“Yes,” Rejji replied. “Get me in there, and I will do what I have come to do.”
“Be eaten is what you will accomplish,” frowned Wyant. “I am not real happy with this plan of yours.”
“I must at least try,” responded the Astor. “Your task will be just as hard. I don’t know if any of this is going to work, but we must find some way to get the Jiadin to join the Free Tribes. Do you have a better plan?”
“I don’t have any plan,” Wyant conceded.
“Then help Mobi and Panka get me into this harness,” replied Rejji.
The Qubari warrior fitted the harness around the Astor while Wyant hammered metal spikes into the side of the mountain. Mobi tossed a large metal hook into the cave opening and pulled on the attached rope to set the hook. The ropes from the hook and the spikes were secured to Rejji’s harness. When they were all done, Rejji was protected from falling to his death. A rope stretched from the wall above his head to the hook embedded in the upper portion of the mouth of the cave, which was slightly below the level of the destroyed trail.
“You will have an easy time of getting into the cave,” declared Mobi, “but it will be harder to get you back up here. Do not cut the harness off when you enter the cave. Untie it.”
Rejji nodded and inhaled deeply. He walked to the edge of the precipice and grabbed the overhead rope with both hands. He pulled on it as hard as he could and nodded when the spikes did not pull out of the mountain. Steeling his courage, Rejji stepped off the edge of the trail. His body swung precariously for a moment before he exhaled.
The Astor moved along the rope slowly, passing one hand over the other as he continually progressed towards the cave opening. Within a few minutes, his feet were able to touch the floor of the cave. He used that leverage to propel his body further into the cave. Mobi sighed with relief when Rejji stuck his head out of the cave and waved to his friends on the broken pathway.
Rejji methodically untied the harness and stepped out of it. He moved to the back of the cave and found the small passage. Dropping to his hands and knees in the darkness, Rejji crawled into the small tunnel. Memories flashed through Rejji’s mind as he navigated the small tunnel. When the tunnel enlarged enough for him to stand, he shook his head in wonder at how the world had changed since his last visit to the cave.
The tunnel widened a great deal and a soft glow of light emanated from around a bend in the tunnel. Rejji started whistling loudly as he walked towards the bend. He trembled with fear as he thought about what he was going to do, but he tried to keep that fear out of his whistling. As he rounded the bend, he saw the dragon staring at him.
“Myka!” greeted Rejji as he bow exaggeratedly. “Imagine finding you here.”
“I must get that hole fixed,” snarled the dragon. “I thought I told you never to come back here. You did not bring the baby maker with you I hope?”
“No,” Rejji replied as he continued to walk towards the dragon. “Mistake has gone to the land of the elves to be with her kind.”
“Well, you should have gone with her,” retorted the dragon. “Now I will have to eat you or you will continue coming here. You will probably try to bring friends with you the next time.”
“Actually,” smiled Rejji as he halted in front of the dragon, “my friends are outside the hole. I told them that you do not enjoy company. They will wait out there for me to return.”
“They will have a long wait,” huffed Myka as smoke curled from her nostrils, “because you are never returning to them.”
“I have an offer to make to you,” Rejji continued, ignoring the dragon’s threat.
“An offer?” balked the dragon. “Do humans go through life with dirt in their ears? Did you not just hear me say that you are my next meal? There is nothing that you can offer that I cannot eat right now.”
“There is something,” shrugged Rejji as he felt the trembling cease. “I can offer you a life of excitement and fun.”
“You?” Myka belched fire that singed the hairs on Rejji’s arm. “I do not need a human to have excitement. I make my own excitement. You are just trying to talk your way out of being eaten.”
“Myka,” sighed Rejji, “why would I go through all the trouble of coming up this mountain and risking my life to enter that hole in your cave just to talk my way out of being eaten? Do you think I just happened to come here by accident?”
“Foolishness is more like it,” retorted Myka. “You should have known better. Why did you come?”
“I want you to hunt humans,” grinned Rejji.
“You want me to eat your enemies?” asked Myka as her brow creased in confusion. “Why should I help you in such a way?”
“I don’t want you to eat them,” Rejji shook his head. “I want you to herd them. Like a shepherd.”
“Do I look like a shepherd to you?” balked the dragon. “You really are quite deranged. I wonder if eating you would be bad for me?”
“Look,” explained Rejji. “I have need of your services. I have a plan that I think you will find exceedingly exciting, and there is a bonus in it for you. I will set aside a whole herd of wasooki for your pleasure. My people will care for the wasooki and breed them continually until you feel that your payment has been fulfilled. Will you listen?”
“You expect to buy my services?” Myka asked with disbelief. “Did I hear you correctly? I am a dragon, not a mercenary.”
“Big fat wasooki,” grinned Rejji. “Not scrawny Fakaran wasooki. We imported them from Khadora. There must be hundreds of them.”
“Hundreds of them?” echoed the dragon as her tongue flicked out of her mouth. “What do I have to do?”
“You will really enjoy this,” Rejji said excitedly. “Let me explain.”
* * *
Back in Angragar, Rejji and Wyant stood in the plaza before the Temple of Kaltara. The Qubari people moved through the plaza on errands much like they had done in the Qubari village, but they were no longer clothed in breechcloths. The Qubari had settled in homes and adopted the garments of their ancestors. Colorful robes and dresses passed in every direction as the Qubari scurried around and prepared Angragar to once again be the capital of Fakara.
“Quite a change in this city,” noted Wyant as he held the reins to his horse. The tribes are going to like it here.”
“I sure hope that they do,” replied Rejji. “You have a long hard ride ahead of you. Are you sure that you know exactly how I want this done?”
“Positively,” nodded Wyant. “Word of the dragons will be spread clear across Fakara within the week. The woman and the children of the Free Tribes will begin arriving here even before then. Will that be enough time for the Qubari to get the city ready?”
“Angragar will be ready,” promised Rejji. “Just make sure that the Jiadin get the message that I want them to hear.”
Wyant nodded and mounted his horse. Rejji stood and watched the marshal ride out of the plaza. Chief Dumo approached Rejji after the marshal had left.
“Your plan is crazy,” Dumo declared humorously. “That is why I like it.”
“I will like it if it works,” frowned Rejji. “We are running out of time, and I have no other plan to gather the Jiadin to me. What is this I hear about caretakers remaining in the jungle?”
“That is what I wanted to talk to you about,” Dumo replied. “While most of the Qubari are adjusting well to the return of Angragar, some families want to remain in the jungle. I do not think it is a bad idea. While the jungle has fallen away from Angragar, what remains of it is still vast. It might be wise for some Qubari caretakers to remain in our old village. It would ensure that our ways are never lost.”
“Unless the caretakers forget who they really are,” frowned Rejji. “They may cease to be Qubari.”
“Never,” promised Chief Dumo. “For thousands of years we never forgot. In fact, I would like to send future children to live in the jungle for a season. I think it would help them understand who the Qubari are. It would also keep the ties between the village and Angragar strong. It requires your permission.”