The Dragons of the Mountain, Chapter 5: The Secret of the Mountain
Important!!! >>> The story goes on... I have to say a few words before starting. Firstly, since the final acts are longer than how I planned initially, chapters will probably be nine in total instead of seven. I hope I won't take too much time to submit here the translations, but I'm sure :iconHildale: will take care of them as usual! ;-)
Then, as the tags say, this chapter marks the beginning of a gay relationship between Blizzard, the protagonist, and his new friend Ashel. Maybe you have already guessed it. I like the idea of them being a couple, because of all the romantic or funny scenes I could write about them... But I'm aware that not everyone accept this. If you are one of these and you have read until this point, I'm sorry. Instead, if you are still interested, I tell you in advance that there's a lot more!
Thank you for your patience! ^^ -Hetaniel-
The Dragons of the Mountain
CHAPTER 5 - The Secret of the Mountain
Covering such a long distance alone in the darkness was a new experience for Blizzard. It took him some more time to recognize the way, but soon he was flying over the mountainous moor marking out the boundary between the two territories. Having now got back his strenght, he reached his destination sooner than he could realize.
"Now comes the hardest part" he thought, landing shiftly on a patch of grass close to the canyon; he hung out to have a broader view of the landscape. There was no fog, the air was cold and clear. The moon was illuminating several landslides and cracks strewn everywhere which had diverted the water course, making it more irregular and turbulent. Some adjacent trees were uprooted, others had darkened branches and were lacking in leaves.
"Magic..." he said to himself with reverential awe. The thought that the devastation he saw was the work of only one person frightened and enthralled him at the same time.
On the opposite slope, a campfire was shining: at least, pinpointing the Fieryclaw's outpost had been easy. Finding Ashel, providing he was among them, without them finding him, was a different matter.
Blizzard crouched near a bush and concentrated on any clue which could reveal the red dragons' position. When he was sure they weren't nearby, he crawled along the border to change his angle. He noticed at least two dragons near the fire, motionless, maybe sleeping; obviously it was impossible to establish if one of them was his objective. He moved a bit more, but suddenly a winged figure went across the space over the canyon: Blizzard, instinctively, flattened himself against the ground and followed it with only his eyes, hoping it hadn't decided to land just on his back.
The Fieryclaw floated mid-air for some seconds, then went down to the camp. Blizzard had just begun to raise his shoulders when another one appeared coming from his right and passed so dangerously close to him that the turquoise dragon held his breath.
"He didn't look on my side, or else he'd have found me for sure" he thought while the other dragon was heading in turn towards his companions. Up to now the Fieryclaw's were four; did he have to expect some more?
The two who were motionless moved. "They're changing the guard duty" noticed Blizzard. Meanwhile he was thinking about how curious was the red dragons' unusual interest in keeping watch over the river: chief Xavor had never given the Moonfang's such orders, except during the days just before a battle. Who knew who or what they were expecting.
He waited patiently, after placing himself in a safer hiding place. Two dragons - those who were standing at ease - took flight and separated, one upstream and the other downstream.
"They are only four. I could wait for them to fall asleep, thus I'll be able to get closer and see if one is Ashel". To do that he would have had to cross the canyon in all its lenght: he was very fast, but the time necessary would have been enough to make the enterprise rather risky.
The darkness went deeper. Blizzard glanced up: a cloud was hiding the moon, as if it wanted to clear the way for him.
"Those guys are probably still awake, but I must take advantage of this chance" he decided, getting up off the ground. He was surrounded by almost complete darkness; he took a deep breath, run towards the space and hovered in the air. Reached the opposite side, he hastened to hide himself among the trees; no bustle, no alarm cries.
"Let's continue this way" he thought to take heart. He came closer to the camp, moving from one shelter to another, with the grace and noiselessness of a hunting predatory animal. He found a providential lookout behind some vine-covered rocks, which allowed him to spy on the bonfire glade in fair safety. The two Fieryclaw's were lying on their side near the fire, murmuring in a low voice. Blizzard peered at them, anxious, but sighed disappointed: Ashel wasn't one of them.
He stayed there listening to their speeches, but they were social chatters he was unable to follow. He thought whether to go away searching for the other two or to wait for the next changing of the guard.
"That damn fire is going to die out" grumbled the oldest-looking dragon meanwhile. His hide was red with ocher nuances and he had a short, brown mane.
The other one, more slender and with brighter hide color, reached out his hand for the last logs of a pile next to him and threw them into the fire without standing up. "Ashel could have brought a little more firewood indeed" he commented absently. Blizzard gave a start and his heart began to beat loudly; he pricked up his ears and kept on listening.
The first one yawned. "Go and take some more, then. What are you waiting for?"
"Yeah, good idea" replied the other dragon, putting himself seated. "He has probably something else on his mind... but I'd like to know why he's got so surly, lately! That is, he's never been very likeable... but now he's exaggerating. Even I began to put up with him with more and more difficulty".
"We've already talked about that! It's owing to that matter, isn't it? Leave him alone" cut short the companion, bored. "The trouble he had while we were thinking he was dead must have had a bad effect on him".
"I can quite believe it. After all, he doesn't want to approach that part of the mountain anymore" replied the other one.
The darker dragon nodded brusquely. "Are you going to get the firewood? Thus we can sleep before our turn, maybe". Unwillingly, his interlocutor grumbled his assent and made for the undergrowth around.
