Alanna opened her eyes. The dragon – and Geoffrey and Sarina – were only faint, far-off specks in the pale blue sky.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
In the dragon’s wake came only silence, broken by the snorting of the horses and the jingle of their harnesses as they tossed their heads and pawed the ground.
“What should we do?” one of the men asked, his narrowed eyes and tight-lipped grimace indicative of his mood now that the terror had passed. A quick glance at the other men showed they shared similar sentiments.
Alanna bit her lip and stared at the spot where, moments earlier, Sarina had stood. She breathed in short gusts, trying to accept what had just happened.
Sarina had been wounded. She and Geoffrey were gone, taken by some mythical creature that had never existed, except in the fertile imagination of her little boy.
And she, a Princess of Rune, had totally, utterly failed in her duty. A simple task – to keep Sarina safe. She had not done so, her magic had been derelict, and now Sarina had been injured. She refused to consider the possibility that Sarina could be dead. Instead, she could only hope Geoffrey could help her cousin, that he would save the woman he loved.
Ellette had gone limp in her arms. Mayhap the child slept. Alanna could only hope so, for there would be little enough rest in the days to come.
“What’s wrong with her?” one of the men asked, pointing at Alanna, still standing frozen in shock, clutching Ellette in her arms.
“If I had magic,” another said, his tone accusing. “I’d have used it to keep that monster from taking Geoffrey and Sarina.”
If she had magic… Chest aching, she raised her face to the sky. Her prayers had gone unanswered. Had her magic finally, completely deserted her?
The men murmured in agreement. She felt their rancor like a slap to the face.
When she still didn’t respond, Darrick defended her, traces of anger simmering in his voice. “Her magic has faded. If she could have saved her cousin and Geoffrey from the dragon, she would have.”
The dragon. Caradoc had long imagined them, describing his imaginary creatures in great and loving detail.
Stunned, Alanna raised her head. “Caradoc used to dream of dragons,” she said, knowing she sounded mad.
Glancing from her to the empty sky, Darrick shook his head. “This was no small child’s dream. This beast has Geoffrey and Sarina. We’ve got to get them back.”
At the mention of Caradoc’s name, little Ellette had raised her head. Now she rested again, her cheek against Alanna’s chest, her thumb in her tiny mouth.
“How?” Another of the men wanted to know.
The others murmured agreement.
“How can we reach to them before the monster eats them?”
“A good question, and one I have no answer for.” Darrick turned to Alanna, his grim countenance gentling.
“Are you all right?”
Though she nodded, the horrific scene kept replaying in her mind. All she could think was how much this dragon looked like one of the mythical creatures her son used to describe. Yellow scales. Bulging eyes. Scaly talons.
“Darrick--” Her horse shifted under her, still restless. She swayed with it, wondering if this was even possible, if her child could somehow have enough magic to create such a thing when she had not enough magic to vanquish it.
Darrick watched her, waiting for her to finish. So did the others. If she spoke her thoughts out loud, would they also blame her son?
She swallowed. She couldn’t take the chance. And, more importantly, if Darrick were Caradoc’s father, she couldn’t risk him thinking bad about the boy. “Nothing.”
Understanding immediately, he waved his men away. “I would speak with Alanna privately.”
Grumbling, the men did as he asked, riding out into the open and heading slowly down the road.
Heart in her throat, she watched them go. Dare she tell Darrick her suspicions? Admittedly fantastical, yet too coincidental to be mere chance.
Dismounting, Darrick went first to Geoffrey’s horse, soothing the still terrified animal. Sarina’s had already returned, crowding close to Alanna’s palfrey.
Leading Geoffrey’s war horse to his, Darrick swung into the saddle again, tying the rider-less mount securely.
Unbidden, Alanna’s eyes filled with tears. She clutched Ellette close and rocked her. The child accepted this with nary a whimper.
“Alanna.” His deep voice carried a wealth of concern. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
Caradoc. What had he done?
