Chapter 12

Dusty felt like he was submerged in warm water.

It was strange because while he couldn't see, he could feel everything. The feeling made him feel like he was surrounded by nothing and yet at the same time by everything.

He could feel shapes, colors, sounds, even smells. He could sense everyone around him and as strange as it sounded he could sense himself. It was like he was looking at himself but he wasn't looking at himself.

As Dusty was trying to puzzle that out, he felt child like bubbly laughter.

It was so infectious that he felt himself smiling.

The feeling made him feel like he did when he sat and watched his small children go about their day. It was the type of happiness felt by a parent as they watched their child learn and grow.

All of a sudden he heard ... laughter?

As he was trying to figure out where it came from he realized that it wasn't by sound, it was more like it was in his head.

Forcing his eyes open he realized he was on a makeshift bed in the egg chamber and the Dragon's egg was nearby. He had his arm around it and was sleeping on his back.

Looking around, he saw that they were still in the cave and the others were further out in the main cave sitting around a makeshift fire closer to the exit. He realized that if they had it closer inside the smoke couldn't get out, but thankfully it was a small one for heat.

Taking quick inventory of himself, he realized that he felt the bubbly laughter again and he looked over at the egg. Dusty was sure it was coming from the egg, but why? It wasn't even born yet.

Moving slowly, he realized that Kat must have healed his arm and shoulder because they didn't feel any worse for wear.

Suzan was the first to hear him moving around and she came over to him.

"Dusty do you feel like eating? We recovered our supplies from the remains of the horses. The Drake tore them off as he was eating them. He killed them while they were on the run and we had to forage for a bit to find some of our things, but we found them all", said Suzan quietly.

Dusty slowly got up and followed Suzan to where the others were.

"Thanks honey, but why is everyone so somber? I would have thought we would be happy to survive that Drake's attack. Sure it wasn't a full grown one, but we did and we managed to save the egg as well," said Dusty as he approached the fire and then took a seat as he picked up on the others mood.

"It's because we're out of time," said Kat quietly.

"What do you mean we're out of time? How long was I out?" asked Dusty.

"You were out about eight Days. We would have just made it with the time we had, but it would have been close with only about a day to spare with the time we had to travel back. But with our being unable to move you or the egg during that time we had to stay here and wait. We now only have a little less than two weeks left until the deadline," said Kat.

"Why couldn't you move me or the egg?" asked Dusty.

"The Drake ate the horses remember?" asked Seth.

"Right ... so we would have had to travel on foot anyway. Ahhh yes," said Dusty as it caught up to him.

That would have greatly lengthened their travel time even if he hadn't been out cold.

"And now since the journey by foot would take us about four to five weeks instead of the three I estimated we're out of time," said Kat sadly.

"Does this mean we should be getting ready for the Dragon's to attack?" asked Suzan.

"Looks like it. I had such high hopes that we would make it," said Kat dejectedly.

"Kat, when you were at our house earlier, how far away would you say we live from where we needed to be?" asked Dusty.

"About two weeks give or take a day if we had horses. Right now we are on the opposite side of where you live from where we need to be. Your house and lands are just past the Dragon's Council cave. So the caves are in between your lands and where we are now, but the caves are far closer to where you live than where this cave is located, why?" asked Kat.

Dusty smiled at her then turned to Seth and Suzan.

"Suzan call Anita and have her saddle four horses for immediate travel out with provisions for at least four weeks of travel. Seth, would you gather up more of those weapons like yours? I want to study them, but even if we can't make more having those came in handy. I was going to give Amber a set since she's a Battlemage, but we may need to check into what makes them special," said Dusty now rising.

"What are you doing? We won't make it this is all futile," said Kat while looking as the others started to move.

"Why do you say that?" asked Suzan while taking out her phone.

Dusty, meanwhile, had taken his phone to the far side of the cave entrance and used a spear to start to make a hole big enough to bury it in.

