Dragon Riders

Chapter 23: Plans and Preparations

Aspen POV:

Since everyone was all sunshine and rainbows, we resumed training the following day. For the remainder of the week, we learned more maneuvers, but this was quite a bore because Serafina and I had already figured most of them out on our own. After that week finally ended, we met in the Hiji to come up with a plan for the invasion. The King and Queen Dragon seemed quite anxious for the upcoming battle. Rowena was even pacing the golden meadow. When Shade, Serafina, Iris, and I entered she stopped and gave us a thankful look. Wrynn did not even acknowledge our presence; instead he just stared off into the distance.

"Dear," Rowena called him from his coma-like state. Wrynn shook his head, freeing himself from his trance.

"Good!" He realized that we were there. "Now we can get on to the plans!" He flew off his throne and landed next to his wife. They crossed the meadow to the barren eastern side. There was nothing except the ornate flora in the area. Crossing to the very edge of the meadow, they pulled a lever disguised as a branch on a silver tree down and the meadow began to shake. The ground literally opened up and from the darkness rose a large table.

This was no ordinary table. It was huge! It was probably twenty times the size of a Dragon and it's top was so detailed. Covering the tabletop was a map of all of Octinia. Since it was so huge, it was extremely detailed. Each individual mountain in Sci was visual and identified. The gloomy volcanos of Dis were all labeled as well. One was named after the one who plummeted into it a decade ago. The largest, central volcano was called Inferno's Fall.

There were two human sized chairs and enough Dragon sized ones for the Council Dragons, the King and Queen Dragon, Shade, and Serafina. We all took our seats. Iris stood up in her chair and leapt onto the table. There was a sickening thud and a great deal of shaking but the table stayed upright. She paced over to Beliu.

"We are here!" She pointed a tiny golden dot labeled as the Hiji on the map; it was lined with nearly microscopic silver dots, the trees I assumed. She walked to the other side of the map and put her foot on Inferno's End. "This is where they house their fighters. We have to get the Teffs and Viys from Beliu to Dis without being seen. That eliminates going through Fov then Tura because Tura is under close observation. Phoenixes even check into Fov, so the forrest is no longer safe." I gulped and my thoughts turned to Cade. What if a Phoenix spotted him? I shook that thought away; it would have killed him on sight. "We need a route to Dis! Any ideas?"

"Perhaps," a Council Dragon began the brainstorming session, "we could cross Lyo?"

"Lyo," Serafina criticized "has no cover whatsoever! If we are being chased or about to be seen, there is no where to hide."

"How about Mik?" Another Council Dragon suggested.

"Mik is a barren wasteland that no human can cross without aid." Shade reminded us all. "It would be too risky since only ten of our Dragons are Water Dragons." The Council murmured in agreement.

"Del?" Another Council Dragon threw out another route.

"Too obvious!" King Wrynn shot down the idea. "The humans are our allies and have become refugees in that area. They would be expecting us to come from there and probably have guards posted at the borders! Any other ideas?" With that a silence hung over the gathered Dragons. Everyone was stuck; what other path was an option? Then, I stood on my chair and clamored onto the table. I smiled at Queen Rowena and she nodded for me to proceed. I was sitting near Del so I strode over to Beliu.

"We can't go through Fov, Tura, Lyo, Mik, or Del," I began by eliminating the shot down suggestions. "That leaves us with Sci!" A wave of opposition rose up against me.

"Silence!" Wrynn bellowed, calling the meadow to attention. "Continue, Aspen." As he sat down, I nodded in thanks then continued.

"Since the terrain and conditions are so brutal, the Phoenixes will not expect us to take that way." I explained. "Also, although it may be tough to make this journey, it is really the only viable option and the least risky one!" Stepping off the soapbox, or rather the tabletop, I took my seat once again.

"We shall vote on the action of trekking through Sci," Queen Rowena ordered. She paused, allowing everyone to form an opinion. "Those in favor please raise you paw or hand!" Myself, Serafina, Shade, Iris, Wrynn, Rowena, and several other Council Dragons rose theirs. "That's twelve. Those is opposition?" Four hands went up. "Then it is decided; the Viys and Teffs will start their journey through Sci tomorrow!"

"How will this work?" A naysayer sneered. "Won't they have to leave Sci at some point?"

"No!" I answered. I stood once more and climbed onto the table. I crossed to Beliu again and pointed with my foot to an area where Sci touched Beliu. "We will start here, at the area known as Jix in Drina or joined in English " I stated. "Then we will follow the path made by those who have attempted or made this journey before us." I traced this path by walking through Sci. "We will exit the mountains here!" I pointed at an opening in the mountains with the tip of my boot. "This is Eranik or, translated from Drina to English, entrance. We will then sneak along this range of volcanos." I traced a line of six small volcanoes "We will end up very close to Inferno's Fall! Anymore questions?" The resounding quiet told me to sit back down, so I took my seat for the last time.

"Council dismissed; gather the Teffs and Viys and tell them the plan" King Wrynn released us with one final order. The generals, my Teff, and I quickly made our way to the training meadow. When we entered, everyone was doing exactly as we told them, practicing maneuvers. Shade fired a bolt into the sky and a booming thunder rolled through the clouds. Everyone turned to the four of us. Iris nodded at me to explain.

"As you all know, we are leaving tomorrow for Dis. We have determined the best possible way to go about this journey." I informed them. "We will be starting by going through Jix, the connecting area between Beliu and Sci, then traveling through the mountains. Once we reach Dis, we will exit through Eranik, the entrance to hostile territory. Then, we will travel behind a range of volcanos and attack on Inferno's End." Everyone nodded in understanding.

"Prepare yourselves for the journey!" Iris commanded. "Pack food, water, weapons, and other necessities for the trip. Spare no space! Pack everything you possibly can and meet at Jix by noon tomorrow to depart! You are dismissed!" Everyone quickly dispersed to prepare. Cade, Orion, Serafina, and I were the last to go. Cade and I went to the gardens and picked some fruit. Quickly finding a Water Dragon, we flash froze our strawberries, grapes, apples, bananas, and raspberries. This would keep them fresh for our trip.

Then we went to the elves who trade with humans for meat and dairy. We bought beef, chicken, turkey, and pork. Finding another Water Dragon, we covered the meat in salt and flash froze it. Finally, we went the farmer elves and bought some freshly baked loaves of bread, corn, lettuce, tomatoes, and other vegetables. We wrapped the bread in paper and had the veggies flash frozen by a nearby Water Dragon. Then we bought twenty canteens from a trader elf and went to the closest stream. We filled them up, not knowing where we would find unfrozen water. I removed some rope from my bag and we strung the canteens on it. We were going to tie them to our saddles to make it easier to carry; we each took ten.

Since we still had leftover space in our bags and had our weapons on our backs or in our belts, we went to gather more essentials. We bought some candles, torches, and lanterns from a trader elf and gathered some stones to spark a flame. With still more room, we visited Juniper in her Wiop. She greeted us warmly and asked what we needed. We left with emergency medicine taking up some space in our bags. With only a small amount of space left in our bags, we packed several Viy uniforms and a couple of jackets and coats. We each also tied a jacket and coat around our waist. We made our way to Jix and found Serafina and Orion with saddlebags full. They had many canteens already hanging from their saddles so we added ours to the collection. There we slept and waited until noon the next day.