Blinking furiously, she forced a smile. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”
“You look as if you are about to shatter.”
She took a deep breath, then another, and managed to raise a brow. “How so?”
His smile seemed oddly gentle. “Your features have frozen, my lady. The regal mask of a royal princess of Rune is back in place.”
A mask. He was right. Though her heart ached, she kept smiling. It felt more like gritting her teeth.
How well he knew her.
“I keep hearing Sarina. Her scream echoes over and over in my head.”
“`Tis my hope Geoffrey can help her.”
She nodded, though his words did not ease the horrible ache of her failure. She sniffed. Now even the faint scent of sulphur had gone. A few drops of Sarina’s blood had spilt crimson on the ground.
Unable to bear the sight, she applied her heels to her horse’s side, trotting to rejoin the men.
Darrick followed suit.
None of the men were speaking, each lost in his own grim thoughts. Alanna was glad, for she could take no more accusation, nor could she afford again to so greatly doubt herself. She had rescues to perform. While Gorsedd threatened the entire world, for her his actions had always been entirely personal, as he had stolen Caradoc. Now she had more than her son to rescue, and had begun to realize how many more lives were at stake.
Though they rode at a steady pace, their party seemed incomplete. The two rider-less horses were a constant reminder of their loss. Each hoofbeat seemed to sound out their names.
Again, worried sorrow made her throat close. But this time, anger tempered despair. If she had enough magic… She wanted to lift her fist to the sky and shake it. Instead, she made a solemn promise.
Gorsedd would pay.
Held tightly against Alanna’s chest, little Ellette shivered. She had gone silent, ever since her scream when the dragon had taken Sarina. Alanna could understand, as she herself had no words to bring the child comfort. Not now. Not yet.
“Think you the beast crossed the Irish Sea?”
Alanna raised her head. “If the dragon was Gorsedd’s creation, yes. The monster would fly back to him.”
The men began to talk, all at once.
“Poor Geoffrey.”
“How do you fight something so big?”
Darrick cleared his throat, waiting until he had all their attention. “Geoffrey has his sword. I know him. If he gets an opportunity, he’ll gut the beast.”
“Aye, if it doesn’t kill him first.” one of the men said. “But you’re right, he’s a fighter. If he gets a chance, he’ll take it.”
Another spoke up, grim-voiced. “Now we’ve got to try and rescue him as well as Lady Rowena.”
Alanna opened her mouth.
“And Caradoc.” Darrick said it for her.
“And Sarina,” she finished, for him. Raising her voice, she lifted her chin. “The beast travels west.” Pointing, she waited until all eyes followed the direction of her finger. “Gorsedd calls his creation home. We must make haste, for I can feel the sea storm waning.”
The storm. Creating that had zapped all her magic.
“How did Gorsedd and his army get through the storm?” Darrick wanted to know.
Never had Alanna felt so powerless. “I don’t know. I’m thinking it must have cost him a day or two. Maybe it began to fade. Or mayhap he used his magic to part the water.”
With Geoffrey clinging to one claw, Sarina clutched in the other.
“Yes.” She inhaled. “But I believe the storm will be totally gone by the time we have to cross the water.”
“I thought as much. We need to pick up the pace.”
Putting their heels to their horse’s sides, they urged the still-nervous animals from a trot to a canter, then to an all out gallop.
As they pounded down the road, Alanna could not push the images of the beast from her mind. The dragon’s form still nagged her. Had her son had some part in its creation? If so, she knew he’d never meant it to hurt anyone, especially his favorite Aunt Sarina.
Caradoc… Did he have that much power? More than she, or Wynne, or any full-blooded Fae in Rune? If so, that meant Caradoc was Darrick’s son and, half-Reagan, half-Tadhg, the legendary half of the pair of pairs. Then Ellette, with her unknown heritage, must be the other.
Returning to the dragon. Had Gorsedd somehow forced Caradoc to use his burgeoning magic thusly? How could such a thing be possible, without the necessary pairs of pairs mentioned in the verse?
