The Stones of Fire and Water

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2As before, Pettic walked into the mist, but with more confidence than he had the first two times. The mist soon gave way to a view halfway up a mountain.

It was night here too. He looked back but could only see the cliff where he had exited. It was going to be more difficult to find the way back than the previous journeys. On Terra, he had exited in a cave and there could be no mistake in the place to return. On Aeris, it was through an arch in a rose garden. Here there was the whole side of a cliff. He looked around for some landmarks to indicate where he had come out. He spotted a rock just ahead that looked like a dog's head. That he committed to memory and began to walk down the mountainside.

He found himself in a range of large mountains from what he could see. The moon was full here, too, and lending a silvery light to the scene. He could see a valley below, but not any details. Whether there was a village or town he could not make out. He tripped on a rock he had not noticed. Perhaps he should stay here on the mountain until daylight when he could see better where he was going.

It was not cold here, but there was an unpleasant smell. It was a bit like rotten eggs, he thought. He sat down and Cledo lay down next to him. The smell was not good, but a broken leg would be worse, so he lay down next to his dog to sleep. Cledo cuddled up to him and the pair shared their warmth and soon fell asleep.

He woke to hear the sound of creaking leather. He sat up rubbing his eyes and coughing against the smell. He thought perhaps some people had come up in leather armour and he slowly opened his eyes.

What he saw astounded him. In front of him, black scales gleaming in the sun, was an enormous beast. It had two black horns protruding from its head and a mane of leathery fronds around its long neck. Its eyes were green and slit vertically, and on its back, now neatly folded, was a pair of leathery wings.

All the way from its head to the tip of its tail was a double row of spines of varying length, longer on its thorax tapering to small ones at the tip of its tail. The sound of the wings folding away had woken him.

Then the beast spoke.

`What have we here on my mountain? A little human it would seem.'

`Yes, I'm a human,' said Pettic, his voice trembling, but he felt he should say something, `but not small by human standards.'

The beast looked startled. `You speak dragonish? How come you speak dragonish. Humans have never been able to speak our language before.'

`Actually, I'm speaking my own language and we can understand each other because of this magic amulet I'm wearing.'

`How intriguing. We dragons have magic, but no magic that can do such a thing. What kind of magician are you that can make such a thing?'

`I'm not a magician. This was given to me by a magician on my home world.'

`What do you mean, “your home world”?'

Pettic wondered if he should be talking to this creature. Dragons were mythological creatures on his world, like unicorns and griffins but did not actually exist. There people considered them to be evil beasts. Were these myths based on fact and were dragons evil? If so, perhaps he should not be telling this creature too much.

`I think I may have fallen and taken a blow to the head. I really don't know where I am,' Pettic told the dragon. `Please tell me.'

`You are on the side of my volcano, near the sacrifice stone.' replied the dragon. `This valley and the one beyond are my territory. No one comes here except to sacrifice. Perhaps that's why you're here. Are you the sacrifice, or is it this beast with you?'

Pettic swallowed hard. Sacrifice? This creature wanted a sacrifice and thought that he or Cledo were it. How was he going to talk his way out of this one? It would have to be talk because there was no way he and Cledo could fight this creature and win.

`When I fell,' he began, `the sacrifice must have escaped. I apologise and will go and find it.'

He turned, but the dragon said, `Not so fast, human. Do you think I'm stupid? As soon as you get away from the range of my fire, you'll run and try to return to your people. It will do you no avail, though, because I can fly and toast you from the air. If the other sacrifice has escaped, then you and your animal will have to do instead.'

He reared up on his hind legs and took Pettic in one claw and Cledo in the other, then with a powerful thrust of his hind legs he leaped in the air and flew towards the summit of the mountain.

The air rushed around Pettic as the dragon flew to its lair. Its claws dug into him and he felt he could scarcely breathe. As they flew higher, the sulphurous air grew thicker and that added to his problems. By the time the dragon settled down before a cave high on the side of the volcano, Pettic was coughing and so was Cledo. He could scarcely breathe. The dragon, however, seemed quite at ease.

`You seem to be having some difficulty,' the dragon said, making a sound a bit like laughing. `It seems your kind can't tolerate the volcanic gases. Never mind. You won't be alive for long enough to worry about it. Usually the people kill the sacrifice before I bring them up here. They seem to like to do the blood shedding themselves.'

The huge creature shook its head before continuing.

`Their priests, or whatever they are, come up here and make a big ceremony of it. They think it will keep me from killing their cattle and sometimes them. It doesn't, of course. I do what I like.'

Pettic could believe that easily. The creature continued talking.

`What they don't realise is that I don't need to eat like they do. One large meal will suffice me for quite some time. So I go and steal a few cows, or some of them, they come up here and sacrifice. I take the sacrifice and eat it when I need to, thus I don't need to raid their cattle. Sometimes I eat the wild animals too. Then they think their sacrifice has appeased me. When I need more food I start again.'

