She lost her hold on Warsgra’s hand and landed on all fours and skidded. She managed to keep hold of the Dragonstone, but the impact skinned her knuckles on that hand, and her other palm, pieces of volcanic rock embedded in her flesh. She gasped in pain, but before she’d even caught her breath, Warsgra hauled her back to her feet again. The dragon was still in the air to their right, its wings beating to stay airborne.
“We have to keep going this way!” Orergon shouted, pointing along the ridge.
Dela knew what he meant. They were traversing the fire mountain, rather than heading back down the way they’d climbed up. They’d never make it a second time through the black sludge that had almost swallowed Orergon. Black rocks and dirt scattered beneath their feet, skittering down the side of the fire mountain as they ran. Dela risked a glance over her shoulder. The dragon veered toward them, and for a moment she thought he would attack again, but he kept going. His wings beat the air, and he banked around to head back the way he had first arrived, toward the Lonely Strait. Growing smaller in the distance, the dragon breached the tops of the hills on the other side of the valley and vanished from view.
Gasping for breath, sweat pouring down her brow, Dela staggered to a halt. She clung to Warsgra’s arm to stay upright. The stink of sulfur and the smoke from the flames caught in the back of her throat, and a cough burst from her lungs.
They all slowed to a stop. Dela’s coughing subsided, but her lungs burned. She remained bent over, her hands on her knees.
Orergon’s hand pressed against her back. “Are you okay?”
She nodded and straightened. “Yes, I will be.”
Despite her words, she found herself blinking back tears that were caused by more than the coughing. An ache had lodged deep in her chest. Rejected—that was how she felt, as though she’d offered up her heart to someone and they had taken it then stomped it all over the ground.
“Think you can keep going?” the Moerian asked.
“We don’t have much choice. It’s not as though we can stay here.”
Plumes of grey and white smoke billowed into the sky above them. This was caused by the fire mountain rather than the dragon. A combination of steam and smoke drifted in patches from the black rock. This fire mountain hadn’t blown for a very long time, but it was definitely still active. It would be just their luck for it to erupt now.
“What happened to the ponies?” she asked between another coughing fit.
Orergon looked in the direction across the ridge and down the other side. “They ran this way. They’re not stupid. They knew not to go near that sludge. We’ll find them again.”
“We have no idea what we’re walking into by going this way either,” she pointed out. “And the ponies have got all our stuff in their packs—we don’t even have water.”
“Let’s keep descending,” Warsgra said. “We don’t know what’s going to be at the bottom on the west side of the fire mountain. There might be a fresh water source, so we won’t have to worry so much about the ponies.”
“We still need them,” she insisted. “They’ve got our canvases and bedding as well. Plus, it’s far easier to ride than be on foot.”
Warsgra snorted. “Easier for you, maybe. My feet are still on the ground even when I’m riding the damn thing.”
“It’s not the pony’s fault you’re so damned big.”
Truth was, she missed the animals already. She’d grown fond of her pony, Ghost, and she didn’t want him either drowning in sludge, or ending up as a meal for the dragon. And though she had no idea what they were going to do next, all she could see in her mind was her vision of the army being put together in Anthoinia, and how they’d be marching to the West coast. Did the other races know they would be under attack? Were they preparing as well? She needed this knowledge, but the only way she knew how to get it was through the dragon’s eyes, and she didn’t know how to control the dragon. The army would be forced to march through the Southern Pass, which would be a danger in itself, but once they got through, they’d fight the Norcs at the Southern Trough, initially, and then she guessed they’d head down, toward the Inverlands, to deal with the Elvish.
She hoped the other races knew the humans had found out the Treaty had been broken. Though she wanted to be loyal to her own kind, she also didn’t want the other races to be unprepared. She didn’t want the human army descending upon them unawares, turning this into a massacre rather than a battle.
