“Tobias. Scan the area and search for the Omicrons! Mxy. Bring back Mick, and re-power yourself. Drake! Call on Drax, and everyone be ready to get there!” Danny gives orders like he’s a leader born.
Just seconds, and Tobias returns. “NoOmicronsinsight,Danny. Justtwoguardsfunnydressedinfrontofthemaingateofthemountain.
Danny looks at Chance and Kristogar, they nod, and he orders: “To the mountain. The non flying ones on the back of Drax, the others stay close. High quote, I want to be sure of any threat before landing in front of the gate.”
We take flight. But it takes just a few minutes before out of the mountains a crowd appears, singing and dancing.
And, then, a big white furry dragon, similar even if not really identical to our Drax appears, and flies directly toward us. On the back of the dragon rides a tall, slim man, pallid and blonde, dressed with what resemble the dress of a medieval Christian priest, but with a feathered tiara on the head, like an Inca king.
When the dragons arrives close, Drax begins to talk with it with an arcane voice, musical and roaring at the same time.
Then, to Danny: “It’s OK. They are friendly.” And then, with a wink: “It’s a female. Things are getting interesting!”
We fly down, landing just in front of the main gate. If it was a trap, the hurry of the dragon would have taken us right in, but I believe those incredible beasts… or maybe I should just say beings… communicate not only by words, but also with scents or some other animal sense. And they detect when someone is lying or not.
And in fact the people are really friendly, and sing and dance in front of Drax, surrounding us. For a moment I have lost contact with the others, but when the one that was riding the local dragons get down, the people make room around him, and I see my comrades and we can get together again.
He begins to talk. And much to the surprise of everyone, he speaks English. A very ancient of rm of English, that I am not able to understand. Just a word every now and then. But it’s English.
The others seems to understand him better. Chance translates in modern American for me.
“He welcoming us. He’s saying… that is a great day this…. The waiting has ended… and the prophecy about the coming of the dragon has become true. His names is… Pacha-Gillion… anfd he is the High Priest of the City. Nearly… one thousands years ago… they arrived here sailing from… Welsh. They were… the people of the dragons. They were breeding dragons on the mountains… Ed, I am not sure if I understand correctly. Anyway, he is saying that they where followers of… magic. They had… they have the book of magic. And they used magic to… live with dragons, I think.”
Maybe someone else than the Swede should be the translator for me. But the others seems to have their difficulties to understand the man, maybe more for what he says than for the ancient language.
Chance continues, following closely what the high priest says: “They had to fled from Britain because of the invasion. They where persecuted… for their magic… they sailed, looking to find Avalon. They crossed the Ocean over their dragons… and after many perils, arrived here. Here… oh, I can’t believe it.. he’s talking about himself, not his ancestors!”
“What?” I ask.
“He’s saying that they found the lake… this lake near the city. They found peoples… locals… that revealed that the water has the power of giving eternal youth. They had lost nearly all the dragons… minus one… during the crossing. They died for exhaustion just after the arrival. So they stopped here… because the water was needed to preserve the existence of the dragon… of the last dragon. Because they believe that when the last of the dragons dies, the Earth will be destroyed. They carved a whole city in this mountain, to live hiding from the rest of the world. Ah, he says that along the centuries some people had managed to arrive here… Incas at the beginning… then Spanish… and a German, fifty years ago. But no one has ever left the city. But now there is just… happiness… because the dragon now is not alone… and the heritage of the dragons will be preserved.”
It’s your lucky day, Drax.
Chance frown, deciphering the words of the priest. “He’s inviting to enter the city… there will be a feast in our honor.”
“Ask about the book!” I shout to Danny.
“Ed, it’s not the moment! He will suspect…” begins Chance, but Danny smiles and get closer to the man, asking “You said you have a book about magic? Where do you keep it? It should be a special place, if it’s still preserved after 1000 years!”
The priest seems surprised by the request. But he must be really trusting, because he get even closer to the Australian, and whisper something into his ear.
Then, Danny takes out a gun, and shot at the priest, right into his heart.
The man falls on the ground, while Danny runs away in the crowd. I see him disappearing near another one, that I clearly recognize as Johnny Omicron, smiling. But the crowd is over us all, swearing and spitting at us, while dozens of guards surrounds us.
The Omicrons have gambled us even this time.
[ 04-11-2003, 01:31 AM: Message edited by: The Eurostar ]
