The Legend of Oescienne - The Finding (Book One)

by Jenna Elizabeth Johnson

  ***

  Jahrra hadn’t been asleep long, but already she was having a terrible dream. Gieaun and Scede were with her, setting out a picnic on Reed Island. She was breathing in the warm summer air and chasing after dragonflies when an unpleasant voice shattered the peaceful atmosphere, “Hey Nesnan! What’re you doing, building your dream house? I guess reeds and mud are a step up from that dragon-infested pile of rubble you live in!”

  The sound of Eydeth and his friends laughing hysterically from the boardwalk jerked her awake. She sat up, breathing harder than usual, and looked around. She was still on the island in the middle of the lake and Gieaun and Scede had fallen asleep next to her.

  Jahrra closed her eyes and pulled in a deep breath. Phew! she thought, what a nightmare! But just as she was starting to relax, she heard something that made her stomach turn.

  “Would you look at this place? It might be half-way decent if it wasn’t crawling with Nesnans!”

  “No!” Jahrra breathed silently, rising up into a low crouch.

  She quietly scurried over to the edge of the island and peered out of a small gap in the reed screen. What she saw made her heart almost stop. It was Eydeth and Ellysian, accompanied by at least five of their classmates. They were in the middle of the boardwalk, looking out over the lake. Farther down the shore a pair of horses was strapped to a fancy paddleboat.

  “No!!!” Jahrra repeated a little more hoarsely, her teeth gritting together in utter frustration.

  Gieaun stirred awake, along with Scede.

  “We must’ve fallen asleep,” Scede said through a yawn as he sat up a little.

  “Jahrra, what’re you doing?” asked Gieaun sleepily.

  When Jahrra didn’t answer, they crawled up next to their friend and peeked out toward the boardwalk.

  “Eydeth!!! What’s he doing here?” Scede breathed scathingly.

  “And Ellysian, too!” Gieaun growled. “Oh, look at that boat! I wonder who that belongs to! Honestly, is everything they own so, so horribly expensive-looking?”

  Gieaun crossed her arms and sat down rather forcefully. Jahrra was still so upset she just continued to glare angrily.

  “Well,” said Scede, slumping down next to his sister, “I just hope they don’t come out here.”

  Unfortunately, it seemed that’s exactly what they planned to do. The group of children walked down the boardwalk towards the boat and climbed in, Eydeth and Ellysian giving the others orders to row. As she watched, Jahrra grew sick; they were paddling right towards her small island.

  Scede saw them too and scrambled to his feet, almost knocking Jahrra into the lake.

  “They can’t possibly think of coming over here!” he hissed.

  They quickly scuttled back to join Gieaun hampered down on the quilt, listening quietly for their classmates’ voices. Several minutes passed before they could make out Eydeth’s grating voice.

  “Can you believe some of these Nesnans actually make a living fishing out here? There can’t be anything worth catching! No wonder they’re so poor!”

  Jahrra held her breath, and her temper, wishing she was still dreaming.

  Ellysian answered him after a while, “Speaking of Nesnans, I wonder if Jahrra and her Nesnan-lover friends are out here.”

  Jahrra froze. That was the first time she had ever heard Ellysian say her name, and it sounded like it actually physically hurt her to say it.

  “Oh, they are,” Eydeth said casually. “That was her horse in the clearing, I recognized it. If we can’t find them, we could always torment that stupid animal. She acts like it’s her best friend. How pathetic is that?”

  Everyone in the boat snickered, and Jahrra shook with both rage and fear. Would he really do something to Phrym? If it wasn’t for Gieaun and Scede holding her down, she would’ve jumped right into their approaching boat, practicing some of the skills she’d learned from Yaraa and Viornen on them. Instead, she was forced to secretly curse the twins and their gang of bullies from afar. She only hoped that Phrym would break away if they went after him.

  “Should we dock at the other shore and continue on to the sea?” Ellysian asked in her mock-royal voice.

  “No, I want to see what that clump of reeds is all about. Maybe we can find some bird nests or something,” Eydeth said boorishly.

  Jahrra quickly looked at Gieaun and then Scede with large eyes, the blood draining from her face.

  “Find some bird nests!” Gieaun growled. “All he’d do with some bird nests is wreck them and break the eggs!”

  The three friends hunkered down in the center of their blanket and tried to think of a way to distract the group.

  “We could swim to shore!” Scede breathed quietly.

  “No,” Jahrra said solemnly, feeling herself turn green. “They’d chase us down in that boat and drown us before we got ten feet from here. Let’s face it, we’re trapped.”

  Fortunately, the problem was solved before any drastic measures were needed.

  “No way!” Ellysian whined. “That clump of weeds is probably sitting in a pile of muck and we would end up covered in mud! A queen and her royal entourage never set foot in mud!”

  They continued rowing past the island, but they were close enough for Jahrra to hear Eydeth’s mumbled complaint and soon even the sound of the oars slapping the water disappeared.

  “That was close!” Scede breathed, slumping onto his back.

  Gieaun joined her brother in a huff, sounding as if she’d been holding her breath for the last several minutes. Jahrra, on the other hand, continued to glare after the boat now disappearing in the distance.

  “What on Ethoes are they doing here?” she said so quietly it sounded like a hiss.

  Gieaun and Scede both looked up at her, their relief quickly turning to apprehension.

  “Maybe they ran out of people to bother in Kiniahn Kroi,” Scede offered sarcastically.

