C11 Chapter 11

The mountains are calling!

In the next few days, they never managed to visit Erogat. Gomek had to help his parents with the harvest, and Dana was busy supporting Tala with household chores. In addition, more visits to the ministry of science were in order, where Dana had to inform those in power of the latest progress. But at some point, she finally managed to wrestle free some time for her and went off to search for her trainer.

Erogat had gotten uneasy already and was pushing her to answer an incredible amount of questions right away. After Dana had finished her detailed report, he was desperate to find out more about the stranger. “The description you’ve given me sounds so familiar…! It could be Maschgart, one of the most powerful wizards. If you could find him, he would be the right one to teach you even more. Maybe he is even the right person to solve the problem of our lost time and people.”

After telling her this, he had her show him the books. Afterwards, he gave her some more tasks that were supposed to further her abilities even more. Later, now that he had some time for himself and away from the two, he could turn to his books. A good two hours later – he had hardly gotten anything done – Dana was standing in front of him, demanding to know what he’d found out so far.

“Not much...”, he complained, because Shari was keeping him from his studies.

To his dismay, he had forgotten to give the pixie a task. What would she be doing anyway? Whatever Dana studied, she knew about as well, thanks to their special connection.

His impeccable manners and fine schooling kept him from blowing up, but he let Dana feel that he was uneasy.

“Well, Dana, no – I haven’t found out much yet”, he mumbled. “Only this much: Deep inside these mountains, there’s supposed to be a camp for dragons. Nobody knows the precise location, or even knows how to get there. I hope, after studying these books, and …” he shot her a warning glance, “if I’m not getting interrupted all the time, I might find more clues hidden in this book.”

Erogat hesitated and seemed to ponder something, then he continues much friendlier.

“I’ve got another task for you. You’ve got to get up on the mountain to find out what happened there, and so we can rectify whatever it is. We can’t do that from the outside. Your abilities are weakened by this time-room-conundrum as it is. Also, you’re not quite ready to face this problem on your own. So – through the depth of the mountain it is.”

Once he’d announced this, he led Dana over to his desk and pointed to an object that was halfway hidden behind his papers.

“I can use this crystal to see everything that’s going on around me. If you activate him and hold him in your hand like this…”

He showed her how she was supposed to handle the crystal.

“The tip must be pointing upwards, then I can see everything around you. The crystal will make it possible for us to keep up communication.”

Afterwards, he floated over to the picture wall, repeated his gesture, and a picture appeared – the plaza of Dana’s hometown. The second, reversed gesture, had the picture disappear.

“Now you’ve got to activate the crystal.”

Erogat looked at her expectantly. Dana snipped her fingers against the crystal until it started gleaming. A picture appeared immediately on Erogat’s wall, showing him her immediate surroundings. She started speaking into the crystal and her voice sounded over to her from the other side of the room, obviously coming from the wall that was showing the image.

“It’s still working!”, Erogat announced proudly as he floated back over to Dana.

“Now I’ve only got to show you how to activate the monoliths, because you will surely have to use them on this expedition of yours.”

That explanation didn’t last much longer than the previous one. In the end, she returned home, but not without more well-meant advice. Erogat was sort of glad that he’d be rid of the little gang for a while, if only to lose himself in his studies.

Back in the city, Dana, Gomek, and Shari discussed how to proceed. Their parents had to be informed, and they needed equipment, and most importantly a map of the route.

It took them days until they were ready to go. The biggest problem for Dana was finding a map that pictured the inside of the mountain. But Toben was happy to help. His great grandfather had been an enthusiastic expeditioner, and he had written a log, as well as drawn maps. Toben knew that he had also talked about a way to get up on the top.

Dana worked through the logs for almost two days until she found a map and painfully exact description of the route they would be taking. It was time to get going. Saying goodbye to her parents wasn’t as easy as she’d hoped it would be. Tala didn’t want to let her go. She said it was too dangerous. After some back and forth – and the promise to be incredibly cautious! – she could go after all, but only if somebody accompanied her. Gomek didn’t have any problems at all. His parents had stopped trying to keep him in check. That’s why they met at the plaza where they said all their goodbyes.

Both were carrying large backpacks. Miss Hurry peered out from Dana’s – after all, they needed a way to communicate with the people that were staying behind. In addition, the packs were loaded to the brim with groceries and other stuff they needed to survive in the wilderness. Dana didn’t want to depend on her magical abilities. After her last few tries with Erogat, she didn’t want to trash every place they stopped in with endless trees, oats, or wheats. Also, her parents had set off a place in their home where they would always put out food that she could call to herself whenever she pleased.

