Part 18: A Strange Discovery

Krisr, Raina Lynn, and Dracstan made their way to the ledges and prepared for a night's rest. Darkness fell, and an icy wind whipped through the canyon. Krisr shivered a bit next to Raina Lynn. His bondmate was dozing lightly, and she huddled closer to him, radiating heat. Krisr looked over at Dracstan. The wyrm was curled in a tight coil a few feet away. If he was cold, he wasn't showing it. Krisr envied the young dragon's hardier nature and pulled his own heavy coat further around him. The wind whipping around the rocks made odd warbling whistles and distant howls. Suddenly, Krisr heard the patter of gravel slipping outside. He snapped alert, looking for the source. He had a limited field of vision from under the ledge, and he saw nothing.

Just my overactive imagination, he thought, but something seemed to tell him otherwise. Deciding to investigate, he gently slipped out from under Raina's head and crawled to look from the ledge. He stuck his head out and looked around. There was very little moonlight with which to examine the rocky terrain, and shadows lurked everywhere. Krisr held his breath and strained his ears. The wind whistled by, tousling his hair, but nothing else stirred. Krisr slipped back under the ledge and crawled in next to Raina Lynn.

*What's wrong?* she projected sleepily.

I thought I heard something, Krisr returned. Raina Lynn blinked and raised her head, peering out into the night. Her more sensitive eyes found nothing of interest.

*Perhaps just a passing animal,* she suggested, lowering her head to her legs and closing her eyes.

Krisr nodded absentmindedly, still uneasy. He sat awake a while more before falling into a light sleep.

* * * * * * *

In the morning, they rose with the sun. Dracstan was already awake, sitting restlessly outside. Krisr crawled out from under the ledge and got up slowly, still a bit stiff from a cold night on rock.

"Good morning, Dracstan," he said. "Did you sleep well?"

The wyrm glanced at him before turning to look back down the mountainside. *I slept.*

"What are you looking for?" Krisr asked, stretching out his limbs one by one. Behind him, Raina Lynn was rising and carrying out the same ritual.

*There is no game,* Dracstan noted, seeming to frown.

"The only sign of life I have heard thus far is birdsong," Krisr commented, working to straighten his coat, vest, and tunic.

*Is that not odd?*

"Well, it is cold up here," Krisr said. Raina Lynn looked around curiously.

*There should be something up in these mountains,* she said. *... Goats or rodents. Perhaps we will see some today.*

"Shall we be off, me hardies?" Krisr asked, seeing that everyone was up and about.

The group started their trek up the mountain. The going was getting tougher as the air thinned. Their pace was slower today,and they stopped for breathers a few times before breakfast. When they had worked up an appetite, they found a convenient area and sat to eat a meal of water, bread, and fruit.

*Still no signs of game,* Dracstan muttered, tearing a chunk from his bread roll.

"I know how you feel," Krisr said. "I could do with a good stew or roast about now."

*You know, what we need to find is a meadow,* Raina thought aloud. Dracstan and Krisr both nodded. Where there was grass, there would be game.

Krisr ate his breakfast quietly, worried. Their food supply wasn't gone yet, but the lack of wild game so far foreboded tough times ahead.

When they were done, the quietly packed up and continued on their way.

* * * * * * *

The day passed quickly, an endless flow of walking and stopping, broken only by a quiet lunch overlooking the slope below. From that height, they could see the sharp-edged drop in the distance that signaled the steep cliffs surrounding the Refuge. They wordlessly finished their meal and started walking, ever moving upward.

Some time after lunch, Krisr tried to lighten the mood by singing the Ballad of Kendel, a heroic song about the exploits of Kendel, leader of the Donkey Army. It helped for a time, giving them a steady beat to move by. Somewhere in the middle of the twenty-fourth verse, Raina Lynn interrupted.

*Listen!* she said. They all stopped. From above the next ridge, they heard the sound of bleating. Krisr grinned and started up quietly, making he way to the top of the hill with the dragons behind.

