Wild cards
Chapter 18
…
High Lorraine, an aerial biosphere formed by trees older than memory and reaching as high as the clouds. All manner of flyers and gliders and things that scurry and climb inhabit this unique ecosystem.
The dragon sailed calmly through this place made for beasts on the wing. His pilot attempted to look in every direction at once, fascinated by everything.
Andrew was trying to look in every direction as well but for wholly different reasons. Grimly he sought what he knew was there, the elves. Of everything they'd come across on their journey none of it had worried him like being in High Lorraine.
"You okay Andrew?"
His little companions concern was touching. He tried to smile but it felt strained. He wasn't okay, and he wouldn't be until they'd put High Lorraine behind them.
"I'm fine" he lied.
Harry looked skeptical but nodded. He made to turn back when something caught his eye. It was some distance out but moving in their direction. It looked like a bird, but not, or not just. There was something on top of it, or them he realized as several others were coming up behind it.
"Andrew" he said pointing.
Andrew turned and spotted them immediately, "Eagle riders."
Harry had been right when identifying what he'd seen as a bird. It was a bird, a bird big enough to carry a passenger.
The passenger stood on the back of the eagle with a single tether attached to the eagle's collar. They wore simple leather armor with metal accents and a helmet with a full face covering mask. Their long hair was tightly braded with a brass ring at the end while their ears, long and pointed, were completely unadorned. They all carried a bow in one hand, the quiver over their shoulder and a short, curved sword on each hip.
At an unspoken command the eagles accelerated, gaining on their prey.
"Shit!" Andrew cursed, "If they catch us we… I will not go back. They'll kill me first!"
Harry shivered at the vehemence of that statement. They'd almost been killed several times in the past 24 hours. That his friend should now openly welcome death over capture was truly frightening.
They attempted to coax a little more speed out of the dragon, but it was already flapping as hard as it could. They realized it wouldn't be enough when a couple arrows bounced off its hindquarters.
"Shit! Dive!"
The dragon angled down, dodging a pair of arrows. The eagles followed and once again they found themselves playing bob and weave through the air.
Unlike the elementals the eagle riders could strike from a distance. The dragons defense was better than the roc's so the few arrows that did connect bounce harmlessly off. Harry and Andrew were not so strong in the hide however and both knew it was a matter of time before one of those arrows found some squishy meat.
Harry was searching his deck for something to help when they passed through a pair of branches and came to an abrupt halt. Harry almost lost his cards after being whiplashed by their stop.
It was a magic circle. The dragon was frozen mid flap and both Harry and Andrew were likewise immobile from the waist down.
"What do we have here" a sweet lilting voice spoke.
Andrew looked up at the beautiful elven woman in the long elegant robe with the twisted wooden staff and blanched. Recognition dawned, and her smile turned saccharine.
"Andrew" she cooed.
The eagle riders shot past them as Andrew struggled against the magic holding him. His attempt was in vain which greatly amused their captor.
"Oh, silly child, you know you can't escape. Now that we're together again such fun we will have, just like old times. You remember."
Her gaze had turned decidedly sinister and Andrew had ceased struggling under her stare. He sat quaking like a mouse cornered by a tiger.
"Trap Snap!"
The sudden interruption caught both by surprise and the dragon dropped like a stone. The branch beneath them was massive and more than large enough to hold the beast when he landed on it.
The elf woman looked down from the higher branch angrily. She began waving her staff at them, but Harry wasn't about to give her the chance to finish.
"Dragon" he shouted, "Fire!"
The dragon turned its head at the shocked elf and expelled an enormous gout of flame. The elf vanished behind the blaze and when the dragon stopped she was gone. All that remained in sight was a thick black smoke.
An arrow came flying out of that cloud and now it was his turn to freeze. He was jerked back at the very last second and the arrow bounced off the dragon.
"Go!" Andrew shouted.
The dragon took a running start and leapt off the branch.
Behind them they heard someone shriek "After them!" but they didn't look back.
They came out of the woods with the eagle riders hot on their heels. Rather than finding themselves under fire, they found they'd flown into a storm. Thick black clouds flashed with lightning just above their heads. They were so close the thunder nearly knocked them all off their mounts.
It became even worse when a massive serpentine underbelly broke through the clouds. It vanished back up a moment later, but everyone had seen it.
"Thunder dragon!"
Everyone dove hard, putting as much distance between them and the storm as they could. A massive stroke took out one of the eagle riders before lightning began to pour down like rain.
It was absolute chaos as every flyer fought to escape certain death from the sky while also not taking a header into the dirt. Not all were successful. Harry and Andrew managed to establish a brisk glide only a few feet from the earth before their dragon bought it. The lightning reduced it to nothing in an instant which left them to navigate a landing on their own.
Their saving grace was the thick layers of old dead grass that cushioned their fall. It didn't stop them from skipping and skidding but it did prevent them from being turned into ground meat.
"Harry… you okay?"
Harry just groaned. He'd been worse, he knew he had, he just couldn't remember when exactly.
A bolt slammed into the earth nearby which got both men moving again. It was a slow start but soon they were racing across the field as lightning exploded the ground all around them.
"There!" Andrew shouted pointing at a small hill with a hole at the bottom.
The grass around the hill was already charred to ash so they were streaked in black as they dove for cover. They panted in the cool earth as the sound of thunder rolled deafening across the plains.
"I thought we were dead there for a sec" said Harry.
"I know what you mean."
They looked out of their earthen bunker and saw no sign of their pursuers. All there was on the plains was lightning. It was beautiful if not terrifying to watch.
"So, now what?"
"We wait till it's over" said Andrew, "then head for the portal gate. There should be one about five, six miles from here."
"Maybe" said Harry.
Andrew sighed, "Yeah, maybe. I must admit, things have changed since my walkabout."
"Walkabout?"
Andrew nodded, "When my master first took me through the adjacent worlds. That was the last time I was here."
"When was that?" Harry asked with barely restrained excitement.
Andrew smiled at his eager face, "Before you were born, maybe fifteen years ago, something like that. Things were different back then."
"Different how?"
"Well for starters, all those gates were still intact" he said, "I'll probably need to get in touch with Master M and let her know."
"Was she your master?"
Andrew chuckled, "Magdalene? Oh goodness no. I didn't even meet her till after I came back from my walkabout. My master was G."
"What's the G stand for?"
Andrew shook his head, "Trust me, you'll be much happier not knowing."
"Well now I really wanna know" said Harry, "where is he now?"
"Who knows. Last time I saw him was six years ago when we opened the card shop. He told me not to screw anything up, then he was gone."
"I thought you were his apprentice" not that he fully understood what that entailed.
"Yeah, surviving my walkabout was phase two of my apprenticeship. Phase three is independent study."
"What was phase one?"
"Learning everything he could cram into my head to pass phase two" Andrew grinned.
"So how long before you become the master?"
"Probably never" he said with a little frown.
"What?"
"You have to understand Harry, the original D walkers, the ones who came to this world all those years ago, they are the only masters. None of their apprentices have ever achieved mastery."
"High standards."
Andrew shook his head, "It's not that. There's something about the masters that makes them different. Something they discovered in countless years of wandering that has made them timeless."
"You mean immortal."
"Possibly. I've never heard of one of them being killed. Whatever it is, they've never told any of their apprentice', and no apprentice has ever figured it out."
"You think maybe it's something bad?" Harry wondered aloud.
"Could be. I know Master G liked to throw not so subtle hints at me when we were on walkabout."
Harry smiled as Andrew began to talk. The storm could take its sweet time. This promised to be good, even better than the chili story.