Says the guy who once carried him in his mouth.
I would have tasted it if he was evil. Evil tastes like lima beans.
Now, that had to be a joke.
“Well, it’s difficult,” Savette said, leaning her forehead against the wall.
I drew in a deep breath. I should have remembered this. I shouldn’t have let it fester in her.
“Savette,” I said. “I want you to know that if you are saying that Rakturan is beyond suspicion, then I believe you and I will trust your judgment. You have my full confidence.”
“I want you to swear.”
“Swear what?” I was practically bouncing in place. I needed her to concentrate and find a way out of here!
“Swear that no matter what happens you’ll trust Rak and give him the benefit of the doubt.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I didn’t like making this promise. I was naturally wary of people. But I had much bigger things to worry about.
“I promise.”
She smiled. Light filled the room and with it was the sound of rock scraping against rock as the glow around her hands became brighter and brighter and brighter until all I could see was white. I fell to my knees, my hands covering my ears against the screeching scrape.
As soon as the sound was gone, I opened my eyes. A tunnel – barely wider than a dragon – stretched out in front of us into the deep black of underground night.
“What did you do?” A tingle of awe ran across my arms as I spoke. Had she drilled a tunnel through the rock?
“It used to be here, but the ground shifted down at this fault. The entrance was below the floor, so it didn’t line up anymore. I just reminded it that this was its place and that it belonged here. Just like Rak and I belong together.”
Was it really that simple?
To her it is. Isn’t that magical?
Chapter Ten
Shouts and curses from outside the door were all it took for me to shake out of my stunned haze and pull myself back up on my feet. My crutch wobbled a little as I rushed toward the door. There were going to be some very concerned people on the other side of that door.
Yes, but not concerned about you.
What?
We’ve been busy, too.
I unbarred the door to chaos. The refugees huddled in the door to their sleeping quarters. In the center of the Great Hall, Iskaris and Ashana were nose to nose, faces red and spewing words at such an alarming volume and pace that they weren’t worth trying to understand. Besides, the cause was obvious.
Across the room, the door to the anteroom had been transformed into something large enough to allow a dragon to enter. The raw edges of the newly-expanded doorway glowed red hot and the rock that was once carved in straight lines was now a rippled circle.
Dragons could melt stone?
When you convince seven of them at once to really concentrate...
I scanned the room for injuries. Surely someone was hurt from that.
Have a little faith in us. Ashana went into the room first and had everyone back up.
No time to discuss it. There was room for dragons to come through. There was an entrance to the warrens. We needed to start moving before the Ifrits burst through the door and got in here with us.
I thought I heard something crumbling behind us a moment ago.
Then we needed to move quickly. Across the room, Hubric hurried through the very center of the cooling door, his leathers and hair smoking slightly as he made his way through. Skies and Stars! That door would light anyone but a dragon on fire! Aliss was next, with Daieseo. They hurried towards the huge storeroom door. A door, I realized in retrospect, that was plenty large enough for a dragon. Perhaps this room had been designed to be entered from a different direction.
Okay, this is the plan. No objecting, anyone. Raolcan must have been talking to more people than just me. While Ashana keeps Iskaris busy we need to move. Aliss and Daieso have volunteered to lead the way with Rasipaer. Ashana will catch up when she is ready. They will navigate the caverns as best as they can. The refugees must follow while the dragoons are still distracted. Savette, speak with them now. They have come to trust you. Impress upon them the need to hurry.
Savette rushed off toward the refugees, leaving me standing in the doorway. I hustled to the side as Aliss and Daieseo barreled through. Aliss signed a greeting as the two headed into the storeroom. Had the dragoons missed what happened within?
Iskaris isn’t budging on a surrender and that can’t be allowed. We will all die if we surrender. No, no objections.
Clearly, someone wasn’t seeing eye to eye with him on this.
I’m pulling rank for once and you’ll follow my plan. Because I’m a Dragon Prince, that’s why!
