by T R Kerby
"True, but I don't leave my people to die. And you wouldn't either."
"We could both die."
"No kidding. So shut up and concentrate on living. If you croak after I went to the trouble of saving you, it'll piss me off."
Despite his chattering teeth, Aric smiled. The sun dropped to the horizon and the sudden temperature drop silenced them both. The trees were still impossibly far and it would be dark soon.
A blue-grey light settled across the plain as the sun sank. Fortunately, the sun took the wind with it and an other-worldly silence fell. Aric's own movement was loud in the quiet. A clear, sweet voice rose in the vacuum created by the hushed wind. As pure as the voice of Alimarae herself, it sang a Zinotti lullaby he hadn't heard since boyhood. He really was on the brink of death.
Randir nudged him between the shoulder blades. He hadn't realized he'd stopped. He stumbled forward, following the distant song. "Do you hear that?"
"It's Trinn," Randir said. "Singing so we can follow her in the dark."
"I didn't know she sang."
"Like the goddess."
That much was certain. He didn't care if it attracted every enemy in twenty miles. Capture would beat freezing to death in the open. They still might not survive, but at least he'd die happy listening to her. A tiny orange glow appeared in the distance, a glimmering spark of hope. A fire. They had a fire. He wanted to throw himself onto it and cook the cold from his bones.
An angry red glow marked the northeast horizon where the volcano rested. At some point, cold would be the least of their worries.
Chapter 17
When Tegedir reached the makeshift camp, Caeth was feeding sticks into a growing fire. The uprooted base of a fallen tree formed a massive wheel of twisted roots stretching above his head. The earth behind it remained relatively snow free. He used his feet to expose more ground.
Randir and Aric stumbled to the fire and knelt next to it, hands stretched to the flames.
"Out of the clothes," Trinn said. They complied as fast as they could given their state, then snugged the mostly dry borrowed cloaks around themselves. They huddled next to the fire and stared into it as if mesmerized, shivering uncontrollably.
Tegedir went to the surrounding trees and towed dead limbs back to camp. They were damp, but if the fire was hot enough, they would burn.
Caeth ripped bark from the branches and used the dry fibers from inside to stoke the flames higher before adding the heavier wood.
Trinn constructed a wooden clothes line on the far side of the fire and hung the wet clothes. Any breeze through the cold fabrics would blow away from camp rather than into it.
Tegedir took a brand from the fire and returned to the woods, using its orange glow to locate more fuel. Alimarae protect them if any enemies came within sight because they certainly had a beacon to follow. Surviving the immediate threat was more important than worrying about one that hadn't occurred yet. The fire and minimal shelter didn't mean the danger was past. It would take an all-night effort to keep the heat source running. There would be no significant sleep for anyone.
He dropped the scavenged wood near the flames and took a moment to enjoy the fire. His back froze while his face warmed. He rotated and reversed the process. How long until dawn? He spiraled again as if on a spit. Leave it to his mind to compare them to dead meat.
Trinn scrutinized Aric's nose and ears and examined his fingers. She repeated the process on Randir. "No signs of frostbite." She raised her gaze to Tegedir. "And your toes?"
He wiggled them inside his boot. They didn't seem damaged. "Fine."
Her eyebrows drew together as she studied him.
"They are," he said.
"You'll tell me if you get a hint they're not?"
"I will."
"And will you tell us if yours are in trouble?" Randir asked as he took her gloved hand. She wore multiple layers since she'd suffered frostbite years ago. Her digits and nose were more sensitive to cold.
"I'm fine. I'm not the one who took a swim or forfeited my boot to a bear."
The fire blazed, building a bed of embers to last through the night. Caeth stacked the damp wood high on the fire and let the heat dry it as it burned without suffocating the flames beneath.
"Well done with the fire," Tegedir said. Some honest praise couldn't hurt. "You've built wet weather fires before."
Caeth offered no elaboration on where he'd acquired the skill. His eyes hid behind a shield of unruly hair, but that was nothing new. The kid had avoided eye contact since the moment they were saddled with him.
