We Fight Dragons (Volume 2, Chapter 15) "Summer Term"
A few days after the Dragon had fled, the Marshal returned to Blacken Green and all of the Woods were allowed to be there to witness when he undid the Torquar ritual on Tobes.
Apparently, the Captain now had her power returned. Jam wondered if she would be able to trust her leader again, but she didn’t seem to hold a grudge. At least, not as far as he could tell. It might have been hidden behind her cool Torquar exterior.
Tobes returned to hanging around with his friends, but things were different. Instead of being the one in charge, he was more subdued. All the Dawson’s were. They had a lot to work out together, and with the other families. Jam overheard Dad arguing with Mr Dawson who was considering leaving town. Dad wanted the Dawson’s to stay. He said they would work something out.
As the Summer term rolled to its close, the Academy sent out the end-of-year reports which Jam dreaded, although they were not dreadful. In Writing he actually overtook Zach this year. Jam wondered how much of that was due to him studying more often, and how much was due to the amount of time that Zach was spending with Tracey.
Tracey had become such a part of the group now, that the others hardly had a moment when they could talk about Knightly things, and they always had to watch what they said around her, just in case.
The odds that Tracey would end up being the Maiden that Zach was destined for seemed catastrophically low, and in Zach’s happiness Jam saw what must have happened to Mr Dawson when he met the woman he ended up marrying. If this was the fate of his people, to gutter out like candles one-by-one, he could understand why the Torquar felt the way they did. He could only hope that the god of light would take his feelings into account when the time came.
By the time the holidays arrived Oil had sketched colour drawings of all of them, including Mels. They were unframed, but they looked like a real artist had created them. When Oli showed them the sketch that he’d done of Mels it was with her ‘strawberry’ haircut and colours, and it was so realistic that Jam thought it looked like a photo.
Oli mailed the sketch to Mels, and Jam had to admit that he was jealous because he wished that he was able to draw Mels like that. He knew that Oli had a natural talent for art that he didn’t have. When Mels wrote back to the Woods she never mentioned receiving any drawing from Oli, so he never found out if she liked it or not.
When Summer was over, and Fall was well begun, a parcel arrived addressed simply to ‘The Wood Family’. At first Jam thought it was something from Mels. Mum asked him to do the honour of opening it at dinner, and what he found inside the parcel made no sense.
It was a patchwork of leather straps, woven together so that the overall shape was a circle. The leather was pinned with copper wire to stop it from fraying apart, and each leather strip had dots randomly hammered into it. It looked like something from a rural handicrafts store.
Dad called it a ‘corded sun’. He carefully untied the copper wiring, and as it unravelled the leather stripes lined up in order. The dots were a code for a set of map references that only made sense if you took a map and turned it so that ‘west’ was ‘up’.
Apparently, it was in invitation to a gathering of the similar families of Knights and Maidens who shared their part of the world, although he had no idea who any of them might be outside of the town. They had to exist, because Mum and Dad said they had met other such families in their travels when they were younger.
This was a once-in-a-generation event. Dad didn’t know who had called it, but he could understand the coded message and he believed that it was genuine. It was for Knights and Maidens only, but Mum wanted Mels to come with them. It was unusual for an unmarried Maiden to be discovered, but they had discovered her, and Mum was intent that she should be there for such a special event. Mum immediately got on the phone and spoke with Mels mother about the upcoming ‘camping trip’. After a couple of days Mum got a call back, and it was good news. Mels was looking forward to the trip, and her parents would use the opportunity to go on a couples holiday of their own.
Jam was glad for Mels, but he was worried about Tobes. His friend was not a Knight after all, and his mother was not a Maiden, so they were not allowed. Nathan would still be expected to attend, and it was going to raise a lot of awkward questions and judgements about Nathan as a Knight when his family wasn’t with him.
One day, Jam had an inspiration. A way to repair his tarnished friendship with Tobes, and show the Dawson’s that they were still included.
'Mum. Dad. I've got an idea... just hear me out... no one outside of Blacken Green knows that Tobes isn’t a Knight, right? So, what if we… keep pretending… just until this thing is over?'
Nambodius had escaped from Blacken Green. But in its flight it was quickly caught by a greater power. As strong as it was, it could not escape its own creator.
It was dragged deep underground, and now it screamed.
Sheer entropy and chaos clawed its scales apart, and cold darkness crept inside and chilled the Dragon’s very essence. If this continued for long the Dragon would dissipate, and vanish forever.
This was how its master punished those who failed.
Brutally.
‘Dread chaos…. I beg you… your servant begs you…’
The chaos and darkness moved in ways that only a Dragon could comprehend. But the punishment did not stop.
‘Agh! I have already laid plans. The clans meet. They will be together for once in a generation.’
The elements around it seemed pleased by this, and the torment abated.
‘I have the perfect weapon… believed lost by the Knights years ago… they will not be able to resist.’
The darkness took form in the air, and its vibrations created unnatural noises.
‘How do I know that this event is happening, Master?’ The Dragon’s eyes narrowed into pure destructive intent. ‘Because I sent the invitations.’
The Dragon’s tormentor released it, and Nambodius understood that it was being given a chance. It bowed and scraped as it backed out and away from the deepest cave that the world didn’t even know about.
Taking flight, Nambodious soared through underground tunnels, and through the seams of certain minerals that it could pass through until it arrived back in its own lair.
Chained to a rock wall, in stone shackles, was the piteous form a man in rags. The man was emaciated, and little more than skin and bone. Just by looking, it was impossible to tell if he were alive or dead.
‘Ah, my favourite guest… as I promised… the time has arrived when you will be of use to me….’
.