“I appreciate your concern, my young Erfling. It is true, you have a dire task before you, but you will find you have powers and knowledge well beyond your current understanding,” Mavis answered him, having clearly heard his worried thoughts. “But you are now blood-kin to the ancient dynasty of Sivad, the Royal line of the True Dragons, and by your oath and by this sacred bond, all three of you will grow in power and wisdom of the True Dragon Lore.” Mavis confidently assured him.
“All three?” Mary queried her, puzzled. Then realized. “Oh, you mean your Egg here too, Prince Regor, as well as us two, right Mavis?”
But Roger couldn’t keep quiet any more. He had to tell Mavis how he really truly felt.
“B-b-but there’s so much that we still don’t know yet!” Roger burst out in exasperation. “Can’t you tell us more about what we’re dealing with, so… you know… so we’re better able to succeed? All of this stuff about Core Worms and… True Dragons and… everything, well, it’s all totally new to us, isn’t it? And I don’t want you to die Mavis… or your Egg to either, but we really don’t want to just get killed either, now do we?” He paused, feeling flustered, but then continued confessing his unvoiced concerns “And really, we don’t know that much about the Under-Erf, other than what you’ve shown us in these time-trips to the past. And I… well, I just don’t know… if we can do it all on our own!” he finished with a final gasp.
“Roger, you must have faith! You can succeed, I do assure you, but you must trust… and not just me, but yourselves too. And you will not be alone. But you must learn to use your own 'knowing’ to recognize what is really true. Follow your own hearts - your own observations - of what is really true for you - not what you are taught as just passed off as truth by others!” Mavis answered him, sincerely and emphatically.
Roger’s heart lifted and he and Mary immediately nodded, mind-casting their agreement and heart-felt understanding, with a mutual recognition of the simple truth of her words.
“Well, I trust you!” Mary piped up aloud. “We’re in a totally different sort of a story now, aren’t we? All those silly things we’re told we have to learn all about… and must believe in, at school, well, what we’re dealing with here, right now, this is the real reality, I think. All of that Psychonomy guff, that’s the real fantasy that is. ‘Science and Law - and nothing more’ What a load of rot! Well, that’s what I think, anyway!”
“Yes. I agree dear.” Mavis answered her gently. "And now, dear children, we must solve the immediate dilemma before us. How to get you and my Egg out of this Cavern and safely up to the surface.”
“Yes. That’s what’s been worrying me too,” Roger muttered, frowning. “Just how on Erf do we manage to…?”
But then another even bigger Erfquake shook the Cavern, sending several more Stalactites crashing noisily to the ground and sending further clouds of boiling, grey smoke billowing up all about them. And along with the Erfquake, an enraged and booming voice suddenly came shattering its way into their stunned minds.
“You filthy, slow-brained, worthless, slime-mold of a measly Dragon!” the irate voice boomed telepathically.
Mavis immediately created a protective bubble of blue all around them. But even as she did so, the deep and reverberating voice, although now somewhat controlled and muffled, continued crashing telepathically into their minds.
“Your extinction draws close, you wretched winged-worm. Do you hear me, Queen Sssivam? For my brother, Morgrim, is coming to free me. I am Morgrave, the King of the Erf’s Core, and a mere, magically booby-trapped dragon’s wing will not defeat me. Do you hear me Sssivam, your death draws nigh!”
Roger and Mary reeled with the force of the Core King’s angry words ripping through their human heads like lightning bolts. Their minds unused to such a telepathic assault.
“Your family is all but extinct Sssivam and I have your daughter, Princess Enilorac, captive too, and soon now we will have your third and final Egg as well. And you, oh, pitiful Queen of Winged Slugs, will not be able to stop us. I swear, I will see you before dawn arises in the Skylands above. Prepare to die, you overgrown fly!”
The mortal enemy of Mavis and of all True Dragons had reached out… telepathically… and had found them. And this enemy was adamant on only one thing. Killing them all.
CHAPTER 18:
STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN
Mavis refused being goaded into reacting though. She knew Morgrave was still not free and was too far away to cause them any direct mortal harm, at least not till well into the next day, despite all his bluster and bravado. But she also knew his incredible mental powers were such he could easily hurt and influence the two human children, as well as mentally cause many more Erf quakes and rock-falls to hinder their escape.
But Mary with her usual empathy had realized something else; Exactly what Morgrave’s words had really meant to Mavis, personally.
“Oh, no! Mavis, I–I–I had no idea. How horrible! You’ve lost most of your family now, and you never said,” she choked, near tears herself. She had felt the emotion of barely suppressed grief bubbling from the Dragon Queen’s broken heart. “You… you have a daughter and she’s been captured… and you, you didn’t say anything about her!”
“No, my child, it is only that I didn’t want to distress you unnecessarily,” Mavis answered morosely. “But the rescuing of my last Egg here has far-reaching consequences and will save many millions of innocent lives on this, our unique Planet Erf, both Under Erf and Over Erf. That is what is important now. He must survive and so attain his true legacy, as rightful heir to the royal throne of the True Dragons.”
“Listen to me, you poor deluded Queen of Flies.” Morgrave raged, again violently interrupting her. “As I’ve offered before; I will return your daughter to you unharmed, but only if you give me your last Egg in exchange. Now, how much fairer can I be, eh? One offspring for another. Come on then, you old Winged-Snake. What do you say?” Morgrave telepathed insistently to her, trying to sound as reasonable in his offer as he could, but failing miserably.
“I am not a fool!” Mavis blasted back. “You would not honor any such promise!”
“Then, so be it; Await your doom. I will see you soon, and you will all die! For I now know that you are harboring and protecting two of those puny Humdrum children too. I don’t know why, but I will find out… and they will die too!” Morgrave yelled manically.
“Oh, my Dizzy Dirac!” Roger exclaimed, aghast. “How long have we got then, Mavis?”
“We have no time to waste now,” Mavis replied sadly. “Your educations, such as they are, will have to suffice. You must take my Egg and leave immediately. I suspect King Morgrave plans to surprise us in some devious way, and you will be much safer on the surface and will also find new friends up there who will help you. And the Core Worms cannot stand being on the surface for very long. Sunlight is deadly for them!”
But Roger was getting increasingly worried. In fact, if he was being fully honest, it wasn’t just a matter of simply being worried. He was getting increasingly scared and was secretly very concerned his being scared would soon turn into a total and abject terror and panic.
He swallowed hard, looking all around the gloomy, smoke-filled cavern, full of the blasted corpses of the many hundreds of Minion Worms that had attacked them just a little while ago. The Dragon’s cavern was dimly lit by the few burning corpses still smoldering, and from the occasional red flicker of flame that blew raggedly from out of Mavis’s long muzzle.