be okay for that long.”

With that he
launched himself out again.  Unfortunately Amar must have been protecting him
more than he realised or Mischief had it out for him because suddenly as he
flew out there were two arrows sprouting from his front leg and his back.
Luckily they missed both the wing and the wing joint.  Also, fortunately for
him, dragon hide, even young dragon hide, was tougher than human skin and they
only sank in to the end of the pointed head, making it easy to pull out though
he had to use his tail for the one on his back.  Ignoring the blood, he looked
around hurriedly for his friends.  They were both fighting one armed as they
backed up towards the wall, Tam supporting Stripe with an arm around the
shoulders.  However they were hard pressed with the horde threatening to sweep
over them.  Scanning the horde quickly he could find no sign at all of the Warlord.
He could only hope that Stripe had taken care of him in the end.

The horde had
Tam and Stripe pressed firmly against the rock of the wall both still fighting
like wild beasts.  With a growl Ramaeka called up the last of his magic,
despite Amar’s warnings.  He thought briefly about using his trusty fire spell
then he remembered the fight with his siblings after they left Tanir.  The
spell his sister had used on Parrit and Gelber came to mind and he grinned
wickedly, sending his magic down into the ground.  The fighters surrounding
Stripe and Tam started to scream and shout as they suddenly sank thigh deep
into the earth and stuck there.  Tam and Stripe finished them off.  Exhaustion
hovered like a shadow over Ramaeka as he landed in front of his friends,
tripping over the bodies of those caught in his spell.

A grinding
snarl ripped through the air and all he could think wearily was what now?
Spreading his wings defensively in front of Tam and Stripe, he readied himself
as best he could, hissing softly.  Because his luck was that good, of course
the creature approaching was one of the giant mountain trolls.  It came roaring
through the horde battering aside those unlucky enough to be caught by
Ramaeka’s spell or who weren’t quick enough to get out of the way.  At least it
wasn’t a soul shaker he thought with grim optimism before roaring his defiance
at it.  Vaguely in the background he could have sworn he heard an echo.  Then
the creature was in front of him and he launched himself forward, ignoring Tam
and Stripe’s cries.  There was virtually no way they would be able to get out
of this anyway unless Amar found a way to save them without alerting his
babysitters.  He was too tired to fly by himself let alone with two others and
even if he could they would have to get through the arrows and spears which
thickened the air.  Best to die fighting for the people he cared for.

They met with
a sickening thud, ripping and biting as they fought without any finesse.
Ramaeka wrapped himself around the beast and slammed the blade of his tail into
its chest, forcing the point in bit by bit.  The troll shrieked in fury and
reached back to grab Ramaeka’s head in a fierce headlock, battering at him
furiously.  As the ringing in his head became overwhelming, a bone deep
shattering roar of fury swamped over him sending into the warmth of the waiting
darkness.

Chapter Fourteen

The first
thing that came to Ramaeka’s mind as he woke was how warm and comfortable he
was.  This is nice he thought sleepily, but he could have sworn that he had
just been fighting someone or perhaps something.  Now what was it he wondered,
awareness drifting closer.  Something big with claws and fangs but not a
dragon.

“Troll,” he
yelped trying to scramble up and promptly getting tangled in the blankets piled
on top of him.

“I’ve been
called a lot of names before but troll’s a first.”

Stripe helped
him untangle himself from the blankets before hugging him fiercely.

“You’re such
an idiot,” he growled, pulling back to shake Ramaeka gently.  Since he was
beaming as he said it Ramaeka knew he wasn’t really angry.  He leaned back into
the cushions behind him questioning Stripe eagerly.

“What
happened?  How are we still alive? Is Shady alive?  What about...”

He glared as
Stripe shoved a hand over his mouth.

“Calm down,”
Stripe laughed, before wrinkling his nose and yanking his hand away as Ramaeka
licked it.

“That’s
disgusting, honestly who raised you?  Dragons?  I think I still have blood on
there.”