"Trinn, you and the two icicles get some sleep. Caeth and I will man the fire. We'll switch off in a few hours."
The three coiled into fetal positions around one another and fell asleep. Two hours later, when Tegedir's eyes remained open simply because he was standing, he woke Trinn with a nudge of his toe. She rose without a word and went to the woods for firewood.
Tegedir pressed his back against Randir's and Caeth curled into a ball across from them. He was still there when silver dawn broke through the trees and woke Tegedir.
Aric greeted him with a nod and gave him a strip of dried meat heated on the flames. "You didn't wake us to take our turn on the fire."
"Your clothes weren't dry and traipsing through the woods naked wouldn't help your condition."
"We'll take double watches tonight," Randir said. They finished their food and doused the fire.
Less snow accumulated under the massive pines so walking became easier. By the time the sun was at its highest, they'd traveled a good distance closer to the volcano. Even when the mountain itself wasn't visible through the forest, steam rose above the treetops in billowing clouds.
A sudden peal of laughter and raised voices filtered through the woods. Tegedir flattened himself against a tree. Aric clapped a deft palm across Caeth's mouth and maneuvered him into the shadows. The voices drew closer, punctuated by the occasional snort of a horse and the jingle of tack. He glimpsed the riders weaving through the woods. A military force, clad in black armor and riding fine horses. Most carried spears, held balanced on a stirrup. Swords or axes hung from their belts. He prayed for Caeth's silence. There were thirty of them. Far too many for it to be healthy if they noticed Tegedir's small band.
He envied their good boots and the fur lined cloaks draped across their horses' hindquarters. They appeared well fed and highly trained, although comfortable and somewhat complacent in their own lands. He mentally scoffed at his own hypocrisy. He'd grown confident and complacent in Aernan and let his children be stolen. His comfort had been used against him. He hoped to employ the same tactics against these men.
He waited until they rode beyond his sight, then waited another thirty minutes. No one else moved until he called them forward with a gesture. They didn't bother talking. Extra caution was now in order. They advanced toward the volcano again, spread among the trees like the morning mist.
Their camp that night was dark and the watches done in pairs instead of alone. Though they saw no one else in the two days it took to arrive at the foot of the smoldering mountain, Tegedir couldn't shake the sense that contact was inevitable.
The volcano loomed above them, its slopes shrouded with snow except around the vents. Wind lifted the steam from these and drove it sideways, exposing outcroppings of grey rock. Not a single tree or shrub grew from its craggy sides.
Tegedir's gaze swept the base of the volcano. There must be some way in. The texts said the egg would be within the volcano, incubated in the subterranean heat. If there was an egg, there must also be a dragon. He inhaled and closed his eyes. The racing thoughts in his mind slowed. He had no idea what he was doing but if a way existed to communicate with a giant reptile, maybe this would help it happen.
The scratchings and shufflings of finches and rabbits in the bushes grew louder. The rustle of chain mail on his companions. He willed his mind to reach under the tons of rock and seek ... something. After several minutes of this, he opened his eyes and sighe
d.
If there was a dragon under there, she wasn't talking.
Chapter 18
Tegedir opened the tome to the map of the volcano with the dragon curled beneath. Something must give a hint as to how to gain entrance. Both the volcano and the dragon were simply drawn with limited detail. The dragon's tail encircled its body and ended sharply at the headwaters of a stream.
Tegedir pointed to it. "Think that's an arrow?"
Randir shrugged. "Who knows, but it's worth a shot."
Tegedir raised his gaze to the looming mountain. "Now to find the stream."
They traveled through the woods until they emerged on a rocky lake shore. Snow rimmed its dark blue surface and sunlight reflected off the smooth water. A stand of dead trees lined the far bank, ashen trunks like sentinels with skeletal branches grasping at the sky. From their midst, the stream surged into the lake.