Blizzard huddled against the boulder, nearly incredulous: they had said exactly what he had to know.
Without further delay, he slipped out on all fours and stood up only when he was far enough, following the river downstream. A dragon was sitting on a log, near the rocky precipice; he was immobile and the milky moonlight was making his hide sparkle like the surface of a statue.
Blizzard's heartbeats sped up again. Circumstances couldn't have been more favorable; the only problem was how to have himself identified by him without alarming him.
He came closer until he was able to distinguish the lineaments of the dragon's snout: Ashel looked sulky, or annoyed. His long, ruffled mane was clean and some wisps were swaying in front of his eyes driven by the faint night wind: the abrasions he suffered from the battle were almost disappeared, now just barely visible signs on his muscular arms.
Blizzard felt his fear abandoning him like an old hide. He was wishing that moment since when they had separeted; he didn't care about the Fieryclaw's reaction, about his last words, about the habitual caution either. He took a heavy breath and called: "Ashel?"
The red dragon startled and leapt to his paws. "Who goes there? Come out!" he roared in a warlike tone raising his fists, his head quickly peering at right and left.
"It's me... Blizzard!" he said with clear voice, and came out of his hiding place.
Ashel turned to stone when he saw him, then he tottered and blinked his eyes several times. "I must have fallen asleep. I'm dreaming" he murmured between the teeth.
"No, why? It's me indeed" replied Blizzard, coming forward.
He gasped. "What the heck are you doing here? Why did you come back?" he faltered. His eyes looked in the direction of the campfire's glow, as if he was afraid the others could have heard him.
Blizzard went in front of him. "I know, we had promised each other not to ever meet again... but I have to talk with you. And... it's difficult to forget the person you've shared an adventure like ours with, isn't it?" he answered with a shrewd smile. He pronounced that last sentence almost unconsciously, but he didn't care.
Ashel brought one hand at the forehead. "Blizzard... do you know that if my companions caught us they would compel me to kill you and then they would kill me as well? What are you going to do?"
"I must talk with you. If you want, I'll be brief" he assured.
He continued to rub his forehead beneath his horns. "It's not that... the point isn't whether I want or not! I... Humph, let's forget it. What do you have to tell me?"
"I need your help" commenced Blizzard with practical tone. "In my village, I've tried to use what we've discovered... without involving you, of course... Well, it have been useless. But I'm convinced that we must investigate! And seeing that I can't do it on my own, you're the only one who has come to my mind".
"You're crazy" retorted Ashel. "Why do you want to return down there? We've risked death!"
"I feel that we have to do it. You and I know of some things that all the others ignore, or that they don't want to listen to because they're too busy setting their minds on their fixed ideas. Haven't you realized the importance they might have in this whole matter?" insisted the turquoise dragon, vehemently but trying to keep his voice low.
Ashel shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. And I'm not sure I care about that" he said, averting his gaze from Blizzard's one.
Blizzard kept silent; a burning disappointment mixed with anger was seething inside his chest.
"You know," he said at last with cold and flat voice, "I believed you were more reasonable. If you aren't going to help me... Very well! I'll go alone. I only ask you to show me the safest way for the zone we had come out of, if you can. Then I'll leave you in peace".
The red dragon wriggled in a wrathful spurt, and stamped his paws on the ground as if he was having a terrible inner conflict. "No! You won't return there alone! Why do you want yourself killed?" he hissed, turning his back to him.
"I've told you" replied Blizzard categorical. "This mountain guards a secret. I refuse to wait for the next time our tribes will clash, pretending I haven't seen anything".
Ashel's attitude was embattled. "You're so headstrong" he murmured exasperated, going back to staring at him; his sky blue eyes were sparkling. "If there's no way to make you change your mind, then I'm coming with you. So I can repay you... but surely I've done it already, by preventing you from killing yourself like that".
"Ahem... thank you" answered Blizzard, now a bit in uneasiness; all at once he had more difficulty in meeting the Fieryclaw's eye.
Ashel looked at the glowing camp in the distance. "The only problem is that I'm part of a surveillance squad. The changing of the turn is every two hours".
Blizzard's tail began to oscillate slowly, as a sign of unease. "We might not manage to do it in less than two hours".
"So... never mind" he replied resolute, beating one fist on the other hand's palm. "I'll go and tell them that for this evening I got bored and I'm going back to my village, thus we'll have all the time we need. They'll hate me, of course, but now they aren't fond of me either anyway... a bit more or less makes no difference".
"I'm sorry..." whispered Blizzard, bending his head.
"I'm not" concluded Ashel simply. "Wait for me here, got it?"
Ashel was back shortly after, with a neutral expression on his snout.
The turquoise dragon couldn't keep himself from asking: "Why should your own friends... hate you?"
"Because they think I get angry too easily. I can't say they're wrong; during the last days, besides... I sometimes exaggerate, I must admit" he explained in a light tone.
"And why...?"
He interrupted him by beckoning him with one hand. "Please, let's not to talk about this now. If it's any comfort to you, they said they'll get on all right even without me. Satisfied? Let's go".
Blizzard resigned himself to going along with him, but he was sorry. It was like if, during these days away from him, his attachment for Ashel had become stronger instead of weaker.
"It was in that direction, I think" indicated the red dragon.
They took flight in the starry and crystalline night. Meanwhile, Blizzard was meditating on what to do. Up to that moment everything had gone all too as anticipated; he had to be ready for hitches as well. But having Ashel by his side, with his protective heavy build, infused him with a sense of safety.
