Dragon Sleeping (The Dragon Circle Trilogy Book 1) Read online

  “Very good,” Nunn agreed, as if he sensed that she had made a decision. “We have a great deal to do in a very short time, and all your neighbors are part of it.” He stretched out his hand toward her. “You will help us, won’t you?”

  As difficult as she found it to agree, she felt that she had to. It was more than just keeping herself safe. If she did something wrong, Nunn could do terrible things to her parents and all the neighbors. She stared at Nunn’s outstretched hand, but she could not bring herself to touch it. She nodded her head instead.

  “Good.” Nunn withdrew his hand with a flourish, as if she was never meant to take it in the first place. He glanced briefly at the Captain. “It would be better if everyone in this place were so cooperative. Zachs and I will call on you when we need, then.” He clapped his hands, and the light-being flew from the Captain’s shoulders to Nunn. But the red glow did not seem to perch on Nunn’s shoulder. Instead, it settled down over the other man’s head, so that for a moment Nunn seemed to have a halo. Then the halo vanished, flowing inward, sucked within Nunn’s skull. The wizard closed his eyes and shuddered. His eyes reopened and he smiled.

  “Ah, Mary Lou,” he said softly. “You’ll be able to help us more than you’d ever imagine.”

  Around the Circle #4:

  How Raven Stole the Sun

  Once there was no light upon the world, and all was cloaked in darkness. But Raven heard that, at the source of the river that gave life to all things, there was one who had light but kept it all to himself.

  Raven flew to this place and found there a rich man who lived with his daughter in a large house. As Raven flew by the open doorway of this house, he saw three large bundles, each a different shape and size, which hung upon the opposite wall within. Surely, Raven thought, these bundles contained what he sought.

  “Caw!” he called down to the man below.

  “And what would Raven want to do with me?” the man asked. “Come, old man,” the bird replied, “and give me a peek at your riches!”

  But the old man was too clever for the bird, for he knew how Raven liked to grasp shiny objects within his claws and make them his. So he refused him, saying, “I have no riches that you can touch. My only wealth is what I see. There is nothing for you here, Raven.”

  So it was that the man turned away from Raven. But the man’s refusal made Raven want these things even more. But how could he, a bird, convince the rich man to give him those things he desired?

  It was then that Raven hit upon his clever plan.

  “I will make myself very small,” he said to himself, “and drop into the water in the form of a small piece of dirt.”

  And this he did, as the rich man’s daughter was about to take a drink, so that the dirt that was Raven found its way into the daughter’s cup. The girl swallowed the dirt and soon discovered that she would have a child.

  So it was, when the child was ready to leave his mother and join the world, her people made a hole for her, as was customary in that time, in which she would bring forth the child. And her people further lined the hole with rich furs of all sorts.

  But the baby did not wish to be born in such a hairy place. So the child’s grandfather pondered this problem, and thought, “Perhaps it is best to line the hole with something else.” So it was that he instructed his servants to remove the furs and line the hole with fresh green moss. Once this new covering was upon the hole, the baby promptly appeared. And the child’s eyes were very bright, and it moved its head rapidly from side to side.

  Thereafter the child grew, and learned to crawl, and, as he moved on his hands and knees around the great fire at the center of the house, he would cry. When the child cried, his grandfather would ask him what was wrong, but the child would only point at the first of the three bundles that hung upon the wall.

  “Very well,” the child’s grandfather said, after listening day after day to the child’s screams. “Give the boy what he is crying for, and we can have some peace.”

  So the first of the three bundles was given to the child.

  “Gah!” the child cried in delight, and he clutched it and rolled upon the floor as the other people of the household went about their separate tasks. And the child looked inside the bundle and saw that it was filled with stars. Therefore the child let it go and gave the bundle a little push, and the whole package full of stars rose through the smoke hole at the center of the house and broke open above the roof, so that stars were scattered throughout the sky.

  “Gah!” the child cried again, and he was happy that night.

  But the following morning, the child began to cry again, with such force that it made his earlier noise seem like the meekest of whimpers. And, in those rare moments when the child paused to draw a breath, he would point to the second of the three bundles.

  “Very well,” his grandfather said at last, “untie that next one and give it to him.”

  So the child was given the second bundle, which contained something far more solid than the first. The child played with the bundle around and behind his mother as she saw to her chores. But when his mother looked away, he opened the edges of the bundle with his tiny fingers and saw something that glowed with cool light. So it was that he opened this second bundle to free what was inside and gave that orb a push as well, so that it rose up through the smoke hole and became the moon.

  “Gah!” the child cried as he saw the cool light fill the sky, and he slept well again that night.

  But on the following morning the child began to cry with such ferocity that the people thought that he might die. And further did his eyes roll about in his head and change from one color to another color, so that those around him began to wonder if he was even human. But his grandfather said, “Very well. Untie the last of the bundles and give it to him.” For what grandfather can deny anything to his grandchild?

  So they brought down the last of the bundles, which contained a great box that held the daylight.

  “Gah!” the child announced when he was given this last bundle. And then his cry of delight turned to the call of the raven.

  “Caw!” he called as he grabbed the bundle and flew through the smoke hole. “Caw!”

