by Bryan Davis
Her brain still awash in dizziness, Elyssa climbed to her feet and helped Wallace to his. When Thortune opened the wall, she glanced at the crevice where it had disappeared. What could she do to keep him from closing it? A distraction?
They marched through, Thortune leading the way. As soon as the dragon turned back toward the opening, Elyssa hurried ahead. “I’ll see you in the other tunnel,” she called behind her.
Thortune shouted, “No!” but she kept up her pace, not too fast, hoping he wouldn’t think she was trying to escape and blast her with a volley of flames, but fast enough to make him give chase.
Seconds later, a stiff wind blew her hair, and a shove from behind knocked her forward. She stumbled and landed on all fours.
“Foolish girl!” Thortune said as he settled next to her. “What were you trying to do?”
Elyssa suppressed a smile. Her plan to keep the wall open had worked. “I told you I have to go.”
Wallace arrived and helped her up. “She’s just like that,” he explained. “She does things without warning. It’s hard to get used to.”
“She had better alter her ways,” Thortune said. “The next rash move will be met with fire.”
Now walking with Thortune in front, they entered the room with the sharp stakes. The ceiling, which doubled as a floor for the corridor above, was closed, leaving the room dim. A single lantern at the entrance to the Basilica tunnel provided the only light.
Thortune slowed and looked both ways. With his ears and wings twitching, he seemed nervous, confused. When he found his new heading, a straight path toward the Basilica tunnel, they passed by the stakes.
Elyssa dropped back an extra step or two, snatched up one of the stakes she had broken, and hid it behind her. Wallace quickly shifted between her and the dragon.
As Thortune continued walking, he curled his neck back and stared at her. “What are you doing this time?”
She pushed the point of the stake into the waistband at her back and folded her hands in front of her. “Following you.”
He stopped and sniffed. His eyes glazed over, and his head swayed with his neck. “You are not being truthful. I can sense it.”
“Why? I am following you, just as I said.”
“You are hiding something. Turn around.”
Elyssa fidgeted. Thortune was losing his wits. If only she could delay him a little bit longer. “Turn around? Why?”
His head swayed erratically. “Just do as I say.”
As Elyssa began to turn, she glanced at Wallace and tried to communicate panic with her eyes. She needed his help, and she needed it now.
“I have to go!” Wallace ran toward the tunnel. “I’ll see you in there.”
Thortune looked that way and roared. “Come back here!”
Elyssa grasped the stake, jumped in front of Thortune, and rammed the point into the soft spot in his underbelly. The dragon belched a ball of fire at her, but she jumped out of the way, leaving the stake partially embedded. Now staggering, he launched a weak stream of flames at her, this time swiping her sleeve.
She lunged at Thortune and, shoving with all her might, thrust the stake as far as it would go. Grasping the butt end, she jerked it back out and leaped away.
As thick fluids poured, Thortune doubled over. Elyssa ran to the Basilica tunnel, still clutching the stake.
Wallace batted sparks from Elyssa’s sleeve, while both watched the scene. Thortune, gasping and gurgling, staggered from one side of the chamber to the other. For a moment, he paused, teetering. His expression twisted with puzzlement, as if he couldn’t understand why Elyssa had attacked him.
Finally, he toppled over and crashed into the stakes, breaking several with his tough scales. After twitching for a few seconds, he moved no more.
Wallace’s jaw dropped open. “Now what?”
“Now we go back to Cassabrie.” Elyssa tossed the bloodied stake next to Thortune’s body. A wave of remorse swept over her, but she shrugged it away. The dragons were probably going to kill her and Wallace. She had no choice.
“Are we going to take Cassabrie’s body?” Wallace asked.
“I don’t know if it’s even possible, but I want to study her and figure out what’s going on. They’re saving her for some reason, and I doubt it’s a good one.”
Elyssa ran past Thortune’s carcass, through the tunnel, and into the Starlighter’s room. She paused in front of Cassabrie and stared at her lifeless body. With her long white dress and dark blue cloak adorning her in fine array, she appeared to be ready for travel, though she likely hadn’t moved from this spot in years.
