Dragon's Nest

15 - Fears and Visions

The next few days, trudging across the barren plain with Lindal, were among the worst Lief had ever spent.

That first night, he had told his companions of his fear. He had seen the lines deepen on their faces as they listened and understood. He had sat and talked with them for many hours, making decisions, forming plans.

At dawn the next day, Kree had set out for Del with a message for Doom. The companions knew that news of the tragedy at Ringle would spread quickly, and that Doom would soon hear of it. A description of Brid would alert him to the fact that the dead men were the royal escort, far from the coast road where they were supposed to be.

And unless he heard otherwise, he would certainly think that Lief, Barda and Jasmine had shared the guards’ fate.

Lief had written the note with a heavy heart, using a simple code that he and Doom had used several times before.

It was strange to be walking without Kree wheeling ahead of them. Jasmine was very quiet. She was concerned about Filli, who was bruised and listless, and Lief knew she also feared for Kree, because the skies were no longer safe.

Bitterly he regretted that his actions had brought them to this.

All the talk, all the planning, had not relieved his guilt, or his anger with himself.

Jasmine, Barda and Lindal had not breathed a word of blame, but he knew he had failed them. As he had failed the guards, and Rolf, and all the people of the east, who now faced terror as well as famine.

Time and again, trudging over the rough, bare ground by day, lying beneath the canopy of stars by night, he remembered riding on the narrow path beside End Wood Gap, his fingers pressed to the great ruby.

He had tried to summon the ruby dragon. He had been quite sure that he had failed.

But what if he had not failed?

What if the ruby dragon had stirred indeed? What if it had woken in some dank hiding place nearby and lain still for a time, gathering strength?

What if it had remained hidden until Lief and the Belt were long gone into the Forests of Silence, and only then crawled into the light, its belly gnawed by the hunger of centuries?

Never had Lief considered, when he called to the ruby dragon, that it might not come to him at once, as the topaz dragon had.

Never had he dreamed that it might simply take to the skies with nothing on its mind except filling its belly.

But he feared there was no other way to explain what had happened in the camp near Ringle.

The topaz dragon had no grudge against the guards or Rolf—it had never even seen them. If it was just in search of food, surely it would have raided one of the villages closer to the Hills. And if it was seeking the Belt of Deltora, it would have followed Lief into the Forests of Silence.

It would have had no reason to attack the guards.

But the ruby dragon, ravenous after its long sleep, drawn to the camp by the scent of the Capricon, its ancient prey, would have had every reason.

Just as it would have had good reason to fly east, when its terrible feast was done—to fly east to Broome, where once stood Capra, its conquest of long ago.

Or to fly even further, perhaps, to the place called Dragon’s Nest.

They reached the end of the plain and began climbing through a range of low hills. Very near them, to the north, the rugged mountains that marked the Shadowlands border rose dark and sinister against the sky.

Lief, Barda and Jasmine knew from the map that on the other side of the hills lay that narrow, isolated part of Deltora that stretched like a bony finger into the wild eastern sea. They knew that when they reached the hills’ highest point, they would look down on the coast, and the lonely city of Broome.

But even if they had not known, Lindal’s behaviour would have told them. She had begun to walk faster. Often she lifted her head and sniffed the air.

Lief knew that she was checking for the smell of fire. She was dreading what she might see when at last she looked down at her home.

She feared as he did, as Barda and Jasmine feared also, that history might have repeated itself, and that nothing would be left by the sea but smoking ruins.

But when at last they peered down at the city of Broome, they saw at once that all was well.

The city was solid and untouched, the bright flags on its square white towers whipping in the crisp breeze.

Carts trundled along its roads. Fishing boats with red and yellow sails bobbed in its sparkling harbour.

‘The dragon has not been here,’Lindal said.

She turned to Lief, relief shining in her eyes.

‘Do you see?’ she said. ‘Every flag has been raised. Broome is preparing for your visit. But if we go quietly past, we will not be noticed. You are not expected so soon, and the guards will pay no attention to four dusty travellers.’

Lief gazed down at the bright, welcoming city. Grimly he wondered how many flags would be flying if the people of Broome knew of the menace he had unleashed in their territory.

At least I do not have to face them now, he thought, as Lindal began leading the way downward.

They had made their plan the night Lief confessed his fears of the ruby dragon and, throwing all caution aside, told Lindal of the quest to find the Sister of the East.

They had decided that if they found Broome safe, they would go straight on to Dragon’s Nest, to face whatever was awaiting them there.

Lindal was to guide them. That had been decided too—or, rather, Lindal had announced it, and refused to listen to any argument.

‘Of course I must take you,’ she cried. ‘I have known the way to Dragon’s Nest since my earliest years. It was forbidden to me then. My mother threatened me with a beating if ever I was to go near it. And so, of course, I went as near to it as I dared, whenever I could. As a child I was foolish and wilful, and had no sense.’

‘And what has changed?’ Barda demanded.

