Dragonlinked

by Adolfo Garza Jr.

  Our purpose awaits, but we must hurry.

  Aeron and Anaya both turned to the east again, staring.

  “What is it?” Cheddar asked.

  A cold feeling had entered the pit of Aeron’s stomach. “A nahual,” he said, quietly. “Somewhere that way.”

  “A nahual?” Sharrah was aghast. “How do you now?”

  “I can . . . sense it.” Aeron turned and looked at Willem in confusion and fear. “How is that possible?”

  Willem mutely shook his head, unable to explain any of the events so far.

  Aeron’s thoughts were a jumble. What was going on? How could he feel the nahual? And what had happened to his arms? Anaya kept saying they had to go, and he was sure she meant go after the creature he could somehow sense. But he was so afraid of losing her!

  Aeron.

  He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, trying to think. He felt his heart beating in his chest, felt its pulse in his ears and in his arms where the odd bands were. He vaguely heard his friends asking questions, though their words eluded him.

  Could he fight a nahual and defeat it? Could he and Anaya? More importantly, could he risk Anaya? Did he dare? What if . . . what if she were hurt?

  Aeron, we must leave soon or someone might die.

  Abruptly, the memory of Gurt returned. The young farmer sat on his bed, eyes red, tears running down his cheek for his cousin, pain etched in his brow. Could Aeron bear to see another who had lost one they loved? A loved one that perhaps he could have saved?

  From the center of his being, a feeling of stillness, of calm, spread throughout his body. A person could reject it all, could deny it, he supposed. Like he had. But he couldn’t anymore. And though he hated it, though he was terrified, he opened his eyes and ran to get his riding gear.

  “Saddle Anaya up, and fast!” he shouted behind him.

  Jessip followed Ash quickly to the last tree. Back down at the Farm, beyond the hill on which they stood, he could see that the few street lamps scattered around the place already had their shields rotated, sending beams of light to the ground below them. Though true nightfall was still almost half an hour away, the hills that made up the valley wall far to the west blocked the low sun, making it fairly dark.

  “We’ve missed dinner, I just know it!” Ash said as he drilled, still carefully, the last tap hole. “And my fingers are so cold, they’re starting to get numb.”

  The lanterns on the wagon now provided the majority of light in this last grove. The darkening dusk sky contrasted with the merest slivers of bright sunlight burnishing the very tops of the tallest trees.

  “I don’t doubt we’ve missed dinner,” Jessip said. “Does it always take this long to tap the trees?”

  “More or less,” Ash said, clearing the turnings. “We got a very late start, unfortunately. Here, tap this so we can get back.”

  Jessip gently hammered the last tap in place. When he was done, Ash hooked the last covered bucket on it. They quickly placed their tools in the back of the wagon and made their way to the front, rubbing their gloved hands against their legs as they went, trying to warm them up.

  “All the trees looked healthy, so we should have a good run of sap this season,” Ash said as he climbed up into the wagon.

  “I’m sure Proctor Josephine will be glad to hear that.”

  They heard a snap, like a twig breaking. In the near silence of the grove, it was shockingly loud. The horses snorted nervously, and both boys turned their heads.

  Jessip, one foot still on the ground, asked, “You hear that?”

  “Yeah. Sounded like it came from back there.”

  Jessip scanned the trees behind them. It was difficult to see much in the twilight, but he checked the trees anyway. Wolves could be about, and he surely didn’t want a run-in with a pack of those. As he scanned the trees, he saw that there weren’t very many bare twigs on the ground, most of it was covered in snow. There was only one area near the far trees that was somewhat clear of snow. But it was empty, he could see nothing there.

  He climbed in the wagon and said, “I don’t see anything.”

  “Me either. Let’s get back. I’m starving.”

  Jessip flipped the reigns and clucked at the horses to get them started.

  “Can you make them go faster?” Ash asked.

  “I don’t want to go too fast down the hill. The road’s a little rough.”

