A Dragons Destiny

Chapter Three

Following the river through Mammoth Plains proved to be dull and boring. The Plains were so wide that everything was spread out far away from everything else, though Ivory had expected to see at least a couple of creatures drinking from the water running gently the opposite way to that which she was travelling. Though with so many hills around she suppose it would be difficult to even spot a mammoth on the other side.

The sun hung low in the sky as it always did through the colder months and cast a bright, blinding light over the land. Each time she looked down at the water the reflections would shine white light in her eyes. One or two times she almost tripped over a stone or rock while the light blinded her.

Ivy hadn't stopped walking since she left the farm almost a day ago. Her feet were sore and her legs ached, but she wouldn't stop for any rests. Grey, Riley, Jared, Ogren and Slade were all on horse back and had a head start. There was a chilly wind blowing down from the Northern Mountain Range and Ivory thanked her Uncle for making sure to choose an outfit that would keep her generally sheltered from the elements.

Her hood was pulled over her head and she had wrapped a length of thin cloth around over her face leaving only an inch wide strip for her eyes to see through. She had made sure to keep her hair tucked in to prevent any knots, and to make sure no one would see her face. While that would be an important factor later if the five men she was trying to catch up with realised she was following them, it was hardly important while travelling through the Plains alone and with no one around. The mask just helped to keep the chill from the wind off of her cheeks.

Thinking about the five men, she realised that she had a dilemma that needed solving. If she managed to catch up with them and they caught her following her, what was she supposed to do? The question had only just dawned on her and since then she had been trying to figure out what she would do. As of now, Ivy had still come up with absolutely nothing.

A soft rumbling sound a short way off drew her attention from her dilemma and made her look ahead. There was a short cliff face about three hundred metres away that stretched for about a mile either way.

Water was tumbling over the edge and into a pool at the bottom. On either side of the waterfall were piles of boulders and sharp edges. Looking both ways, Ivory realised that the group of men would have had to ride around it because of their horses, where as she could just climb. That is, so long as they were still headed this way.

Ogren had told her that they were travelling to The Caves of Voices, but she didn't know which way they would be heading. She did know that the river flowed from a spring at the bottom of the IcePeakMountains though.

It flowed south to Silver Grove and then kept on going through the centre of Mammoth Plains, past their farm, past Black Marshes, and into the sea at the villageSea Claw. Ivory knew where they were on a map, but the measurements were slightly different in reality. She had realised that just then as she remembered the waterfall was on a map that Gareth had stuck to the wall in the main room of the farm house.

When she reached the waterfall, Ivory looked up at the rocks and boulders to judge which would be the easiest way to climb up. A fresh layer of mud and rocks a more sloped part of the cliff, but it looked like a fresh landslide so she immediately crossed that part out of her mind.

Ivy eventually focused in on a part that gouged inwards in a triangle shape. Walking towards it, she climbed onto the first boulder, and then the second, and then the third.

As she got higher, the boulders disappeared and she was using the rocky cliff edge to pull herself up. It would have been easy for her had her legs not been sore from walking all day, but once or twice her feet would slip and she would almost lose her grip .