Ramaeka
generously ignored the comment on dragons and punched Stripe lightly on the
arm.

“Tell me what
happened!”

Stripe raised
his hands in mock surrender, then sobered quickly.

“We came out
alright in the end, nobody died.  Though from what the healers were saying
Shady was pretty close.  Turns out dragons are good healers,” he looked at
Ramaeka, raising an eyebrow.

“Not all
dragons,” Ramaeka corrected automatically before his mind caught up.  “Wait,
Dragons?  I thought I heard...,” he trailed off unsurely.

“Yep,” Stripe
grinned at him.  “Just over twenty of ‘em.  They arrived just in time to see
you fighting that giant troll.  They were pretty angry about that, completely
shattered Gasha’s horde, I’ve never seen anything like it; one of them even
breathed fire.  Amar is furious with you by the way, for putting yourself in
danger like that.  I think him and Tam will have a few things to say to you
later.  Not to mention Parrit and Gelber.”

Ramaeka winced;
he was not looking forward to that.  “You don’t seem too angry with me?”

“I am a
little, but I guess it would be a bit two-faced since I was doing the same
thing,” he grinned wryly.

“How are you
anyway?  And the others?  You looked terrible last time I saw you.”

“Ha! Please I
look wonderful even when I’m covered in blood and dirt,” he rolled his eyes at
Ramaeka’s scornful snort.

“Yeah, the
dragons fixed me up pretty good after they saved Shady.  He’s still on bed rest
like you but he’s going to be fine.  Tam’s probably come out the worst, he lost
an ear which, surprisingly, don’t grow back but he doesn’t seem overly
concerned.  Parrit and Gelber didn’t even get a chance to fight so Gelber’s
sulking but other than that they’re both good.”

Ramaeka sighed
with relief, a knot in his stomach unclenched as he relaxed.

“What about
Gasha?” he asked tentatively.  “I lost sight of what was happening when I took
Shady up to Amar.  Did you kill him?”

“I’m not sure,”
Stripe admitted.  “I definitely wounded him just before his horde reached us,
got him across the head.  Then Tam grabbed me and we got pushed back.  I hope
he’s dead but I won’t believe it till I see his body.”

Ramaeka nodded
in agreement.

“We should
find out as soon as we can all travel,” he said.

Stripe’s face
lit up.  “I was hoping you were going to say something like that, does that mean
you’ll be staying with me and Shady?”

“Of course,”
Ramaeka scoffed.  “What else would I be doing?”

“I think the
big white dragon has plans for you,” Stripe said.  “And well, I didn’t exactly
treat you like a friend when I found out you were a dragon.”

Flushed with
shame he met Ramaeka’s eyes steadily. Ramaeka grinned crookedly.

“If it makes
you feel better I probably looked like an idiot the first time I met a human.
I didn’t even know you could talk, I thought you were animals.”

Stripe
scowled, wrinkling his nose.  “That really doesn’t make me feel better at all.”

Ramaeka
laughed at him.  “Poor little human, so delicate.  Well you can’t say I didn’t
try.”

Stripe huffed
at that, though Ramaeka could tell he was fighting not to laugh.

“You’re lucky
your injured short stuff.”

Ramaeka threw
a pillow at him which he promptly caught and sent back with a grin.

As he settled
back down Ramaeka peeked under the blankets at the bandages wrapped around his
body.  He was pretty sure he’d had worse though he couldn’t recall exactly
when.  With a sigh he dropped the blankets back down.

“I’ve been
meaning to ask you about what happened after we split up?  Did you get into any
trouble?”

“Not at all,”
Stripe said looking vaguely disappointed.  “Or at least not until we got into
the city.  Rama did we have trouble proving we were good enough to fight.  Well
not Gelber or Parrit but I had to prove myself.”

“That sounds
interesting,” Ramaeka said propping himself up higher on the pillows.

“Perhaps a
conversation that could be delayed a little while longer,” a warm voice
interrupted from the doorway.  Stripe spun around, putting a hand on Ramaeka’s
shoulder to keep him in the bed.

