Sups! Back from…boredness? Yeah, boredness. That's right. Sorry, being a bit random at the moment.
DISCLAIMER: There's nothing, nothing, NOTHING in here created by Emily Rodda belongs to me. This is not mine and I do not own the way Liefer teleports things and people.
Chapter 7: Dragon's Nest Part II
They set off the next day and instead of flying towards Dragon's Nest, Liefer suggested he would teleport everyone there.
"Okay, since there is a whole heap of us in the group here," Liefer began, "I won't be able to teleport us far. So…squeeze up together."
They did and once they did, Liefer concentrated, closing his eyes. Suddenly, fire appeared on everyone. For a while, Lief, Barda, Jasmine and Lindal panicked, but when they saw (or at least felt) that even though the blaze touched their skin, they felt nothing. No burn. No heat. No pain. The fire grew. Then, as if the fire consumed them, they disappeared.*
Near the Dragon's Nest, near the seaside, a huge fire appeared and with it came twelve figures unburnt. The fire disappeared, revealing these twelve people.
Liefer opened his eyes, but was weak to stay standing and closed eyes again and he fell to his knees.
"Liefer!" called Jazzy in concern. She caught her husband, her arms around his neck, making his head rest on Jazzy's shoulder.
"Sorry," Liefer apologised. "I guess I used a little too much of my magic to teleport us all."
"It's okay," said Jazzy. "You deserve rest for a while."
"Why not heal yourself?" asked Lindal.
"Oh, Liefer can heal other people but he cannot heal himself," informed Jazzy.
"What! Really?"
"Yeah," said Liefer feebly. "Trust me, I've tried it didn't work."
"Whoa what the heck?" said Marilen's voice. "Hey! Is this Dragon's Nest?"
All turned to Marilen, who was about to lean over a hole in the ground…a huge hole.
"Marilen!" called Ranesh as he ran towards his wife. "Be careful not to lean in too far! You might fall honey!"Once he caught up to Marilen, Marilen punched him hard on his arm annoyed. "Ow!" winced Ranesh.
"Just because I'm pregnant does not mean I am never careful," said Marilen.
"Okay, okay already," said Ranesh. "Just don't punch me that hard!"
"Sorry," apologised Marilen. "Wait, are you saying that I can punch you whenever I want as long as it's not a hard punch?"
Ranesh, who was rubbing his arm, wasn't listening properly, thus making him say, "Yes…WHAT! No!"
Everybody else went over to the hole. Drops of water splashed onto the group of friends.
"Is it raining?" asked Barda, who lifted his head to look at the sky and his hand to feel for more water.
"No. The tides are rising and hitting the rocks, making spits of water fly through the air and hit us," explained Lindal.
"Hey! There's someone in this hollow!" shouted Marilen.
"Or at least something," said Ranesh, looking closer.
Everyone look down. A figure, with curly hair, a being that seem to be half-man half-animal was sprawled at the bottom of the Nest. Lief was breathless.
"No way!" yelled Jazzy, "Is that a Capricon° or a satyr?"
"It's a Capricon," said Linda, reading the creature's memory. She spotted something else in its mind, but it was blurry, "…and something else."
She began concentrating more, getting the information needed about this…Capricon.
"Rolf…" breathed Lief.
"You know this Capricon?" asked Barder.
"Yes," replied Barda, as the creature stirred. Seeing this, Barda warned, "Lief, do not call out to him. We may alert the dragon."
Lief, who either did not hear or refused to listen cried out, "Rolf! Are you awake? Can you hear-?"
"Lief!" shouted Barda, who suddenly grabbed Lief's arm harshly, turning him away from the Nest. There was a groan of pain coming from the hollow.
"He seems to be hurt," said Lief. "We will have to get him out of there." He turned around and began to make his way towards the edge of the Nest.
"Lief, do not even think about it!" shouted Barda as he put his hand on the king's shoulder. "You never know what the dragon is using Rolf for! He could be bait! Bait for something else to eat for dinner or worse…bait for us."
"Or he could be the dragon himself," spoke a voice. Eyes turned to Linda.
"What are you talking about?" asked Lief in confusion. "Rolf cannot be a dragon! Look at him! His image is a mere Capricon!"
"Well then his image has gotten you fooled!" shouted Linda as she turned her head sharply towards Lief. "I was looking through his mind, his memory. I found things that you may not like."
"Why do you even look through people's memories?" asked Lief in a complaining kind of way.
"To see if we can trust them or not! This Capricon is nothing but a servant of the guy you call Shadow Ruler…"
"Shadow Lord," corrected Lief, Barda, Jasmine and Lindal in unison.
"Whatever. Now, just before, when I was searching through this creature's memories I saw him painting over the words in a sign, making it read, 'Angel Bridge. Cross gap here if you value your life. Attention. Last crossing before Forest of Silence' when it was supposed to say, 'Dangerous Bridge. Do not try to cross gap here if you value-'"
"Yes," interrupted a shocked Lief, "We know what the sign is to say."
Linda nodded.
"We are to stay away from this false creature, at any cost," she continued. Suddenly…
To find out what happened, you're gonna hafta wait until the next chapter!
*For those who have watched Charmed and seen the way demons teleport with fire, you'd know how I am imaging this and you'd know how to imagine it yourself.
°In the book it is spelt 'capricon'. The regular spelling is 'capricorn'. I'm just using the one from the book because I think it is the way Emily Rodda wanted it to be spelt.