When they reached the flatter area at the top of the rise, they examined it and found a rocky incline to their left that led up to a break in the tall stone cliffs in that direction. Daylight shown from the other side.

"A canyon," Krisr observed. They headed toward the opening, climbing the incline slowly until they reached the top. Then, they peered into the canyon.

The ground was not too far below their perch, about thirty feet, and it was covered in soft, long grass. The alpine meadow stretched away, and they saw the mountain goats. The goats, however, were enclosed by a fence of wood, and a group of tents was set up at the far end of the meadow. A stream ran through one side of the meadow, and assorted reeds grew by it. The small group stared at the unexpected encampment.

*It's a village,* said Raina Lynn, stating the obvious.

*Shall we take a goat?* Dracstan asked.

"We can't, they belong to those people... nomads from the look of it," explained Krisr, watching the tents for signs of activity. He could see no movement in the village.

*What should we do?* Raina questioned.

"Can you see anyone down there?"

*No...*

"Well, we shouldn't enter their camp unseen. They might take it the wrong way."

*Should we wait?*

Krisr shrugged. "Kelev is another day away, possibly more in our case. We can either continue or try to stop and talk with these villagers. What strikes your fancy, m'lady?"

*I'm curious. I don't remember Indyana mentioning nomads.*

"M'lad?" questioned Krisr, turning to Dracstan.

*I want meat,* the wyrm said, eying the goats.

"Well, that is two votes for 'yea'. We will wait for the villagers. Perhaps they would trade a meal for an evening's amusement."

Krisr stood up and threw his arms out out to his sides melodramatically. "For I am the Prince of Fools, straight from the fine city of Plativa, via Bishen Realm, straight to their door-- erm, tent flaps. Have they seen a man sing all thirty verses of the Gravedigger's Bard? Have they heard of the fierce mini-dragon Irtira and her terrorization of the villagers of the Realm? Have they seen a man juggle goats? I think not! But these things they shall see, oh yes, before the night is through."

He ended his speech by striking a heroic pose. Dracstan looked at him with blank shock, then leaned toward Raina Lynn.

*Has he gone mad...?* he asked her. Raina just smirked.

*He's just getting warmed up. You haven't seen anything until you've seen Krisr in full entertainment mode.*

Krisr stretched and tumbled around on the small flat area around the entrance to the canyon, preparing to greet prospective employers. Dracstan, meanwhile, continued to watch Krisr with an expression that said he had never seen such hideous foolery in his life.

The sun was low in the sky when they first noticed the band of people who appeared on the adjoining canyon wall. The nomads came over the top of the wall, still far from the tents on the other end of the meadow.

*Look!* Raina said in excitement when she saw them. Krisr and Dracstan peered around the edges of the opening to view the newcomers.

"Excellent!" Krisr cried. "Let us greet them and see if we can't earn a goat or two!" He started to step around the edge of the wall.

*NO!* projected Dracstan suddenly.

"What?" Krisr stopped, one foot quizzically paused in mid air. He turned to look at the wyrm.

*Look!* hissed Dracstan.

The group turned to watch and saw the next men were pulling heavy chains. The chains were linked to shackles wrapped around a large griffin. The golden feathers and fur of the large creature reflected the deep sunlight, revealing wounds the griffin had sustained. It was struggling valiantly, but it was obviously very tired, near exhaustion. The men wrestled it roughly down the slope, then across the meadow as the hidden group watched with horror and rage. The men dragged the griffin toward one of the tents. As Krisr and the dragons watched, the men drew back the skin walls of the tent, revealing a metal cage. They wrangled the griffin in, then shut and locked the cage. One of the men stepped forward, and the cage glowed green for a second before fading back to its normal black. The men drew the tent material over the cage once more, then headed off to the smaller tents and began unloading their gear.

Krisr and Raina Lynn had matched looks of shock and horror on their faces, but Dracstan remained stoic, radiating stony anger. Krisr looked at the other tents, especially the larger ones, imagining he could see the outline of cage bars under them as well. He turned to his two companions, a look of revulsion settling on his face.

"Poachers," he whispered in disgust.