Equipped like that, they started marching towards the waterfall. Per the log, the path started up there. Dana had the uncertain feeling that apparently, all her adventures started up there. When they reached the waterfall, they visited Aldo first. He was happy to see them and started throwing them a welcome party. Dana and Gomek, who were in a rush, didn’t manage to get out of that, after all. Aldo wanted to hear about everything the two of them had experienced in the months prior, and what they were getting ready to do.

“We’ve got to get to the other side of the waterfall. That’s where our search begins. Only if we use the unknown parts of the cave system, we’ll find a way upwards. You must activate the bridge for us. That’s why we’re here.”

“No problem. You can use the bridge tomorrow morning.”

“There is a problem…!” Dana swallowed, since she didn’t want to seem ungrateful. “We have to go tonight, because the first large cave has these flying creatures that attack all the travelers they see. They’re only sleeping at night, and that’s when we have to get past them.”

“How do you know that?” The old dwarf was nosy.

“We tested it?! And also, that’s what it says in Nargot’s log. Nargot was Toben’s grandfather.” Aldo looked at her in surprise.

“Don’t believe everything that old swashbuckler wrote down without questioning it first. I knew him … well. When I was a little boy, I used to listen to his tales, but one day he just didn’t return. He was a daredevil.”

He rose from his seat, politely asking them to get their things and follow him to the bridge. Once there, he activated the bridge for the three of them. Afterwards, they crossed said bridge, but not without bidding a warm goodbye to Aldo and thanking him for his help. On the other side, once they’d reached the tunnel and were getting ready to go in, Gomek grabbed her arm.

“Hold on a second. I’ve got something for you.”

He took off his backpack, opened it, and pulled out a belt. Beaming, he handed it to Dana.

“A gift to you. I have enhanced it with protective runes. You never know. It’s a full-on shield, really, and it’s tough. I’ve got one too. See?”

He lifted his jacket and showed Dana his belt. Shari, who buzzed over immediately, also wanted a pretty gift from him, but Gomek had to turn her down.

“I’m working on it. But making something so small – I don’t have enough practice for that. If I ever succeed, you’ll get one, too.”

That was it! Shari was furious again, even though Dana could have really used her light in this tunnel. But until Shari would be calmed down again, they needed to use light crystals to illuminate their path. There wasn’t natural lighting in this part. Dana had calculated the time they’d need for the path well. And that’s why they crossed the way up high on the wall in total darkness. Halfway there, Gomek got second thoughts after all:

“And what if these flying beasts show up in the darkness, after all…?” He frowned and peered down.

Dana laughed and pointed at Shari. “We’ve still got our secret weapon…Shari’s light!”

But Dana still couldn’t keep herself from leaning over the edge time and again. She peered at the jungle. It was jet- black down there, and so there wasn’t much to see. She only saw the occasional fire gleaming through the leaves. She decided she’d research the jungle someday, too, if she ever found a way. It was hard work following the path in the darkness, but they managed.

Over the next days, they stopped in the same places they had used to rest on their last trip. Even the overnight stays took place in the same locations. At night, when they were sitting in front of the fire and weren’t tired enough to sleep yet, but also didn’t have anything else to talk about anymore, they placed “Cyclops”. That’s what Dana had dubbed the wizards’ game. They created small Golems … one made of pebbles, the other made of either ice or fire – and then had the tiny figures fight each other. Dana won most of the time, but Gomek didn’t mind. It was good practice for him and he had fun doing it, which made him stand apart from his species, because, as everyone knew, they weren’t on good footing with magic and wizardry. A few days passed before they reached the lava caves. Dana looked around curiously. “Up until here, I’m familiar with everything. But now we have to find the place leading us upwards into unknown territory.”

They put up camp, dug the log out from their bags, and studied it intently. Dana had often checked the look during their trip and had realized where they could find the entrance that was marked down on the map. The descriptions in the book were utterly helpful as well.

The actual search for the entrance was a lot harder than they had expected it to be. Since the lava caves were still active, there had been several changes in the past centuries. But luckily, they had Shari with them. It was mostly thanks to her curiosity that they found the upwards tunnel. Over the centuries, a stalagmite had formed in front of it, so that it wasn’t easy to discover at all. Now that they had managed it after all, they rested a while to be fit for the next episode of their adventure. Before they could start though, Miss Hurry was sent home to their parents with a report and lots of hugs, because they didn’t want anybody to be worried sick about them. After all, things were going exceptionally well so far.

After a few hours of rest – if you could even call it that, because Shari was being annoying and wanted to get going right away – they were now standing in front of the stalagmite. Unfortunately, it was growing in such a way that Shari was the only one who could slip past it with ease. Dana thought about what she’d learned from Erogat.

“Blasting it away is probably unhelpful in an active lava cave”, she mumbled.

