You might be rubbing off on me. Don’t tell anyone.
Just follow the plan.
I was starting to get nervous. I didn’t like the way my breath hitched in my throat and my thoughts scattered like leaves in the wind. Hold it together, Tor! Hold it together.
It was time to take the gamble.
Chapter Fourteen
IT WAS A TIGHT SQUEEZE for Saboraak to push through the door while I held it open. This building wasn’t made for dragons. Once she was in, I followed, circling her to come to rest beside her snout. She placed it delicately on the counter.
“I knew you’d eventually see the light,” Karema Lo’Torlan said, coming through the sliding door to the backroom.
She moved lightning fast – much faster than I expected a middle-aged woman to move. She was nose-to-nose with me before I could gasp, her eyes narrowing as they squinted into mine. There was a glimmer of silver in them, swirling like milk in tea.
I took a step back, but she reached beneath the counter and pulled at something and with a snick the long counter began to slide, grinding like rock on rock as it withdrew into one of the walls. Karema smiled with satisfaction and then stepped forward to fill my vision again.
I gave her my best cheeky grin – middle-aged women loved it – and tried to ignore the stab of fear down my spine.
“I see all sorts of things,” I said, lifting an eyebrow suggestively. Let her guess what that meant. It was important to keep an opponent on their toes, always guessing what you were really saying. “I’d like to see Zin.”
“Of course, you would.” She stepped back, and I swallowed.
While we were talking, people had crept into the room, forming a circle around the edges. A big man just behind Karema shoved Zin at me before I could even get a good look at him. She stumbled into my arms with a squeak and I tottered backward, trying to stabilize us both. She shoved something into my trouser pocket so fast that I doubt anyone would have seen her move and then, when we had caught our balance, she looked up at me with huge eyes – eyes that were actually looking at me – not faraway like they usually were. There was a plea in them.
“The girl may go,” Karema said, her words like iron. “You, must stay.”
Wait. What?
“That wasn’t the deal,” I said.
“The deal was for the dragon,” Karema said coolly. “But we are not fools. We know how this works. Without you, the dragon is useless to us. So – you come with the dragon. Tell your friend to go quietly. No need for her to get hurt, hmmm?”
I swallowed.
“Go, Zin,” I whispered. I hoped she could find her way to Zyla. Or that Zyla would find her. I hoped she would be okay. It felt like letting a child leave unsupervised. She was too innocent for a city – too vulnerable.
Someone behind us opened a door.
“Don’t even think about it, Tor,” Karema said smoothly. “Any move from you and we will snatch her back. And yes, we know your name.”
My smile twisted into something darker. Of course, she knew my name. Apeq told her. I had no doubts about that. Especially now.
I watched Zin walk out the wide doors and tried to keep from clenching my fists. Now what, Saboraak? Should I jump on your back and we can flame our way out of here?
You know I hate to kill people.
Even if they were trying to kill us?
I shall make an exception in this case.
I shifted toward her, about to mount when there was a low laugh. The big man – the one I hadn’t had time to look properly at – was laughing. He looked familiar, though I couldn’t place his face at first. His head had a scarf wound around it veiling his face and he wore a short black coat and gray breeches. Had I seen him before? When he spoke, all doubt faded away.
“You are clever for a street urchin,” Shabren the Violet said. He looked different outside his violet robes, but his voice remained the same. I would have known it anywhere. It haunted my dreams. “That’s what you were before Hubric recruited you, isn’t it? I heard word from the men I stationed at his mountain retreat that the two of you were together. So now I know why you robbed me of those girls. But, no matter. I do not need them. I do not even need the Kav’ai who was with them – not with you here.”
“Let me guess,” I said smugly. “You’re looking for fashion advice. Purple never was your color, but that scarf isn’t doing much for you, either.”
“Always the joker. You really think you can talk yourself out of this? Tell him what to expect, Karema.”
Behind me, the door slammed shut. Zin was free. I didn’t hesitate. I pulled my dagger free from my belt and launched myself toward Shabren. The man was lightning fast, but it wasn’t his wild dodge that sent me flying, it was something powerful slamming me from behind like the fist of a giant.
I slammed into the doorframe behind Shabren and dropped to the ground, my whole body shaking and convulsing. I couldn’t stop it, couldn’t control it, couldn’t even form words from behind my chattering teeth.
“Don’t kill him! We need him alive to manage the dragon.”
I wanted Saboraak to run. I wanted her to flame them all, but she wasn’t doing any of that. Docile, she waited as one of the side walls slid open to reveal a staircase. Like a pet dog, she followed Karema’s gentle urgings.
“Come along, dragon. Follow Karema.”
She followed.
“Take him below and lock him up. He won’t be able to move again today.” Shabren’s voice seemed far away.
I was still shaking uncontrollably when rough hands lifted me up and carried me after her. I couldn’t control my head and neck and when we took a turn at the bottom of the staircase and I lost sight of Saboraak. I felt a tear leaking from the corner of my eye.
Trust me, she said as my consciousness faded away.
My last thought was that it had been a mistake to trust anyone – even myself.
