Elsa and Desare stood for a moment knee deep in the snow drift. In the blink of an eye Ellenaria and Rees had disappeared again. Only their foot prints and those of the horses left. The wind was picking up, and the temperature was way below freezing. Neither of the two girls were dressed for this climate, and the cliff wall was some way off.
"Quickly Desare," Elsa took her elbow. "We had better hurry to the shelter before we freeze on the spot."
Elsa took her bearings, marking her direction with sightings on prominent features. Ahead the black wall of the cliff, directly behind, the unusual V shaped cleft in the mountain wall surrounding their frozen valley.
"Desare, can you run?" Elsa didn't wait for an answer, simply began running in the direction of the cave. With a start, Desare ran after her. Their laden horses they dragged along behind them. The snow was hard packed enough to run across, but the horses broke through the crust and had to surge forward in ungainly leaps and stumbles. It would have been impossible to ride them.
Soon they broke clear out onto a clear sheet of blue ice. The wind had swept it clean of snow, and instantly Elsa and Desare were sliding across the ice on their bottoms. The horses fared better, and carefully picked their way. Elsa sat there laughing at her surprise. Neither girl was hurt, and they climbed onto their knees to get up again. Desare found herself looking down into a city.
"Elsa." She shrieked. The sensation of almost falling into the depths was overpowering. Elsa looked at Desare in surprise, then looked where Desare was looking. Down. Her breath hissed between her tooth. There below them, and deep in the ice and quite unmistakable, was an ancient city. Elsa could feel life in that city too. Not human, and weak, but it was there.
She took Desare's hand. "Quickly, we must go. We must get to the cavern while the sun still shines. If we are still out here when darkness falls, we will die."
Elsa's simple statement of fact was enough to get Desare moving and soon they were off the clear ice sheet and back on hard snow. The cliff drew closer, and they found themselves amongst the huge boulders that lay strewn about the cliff base. The way through was still clear, and Elsa kept on her direction by her sighting of the cliff shape. Then she noticed the markings on some of the boulders pointing the way forward. The path was now easy to follow, and quickly they found themselves standing below the entrance to a cave. The ledge in front of the entrance was not high, but difficult to access. Elsa scouted along either side for a way up for the horses. Desare was shivering so badly her teeth were chattering. Her breath was clouding like a fog about her, little crystals forming in her hair. Elsa found a rough way up for the horses and themselves, and they gained the entrance to the cave. The interior was pitch dark by now, but the setting sun was flooding through the deep V in the valley's western wall, and momentarily lit up the interior. The fireplace could be seen, and a pile of kindling. Quickly Elsa had a fire going and she and Desare began searching the cave. The horses stood quietly to one side, glad themselves to be out of the cold. A moment later the sun was gone entirely and the blackness of a frozen night descended on the valley. Elsa and Desare sat huddled together by the flickering fire. Desare had found a large wicker screen that was used to cover the cavern entrance, and with that in place, the air inside had begun to warm a little. There was only the dried meat they carried to eat, and melted snow to drink but it was all they needed. The horses had been tended with oats and water they carried in packs, and now both Desare and Elsa were nodding by the crackling embers of the small fire. Elsa could see no sense in mounting a watch. No one could possible know they were here, and no one would survive out there in the open at night anyway.
Elsa contemplated what Ellenaria had done when she had touched her. She had felt a fog lifting it had seemed. Everything about her came into sharper focus. She could sense things now. She could tell where everyone of her sisters were. She could speak to them in her thoughts. They could not answer her, but Elsa knew when they understood. She was letting them all know they would meet soon.
Had there been grass around then, she knew she would be able to hear it growing. Desare, half asleep beside her was dreaming of her home and a nice warm bed. thoughts of her mother flickering on the edge of the dream.
Suddenly Elsa found herself standing in a vast hall. A vast vaulted ceiling rose above her. The floor beneath her feet alternate black and white squares, with a gilt dragon emblazoned in the centre of each one. The walls were so far away as to be almost in total darkness. 'Where is the light coming from?' She thought. 'Surely this is a dream.'
