Silver Batal and the Water Dragon Races

by K. D. Halbrook

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t trust you. I thought it was a chance to hold on to my dream.”

  “So this is what you believe a dream is worth.” Nebekker sighed and cradled the pendant. “But it’s even more valuable than you know.”

  Silver hung her head. It meant even more now to get Kirja back. To prove to Nebekker that she deserved to be bonded to an Aquinder. And prove that she could be a good friend to the old woman.

  As the pendant warmed in Nebekker’s hands, Silver saw a hint of violet light glow from its core before fading again.

  “What just happened?” Silver said.

  “The stone is searching for Kirja.” Nebekker reached her arm out, then retracted it. Her brow furrowed, like she was fighting an inward battle. Finally, she groaned, grabbed Silver’s hand, and pressed the pendant back into her palm. “Take it. You need it more than I do.”

  “What does it do?”

  “As you get closer to Kirja, the stone will know, pulsing brighter and hotter,” Nebekker said.

  “How does it know?”

  “As with so many things having to do with bonds, the hows and whys are a mystery to me.”

  “Where did you get it?”

  Nebekker shook her head. “It fell into my palm at the conclusion of a sort of journey long ago. But there’s not time to explain more. You must go.”

  Silver was filled with a renewed sense of determination. She tied the pendant around her neck, tucked it beneath her tunic, and straightened up. “We’ll be back soon—with Kirja.”

  Nebekker closed her eyes and nodded. Without the pendant, her body slumped again. Silver bent and hugged the woman.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  Nebekker nodded again but didn’t reply. She didn’t have any more words for Silver and Brajon. No instructions, no guidance, no sarcasm. She was already breathing deeply, sinking into meditation to stretch out her heartbeats until they returned.

  “What’s next?” Brajon asked Silver as the cousins turned to go.

  “To Calidia,” Silver said—with more certainty than she felt.

  SEVENTEEN

  The cousins faced the oasis lake.

  “Are we going to have to swim to get past the lake? We don’t know how,” Brajon said. He put his fists on his hips, then set his jaw. “Not that I couldn’t learn or anything. Yeah, let’s just go. Jump in. Should be easy.”

  He rushed headfirst into the water, but Silver grabbed his sleeve. “Hold it! Nebekker said the currents in the bottom of the lake are strong. They’ll spit you right back out into the cavern.”

  “What do you suggest? Wait for Queen Imea to send her royal barge?”

  “More like a Droller,” Silver said. “They’re the dragons that transport people.”

  Brajon groaned. “Knowing useless water dragon trivia won’t help us through that lake.”

  “I also know that water dragons are great swimmers.” Silver motioned to Hiyyan, who had swum down the river to the lake. “And that’s very useful knowledge right now.”

  Hiyyan grinned.

  “Oh, absolutely not. I’m not riding Hiyyan.” Brajon backed away.

  Hiyyan lifted his head in the air, looking greatly offended. He turned his back to Brajon and pouted.

  Silver patted his tail and scowled at Brajon. “If this is how you’re going to be the whole time, we’re not going to make it very far.”

  Brajon kicked a pebble as he searched the area. Then he brightened and pointed. “Look, I think there’s a way to get around the lake if we can reach that ledge. Hiyyan can lift us to it.”

  “Or, he could just swim us through the lake,” Silver said with a sigh.

  Brajon scraped his boots a few times against the ground. Silver’s heart softened. She might want to soar in the skies, but solid earth was where Brajon was most comfortable. She reminded herself that the idea of being in dark, cramped caves made her nervous.

  “Look,” she said. “I think we can climb those rocks part of the way, then balance on the stalagmites to get us to the ledge. Hiyyan can give us a boost, too. Then he can swim across the lake and meet us on the other side.”

  Brajon broke into a relieved smile. “We can use Hiyyan’s head as a step!”

  The Aquinder made a displeased snort but went along with their plan. He hoisted them up to the higher rocks, then walked alongside them as best he could as they balanced across the stalagmites. Brajon reached the ledge first and pulled himself up.

  “Perfect!” he said. “This goes all the way past the lake. It’s a little low, so we’ll have to crouch. At least, I will. A little desert beetle like you should be fine.”

