by Amy Bearce
Tristan said goodnight to Phoebe and eyed Nell sharply. “Is the wound from the Dragon flaring? You must tell us, so we can stop its spread until we can reach the Tree.”
“I’m fine.” She clenched her teeth.
He raised one eyebrow. She couldn’t blame him for not believing her―he was right not to―but still, she closed her eyes against his suspicious doubts. Soon, the draft from the open flap and the sound of buttoning fabric told Nell she’d won. She had the voice protecting her heart, after all. She’d manage. The thought of the voice, not completely lost, sent a pulse of warmth through her that chased back the icy pain. She sighed in relief.
The cold dragged her down into a heavy drowsiness, and she fell straight to sleep.
When Nell woke in the morning, the others were still unmoving lumps in their bedrolls. She wiggled her toes, thankful for no signs of frostbite. She’d slept in her winter clothes, from her hood down to her boots. The icy spot in her chest remained, sharp but bearable. After a short struggle with the tent, she stepped out, staggered, and found her footing. Only then did she look up, blinking against the brilliance before her.
Though the sun barely reached above the horizon, the light already glittered on the panorama of white. A long vista of snow and ice spread out from the shoreline like an unfurled carpet. Nearby icebergs in the ocean were tinged with a sapphire blue that matched the sky. In the distance, a rugged mountain range reached so high that clouds obscured the tops. Blue, white, and silver painted the terrain here, laced with hints of deepest black. As alien as it appeared, this land was more beautiful than anything she’d ever seen.
Also more dangerous. Nell’s well-trained eyes picked out crevices and holes in the ice, death traps for the unwary. Whole strips of ice near the coastline bobbed in the water.
But the mountains beckoned.
From deep in Nell’s heart, a wave of homesickness rushed through her so profound she was humbled. She wasn’t the one feeling such longing. The emotion of the voice must be powerful to seep past the web of the Dragon’s poisoned magic.
She shook her head. Who were the guardians exactly? Where did they come from?
The voice didn’t answer.
Can you hear me? Are you okay? Nell asked, just in case.
Only silence. She guessed it couldn’t squeeze another message past the toxin’s barrier.
She looked back up into the empty sky and wondered if she’d ever hear from the voice again.
Across the expanse, something moved, far above the snowy ground. She narrowed her eyes. The shape looked familiar and appeared deep blue. Could that be a dragon? Already looking for them? She stared longer.
Yes, their enemy had indeed sent a dragon after them, one circling the skies in a patrol. His pride would demand some kind of hunt. Queasiness shot through her, and she crouched low, thankful for the white fabric of their tents. From this distance, not even a dragon would see them, but it meant everyone would have to be on guard.
Hating to look away from the threat for even a moment, Nell stuck her head in the boys’ tent. “We’ve got to get moving before we have company! A dragon’s on the prowl.”
The others staggered out, alarmed, but the dragon had already dropped behind the mountains.
“At least it stayed far away. Maybe it wasn’t even actually looking for us,” Corbin said.
The others nodded without enthusiasm. Nell didn’t express her doubts, not wanting to argue, but everyone packed up fast anyway.
After a cold and unsatisfying meal of hardtack and dried fruit, everyone turned to face Nell. Their scrutiny was obvious in the examining looks they gave her, all but counting her teeth. She rolled her eyes.
Micah said, “I believe Nell needs another healing before we begin. Even with the time pressure we are under.”
Tristan nodded and stepped closer. “I’m happy to help.”
She shook her head. “You need your magic more. You’re both far from your sources of power.”
“Perhaps you could compromise?” Corbin asked. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Let them help you at least a little. They’ll feel good, and it’ll tie our team tighter.”
She sighed. He knew people better than she ever would. If he said this would help everyone somehow, she’d have to believe him.
“Fine,” Nell said, both grateful and irritated. She might not want her friends’ magic, but she couldn’t deny the Dragon’s darkness was already sapping her strength. She couldn’t afford pride.
