Minglings - Book 3 chapter 20: Lord of Golden Peaks

"So, let me guess, Sandra sent you here to make sure that I do as she says?"

Yeah, and she definitely didn't tell me that you are smarter than you look, Mason thought.

"Yes," he said after a while.

Clankrin snorted out a tiny gust of flame as he moved to a rock and lay down across it as if it was some couch.

"Bloody cold-blooded," he said. "And, are you going to do what she wants? Keep me in check? You're probably strong enough for that… for now."

Mason moved to another rock, leaning against it and rubbing an area on his back that was itching. He absently wondered if it was the same as when he was in the desert. Back then, he'd lost red scales for pale golden ones, perhaps now he was here, it would be the other way around?

"It depends on what your plans are," he said as he stared at Clankrin, trying to determine what the burly red dragon was up to. He'd said he wanted to create a state or something. Had that been a joke, or?

Clankrin gazed back at him for a while before snorting again.

"Fine, I'll let you judge then. At least you had the guts to come here instead of hiding out there in those ruins. Do you still feel the pull?"

Mason blinked, then blinked again. He hadn't even thought about the insistent pull in a while it had been stronger initially, but as he'd traveled through the desert for what seemed like ages, it had dulled more and more.

"What? Don't tell me you don't feel it because of those stupid yellow scales of yours? You've got a lot of red ones! Is it coming from over there?" Clankrin said as he pointed toward the general direction of the exit tunnel.

Mason looked at where he was pointing, and with a little focus, he realized Clankrin was right. There was something in that direction, similar to back in the desert, that was drawing him. But it was weak. Even weaker than the one he'd sensed in the desert.

"I feel it… like some distant whisper."

"Like a blood itch you can't get rid of," Clankrin agreed as he let out a dull laugh. "It used to be stronger, further towards the north. Not sure why it's weaker here, but it's been ever so slowly going weaker as if it's…."

"Dying," Mason added, realizing that was exactly what it felt like.

"Right, right!" Clankrin said, sounding enthusiastic that Mason understood. "So, there's this legend from long ago that says that stupid Hound wasn't the only one that big. There were more, but something happened, and they all died while the Hound turned crazy," Clankrin said as he scratched his jaw, pulling a scale-free.

"How do you know that?" Mason asked, wondering if it was even real. It sounded like some fairy tale. The Hound seemed real enough, though.

"I came from the east coast, those stuck-up fools in the south and west think there's nobody living there anymore…Well, I guess they are almost right," he said, grinning.

He keeps getting sidetracked, Mason thought with a frown. Was he going to explain what that feeling was and what it had to do with other big dragons?

"Just a few tiny fishing villages and two towns that I know off in the Drywoods. Anyway, there's another ruin there. Much older, though, with odd spiral towers and weird statues. When I was still a kobold, I used to walk around them, and there were all these faded images on their walls."

Mason leaned forward, suddenly curious again. That doesn't sound familiar at all! He thought sarcastically.

"What kind of images?"

"Different from the ones in here," Clankrin said.

Wait? He knows? How? Mason thought as he blinked stupidly. He'd somehow imagined that Sandra and the others would have kept that a secret. Then again. They hadn't said it was, right?

Clankrin let out a dull laugh. "Surprised? Bah! Everyone thinks that I'm stupid. I heard some rumors and snuck in. Sad story almost made me cry. But I'm pretty sure the other images I saw are older."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Mason said suddenly.

"What do you mean, why? Because I want you to help me instead of those fools up there!" the red dragon snapped, his eyes burning. "They just want to try and save as many dragons and bring them here. Bloody little weaklings! There's no safety here! Not with the Hound!"

"Alright, then, how about you get to the point," Mason snapped.

"Right, right! It'll make sense in a moment," Clankrin said as he laughed. "Right, where was I? Oh, right! Those bloody fools want to rebuild these ruins instead of being smart and taking over one of the smaller cities up north. What we need are mages and their bloody books! I checked around here and asked a bit, but there's nothing about magic here as if it all got wiped away. You'd almost think-"

Mason growled deep in his throat, and Clankrin blinked, then grinned.

"Impatient, aren't you? Fine! So, we need magic books, scrolls, or people to teach us magic. And the only way to get that is to grab a city! Those ancient ruins up there are useless in guarding us from the Hound. What we need to do is find the dragon that's calling us and-"

"What? What dragon?" Mason shouted, trying to keep the muddled story straight in his head.

"One of the big ones that I saw on those images in those ruins, of course," Clankrin said as he scratched at his chin again. "Could have sworn I told you that just now. There used to be more of them, and I think what I'm feeling is one."