Finally, she found a practical solution, and started putting her idea into practice right away. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the stalagmite. After a few unsuccessful tries, her magic finally penetrated the inner structure of the stone. There she changed the crystal pattern, so that the connections between the molecules were breaking up. She opened her eyes again and stretched out her hand. It was easy to get the stone out of the way now. At the first touch of her hand, the stalagmite collapsed like a dry sandcastle. Gomek was ecstatic. “Can I try this with the next one?” “Sure…” Dana shot him a deep look. “But maybe you should practice with smaller objects. This kind of magic is tough and mistakes happen easily. Believe me, you don’t want that. Any mistake could make the exact opposite of what you want happen.”

She gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder and then stepped into the tunnel. Gomek followed silently, thinking about what she’d said. He was lost in thought and looked around for Shari. She wasn’t anywhere to be seen, as she wanted to be the first one to discover the new territory.

For hours, they followed the same tunnel, which, as it turned out, was a steep incline. Dana checked the log every now and again, trying to find out how long their ascend would last. She didn’t find anything apart from the information that the tunnel was supposed to lead into a cave at some point. In that cave, there was apparently a small village that was home to strange creatures. They weren’t worried about that though, because the creatures were supposed to be peaceful and welcoming.

A few days later – in the meantime they came across more areas they could use to rest – they reached a village. It seemed abandoned and run-down. They followed the pace until they reached the main plaza of the village. There, they looked around and discovered one of the creatures they had read about in the log. It was only about a meter tall, and had scales for skin, huge blurry eyes, and the mouth of a toad. Dana’s first thought was that the creature looked like a frog walking upright on short legs.

It walked with a limp, braced itself on a walking cane, and approached the small group. Without any further ado, it started talking, but the language was only understood by Dana and Shari. It reminded them a little of the duckrep’s colloquial language.

“Are you coming from Nargot, the traveler? He promised to come back for a visit last time we saw him. He offered us his help with fighting the monster that’s threatening our village.”

One flat thumb pointed over his shoulder. “Not exactly.” Dana cast an emphatic look at the creature. “His diary lead us here, and now we’re looking for a way up onto the mountain. Nargot is lost somewhere, we think. He might even be dead. What kind of creature are you? We have never seen your species before.”

“We are calling ourselves Leuras, and we are probably the last of our kind. We’re coming from the sea, but now we’re forever bound to this land. After a creature abducted us thousands of years ago, we managed to escape from our former habitat. We hid here, and built a new home for our community. When Nargot found us, our village was nice and well taken care of. We only had one problem – a powerful creature was threatening us again and again. Nargot offered to help us. But now, I fear, nobody will help us anymore.” Dana pondered his words.

“If you help us to find a way towards the top of the mountain, I will try to talk to the creature and get him to leave you in peace. Or maybe I can get rid of it.” “You can talk to other creatures?” His amphibian eyes looked puzzled.

“Sure thing. I understand you, too, don’t I? And there are many more I can talk to, even animals.”

After that interesting conversation, another creature who’d introduced himself as Tront, lead them to his hut where they could rest. There, she informed Gomek about the conversation. He, of course, hadn’t understood a word, apart from the odd croak. While Dana was talking, his face continuously grew paler.

“A creature? Tall and powerful? … And we are supposed to vanquish it? What kind of troll has gotten into you?” Gomek was staring at her, his mouth agape.

But Dana soothingly replied: “I can talk to the creature, and if worse comes to worst, we’ll solve the rest by using our magic. And anyway, they’re helping us find the right way. Go to sleep now. Tomorrow will be a long day.”

She activated the crystal to contact Erogat. She explained her problem to him and asked for his advice.

“Technically, it’s not a problem. If the creature doesn’t cooperate, you just shrink it. You just have to get close enough. Freeze the thing and shrink it. That should work.”

They exchanged a few more words, then Dana ended the “call” to also finally go to bed. She expected the next day to be exciting as well as exhausting.

The next morning, she met Tront. He wanted to personally bring her to the beast’s hideout. There was a lot more life in the village this early in the morning. Plenty of Leuras had left their hiding places outside the village and had returned to greet the new arrivals. Word had spread that the visitors were thinking about sacrificing their own safety for them. Afterwards, Dana and Tront set off on a long path through winding tunnels, until they reached a passage to a dark, seemingly threatening cave.

“This is it. This is where the monster lives. Good luck to you. I will be waiting. You know that I don’t want to end up as monster fodder.” “Understood”, Dana grumbled and turned to her new friend. “Then let’s go. Let’s see what’s waiting for us.”

They cautiously entered the cave. A horrible stank blew around their noses – a terrifying stench of death. Right away, the felt that they were not alone. Something or someone was watching them. Dana assigned Gomek to watch the entrance of the cave. Shari was supposed to fly up high and search for the monster.