They flew over the landscape alternating scrubs of forest and bare glades, illuminated by the ghostly moonlight. In spite of difficulties, they found the plateau which they had separated on rather soon.
"The opening is here, somewhere" whispered Blizzard. They checked carefully the ground close to the rock face, pushing the bushes aside.
"Here it is!" he said after some minutes of searching. Ashel caught up with him; the tunnel-like passage was opening like a disturbing dark hole sinking in the bowels of the earth. It was anything but inviting, but at least they knew what there was at the end of it, and surely it was no occasion to hang back just now.
"Are you sure, then?" said Ashel as if he had read his fear.
"Yes" he answered. "I hope you won't find difficulty in passing through there..."
"Don't worry, going down is easy. I only have to slide" replied the dragon squatting in front of the hole. "To come out, you'll help me like the other time. I go first".
He crouched on the ground, folding his wings on his back, then he inserted his tail and hind legs in the gap and let himself down inside; within a few seconds his torso and head disappeared in the darkness as well. Blizzard did the same.
The foliage's rustling and the singing of nocturnal animals ceased, replaced by a silence as heavy as the atmosphere: the smell of humidity, earth and moss, more pervasive than how they remembered, filled their nostrils. Spots of bluish light, feeble but enough for the dragons to look around, were delineating the profiles of the ruins.
"I wasn't missing this place at all" commented Ashel gruff, dusting his mane off.
"Let's go to have a look over there. I had a feeling that the cavern was larger than how it looked" proposed Blizzard willingly.
While setting off, Ashel extracted some crystals from the niches of the constructions which they were set in.
"What strange stones. They didn't shine in the daytime, when there was the sunlight here" he observed, giving one to his companion.
Blizzard took the luminescent stone, hard and smooth, and had a sudden inspiration.
"Ashel... do you know what is magic?" he asked.
"Our chief told us about it" he answered. "In some sense, he's been compelled. Apparently you haven't hallucinated at the river, have you?"
"A... shaman" confirmed Blizzard dreamy. "Who's he? What does he want?" he murmured, more to himself than to Ashel.
"I have no idea. However my chief has considered it just a hypothesis, since beings able to use magic don't exist anymore" added the latter, raising his crystal to illumine a gloomy ravine.
"And therefore who has caused that disaster, according to him?" replied the turquoise dragon.
"He doesn't know what to think. And he isn't the only one" answered Ashel with curt tone.
Blizzard meditated. "But it's certain that he can't refuse to face up the facts, as well as my chief can't" he said; then a simple but illuminating consideration struck him. "Your... relic" he whispered, short of breath with excitement. "I know it had some kind of magic power. That's the one who may have distroyed it! Perhaps that shaman has attempted to steal it, but something has gone awry!"
"I wouldn't say just so" replied Ashel raucously; Blizzard wrinkled his forehead.
"I guess I can tell you now... As I had mentioned to you by chance, we've attempted to piece the relic together. Well, we did it, but... we've discovered that one part of it is missing. The most important one" he said gloomily.
"One part? Explain!" begged Blizzard.
Ashel stopped. "Do you know what is the relic?" he asked; Blizzard made a gesture of denial.
"It's a very old egg-shaped sculpture, just as big as a real dragon egg. There was a statuette enclosed inside it, a... dragon whelp. That is the part which has been lost".
A wave of shivers got through Blizzard from head to foot when he imagined the object described by the Fieryclaw; and being there, inside a dark underground cavern, made the thought even more macabre.
"It has magic powers, hasn't it?" he asked.
"For sure, although none of us has ever succeeded in obtaining anything from it. We owned that artefact for generations; but nobody knows where it comes from or who has created it".
"It all adds up then!" exclaimed Blizzard with a loud voice, producing a muffled echo. "I've had a premonition for quite some time, but there were some missing clues. It has been that mysterious shaman, the one I saw at the canyon, who has destroyed the relic and stolen the statuette, not us Moonfang's!"
Ashel paused. "We need proofs to demonstrate it" he objected. At least, he seemed he thought that Blizzard wasn't completely wrong.
"I feel we are two steps away from the solution. Meanwhile we're here; it might be no use, but this is a good place to start from" concluded the young dragon, getting ready to set off again.
"Let's hope you haven't got us into trouble in vain" said the Fieryclaw.
The ground was sloping down and the two dragons entered the dephts of the cavern. On the way's sides there were moss-covered debris, not identifiable anymore. They went down a lot until they reached a majestic, grey, stone double door: on the two huge leaves, as wide as the dragons and twice as high, were set many luminous crystals forming curvilinear patterns.
"Spectacular" whispered Blizzard, nearly intimidated.
Ashel leant his hands on one of the leaves. "Let's see what's on the other side" he said, and his muscles swelled while he was putting pressure on the heavy slab. It moved slowly, opening a chink; a flurry of stale air blew towards them.
Curious, Blizzard entered the passage: beyond a stone-paved hall there was a very large stairway; the lighting was bluish, but stronger and more diffused, as if it was oozing from the walls themselves.
They went up the stairs chipped and eroded by time; they were both used to surprises, but they were breathless anyway.
They were in an underground valley, a huge cavern surmounted by a stone vault with fissures through which patches of starry sky could be seen; under it there were those which looked like the ruins of a very ancient city. Due to a mysterious refraction effect, the light was diffusing among the ruined walls of the dwellings, among the twisting paths, beyond the fences. The two dragons couldn't even estimate the extent of that spectacular view.