The group continued to climb down, missing their footing every now and then, sending small rock falls skittering before them. As the light started to fade from the sky, it grew harder to make out where they were going. The ridge began to level off, taking them to the western side of the fire mountain, away from the valley. Dela tried to watch her footing, but her gaze pulled toward the darkening sky, her heart yearning, wishing she could see the dragon again. Where had he gone? So high in the sky, it was impossible for any of them to see? Was that how he’d evaded being noticed for so many years, leading people to believe they were extinct? It was pure speculation, but she needed to know. She wanted to learn everything there was to learn about the magnificent creature, and figure out what their connection meant. She’d never imagined her heart could be stolen by anything but a human man, but it had, and not just by the dragon either. She looked around at the three males who had supported her this whole time, who’d not for a moment acted as though they would abandon her. They weren’t human either, and yet she felt inexplicably linked to them now. If they decided they needed to go back to be with their own races during this time, her heart would be broken.
But a broken heart could continue to beat, albeit with a different rhythm than before. She wanted to return home herself, to tell her parents she was still alive, but deep down she knew the world had bigger things to offer her than a simple life living in a small house in the back streets of Anthoinia. Even if she had to do this alone, she’d keep trying. She’d do whatever necessary to make the dragon understand that he could trust her.
“Are you all right, Dela?” Vehel’s soft voice asked from beside her.
She bit her lower lip and nodded. “I’m all right.”
“He didn’t want you dead.” The Elvish prince ducked his head, looking at her through his silvery hair. “If he had wanted that, he could have killed you in a second. I think that was more of a warning.”
She offered him a wan smile. “He felt me inside his head this time. I think before, he kind of knew I was there, but not to the point where I might be able to affect what he’s doing or thinking. This time he could, and I don’t know if that’s just because we were so physically close, or because I had this.” She held out the hand still clutching the Dragonstone.
Warsgra looked ahead. “We should still get out of here. The dragon might come back, and I don’t think he’ll be too happy to find us here if he does.”
She shook her head. “We can’t just leave! We’ve come all this way.”
“If you stay,” Vehel said softly, “he might kill you.”
“No, you said that was just a warning.”
“Yes, but a warning that’s unheeded will turn to something more. He didn’t want to kill you, but that doesn’t mean he won’t, if he thinks you’re a danger.”
She felt as though she was failing once more. “We’ve come all this way. We can’t leave now. A war has started, and we need a way to get through to people. We aren’t going to achieve anything on our own.”
Orergon’s hand pressed on her shoulder. “You’re right, but this will all be for nothing if you end up dead.”
“I think I have an idea,” Vehel said.
Dela looked to him. “I’ll hear it.”
“There’s an ancient Seer who lives on an island at the most northern point of Xantearos, in the Lonely Strait. We could travel there and see if she knows more. She’s lived in the north for hundreds of years, and I believe she’ll know more about the dragons and Dragonstone than anyone else we could speak to.”
Dela stepped in. “Everything about this is dangerous. Facing an angry dragon is dangerous. Leaving this place and making the huge journey back to our homelands is dangerous. We can’t not do something simply because we’re frightened of what might happen.”
Warsgra straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin. “Who said anything about being frightened?”
“Doing nothing is what’s going to be more dangerous.” She looked around at them. “You didn’t see what I did—thousands of men dressed in soldier uniforms, setting out to cross to the West coast. Assuming others from your races lived through the Southern Pass, word will have got back to them about the Treaty being broken. They’ll either also be preparing themselves for war, or they won’t know anything about it, and they’ll be slaughtered. Either way, thousands of lives will be lost. I’m trying to protect everyone. The soldiers aren’t all trained army men being sent out to fight. Those are boys and young men from all the families in Anthoinia. They don’t know the truth of what they’re fighting for. They’ve probably been told the other races are rising up against humans, and this is the only way for them to protect their homes and way of life. They won’t know that they’re being used as pawns to force the Elvish, and Norcs, and Moerians into a certain way of life, and in turn keep King and Queen Crowmere wealthy.” Dela stopped and took a breath and then looked to Vehel. “How long do you think it will take us to reach this Seer?”
