“He seems fine here,” Runa says, “and my parents hardly ever come in now that mucking out the stables is my chore.” She wrinkles her nose.
“Hi, Little Puff,” I say, nudging him with my gift. He chirps and hops closer to me. I lower my hand, and he rubs his beak against my finger. “Is he hungry?” I ask Runa. “Have you been feeding him?”
“Of course,” she says indignantly. “I wouldn’t let him starve.”
I cup my hands, and Little Puff nestles happily onto my palms. “I have so much to tell you,” I say to Runa as Little Puff chirps contentedly.
Runa listens with wide eyes as I explain about the Vondur magic I sensed in the Realm, the sick icefoxes, the Fairy’s Gold, and the hints Papa gave me.
“Wow,” Runa says when I’m finished. “Do you really think you can find it?”
“I have to try. The plague is spreading fast, and I don’t know if the attempted quarantine is working. If there’s even one creature who didn’t get behind the boundary spell, or if it’s still spreading through the water… the whole Realm could be infected unless we make the cure.”
“I’ve been refining my potion technique,” Runa says, beaming. “The meadowsweet and peppermint balance each other out well. Elder Ingvar helped me find a more effective way to chop the figrose roots, and I whipped up a much stronger batch. All it needs is one more ingredient. If Fairy’s Gold really does exist, it could be the missing piece.”
“It’s settled, then,” I say. “I just have to find the Fairy’s Gold, and the cure will be ready.”
Runa’s eyes widen. “Are you going to search for it tonight?”
I sigh. “I don’t think so. For one thing, the forests will be really dark, so I won’t be able to see where I’m going. And for another, I promised my papa that I wouldn’t search alone. He thinks the magic in that part of the Realm might be dangerous.”
“Sounds smart,” Runa says. Little Puff chirps from my hands as if to agree.
I roll my eyes. “He’s just being overly cautious. But I did promise. And anyway, I need to check on some of the creatures in the quarantine tonight. I’ve been bringing the sick gyrpuffs food and water, and now I need to do that for the icefoxes too. By the time I finish all that, I won’t have time to search for Fairy’s Gold. So I’ll have to wait until morning. I’ll convince Ari to go with me first thing.”
“That’s a good plan,” Runa says. “Is there anything you need me to do?”
“Keep a fresh batch of the potion ready,” I say. “As soon as I find the Fairy’s Gold, we’ll need it.”
“I can do that. Elder Ingvar has been helping me with it.”
I frown. “You haven’t told him what it’s for, have you?”
“Of course not. I haven’t told anyone about the plague. I just said that you asked me to make a potion with these ingredients and that I didn’t know why.”
“And he accepted that?” I ask, raising my eyebrows.
Runa laughs. “Bryn, you’re a Seeker now. Everyone in the village respects the Seekers, and none of us have any idea what you actually do in the Realm on a daily basis. So most people just do what the Seekers want without asking any questions.”
“Really? They’re not curious to learn more about what the Seekers are doing?”
Runa rolls her eyes. “Just because you’ve always been endlessly curious about being a Seeker doesn’t mean anyone else is. Most people don’t ask a thousand questions about magic on a regular basis, you know.”
“Well, they’re missing out,” I say. “If I didn’t ask a thousand questions, how would I ever learn anything?” I give Little Puff a gentle pat, and he ruffles his feathers. “Isn’t that right, little guy?”
Runa smiles. “I guess that’s why you’re a Seeker now. That, and the fact that you have a very talented healer friend helping you out all the time.”
“You’re right. I’ll have to thank my very talented healer friend the next time I see them. I’d be lost without them.”
She shoves my shoulder lightly. “Yes, you would be lost without me, and you’re welcome.”
“Thanks, Runa. Seriously. I know you’re working hard on the potion.”
She grins. “Go find me some Fairy’s Gold, then, Seeker Bryn.”
Little Puff chirps in agreement.
SEVENTEEN
Come on, you silly dragon!”
