Chapter 9

The following characters are mentioned or appear in this chapter:

Tesebu

Master carpenter, Dragon offspring, 5’-6’’ tall, 140 pounds, 55 years old, thin gray hair, brown eyes

Awakening just before nine that night, I intended to return to Atlanta. I wanted to check on what Mom had learned from her friend about the cost of supporting the offspring over the winter. I had no more than sat up when the Queens of Old appeared near me.

“WE received a message while you slept. The new Queens, both of them, will be here in the morning. WE have already notified Virupaksha of their arrival,” they informed me. This threw my schedule off, but it would give Stewart and me a chance to check on things in Lhasa again. After thanking the Queens, I awoke Stewart with the new schedule.

“We aren’t returning to Atlanta yet,” I told him before explaining. “Both of the Queens will be here in the morning. The Dragons have already been alerted. I think that we should check on things in Lhasa instead of leaving,” I told him. He just smiled.

“I take it that they have determined how much money they will need to support the offspring,” he said.

“I presume that they have, and that they have also determined what and how much of it to send to Mumbai,” I told him.

Shortly after rising, we were on our way to the corridors of Red Mountain to check on what was happening in Lhasa. After an hour and a half, we returned to the Nest having found Lhasa to be very quiet with little going on. We ate again before getting some more sleep.

The next morning, we were both up early and ate again, as we weren’t sure just what would be happening today. Jorani and Mom arrived in the cave, where we were waiting, just before nine that morning. Mom was surprised by the size of the cave, not having been here previously. They also had Dukhor with them.

“How long can you stay?” I asked shortly after they had arrived, as our Daughters would be hungry again in a few hours.

“We have about an hour and a half or so,” Jorani told me before I kissed her. She felt so good in my arms that I didn’t want to let her go. However with this deadline, I quickly released her.

“What did the economist say?” I asked Mom.

“After considerable research, he told me that two million dollars would support that many people over the winter here if they already had shelter,” Mom told us. “We have already selected some diamonds and pearls from those in the Stone Mountain Tribute. Jorani will select some from the Tribute here to reach that amount,” she continued.

“Let’s go up to the Tribute rooms then,” I suggested before adding, “Dukhor should go with us. He can see the settlement here while you deal with the messenger,” I told them. The Queens of Old quickly transferred us to the Tribute rooms on the entrance level.

Mom and Jorani selected the rough diamonds and very large pearls to be included in the merchandise shipment while Dukhor just stared at everything in the various Tribute rooms in shock.

“How long has all of this been here?” he finally asked.

“At least 16,000 years for some of it. The last deposits were made around 4,000 years ago,” I told him. He was shocked by the indicated time span.

“I was amazed by what I saw at the other Nest, but there appears to be even more here,” he told me.

“This Nest is about 4,000 years older than the Stone Mountain Nest,” I told him.

It hadn’t taken long for the two Queens to select what was to be included in the merchandise from this Nest, and they placed it in a sturdy box along with that from the Stone Mountain Nest. It was, after all, going to be carried by Dragons. They then cast a spell on the box to keep it from being opened by anyone who was not a Dragon. Jorani then looked over at me.

“We’re ready. When will the messenger be here?” she asked.

“Several Dragons have arrived in the Dragon Reality already,” the Queens of Old told us, as the entry opened. Outside, Jorani, as the present Dragon Queen, cast the transfer spell to take all of us to the Dragon Reality. Dukhor had been staring at the mountains around the Nest, and when we transferred, he was shocked by the difference in the scenery and the presence of the village that had been set up here. There were already three Dragons there waiting for us. They were all at the forty-foot-tall level. One was Virupaksha. The other two were from the Green Clan and the Red Clan. We three transformed into our Dragon forms at the forty-foot-tall level to greet them. Stewart and Dukhor remained in their Human form. Things were definitely a bit crowded on the mountain top with all of us this large.

From the look that he gave us, it was apparent that Virupaksha was surprised to see both new Queens as well as the Queens of Old and the Queens in the Jewel here to meet with them.

“It would be more comfortable if everyone changed to a smaller size and spoke in something other than the Dragon language,” the Queens of Old told everyone again in Gaelic. We all shrank to the twenty-five-foot-tall level before going any further.

“Welcome Virupaksha and your companions. Are you ready to receive the merchandise that is to go to Mumbai in India,” Jorani asked.

