Chapter 30—The Portal

Merlin mounted Skittles and settled into the saddle then rode along a twisting trail through broken brambles and loose, rocky shale, following Tanwen’s flight. The red dragon circled back a few times to make sure he could see her and follow the path to the graveyard of the dragons. The trail rose as they left the valley floor, following a stream that ran past him to eventually empty into the lake of Avalon.

The path narrowed into a series of switchbacks that hugged the sloping side of rock. Heat beaded the sweat that sprung from his brow, as Merlin dismounted. Treacherous footing threatened to toss them both off the trail and down the steep rocky slide. They picked their way along the obscure path until eventually the trail widened onto a slate plateau. Smoothed by centuries of storms, the flat-topped rock followed a dry riverbed that curved away as far as his eyes could see. The white rock of the ancient riverbed was jammed with bleached tree trunks, as though a torrential downpour had wrenched them from the soil, tumbling them this way and that before leaving them stranded and exposed to the glare of the sun. Brilliant sunshine shone in the cloudless sky, beating down mercilessly on the rocky ground. The immediate area was devoid of any life, other than a few scraggly bushes, denuded of any vegetation. Waves of heat shimmered across the inhospitable land trapped between the sharp canyon walls.

Tanwen floated down from the sky, beating her wings to slow her descent then dropped gently to the earth to land beside the ancient river bed. Merlin climbed back into the saddle and rode toward the dragon, Skittles prancing with eagerness to reach the dragon. Despite the razor-sharp teeth and a size that easily dwarfed the horse many times over, Skittles seemed to think that the dragon was an oversized horse. Skittles whinnied a greeting and Tanwen bent her neck down to the horse and huffed a reply. Merlin’s eyes widened with surprise as his eyes fell on a shimmering portal, resting in the shade of the canyon wall just beyond the great dragon. Someone, or something had just passed through the portal.

***

Back when she had been purely human, Freya would have feared such a place, but now it looked like the perfect home for a fire elemental who was half Krusheda and half human. She twisted around to look behind her to get her bearings. The portal shimmered on a smooth rock face hidden in shadow, that was several times greater in size than it had been on the other side back in Fjord. She moved back to the shimmering haze and placed her hand against the portal. It sank into the soft surface.

The solid sound of an object scraping across stones caught her ear. She spun around, only to freeze in shock. Emerging from the broiling landscape was a fully grown dragon, her scarlet scales reflecting the heat of the temperatures with ease. Standing tall and proud, the mature dragon was larger than Zircon. She had the bearing of a queen, regal and magnificent. Behind her, seated on a dark horse was a skinny youth dressed in torn clothing, his dark hair plastered to his sweaty forehead. The dragon spied her, standing in front of the portal and came to an abrupt halt. She flung out a leg to halt the lad’s approach.

“What have we here?” The dragon tilted her head then moved in closer, head snaking side to side as she sniffed the air. “You smell wonderful, but that might just mean that I am hungry and am in need of a snack.” She sniffed the air again, drawing in a long draught of air. Her mouth opened, and flame curled in its midst in warning. “Who are you?”

Freya took a hesitant step forward, moving closer to the dragon. Her neck arched as she stared up at the stunning dragon. “I am called Freya, newly named. I have ventured through the portal behind me at the behest of your kin. Is this a dragon’s heaven?”

Tanwen threw back her head and laughed. “Heaven? That strange place that humans dream of going to when they die? This is no heaven, little Freya. This is the graveyard of the last of our kind, and those who have not passed soon will. Why did you come here, Freya of the Portal?”

The little man had caught up to Tanwen on foot. He worked his way along the tail of the dragon to a place where he could see over her. His intelligent eyes were peering at Freya in fascination.

“The dragons wait on the other side. It is a place of their dead, but a couple of their living kin have entered the City of the Dead and the catacombs. They are curious about this place. I volunteered to come and see what was on the other side of the portal.” Freya peered over Tanwen’s tail at the curious boy. “Who is the youngster with you?”

The dragon twisted her neck and spied Merlin. “Him? He is a snack I brought along for later. He will be eaten when the time is right.”

“Tanwen, let me speak with her.” The boy stared into the dragon’s eye, as intent as a lover. The dragon stared back, then bowed her head slightly. “Thank you.” He crawled up onto her tail, carefully avoiding the sharp spikes, then slid down the other side and cautiously approached Freya.

“Freya,” he said by way of introduction, “I am Merlin. I am so pleased to meet you. Did you arrive just now through the portal behind you?” He gestured to the undulating wall behind Freya.

“Yes, I did.”

“That is amazing!” gushed Merlin. “You have the required magic to move between realms. Do you know how fortunate you are? May I touch you?”