"Dusty plans to move us using that spell from earlier right? How can that work? This is a Dragon's egg. Dragon's are resistant to human magic. At best we'll move just us and our gear and leave it behind," said Kat looking at them all like they were crazy.

"No something tells me the little guy, a boy by the way it seems, will willingly come with us," said Dusty.

He was speaking without looking over his shoulder at what everyone else was doing.

"How can you know that?" asked Kat.

"Let's just say he told me he was willing to work with us. That's the best I can say for now because I don't understand myself," said Dusty as he finished covering his phone with dirt.

Looking at him strangely, Kat was caught off guard as Suzan took out her crystal phone and called Anita. Anita's glowing head appeared after a few seconds and Suzan relayed what they needed and said they would be home in a few minutes and need everything prepared.

Suzan cut the call soon afterwards and started to gather up their things.

"What was that?" asked Kat gesturing at the device Suzan put away.

"It's a phone, or communication device. Me and my partner in crime came up with them to make long distance communications more viable," said Dusty smiling.

"Partner in crime? Are you actually admitting to committing crimes when no one can see you?" asked Kat suspiciously.

Dusty laughed out loud at that question.

"I keep forgetting that I'm doing that. I'm not from around here so I often use words or phrases that folks have not heard of around here. My family and friends have gotten to the point of ignoring me when I do. I just mean that a fellow mage and I came up with the idea. That's all that means. I'm not a criminal by action or choice," said Dusty smiling.

Kat felt reassured and smiled back.

"So could you explain the device?" asked Kat.

"It would take too much to explain in theory and magic, but it works on the same principle as a mage's communication crystal. We made them so that anyone could use one no matter who they are," said Dusty.

"So anyone can use one? Even me? Would it be possible that I could get one?" asked Kat in wonder.

"I have a few in my workshop that I could part with," said Dusty smiling.

Kat smiled as she thought about what having one might mean. She might actually have some one to use it with since Suzan and Dusty seemed all too eager to make her feel welcome.

"Soon as we're all ready we'll use Suzan's to teleport us home and then we can get started," said Dusty

"That's what you did earlier? Can I also do the teleportation spell with it as well?" asked Kat looking at him

"There's a magical cost that is involved with it. It's a pretty complex spell based in principle on the eighth level travel spell. If you want I could teach you later once we're all done," said Dusty smiling.

"Maybe, but for now I'll be happy with your phone," said Kat quickly trying to change the subject.

Kat wanted to move beyond the temptation to learn everything that Dusty knew about spells and items he was creating. There was only one way for her to get it from him, and every time he opened his mouth he made the desire to get it that way out of him harder and harder for her to fight.

Gathering everything, they all gathered around and joined hands again.

"Suzan call Anita and ask her to stand in the yard and get ready," said Dusty.

Dusty watched as she did and waited until Anita said that she was ready. Dusty reached out, grasped Suzan's wrist, and then touched the Dragon's egg.

"Outgoing call: Home" was all Dusty said and then they were gone from the cave.

The group arrived in the middle of the night and quickly headed for the horses. Being lord of the manor had its benefits and Anita as a family member got to use them.

She had the servants all saddle and mount horses. Dusty had gone into the house and found a large enough backpack to put the egg in and made ready to leave. It was one that they used to pack all their items in for long trips.

Putting the egg on his back he mounted his horse and took off in the direction Kat pointed out. They needed to make up all the time that they could.

Moving like they did, they managed not to face any more challenges as the group slept outside and avoided all cities and towns at Suzan's insistence. She didn't want anything to stop them and she was convinced that if she went into another town someone would touch her intimately once again and she would kill them before she thought about it.

Dusty laughed but still listened to her request.

The only problem that this caused was that they couldn't be intimate with each other while camping out with the others. They had to put all activities on hold until they finished their trip and returned home.

It was close but they reached the base of the mountain early on the appointed day and decided to rest that morning and start up the mountain side in the afternoon.