  “The bird has stolen my dearest treasures!” the old man cried as he realized what had passed. “When will I see my wealth again? May curses fall upon the thieving bird!”

  But Raven took the bundle in his claws, flew up through the smoke hole, and was gone, leaving the old man’s curses behind.

  He flew with his prize back down the length of the River Nass, which was that place where all of the people of the world lived and fished.

  Before this day, they had worked in darkness, but now they toiled by the dim illumination of the moon and stars. And while many of the people welcomed this light, to others it was far too strange and new, and made them uncertain of their place in the world.

  Raven saw the people fishing in eight great canoes. Therefore he landed, and walked along the riverbank, and called out to the canoes:

  “Give me some fish, and I will show you daylight.”

  But this only made the people laugh. “You try to trick us!” they called to the bird on the shore. “Daylight is owned by the richest man in the world. You are only Raven!”

  “Only Raven?” the bird called out, for the people had made him angry. With that, Raven flew up into the air with a great cry. He let loose of the box when he was high in the air. The box fell through the air to break open upon the river rocks below. Once the box was open, the fiery ball burst forth and rose into the sky to become the blazing sun.

  But the people had never before seen the sun, and many of them became afraid and dived within the water. An equal number ran into the woods that surrounded the river. And a strange thing happened to those people as they ran. Those people who wore hair-seal coats became hair seals, and those who wore fur-seal coats became fur seals. Before this time, you see, those were only the names of their garments. But now the people who had become hai
r seals and fur seals leapt into the water. And those who wore the skins of martens, and black bears, and grizzly bears, and all the many other skins of animals, became those animals as they ran into the forest.

  So it was that the sun, moon, and stars came into the sky, and animals came into the world, and even the richest man in the world could once again see his wealth.

  And Raven? He laughed, and admired his deep black feathers in the golden light of the sun.

  Eight

  The sky was alive.

  “Way to go,” Jason murmured. The show up there was enough to get even the neighborhood shy kid talking.

  Colors boiled forth from the clouds, blue to green to yellow to orange to red. Circles of crimson light spread from a central point like ripples in a pond.

  “Psych-ay-delic,” Bobby agreed, his smile firmly back in place.

  Nick had to admit that it all looked like it belonged on an album cover by the Jefferson Airplane or Moody Blues.

  “What’s this all supposed to mean?” Todd asked, sounding much less impressed than the others.

  “Obar is greeting us,” the Oomgosh explained. Raven cawed derisively. “Obar is showing off.”

  Whatever Obar was doing, Nick had to admit that the results were pretty impressive. The clouds above were shifting into recognizable shapes, first a crowd of yellow deer rushing across the sky, then a great green knight swinging a sword.

  “This happens often with Raven,” the bird remarked with disdain. “A mere wizard, confronted by my magnificence, feels challenged to perform some task worthy of my power.” Raven ruffled his feathers. “Of course, such an undertaking is impossible.”

  “As is everything you do, my Raven,” the Oomgosh agreed heartily. “But come. Our business is too serious for us to be distracted long.” The large green creature led the way across a lawn that Old Man Sayre would have envied, marching to a great stone structure that seemed half house, half castle. The sky above erupted into a riot of wildflowers, then shifted to a scene of green dolphins jumping from a blood-red sea.

  Jason and Bobby poked each other and laughed at the show overhead. Todd didn’t seem to be paying any attention to it at all. Instead, he watched every move of the Oomgosh and Raven, as if the next thing they did might suddenly make sense. And Nick? When he glanced up at the fabulous sky, all he could think of was that earlier strangeness overhead, the sudden storm with silent lightning.

  Seven wide steps led up to a large wooden double door in the front of the castle. The two doors swung wide as the six approached. There didn’t seem to be anyone on the other side of the now open doors. It was as if the two great slabs of wood had moved of their own accord.

  Nick supposed he should expect no less from a wizard’s home.

  “You are invited inside,” the Oomgosh remarked in admiration, “without reservation. You must indeed be important.”

  “Truly, then,” the bird squawked, “you are fitting companions for Raven.”

  Todd looked doubtfully at the Oomgosh. He pointed at the darkened entryway. “We’re supposed to go in there?”

  “The door does not open for just anyone,” the Oomgosh advised. A loud cough came from the direction of the castle.

  “Sorry,” a disembodied voice remarked. “There have been unforeseen problems. I had no idea what time it had gotten to be. You see—well, never mind—” The voice cleared its disembodied throat. “Bobby and Jason, Nick and Todd, please, you are all most welcome to enter.”

  “Hey!” It was Bobby’s turn to object. “How do you know our names?”

  “Your names?” the voice continued in the same distracted fashion. “Oh, nothing to it. I’ve met you all before, haven’t I?”

  “Met us?” Bobby asked. “Where?”

  “I may be one of the foremost wizards ever to grace this world of seven islands,” Obar’s voice replied. “I also deliver ice cream.”

  “Ice cream? You’re the ice cream man?” Bobby started to laugh. Apparently, he thought the idea of an ice-cream-dispensing wizard was great.

