Echoes of the Past

Chapter Twenty Two - Part One

Chapter Twenty Two: The Road Ahead - Part One

James swallowed through a dry throat. "What was that?" He turned to Sam, but his friend still studied the distance where Tallas had landed.

Castan brought the whinnying mousslo's closer. "Ho, boy," he said as he came to them. "Some excitement you fellas find. I should be paying you for the entertainment."

"Was that a jump, Sam?" James asked. "You said Oneron can only jump, what... thirty, forty feet?"

"I did say that," Sam said, still looking ahead.

"Well that guy Tallas just hit the horizon." James waved a hand ahead to emphasise his point.

"Aye," Sam said. He finally met James's eyes. "As he said, he's not an Oneron. But, somehow I don't believe that."

"He is no Oneron," Evan said. When they all looked at him, he added, "I could feel a god's touch on him. I have only felt such power on two other occasions, and both were in the presence of a god."

"What does that mean?" James asked.

"I do not know of this god you call Menas," Evan said. "But that man was more than a priest."

"We can agree that he was not what he seemed," Sam said.

Castan breathed a heavy sigh. "Well I don't rightly know what an Oneron is, or who this Menas is, but this is all mighty fascinating, to say the least." He pulled on the leather reins as the mousslos stirred beside him.

"I'd say so too," Sam said. "You did good, Castan. You keep your cool. Now, how's about we continue on to Riondon? I could do with some more time off my feet. What do you say, tour guide?"

Castan nodded, smiling cheerfully. "Good idea." He handed them each the reins to their mousslos and they remounted the beasts.

As they urged their mounts forward, Castan went on. "Now to the side, you will see the bloodied remains of a... Hakkoo dragon, long ago vanquished by a legendary hero, who the locals took to calling a Super Oneron, on account of his greatly exaggerated powers that resembled those of an Oneron." He leaned closer to Sam, adding in a loud whisper, "Does that sound about right?"

Sam chuckled. "About right."

"Good," Castan said.

James leaned forward and rested against his mousslo's neck, comforted by its soft mane on his cheek. His head swam with fatigue. Flashes of the armoured dragon and devastating beams of light raced through his mind.

"That dragon said he was sent to find us," Evan said.

"He wasn't looking for us," James said glumly, looking up. "He was looking for me. He named me."

Sam nodded. A severe, troubled look was on him, furrowing his brow. "Aye. Which means that our presence, and our intentions, are known to more parties than we thought. Someone wanted to stop us reaching Riondon."

"Jaxx?" James offered. "Maybe he knows we're coming to see him, instead of Dr. Velome."

"Maybe," Sam said. "But that dragon came from off-planet. Maybe Jaxx communicated with the Haarkbaah Dragons and sent one of them to us. But, sending a giant dragon to kill us seems a little like overkill, right?"

James thought on this. "Well, who knew that a Super Oneron would be in the area to save us?"

Sam's expression soured. James got the sense that he did not appreciate the 'Super Oneron' nickname for the mysterious Tallas.