Fourteen years ago, however, something extraordinary happened. A younger dragon of the Tanaan kruel arrived bringing with it a tiny Nesnan infant. From that moment on the crouching figure now seeking solace behind the shifting sand dune had been intrigued. It no longer kept its eye focused primarily on the dragon, but allowed itself to watch the girl as well, sometimes following her and leaving the Korli behind.
The wind ceased and the mysterious being shuddered and shook, attempting to remove the sand that had piled on top of it. It turned its hooded eyes back onto the lake, a blue mirror several yards below about a half mile distant. The creature didn’t often come out in broad daylight like this, but the young girl and her companions had been coming to this place so often of late, and tonight would be the culmination of whatever it was they had been planning.
After watching the children settle down on their island of reeds, the cloaked figure stood, stooping a bit from some pain it experienced. It blinked gratingly at the bright noon-time sun, then slinked over the top of the dune, leaving an avalanche of pale powder in its wake. Trudging through the sand proved awkward, but the walk was downhill, and once it reached the bank of the small water channel below, movement became easier. The shrouded figure welcomed the shade of the small trees growing beside the stream, and before long it heard the puffing and snickering sounds of nervous horses.
The creature grinned, moving cautiously towards the three beasts tied to the oldest creek willow up ahead. The semequin, a very fine animal with a generous amount of unicorn blood flowing in his veins, detected the approaching stranger immediately.
Yes, the creature thought, you would notice me wouldn’t you? The stranger released a low, animal-like chuckle. The horses immediately became agitated, stepping uneasily, snorting loudly as they tossed their heads and rolled their eyes. They pulled at the ropes that held them, but the children had secured them well.
“Do not worry noble ones,” the spy hissed quietly, “it is not you that I am after.”
The creature withdrew its unfamiliar arm from Phrym’s neck and gazed northward across the white sands and gleaming waters.
Not now, and not tonight, but later. It is too soon, and he’ll not approve of a mistake. The being slinked back into the shifting sands of the dunes and began to make its way towards the eastern woods, its low, odd laughter becoming caught and scattered by the wind.
-Chapter Five-
Full Moons and Fierce Monsters
“I don’t even know why you agreed to do this, we don’t have to prove anything!” a hissy voice said.
“I already told you. You don’t have to do anything Ellysian, so stop whining!” replied a second, harsher voice.
“Well!” exclaimed the girl that sounded very much like Ellysian. “I just think you’re an idiot to let that Nesnan talk you into this, Eydeth. You’re supposed to be smarter than her.”
Jahrra couldn’t hear the response that Eydeth gave, but she knew it must have been a nasty one. She smiled at the dream she was having; Eydeth and Ellysian bent on fighting with each other because she had finally tricked them into accepting a dare from her.
The warm breeze rustled the reeds overhead and Jahrra jerked awake. Oh no! she thought in a panic, blinking her eyes dazedly against the brilliance of the deep blue sky above. What time is it?! Until that moment, she had completely forgotten where she was and why she was there. Scede snorted next to her and rolled over onto his side. He too must have been disturbed by the voices coming from the boardwalk.
“Gieaun, stop talking in your–” he began groggily, but Jahrra quickly clasped a hand over his mouth, muffling any other words he might have been trying to say.
“Shhh!” she hissed as quietly as she could.
Gieaun began to stir next to them, and Jahrra quickly used her free arm to motion to her friend to keep quiet.
Scede pried Jahrra’s hand off his mouth and worded silently, “What is it?”
Jahrra returned the silent gesture. “They’re here!”
Gieaun’s and Scede’s eyes widened and their mouths fell open.
“What time is it?” Gieaun asked, just below a whisper.
Jahrra looked up along with Scede. “I would say a few hours from sunset.”
“We slept that long?!” Gieaun whispered in disbelief.
“I guess so. At least we don’t have to worry about being tired tonight,” Scede remarked.
Ellysian’s voice cut through the silence once again, “Why don’t you just do what you had planned? No one will know the difference.” Her tone was a growl and she sounded more annoyed than ever.
“I already told you, I can’t do that!” Eydeth snapped back. “Too many of our classmates are here! The word will get back to that stupid Nesnan and then how will I look?”
Jahrra wondered exactly what Eydeth had been planning, but she didn’t have to wonder about it much longer.
“So what!” Ellysian whined. “Let them tell her you didn’t wait until the full moon came out. Just tell her they lied, she isn’t here, so what proof could she have? It would be your word against hers, and besides, there aren’t that many people here!”
Ellysian sounded quite determined to convince her brother to back out of the dare. After hearing this, Jahrra turned chartreuse.
“That little coward!” she fumed as loudly as she dared. “I should’ve shown up with the rest of our classmates and let you guys go on with the prank. Then he’d have no choice but to follow through!”
Gieaun shook her head. “No, he would have wondered where we were. Besides, it’s better this way.”
“Oh, how’s that?” Jahrra asked, suddenly in a bad mood.
“We have a much clearer view from here. Isn’t that better than watching from the shore? And besides,” she added, “you can’t very well paddle to shore now, can you?”
Jahrra furrowed her brow, but nodded. “I guess you’re right.”
Gieaun crossed her arms and shook her head slowly. “I’m always right.”
Scede and Jahrra suppressed a laugh.
“Now what?” Jahrra sighed, shedding some of her irritation. “The moon won’t even rise until after sunset, and it won’t be directly overhead for hours.”
“I dunno,” Scede said, shrugging his shoulders. “We’ll just have to wait and see what they do I guess.”
And so they waited, listening to the crowd gathering on the shore and catching glimpses of their movements from between the gently shifting reeds.
“We made camp back up the road, just in case the monster decides to climb out of the lake tonight!” one of Eydeth’s friends shouted from the far end of the boardwalk.
“I already told you! There isn’t going to be a lake monster!!!” Eydeth screamed, sounding even more agitated than before.
Jahrra, Gieaun and Scede sniggered. The banter between the twins and their classmates carried on for quite some time, and before they knew it the sun was setting and the sky was changing from golden orange to violet and indigo. They pulled out their blankets and jackets and hunkered down, grateful it was late spring and not winter.