  Even at the careful pace Jessip set for the horses, it didn’t take very long to get back to the sugar shed. Ash quickly hopped down and grabbed the drills, hammers, and extra taps, running them into the shed. He then scrambled back on the wagon and Jessip started the horses at a walk. As they rounded a building, Ash saw that the curtains in the dinning hall windows were drawn shut.

  “Barbs and blades!” he cursed. “We definitely missed dinner. No one’s in the dinning hall anymore.”

  “There’ll be something still in the warming ovens,” Jessip said. “Proctor Josephine knew we would likely be late.”

  “Yeah, but they were having cobbler for dessert. What if there isn’t any left?” Ash sighed and quietly said, “I love cobbler.”

  Jessip smiled and continued to where they would leave the wagon. As they pulled up, he said, “Look, help me unhitch the horses, and then you can go see what you can find in the warming ovens. I can walk the horses back and stable them myself.”

  “Really? Golden!” Ash grabbed the lead rope from under his seat, hopped off the wagon and started unbuckling the horse on his side, Tiber.

  Jessip grabbed the other lead rope from under his seat, flipped it over his shoulder and climbed down. He began working on the harness of the other horse, Blossom. He spoke to her in a calm soothing voice, stroking her back and her neck as he began undoing the various fastenings. “That’s a good girl.”

  Blossom nickered happily to him as he talked to her.

  “You did well today. A good strong girl you are, pulling the wagon for us. You showed Tiber how it’s done, didn’t you?”

  She blew and pawed the ground.

  Jessip laughed. He liked to think that horses understood what he was saying, and many times, it seemed like they did.

  “Alright, I’ve got Tiber done. You sure you don’t mind?” Ash walked over to Jessip.

  “Not at all. Just be sure to leave something for me, yeah?”

  Ash smiled. “I will. Thanks again!” He raised his hand in gratitude as he turned and ran off to the dining hall.

  Jessip chuckled and turned back to Blossom. When he was done, he attached the lead rope to her halter and lead her clear of the wagon hitch. He then grabbed Tiber’s lead rope and walked the two horses back to the stable, chatting with them as they went.

  The evening wind whipping past made Aeron glad once more for the face masks Willem had designed. And the goggles. He looked behind to the west at the setting sun. It would drop below the horizon in a matter of minutes.

  We are almost there.

  Anaya was right. Aeron could sense that they were very close to the nahual. And Sharrah had been right too—he could see the Farm ahead. This was very likely what Trader Dellia had described.

  “Aeron, the vision,” she had said to him as he had emerged from his bedroom, attaching the last strap at his waist before starting on his jacket.

  “What about it?” he had asked her, distracted.

  “Baronel Farm is that way, the way you two were looking. And her vision described a place just like a farm.”

  He had paused in closing his jacket and thought about what she was saying. “It could be, yes.”

  “And if it is her vision, the nahual will be invisible.”

  Aeron had grunted, thinking on the implications of that as he fastened the flap on his jacket.

  “You have to be careful,” Willem had said. “And don’t forget your riding cap, and your goggles.”

  Aeron had sighed. “I have them. I always do.”

  Anaya changed her flight angle, and the motion brought him
back to the present. She was gliding in for a landing in front of what looked like the main building of the Farm. Could the vision be true?

  It is near.

  Yes, but I can’t tell exactly where. Aeron looked around. It was darker on the ground now, the valley walls fully blocking the lowering sun. Just as they landed, a guard ran from around the building.

  “You there,” Aeron said to the guard, his voice raised. “I need your help.”

  “Who goes there?” the guard asked, staring at Anaya. His sword, drawn, was lowered.

  “My name is Aeron. I’m from the Caer.” The guard was wasting time!

  “The boy with the dragon?”

  Aeron was now fully annoyed with the guard. “I think that should be obvious, no? But that’s beside the point. There is a nahual about. And it might be invisible.”

  “A nahual?” The guard raised his sword and glanced around.

  “Yes. Somewhere around here. We will try to find it from the air. In the meantime, you need to warn people and let the other guards know.”