As Elyssa gazed at the lifeless visage, a similar face entered her mind, just an outline, a vague memory. Somehow, Cassabrie seemed familiar, someone she had met before. Who could it have been? Koren, maybe? They did look a lot alike.
Elyssa knelt and peered at the disc embedded in the floor’s oddly angled tiles. Underneath its transparent surface, seven glowing spheres, each about the size of a small acorn, floated in a slowly orbiting circle.
She bent back and looked at the large disc well above Cassabrie’s head. It, too, held a circle of tiny orbs, making it seem as though Cassabrie wore a crown.
Wallace knelt at the opposite side. “What are they?”
“I was going to ask you that.” She set a finger close to the surface. A tingle spread across her skin—not strong, but enough to make her pause. “The top is so clear, it looks like it’s not even there.”
Wallace reached out and touched it. The pad of his finger flattened as he pressed harder. “It’s there.”
“Does it hurt?”
“Not much.” He pulled back. “But I got those pictures in my mind again.”
“Let me see.” Elyssa lowered her finger, but it passed into thick liquid, as if she had poked a hole in jelled water. A storm of images flashed through her mind, so fast she couldn’t recognize anything.
Digging deeper, she touched one of the spheres and plucked it from its orbit. She drew it out and set it close to her eyes. The stream of images continued, but not quite as fast. Jason and Uriel flew by, along with other people she didn’t know. “This must have something to do with a Starlighter’s power.”
“Cassabrie doesn’t look any different,” Wallace said.
Elyssa stood and stepped backwards. Cassabrie’s radiance flowed unabated. “I guess taking one isn’t going to hurt anything, and it might help us find Jason.”
“Why couldn’t I put my finger in?”
She turned her gaze to the sphere once more. “I assume because you’re not a Diviner.”
Wallace joined her and touched the sphere. He jerked back and sucked his finger, grimacing. “Not being a Diviner is getting worse all the time.”
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Elyssa said. “It’s not polite.”
Wallace withdrew his finger and shook it. “Should we try to get Cassabrie out of here?”
“I don’t think so. These spheres might be keeping her body intact.” She gave him a nod. “Let’s go. As quietly as possible. Through the other tunnel and into the Basilica. We’ll have to scout for an exit from there.”
“So you don’t have to use your bodily elimination system after all?”
“I do, but I can wait.”
“Me, too, but not very long.”
With Wallace leading the way, they hurried into the tunnel and followed the series of lanterns, dimmer than before. The tiny sphere’s energy, now swarming like bees over Elyssa’s body, dizzied her mind worse than ever. Although she fought the influence, the march through the passageway felt like a dream. The walls seemed to close in, warped and surreal, like a charcoal drawing that reshaped at a whim.
When they reached the end, they found it blocked by a flat stone. Wallace laid his palm on it and examined the gaps at the edges. “Magnar said something about blocking the exits, but there’s some space here. I think I can squeeze through. Obviously he meant to stop Arxad, not a slave boy.”
“Makes sense.”
“What about you?” Wallace said, pointing at her.
Elyssa lifted her tunic’s hem, revealing a belt tightening her oversized trousers around her waist. “I ate only dungeon gruel for weeks. I’ll make it.”
Wallace dropped to his belly and snake-crawled through a gap at the lower-left corner. After a few seconds, a whisper passed back through. “Your turn.”
Clutching the sphere in her fist, Elyssa copied Wallace’s method and slithered on her belly. After clearing the stone, she scrambled up and whispered, “Quietly now.”
Wallace kept his voice equally low. “There are two open doors. I heard a dragon talking in one direction, so we’d better go the other way.”
“You lead,” she said, again trying to cast off the fog. “I’ll follow.”
As Wallace skulked toward a tall, dark archway, Elyssa shadowed him. Odd guttural sounds drifted into the room from behind her, raising prickles on her neck. A woman laughed, then spoke in a mixture of unintelligible grunts and clicks, but the name Koren came through clearly.