“We three are ready to receive it and carry it to India. We will need the address and the name of the one who is to receive it,” he told us.

“The name of the man to receive it and his business address have been burned into the top of the box in English. Many in India both speak and read English,” Jorani informed him handing him the box. He took it and shook it a little but didn’t seem happy with what he had received.

“What is this ‘merchandise’,” he asked using the same term that she had. “It does not seem to be very heavy. Are you sure that we will receive sufficient compensation to care for all of the offspring for the winter?” he continued as he opened the box. He seemed quite surprised by its contents.

“These are the rocks that a claw cannot scratch, and these others are the eggs that the young Females used to bribe the water creatures, the swimmers, to retrieve in the other rocks. They would open the rocks and eat the contents but save the eggs to use as Tribute when having their chicks. Are these small things worth much?” he asked.

“The rocks are diamonds, and the eggs are pearls. Both are worth large sums of money in the Human civilization, and these will bring enough compensation, as you called it, to care for the offspring for the winter and into the spring,” Mother, as the Dragon Queen of the West, told him.

“These have come from the Tribute rooms of both Nests as all of the Queens are concerned about the welfare of the offspring both now and in the future,” Jorani told him and those with him. They all seemed to understand.

“We must leave now. We both have chicks to care for at the other Nest,” Jorani told them. All of the Queens disappeared then returning to both of the Nests. Virupaksha and the other two Dragons returned to their larger size before taking off with the merchandise, leaving Dukhor, Stewart, and me alone on the mountain top. I returned to my Human form.

Many of those in the village below had seen the arrival of the Dragons on the mountain, the meeting, and the Queens. They hadn’t heard what was said but realized that something important had happened. A number of them were still discussing this when I asked the next question.

“Shall we go down to the village so you can look at it?” I asked Dukhor.

“I wasn’t expecting it to be this large. So yes, we should go down to see what the people will think of having a Monk among them,” he said. Stewart transferred the three of us down to the village street.

As soon as we appeared there near the large building where the Dragons taught Magic, people saw Dukhor and almost instantly a crowd appeared around him. They were all speaking Tibetan or Chinese. While Stewart and I couldn’t understand them, it was obvious that they were very glad to see the ancient Monk.

A small girl of about 3 or 4 years old made her way through the crowd and begged to be picked up as children that age do. Dukhor picked her up and held her in his arm while answering questions and speaking for some time to the large crowd that had gathered. Many of those in the crowd looked at us and tolerated our presence because we had accompanied Dukhor. However, you would have thought that he was a famous movie star or a rock star the way the crowd reacted to his presence.

After a time, he stopped speaking to the crowd and turned to us.

“Several of the leaders want me to look at the building where the Dragons teach Magic to see if it will be suitable for use as what you have termed a ‘prayer room’,” he told us.

“That’s fine. We’ll wait out here while you are busy,” I told him before he left with several older men. Most of the crowd melted away when they left. After about ten minutes, Dukhor returned with one of the men.

“This is Tesebu. He will build some platforms to keep the chests on and off the floor of the building. We must return to the Red Palace and borrow the needed items. The people here were very excited to learn that I would be staying here with them,” he told us.

After transferring back to the top of the mountain, I transferred us back to the Human Reality and the entrance of the Nest. The Queens of Old were waiting there and opened the entrance for us.

“The offspring seemed very glad to see the Holy man,” they said after we had entered.

“Yes, they were worried that there would be no one to lead them in their devotions. They were very glad to learn that I would be staying with them,” he told the Queens.

After making our way to the cave, we took the portal to Red Mountain and the corridors there. I had a question for Dukhor then.

“Where are these things stored? Will we have trouble accessing them?” I asked.

“Most of the things that we require are stored on the first level above the assembly hall. The area where no visitors or even the Monks are allowed to go. No one will be there,” he assured us.

“How are they stored?” I asked.

“They are stored in chests. We can borrow what we need. No one will know that the chests are empty,” he told us.

“That could be a problem,” Stewart told him. “Many loose things are more difficult to move than a box or something containing them would be.”

“You could move the entire chest?” Dukhor asked, a bit surprised.

“Certainly, how large are they?” I asked.

“Most of the chests are a meter long, 60 cm wide and 50 cm high (40 x 24 x 20 inches). They are made of wood and are quite heavy, especially when full,” he told us.