  Aeron didn’t wait to see whether the guard would do as told. He was done wasting time. He had Anaya lift off, and they rose, her wing beats kicking up snow. Below, he could see the guard run into the building. Good. Maybe he did have some sense after all.

  Let’s try to spot the beast from up here.

  Anaya rumbled her assent and started a search pattern. To the west, the sun was just setting, throwing ruddy beams of light up into the sky. Soon, those would fade to a soft afterglow, and full night would be upon them.

  There were a lot of buildings! From this height, he could dimly see several buildings, the purpose of which he had no idea, along with a few sheds, a couple of stables, some greenhouses, and two tall round towers that he thought he remembered were where grain was stored. He could see that, inside, lightglobes were being unshielded at the main building, as more light was visible from its windows. And it looked like there were two guards going from building to building now. They looked so small, and it was so dark. There were only a few street lamps, and they didn’t cover the entire Farm.

  We’re too high. It’s so dark we won’t be able to see anything from this height. We need to get lower down.

  I can do that.

  Anaya angled down closer to the ground. At this altitude it would be much easier to make out details in the darkness; however, the area they could see was much more limited. It would have to do, Aeron thought. It might take longer to search, but at least now they had a better chance of spotting the creature.

  They made a few passes on the western end of the Farm, looking behind corners and along the paths among the buildings. The sense of the creature was stronger than ever, and Aeron desperately wanted to find it before it had a chance to attack anyone. They continued searching.

  After several minutes, Aeron growled in frustration. The impression was too vague! What use was this sense if it couldn’t pinpoint the creature? He tapped into the feeling he had of the creature again, concentrating harder. Did it seem like maybe the creature was farther east?

  The feeling does seem to be somewhat stronger that way, Anaya remarked.

  Let’s go.

  Anaya skipped past areas they hadn’t searched yet, flew farther east to the middle of the Farm. From there they made several long passes, working their way to the far eastern end. Below, he saw that there were several people out now, slowly making their way around the buildings, searching. Anaya’s last pass brought them to the very far end of the Farm and they had still not located the beast.

  Aeron was now more agitated than ever. Where was the damned creature! Anaya made a wide banking turn to head back for another search run.

  Wait! Down there in the snow, are those tracks?

  A moment.

  Anaya glided closer to the ground. But even at the lower altitude it was too hard to tell what type of tracks they were. Aeron asked her to put down nearby. She landed to the side, being careful not to blow snow over the thin trail. Aeron quickly removed his straps, dismounted, and walked over, squatting next to the tracks.

  These are nahual, alright.

  Anaya walked over and sniffed the trail. She emitted a low angry rumble.

  Aeron stood and looked along the tracks in both directions. They seemed to come from the direction of some low hills behind him and lead to the Farm.

  “Here you go, mister man,” Jessip said, filling Tiber’s grain bowl. “Enjoy your feed. You’ve earned it.” The grain bowl, along with a hay cage, was attached to a swiveling door about three feet off the ground, which, when spun open, allowed them to be filled from outside the stall. It was then a simple matter of swiveling the relatively small door shut so that the cage and bowl were inside the stall, allowing the horse to eat.

  Jessip spun the feed door closed. “It was mighty cold out there sitting around waiting for us to tap those trees, so you deserve more than just hay.”

  Tiber made a happy neighing sound and dug into his feed. Jessip smiled and carried the bucket back to the feed and tack room to refill it for Blossom.

  He loved the smell of the room. It was earthy, from the grain and hay, but it also had the faint sweet undertone from the small amount of molasses that was added to the feed. And commingled with all that was the rich smell of leather from the saddles and halters and other bits of tack, along with the smell of the leather cleaners and conditioners. He breathed it all in, happy.

  Filled bucket in hand, he headed to Blossom’s stall. He grabbed another decent sized flake of hay in passing. He thought he carried it rather expertly with just the one hand.

  Blossom nickered in anticipation as he spun her feed door open.

  “Don’t you worry, Blossom. I’ve got you some tasty fodder too.” He put the hay in the cage and carefully poured the feed into the grain bowl, swiveling the door closed after.

