Ulrich heard the swoop of wings before he saw the dragon. He looked down at the child, and saw the child was awake, watching him as the sun began to come up over the hills.
"William, I believe the sorcerer knows I have flown," Ulrich said grimly. His horse walked, and he could ask no more of the animal. They had run most of the night, trying to put distance between the sorcerer and themselves. He felt a deep churning in his gut, a feeling he had not had since he was a boy going into his first battle. For whom did he fear -- himself or the child? Death for the child and the depths of Hades for him? Ulrich gave a deep chuckle, despair something he no longer felt.
He knew it would be a gruesome death, and he could not welcome it for the child. He pulled his dagger from its sheath, looked down at the child. Surely it would be easier for the child if he killed him quickly than let him suffer the horrendous tearing apart by the dragons? A small hope began to rise as he saw they were close to where the red soil ended. Perhaps they could make it that far.
He saw the shadow of the dragons on the ground before him. Ulrich sheathed his dagger, tightened the linen which held the child to him and untied his shield from his shoulder. He held his shield up and used it to protect them. His mount ambled along as if in no hurry to go in any particular direction. The air grew thick with the dragon's sour breath, the sound of their wings filling his ears.
A grouping of rocks was in front of him. His horse stopped, fell to its knees and Ulrich threw his leg over the saddle and with the child jumped to the ground and out of the way as the poor horse rolled and fell dead.
Ferociously, the dragons descended. William seemed to look at the sky in wonder, his green eyes wide.
Ulrich tried to run to the rocks for shelter, but the dragon was now at his legs, ripping the boots from his feet. He walked the last few yards to the rocks on feet raw from bites, his leather chausses sheared from him from the knee down. It attacked his back, dug into his flesh. Ulrich used the shield to protect the boy, wishing now he had used his knife to end the child's life quickly. Damnation, how had he failed in this!
He climbed through the rocks, falling to one knee.
The linen binding the boy tore apart under gnashing teeth, and William came free, tumbling to the red sandy soil, mercifully landing in a small depression between the rocks. Ulrich placed the shield over the boy, and unable to bear any more fell forward upon the rocks with William beneath him.
He let out a last great roar to the heavens above, the new morning sky once more shining down as the dragon retreated.
¤¤
Erik followed the thin path as the sun rose, stealing hot and bright across the red soil, its brilliance almost blinding him. Suddenly, upon large rocks lay a bloody remnant of a body with arms and legs splayed. The only reason he suspected it to be Ulrich were the remnants of wild black hair still clinging to the scalp.
With terrible dread Erik looked around and then dismounted. He knew Iliana would see this momentarily, as he had given her time to wash beside a small creek and he'd gone on ahead.
As far as he could see...empty red soil as the hills rose against the sky. A great depth of emotion ripped through him as frantically he continued walking, searching for something, a clue. Where was the boy?
"William!"
Nothing. Everything was empty, save the carnage before him.
Moisture burned behind Erik's eyes. Ulrich died unjustly.
Was William gone then? Air heaved from his chest, turned into shuddering gasps of breath. A child gone...Iliana would be devastated.
A child's cry. Again.
Erik fell to his knees, lay down beside what remained of Ulrich, and heard a whimper. Ulrich's shield lay beneath him. Carefully, he rolled Ulrich to the side, wiping the blood from his hands, and lifted the wide shield which rested upon the rocks.
William looked up at him, blinking in the sudden light. He held his arms up. "Da, da, da."
Erik took a shuddering breath and lifted the boy, held him securely in his arms and came to his feet, eyes burning as his chest heaved again.
"William!" Iliana's scream made him turn to see her gallop toward them across the arid red soil.
Erik carried William and moved away from the rocks. "The path!" he shouted in warning. "Stay on the path. The ground is unstable."
One moment Iliana was there, the next she and her horse disappeared, as if swallowed whole by the red earth. A cavern had fractured in the precariously dangerous ground around them, leaving a gaping hole.
¤¤
Iliana coughed, spit the dust from her mouth, sneezing as it went up her nose. She rubbed her palms over her eyes, trying to clear the grit so she could see. The mare lay beside her, shook her head and came to her feet. Iliana looked up from the dark hole she had fallen into. She could see Erik's silhouette above her, William in his arms.
"William!" she cried. "William." She started laughing.
"Iliana, we must make haste to leave this place. Are you hurt?" Erik called down.
