Minglings - Book 3 chapter 31: Caldera

Jake sighed as he sat in Emma's room. They had been wandering around the school for a while longer, and the evening was coming closer, the luminescent barrier above the city dimming rapidly.

"You're sure they know more than they are telling?" Emma asked quietly.

"Yeah, pretty sure. Either they already know where Mason is, or they have a better idea of the places he could be, then they are letting on," Jake said.

"So… why aren't they telling?"

Jake looked at her, surprised at both how well she was taking his message as well as how easily she seemed to believe he was right.

"There can be many reasons," Jake said as he put his head on his own back, curling up on himself slightly. "They could be trying to get leverage on me, or they are afraid I'll go there first and not go to the iceberg. There's also a chance that it's really dangerous, and they are just trying to keep me safe."

"That would be good, right?"

Jake grinned. "Yeah, because they are right. If I knew where Mason was, I'd be heading there right now. I guess that means we will… "

Jake blinked as he thought of something.

"Have to…" he muttered. "Ah!"

He nodded as he looked at the wall.

"What?" Emma asked.

"It's also possible that they are using this to make sure we return after the iceberg. Perhaps there is something in there, and they fear we might take it… or stay there instead of bringing it back."

"Like treasure?" Emma asked wide-eyed.

Jake let out a snort, then laughed as he shook his head. "How draconian of you," he said, laughing harder at her confused look. "Perhaps more eggs or some sort of resource that they need. I've heard some talk about flowers that they require, although I still haven't really figured out what they use them for.

Emma shrugged and kept walking around before finally jumping up and lying down against his side.

"Well, I don't care! I'm glad we are leaving, even if I'll miss my room… and the food. And some of my friends," she muttered the final bit, and Jake looked at her quietly.

Was he doing the right thing? Taking her along?

"Are you sure-"

"Yes!" Emma interrupted him, a look of fear on her face. "I was just saying things! I don't really care, and-"

"Emma, calm down," Jake said as he leaned closer, staring at her with a frown. "I'll not leave you here unless you want to. And even then, I think it's safer if you come with me. But that doesn't mean you can't miss things or friends here. You've been here for many months, perhaps even a year. It's normal for you to become attached!"

Emma nodded, staring at him for a moment before finally leaning back down.

"I wasn't worried," she sniffed, closing her eyes. "And stop treating me like a child."

Jake grinned, then looked at the door, pondering about what he should do. He wanted to talk to Calips and see what the odd kobold t thought. It would be good if he could come along, both his knowledge and company would prove useful. Besides, he could teach Emma more about magic.

I can think of a few reasons that they don't want to teach her, but as things stand, it's way better for her to be able to protect herself, he thought.

He continued thinking for a long time but eventually fell asleep.

–

Mason gazed forward, staring at the dark blue mass that spanned the horizon. A low but sprawling jungle spread out around the mouth of the river, creating a vast oasis of green between the pale sand and the ocean.

They had been flying for days, mostly feeding on the different types of monstrous wildlife that roamed the river and the jungle while sleeping in the desert. As they traveled, Clankrin had begun distancing himself from the others, only keeping close to Drayana and Roisille. He was also showing a ruthless and sharp intellect that was starting to worry Mason. From being demanding during hunting and overly aggressive if someone questioned him.

It worried Mason, and he'd started keeping his distance from the other. A soft flap made him look to the side at Faelina, and he couldn't help his gaze from drifting across her supple shape. Dark brown, almost black, her previously blood-red patches of scales had begun turning golden.

Just like mine, he thought with a grunt of annoyance as another itch came from the side of his belly. For a moment, he hesitated if he should scratch it off, then decided against it. He'd just have to endure it until they landed.

He'd lost count of how many scales he'd scratched off to reveal a new golden one, just like Faelina. They weren't the only ones either, as Baudron had small patches. On Faelina, it almost reminded him of freckles, but with Baudron, it looked like he was dirty, and the clean side was shining through.

A soft, salty breeze snapped him out of thinking about scales, dragon types, and mana-lits, as Baudron had called them. Instead, he looked forward at the distant ocean.

So, I reached the north side of this. Island? Continent? he thought.

He couldn't really tell anymore. He knew he had arrived on the western shore, then went inland and finally up. With the speed of his traveling, especially the flying part, he should have covered massive amounts of distances, so did that make this a continent? Or more a mega island like Greenland.

As he pondered the landmass below him, Clankin kept flying forward, showing no intention of moving away from the sea. Absently, he noted a few tiny boats moving within the wide entrance of the river. Tiny constructions peaked out from below the jungle's edges.

He blinked.

Wait… those are-

He snapped his head up to see Clankrin begin diving forward, straight toward the fishing boats.

"Clankrin!" Mason shouted as he sped up and after the other dragon.

Damnit, I shouldn't have let him get ahead that far!

