CHAPTER 1
Our Home Destroyed ... What Now?
Just minutes after sunset and just minutes before sunup, Loot and Safrin were in the land of the midnight sun, Iceland, their home for the last eighteen hundred years. They would travel to places where no one would know them and do their shopping as well as save humans.
Loot had stripped the cabin out of the ship they had crossed the ocean in. Loot had flown the rest of the ship to the top of a mountain in Iran so no one would find it. The cabin part was buried under a few feet of dirt and sod so it would not be noticed. The front door was a large boulder Loot would remove with a spell when they came and went. The back of the cabin had an escape hatch that could be opened only from inside.
They had set up a great life there. Loot had brought sheep from Norrland and Ireland over the years. Safrin planted a garden on the top of their house, and they had a great rock bluff they could fish from just minutes from their front door. The island was full of hot springs they could swim in, and Loot had dug a beautiful well for drinking water. They would go on a picnic every week and watch the wildlife play in the ocean — seals, sea lions, and whales were around most of the time.
One beautiful evening, they watched the northern lights as they sipped on wine they had gotten during their last trip to the mainland. Loot could see Safrin was suffering from cabin fever; she had been on the island for over four months. He asked her if she would like to go for a trip. Safrin said, "I would love to go see Mermax, Teaona, and Dento. Can we do that after our picnic we planned for tomorrow? I have the food ready."
Loot smiled and said, "Let's do it."
Loot heard thunder. The picnic they had planned was sure to be ruined, but that meant they could go to the Smoking Mountains earlier. The wind grew stronger and seemed ready to blow them away. The hair on Loot's back stood on end; he heard voices outside. He jumped out of bed and landed with a thud on the dirt floor.
Safrin, startled, screeched, "What's wrong? Is it Mermax, Teaona, or Dento?"
"No. But someone is coming," Loot said.
He cast a spell to shrink all their belongings and put them in a bag he had made to take things on his trips. He ushered Safrin to the escape hatch. They climbed out, but Loot didn't close the hatch. Safrin looked at him with concern.
Loot said, "We can't come back. If they land here, they will find it."
Loot looked out over the sea. The ship was landing in the place they had originally landed. He smiled at Safrin, who had a tear in her eye as she watched the earth return to the same as it was before they had built their home. This was a sad day for the two of them, but they had already seen many others' homes destroyed.
Loot changed into a dragon, and he asked Safrin to turn into a bird. With all the time they had had to try out their magical powers, Safrin had discovered that she was a shifter; she could become any living thing she wished and could cast spells as Loot and the rest of the dragons could.
Loot's powers had grown so strong that when he focused, he didn't have to say the words for his spells; he just had to think them and it would take place. No other dragon had magical powers that strong. The two had trained together so much that their magic was second nature. Loot and Safrin found that if he cast a spell on her, she would change into the last living thing she had been thinking about. Most of the time, she changed into a wyvern because she had Fin on her mind a lot. At other times, if they had just been on a trip around the island, she would turn into a bird. Once, she turned into pig after Loot had left a mess in the house.
Loot found he could cast an area effect around Safrin and it would not affect her, a great discovery. He was able to cast an effect around the rogue dragons when he helped Thaldon and Mithrex. Loot had to tell Mithrex and Thaldon that the effect would make anything in the area soft so they should be careful to avoid being grabbed. The rogue dragons dropped like flies onto an apple pie. Loot was happy it was over; he never liked killing anything for no reason. He could never say they had killed Mermax's sister. He had killed so much evil in the last eighteen hundred years that it was as if he were an assassin, but he had had no other choice.
The dragons would let him know if he was needed someplace, and that is where he would go, often alone. But at present, they were off to the Smoking Mountains, the only safe place for them. Loot passed over the old home to see who had landed and saw that the ship had nothing but monks on it. They would not have started anything with Loot and Safrin, but Loot considered it best to stay hidden.
"Loot, I told you we would try to stay out of your life, but why you are headed this way? Just for a visit?" Mermax asked Loot.
"A ship landed on our island. We will stay with you for a bit if that is okay."
Mermax told him with excitement, "Dento has a celebration planned! He invited his sisters, and they are on their way. They should be here before you."
In a disgusted voice, Dento said, "Mom! It was a surprise!" "What was?" Teaona asked.
Mermax said, "That your sisters were coming and that Dento was going to have a party. Sorry I ruined it for you. Sorry, Dento."
Dento didn't know that the conversation was all blocked from Teaona and that he had almost spoiled it for her.
Loot slowed down over the ocean so Safrin could land on him and change back. No one could understand why it was painful for Safrin to change into anything smaller than herself, but it was as if her bones would break. They flew back to Ireland in just a few minutes and landed a few paces in front of Dento and Thalin.
