A Sending of Dragons by Jane Yolen Page A

time. She rubbed the side of her head. The light show was beginning to wear her down.
    â€œWell, we can’t go back that way,” Jakkin said. “Not after all this.”
    â€œWithout a path, we can’t go anywhere else.”
    â€œWhat do you want us to do?” Jakkin
asked. “Sit here and wait for the drakk to return? Or the copter?” His voice was over-loud.
    â€œJakkin,
I’m
not the enemy,” Akki said. “Don’t yell at me.”
    He was about to apologize, feeling stupid about losing his temper, when Sssasha sent a picture of a cave into his head. The cave had a long, winding thread of light running end to end.
    Jakkin shook his head to clear it, but Sssasha’s calling came again, steady, insistent. “In?” Jakkin asked. “You want us to find a cave and go in? That’s no real solution. Fine for a night, maybe. Drakk don’t go in caves. And copters won’t find us there. But it won’t last forever. We need a way down this mountain.”
    â€œMaybe she means a cave like the tunnel,” Akki broke in.
    â€œMaybe,” Jakkin said. “But I haven’t seen any caves, have you?”
    Akki shook her head. The rock face had been solid.
    Turning in a deliberate, lumbering manner, Sssasha headed toward the rock face beyond them. On a hunch, Jakkin ran after her,
and then, with a burst of speed, reached the wall of rock first. The cliff was veined with a dark material and rose straight up, without handholds. At the bottom, where it met the meadow, instead of the ever-present gorse there was a thicket of prickly caught-ums. With his spear Jakkin gingerly parted strand after strand of the tangle. It seemed a hopeless task.
    Sssasha moved slightly to the right and stared at the rock.
    â€œHere,” said Akki, catching up to them. “Try here, where she’s looking.” jakkin picked at the caught-ums with the spear and on the fifth try he spotted a low, dark hole. Akki carefully held apart the nearer vines, holding her fingers above and below the caught-um thorns while Jakkin used the spear to pull apart the rest of the thicket.
    â€œHow could she know it was there?” Akki asked.
    â€œMaybe she saw it when she was flying? From above?” His answers seemed more like questions. “Or maybe dragons can, you know, sense caves?”
    â€œDo you mean this one?” asked Akki, sending the thought simultaneously to Sssasha.
    Sssasha’s answer was another picture, this time of a close, pulsing darkness that reminded both Jakkin and Akki of the egg chamber where they had been sheltered and changed.
    Jakkin looked again at the wall and the low opening, then turned to the dragon. But Sssasha, sensing some kind of signal that the humans could not read, was already pumping her wings in preparation for flight. The three smaller hatchlings fanned the air in imitation. Even Tri-ssskkette, her wounded wing stuttering in the small eddies, managed to rise up and hover for a moment over the bushes. The wind from the four pair of wings caused the caught-ums to sway, as if great waves were passing through. Then the hatchlings rose higher, banked in formation, and, led by Sssasha, disappeared over the top of the cliff.
    â€œStop!” Akki shouted. “Come back.”
    But the dragons were too far off to hear, and they ignored her sendings, even when Jakkin joined her. Soon they were out of sight.
    Dropping to a crouch before the thicket, Akki said, “That’s the first time they’ve
all
disobeyed.” Then she added softly, “I sure hope those stitches hold.” Hand up over her eyes, she continued to stare at the spot in the sky where the dragons had disappeared.
    Jakkin examined the cave entrance. “I guess that’s our only choice,” he said, pointing.
    Akki turned back and nodded.
    They rounded up their packs, making sure nothing but the trampled gorse gave evidence of their stay there. Then,