Chapter Eleven

Many more water holes are scattered along the flat stone surface of the path, each full of water and sea life, and Kadiatu runs ahead of the group checking each hole diligently to see if there is anything new to discover. Eventually, she does find something new.

“Stairs!” she shouts.

“What?” Edna says, voice cracking. Gargana pulls out water for Edna, while the others rush towards Kadiatu to check out the stairs.

“I’ve heard of an underground passage through the mountain,” Pixie says. “I didn’t realize it’d be so easy to find.”

“Is that what that is?” Cellu asks. “You plan on taking us down there?”

“Yeah. We might as well try it out. It should be okay.”

“Twynne, Cellu,” Gargan says, “I’ll go first, you two go last. If anything happens, it will happen to us first.”

“I want to be next to Edna.” Cellu says. “I’ll make sure she has real support when she needs it.”

“She does have real support,” Kadiatu says. Everyone else ignores Cellu’s comment; even Edna, who does not want to deal with his increasingly sour attitude. Cellu pushes his way in close to Edna as the group lines up above the stairs. He does turn out to be helpful, however. He has to step down cautiously because, well, he’s got horse legs. And his caution allows Edna a stable body to lean on as she takes slow, unsteady steps. Edna gives Kadiatu her cane so she can hold onto Cellu. Cellu stops and looks at Kadiatu.

“I could have held that for you, Edna.” He says, “I’m not using both my hands.”

“Oh, let the girl help me out, Cellu, it makes her happy.”

The steps lead down into a long, dark, narrow tunnel. Gargan feels along the wall and finds a crevice that holds a few dusty lanterns and matches. He lights one lantern and carries it in front of the group. This gives enough light for everyone to watch the ground as they make their way through the long stone tunnel. Edna daydreams that the moment she and her friends leave the underground tunnel, and feels the fresh sunshine and open air, the giants will magically turn back into their massive selves and swoop her up for the last leg of the trip. But if they could do that, they could also stomp any bad dragon into smithereens. But then…oh. I’m getting too carried away, Edna thinks, that would all be too easy. No, an old frail woman must beat a dragon to death with her cane, of course.

Half an hour passes before sunshine sweeps into the tunnel and filters through a bushy head of hair. Twynne’s silhouette is at the opening ahead. His voice calls to Edna.

“Are you ready?”

“No, I’m not, not at all.” Edna answers—stomach filling with butterflies.

There is nothing else to do, though, but finish their walk to dragon country. And Edna has developed a steely resolve to push her thoughts aside and continue moving forward, despite the butterflies, and even though every inch of her body aches, and her mind is cloudy. So she keeps walking, Her actions are her real answer to Twynne’s question, rather than her words.

After some time, Cellu becomes insistent that Edna ride on his back.

“Thank you for being so thoughtful,” Edna says, “but that would be too painful, my hips ache just thinking about it.”

“It would be much better than walking, your legs need a break. I really think it would be best,” Cellu insists.

“Really, thank you, but I’m quite all right.”

“But —”

“I said no.”

“I’m just trying to be helpful,” Cellu says. He looks wounded, but the softest growl lingers at his words.

Kadiatu is suddenly frightened by Cellu. She tightens her grip on Edna’s arm and tries to hide behind Edna. The quick motion causes Edna to fumble sideways, then stumble forward.

“Careful!” Gargana yells and rushes to Edna’s side, but Cellu is quicker to catch Edna.

He gives Kadiatu a stern look. “Child, why are you trying to hurt Edna?”

“I didn’t mean to,” Kadiatu says.

“Oh honey,” Edna says, “of course you didn’t mean to. And I didn’t get hurt.”

A few tears trickle down the sides of Kadiatu’s eyes. Gargana takes the child’s hand and gives Cellu a sharp look. They all give Cellu a sharp look. And all walk on in silence.

The long solemn walk ends with the smell of sulfur and the sound of crackling. A few yards ahead stands a wall of trees. Many are the charred remains of trees that were once majestic. And some are still alive but smoldering, not yet bones.

“Oh dear,” Edna says. “What do you think has happened here? It looks like the tail end of a forest fire.”

Everyone looks at Pixie with curiosity, waiting for an explanation.

“Yeah, you seem to know everything,” Cellu says.

“Well,” Pixie says, ignoring Cellu, “this must be the dragon’s smoking area. They get terrible indigestion, and only find relief exhaling fire. My guess is they come to the outskirts to do it, so they don’t destroy their beautiful country.”

The closer the gang gets to the tree line the stronger the smell becomes. The pungent sulfur burns Edna’s nose, though the warmth of the smoldering wood is nice. As they reach the trees, there is a calm silence that is filled with soft crackling. The gentle noise pulls the silence in, amid the blackened forest. It is comforting but is soon disrupted by a sharp cracking sound ahead. Everyone awakes from their thoughts. Edna looks towards the noise and sees a dragon waddling away from them, deep into the trees.

“Look,” Kadiatu whispers, “there’s a dragon.” She shivers and tightens her grip on Gargana’s hand, receiving a reassuring squeeze in return.

“You don’t need to be afraid,” Pixie tells Kadiatu. “Dragons aren’t particularly mean. They can be pretty grumpy, though, so we’ll just make sure to be nice and respectful.”

