Sea Glass g-2

by Maria V. Snyder

  “No. Just a fresh sea wind. In the warm and heating seasons, the ground heats faster than the seawater.” Kade used his hands to demonstrate. “When the sun sets, the warm air rises and the cold air sinks, creating a breeze.” He crouched next to Leif. “I can redirect the breeze until bedtime.”

  A bubble of calm engulfed us. Leif’s pile of wood ignited.

  “Sweet,” Leif said.

  After dinner, we arranged our sleeping mats. I dozed on and off. Once Kade fell asleep, the wind picked up speed, keening through the cracks. Blankets flapped and needles of cold air poked. I shivered in my cloak, wishing I could huddle with the horses. Perhaps I could ask them to lie down upwind and create a windbreak. The four horses leaned together with their rumps to the wind.

  An almost full moon hung above us, casting a white light on The Flats. Everything shone as if frozen, including me.

  Rolling closer to Kade, I tried to snuggle with him. He didn’t move. How could he sleep on rock-hard ground with all this noise? His blanket was half-off his body. I sat up to fix it. His open eyes stared into the clear night sky.

  “Kade?” I shook him hard. “Kade!” His blanket blew away, revealing his neck. A black dart jutted from his throat. I yanked it out and sniffed the blood-covered tip. No scent. The damn wind blew too hard. It didn’t matter. Only one poison would render him like this. Curare.

  I checked Leif and Skippy. Both paralyzed. I touched my own neck, but found nothing. The horses resembled statues. Panic flushed through my body, replacing the cold. Yanking my sais from their sheath, I armed myself and scanned The Flats. Nothing. Yet.

  Should I use Kade’s sword or Leif’s machete? Leif’s arm reached for his bag and I remembered he always carried the antidote to Curare in his pack. I scrambled to open it, but movement caught my attention.

  Downwind, a dark shape rose from the ground. One more joined it and two more stood on my left. Swords glinted as they advanced.

  15

  FOUR AGAINST ONE. I WAITED WITH MY SAIS HELD IN A DEFENSIVE position. My companions had all been shot with Curare-laced darts, the horses, too. No help from anyone.

  The black-clad figures approached with their swords pointed at me. I couldn’t fight four at once. Not with my sais, but my pocket held my glass bees and spiders. I would need a free hand.

  “Surrender,” a man’s voice called. “Put down your weapon.”

  I threw my sais at the two closest ambushers. One clanged on a sword, the other flew past a head—just missing it. But now my hands held glass.

  “Leave now, or die,” I called over the wind.

  They hesitated and glanced at their leader—the farthest from me. The leader motioned them to continue. “Play nice, Opal,” he said.

  I recognized his voice. Ice filled my veins and coated my heart. Tricky. How did he escape from Ixia?

  “Don’t come any closer,” I said. “I have Greenblade bees. One sting and you’re dead.”

  “Go ahead. Crush them.” Tricky joined his friends, forming a semicircle around me. A black hood covered his head.

  Sensing a trap, I considered. I didn’t want to kill anyone, and had hoped to scare them off. Perhaps bees with instructions to buzz around would chase them away.

  Tricky didn’t want me dead. At least, not yet. I knew what he wanted. My blood. No Curare for me. Curare paralyzed muscles and magic, and would neutralize any power in my blood.

  Kade’s comments about being in a desperate situation flashed through my mind. I had warned them. My hands, though, wouldn’t move to break the glass. Since I hadn’t been pricked, it left one explanation. Magic held me immobile.

  Tricky sheathed his sword and strolled over to me. He grabbed the glass from my useless hands, pulled my cloak off and searched me for more weapons. Revulsion churned in my chest at his rough touch as he emptied my pockets. More bees and spiders joined the others. He tossed my possessions to the side.

  “Len and Aubin, keep watch. Boar, my pump.” Tricky called out orders. “You, sit.” He pointed to me.

  A force pushed on my shoulders and my knees bent on cue. Once down, Tricky’s magic continued to hold me as if bandages wrapped around my body.

  I studied the man unpacking supplies. He handed an unfamiliar device to Tricky and pushed his sleeves up. The firelight illuminated the tattoos on his arms.

