Within the Dragon's Jaw (The Dragon Thief Book 2)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “Is that you, Tydornen?”

  He hesitated. “Bingham? You had me worried there.”

  “I had you worried? You have me marching out here, searching through the trees for this blasted place, and you accuse me of getting you worried?” Bingham appeared from the shadows, making his way toward him.

  “How are you holding up?”

  There was a moment where the steel in his gaze sagged. “I’ll be fine. I’ve lost before and come back stronger.” He looked away, his gaze taking in the rest of the home. “I forget just how hard it is to reach this place. Your mother loved the jungle, but by the Flame, I never understood why it had to be here. I still can’t believe this is where she made you spend your earliest days.”

  “It wasn’t so bad.”

  Bingham stumbled, getting caught up by something in the grasses in the space where the clearing had once been, and jerked his foot free. He stumbled again, almost falling.

  Ty watched him approach. He was tempted to hurry over to Bingham and offer him assistance, but Bingham was a proud man and would likely refuse any help.

  “You shouldn’t have come up here with that limp. I should have just sent word to you. Nothing else.”

  Bingham glowered at him. “I did all right. Besides, I’m not about to leave you here by yourself.” Bingham’s gaze lingered briefly on the sculpture. “You rescued it.”

  Ty nodded. “Didn’t Eastley tell you that we did?”

  “He was in too much of a hurry. Told me I needed to meet you out here. I don’t think he cares much for the jungle.”

  “I don’t think he does either. I went looking for you and the fire.”

  “Sounds like you weren’t just looking for me.”

  Bingham arched a brow. “I heard about that. Sounds like you went out rescuing some boy? His mother couldn’t stop talking about the hero who risked himself dragging her son out. By the Flame, hearing some of the people talk about the man who appeared on top of the building carrying the boy out from the fire, you would have thought you were some sort of dragon risen from the ashes.”

  “Thanks,” Ty muttered.

  “A risen dragon,” Bingham said, shaking his head and laughing. “Stories like that get people killed.” When Ty looked at him, he shrugged. “Care to tell me why you went after him?”

  It was the same sort of question Eastley had asked, and yet, he didn’t have any better answer for Bingham than he’d had for Eastley. “If somebody started the fire because of what we had done and what we had taken, I wasn’t about to let some boy suffer, Bingham, if I could do anything to help him.” He looked over at the sculpture. “And I had to wait for the fire to burn down in your place before going back for this, anyway.”

  “What if I were burning up in the fire?” Bingham said suggestively. “I know something happened. I can see it in your face, but more than that I can see it in the way you’re standing there. You got hurt. Was it rescuing the boy? That would serve you, as far as I can say.”

  Ty reached for the injury along his shoulder. “Not the boy.” He shared the note, then the scene in the temple, and finally how he’d run through the city before returning home. “The damn thing still stings, Bingham. I know you’d probably call me a baby, but it hurts.”

  “Dragon bone?”

  “What was that?”

  “You said the bolt was dragon bone.”

  He nodded. “I did. It was. I don’t know who would use dragon bone like that. Maybe they really were Priests of the Flame.”

  That didn’t fit with his experience. The priests celebrated fire, but they also celebrated some higher power, the Flame that they claimed offered a hope of some greater salvation, though it was a hope that Ty had never shared. He didn’t expect to see any sort of salvation from anything. The only salvation he would find would be on his own.

  “Not priests like I’ve ever known,” Bingham muttered.

  “Me neither. That’s why I ran.”

  Bingham paused at the mantle, tracing his finger along it. There was something almost familiar about it. There was a part of Ty that wanted to know just how well Bingham knew Ty’s mother, but there was a part of him that didn’t, either. If Bingham knew what his mother had been involved in and what might have taken her away from the city, why wouldn’t he have said anything? Ty had asked him early on if Bingham knew what had happened to her, but Bingham claimed that he did not. If he were to learn otherwise… Ty wasn’t sure that he could handle that betrayal.

  “We need to figure out what they were after.”

  “I had no idea what he was looking for at the time. Albion hadn’t left me with anything when he was in the city. I didn’t even know he was the Dragon Thief until he was dragged off to the king.”

  Bingham watched him. “When did you figure out what they were after?”

  Ty had been looking around the inside of the home until he paused, turning back to Bingham. “What was that?”

  He shrugged, turning back to the mantle. “You said at the time.” When he turned back to him, he smiled slightly. “That means you figured out what they were looking for.”

  Ty hadn’t been sure whether to share with Bingham the note his brother had left for him. He trusted him about as far as he could trust any thief, and he had invited him to join him here to see where he’d brought the dragon sculpture, but this was different. This was about the safety of his family and figuring out what his brother had been into. Ty wasn’t sure that he wanted to bring Bingham into that.

  “He left me this,” he said finally, pulling the note out of his pocket.

  Bingham took it, his gaze skimming quickly along it before he handed it back to Ty. “I assume you can tell me what it means?”

  “You know what happens when you assume.”

  His nose wrinkled as he frowned at him in mock irritation. “You can’t read it.”