Lindal roared with laughter. ‘Why, now I am big enough to do as I please without fear of a beating,’ she said. ‘Unless you wish to fight me yourself, old bear?’

‘No,’ Barda growled. ‘I might lose, and that would not be good for the pride of chief of the guards.’

But he grinned as he said it. It had been clear to all that he would be very glad of Lindal’s company.

Lief looked along the coast to the left of Broome’s harbour, along the line of foaming white where waves crashed against the jagged rocks.

Gradually the mountains of the Shadowlands border closed in on the white line as if marching towards the sea. And at last, at Deltora’s most eastern point, the rocks of coast and mountains met and mingled in a tumble of grey stone.

Somewhere in that grim confusion was the place called Dragon’s Nest. There, Lief was sure now, they would find the ruby dragon.

The memory of Doran’s hasty scrawl in the Deltora Annals was clear in his mind.

Lief was sure that once its first, terrible hunger had been satisfied, the ruby dragon had sensed the intruder in its territory, and sped to Dragon’s Nest to destroy it.

Perhaps even now it is doing our work for us, he thought, plodding doggedly after Lindal.

But the flicker of hope was small, and battered by the chill winds of fear. The ruby dragon was out of control. And it was only one.

Without the Belt to aid it, it might fail to destroy the evil thing hidden in Dragon’s Nest. Then its rage would be terrible indeed. It would lash out at anything that crossed its path.

And soon it would be hungry again.

The shadows were lengthening by the time they reached the bottom of the hills, and, as Lindal had promised, they slipped by Broome unnoticed.

When they were well past, and the sun had begun to set, Lief turned to look back.

What he saw made him gasp. He stood, staring, unable to believe his eyes.

The city was bathed in pink light—and its whole shape had changed. It had become a dreaming, magical place of tall, delicate spires and shining glass domes.

Its sturdy outer walls had gone. In their place were groves of slender trees hung with glowing red globes that clinked softly together in the breeze making sweet, chiming music.

So beautiful …

His eyes filled with tears.

‘Lief, what is the matter?’ exclaimed Jasmine. She, too, spun around to look at the city, but clearly she could see nothing unusual.

‘Ah—he can see Capra,’ said Lindal quietly. ‘The topaz in the Belt makes him sensitive, no doubt—and sunset is the dangerous time, they say.’

She took Lief’s arm and shook it.

‘It is not real, Lief,’ she whispered. ‘It is a dream of something that is dead and gone. Turn away from it.’

Lief did not move.

Lindal tugged his arm more roughly, almost pulling him off his feet, then began to walk briskly again, dragging him after her.

He stumbled at her heels, shaking his head as if waking from a dream.

‘So beautiful …’ he mumbled.

‘Beautiful, but dangerous,’ Lindal said, striding on. ‘Keep walking! I should have warned you, but I had forgotten the old tales. Few ordinary mortals ever see Capra. No-one from Broome has seen it in my lifetime.’

She felt Lief dragging his feet and tightened her grip on his arm.

‘Do not turn around again,’ she warned him. ‘You are fortunate you were not alone when you saw the illusion. There are tales of lone travellers who have died of thirst, so long did they stand with their eyes fixed on Capra. Once you have seen it, it captures your mind and holds you. Or so the old folk say.’

‘A ghost city!’ muttered Barda, fascinated.

‘Yes. They say that is why the last of the Capricons still haunt the mountains, instead of moving into Broome or building a new city of their own,’ Lindal said, keeping up her fast pace. ‘They watch for Capra at sunset. The old ones teach the young ones to love it, and to mourn what they have lost.’

‘But Capra was destroyed before the time of Adin!’ Jasmine cried. ‘How long ago was that?’

Lindal shrugged. ‘If the Capricons would rather grieve over what is lost than live in the present, that is their own affair,’ she said carelessly. ‘They cannot be persuaded differently. The few that are left keep to themselves, and look down on everyone else.’

‘Rolf was not like that,’ Lief said, finding his voice. ‘He left the mountains and journeyed towards Del, to seek help for his people.’

And so was killed by his worst nightmare.

The thought pierced him like a dart.

‘Your friend would have found help in plenty if he had simply gone into Broome,’ said Lindal curtly. ‘He would also have learned that you were on your way there, and he had only to wait. But he would not enter Broome, oh no!’

She shook her head, striding on, her eyes fixed on the horizon. ‘He would not lower himself to speak to ordinary mortals. Only the king himself was good enough to deserve the notice of a Capricon!’

‘He had been brought up to think so,’ Lief murmured. ‘His ancestors—’

Lindal bared her teeth. ‘My ancestors were great warriors, who ate the brains of their slaughtered enemies,’ she said. ‘Do you suggest I do the same?’

‘Lindal is perfectly right,’ snapped Jasmine. ‘Rolf was cowardly, vain and foolish. Why deny it, just because he is dead? I think—’

‘I think we should stop arguing and light some torches,’ Barda put in calmly. ‘I can barely see my hand in front of my face, but there is something written on a stone ahead, and I suspect it is a warning.’