"No." She felt giddy. She used her mare's legs to pull herself upright, then leaned against the horse's shoulder. She let out a small moan of pain.
"My ankle," she said.
"Have you broken it?" he asked.
"I do not think so."
"Can you see light at all?" Erik asked. "Is it possible it's an old cavern that might lead out? There are many caves up here."
Iliana looked around her, her eyes adjusting to the dark. "Yes, there is a light. I will follow it out."
"Be careful. Can you mount your horse?"
Iliana gritted her teeth as she tried to mount and managed to lay across the saddle, then swing her leg over the horse's hindquarter.
With her son safe, she would endure any pain.
Iliana followed the cavern down to where the light seemed to lead. However, going down further and further made her increasingly uneasy. What if after all this, she was buried alive in the red soil hills or emerged into a cavern where a dragon lived?
Despite her fear, Iliana kept her horse moving forward until she rode into a large cavern with an eerie green luminosity. She looked around in awe, remembered what she had read in Sir Robert's letter to the abbess, that the gem was safely laid beneath the dragon's wing. Transfixed, she stared at what lay before her.
¤¤
Erik rode through the short hills, searching each cavern opening close to where Iliana had fallen into the collapsed ground.
Suddenly he heard her calling him and she rode toward him, her hair a dark banner behind her as she exited a narrow opening in a rock wall. William, in the saddle in front of him, began to bounce up and down in excitement as he saw his mother.
Erik rode to meet her, dismounted and lifted her wriggling son into her waiting arms.
"William, you are a little knight," she exclaimed, kissing him again and again. She put her face down into his dark curls, tears spilling onto her cheeks.
Iliana looked up at Erik, surprised to see a trace of wetness on his cheeks. She frowned, her fingertips daring to reach out to him. "You care for my son," she said with wonder. "It is in your eyes and in your deeds." She took a deep breath, hugged William close. "I am sorry," she whispered. She looked down at him. "I have this terrible feeling I have been very unjust to you." She looked up at the canyon walls around them. "We must leave this place now, Erik," she said swiftly. "I have found the green gem."
"Touching," said a mocking voice above them. "And I would see the gem."
Erik turned. "Mandrak."
"Pretender," Mandrak said mockingly, bowing at the waist. Mandrak quickly traversed a narrow path down to where they stood. "My lady Iliana, you have found the gem -- excellent. Now I will have it," he exclaimed triumphantly.
Iliana looked at Erik.
"Do not look to your lover," Mandrak sneered. "If you value all you have just found, give me the gem now."
Iliana nodded toward the cavern she had just exited. "It is in that cavern. Half buried in the red soil."
"Then we shall unbury it," Mandrak said softly.
They entered the cool cavern, and it was several moments before Erik's eyes adjusted to the shadowy interior. But then he began to notice the strange green glow inside the walls. High above their heads were red and blue paintings of hands in the cavern ceiling. Thousands of palm prints. And before them sat a fierce green dragon, scales rippling as it breathed, its wings moving gently back and forth. Its eyes watched them.
Iliana sat atop her horse in the cavern aperture, William in the saddle before her. "The dragon sits upon the gem," she said.
Mandrak approached the dragon slowly, but it lowered its head warningly, and he stopped in surprise.
"In here you have no power over the dragon," Iliana said.
"You are the only one who can retrieve it," Mandrak snapped. "Do so now. Pull it from the ground and give it to Remington."
Erik saw the wink of a green stone beneath one of the dragon's feet, its claws easily as long as his own fingers. The gem appeared as wide as his palm. He noticed a much smaller gem lay half concealed beside it, and turning in a half circle, he saw the ground littered with similar emeralds.
"Call the dragon away, Iliana. I am sure as the lineage holder of the gem you have persuasive skills," Mandrak said harshly.
Erik moved to Iliana and lifted William from her saddle, then gave her his hand and helped her dismount. She approached the dragon, limping a bit, and stood still before it.
"I will make a pact with the dragon," she said.
Mandrak narrowed his eyes at her. "What kind of pact?"
"A pact that will let us leave this place unharmed. But you must also promise on your life not to harm us," she said.
"Yes, yes," he said. "I will take the gem and leave."
"If you try to harm us or any of the people here, this dragon will seek you out. Your magic has no power over her now that I have arrived to claim the gem."
"Hurry," Mandrak said impatiently, clenching and unclenching his fists.