The others let out confused and startled cries behind him, which he ignored.

"Clankrin!" Mason roared, louder this time, knowing he wasn't going to reach the other in time.

Clankrin looked back then around as if he expected something to attack him. When he didn't see anything, he turned to Mason.

"What?" he snarled.

"Don't attack them!" Mason shouted as he sped up. He could see the other's eyes glint in anger, his jaw set, and his mind sped up.

"If we start wiping out villages, they will send groups of mages after us! We aren't ready for that, so stop it!" Mason shouted, prepared to try and intercept the other if he could. He had no interest in being any part of some massacre of what looked like a bunch of backwater kobolds.

To his surprise, Clankrin stopped descending and circled back and toward him.

"Fine, I'll just remember this place and come back after we are ready," he hissed.

Mason shook his head, unable to hold back as his annoyance suddenly roared to the surface.

"Are you stupid? Those are all potential dragons!" he shouted in frustration and anger.

As soon as the words left from between his teeth, he regretted them as he saw Clankrin's glare harden.

"I'm. Not. Stupid," Clankrin bit back, his jaw opening as fire leaking from between his lips.

For two seconds, Mason thought he was going to attack him, and he prepared for the showdown. It wasn't when or where he'd wanted it, but over the last few days, it had become obvious to him that it was going to happen. As he glared back, pulling all of the heat he had in his belly up, he saw Clankrin frown. Then, slowly, the other's anger faded, and the glint of intelligence he'd seen many times returned.

"But, you… have a point. It's just that most kobolds will never become one and instead enact atrocities on us!"

Mason hesitated, then relaxed. Part of him was surprised at the speed at which Clankrin got a grip of himself, then again, ever since they had left the Hound's eye, all of their temperaments had become less explosive.

"I know," he said as he took a quick look at Baudron, who was flying nearby.

To his surprise, he saw the brown dragon's eyes were locked on Clankrin, his jaw set. Would he have joined in if something had happened? Mason looked around and blinked. All of the other dragons were circling around them, all seeming ready to fight. There was also an instant clear divide, with Siobahn and Faelina hovering near Baudron while Roisille and Drayana reluctantly hung circled on the other side, eyeing both him and the others. There was only one dragon that wasn't there.

"But even then. Even if only a few turn into dragons, they are able to reproduce, and we aren't! We should never wipe them out," he said, massively distracted.

Maru was hovering to the side and much lower, staring at something near the jungle. As he followed Maru's gaze, he forgot whatever he wanted to say next and instead grunted a curse.

Two dozen kobolds dressed in little more than hides and rags, all with spears, stood huddled together, looking up at them.

"If they attack me, I'll eat them," Clankrin grunted.

Mason threw him a quick look and saw that the red dragon was staring down at the grouped kobolds with a dangerous glint in his eye.

"No need. Let's just leave and head to that ancient barrier," Mason said.

Clankrin sniffed, looked at him, and finally turned to begin flying up and to the east, away from the river.

Mason held back a relieved sigh and followed him slowly, letting some distance appear between them. As he did, Roisille and Drayana sped up, flying closer to Clankrin.

Great, even more of a divide, Mason thought. Well done, dammit. You couldn't keep your mouth shut.

He shook his head. It didn't matter. He wasn't planning on staying with Clankrin too much longer. Besides, he was pretty sure Clankrin didn't want that either.

He just wants my help getting through that barrier, he thought as he recalled their original deal.

Hoping they would reach their destination soon, he heard a louder flap and looked up to see Faelina fly beside him. Her gaze was kept on the three dragons ahead of them.

"You need to keep an eye on him," she whispered, flying as close to him as possible without their wings hitting each other. "I've seen this before… he wants to be in charge, and as much as he seems willing to share, he is going to snap soon. Especially after what happened just now."

Mason nodded, slightly distracted by the beautiful golden circles that were not in her eyes. Had those always been there? Her soft laugh drew him back out, and he quickly looked back to where Clankrin was flying.

"If need be, I'll deal with him," he said.

"If that happens, me and the others will help by keeping those two fools from interfering," Faelina said.

She changed a lot after we left those mountains, Mason thought. Was it because they weren't being influenced or because of those golden scales?

Wait… is that another reason why I'm less angry than when I was in the volcano?

He tried to recall if his mood had shifted a lot after he'd left the desert and couldn't determine if it had. He had always had a fiery personality, but he felt slightly better now than before… maybe.

They continued flying ahead, and after half a day, a mountainous region appeared in the distance. A plume of smoke trickled up from the side of one that seemed to have collapsed while the jungle moved into a dark green forest that covered parts of the hills and stretched out far beyond it.

All those plants have to mean there is water there, Mason thought, wondering if there was some kind of underground river.