“Sir,” Stripe
said politely as Isahn stepped in.  Isahn’s mouth twitched as he watched
Ramaeka struggle against Stripe’s hand.  Ramaeka flushed with exertion and
embarrassment.  To be in bed while one of the greatest dragons in Amaria was in
the same room was disgraceful.

“Its fine
Ramaeka, please just relax.  I have no wish to be scolded by the healers.”

“Yes sir,” he
stammered, hiding his shaking hands under the blankets.  Stripe looked between
the two of them warily.

“Did you need
something sir?” he asked idly moving so that he stood between the two of them.

“I was hoping
to take up a few moments of Ramaeka’s time,” Isahn said with a respectful tilt
of his head to Stripe.  “We have much to discuss.”

Stripe glanced
back at Ramaeka who nodded shakily.

“I’ll be right
outside,” he said looking meaningfully at Isahn.  “Don’t talk too long, Ramaeka
needs more rest.”

He limped past
Isahn, pointedly leaving the door open a crack.  Ramaeka covered his face with
his hands, sure that his face was permanently stained red with embarrassment.
If he had behaved like that at home his father would have shredded him.  He’s
just a human he scolded himself, he doesn’t understand.

“You’ve made a
good friend there,” Isahn smiled at Ramaeka before gesturing towards a chair in
the corner of the room which Ramaeka hadn’t noticed.

“Of course,”
Ramaeka nodded frantically, itching to get up and show the Empara true
respect.  Isahn patted his shoulder sympathetically.

“It’s fine
youngling, you need the rest.  I feared we had reached you too late.”

“I’m fine,”
Ramaeka reassured him voice rasping in his dry throat.  “My friends and I
looked after each other.”

Isahn hummed
in agreement, he stood and went to a small table in the corner of the room.

“You have
certainly made some interesting acquaintances.  I’ve also heard that you have
all proven yourselves rather impressively in battle.”

Returning to
his seat, he offered Ramaeka a flask of water which he took gratefully.

“I have to
tell you Ramaeka I was very relieved to hear that you had survived your battle
with your father.  When Yamari returned with your young human friend and
informed me of what you had done I was determined to bring you to my school.
We were both furious that you had apparently been killed before we arrived.”

“Yamari was
the investigator I gave Alekra too,” Ramaeka remembered.  “Did you confront my
father?  What happened?”

Isahn held up
a hand.  “I think I would like to hear your tale first if you don’t mind.”

“Where should
I start?” he asked nervously, wishing he could refuse Isahn.

“Perhaps from
the last time we spoke,” Isahn suggested, settling back into his chair.

Once he
started, Ramaeka found it almost too easy to tell everything that had
happened.  It helped that Isahn proved to be one of those rare people who
seemed to absorb what they heard no matter how ridiculous.  Ramaeka kept only a
few things to himself though he suspected that Isahn might know exactly who
Amar was.  Isahn just nodded thoughtfully to himself, in fact the only time he
interrupted was when Ramaeka was describing how he and Amar had stolen Gasha’s
blade.

“Ha!” he
said.  “That will teach him to be so careless.”

When Ramaeka
finally finished his rather epic story, Isahn tapped the flask in his hands,
refilling it.  Ramaeka blinked down at it in surprise before drinking.

“You did
extraordinarily well,” Isahn said looking at him with what Ramaeka thought
might be respect.  “Far better than many dragons three times your rank.  Far
better than I would expect from any offspring of Ramanae, though I cannot
dispute that he raises his children strong and tough.”

Ramaeka
fidgeted uncomfortably, blushing both from the praise and from the criticism of
his family.  They may be horrible and trying their best to kill him but they
were still family.

“My apologies,”
Isahn said.  “I should not criticise your family in your presence, I hope you
will forgive me for being so rude.”

He smiled as
Ramaeka nodded quickly.