  Silver was concentrating too hard to shoot back a retort. She placed her foot against the ledge, but her boot hit moss, and she slipped backward, her arms wheeling in the air. Brajon reacted quickly, grasping her wrist. Her body swung swiftly to the side, and her rib cage slammed into the tip of a stalagmite. Silver let out a cry of pain, and Hiyyan whimpered in sympathy.

  “Ungh.” Silver wriggled like a scorpion in Brajon’s grasp, her boots trying to find a grip on the slick wall.

  “Stop. Moving. Like. That,” Brajon grunted. “Give me your other hand.”

  “I’m trying!”

  “Try harder!”

  Silver looked over her shoulder. She had a long way to fall. The cavern, a place of beautiful shadows before, now gaped menacingly at her. She was sure the stalagmites were thirsting to impale her.

  Silver stopped squirming and dangled in the air. She closed her eyes. They were supposed to rescue a dragon like this? There had to be a better way.

  “Brajon, hold on to me tight. I have an idea.”

  As her cousin braced himself, Silver swayed to the left, then to the right, then harder and faster. Finally, she had enough momentum to fling her right arm up to Brajon. He caught it and, with one movement, yanked her onto the ledge.

  “Thank you,” Silver said, then paused to catch her breath.

  Brajon’s face was a touch pale. “That wouldn’t have been a pretty drop.”

  “Next time, we ride Hiyyan,” she said. “I don’t care what you say.”

  Silver worked her way across the ledge, her back to the lake and her eyes trained on the ground, calculating each step before she took it.

  On the other side, Hiyyan was there to meet them, his skin glistening with water. When he saw Silver, his grin was massive. Waves of relief passed through both of them.

  Silver laughed and jumped on his back to be lowered gently to the ground. Brajon hesitated, still on the ledge.

  “You can let Hiyyan help you, or you can leap yourself,” Silver said. “But try not to break all your bones when you land. Then you’ll definitely be riding Hiyyan the whole way to Calidia.”

  Brajon grumbled but let the Aquinder help gingerly lower him to the cave floor.

  On that side of the oasis, the caves were narrower and much darker. No cavern opening wide enough to let blue light in. Brajon paused to strike his flint and light a lantern. He reached for Silver’s lantern, too, but she held it away from him.

  “Don’t. I don’t want to run out of oil before we reach Calidia.”

  “We can get more.”

  Silver snorted. “Where? The great underground traders’ bazaar? Don’t be a beetlebrain.”

  Brajon looked at Hiyyan. “I bet there’s loads of blubber under his skin.”

  Hiyyan growled.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Silver said. “If you hurt Hiyyan, you hurt me.”

  “Relax,” Brajon said, “I was just joking.”

  Silver was learning the strength of the emotions she felt when Hiyyan was upset or happy, and how they affected her own moods. Every time she thought about Kirja, for example, sorrow flowed through her, and Sersha’s face swam in her vision. How could she make Brajon know what it was like when there was nothing to compare the experience to? Her cousin had never even had a pet.

  Brajon shook his head. “If I can’t make you lau
gh, then Sagittaria Wonder has won. That old racer could never drag my cousin down.”

  That got a small smile from Silver. “Never mind. Let’s keep walking.”

  The flowing of the river and the dripping of condensation kept Silver and Brajon company for some time. The way was easy and clear, but Silver shivered when she thought too much about the never-ending darkness around them. Never stopping. Never seeing the light again. The ceilings drip-drip-dripping nonstop and water filling her ears in a rush.

  How long had they been walking? A few hours? Not the whole night, surely. The back of her neck prickled, as though something were watching them. Silver shook her head. The caves were already getting to her.

  Her ears perked, and she froze.

  “Did you hear that?” she whispered.

  Brajon looked back over his shoulder. “Just the river and the dripping. And you tripping all over the place.” He marched ahead, delighted to be in his element. Underground was a second home to him.

  “Hilarious.”

  Silver turned in a slow circle, examining the walls and as much of the shadowy places as she could see into. There was nothing. Listening hard revealed nothing, either. But there had been something a moment ago. She was sure of it.