The Dragon's really didn't have a fear of humans coming into their meeting cave and Dusty understood why. If they had that much trouble with one Drake, taking on a room full of full sized ones wouldn't be remotely smart. How did the Battlemage before him kill one? It was all he could do to stay alive facing a tinier version of what he fought.

As they were climbing the mountain, they saw quite a few Dragon's start to enter above them. Kat knew that they were spotted by the Dragon's easily with their great eye sight, but she said nothing as they climbed. At least they knew the humans honored their request and showed up.

Making it to the cave entrance, they all stood as a group and took stock of everything. Dusty took a deep breath before he started.

Dusty sensed a combination of nervousness and hopefulness from the egg on his back.

"Hey little guy, what do you have to be scared about. You're still among friends. I won't let anything happen to you," said Dusty with confidence.

Dusty felt relief wash over him as they started into the cave.

The entrance, while being about two stories in height, was far larger inside. It was so huge that Dusty had problems seeing part of the roof. There was a hole in the top of the mountain that allowed moonlight to stream into the cave.

Now that he was inside it was all Dusty could do to keep from letting the nervousness he felt get transferred to the egg. For the first time since it all started, he was trying to figure out what he got himself into when he agreed to this.

Seated in a rough circle were six Ancient Dragons and Kat wasn't kidding when she said that Drake wasn't close to their size. Standing before them Dusty could see that they were easily three to four stories.

They were of different colors that he wouldn't have expected. He saw one that was blue, one that was green, two that were metallic looking in nature that were of darks shades of gold, copper, and silver, there was a red one with black highlights, and an off white one.

They had heads of different shapes as well, some were rounded like an egg, others looked like a Triceratops from his world, there were a few that looked like Gila monster lizards. It would have been interesting to stay and study if their nails weren't almost half as big as his body.

The three of them stood nervously looking around as Kat looked at each Dragon in turn.

"We have come to answer the call that was put before humans to see if they could live along Dragon's," said Kat confidently.

"We need to hear from the humans, not from you creature of fairies," rumbled one of the Dragons.

Dusty was sure it was from the green one, but he wouldn't bet his life on it.

Kat bowed and then stepped back and was now behind the other three.

Dusty was confused as to why Kat did that. Wasn't she human? Why would the Dragon's dismiss her outright like that? What was going on?

As the three of them stood looking, the Dragons sitting on their haunches similar to how dogs sat, observed them watch them.

Without warning what could have passed for laughter seemed to rumble from another Dragon as they stood there.

"See what I mean, they have nothing to say in their defense. They are good for nothing but food. How did we ever expect anything more from lesser creatures as they are?" asked one of the Dragons directly into Dusty's mind.

"Excuse me? What was that? Why do we need a defense for anything? What have we done that was wrong?" asked Dusty out loud.

Suzan and Seth stared at him. They heard nothing. But suddenly the air was even tenser as the Dragon's seemed to concentrate on Dusty. Dusty was trying to work this out and didn't notice that everyone was now watching him.

"Did that human understand me or is he guessing at what I said?" asked the voice again.

"I hear you perfectly and I'm wondering why you said it?" asked Dusty.

Suddenly in Dusty's mind there was a chorus of voices all trying to talk to each other at once.

"Quiet! We have an agenda we need to address. Human how is it that you can speak in the language of Dragon's?" asked another voice.

That voice had an almost "musical" quality to it.

As Dusty looked he was sure that it came from the Golden dragon.

"I don't know. I don't believe I've ever spoken to one of your kind before," said Dusty again out loud.

Suzan and Seth were now openly staring as Dusty spoke out loud. They knew they were being left out of the conversation, but it was too important for them to interrupt. Dusty would fill them in later.

"Excuse me, it's because the egg that he was protecting impressed it on him. The egg trusts him and it was the hatchling who taught him," said Kat into Dusty's mind

"Was this your doing succubus?" asked another voice

Suzan and Seth saw Dusty suddenly jerk and twist around to stare hard at Kat. They both slowly looked around and saw her start to blush as she held the gaze of the White Dragon.