“I’m afraid I
am rather frustrated with your father at the moment.  An Empara dragon has
almost absolute rights in his own territory; the kidnapping of young Alekra
earned nothing more than a few words of censure.  You’re death, on the other
claw, was to be brought up at the next Conclave since we were unable to collectively
decide on a punishment at the previous one.  However with the news that you
were still alive, many of the other Empara’s thought that it should no longer
be a concern.”

“So he isn’t
being punished for any of it?”  Ramaeka wasn’t overly surprised; his father had
always seemed too powerful and sure of himself to be conquered by anything,
even the law.

“At this point
no,” Isahn sighed.  “The Conclave is split; the conservatives are following
your father’s lead.  I was lucky to have enough support to pass the human
protection law at the last Conclave.  There were enough conservatives upset by
your death to vote with me on the issue.”

He smiled
warmly at Ramaeka.  “In a strange way it was thanks to you and Ramanae that it
was passed.”

Ramaeka
laughed sheepishly, his father would have been furious.  It was an ironic
tribute that Ramanae’s act of underhanded cruelty towards the humans had led to
their protection.  Isahn waited for him to settle down before starting again.

“Now as to
your future young dragon.  Have you had any thoughts on what you would like to
do now?”

“I want to
stay with my friends and hunt Gasha,” Ramaeka said firmly, trying his best to
meet Isahn’s eyes.  The Empara dragon nodded thoughtfully.

“I can
understand why you would wish to remain here, however I hope that you will
consider my offer of a position at my school.”  He held up a hand as Ramaeka
began to protest.

“Let me finish,”
he said.  “Firstly, what you have learned and achieved has been thoroughly
impressive, I hope that my current students are able to learn from your example
if you do return with me.  What most concerns me is that I have received
reports from several different well-placed dragons that your father has
covertly ordered your death.  While luck and skill have kept you safe to a
point so far, think what will happen if some of your more powerful siblings are
sent after you.”

Ramaeka hung
his head, he had hoped that his father would ignore the fact that one worthless
little son was still alive.  Isahn was right, if any of his more terrifying
brothers or sisters came after him he would be doomed, not to mention anybody
who was travelling with him.  Just look at what a score of dragons had done to
Gasha’s horde.

“He won’t dare
touch you while you are under my protection,” Isahn said softly.  “However that
can only generally extend within my own territory.”

“So I would be
stuck in the same place again with no freedom,” Ramaeka said unhappily.  “How
is that any better?”

He hated the
thought of being trapped once again in one place, especially when he had
experienced so much freedom travelling with Stripe and Shady.  Seeing new
places and meeting new people.  Isahn was shaking his head.

“Not
necessarily,” he said.  “I travel through the human worlds often and I doubt
your family would dare attack me.”  He grinned coldly, showing his fangs.
“What I am offering is a chance to train and learn with us until you are able
to protect both yourself and your friends.”

“Which will
take years,” Ramaeka interjected.  “I’m still just a undersized Skaire.  It’ll
be forever before I’m big enough or tough enough.”

“That brings
me to another point I wanted to make, Amar informed me that you had been
suffering from random pains, is this true?"

"I...,”
Ramaeka swallowed his mouth suddenly dry.

"It's
alright Ramaeka,” Isahn smiled and patted his hand where it was twisted in the
blankets.

"This is
a normal part of being draconian.  It's surprising for your age, usually
we don't go through our first change until around sixteen years of age, but you
are very advanced for your age.”

"Sir?”
Ramaeka squeaked.  He couldn't be going through a change so soon.

"As I
said, it is unusual but not unheard of.  Even if you do not stay at the
school it is important that you return for your first change.  The first
one is always the most important because it begins your true connection with
your element of power and with our home. In your case that would be with the
element of earth.  Being in Amaria will strengthen that bond."

Ramaeka
struggled to breath; he thought he would have more time before his first
change.  He definitely wanted to ascend to the next level, and of course
get bigger, but the change was notoriously painful.  Every couple of years
it drove a dragon insane or killed them.