Mason took a deep breath, trying to calm himself as he gazed at the rock below Clankrin. As he focused on the sense again, he guessed it wouldn't be too far-fetched for there to be some ancient dragon calling them. Why, though?

"What exactly did you see in those images?" he asked.

"Ah, nothing really that special. Some images of war, like those you saw, but way more faded. They were really impressive, though. Beautiful colors and so vivid that what was left almost looked real. No convenient texts below it, though," Clankrin said as he frowned. "Odd creatures on them too. A bit like those goblins from the stories, but tall and skinny."

Tall skinny goblins? Don't tell me…

"Did they have pointy ears and long hair and stuff?" Mason asked softly.

"Yeah! And they had these really funny hatchlings who were way too wide and had hair on their faces! I think I laughed for an hour seeing that. I wonder what kind of eggs those things came from."

So elves and dwarves? Or at least something very similar, Mason thought. He hesitated, wondering if it wasn't just some person from the Earth that had drawn them there. They must have found those ruins during the first wake when the dragons were searching around.

Instead of thinking about it, he focused on what Clankrin had told him, slowly weaving through the mess until he managed to distill a question.

"So, why do you want to learn magic if your goal is to find the ancient dragon you think we are hearing?" he finally asked.

Clankrin laughed and slid off the stone before scratching his back and peeling off a few scales that he tossed in the nearby lava.

"Well, I think I know where he is. The problem is, I just can't get to him," he said. "Which is why I've been telling you all this!"

"..."

"You already know where he is," Mason said slowly. "Why didn't you just start with that?"

Clankrin laughed, taking a deep breath and blowing a stream of dark smoke into the air.

"Because I'm not sure he's there. Anyway, now do you understand? We shouldn't stay here or try to save all our brothers and sisters right now. What we need to do is find the dragon calling us before it dies!"

Mason took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment before focusing on the burly red dragon who was staring at him. The glint in his eye suddenly seemed far less conniving than before.

I seriously need to talk with Sandra, he thought as he grunted.

"So, where do you think that ancient dragon is?" he finally said.

"What? Weren't you paying attention? North, just above the Hound's Eye, is another set of volcanoes. It's actually part of the same mountain range."

"And what is stopping you from going in?"

"The magical rune barrier, of course?" Clankrin exclaimed wide-eyed. "Well… that and the lake of lava, which is why I need to get strong enough to swim in the lava."

Mason's eyelid began twitching, and he gritted his teeth. "What magical rune barrier," he asked as calmly as he could.

Clankrin blinked, cocked his head as if he was thinking about it, then smirked. "Right, forgot to tell you that! So there's a volcano there, but it collapsed. There's a single entrance, big enough for a big dragon, but there's this weird blue and green barrier before it. I tried torching it, but it didn't do anything. There are silver glowing runes on the inside, though some are faded and a few even gone. Behind it is this massive lake of lava that, and from what I could see, the runes continue along the tunnel down into the lava."

Mason couldn't help but frown as he leaned back again. All of this sounded like someone had locked someone down there, and if that was the thing they were sensing.

"So, why didn't you just tell Sandra this?"

"What? That stuck-up bitch? All she keeps rambling about is fortifying our location, freeing more dragons, and making sure we don't draw the attention of those mages. If I'd told her, she'd just have added it to her pile of things to do. Bah!" Clankrin said, his voice going up a few pitches at the end as if he was mimicking Sandra.

Mason couldn't help to grin. It did sound a bit like Sandra. Still, he was pretty sure she wouldn't swipe this under the rug. If there really was some ancient dragon hiding out somewhere, it could be an invaluable resource!

"Alright… I believe you," he said, causing Clankrin to laugh and nod.

"Great! Let's go find a way to learn how to swim in-"

"But," Mason shouted, silencing the brute, whose eyes narrowed instantly. "We are going to talk to Sandra about this."

"What? Are you crazy? She's just going to be afraid of angering those mages, and besides, she can't even sense it! Not a single red scale on her whole body!" Clankrin roared angrily.

"Wait? Only red dragons can sense it?" Mason asked.

Clankrin rumbled a bit before shrugging. "We can sense this one. I've heard from a few others that they felt the pull but from different directions. There used to be another yellow dragon here, with only a few red scales, and he kept jammering about sensing something in the sands of the dragons. He left shortly after I came here- he was the previous leader of the red-scales. Stupid, that. He barely had a red-scale himself!"

Mason hummed softly as he listened to Clankrin ramble while thinking about what they should do. After a while, he looked up.

"Let's go talk with Sandra."

"What? Didn't you listen to me?" Clankrin snapped. "I've been trying to get her to attack a few of those mages for many moons, and she just doesn't want to!"

