Wealdenmynd - Chapter 4.5

Somewhere, outside our story...

The hunched figure, wrapped in a thick travelling cloak despite the warmth of the summer night crept slowly along the narrow, oppressive forest path. The forest seemed to be fighting with the small winding trail, trying to reclaim land lost to years of steady foot falls. Only the young mans spirits lit the way as he moved along the muddy trail towards the clearing he had been told awaited him at the end.

 

Suddenly, as if two invisible people had grabbed him by the arms and legs, his spirits shot of ahead of him as he stood rigidly still, completely unable to move his hands and feet. Panic started to well up inside him as he tried in vain to free himself from his invisible capturers. A cold biting feeling spread outwards across his body, immobilising every inch it touched. His spirits drifted back towards him only to be held within the same invisible force, illuminating the look of shock on his face, now the only part of him still able to move.

 

From in front of him he heard the sound of feet making their way towards him in the dark. There was more than one, and they were big, but he couldn’t see any further than the light his spirits cast. He strained his eyes against the blackness, his heart racing faster and faster with every pounding step. Without warning two giant balls of fire exploded out of the darkness burning blinding white spots into his eyes. He was unable to move, unable to turn his head away from the scorching heat. Two ear splitting roars ripped through the night as the fire faded leaving the young man completely lost in a sea of flashing colours streaming across his eyes as the burning faded.

 

As his eyes became used to the darkness once more he could see that the fire hadn’t completely gone out. There was now a torch on either side of the path throwing an orange radiance across the ground a few paces in front of him. As he stared into the newly illuminated world the feet slowly walked into view.

 

Stood in front of him were two huge shapes, barely small enough to fit between the trees. They were upright, standing on two legs and dark green and brown scales covered their entire body. Spikes travelled down the side of their heads and down their armoured spines and each had two curved horns upon their heads. As the young man took in their appearance he only dimly noted the dark transparent shapes of huge scaled wings on their backs. Despite the inhuman look of their bodies, their faces were obviously sneering.

 

‘Stop! Help!’ cried the young man formlessly, barely able to move his lips. The two towering figures raised their heads to the skies and roared again.

 

‘WAIT! I’ve come here on purpose. You can’t…I mean…please….take me to your leader!’

 

The two scaled figures stopped roaring and looked at each other. For a split second they did nothing before they broke down in fits of laughter.

 

‘Take me to your leader?’ called one through the laughter, his voice deeper and gruffer than a man.

 

‘You’ve been travelling all this way, had all the time in the world to think of what to say and that’s all you can come up with?’

 

‘By the Gods man,’ said the second one, jabbing a long sharp claw in his direction, ‘with a mind like that you’ll go far.’

 

‘Or not,’ said the first, laughing again, ‘not going very far at the moment is he?’

 

‘Who…what are you?’ asked the young man, finally giving up trying to escape.

 

‘Dracas, from the western range.’

 

‘You’re a bit out of your way, hiding in a forest.’

 

‘We are not hiding!’ roared the second Draca. ‘We are in service of the one which you have come to see.’

 

‘And talking of which, and just to keep up the theme of obvious clichés, we need a password from you, or you stay here.’

 

‘I don’t suppose you’ll accept a ‘please’?’ asked the young man, raising his eyebrows.

 

‘You don’t know the password?’ asked the first Draca, a look of glee in his eyes.

 

‘No, I know it, I’m just not sure how to pronounce it.’

 

‘Give it a try.’ Said the second with a chuckle.

 

‘Umm, ic atstande at mĩn ăbanna... is that right?’

 

‘Nope, sorry.’ Said the first scaled beast, taking a step towards him. ‘Guess that means we should dispose of you.’

 

‘WAIT! Errm… ik ætstand æt mĩne ebanna…’It had no effect apart from to make the two huge figures baring down on him grin all the harder. He screwed up his eyes, sure in the knowledge of what was about to happen.

 

‘ice ætsande æte mon ăbannan…. ic ætstan æt mĩn ăbannan….. ic ætstande æt mĩn ăbannan.....’ He stopped trying, waiting for the final blow to come. Seconds turned to moments, moments to minutes and still it didn’t come. Where they playing with him? He gingerly opened an eye and, forgetting he couldn’t move, tried to throw himself backwards away from the sight. A giant spear the size of his head quivered an inch from his open eye, perfectly still. In fact, both of the beasts were perfectly still.

 

Everything was silent. Neither of the Dracas moved an inch and, just for a second, the young traveller thought that they had been caught in the same trap as he was. Just as he thought that however, he collapsed to the ground as the bonds around him broke. His spirits floated over to the solid statue like guards stood half bathed in the torch light, but still they did not stir.

 

Deciding it was better not to hang around he squeezed between them and hurried off into the night. After a few twists and bends, the path started to open up until it finally broke into a clearing. The clearing was large enough to hold several hundred people and there were flaming torches all around the outside casting a strong light into the middle. A few people in long robes walked about the clearing, some talking, some carrying bundles of cloth or wood and some making what looked like staffs and long blades. Across the other side of the clearing from the pathway entrance there seemed to be a shimmering haze, like heat coming from a desert plane. The other side of the haze seemed to be a similar clearing but this time with no people.

 

Unsure of what to do, the young cloaked man walked forward into the torchlight. As if it came from someone stood next to him the high, cold, hard voice of woman called out across the clearing.

 

‘Come forward my new child…’