Elyssa wanted to pause and listen, but they had to go on. Whoever was back there wouldn’t be friendly.
Wallace stopped. Elyssa joined him at the observation railing they had seen earlier. Below, in the auditorium-like chamber, a fire burned on the floor at the front of a stage near a lone pedestal, upon which an open book lay.
She looked at Wallace, hoping to avoid speaking the obvious question—how to get down. He responded with a head gesture and soft-stepped to a gap in the railing. Leaning out, he grasped a rope and brought it back with him as he straightened.
Elyssa scanned the rope, letting her gaze follow it upward. It hung from a large bell far above. She shook her head, signaling the danger.
Wallace whispered, “Don’t worry.” He took off his shirt, stuffed it behind his belt, and, gripping spaces between the stones in the wall, scrambled up. With the agility of a monkey, he grappled the bell and tied his shirt around the clapper, then shinnied down the rope. The bell lifted, but only a dull thud sounded.
As Wallace hung at a point just above Elyssa’s head, firelight from below flickered across his bare torso. His rippling muscles glistened with sweat as he extended an arm. “All I need is your wrist. I’ll carry you down, so you don’t lose that sphere.”
“You go ahead. I can manage.”
“I’ll see you there.” As he slid down the rope, Elyssa glanced between him and the bell above. It wavered just enough to let out a series of thuds, like gentle knocks on a metal plate.
Still, Elyssa cringed with each knock. She looked back into the dark room. The voices had ceased. Were the speakers listening and wondering what those odd noises might be?
Finally, Wallace touched the ground and released the rope. Elyssa grasped it with one hand and pulled slowly until the clapper touched the bell again. Then, easing her body forward, she swung out over the room below. Again the bell knocked. Again she looked back. The voices resumed, now more animated.
As she loosened her grip, the rope slid through her hand. Her skin burned, but that didn’t matter. Getting caught would bring far more pain.
When she reached the floor of a dim hallway, Wallace met her. She opened her hand and let the sphere’s radiance wash over his face, revealing a tense jaw and tight lines in his forehead.
“I see another door. Let’s go.” He hurried through the corridor and into the auditorium. As she followed, she looked up. At the railing above, a pair of blue eyes emanated beams of light, and two voices conversed in the strange language.
Elyssa lowered her head and closed her fist around the sphere. Maybe the shadows would cover her, but did Wallace notice the onlookers? Would he stay quiet?
As she tiptoed along, no one shouted. The two voices continued as if unalarmed. When she reached the pedestal and book, she paused and glanced at the text. It appeared to be gibberish, but as she let her gaze rest for a moment on the page, a whisper rose from the odd words.
“If humans do not survive the plague, only dragons will remain.”
Elyssa raised her brow. Now that was interesting. She glanced up at the blue eyes again, still in the same place. Maybe they couldn’t see this far in the dark after all. She closed the hefty book, tucked it under her arm, and hurried to catch up. Then she and Wallace skulked through a massive doorway and into another dark corridor, out of sight.
He stopped and, taking quick, shallow breaths, whispered. “Did you hear those two talking?”
“I heard, but I couldn’t understand.”
“The dragon language. A human woman was talking to a dragon. Apparently neither one of them could see us. It’s like they’re both blind, because the dragon said, ‘When Koren arrives, she will see for both of us.’”
Elyssa pondered his words for a moment. Was Koren really coming to this place? She pushed the book against Wallace’s side so he could feel it. “I picked this up back there. Can you read the dragon language?”
“Some. But won’t it slow us down?”
She studied the worn cover. Should she tell Wallace about the whisper? Maybe not yet. “It might be worth it.”
“If you say so.” Wallace pulled the book from her. “Come on. I think I know where we are.” He strode toward a dim light in the distance.
Elyssa followed once again. After turning into a lantern-lit hallway, Wallace stopped and backed against a wall. “I was right. The Basilica’s main entrance.”
The corridor opened into a courtyard bordered at the far end by a tall fence of iron bars and a sturdy gate. “Locked?” she asked.
“Probably. Guarded, too. I see a dragon.”
