Maija broke into a jog, careful not to let herself run wild again. She trotted along the edge hoping to see a ridgeline extending north and dropping down into Nagano, but the sun was setting rapidly and the wall of Eastland Mountains continued with no end in sight. As darkness approached, she abandoned hope of reaching the fertile land below and instead dropped south into the tree line, hoping to find some refuge from the evening elements.
Happening upon a large boulder jutting out from the slope, she thought, It doesn’t get much better than this. Quickly gathering several armfuls of dead, low-hanging branches, she prepared to make a fire. Pulling her flint and steel from her pocket, she thought, Good thing I didn’t put this in Zahara’s saddlebags. Realizing now all that she had left in Zahara’s saddlebags, she cursed herself for not thinking to load a pack with supplies before she’d left. All she had with her were the travel clothes she was wearing when she intended to return with Anders to the elf capital of Cedarbridge. She felt at her belt, checking to see whether her knife was still holstered in its sheath. She fingered at the empty leather flap and groaned. It must have fallen out when I was running; stupid, she thought. Not only had she left Anders and Natalia, the most important people in her life, she’d done it on a whim and without anything to aid her, save for her trusted flint and steel fire starter.
Striking the flint into the dry bits of debris she’d collected, Maija reviewed her impulsive decision to leave her comfortable life as a rider in training. Why had she decided to run off into the mountains? Hadn’t Anders, Natalia, and Ivan needed her help in confronting Lageena? She could’ve helped bring justice to Nadir. She was, after all, a dragonrider in training, even if she hadn’t bonded with a dragon yet. That thought, though, confirmed her decision; the potential for just such a bond was why she had left them. It was the one thing in this world so difficult to obtain that only a select number of elves, humans and dwarfs throughout history had managed to experience it. A wild dragon of Nagano had found her, and they had shared a connection; it had to be something. That connection was what Anders described when he first met Zahara. She longed to feel that sensation of being with the dragon again, the warmth it brought to her soul. She needed to find the scarlet dragon.
The sparks caught, smoking in the dry strips of bark and needle cast. Blowing gently, Maija saw the embers ignite, flames rising from the debris. Quickly she added more fuel to the fire until she felt comfortable that it wasn’t going to blow out. Lying next to the fire, she propped herself up with her elbow in the soft dirt. The welcome warmth of the fire soothed her into relaxation. From the ever-increasing evening chill, Maija could feel that summer was coming to an end. As she watched the fire dance among the small logs she’d added to her fire, Maija thought to the many days she’d spend with Anders in the Everlight Kingdom.
The warming flames lulled her to sleep. When she awoke, darkness had settled in, consuming her surroundings. She shivered and saw that her fire had turned to embers. Rolling onto her side and reaching for the stack of wood she’d gathered, she placed several small sticks on before another set of larger logs. Luckily the rock radiated the fire’s heat back at her and she warmed up quickly.
With the fire roaring again, Maija laid back, nodding off once more. She was awakened when she heard the clacking of a rock rolling downslope across the exposed ridge above. The click-clacking of the rock got her attention, but she knew many animals lived in the Eastland Mountains, most of them small and docile. When several more rocks slid and began to roll downslope toward her, Maija forced herself awake and sat up in the dirt.
Sliding back and pushing herself up against the overhanging boulder, she held her breath and listened for movement. She wondered momentarily if her heightened sense of hearing had returned. Heavy, hollow-sounding thuds slowly walked their way along the ridge above and she knew from how close whatever was up there was that her elven ears had not regained their former powers. Her eyes widened and she quickly kicked dirt onto the fire, attempting to snuff it out before being discovered. She watched the smoke swirl and carry itself downslope with the slight evening breeze. At least the wind was moving in the right direction to help her remain unnoticed. Then the wind shifted. An unexpected gust rushed up through the trees carrying the smoke toward the ridgeline. Maija cursed under her breath.
The heavy steps came to a stop, kicking more loose rocks down off the ridge. Noise carried well across the chill evening air and Maija’s pointed ears could hear the creature sniffing. Suddenly a thought crossed Maija’s mind, What if it’s the dragon? What if he’s come looking for me? She rolled on her hip coming onto her hands and knees. Inching toward the edge of the boulder, she stopped. The sniffing she’d heard also stopped. After a moment of silence, the steps continued, this time lighter than before. But what if it’s not the red dragon and it’s a different dragon? Wild dragons will eat humans, elves or dwarfs, won’t they?
