Chapter twelve
Panic, shouting and complete terror came from all directions.
But all that Elanor saw and heard was the dragon moving steadily up the deck towards her. She didn’t dare to move into the cabin. Though instinct told her to run and hide, logic told her the beast would tear the door frame apart to get in there after her.
She edged her way towards the right side of the quarter deck. The dragon gave a warning growl deep in its throat while it watched her. Elanor stopped too. Reflective milky white eyes with a black focused pupil held an eerily intelligent look as the dragon stared. Elanor pressed to the wooden wall behind her, hands and back flat against it. The dragon began to move again towards her.
Its great long body curling and uncurling it’s long tail muscles helped it along the deck like a snake. The dragon’s skin appeared to be very smooth glistening in the sunshine. But she knew from her Grandmother’s teachings that though it looked as though it were smooth; it actually was made up of hundreds of thousands of tiny hard scales layered together.
Dragon’s were well armed.
She also knew it almost impossible to penetrate so a sword would be useless against it. But Derek didn’t know that and he raced down the steps with one. The dragon shifted its eyes to him letting out another growl. Its red forked tongue darted into the air in his direction. Elanor edged again towards the right while it became distracted with smelling the air. She tried to put more distance between it and herself.
In a thrust of rippling muscles it cut her off.
Elanor stopped, letting out a scream as teeth snapped not more than a few inches from her body. She could smell the fishy rancid breath as it blew over her. Her cheek pressed against the rough wood behind her. Head tilted to the side as she pressed her eyes closed.
Elanor prayed to the Goddess, Mother of all, for help and protection. At this point she prayed hard for any of the Gods or Goddesses to hear her and help.
She knew magic should be used in this instance. It would be the only way to ward off the beast without getting seriously hurt or someone dying. But she couldn’t with the crew watching. What would she use even if she dared? She hadn’t practiced any real magic for two years now.
“What is that?” Shouted one of the frighten crew. “It’s going to eat her!”
The shouts came from all around. Some stood perched high in the sails, other braver crew men stood half up the quarter deck. All Elanor could hear though were the warning growls. It hadn’t done anything yet but flick its tongue at her. She could feel anger, a sense of betrayal and beneath that lay sadness coming from the mind casting the dragon gave off in waves.
With that sadness- a feeling of desperation?
Could that be her own feelings clouding the unsteady connection she had with the animal? She’d never really tried to thought cast before. Speaking to someone within her mind had seemed invasive to her. And perhaps a little tricky to figure out. There wasn’t anyone to teach her or her sisters about being an elemental witch. It had been something each generation had to develop on their own. With her eyes closed, Elanor tried to ground herself and gain some composure.
Think of something!
Her eyes flew open when the dragon gave another warning growl. Derek had edged closer, his sword still pulled. The dragon did not like that.
“Derek, please don’t take another step, you‘re making her angry.”
“Her? It’s female? Of course it‘s female!”
“Don’t get to close to it, Captain!” Steppe shouted from the deck above them.
The dragon lifted its head letting out another roar. Steppe dove back, hitting the deck with his arms crossing over his head. Derek took the distraction and moved up beside Elanor. The dragon snapped its teeth again, narrowly missing them.
“We have to kill it.”
“You can’t.” She whispered.
“This is no time to give me that all life matters speech-”
“No! You don’t understand. The skin, it’s made to protect them. Look at its body, Derek.” Her book of shadows had her family’s recordings in it. Spells and history that had been passed down from generation to generation. She wished she had it in her hand right now to maybe give her a clue what to do next. But Goddess help her, she couldn’t remember a single thing about dragons except they were fiercely protective of their territories and hard to kill.
If she were honest, Elanor didn’t want to kill it. Dragons had been plentiful hundreds of years before in this realm. But they had withdrawn from the seekers as the others had in a star light protected realm away from this one.
To kill it, though she were frighten, seemed a genuine tragedy. Something that the star seekers would do and not a caster. She had a part of both in her but neither part seemed to be helping her at all to come up with a solution.
She had slowly calmed enough to realize the dragon wasn’t biting at them. It had threatened three times now, but no contact.
Her mind raced suddenly. It didn’t attack. Just threats.
“She must want something.”
“Like what?”
“You don’t usually see them, right? I mean most people don‘t even believe they are real anymore because of it… so why now?” She gave him a side glance.
“How do you know it’s a female?”
“I don’t know. I…wait, what does that matter?” She didn’t want the distraction of explaining to him about the fact that she wasn’t just a pagan or a witch, but a elemental witch. And Elanor could felt the rage focused on her from the dragon but it hadn’t thought cast again. Water dragons were the only specie of dragon to be able to thought cast like water witches. She remembered something! Water developed paths for energy to be receptive and connective. The dragon’s thoughts were anger driven, towards her mostly.
She’d never even been this far south, never seen a dragon, and never done anything to harm this creature in the least. But the long teal serpent seemed determined that she pay for whatever had happened. Derek put his sword out in an effort to ward the animal away. That only proved to make her move to the side and snap at them from an angle.