Desare stirred beside her, and Elsa woke with a start. The cavern was unchanged. Elsa tried to ponder the meaning of the dream. She had to give up. It was beyond anything she could think of. Muttering under her breath, she dragged a huge bundle of the furs they had discovered over to near the fire and around Desare enough to get her covered. She then covered herself, in the end the flickering fire showed only the horses near the entrance dozing on their feet, and a huge pile of furs on the rocks near the fire. Both girls settled into a deep sleep, long overdue.
Unknown to the girls, Antonin was away to the east of them, himself making camp in the low scrub of the hill top redoubt. The wide bare plain around the small hill was featureless in the weak moonlight. The patches of snow glittered like jewels on a black velvet cloth. There was no sign of the band of followers. 'They must be encamped themselves.' thought Antonin. He would take his turn on watch when the moon was clear of a certain tree top he had marked. Till then he dosed, and thought of the events that had led him to this place. He knew he was to release the dragons from the frozen valley. He had no idea how that was to be done. He had to find Mordos and retrieve the Key to the Wheel. That meant meeting Mordos in his own forest. Still, Mordos would not know about the dragons. What had happened to Cinnabar and his Morgoth warriors? Antonin had no doubt there was trouble to come there. Even if he could retake the Keystone, he had to get it to Sara Sara and fit it into the shaft of the wheel. He had no doubt the Dark Lord would fight him every step of the way. Antonin had no idea how much time he had. A day? A lifetime? He only knew that somehow he would never be a simple farm boy again, free to ride across the plains with friends. All his friends had been dragged into this business with him, and now they were scattered across the world.
Antonin let his mind wander seemingly on its own. He thought of nothing. Slowly he could feel the others - a sense of the others - coming to him. Mei'An was in the Blue Tower waiting with the other Wind Readers for the Keeper to return. Strange? Yet the Keeper was coming. Not to the Tower, but here. 'No, let it drift.' Antonin murmured in his sleep like state. Elsa and Desare were close. Impossible. Yet he had such a strong sense of them that he felt he could have reached out to touch them. Quite unconsciously his fingers were trying to do just that. HIs other friends he could feel about him. Catharina, closer than a sister. He knew now he loved her deeply, but how to tell her. Edina, sworn to protect him, even with her life, and too a friend. Nareena, a girl of this land. He was in her debt for the life of her beloved, still out on the ice. Gaul. Quiet Gaul. His lifelong friend. 'Perhaps.' He thought, ' If I were to go off on my own, the others would be safe from the coming fury.' Antonin knew it was not possible. Everything depended on finding the Keystone and stopping the wheel.
Antonin fancied he could hear the pigeons calling in his father's barn. Suddenly he was wide awake. That was a signal. There were no pigeons here. Antonin was on his feet, sword drawn in an instant. He nudged his friends awake with his boot. Together they crept up to the stone ramparts of the hill top. Antonin nearly dropped his sword at what he saw. They were completely surrounded. Thousands upon thousands of warriors. As far as he could see in the moonlight. All around the small hill, and off into the distant tree line.
As he looked, he could see campfires being lit. Horses tethered, tents going up. He was still dreaming surely.
"Catharina?" He said in question.
"I don't know Antonin. One minute nothing, the next - this. These are the warriors of the Star Field Plain. How? Where?" Her voice trailed off.
Antonin could just make out two people coming toward where he was on the low hill top. They seemed to be glowing with some strange light, and so close together that one must have an arm around the other. For all the activity out there, there was still no sound. Nareena stood there looking about at the scene, mouth hanging open in astonishment.
The two glowing figures drew closer and to Antonin's great astonishment he recognised his friend Rees. With his arm around a naked woman. Well, almost naked. He was not sure if she was or not. Some filmy material clung about her, giving the appearance of not being there.
What was Rees doing? There was no doubt about the woman's perfect beauty, but after a poke in the ribs from Catharina he closed his mouth. Catharina whispered in an awed voice.
"It - she, is the Keeper of the Blue Tower. Antonin, be very careful here. It is not out of amorous desire that Rees has his arm around her waist."
There were two warrior maidens following close behind, leading pack horses.
They stopped a little way down from the stone capped ridge.
"Antonin, Catharina, Nareena, all," a pause. "You are with friends now. Please come forward. It is I, Ellenaria and Rees. Your army has come."
Antonin and the others stepped forward to greet their friends. Relief flooded every part of Antonin's being. All his friends were gathering to him where hopefully he could protect them. He had an army at last. They no longer fought alone. Now he could meet the Great Houses of Hua Guo with pride and honour. Now he stood some chance of defeating the hordes raised by the Dark One himself.
