CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Dragon Kin

Donnova walked in the full, blazing light of the four suns. The only shade resided with the mountains that felt no closer now than when she had first started towards them. Here was open ground, mercifully flat, for her sword felt so heavy on her back that it was as though it tried to pull her down. She had eaten little in the past few days, and carried no water with her. Her body begged for rest, but she refused herself the luxury. Instead, she forced herself onwards, feeling the need to punish herself. She was frustrated and confused. She couldn't fathom why she had done it. She had purposely bungled a chance to go home � not only her chance, but the chance for the children, as well. If there had been reason for it, if she had had some kind of plan in mind, she couldn't grasp it now.

Nothing made sense anymore. Fate had always made its manifest presence known in times past, but it was lost on her now. Always the outcomes had proved to be ones that the Dungeon Master knew and desired from the beginning, and that she could only realize at the conclusion. She had rarely failed to realize them, nor did she fail, in hindsight, to see the many manipulations along the way, but by then it was too late. And with all this, her anger for the smiling little man had grown. Her failures had always been his victories, and he had always come around to gloat in his own humble yet self-indulgent way afterwards.

But he had not made an appearance this time, and she had to wonder at it. Had she finally succeeded in thwarting him for once? But could she have won this one small victory at the cost of living out her life imprisoned in the Realm?

Where was there to go now? What was there to do? Was there any more chance of ever returning home after defying the Dungeon Master? Was there any more point in going on?

She had never felt more alone than she did now. She felt her trust in herself faltering, and decided she could almost welcome the Dungeon Master's patronizing smile if only he could help her see any way forward in this land that had never welcomed her.

She thought back to Leru's words: You lose your way, you get out and find another. But was there another? She'd followed so many paths. Was it possible that she herself blocked the only true path to freedom? How could she have let herself commit such a folly?

Grass was finally giving way to rocks, and there was a boulder just ahead that she decided would be the place where she would stop. She unbuckled her scabbard and let it fall behind her as she closed the distance to her landmark, wincing as the loosed strap tugged at that part of her shirt that she had carelessly allowed to become attached to the wound on her breast where she had hidden the Sonant Stone. At the orc-sized boulder, she stopped, and cursed the suns, for their present position in the sky permitted very little shadow. Laying a hand on it, she meant to slowly lower herself to the ground, but her knees buckled, and she fell instead.

Turning her face to the sky, she laughed, coughed, and laughed again. Then, she became quiet and imagined herself as part of the ground, staring up at the same sky for centuries on end into eternity.

I could be a rock, she thought. Rocks don't care. Rocks don't think or feel or. . . .

She had nearly drifted into unconsciousness when she sensed that a large shadow had passed over her. She opened her eyes for a moment, but saw nothing. Believing this to be the beginnings of delirium, she let her eyes close once more.

A moment later, she heard a distant bellow. The sound caused an image to slowly take shape in her mind, like a dream. She saw the gray rock she lay beside. It became covered in gray scales. She heard the bellow again. The rock grew claws and a tail. Once more she heard it, and a long neck and a head emerged. The head grew curling horns.

Donnova smiled, her eyes still closed. Yes, I remember you . . . in the mountains. . . .
Then, her eyes opened, and some clarity of thought returned. She craned her neck to turn a questioning look to the skyline. She twisted over and forced herself up on her arms. Her eyes traced the mountaintops until an incredulous smile formed on her lips. With renewed energy, she held to the boulder and pulled herself up. She searched the sky and strained her ears, but there was nothing to be seen or heard. Even so, she resolved to trust her senses.

She summoned all her remaining strength and, focusing it, let out a howl that became a sort of bellow that ended in a particularly sharp squall. She did this twice more before her dry voice failed her out of sheer exhaustion. She hoped it was enough. She hoped she'd guessed right. If she was wrong, she was dead.

She waited, and it was not long before her efforts paid off. A shadow swept over her. A dragon was making a masterful, rolling turn past her. She cocked an eyebrow. "Impressive," she said with true admiration.

A moment later, the dragon descended in front of her, laughing good-naturedly.

"Ah, cruel fate! I eagerly pursue the sweet sounds of the promises of the mating season and whom do I find? I do hope my fine flying wasn't completely lost on you. I was expecting, ah, someone else." He cocked his head thoughtfully and continued in affectation, "Donnova, my dear, I'm sure you are considered beautiful and fertile among your own kind, but I'm afraid we are entirely incompatible."