  He shook his head. “It’s not like it’s some strange language between my brother and me, if that’s what you were hoping for.”

  “Well…”

  “It just looks like a series of symbols.” Ty unfolded the note again, studying the markings. “He had to have left it for me, but why would he have done that if he didn’t leave me any way of reading it?”

  “What if it’s not for you?” Bingham asked softly.

  Ty looked up. “Who would it be for if he didn’t leave it for me?”

  He shrugged. “Can’t say I know with any certainty, but your brother is a unique man. Every story that we’ve ever heard about the Dragon Thief tells us that he has talent and potential. Had you not gone into the palace yourself, you wouldn’t even have known that he was there. Then think about all the other jobs the Dragon Thief was responsible for. I have to say, I thought most of those stories were just that—stories. Can’t believe that someone would actually be able to do half the things he was supposed to have done.”

  “You don’t have to sound so impressed.”

  “What can I say? I’m a thief. I can be impressed by a job done well.”

  Ty continued staring at the note. “I just wish I knew what he wanted from me by leaving it here.” He looked up again. “He had to have left it for me. We were the only ones who knew about this house and how to find it. I know you will tell me that he might have been working with someone he trusted, but that doesn’t fit with what I know of Albion. He wouldn’t have shared the house. Not this place.”

  If he had, then his brother was a much different person than he’d ever known.

  But then… he was.

  Albion was the Dragon Thief. He had to stop thinking of him as his brother and start thinking of him as this other. That was how he would figure out what he’d been up to so that he could figure out how to save him. Only in doing that could he find some way to rescue him from the king.

  “What if there was something else here in the city that he was after?” Ty whispered.

  “I think the egg was enough of a prize,” Bingham said.

  Ty wasn’t exactly s
ure. The egg would have been a prize, but he knew Albion had come to the city before Ishantil had started to erupt. It was before the egg.

  Ty still didn’t know how Albion had known the egg was there. Was the king storing it within the palace, or was there some other purpose?

  “I think he came to the city for another reason. He was here before Ishantil started to tremble, and it was only after that he went for the egg.”

  Maybe it was reason for him to dig deeper.

  Could there be something in the note that might help him understand why his brother had come to the city?

  “Ty?”

  He looked over at Bingham and smiled tightly. “There’s got to be something more here, Bingham. I don’t know what it is, but I know my brother, and the pattern fits.

  “The pattern for your brother, maybe, but we’re talking about the pattern for the Dragon Thief. This is something different altogether.”

  He nodded slowly. “This is different, but it still…”

  He stared at the note. He couldn’t get past the idea that the symbols here had some meaning. There would have to be some way to learn what that meaning was and to figure out just what his brother had sent him the note for, but how would he learn it?

  The temple.

  “I get the feeling I’m not going to care much for this,” Bingham said.

  He shrugged. “You don’t have to do anything. I was just thinking that my brother might have left me something more than this.”

  “Not your home, then.”

  He shook his head. “Not my home. He didn’t leave me anything, but what if he left me something in the temple?”

  Bingham groaned. “By the Flame…”

  “You’re going to help me?”

  Ty wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about that. He and Bingham didn’t make the best team.

  “You’ll have my help, but we are going to do things my way.”

  Ty wasn’t sure about that, either. Bingham’s way was often no better than Eastley’s.

  Which meant that he had to be prepared for things to go wrong.

  Chapter Ten

  He approached the temple carefully, moving with the crowd of people making their way toward it, all of them celebrants of the Flame, choosing this as their time to worship. Ty glanced over at Bingham. He had blended into the crowd but looked over at him every so often, as if wanting to make sure he was going to do the job.

  This part was going to be easy. Ty didn’t have to worry about breaking into the temple right now. It was what would happen after that he was more concerned about.

  He had been to the temple more times lately than he ever had before. First to scout and steal the dragon pearls, and then to try to uncover the truth about the egg. It felt strange to keep coming to the temple with an intention to steal from the priests, but perhaps his brother would understand. Perhaps the Flame would.

  The city was different since Ishantil nearly erupted. There were more soldiers, fewer citizens, and no shortage of Dragon Touched, at least around the palace. As far as he knew, there had been no more presence of the Tecal, but Ty wasn’t sure that he would even know if they were here. Since they had brought calm to Ishantil, much had changed.

  It was strange that he felt as if he had not. Still, he had intended to leave the city, and now…

  Now it was more a matter of preparing to leave the city, and making preparations for uncovering something about his brother.

  Somebody jostled him and he glanced back to see a young face peeking out from a gray cloak.

  “Watch it,” Ty said, shooting a warning look at the boy who’d bumped into him.

  The person frowned at him but then turned his attention to the temple.

  Ty didn’t come here to celebrate very often, certainly not to worship, but in this case he had to at least put on the air of someone who did. As they approached the temple, Ty swept his gaze around the inside of it, looking with the expression of awe he knew he should have.

