CHAPTER 17
ASHING OR SLUMBER
“Hob, this is your homeland,” said Gabriel, stepping aside and motioning toward the door. “You are the only living dwarf to walk the halls of Haven and you should be first to see the outside world.”
Hob slowly walked over to the gate and reverently placed his hand on the door. With a gentle push, the door once again swung outward and bright sunlight filled the tunnel. The dwarf stepped out onto the rocky soil of Crag and took a deep breath. A faint tingling sensation traveled down his spine. This was not some strange foreign land. This was home. He was home.
“Are we in the right place?” Ben asked, shading his eyes and studying the strange landscape that lay before them.
“This is not as Spud described it,” said Gabriel. “But it has been many centuries since the evacuation. Things change.”
“But an entire forest?” asked Ben. “And everything in it?”
As far as they could see, the hills were littered with giant logs and tall stumps. Everything was blackened and burnt as if a great fire had roared through the forest and consumed everything in its path. The strangest thing was the total absence of color from the landscape. There was nothing green and living anywhere to be found; even the soil and rocks were varying shades of gray. After a forest fire, new growth usually appears fairly quick.
“Maybe the fire was recent,” Hob suggested.
“No,” said Gabriel. “As black as everything is, there would still be smoke somewhere. I cannot detect even a hint of smoke.”
“This is another fine mess we are in. How will we find old Grand Sire now?”
“It’s The Ashing,” came a voice from the tunnel behind them.
Gabriel spun around and pushed Ben behind him. The elf’s hand blurred over his belt as he crouched low and brought the long knife up in front of him. Hob’s axe materialized in his hands. The dwarf raised the axe over his head, ready to let it fly, and then he paused.
“Spud?” Hob called into the tunnel. “How did you get here?”
“Oh no,” said Ben. “I forgot to close the portal.”
“Yes, and I’m glad you did,” said the Librarian, walking out of the tunnel and squinting at them in the bright Crag sunshine. Spud was one of the dwarfs who rarely ventured outside and the light was very painful to his eyes. “At first, the thought of coming here terrified me and I fled when I saw the portal open. I was afraid you would ask me to come with you. And then I started thinking about what an amazing opportunity I was missing! I had a chance to see the very thing I have only been able to read about! I had a chance to see our ancestral home and I blew it!”
“What do you know about this?” asked Gabriel, nodding toward the devastated forest. “You said it was The Ashing. What does that mean?”
“It’s either The Ashing or The Slumber or a time between the two. They overlap, you know.”
“No, we don’t know,” said Ben. “Please explain.”
“I have heard these stories,” said Hob. “It is the cycle of the dragon. I’ll let Spud explain it to you. He is apparently well learned in the history of Crag, where I have only heard stories told round the fireside.”
“Our lives are measured by years that are made up of four seasons; spring, summer, winter, and fall. A dragon’s life is measured in events that are made up of three cycles, each cycle lasting about one thousand years.”
“So a dragon that has lived through three events would be nine thousand years old?” asked Ben.
“You are absolutely correct,” said Spud. “It appears that we have arrived here during the cycle called The Ashing, but we could be in the cycle called The Slumber or somewhere in between. The other cycle is called The Awakening.”
“Tell us more.”
Spud smiled. No one had ever been interested in anything he had to say until Ben came along. He was beginning to see why Hob thought so highly of the young child. He was also beginning to see the qualities that set him apart from others and identified him as the chosen one in the Final Prophecy. “The Slumber cycle,” he continued, “would be the best time to be here. It is the period of time when dragons go into their one thousand year sleep. If they are in The Slumber, then we may walk to the Dragon’s Cradle without fear.”
“They hibernate!” said Ben. “How cool.”
“However, if we are in The Ashing, then depending on how far we are into the cycle it could be the most dangerous time to be here. During The Awakening, dragons eat, fight, and mate. After a thousand years the food supply dwindles to the point that the surviving dragons have nothing left to sustain them. Their hunger can no longer be sated and a madness comes upon them. They are driven to burn plants and trees and they eat the ashes to quell their hunger pains. This keeps them alive, but eating the ashes also bring on the next cycle; The Slumber. During this cycle, they go into a deep sleep that lasts for about one thousand years. During this dormant time, life slowly returns to Crag. Trees and grasses begin to grow and the landscape once more turns green. Birds, and other animals that survived The Awakening and The Ashing begin to multiply and balance is restored. Then, after the thousand year sleep, the dragons start to waken and the cycles begin anew.”