"Now I'm definitely dreaming" murmured Ashel.
"If I didn't know we are awake, I'd agree with you" replied Blizzard. He would have expected anything except discovering a whole city hidden in the heart of the mountain.
"It looks abandoned for centuries" commented the Fieryclaw examining the interior of the closest dwelling: there was just a layer of moss-covered rubble.
They followed for a little while the path bordered by a low boundary wall, partially collapsed and surrounded by bushes of fern. The same sad desolation was everywhere, but the dragons imagined that, when it was still populated, it had to have been a rich and flourishing civilization.
"How could it happen that nobody has ever discovered this before?" wondered Blizzard; he found himself whispering with no rational reason.
On the decrepit facade of a larger building there were worn-out engravings. Blizzard cleaned out the layer of dirt as best as he could with one hand: they were representations of dragons, standing in single file in different poses; beneath their paws there were some writings in an unknown language.
"Look here" he told Ashel. Those dragons had a row of thick dorsal thorns lacking in membranes and three pairs of long and sharp horns curved downwards. Their snouts vaguely resembled the Moonfang's but, at least judging by the little they were able to see, their lineaments were thinner and more ascetic.
"These dragons lived here below for much longer than we did. But now they seem to be all disappeared" said Blizzard. Who knew what had happened... He looked at the writings again, but anyhow he tried to interpret them, they were totally meaningless to him.
"That's right... so it seems" murmured Ashel gloomily.
There were similar drawings and bas-reliefs on other walls as well; some of them were still in good condition, others were mingled with the signs of time. But some looked like if someone had made them unrecognizable with intent, scraped off with clear chisel marks.
Blizzard and Ashel went forward cautious through the ghost city. It was a mazy route, where they could have gotten lost by abandoning the main way... if they hadn't been able to fly.
At a certain point Ashel unfolded his wings and went at the dwellings' average height; Blizzard followed him, above all because he didn't want him to go too far away: alone he felt insecure.
The valley was scattered with hillocks giving the necropolis an even more chaotic aspect. A large-sized building was standing on the highest one, towering above the space with its bulk: it had domed roof, four solid walls covered in engravings and it was surrounded by a partially collapsed colonnade. It looked like a temple, a meeting-place of the inhabitants.
"How about taking a look?" proposed the red dragon.
"Okay" agreed Blizzard. He didn't know what they were looking for yet, besides trouble.
The main door was half-open. The interior was lit up by metal goblets placed along the walls, but instead of embers they contained handfuls of crystals. The dark dragon figures were everywhere and they sent a shiver down to Blizzard's spine up to his tail's tip, because they looked like the shadows of real dragons.
"Are you scared?" asked Ashel in a low voice.
"A little" confessed Blizzard; he was unreasonably scared, just because he didn't know what to be scared of.
Ashel touched Blizzard's shoulder slightly. "Don't worry. I'm here" he murmured. Blizzard felt a start inside himself which had nothing to do with fear.
A metal double door, straight in front of them, was firmly barred, so they took the left corridor. They found a square hall: there was a marble altar in the middle, and full-scale statues by its sides. A thick layer of dust was covering every surface.
Blizzard went closer to the only still undamaged sculpture: like the other ones, that tall and smooth body showed a considerable variety of bracelets, bangles and earrings.
"In any case he's not a Moonfang," he diagnosed observing the head, "least of all a Fieryclaw, I'd say". An unknown draconic population, therefore. He wondered what chief Xavor would have thought about it.
Ashel turned up his nose. "Don't forget that maybe they aren't so extinct, after all. Perhaps we could directly ask one of them" he said ironically.
They left that hall and crossed a corridor. They went down a long staircase and ended up in another featureless passage; a strong, pulsating white light was coming from a lateral entrance.
"What could it be?" whispered Blizzard, half-closing his eyes not accustomed to so much light. He and Ashel leant out warily and peeked into the interior.
It was the hall of a temple, very spacious, full of columns and ancient statues. A dragon was bowed on one knee in front of a white altar, on which there was the light source, having his back to them. His hide was dark green, with stripes as darker as the folded wings; three pairs of horns came up from the sides of his head above the pointed ears, different in lenght and studded with rings; a row of thin bone thorns went across the middle of the head up to the neck base. He wore several elaborate bracelets, silver bangles on his hind legs and a tribal necklace. He was motionless, maybe in meditation.
When Blizzard was able to avert his eyes from the green dragon he met his companion's ones, as dazed as him.
It was astonishing to find out that his suppositions were correct. In front of him there was an individual belonging to a tribe which nobody had ever told about in his village. But going by the state of their ancient city, how could it be possible that one of them was still alive?
"Magic" suggested to him a voice in his mind.
Only few seconds had passed since that sight when the green dragon stood up and slowly turned to them.
Blizzard was shaken by a sudden shudder; he couldn't help it. That dragon was really tall and statuesque. His tapered snout, with black drawings on cheekbones and forehead, didn't look either young or old... but the hypnotic gaze of his eyes, which were immaculate globes with the black vertical fissures of pupils, looked like belonging to a creature as ancient as earth. He was totally lacking in expression, not at all surprised about that intrusion.