He laughed at the thought of the ease with which he fooled the people.

Pettic thought quickly. What could he do to stop the dragon from killing him? It seemed to like talking and so he had an idea.

`Look, before you kill me, why don't you let me tell you about the places I've been? I can tell you about my world and about the worlds of Terra and Aeris.'

`Well, I suppose you will keep better alive than dead. Dead things go off quickly and I prefer things fresher. I ate a deer yesterday so I'm not very hungry at the moment. Alright then. I'll allow you to live as long as you can keep me amused with your stories.'

Pettic and Cledo were both then overcome with coughing.

`Perhaps we could talk out of this air that is so hurting to our lungs?' Pettic asked the dragon, and the creature complied.

He once again picked them up and flew down to lower slopes where the sulphurous gases were less apparent.

The flight was another terrifying experience. Pettic closed his eyes until he felt himself touch the ground once more. Cledo, remembering his flight on the Pegasus on Aeris, and the near disaster when he slipped from her back, whined and struggled, but to no avail. The dragon held him tightly.

Although the gases where they landed were no longer choking to Pettic and Cledo, the air still smelled of sulphur, but at least they could breathe.

Pettic could see buildings below them now they were lower down the mountainside and the sun had begun to rise. He decided to ask the dragon what world they were on, although he did have a strong inkling.

The dragon replied that humans called this world Ignis, confirming Pettic's supposition. He could see very little water, so it could not be Aqua.

Then the dragon spoke again.

`If we're to converse with each other for a while it's only good manners we introduce ourselves. My name is Monarlisk and I own, as I said these valleys. What is your name, human?'

`I am called Pettic, and my dog is Cledo.'

`I'm not very fond of dog meat,' muttered Monarlisk, almost to himself. Then he continued. `I have another cave at lower levels over on the other side of the valley. We can go there if you wish.'

Pettic told the dragon that although a cave would be good, he would walk there rather than fly in his claws.

`Oh, no you don't,' replied Monarlisk. `If I let you walk you will go to the town and escape me. No, you will fly. If you wish you can ride on my back. You can hold onto my spines. It's ride or be carried, but I won't allow you to walk.'

Pettic agreed that riding might be preferable so he clambered onto the dragon's back and positioned himself as securely as he could between a pair of spines, gripping hard with his hands on the pair immediately in front of him. Cledo would have to be carried, of course, a fact that the wolfhound hated just as much as Pettic had.

Pettic felt a sense of tensioning muscles as Monarlisk bunched his legs in readiness for the take-off, then a leap into the air and a flap of the huge wings and they were airborne. Pettic heard a yelp from Cledo as they took off, but if the dog made any more sound, Pettic did not know. All he could hear was the rushing wind and the creak of the dragon's wings.

Monarlisk found a thermal, and, using it, he spiraled upwards without any flapping of his wings. Pettic risked a glance down. Below him he could see the valley in the light of the rising sun. A river flowed down its centre and about halfway down another smaller river joined it flowing from the mountains in the east, towards which they were now flying, Monarlisk having gained enough height to satisfy himself.

At the confluence of the two rivers, Pettic could make out a town surrounded by fields. He thought people would soon be getting up to go about their daily tasks, and as he did so a column of smoke rose up in the town, followed by another and another.

Monarlisk glided with very few strokes of his wings. He seemed to unerringly find the thermals he needed to regain height when he was getting a bit low in the sky. Pettic could not help but feel exhilarated by this flight, but he did feel sorry for poor Cledo.

The speed at which they crossed the valley and then the next one amazed him. The sun was still quite low in the sky when they began to descend.

Pettic felt almost sorry the adventure was over. What a tale he would have to tell Lucenra. She would never believe him. Then he remembered. He had to find a ruby in an artefact and escape from this world. The gate was now a long way away and he had no idea how long it would take him to return to the dog head rock on foot. That was if he could escape from Monarlisk. That was not going to be an easy task, either.

As soon as Monarlisk landed, Pettic scrambled down. Cledo leaped at him, delighted to be once more on solid ground.

`It's alright, boy,' Pettic reassured him. `We're down now.'

Monarlisk looked at the pair.

`This isn't my preferred cave, you know,' he said. `I prefer to be near the Mother Volcano. We dragons believe we were created by the Mother Volcano many, many eons ago. Although we live long, there are no dragons alive today who remember the creation, so long ago was it. Still, this cave is warm and dry. I use it to keep things I find on the sacrifices.'

He waddled towards the cave entrance and called to Pettic and Cledo, `Come on in. There's lots of room in here for all three of us, you being so small. There's actually enough room for two dragons.'

They followed him into the cave. Pettic thought briefly about making a run for it, but then he thought about what Monarlisk had said about toasting them, and for all his apparent friendliness at the moment, Pettic had no doubt the dragon would not hesitate to do so if they tried to escape. Somehow, he would have to negotiate their freedom.