The fear of being discovered by another wild dragon, one that she hadn’t shared a connection with, terrified her. The wind shifted again, returning to a gentle downslope breeze. The steps stopped again. Red dragon or not, whatever was above her would find her soon. She decided to catch a glimpse of it, so she would know how to react.
Crawling on her hands and knees, she edged herself to the brink of the large boulder. Slowly she leaned forward. Trees came into view and she could see the rock ridge silhouetted against the darkness. Straining to focus, Maija couldn’t see the creature between the ridge and her hiding place. Moving her hand forward, she leaned farther out beyond the edge of the boulder, then stopped. A dark mass stood, two-legged halfway between the ridge and her boulder. It moved slowly, shifting to one side, then the other. Maija held perfectly still, not wanting to move an inch in case the creature saw her.
That’s not a dragon, she thought. What is that? The dark mass was much larger than any elf or human she’d ever seen, but it stood on two legs as a human or elf does. Its limbs were thick, its torso wide, and its stature rising to three times that of her own judging by its outline next to the trees. The thing didn’t appear to be holding a weapon. It sniffed the air between them, then stalked forward, stepping carefully into the wooded area where Maija crouched.
Maija glanced to the side, feeling the urge to run. I could outrun it, couldn’t I? she thought. Guessing by the size of it, she didn’t think it could move very fast, but she wasn’t in a very good position to find out. What if it is fast, its legs are long, and maybe it could cover some ground quickly. Watching warily as the large creature approached, Maija decided to stay put. There’s only one of them and as it comes close, I can move around the boulder, staying on the opposite side where it can’t see or reach me. Sticking with her plan, Maija stayed against the boulder waiting for whatever the creature was to come closer.
As the oversized, two-legged creature came into view, Maija could make out some of its features in greater detail. Its bare legs moved like a humans; however, its proportions were much larger. Each of the giant’s legs was nearly as round as the high elevation trees’ trunks. Short, gray fur covered its core and chest, leaving its bulking arms bare, much the same as its legs. Maija gaped at the enormity of the creature’s head. It would’ve easily matched the size of most elf and human bodies. Its dome showed more skin, as if the creature were balding like many human males do with age. She could see two enormous ears perched on either side of its head, two bulging eyes and a rounded nose between them. This enormous human-like being walked carefully, stepping lightly as it made its way around to the opposite side of the boulder. Maija shifted, rounding the rock and remaining out of view. It was difficult to stay completely hidden from the curious creature, purely due to its looming size. Relying on the darkness and her stealth to remain hidden, Maija attempted to blend into the rock.
As the furry giant came to stand alongside the boulder, Maija could see its hairy torso wasn’t natural fur at all; rather it was wearing fur from another creature, like a vest.
It’s intelligent, she thought as she maneuvered herself again into a more hidden position.
The creature placed its hulking hand on the boulder, bending down to peer under the overhang. Maija took the opportunity to step quietly away from the rock, upslope, tucking herself behind a nearby tree. If she stood profile, the tree did a better job at keeping her hidden than the opposite side of the boulder.
The massive thing sniffed the area under the rock, running its hand under the overhang and feeling the dirt. As its bare skin brushed over her smoldering fire, the creature reeled in its arm with alarming speed. Leaping away and shaking its hand, the creature’s human-like eyes bulged and frantically searched its surroundings, the expression on its face fearful. Maija had seen this expression many times since she’d been captured in Grandwood. She watched with interest as the grayish creature backed away, scared for its life. Suddenly, it whirled around and broke into a run, lumbering through the forest.
How strange, Maija thought as she stepped out from behind the tree and watched the dark mass disappear quickly into the night. I guess that thing is fast after all, she told herself. The gray, human-like thing moved out of sight much more quickly than she would’ve thought possible given its size.
Maija returned to her spot under the overhang. Grabbing the unburned ends of the smoldering logs, she picked up the firewood, shaking off the dirt. Using a stick from her dwindling stockpile of wood, she stirred the embers, bringing more oxygen to them and clearing any leftover dirt to the ground. Piling the remainder of her wood onto the coals, she brought the flames to a crackling roar once more.
Staring into the orange flames, Maija considered the strange encounter with the giant human-like animal. Whatever that thing was, it really didn’t like fire. Gathering another armload of wood before settling back down by the fire, Maija felt sure that the creature wouldn’t return as long as she had a flame going. With the comfort and safety of her warm fire, Maija lay down on the dry patch under the boulder and let the heat lull her back to sleep.
When Maija awoke she quickly scanned her surroundings, to make sure that the creature who visited during the night hadn’t returned. Relaxing slightly, she felt her stomach turn and heard it groan. She hadn’t eaten since before leaving Hardstone and hadn’t brought any food with her. She swallowed, finding her dry mouth aching for water.