"And so you're arrived, finally" he said with a warm and soft voice, but vaguely menacing. "I felt you since when you set foot on my city. You know, it's uncommon for me to have visits here... You are the first, to be precise, within the space of many, many years. Nevertheless, what surprises me most is noticing that my young unannounced visitors are one Moonfang and one Fieryclaw".
Blizzard was still too dazed to open his mouth. Ashel was the one who replied: in him, impetuosity always prevailed against fear.
"We... yes, so what?" he asked scornful, coming out into the open in all his height. "Who the heck are you, instead?"
The dragon didn't show any feeling while standing straight and composed; his glittering eyes were attracting theirs like moths on a brazier. "Given that I'm a honorable person, I'll ignore your rudeness and introduce myself: I am Valynard, Shaman Chief of the glorious Silentwing tribe. The last one left... for now".
Ashel aggressively pointed the finger at him. "What are you plotting? You are the one who has stolen our relic and tried to kill us all at the canyon with those gimmicks, aren't you? Are you too cowardly to show yourself in person?"
Blizzard held his breath: it wasn't prudent to provoke him, knowing what he was capable of.
The sides of the dragon's mouth rose slightly in an icy smile. "So young, and yet so daring already... and arrogant. Your relic, you said? Let me correct you: that is my relic, it belongs to my tribe. We have created it. Your ancestors have stolen it, disrespectfully, shortly afterwards we had disappeared from circulation, about five centuries ago. I did nothing other than taking it back... And what you, your little friend and your tribes have been a spectator of was the demonstration of a sublime power which is by far beyond the grasp of your comprehension". Despite he was speaking in a calm tone, he was more threatening than if he had been enraged.
The red dragon fell silent for an instant, but he re-collected himself immediately. "I call it playing dirty anyway. Fighting like this is disloyal!" he insisted dogged.
Valynard didn't get flustered. "It's neither disloyal nor honorable: it's our way of fighting. My race has an inborn predisposition to magic. Everyone uses the gifts we were born with, how it must be; in our case, it is a considerably more powerful gift than how you may ever hope to become".
Before Ashel could reply, Blizzard came abreast of him. "Two centuries, you said? But then how can you still be alive? Shouldn't you be... dead, like the rest of your race?" he asked, trying to sound respectful in spite of the question's impertinence. The average life of Moonfang's was one century and a half; proportionately, that guy didn't look even fifty years old. How could they possibly have such an unbelievably long existence?
The shaman shook his head. "Your eyes mislead you, young Moonfang. For the time being, I'm not truly alive... as well as none of my fellow creatures is truly dead. But things are bound to change soon... now that I regained possession of the relic" he murmured.
The light behind him, which was fading, went off nearly completely. On the altar there was a tiny statuette of transparent crystal with multicolored reflections: a dragon whelp huddled in fetal position, its small limbs tightly held to the body but with erect and vigilant head.
"Just like Ashel has said" thought Blizzard. The artefact was connected with magic... Its legitimate owner had demanded it back... Everything made sense at last. But many questions remained without an answer; and the words of the Silentwing were disturbing.
"What does it mean that things will change?" hazarded the turquoise dragon.
"I have no reason to let you know the details" he replied, getting back proud and inscrutable. "You only have to know that we Silentwing's are going to be back soon to our ancient splendor... and you all are part of this great plan".
"I guess we won't like our role in all this" objected Blizzard. Next to him, Ashel was openly rubbing his knuckles.
"Sometimes, it is necessary to make some sacrifices" answered Valynard icily. "We have suffered, aforetime, owing to you. You have brought us on the brink of extinction and compelled us to take refuge in a dreadful condition between life and death without being none of the two. You were afraid of us... you feared we would have subdued you. It's time to do justice: thanks to you, we'll go back to living on this earth".
Ashel grunted; "What do you mean by that?!" exclaimed Blizzard indignant. "You want to make us pay for a fault committed by our ancestors of five hundred years ago?"
The Silentwing shook his head. "Considering it to be just a revenge is disrespectful... and reductive. The relic's power has saved us from extinction and can give us a corporeal appearance, but only thanks to living creatures we are truly able to regain our carnality. You will serve this purpose; fortunately for you, many of you will be probably spared, thus unlike us you won't run the risk of disappearing".
"Even though it was as you say, what would you do then?" asked Blizzard, his voice trembling with anger. "With the consideration you have about us, I don't think your fellow creatures would let us leave in peace".
The shaman crossed his arms; the many bracelets he wore tinkled. "This will depend on you" he replied underhand. "It will be interesting to know what the elderly people of your tribes will decide. Surrender or fight? We will restrict ourselves to acting accordingly".
Blizzard hesitated. If it had been up to him he would have tried to find the most peaceful and diplomatic possible solution, but he had very little authority in his village... and he knew well that the minds heading the tribe thought in a very different way from his.
He hadn't noticed that Ashel in the meantime had raised his fists; "We don't accept any of your conditions. Now I'll teach you a lesson, so you won't feel like bragging anymore!" he barked, and he rushed at him.
Blizzard let out a groan. A flash went across the shaman's eyes; he held out his right hand in a flick: a nonmaterial, translucent surface with white reflections appeared between him and the red dragon, and the latter banged into it as if it was a solid wall. A crackling was heard and sparks spurted all around him, still motionless in the position he had been blocked to.
Ashel's pupils were wide open for surprise. Keeping a detached expression, Valynard raised his outstretched arm and the Fieryclaw came off the ground; at last he suddenly lowered it forcefully, and the red dragon was flung backwards ending up crashing into the wall close to the entrance.