Dento told Loot and Safrin, "Please head to the back of the cave, and say nothing."
Loot had forgotten that it was the anniversary of Teaona's trial. He felt bad that he had forgotten, but Mermax knew that his presence alone would make her happy.
Loot and Safrin headed to the back of the cave, and Loot found a wand. He had never seen one, but its glow caught his eye. He put it in his satchel; he wanted to ask Mermax about it after Teaona knew they had come home. They still had kegs of mead left over from the raid on Fair Well. All the kegs would be nothing to a dragon, but if they drank in human form, the mead would last for years.
After drinking some, Loot was a bit of a mess when he asked Mermax what the wand was. It was a shock for him to find out a child born to a wizard had some of the wizard's powers but still needed a touch of magic to tip the scale. The wand was an evil wand. It had the wings of a fleet in the core, and this would allow the caster to conjure evil spells. The caster was just a young man, and Thaldon took him to train under Merlin the Great when he had trouble with his evil spells. Teaona told them to hush because it was time to have fun, not talk about what could have been.
It started with hugs all around. Loot was so happy that they had a home to go to after they had lost theirs. He had just passed a tumbler of mead to Safrin when he spotted an older man in the back of the cave. His heart started to pound. He strolled toward the man. His thoughts of war, pain, and death ran wild. It was Mithrex. He had come in with the large group of dragons and gone to the back unseen so he could surprise Teaona. Loot had a look of awe that made Teaona's heart pound.
"What's wrong?" Teaona asked Loot.
Loot was speechless as the old man hugged Teaona. "Congratulations, dear. It is the anniversary of your trial. You make me proud. I am so happy to have grandchildren like you four as I have only one son left. It has been dealing with the fact that Logan killed your dad and his sister. Trent and his wife, Sabrina, spend all their time watching over the unicorns. They don't get out much to see anything or help with anything because they know they can't just leave their post. They have told me they will not have kids till the world is in need of them. Even though Sabrina has her eggs, she has no will to hatch them."
Teaona fell back a few feet. "Grandad, I am so happy you could come! When did you arrive?"
Mithrex smiled. "I came behind Loot and Safrin. I was so close I could see him destroy his home when the ship landed there."
Teaona snapped at Loot, "Why did you destroy your home? Where will you go now? Not so far away this time? There were days when we could not reach you out there."
Loot smiled. "We are staying here in the Smoking Mountains. Is that all right with you?"
Teaona looked as if she had been struck by a sword. "You know they killed all the Vikings here years ago, right?"
Loot lowered his eyebrows. One was flat and the other arched. "Yes. You moved our mom's and dad's tombstones up here, remember? That is why I changed my name back to Loot. Vidar was the name of a Viking god. Since only royal families are allowed to use that name, I was afraid people would put two and two together."
Teaona hung her head. "Loot, I just care about you two so much. I can't ever feel sure that you are safe. Look what happened when Thaldon and Grandfather had you help kill off the rest of the rogues. One of them latched onto your legs and started to pull you to the ground. If Thaldon had not seen it, you could be dead now."
Safrin yelped like a pup when its tail had been stepped on. "You never told me about this!" She gasped and began to cry. "What would I do if you died?"
Teaona hugged Safrin and started to cry with her. "I am sorry. This should have never come out. I know it is all part of war, and Thaldon would never let Loot get hurt too badly. He knows Loot will someday unite humans and dragons again."
Mithrex said, "And he is like a son to him with his magic stuff. Well, when you think about it, he is like a son or a brother to us all."
"Sorry," Teaona told Loot.
Loot hugged Teaona and grabbed Safrin. "We're all good. Thaldon had my back, and Mithrex would never have let us die on his watch."
"It's party time!" Dento said. "Loot, can you play the drums?"
Loot cast a spell, and the drums played along with Dento, who went a bit crazy from time to time as teenagers do. He sang,
I will never rest till the world is safe for the humans like my daddy told me.
I have Loot on my side in any fight. He is like my brother that I never had.
We will win the fight that will show the humans that dragons are their friends.
I could sing this all night 'cause my daddy told me to never rest. He is by my side.
Loot could tell Dento was upset. "What is up, brother? You seem down."
Dento smiled. "Thank you. You are like a dad to me. I never got a chance to meet my real dad. You worry for me and scold me like a father, and I will look to you as my dad if that's okay with you."
Loot smiled. "I'm all yours, bud, anytime. No — all the time!"
One of the old dragons in human form blew a fart, and Dento could not hold back. He sparked it up, and a flame like a lightning storm erupted. Dento fell over laughing with joy though his mother did not like it so much. The old dragon turned away with his face six shades of red. Loot yelled out, "Aaron, you are the life of the party every time! How did you know what we needed?"
The old dragon smiled. "That was my parting gift to you all. Goodnight."
