Dragonquest - Donita K. Paul [40]
A sigh escaped her lips as she stroked Celisse’s strong neck just above the collarbone. We’re on our way. Another quest. Another adventure. Part of me would like to stay at home, safely reading about others’ escapades. That part is like Librettowit. But I also felt a thrill when the dragons took off from the ground, and we were on our way. That’s more like Dar.
She looked once more at her companions. Her smile widened into a grin.
The excitement continued to bubble inside her as she looked down on the verdant valley. Their first stop would be where the smallest and largest of Wulder’s creations lived side by side. An adult kimen could sleep in either the hat or the shoe of any grown urohm. The two races had a long history of working together.
Dar?
“Yes?”
Do you think we’ll see Brunstetter? Do you think he’ll come with us?
“We might. He might.”
Gazing across the wingspans of the two dragons, Kale encountered Dar’s furry grin. The wind ruffled the white linen cravat at his neck and sent the tails of his fancy jacket trailing behind him.
Kale scowled. What’s so funny?
“You didn’t want to come on this little excursion.”
This part of the excursion is to a land I’ve heard about all my life.
“In fairy tales and legends.”
Yes! And I’m anxious to find out what is truth and what is make-believe. A year ago I thought gateways weren’t real.
Dar’s face tightened into a frown. “Some of the things we’ll find to be real won’t be very nice.”
I know, but that’s later, when we cross the Dormanscz Mountains into Creemoor. All the stories about Ordray are fun. And Fenworth says we have to wait here until Paladin sends reinforcements and gives the order to rescue my mother.
With the last two words, Kale shifted her eyes away from Dar. She didn’t want him to see how important it had become to her to find her mother. She had a lot of questions, but most of all, she wanted to know what kind of mother hers would be.
In the village where she was raised, the mariones showed little affection for their offspring. Parents spent a lot of time training children but very little time enjoying them. The mariones she had met in Lee Ark’s home, though, hugged and laughed and played games together.
She forced her mind away from the disturbing image of a mother who ordered her around like Mistress Meiger.
Her friends, all but Fenworth, sat at attention, eagerly watching the beautiful landscape below. The slope of the lead dragon’s wingspan tilted, and Lee Ark guided the small company northward. To the right, Kale caught glimpses of blue-green water along the horizon.
Again, the lead dragon banked, and the troop turned more to the east.
They set down in a pasture through which a stream flowed. Meadow grasses swayed in a pulsating breath of warm air, greeting them with the scent of flowers and fertile earth. Walking away from her friends, Kale followed the sound of water splashing over rocks.
She stopped in her tracks when she saw a miniature three-tiered waterfall. The water flowed over the ledges in an even stream without froth and foam at the base of each diminutive fall. At other points along the brook, water swirled and bubbled as the flow hit rocks and roots. But the water over the falls unnaturally bent to the angles without any disturbance.
“Kimen falls,” said Lee Ark from behind her. “An amazing sight, isn’t it?”
“I’ve heard about them in songs sung at the tavern, but to see one…”
Gymn and Metta flew from her cape with squeals of delight. They landed in the water and let the stream carry their tiny bodies over the falls. With musical trills, the two minor dragons rose from the water and flapped their leathery wings, showering droplets about them.
Toopka struggled against the confines of the cape and broke away. In only a minute, she had her tiny boots and socks off. She shed her clothes down to her white drawers and splashed into the stream with the dragons. She floated on her back and bumped down the steps like a child on a staircase.
Kale looked up at the general. “Did the kimens