Fate of Dragons

Chapter Twenty-Seven, Part I

Derol perched on a large rock overlooking the beach. Below the rocky patch where he sat, the sand sloped away towards the water. He watched Fenn, Astrid, and Gypsy as they frolicked near the water. The small dragon dodged in and out of the waves and flapped her wings to spray water over her two companions. It should have been a relaxing scene, but Derol felt a tenseness through his whole body.

All of the other dragons were gathered with their riders further on down the beach around a bend, debating and planning. Derol had heard enough talk prior to this large meeting to know that the dragon riders did not plan to launch any kind of attack to take back Arethia. Although he had long known it was improbable, in some part of his mind he had still been holding out hope that they would return and set everything right.

And now, even the daydream he'd allowed himself of starting anew in Yennar Lei would get left behind, now that he'd aided in stealing from the Temple itself. Perhaps he could join a roving band of Onami and live with them. Did they adopt outsiders? He could ask Amina.

His heart lurched as Astrid tumbled and disappeared below the water, but as soon as Derol stood to go to her rescue, she popped back up again, laughing. Fenn jumped in after her, dunking himself below the waves, and Gypsy followed suit, swimming circles around them. Derol shook his head. When had he gotten to be such a worrier? Then he shrugged, laughing at himself. He'd always been a worrier, about his farm, his crops, and his animals. It was just that now, having taken Astrid under his wing, the same worry seemed magnified ten times. He wondered if it was their circumstances, having fled from their home, or if that was just how it always was caring for a child.

Thinking of Astrid led him back to thinking of Enval, and all the people living under the Karume's rule there. Tesa's parents, Astrid's family, his friends and farm hands. He'd escaped to find help and save them, but all he'd really done was abandon them. Here he was, safe and well with a the protection of dragons and mages, while those he'd left behind suffered under the rule of the Karume.

No, Derol couldn't start a new life here and forget all those he had left behind. He had come all this way in an attempt to help them, and he would still do it, if he could. Maybe the dragon riders didn't have the power to take back Arethia on their own, but maybe they could help people escape, just as Amina had been doing all along, with the help of Mr. Beetle and his wife.

Derol stood up. At first he'd thought he didn't have any place at the meeting with the riders. He didn't have anything to contribute to the plans. He had just come to them for help. But now he began to feel as if he had a stake in the discussion. He caught Fenn's attention and waved to him before he set off down the beach.

On this part of the island, a stretch of sandy beach met the water, backed by rocky hills and in some places, bluffs. The dragons had chosen to meet in a small bay bordered by taller bluffs, so that the dragons could perch on the various ledges and platforms afforded by the bluffs. The riders and other humans gathered on the sand below in a rough circle. They'd dragged logs and rocks over for seating.

When Derol approached, he was surprised to find the assembly looking somewhat cheerful, even animated. Maira stood up, speaking.

"They would stay dormant until conditions were right for them to hatch, including coming into contact with a potential rider," she said.

"How will we pass the knowledge on?" asked another rider, whose name Derol didn't know.

Maira sat down as Tesa stood to speak.

"I've been thinking about this," Tesa said. "I thought maybe we could write it down, and safeguard it with one person, who passes it down to another, and so on, as time goes on. And then there would be the storytellers."