Dragons Awakening
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Don't Argue with a Dragon

Zi assumed a silent dragon would be an improvement over the deep growl inside her mind. Accusing his god of scorning humanity might not have been the wisest method for ending the throbbing conversation.

Wind blasted her nose, the only part not covered by either blanket or clothing. After a few minutes of riding with her face exposed enjoying the view, she sought refuge in the blanket, hat and scarf. Chafed cheeks were the least of it. Frost-laden eye lashes made blinking impossible.

Now her knit cap covered her from the top of her head to her eyeballs. A scarf protected the lower half of her face from the icy air around them. When she felt smothered, Zi adjusted the scarf enough for her nostrils to inhale fresh air. The cold burned its way down her windpipe and constricted her chest, like swallowing ice.

An air current pushed her dragon ride higher before he dropped below the blanket of clouds. Looking at the ground dizzied her, and she shut her eyes against the onslaught. Too bad closing off her mind wasn’t so easy.

What makes you think humanity played a part in Omne’s decision? The voice was back.

Zi rubbed her temples. “He seemed interested in all of the planets he discovered. Nothing kept him from interfering those. I’m sure he saw Earth as just another playground.”

Ezer dove and spun. Zi’s body clashed with the spike in front of her. A scream ripped from her throat. Her stomach plunged toward the distant ground faster than the dragon.

A slashing of his wings leveled them out. He wheeled toward the right. Zi hugged the curved spine as if she was reuniting with a friend. Another beat of the enormous wings and an updraft smoothed their course. Zi swallowed the bile trying to strangle her.

Through eyes stinging with tears, Zi noticed a commercial airliner off to the right. Could they see the dragon? Flying in broad daylight now was a bad idea. They’d reached an area crossed by commercial flight patterns and might be spotted.

“Fly in the clouds!” The wind rushing past her face ripped her scream away. “There’s a plane.”

Ezer heard her, of course. He always seemed to be eavesdropping on her thoughts. Wisps of mist clung to her eyebrows. Zi scooted lower inside her blanket cocoon.

“I forgot myself.” Probably the closest to an apology she’d ever hear from the arrogant dragon.

They flew in silence. Zi closed her eyes, bored with the sea of white clouds below them.

Omne gave you a special gift, still you criticize his actions? The voice caused her eyes to fly open.

Why bother trying to form words with her trembling lips? The pompous dragon heard all her thoughts anyway. “I don’t believe a deity gave me the gift of sight.”

“Then who?”

“It was time. The spirit of the last prophetess merged with my spirit at my birth.” Blood throbbed behind her temples. Another migraine on its way.

That defies logic. The voice inside her head filled with scorn. Why not believe an all-powerful deity created everything, including your special ability?

“The spirit of life is evident all around us.” She couldn’t concentrate on her arguments with a bass drum pulsing inside her skill. “Why couldn’t a strong prophetic spirit bide its time and fulfill prophecy?”

“Who directs this spirit? It floats in the air for five centuries before choosing to inhabit another human?” Ezer snorted a plume of smoke. “How does it know the time is right?”

“If we understood, it wouldn’t be a spiritual mystery.” Zi leaned forward. The bungees cut into her waistline. “Once something is explained, it loses its attraction.”

“Or it’s an illogical belief that defies explanation.”

Heat flooded Zi’s face. Her fists clenched around the blanket. Pounding in her head escalated. Arguing with the dragon made it worse. Did it matter if he thought her views were illogical? In truth, she didn’t have any clear personal beliefs on mysticism or faith. She had only begun to learn of such things from her mother when she was killed. Mr. Oohara worshiped money.

“Acquiescence?” Ezer made the word sing-songy.

Zi squelched the scathing remark burning her tongue. Since he was in her head, he probably heard it anyway. A grin at the thought eased the tension in her face. How perfect! Able to insult someone without saying a word.

“I would have to care what you think, seer, before your words held power over me.”

At least the dragon used his quiet voice. It didn’t even sound like he was gloating.

“Finish your story.”

