Well, we’re going to be here a while, Khollo reflected, looking out over the valley. We’re not going back to the Sthan Kingdom anytime soon. And what would we find if we did? I don’t even know how many days it has been since we left.
Overwhelmed, Khollo retreated to the safety of the hold, stumbling down into the bowl. He settled down next to Kanin, resting against the dragon’s warm side. In moments, he was unconscious, escaping from his troubles in a quiet, dreamless sleep.
Chapter 27
Khollo woke to an endless expanse of pale green very close to his eyes. He frowned, puzzled, before realizing that he had rolled over so that he was looking at Kanin’s left wing. Groggily, he sat up and stretched, wincing as the dragon’s hard scales dug into his back slightly. Khollo stood and climbed out of the bowl, moving towards the circle of daylight filtering through the entrance to the hold. Behind him, Kanin emitted a dragon-sized yawn and stirred, scales scraping against the stone floor.
It was impossible to judge the hour. Gray storm clouds filled the sky, and as Khollo watched, lightning flashed. A few moments later, thunder rolled across the valley, echoing off of the mountains.
“Looks like we’re staying close to home today, Kanin,” Khollo observed. “What do you say we make this hold look fit for dragons and Keepers again?”
Kanin’s eyes gleamed with excitement and he edged past Khollo, poking his head out into the open. I will rid the place of green, he announced. The dragon moved out onto the ledge, ripping away grass and dirt as he went. Khollo looked back into the hold, trying to decide where to start, and promptly noticed the dust standing on every surface. That would have to go first, but there wasn’t much he could do without some improvised tools.
He started by tying several ferns to a crooked branch with lengths of creeper, fashioning a crude broom. This done, Khollo began sweeping the dust out of the hold, sneezing repeatedly. It had been accumulating for centuries and the air was soon thick with it. It took hours to scour the floors and the bowl.
By the time this was done, a steady rain was falling over the valley. Khollo moved to the entrance of the hold and set a collection of old jars and buckets he had found in the storeroom out to fill up with fresh water. He saw Kanin, further along the ledge, blasting away vegetation with fire.
The rain will not let it spread too far, Kanin explained when he became aware that Khollo was watching. Another clump of vines shriveled up in a short-lived inferno. And this is more fun than ripping them down.
“Less mess too,” Khollo agreed before retreating back inside the hold. There was still plenty of work to be done before the place would be fully usable.
Khollo moved on to the sitting and eating room next. The table and chairs were both made of hardwood, and had remained sturdy through the long period of time the hold had been abandoned. He used one of his now-full jars of fresh water to scour the wooden surfaces until they gleamed, then turned his attention to the storeroom. There was little to be found in the way of useful provisions. Some ancient containers for food, more pottery jars, a third wooden bucket. There were also some bits of canvas and burlap that crumbled to nothing when he tried to pick them up. Khollo’s stomach rumbled in disappointment and he sighed, wishing that they’d had the foresight to go hunting before the rain had moved in.
The bedroom took Khollo less time. He cleaned up the dresser and night stand as best he could and cleaned out some old odds and ends and bits of debris by the simple expedient of hurling them into the jungle. The only remaining problem here was the complete lack of bedding or a mattress. Khollo was stiff enough from the previous night to know that he didn’t want to spend too many more nights sleeping next to Kanin on the stone floor of the bowl.
By the time the rain let up late in the afternoon, the hold was nearly clean, and the ledge outside had been seared of much of the vegetation that had taken over the holds. Kanin was eying their accomplishment with a considerable amount of pride.
Just think what this place would have looked like when it was in use! he exulted. Row after row of holds with dragons of all colors and sizes, Keepers everywhere. Maybe there were more buildings below, for the dragonless, and maybe the hall could be seen clearly from the entrance of each hold!
Khollo gazed across the valley, trying to picture the scene. It was difficult, what with the trees and vines clinging to every surface, but he could vaguely see where wide roads connected the areas of the stronghold and where buildings still stood underneath all of the green.
“It’s the perfect place for a stronghold,” Khollo observed. “Sheltered by the mountains, only easily accessible by dragon. Isolated from the rest of the world.”
And fertile, Kanin agreed. Good herds, fresh water. Everything you could want.
“So why was it abandoned?” Khollo asked, stepping closer to the edge of the landing ledge. “Where did the dragons and Keepers go?”
Kanin stepped up beside Khollo. The library might tell us, he suggested. Or the old one.
Khollo shook his head. “I’m not willing to risk that just yet. Let’s find some food for now and get back to clearing the holds of green.”
Kanin extended a foreleg and Khollo climbed on, looping one arm around the