"It is a
painful process,” Isahn said watching him intently.  "However it is
well worth the struggle, it is a right we earn through pain.”

"Come now
Ramaeka,” he smiled at him winningly.  "If your brothers and sisters
made the change, surely you have nothing to fear.”

That steadied
Ramaeka instantly.  He was right of course, if his siblings had made it
not just once but several times, then he would be fine.

"I told
Stripe I would go hunt Gasha with him,” he told Isahn unhappily.

"Na, it’s
okay Ra.”

Both Ramaeka
and Isahn jumped a little as Stripe slipped back inside the room.  His
friend glared up at the tall dragon.

"You best
not be lying.”

Isahn bowed
his head slightly in respect.

"I am
being honest,” he told them.  "Things are beginning to change through
all the worlds and it is young people, like yourselves, leading the changes for
good or bad. Amaria and the human worlds need both of you to be prepared to
your full potential.”

Stripe
shrugged.  "I don't know about that but Ramaeka's important to me and
a lot of other people, we don't want anything happening to him.”

Ramaeka
flushed and looked down at his blankets.  Hopefully they would stop
talking about him as soon as possible.

"He will
be under both mine and my highly trained staff’s protection.  Not even
Ramanae dares challenge me directly and I know more of his secret dealings than
he is aware.”

"Wait,”
Ramaeka protested.  "I haven't decided yet.”

"You
should go with him,” Stripe said.  "Learn everything you can and then
come back and we'll finish that scuz Gasha together.”

He grinned
cold and fierce.  "Then we'll go deal with your dad.”

Ramaeka nodded
unable to stop a matching grin spreading across his face.

"Should I
be afraid?” Isahn asked fascinated.  "Because I am starting to feel
concerned.”

"You'll
keep me informed of what's happening right?”  Ramaeka asked Stripe.

"Of
course, we'll find a way to get messages through to you.  With the help of
Lord Isahn.”  He bowed formally to the amused dragon.

"I will
organize it immediately,” he promised blue eyes dancing.  Ramaeka
suspected that Isahn had been even more mischievous than he was as a youngling.

"One last
thing before I leave you to your rest Ramaeka.  Our mutual friend Amar has
sent a letter and a package to me for you.  He was forced to leave rather
abruptly, though I'm sure you will understand why.”

Ramaeka really
hoped that meant that Amar had needed to get home before he was discovered not
because he had been found out.  Isahn handed him a letter and a wrapped
parcel then slipped out the door before Ramaeka and Stripe realised he was
leaving.  Stripe stared after him before shrugging and turning to eye the
letter and parcel.  To Ramaeka's relief however he didn't ask about them.

"Well
it's not the original plan, but I guess it'll work out in the end.  We'll
work out a code before you leave so I know they're treating you right.”

Ramaeka nodded
fighting a yawn, all this talking had worn him out.  Stripe smiled.

"Read
your letter then get some rest.”

He left as
Ramaeka waved, closing the door behind him.

Ramaeka leaned
back ignoring the itch of the bandages and the dull throb of healing injuries
and contemplated the package.  Suppressing his curiosity for the moment he
opened the letter first.

My friend Ramaeka

My deepest
apologies for not being present when you awoke from your injuries.
Unfortunately my guardians have become suspicious of my activities and I was
forced to return immediately to conceal my deception.  You will be
relieved to know that, while they have questioned me extensively since I have
returned, they are unable to prove anything.  The only one who might have
proven my absence is the kindest of them all and does not seem inclined to be
concerned.

I would like
you to know that I am proud of how much you have learnt and what you have
achieved, you have done exceedingly well.  However if you put yourself in
such danger again I may be forced to take action.  I have never been so
afraid before.  I will continue to watch over you though from a distance
for now.  Continue to practice what I have taught you.

If my opinion
counts for anything I would advise you to take Isahn's offer.  You will
need both the training and the allies that you will make in Amaria for the
future.

