fandomania | The Adventure continues...

Emergency babies:

Our eggs:

Our hatchlings:

The Story:

“PATRA? LITTLE ONE? ARE YOU SAFE? WHERE ARE YOU?”

“Orlando? Help us? Please?”

“OF COURSE, LITTLE ONE, BUT WHERE ARE YOU? YOU SOUND VERY DISTANT FROM ME AND YET I HEAR YOU VERY CLEARLY.”

“I have no idea where I am. And I am confused also. One minute I cannot find a dragon near me for miles around and the next I think of you and you are talking inside my head.”

“OKAY, THIS ISN’T GETTING US ANYWHERE. TELL ME EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED FROM THE MOMENT LOYSA APPEARED UNTIL JUST NOW.”

“How do you know that Loysa is with me?”

“DID YOU THINK THAT I WOULD GO AND LEAVE YOU TOTALLY ALONE? I LEFT A FEW WATCHERS TO WATCH OVER YOU AND TO WATCH FOR OTHER WATCHERS.

“NOW TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED?”

I gave him a quick rundown and description of what happened and what where we were looked like.

“GIVE ME A MINUTE, LITTLE ONE. THE PLACE SOUNDS FAMILIAR, BUT I AM NOT QUITE PLACING IT.

“AH. ONE OF COLLEGUES HAS TOLD ME THAT YOU ARE IN BUTTE VALLEY, IN ONE OF THE REMOTEST PLACES IN MAHAJATMA. YOU ARE ABOUT 1000 MILES DUE EAST OF DAIHOR AND ABOUT 750 MILES SOUTH EAST OF RAHN-DEVU. IF I LEAVE RIGHT NOW, AND CATCH A TAILWIND OR TWO, I MIGHT BE WHERE YOU ARE BY NIGHTFALL. THAT IS THE BEST THAT I CAN DO. YOU ARE STILL A VERY LONG WAYS AWAY.”

“Knowing that you are coming and that we will not die here comforts me at lot.”

“GOOD. HOLD ON A MINUTE. I HAVE TO TALK YOUR HUSBAND OUT OF DOING SOMETHING FOOLISHLY DANGEROUS.”

I waited patiently for Orlando to return to my mind.

“YOUR HUSBAND, LITTLE ONE, CAN BE AMAZINGLY STUBBORN. HE HAS BEEN INFORMED THAT YOU ARE FREE AND UNHARMED, ALONG WITH REUEL AND LOYSA. I HAVE GATHERED THAT NO ONE NOTICED LOYSA WAS ALSO GONE UNTIL I TOLD THEM. I HAVE ORDERED THEM TO THE COMPOUND AND TO REMAIN THERE UNDER LOCKDOWN. YOU AND THE CHILDREN SHOULD BE REUNITED WITH YOUR FAMILY BY SUNDOWN TOMORROW.”

“So long?”

“YES. YOU REALLY ARE A LONG WAYS AWAY FROM ANYWHERE. I CAN ONLY FLY SO FAST. I AM NOT A MIRACLE WORKER.”

“You are the closest thing to one that I know of, dearest Orlando.”

“THANK YOU. I HAVE FINISHED PUTTING TOGETHER SUPPLIES FOR YOU AND THE CHILDREN. I AM TAKING OFF NOW AND HAVE TO END THIS CONVERSATION, SO THAT I CAN CONCENTRATE ON FINDING YOU. PLEASE DON’T DESPAIR! HAVE FAITH IN ME! KEEP HOLDING ON!”

“I won’t! I am! Thank you!”

And the link ended.

I sat on the ground next to the children. I was tired and my mind no longer capable of cohesive thought.

Just as I thought it might be a good idea to take a nap, Reuel woke up. Thank Ghad! I was so worried that he had been injured.

“Mommy? Where are we?”

“I am not sure, sweetie. But no where near the bad men. You don’t have to worry about them.”

“Good. They were mean. May I sit in your lap?”

“Of course, sweetie! Come here!”

Reuel got up and sat on my lap, threw his arms around me and started to cry.

I let him have his cry, as I rocked him, and kissed him.

“Mommy, do you still love me?”

“Of course, I love you! I will always love you! No matter where you are, what you do or how old you are! You are my boy. You are my son. I can never stop loving you! Why do you ask this?”

“Celi said that I wasn’t supposed to look at things as I do. That you would be mad at me if I did so.”

“I wouldn’t have put it as Celi did, but she is right. When you wander off, as you did today, I start to worry about you. Not that you are doing bad things, but that there are bad people in this world and they like to hurt little boys like you. If you hadn’t been alone today, they couldn’t have taken you, could they? “

“No.”

“I love you Reuel. I love how interested you are in everything. I know that the cat interested you. But if you had asked someone to go with you, someone like Uncle Eoin or Cousin Willy, then those men wouldn’t have taken you and hurt you. An adult would have protected you from them. When I get mad at things you do, it isn’t because you are a bad boy. I just become afraid that you will do something like today and I will never see you again. Do you understand?”

Reuel nodded his head yes.

“Good! Right now, Uncle Orlando is coming to get us. Loysa took us somewhere away from the men, but she didn’t know where she was taking us. It is going to take many hours for Orlando to get here. I know that it is going to be boring to wait so long, but may I have your promise that you won’t go near the edges of this place? We are very high up, and if you should fall, that fall will kill you. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mommy. I promise.”

