Lu Bei folded his wings around his body. “If you don’t need me, master …” The fetch climbed into the pack and returned to book form.
A beast howled in the distance. Something responded. It sounded like a girl screaming.
Chapter Six
Turesobei turned toward the sound instinctively. “Do you think —”
Narbenu shook his head. “A demon.”
“Are you certain?”
Narbenu sighed. “Nothing out here is certain. There are so many dangers. But it’s definitely not one of your friends. They couldn’t have made it this far on foot in a night. Not a chance.”
“What are the biggest dangers to worry about?” Turesobei asked. “I may be stuck here. I’m going to need to know.”
“Well, there’s the bomokagi,” said Kemsu. “They’re larger than four goronku combined. Razor tusks to rend you, if they don’t just trample you. Big and hairy and hard to kill.”
“The kusokagi,” said Narbenu. “Also known as scourers. Winged demons that swoop down on you. Usually at night, but sometimes in the day, especially if it snows. No one even knows where they live or come from.”
“And then there are wild sonoke,” said Kemsu. “Don’t underestimate them just because these sonoke we’re riding seem so peaceful.”
“All manner of demons and beasts unnamed prowl our lands,” Narbenu added. “Hardly any two are alike. The worst things come out at night.”
The sun was halfway down the horizon. War Chief Sudorga called everyone to a halt to set up camp for the night.
“When will we get to the reitsu village?” Turesobei asked.
“Just before dark tomorrow,” Narbenu said.
“That won’t be soon enough to do anything.” He rode forward to speak to War Chief Sudorga. “Can we travel a few more hours? Avida is rising. That will give us some light.”
“Not enough,” Sudorga replied. “Maybe in your world, but Avida is not bright enough to travel safely by. Travel is more dangerous at night anyway.”
“I can see in the dark if I wish and can lead us,” Turesobei said. “And I can summon a light to guide us. Just two more hours, please.”
War Chief Sudorga stroked his beard and studied Turesobei. “Show me.”
Turesobei chanted the spell of the dancing fire globe, hiding the pain that casting even such a simple spell caused him. Three globes of fire the size of his head appeared. Everyone gasped in amazement. But then fire globes fizzled out.
“That’s — that’s strange.”
Someone said something to him, but Turesobei ignored them. He opened his kenja-sight and studied the terrain. Bright blue and white energies flared across the landscape, mixed with thin green and yellow currents. The only traces of fire energy came from him, the goronku, and the star-stones.
“Of course,” he said, “there’s not much fire energy for me to draw on here. Hold on, I’ll have to use another spell.”
A harder one, unfortunately. He cast the spell of the moon mirrors, which relied on air energy and was easiest when Avida was in the sky like it was now. Six white disks, like glass mirrors, appeared. Light radiated from one side of each of them. By concentrating, he angled them to shine ahead of the column.
“It’s a simple enough spell. I can keep this going for two hours.”
“There will be dangers,” Sudorga said.
“I have no desire to put your people into too much danger,” Turesobei replied. “If you wish to stop, that’s your choice. I’m just trying to get to my friends in time.”
Sudorga narrowed his eyes. “You swear that the spell is simple?”
“There are easier spells, like the fire globes, but it is a basic one.”
“It’s hurting you to do even that spell, isn’t it?”
Turesobei sighed and admitted the truth. “It does, but I can manage.”
“If you are so brave and strong that you would dare the night and go to such effort in your condition and in a world you’re not suited for, then how can we proud warriors of this land not continue on? We ride!” As everyone set into motion, Sudorga added, “I have honored your strength, but be smart. If you start to falter, let me know, and we will stop. Don’t wait until your spell fails. We need light and half an hour to make camp.”
After another hour of riding, Turesobei grew tired. Summoning the moon mirrors wasn’t much harder than the fire globes, but maintaining them was. If not for the overabundance of air kenja here, he wouldn’t have dared the spell in his condition. Narbenu chose a location to set up camp. Turesobei sent the mirrors up above them and illuminated the site. Beasts howled in the distance. He hoped the lights wouldn’t attract them.
