Fire and Ice

  Contents

  Copyright

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Fire & Ice Broken Truce

  Dark Veil

  Dragon Hold

  Borag

  Blue Ice

  Review

  Acknowledgements

  Introduction to Calasia

  Wayward Knight Preview

  Fire & Ice

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions of it in any form whatsoever. For information or permissions requests please contact Richard R. Morrison from the website http://www.calasia.net

  Cover and Calasia Logo Copyright protected.

  Cover and Calasia Logo designed and created by

  Petra Rudolf

  of

  http://www.dracoliche.de/

  Copyright © 2019 Richard R. Morrison

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN-13: 978-1-988816-07-4

  Fire & Ice

  by

  Richard R. Morrison

  Dedicated to those who dare to

  Live the Dream.

  Fire and Ice

  By

  Richard R. Morrison

  Broken Truce

  Translucent blues, greens, and violets splayed across the surface of the ice floe, refractions of the setting sun. The sea was calm, gently lapping against the edge of the pack. Dark zig-zags of water interlaced the field, the submerged ice glowing aquamarine. A miniature ice mountain range ran along the border of two huge plates that had bashed together, sending spires of frozen towers skyward.

  The sun was getting low in the sky as the day waned. Gold and orange glowed off the water lending a lustrous quality to the crystalline towers standing out on the pack.

  He was all but invisible on the rime laden hillside; the ridges along his back and tail were crinkles in the snow covered mounds near the top of the hill. The long snout, and ivory horns curving over the top of his head down the back of his neck were glints of ice, his wings a wrinkled blanket of frost. From his perch, the white dragon, Dalsareth, watched silently, anticipating his next meal.

  Clothed in a hooded caribou coat and trousers, a boy padded gently across the ice pack. The doolu soles of his high skinned mukluks silently glided across the surface. Around his shoulder was a coil of rope, the end of which was threaded in the eye end of his raised spear. He stopped over an area of open water, and brushed back his hood and thick black hair to listen. But for the sounds of white pack ice knocking against each other in the distance, all was quiet.

  A low growl from the dragon's belly broke the silence. He ducked slightly down behind a snowy mound as the boy looked up at the sound. Then, from around the side of the boulder, the dragon spotted movement under the ice. The boy likewise appeared to take notice of a change in the way the water moved in the opening. He stood ready; his spear poised to throw the second his prey broke the surface.

  The boy may have been a statue frozen in place on the mosaic of wrinkled snow. He stood iron stiff for the longest time. Finally, his shoulders sagged, and he lowered his spear. He sat down on a mound of snow and exhaled loudly. He set his spear across his lap and removed his right mitten to pull a piece of dried meat from his coat. He appeared ready to settle in to continue his vigil.

  Suddenly, from out of the water, exploded a mass of grey blubber, teeth and tentacles that struck the young hunter full in the chest, knocking him backwards, sending his spear skidding across the snow.

  The creature pushed off of its feet-like flippers and sprang forward. Three of its four tentacles tangled around the boy as he struggled in his attempt to slide backwards out of reach. The doolu tried to pull him toward its large chomping mouth lined with serrated teeth. The boy kicked and screamed as it dragged him closer for the kill. A dagger appeared in the his hand. Blood sprayed as two tentacles flew through the air and flopped on the ice beside them. The doolu screamed, but intensified its attack; two pincers seemed to sprout out of the side of its head, one of them knocked away the boy's knife, the other rose for a strike to his chest.

  The dragon hit hard. Nine inch claws sunk deep into the side of the doolu's flabby body. The dragon thrust its wings down, and lifted them both off the ice floe.

  The doolu struck out at the talons with its pincers to no avail, and then let go of the boy as they started to climb. He hit the bed of snow in a roll and tumble.

  The white dragon continued to rise, and then suddenly let go. The creature squealed once before it hit the snow pack with a tremendous splat, exploding in every direction.

  The white dragon landed heavily in front of the young would-be hunter. Sharp claws dug into the ice. He folded in his wings and faced the speechless human.