"She will if there's a good reason for it," Mason said before hesitating.

He gazed at the ground, recalling how much he'd changed. Besides, although he knew Sandra from when she was a kobold, how much did he really know about her? After a few moments, he shrugged.

"And if she doesn't want to, we can just go up north. I want to see those other ruins and that collapsed volcano."

Clankrin snorted before spitting out a small gout of flame. "Bah, I think you are making a mistake, but fine. But I'm not going up there, so you just tell her. If she wants to talk to me, she can meet me near the exit here."

"What? You're telling me that you are afraid of a bit of cold?" Mason snorted.

"A bit of cold? It's cold enough to freeze my scales off up there," Clankrin grunted. "Now, go talk to your stupid queen, and I'll wait here and hunt another Sharwig."

Mason didn't move, staring at the burly red dragon. If he hunted and killed another one, would he grow stronger again? Wait, why hadn't he been killing these things nonstop? He hesitated for a moment, then snorted. What did it matter if he asked?

"Why haven't you been eating those things nonstop?" he asked.

Clankrin blinked, then burst out laughing. He continued for a few more seconds, then slowly stopped as he stared at Mason.

"Wait… you're not joking? By the Hound, how are you still alive?"

Mason frowned. Was he missing something? He'd not heard anything about eating stuff being a problem. Besides, he'd eaten nonstop before, and nothing happened!

"Everyone knows this," Clankrin said as he cracked his back. "If you eat too much, you grow too fast, and you go insane! But don't worry about me. I've been paying close attention and have refrained from eating for over a week! I"

Clankrin's eyes gleamed again as he gazed at Mason, who had the feeling the other was going to say something. However, Clankrin just grinned, jumped up, and flew away.

Watching him go off, Mason sniffed before looking around.

So… eating too much causes you to grow too much and causes you to go crazy? That sounds like bullshit, Mason thought as he jumped into the air, bringing his wings down as powerfully as he could. It was time to have a chat with Sandra!

His trip through the tunnels was annoying as he realized he didn't know the exact way and got lost a few times. Eventually, he used the cold air current to find the exit, and when he shot out, he grimaced at the cold. After having been inside the volcano for over a day, the cold seemed even more horrible.

Wondering how Salvo was doing, he rushed up the mountain, keeping an eye on the swirling mass of billowing clouds above him. He reached the entrance to the city without seeing any sign of the Hound, and after a second annoying trip through tunnels, he reached the other massive cave.

What's with dragons and caves? he thought, noticing how comfortable he felt.

He shot forward, heading straight for the massive building.

"Mason," a familiar, rumbling voice called out.

Mason looked up to see a dark brown spec on the top of a building jump off, falling straight down before spreading its wings and gliding toward him.

"Baudron!" Mason roared as he recognized the massive brown dragon.

"I thought you had left me here," the massive dragon shouted, sounding slightly aggrieved. "You were gone, and I couldn't find you. Then they said you went into a volcano? Why would you do that?"

Staring at the enormous dragon, Mason shook his head. Even after his growth, Baudron was still heavier than him.

"I'm not leaving you here," he said. "Besides, didn't you want to come here?"

Baudron hung his head, staring at the city below. "Yes… but it's not what I had expected. Everyone is so… energetic," he muttered.

Thinking about what Clankrin had said, Mason grinned. "Well, we might be heading out again in the near future!"

"What? Where to?"

As down as he had looked a moment ago, Mason saw that the prospect of leaving seemed to frighten Baudron.

"Don't worry, I need to talk with Sandra first," Mason said.

As they continued towards the main building, he realized someone was missing.

"Where did Maru go?" he asked.

"She is resting to heal up more," Baudron said, perking up. "There is another dragon here that can do what I can do! She did something that would speed up her healing and said she could teach me!"

Magic? Mason thought, thinking about what Clankrin had said. Perhaps they didn't even have to grab some mage from somewhere?

Baudron kept rambling on happily as they wove their way deeper into the building. To Mason's surprise, the big brown dragon seemed to know roughly where they had to go, and eventually, they reached a hallway with a familiar massive black dragon blocking it.

"Midnight," Mason said as he moved closer. He noticed that Baudron had slowed to a crawl staring in awe at the much larger dragon.

A snort came from the dragon as his eyes whisked open, and he yawned.

"Mason," Midnight said, his voice cracking. "Sandra is inside, waiting for you."

Mason nodded as they reached Midnight's massive bulk. The dragon was showing no signs of moving, however.

"Just jump over," Midnight said with another yawn.

Mason blinked, then looked at the gap between the massive dragon and the ceiling. It was easily big enough to fit him, though he'd have to be careful.

This should be fun!