The goronku drew their long knives and began to cut into the ice and packed snow. Turesobei drew his knife as well, but Narbenu shook his head.
“You rest and watch me do it. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you’ll just waste your strength and make a mess.”
The goronku cut ice and compacted snow into blocks, making a trench as they went. They stacked the blocks in a circle, and then laid the blocks on top of one another until they built a domed structure with a short entrance tunnel jutting off to one side. As they stacked blocks, they shaved them so they’d fit together perfectly. Three goronku worked on the outside of the structure while two work inside, building the dome overhead. He was certain it would collapse on them, but the structure held.
“A house of ice?” Turesobei said. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s a snow house,” said Kemsu. “Keeps the wind off you, and it keeps in warmth, from your body or your star stone.”
“Five goronku to each,” said Kemsu. “It’s a tight fit.”
“What about the mounts?”
“They’ll sleep in the trench,” Kemsu replied. “It gets them out of the wind. They really don’t even need that. They can huddle together and survive just fine on their own out here. But the trench keeps them cozy, and more importantly, it makes it harder for predators to spot them.”
They cut angled slopes into each end of the trench, and led the sonoke within. The sonoke, trained for this, fell quiet and snuggled up together. Following War Chief Sudorga, Kemsu, Narbenu, and a goronku whose name he’d forgotten, Turesobei crawled through the entrance tunnel into one of the snow houses. The central chamber was only as tall as a goronku could reach, since they had to set the blocks by hand. There wasn’t a lot of space for all of them. It was cold, but not as cold as he would have expected. In the center of the snow house, Kemsu placed a star stone on its wrappings and tapped it three times. The light was dim and only a little warmth came out.
“Don’t want to melt the ice,” Kemsu said.
Turesobei dismissed the moon mirrors, unfurled the blanket from his pack, and placed it on the ice.
“Best to eat something first,” Narbenu said. “You’ll …”
Falling into a deep sleep, Turesobei never heard the rest.
Chapter Seven
Turesobei woke in a surprisingly warm space, relatively speaking. It was like sleeping in a plush tent in a regular Okoro winter. The snow house had captured all their body heat. He still felt the chill in his bones, and he was ravenous. He stuffed himself on dried meat strips and cheese.
The goronku left the snow houses intact. It wasn’t worth the effort to dismantle them, and some other traveler might benefit from them later.
By mid-afternoon, they neared the reitsu village.
War Chief Sudorga stopped the group. “We need to approach carefully. They may think we’re attacking and overreact. Once they get riled …”
“I could send my fetch to scout ahead.”
“He can do that?” Sudorga asked.
Lu Bei popped out, landed on the head of Sudorga’s mount, spun on his heel, and took a deep bow. “I am, sir, so very much most talented.”
“I believe it,” Sudorga said in a high-pitched chuckle.
“He has a limited range,” Turesobei said. “He can only about tw
o hundred paces away from me.”
“I can’t reach the village from here,” said Lu Bei, “But I can fly up and get a good look ahead.”
Turesobei cast the spell of blending on Lu Bei, and his skin turned a milky gray color to match the sky.
“So sorry you had to see that,” Lu Bei told the goronku. “It is quite embarrassing. Please think no less of me. In my younger days I could do that on my own.”
Lu Bei shot up into the sky.
Narbenu laughed. “Why on earth would I think less of him? He can fly!”
“He’s self-conscious about not being able to blend himself anymore. Though, honestly, I’m not certain I believe him when he says that he used to be able to.”
A few minutes later, Lu Bei dove down and landed, shivering. “Even colder up there. We’ve got to ride. Now and fast!”
“As he says,” Sudorga commanded, and the group set off.
Lu Bei dug through the pack and pulled out the scarf and hat. The goronku snickered when he put them on. Lu Bei narrowed his eyes, bit his lip, then shrugged it off. “I really could blend back in the day. Don’t know why no one believes me.”
