Chapter 2-17: The Awakening of the Three Dragons

Foto de Pablo Picardi Photography.

Danladia had been caring for the man she had brought back from his former snake state for several days. He was still very weak and had not been able to speak with her very much. But she had been able to learn that his name was Kranor and that he had lived all his life north of the Snowy Peaks Range. He had not yet been able to tell her what had happened to cause him to be transformed into this snake, and although she had some ideas about what might have happened, she preferred that the man would eventually tell her what had really happened once he was able.

The pallor of the first few days had subsided and, though weak and with many nightmares and tremors, he was feeling better. But recovery was going to be slow and painful: above all, because of the dark thoughts that had been imposed on him. That was what worried Danladia most: how and why had this man been punished in such a cruel way?

It was still early in the morning, although in the middle of the forest it was sometimes difficult to discern what time it was. Danladia ate her breakfast and gently woke the man so that he could have something to eat as well. Kranor was quite shaky, but at least he didn't scream like other mornings. Afterwards, he washed himself in the waterfall, and it seemed to wash not only the outside but also the inside of him. Occasionally he ended up smiling, albeit very shyly.

After a while, some of the Balirakok who had lived in the forest since time immemorial came to see Kranor's condition. They were glad that he was getting better and better, but they were worried that someone dangerous might come looking for him there and disturb their peaceful life. However, something seems to be changing inside them: they now seem more interested in what was going on outside the forest.

None of them had ever been outside, so everything that came from outside seemed dangerous but exotic to them. Danladia knew she had to explain quickly some things to them because the Dragons were coming in short time, and if they had been so terrified by a man, she didn't know how they would react to these magnificent beasts. So he smiled and greeted them:

- Good morning. Kranor is much better as you can see by yourselves.

The gryphon Gracilos flew up to greet and, for the first time in a long time, the Balirakok also greeted him without being frightened by the great animal. Danladia took a deep breath before telling them about the Dragons and their arrival, while Gracilos took flight and flew away to guard the borders of the forest.

Foto de Yann Allegre en Unsplash

Far away in the Snowy Peaks Range, the Great Dragon Elandiar felt that the time had come to act. He climbed the highest peak of the range in that southern part, which was close to the Cave in which he had lived for the last few hundred years. Once there, he saw that the snow had not gone, even though the heat was making its way up as the days passed that would take them into the summer. He smiled: he quietly put his mouth in a crevice at the top of the mountain and blew. A low, loud sound ricocheted through the bowels of the earth and out through other cracks in the mountains all along the Cordillera, heard for over 1000 leagues.

Then he lay down and waited for a few minutes. When he saw that he received no message back, he blew again. He did this several times: he had to wake his brothers because their hibernation was over. When the mountain rumbled with the echoes of the return message, Elandiar knew that his brothers had woken up and that he had to go to the usual meeting point. He took to the air, and when he was close to the ground, in the most hidden place on the mountain, where no one could see his transformation, he was once again the old man Malaban had seen as he wandered around.

Afterwards, he went to the small stable he had in a hidden part of the cave where he lived. There, he brought out the two oxen he kept inside and hitched them to the cart. Then, with that image of a farmer of great age, he began his journey across the plains that separated the Mountain Range from the Great River on its journey from the Naras falls to the Gulf of Sdáloren.

In a few hours, they had passed Tumulus Peak, the highest peak in the entire range, and Perpetual Snow Peak, so called because not even in the hottest summers did the snow disappear from it. Finally, they reached their destination: the Peak of the Eagles, where his brothers had been sleeping for over 100 years.

Foto de Paul Pastourmatzis en Unsplash

But there he found only Rulkrio, who had just then woken up. If he was usually by far the grumpiest of the three, at that moment he looked like he was going to burn the earth with his anger. Rulkrio recognised Elandiar at once:

- Oh, you've woken us up again, eh?. You woke us up again. What's the hurry this time?

- The world is approaching its collapse…

- Don't give me any more apocalyptic predictions. You have already woken me up twice with such tales and, despite the fact that men are a bunch of weaklings and puppets in the power of their own vices and manias, nothing has happened.

Elandiar was about to lose his patience, but he took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. He knew that his brother was very grumpy and that it was best to treat him calmly.

- This time,’ he said, trying to calm him, ’it will be different.

- Has Guonlorth been defeated? Or has Malaban regained his courage?

- The former has not happened as far as I can tell. But the second has: I have spoken to him. He has the sword: I have given it to him. He has met the other four Interlocutors and they are on their way to Naras.

For a moment, Rulkrio was silent, speechless. This was a novelty he had not anticipated. He immediately shifted to his human appearance, much like Elandiar's at the time.

- Brother, is this true?

- Yes, I sent him myself. I know he has defeated quite a few major foes, though he is not yet even a third of his final ability.

Rulkrio laughingly hugged his brother.

- I hope the nightmare is coming to an end. These people deserve it.

Only then did they see another man, very much like the two of them, standing a few feet away and smiling at them: it was, no doubt, the Third Dragon Korian in his human form. He was the largest and most powerful of the three of them and undoubtedly the wisest.

He approached them and embraced them, then looked at Rulkrio and said:

- You must always keep hope: what has happened up to this moment, will not determine what happens from now on. But you must also help to keep hope alive.

Then he looked at Elandiar:

- Good work, brother. You have done well to wake us up: the time of the Great Confrontation is at hand and we must be ready. And tell me, who has Malaban faced?