Lilja snorts indignantly, shaking out her wings and refusing to budge. She’s tired of going near the ice forests and knows perfectly well that I’ll leave her behind once we hit the boundary. But I don’t have a choice. I have to check up on the icefoxes, and Lilja can’t come with me into their territory. Not to mention that I have to go through the new quarantine spells to get anywhere close to the icefox caves, and I don’t want Lilja on the other side.
Try explaining all of that to a stubborn baby dragon.
“It’s only for a minute, I promise! The little icefoxes need food!” I wish Ari were here to help soothe her emotions, but he was exhausted after Seeker Ludvik and Seeker Freyr asked him for help in the Realm today, so I told him to go home and sleep, and he was too tired to argue. But now that I’ve got a defiant dragon on my hands, I’m regretting that decision.
Lilja’s ears pull back, and she raises her chin haughtily.
“I know you don’t want to go closer, but it’s too far for me to walk by myself.” I cross my arms over my chest and give her a stronger push with my gift. “Just take me a little farther, Lil!”
For a moment she doesn’t move, and I think I’ve convinced her. But then she huffs, and gray smoke shoots from her nostrils. With a rumble of protest, she folds her legs and lies down on the ground.
“Lilja! I’ll give you a whole bilberry pie or something, okay?”
She doesn’t move.
“Lilja! Come on!” I say in my most enticing voice, pretending I’m not frustrated. “This way! Let’s go! It’ll be fun.”
She blinks once before closing her eyes.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Are you taking a nap?”
I reach for my gift, prepared to surround Lilja’s life force with an even bigger push—
Something flickers in the trees, and my gift is drawn to it. Another life force, a big one. Cautiously I send my gift closer, trying to figure out what’s moving through the trees. Lots of things live in this forest. It could be a sea wolf or a unicorn or—
It’s human.
I freeze.
Lilja senses either my tension or the new arrival or both. Her eyes snap open, and she’s on her feet in seconds, opening her jaws wide, her spikes rising.
There are only two possibilities I can think of, and neither one is good. The first is that another Seeker is in the Realm, and I’m about to get in trouble again.
But the other possibility is even worse.
The Vondur that Ari and I sensed before might be back.
An image of the plague-infected glacier full of Vondur magic flashes in my mind, and I shudder.
As quietly as I can, I slip down from Lilja’s back. A low growl fills her throat, but I hush her, giving her scales a pat, and she quiets down, though her body is still tense and her spikes are standing on end.
I try to use as little of my gift as possible so that the light won’t give me away. Carefully, I creep forward toward the mysterious life force, stepping gingerly around fallen branches and twigs so as not to make any sound. Even Lilja is moving more quietly than usual, her feet sliding almost soundlessly across the forest floor.
The figure appears to be walking rapidly, their life force moving through the trees at a brisk pace. I nearly have to run to keep up, dodging tree limbs and darting around bushes blocking the path. It’s too dark to see well, and I can’t make out any sign of them ahead.
Following the flicker of their life force, Lilja and I race south through the trees until we break into a small clearing. I halt Lilja at the tree line and study the darkness before us. At the end of the clearing, a massive shape is moving
, and I identify the second life force that has joined the first.
Another dragon.
The mysterious figure is just barely visible as a shadow against the trees, climbing onto the dragon’s back. I let out a sigh of relief. It’s got to be a Seeker. I don’t know what they’d be doing here so late, but maybe Seeker Ludvik was checking the boundary spells of the quarantine or—
No, that can’t be right. I know all of the Seekers’ dragons, and this one’s life force is completely unfamiliar to me. From what I can see of the shadows, it’s a small dragon too—smaller even than Lilja, which means it’s got to be a baby. Could someone be riding Vin?
I send a little bit of my gift closer, trying to hide it in the trees so that the light won’t be visible at the other end of the clearing. The mysterious person’s life force doesn’t feel right—there’s something off about it, something…
Fear jolts through my spine, and Lilja stiffens beside me.
Vondur magic.