Dusty got his question answered as to why they called her creature of fairies and dismissed her. It also explained why she couldn't represent humanity in the eyes of the Dragon's

"I am a succubus and yet I am not. I am human as well. What affects the human race affects me as well. I will protect every one of them as I was born human and I still maintain my humanity. That will never change no matter how much I change on the inside!" said Kat defiantly.

"Answer my question!" thundered the White Dragon in both of their minds.

"I was charged by the Ancient Black Dragon Mearathatha to rescue her egg and turn it over to this cabal for protection. I was also given the mission to find a spokes person in place of her since she was murdered by one of the cabal to prevent her from finding a human to speak. I only did as I was instructed by an Ancient Dragon," said Kat as she locked eyes with the Dragon.

Dusty turned away from her and watched the Dragons.

It took a lot of balls to stare down a Dragon and contradict them like she was doing, and Kat was showing she had a stainless steel pair of them and they were far larger than his.

At best they were the size of a house.

"Do you mind if we verify that claim," said the same musical voice again.

"By your leave," was all that Kat said.

Dusty, somehow now interlocked with the Dragons minds watched and heard everything that took place between Kat and the Black Dragon Mearathatha. He saw that Mearathatha acknowledged her as both human and as a creature of fairy. That explained how she was able to talk to the Dragon's.

"It seems she is telling the truth. But I still smell the blood of Dragon's on you. How dare you come before us, after having killed one of our kind, and then try to act like you aren't savages. We need to rid the world of your type of vermin," said another voice.

Dusty was getting the hang of this. It was from the Copper Dragon.

"I did it to protect the egg I was asked to bring here. The child was scared and needed help. I didn't go looking to kill that Drake nor did I want to. But it left us no choice," said Dusty mentally as he said what he needed to do.

"You'll forgive us if we don't take your word for it?" asked Copper again.

"My mind is open to your investigation," said Dusty

"Wait Dusty! You don't understand what you... !" was all Kat got out before Dusty's head seemed like it was exploding.

Suddenly images from their trip started playing in his mind as the different Dragon's sifted through them in different ways and at different times each not quite viewing the same memories.

Satisfying themselves that he told the truth, they moved further back into his past. Soon he saw his entire life flash before his eyes, played in weird order and in dizzying sequences, as the group replayed everything.

Dusty had no way to defend or limit what they saw like Kat could. His mind was an open book and they were intent on reading all the chapters at once in a single session.

Then the murmuring among the Dragon's started as they stopped and his headache relieved itself.

"He is not from this world..." said one.

"But that also means that he has no allegiance to the humans here... ," said another.

"That may work to our advantage. Did you see how he protects those he can with his power? He's offered to do that for one of us as well. That is something we should capitalize on. That is something other humans will respect," said another.

"He put himself in danger for a hatching that he had no reason to protect. He could easily have left it behind and saved himself with his human magic. Did you see how he defended the hatchling?" asked another.

"The human gave a promise to the hatchling and he meant it. The hatchling trusts him and is impressed with him. He had no reason to offer to protect the hatching for us when he had no idea what he was going to see once he got here... " said another

"He doesn't understand what that entails... " said yet another

"But still, he meant it even though he had no idea what he was getting himself into... " said the voice from earlier again in his defense.

As the Dragon's debated, Dusty looked around at his wife and friend. They were still lost but they sensed the tension was gone and the Dragon's were talking among them selves now. They had even focused on each other and not on them any longer

Dusty's attention was returned back to the Dragon's when the musical voice of the Gold Dragon caught his attention.

"Human we accept your offer to protect the hatching and you will need to stay with us a very short period of time and be instructed in our culture to better assist you in understanding what that entails," said the Golden Dragon.

"You will be charged with returning the hatchling eventually to its home once it has spent time with us learning what it needs to survive. It will also need to stay with us past the initial hatchling stage and is able to hunt on its own," said the Silver Dragon.

"Does this mean that you will forgo your war on humanity?" asked Dusty.

"If you are willing to be the emissary of ours to the humans," said the White Dragon.