  Blubber, blood and guts dripped from the boy's clothing.

  "Silly boy," the dragon chuckled in his deep resonant voice. "How many times have I told you not to play with my food."

  "That's not funny," the boy said, shaking the muck off his boots. "I had him, Dal. You did not have to interfere."

  "Were you going to beat him to death with his own tentacles?" Dal said, amused. "Ah you do entertain me, Tiquana."

  "How are we going to eat this? It's covered in its own ..."

  At that second Dal felt something dark and terrible crawl over his insides. He jumped back a step, tensed up and looked north. Something was terribly wrong. His senses screamed at him to do something.

  "What is it?" Tiquana asked, likewise turning to the distant mountain range.

  "We must go," Dal shot back, lowering himself to the floor, spreading his wings.

  Tiquana quickly retrieved his spear and climbed aboard the dragon to sit between his shoulders. He whipped his rope around its neck and secured himself. Two thrusts of Dal's wings and they were airborne. The ice floe quickly disappeared behind them.

  Dal hoped that one day, Tiquana would be able to ride him openly, on a proper Rider high-saddle. The bond between the two was growing stronger all the time. He could feel Tiquana's concern mirroring his own. Dal and Tiquana's father, Alignak, had been joined in the Bonding, the magical union between dragon and Rider, shortly after Tiquana's birth. But their bonding had been short lived when Alignak was killed on Tiquana's first hunting trip over the ice floe. Dal had not been there, as it was traditional for a father to teach his son the ways of the ice.

  He had known the moment of Alignak's death. He felt the ice spear pass through him, as though it had pierced his own flesh. At that moment, Alignak had reached out to him, and asked, not in so many words, to bond with his son. With his last bit of strength, Alignak had willed the power of the Bonding to pass into Tiquana. The two had been bonded ever since.

  This was not something they could share with the others of Tiquana's city, for the Bonding was frowned upon among his people. Though the war was long over, the pains and losses lingered on. It would be many years, or even generations, until the trust between the Ice Dragons and the Northern Tribes of the tundra could be forged.

  Over the last two years Dal had come to care a great deal for the boy. In truth he knew that he could not bear to lose him as he had lost Alignak. The boy was reckless, as all teenage boys were, but Tiquana also carried that part of Alignak within him, in the way of the Bonding that worried Dal the most; that indomitable spirit that always pushed the extremes; the part that had led him to his death.

  And now as he raced toward the mountains, he feared even more for Tiquana's safety. Black smoke was rising in the distance, from what could only be Tiquana's home of Salluit, the port city on the edge of the North Sea. Salluit housed more than five thousand people. It had prospered greatly, trading doolu skins, meat, tentacles, bones, and oil with the mainlanders, since the end of the war.

  Dal leaned fo
rward and bore down on his wings. He mentally urged Tiquana to hold on tight as their speed increased. Long moments later, he swooped down behind the sparsely treed hills outside of Salluit.

  "Can't we go in together?" Tiquana complained, while dismounting. "They're going to find out about us sooner or later."

  "Today is not the day," Dal said, taking flight again. "Stay safe, Tiquana. Go straight to the main longhouse, until I find out what has happened. Beware; there may be Ice Walkers about."

  Dal lifted off before Tiquana could respond. He did not sense a raiding party of Ice Walkers, but he thought to keep the boy on his guard just the same.

  The moment he cleared the rise he knew he was right in fearing the worst. Inside the walls of Salluit, several of the main buildings were burning. People scurried all about, attempting to smother the flames. Doolu skins hung in plenty across the lean-to's along the harbor shoreline, drying in the sun. Giant vats of oil lined the docks. If the fire were to reach the harbor, a large part of the city could be destroyed from the resulting explosion. The scorch marks across the snowy floor of the village could have only been caused by one thing.

  Dragon fire.