“Stop it!” She cried as it snapped closer, losing the train of thought she’d been on.
“We’ve got to do something! What do you know about sea monsters, Love?”
“She’s not a monster. She…”
Elanor felt her heart pound in her chest. She’d heard stories told of men who’d sacrificed maiden to appease dragon’s before. But she didn’t think it were true, they didn‘t really do that did they? Is that why it focused so much on her?
“We need to figure out what the hell it’s doing on my ship.” He turned to Elanor and asked again. “What does it want?” The dragon equally getting frustrated weaved in front of them.
“Sea monsters collect treasure!” Came a shout from the sails.
“Yes! They like pearls and gold.” Shouted a man excitedly. “My sword has a pearl and gold handle.” The sound of a sword being drawn made Elanor panic.
“No! Don’t-” She cried. But the man had already given the sword a toss. It clanked on the quarter deck a few feet from the dragon. The movement to strike had been so quick the sudden jolt of the ship took everyone by surprise. The ship rocked sideways and then righted. Elanor and Derek were knocked to their knees as a coil of the dragon’s body slammed them against the wall at the same time.
The dragon’s roar of outrage mingled with the shouts of the crew knocked loose from their hiding spots up in the sails. As Elanor had imagined, the dragon didn’t care for the sword or the pearl and gold that glittered in the sun. It dragged its clawed feet over the top of it leaving deep lines in the planked deck. It gave another warning, lifting its head to roar again and again.
“I think she’s really pissed now, Elanor. Get ready to move.” Derek said helping Elanor to her feet.
“If I move, the dragon will tear this ship apart.” She said.
“I don’t care. If it comes back at us, you’re going into the cabin.” He said. His hand moved to her shoulder as the dragon twisted its head, suddenly slamming its tail against the open door blocking it. Large eyes regarded Derek, defiantly, daring him.
“It can understand what I’m saying?!” Derek exclaimed.
It had reacted to his words. There had been no mistaking it.
“What do you want?” She asked with desperation. If it could understand English, she had to try to speak out loud.
“Have you gone mad, Miss? You’re going to make it toss this ship sideways again!” A shout from the sails. A chorus of agreement shouted from different areas. The dragon turned its head towards them, roaring. Derek moved out with his sword still drawn, walking forward.
“Derek, she doesn’t like your sword, that much we do know!” Elanor hissed just loud enough for him to hear. But he surprised her by laying it to the ground and then righted himself with hands out in front. The dragon had her eyes on him now instead of the men. He took a few steps forward again. Elanor held her breath.
“We don’t want to hurt you. We didn’t mean to come near your home. We’re just trying to take our ship to our home.” He said it calmly, though glancing over his shoulder at Elanor to show the pain of how stupid he felt talking to an animal. He’d always teased her about her Mother’s beliefs that plants and animals were just as intelligent as people. It seemed silly to him to worship the trees, the dirt and the sky. To speak to all walks of life as though they understood. But now that it had threatened to tear his ship apart, he seemed a bit more open to it.
The dragon weaved her head back and forth but didn’t strike at him this time. A cold feeling sparkled up Elanor’s spine as the dragon started to indicate to Elanor; trying to look pointedly around Derek towards her. .
If only she knew how to thought cast properly. The choices were now down to that only. She didn’t think only reacted. Launching herself forward, she moved between him and the dragon.
The dragon’s energy didn’t slow; it grew as though it were getting ready to strike. But Elanor kept perfectly still, closing her eyes and raising a trembling hand to lay on her chest. Bowing her head slightly she reached out slowly towards the dragon with her right hand.
“Get back, Derek.” She said softly. Though fear twisted inside, another feeling controlled her actions. Protectiveness. Mentally she forced her thoughts to slow, to be receptive to the dragon’s. The fierce penetration of thought made her wince but didn’t close her mind to them. Instead, absorbed them instinctively. She knew it to be a crude way to thought cast but words were starting to form. It worked.
“You. You take.” A warning growl rumbled but this time it came from deep in the dragons chest and she hadn’t moved towards them. “You. Take. You take mine.” Air hissed as though released from a kettle. Confused Elanor tried to sort out what that meant. What would anyone here take that would upset her and why? The fables all talked about treasures but growing up she’d learned that it had been only the rock dragons, dog size, that did that.
“What did they take from you?”
“Water. Mine. Water.”
They were on a ship for goodness sake, there wasn’t much they could take from…
Since her mind had the chance to clear, it worked without her really knowing it. The answer, so simple yet hard since she couldn’t properly communicate to the dragon.
“Derek, go into the cabin and get the fish off the table.” She hadn’t turned to look at him, her focus still on the dragon.
“Elanor, I don’t think-”
“Wait!” She shouted as the dragon reacted to his voice moving towards her. “We don’t have time for you to decide if I’m right, please Derek.” She pleaded with him.
She still hadn’t taken the chance in looking at him, but she could see the dragon’s eyes followed him.
Elanor knew when he’d come out by the reaction of the dragon, she’d solved the puzzle. Its head weaved back and forth but this time its chest didn’t build up for striking.