Donnova smiled. "Vek. I was hoping it would be you."

His eyes brightened and he spread his wings majestically, posing. "Then I am glad I got here first. So, you would choose me over my rookery brothers? Flattery will get you everywhere. Do go on," Vek teased.

He closed in and snaked his long tail around her waist. "You realize, of course, you won't properly be able to engage in the mating dance without a tail, but if you would rather skip the foreplay. . . ." He leered at her.

She laughed heartily and worked to remove the scaly appendage.

It had been something near five years since she had seen Vek, or any mountain dragon for that matter. Not since she had aided them and they had made her an honorary member of their clan in gratitude and friendship. Indeed she did feel a degree of kinship with them, more so than with anyone else she had ever met in the Realm. Seeing Vek again felt a little like coming home.

"You're much . . . bigger than last I saw you." The effort in her voice lent a humorous aspect to her struggle, for she could not unwrap his tail. "A bit stronger as well."

Small clouds of smoke erupted from his nostrils, then he burst out laughing.

Donnova was laughing as well. "Your victory! I submit! I apologize for deceiving your delicate senses, my friend, but I have need of you."

"What? None of your own males warming up to you?"

She sighed. "You could say that." She stopped and shook her head. "You have a single road mind, don't you?"

"Mmmm, only during mating season," Vek replied with a wicked grin.

He released her finally, making sure to give her a spin as he did so.

Donnova was unable to catch her balance and landed on the ground, shooting him a vindictive look.

Idly, the dragon stood up on hind legs and moved against her boulder to scratch his back. "Need me, do you? Knew you'd get yourself into trouble out there. Seems to be your lot. Should have stayed with us. � Oooh, right there. Ahh. � So, what does bring you back to these parts?"

"Not what. Who."

"Oh?"

"Venger," she said insipidly.

Vek's eyes widened and he landed thunderously back on all fours. He tossed his head back and snorted a plume of fire. "What has that villain done to you?" His voice was backed with a fearsome growl.

"Nothing yet, but I'm sure he would have if he'd had the presence of mind. At the time, he more urgently needed to be rid of me than anything else. His sorcery has sent me halfway across the Realm."

Vek angrily stomped the ground. "Tiamat should have destroyed him when she had her chance in the cliffs! Venger shouldn't be a consideration anymore!"

"About that. . . ." Donnova went and sat against the boulder and let her head fall back. "You can tell your father that Venger lives through no fault of ours. Our plan worked. Tiamat and Venger were lured into battle, but their confrontation was . . . interrupted by the Dungeon Master himself. Seems he chose that particular time and place to bring six more unfortunates into the Realm."

Vek was speechless for a moment. "Six more? But . . . if the battle had been allowed to continue, Tiamat may have destroyed him! There would have been no reason for another six!"

"Maybe he foresaw Tiamat's defeat and was protecting her. But then, surely, he could have done that himself," she reasoned. Then, more quietly, she added, "And maybe killing Venger isn't the reason any of us are here."

Exasperated, Donnova roughly dragged her fingers through her hair and hung her head. "Why can't anything in this world make sense! Children, Vek! The Dungeon Master stole children from another world � a world of no magic! The oldest of them is years younger than I! What does he expect them to do? What does he expect any of us to do? I did everything he asked until I could do no more! Now he comes to me again and. . . ."

She stopped and took a deep breath. "Forgive me, my friend."

"It's all right," Vek said tenderly as he brushed the back of a claw down her cheek. "I can't imagine what you've been through."

"The others. . . . They refuse to see the Dungeon Master as anything but their savior. They are truly lost." She wrapped her hands around his. "I'm so tired of being lost, Vek. I'm going to find the Dungeon Master again one day. He and I have unfinished business."

Vek put his head close to hers and said in earnest, "I know you must do what you feel you must, but, my dear, if I may say so, you're looking much too wayworn at present to make such assertions."

Donnova let her head fall to one side and looked up into his large, glistening gray eyes. "I've been walking for days, Vek. I'm exhausted."

He shook his head at her piteously, then lowered his body to the ground. "Climb on. I'll take you home where you can get proper food and rest. You can tell me all about it."