“Touch me?” Freya backed up a step. “Why do you want to touch me?” she said, alarmed.

“He is a wizard,” said Tanwen.

“A citadel wizard!” This time Freya did back away, fast. “You are a slave of the emperor! Get away from me, wizard!”

“Emperor? There is no emperor in Avalon. We have a king, Uther Pendragon. What is this citadel you speak of?” Merlin frowned as Freya backed toward the portal. “Wait! Please don’t leave. I just wanted to speak to you. I won’t touch you without your permission, I promise. I just wanted to see if you had the necessary magic to save the dragons.”

Tanwen’s head ducked down, level with Freya and she peered into her eyes. “My eggs are ill. They are the last of our kind. If you are able to save them, I will be in your debt. The skinny wizard there thinks you may be able to help them. That is why we came up here, seeking a way to save them. Somehow he knew you would be here.” Her head swung back to Merlin. “Isn’t that right, Merlin?”

“Well, yeah. I didn’t know what I was searching for but I sensed there was something here that would help us. I never dreamed of finding a fire elemental wandering the caves.” He stood very still, not moving an inch in case he startled Freya into fleeing. “I do not serve this emperor of yours. If I serve anyone, it is Prince Arthur, who is our future king. Camelot is in great danger from a bone dragon that is attacking the people. The egg was stolen by a sorceress, and we are trying to find a way to undo the magic that has it enslaved. But that is our problem. The more immediate problem that we are facing is that the last of the dragon’s eggs are sick. I think you might be able to help them. If you won’t allow me to touch you, will you come and examine them?”

Freya’s eyes moved from Tanwen to Merlin and then back to Tanwen. She sighed. “I will see if I can help your younglings. But the wizard will keep his distance. Agreed?”

They both nodded acceptance of the terms. “The eggs are this way,” said Tanwen as she shuffled around to return to the hatchery. “I have them all together in one nest. Freya can ride on my back. I will not be harmed by her nature. Come. They are this way.” Freya hesitated only for a second. She trusted the dragon in ways she did not trust the wizard. She climbed onto Tanwen’s back, settling herself just behind the main neck spike, then gripped it tightly as Tanwen launched herself into the sky with a rush of wind.

Skittles snorted at the blast of sulphur odour filling the air, then wandered over to Merlin’s side. Merlin climbed into the saddle and they set off at a swift trot, following the soaring dragon into a steeply sided cleft in the rock, barely wide enough for the dragon to fly above the rocky floor. Freya glanced back to see if he followed, catching the occasional glimpse of the youth.

A short time later, Tanwen dipped low to the ground and then landed on a short ledge that faced the canyon, at a height that only a dragon could reach. Freya slid off her back then stood aside as the dragon turned to check on the wizard. “I will need to fly down and bring him up here. He will be unable to reach this place on his own. You stay here, where I can see you,” she warned with a flaring of her nostrils. She left the ledge then landed on the ground to wait for the wizard to catch up. Freya saw him dismount from his horse and the dragon scooped him up in one claw and bore him up to the ledge. She set him down beside Freya and then landed opposite them. She pinned them both with a beady eye, then said, “Now you will both heal the eggs. You will not leave until you do. Go inside, but remember I am right behind you.”

Freya shrugged. She had no clue as to what she was to do to heal these babies of the dragon. Volunteering to come through the portal suddenly felt like a very bad idea. She moved into the dim interior, not sure exactly what she would find. Tanwen sent a trickle of flame into a well at the back of the cave, and flames leapt from its surface, spreading a ring of fire around the edge. It provided both light and heat to the interior of the vast cave. Hundreds of nests were revealed by the flickering light. No, there are thousands of them, thought Freya.

She had seen the nests in the catacombs in Fjord, so she was prepared for piles of gemstones to be present, but there were none. Instead, there were piles of bones stacked everywhere. These dragons are carnivorous? The thought was a foreign one to her. Dragons eating meat seemed a very crude thing, not at all like their bejeweled cousins on the other side of the portal. She walked up to the first one and peered over the side. Two eggs lay nestled in a woven basket of tree branches and limbs, much like an eagle might build. She walked over to the next one, and the one next to it, and the one just beyond that. They all had eggs. Her eyes lifted to sweep across the nests that were barely visible in the shadows.

“Do all these nests have eggs?” asked Freya. She turned around and nearly ran into Merlin. He had been following her as she wandered from nest to nest, his face mirroring the shock he was feeling at seeing so many unborn dragons.

“Yes,” Tanwen said proudly. “I have gathered them all here, so I could care for them. And now, you will heal them.”

