It was just as well. I’d said it all and was repeating myself.
Tater sat up, eyes so wide his eyeballs were ready to pop out of his head. His hands went to his forehead and pressed. “Closer.”
“Closer?” Elizabeth repeated. “Closer to what?”
“M-Mercia.” He fell back and lay still.
Elizabeth said, “What do you think that means?”
I stood and allowed my mind to go blank or tried to. Then, as if Tater placed a thought inside, I repeated, “Kendra wants us to take her closer to Mercia.”
“Why?”
“They want to keep her away, so she wants to go there. That’s a guess.”
“A damned good one, I think,” Elizabeth said. “I can’t lift her up to Alexis. You have to help.”
I called Alexis, and she came to me, wary and frightened. I took her reins and patted her neck as I talked to calm her. We stood Kendra up while supporting her and then lifted her to lay across the saddle. Elizabeth steadied both her and the horse until I managed to climb on while moving Kendra over the front of the saddle to lay more on Alexis’ neck.
Elizabeth said, “I can’t leave Tater here.”
Some things are meant to be done alone. I turned my horse and walked slowly away from my only two friends and directly into danger. My mind strained to hear what Kendra and Tater did, even a wisp of the buzzing of bees, or whispers of a wyvern, let alone the drums of a dragon.
Ahead stood Mercia. The details of the gray stone buildings grew clearer with each step. There stood six or seven huge structures that were mini-castles, their walls the same gray as the slate of their roofs. All the surrounding buildings were smaller imitations. The streets were paved with the same gray granite, making the city blend in with the granite cliffs. If it was not for the straight lines of the buildings, Mercia would be nearly invisible because of the color.
Only a few splashes of tint stood out. Each of the largest structures had pennants or flags that stood out against the starkness of the rest. The four waterfalls gave the city a magical appearance. But, despite my intense observations, I saw nobody. Not a single person, horse, dog, or pig.
However, the wyverns that had been flying in tight circles began flying faster and screeching, first one, then two, and now a hundred. They shrieked and screamed, and a few broke ranks and flew away.
A stone bridge crossed where the water from the falls pooled and reformed itself into a river that flowed along the base of the cliff in the direction of the sea. The bridge arched, as had so many others, although this one was far larger. At the far end stood a massive wall built along the edge of the far side of the raging river. The city gate.
One glance down at the whitewater tearing under the bridge assured me nobody would attempt to swim across. The flow from four waterfalls raged across the solid rock in the channel it had cut. The wall across the bridge, again built of huge granite blocks, stretched out to either side of the bridge, and a giant gate stood closed.
A rampart along the top provided the fortifications where an army could defend against any who crossed. That rampart provided safety from spears, arrows, and anything else. Yet, it allowed them to fire down on any attackers, who would be herded into the narrow space created by the bridge. No matter how large an army attacked, only eight or ten could attack at one time as they crossed that bridge.
My mind appreciated the defensive construction while ignoring the fact that it was the gate we must pass through to reach Mercia. There were no soldiers on the ramparts, nor any I could see in the city. It remained empty. I was aware that if we crossed the bridge, soldiers who were hiding could leap into sight and release a rain of arrows.
We hadn’t come all that way to stop now, and there seemed no place to go but ahead. Alexis sensed my mood. She took a single step onto the bridge and pulled to a stop. Without me telling her to do so, she took one more hesitant step, then another. A quiver in her shoulder warned me to hold on because she might whirl and run at the slightest provocation.
We continued like that until we reached the highest point of the arc. Alexis came to a stop as if she’d hit a wall. I used my heels, but she didn’t move. I cajoled her. Threatened.
Then Kendra groaned. Her body tensed, and her head turned enough to look at me. “Get me down.”
There was no sway in her words, no way to argue and refuse. She used her arms to scoot off the horse’s neck until her weight caused her to slide down without help. I leaped off and helped her feet touch the bridge. She stood on wobbly legs.
“Sit?” I offered.
“No,”
She said no more. Her eyes were on the city, darting from one place to another, but she needed my strength to remain standing. It was as if she used her mind on other things besides her body.
She stiffened, standing erect and rigid, her eyes now closed. She screamed, sounding like a miniature of the wyverns in the distance. My eyes turned to them, and their sudden silence after her scream. They were still there, but barely. Each of them was flying away, their wings no longer making lazy flaps, but instead, they flew with powerful strokes. They flew for the jagged peaks to the north as if they offered protection.
Another sound drew my attention. A deeper thrum almost at the lower limit of what I could perceive. It rose in volume until my ears convinced me they did not hear it. The sound came from inside my head. It was more than sound. It had feeling.
Kendra threw her arms wide.
The thrumming ceased.
Another sound replaced it. The new roar was in my ears, and above me. I looked up. Higher. Above Mercia rocks, boulders, and slabs of granite shifted and moved. Some fell, others tumbled, and more slid down the mountainside, all heading for the city of Mercia.
The avalanche created the new sound of thousands of rocks and boulders tumbling down the mountain. To my horror, the first rocks went through the city like a bull through a haystack. The largest struck buildings and threw the blocks used to build them into the air like a child throwing sand at a beach.
Then others did the same. The buildings of Mercia didn’t even slow down the largest blocks and slabs. I glance to my right and found the sky empty of wyverns. Then I looked up to the disturbance at the top of the mountain above Mercia, where another roar drew my attention.
Movement told me where to look. The head of a dragon shook itself free of rock, and it roared in anger as it continued to twist and turn, dislodging more rocks and boulders. Many tumbled down after the others. I heard them crashing into buildings, and a few rolled as far as the river, where they plunged in, but I saw none of that or the destruction they caused. My eyes refused to leave the dragon.
It lurched forward, sending another avalanche down the mountainside, while it wriggled forward and managed to push upward. With a great thrust, the rock above shattered with a loud crack, and fell away. The dragon crawled ahead, where it managed to stand.
Wings spread. Each wing extended a distance greater than from wingtip to wingtip of the largest wyvern. The massive head was wide, bearing no resemblance to wyvern. It opened its mouth and exposed teeth as long as my arm, and it roared in defiance. The anger in that sound brought me chills.
More boulders rolled down the side of the mountain, through the city, and continued tumbling until they reached the river. Several struck the rock wall across the bridge, and a slab the size of a house hit the gate so hard it sat askew, leaving a gap horses could walk through.
Kendra said, “If you're scared, leave.”
My feet refused to move. “Leave?”