The Cold and Fire habitats
had been too close together, so Dalfgan decided to dock a third
island and build new Cold and Lightning habitats there. The children
watched as he and Dickinson warped it in.
Olivine and Mohs finished
building the detector. They had a composite crystal the size of an
apple with corundum on one side and erudine on the other, held in a
silver setting. Three platinum levers shaped like leaves swirled
around the top. “We'd better test it,” said Olivine. “Over on
Third Island, while it's empty and there's nothing to destroy.” They
moved the statue in late afternoon. She shifted the levers to entangle
the crystals together. “Nothing,” she said, “sunlight stops
it.”
“We think,” said Mohs.
When the sun went down and the statue remained dead, he said, “This
is good. It doesn't turn on just because it's dark and things.”
Then he moved the levers, and the ruby eyes started to glow. He
gasped, nearly dropping the detector, and quickly returned the
settings to zero. The glowing eyes went dark. They spent the next
several hours figuring things out, changing the distance from the
statue, the entangling angle, and the amount of entanglement. The next
day the wizards discussed going after the shrines again.
“What about the Fog
dragons?” asked Yogo. “We could find the shrines fifty times, and
they would make us forget.”
“That's why we have the
kids,” said Aiden, “the Fogs like them.”
“Are we going to let the
children find the shrines and tell us afterwards?” asked Bixby.
“That's no good.”
“Perhaps we can find a way
to send the Fog dragons away,” suggested Dalfgan. “Scare them, or
lure them away, or put them to sleep.”
“No, I don't think that's
what we're supposed to do,” objected Tessa. “We're supposed to
get the cooperation of the dragons. The poem says to call them. They
have to want to come.”
Tessa and Franklin were
discussing it while they helped Olivine and Mohs regrow the fractured
erudine crystals for the new Lightning habitat. The children had come
to watch. “I think we just have to be nice and be friends,” said
PonytailGirl. “Aren't all the shrine dragons friendly?”
“Thornbark is,” said Spiderdog, “and Kessi. What about Freecha? I haven't heard that
story.”
“Oh,” said Franklin,
“she was the leader of a pod of Air dragons who befriended some sea
traders. They came to port at the Verulean lowlands, and found it was
terrorized by a Lightning dragon called Razzak. The Airs made him go
back to his home in the highlands, and freed the people.”
“Well then Freecha was
friendly, but not Razzak,” said Spiderdog.
“The poem says Razzak can be gained by
love,” said Tessa. “He's just harder to make friends with.”
“He's a Lightning dragon,”
Bending Chalice piped up. “I like him. I'll bring ShockWave to play
with him.”
Olivine stopped what she was
doing and looked at him. “That is a very good idea,” she said.
“Weren't you kids playing with Water dragons when the Fogs came?
They could tell you were friendly.”
“It's more than that,”
said Franklin. “They were refusing to trick the dragons and steal
an egg.”
“They sense our feelings.
They can tell what we're like, and know if they can trust us,”
Olivine mused. “That's our plan. You kids bring your pet dragons,
and we will all be open and friendly.”
Mount Olympus is on the
boundary of two provinces. The wizards didn't think the shrine would be on the bare rocky summits of the massif because it was open and exposed, with no obvious hiding places. The rugged, less-settled northwest slopes
are in Thessaly, so they searched there first, concentrating on foggy
spots and the pine and beech canyons of the middle elevations.
Sam and Franklin, being
the primary trainers of Nippy and ShockWave, stayed with them near a
pool at the base of a waterfall, playing with the children and
throwing in a little training. Sam and Spiderdog were teaching Nippy
to lie down. PonytailGirl and BlazeDragon were doing cartwheels and
backflips, and Shockwave was copying them in the air. Then Olivine
came back saying, “I've been up on that ledge above the waterfall,
and the crystals vibrated. That means we're close!” She took the
children back up with her.
Spiderdog stood on the ledge
and looked down. “Come, Nippy,” he called. Nippy took off
immediately, spiraling to gain altitude. BlazeDragon came over beside
Inklips and called ShockWave, who shot straight up into the air,
arriving on the ledge just before Nippy. “Good boy!” the boys
said together, handing out pieces of dried dragonfruit and massaging
the hatchlings' heads and necks.
There was a surprising
amount of space on the rock shelf. The scrubby pines on the ledge
screened a hidden cove that extended thirty feet into the mountain,
with vertical rock walls grown over with vines and small bushes. The
wizards went over the walls with the detector, but couldn't pinpoint
a specific spot. Fog began to move in below them. “I think we need
to try something else,” said Tessa. “We're too tense.”
“You may be right,” said Sam, “maybe we all should play with our dragon babies. What do
you think, Dravin?”
“Did you bring oil?” he asked. “Spiderdog, why don't you have Nippy lie down and we'll give him a backrub?” While they were finding Nippy's happy spots
and making him almost purr, the fog moved up to their rock cove.
ShockWave did not like to
hold still for long. “Lowl,” he nudged Bending Chalice. “Yah,
boy,” said the five-year-old. “Let's run!” He took off. ShockWave did a loop-the-loop and
followed him. PonytailGirl jumped up, laughing, and did three
cartwheels in a row as ShockWave did a u-turn and came back, twirling
in the air. BlazeDragon did a cartwheel too, but as he was landing,
ShockWave came zooming back and nearly upset him, sending him into
PonytailGirl. She twisted to the side to avoid him, landed without
falling, and turned to look back. He was staring at her with his
mouth open. Bending Chalice came running back. “How'd you do that?”