Antonin strode forward to greet his friends. Within arm's reach, Ellenaria called
"Stop my Lord, you must not touch me. I am not actually - here."
Antonin looked at Rees, who simply shrugged his shoulders.
The Keeper looked at Rees.
"My Lord. Rees. You must now place me again between the Disk of the Sun, and the Orb of the Moon Gate. The Wind Readers await me, and I must return to the Tower. I have been too long away. Hurry now my Lord."
With one step she slid out of Rees's hold. She drew a sharp breath as though in pain.
"Hurry my Lord. The Sun and the Moon." The gauzy haze about her started to fade. Rees leapt at the trunk on the pack horse, ripping it from its fastenings. He flung back the lid and scattered the contents on the grass. The Disk and the Orb he placed at either side of Ellenaria's feet. Her shimmering colours steadied, and with a last smile at Rees her image became once more the small statue that fitted in the treasure chest.
A chill wind whistled across the hill top. Antonin realized he could now hear the small sounds from the camp all about him.
Rees righted the trunk, and carefully replaced the objects in their proper places. He worked quietly, occasionally glancing at Antonin.
Antonin had changed since they had last been together. Rees couldn't put a finger on it, but there was something.
Finally the trunk was tied securely onto the pack horse again. Catharina was the first to speak.
"Rees my friend, it is good to see you again. You must tell us how this," she swept her arms in an all embracing gesture "came to be here?"
"It is the doing of the Keeper of The Blue Tower, Ellenaria. We got into some trouble with Tharsians who were determined to take Desare." Rees paused and swallowed.
"In desperation we tried to use the treasures that we carry, and it seems to have worked."
It was obvious Rees was avoiding something, and Antonin spoke up.
"Rees. Where is Desare? Where is Elsa?"
"Antonin, this is the strange thing. After Ellenaria healed Desare, she took us all to a windswept ice filled valley where she commanded the two girls to go to a cave to wait for you. She then returned to the camp of the warriors and gathered all together, to being us here. Exactly where that ice field is I do not know Antonin."
Antonin was delighted. He knew exactly where it was. He knew exactly where the girls were. They could not be left alone. Antonin cast a glance at the sky. The moon shone nearly full in a cloudless sky. It was low on the horizon, and the light was weak, but it was enough.
"Rees, Catharina, Nareena, we move on to the valley tonight. What these warriors want to do I do not know, but we go now."
He was in action as he spoke. Gathering up his blanket and saddle and readying his horse. The others needed no second telling. In minutes all were mounted and ready to ride out. The vast camp surrounding them was now buzzing with activity. No sooner had Antonin mounted his horse than Jardine appeared within the stone circle.
He reminded Antonin of a rock himself. Antonin leant down to speak quietly with Jardine. He hesitated a moment then turned and ran back into the encircling camp, gathering a trail of warriors behind him as he went. Antonin said nothing to the others, just spurred his horse down the slope and headed west toward the distant valley where his friends waited. He hoped they were still safe.
It didn't take long to clear the camp of the warriors. Clear lines were visible between various groups and although they received a good deal of attention in passing, no one tried to stop them, or challenge them. Soon the three riders were away into the darkness, only the weak moonlight to light the way. The horses could not be pushed too hard. The trio settled into a steady pace across the rough terrain. They began to climb, and Antonin led the way. He remembered the mountain that guarded the icy wastes beyond and recalled that they had a long way to go yet.
Nareena rode close by his horse's right flank. She knew this country like the back of her hand, and although she let Antonin take the lead, occasionally she called quietly with corrections to their course. Antonin was no fool, and he knew full well Nareena was the guide, but for safety's sake he did not want her in the lead.
As they climbed steadily into the mountains, the air grew colder and colder. They were all wrapped in the heavy furs that Nareena insisted they wear. The moon was setting behind the distant mountains, and the night grew colder and colder. Antonin did not want to stop. They topped a rocky spine and Antonin turned in his saddle to look behind the way they had just come. Darkness and gloom gripped the barren landscape. Only the occasional ice or snow patch glittering in the weak starlight.