I couldn’t sense it earlier, but we’re close enough now that it’s unmistakable. That’s a Vondur in front of me. Riding a dragon. In the Realm.
I leap forward, but I’m too late—the dragon is rising into the air, taking its rider with it.
“Hurry, Lilja!” I cry, spinning toward her, no longer caring about being quiet. I have to catch up to the Vondur and stop them. Whatever they’re doing, it can’t be good.
Lilja immediately lowers herself to the ground so that I can scramble onto her back, and she whips her wings out without a second of protest. She bursts into the clearing and takes a running start, and we’re in the air in seconds. Unfortunately, the other dragon is fast too, their shadow rapidly disappearing in the distance.
“Hurry, Lilja!” I cry. “Follow them!”
She doesn’t need to be told twice.
With a burst of speed I’ve never seen from her before, she lunges forward, nearly throwing me into the back of her neck. I cling to her scales for dear life as she whips through the dark sky, rapidly gaining on the other dragon.
I don’t know what we’re going to do when we catch up to them, but I can’t just let them disappear. I have to know who this Vondur is, where they came from, and what they’re doing here. This might be the person who used magic to infect the glacier with the plague.
Lilja is flying so fast that her breathing is short and rapid. She wheezes suddenly, and her whole body rattles beneath me.
“It’s okay, Lil, we’re almost there,” I say, but something is wrong. She wheezes again, and her wingbeats rapidly slow.
“Lilja?”
I reach for her energy with my gift. Her life force is weaker than usual—much weaker. Maybe she flew too fast and overexerted herself?
“Take it easy,” I say, trying to soothe her with my gift. “It’s okay, you can go slow—”
She wheezes again, and suddenly we’re falling.
“Lil!” I scream, but her wings don’t beat again to catch us, and we keep falling.
The other dragon is nothing but a smudge in the distance as we drop right out of the sky.
“Lilja!”
As we near the trees, some of her strength seems to return to her. Her wings give a few halfhearted flutters, slowing our momentum, and she rolls sideways, narrowly avoiding a collision with some trees and aiming instead for a clear patch of land ahead. With a start, I realize that it’s Dragon’s Point. We’ve gone much farther south than I thought.
For a second I think we’re going to crash right into the plateau, but somehow Lilja saves the landing, skidding across the rock and stumbling to a halt. I lie against her back, panting, my hands clenched so hard around her spike that for a moment they’re too stiff to move.
When I recover, I immediately slide down from Lilja’s back, filling the air with my gift. Her life source is still weak and trembling, but I don’t see any injuries. “Are you okay, Lil? What happened up there?”
I circle around to her front. She gazes at me, and I gasp.
Her eyes, usually a bright and clear yellow, are now dotted with spots of black.
I reach frantically for her snout, running my hands over her scales, willing it not to be true. Maybe I’m imagining things in the darkness, maybe—
The glow of my gift illuminates her face, and I can’t deny the truth.
Lilja has caught the plague.
EIGHTEEN
I bang on the door of Ari’s hut so loudly that the chickens in the yard’s coop squawk indignantly, and a light flickers on in the neighboring hut. My fist aches, but I keep pounding.
Finally, the door opens, and Ari’s mother stares back at me, eyes wide, the blue light of her gift dancing around her hands. She wraps a shawl around her shoulders. “Bryn—I mean, Seeker Brynja? What’s wrong?”
“Sorry to wake you, Elder Eydis,” I say. “But it’s urgent. I need Ari, now.”
“What’s wrong?” Ari calls, padding to the door and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. His curls are even more disheveled than usual, sticking up in all directions.
“It’s Lilja,” I say, and his eyes widen instantly.
“What happened?”
I glance at his mother. I don’t know whether he’s told her about the plague. “Come with me,” I say.
“Not so fast,” Ari’s mother interrupts, and for a second I think she’s going to forbid him. “Grab your cloak, Ari. It’s freezing out here.”
Ari shuffles from view for a moment and returns, wrapping his Seeker cloak around his shoulders. His mother thrusts a pair of boots into his hands, and he stumbles into them.