As she stood close to Wallace, the sphere’s light particles seeped between her fingers and flowed across her skin, again fogging her brain. “Are you able to think clearly?”
“As clear as muddy water,” he said. “Do you have a plan?”
“Working on one. I saw how well you climb. Can you get over that fence while carrying the book?”
“Easy, but only if that dragon isn’t scorching my backside while I’m climbing.”
“Okay. Get going. I’ll make sure he’s distracted.”
“What are you going to do?” he asked.
“Trust me. Get over the top and then help me if I need it.”
“Help you? How?”
“I don’t know yet. Just stop stalling. My brain’s already fuzzy enough.”
Wallace tucked the book under his arm and marched ahead. Elyssa followed, staying back several steps. When he reached the sunlit courtyard, he dashed toward the bars and scrambled up.
“Stop!” the dragon shouted. “Stop or die!”
“Wait!” Elyssa jogged into the courtyard and headed straight toward the dragon, the morning sunrays making her squint. “Someone is trying to take Starlight!”
The dragon swung toward her, now only a wing’s length separating them. “Take Starlight? What are you talking about?”
Elyssa displayed the sphere in her palm and allowed the energy to stream over the dragon. “Look. I found this. Haven’t you heard about Cassabrie and these little balls that hold her in place?”
Wallace vaulted over the pointed tops of the iron bars and dropped to a gravel path on the other side.
“Halt!” The dragon shot a bolt of fire at Wallace, but he leaped out of the way and rolled on the path.
“No!” Elyssa cried. “What harm can that boy do out there? He doesn’t have the Starlighter’s energy. I do.”
The dragon looked at her, blinking. “Are you a Starlighter?”
“Of course not. Hurry and open the gate. I’m not allowed in here.”
“You must be reported …” The dragon’s speech slowed, taking on a slur. “Reported to Magnar.”
“Magnar?” Wallace said as he climbed to his feet. “Are you serious? If you don’t want to get in trouble for letting a human in there, you’d better let her out. Hurry!”
The dragon shook his head hard. “No!
You will both stay with me, and I will investigate this matter.”
“But how?” Elyssa asked. “Every human is locked down, and every available dragon is searching for the escaped assassin. We can’t allow a human to remain here. You know what might happen.”
“I do?” As the dragon stared at her, his eyes turned glassy.
Elyssa narrowed the gap between them and held the sphere closer to the dragon’s face. The energy flowed over him, making him blink rapidly.
She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Open the gate. We have very little time.”
The dragon continued staring for a moment, his head wavering at the end of his long neck. Finally, he staggered to the gate and blew a thin stream of fire at the lock. When it began to glow, a click sounded, and the gate swung ajar.
After shifting out of the way, the dragon sat on his haunches, like a silent sentry awaiting his next orders. Taking long, quiet steps, Elyssa glided past, hoping to avoid any sudden move that might jolt the dragon out of his daze.
Wallace took the hint and stayed silent. He pulled the gate fully open, giving Elyssa room to step through. As she passed by, she whispered through clenched teeth, “If you have a place to hide, lead the way … right now!”
Still walking with furtive steps and carrying the book, Wallace navigated the path toward a downward slope. The gravel crunched under their shoes, making Elyssa cringe. This had to be the slowest escape in history. At any moment the dragon might snap out of his stupor and fry them, but they couldn’t break into a run. Not yet.
Soon they reached the bottom of the slope, out of the dragon’s sight. Elyssa exhaled, maybe for the first time since they passed through the gate. It seemed possible that this crazy plan might actually work, but what would they do next? She had always been one to plan far ahead, so plodding forward without an idea was unnerving. The only thought that came to mind was simple: Find Jason. But how? Which direction? Was he even still alive?
She took in another breath and pressed on. One step at a time.
nine
Jason set his bare feet into the shallows and helped Uriel push the raft toward the eastern riverbank. The water chilled his skin and plastered his trousers against his legs. As a cool breeze raised goose bumps on his arms, he steeled himself. He had to get used to it. The cold would only get worse as they pressed farther northward.