“Only give me a bit though,” Nell told them, frowning.
Micah and Tristan smiled in response with exasperating calmness. They laid their hands on her shoulders and closed their eyes.
This time, awake and aware, she felt the tingle of the magic as it entered, searching out something inside her like a magnet seeking iron. The power spiraled around her heart, its warmth soothing the cold ache there. Her breath came longer, easier.
“Thank you. That was generous of you.” Her voice was husky, and she cleared her throat.
“Think nothing of it. You would offer yourself for us the same way,” Micah pointed out. At least neither he nor Tristan looked worn by their expenditure of energy. Micah’s deep brown skin glowed with health, and the naturally-pale merman moved with ease.
Phoebe, Sierra, and Corbin joined them, so the group of six stood in a circle, together in the wilderness. The wee fairies danced around with Grace and Queenie despite the temperature.
Nell compared the view to the map from the temple’s book. “If I’m reading this map right, the highest mountain point is that way.”
They all turned to follow the direction she pointed, toward the tallest mountain peaks. Where the dragon had been.
Sierra sighed. “Yeah. Through the plains, through the hills, and then up… and up… and up.”
“What’s that marking to the left of the mountain? The circle with a dot inside it?” Corbin asked, looking at Nell expectantly.
A pinch of irritation flared in her. What did she know? With no voice guiding her, she lacked the one ability she’d had to lead them safely here. Being wrong could get them all killed, if they didn’t starve or freeze first.
She frowned.
It wasn’t like her to be so irate toward Corbin for no reason. Or to doubt her own abilities, dragon or no dragon. It had to be the poison already affecting her heart.
Nell smiled at him, a little wanly. She’d have to be on guard against those traitorous thoughts. Because of the Dragon’s poison, the enemy wasn’t just outside her.
It was inside her, too.
“I don’t know what that symbol means on the map,” Nell said, “but we know we need to head toward that mountain where the Tree is, away from the coast. We’re going that way, keeping an eye out for dragons and anything else he might send our way. This is his territory, and don’t forget it.” She gestured to the mountains. “Let’s get going.”
As soon as they set off, the icy wind chilled Nell’s hands, her nose. Thank Aluvia it was summertime. She couldn’t imagine the depths of cold here in the winter. The sun rose higher, and she blinked against the light reflecting off the snow, eyes watering.
“Ach!” Sierra threw her hands up, trying to block the brightness.
“Right.” Nell dug in her bag and handed out the gauze strips that reduced the glare. She hadn’t really believed Alastair’s tales of how cold, how bright, and how harsh things were here. She’d have to thank him later, if she made it back. When she made it back.
With the gauze in place, the world was even more surreal, hazy, white, seemingly endless. The bits of black visible only highlighted the incredible whiteness of their surroundings.
“I’m surprised there’s not more snow.” Phoebe huffed as she picked her way across the surface.
Their new boots kept them from sliding, but with every step they took, they crunched through the thin, sharp top layer of ice to the powdery snow beneath.
“Don’t say that too loud,” Tristan
joked, nodding toward the clouds near the mountains.
“The air feels pretty dry,” Nell said. “I imagine that’s why the snow is thin. For now.”
The winter probably saw the entire land covered waist-high with snow. She shivered.
Surely this place was as foreign as the deepest ocean depths ever were. Where were the birds? The insects? Here, it seemed nothing grew, nothing lived, though she suspected she just didn’t know where to look for life in this strange place. The stark simplicity called to her, reminding her of the clean emptiness she often felt after the voice spoke. The guardians, she reminded herself.
Are you there? she asked. No answer came.
She’d often wished to be totally alone even just once over the last four years, but now loneliness tapped Nell on the shoulder. She ignored its attempted greeting and walked faster instead. Sweat prickled at her neck from the exertion but turned her skin clammy immediately. Tiredness pulled at her like an anchor, the crunching of snow harsh in her ears.
