Chapter 6
Jokim hugged the mountains and deep forest for three weeks before he came upon a small village at the edge of the forest next to a small river that ran quickly from the mountains.
The snow was calf deep on the ground and still falling, Jokim could see the poverty and misery that existed here, he saw a young man collecting wood from his woodshed, “Do you know of an Inn that I may stay the night at” he said to the young man, “we have no Inn but you are welcome to share our fire and what food we have” the young man showed him into the hovel he called home.
A young woman was peeling a few vegetables sitting by the fire, a pot of water was bubbling in the hearth beside the burning logs, “We have company Mavon and we need to stretch our food a bit more” said the young man, the young woman stood up, “hello stranger I am Mavon this is my husband Tael, please sit by the fire and warm yourself”, “I am Jokim, I do not wish to put you out”, Tael took Jokim’s coat, the gold riding suit made him and his wife gasp but said nothing, “Please sit Jokim, you are welcome to share what we have” , Jokim thanked them and sat by the fire, Aria spoke to Jokim for a few seconds.
Jokim looked at the couple then said “I have a sack of vegetables and a rabbit, I left them outside the door, please fetch them and add them to your meal”, Tael was puzzled, he had not seen a sack but looked outside the door and found a sack, he picked it up, it was much too heavy for anyone to carry, bringing it into the room he give it to Mavon, he sat down next to Jokim.
As his wife prepared the meal Tael said “We want no trouble Jokim, that sack is much too heavy to carry any distance, and I have never seen clothes such as yours”, “You will have no trouble Tael, enjoy the meal, anything left can be added to your store”.
They chatted during the meal then Jokim said “Your ancestors were dragon riders did you know this”, Tael gripped Mavon’s hand, “We want no trouble, we are descendants of dragon riders, we have been taught the history, are you from the king”, No I am not” said Jokim quietly, “Mavon, you are with child, your child will be a rider”, the young couple looked at each other, “How do you know that, there are no more dragons, I know the legends tell of the return but”, Jokim held up his hand, “I am the rider of Aria the Golden Queen, she wishes to talk to you”, a golden light filled the room followed by a warmth the couple had never felt before.
“I am Aria, Queen of the dragons, our time is not yet upon us but is approaching, I thank you for the hospitality shown to Jokim my rider, when your son is born he will become a rider, when he is born a rider will arrive, each month until then a sack of food will be at your door”, the light left the room but the warmth lingered for a while before that also left.
“The rider that comes will be Maylee from the Elite Guard, Her blue dragon Matlock is close and watching, you need not worry” Jokim closed his eyes and listened, Matlock just said “I hear all Jokim” then fell silent again.
Jokim slept well beside the hearth waking as the dawn light shone through the window, the snow had stopped but the sky was threatening more to come.
Mavon cooked a light meal, Jokim thanked the couple then made his way through the village, he left the road as soon as he could seeking the protection of the forest.
By midday he was deep in the forest, he made good progress over the next two weeks, the snow was thinner now and a slow thaw had set in.
As Jokim approached the edge of the forest the trees thinned out, he could see a track and a river crossing ahead.
He was about to leave cover when something stopped him, he moved behind a large tree and waited, five minutes passed then he heard horses hooves beating the well-worn track, they were moving very fast.
Jokim counted six of the king’s guard and one dark wizard.
As the patrol reached the far side of the bridge the dark wizard suddenly reigned in his horse, raising his staff he circled his horse slowly, holding his staff out in front of him, “I thought I felt something “ he said to a guard, “continue” he said as he kicked his horse into a gallop again.
Jokim waited ten minutes before he crossed the bridge and made his way into the forest again.
As night fell the patrol arrived at a small town, they made their way to the Inn, stabled their horses and entered, “we need rooms and a meal” the dark wizard said to the Innkeeper, the portly man moved some of his customers from a large table and seated the patrol, then scurried out to the kitchen, he returned with a cauldron of stew, 7 plates and a loaf of bread.
The townsfolk were wary of the patrol and soon left, when the room was empty except for the patrol, the dark wizard called over the Innkeeper, “we seek anything unusual, people that do not fit, anything that is out of the ordinary” before the portly man could answer a woman entered from the kitchen and said “thems unusual folk at the village down the road, keeps emselves to emselves, we don’t see much of em”.
“What village, how far is it” said the dark wizard, “why sir you must have passed through it about half an hour before you reached the town” said the Innkeeper, the dark wizard looked round at the guards, all looked blank and shook their heads, “we will travel back in the morning to check” said the dark wizard, not letting the Innkeeper know that they had not seen any village.
Jokim reached the small village two hours after dark, he could feel a presence near a small house, “Hello Clarrisia” he said quietly, “I thought for once I could surprise you Jokim” said the commander, “not a chance” said Jokim,” take me to the child” as they approached the door to the house, it opened all by itself, they entered, a surprised man spun round, saw the riders and relaxed.
“We have told Jonas not to do that but he has a good judge of character, welcome again Clarrisia and this is? “ Peter said, the commander smiled “this is Jokim rider of Aria Golden Queen”,
Peter’s wife Bellor entered the room carrying Jonas, Jokim spoke in dragon tongue, “welcome rider Jonas,” and placed his hand on the baby’s forehead, “Hello Garnet, all is well” he continued as the young dragon made its presence felt.
When Jonas fell asleep the two riders sat down with the parents and talked at great length about the training requirements, Jokim then said “We may have to relocate you all, I saw a patrol, six guards and a dark wizard, they are searching for something”, Peter looked up “They passed by just before nightfall, didn’t even look at me”.
Clarrisia felt the touch of her dragon, “Speak to all of us Norton” she said softly, a warmth filled the room and a soft voice said “The village was invisible to the patrol, but if they return the dark wizard will find it, they are in a town a while down the road”, Jokim looked at Clarrisia “Aria can the whole village be moved?” he said” Aria replied as golden light filled the room, “I can move one family but more would make us visible to the dark wizards, we are not yet ready”, Jokim nodded, “Are you ready to move with your son?” he said to Peter, “If it keeps our son safe we will do anything, but we have no horse or cart to move with”, said Peter holding his wife’s hand.
Jokim smiled, “wait here” he said and guided Clarrisia out of the door, they walked to the track and turned, the house and barn were no longer there, in their place were piles of rocks, within five minutes they looked as if they had always been there.
Peter and Bellor felt the floor shake then silence, Peter opened the door, the barn and garden were there but they appeared to be in a large cavern, a small river ran past the gate instead of a track
A red and gold glow appeared above the fence then a larger gold glow beside it, “You are safe now, I am Aria I will guide you, this is the princess Garnet, Jonas will be her rider, she will be a frequent visitor if you have no objections”, a small red and gold dragon landed heavily on the grass and rolled over, finding her feet she shook herself and said “hello, I will come each day yes”, Peter laughed “but of course princess”.
Jokim said his goodbyes to Clarrisia and headed west into the forest.
As Dawn broke, th
e dark wizard and his six guards left the inn and retraced their journey until they found the village, all the houses were behind large hedges, the dark wizard could find no trace of magic, after speaking to an old man carrying firewood they turned east again and continued their journey.