Iliana approached the dragon and Erik watched in amazement as the beast leaned its fearsome head down toward her, staring at her for long moments. Suddenly, the beast rose and turned within the close confines of the cavern. Erik quickly moved back as its tail slid past him, then it disappeared into the shadowy cavern beyond. The gem winked at them from the sandy floor.
Iliana reached down and gently pulled the gem from its resting place. It cast green lights across the cavern walls as she lifted it into her arms.
"Give it to Remington," Mandrak said.
Iliana hesitated.
"Do it now."
"You realize you risk this world if this gem does not stay here --"
"Now!"
Erik placed William at his feet as Iliana moved to him and handed him the gem. Erik felt a sharp jolt move up his hands and into his arms. The gem glowed with a life of its own. Almost mesmerized, he stared down into its green depths.
"Give it to me." Mandrak jerked it from him and stepped away.
"You have the gem," Erik said, "we are leaving." He lifted William back into his arms.
Mandrak stroked the stone with reverence. "The power of this gem is unrealized. I can move heaven and earth and perhaps a bit of hell." He laughed and looked at Iliana. "Thank you my lady Iliana. My people will dearly appreciate this gift."
"It needs to remain here so the land can be brought back to life," she protested. "Taking it from this world was not part of the bargain."
He waved his hand. "Go."
"But what about the people, the land here?"
Erik moved toward Iliana and reached for her horse's reins.
"Leave before I change my mind."
Erik quickly helped Iliana mount, then led her horse from the cavern and down the small hill to where his own horse awaited. "Let us make speed," he muttered.
"Yes." She hugged William in front of her.
"I don't trust him to change his mind," Erik added. He held his arms up. "Let me take William, it will be easier riding for you."
Erik placed the child on his saddle and mounted behind him, his arm securely around William.
They retraced their earlier path and soon they came upon Ulrich's corpse.
"Poor Ulrich," Iliana said softly as the scavenger birds circled. "I cannot bear to remember him strewn upon the rocks when he went to such risk for my son. Can we bury him?"
"We must hurry then," Erik said. Using Ulrich's shield, he dug a hole as best he could, glad the red soil was like fine sand. There was not much left of Ulrich to bury and with a few words of prayer he was laid to rest, his bones covered and his shield placed above his makeshift grave.
"Thank you," Iliana said.
"Is your ankle paining you?" Erik asked, remounting behind William.
"It is bearable, but I agree we must hurry."
Something in her voice alerted him. Iliana touched the saddle sack behind her, briefly lifted the cover and then let it drop, but not before Erik had seen a green gem as large as a platter, winking green sparks. He began to grin.
"Clever, the way you argued with him over the gem remaining in this world."
She shrugged. "I did not want to appear too eager to give in."
They set off for the keep.
¤¤
After several hours Iliana no longer tried to keep pace with Erik's horse. The destrier was considerably larger, and his legs allowed for a longer stride. "Erik, I know you will arrive faster if you ride ahead."
He looked at her incredulously. "Do you think I would leave you? We will get there in time enough." She understood he feared letting her out of his sight.
William rode with Erik and they galloped for some distance, then let the horses slow their gait and recoup their energy, before riding hard the remainder of the way to the keep.
For the first time in three years, Iliana was overjoyed to see the dark stone fortress against the red sky.
They cantered across the wooden plank and through the open portcullis and into the courtyard. Iliana was surprised to see what appeared to be most of the village gathered inside the courtyard.
As they drew to a stop beside the stables, all eyes turned on them, and then smiles and happy expressions were seen.
"My lady!" Someone called out.
"Young William is returned."
Without wasting a moment they rode to the second courtyard and right up to the sacred circle of trees. With William in one arm, Erik helped her dismount as she carefully placed weight on her foot.
They both stared at the strange light emanating outward from the sacred circle, haloing out from the trees, shooting straight up into the red sky. Red clouds churned and swirled in the sky above.
She bit her lip. "I have never seen the light move in this manner. I must place the stone within, but what if I am trapped on the other side?" With the saddle pack in her hands, Iliana paused at the edge of the trees. "This is not as I left it. Mandrak has done something here."
"Do you think the green gem will correct the damage he may have wreaked upon it?" Erik said.
"I do not know." Once she walked inside, there would be no retreat.
"I will bring the emerald into the circle," he said, holding out his hand.
Iliana's ankle began to throb. She shook her head. "I must do it." She looked at him. "I pray I do not lose both you and William."
"Together," he said.
Wind swirled around them. Erik gripped her waist, William in his arms as a fierce wind opened the tree limbs to receive them. They walked into the center of the maelstrom, light of all colors swirling around them.