Your friend

Amar

Ramaeka smiled
sleepily, relieved that Amar hadn't found himself in serious trouble.  He
ripped the paper wrapping the package off, too tired to worry about making a
mess.  Ramaeka grinned, the box underneath was wooden and delicately
carved with dancing dragons.  Inside he found a mix of both apples and
oranges, under which was a box of the sweet Amar had once given him while they
were trapped in the mountains.  And at the very bottom of the box was a
book.  He slid his hands reverently over the leather cover before flipping
it open to read the title and laughed.  It was a book on healing herbs,
most probably the one that Amar's other body had been reading.

Amar had the
best sense of humour he thought snuggling down into the blankets and giving in
to sleep.

Ramaeka
stretched and yawned.  He had finally been able to catch up on sleep in
the three days since the last battle with Gasha.  Glancing over at his friends
who now shared his room, he smirked as Stripe drooled a little in his sleep.
They definitely deserved the rest.  After the dragons had allowed
Ramaeka and Shady out of bed yesterday they had been busy, despite their
injuries, helping with the small number of seriously wounded and cleaning up.

A runner had
been sent after the evacuated city dwellers and soldiers with orders for them
to return.  In the meantime those in the city rejoiced and celebrated
their victory.

Silently he
slipped from the room where they had been resting, determined to find something
to eat.  He made his way down a stone path in the direction of the eating
area; hopefully Tam would be there already.  He was always two steps ahead of
everybody else.  Glancing around as he walked into the dining courtyard he
noticed the General, Tam and Isahn sitting together at one of the tables which
had almost disappeared under the amount of food that it held.  His stomach
growled hungrily and forced his feet in the direction of the table.  Isahn
looked up with an amused smile, clearly able to hear the gurgling of his
stomach as Ramaeka approached, but merely gestured for him to sit and eat.
Ramaeka had absolutely no argument with that and with a polite nod at the
General and a grinning Tam, sat down and almost inhaled the food.

It was a fair
amount of time before he slowed down enough to notice what was happening around
him.  By that time Stripe, Parrit and a still pale Shady had joined the
table and were watching him with expressions of awe and amusement.

“What?” he
asked sheepishly.

Parrit
chuckled.  “You are a strange young thing Ramaeka.”

He scratched
his head.

“What do you
mean?”

“She means you
just devoured eight pies, a pot of stew and three loaves of bread while we have
been sitting here.  Which has been about ten minutes,”  Stripe said
trying not to laugh.

“M’hungry,”
Ramaeka mumbled continuing to eat though a little slower.  He glanced at
Shady.

“You’re
looking less dead,” he told him.

“Disappointed?”
Shady taunted.

“Vaguely,”
Ramaeka replied.  “You would probably smell better the other way, but I
would miss you all the same.”

Stripe laughed
and shoved Shady who grumbled under his breath looking away from Ramaeka
unhappily.  Ramaeka sighed to himself, Shady was always going to be
difficult, looking around he suddenly realising their number was slightly
depleted.

“Where’s
Gelber?” he asked still a little anxious despite the horde being destroyed and
scattered.

Parrit rolled
her eyes.

“Do not worry
about that one my friend,” she told him.  “She is merely disciplining the
men on the walls, teaching them how to defend us properly.”

“To their
horror,” Tam added his eyes dancing in delight.  Ramaeka laughed at the
thought.  “My poor men,” the General said dryly.

“It’s good for
them,” Isahn told him calmly though he looked amused.  He turned to
Ramaeka.

“So little
earth god, they finally got the gates cleared you will be happy to know.  That
spell was an impressive effort on your part.”

Ramaeka
fluttered his eyelashes and tried his best to look earnest.  “I try my
best sir.”

The Empara dragon
laughed at him while Stripe gave him the usual light slap to the back of his
head.

“What about
Gasha?" Stripe asked frowning.  Everyone stopped eating and looked at
him.

“What?” he
asked shifting self-consciously under their gazes.  “He’s not dead is he?”

“No,” the
General said firmly.  “And that is something that we need to remedy.”

Stripe nodded
in agreement.