“You’ve got good ears,” Narbenu said.
“He can magically record anything that I say or do, even from that distance,” Turesobei said. “That’s his purpose when he’s not fetching. Now, Lu Bei, what’d you see?”
“I saw a half-dozen charred corpses in the village.” Turesobei’s heart stopped until Lu Bei added, “Not our companions. The whole village is massing around a tiny house. They’ve fashioned a sort of battering ram. I think they’re about to break down the door.”
Lu Bei tightened the scarf and shot back into the sky.
They raced the sonoke at full speed. After climbing a slight incline, the reitsu village came into view. Sudorga called them to a normal pace so they wouldn’t alarm the reitsu.
Lu Bei returned. “The door is cracking but holding so far. Something — or someone — is bracing it.”
“Think your friends are inside?” Sudorga asked.
“We’re close enough now that I can find out. Are you certain we can’t go any faster?”
“I’ll send someone ahead to announce us. One goronku coming fast shouldn’t rile them up too much.”
Narbenu flicked his reins. “I’ll do it.”
Still riding, Turesobei cast the spell of sensing presences. He was too far away to detect anything except all the goronku around him, so he attuned the spell to seek out energies related to his kavaru. That harmony would resonate much farther. He picked up three signatures.
“Motekeru, Rig, and Ohma are inside. I can sense them because of their bond with my channeling stone. I’m too far away to sense whether Enashoma, Iniru, and Zaiporo are with them. I’m sure Motekeru is bracing the door. He’s incredibly strong. They must’ve fought the reitsu and took shelter in the house during the night.”
“Can they use magic like you?” Sudorga asked. “Is that what charred the corpses?”
“The reitsu drain warmth by touching their victims, right?”
“More than just touch,” Sudorga replied. “They have to lock a hand on you and focus, but yes, that’s basically how it works, and they can do it fast.”
“Then I have a theory about how the corpses were charred. I think that —”
Lu Bei swooped down. “A contingent of reitsu met Narbenu … peacefully. Looks like he’s talked them into halting their efforts; they’re not battering the door anymore.”
“You’d best you climb into my pack now, Lu Bei. Be ready. I might need you to surprise them.”
Lu Bei unwound the scarf and packed it up with the hat. “You got it, master.”
Not that far ahead, Narbenu and a small group of reitsu were talking.
“So what do we do now?” Turesobei asked Sudorga.
“We approach cautiously, and then ask if we can have your friends,” Sudorga replied.
“And if that doesn’t work?”
Sudorga sighed. “I cannot risk war between our peoples. No matter how much I want to help you.”
“I understand. Do you think they will let them go?”
“Hard to say whether they would under even the best circumstances. If your friends have killed some of them … I’ll do what I can.”
“I know you will. Listen, let’s not mention the Storm Dragon to them. I may need that as a bargaining chip.”
Turesobei cast a simple glamor spell to cover the storm sigil on his cheek. The goronku stopped and dismounted before approaching the six reitsu standing near Narbenu. The reitsu were tall and skeletal thin with blue-black hair and skin so pale it was nearly transparent. From a dozen paces away, Turesobei could see veins on their faces and necks. He couldn’t figure out the gender of any of them; they all looked roughly the same. The reitsu wore simple tunics, stockings, and boots — hardly enough to keep out the cold in an Okoro winter. Turesobei couldn’t imagine what sort of magic they had bound themselves to for that clothing to be warm enough.
War Chief Sudorga half-bowed to a reitsu who wore a copper torc and matching rings on all his, or perhaps her, fingers. “Greetings, Lady Umora. Thank you for meeting us in peace.”
The reitsu nodded respectfully. “Welcome, War Chief Sudorga. An interesting day this is.”
Umora spotted Turesobei. Her pink eyes narrowed.
He bowed. “Greetings, Lady Umora.”
She didn’t return the greeting. “Your companions have caused much trouble since they arrived last night.”