Chapter Fifteen
I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN that there would be a trap there for me. I should have known that people like that didn’t make deals. They took what they wanted one way or another. They only let people go when they had no value. Fortunately, they hadn’t thought Zin was valuable and they didn’t think Zyla was. Maybe, they’d even let go of the idea of needing Bataar. If I was lucky, all my friends had escaped unharmed except for Saboraak.
When I woke, cursing and grumbling, I found myself in a huge room, twice as tall as it was wide – and it was wide. The room was divided into two parts with a wall of bars down the middle and a barred door to enter or exit between them. On the other side of the bars lay Saboraak. She was lying right up against them as if worried about me.
I’ve been very worried.
On her side of the room, there was also the trapdoor we’d hidden under just a day ago and a large arched door that looked identical to the one we’d flown through to get to Ko’Koren.
On my side of the bars, there were shelves and shelves of items. Some of them had small paper tags tied to them. Shelves soared toward the ceiling, shelf upon shelf, so high that ladders stretched up between them, rolling on small wheels to span the shelves.
Apparently, I was an artifact just like the rest. Available for trade ... or study. Perhaps I would end up a shriveled skeleton on one of those shelves with a small paper tag attached to me.
Don’t be so dramatic.
We’ve been kidnapped and imprisoned and you think I’m being dramatic?
No one has tried to kill us yet.
Then what was their plan?
Saboraak looked sheepish. What did she know?
Shabren is from the Dominion, so he knows about our bond.
And?
He knows that if you die, I will be useless.
They were keeping me alive to use Saboraak. They’d said as much. What did they want her for?
That has yet to be determined.
Did that mean they didn’t know what they wanted her for, or that she didn’t know?
I don’t know. I’ve been tryi
ng to read their thoughts, but I can only read what’s being thought in the moment and trust me, it is not a pleasant experience. Karema is an ambitious woman – driven and hungry. But Shabren – there is something rotten inside him – something that affects everything he is near. I don’t like going near his thoughts.
Well, I didn’t like being caged. We all had to make sacrifices.
It’s not simply that it’s unpleasant, Tor. Thoughts are infectious. And I am particularly vulnerable.
How was that true?
I am compassionate.
I thought she was always saying that a lack of compassion was my weakness.
I am. But a lot of compassion is also a weakness. I can see things from many perspectives, feel things from a thousand different narratives. It leaves me open to ... altered viewpoints. Ideas not filtered through logic or objective truth. It leaves me ... weak to the narratives of others if they are strong enough.
You mean he could change your mind?
An apt summary.
That was ridiculous.
I fear for my integrity.
There was no way I’d let her become infected by someone’s erroneous view of the world. I’d just set her straight. No one could fool me that way.
It’s true. Your imperviousness to the opinions of others lends you an armor in this that I simply do not possess.
Could she get me out of here? Nothing would be a problem if we weren’t here to deal with it.
I could flame my way free, but that would still leave you trapped. I can’t rip your bars apart with my mouth and I fear that were I to try to flame you loose, I may inadvertently kill you.
We were in quite a pickle.
It was long hours before we saw anyone and when we did, it was one of the jewelry-bedecked counter women. She seemed surprised to see me awake but she left food and water for me and water for Saboraak. She didn’t say anything, not even when I gave her my most charming grin and offered to play cards with her, but I did see a silver swirl in her eye as she left. Either my imagination was playing tricks on me, or all the people at the Bright Redemption had that same swirl in their eyes.
The hours dragged. I went from fearful to bored and frustrated.
This was all Hubric’s fault. After all, he sent us here without proper guidance. If we had clear instructions, we wouldn’t have trusted the wrong people and ended up in this mess. If I ever saw him again, I’d want some answers.
Eventually, I remembered the book Zin had jammed in my pocket and brought it out. If nothing else, it would help with the boredom.
I flipped through to the pages with the cramped hand. Those ones interested me the most. Anyone who took time to write something down when they were clearly under a lot of stress must have something important to say.
I flipped too far in the book, to the last few blank pages and a folded page fell out. I picked it up, unfolding it. The writing here was nothing like the flowing letters of the Ibrenicus prophecies or even the scrawled commentary. It looked more like a spider had walked across the page, sliding in the ink. It said
Headstrong Bull,
Three there stand but four there be,
One the shape of gnarled tree,
Wait for moon before you go,
Fail and you will never know.
H
Cryptic.
Headstrong Bull – that’s funny. It’s almost as if it were written to you.
Tor meant bull in the tongue of the ancients. That’s what Ephretti told me. I didn’t really like that. Bulls were not known for their sneakiness or intelligence.
Why not?
Because they were big and ungainly.
So are dragons. No one would make the mistake of thinking us unintelligent.
You’d be surprised. People can make some pretty stupid mistakes.
It could be a note to me. After all, Hubric had given me the book and “H” could easily be him. I repeated the little poem to myself a few times. It rhymed nicely, and it stuck in your head. Could it be possible that I’d been blaming Hubric this whole time for leaving me without direction when he’d left me a note?
