Chapter 4
"You'll like her," the Seer assured him as they traveled down one of the other passages. "Hopefully you are familiar with this breed." The grin on her face told him that some surprise was in store.
Jack gasped in awe and surprise when they rounded the corner. A long, sinuous dragon with red-gold scales and mane was curled up on the ground. She was not like the other dragons he had seen here – she was of the sort he'd seen in pictures at home, an Oriental dragon. As he approached closer, she lifted her head and blinked at him with a pair of golden eyes.
"This is Niji," the Seer introduced him. Jack was surprised to hear that her name was of his native tongue – and it meant 'rainbow.'
Niji smiled kindly at him. "Konnichiwa, Jack-san." She sounded nothing like the Dragon King – had he not seen her with his own eyes, Jack would have thought her to be a young woman.
He bowed to her, feeling as if the lightness of his heart would lift him off the ground at any moment. "Konnichiwa, Niji-san."
"I am going to let you two get acquainted," the Seer said. "Tomorrow, you will go on a flight together, but first you must have an understanding between you." She bowed. "I will see you this evening - until then, farewell."
Jack answered her bow with a lower one. "Thank you. I am..." He stood up again. "I do not have the words to tell you."
The Seer smiled. "You don't have to. I know what you mean." She waved and departed, leaving Jack with the golden dragon.
Niji bumped her head up against him, as an affectionate horse would do, and he put a hand on her mane again. He felt a strange mix of emotions upon seeing this creature - she reminded him so much of home.
It's nice to meet you, she said. Not speaking, the way Maktuu had, but just thinking – it felt just like the sound of her voice. This method of communication should have made him uneasy, but it didn't There are so few of our kind left... He got the impression that she was including him in this category.
Our kind?
From our homeland, she clarified. Aku has stamped most of us out, dragons and humans both. I never thought I'd see a human of our kind again.
Jack was a little confused. 'A human of our kind?'
Niji picked up on it. In this place, dragons and humans are one people. I have lived here all my life, and that is how I have been taught to think of it.
I understand now, Jack told her. And he realized that she was right - they were both of the same people, even if they were not of the same species.
~***~
Some friendships are made in an instant and last forever; that was how Jack felt about Niji. He spent most of that day conversing with her and learning her history, as well as sharing his own. Morwanneg finally came to drag him back to his room for dinner, and he left with a great deal of reluctance. That night he hardly slept – the prospect of tomorrow's flight with his new friend kept him awake and wondering.
Kez, the Seer and the Dragon King were there to see him off on his first flight early the next morning. Jack was feeling a little giddy - unusual for him - although even he didn't know quite why. Was it excitement or nervousness? Perhaps a little of both. Riding on Maktuu had been a wonderful experience, but someone else had been piloting. Now, he had to do that on his own.
He settled himself in the saddle on Niji's back and felt her in the back of his mind again. But he was not sure what he ought to do next.
For now, just keep a clear mind so I can understand you, and tell me what you want me to do, she advised him. Once you are accustomed to that, we can move on to the next level. What did she mean by that? Jack could not even imagine.
But he would figure it out when the time came. All right. I am ready - let us begin.
He felt Niji's muscles tense for a moment before she leaped into the air and began to ascend, then darted out of the cave and into the open air. Jack turned to wave at the people watching him below.
Niji's flight was different from Maktuu's - for one, he did not feel the movements associated with the beating of wings. The Seer had told him that Niji's wings were invisible, but the truth seemed to be more complicated than that. The dragon seemed to swim through the air, undulating like a snake.
Now, let us practice, Niji told him. This is not meant to be a simple patrol flight - we will be fighting a battle together, and we must learn how to act in concert.
Jack took her through some simple turns, then ascents and descents through the air. As he grew more comfortable with the whole experience, he began to include dives, rolls and swoops in the routine. But it was not like the flight Kez had taken him on, for he still did not feel confident enough to go to some of the extremes that Maktuu had.
You shouldn't, not this way, Niji said. To do those things will require a deeper rapport. Right now you are merely giving me instructions. But we must be of one mind, so that I can react as quickly as you think.
That was the root of the problem. Sharing one mind. He was able to do this, but...
You must trust me, Niji insisted, Or this will not work.
She was right. Jack put his reservations aside - he had to do this, so he would do it. He tried to relax, and felt Niji's presence in his mind grow more intense - or at least, that was the best way to describe it...
And then he felt the wind over his scales, and blowing through his mane, and the currents in the air...