Someone had dared to challenge him! I wouldn’t do that. It made me feel nervous just to think about it.
Back to the plan – Savette and Eeamdor are next after the refugees. Amel, go and prepare the Dominar to be transported. He will ride on my back. Because you’re lightheaded and down a wing, Ayancig! I saw how you stumbled when we flamed. If you Silvers don’t stop fighting me on this, I’ll leave you here. Understood?
Ah. It was the Silvers who were objecting. I hurried across the hall, stunned that Iskaris had not yet noticed the stream of refugees running to the storeroom behind his back. He was shouting at Ashana about the hole in the wall, his face red and arms flailing while the guards on either side of him had their weapons drawn. They looked back and forth between their angry leader and the fleeing refugees, clearly uncertain whether to support his rage or find out what was going on.
I darted past them, ducking into the Dominar’s room. The two dragoons stationed there leapt to their feet.
Kyrowat and Hubric will go next, then the Silvers and Dragoons. Because you are warriors, Ayancig, and you will want to bring up the rear. Even I know that much. Oh, yes, be my guest, complain away. When your master awakens he can reverse all of this, but while he is vulnerable, I’m taking the reins and yes that pun is intended!
Wow, I’d never heard Raolcan sound so intense! I rushed toward the Dominar but had to throw up my unoccupied hand and stop in my tracks when they crossed their blades in front of me.
“No one approaches the Dominar without our permission.”
Chapter Eleven
“We need to go,” I said. “The Ifrits are almost through the door. Whether we plan to run or surrender, the Dominar needs to be moved to a pallet for transport.”
They looked at each other before nodding and stepping aside. They both looked worn and haunted, like there wasn’t much life left in them.
“Lieutenant Iskaris has decided to surrender, then?” one of them asked.
I shrugged. “Can we use the pallet you brought him on?’
“No, but we can use the tick mattress on the bed if we use the rope lattice from the old pallet.”
I followed him to the bloody, discarded pallet. He was right. The ropes were the only salvageable part of it. Together, we detached them from the rest of the makeshift rig, took Hubric’s mattress off the narrow bed and laid it in the net of ropes and tied it in, rushing to cover it with the sheets and blankets of the bed. Would we have enough supplies with us, like bandages and water?
Savette packed up a few things for our saddlebags. Hurry.
“Have you seen Ifrits before?” the Dragoon asked me as we worked. “You looked like you knew how to fight them.”
“We’ve been encountering them for the past few weeks,” I said. No need to get into details while we hurried. “There. I think that will hold him. Can you two carry him from the bed to the pallet?”
They nodded and lifted him carefully from one to the other, his mask never shifting. We tied one of the ropes around him to keep him from falling and tried to make it as comfortable as possible.
“Have you seen anyone surrender to them before?” the Dragoon asked.
I paused. “No one really has time for that. They usually die before th
ey have a chance.”
He nodded grimly, as if he had expected that. Why was he willing to surrender, knowing what it meant?
No more time for chitter chatter. I’m outside the door. Bring the Dominar.
“Can you lift the pallet?” I asked the Dragoons. “Follow me.”
We rushed out of the room to the chaos beyond.
“What are you doing? Return your liege to his room!” Iskaris yelled as we emerged, but Raolcan was already barrelling past him, skidding to a stop in front of us.
“Load the pallet on Raolcan,” I said, ignoring Iskaris. “Try to balance it on the saddle between his shoulders.”
“Not hanging from the side?” the Dragoon who had asked about the Ifrits asked. He looked nervously at Iskaris, but his mouth was set in a hard line and I knew he was with me on this. This was the only hope of saving the life of our ruler.
Jakvar. That’s the Dragoon’s name.
“It’s too narrow where we are going. He needs to be up top, so we can squeeze through tight spaces.”
“I said stop!” Iskaris said, shoving Ashana out of his path. She recovered her balance, drawing a long knife from her belt and lowering into a fighting stance.
