So, I couldn’t wish them out of the cages, or wish the cages to stop, or wish the crown to come to me, or wish Apeq to freeze in place. Whatever I wished for couldn’t take the test away. And it would work in the outside world because it would live on.
I stumbled. Had Apeq wished for revenge on the Ko Bearers? Or that they would burn – just as I had almost wished down below? Or had he wished that in this test one person would be the last to ever take it? Any of those wishes could have resulted in the exploding city above, in the fire, in the very reason that we must hurry here or die.
I felt like my heart might pound out of my chest. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Was it hotter in here? I reached the first ladder and gasped, not just at the exertion but in despair because I wasn’t smart enough for this test.
A genius idea hadn’t come to me. I couldn’t think of a way to get what I needed without violating the rules. I could wish for another ring, but that would only save me. And it might not even work – not when the rules said it couldn’t stop the test. I wanted Saboraak and the girls to be free. I wanted them to live. I wished it more than anything, but their cages were still lowering.
I didn’t think that old Ko Bearer had tricked me, but she had. She knew all along that they would be in here. Had she thought I was only wishing for the safety of the rest? And how had she got Saboraak back to put her in a cage?
I hesitated for a moment before running again.
What if this was an illusion? What if they weren’t there at all? But the girls’ screams seemed real. And even if it wasn’t real, could I really abandon them and rush toward that crown as Apeq was doing? I could see him up the ladders and platforms hurrying toward the chain that held the crown. I could still beat him if I wanted to. I was faster, and fitter, and younger, and I’d lived my whole life running roof to roof in a city that wanted me dead. This was my kind of game.
But the girls and my dragon ...
I didn’t know that it was real, but I didn’t know that it wasn’t real either.
Those Ko Bearers hadn’t stopped Apeq from competing, even though they must know who he is. They weren’t necessarily good.
I was at the ladder and I began to climb, my sweaty hands slipping on the rungs as I climbed.
Maybe that was why they had given in to my demand that they release my friends so easily. Maybe it was because they had never given in at all.
The test was about the precepts. It was about one of them. But which one? Maybe if it was about the crown then the girls weren’t really real. That could be true if it was the one that said: Those with feet rooted in the ground will never reach for the stars.
That might mean that I was too blind to see they were fake.
Or, it could be the other way around. Who said that crown was real? Maybe it meant the other precept was in play: Glory is an empty cup. Do not grasp for it.
If that was the one, then saving the hostages was the only way.
But even if I knew that was true, I couldn’t save them both. Not in time. Maybe that was why Apeq was going for the crown.
It was possible he was just that cold-hearted, but it might be that he had seen there was no way to win if he tried to save the people he loved. Maybe that convinced him to go for the crown.
I wished there was two of me. Then I wouldn’t have to pick.
I reached the top of the ladder and nearly slipped with surprise when a hand reached down and clasped mine to help me up.
Chapter Seventeen
“YOU WASTED A WISH ON me?” My mimic said with a laugh. “You could have wished for money or at least a hot meal but no, you picked a second you. Smooth move, Tor.”
I could send him for the crown and I could hedge my bets – then we could win either way. That’s what I should do. I should save someone, and I should send him to make sure that at least me and that person lived.
But I couldn’t do that. In my mind’s eye, my friends were already swooning from the heat, burning their lungs with molten air.
I couldn’t let that happen.
“Shut up and run,” I said through my gasping breath. “You get the girls and I will get Saboraak.”
His face sobered and with a nod, he ran – faster than me because I was already winded. I loped on in my direction, racing across the platform, my breathing ragged and my muscles aching. Everything felt hotter than it had before I started. Everything seemed to be swimming before my bleary eyes.
I reached the next ladder and began to climb, focusing on the rungs so I didn’t slip. One false move and I would plummet to my death. Fifty paces away, the mimic scaled his own ladder – ahead of me, but not by much. I wouldn’t have thought to wish for him. I didn’t think it. Somehow the wish had just been there.
It had better be what I needed.
Apeq was hurrying, too. I could see him through the blowing smoke that puffed and spread between the ladders and platforms. He was getting close to the chain that held the crown – if I’d guessed wrong, he could win at any moment.
I reached the next platform and scrambled up, my feet kicking as I struggled to reach the top. There. I was running again.
And the next few minutes were only that – coughing blood, breathing through ragged lungs, and running or climbing harder and faster than I’d ever thought possible. I was up one ladder and rushing across a platform, then up again. I kept an eye on the mimic. We were level with each other, each hurrying with my single-mindedness and competitive spirit, each looking frequently at Apeq who was scrambling slowly along a long metal arm to reach the dangling chain from which the crown hung.
I could barely believe it when I reached the arm that held Saboraak’s cage. I’d done it! I was here!
It was different than the crown. I wouldn’t have to climb down the chain – not if I could use the crank that was lowering it down. I studied the mechanism and then pulled a lever. There was a loud clunk and the lowering ceased. So far, so good.
I grabbed the handle for the crank and was almost lifted off my feet as the chain whipped through the crank and the cage plummeted toward the lava. With a grunt, I threw the lock back on. One set of arms was not enough to crank up a chain that holds a dragon. There were pulleys involved and mechanical helps, but once I freed the mechanism, I couldn’t hold it.