“I do not have time, Tanwen, “said Merlin. “Arthur needs my help. I can’t heal them all now. This would take days, weeks!”

Tanwen sat down in the opening of the cave and glared at the pair. “You will not leave this cave until they are healed. I suggest you get started! She laid down on her haunches much like a dog would, tucking her legs under her body and crossing her forearms. She started licking a claw, while her eyes fixed them both with an intense glare that promised retribution should they fail.

Freya turned away from the dragon. “Thank you for getting me into this mess, wizard. You had better know what you are doing!”

Merlin grimaced, then knelt down beside the nest and placed his hands on the egg. He delved its health, searching for the heart of what was wrong with the egg. Grunting at what he found, he moved his hands on to the next one, and then randomly picked three eggs in three different nests. Satisfied, he walked back and sat down beside Freya.

“Well, what did you learn?”

“It is as I thought. The barrier around this valley is making the dragons sick. They do not know where it has come from, nor do they know of any way to get rid of it. Somehow it affects their aura and it is disturbing their plane of existence. You, however, were able to pass through the barrier which means you have some element in your magic that can fight the influence.”

“What barrier? I came through a portal,” said Freya.

“The portal is the same barrier that surrounds this valley. I can pass through it, but the dragons cannot.”

“Well, in my world, it is the humans that cannot pass through the barrier, yet the dragons I see can move through them at ease.”

“Wow. I hadn’t thought of that,” said Merlin. “You are from a portal world. A mirror world. You have dragons there?”

“Yes, not many now. They have died out too, as I understand it. Most of the dragons are in the hands of the emperor. A few others are controlled by the heart bearers—witches and wizards like yourself.”

“I see.” He stood up. “Come, place your hand on this egg while I am holding it. I want to see how it reacts to your touch. Do nothing more than touch it with a finger.” Freya stood and walked over to where Merlin knelt beside a peach-coloured egg with wavy moss green striations running from the curved poles. She extended her finger and touched the egg in the midportion of its shell. Immediately, the egg began to pulse with energy, and it gave a mighty hop in the nest, rocking side to side. She took her finger away and the glow dimmed but the activity inside the egg only diminished slightly.

“That is amazing!” said Merlin, his hand on the shell. His eyes were squeezed shut as he concentrated on the life inside. “The baby is completely cured! It is like you jump started his maturing. It’s a boy, you know.” Carefully, he lifted the egg and carried it over to Tanwen, placing it between her legs.

She breathed on the egg, and it rocked again, violently. Tanwen drew back her head, in surprise, peering at the egg. It rocked again. Then with a loud crack, the egg began to hatch. Tanwen’s mouth opened in shock.

“It’s hatching!” she cried, filling the cave with her deep chuckling laughter. A jagged gap separated the two halves of the shell, and then with a final crack, it tumbled away to reveal a tiny emerald green dragon. It tumbled about, cooing as Tanwen licked the small body with gentle strokes of her tongue.

Freya grabbed Merlin’s hand and dragged him back to the nest. “We have work to do!” she cried, and together, they set about healing all the baby dragons. It took them the better part of an hour to work their way through all of the eggs. Tanwen ran from one to another, spilling flame happily over their shells. The eggs rocked to and fro, bouncing off one another, their shells creating a clicking noise that filled the chambers.

Freya straightened, placing her hands on her hips. She squared her shoulders and faced Merlin. “I have aided you. Now you must do the same for me.”

Merlin released the final coral and cream egg back in the nest then stood up. “Of course, what can I do to help?”

“You must come back to Fjord with me.”

Merlin frowned. “Now? I have to return to Camelot. Prince Arthur needs me.”

“You will come with me now. I have already aided your quest. Now you must do the same for us.”

Merlin’s eyes scanned the sky, checking the height of the sun in the sky. It was maybe two hours until sunset. “All right, I will come with you and see what I can do. But I cannot stay long. I must return before it is dark.” Merlin walked over to Tanwen, bowed to the dragon and then placed a hand on her leg. Tanwen’s eye rolled in his direction, but she did not stop the cooing noises she was making. She was now surrounded by five small dragons. He smiled at her. “I must go for an hour or two to help Freya’s people. I will return through the portal. Will you wait for me?”

Tanwen blinked acceptance. “I will be here when you return, wizard.”

“Thank you, my friend.” He walked to the edge of the cliff then back over to Freya and said, “Shall we go? We need some help getting down.”

Tanwen huffed, but got to her feet and snatching up both Freya and Merlin in one claw, dropped over the side to the valley floor, placing them gently on their feet.

Without another word, Freya hurried over to the portal and stepped through the shimmering glass, into the heart of the Fjord. Merlin was only a step behind her.