“Are they all alive?” Turesobei asked quickly.
She pointed back toward the village. “Two girls, a boy, a machine man, and two strange animals are hiding inside that house.”
Turesobei sighed with relief — all of them were safe. Now he just needed to get them out of here.
“The boy and his friends have come from the land beyond the gate,” Sudorga said.
“So they told me when they arrived here yesterday, when the dragon dropped them nearby. They sought shelter in our village. We do not provide shelter. Our lands are ours and ours alone. They are trespassers, and trespassers are food.”
“I understand this,” Turesobei said, “but my friends didn’t know. We know nothing about your world. And my companions had little choice. The dragon dropped them here, and they are lucky it didn’t consume them. I beg you to let them go.”
“They have killed seven of my people,” she seethed. “Seven! We have not lost so many at once in ages.”
“Please. They were just defending themselves. You would do the same. They were stranded here by accident. They didn’t know.”
“What do you have to barter for their lives? What wergild can you possibly offer us? It would have to be immense for something so vile as what the machine did.”
“Machine?” Sudorga asked.
“Motekeru, one of my companions,” Turesobei said. “What is wergild?”
“Blood price,” Narbenu said. “If you take someone’s life, you must pay their family for their loss or suffer the same fate. Seven wergilds would be a fortune.”
“I have nothing that you would value,” Turesobei said. “Except perhaps knowledge from the world beyond. Stories you’ve never heard. Things you may not know.”
“We would care for such things,” Lady Umora replied, “but not so much that we would bargain even one life for them.”
“Then I have nothing else. I can only beg your mercy.”
“Please consider the boy’s wishes,” War Chief Sudorga replied. “He is an honored guest of ours, and it would please us greatly if you did.”
“I am sorry, Sudorga. I cannot grant you your wish. I assume, given the peace between us, that you do not wish to make this an issue …”
War Chief Sudorga sighed heavily. “No, Lady Umora. We do not, but we are disappointed.”
Turesobei quietly uttered the spell of compelling obedience.
Umora shrugged and turned to one of the reitsu beside her. “Break dow
n that door and take them.”
“Wait,” Turesobei commanded. “You will let my friends go, or you will suffer the consequences.”
Unaffected, Lady Umora hissed, “Whatever sorcerous trick you are attempting to play on me, it will not work. We are a magical people.”
Turesobei turned to War Chief Sudorga. “Back off, all of you. I won’t involve you in this any further. Thank you for bringing me here. I must now fight the reitsu.”
“Turesobei, think twice before you do anything rash,” Narbenu said.
“Go,” Turesobei told them, then he dropped the glamor, revealing the storm sigil on his cheek.
The goronku returned to their mounts, but didn’t leave. Lady Umora watched Turesobei cautiously.
“I am the Storm Dragon,” Turesobei said. “You will let my friends go, or I will destroy all of you and raze this village until not even a trace of you exists. I killed over a dozen yomon. You will pose no greater threat to me than they did. The goronku have no part of this.”
He hesitated to unleash any of the energy, afraid that tapping even the slightest bit of the power would plunge him into the dragon dream too long or transform him into the dragon again. And he was certain that if he became the dragon, he would lose his humanity.
Lady Umora sneered, even as her fellows took a step back. “Become the dragon, then.”
“What?”
“Become the dragon, and I will let them go.”
Chapter Eight
“You — you don’t think I’m the dragon?” Turesobei asked, thinking that Lady Umora was challenging him to prove it.
“Oh, I have no reason to doubt you. I recognize power when I see it.”
“Then you should know that I can destroy you.”
“I believe you can. However, I do not think you can turn into this storm dragon again. Something is stopping you. Perhaps you do not have control over the monster within. Why else would you drop your friends beside a strange village, unequipped to survive this cold, and then fly off?” She licked her fangs and cocked an eyebrow. “So my offer stands. Turn into the dragon, and I will free your companions.”
Storm Phase Series: Books 1-3 Page 67