Finally, I manage to herd him outside. His mother watches from the doorway as we run into the street, and I head straight for Dragon’s Point.
“Where are we going, Bryn? What’s wrong with Lilja?”
“The plague!” I say, forgetting to keep my voice down in my panic. “I think she’s got it!”
“WHAT?”
As rapidly as I can between breaths, I tell him about the Vondur in the Realm, our rushed pursuit, Lilja’s fall, and the black I saw in her eyes.
“It’s dark,” Ari cuts in finally. “Maybe you didn’t see her properly. Maybe she just tried to fly too fast. Maybe—”
“See for yourself,” I say. “She’s at the Point.”
We race to the top of the plateau without another word, panting in the darkness.
Lilja lets out a happy cry when she sees Ari, but she doesn’t rise from where she’s lying, a clear sign that something’s wrong.
“Lilja?” Ari whispers, his gift filling the air as he rushes toward her. He stares into her eyes, and for a long moment he doesn’t speak.
“Her life force feels all wrong,” he says finally, nearly choking on the words. “I can tell she’s sick. She knows something’s wrong.”
“And her eyes?” I ask, knowing what he’ll say yet hoping I’m wrong.
“I see it. The black. I think you’re right.”
He spins toward me suddenly. “What happened, Bryn? Where did you go?”
I swallow hard. “Just the usual, like I’ve been doing every night. I bring food and water to the gyrpuffs, and I was going to visit the icefoxes—”
“How close did you bring her to the sick animals?”
Maybe it’s the darkness, but there’s an expression on Ari’s face that I can’t read, that I’ve never seen before. I take a step back without thinking, and my next words come out in a jumble. “I—I’ve been making sure that she stays outside the quarantine zones. I don’t know how she was exposed.”
“But we already knew there was a chance that the plague had spread outside of that. How close was she to the boundaries?”
“I don’t… I don’t know. But she didn’t come in contact with any other creatures. She never saw the icefoxes or gyrpuffs directly. Well, except for…”
“Except for what?” He stares me down, waiting for my response.
“Except for Little Puff,” I say quietly. “I… I found a baby gyrpuff abandoned i
n a nest, and I took it out of the quarantine zone.”
“And Lilja came near this gyrpuff? The one that had been in the center of the plague zone?”
“Yes. But I don’t think—”
“Right, obviously you weren’t thinking. How could you take a risk like that?”
“We don’t know that Lilja got sick from Little Puff. Like you said, the plague’s been spreading outside the boundaries, and who knows where she travels when we’re not around, or if it’s reached the Valley of Ash. She could’ve gotten it anywhere.”
“But she could have gotten it from this baby gyrpuff. One that you exposed her to. I can’t believe you’d do something that reckless!” He spins away from me, and I’m not sure if he’s trying to hide his anger or his fear.
If only I were an empath too, so that I’d know what to say.
“I kept trying to tell you,” he says finally. “I kept telling you not to keep going into the Realm, that you didn’t have to cure this thing by yourself. But you thought you didn’t have to listen to anyone else. Even when the other Seekers warned us about not breaking the quarantine and allowing the gyrpuffs to expose other creatures. You’re so convinced you can cure it when no one else can that you put Lilja at risk, and look what happened.”
“That’s not fair,” I protest. “I took precautions, and I never let Lilja cross any boundaries, and she barely interacted with Little Puff at all. We don’t know how she caught it, or…” But my voice drifts off, because I don’t know how to defend myself. Is he… right? Did I do this to Lilja? Did she get the plague because of me?
Without another word, Ari climbs onto Lilja’s back, moving carefully so as not to hurt her. “I’m going to try to get her back to the valley. She’ll be safer in her den, instead of exposed out here.”
“I’ll come with you and—”
“No,” he says, not looking at me. “Just get out of here.”
“But we need to heal her,” I say. “Together, maybe we can—”
“Bryn,” he says. “Just listen to me for once. Please.”
Legend of the Realm Page 15