“Surrender is death, Lieutenant,” she called back. “We have only one option. We flee and possibly save the life of our Domianar, or we all die.”
“Listen,” Iskaris said. “I’m the Dominar’s personal guard. Would I really put his life in danger if there were another alternative?”
“You would if you were Dusk Covenant,” I said, quietly.
“What’s the Dusk Covenant? I’m a dragoon lieutenant and nothing more.”
“Then come with us,” Ashana said. “Save your master. We’ve found a way out. Probably.”
Iskaris’ face twisted with indecision, but as he paused to consider, the Dragoons with me hurried to load the Dominar on Raolcan’s back. Without waiting for a reply from Iskaris, Raolcan rushed toward the storeroom and I hobbled after him, the two Dragoons with me.
The Silver dragons waited for us to pass before following Raolcan into the storeroom. The moment we went through the door, I heard a cracking sound.
The door gives way. Run.
I wasn’t much of a runner. Not with a bad leg and a crutch.
Grab the side of my saddle. Use me instead of a crutch.
I grabbed the side of his saddle with my left arm, letting the crutch dangle from its strap, and took long one-legged leaps, letting Raolcan bear most of my weight.
Just like that!
Ashana shouted from behind me, but it was no longer shouts of anger, but shouts of fear and urgency. Iskaris called out, too. Was he fleeing with us, then?
As the dark of the warrens swallowed us up, I realized belatedly that I had not thought to bring a light.
There is a lantern and flint in my saddlebags. When we stop, we can light it – if we have time.
A dim, shadowy light flickered occasionally in front of us.
The others have lanterns. Theirs are lit, but the passages twist and turn.
As we turned our first corner, a powerful boom shook the ground. I knew without having to be told that the door had been breached. There would be Ifrits behind us now, and dark earthy places were their natural territory.
Chapter Twelve
I wasn’t sure how long we’d been running when Ashana passed us.
“The Dragoons came, too,” she said between gasps of breath. “They’re behind you as a vanguard. I’m going to catch up with Kyrowat. He says the path branches up ahead and decisions will need to be made. He’ll keep Raolcan in the loop. You’ll catch up to Hubric soon. He’s just ahead of you.”
The passage was too tight for a dragon to pass another dragon. Ashana barely squeezed by me. Whatever position we were in was where we were stuck. Behind us, there were only the Dragoons and Iskaris and the two Silvers to defend against the Ifrits. I swallowed, my lips thinning as I thought about how the man I trusted least was our rear-guard. None of the Dragoons had much drive left except for Iskaris – the possible traitor. Despite his denials, I didn’t believe that he wasn’t Dusk Covenant.
“Maybe the Ifrits are too large to fit in the passage,” I said, gasping for breath. Raolcan’s support was a huge help, but it was still effort to half-hobble, half-be carried.
The passage is still taller than it is wide. You can hop up on my back when we stop. It might be a better place to keep an eye on the Dominar from, anyway.
“Don’t place any bets on that,” Ashana said. “They didn’t look very solid when we fought them. I think they could twist those smoke and dust forms into something slender enough to squeeze through these warrens.”
I felt a spike of fear thinking of Ifrits pouring into the warrens like oil through a funnel, with nothing but a handful of half-hearted Dragoons and two broken Silver dragons between them and me.
“Hold steady,” Ashana said.
Raolcan’s silence in my mind only deepened my fears. After all, if he wasn’t rushing to counter them and comfort me, then they must be accurate.
Hold steady, like Ashana said. Fear is the friend that makes us quick to respond and the enemy that makes our minds grow sluggish. Take the gift and reject the curse it carries.
Good advice. In the cloying darkness, my hearing felt like it was expanding outwards to fill the surrounding world. I could hear Raolcan’s every breath and even the steady metronome of his heart. Behind us, scuffling, curses in the dark and the clink of metal against rock. What if they ran faster than us? What if one of them plunged his sword into my back, not knowing I was there?