As Dana walked deeper into the cave, she heard something. The scary noise came closer slowly. At first, she couldn’t place it. Steadily, quietly, it approached. Finally, she realized what it was. Now Dana knew what the quiet rustling reminded her of – it was the gliding of a body over the ground. Before Shari could alarm her, a horrifying head of a snake appeared in front of Dana.

“Hey, little lady, all alone here, not afraid – what do you want? Do you want me to eat you?” Derision and arrogance colored the reptile’s voice.

Dana looked deep into his eyes, her glance unwavering.

“I was send here by the Leuras. You need to disappear! or you will regret it.”

All the snake did was start laughing. Without the barest hint, it suddenly started attacking Dana. The attack came out of the blue and was so quick and precisely aimed, that it would have probably been successful if not for her little pixie. Shari, who had seen the whole thing and had been more attentive than her friend, had hurled a bolt of lightning towards the monster, which had gotten distracted from Dana. Shari flew one attack after the other, hurling lightning bolts at the creature with impressive speed. This gave Dana the time to prepare her next step. Water, as Erogat had suggested, wasn’t anywhere in reach – but air, and tons of it. That’s why she thickened the air around the snake as much as she could, until the reptile was caught in a cage. The snake hated it; it thrashed around, banged against the sides, crashed and cursed, all to get out of the prison. But nothing helped. After an unfair fight, it was finally locked into a cocoon made from air, and had been left immobilized.

“You should have disappeared when you had the chance.”

Dana’s voice was calm. Nobody could have known how exhausting it was for her to keep the magic up. What now? She still had to shrink the snake. Two actions at once – that was a little too much for her now. She sent Shari off to get Gomek. He was supposed to create a prison with his rune magic that was big enough to fit the humungous reptile inside. At least until she was done shrinking it. No sooner said than done! He didn’t need long for his preparations. Afterwards, Gomek gallantly executed his rune magic. Then, Dana was ready to get going. Under the loud protests of the snake, the thing shrank and shrank until it was hardly bigger than a little worm, which the two packed into a sack that Dana had brought along in case they needed to store something. Once they had rested up a little to recover from the exertion of doing that much magic, they delivered their personal present to Tront.

“And don’t forget to feed it. A small terrarium might be nice.”

Tront beamed at them, his eyes gleaming. He wordlessly accepted the strange gift. He could hardly believe what he’d watched from the entrance of the cave. Silently, he lifted the sack into the air and softly shook it. “Yes, it really is in there”, Dana smiled.

“Let’s get back. There’s nothing else to do here”, Dana announced happily and approached the tunnel that would bring them back to the village.

They didn’t talk much on the way back. Dana used the time to ponder why the snake hadn’t kept her original weight. Erogat had explained to her that while you could change the volume of an object, it was virtually impossible to change their weight. But that was exactly what had happened. The snake was still much heavier than a worm of the same size, but it was nothing compared to the weight it had had before.

At some point, she would have to discuss that phenomenon with Erogat. Maybe he had a solution.

Their journey back to the village was peaceful. Everyone was happy that they had all gotten out completely unscathed. Dana had to repeat the story of how she’d captured the creature to Tront again and again. Once they got to the village, a true party broke loose, celebrating the heroes. All the inhabitants of the village had gathered to cheer for them as much as they could. Dana was embarrassed by the whole shebang, but Shari happily bathed in the acknowledgement. Tront explained to Dana that they planned to sacrifice the snake at the celebration. “No way!”, Dana refused.

“Why should we sacrifice it? It didn’t do anything bad to us. It’s her nature to take down living targets. Are you vegetarians? … I think not.” Tront thought about it.

“You are right. We will build a cage for her, take care of the things as well as we can.” He possibly didn’t say that without any ulterior motive. Because he knew that the sake would much rather be free than live under the watchful eye of the villagers.

And so, in the end, the happy celebration started, lasting two full days. Once the friends had rested from the happy party, they searched out Tront.

“We have to leave now. There is a long way ahead of us yet.”

“Already?” Tront looked disappointed. “We still wanted to measure you. You know, to build a statue of our heroes.” “Oh, that won’t be necessary. We were happy to help. If you could help us out with somebody to give us directions to our destination, that would be wonderful. You promised you would.”

He started talking to a young Leuraman. Dana thought he was a man, at least. When they were done talking, he turned back to them.

“This is Ral, the best hunter in our middle, and he knows his way around this area like no one else. Good luck to you.”

The small group left, accompanied by the loud applause of the villagers. Everyone was glad to get going again, only Shari was mad as all get-out. She would have loved to see a statue of herself standing on the plaza.