Sorry, Niji apologized withdrawing a bit, That was a little too close. But I think we have it now. Don't think out what you want me to do - just try to do it yourself, as if you were walking or running.
Jack took a deep breath. Then he thought down, fast - though not in words like that - and Niji went into a dive. Then curve upwards and she swooped.
Then bank left and roll. He grinned beneath the veil he was wearing. He had only felt this way once before, when he had learned to "jump good" and gone bounding over the treetops.
Except that this time, he was really flying. He closed his eyes, took his hands off the saddlehorn and spread his arms, then took Niji wheeling out across the sky.
~***~
Kez watched as Niji landed back in the Aerie. Jack undid his saddle harness and dismounted. When he removed his goggles and veil Kez could see that he was grinning like an excited child, which Kez found to be very funny.
"You catch on fast," Kez commented. "Too bad you can't stay here with us…"
The Dragon King nodded. "It is unfortunate, but he has his own mission to…what is wrong?" This last to the Seer, who was holding her head in her hands and frowning as if she were in pain. Jack's smile was gone in an instant, replaced by a look of concern.
Then the blaring of alarm horns echoed throughout the great cave. Kez looked out of the cavern opening and could see, in the far distance, a dark cloud – it was moving toward the mountain very fast, and he had no doubt as to what it was made of. It was time to scramble and face the incoming threat. With a quick farewell wave to Jack, and a bow to the Seer and the King, Kez ran to the nearest ladder and clambered up on his way to Maktuu's roost.
~***~
Riders scrambled to get their equipment and their weapons - long lances - and to take their mounts. Jack had hardly been off Niji's back for more than a few minutes, but he got right back on, intending to take off in an instant.
"Wait," the Seer admonished him, "There's a system for these things. The top tiers of dragons go first, then the ones lower down. You're here on the bottom, so wait until it's your turn. We don't want any midair collisions." Jack nodded and watched as each group of dragons, from the top crevices on down, departed their nests.
When the lowest tier had departed, the Seer backed up and wished him luck. Jack nodded to her, then willed Niji out of the cave and into the air. He was a little surprised to see the Dragon King fly out behind them.
The King can talk to all of the other dragons in the air, Niji explained. He gives them strategies to follow, and the dragons relay it to their riders. That is how we keep ourselves organized. It made sense - Jack could see, even now, that the dragons were grouping into formations of five, with one at the center, two above and two below. The Dragon King, flying fast, was taking point.
What does he want us to do? Jack asked Niji. There was a pause.
He says to wait until the others have engaged the enemy, she replied, and then we will join the battle. Jack could sense that she was very nervous, and it surprised him. This morning was my first time flying with a rider, she confessed, and this is my first battle.
It is my first battle riding a dragon, Jack told her, but I have fought many other battles. Do not worry, I will take care of you, if you will do the same for me. Niji seemed to be comforted by this.
Up ahead, the individual black dots were coming into focus. Jack was not close enough to see details, but he perceived that they were angular creatures, with red glowing eyes and wings made of what looked like steel feathers. There were many of them, and Jack could tell at a glance that they outnumbered the dragonriders at least two to one. The robots flew in a staggered grid at first, but broke off into formations of their own when the dragonriders got closer to them.
One of them fired the first shot - laser beams from the red eyes - and narrowly missed an orange dragon, which retaliated by breathing a fireball at it. The flame was hot enough to melt parts of the mechanical dragon, and it began spiraling towards the ground far below.
A few formations of dragons broke apart, and their riders fired bolts of yellow lightning from the tips of their lances. Very powerful-looking weapons they were, but Jack preferred his sword. With his right hand he drew it from its scabbard and held it out to his side as Niji circled behind the front lines of dragonriders, waiting for the order to join the fight.
~***~
In his citadel, Aku opened a window in one of the walls of flames to check up on the progress of his attack on Mount Draco. The fight was just starting, but the dragonriders were already in trouble – they were outnumbered and overpowered by his force. Aku smiled, knowing that unless some sort of miracle happened, they would not…
Wait. Had he just seen what he thought he saw? He ordered the window to track one particular dragon, a sinuous golden one, and took a closer look at the rider on its back. The rider was not carrying a lance like the others, but a very familiar-looking sword, and he was slicing through Aku's robot dragons with no more difficulty than he had had in dealing with a countless number of other opponents.
Aku roared with rage. "The samurai is helping them? Bah! He may save them, but he will not be able to save himself!" With that, Aku shifted into the form of a dragon and flew through the window, into the skies above the mountains and into the battle.