Ashel emitted a gasp of pain and fainted on the floor. Blizzard run, terrified, and knelt down over him to check how he was.
"A thoughtless act... and useless" commented the Silentwing calmly, bringing his arm back on his chest as if Ashel's attack had been only a boring contretemps. "Even though I had let him hit me, you can't hope to hurt me this way. And you can't stop what is happening anyway... this is the reason why I'm going to let you go".
"You'll let us go?" repeated Blizzard confused while Ashel, lying on the ground against the wall, was breathing with difficulty due to the pain of the knock.
Valynard went near them, very tall and terrible. "You understood well. The fact that the two of you have ventured here together leads me to believe that your respective chiefs are not in the know about your initiative; you can go back, so they won't be alarmed at your disappearance" he murmured, looking Blizzard crouched straight in the eye, appearing to him even more towering.
"Where's the trick?" asked the turquoise dragon, animated in spite of fear. "Will you attack us behind our back when we'll think we're safe? Doesn't it worry you that we may tell our chiefs?"
"Oh, without doubt you will do that" he agreed, not in the least worried. "Who knows if it won't also refresh their memory... But will they lend an ear to you? Or maybe they're too busy fighting each other and just for pride they will prefer to keep doing this way? I'm sure you know the answer. A certain and well visible enemy looks more inviting for those who are longing for war".
Blizzard would have cut his own tongue with his teeth rather than admitting it, but he knew the Silentwing was right. "You understimate us. Maybe we'll manage to join forces against you, like he and I did" he retorted, in a courageous attempt to honor his race.
"Yes... perhaps" answered Valynard, and he looked intent on a poorly interesting debate again; "however I'll prevent that from happening, like I did during your last fight. And even if you succeeded all the same, there's very little you can do... Now, go away. Some of you have already contributed to the revival of the Silentwing's, and I'm letting two excellent individuals escape..."
Blizzard felt hatred for him fiercely. "The disappearances are work of you!"
"Few, very few at a time" confirmed the shaman slowly, "in the chaos of the battle. So that not to cause havoc excessively. Up to now they've been enough".
"You bastard. You've killed them by treachery!" hissed the dragon, his heart full with sadness and anger, while helping Ashel to stand up.
"Killed? Not exactly" replied Valynard with soapy voice. "If I were you, I wouldn't worry about them for the time being. In any case, they won't suffer at all".
Blizzard stayed clear-minded enough to understand that the dialog was over and he had to consider himself lucky if the shaman had decided to spare their lives. Their chance to win a hand-to-hand fight was nearly nonexistent. He could do nothing else but complying with him, although he had countless other questions.
"Let's go, Ashel" he murmured to the red dragon, dejected. He expected a refusal from him, or another violent reaction, instead he nodded between the teeth.
Valynard peered at them, impassive. "Behind this temple there's a passage linked to the surface, but it will close after you'll have gone out. You'd better walk without looking back, because if you linger here for too long I'll find it out... and I won't be so lenient again. Do not abuse your fortune" he said harsh.
Ashel gave him a nasty look, holding his shoulder; Blizzard beckoned him anxiously, and they run away at a quick pace in the dim, dusty corridor.
Making off like that was a coward behaviour, but they had no other choice. Blizzard wondered why the revived Silentwing had revealed so much information to them and then allowed them to tell the rest of the dragons. "Maybe," he thought bitterly while running, "he decided that his revenge would be sweeter if we knew which death we're going to die". That gloomy shaman seemed really self-confident. Didn't they really stand a chance to put up resistance?
"Exit is in that direction" murmured Ashel overtaking him. As soon as they were in the abandoned necropolis again they headed towards the rear of the building as Valynard had ordered them. Blizzard longed to continue exploring, especially now that the Silentwing had implied that the missing dragons were not lost forever yet: Niktohal, and maybe even...
"The passage must be that one over there" exclaimed Ashel, turning to him. "What's come over you?" he asked abrupt.
The turquoise dragon startled and resumed the march; he hadn't even noticed that he had stopped. Between a couple of crumbling buildings at the feet of the rocky face there was a path which ended with an open stone double door. Blizzard followed the Fieryclaw, having a feeling that his paws were trying to stop him.
The stairway led them to a secluded glade under the starry sky. As soon as the two dragons crossed the exit's treshold, a sparkling mist appeared and the opening shrank like a wound healing at accelerated speed: within few seconds a natural covering had made every trace of it disappear.
"We are in trouble" commenced Blizzard with a sigh.
Ashel, who had now recovered from the knock, looked at the point were before there was the tunnel, full of hatred. "You were right from the very first. It was all... a damn plot" he said.
"That shaman said that when his fellow creatures will resurrect they won't be truly alive until they'll have stolen our lives. What hope of defeating them would we have, even though we managed to convince our tribes? As if it wasn't enough, they'll probably remain safely hidden in their subterranean village until the last moment" summarized the turquoise dragon gloomily. The situation was so desperate that he wasn't even able to feel depressed adequately. Was the end of the Moonfang's - and of the Fieryclaw's - just around the corner?
"During all these years we did nothing but fighting each other without knowing that the real enemy was taking advantage of it!" he concluded angrily.
He heard some steps behind himself. "Blizzard..." murmured Ashel with unusually kind tone, "let's go away from here. For now, uhm, we can't think properly".