  He sent out his thoughts in search of the dragon, but felt nothing but the magic of dragon-fear riding the wind. The fires had to be suppressed. All dragons had the natural ability to breathe fire, but only the ice dragons had mastered their innate magic to quell the flames. He pulled in his wings and dove for the nearest of the burning buildings.

  Cries rang out from several people on the ground.

  "Dragon!" Someone screamed. People dropped their buckets and reached for weapons.

  Dal ignored them. If one of his Hold had indeed started these fires, it was his responsibility to suppress the flames. He could not allow the act of a rogue dragon to undo all of the efforts he had made in keeping the peace with the humans.

  He drew in a deep breath of cold air to his core. His magic wrapped about it, lowered his body temperature. He exhaled a blast colder than the air around him. Ice fog fell over the flames, encased the outer parts of the building in a thick coat of blue ice. The flames sputtered and went out. He moved to each of the other buildings, quickly putting out the other fires.

  Dal circled back, and then touched down in the town square. He was immediately set upon by an angry mob, led by the Salluit elder, Aduluk. They surrounded him, though at a respectful distance.

  Aduluk was of a great age for a human, and the most respected in all of the tundra tribes of the northern reaches. He walked with a staff, aided by his son, Kirik, who was destined to take his place as Council leader. Aduluk's elkskin overcoat and trousers were covered in black soot. He was still coughing as he approached.

  "Why have you done this, Dalsareth!" Kirik shouted, stepping in front of his father, raising his spear. "Why did you set your minion upon us, to kill our folk?"

  "Kill?" Dal croaked, as he saw the charred remains of people being carried out of the burnt-out buildings. "No, it cannot be. I know nothing of what happened here."

  "Stay your hand, my son," Aduluk said, holding his son's arm. "Dalsareth knew nothing of this. That dragon was acting of his own accord."

  Aduluk walked closer to Dal, his eyes though tired and ringed with soot, bore no anger at him.

  "Who did this?" Dal asked, looking upon the destruction.

  "It was Black Eye!" Kirik shouted, angrily. "Always has he had a hatred of us."

  "Barog!" Dal exclaimed, perplexed. "That's not possible. Barog would never harm anyone, despite what you think of him."

  "It was Black Eye. I saw him clearly. We all saw him. He is the only white dragon that has any other color than white," Kirik said.

  "My son speaks truly, Dalsareth." Aduluk said, stepping forward. "He bore the circle of black around his eye. We all saw him."

  Dal looked upon the destruction in Salluit. He knew that he had to find Barog fast. They had been friends for many years. None of this made any sense, but there would have to be an accounting for this violence. The sooner he was under way, the better. The cries and wails of the mourners were rising. It did not go unnoticed to Dal that many of the warriors had moved to the high wall fortifications. They were carrying crossbows, and javelins.

  "I will find the one responsible for this, Aduluk. I will know what happened here," Dal said, looking at another body that was just being pulled from the remains of the building. "The killer, will be punished."

  "Punished!" Kirik screamed incredulously, shaking his spear over his head. "He must die for this. Death begets death. You are Mar! You are the leader of the ice dragons. You are responsible for this." The warriors on the wall joined in.

  A spear whizzed over Dal's head. A chunk of ice bounced off of his back. He crouched, and spread his great wings. "I will find him, Aduluk." He sprang for the wall, the wind from his thrust almost blowing the warriors from their feet. Several crossbow bolts skipped off his back. One pierced his right wing causing him to tilt over the wall. He fell briefly, and then climbed higher to catch the wind and set for home. From a distance he heard Tiquana cry out, "No. Dal, don't go. Take me with you!"

  He looked back at the wall and saw Tiquana by the gates. 'Stay brave, Tiquana,' Dal sent through the telepathic connection of the Bonding. 'There is grave danger. It appears that Barog is responsible for what happened here. I must attend to this. I will know if, and why he would do such a thing. If he has, he must be held accountable.'

  'Dal!' Tiquana screamed.