I think so, yes.
Could it be that this note would take us right to whatever we were meant to find?
Maybe.
But why write it in a riddle?
Aren’t you a spy?
And spies were clandestine. They snuck in shadows and passed coded messages to hidden allies. They had hideouts and cool items to help and amazing allies.
Ahem.
And the best of the best in fighting power.
That’s me.
And ingenious mastermind plans.
That would have been nice an hour ago.
If I could just puzzle out this riddle, then I could find out what Hubric wanted.
I hate to burst your bubble, but it probably isn’t a bunch of cool stuff. If this riddle leads to something, it’s probably just better instructions. He wouldn’t want to leave them directly in the book. That might be too obvious. Too easy to slip into the wrong hands.
I pondered the note as the day passed, pulling systematically at each door and trying the hinges as I thought. I investigated the items on the lower shelves with an equally systematic approach, comparing them, by light of the brazier, to the scrawled pictures in the book I’d stolen. None of them matched, though they were endlessly intriguing. I couldn’t even tell what half of them were.
Three there stand but four there be.
What three? What four?
I pondered it as day faded to night and our captors came down to feed us, refill the coal in the braziers and shove a blanket through the bars for me.
“Don’t mess with the items on the shelves or Karema will be angry,” was all the woman in jewelry said as she left.
The stuff they give dragons to eat in this place is disgusting. Can I have your coal?
I needed that fire to survive the night.
You can sleep pressed up against me.
With metal bars between us?
It will be fun.
I pondered it as Saboraak ate the coals from her own brazier, complete with the fire rushing through them.
Pondered it as I stared at the doorway on her side of the bars. It seemed to sing to me, a song only I could hear. It was as if it was trying to pull me through the bars toward it. Trust me, doorway, I wanted out of here without any extra pull. What was a doorway like that doing here? Could they be moving people through it like we flew through the other doorway? Perhaps that was what they were discussing when Saboraak and I had been hiding under the floor.
Maybe Saboraak should see if she could go through that metal doorway. She could probably escape that way.
And leave you alone to freeze in the night? I don’t think so.
I’d be happier if I knew she was free and safe. And she could fly, so where could that doorway take her that she wouldn’t survive?
Underwater? The heart of a volcano? So high up the air is too thin for me? I don’t think so! I’m happy to stay here.
Maybe it would spit her out where we started, and she could go for help.
I am not willing to risk it.
Come on, Saboraak!
I won’t budge on this, so you might as well stop asking.
I kept watching the doorway and wishing I could push through the bars to test it myself. I pondered threes and fours as I stared at it until I eventually grew tired and gave in to sleep. I cuddled as close to Saboraak as I could. She was warmer than I would be on my own.
See?
And I dreamed of fours and threes and strange doorways until my eyes popped open.
Chapter Sixteen
“TOR?” THE WHISPER HISSED through the echoing room. I shivered awake. The side of my body pressed along Saboraak was warm, but the air was frosty, and the remaining brazier had burned down to ash.
I didn’t recognize the voice in the dark. I scrambled to my feet, letting the blanket fall to the floor. Who was that?
&nbs
p; A lantern was shoved up through the trapdoor and a figure scrambled up. I didn’t think anyone could get up there without the help of a dragon. You would have to climb that huge cable to do it at all. In the light of the lantern, I saw Bataar straightening.
“Bataar?” It couldn’t be him. Only yesterday I thought he might not survive.
“It’s me, alright,” he said, a grumbling tone in his voice. “You should be glad Zyla likes you so much that she sent me after you. Do you know how hard it was to climb that cable with a lantern in my teeth? Do you know?”
“I have no idea,” I said drily. “Here I was, just relaxing in the comforts of captivity with no respect for all your hard work.”
“I don’t know why those girls like you, Tor. You aren’t the charming guy you think you are.” Bataar strode over to the door of my prison.
“Are they okay? Zyla and Zin?”
“They’re with Apeq. They’ll be fine. He gave them dresses and he was taking them to a dramatic performance this evening.”
Dresses? Dramatic performances? While Saboraak and I rotted here? That was beyond cold! I clearly didn’t need to worry myself about the two of them.
Bataar jiggled the handle on the barred door.
“Don’t bother trying to pick the lock,” I said. “I already did. It’s unpickable.”
“Just because you can’t do a thing doesn’t mean it can be done,” Bataar said airily.
“I’m glad to see that your recent illness hasn’t damaged your sharp tongue,” I replied, but I was actually pleased that he was okay. And I was pleased he was here. At least someone had come to our rescue.
I saw the feather bracelet glint on his wrist. If he was still wearing it, then maybe he wasn’t all the way well. I felt a nervous pang. Maybe he shouldn’t be here trying to rescue me. It could hurt him.
Bataar stopped fiddling with the handle and lifted the lantern to look around the cavernous room. I heard a low whistle as he caught sight of the door.
“Don’t touch it,” I warned. “It could take you anywhere.”
But he had those Ko on his arms, right? Which means he must have seen one of these before.
Dragon Chameleon: Episodes 1-4 Page 20
