Dragonspell - Donita K. Paul [139]
“The eggs! I’m being pulled to the eggs.” She gave a whoop and grinned. “I’ll find them. I can’t help but find them.”
Kale climbed more vigorously while the sun went down and the moon rose. She reached a flattened area that looked vaguely familiar. When she spied the twisted entrance to the tumanhofer mine, she knew why. She turned her back on the gaping black mouth and headed to the cliff where the moonbeam cape and its precious contents had slipped over the edge.
Bright moonlight cast the region in a stark contrast of light and shadow. To the right was a slope of boulders which might be easier to descend than the spot at Kale’s feet. She took a few steps in that direction. A light at the bottom of the crevasse caught her attention.
A glowing cloud hovered at the base of a rockslide. It constantly shifted. The edges grew thin and drifted into nothing. The center remained unchanging, a roundish mass of eerie green light.
“I don’t much like the looks of that.” Kale spoke her doubt even as her feet moved toward the easier descent and the mysterious luminescence.
The day’s walking and climbing, the lack of food, and the cold night air began to wear on her. She tried singing some of Dar’s marching songs to keep alert. She struggled to slow down against the ever-increasing strength of the meech egg’s pull.
She mumbled to herself, “Making your way down a crevasse side is no place to fall asleep on your feet.”
An almost forgotten nudge in her mind caught her off kilter. She sat down with a thud on a hard jagged rock.
“Ouch!”
Even the pain couldn’t disguise the persistent niggling in her mind.
“Gymn?” She stood up. Gymn!
Kale moved cautiously down the rocks. Gymn’s thoughts, and then Metta’s, bombarded her. She wouldn’t go to sleep now, but she also found it hard to concentrate on where to safely put her feet.
Slow down. I’m not understanding it all.
You’re all right, and so is Metta.
The meech egg is fine.
The worm is a nuisance.
Worm?
Kale shuddered as she got Gymn’s impression of the worm—big, slimy, slowly stalking them. Kale caught the image of the two minor dragons picking up rocks and flying over a massive roundworm. They dropped the rocks on the squirming beast. Pelting it discouraged its advance, and the worm slithered back into the rock walls. According to Metta’s account, this happened often. They also spat on the creature, leaving green and purple splotches that hurt the worm and caused it to turn back.
So it’s very dumb and very persistent. Kale chuckled at Gymn’s tirade. And you are glad I am coming, because you and Metta are tired of it.
It was so good to have those choppy, chaotic thoughts of the minor dragons flitting through her own thought pattern, Kale laughed out loud.
She learned Metta and Gymn had spent a comfortable winter in a cave that boasted three hot springs and plenty of insects and small rodents. The minor dragons knew she would come get them. They had felt it their duty to protect the meech egg from the worm. The mention of the worm sent Gymn off on another lengthy description of the clumsy beast’s constant stalking. Apparently when it captured a victim, the worm surrounded it and went to sleep, absorbing the captive directly through its oozing skin.
Kale grimaced with distaste. Clearly, the worm was an undesirable creature to winter with in a cave.
She reached the bottom of the ravine. Broken rocks littered the floor. She picked her way toward the glowing mist. The air smelled musty and unpleasant. It stung her eyes as she passed through. On the other side, a gap in the rocks gave entrance to the cave where Gymn and Metta guarded the meech egg. Kale heard its thrum, deep, constant, and strong. As she entered the chamber behind the mist, steamy air clung to her skin. Streaks of lightrock material mottled the cavern walls, giving off an even blue light.
Gymn and Metta flew to greet her. Tears of joy slipped down Kale’s cheeks. She uttered a praise of thanksgiving