“How do we know for sure which cycle we are in?” asked Gabriel.
“If we see a dragon, then we know that we are in The Ashing.”
“Great,” said Hob. “You are a lot of help and comfort! And what do you mean by ‘we’? You’re not going with us, you are going back at once!”
“How do you even know which way to go?” asked Spud. You have no map and there is certainly no moss growing on the stumps out there.”
Hob turned to Ben, but Ben just shrugged his shoulders.
“Not to worry, I brought the map. Let’s clear away this dirt and find the compass star.”
All four of them pitched in and, in a few minutes, they had the rocks and dirt cleared away from the stone slab that formed a small patio in front of the doorway. Fortunately, everything was extremely dry and they were able to brush the dirt away cleanly, revealing the compass star that was carved into the stone. Spud unrolled the map and laid it down on the ground. He then turned the map so that the compass star on the map lined up with the compass star on the stone.
“We could have just used the stone to see which direction to go,” Ben pointed out.
“Yes, that would have given you your compass points, but with the map we know exactly in which direction to strike out,” Spud answered. The Librarian stood and pointed. “Dragon’s Perch is that way. With the forest gone, you can actually see it.”
“Where,” asked Gabriel, shading his eyes and scanning the horizon. “Ah, I believe I see it. There is a place on the horizon that is bare of stumps. Is that it?”
“That’s it,” Spud confirmed.
“If Grand Sire is no longer standing, how will we find our way to the Cradle?” asked Hob.
“According to the map, there was once a great river that cut through the forest south of here. If you stray too far south, you will come to that river, or a dry river bed. Follow it until you come to the meadows, and then turn northwest, following the old tree line until you get to the Cradle.”
“What if we stray too far north?”
“That would be unfortunate. You would still hit the meadows, but you would not know which way to turn. Here is what I would advise. Go to Dragon’s Perch as planned. If you can see the stump of Old Grand Sire, then stick to your original plan. If not, turn left and follow the ridge line all the way to the river and go from there.”
“I noticed you are no longer saying ‘we’,” Hob pointed out. “Have you changed your mind about coming with us?”
“I am not going with you to the Cradle, but I am not going back to Dwarvenhall just yet either. There are archives here in the Haven that I wish to explore.”
“How long will this take if we have to go by way of the river,” asked Ben.
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p; “It will add an extra day to your journey,” Spud replied.
“Then you have two days to explore. That should give you plenty of time. I’ll leave the portal open and when you are finished, return to the archives at Dwarvenhall and wait for us there. We will meet you in the lobby area, to be certain you got back safely, before continuing on to Faerie.”
“Two days should be ample time, but listen. When this is all over, I want you to make me a promise, Ben. I need a favor from you.”
“I’ll be happy to do you a favor, if I am able. What is it you want?”
“I want to come back here to explore. You, me, and Hob. Gabriel can come too if he wants.”
“Sure! That would be fun. When this ordeal is all over, we’ll get together and plan a regular expedition. Gob and Nob will want to come too and I’m sure Casey would like to come.”
“Excellent! I’ll see all of you in two days. Three tops.”
Spud waved goodbye and disappeared back into Fire Mountain to search for the ancient archives.
“Let’s get moving,” said Hob. “Keep quiet, keep low, and keep your eyes open. We still don’t know what cycle the dragons are in and I prefer not to be eaten.”
“Wait,” said Gabriel. “Let’s traverse the landscape like this. I’ll go first. I’ll travel a short distance and if I am able to do so without incidence we’ll pause for a moment to make sure the way is still clear. If everything is quiet, then you two move quickly to join me. At that point we’ll repeat the process all over.”
“So, every time we move, we wait, watch, and listen,” said Ben.