The turquoise dragon had never heard Ashel speaking like that, and it had the effect of calming him down a bit.
"Ahem... right... okay" he assented, feeling a wince inside himself.
They took flight and flew in circles for some minutes to find their way; once they had managed to get their bearings in the night moor they headed towards the river: Ashel had said he wanted to leave Blizzard at the boundary, far from the area watched by the sentries, for good measure.
They were now arrived, and the canyon was in view when Ashel started getting down; Blizzard followed him. They landed on the border of the pinewood extending beyond the canyon's jagged edge. It was few hours to dawn but it was still in the middle of the night: the moon was shining in the slightly cloudy sky surrounded by a blanket of stars. They were at the feet of a centuries-old pine with huge trunk.
Blizzard thought that it was time to leave each other again. He had several reasons to be sorry.
"Who knows if we'll have the chance to meet again" he sighed, addressing the sky. "I must try to make my chief think; I haven't the faintest idea how, and I don't know whether it will be any good, but I refuse to give up without having at least tried" he murmured with simple tone which badly concealed his worry.
Silence. "Of course... I'll see what I can do too" mumbled Ashel barely moving his jaw, as if he was ruminating another words but he didn't want to pronounce them.
Apart from the anxiety about the dreadful discoveries of that night, the unease Blizzard was feeling was... more personal, inflicting on him a twinge at the heart every time he looked into the Fieryclaw's eyes. He wanted to tell him something that would have made him understand how he cared about him now that he had known him, but he didn't know what. And considering how black the future looked, perhaps it was better to separate and stop thinking about it.
He had just reached that unpleasant conclusion and was about to say a quick and painless goodbye, when Ashel suddenly moved and in two steps he covered the distance separating them, appearing in front of him.
Blizzard's heartbeats had a peak and their gazes crossed: they were so close that, since Ashel was taller than him, he had to raise his head to do it.
Ashel's sky blue eyes were sparkling with a strange light. "You know," he whispered embarrassed with hoarse voice, "now you'll have understood that I'm not good with words. I cope much better with fists... but, well, in this case they're useless. So I'll try to exert myself, for a change. I really want you to know these things".
A tingling at his paws was preventing Blizzard from moving and he was unable to avert his gaze from Ashel's snout.
He continued: "In my village, those who know me know also that I have a... bad temper. I get angry easily, I always find myself picking a quarrel with everyone, and I've never been afraid to face dragons stronger or more numerous than me. That's the way I am, I can do nothing about it".
"Maybe it's because I've known you for a short time, but to me you didn't seem so... unreasonable" faltered Blizzard with a weak, embarrassed smile. "Perhaps only a bit sometimes" he added, trying to joke.
The brief smile Ashel reciprocated was both amused and sad. "This is because... you have something special, I've noticed it since the first time we met. You make me feel different. When I'm close to you my bad temper ceases to dominate me; if I seemed surly to you it was because I was trying to resist, but actually... I liked that. And I liked that because I was growing attached to you. I knew well I couldn't allow that, nevertheless during these last days I've given quite a few people a hard time. I thought of you, I repeated myself that I couldn't and I shouldn't meet you again... The more I tried to forget you, the more I wanted to feel that way again. It was like if I was going mad, and that increased my anger" he confessed, sometimes faltering as if he was pronouncing those words with difficulty.
"There's nothing wrong in feeling different" said Blizzard, bringing one hand at his nape. He felt guilty about his banality. "Do I really have this effect on you? I'm glad... I was hoping for what happened this night too. To meet you, I mean... I could have done without all the rest". His heart was beating so loudly that its thuds were filling his ears. He was feeling dizzy.
"I like you" sighed Ashel deeply, bending his head and lowering his look to his paws. "The fact that you are a Moonfang is by itself quite enough to make me deserve the shame of all my fellow creatures. I hated you as much as they hate you, I thought you were just rivals, enemies, and I was eager to show my valor in battle... You've destroyed my most entrenched beliefs. I have parents and friends, of course, but nobody has ever had so much kindness and consideration towards me as you have. Moreover, you are much more intelligent than me and all those I know. You made me feel important by asking for my help in this matter, and... and..."
Blizzard leant one hand on Ashel's wrist, interrupting his mumble which was getting more and more hoarse and broken. He had done it unintentionally, without thinking: it was the first contact between them.
Ashel looked up again and they went back to looking into each other's eyes. The silence surrounding them was in a contrast to their tumultuous inner world.
They were getting closer and closer to each other. Their snouts met and Ashel opened his mouth a little, touching Blizzard's one. The turquoise dragon was now nearly stunned; his mind was in flames. He was feeling Ashel's warm tongue touching slightly the tip of his snout, timidly looking for an answer. For an instant he had an impulse to draw back, instead he in turn opened his mouth and angled his head sideways to better adhere to Ashel's one. He closed his eyes, letting himself go.
Encouraged by Blizzard's reaction, happy to feel him reciprocating, Ashel kissed him more heatedly and put his arms around Blizzard's shoulders to hug him. On impulse, Blizzard passed one arm around Ashel's waist and the other one, before on the wrist, ended up on the nape. Finally he was able to do what he had wished, he remembered, when he had found Ashel inside the cavern and had noticed that he was alive: sinking his fingers in his long mane and make them slide.
The passion with which Ashel's tongue was intertwining with Blizzard's one and the desire with which his hands were caressing the smooth hide of his hips revealed how ardently the red dragon had wished that moment.