Nareena started. her keen eyes had seen a darker shadow on the landmark behind them. They were being followed, but by whom she didn't know. She nudged her horse over the ridge and clattered down the far slope. Rock and shale skittered away from the horses hooves, and then Antonin and Catharina were following. Their noisy progress echoing back from the rocky slopes around them.
The trail was easy for Nareena to follow. She had been this way many times on the hunt. It was little more than a line across the rocky ground where the stones had been kicked aside by the horses of the few hunters who passed this way over the years. It was said that a road had been built in another age. One that led through the depths of the ground itself. Carved through the heart of the mountains, so deep that it lay beneath the mythical city at the bottom of the ice lake. No one had ever found the road though, nor any sign of it. No one had even actually seen the city in the ice. Nareena thought it was all just legend, told by the story tellers to encourage more generosity from their listeners.
Both Antonin and Catharina had seen the followers now. A dark mass flowing over the landscape behind them. Getting no closer, no further away. Antonin thought he knew who it was, but if it wasn't, then it was something to worry about later. If they were to be attacked, it would have happened by now. Antonin thought it could only be their warrior escort.
They rode all through the night. Stopping now and then to spell themselves and the horses. The sky was starting to lighten in the East, and they were so high in the ranges that the air was getting very thin. The horses were covered with frost from the clouds of steam they breathed. The fur capes and hoods of the riders crackled with it. The edges of the fur hoods and the cloth masks over their faces were coated with ice crystals. They dare not stop now. The cold would kill them all in minutes if they let their own temperatures drop through inactivity. They had the horses covered in furs, and the constant activity was serving to keep them warm as well. When the sun finally climbed high above the peaks all around them, there was no warmth in it. During the night their long ride had taken them steadily into the depth of the ice zone. Their destination, the valley of ice was still a long way ahead.
The day wore on in an endless cycle of ridge and valley. Stone and ice. Every now and then the sharp report of a stone cracking under pressure from ice or sun. They passed cliff faces that had been carved into the likeness of men in some age past. Now weathered and worn, they seem eerily aloof to the riders passing below them. Antonin didn't remember seeing them when he had come this way, nor did Catharina and Edina. Perhaps the snow had covered them then.
Nareena turned her horse and stopped a little way ahead. The world dropped away at their feet. She seemed to be standing right on the edge of the sky. Antonin drew his breath in sharply. Edging toward where Nareena stood, Antonin could see that they were on the very rim of the ice valley. The sheer drop to the valley floor took his breath away. Catharina and Edina weren't going anywhere near that rocky lip.
Nareena smiled. "You all came up this cliff, surely you are not worried about going down it again?"
"I don't remember it being so high." Said Catharina softly. "Nareena, get down off your horse. Please." She added.
"Of course." replied Nareena. "Anyway, the path down is this way a little, and we should probably leave the horses up here. Perhaps if we build a bit of shelter for them?"
There was no vegetation of any kind at this altitude, so an area surrounded by boulders that sheltered the horses from the biting wind was found, and they were kept in by a rope stretching across the opening to the natural pen. Finally, blankets were tied to the horses to try and keep their warmth in.
Antonin hoped they would not be long away. Any delay, and someone would have to come up and get the horses. Nareena led the way to the edge of the cliff, and to the narrow path leading down to the valley floor. She started down without delay, Antonin behind her, the others following. The going was easy, if dangerous and soon they reached the valley floor. Antonin calculated they had about two hours to sundown. They would have to be on their way out by then.
The cave entrance was only a little way off along the wall, and Antonin set out from it immediately. He had forgotten how harsh the valley was. The wind that howled along the icy stone wall seemed to be alive and full of malice.
Snow swirled in huge clouds as it rode the wind. Suddenly it stopped completely and everyone fell over face first at the sudden lack of pressure against them. Antonin was first up, cursing a bruised shin and the snow covered rock he had hit it on. The air was dead calm now. Nareena looked about in alarm.
"Quickly." She shouted. "Run for your life, get in the cave. A wind demon is forming. Quickly, run, run, run." She screamed as she struggled to her feet and ran stumbling and clawing over rocks toward the cave entrance.
The panic in her voice set the others into frantic motion. They didn't know what she was talking about, but anything that set that sort of panic off was best avoided. Time for questions later.
As they scrambled to get to the cave they could hear a dull roar coming from out in the icy haze on the lake. It was getting louder. The air around them started to buffet in little eddies.