She put the thought away, willing herself to think only of their goal, which had now included rescuing two more. She refused to reflect on the larger implications of their journey, that she and Darrick and their small band of travelers would be called upon to save the entire world.
As they thundered down the winding road, only dust marked their passage. Even more than her son’s young life or that of Lady Rowena hung in the balance. `Twas hard to believe the fate of both mankind and of Fae might rest on their weary shoulders.
Birds began to fill the sky the closer they drew to St. Bees head. At first they saw one or two, then small flocks, then finally, the sky seemed to explode with them. Puffins, razorbills, and black guillemots dipped and swirled, screeched and sang. If the dragon’s passage had intimidated them, they showed it not.
Still and silent, Ellette showed no reaction.
The landscape also began to change. Wild flowers grew in optimistic profusion, their bright colors a bold and defiant challenge to winter. The gently rolling landscape of the lakes and hills became jagged, more rock than earth, more weeds than a carpet of grass. Almost it seemed they entered another realm.
Not an unpleasant one, for all that they neared danger.
“How is such a thing possible?” one of the men asked. “Such plants cannot flourish in the winter cold.”
Darrick answered for her. “Magic.”
She nodded, wondering if her son was responsible for this beauty as well.
Still, they rode west, knowing soon they’d reach the end of the land. Soon, they’d reach the Irish Sea.
Finally, when it seemed their horses could go no more, they came up over the crest of a hill. Ahead, the ocean shimmered in the distance.
“`Tis so large.” One of the men marveled. “It doesn’t end at the horizon.”
Darrick said nothing. His entire body seemed pulled tight as he held his fear in check.
“Scent the air,” Alanna ordered, doing exactly that. The bite carried by the formerly pleasant wind promised rain. Roiling, gray storm clouds darkened the horizon. Jagged bolts of lightening and the far-off rumble of thunder punctuated the air. The fury of the magical storm still raged upon the ocean, not yet spent.
Scanning the sky, they saw no sign of the dragon or its reluctant passengers. Nor of Gorsedd and his army.
At the front of the column, Darrick lifted his hand. “Halt.”
They slid to a stop, their lathered horse’s sides heaving.
“There, over the water. The sky.”
Alanna lifted her chin. “Aye. The storm still rages.”
They continued on, letting the horses walk. The nearer they drew to the ocean, the more of a damp chill the salt-tinged wind brought.
“St. Bees Head.”
Mysteriously, the wind ceased, as though turned away by the rocky protrusions. Unfettered, the creatures of the sky dipped and soared.
Ahead stood red sandstone cliffs, towering above the water. Flocks of birds, hundreds, nay thousands of them, covered every rock, every bush, every available cranny. The sound of their cries was deafening.
Alanna shivered. The cold felt more pronounced, though the screeching and calling of the birds brought to mind another, warmer season.
They paused near the edge of the stark cliffs. A three hundred foot drop below, the winter ocean crashed violently against the rocks, its ominous roar warring with the birds. To the north, Alanna saw a coastline. Scotland. Slightly south and west she made out the faint shape of more land. The island. Between and beyond that, only sea.
This place contained no sign of Gorsedd and his men. Either he’d used magic to cloak his passage or they were too late.
“I see no ships, no camp, no proof they’d ever even been to this spot.”
Darrick turned his head to meet her gaze. The despair in his eyes mirrored her own.
“Where could they have gone?”
“What lies that way?” Alanna indicated past the isle, directly west into the setting sun.
“Eire. And north is Scotland.” He pointed. “And there lies the Isle of Man.”
The Isle of Man. Though the name was not familiar, chills raced up her spine. “What is this place?”
“A good sized island, surrounded by smaller, wild islands. Even the larger Isle of Man is mostly uninhabited by humans or Fae now. But Tynwald Hill is there.”
“Tynwald Hill?”
“An ancient burial mound.” Darrick frowned.
One of his men chimed in. “Aye. Norsemen used it once for Thing-vollr - their law-making assembly. But there is also a Christian abbey on the Isle.”
