Spoilers! Journey to Hope-Chapter 5

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Chapter 5 Flight and the Green Hollows

Kal, Artham and Oskar got off the dragons. Actually, Oskar toppled off. Kalmar raised his hands to quiet the murmuring crowd. The crowd now consisted of probably every Annieran on the island. Without waiting for them to quiet down, Kalmar began to shout out his explanation.

“Janner Wingfeather, the Throne Warden is…gone. He is the reason you are all here now, whole and unbroken.” Kal paused for a moment, unsure of whether or not to continue. What if he gave them hope that would not be fulfilled? But Artham nodded at him to go on, and everyone on the island had already seen Janner strapped to the dragon. They deserved no less than the truth.

“We believe that the Maker has given us hope, perhaps a hope that can bring Janner back to life. We don’t know what will happen, but I believe we go with the Maker’s blessing. Arundel and Elder Cadwick will lead you while we are gone. We will return soon.” After about another half hour of questions and explanations, and another ten minutes getting Oskar back on the blue dragon, they finally left. The dragons glided off the dock and into the sky with such grace that Kalmar barely felt the transition, which was good because while he wasn’t really afraid of heights anymore, he was still rather uncomfortable looking down from the dragon.

“I can’t wait till we get Janner back so he can do all the uncomfortable speaking for me,” Kalmar grumbled to no one in particular. Nia gave him a slightly admonishing look, but ignored the comment.

“Kalmar, are you sure about this?” she asked. Kalmar sighed deeply. Instead of looking back at his mother, he looked forward at Janner, covered in blanket, and said,

“To be honest? No. I’m not sure. But I feel like the Maker wants me to go anyway. I feel like it’s… I feel like it’s my fault that Janner died.”

“Kalmar, why would it be your fault?” Nia asked, face full of concern.

“Because…I was the one who insisted that everyone open the fane for me, so I could ask the Maker what to do. I get that what happened was part of the Maker’s plan, but… it was supposed to be me who died. And now that Janner healed me too, I feel even more guilty…I feel like I don’t deserve it.” Kalmar’s voice got quiet and hoarse at the mention of Janner’s name.

“Kalmar.” Nia did not ask him to turn around, or look at her, simply placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I thought about it last night. I am so proud of both you and Janner. You were both prepared to give your lives for your people. Why the Maker chose Janner as the seed, as Arundel said, I am not sure. You both obeyed the Maker and I believe that he is proud of you as well. If Janner could choose a way to die, I am almost certain that he would decide to heal you and our people, every time.” Kalmar’s eyes glistened with tears he forced himself to hold in. In his heart, he knew that everything his mother and uncle told him was true. But that didn’t stop the guilt.

The dragon in the middle of the flying trio was Hulwen, and Leeli and Sara were laughing and talking quietly, Leeli thrilled to be riding a dragon again, Sara thrilled to be riding one at all. Leeli was telling Sara about the final battle of the Wingfeather war.

“… and he was fighting the dragons and we were about to lose the battle, when Oskar pulled the first book out of his pack and told Gnag that he was loved, and had a name! He said he had found a writing from Madia Wingfeather, my great grandmother,in the back of the book. She loved him, and gave him the name Davion. Then Gnag- well, Davion, heard the rest of Madia’s letter and his eyes turned blue. Then he died and turned to dust.”

“Wow.” Sara was staring at Leeli in astonishment. “That…that’s pretty amazing. I still can’t believe he was your grand uncle. So you aren’t really the heirs to the throne? Since he was the second born, I mean.”

“Janner would be able to explain it better… I think it’s that if the King doesn’t have any children, then the Song Master’s children are the heirs. So even if Gnag hadn’t died, we’d still be the heirs.”

“That does make sense…” Sara said from behind Leeli.

“So what happened to you after Janner left the Fork! Factory!?”

“Uh, well, a lot of things, mainly that Artham saved me and all the orphans from the Factory!. I’d rather not talk about it now, I think if this Water from the First Well thing works, Janner would want to hear about it too.” In front of Sara, Leeli smiled. She thought of all the times Janner had sleeptalked about Sara. He would definitely want to hear anything the girl with “diamond eyes” wanted to say.