“It’s probably only a day or so to the coast by foot. And I believe the island is visible from the shore, so it’s probably only a couple of miles out.”
“We’re lacking a boat,” Warsgra said.
“And the Northern seas are filled with sea beasts,” Orergon joined in. “There’s no way we can swim it.”
Vehel pressed his lips together. “We can build a raft. My people are fishermen, and it won’t be the first I’ve built. As long as we can gather materials, we can build something strong enough to get us there safely.”
Warsgra lifted his eyebrows. “Assuming we don’t get eaten by sea monsters.”
“Yes, assuming we don’t get eaten by sea monsters.”
Dela looked up at the sky. They were losing light by the minute. “It’s too dark to continue now. We should find ourselves somewhere to rest and continue in the morning.”
A sting in her palm snatched her attention, and she looked down to find blood dripping from the ends of her fingers onto the hard ground.
Chapter Two
Vehel
“YOU’RE HURT.”
Vehel caught up Dela’s hand, her palm small in his, like the inside of a shell. Blood seeped from the grazes and trickled down her fingers to drip off the ends.
“It’s fine,” she said, pulling back her hand. “Just a graze from when I fell.”
He held on firmly. “You have pieces of rock stuck in your skin. We need to get them out. You don’t want to end up with an infection.” He looked around in frustration. “By the Gods, we don’t even have any water to wash it out with.”
“Rivers lead to the ocean eventually, so we’ll most likely come across fresh water soon,” Orergon said. “If we’re to find the Seer’s island, we don’t have any choice but to keep walking west, since we have Drusga between here and the north. When we hit the coast, we can follow it north.”
They looked to one another in silent agreement.
Warsgra shrugged. “I don’t think we have any better ideas right now.”
“I still want to find the ponies, though,” Dela insisted.
Orergon nodded. “We will. They can’t have gone far. I expect they’ll have wanted to get off the fire mountain and find somewhere cooler. They’ll most likely have found grazing land.”
“We’ll keep going and find somewhere to bed down for the night,” Warsgra said. “We’ll figure the rest out in the morning.”
Vehel chewed on his lower lip. He remembered his promise to himself not to allow his fear to take over, and he wasn’t going to let Dela down again. An infection out here, with no medical help for hundreds of miles, could mean the loss of her hand, if not worse. Perhaps he was over-thinking things, but he wouldn’t forgive himself if he didn’t do something. His ability had been weakened when he’d brought Orergon back, but, as time passed, he could feel it building again.
“Wait.”
He held his other hand above her palm and focused inward to find the energy that lived inside him. It was faint after using so much to save Orergon, but it was still there, trembling at his core. Mentally, he gathered the small amount he had and pushed outward, channeling the magic down through his arm. He felt it leaving his body, and he opened his eyes to discover a blue light joining Dela’s hand to his own. Inside the cuts on her skin, the small black stones shivered with borrowed energy and popped from the wound, bringing more blood with it to rinse them away. But he didn’t have it in him to heal the graze, and he was forced to release his hold on the magic.
He gave a grunt of frustration. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t heal you.”
She smiled at him. “Don’t be. It feels better already.”
“I should be able to heal such a small thing.” He was irritated with himself, but Dela stood on her tiptoes and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.
“Thank you.”
A wave of warmth spread through him at her touch.
It was only something small, but Vehel had learned something about his magical ability. If he took on a task that required most of his energy, like saving Orergon, it depleted his supplies and made magic harder. He could almost feel the depletion inside him, in the opposite way he could feel the magic as it was growing stronger. When it was strong, it was like a ball of light swelling inside his chest, threatening to burst outward and explode him into a million pieces. But when he’d done too much, the same place felt like a chasm that might pull him in, piece by piece, and swallow him until there was nothing left.