“Thank you.” I gave my son a big hug and a kiss.

We sat together, quietly, sometimes dozing off, waiting for Orlando. At some point Loysa woke up from her nap and came and joined in the cuddle.

I don’t know if I was hallucinating or dreaming, but I started to see a speck of orange coming from the north. It took a while for the speck to become a blob and the blob become an ever larger orange dragon. It wasn’t until he landed, that I woke the children. They were happy and enthusiastic and, while I agreed with their joy, I still had visions of children falling to their deaths.

“WHILE I AM TAKING A FEW MINUTES TO REST UP, PLEASE GET THE WATER BAG OUT OF THE BASKET HERE. YOU ALL LOOK LIKE YOU NEED HYDRATION.”

I got the water bag and let Loysa drink her fill first. I then gave it to Reuel. When he finished, I drank what was left.

“THIS IS CERTAINLY SOME PERCH YOU HAVE HERE, PATRA. I THINK THAT CARTOGRAPHERS SHOULD NAME THIS PLACE ‘PATRA’S PERCH’, IN HONOR OF THIS OCCASION.” Orlando chortled.

“I HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS DURING THE FLIGHT DOWN. LOYSA IS VERY GOOD AT FINDING AND TELEPORTING TO PEOPLE. BUT SHE ISN’T GOOD AT CONCEPTS YET. HOME IS A CONCEPT. SAFETY IS A CONCEPT. BUT MAMA AND DONAL AREN’T. I HOPE THAT THERE WON’T BE NEED OF HER TALENTS IN THE FUTURE, BUT IF THERE IS, ASK HER TO TAKE YOU TO PEOPLE. I DON’T THINK THIS WILL TAKE YOU ASTRAY AGAIN.”

“You don’t know how frightened I was when we first got here. Not only did I not know where we were, but I didn’t know when we were. Since she teleported into the future once, what would keep her from doing so again?”

“GOOD POINT. IF THAT HAD HAPPENED TODAY, I CAN SAY WITH ALL HONESTY THAT YOUR HUSBAND WOULD HAVE GONE INSANE LOOKING FOR YOU. YOU KNOW ALL OF THE ROMANTIC FAERY TALES ABOUT LOVERS CRUELLY PARTED WHO SEARCH THE WORLD FOREVER FOR THE PERSON THAT THEY LOVE? I CAN TELL YOU KNOW THAT DONAL WOULD HAVE BEEN ONE OF THOSE. AS IS, HE ALMOST STARTED A WAR BECAUSE OF YOU.”

“What? How?”

“HE CONVINCED HIS GRANDFATHER TO GO TO THE KING OF ALFARIA TO ASK HIM TO DECLARE WAR ON RAWN-DEVU UNLESS YOU WERE RETURNED.”

“Oh, my!”

“FORTUNATELY, I WAS ABLE TO CONVINCE THOSE TWO THAT THAT WASN’T NECESSARY. THAT RAWN-DEVU DIDN’T HAVE YOU. WHEN WE ARE BACK IN ALFARIA, I AM GOING TO HAVE TO INSTRUCT MY WATCHERS TO BE LESS PASSIVE IN THE FUTURE. I CAN’T SAY THAT THIS COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED, BUT SHE SHOULD HAVE AT LEAST TRIED.”

“She?”

“YES, SHE. ONE OF MY MANY TIMES GREAT GRANDDAUGHTERS. SHE HAS BEEN MY STUDENT FOR MANY YEARS. THIS ASSIGNMENT WAS TO TEACH HER PATIENCE AND WATCHFULNESS.”

“Oh.”

“IN A FEW MINUTES, I WILL BE RESTED ENOUGH. I HAVE A LARGE METAL BASKET HERE, LINED WITH BLANKETS AND SLEEPING FURS. I AM GOING TO ASK YOU TO PLACE LOYSE, REUEL AND THEN YOURSELF IN IT AND BUNDLE ALL OF YOU UP AS WARMLY AS YOU CAN. I AM GOING TO HAVE TO FLY VERY HIGH IN ORDER TO GET YOU HOME AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE AND IT GETS VERY COLD UP THERE. BUT BEFORE I TAKE OFF, I AM GOING TO PLACE THE THREE OF YOU IN A STASIS SPELL, JUST LIKE I DID THOSE GUARDS IN RIVERFORD. YOU WON’T BE CONSCIOUS DURING THE FLIGHT, BUT YOU WILL BE AFFECTED BY HEAT OR COLD. YOU WILL VERY LIKELY WAKE UP IN ALFARIA AND BE SHIVERING BADLY FROM COLD. I DON’T WANT TO SCARE OR FRIGHTEN YOU, BUT I DO NEED YOU TO BE PREPARED FOR THIS.”

“I understand. Before we start, this is the short sword I took from one of the men who took Reuel. I don’t know if anything can be learned from it, but I think it should be brought back with us.”

“VERY GOOD THINKING, LITTLE ONE. WELL, LET US GET STARTED.”

I followed his instructions to the letter. I bundled up Loysa and Reuel thoroughly in the basket. I then lay down, and with Orlando’s help got bundled up also. Orlando began to speak his spell and I ceased to feel anything.