one of the cell bars. The other end of the rope dangled down the cliff where a small group of prisoners were gathered. Several more were making their way towards the trees.
Inadar gasped and pointed towards a blond youth nearing the trees when Onwier burst out of the foliage and pinned the lad to the ground. A moment later a puff of flames curled across Onwier’s snout as he leaned down to sniff the boy. Recoiling he released the lad in surprise.
“Only dov fire can harm another dov! Show yourself dovling!” Onwier snarled as he lunged to block the lad’s escape. Another burst of flame appeared at Onwier’s tail causing him to spin and snap at empty space. It almost looked like the blond was going to escape when Iradaemi appeared.
“Cero! It is all right. That is Iradaemi. She won’t hurt you.” Inadar cupped her hands and shouted down. The blond backed up cautiously as Iradaemi stalked up to him.
“Dov blood. This is the final Dragon Lord.” Iradaemi declared emphatically.
“You can talk! I mean you can talk out loud.” Cero reached down and picked something off the ground.
“Why should we not speak out loud? How did you make dov fire behind me?” Onwier glowered down at Cero.
“Because of Enthbani. He never speaks out loud.”
“Who is this bane of shadows?” Iradaemi seemed confused.
“Show yourself Bani.” Encer’s eye brows flicked upwards as he saw the small green dragon appear out of thin air on Cero’s shoulder.
“Come on Torroth. Let’s get down and meet this kid.” Encer seized the rope and began lowering himself down the face of the cliff. After Encer had reached the ground, he noticed that none of the prisoners were in sight any longer. Since the dragons had appeared, they had made themselves scarce. Torroth and Inadar reached the ground a short time later.
“Be careful. Cero is sort of strange. Don’t let him ask you any questions.”
“Why?”
“I can’t explain. He just has a strange effect on people.” Torroth scowled as he followed Encer.
“I will keep that in mind. I didn’t realize dragons could be so small.”
“Dragons hatch much larger than that thing.” Iradaemi examined Bani from a safe distance.
“He doesn’t like being called that. You can see that he is a dragon.” Cero indignantly defended his friend.
“Where did you find this bane of shadows?”
“In the Garoche Mountains. I accidently hatched him.”
“How can you accidently hatch a dragon?” Encer asked in surprise.
“If the egg is dormant, the egg of a Garoche dragon, and a Dragon Lord awakens it.” Onwier, suspiciously looked over Iradaemi’s back at the little creature.
“We must get back to the village. Onwier, stay with these ones. I will go see if Setur can fly.” Iradaemi retreated a distance before taking flight. A few minutes later, she reappeared and settled down.
“What is wrong?” Encer detected the concerned expression she wore.
“Setur’s injuries were worse than I had suspected. He has entered the eirden slumber.”
“What does that mean? I thought that the eirden slumber was when something like mental exhaustion caught up.” Torroth was now concerned.
“Eirden slumber is also used when a dragon needs to heal from severe injuries.” Onwier explained, but he also sounded concerned.
“How long will it take before he wakes up? We can’t just leave him here.” Torroth glanced around, but the only humans beyond themselves in sight were standing in the cliff dungeon entrance.
“This is a valid concern. The eirden slumber can last weeks to years. It depends on how much sliveen he experienced.” Onwier seemed deep in thought.
“And yet we need to return you to the village and safety. It will take both of us to bring all of you back.” Iradaemi seemed perplexed by the conundrum presented.
“I have an idea. Why can’t one of you stay here and the other one of you carry someone back to the village?” Torroth shrugged as the two dragons looked at him blankly.
“It is an idea with merit. Onwier, stay with these humans and Setur while I find a patrolling dragon. They can bring others to carry Setur to safety in the towers.” Without waiting for Onwier to agree, Iradaemi launched into the air and beat her way over the western horizon.
“So you are Cero. I hear that you convinced Inadar to stay with you and help fight the war.”
“I never tried convincing her. She just stayed with us.” Cero was a little confused by events, but trusted Inadar when she told him that he was among friends. It was a little daunting to be meeting Bani’s distant