From ahead of us, all I heard was the occasional echo of a voice. I wished I could see. I wished Raolcan would flame – just enough to see what was in front of us so we didn’t fall into a hole.
Actually, I can see just fine in the dark. And if I flame right now, I’ll torch Ashana and I don’t think she’d like that.
Could he see how far behind us the Silvers and Dragoons were?
I don’t have eyes in the back of my head, Amel.
Then they could be creeping up in this mineral-smelling cave, and they would never know I was here...
Except that I can read the Silvers’ minds and I know they are still a little behind us. But the Ifrits are behind them. They follow us into the deep dark.
Did he have any idea how creepy that sounded? The idea of anyone following me in the dark was terrifying. When I added in the idea of horrific earth demons, I felt like I might need a rest stop soon.
Hold your nerve. We come to the first gateway.
Gateway?
These warrens were made by the Elders before Haz’draen birthed us, before she was an egg herself.
That must be old.
Older than you can imagine. They are so old that they are dangerous. We dragons maintain the ones we use often, but this is far from where we go. No one has been here for hundreds of years, but I sense the magic here.
Magic? He could somehow sense magic?
Dragon magic.
I didn’t know dragons had magic.
Not many of us do, but in the old days there were many magical dragons and they were the ones who made these warrens in defiance of the laws of the world – held in stasis by their great power – a place to flee to when our enemies gather. A way to reach one another when the skies are inhospitable.
It seemed strange that dragons would build cave systems when they were creatures of the air.
Stranger than how we moved rivers and mountains?
Their world was one I’d never suspected.
Humans always assume they are the pinnacle and just live like it’s true. It isn’t true. You are only a small part of the world, though you matter a great deal to me.
Ahead, I thought I saw a faint glow of light. The glow grew stronger.
Hold tight to me now.
I gripped his saddle tightly. Ahead, the light called to me. I leaned out from Raolcan to try to see it.
No, t
uck in tight. I don’t want you falling off the ledge.
Ledge? I looked down. We were emerging from a tight tunnel to a wide open space. As the cave opened up, the floor became a stone bridge with nothing but a black drop in either side of the narrow rock. Thank goodness for the glow! Someone must have lit a torch ahead. I strained my eyes to see, hugging close to Raolcan and when we finally took a small turn in the path, I gasped.
In the center of the massive cavern was an island-like hub and out from it, a variety of bridge-paths branched out. The center of the hub was a massive statue of a rearing dragon. It was not the lanterns in the hands of the refugees or Savette’s eyes that lit my path now, but the faint glow that surrounded the dragon statue. At his feet, purple swirls and dips of a regular size and similar shapes glowed like glyphs.
They are glyphs carved by a dragon claw. They channel the power of the gateway, but see how faint the glow is? The power here is faint. There will not be enough to transport all of us.
He wasn’t making any sense. Transport? Wasn’t it just a sign that told us which path led where?
It does that, too. Raolcan said as we stepped onto the center island. I felt a tension within me ease as soon as my feet hit the more solid rock of that center hub. In the ghost-like light, I searched for familiar faces, sighing with relief at each one. Savette and Eeamdor. Hubric and Kyrowat. Ashana and Rasipaer. The huddled refugees, silent in either awe or terror.
Under the feet of the huddled refugees a glowing sigil in a ring faintly pulsed. The pattern of it moved as if it were alive. It was almost as if it were welcoming them, since they stood within the ring, but there wasn’t room for a single body more in that swirling, moving sigil.
See the sigil they stand on? It can take them far from here with a single word from me. I think there remains enough power to do that. Usually, you can do it often with only a small break between transports. Right now, with the glow so dull and the power so drained? We will be lucky if it moves them once. It will certainly not have the power to move all of us.
Dragon School_Dark Night Page 4