Far away, I heard the high-pitched squeak of the mimic working the pulley where he was. It was lighter with only the two girls. Still heavy, but lighter.
Maybe I should try climbing down the chain. I fumbled with the lever while I searched for Apeq.
He was at the end of the arm, his legs wrapped around the slender metal frame while his arms pulled the chain up hand over hand. The crown was close.
Come on, Tor! Now is not the time to second-guess!
I leapt onto the arm and scrambled along the length of it. Don’t look down. Tor. Don’t look down.
Chain.
I grabbed it with naked hands, almost wishing I’d asked for gloves instead of the mimic – imagine, using an infinitely precious wish on gloves! – and then I was sliding down the chain and landing on the roof of the cage. I was using the huge mechanism – a bar lock that spanned the entire height of the cage – to open the door. They hadn’t locked it. Why bother? That wasn’t the point.
Heat seared my hands and made my skin feel tight and angry.
I climbed to the edge of the swinging cage and glanced up. The other Tor was holding two sobbing girls, looking awfully pleased with himself. Good.
And Apeq ... Apeq was seconds from grabbing that crown.
I clenched my jaw and lowered myself over the edge of the cage, bracing against the searing heat, and swung into the cage.
Saboraak was motionless, her head lolling to the side. I bit my lip and fumbled at her chains.
“Hold on. Hold on, old girl!”
I grabbed the lock and it came apart in my hand. No time for shock. I threw it behind me.
The world went black.
Chapter Eighteen
I WAS
ON THE BRANCH, holding the orb, the flames leaping around me like I was back in Vanika, like I was back in that hellish flaming city. The other Tor crouched beside me, a torrent of curses flowing from his mouth. I agreed with the sentiment, but they wouldn’t save us now.
“You,” Apeq A’kona growled from across the orb. “How could you stop me? I had the crown! I had the bracelets!”
He lifted his empty hands, fire reflecting in his eyes. It was in the leaves behind his head, dancing along the edge of the branches.
Smoke burned my lungs and I coughed violently. Beside me, mimic Tor doubled over in his own coughing fit. Our branch was on fire, too, bits of it raining down in flaming tongues in the air below, adding to the whirling inferno of fire that was the world beneath us.
I saw Gautm appear behind Apeq and then vanish again as if he couldn’t find his corporeal form.
We were all going to die.
“Look what you’ve done!” I growled at Apeq. “You’ve killed us all.”
“It shouldn’t have killed me,” he spat. The smoke was affecting him now, too. He drew a wicked dagger from the folds of his cloak as he coughed. “It should have just given me the crown. With the crown, I could have written the future.” He coughed. “And left this place behind.” This time he had to pause to fold double as he coughed. “I was supposed to be the last one to enter this place!”
“But I was already here,” I said, understanding dawning.
He’d been a fool with his wish and now here we were. Together, again. Oh, the irony.
But if Apeq’s life was ended here, that could only be a good thing. Even if it meant that I would die, too.
At least the people in the vision hadn’t been real. At least they were okay somewhere.
“Or already dead,” the mimic said aloud. I gave him a dirty look.
“One of us should have won,” Apeq said, spinning around on our perch above the flames as if he could change that now. As if someone would emerge from the flames with a crown. He was crazier than I’d imagined.
“Sucking souls out of people will do that to you,” my mimic remarked.
I began to laugh. My feet hurt. The flames were already licking through my leather boots. My legs were on fire.
I threw back my head and laughed.
I didn’t regret my choice to save my friends. Not at all. At least I wasn’t the idiot here still expecting a reward ... still expecting to live.
Ha!
“And you get to die with me,” the other Tor said. “Which isn’t the worst fate. They say some people never know themselves, but that can’t be said of you!”
We both got our wishes. Apeq was going to kill all the Ko Bearers – me and him included. I wasn’t going to die alone.
Pain seared through me, scalding my skin, lashing at my exposed limbs.
I didn’t scream.
I just laughed. I let the madness take me.
Chapter Nineteen
AND THEN, SUDDENLY, I was being ripped off the branch and through a cloud of sparks.
Something gripped my midsection.
Flames spouted in gusts around us and then cold air sped icy hot across my seared flesh while beneath me the world burned. I thought, perhaps, that the flames on my legs had gone out, though the pain remained, burning, burning, burning forever.
I sped through a billowing black cloud and up, up, up to where my blackened lungs could hardly take a breath. I wasn’t breathing at all, just gasping.
There was a ring around the sun. A ring I didn’t understand.
I was hallucinating. Clearly.
I almost thought that I could hear Saboraak speaking to me.
Perhaps I was joining the ranks of the dead in the world beyond.
Perhaps she would be there.
I felt tears prick my eyes at the thought. Oh. There was still water in my body. What a surprise.
I’m right here, trout. And for the record, I’ve never been fond of the taste of burnt fish, so please try not to die in my mouth.
Someone’s voice called urgently from above – someone female and worried and then we dove.
My eyes were heavy. I couldn’t see. I was probably dreaming. I should just close them and let the darkness take me.