Everything got now clear to Blizzard. His heart had understood it a long time before, but his mind had admitted it only now: he was in love with Ashel. His attachment to the Fieryclaw was something more than friendship... it had always been so. All his fears and anxieties seemed to be disappeared temporarily. Being so bound with Ashel was the most pleasant and gratifying sensation he had ever experienced.
Blizzard didn't know how much time had passed when their mouths separated, staying embraced anyway. He was breathless but extraordinarily happy.
"I love you" whispered Ashel caressing his shoulders, his eyes sparkling in the semidarkness. "I don't know how you did it, but I love you".
Blizzard hesitated; not feeling up to looking at him in the eye, he looked at his chest. "You know, I'd never considered such a thing. We belong to two different races and you're... well, a male. What's come over me?"
"Is... the fact that I'm male a problem to you?" asked Ashel, a bit hesitant.
"Well," he answered slowly, "to me it isn't. If I told somebody, they would surely take more badly the fact that you're a Fieryclaw" he added with a little irony. His first thought was for Hazarkan, the battle master. "But after all I don't have to tell anyone, moreover I've now understood that this is what I want" he concluded. He felt embarrassed as if those words had permanently sealed reality.
Relieved, Ashel bent his head over Blizzard's neck and started to gently kiss it and to touch it slightly with the tip of his tongue, giving him shivers of pleasure. "Now I know mine wasn't an illusion. You've totally conquered me" he said softly. His deep, low-pitched voice was a relaxing whisper.
Blizzard smoothed Ashel's hair behind his tapered, fleshy ears: he adored its velvety consistency. "I haven't had much time to know you. You may look like just a beast furious with the world, but you can be so nice and kind when you feel like... and this is what I like. And you're so... handsome... Oh, I'd do anything to stay with you" he murmured.
The Fieryclaw tightened his hold on him and brought his mouth close to Blizzard's one again; this time the turquoise dragon answered immediately with enthusiasm. Ashel's typical impetuosity was such that he pushed Blizzard with back and wings against the trunk of the nearby pine. While kissing him he was also caressing his hide of arms and hips, proceeding downwards, with almost ravenous intensity.
Blizzard liked Ashel's muscular body pressing against his and the hands exploring him greedily, but he started when he felt them closing around the joint of his tail and, paused over his thighs and buttocks, he began to get vaguely worried. The red dragon's passion was surrounding him in waves and was now about to overwhelm him: he realized that Ashel had intention of going further, much further...
Blizzard put his hands on Ashel's shoulders and separated his snout from himself. "Ashel... please stop. Wait!" he panted out, short of breath.
"Wait?" he replied, his voice vibrant with excitement. "What should I wait for? I want you. Right now" he murmured. He made as if to kiss him again but Blizzard shook his head, grabbing Ashel's wrists to stop the yearning hands fondling him.
"No. Ashel... listen to me. Stop!" he repeated, with sweet but decided tone.
Ashel looked very disappointed. "What's wrong? Are you scared?" he asked, pulling his hands back and moving his bust slightly backward.
The turquoise dragon slid from Ashel's arms and sighed. "I'm not scared, but... I don't feel up to it. I'm not ready to do... what you'd like to do" he confessed, embarrassed. Ashel had brought one hand on the pubes in an eloquent gesture; Blizzard, feeling guilty, pretended he hadn't seen.
"I assure you'll like it, instead. If you wish, uhm... I'll go easy on you" said the Fieryclaw with thick voice. "Or maybe I've been... inopportune?"
Blizzard was sorry, but he had decided now. "Oh no, not at all! I'd like to spend the whole night with you. But it's no occasion now," he continued, trying to make him think, "and it's not just because of this. It's almost dawn and I must return to my village before someone could notice my absence. I promise it will be for... the next time. I want our moment to be special, I'd like to spend it properly, at our leisure".
"There might not be a next time" grumbled Ashel sulky, his right hand still nervously hiding his lower belly.
"There will be, I promise" replied Blizzard. "We have an important task, we must convince our tribes to cease hostilities. If we want to attempt anything in order to counter the Silentwing's, we must at least obtain that we all know who is the real enemy. Then we can think of a plan".
He was afraid that Ashel's frustration for avoiding his desire could interfere with his judgement; for a moment it seemed so, but at last he nodded: "I want to trust you" he murmured. "How I wish I could stay with you without worrying over nothing..." he saddened.
Blizzard went closer and caressed Ashel's nape beneath his thick black horns; Ashel gave him a last kiss, quick but with unexpected sweetness.
"Tomorrow evening I'll be here again. And all the following evenings as well, if you want, as long as it's possible" assured the turquoise dragon. He said it so that his wish was well clear, and that, under more favorable circumstances, he would have shown him all his fondness.
"Yeah... unfortunately this is the most we can do" agreed Ashel with a dull mumbling.
"You'll see, we'll find a solution" said Blizzard; maybe it was an illusion, but those moments of joy had inspired him with optimism, even though a bit ingenuous.
The darkness made deciphering Ashel's expression difficult, but his tone didn't raise a doubt: "Well then... you should go. Don't do anything reckless, because if our days are really numbered I want to spend them all with you" he said melancholy.
"So do I. You can't imagine how" smiled Blizzard; "See you soon" he said. With an effort of will, he unfolded his wings and hovered in the air under Ashel's gaze: it appeared to him that he was feeling its warmth on his hide while going away in the night sky.