  “Can we stop and rest?” Silver looked at the ceiling nervously. She longed for the skies. Or maybe she was feeling Hiyyan’s longing. Probably, it was both of them.

  “How long’s it been?” Brajon asked.

  “I don’t know. I’ve lost track of time.”

  “I guess sleeping whenever we’re tired makes sense, then,” Brajon said.

  They unrolled their mats, and Silver picked through the selection of dried food her cousin had taken from the kitchens. “I’m too tired to make a fire,” she said.

  She wondered how Nebekker could stand living in the caverns for so long. Silver popped a few nuts in her mouth and chewed them slowly. It wasn’t just worry over the fuel supply that made her want to avoid a fire. Her neck prickled, and her breathing was shallow. She had heard something in the caverns. A far-off rattling.

  Silver caught Hiyyan’s eye, and something passed between them, but her mind felt too fuzzy to figure out exactly what. It was as though Hiyyan wanted to tell her something but didn’t know how.

  Or she was so tired and hungry she was imagining things. Silver grabbed a handful of golden apricots and sugary dates. She couldn’t recall, later, if she’d actually eaten any of them. Her exhausted body hit her mat and immediately fell into slumber.

  EIGHTEEN

  Silver woke up to a pair of eyes watching her. Not Hiyyan’s expressive black eyes, because he was still sleeping. Nor Brajon’s; he was still sleeping, too. But across the cave, two tiny silver specks shone in the dying light of the lantern.

  Silver held as still as possible until her foot began to fall asleep. Slowly, a headache began to thump, thump, thump in her head from the awkward way her head was propped against the rocky cave wall. Or maybe it was from the drip, drip, drip of cave water on her upper back. Had she slept like that the whole time? The ache in her shoulders told her she had.

  The silver eyes blinked. They were watching her steadily. And then, to the left, another pair of glimmering eyes appeared.

  Silver tried to silently alert Hiyyan, sending waves of fear toward the water dragon. He stubbornly snored on. Clearly, their communication needed work.

  Wake up! she thought harder. Hiyyan shifted slightly.

  One pair of eyes disappeared. Silver felt choked by panic. Where did the eyes go? Was the creature coming closer? Had it decided she and Brajon would make a good breakfast? She realized one of her toes was peeking out from the end of her blanket. Silver quickly yanked her knees to her chest.

  “Brajon!” she hissed.

  Her cousin jerked upright. Hiyyan snorted awake and gave a low growl of warning. The Aquinder began moving closer to Silver, but Brajon put a hand up to stop him.

  “Don’t move,” he whispered. “Something’s dripping on you.”

  “It’s just cave water,” Silver whispered, swiping at her neck. Then she saw the panic in Brajon’s eyes. “Isn’t it?”

  “Don’t move,” he repeated.

  Silver froze. Every part of her except for her eyes. She saw something dropping slowly from the ceiling over Brajon’s head. A pale, iridescent string of something that was reaching down until it was about to touch his neck.

  “Um … cousin…”

  That’s when Silver realized it wasn’t one string. There were hundreds, all descending from the ceiling of the cave toward them.

  “Brajon,” Silver screamed. She jumped to her feet and flung her hands all over her neck, her face, her back. Her feet brushed against something squishy, and pricks of pain shot from her soles up into her ankles.

  Silver grabbed at her ankles with a cry, and her hands came away with blood. The things—the stretching, wormlike things—were above them and below them and they had teeth. They were sucking her blood from the back of her neck and attaching to the bottom of her feet. Brajon frantically danced next to her, trying to yank the slimy things off.

  “They’re down my tunic!” he yelped. He flung his top off and clawed at his skin.

  “Get them off me!” Silver hopped on her blanket to keep more worms from attaching to her feet, but several were already sucking. Every time she pulled one loose, another took its place. Trickles of blood began running down her skin. The scent and sight sent the worms into a frenzy.

  “Hiyyan, help!”

  But Hiyyan was already trying, biting with his rows of teeth. He beat his wings at the worms that kept dropping from the ceiling and stomped the ones on the ground with his big, flat feet. His thick scales were impenetrable, but he roared, sharing in her pain.