Don’t die, Tor! Don’t die! I told you we should have looked up at the top first!
The female voice retorted, coughed violently, and then the world was suddenly darker and cold as ice. My body began to shake, I fell into the icy depths, and was still.
Ah, sweet cold. Sweet, burning cold. I shivered in the rags that were left of my clothing.
Hold on. We’ll get you a blanket. I didn’t anticipate all your clothes burning off.
There were footsteps and then someone was dragging me onto her lap as her hot tears splashed across my face. Something warm wrapped around me. The blanket?
Her cloak.
Silver tattoos wound across her exposed wrists as she wiped something from my face. Ko. On a girl. How strange.
I see death didn’t erase that prejudice. You know girls can have ko, too, right? At least we know it’s the real you. I could have sworn that I saw two of you and I wasn’t sure which one to grab.
My mimic. Where was he?
“Don’t die on me, Tor Winespring,” Zyla growled, her tears still spilling onto my face. “Saboraak and I won’t allow it!”
Zyla. It was Zyla who rescued me? Zyla who wore the ko?
“Don’t die on me!” she demanded. “Not when I think I might be losing my heart to you.”
Well, I really couldn’t die now!
Dragon Chameleon: Chase the Moon
Chapter One
THE MIMIC WAS LAUGHING at me again. I’d followed him through a barren landscape, running from fires that popped out of nowhere and fleeing windstorms and floods that nearly swept us away. We were looking for Zyla. We were looking for Zin. We were hunting Saboraak. And through it all, he laughed at me, mocked me, taunting me with my frailness. I dreamed fitfully and fiercely and for so long that it felt as if I had been sleeping for days but never resting.
My eyes popped open, startling me.
Bright light pierced through them, searing my vision. My head exploded in pain, but I didn’t have the strength to lift a hand and hold my throbbing head. My eyes adjusted slowly, and my painful breathing steadied. How long had I been lying here? How long had I been dreaming?
Had I really been snatched from the flames by Saboraak’s jaws?
Yes.
Saboraak! Her voice was like balm to my mind. I’d missed it. The mimic was a terrible companion compared to my dragon.
I’m here, trout. She sounded nervous, though.
“Of course, she sounds nervous. She’s watched you lie here and dream for five days now,” my mimic said, running a hand through his dark hair. “And you aren’t much to look at.”
Are you okay, Saboraak? I was so worried!
The Kav’ai healed me of my wounds and I am whole again. She still sounded guarded.
“She doesn’t trust you anymore,” the mimic said. “That’s the thing about friends. Eventually, they always find out who you are and stop trusting you.”
“Shut up,” I told him. The back of my hand felt hot, as if his words had seared me.
My vision was clearing. I was lying on a pile of blankets in a shallow cave – long and low and cut into yellow stone. Outside the cave, in the glaring sun, Saboraak sat like a watchful sphinx, but her gaze was not on the world outside. Her eyes were focused directly on me, concern filling them.
Why was she looking at me like that? Maybe it was the face tattoos I’d picked up through the Ko’tor’kaen. Were they hideous?
Those can only be seen in moonlight, remember?
Then what? Why are you looking at me like that?
You went through a lot in the Trials.
That wasn’t a reason to look at me like I was crazy. Hadn’t I saved everyone? Hadn’t I done everything it took to get them all out before Apeq destroyed the Wor
ld of Legends? That was the compassion and dedication she was always harping on. She should be pleased with me.
At least I wouldn’t have to deal with Apeq again. At least he was gone forever.
“Don’t be too sure,” my mimic said. “He’s too much like you to die that easily.”
Saboraak shifted uneasily. Why was she so nervous about me? I could barely move. I was weak as a newborn kitten and even if I could move, I would hardly hurt my dragon.
Tor, I have something terrible to tell you. Please, understand that I won’t leave you. I will stay by your side until the end. I will help you remember who you are, and I will make sure that you don’t harm yourself. I care about you like a brother and I always will.
I sat up, almost hitting my head on the low cave roof. What was she talking about? What had happened behind the Door of Heaven? Had I lost my legs?
I patted the blanket in front of me and then pulled it aside. Two legs – naked except for my underthings, and glassy in places where burned skin was healing, but they were there. I wiggled my toes and they moved easily. They should be in a lot worse shape after the burning I’d had!
That was five days ago. And the Kav’ai have talent with healing.
I’d lost five days? So, my mimic hadn’t been lying. What had happened in that time?
We’ve all been resting, eating, and waiting for you. I haven’t gorged like that in a long time. There is a large lizard here that is surprisingly tasty.
“You won’t find me eating lizards,” the mimic said. I agreed with that.
My hands and arms were fine. They moved exactly as I asked them to. I examined them closely, my jaw clenching at the scar on the back of one of my hands. It looked almost exactly like one of those doorways had been branded into my skin with a blazing iron. It must have been a trick of the tragedy. A strange coincidence of my injuries there.
I was fine. Healing, but fine. I breathed out through my open lips in a gust of relief. She’d had me worried there for a minute.
Dragon Chameleon: Episodes 5-8 (Dragon Chameleon Omnibuses Book 2) Page 14