"'This is not good.' Thought Antonin. Moments later they all tumbled into the cave together as a wall of solid snow driven by a howling gale slammed into the cliff. The sudden increase in air pressure in the cave hurt their ears. From the depths of the cave the group looked out at where they had been. Huge boulders were actually rolling by the entrance. If they had been out in that they would have been swept away like autumn leaves, or worse, crushed under tumbling boulders as big as houses. Now Antonin understood why the cliff base was littered randomly with boulders. They had been blown there by past wind storms.
"Nareena, you could have warned us of such events!" Said Edina, shaking a little. Her voice trembled as she spoke, and she was red with embarrassment. She was as brave as any warrior, but the thought of being crushed and swirled away like a leaf unnerved her when she thought of how close they had come to just such a fate.
The shaken companions squatted own and leant against the rocky walls getting their breath back and watching the mayhem outside their safe haven.
"This cave is well placed Nareena, another hundred paces away and we would have disappeared in the storm." Antonin rubbed his gloved hands together and stood. He turned into the cave. It was then he noticed the thin wisps of smoke trailing up from the dying embers of a fire deep in the main cavern. There was very little light now, and Antonin stood cautiously in the entrance to the main cavern. The others crowded close behind him.
Nareena walked in and retrieved some brush torches dipped in tar. These were soon blazing, the flickering light and spitting sound of the hot pitch reflecting around the cave. There didn't seem to be anyone here. There was the huge pile of old furs near the remains of the fire, and a soft snicker revealed two horses in the shadows against one wall. The horses were almost hidden by a huge chunk of rock that looked as though it had fallen from the roof in time past. Antonin began to worry that the two girls they had come to meet had met their deaths in the storm still raging outside in the icy wastes of the valley. The others had spread out through the cave, and suddenly Catharina let out a giggle, then shouted with joy. "Elsa." As everyone looked at her, she flung back the pile of furs to reveal Elsa, struggling to her feet with a stunned look on her face. In a moment Catharina had unearthed Desare from the pile of furs. She sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Elsa had quickly recovered her poise as a warrior should, but Desare was only a child, for all her keenness to go adventuring. The recent events had exhausted her, and she was slow to awaken. She had been warm and safe in her cocoon of furs and felt as though she could have slept for a week. As she struggled to focus on those about her, a clear voice came to her. "Desare, it is time for Antonin to awake the dragons." Desare recognised the voice as her friend, The Keeper of the Blue Tower.
"These instructions you must give him. As soon as the storm abates, he must go to the cavern mouth. There he will find the symbol of the dragon carved in the rock. He must strike this three times with the heel of his clenched fist. He must call out across the wastes, 'Nesathara, Omgorion, Dadahar, the time has come.' He must then strike the carved image again three times, while intoning the word 'Gardan' each time.
Do not venture outside the cave after this. The dragons will come, and all must be known to them or you will surely be destroyed." The voice of the Keeper left Desare slightly stunned. She had been half up on one knee, and had stopped. The others stared at her, not knowing what was happening. Desare blinked a few times, and pushed herself to her feet. She straightened her dishevelled skirt and the soft leather vest she wore. There was no time for worrying about appearances.
"Antonin." She said. She looked at the faces of the others. There was no bell reverberating that she could hear. Good. She continued. "Antonin, the Keeper has just given me instructions to pass on to you." Without further ado Desare repeated word for word what she had been told.
Antonin looked out of the cave. The storm showed no sign of abating. It could be a long wait. There was nothing to do but make themselves comfortable. They hadn't eaten properly in days, and had taken very little rest. It was certain that no one could creep up on them through that storm, so the companions settled down around the rebuilt fire and put together a good meal out of the various frozen stores that they carried, and that Nareena had stockpiled in the cave.
Antonin found the dragon symbol carved into the rock face near the cave entrance. It didn't appear to be anything significant, and he was sure he had seen the same symbol in a thousand different places over the years. The hours passed, and darkness had fallen outside. The horses they had left at the cliff top were a worry, but there was little they could do. The wind still raged across the wastes, rolling huge boulders before it. Even in the darkness, they could be heard thundering by, loud cracks echoing in the cave as they crashed into each other. Unknown to Antonin and his friends they had been followed by a large group of warriors from the first camp, and now the horses were being cared for, even as those on the cliff top peered down into the maelstrom that swirled in the valley. For those in the cave, the time of peace and relaxation was very welcome. All the news that they had for each other was caught up on, and Desare being the youngest was enjoying the attention of the older girls as they did her hair for her, and fussed over her clothes. Desare didn't realize it, but the others were relaxing her, making her feel secure in their presence. The two Mare Altan well knew the fear and uncertainty of their first days as warriors, a long way from the security of their home camps.