  Blood magic strikes again. Only one person was needed to spread the plague. Frustration pumped in my heart fueled by fear and anger. If the Council had only believed me about Devlen, this wouldn’t be happening.

  When all looked ready, Tricky knelt next to me with a knife in his hand. Sweat rolled down his face and he grunted when his magic released me.

  “Don’t try anything.” He warned. “I can immobilize you again.” He ripped off my left sleeve and wrapped a thin rope around my upper arm, pulling it tight. “Lie down. Stretch out your arm and make a fist.”

  No choice, I did as instructed. As I unfolded my legs, I felt a lump at the base of my spine. I tucked my free hand under my back. Tricky tapped the underside of my forearm. He tried to hide his fatigue from me, but I kept my gaze on him. If he was too weak to use magic, I might be able to get to my glass bees piled nearby.

  “I dreamed of killing you for stealing my magic,” Tricky said. “Then I wanted to torture you for ruining our plans and having me arrested in Ixia.” He stroked my neck with his fingers, rubbing his thumb over my windpipe. “But you did me a huge favor. I should be thanking you.”

  I shrank away from his touch. “Favor?”

  He leaned close to my ear. “You didn’t tell the authorities I still had magic. That you couldn’t take it from me,” he whispered.

  Horror splashed through me. “But I told…” Kade, asking him to tell Janco. But with all the cleanup and other explanations, my message must have been forgotten. I should have made sure. “It was such a small amount.”

  “It was enough to fool the guards and escape.” Tricky traced the blue vein down the inside of my arm with the tip of his blade. “One little problem. I can’t increase my powers unless I use your blood.”

  The desperate thumping in my chest filled my ears. About halfway between my wrist and elbow, Tricky drew his knife across the inside of my forearm. A burning pain sizzled and blood welled.

  He covered the wound with a rubber suction cup and held it in place. A slurping noise came from behind him.

  “It’s working,” Boar said. He squeezed a rubber ball attached to the tube. Red liquid filled a glass container in his lap. “It’s slow.”

  He untied the rope around my arm, and instructed Boar, “Use your healing magic, but instead of stopping the flow, encourage her blood to gush. Draw strength from me.” Tricky’s face creased with effort. He rubbed my arm. “Relax. It’ll be over in a minute. No pain. You’ll just go to sleep.”

  I felt light-headed and realized he planned to suck me dry. I couldn’t just lie here and let him. Fuzzy thoughts tried to plan. Glass container. Rubber tubing. Lump in my spine—my switchblade.

  Pulling the weapon from the small of my back, I yanked it free and triggered the blade. Snick. Tricky’s gaze switched to my right hand. I jabbed him in the shoulder before he could draw power. He scrambled back in surprise, dropping the tube. I scooped up a handful of glass—spiders and a bee—crushing them.

  The noise and flash stunned Boar for a second. Recovering, he gained his feet, cradling the container of my blood. The two other guards rushed toward me with their weapons drawn, but I pointed to the single Greenblade bee, hovering in midair. “Stop right there!”

  They paused next to Boar. “Tricky, help,” Len cried.

  No response. Tricky didn’t move. A lesson I learned from Yelena—treating my blade with Curare.

  “Give me the jar,” I said.

  “Aubin!”

  A blur of motion and a knife skewered the bee. It fell to the ground, too heavy to fly. I ordered my spiders to attack them. A moment of confusion created a distraction while I found anot
her bee. I sent this one to break the jar, but the glass was too thick. My last bee hovered for a mere second before being impaled with a knife.

  “Don’t move. Or the next one goes into your heart,” Aubin said, aiming a dagger at me. “Drop your weapons and keep your hands where I can see them.”

  I released the spiders and turned my palms out.

  “Boar, can we finish the job?” Aubin asked.

  “Not without Tricky. My magic is too weak.”

  “Give me the jar. Help Len carry Tricky.” Aubin tucked the container under his arm.

  With Boar’s help, Len draped Tricky over his shoulder.

  Aubin gestured to me with his knife. “Come.”

  “No.” Tricky wanted me alive. They could harm me, but probably wouldn’t kill me until after he woke. I hoped his goons didn’t know how to counter Curare.