  At the far end of the temple, the Flame rose up on the altar, perpetually burning. He had approached it one other time, when the egg had been there. The sculptures of the dragons all around the perimeter of the church reminded him of that night, sneaking along, trying to make his way toward the altar so that he could have a glimpse of the egg. The sculptures didn’t glow with the same soft light as they had before he had taken the dragon pearls. Either the priests had not replaced the pearls or they had done so with pearls that weren’t nearly as potent. Rows of benches angled toward the altar, and the people streaming into the temple all took a seat, gradually starting to settle.

  The annoying young man who had jostled him took a seat just behind him, and he glanced back to feel his gaze on him.

  Where is Bingham?

  He would have to be close by, though he seemed to have gotten distracted, disappearing into the crowd more than they had agreed to. He shifted in his seat, trying to figure out where he was.

  The chanting began, coming from the back of the temple.

  Ty turned to see the priests winding into the temple. There were three of them: one the head priest, wearing a more formally draped robe than the others, and then two younger priests, men who reminded him of Albion when he’d been here, serving the Priests of the Flame.

  The chanting rose into the air, disappearing into the upper reaches of the temple, words spoken to the Flame in the Sarthal language the priests preferred. It was not one Ty knew, though he would at least recognize the lettering. Whatever else his brother had done, he had not written anything in the language of the Flame.

  Maybe there was something else that would help him identify the symbols he had used. He swept his gaze around, looking from the sculptures of the dragons to the banners hanging on the walls, even to the altar, but there was nothing there that gave him any indication of just what his brother had done. There was no writing that reminded him of what he had seen on that note.

  The chanting persisted, and the priests stopped at the altar. The head priest headed to the Flame, continuing to speak the words of the Flame. At this point, he shifted into the common tongue. Ty recognized much about the ceremony. The priest went on about Ishantil, about its proof of the Flame, and how they had satisfied the Flame. The temple was far more crowded than it normally would have been, as if everyone who had remained within the city had done so to remain connected to the Flame. They had seen proof of their god in what had happened. Proof in their service to the Flame. Ty wished that he could feel the same way. Maybe he would have the same faith that his brother so easily had. Maybe he would find it simpler to believe that they could find their parents.

  For now, he would settle for finding his brother.

  Ty found himself mouthing the words along with the priests, though he hadn’t been a regular celebrant in a long time. Her mother had always brought him to the temple when he was younger, though as far as he remembered, his mother had not been that devout; it was more just a matter of tradition for her, wanting to introduce her children to the lessons of the priests and giving them the chance to find their own way. His brother had been the one to take it to heart.

  Only now he wasn’t so sure whether he had or not. Maybe his brother had not truly found the Priests of the Flame the way that he had believed. Maybe Albion had found a different pathway.

  The more he learned about his family, the more he had to question whether or not Albion had been pushed there by their parents.

  Ty shook those thoughts away. It wasn’t terribly surprising that he would think of them here in the temple, which was a place of introspection.

  Everybody suddenly stood. Ty got to his feet along with the rest of the crowd and looked around. Bingham had started making his way down one of the benches, slipping along it, and he frowned at him. Was he trying to get caught?

  Or was he trying to get closer to something that he’d seen?

  Maybe he’d caught sight of something that would help explain the symbols. Ty had seen nothing in the temple t
o explain them, nothing that would suggest that they were symbols of the Flame, though he still needed to get up to his brother’s old room.

  He slipped along the bench, mimicking Bingham. When he neared the end, the gathered celebrants started to sit. Ty had to act quickly. Either he was going to move now, or he was going to end up standing here throughout the rest of the service.

  He lurched ahead and found himself in the hallway leading back to the stairs that headed up into the temple.

  The priests were facing the altar, and the rest of the congregation had focused on the priests, which gave Ty the opportunity to try to slip away through here, if only so he could head to his brother’s old room.

  When he got into the hallway, he paused, looking back out into the temple. It didn’t seem as if anybody had paid any attention to him. It wasn’t completely uncommon for the celebrants to get up and go to the dragons, as if to worship alongside the massive stone sculptures, though no one else within the temple had done so this time.

  Ty lingered there for just a moment and then hurried along the hallway. He raced up the stairs, keeping his feet light, his steps quick. He could feel the energy within the temple from the chanting and the celebration and marveled that their voices could still be heard all the way up here.

  He counted off the levels that he passed, finally coming to the one where Albion had resided, and once there he paused a moment, looking around. Nobody moved here, and Ty stayed for a moment but didn’t see anything.

  He hurried along the hall until he got to Albion’s former room. He tested the handle. It was locked, and he hurriedly picked it, glancing in either direction and constantly thinking that he might get caught, but thankfully there was no sign of anyone in the hall. It opened. Ty slipped inside and closed the door, leaning back against it, breathing out a soft sigh. He thought about the last time he was here and what it had been like when he had visited with his brother, along with how he had felt then.

  He had been working through how he was going to help Albion ever since learning that Albion was the Dragon Thief. Ty had come up with no straightforward solution but figured he would start with the one person he thought he might be able to reach, though he wasn’t even sure if that were true. The Tecal had not been after Albion. She had been after the egg, using Ty and Albion in order to serve a different purpose.