Micah fell into step beside her, his faun legs a stark deep brown against the white background. He said, “I’ve been thinking, Nell. Now that I have seen the dragons, it’s clear the animals are in servitude, their natural power stolen. But if the sword frees the beasts from this man’s command, he would be far less dangerous, no matter how good a swordsman. After your healing, I believe freeing the dragons is our top priority, above even defeating the man.”
With the silence broken, everyone moved within speaking distance as they hiked.
Nell sighed. “I like the plan, as far as it goes. The voice said the sword will free the dragons, but it didn’t say how exactly to use the sword to heal anything or anyone. We don’t even know why those dragons obey him. He says he takes their fire, but how does someone do that? And how do we reverse that with the sword? And if we do, will the dragons just burn everything instead?”
And now it was silent again.
Micah offered, “If nothing else, maybe you can make his beasts uncontrollable again for long enough to fight him with the sword.”
“I don’t know what I did to that dragon,” Nell replied. “If it stayed out of control, I’m not sure our weapons would stop them. Unless they were unicorn-horn-tipped arrows, and maybe not even then.”
Corbin frowned but said nothing.
Unicorn-horn arrows were deadly to magical creatures―one had nearly killed Micah and Queenie. Nell only had one such arrow left. They were quite rare now. With more magic available, unicorns’ horns remained gloriously atop their heads all year now, their entire long lives.
But unicorn-horn-tipped arrows could maybe kill a dragon, or even the Dragon himself, despite his strange magic. Her heart squeezed with dark satisfaction of that last thought, but then she frowned. Their new enemy would no doubt enjoy killing. She wouldn’t be the same.
Besides, she’d left her last unicorn-arrow back in the house, buried at the bottom of her weapons chest. She should have destroyed it―a weapon specially designed to kill magical creatures served no good purpose―but she couldn’t bring herself to waste it. At least she wouldn’t have to make that particular moral decision here.
She shook her head. “We’ll have to trust the voice’s promise and keep moving.”
reparing for their second night out in the snow wasn’t pleasant, but it was better than the first. Nell suggested they conserve as much of their rations as possible and sent Phoebe and Tristan to search around the camp for any hidden dangers, keeping a wary eye out for another dragon patrol. Nell gritted her teeth against the cold, her nose long gone numb, but set about making camp with careful, calm motions. The burning cold around her heart had returned stronger than before, souring her mood. She struggled to keep her face blank.
But Micah, ever aware, stole over and laid a hand on her. He whispered, and a rush of energy poured inside her, pushing back the darkness and pain. A gasp slipped out of him when he pulled his hand away.
She burst out, “You shouldn’t have done that. I wouldn’t have let you if you’d asked.”
“Which is why I didn’t,” he said. “And even so, I can’t heal you fully.”
“I’ll be fine.” She fought to make the words gentle.
“At least I’m not the only stubborn one around here.” Sierra smirked.
“Sometimes, we need our friends to help us, even if we wish it were unnecessary.” Micah lifted one eyebrow.
Nell grimaced and avoided his gaze. He was right, but she was supposed to be leading this quest, not dragging behind half-dead.
Corbin sat down beside her. “It takes strength to accept help, Nell.”
She balled her fists and then purposefully shook them out, along with the worst of her attitude. Maybe the worst of her weakness wasn’t even coming from her. The Dragon would gain victory if she were to collapse here, defenseless.
“Thank you,” she told Micah.
Corbin bracketed her in a hug. “Tell us if it gets bad. Okay? We need you to stay strong. They’ll share their magic until we get you to the Tree.”
Unless the darkness gets too big to stop, she thought. She felt his power even now, working diligently at the shield around her heart. Digging little doubts, insidious irritations. Amplifying her flaws, setting her own traits against her.
Micah and Sierra cleared a space and set up a small fire between the two tents with a bit of the tinder they brought. It was a risk, that beacon in the darkness, but they had to have the heat. Phoebe and Tristan reported nothing of concern around the camp, adding there was brown tundra grass in the distance that might burn well for future fires.