He took a few steps back, then jumped up and flapped a single time. His body shot forward, wings folding down as he leaped through the gap and into the larger room beyond.

He barely landed when he realized he had forgotten about Baudron.

"Oh shit," he muttered as he turned around just as he heard a dragon running forward.

"Careful," Midnight muttered, and Mason saw them move a bit before he grunted as something heavy impacted him on the other side. Baudron's head and neck poked out through the gap.

"I'll move, I'll move," Midnight rumbled. "Don't- stop, be careful!"

Mason blinked, then couldn't hold back his laughter as he saw Baudron climb over the black dragon, his claws scratching the scales.

A short while later, Baudron stood beside him, a slightly disgruntled look on his face, while Midnight was cursing softly.

"Let's go," Mason said, pulling Baudron along.

Before he gets annoyed, he thought to himself. Although Midnight seemed some sort of likable buffoon, he was also fifty times as old as them and way more powerful.

When they reached Sandra's cavern, he saw her standing on the balcony, staring at him with a curious look on her face.

"What the hell were you two doing down there? Was that Midnight I heard?"

Mason landed beside her, trying hard to keep a straight face.

"Midnight told us to climb over him, so we did."

Sandra was quiet for a while before she snorted and headed inside. "Whatever. Get in here so you can tell me who your friend is and what happened with Clankrin."

Mason moved forward until he realized Baudron hadn't moved an inch. His friend was staring dumbly after Sandra.

"Come in, she won't bite," he said.

"Not him, at least!" Sandra's rang out.

–

"No," Sandra said as she shook her head.

Mason frowned before he cocked his head. "No? Just like that? Why not?"

"Because you have no idea what those mages are capable of. Do you think because we are dragons, we can just do what we want? The only reason we haven't been wiped out yet is because they rightfully fear the Hound."

"So? Even more reason for us to learn magic!"

"Not at the cost of them overcoming their fear and trying to get in here to attack us," Sandra said. "You saw the images. What if they somehow snap The Hound out of his rampage? He used to be smart and calculating! Do you want to risk that again?"

"Why would some mages coming here and getting eaten by him have that effect," Mason asked, not willing to give up so easily.

"Because I think they somehow put a spell on him or something," Sandra said. "And what if their magic undoes it?"

"Let's say you are right," Mason said slowly as he thought about what she'd said. "Would a spell that can influence something like The Hound be removed so easily?"

"I don't know, which Is why I don't want to risk it," Sandra said. "And can you explain why you going there to keep those other fire dragons in check changed to you coming here to ask me to do exactly what I've been trying to keep Clankrin from doing?"

Mason blinked, then grinned at her. "Well, first of all, I can sense the thing that he can," he said. "Second… magic?"

He knew it sounded corny, but besides being a dragon, the only thing cooler to him would be a magic-wielding dragon. He'd been able to do some things with fire, but that hardly counted.

Sandra blinked, then sighed. "Magic... yes. I know. But we need to take this slow, and build up our forces. We are both outnumbered and outmatched. I've what those mages can do, and just blowing some fire on them isn't going to stop them. You might not even ruffle their hair!"

So, she saw mages already? Mason thought as he stared at Sandra. He knew she was trying to scare him off from doing something reckless, but as he imagined mages powerful enough to fight dragons, all it did was make him more curious.

After a few moments of trying to come up with a good response, he shook his head.

"Alright, but who says we have to grab some of those mages? Can't we do what he said and go north to take over a city and steal their books? Right, about books. Aren't there books on magic here?"

Sandra let out an annoyed snort. "You're almost as bad as he is! No, there are no books with magic here. From what I could find, the magic they have now didn't exist back then. Don't even ask me why it is here now, but apparently, the first mages began appearing a few thousand years ago."

"That's weird," Mason said as he leaned back. "So they didn't have magic back in those days?"

Baudron was moving around oddly, and Mason looked up to see his friend almost biting his lips to keep from talking.

"Baudron, what?"

"They did have magic, but it was different," Baudron rattled as if he'd been holding back the words for a while. "My father's books had some information about it, and there are many myths and legends about magic. But those old dragons seemed to have some innate ability to cast them, which we don't have…"

"That makes sense-" Mason said before Sandra interrupted him.

"So… who is this again?"

Mason sighed, then beckoned at Baudron. "Yeah… how about you tell us your story?" he asked.

Baudron blinked, taking a quick look at Sandra before turning to Mason.

"Alright, but some parts are a bit hazy because of my change," he rumbled. "I was born as Baudronious Ral Lakrion, the second son of-"

"Lord of Golden Peaks, one of the most powerful warlords of the west coast," Sandra snapped as she got up.