  Aubin considered. “We can force you. You’ll be hurt.”

  “Doesn’t matter.” I swept a hand out. “My companions will wake well before Tricky. You won’t be able to get far carrying him and dragging me along. Once they can move, you’ll have a Stormdancer and two powerful magicians after you. I’d give you a twenty-percent chance of living through the encounter.” I tapped my finger on my lips. “Hmm…I changed my mind.”

  “You’ll come with us?” Aubin asked.

  “No. I think twenty percent is too high. I forgot Curare doesn’t last as long on Stormdancers…something with the electrical charge in the atmosphere neutralizing the drug. I think a ten-percent chance of survival is more accurate. It is the storm season.”

  I kept my gaze steady as Aubin studied me. Dizziness spun behind my eyes, but I ignored it.

  “Then I’ll kill your companions so there is no need to worry about them following us.”

  My heart flipped. I used every bit of energy to keep my voice calm. “Zero chance of survival.”

  “Why?”

  “One of the magicians is the brother of the Soulfinder. If she doesn’t scare you, then her heart mate, Valek, should. Not only is he the Commander’s assassin, but he’s immune to all magic. Plus, you’d have every Stormdancer after you, and the Master Magicians, as well.”

  “Let’s just go,” Boar said. “We have enough blood.”

  “We can’t leave her here. She’ll send her bees after us,” Aubin said.

  Boar muttered and searched the ground. He found my sais and grasped them by the shafts. He strode toward me. “Do you know how to fight with these?”

  Confused, I glanced at Aubin.

  “Answer his question.”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Do you know the soldier’s honor code for a fair fight?” Boar asked.

  “No.”

  He stepped closer and held the sais out. I automatically reached for the hilts, but he snatched them away.

  “Neither do I.” Boar swung one of the sais, aiming at my temple.

  Pain pulsed in my head, waking me. I shaded my eyes from the searing reflection of sunlight off the shale ground. My body ached and my arm stung. I stayed prone for a while, chasing fuzzy memories. When I remembered the attack, I scrambled upright, searching for Tricky and his goons.

  No one except Kade, Leif, Skippy and the horses. They all remained paralyzed by Curare and would be immobile for another…I checked the sky. A few hours past dawn. From my unfortunate experience with the drug, I knew they would be incapacitated for almost a full day. At least my companions could hear, see, breathe and swallow.

  A hiccuppy laugh bubbled. Kade and the others had heard the whole fight. I wondered what I would get in trouble for. Falling for Boar’s honor-code trick or for letting them get away with my blood.

  I needed to focus before the shakes came or I passed out again. Stumbling over to Leif’s pack, I found the Theobroma lumps. The wind had died down and a few half-burnt branches had survived last night’s flames. One good thing about being unable to light fires with magic was I kept matches in my saddlebags.

  I coaxed the meager firewood into a small blaze and melted the Theobroma. Once the brown liquid cooled enough not to burn skin, I spooned the antidote into each of my companion’s mouths, guessing how much was needed. For the horses, I coated my fingers with it and rubbed my hands on their tongues.

  My arms shook by the time I finished. Shivers racked my body. I wrapped my blanket around me and lay next to Kade, pulling his blanket over us both.

  Leif woke me an instant after I fell asleep. At least, that was how it felt to me. I blinked in the light, cursing the brightness. My heavy limbs refused to move. I didn’t have enough energy to stand.

  “Drink this,” Leif said.

  He tipped a mug toward my lips. A foul-smelling liquid sloshed. I tried to pull away, but he put his hand under my head, dripping the yellow substance into my mouth.

  “Swallow or I’ll hold your nose closed until you do,” Leif threatened.

  I gulped and winced. It tasted like dirty wash water.

  “It will help your body produce more blood. Make you feel stronger so we can get off this horrid rock and down to the soft sands of the beach.”

  “Go on without me.” I shooed halfheartedly. “It’s not like you need me to save you or anything…Oh, wait. I did save you.”

  “And you took your sweet time, too. Although I give you major bonus points for your…ah…very creative arguments about why they shouldn’t kill us.”

  I shivered at the memory as Leif urged me to gulp more of his potion.

  “I meant it, don’t let me keep you from the beach.”