“I hope we can all talk to him again, really soon.” Suddenly the breeze grew much stronger and started to whip the girls hair around their faces. Leeli laughed and put her hands in the air. Sara was content just to watch the sea foaming beneath her, and feel the breeze against her skin. Then, with the breeze still blowing, Leeli lowered her arms and began pawing at her hair.

“Leeli, what’s wrong?”

“Oh nothing,” she laughed. “My hair is just getting all over my eyes and my mouth.”

“Do you want me to braid it?”

“Yes! Thank you. When we get to Ban Rona, can you teach me how?”

“I’d love to!”

On the blue dragon, not much talking was going on. Oskar was jiggling around like a pile of gooey ball sauce. True, he was uncomfortable riding the dragon, but they were on a journey to discover an ancient Well, made by the Maker that had been lost for years. He felt truly thrilled and honored to be on this quest. Meanwhile, flying ahead, Artham was deep in thought. He felt like he had failed everyone he was supposed to protect. Esben, and now Janner. And everyone was hurting because of it. He felt like the only thing he could do to make things right was do everything in his power to bring Janner back, even if it meant he had to go to one of the places he feared and hated most in the world. If Janner did not come back…but he pushed away the thought. That was the worst thing that could possibly happen. Artham looked back at the people on the dragons, then even further back. Anniera was just a slice of black on the horizon. They would reach the Green Hollows in a few hours.

. . .

Thorn O’Sally stood on one of the many docks inside the Watercraw, helping his father and older brother load up a ship full of lumber, tools, food, tarps, seeds and any number of other supplies. This ship was headed to Anniera. Even though the majority of Hollowsfolk hadn’t visited yet, all were doing their best to help restore the Shining Isle. When Thorn thought of Anniera, he thought of Leeli. She had learned dog speak even better than him in only the few months she had been in the Hollows, and she was a good friend. Thorn looked wistfully toward Anniera, and saw something on the horizon. He squinted closer, and saw three dragons flying toward the Hollows.

“Oy, Pa! We got three dragons flyin’ this way.” Thorn shouted to his father.

“Bound from the Isle?” Biggin O’Sally asked.

“Looks that way.”

“Eh Kelvey. Keep loadin’ the boat. I’m headed to fetch the Keeper. Thorn, go meet whoever’s comin’ on them dragons.” Kelvy barely glanced up at his father from the strip of dried meat he was chewing, and smoothed back his hair.

“Will do Pa.” He said. Thorn was already headed inland to go through the town to the high cliffs overlooking the Watercraw. He dashed around people in town, almost knocking over one man who was carrying multiple trays stacked high with fragile mugs. He burst off the road, down a back alleyway and jumped a fence at the end of it. He tore through a back field, and up a hill, reaching the cliff. Panting, he stared out at the approaching dragons.

“Now that,” he said, breathing hard, “is way better than the normal way.” Then he realized that even if he had gone the usual way, almost a quarter of an hour longer, he would still have to wait quite a while until the dragons arrived. He sighed and plunked down, dangling his legs over the cliff, but got up quickly. The ground was wet with melting snow.

He squinted at the dragons, hoping that Leeli was one of the riders. Since she had gone, the whole houndry was a bit below its usual standard. Frankle especially, a particularly spunky puppy, had gotten out of hand. A while later, Thorn could make out the riders on the dragons. He balked slightly, still a bit nervous about the huge beasts, though he trusted them a bit more after their heroics in the final battle of Ban Rona. He smiled when he saw a slender girl’s thick blonde braid and blue dress. He stood up and grinned, lifting his arm to wave. Leeli waved to him in response. The dragons were close enough now for Thorn to make out Leeli’s smile, he got a vague impression of a girl behind her, but his eyes were all for Leeli.

The dragons wheeled above him, and he shuffled back to a more sheltered area, hands in his pockets.