“Omne chained Qwystanak to the core of your planet. The remaining members of Inferno were exiled to the surface, dropped into the mountains of this continent.”

Zi relaxed against the curved spine. It felt almost comfortable.

“Omne cursed both Jokul and me, blaming us for leading our clans in the aggression. We must wait in exile until we subdue Qwystanak.”

Things would have been easier if their diety had just destroyed the red dragon. For starters, Zi wouldn’t be riding on a dragon’s back in search of some Whisperer.

“When fire flows from the planet’s belly, our exile ends,” Ezer’s voice seemed to whisper.

“Say you defeat this fiery demon - what then?”

They drifted on the currents, white below and pale blue above. Air whistled past her covered ears, convincing her they weren’t suspended in the sky.

“I will be allowed to return to Dragonrealm and my family.”

“You have a family?” Zi tried to envision a baby dragon and failed.

“Don’t sound so surprised, seer. Humans are hardly the most advanced species in the universe. Dragons might seem like beasts to your kind, but we are sentient, logical beings.”

“You forgot immortal.”

“Immortality can be a curse. Especially when you’re separated from family.”

Zi understood his sentiment. She had lived less than a decade without her precious mother and it felt like a lifetime. “Humans hunted all but you and this other chieftain into extinction? Where is he?”

“He lives at the top of the world.”

She recognized the ancient phrase referring to Mt. Everest. Zi glanced southward, a habitual gesture since she had lived in the shadow of the tallest mountain for many years. They were too far away from it now to see the peak soaring 30,000 feet above the ground.

“How has he survived? By hiding?”

“Jokul found a clan of followers, humans who worship him in return for his provision of diamonds.”

Zi grinned. “They adore him for his bodily waste.”

“Humans value these gems,” Ezer said.

Zi fingered the carat-sized studs in her own ears. A gift she purchased after inheriting her uncle’s estate. Diamond earrings and her own private beach house staffed with people not controlled by her father. Not that things mattered. She would trade all of it to have her uncle alive again. The familiar lump clogged her throat, threatening to put tears in her eyes. Zi swallowed the glob of mucus.

Zi threw her hands in the air, wobbling in her seat. Her legs tightened around the black spike in front of her. “We were so close to Everest. It would have been easy to fly there from the academy.”

“We need the boy to awaken Jokul. He has slumbered for many centuries.”

“Your mind yelling wouldn’t do the trick?”

Fire devoured everything. Black smoke spiraled above shapes that might have been buildings. Heat scorched her face. A river of lava raced down the mountainside in the distance, bubbling and steaming. Ash choked her.

Terrified screams pierced her eardrums. A row of houses, a small European village by the architecture, burst forth in a fiery spectacle. The sickening scent of burning flesh, annoyingly sweet and oppressively heavy, gagged her. The stench of sulfur overwhelmed the charcoal fragrance of burning wood. Zi cupped her hand over her mouth and nose.

An explosion of debris spewed from the crater of the volcano. Emerging from the curtain of destruction, a broad red face glared at her. Malevolence simmered in the bronze-colored eyes. A maw lined with steely spikes gaped. A curl of white flame raced from the cavernous jaws toward her.

Zi jerked, gripping the bungee around her waist. One corner of her blanket flapped free. She snatched the errant edge and tucked it around herself.

Breath rasped in her ears. Her own. Pounding inside her skull sounded like the ocean surf. A demon incarnate. No other description touched the vision imprinted on her mind.

“Will you share your vision, Zi Yan?”

What? Not seer? The small victory was crushed as her slamming heart bruised her breastbone. “His flame was white.” No other coherent thought could be focused into words.

“Describe him.”

Zi closed her eyes. The monster sprang to life in vivid detail. Focusing on each feature, Zi translated her vision into words.

“His eyes are changed. This is unwelcome news.”

“Why?” Zi pressed her trembling hands into her armpits.

“A metamorphosis has occurred. This means his strengths and weaknesses are unknown.”

“I didn’t see any weaknesses.”

After a pause, during which Zi practiced meditation breathing, Ezer said, “I fear they may have been purified by the Earth’s fire.”