Deeper into the trees vibrant flashes of green foliage begin to peek through the black ashy limbs. Gargana helps Edna not trip on tree roots or fallen limbs, and Kadiatu keeps a tight grip of Gargana’s free hand. The charred trees eventually give way to life as blackened limbs are replaced with fresh living ones. Twittering rhythms of birdsong play above the emerald canopy, and plump leaves drift to the ground. The dragon is still waddling before them, out of the trees and into a hoopla of laughter and cheers. The group follow the dragon’s clumsy path to the opening of the tree line. Wide lush land opens before them.

The dragon is now squeezing his way into a crowd of fat-bottomed creatures who are like himself.

“What are they looking at?” Kadiatu asks.

“Not sure,” Pixie responds.

Edna gives her friends a tired but piercing glance, then nods her head and boldly walks towards the crowd of dragons, shoving her weight forward with each thrust of the cane. She walks right up to the gathering and jabs the end of her cane at the bottom of the dragon that they followed from the woods. His tail swings back to smack at the sudden irritation. It almost smashes into Edna’s side, a certain casualty, but the neighboring dragon catches the tail before it sweeps Edna off her feet.

“Wha’do’you think you’re doing?” the dragon says, swinging his body around and glaring at Edna’s savior.

“Excuse me,” Edna says, “but he was keeping your fat tail from knocking me to the ground. You almost killed me!”

Pixie swallows laughter and ends up with a coughing fit. And all but Cellu are trying not to laugh as well. The crowd of dragons now face Edna and her friends, with curious expressions on their face, but unreadable eyes. Behind them is a rag-tag group of acrobats that consists mainly of what looks to Edna as elfish type creatures. Their chests are heaving as their bodies catch a break from tiresome physical antics, and they begin to fill their pockets with gold coins that lay scattered about them.

The dragons are massive. Octagon shaped cartilage springs from their spines, and thick plated scales cover their corpulent bodies, leaving space only for their uselessly small wings. Various spots of cartilage on their large ears are pierced with gold and jewels, and numerous gold chains circle their necks. When the dragons spot the human child their curiosity fades and they turn back to jeer at the acrobats. The dragon who had saved Edna from being smashed to the ground, however, is still looking at her. He motions to her and her group to follow him, and waddles away from the others.

They follow the dragon, curiously, and pass many large hills that have wide openings. Many of the hills are covered in flowers that look like an assortment of wildflowers, but the flowers make purposeful and brilliant designs which reveal meticulous planning. Kadiatu goes missing for a moment, but she is talking to herself, and the rhythmic hum of her voice can be heard on the other side of a hill. She comes back with a handful of flowers.

“Here, Grandma!” she says, thrusting her fist towards Edna. “I picked these for you.”

“Please don’t pick the flowers,” the dragon says in a gravelly voice. “Well, that was Doogen’s cave. Just don’t pick any more flowers. We like to keep our land nice; you know.” The dragon’s sentence ends with a resentful flourish, as though those words are always dancing in his head until they can free themselves at the newest offender.

“Sorry,” Kadiatu says, “I didn’t mean to ruin anything.”

“It’s fine,” the dragon says. “This is my cave here. Come in please, do come in.”

The lush ground leads to an opening in one of the hills. As they walk into the hill, they are led downwards into a lower chamber that lies under the surface of the earth. All but the dragon sigh with pleasure when they pass the archway of the chamber into a solid gold room. The room they have entered is exquisite. The wall is like an inverted crown, for there are jewels embedded in it in a line that circles the entire room—above the entrance and above a smaller opening that lies on the other side of the room. A silken sheet with elegant embroidery hangs across the smaller opening. Through it, one can see the shimmering of colors, like the colors that dance from the jewels above them. And plush cushions align the edge where the wall and floor meet. The dragon invites his guests to rest their legs. Edna, though, immediately wants her shoes off.

“I need help, nurses,” she says to Kadiatu and Gargana.

“What do you need?” Gargana asks.

“I want to take my shoes off. I want to feel this gold under my feet.

“Of course, Grandma,” Kadiatu says. She bends down quickly and undoes the four velcro straps that secure the white tennis shoes to Edna’s feet. Gargana helps Edna stand while Edna lifts each foot for Kadiatu. After Kadiatu has Edna’s shoes off, she handles the nylon socks delicately as she rolls them off Edna’s feet. Edna’s swollen ankles had bubbled over the tops of her shoes; now, with the shoes off, they resemble mushrooms, bloodless mushrooms. She places her feet lightly onto the ground, and finds that the gold feels surprisingly soft, and delightfully cool.

She has an odd urge to slap the dragon who owns this floor and is standing proudly before her with an expression one has when they think the world belongs to them. Instead, she follows another urge, to lie down on the soft cushions. She motions to her two nurses to help her to the ground, and onto the cushions. And once she is lying on the cushions, she is aware that she has never felt so much comfort in her entire life. Every inch of her body seems to levitate. These pillows must be full of clouds, she thinks. She rests her eyes to focus on the comfort of the pillows, but, though she had not planned on it, she is soon asleep.