Swords of the Six by Jennifer Miller, Scott Appleton, Becky Miller, Amber Hill Page B

on his hind legs and rested his clawed hands on the door. His body resonated with light, glowing brighter and brighter until Dantress and her sisters shielded their eyes with their hands.
    The dragon dropped back to all fours, rumbling deep in his throat. Soon the sound of stone grinding against stone pulled the sisters’ attention back to the door. It fell away from them into a chamber beyond with an earsplitting crash that Dantress feared would bring the mountain down on their heads.
    Dantress followed her father the dragon into the chamber. He gripped a blue marble pillar that reached from the floor to the arched ceiling some couple hundred feet above them and pulled, growling with the effort. It must have taken a lot of energy for the pillar was enormous, but it began to move silently upward until its base rose above floor level, revealing a sheet of glass concealed beneath it.
    Albino ceased his efforts and the pillar stayed where it now stood on the vertical sheet of glass. The glass portion beneath the pillar fizzled with energy and the dragon sprayed a torrent of searing flames into it. A portal opened, unlike anything Dantress had ever imagined. She could see, as it were, to another place. A deep-blue sea lay to the right, and to the left stretched a sandy white shore with a river pouring through it.
    “Behold the River Eiderveis, the beginning of your journey,” the dragon said. “Its current is full of life, and it possesses a power that will decide the fate of an entire race.
    “Search along the river’s eastern shore until you find a cottage . . . it is the only one on that side of the river and you cannot pass without seeing it. There you may stay without fear, for I know the tenant of that place and she is a trusted and old friend. This same individual knows what you must do. Listen to what she says and do as she instructs you.”
    He hesitated, looking at each of them in turn. “Do not fear, Evela. I will be watching over you even when you cannot see me.
    “Rose’el, listen to Caritha and Dantress. They have more wisdom than you know, but they will need your help if this mission is to be a success.”
    She stiffened and resolutely looked at the portal. “Yes, Father. I will.”
    “Very well, I believe you are all ready to begin your journey.” He stretched his tail around them and looked at the back wall. Beams of light shot from his eyes and struck it, sending a shock that seemed to shake the mountain to its foundations. If his tail had not supported the sisters they would have fallen.
    In several dozen places the chamber’s wall opened and semi-transparent cylinders of various sizes slid out, resting like cocoons on the wall while a soft green light lit them from above.
    “What are they?” Dantress recognized the shapes of human men and women along with various creatures inside the cocoons. Yet they were distorted by dark webbing that coated each of the cylinders.
    The dragon looked dreamily at the collection suspended above him. His eyes roved from one to the next, and the next. His scaled chest heaved as he let out a long breath.
    “Father? What are they?” Dantress glanced from cylinder to cylinder, half expecting a corpse to fall out.
    “The mightiest warriors of history, my daughter," the dragon replied. "They wait for a future day when they will be awakened by One who will claim victory and reclaim this world from the wicked. Mark this moment in your memories, my children, and remember the glory that once was and the glory that has not yet come. Fight for the innocent and use your powers with wisdom; in so doing you may one day be remembered among the honored warriors of the past.”
    He roared and herded them toward the portal. It fizzled louder as they approached it. “Now, go, my daughters! Speak to no one until you come to the cottage of my ally and receive her instruction!”
    Dantress felt herself passing into the portal. It was like sinking into jelly, slippery and cool. She