  She nickered happily and nibbled up some feed.

  “That’s a girl. You did great today too and deserve some tasty grain.”

  Now that Tiber and Blossom were curried, watered, and fed, he was pretty much done. But he could wait a few minutes, spend some time with the horses. He leaned over the stall door and watched Blossom as she ate. Was caring for a dragon similar to caring for a horse?

  He stared at Blossom, watched her pull some hay from the cage and eat it. What happened to her, to Tiber, and the other horses at the Farm, was important to him. He was happy when they were happy, felt bad if they got sick or injured, and felt relief when they got better. He raised his brows and grunted, shocked at the realization. He cared about them. A lot. Did Aeron feel for his dragon what he felt for the horses?

  He thought back to the night they had gone before Lord Baronel and of Aeron’s recounting of his discovery of Anaya. Jessip remembered the looks Aeron had given Anaya, the emotion in his voice as he had talked about her. Aeron loved her. Jessip was sure Anaya loved him as well. And from what Jessip gathered, she could talk to him. That was one thing Jessip wished for. That the horses he cared so much for could talk to him.

  He heard someone rattle one of the large doors at the end of the stable. Blossom raised her head in some alarm and snorted. He looked over, but no one came in. Unlike the other doors, which faced the Farm, these faced the open fields and pastures. Had Ash come back to help with the horses after all? Or maybe he was bringing food for Jessip? But why would he use those doors? His stomach rumbled at the thought of food. He was actually pretty hungry.

  “That you Ash?” he asked, loudly.

  There was no response. Blossom squealed quietly and moved to the back of her stall. Jessip heard soft squeals from Tiber, as well as from other horses in the stable. Why were the horses acting so oddly? He glanced at the doors. Was someone out there making them nervous? He grabbed his coat and gloves, put them on and walked over to the large sliding doors. It was probably just wind moving the doors. Silly horses. When he got there, he slid the left door about three feet open and looked outside. There was no one there.
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  Cold night air blew across his face as he looked around. Starlight gave the oddly quiet winter landscape a ghostly pale blue glow. He could see no one around. In fact, the covering of snow on the ground was completely unbroken save for some odd tracks that stopped just before the other door to his right.

  As he walked over to the tracks, he saw a hole form in the white mantle at the end of them, and he stopped, confused. He heard the familiar squeaky-crunchy sound of walking in snow, and a second pit appeared in the snow next to the other. That’s odd, he thought. Those two holes now looked like two new tracks at the end of the others.

  He suddenly heard an eerie buzzing and his chest exploded in pain. With a part of his mind, he heard the horses stomping and squealing loudly. Then he couldn’t think clearly anymore.

  Quickly! We have to find it soon!

  Anaya, responding to his request, flew even faster along the tracks.

  Aeron gripped the saddle handholds tightly. He hadn’t bothered attaching the safety straps. They were low enough to the ground, and it was covered in snow, so he felt like he was safe enough, he hoped, if he fell. Ahead, he saw the tracks leading around the corner of a building. It looked like a large stable.

  As they banked around the stable, Anaya pulled up suddenly, her wings kicking up snow as she backwinged to a stop. Aeron hopped off her and tried to understand what he was seeing.

  Perhaps thirty feet ahead, a person was lying on the ground near the large doors of the stable. From within, he could hear horses snorting, stomping and screaming with fright. And standing next to the person was . . . something. It gave off a soft white glow. Was it a nahual? His new sense indicated very strongly that it was. He was having difficulty, however, reconciling the strange thing before him with what he remembered of the corpse at Gurt’s farm. It was shaped like a nahual, he noted as he looked at it. But it was as if a glassblower had taken the clearest glass and made a nahual from it. It looked so very odd. He could see things through it!

  Anaya’s roar of defiance brought him out of his thoughts. The crystalline nahual turned to them, and the buzzing sound that he hadn’t really noticed before stopped. The intense quiet of the night was broken only by the sounds of the agitated horses in the stable.