- There are new evil creatures, Korian. Klandorg has not stopped experimenting and his lieutenant, that evil being called Guonlorth, is not very different from him. But we must leave to help Lady Danladia who is or may be in dire straits.

Rulkrio was beginning to cry with emotion, but when he heard that he asked:

- Oh yes, what's wrong with her?

- The Empress has sent assassins after everyone who can stand against Guonlorth, even after her son Erevin. She must be protected, because she may be the only one who has the solution to stop this cursed man from turning more innocent people into animals that he controls from afar. But our mission does not stop there: we must go to Naras, as soon as we have carried her to the Gulf of Esdáloren, for there, in the Falls, the future of every living thing may be in the making.

Korian said:

- Let us say a prayer to the One who sent us here to protect all these innocent beings.

There, the three of them prayed, and when they had finished, in silence, they climbed into the wagon and sped off across the plains towards the Great Forest.

Foto de Paul Pastourmatzis en Unsplash

The snake-rider life-stealer had just reached the edge of the Western Forest. He was looking for Danladia: he had a commission from the Great Necromancer Lord, Klandorg, to kill her without hesitation. But he had two problems: the first was that this was too big a forest to know where the sorceress was hiding, and the second was that he did not want to go in because he had heard many stories about the place and it was clear to him that he would not be welcome.

Without going near the water, he looked through the trees and, after climbing down from the snake, he sat down on the ground. He would wait for his own chance.

He was not aware that Gracilos, on patrol for the defence of the treasure he had been entrusted with, which was none other than that forest, was flying over the highest treetops. As he flew, he could hear the murmurs of the forest, the rustling of the animals and the twittering of the birds. They told him that the life-stealer was there. He diverted his flight and headed for the Green Lake at the edge of the forest.

As soon as he was close, he spotted the rider and his mount: it was hard to miss them, especially the mount. Even if the griffin had not received all the information that the forest had to offer, it would have been hard not to know that something was going on in this place, normally so full of life: all the animals had stampeded into the forest as soon as they had spotted the giant Anahay desert snake on which the life-stealer had come.

Gracilos, without a sound, perched on a strong branch of a nearby tree and watched the movements of rider and mount closely. After a few minutes, two forest owls perched on nearby branches and ended up asking him what was going on:

- We have company. Looks like they're coming for Danladia.

- Do you want us to go and warn her?

- No, I'll take care of that, because I imagine she'll want to come and see what's going on. But I have another mission for you. Stay here. Keep an eye on him. If anything happens, let us know. I don't think this man or his mount can be cured, but she has to be the one to say so.

- Understood,’ said the darker-furred owl. “We will do as told”.

Gracilos took flight: he soon reached the place where Danladia was standing, looking after Kranor. The man had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. His tremors had become much more evident and his lips had turned almost white. In a whisper, he had said:

- He's here, they're coming for me.

Danladia had given him a strong infusion that would relax him for a while but it was necessary to give him another one in a while as she had told the Balirakoks who were there helping her. But, as soon as she looked at Grácilos, she understood that there was a new danger.

She led him aside and he said to her without further ado:

- Lady Danladia, a new life-stealer has come riding on a snake.

- I understand, let's go over there.

And she climbed into the griffin and they began their flight towards the Green Lake.

Foto de Jeremy Hynes en Unsplash

Meanwhile, the two owls were there controlling the life-stealer and his mount.

- Who do you think it will be, Tarlok?

The other shrugged his shoulders.

- No idea. But we've been seeing weirder and weirder people around here for a few days now. I can't imagine what the roads must be like.

- Yes, we live in dark times,’ said a third owl that had arrived and perched on a neighbouring branch.

Tarlok sighed: so many people complicated everything, and in the end, they all died. They could save themselves all that trouble and save the others some of it.

- Nothing seems to be happening, doesn’t it? - said the one who had arrived last.

- We have to wait, Kúñor: Grácilos didn't tell us it was going to happen in a specific time. He only told us that we had to wait here for him to return to Danladia,’ said Tarlok.

- I understand. I'll go up and see if I can see more.

He flew to the top of the tree, and from there he saw a cloud of dust on the path along the edge of the lake. Someone was coming, but if he wasn't careful he would end up in the water, because he was going too fast.

No sooner had he thought that when the wagon stopped short and three men with grey hair and beards got out and walked on down the path. He flew down again and said:

- Three men are coming along the path. But they are very old, they must be suicidal.

- What do you mean?

- They are walking. They left the wagon they came in there between some trees and they're walking,’ he repeated, dumbfounded.

- Trainur, go and tell Danladia, quickly.

The last owl to arrive flew as fast as he could, but halfway there he saw that Gracilos was already on his way with Danladia on his back.

- Three elders are coming down the road.

She smiled:

- No need to worry: it's them, the Dragons. Don't make any noise: we will only intervene if we have to.

Foto de " Breizh Clichés ".

At the edge of the forest, the three walkers had come very close to where the life-stealing horseman and his mount were waiting. The horseman stood up and unsheathed his sword, but then sheathed it again and began to laugh at the three walkers.

Elandiar prayed for all he knew: it was what Rulkrio needed, that someone would provoke him without having fought for the last 125 years. They needed whatever information this life-stealer was going to give them, but seeing that his brother Rulkrio had already transformed into the magnificent dragon he was... he thought there was little chance they were going to be able to talk to him.

Originally published In Wordpress.