She looked around. She was
standing on the rock face, sideways, like a spider on the wall. Fog
dragons drifted down to look at her and moved up again. Bending
Chalice put one foot slowly on the wall and looked at it for a
second. Then he looked up at her and walked to where she was
standing. Spiderdog and BlazeDragon exchanged shocked looks. BlazeDragon touched one hand to the wall, and then they each
put up a foot, looked at each other again, and walked up the wall
together. The fog began to disperse.
The wizards silently walked over to the wall. "Is this the way it was that first day?" asked Bixby. PonytailGirl nodded. Bixby tried standing on the wall too, but couldn't. None of the adults could. "Only the four then," he said, "now what?"
“Now they call the
dragon,” said Tessa, “but which? Thornbark? He's our oldest one, he's mixed up in the legends."
"Thornbark!" the children called, "Thornbark, Thornbark!" Nothing happened.
"No, wait," said BlazeDragon. "Mount Olympus is where Zeus lived. He was the god of weather and lightning, wasn't he? I bet you the Lightning dragon is here! Razzak!"
"Razzak, Razzak!" the children called. The sun began to shine through the clouds.
"Razzak, yay!" cheered Bending Chalice."And I brought ShockWave! Here, boy!" The little dragon came to perch on a projection on the cliff. He wasn't sitting perpendicular to the wall the way the children were. "Hey, come on, sit," urged Bending Chalice trying to tug him down. ShockWave lost his balance, fell off the cliff, and glided back to the little ledge he had been on. "Why can't he sit sideways?"
"Let me think," said PonytailGirl. "That first day, that first magic day, gravity was upside down. I walked on the ceiling and then across the bottom of the island, until I found a dragon. That time it was Thornbark. Now, here we are, we have sideways gravity. I think...I think it's not upside down gravity or sideways gravity at all, it is dragon gravity. I think I was pulled towards the dragons that first day. Or maybe just towards Thornbark. Now... now I think there is a dragon behind this wall, and we are getting pulled towards it."
"How do we get him to come out?" asked Spiderdog.
"Love," said PonytailGirl and Tessa together. "He can be gained by love unfeigned," quoted Tessa.
"Something's off though," said PonytailGirl, "because ShockWave doesn't have dragon gravity. Shouldn't he be sitting like us?"
"I love him!" cried Bending Chalice, throwing his arms around the little Plasma. ShockWave slid down the rock point a little bit.
"Let's help him!" BlazeDragon said, and as all four children surrounded the baby dragon, petted him and hugged him, he slid down to sit firmly perpendicular. Nippy began to whine and jump up and down.
"Come up, Nippy!" called Spiderdog. He and PonytailGirl reached out their arms to him, he took off, and landed neatly between them. "Oh, Nippy, you did it, you rascal!" The rock between Nippy and ShockWave began to glow red. A thin red line formed between them and grew down the cliff face, spreading until it outlined a door. The children moved up the wall out of the way. With a loud creaking noise, the door began to move slowly, and as it opened wide, the sun broke out and shone on a statue standing just inside the cave. It was a Lightning dragon. It's eyes were glowing red and lighting up the cave, but as the sunlight grew, the red glow faded.
"Thornbark!" the children called, "Thornbark, Thornbark!" Nothing happened.
"No, wait," said BlazeDragon. "Mount Olympus is where Zeus lived. He was the god of weather and lightning, wasn't he? I bet you the Lightning dragon is here! Razzak!"
"Razzak, Razzak!" the children called. The sun began to shine through the clouds.
"Razzak, yay!" cheered Bending Chalice."And I brought ShockWave! Here, boy!" The little dragon came to perch on a projection on the cliff. He wasn't sitting perpendicular to the wall the way the children were. "Hey, come on, sit," urged Bending Chalice trying to tug him down. ShockWave lost his balance, fell off the cliff, and glided back to the little ledge he had been on. "Why can't he sit sideways?"
"Let me think," said PonytailGirl. "That first day, that first magic day, gravity was upside down. I walked on the ceiling and then across the bottom of the island, until I found a dragon. That time it was Thornbark. Now, here we are, we have sideways gravity. I think...I think it's not upside down gravity or sideways gravity at all, it is dragon gravity. I think I was pulled towards the dragons that first day. Or maybe just towards Thornbark. Now... now I think there is a dragon behind this wall, and we are getting pulled towards it."
"How do we get him to come out?" asked Spiderdog.
"Love," said PonytailGirl and Tessa together. "He can be gained by love unfeigned," quoted Tessa.
"Something's off though," said PonytailGirl, "because ShockWave doesn't have dragon gravity. Shouldn't he be sitting like us?"
"I love him!" cried Bending Chalice, throwing his arms around the little Plasma. ShockWave slid down the rock point a little bit.
"Let's help him!" BlazeDragon said, and as all four children surrounded the baby dragon, petted him and hugged him, he slid down to sit firmly perpendicular. Nippy began to whine and jump up and down.
"Come up, Nippy!" called Spiderdog. He and PonytailGirl reached out their arms to him, he took off, and landed neatly between them. "Oh, Nippy, you did it, you rascal!" The rock between Nippy and ShockWave began to glow red. A thin red line formed between them and grew down the cliff face, spreading until it outlined a door. The children moved up the wall out of the way. With a loud creaking noise, the door began to move slowly, and as it opened wide, the sun broke out and shone on a statue standing just inside the cave. It was a Lightning dragon. It's eyes were glowing red and lighting up the cave, but as the sunlight grew, the red glow faded.
The children could feel the dragon gravity fading too. They ran down the wall, jumped onto the ground, and turned to look at what they had found. The sun shone full onto the likeness of Razzak, the recalcitrant Lightning dragon. He had returned.