Everyone needed sleep. All but Loot and Dento left the cave.
"This is you and me time, Dento. We may need to stay up late from time to time, but we will get it. Thanks for the party. You did a great job, brother, or son. You brought me to where I am now. I will forever be indebted to you. You got me a family forever, and I mean forever."
CHAPTER 2
Loot Shows Dento the Magic
Loot got up before the sun and grabbed Dento by the arm. "Get up! You have a lot of work to do today."
"That mess?" Dento asked. "Can't you just cast a spell? Let me sleep! There's a big bell going off in my head. Can't you hear it?"
Loot laughed. "Dento, there is no mess. I took care of that last night. I will train you in the magic I know. Would you like that?"
Dento screamed with excitement, "Yes! I'm getting up!"
Loot and Dento changed to dragon form and walked out on the ledge. Dento asked Loot, "Do I stink, or is that just the area?"
"No that is you. Sorry, bud."
Dento flew over the sea and dove into the water. Splashing around like a wounded seal, he came out smelling like a fish.
Loot said, "I stink just as much as you." He flew over the sea, plunged into it like a silent arrow, and didn't come up for a long time. Dento was worried until he saw Loot jump into the air with the water falling from him like a waterfall. Dento belted out, "Wow! I need to try that!"
"Go out till you think you have gone far enough. Let the water push you up."
Dento dove in from the rock ledge, and it looked as if he would never come up. But Loot could not let on that it scared him or Dento would never try it again.
Then Dento and Loot took the trail through the Smoking Mountains to Fair Well, a trail they had walked in the past. They came upon a beautiful lake. Loot changed to human form and pulled a small bag from his pocket. Some of the things it contained were shiny, and the rest looked strange until Loot cast a spell on it. There it was — a picnic lunch, the one Safrin had made for Loot and herself to have the day before.
Dento changed into a human and sat on the rocks at the edge of the lake. He watched Loot fetch water from the lake in a small pail, start a small fire, put some things into the pot, and set it on the fire. Dento was in awe. Humans cook their food and their water? He asked himself. That is madness!
Loot made tea and handed a cup to Dento. To show his respect for Loot, Dento took a big drink from the cup and spit out the hot liquid. "Sorry! That hurt!"
"I should have told you to sip it. That is what a burn is like in human form."
Dento changed into a dragon and flew over the lake. He splashed into the water with his mouth open, flew back to shore, and changed to human form. "That did taste good. What do you call it?" CC'-p
Tea.
Dento asked, "Can I have more?"
Loot grabbed Dento's cup and looked inside. "You drank it all in one gulp. That must have hurt!"
Dento smiled.
Loot and Dento talked over old times. Dento told Loot he had seen some of the stuff his mother had gotten him to do over the last few hundred years and had watched from a long way off so he could not be seen by anyone. He explained how Loot had become a hero in the dragon world for all the things he was doing that they could not.
Loot jumped up and snapped at Dento, "You best not tell your mom that you have been there. Some of that stuff was real dangerous."
Dento said, "Hey, I was a dragon before you!"
Loot smiled. "Okay, but you could have let me know you were there so I didn't cast a spell your way."
Dento said, "You did chase a troll right at me once when you helped the elves with that clan of trolls in the forest up north."
Loot gasped. "Did it see you?"
"No. I turned into a bird, but I think it was going to eat me."
"Enough of that. Look at this."
Loot cast a spell onto the lake, and the water turned to ice from one end to the other. Dento saw a big hill in the center of it.
"Grab my hand, and when you hit the top of the hill, turn into a dragon," Loot said.
Loot swung Dento around and around and then let him go skidding across the ice. Dento was sliding so fast that he got scared. He turned into a dragon and dug his claws into the ice; he skidded to a stop. Loot turned the ice to water, and Dento fell in but sprang into the air. He banked left and flew back to shore, hitting the ground just feet from Loot. He shook the water off as if he were a dog and drenched Loot with enough water to fill a bathtub. They laughed as Loot changed the lake to ice again.
"This time," Loot said, "stay as a human till you get in the air. I do it with Safrin all the time. She turns into a bird and comes back for another turn."
Dento was ready again, and Loot really let him rip. Dento made sure he would not get scared. He closed his eyes and almost hit the ice before he changed. They did it a few more times taking turns. Time went so fast that it was lunchtime before they knew it. They had some more tea to warm up. Loot changed into a dragon and flew from hill to hill, pounding the dirt with his feet. He made mounds of dirt in about ten locations on each hill.
Loot said to Dento, "Okay, face away from the mounds. When I tell you to turn around, destroy each mound just by thinking about it. Start at the front. I will tell you the left or right so you don't know what side till I tell you, okay?"
Dento looked at the mounds. "I am not you. I can't do this stuff."