Tegedir studied the dead forest. Trees on either side grew green and healthy, but nothing lived where the stream flowed.
"Why are they dead?" Trinn asked.
"I don't know, but we're not crossing that," he said.
"We can skirt the edge. Catch the stream farther up," Aric said. "Want me to scout it?"
"No. We stay together."
They moved around the lake toward the opposite shore and turned north along the boundary of the dead stand. The stream bubbled on their right. Even though they kept a distance from the dying forest, Tegedir felt the weight of it. His head ached and he wanted a nap. They could stop for a few minutes. Wouldn't hurt anything. He slapped his cheeks to clear his head. The children couldn't afford for him to take a nap.
"Anyone else tired all of a sudden?" Aric asked.
"It's this place," Trinn said. "We have to get out of it."
"We're almost to the ridge top," Randir said. "Just a little farther."
They crested the hill and a fresh breeze blew away their drowsiness. Tegedir inhaled the winter air. His headache began to clear.
The path of death continued into the side of the volcano where the trees ended, and it appeared the stream remained centered in it the entire way. If that was the entrance, then he couldn't allow anyone to accompany him inside. They wouldn't like it and he suspected a direct order would be required to keep them out. He hated that. He rarely exercised his power as Commander of the Order and made a concentrated effort to keep things as casual as possible... but there were times.
He quieted his mind and reached out again to whatever might live in the gaseous mound of rock. He sensed nothing and heard nothing. Maybe he was doing it wrong. No one gave him lessons in dragon speak.
They walked off the ridge toward the rocky slopes of the volcano. The forest thinned until a few sickly trees remained. Massive boulders and fields of fragmented rock hindered their progress. At last, they could see the stream, vomited from a hole in the mountainside. Algae stained the stones around it and steam rose in lazy tendrils from its crystal clear surface. The odor of rotten eggs filled the air.
Aric leaped to the top of a boulder and studied the cave. "I don't like it."
"Make a couple torches," Tegedir said.
When they finished, they propped the torches together against a boulder. "Those won't last long," Randir said. "We don't have what we need for good ones."
Tegedir sat on a rock and took a drink from the waterskin on his belt. He cut a strip from the bottom of his cloak and doused it in water.
"What are you doing?" Trinn asked.
He got to his feet and looked at each of them. "I'm going alone." Their voices rose in united protest. He silenced them with his upheld hand.
"At least let one of us go with you." Randir was visibly distressed by the prospect of his Commander going solo. "You don't know what's in there. What if something happens?"
"Which is precisely why I'm doing this myself."
"You act like you're disposable. You're not. You're the most important member of this team."
"I'll order it if I have to. No arguments. Not this time."
Randir clenched his jaw and the muscles twitched.
Caeth hopped off the rock he'd been perched on. "I'll go with you."
"That does not make me feel better," Randir said.
Caeth ignored him and approached Tegedir. "Murdoc would want me there. Besides, I'm not one of your people. My loss would be no loss."
"Not the way I see things," Tegedir said.
Caeth pushed the hair aside and made direct eye contact for the first time Tegedir could remember. "Since you're not my commander, you can't order me to stay. My risk is my choice. I'm going."
Tegedir held his gaze and the kid didn't look away. He seemed to have gotten taller in the last few minutes. His shoulders uncurled and he displayed a bold new confidence. "Okay."
"What!" Aric raked his hands through his hair. "I hate to agree with traitor boy, but that's crazy. Take me instead."
Tegedir pressed Aric's shoulder. "No, and you know why. My children are your priority. If I don't come back, you have to take your place as head of Badger Company."
"What the hell?" Randir asked. "Head of Badger? That's Valta's command."
Tegedir turned to Randir. "Please accept there are some things about which you have not been informed." He nodded to Aric. "Bring him in on it while I'm gone." He lifted his pack and met Randir's gaze."I should have told you. You deserved that, but now there's no time. I apologize."