“Walk to the rail and throw the fish overboard.” Elanor said. After a moment, Derek moved in her far right side vision. He lifted the plate to show the dragon and then tossed it over the side. The ship gave a sudden lurch as the dragon thrust herself over as well. Clearly the dragon trusted her to finish the job without standing over them. Elanor got to her feet.
“Tell them to take all of the fish they caught this morning and throw it over board.” Elanor said to Derek.
“Go below and get all the fish barrels!” He barked to his crew. “Dump them all over board.” Men scrambled in a wave of movement all around. Elanor stood next to Derek by the rail, holding her breath. Below the dragon’s head weaved back and forth in the water. She was waiting for the rest of the fish. Elanor gasped as two small bodies were suddenly swimming next to her.
“Hatchlings!”
“How did you know to give her the food?” Derek asked.
“She came up on the side Steppe had brought me the fish from. Then she kept smelling me. Just me. Not you. Even when you were standing right next to me. She smelled the fish and blamed me for them being taken from her water. She said we took something. And there’s really only one thing you take out of the water.” There were sounds of splashing as each barrel was dumped overboard.
“She said take? She blamed you? What do you mean, blamed you?”
“I was able to sense what she wanted a little.” She didn’t look at him, instead watched the dragon let the hatchlings eat first and then pulled a fish up into the air to snap at it to gulp. Part of her wanted to just tell him about the thought casting. It had been the only rule her parents had made for her with Derek that she hadn’t broken. Sharing with him the full potential of what kind of witch she was.
“Why hasn‘t it ever done that before when we passed through here?” Caspin shouted from the wheel from above keep them on course for the Island.
“That’s a good question.” Derek said. One of his crew dumping a barrel spoke up then.
“We fished out of that pocket over there when we left, Captain. We haven’t in long time.”Derek nodded his head at the man, than looked to Elanor.
“Her hatchlings aren‘t very big. That does seem to make sense now.”
“She‘s setting up home. The only problem is where she’s setting the territory. Seems to be your normal path? Perhaps she just doesn’t want you stealing her fish.” They both watched the dragons attacking the fish floating on the surface of the water behind them. Derek looked towards the front of the boat at the shout from above. “Looks like we’re close to home.“ He said pointing. “We’ll make land in an hour.” She saw the darkening line of the horizon in front of them. Derek leaned out to look at the dragon getting small by the distance put between her and the ship.
“I can see why sailors love sea stories.” Elanor said.
“Can’t say I like dragons on my ship.” Derek said giving her a half grin.
She grinned back. “Well that was your first encounter, maybe the next one won’t be so bad?”
A snort in answer. “I‘d rather never see one again. I was happy in my stupidity. I thought they moved onto different realms like other magic creatures.” She leaned her elbows against the rail. “To be honest, so did I. I guess some still linger here like the Fae and some tribes. They just blend in unnoticed. Unless, you take their things I guess.” This time she’d made the joke, it had him grinning further.
“You were prepared to be its dinner when it looked as though it were going to attack me.” He said giving her an extra cheeky grin.
She gave a shrug, trying to make light of it, waving a hand in the air. “I couldn’t let it kill you anymore then I could let you kill it. All life has a right to live speech.”
He laughed. “Come on El. You were ready to take flight when it came up the main deck until it threaten me. You still care about me. Damn, that thing was huge and you were ready to face it. Must still be pretty strong feelings.” He said giving her a teasing side glance. She felt her heart pick back up in pace as he flirted with her. She knew he was pushing for her to admit there was something still between them. Of course she didn’t want to see him hurt. Still, with his easy acceptance of the dragon, she felt a spark of something inside. He’d always been this receptive to her caster world. Always been this accepting of her.
“Why did you believe I knew what to do?” She suddenly asked watching them do odd counter curse motions when they past her by. He leveled a gaze at her.
“Because I grew up with you talking endlessly about nature and things that I don’t understand around us. Maybe I didn’t believe it, but I still listened to you back then.” He gestured to his men. “They were taught different some of them but they believe too in their ways. You embrace it. I just deal with it.”
“I didn’t know what I was doing. I acted on memory and what my instinct told me to do..” She admitted.
“You did the best you could and it worked out. That’s the sailor’s life.”
Though the land mass grew as the dragon got smaller, Elanor still felt worried. She wasn’t exactly sure the problem had been solved. She finally voiced it.
“How long until we reach land?”
“Depends on how fast Caspin can get us through the reefs.” He pulled away from the rail and pointed to the cabin. “Go in there and rest until I come for you. We’ll all be on tea and biscuits until we do reach home.” Elanor didn’t argue with him, instead did head for the cabin. After the door closed, a frown surfaced on her face. Now there was the threat of a territorial dragon blocking her return home. Fate really knew how to make things tough on a girl. Magic in front of his crew, facing a dragon head on and thought casting! She sank into one of the chairs dazed. Elanor knew she’d have to learn how to thought cast better to prevent the dragon from being a problem on the return trip.