“Oy, Leeli!” He cried, waving and grinning. “Welcome back!” Leeli shook back her bangs and smiled back at him.

“Thorn, it’s only been what, two days?”

“Frankle’s been missing you.” Thorn said.

“Hmm… is Frankle the only one?” Kal asked, winking at Leeli, making her blush for a moment. Thorn reached out his arm, offering to help Leeli off the dragon, but Leeli shrugged him off.

“I’m fine, Thorn.” She said, climbing off the dragon with little difficulty. “Climbing up and down things is actually a whole lot easier than walking. Wait a minute, why are you here? You were in Anniera yesterday afternoon.”

“Oh, that. Well, my pa decided to make a quick trip back. He wanted to make a quick supply run. We wound up stayin’ the night. Why? What brings you back here so soon? We was gonna head over to Anniera tomorrow.”

“Were. We were,” Leeli corrected. Her voice trembled. Thorn looked at her with concern. She looked down at the damp brown grass at her feet, then over to the green dragon, where Nia and a strange yet familiar boy were dismounting, and Artham was gently untying and lifting a blanket-wrapped, person sized bundle and cradling it in his arms. Thorn’s heart skipped a beat. He looked around the group. Everyone was there, even Oskar, except Kal and Janner.

“Hold up, where’s Kal and Janner?”

“I’m Kal!” Kalmar said laughingly, realizing for the first time that no one in the Hollows knew of Janner’s death. As Thorn stood in shock, looking at Kalmar from head to toe, Kal pointed at the bundle Artham was holding.

“There,” he said sorrowfully, “is Janner.” Thorn was unable to peel his eyes off the furless Wolf King until he pointed at Janner.

“He- he- you- what? What in Aerwiar happened to you folks?”

Looking down at his feet, Kal said, “Janner healed us. The Cloven and Fangs, I mean. Even those of us who didn’t deserve it,” Kal paused to look straight into Thorn’s eyes. “His life was the price of healing.” Thorn blinked once or twice, looked from Kal to Janner’s wrapped body and back again.

“How?” Thorn asked in bewilderment. Kalmar sighed. Only now did he realize that this event would call for a conference with the Keeper, and a lot of explanations for the Hollowsfolk.

“It’s a long story,” Kal said.

“I got time.” Said Thorn.

“It looks like your father and the Keeper are headed this way,” Leeli stated. “So we should probably get the explanations over with at once, when we can tell everyone who needs to know.”

“Uh, alright,” said Thorn. The Keeper, at least temporarily, was Guildmaster Clout. He walked quickly up the hill with Biggin by his side. When he reached the top, he glanced quickly around at the small group, including at the bundle Artham was holding, the sorrowful faces of the company, the absence of the Warden and the Wolf King, and the strange blue-eyed boy. Nia stepped forward.

“Keeper, you remember my son Kalmar.” She put a hand on Kal’s shoulder. The Keeper’s eyes widened for a moment, but he trusted Nia. He reached out a hand to shake with Kal.

“Its good to see you in the Hollows again.”

“Thank you, Guildmaster, I mean, Keeper.” Kal’s voice was still the same but it had lost its growly edge. His eyes were still the same deep blue, but without the yellow flecks and wolfish wildness. Guildmaster Clout turned to Nia.

“What happened?” He asked, gesturing to Janner’s wrapped body.

“We need to head to the Blackwood. We would like to keep this as quiet as possible. Can we go to the Keep to discuss this with anyone who will need to know? We want to start out for the Blackwood as soon as possible.”

“Aye, your Highness. If you’re wantin’ to keep this quiet, ye might want to hide whoever yer carryin’ there. I don’t think anything can be done about the people seeing you,” he said, nodding to Kalmar, “but we can take the quieter roads to the Keep.” The Wingfeather family walked slowly down the hill toward a wagon that the Keeper had brought. Artham carefully laid Janner down so that he wouldn’t be seen over the sides of the wagon. The family climbed onto the wagon and set off for the Keep of the Green Hollows.