I need to find a way down to that valley. There are plenty of rivers and streams to drink from down there, and hopefully I’ll find something to eat.
Deciding to leave the safety of her campsite, Maija brushed the dust from her clothes after sleeping in dirt all night, extinguished the fire, and then made sure her flint and steel were in her pocket before setting out for the day. The forest opened, exposing the stone ridge top. She stepped to the precipice again, looking out over Nagano. Dragons had already taken to the skies, soaring in the distance. She searched the cliff face that dropped abruptly to the valley floor, looking for waterfalls or seepage from its cracks. Scanning the wall, she spotted a vertical slot, slightly wider than others, where water trickled out from its base. With a hint of hope, she set out to the east along the wall, jogging toward the general area where the slot rose to the ridge top.
As Maija approached, the crag came into view. The small canyon extended to her right, inland from the cliff’s edge. The canyon narrowed as it retreated inward toward the tree line just downslope to the south. Following the canyon’s edge she dropped again into the woods, glancing for any sight of the gray giant she’d seen running this direction. The slot canyon closed just inside the tree line and she stepped closer to the horseshoe-shaped cliff marking the backend of the crag. Maija stared down the steep canyon’s walls. One look at the vertical descent told her she wouldn’t be climbing down from here. The canyon bottom stair-stepped its way north and Maija thought it looked navigable if she could somehow get down to it.
Seeing the water flowing at the base of the horseshoe to the crag, she thought, That water’s coming from somewhere.
Squinting into the shadowed canyon bottom, Maija thought she could see an absence of rock near the bottom of the back wall. Looking closer she saw a cave. Recalling how far the Eastland wall extended without a way down, she thought attempting to find the other end of the cave, where the water originated was worth investigating. She smacked her dry lips together, hoping to find the water’s origin soon, and continued walking south, downslope into the forest.
After several minutes, Maija came across a flattened area. Stepping onto it, her feet squished into a swampy wallow. Bending, she pushed the backside of her tanned hand into the soft ground, water filling her cupped palm. She drank the muddy water, not caring if twigs and debris came with it. The cold groundwater soothed her dry mouth. She repeated the process three more times before continuing her search. Walking the perimeter of the flattened area, Maija discovered water trickling down a small relief to the west. She followed the trickle, and within a few yards from the edge of the wallow a small creek began to form. Shortly after the creek began it ended, disappearing into a hole in the ground. Maija grinned, knowing she’d found the canyon’s water source. Now she hoped this hole was an entrance to the cave she’d seen at the slot canyon’s back wall.
Crouching, Maija drank several more handfuls of water before lowering her ear to the ground near the head-sized hole. She could hear the water falling into a cavernous opening. If she was going to explore where the water went, she would have to excavate. Reaching inside the hole, Maija grabbed a rock along its edge and pulled. The rock wiggled loose. She was able to pull it out on the second tug. She reached in and yanked on another, the second rock coming free more easily than the first. She rose to her feet and stomped at the edge of the widening hole. The ground around the hole bent. She stomped again and the ground she was standing on gave way. Gasping, she dropped into the hole. Her feet touched down almost instantly and she realized she’d only dropped into the hole up to her waist. Gathering her confidence again Maija felt at the spacious opening with her feet.
Sitting, she found herself in a human-sized tunnel. She maneuvered her body to be face-forward and inched on her stomach through the dark opening. The little creek flowed under her belly as she crawled, the sound of water falling off a drop in the near distance. Not yet able to see the drop, she imagined it to be much larger than she had hoped. Maybe I’ll be crawling back out shortly, she thought as she felt for the edge of the drop-off. Finding the sharp rock edge where the water fell, Maija pulled herself forward and pushed her head out over the edge.
Her body blocked the light from above and she could just barely see light from the canyon far below. Taking a minute to think through the situation and let her eyes adjust to the faint light, she scanned for the next chamber. To her surprise, she thought she saw the water splashing just a few feet below. She chuckled at the image she’d conjured up from the deceivingly loud-sounding drop. Carefully continuing headfirst over the edge, Maija used the large jutting rocks to keep from sliding head over heels down onto the next level. Once her legs were past the edge, Maija pushed up and out on her handholds, bringing her feet under herself as she dropped the short distance to the cave floor.