Nareena was more of the village girl, yet as a hunter she had spent long months away on her own. All three well knew that they had been much older than Desare though when they had first left their mothers side. Indeed, they were proud of their young friend, and admired her courage. She had not been forced into this adventure, but had it seemed, undertaken her quest willingly. Even against her mother's wishes.
Antonin lay flat on his back on a pile of furs, hands clasped across his broad chest, and half dozing, watched the firelight flickering on the roof far overhead. He listened to the murmur of the girls talking. A smile flicked on his lips. It seemed that warrior or princess, girl of the plains, or girl of the distant east, all had an endless interest in cloths, hair, the antics of men, whom they seemed to find generally amusing, and took an endless delight in discussing possible matches for their friends. Rees squatted on his heels by the fire and dozed.
There were drawings on the distant roof of the cave Antonin noticed. Strange animals with huge tusks marched across the roof. Stick figures of men and women hunting them. Other scenes of camp life and activities that seemed vaguely familiar yet looked quite different to what could be seen in the world today. How did they get painted up there? When? It must have been a very long time ago. Antonin had never seen animals like those depicted in the drawings, not weapons like those used. He mused over the possibilities of those spears used by the long dead warriors.
Antonin tried to work out what he was going to do if the dragons did come to his call. The instructions seemed to indicate that there were only three. That didn't seem right though. Lord of the dragon Armies indicated just that. An army. Armies. Three dragons didn't make an army. Well, he'd see soon enough. He listened to the wind howling outside the cave.
It should be light again in a couple of hours. Antonin dozed, only a part of his mind tuned to the sounds around him. The girls were curled up together under the furs again, and the fire danced and crackled with a good supply of fuel. Only Catharina still prowled about the cavern. She was wide awake now, and would take the watch during the small hours. She had found a seam of pitch black rock in the cave wall and had brought some of the strange crumbly rock back to the fire to investigate it. To her utter amazement the pieces she placed right by the fire started to smoke then with a flicker started to actually burn. This was amazing. Rock that burned. She thought of waking the others to show them but instead collected a pile of the rocky stuff and began to bank the fire with it. It slowly caught alight and burnt with flames of blue and green. It was very hot, much hotter than burning wood. The smoke was acrid, and tended to be sooty and black, but Catharina found that if she fanned the flames to a fierce burn, a lot of the smoke disappeared. She tested a spear tip in the hottest part of the fire, and in moments it was white hot. The rock itself took ages to burn away to a fine white ash. This was very useful stuff she decided, and could be used by anyone. Especially where firewood was scarce, as out on the Star Field Plain. Catharina began to think about whether she had ever noticed similar outcroppings anywhere in her travels.
A turn out to the cave entrance showed a pale light filtering through the snow storm. It also seemed to be easing a little. Time to rouse the others. Coming back into the main cavern, Catharina realized just how hot she had made the place with her rocky fire. She smiled at the thought of the others faces when they saw what she had discovered. In a few moments she had the others up and staring goggle eyed at the fire. Even Desare, now fully recovered was ready for new adventures. After a quick meal the party was ready for the day. Antonin was fascinated by the burning stones, and burnt his fingers more than once. The rocks just appeared to burst into flame if heated enough. Even when doused with water, the hot gases would re-ignite from nearby flames, making the fire very hard to put out. He put some pieces in his saddle bags to investigate at a later date, when back in the city. Another look outside showed the storm almost gone. The wind had died to a moaning gusty storm and the snow had stopped falling. The area outside had been swept clean of rocks as far as Antonin could see. The snow however was many feet deep.
It was time to summon his army of dragons. He swallowed rather nervously, raised his arm, and struck the symbol on the wall hard with the heel of his fist. Three times in slow succession he struck it. Each time a low rumble shook deep in the earth. Small stones and dust fell from the cavern roof. The world seemed to be holding its breath. Antonin stepped to the edge of the rocky outcrop and called into the wastes.