The two funny little tents Alastair had sold Nell worked surprisingly well. Flexible willow tree branches threaded through the slick material that created a cozy dome with space enough to include a tiny brazier. The branches could be removed and coiled up to store in the packs. Three girls in one, three boys in another.
Nell much preferred sleeping in the open. Tents muffled noises and blocked views, allowing enemies too close without warning. But a place like this gave no choice. The temperature dropped lower at night, and she wasn’t going to risk anyone’s life.
The tired group of friends gathered around the fire, cooking porridge to go with a precious helping of dried pheasant. The sun took its blazing light below the horizon behind them. An eerie blackness remained, with millions of stars scattered across the sky. She was thankful to be clearheaded enough now to appreciate their beauty.
The six friends banked the fire, but the fairies kept a warm glow in each tent, lining the bedrolls. Nell took a final glance at the sky before heading to bed. She sucked in a breath and pointed upward.
“Does anyone else see that?” Between the voice’s influence and the Dragon’s poison, maybe she was imagining things.
The others looked up and gasped.
She wasn’t going crazy, then. At least not right now.
In the sky far above the distant mountain peaks, glowing ribbons of red and silver lights swirled and loomed with questing fingers that tried to reach beyond the tallest mountain but seemed unable to. Roiling flashes of red and silver flickered among them like lightning.
“It’s like the sea at high tide, restrained by the breakers,” Phoebe whispered.
The light was eerie but beautiful.
“What is it?” Nell whispered, her eyes glued to the slowly undulating colors, twisting as if in an invisible breeze.
“I don’t know,” Corbin said, his own voice hushed. “I’ve heard of lights in the night sky far up north, but those were green and blue. Steadier. Not like these. These are something else.”
No one had an answer.
They seemed to call to her, those lights, like a beacon drawing her home, but she had no idea why. They didn’t fade, just continually swelled, shrank, and swirled. As fascinating as they were, though, she couldn’t watch them all night. There were always going to be strange things when magic was involved, she reminded herself. She didn’t have to understand it. She j
ust had to do what she’d promised.
The next morning, Nell awoke with a jolt. She lay still, waiting. A shadow swooped against her tent and then quickly disappeared. Darkness flashed over their tent again, as if circling above them. A shadow with wings and a long, pointed tail.
“Sierra!” she whispered. “I think we’ve got company again. Another dragon.”
Sierra rolled out of her bedroll, grabbing her knife. “An attack?”
Nell laid a finger by her mouth, nodding at the still sleeping Phoebe. “Not sure. If it’s another dragon watching for us, the white tents will hopefully be camouflaged. But we need to hurry today and get to a less flat area of land. Without the Sword of Aluvia, we’re dead if a dragon finds us.”
“Agreed.”
The dragon had disappeared by the time they peeked carefully through the tent flaps, but the scare pushed the team hard.
As they hiked farther inland toward the hills and cave systems shown on the map, they moved fast enough that no one had breath for conversation. Nell brooded over how the Dragon knew her. It made the back of her neck cold to think of him spying on her, for long enough that he even knew her fighting preferences. But the streak of white hair, the wide build of his shoulders, his obvious magic… none of it was familiar. She gnawed on her worry until she gave it up as an impossible puzzle. Whoever he was, he’d be dead soon enough.
Focusing instead on the practical matters of the landscape, she was glad to see it wasn’t as bare as she first thought. Patches of tundra dotted the snow with its spongy brown grass, which would attract animals. Two bird nests nestled in the craggy rocks jutting from the ground like unexpected monuments. She stopped and gathered three oblong eggs to add to their rations.
Beyond the rocks, there were strange shadows in the snow. Tramping over quickly, she stared at tracks in the ground and swore. Each print was big enough that she could have sat in it and had room left over.
“Guys. Are those what I think they are?” she called back to them.
Corbin reached her first. “Those look like dragon tracks. Look at those gigantic claws.”