Randir and Trinn shared a glance and then Randir saluted him. Tegedir saw the anger and confusion swirling in Randir and regretted his careless choice of words. Since the abduction of his children, thinking straight wasn't his strong point. Never before had his mental and physical capacities been this stretched. The stress he hid from the others ate at him continually. It weakened his judgment. So many things had happened since the abduction that his faith in his own leadership abilities faltered.
Caeth struck one of the torches.
"If we're not back in two days, return without us." Tegedir tied the strip of cloak across his nose and mouth, then headed toward the cave with Caeth on his heels.
Despite the steam rising from the water, sculpted ice formed miraculous azure swirls and divots on the ceiling and walls. The only path was the stream bed itself. Tegedir took a cautious step into the water. Warmth flooded across his feet and blasted his frozen toes with a thousand pins and needles, but it passed and he welcomed the heat. It was a glorious reprieve from the endless cold.
Algae slicked rocks rolled under their feet and threatened to dump them into the stream. Tegedir would sleep in the bath-like water if there were no constraints on his time. And death in a gas filled tunnel, no matter how comfortable, wouldn't help anyone.
He yanked the damp cloth from his face. The headache pounding in his temples proved its uselessness. Frigid droplets dripped on their heads in sharp contrast with the heat on their feet. Blue ice gave way to raw rock, black and scoured.
The torch sputtered and the flame dwindled. Caeth blew on it and the fire grew. "Hope there's a vent ahead, or it will be dark as death very soon."
Tegedir picked up the pace as much as possible in the insecure footing. It grew more difficult to place his feet. Balance eluded him and it seemed someone drove a pike through his skull.
Caeth slipped and Tegedir caught him. They steadied one another as they went, like two drunks at the end of a tall bottle.
Should they go back? If they went farther, there might be no return. Maybe there was another way.
"Feel that?" Caeth asked.
"What?"
"That." Caeth towed him to the left. The torch flared and brightened. They gulped at the thin layer of fresh air drifting beside the rock wall. "Must be a vent ahead."
They forged onward until a steady roar filled the cavern. The tunnel opened onto a massive cavern. Cool mist brushed Tegedir's cheeks and the thunder of falling water reverberated from the walls. The stream crashed into the cavern from a narrow cleft above. Sunlight shafted through a veil of spr
ay and a sheer wall of unbroken rock rose behind it.
Tegedir inhaled the clean air engulfing them. He'd never take breathing for granted again. He spiraled in a slow circle. How to exit the cavern and continue under the volcano? There must be another opening.
Caeth crept around the perimeter and poked the torch into cracks and crevices. "I found it."
Tegedir joined him and they studied the tunnel, barely high enough for Brannon to walk through. "Grand."
"Didn't see another way."
Tegedir lit the second torch. "Let's check again." They made another thorough search and ended at the low burrow once again. He sighed. Guess they'd be impersonating badgers. He created Badger Company after all, now he'd find out if he could live up to their namesake.
He dropped to his knees and crawled into the hole.
Chapter 19
Thera looked down at Brannon. "What did you do?"
"Da and I play games, too. Strategy games. Only not with any silly board or shiny rocks."
Thera's arms tingled as the hair rose. She scrubbed away the sensation.
Brannon ducked into the cavern with a sly glance over his shoulder.
This was a side of Brannon she'd never seen before. The playful and clever boy seemed anything but a child now. The Fruit will ripen early. The line of prophecy came to her and she shuddered as fear closed her throat. She swallowed it and went to get Deru. Her sweet nephew might help wash away the unease.
The clearing was empty except for sun and grass. "Deru?" Maybe he went inside when Brannon implemented his foolish attack on the guard. The whole incident probably scared him. "Deru?"
The guard, alerted by her calls, stiffened and came her way. She didn't want his attention or assistance. "Where is he?" he asked.
"I don't know. Maybe inside."
"Go look."
She ducked into the cave, checked the main cavern, and the smaller one where the boys slept. Brannon sat alone, cross legged on the floor. His eyes reflected the torchlight.