“If you’re
following him then I’m coming too,” he stated.  He glanced over at Shady
who sighed.

“Yeah me too,”
he said reluctantly.  “Can’t let this idiot go off without me.”

Stripe grinned
at his friend.

“My sister and
I will both join your hunt,” Parrit told them.  “We took a vow to find and
destroy the Warlord, so we must continue on.”

“Aye, ye know
I’m wit ye already,” Tam added.  “What abou’ ye Ra?’

“As to that,”
Isahn began.

Ramaeka yelped
and grabbed at his shoulder as the pain hit again with a fury.

“What’s wrong?”
Stripe asked jumping up anxiously and hovering over him.  Ramaeka couldn’t
reply as he writhed with agony.

“It will be
alright,” Isahn said quickly stepping over to Ramaeka and putting a hand on his
shoulder.  The pain receded and he was able to breathe again.  He
looked up at Isahn with grateful, watery eyes.

“What was that?”
Stripe demanded still hovering.

“Ramaeka is
about to go through his first change,” Isahn said sitting back down.

“What?” Stripe
looked at him blankly.

“Dragon’s grow
older differently from humans,” Isahn explained.  “While you simply grow
over time, we stay the same until we are strong enough or powerful enough to
evolve.  Then over a month or so we begin to feel the changes and we go
into a deep sleep.  During that sleep our bodies stretch and change into a
more adult or powerful form.”

He looked over
at Ramaeka sympathetically.  “It’s a very painful process.”

“Most dragons’
don’t change for the first time until they are at least sixteen,” Isahn said to
Stripe.  “And Ramaeka’s only just turned fifteen I believe.”

“So I am,”
Ramaeka said in surprise.  The last few months had gone so fast he hadn’t
realised.

“Have you made
your decision yet Ramaeka?” Isahn asked.

“What decision?”
Parrit asked suspiciously.

“Isahn wants
me to go back to Amaria to go through my first change and then to train at his
school.  He thinks I could learn enough to help destroy Gasha but,” he
hesitated.  “It means going for longer than I want to be away.”

“I do not
understand,” Parrit said slowly.  “A mere handful of dragons were able to
destroy Gasha’s horde.  Why don’t the dragons join the hunt as our allies and
rid the worlds of the rest of these vile beasts?  Surely it would be only a
matter of months to make sure Gasha and his followers never trouble us again.”

Isahn shook
his head ruefully.

“At this point
it would be impossible for me or my people to work openly with humans.  While
our law now provides protection for humans, it still does not recognise them as
our equals let alone our allies.  Even speaking to a human breaks several
archaic laws let alone willingly collaborating with them.”

“Yet ye came
to our aid,” Tam pointed out.  “Seems a bit unfair that we hav’ ta’ lose
hundreds iffen a few dragons can get the job done.”

“I know, and I
sincerely wish that I could help more,” he smiled wryly.  “I fully intend to
present my ‘rescuing’ of Ramaeka as the reason for my interference.”

He leant
forward earnestly.

“Give me time
and I will get these laws changed.  My people have never been challenged by
another strong dominant people before, we must learn to adapt and change.”

“And Ramaeka
will be part of those changes,” Parrit stated.

“The youth of
today will shape our future in ways few of us could comprehend,” Isahn inclined
his head.

She nodded
thoughtfully and turned to Ramaeka.

“Then you must
go,” she said quietly.  “Learn everything you need to know and then come
back and help us.”

Stripe grinned
at Ramaeka shrugging off the serious atmosphere at the table.  “Maybe by
then you’ll be as tall as Shady.”

Ramaeka smiled
reluctantly back, ignoring Shady’s angry reply in the background.  “That
wouldn’t be hard I guess.”

“Alright,” he
agreed looking up at Isahn.  “I’ll go.”

Isahn smiled
at him as Stripe punched him affectionately on the shoulder and Tam ruffled his
hair.  And despite the fact that he was about to separate from his
friends, just for a while, he couldn’t help but grin at how good the future
seemed.