Now that she was beyond the entrance tunnel, she found that this next chamber was fairly well illuminated and she could see the best route down. The small creek cascaded through a boulder field as it dropped deeper into the expanding cave, eventually leading to the steep canyon walls she had seen from above. Shivering from the cold water saturating her clothes, Maija continued her down climb through the cave toward the bright light below. She stopped at the mouth of the cave, the place where she had seen the absence of rock from above and admired the beauty of the slot canyon before her. She had made it to the canyon bottom and hoped the rest of the way into Nagano would be as easy to navigate.
Descending through the canyon’s stair-stepping configuration was, at times, extremely dangerous. Maija didn’t consider herself an experienced canyon explorer, so she continued cautiously. After the initial descent through the cave and into the canyon bottom, she found that each drop wasn’t as steep as she’d anticipated, but the topography quickly changed the farther down the canyon she ventured. In several locations she was forced to contour and down-climb the canyon walls to continue. Fortunately, the rock had naturally large holds for her hands and feet, which gave her some comfort whenever she was forced to maneuver through steep sections.
As she worked her way down the slot canyon, she tried not to focus on the idea that one false move or misstep could send her falling. A mistake here could be the end of her journey. Even if she survived a significant fall, her injuries would most likely cripple her. With water, but no food in the canyon, she would slowly starve. Solving the puzzle of how to safely make it to the bottom of the Eastland wall became a game, a dangerous game she couldn’t afford to lose, but thinking of it as a game distracted her from her fear.
With most of the day spent navigating the canyon, Maija finally reached its end. She stopped to drink from the pooling water at its base and looked back up at the slot she’d come through. The canyon opening where she’d started her descent far above was no longer visible. Stepping out from the cliff, Maija grinned when she saw the lush fields of grass, speckled with leafy trees. Her next priority was finding food, then she would allow herself to feel for the dragon’s lure.
Physically drained from the down-climb, her stomach cramping with hunger, Maija set out through the shin-tall grass. As she walked, she took comfort in the notion that she could see if any creature was coming from a long way off. She wouldn’t be startled by a dragon suddenly popping up from seemingly nowhere. If something large was coming toward her, she’d have time to react, much more than last night. Seeing nothing but a few small patches of short trees to hide her presence in the open fields, Maija understood why the predators of the sky claimed this place as their home. A dragon could locate its next meal with ease.
She walked up a shallow rise for a better vantage point. A herd of four-legged beasts stood with their heads buried in the grass, grazing in the lush expanse. Their brown fur stood out starkly against the green backdrop. The thick-bodied animals massed in the thousands, alarming Maija at the size this one herd. She’d never seen these animals before, though they reminded her of cattle. The shape of their heads was much larger than a cow and a pronounced hump rose from their backs over their front shoulders. Gauging their size was difficult at this distance, but since this animal was likely the current prey of wild dragons, they had to be large. Knowing she wouldn’t be able to take down or eat such a large animal, Maija eyed a grove of small trees along the creek that wound out from the canyon she’d descended. She started out for the trees, hoping they were fruit-bearing.
Reaching the grove of stunted trees, Maija was grateful to see many oblong-shaped brown shells hanging from their branches. She plucked one and examined it. The oval husk-like shell had a hard exterior, rough to the touch. Holding the sizable pod with both hands, she struck it against the tree trunk, attempting to break it open. The hard fruit, however, bounced off on impact. Instead of cracking the rough shell, the oblong husk had gouged a deep scrape into the tree’s bark. The scarified tree trunk oozed a turquoise liquid.
Surprised by the vibrantly colored sap seeping from the light-colored tree trunk, Maija scooped a finger of the sap, then sniffed it. The sap’s fragrance made her mouth water. It smelled like the butterscotch pudding her grandmother, or caretaker rather, would often make. She tasted the turquoise goo, sticking to her tongue as she licked her finger. Swishing the substance around in her mouth, Maija’s eyes widened at the flavor. It was delicious, much better than her grandmother’s pudding. She scooped another finger full of the sap, more generous than the first.
Sitting down at the base of the tree Maija continued to scoop the oozing sap from the tree’s base. Its sugars quickly gave her renewed energy and she began to wonder what the fruit tasted like. Searching the immediate area, she found a stone sticking partway out of the ground. Finding the stone too large to dig out, Maija repeated the process she’d tried earlier using both hands to bring the oblong shell down hard against the exposed rock. A chunk of the shell fragmented away on her third strike. She looked at the brown casing and saw a crack form, splitting the shell. Rolling the shell in her hand, she saw where the rock had chipped away a portion of the hard exterior. Just under the rough outer layer was a light tan fibrous husk. She pressed her finger into the exposed soft spot and more turquoise sap oozed out.
