Page 78 of The Silent Mountain
Together with Elmar, I take a look at the shore and the tents they’ve put up while he tells me about how their queen comes to regularly visit them and see how they are doing. They already call Alana their queen, something which fills me with pride and joy. We are in the middle of our discussion when I feel the hairs on my arm standing up slightly. I don’t feel cold easily. I grew up in these icy mountains, and my body was made for it, but I could swear that a shiver just went down my spine.
“Your Highness?” Elmar asks, obviously catching on to my sudden distraction.
“A moment,” I mutter, turning around and scanning the area. Are we being attacked? No, there is no sound anywhere. It’s silent, as silent as if we were deep in the mountains on a snowy day.
But we are not…
This is the ocean with animals all around us, with an icy wind blowing every day. It’s never silent. My attention snaps from the shore to the sea, pausing at the sight of the small group of warriors, who are currently investigating our manmade island. “They need to get down from here,” I mutter to myself before raising my voice. “Get off the island!” I yell.
Elmar calls something to me, but I ignore him. Dread fills me and pulls me forward towards my clan members. Without thinking any further, I shift to my dragon.GET AWAY FROM THE ISLAND!I link them.
The shock has worn off by now, and I can see them leaping into action immediately. Dragons are huge shifters. They can’t all shift at the same time, but the first ones have already taken off. Elmar is right behind me, his green dragon following me.
It’s so quiet, too quiet.
There is a thin layer of ice stretching over parts of the water. The water itself barely moves, until suddenly cracks appear on the ice, and tentacles shoot upwards. One of the warriors lunges to the side, while another tries to hit the tentacle with his sword. It looks similar to the creature that attacked Elio. But what’s it doing here? Why is it so close to the shore? Elio was far out in the ocean. Creatures and monsters like that are common there, but not so close to the land.
Yells and shouts fill the air. The monster has used its tentacles to grab three of the warriors and pull them into the water.There is a second one coming,I link the warriors.Watch your backs! Elmar, fend off the monster, I am going after the first one.
You… you are going into the water?He gapes.
I don’t answer, instead dash forward and dive headfirst into the icy cold.Favia,I say.Lend me your strength.
I can feel Favia’s presence filling my body. It feels like a window is opened to my mind, and all of a sudden, I can sense everything so much more sharply. The creature is tugging the warriors further downwards, and I make sure to chase it. My golden dragon shimmers in the darkness of the water, even though we are so deep that the light doesn’t break through anymore. However, he is not made to be underwater for such a long time, but with Favia’s help, we manage to persevere longer than usual. The creature is right in front of us, and with just one slash of my claw, I rip into it. One of the men is still conscious, struggling against the grip. The moment he is freed, I link him.If you can, swim to the surface! I will catch up with you immediately.
He doesn’t argue or try to play the hero and instead follows my command. My dragon opens its mouth, clearly upset at seeing his clan members treated like food for this demonic monster, and with one tug, rips it in two. The two remaining warriors are freed from its grip as well, but are sinking further downwards. I grab them swiftly, tugging them upwards again to the safety of the shore. My lungs are starting to burn even with Favia’s strength.
A dragon is not made for underwater. Not even me.
Gathering my remaining strength, I chase upwards and break through the surface of the water, and not so elegantly land on the shore. To my surprise, Alana and Stefan are there, both of them hurry to me the moment I land. The third warrior, who was still conscious when I freed him, is currently being attended to by Erin.
“Your Highness,” Stefan blurts out, and I know very well what he wants to say. He is wise enough not to say out loud what he is thinking and instead pulls me into a sitting position.
“Forget me,” I cough. “The two warriors… Erin!”
Erin leaves the other warrior in Elmar’s hands and rushes towards me and the other two men. She checks them over briefly. “They are barely alive. Alana, help me free their lungs of the water.”
Together with Alana and Stefan, she begins the process of resuscitating them, time trickling by so insanely slowly that I feel more and more anxious with every moment that passes without any of them returning to us.
After what feels like forever, one of them coughs all of a sudden, spitting out water and turning to the side, convulsing in pain. The third man is still motionless. Stefan and Erin continue to try and save his life, but after a couple of minutes, I can see the first red drops falling. I can feel it clearly. The way his soul is ready to leave.
Favian,Favia says quietly.
For a moment, I don’t say anything, my heart broken at the fact that I couldn’t save them all. Then, however, I do what I need to do, pulling myself up and walking to the man. I try to recall his name; it was Karl. He was around Stefan’s age and one of the men who was already working under my father. His mate died during the war, but he has a brother, who he is very close to, and a niece. I gently close his eyes before letting Favia forward to take his soul with her.
Silence lingers around us while everyone pays their last respects. The shock sits deep for everyone involved. Fortunately, Alana is there to take over. She makes sure to send Erin, together with our two injured warriors, to Frederick’s lab so that they can be treated properly. Then she has Elmar bring hot drinks for everyone and makes sure the warriors, who were in the attack, can return to their homes for tonight. The island is off-limits for now, anyway.
“What was it doing here…” Stefan mutters. “So close to the shore?”
“I have been asking myself the same,” I say.
“Aengus only knows what would have happened without you here,” Stefan adds.
“Yes,” Elmar says quietly. “We are deeply in your gratitude, Your Highness. So many lives would have been lost had you not been here.”
Still, one life too many was lost today.
I feel my dragon beast stir slightly, but he is too tired to show me how he truly feels. He clearly exhausted himself. When Alana and Stefan suggest returning to the castle, I have no strength to argue. I contemplate gathering my last piece of strength and shifting to fly back, but Alana beats me to it, pretending she wants to walk a little. Only when we are far away from my warriors does she tell Stefan to shift and take us back home.