  In his frenzy to reach Silver, Hiyyan knocked Brajon to the ground, where more worms rose up to attach themselves to him.

  “Help,” Brajon screamed again.

  In the chaos, Silver slipped and fell to the ground, banging her cheek against the rock. She bit her tongue, and the salty taste of blood exploded in her mouth. A worm seemed to sense the blood on her tongue and lunged for her face.

  “Noooo!”

  This is the end, Silver thought, clamping her mouth shut and protecting her face with her hands. Some destiny. I’m going to be eaten alive by worms before I ever get to race Hiyyan.

  But then a pair of those silvery eyes flashed in the corner of her vision. A small furry creature leaped past her face, taking a worm in its mouth and ripping it to shreds. The torn pieces thrashed before becoming still.

  And then, more silver eyes and more furry creatures were flying through the air, landing with their sharp little teeth poised to tear the worms apart. There were dozens … maybe hundreds of them, all attacking the slithering worms. Silver was in pain as the slimy jaws were yanked from her body. She frantically felt for any remaining worms, then tore one from her shoulder. She threw it into the water, where a fish gobbled it up.

  Slowly, the haziness in Silver’s vision faded. All the colorful spots that had appeared and burst went away. She lay on the cave floor until her heart calmed. Her body still tingled, but the bleeding soon stopped. Hiyyan stopped writhing and curled up next to her. A few feet away, she heard Brajon working to catch his breath.

  Just inside the glow of their lantern, several pairs of little animal eyes watched them, waiting, as though they wouldn’t leave until they were sure Silver and Brajon were all right.

  “Desert foxes,” Silver whispered.

  She reached a tentative hand toward them, but the skittish creatures ran, disappearing into the cave’s shadows when she moved.

  “Thank you, foxes,” Silver whispered. She thought back to how she rescued the fox on the dunes on Brajon’s birthday. Could it be that they remembered and were helping her? The dune races felt so long ago. They were different kids in a different world.

  “Brajon, are you all right?” she asked, embracing her cousin. His face looked peaked
. Silver hoped it was because of fear, and not because he’d lost too much blood.

  “Those worms…” Brajon shuddered.

  Silver shook her head. She refused to think about those creatures. Instead, she pictured the desert foxes, streaming into battle with their fluffy tails rising high behind them.

  “I know we’re hurt,” she said, “but we have to move on.”

  A vision flitted in her mind. A girl and a boy, proudly astride a magnificent water dragon.

  Hiyyan bumped Silver with his nose, and they locked eyes.

  “Did you send me that?”

  The image came back again. Brighter than before. Hiyyan wrapped a wing around Silver.

  Silver gazed at the Aquinder in wonder. There was so much more for her to learn about their bond, but the message seemed clear.

  “Brajon, I think Hiyyan wants us to ride him for a while. We need to get out of here in case there are more worms, and this gives us a chance to rest.”

  Brajon hesitated, but finally, he gave a single, decisive nod.

  “Okay.”

  Hiyyan bent his knee at a ninety-degree angle, and Silver climbed up. Next, Brajon clutched the Aquinder’s mane in his fists and put his foot on the dragon’s leg. With a grunt, Brajon hauled himself behind Silver and splatted himself face-flat on Hiyyan’s back. Backward.

  “Ow.” Silver rubbed her shoulder. Brajon had kicked her when he’d flung his leg over the wrong way. “How did you even do that?”

  “I mron nwo.” Brajon refused to raise his head. With his eyes squeezed tightly shut, he turned his face slightly so Silver could hear him. “Just go. Let me stay like this for a while. It’s fine. I’m fine.”

  “Fine,” Silver said, but she couldn’t keep down a giggle. Hiyyan also let out a little amused snort. Brajon grumbled his disapproval, but Silver gave Hiyyan a pat, and the Aquinder raised himself up. Brajon squealed once, then clamped his lips together.

  “Oh, hush, Brajon,” Silver said. “You sound like a herd animal!”

  * * *

  THEY STOPPED TO EAT. Hiyyan went off to fish while Brajon started a fire and Silver looked through their quickly dwindling food supplies. She chewed on her lip thoughtfully.