Fate of Dragons

Chapter Twenty-Four, Part I

Derol stared at the empty space left where the dragons had once been. As the last of their small shapes disappeared over the horizon, a silence hung over the great bowl like a cloud. The riders looked as stunned as Derol felt; they seemed to have no idea why their counterparts had suddenly disappeared, either.

It didn't take long for Malía to begin calling people to her, then sending others scurrying away on some mission. Now that she wasn't screaming anymore, Derol couldn't hear what she was saying. He was happy enough with that; he didn't want to be part of this new problem. He had made it to Saldive, and that was enough for him. Now the dragon riders could help him. Seeing Malía take command of the situation, Derol became more confident that there would be help for Arethia from the dragon riders.

Although part of him felt worried about Astrid having flown off with the flock of dragons, he knew she was with Tesa, and what's more, Astrid already knew Tesa. And he'd been around the dragons he'd met long enough to know that they could be trusted, too. So when Amina suggested that he, Eriya, and Fenn go to find something to eat, he followed, grateful for her initiative.

The whole camp up in the cliffs above Saldive had been sent into a flurry by the departure of the dragons. Nevertheless, Amina was able to find someone who could point them to a fire where a stew had been cooking. Luckily, there was some left, along with clean bowls. They took places around the fire and ate quietly while the other occupants of the camp bustled around them.

Amina watched the activity of the camp closely, and Derol couldn't help but think of her wish that the dragon eggs had been left with her people at the Onami camp. She had been right—bringing them straight to the Temple of Saldive had been a bad idea. But how were the riders to have known that? From everything they'd heard, the mages of Yennar Lei had been helping them with the dragons, first the search, and then the healing.

He didn't blame the riders, especially since Amina seemed to have an inherent mistrust of those in power, both in Arethia and here in Yennar Lei. He wondered if that was a personal characteristic or if it was common in the Senemi and Onami people. Of course, given what he knew of their history, the attitude didn't seem unwarranted.

None of their small party said much while they ate, and when they finished, they washed their bowls in a basin of water that appeared to be set up for the task, then found open spaces to pitch their tents among the others that were already there.

The space among the cliffs was larger than Derol had first thought it to be, because he kept getting surprised by the number of people who seemed to appear out of nowhere, and then disappear just as quickly. He soon realized that there were a number of caves leading off of the main open space below the spires.

Derol knew that most, if not all, of the dragon riders had arrived at this spot from the different regions of Yennar Lei they'd been assigned to now that the lost dragons had been found, but there seemed to be more people than just the riders. Many of the people in the camp seemed to be mages from Yennar Lei, but apparently not anybody who could help Malía with the situation with the eggs. He'd seen her call a group of them around her, then send them away not very much later throwing her hands up with a scowl.

Derol sat in his tent with the front flap open. Eriya and Fenn had retreated to their tents right away, probably as exhausted as Derol felt, and Amina had disappeared somewhere in the camp. The rest of their travel companions, riders all, Derol assumed were busy with whatever task Malía had set them to. He was glad that he would get some rest.

He felt at his waist for the pouch that was tied there. He untied it and poured the stones from their leather pouch into his hand. There were just enough to fill his palm without spilling over. Carefully, he tipped his hand and spilled them onto the blanket in front of him. He pushed the stones around, remembering which ones held the spells to guide the boat and which ones held the energy to power the spells. If he closed his eyes and thought about them a little bit, he could even sense the energy in them.