Iliana lifted the large emerald from the sack, placed it in a small depression that now appeared on the ground. There were strange inscriptions and symbols on the gem, and it seemed to settle into the ground of its own will. Gently, she touched its surface with her fingertips, then rose to her feet. Light began to glow, a deep, soothing green with tiny spheres of white light radiating out from the core. William laughed, his chubby fingers reaching out to catch the little sparkling spheres of light, delighted when the light burst between his fingers.
Looking up, she saw the churning red clouds dissipate and change to blue sky.
Gradually, the circle of trees around them retreated back into the ground, and little sprouts of new grass sprang beneath their feet.
Now they saw the people of the village who stood around them in the courtyard, the wonder on their faces a reflection of their own amazement.
"The curse is lifted?" someone said.
"The power of the emerald has been given back to us," someone else said.
"You have saved us," Rowenna exclaimed, stepping from the crowd to stand beside Iliana and Erik. Her eyes lit up to see William, and then she dropped her eyes and stepped back.
"Rowenna," Iliana said, "William being taken was not your fault."
"But William was in my charge," Rowenna said painfully, still looking at the ground. She looked at Erik.
"He used magic on all of us," Iliana said. "Mandrak disguised himself as Erik and took William away. I know how much you care for William."
Rowenna looked up, tears sparkling on her lashes. "I thank you for your forgiveness. The veil has been lifted from our eyes," Rowenna added. "We see you, mistress, as the one who has redeemed our world. If not for your perseverance, our lives would be nothing."
"And you know Erik is not evil?" Iliana asked.
Rowenna smiled at him. "My lord pretender."
"Erik," he said dryly. "Rowenna, can you take William a moment?"
"Of course." She took William in her arms and reverently placed a kiss on his forehead.
To Iliana's surprise, Erik lifted her up into his arms and she placed her arms around his strong neck.
"Is Sorenta about?" Erik asked. "Iliana needs care for her ankle."
"I am certain Sorenta will be waiting for you," Rowenna said, and followed them inside as Erik carried her through the stone archway and into the great hall.
Sorenta waited for them in the great hall beside the fire pit, her woven basket of herbs and lotions beside her.
Erik put Iliana on her feet and helped her to a chair beside the fire pit where embers burned gently. His hand lingered on her shoulder and she looked up, her gaze running over him. He wore a smile on his mouth but she sensed his worried preoccupation.
Iliana put her foot upon a wooden stool and pulled her tattered and dirty dress to expose the bruised ankle.
"It is a mystery you did not break it," Sorenta said, placing an icy lotion along the skin and then wrapping the ankle snugly with a length of linen.
"Thank you, Sorenta. All is well now that the gem is found."
"You never claimed your life tapestry," Sorenta said, staring at Erik, her head tilted knowingly.
He shrugged. "I did not find it."
"Even now as you look into its face?"
Erik narrowed his eyes and looked at the dragon tapestry on the wall.
Sorenta flipped the one side of the tapestry, showing the light colored threads on the back surface.
Iliana clapped her hands. "Erik, it is the back of the tapestry itself."
He removed the tapestry from its pegs and placed it upon the large wooden table used for the meals. He studied the tapestry, his expression wary. "It is strange to me to see my life as a tapestry." He studied the finely woven threads, and Iliana could see the scenes taking shape. Suddenly, his expression became grim.
Iliana gripped his arm, half rising from her stool. "Erik, what is it?"
He pointed to the tapestry. "Mandrak is coming."
Rowenna cried out, "But the curse is lifted, surely the sorcerer no longer has any power?"
Grimly, Iliana said, "He comes because he does not have the true green gem." She took William back into her arms and hugged him to her.
"But the gem is in place," Erik said. "He cannot wrest it from the ground, can he?" He moved to the open doorway and stood there, looking up into the sky.
Iliana continued to stare at the tapestry. As she watched, a curious scene began to form. "Erik --" she stared at him, but he was busy staring at the skies. "Erik, your tapestry -- it is creating a possible future, something I have never seen a life tapestry do." She looked up at him.
"Let it do what it will," he said. "We have more important matters to attend."
Iliana saw them leaving this place, but Erik pushed it aside. "Erik!"
"We have no time being preoccupied with a tapestry. I am concerned with here and now. We must keep everyone safe."
Iliana agreed, but she wished she had been able to see what the tapestry revealed.