Dela wasn’t the only one who needed to learn what they were capable of. His powers might be far less important, but he didn’t yet know the full extent of what he could achieve. After all, hadn’t he been the one who’d breached a tear in their reality and sent the four of them to a different place in Xantearos? He hadn’t done so intentionally—he’d only been trying to protect them from what lived inside the Long White Cloud—but it had happened. Perhaps it hadn’t all been him, and his magic had worked with whatever dark magic created the Long White Cloud, or even a different kind of magic that existed inside the Southern Pass. Or maybe it hadn’t been him at all, and it had simply been coincidence that he’d been creating magic at the same time the tear in reality had happened, but he doubted it. Somehow, his magic had sent them to the north, and if he’d done it once, he could do it again. They might not need to travel on foot for weeks on end to make it back to their homelands if he could work out what he’d done in the first place to get them here.
But if it went wrong, there was the chance he’d send them somewhere even more dangerous.
The side of the fire mountain wasn’t a place they would be able to stop for the night. They needed to get off its rocky face and back onto normal ground. Vehel glanced up at the rapidly darkening sky. It wasn’t safe for them to keep moving across treacherous grounds when they weren’t able to see where they were going. Memories of the black sludge they’d fought through remained fresh in his mind, and he didn’t want any of them to have to go through that again. His magic wasn’t strong enough yet to help anyone if they got into trouble.
As the final residues of light bled from the sky, the ground began to change, greenery sprouting in tiny patches at first, and then the spaces between them lessened, until they were eventually walking upon grass. The heat that had been seeping through the soles of their boots since stepping onto the fire mountain also subsided, though the night air continued to be thick and clammy. They hadn’t yet put enough distan
ce between themselves and the fire mountain to escape the stink of sulfur, but either it had started to lessen or they’d simply grown used to it. A buzz of insects circled Vehel’s head. He hadn’t heard any while they’d been on the ridge. Was it the fire mountain that kept them away, or was it the proximity of the dragon? He doubted they’d find too many mammals or birds near this location either. The dragon must need to eat, and a creature of his size would consume a fair amount. What kind of distances must he travel in order to feed? Xantearos was a vast land, but the dragon clearly didn’t travel south to feed, even if he did fly down that way to observe them. His feeding territory must be in areas unpopulated by any of their races, or they would have heard of the creature’s existence long before now.
As they walked, a small copse of trees took shape ahead.
“That looks like as good a place as any to stop for the night,” Warsgra grunted.
Vehel agreed. It wasn’t much, and he was missing the comfort of the canvas and blankets the ponies had been carrying. But it was certainly a better option than the rocky side of the fire mountain they’d left behind.
They reached the trees. A thin blanket of fallen leaves and moss covered the ground beneath the canopy of branches. He looked around at the weary faces of his companions and knew they all felt the same way. Tomorrow, when they were rested and with the sun up for a new day, they’d be able to regroup their thoughts and make plans for what would happen next.
Orergon dropped to the ground first. Warsgra sat beside him, and Dela positioned herself next to the Norc. Vehel was last to lie down, and he took the place beside Dela, sandwiching her between him and Warsgra.
Vehel reclined onto his back. Above his head, the stars winked on in the night sky, and Vehel could pick out the brightest peeping between the branches. His limbs were heavy with exhaustion, his eyes gritty with sleep.
Vehel couldn’t stop his thoughts turning towards his homeland. What was happening in the Inverlands right now? Had news of him breaking the Treaty reached them yet? Did his father know he was the cause of the Second Great War starting? Because of the long life spans of the Elvish, the memories of the First Great War were still within living memory of many of his kind. They, better than anyone, understood the true terror of war, how many lives would be lost, how brutally lives would be taken. And though Vehel knew there were far bigger things to worry about, he still couldn’t help the shame that made him feel as though his insides were shrinking.
Chronicles of the Four: The Complete Series Page 23