“That’s it,” Gabriel confirmed. After scanning the skies and the mountain side above them, the elf darted down hillside toward the valley below. About one hundred yards into the decimated forest, he hunkered down beside one of the giant dragon spires that had been toppled over and waited. After a few minutes of stillness and silence, the elf motioned for Ben and Hob to follow.
The party proceeded like this until they reached Dragon’s Perch around noon. They found an outcropping of rock below the summit of the perch that provided reasonable shelter from both the midday sun and any dragons that might pass them by. Hob was famished and insisted on eating before they traveled any further. After a quick bite of dried meat and some more cheese, Gabriel left them under the outcropping and climbed to the top of the perch to see if Old Grand Sire was visible. He returned very quickly.
“We are in luck, Old Grand Sire still stands.”
“Alive?” asked Hob.
“No, it is burnt like all the others. The top is broken out too, but the trunk is enormous. I should like to have seen these trees when they were alive. It would have been truly wondrous to walk beneath them.”
“We need to get moving again. It makes me really nervous being out in the open like this.”
“We can rest safely inside of Old Grand Sire and we can rest safely at the Cradle too,” said Ben.
“How do you figure that?” asked Hob. “I thought Spud said we’d be out in the open at the Cradle.”
“Yes, but while we don’t know which cycle the dragons are in, we do know which one they are not in. They are not in The Awakening and that means that there will be no mating or birthing, therefore no dragons visiting the birthing stone.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” said Hob, scratching his head. “But that’s a good point and it makes me feel a little better.”
“The tree stumps are denser on the other side of the ridge,” said Gabriel. “We should be able to walk together for the rest of the journey. Come, follow me.”
They paused on top of the ridge just long enough for Gabriel to point out Old Grand Sire. There was no mistaking the tree. With even half of it destroyed, it was larger than any tree Ben had ever seen and much larger than the burned and broken dragon spires that surrounded it. Although the forest did not provide them cover, in its current state they would not lose line-of-sight with the tree and, therefore, not get lost. This also allowed them to travel in a straight line and they were able to make it the tree well before dark.
“Wow!” Ben exclaimed. “This tree is ginormous!”
The roots of Old Grand Sire towered above their heads, forming little box canyons all the way around the tree. They found the crack that Spud had told them about and slipped through the opening. It was too dark to see anything and too risky to light a fire, so Ben used the flashlight on Casey’s cell phone to explore their surroundings. The tree had been used often as a hiding place and the cavity inside of it had been carved into a comfortable room. The room itself was round, about forty feet across, and had a dome shaped ceiling. The dirt floor had been leveled and tight fitting flagstones had been laid down to form a stone floor. Unlike Haven, the inside of Old Grand Sire was not free of dust, dirt, and debris. Dragon flames had found their way inside the tree and everything was scorched an angry black.
“I guess this will have to do,” said Ben, snapping off the light. He heard Hob spit in the darkness and a faint green light leapt from the dwarf’s hand. “Oh, I forgot all about the rockbusters.”
“Let’s just use one,” said Hob. “It’s faint enough that it should not be visible from outside yet it will keep us from spending the entire night in total darkness.”
“I’ll keep watch again,” said Gabriel.
“Don’t you need rest too?” asked Ben.
“Not yet,” the elf smiled. “But you and Hob do. Tomorrow we shall find this Dragon’s Cradle and hopefully the wisest one as well. Then, the only piece of the puzzle that is still missing is the sword, Excalibur. The wisest one will probably tell us where to find the sword. Once we know that, we’ll return to Faerie and send word to Marcus.
“Am I supposed to use this sword against Bellator,” Ben asked.
“I believe so,” Gabriel answered, “but who knows? Prophecies are like the oracles who give them; mysterious and evasive in their meanings. Sometimes I wonder if we would be better off without these prophecies.”
“How so?”
At that moment, a tremendous roar split the air and dragon fire illuminated the night with dark oranges and bright yellows that flickered and danced on the dome shaped walls of their hiding place. Old Grand Sire shook violently as the dragon alit on the burning trunk and began to eat.
“Oh, no,” Hob whispered in terror. “It’s The Ashing.”
*****