Bearers of the Black Staff

PANTERRA QU HAD NEVER SEEN A DRAGON. BUT HE knew what they were from tales he’d heard as a child, and he knew enough of how they looked to recognize one when he saw it. What he wasn’t prepared for was how really terrifying it would be. It was a massive beast, squat and bulky through its midsections, but its neck and limbs long and sinewy. Scales covered its body in armored plates, and its back and tail were ridged with spikes. When it swung its head toward him, Pan could see bony protrusions on its snout, a beard hanging from its lower jaw, and teeth the size of his forearm protruding from its maw. It was black and slick with moisture, and its eyes had the feral gleam of a predator.

Every impulse screamed at Panterra to run. But Tasha remained flattened against the cliff face and was furtively gesturing for the others to do the same. All five were backed up against the rock, so still that they didn’t even seem to be breathing. The dragon was huffing, as if trying to cough, the sound penetrating even the wind’s shrill howl. It spread its huge wings, and they spanned the width of the pass. It arched its neck, its jaws split wide, and a huge, long tongue licked out at the rain.

Panterra could not look away from the beast. A part of him said he should, that he didn’t want to see what was going to happen next. Another part said that so long as he kept watching, he had a chance of staying alive.

A dragon, he repeated over and over in the silence of his mind. There were no dragons in the valley. Dragons didn’t exist in his world.

The dragon screamed—there was no other way to describe it, the sound high and shrill and bone chilling—causing Pan to press even harder against the impermeable stone. The monster’s shadow fell over him as it surged forward, and in that instant he knew he was dead.

But then, a miracle. The dragon’s wings flapped twice, the turbulence they generated sudden and massive, and the beast lifted away through the gap in the cliffs, rose skyward like a great bird of prey, and disappeared north away from the valley.

It all happened so quickly that for long moments afterward, no one moved. Pan kept thinking it might return, that it was only a trick to catch them out when they tried to run. He kept thinking there was no way it could be gone. Not really gone.

Then Phryne Amarantyne was next to him, pressing close, her blue eyes wild and excited. “Wasn’t that wonderful?” she breathed. “Wasn’t that the most beautiful and terrible thing you’ve ever seen?”

It was all of that, Pan thought, but mostly it was heart stopping. “Yes,” he said, managing to look at her without something approaching disbelief. “But I never want to see it again.”

“Oh, I do!” she said with a gasp, and she actually laughed.

Tasha was calling to them, and they hurried to group around him, casting anxious glances at the sliver of sky visible through the gap in the peaks. Prue’s eyes were wide and her face white as she caught Pan’s eye and shook her head in an unmistakable signal. She wanted nothing more to do with this business.

“Everyone’s heart still beating?” Tasha asked, scanning their faces. When no one spoke, he continued, “Well, at least we know now that the protective barrier is truly down. That dragon—”

“Was that really a dragon?” Tenerife cut in, as if not quite ready to accept that it was. “When we know that dragons don’t exist?”

“It was a dragon,” Tasha assured him. “A clear signal that Panterra and little sister are in no way mistaken about those creatures they encountered and the warning of the Gray Man is not to be disregarded. We have to let the King and the Elven Council know. With five of us to testify, there can’t be much room for doubt.”

“I would like to see the outside world before we go back,” Phryne cut in quickly. She looked from face to face, seeing reluctance and doubt mirrored in each. “If we follow the pass to its other end and see for ourselves that the outside world is open to us, we have even better proof of what’s happened. I don’t think we should underestimate those who will question our claims.”

Tenerife shook his head. “I don’t think we should do anything of the sort. We might get to the end of the pass, but there’s nothing to say we’ll be able to get back again. If that dragon returns, it could block our way.”

“If that happens, we need only to wait until it flies out again. Or follow the mountains west along their outer perimeter to a different pass. If one is down, it stands to reason the rest are down, as well.”

“I don’t know what stands to reason.” Tenerife shook his head. “It seems risky.”

“Oh, and none of the rest of what we’re doing is?” Phryne laughed. “That’s very funny, cousin. What do you have to say on the matter, Tasha? Are you for turning back, as well?”

“There is a sound argument for doing so,” the other replied, running his fingers through his long black hair. The scarf that had tied back his hair seemed to have disappeared. “But I see the merit of your argument. And I, too, would like to see what lies at the end of the pass. I’ll go with you. The rest can go back, and no blame will attach to them for doing so. Brother? Pan? Little sister?”

“I’m going,” Tenerife declared grudgingly. “I guess.”

Prue grimaced. “I go where Pan goes.”