  “Nice try, but you’re going to drink all of this. Besides, if I tried to leave, a certain Stormdancer would probably zap me with lightning.”

  “Where is Kade?” I sat up, feeling better.

  Leif looked past my shoulder. “Walking the horses. They weren’t happy about being paralyzed. Once we calmed them, they let Kade work off their stiffness.” He met my gaze. “I’m sorry, Opal. We should have posted guards, but I thought the horses would warn us of any intruders. I never thought someone would use Curare on them.”

  “Curare plus the wind. Tricky’s gang probably stayed downwind where they couldn’t smell them.”

  “I notified the authorities in Thunder Valley with my messenger. Hopefully they’ll be caught, but we should take you home—”

  “No. I’d love to chase them down, but the Stormdancers need orbs.”

  “What if they come back?”

  “They won’t. Tricky has what he came for.” And the spread of blood magic continued. For now. I would stop it. I promised.

  “What happens when he runs out of your blood?” Leif asked.

  “We’ll use me as bait and go fishing.”

  “I’m serious, Opal.”

  “So am I.”

  Of course, my bravado didn’t last long. When Kade arrived with the horses, I wanted to melt into his arms and forget the whole nightmare. He held me in a tight embrace.

  “You did well last night,” he said with pride in his voice. “I wanted to shout with joy when you regained consciousness. Until then…” His body stiffened as he struggled to find the right words. “Until then, it was hell. Not as bad as watching you be tortured by Devlen, but rather horrible. And here I’ve feared null shields, not knowing that…this…Curare is a million times worse.”

  I agreed and Kade stepped back to search my face.

  “You’ve been hit by it, too?” he asked.

  I realized Kade didn’t know much about my history. Every time we were together we had a specific problem to deal with. Since he had returned from Ixia, we hadn’t spent too much time talking.

  “Yes. Unfortunately, I have a lot of experience with Curare.”

  “When?”

  “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later.” I leaned against him.

  He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Will the…strangeness go away? I can use my magic, but I still feel vulnerable. Fragile.”

  “That’s the antidote,” I explain
ed. “Theobroma opens a person’s mind to magical influences and destroys a magician’s mental defenses.” I gestured to Leif and Skippy. “If a weaker magician like Tricky attacked them now, they wouldn’t be able to counter him. It doesn’t last as long as Curare. You should be fine by nightfall.”

  “Is it true Curare works differently for Stormdancers?”

  “No. I lied to them, hoping to give them an incentive to leave without killing anyone.” I hugged my arms to my chest. Tricky’s goons had just started using blood magic, and hadn’t reached the point when the all-consuming desire to gain magical power overruled logic. Otherwise, they would have killed without a second thought.

  “Opal,” Leif called. He crouched next to the remains of the fire.

  I joined him.

  He pointed to the two Greenblade bees. “They look like good knives, but I’m not crazy enough to pull them out.”

  Interesting. The bees were dead, but hadn’t disappeared. I reviewed last night’s attack and realized I hadn’t given them a task.

  “Rest in peace,” I said. The knives clattered to the ground. Their clean blades shone in the sunlight.

  “And I thought Yelena had eccentric powers,” Leif said. “Finding lost souls seems normal compared to commanding dead bees.”

  “Not funny.” I collected the glass spiders that had been scattered during the fight and found my sais. “Have you seen any of my bees?”

  “After Boar knocked you unconscious, Aubin ordered him to take them.”

  “Why? They can’t use them.”

  Leif picked up Aubin’s weapons and stood. “I’m guessing Aubin has excellent knife-throwing skills. It’s a good way to attack from a distance and to attack without being seen. Just like your bees.” He met my gaze. “Just how far can your bees travel? Could they find someone out of sight?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Neither does anyone else. Theoretically, you could send a bee to assassinate the Commander in Ixia without leaving the Keep. Valek would no longer be the most infamous assassin. Perhaps Aubin was on to something.”

  As Leif’s words sunk in, fingers of ice brushed my skin. I had used my spiders and bees for self-defense, never once considering other possibilities. Why? As Devlen had said, I was too nice. If I wanted to stop Tricky and blood magic, I needed to start thinking like them.