Alanna regarded him thoughtfully. “The abbey does not interest me, though Geoffrey will find it well-placed. Tynwald Hill, on the other hand, does. Among my people, such places were known repositories of great power.”
Darrick nodded. “Aye. Long have I heard such tales.”
Energy. Gorsedd would take whatever assistance he could get.
“Perhaps `tis why Gorsedd travels there with Caradoc.”
“And the dragon?”
She squinted into the setting sun. “If the beast is truly Gorsedd’s creature, then we shall find him on this isle also.” And Geoffrey and Sarina as well, she prayed.
“What of Eire?” Darrick continued to stare at the horizon, as if by concentrating enough he could somehow see Gorsedd’s hiding place. “Is not Eire another bountiful land for the Fae? Many of your kind reside in the land of Green, do they not?”
She had to raise her voice to be heard over the din of the birds. “They do, but I don’t believe they will assist Gorsedd with his evil plans. This Isle has to be where he’s gone.”
“I agree. He is setting the stage.” As though speaking of prophecy, Darrick’s deep voice resonated. “Whatever he plans, it will come to a head soon.”
Pairs of Pairs. One look at Darrick told her his thoughts ran along the same lines. She and Darrick made up one pair, Sarina and Geoffrey another. And she had Ellette who, once placed with Caradoc, would complete the third and final pair.
If Gorsedd learned the meaning of the riddle and realized he had within his grasp one of the vital pairs--
“We must find Sarina and Geoffrey first.” Darrick had obviously reached the same conclusion.
Alanna’s heart pounded, like the relentless ocean below. “And your mother and Caradoc. All of this is intertwined somehow. I haven’t worked it all out yet, but the puzzle begins to come together.”
The men exchanged looks.
Below, the surf continued to lash at the rocks. All around them, the birds continued to wheel and dance and screech. Through it all, Ellette remained motionless, like a small statue made of stone.
“Is the child all right?”
Alanna dropped a kiss on Ellette’s golden head. “She
worried me as well. I pray her silence is because she just needs to put away the horror of what she has seen.”
Darrick resumed his contemplation of the sea. If he felt his former dread, she could not read it in his face.
The men began to speak among themselves, not bothering to lower their voices. “Gorsedd has not been here.”
“I see no army,” said another.
Grim-jawed, Darrick nodded. “Perhaps he left from Whitehaven, or somewhere else further up the coast.”
“Searching for him here will prove fruitless.” Though prophecy was not one of her gifts, Alanna knew she spoke true. “He has already crossed the sea to the Isle.”
The one place Wynne had said they must not let him reach. Did this mean they were too late?
Alanna refused to believe it.
“How can we reach the Isle? We have no boat.”
Darrick growled in frustration. Leaning forward, he searched the beach both north and south, as though he hoped a ship might magically appear.
Would that she had enough power to grant his wish. She thought of the dragon rising into the sky. If she had full command of her own magic, could she too conjure such a beast? If they rode upon its back, they would reach the Isle in short time.
But such thoughts were foolish. Her power had been depleted.
Darrick again raised his voice. “Alanna, can you contact Wynne? See how she’s coming with the army? Perhaps the combined force of many can help us now.”
“I can try.” Closing her eyes, she gathered her strength to try and send out a message.
* * * *
Though the wind buffeted and pummeled him, Geoffrey held on. He pulled himself up the great beast’s claw, until he was able to hold on to the thing’s scaly leg. About the width of two hands, it looked rather like a giant chicken’s leg. Locking his arms together, he felt secure against the buffeting of the wind as they flew across the ocean.
The dragon seemed unaware of his presence. For this, he was glad. He kept watch on Sarina, praying the monster wouldn’t open its claw and send her tumbling to her death into the water below.
Still unconscious, Sarina slumped in the dragon’s grip. Her dark hair billowed about her. Limp, she looked lifeless. Terrified, Geoffrey shouted her name.
Soul Magic Page 18