  'See to your mother. I shall return,' He broke off their connection to stave off any more arguments from Tiquana, and then rose above the valley and the peaks of Logan's Pass, to find the jet stream that would carry him to the Blue Ice Mountains. Dal quickly sped away from Salluit.

  Dark Veil

  Tiquana knelt in the snow, panting. He had run all the way back to the village just in time to see Dal shot through the wing, and swoop down over the wall before climbing away. Tiquana was worried. He didn't understand what could have caused anyone to shoot Dal. He was also hurt, and a little angry about getting left behind. With mixed feelings, he got up and passed through the gates into the city. Smoke drifted through the streets between the low buildings. His eyes burned and his throat hurt, as he gagged on the acrid stench of burnt tar, and flesh. People bustled about pulling bodies from the wrecked buildings. The main longhouse, the central meeting place for community events, was one of several buildings that had been burned. Though they were covered in frost ice, smoke still billowed out through the windows and doors.

  He spotted his mother and ran to her. They embraced for a moment, and then she pushed him away to look him over. She brushed his hair back and looked into his eyes.

  "I am okay, Mother. Dal and I were hunting on the floe when it happened. Are you well?" Tiquana asked her, in turn looking her over. She too was covered in ash, her skin pale grey with lines running down from her eyes, trails cut through the soot by her tears.

  "I am well, but there may still be people inside. We should help," she said, pulling him along behind her. "I saw the dragon come. Black Eye. He approached the village from the mountains, as though there was nothing amiss. Then, for no reason he spewed his fire over the market place. There were people burned in their tracks. He gave no reason for his attack. He passed over us twice, and then turned back to the mountains, as though it were any other day. Some of our men managed to shoot him, but he seemed not to notice."

  Tiquana looked over his shoulder at the mourners in the street, and then quickly followed his mother inside.

  That night was a dark one. Mothers cried over the bodies of their children, and the warriors made ready for war. Despite his efforts at quelling the talk of revenge, Tiquana went unheard by the elders. Since he had no father, he really did not have a voice at the Council. He had not officially passed into manhood in the eyes of the community.

  Tiquana missed his father, and remembered that fateful day when he had died. The day of Sutuk, of coming to manhood, the day w
hen a son would take his first kill on the ice. It had been late spring, and the ice had already begun to break up in large sections, getting pulled along in the fast currents that moved through that area of the North Sea.

  It had been a dangerous time to be on the floe, but if he had not gotten his first kill soon, it would have been a long wait before the next ice-over, and the return of the doolu.

  Several doolu moved from floe to floe, following schools of fish. They dragged their catch onto the ice to eat in the sun.

  Tiquana and his father sprang over the moving fields, anticipating where the doolu would eventually come out. Tiquana had been ready, watching the water as the school passed under him. He saw them scatter as doolu swam into the swarm, piercing fish with their pincers. Spear raised, he struck the second the doolu broke the surface. Blood gushed out of the creature's neck. His spear struck true, but Tiquana had not the strength in his arm to thrust it deep enough to cut through the main artery.

  The creature turned and dove, almost pulling him in after it. He dug his heels in as the rope whizzed through his hands, and from around his waist. He applied just enough drag to slow the doolu, before he ran out of rope.

  All of this flashed through his mind in a half second. "We should trust Dalsareth. He will see to Black Eye," Tiquana interrupted the Council.

  "Kirik," Aduluk said to his son, ignoring Tiquana. "Take who you need. Go to the high caves on each side of the valley. There you will find two ballista mounted to brackets in the floors of the caves. These ballista were used long ago to defend our home. They may yet be used again."

  "Yes, Father," Kirik said. "I will bring down any dragon that approaches our home."

  Aduluk grabbed Kirik's arm. "You will not bring harm to Dalsareth. Is that understood?"

  Kirik grit his teeth, looking at the people assembled. He tensed for a moment and then appeared to think better of it. "If Black Eye returns, I will bring him down," he said, and turned on his heel. Several of the young warriors followed him from the council room, leaving Aduluk and the Council to finish planning the defence of Salluit.