A sudden slight pull and a desire to go toward the volcano made him blink. It had been days since he'd last sensed the pull, and as before, it felt weak. Ever since he had begun gaining more golden scales, the pull had become less frequent and weaker. It was something that hadn't gone unnoticed to him.

So, based on all I know, and if Clankrin was right about there being more of those ancient dragons, whatever is down there is red, he thought. That meant that he had no idea how some ancient dragon would react to him and his dual scales.

"Clankrin, is that where we are going?" he shouted.

Clankrin turned his red scaly head around and snorted. "Yes, we will arrive near the ruins shortly!"

Mason waited until the other had turned back around before glancing at Faelina to make sure she was listening. He hadn't actually told her exactly what Clankrin had told him.

"He wants our help to get through a barrier behind which he thinks is some ancient dragon," he said, ignoring how her eyes widened. "There are ruins there, older even than those in the Hound's eye, or so he says."

Faelina nodded, and he saw her eyes dilate turning to look ahead, probably thinking about what he'd said. A quick check showed him that Baudron and Maru were flying above and behind them. Baudron's eyes were locked on Clankrin.

He probably changed the least, Mason thought before checking on Siobahn.

Faelina's somewhat dimwitted friend was flying behind them, looking all around with interest.

If it comes to a fight, it will be me against Clankrin and then four against two. Clankrin is far from stupid. He won't let it get to that unless he is sure he will win, Mason thought.

It didn't take them long to reach the edge of the forest. As they grew nearer, Mason saw it wasn't as dense as the jungle along the river had been. Instead, it reminded him more of the old forests back home. As he thought about that, a few images of a town and familiar streets spun through his mind before dissipating just as fast.

So weird that I never think about it, he thought.

Ahead of him, Clankrin was turning towards a hill with only a few trees, landing there and waiting for them.

So, now we are going to get the final bit of information, Mason thought.

As he landed, he saw Clankrin say something to the two female red dragons. Then he turned to Mason.

"We are close to the ruins," he said, pointing at a dense stretch of forest that was nestled between the volcano and another mountain. "Now that we're here-"

Here we go, Mason thought.

"It's time I tell you the other reason I needed your help."

"Which is?" Mason thought, narrowing his eyes.

"When I was young, there were rumors of dragons in those ruins. I never saw one, but others that I know… knew, have."

Mason noticed the tightness in Clankrin's voice.

"So, you think we might have to fight others?" Mason asked slowly. "If they are dragons, why would we have to fight them?"

Clankrin snorted. "As if all dragons get along. Besides, the rumors were that they were black and purple, which makes sense as most of the dragon-blooded lizards are those colors. That mean's they aren't anything like us... who knows what they will do when they see us?"

Mason blinked, then blinked again as he recalled the conversation after they had left the Hound's Eye. Faelina had talked about them and their ability to control minds, but back then, Clankrin hadn't said anything.

Well... not exactly, he thought. Clankin had been annoyed and short and wanted to leave.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" he asked.

"Everyone keeps secrets," Clankrin snapped before turning to the forest. "You have yours. Now that you know, let's head to the ruins and the barrier."

Without waiting for Mason's response, Clankrin jumped up and sped away.

"We have to be really careful," Faelina hissed. "Purple dragons are said to be very dangerous. When I was still a kobold, the elders told stories about them, saying that, of all the drake- dragons, they were the worst."

Mason nodded. "Alright, let's be careful then. But if possible, I want to refrain from fighting."

Faelina nodded and a quick look around got similar reactions from the others.

As he jumped and flew after the rapidly distancing Clankrin, Mason wondered if he should be happy if there weren't any purple dragons or sad. If there was one, it might be able to help him get a message to Sandra, but it also might mean a fight he didn't need.

They flew across the forest, which became nearly impenetrably dense as they moved inside the shadow of the mountain. From this far, he could see that the volcano had probably exploded at some point and never recovered. The tip was flat and crumbled, with its sides overgrown. For all intents and purposes, it looked old and dead.

Caldera, Mason thought as he recalled a term from school.

The towering trees below and ahead looked just as old.

As they flew between them, Mason noticed a thin, pale, spiraling tower between a tightly clustered set of trees. He only got a quick look, then shot past. However, only moments later he saw another. Then the trees opened up, and they flew out over a grassy valley. All around them were the remains of a city, most of the buildings and walls reduced to their foundations. Only the buildings on the outskirts seemed to have survived whatever had happened, while all the way at the end, a large pale building lay like a crumpled heap, partially up the volcano's side.

Mason focused on a few of the towers and nodded.

Right, so that's definitely elven enough, he thought.

"There's a dragon up ahead," Faelina shouted, and Mason looked up ahead.

Clankrin had slowed down and begun descending while up ahead, a large, black and purple dragon with an array of short spikes was observing their approach.

Great… let's see what happens, Mason thought.