"Nesathara, Omgorion, Dadahar, the time has come. Come to the Lord of the Dragons, for I have called you to battle."
He stepped back to the symbol and struck it again. "Gahar". Again, "Gahar." and again for the third time "Gahar." The rumbling in the earth did not abate this time. It seemed to be coming from the roots of the world. The vibration of it could be felt through the soles of their feet. Everyone was now out on the ledge with Antonin. The cloud cleared away as though swept by a huge broom and the sun blazed down on the glittering ice.
With a sighing sound, the entire lake of ice suddenly turned to water. One moment it had been solid frozen ice, the next moment it was water. Then the roar came. From away on the far side of the valley, where the mountain wall had fallen away at Antonin's last passage through the valley, the lake was pouring away across the empty landscape. Everything in its path was being swept away. The land itself was being reformed as millions of tons of water poured out of the valley.
The valley was vast. It was many miles wide, and even longer end to end, yet the mountain pass on the far side that had fallen away was a good mile wide, and the volume of water that was suddenly unleashed through it was enormous.
"That lake must have been frozen by some spell Catharina." Said Antonin. Then he noticed the rapidly falling water level. The ice had come up to the level of the cave entrance. Now the level was rapidly falling. Antonin and Nareena, who had also noticed the developing predicament looked around. Already the water had dropped enough to reveal that the group appeared to be stranded in the cave. There was no path down to a lower level. The roar from the distant outpouring was getting louder if anything, and the very mountains were vibrating.
"I would not like to be in front of that." Declared Nareena.
"Yes, but what of the dragons?" Replied Antonin. "What also of our predicament here?" Desare was peering over the edge of the stone ledge they stood on. The drop to the water was considerable, and getting longer every minute. She looked at the others with eyes wide in alarm. No one said anything. Everything had happened so fast that no one had had time to take it all in. They were quite obviously stranded in a cave that was now high up a cliff face, with no way down.
The girls went back into the cave to look around for something that might be of use. No one had any idea of what , but it was something to do. Antonin squatted on his heels at the cliff edge, and watched the vast lake rapidly disappearing.
He had no doubts that given time they could climb out, or help would come from those who had followed them, but how they would get the horses out he couldn't imagine. It seemed that all his call to the dragons had achieved was the emptying of the lake. Perhaps the dragons had been swept away?
The sun was now well above the surrounding ranges, and showed the path down the cliff face to be continuing on down to the depths of the valley floor. The valley still contained a vast amount of water. Even though it was emptying rapidly, Antonin thought it would still take many hours, if not days, to drain out so much water.
He peered out across the lake. There was something rising out of the water away out there. Antonin rubbed his eyes. Surely he was dreaming. The top most spires of a vast castle complex were being revealed by the falling lake surface. So there had been a city buried inside all that ice. The city of the dragons perhaps? He no sooner thought it than the water about the vast castle began to boil and steam as though in a huge cauldron. Suddenly a huge beast burst from the boiling surface and like a dark blue flash sped into the sky. Smoke and fire and roiling steam trailed behind it. The cry that it gave forth as it leapt into the heavens had the girls running the ledge to join Antonin. Antonin was staring in open amazement at the huge beast. He had never seen anything so large. Its body was very long. Five clawed talons on each of its four feet. It's vast tail whipping about as it beat gigantic leathery wings, and its head on a long neck moving snake like as it looked about. Its hide was a bright blue, its scales shining in the bright sunlight. The horns on its head seemed to crackle with lightning.
It gave a coughing roar, and fire belched from its throat and nostrils in shimmering waves. The huge creature was circling out in a spiral from where it had emerged from the lake. Its path would soon bring it by the cave. Antonin was not too sure he wanted to draw attention to himself. Just for safety he ushered the others back into the cave.
He heard a series of coughing roars "Oh no." He muttered as looking back over his shoulder he could see more of the great beasts hurling themselves into the sky from the depths of the lake.
"I think it may be best to stay out of sight for a moment." the others nodded in agreement. None were actually afraid, but there was no point in being stupidly bold either. Those dragons didn't look exactly friendly either. All except the first were glittering shades of green. The blue appeared to be the leader, it was certainly the largest.