Rowan is cool!
Chapter 4: Unexpected Company
Bella, Honey, and Swift were the fastest horses in Del. Still, to Lief, it seemed as if they were pack mules. The sun was high in the sky, and he was determined to reach Jasmine before nightfall. If he could get to her, perhaps the vision he'd had wouldn't occur.
Reluctantly, Lief called a halt. "The horses need to rest," he explained. It pained him to think that as he spoke, Jasmine was getting farther away, but if the horses became overtired, they would never get to her on foot.
Doom and Barda were silent as they collected water from a nearby stream for the horses to drink. They drank quickly, as if eager to leave. Swift seemed the most anxious, as if understanding that Jasmine, his usual rider, was in trouble.
A long time later, Doom called a stop at a fork in the road. As Lief and Barda dismounted, Doom started searched the nearby trails. Except for Jasmine herself, her father was the best tracker Lief knew. Even though they had a strange bond as father and daughter, they cared deeply for each other. They were each others only connection to Anna, Jasmine's mother.
Deftly, Doom chose the left path, and as the trio started traveling again, Lief realized that the path was curving more towards Dread Mountain. It was the only place that Vraal could still possibly inhabit. He remembered when they had fought a Vraal on the Mountain, and hoped that they didn't have long or accurate memories. The last thing they needed was a Vraal with a vengeance.
The sun was setting. Lief sighed with relief as he realized that his vision couldn't come true. He hadn't seen any of their horses in his vision, only the black ones. And they were not yet near to the forests of the Mountain.
"Lief," Barda pulled up alongside Bella. "Do you want to rest? We can keep going, but…"
"It is fine, we can rest." Minutes later, the three were huddled around a small fire. For the first time, Lief realized how tired he was. He hadn't slept since before his vision. Then he awoken Barda, and from what Sharn had told him, Doom had just arrived back from one of his many travels. None of them had slept, and Lief felt guilty. If not fro him, neither of these two warriors would be here now, he thought. Doom would still be Jarred of the forge. He would never had gone to the Forests of Silence, and he and his wife Anna would never have been taken to the Shadowlands. She would still be alive, and Jasmine would have grown up with other children.
No, he thought. It isn't my fault for any of that. It is the Shadow Lord's fault. It caused everything. And yet, it had once been a sorcerer, a living, mortal man. No longer.
Lief shivered, trying to fathom how anyone could become so evil. Instinctively, he ran his hand over the Belt. As his hand reached the opal, he felt a jolt. At first he feared that a vision might be coming, but nothing came. In some confusion, he looked up at the red sky. While he thought, his eyes picked up a bright shape in the sky. For a moment, he placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, and hesitated. It wasn't an Ak-Baba, it was a dragon! He squinted, and heard Doom and Barda gasp. Flying to them, was Hopian, the dragon of the opal.
It managed to land on the thin strip of road that Lief, Barda, and Doom had earlier been riding on. The horses whinnied and stamped their hooves, but were more nervous than scared. It wasn't often that they saw dragons. Hopian turned it's magnificent head towards Lief.
"King of Deltora, I have seen what you saw. The one with the black hair, she was taken?" It turned it's large shining eyes to Barda and Doom. "I, like the opal I represent, see the future. Do you wish for me to take you to her?"
"That would be most appreciated, but if you saw what I saw--" But Lief was interrupted by the dragon.
"I can handle Vraal. Should it approach you, I will take care of it."
"And what about the emerald dragon? If you enter it's territory…"
"It shan't harm me. I know it's true name. Besides, I have better relations with the emerald dragon than the lapis lazuli. I dare say those two near hate one another, but not truly."
"What does that mean?" Barda asked.
"Honora was simply defending it's honor when it attacked Fortuna. There is no true feud. Just reputations and ego." it seemed that the opal dragon smiled. "Now, it is time that we leave."
I think my next chapter will be my last. So I promise that it will be longer.