  Nick wasn’t quite that easy to please. That explanation was still no explanation at all. On that strange night—had it really only been the evening before? —this Obar hadn’t introduced himself. And no one had introduced themselves to Obar, either.

  “But come inside!” the voice insisted. “The sooner we get started, you know—” Obar left the rest of the sentence unsaid, as if whatever he implied might be easily understood.

  “All right,” Todd announced as he hurried up the steps. “Let’s get on with it.” Bobby and Jason followed his lead again.

  Jason frowned and looked back at the Oomgosh. “What about you guys?”

  “Alas, I must stay here.” The tree man pointed down to his toes, which indeed looked like roots. “My feet do not wish to leave the earth.”

  Nick felt Raven’s wing brush his ear. Would the bird remain on his shoulder forever?

  “Raven may go wherever he pleases,” the bird intoned.

  “Whether it pleases others or not,” the Oomgosh added. “I will rest my toes in the soil. I await your return.”

  Nick decided it was time to get a little clarification here. “So you’ll stay on my shoulder?”

  “You will need a guide,” Raven replied. “Obar’s castle is much like Obar.”

  Yes, Nick thought, Raven would indeed remain on his shoulder forever.

  Todd stood at the top of the steps, flexing his shoulders and cracking his knuckles, waiting for the rest of them to catch up. As Bobby and Jason joined him, he waved down at Nick.

  “What’s the matter, Nicky-poo? Scared of the dark?”

  Nick stared, as startled as if someone had sucker-punched him. That was the old Todd for you, quick with a jab, Mr. High School Wise Guy. Bobby snickered at Todd’s crack. Jason looked surprised and uncomfortable.

  Nick suddenly wanted to jump up there and wipe the smirk off Todd’s face. He never let Todd bully him into anything back on Chestnut Circle; he wasn’t going to let Todd get away with anything now, either. He’d tell that guy just where he could shove it. If Todd could move fast, Nick could move faster.

  Nick took two steps toward the doorway, and then stopped. The darkness behind Todd looked total, as if it sucked the light from the surrounding air.

  Todd glanced back at the doorway himself. “Hey,” he added when he turned back toward Nick, “I don’t think any of us are going to live forever.” His expression had changed, too; his smile looked the slightest bit tentative. Like, maybe he didn’t have all the answers, after all.

  “It’s time to go,” the bird said close by Nick’s ear, its voice surprisingly soft. A moment later, the creature added, “Only Raven lives forever.”

  Todd turned and strode into the darkness. Bobby was right on his heels, Jason a few paces after the others. Each, in turn, was swallowed by the doorway’s lack of light.

  Nick swore and hurried to follow.

  Charlie barked and took up the rear. Raven squawked in alarm. “No dog should—” the bird began.

  Nick found the anger building in him again. “Charlie’s the only thing I have left from home,” he snapped. “I’m not leaving him behind.”

  “If you insist.” The bird turned his head away. “Raven is more than a match for any dog.”

  “Sometimes,” called the Oomgosh from where he stood in the sun, “Raven may even be more than a match for Raven.”

  Nick climbed the steps and walked into the pool of darkness.

  “May good—” the Oomgosh began. His voice cut off abruptly. Nick realized that all the other forest sounds had ceased as well.

  Charlie growled. Raven muttered something about wizard tricks.

  Somehow Nick kept on moving. He stepped through into light that seemed as bright as that he had just left outside. He was in a large room with the others, a room bordered by grey stone walls, with no doors that Nick could see, only a pair of small windows on opposite sides, neither of them large enough to provide th
is kind of light.

  Above him, quite close to the stone ceiling, was what looked like a miniature sun.

  “Ah,” Obar’s voice said abruptly. “I see we’re all together at last.”

  Obar had managed to walk in their midst during that second Nick had stared at the ceiling. He was the same old man who had passed out the ice cream, although now, rather than a suit of white, he wore a rumpled outfit of brown, clothes that seemed more fitting to a housepainter or plumber than to a wizard.

  “I apologize for any disorientation,” Obar offered as he smiled and pointed up at the tiny sun. “You’ve just passed through a protection and transportation spell. In these times, certain precautions are necessary.” He glanced down at the neighbors. “But everything seems to be working now, doesn’t it?”

  A transportation spell? Nick took three quick steps to one of the small windows. They were easily a hundred feet above the manicured lawn; but it was still the same lawn. Nick could see the Oomgosh, standing still as a tree far below. He turned back to the neighbors as Obar continued to talk.

  “I’m afraid that I have not prepared you as well as I might.” Obar still smiled, but Nick noticed the strain in the wrinkles around his eyes. “I’m afraid I’m a bit distracted. It is an unavoidable side product of those spells I must deal with.” He made a noise that started as a laugh but ended as a cough. The wizard covered his mouth for a moment until the spasm had passed. “Excuse me. It does not do anyone much good to look at these things too directly.”

  Obar sighed as he sat on a stool that Nick hadn’t seen before. “Let me attempt to explain your situation—well, our situation. You see, we have been waiting for you for quite some time. We have a most delicate situation here, and you are necessary to—well, whatever is about to happen.” The wizard stopped and frowned, as if uncertain of what he might say next.