  Gieaun shot her brother a sour look and tried to break Jahrra’s stern composure softly. “You know, they may just be exploring the area. I mean, it’s not like Lake Ossar is a secret.”

  “They came here to torment us, I’m absolutely sure of it!” Jahrra shouted as she spun around.

  Gieaun flinched and Scede quailed at his friend’s anger.

  “Look, Jahrra,” Gieaun began gently, “they didn’t see us, they only saw the horses. They probably think we’re out in the dunes somewhere and I doubt they want to waste their entire day looking for us. Once they find out this place is too big to chase us down, they’ll leave.”

  Jahrra was still fuming, but she saw the truth in what her friend said. Sighing, she dropped her clenched fists to her sides and took a deep breath.

  “You’re probably right, Gieaun. But I think we should head home, that way they won’t run into us and have a reason to stay.”

  The three companions packed up their blankets and piled them into their homemade, rickety boat. Once back on shore, they quickly hid the boat among the shore plants and approached the horses. Jahrra breathed a grateful sigh of relief when she saw that nothing had happened to Phrym. While she rubbed his mane out of his eyes and touched his forehead with her own, she risked a glance at the horses the twins had used to haul their obnoxious water craft. The poor things were shifting uneasily and puffing in slight fear, pulling at the ropes wound snuggly around a thick tree branch. I know how you feel, she thought. I would be afraid of them too. Just then, an idea sparked in her mind like flint striking stone in the dark.

  “Hey Gieaun, Scede . . .” she said quietly.

  They looked up from their task of getting the blankets secured to Bhun and Aimhe.

  “Yeah?” Scede asked.

  “How about we give Eydeth and Ellysian a little reminder not to come out here again.”

  “What do you mean?” Gieaun queried, her voice hard and her green eyes narrowed.

  Jahrra simply grinned and untied the lead ropes keeping the two horses in place, causi
ng the animals to twitch and stomp their feet.

  “Well, what if their horses accidentally pulled free and decided to go wandering off on their own?”

  “Jahrra! No!” Gieaun gasped.

  Scede, on the other hand, looked like he was quite fond of the idea.

  Gieaun flashed him a threatening glare, but he brushed her gaze aside and said, “Oh come on Gieaun! How many times have the twins tormented us? Let’s give them a taste of their own medicine.”

  Gieaun groaned as Jahrra dropped the ropes and Scede frightened the horses farther down the road.

  “I hope you two are satisfied!” Gieaun complained on their ride back home.

  “Oh, we are. Especially when I picture the twins chasing down their loose horses.”

  Jahrra let loose a peel of laughter and even Gieaun, who had been so well composed earlier, gave up and joined the fun.

  “I still can’t believe they came all the way out here,” Jahrra mused after some time.

  Gieaun gave her friend a meaningful look and Jahrra quickly added, “I’m just wondering how they knew about Lake Ossar at all, it’s not like we talk about it at school.”

  They took the path that led through Willowsflorn and wrapped around the base of the Sloping Hill. By the time they made it to the Castle Guard Ruin the western sky was painted with the red-gold hues of sunset. Jahrra watched her friends ride away over the southern hill and shivered as the heat of the day gave way to the cool of the evening. She shut her eyes and breathed in the crisp flavor of the distant fog suspended out over the ocean, allowing it to fill her entire body.

  Jahrra tried to relax in the beauty that surrounded her, but no matter how hard she tried, the thoughts of the past summer were alive in her mind. School would be starting up again in one week’s time, and that meant no more daily lessons with Viornen and Yaraa. It would be hard for her to train on her own during the school year without their constant encouragement, but she was determined not to let them down.

  “Even if you just practice your meditation and a few of your basic exercises, that’ll help you greatly,” Viornen had told her.

  Jahrra jumped when Phrym nickered quietly from inside his stable. She’d nearly forgotten she was still standing out in the field so far from the Castle Guard Ruin. She smiled and reached out to scratch Phrym on the cheek.

  “I’m not ready to go back to school yet, are you?”

  Jahrra smiled tiredly and Phrym leaned his warm muzzle into her shoulder. She imagined that she could fall asleep standing right there next to him, for no one comforted her more than Phrym. After some time she reluctantly left him and walked down to the Ruin. She went to bed early, waving sluggishly to Hroombra and muttering some words of goodnight.

  During the last few days of summer Jahrra didn’t do much except tend to her garden and ride across the fields with Phrym. The weather was pleasant, but she could sense the wonderful, brisk approach of autumn. The air was warm but the breeze was crisp and cold and it held a hint of distant rain and the scent of the coming harvest. Soon the leaves would turn scarlet and crimson and the fields would turn gold and orange with ripening hay, corn and gourds. Jahrra closed her eyes and relished the idea of the coming season, hoping that her time at school would be just as pleasant.

  On their final day of vacation, Jahrra, Gieaun and Scede decided to visit Lake Ossar one last time. They arrived cheerful and ready for a day of relaxation only to find the twins and their friends had beaten them there.

  “Not possible!” Jahrra hissed between gritted teeth from behind a screen of trees.

  Both Eydeth and Ellysian were walking along the boardwalk, trailed by an even larger crowd than the last time.

  “Oh, how could they?” Gieaun said miserably. “I was so sure they wouldn’t come back after last time.”

  “This was our only retreat from them!” Scede groaned. “Now what’re we going to do?”

  The three friends turned their horses in the direction of Lake Aldalis and fumed the whole way there. They enjoyed what they could of the day at the other lake, but Aldalis didn’t have their Reed Island and it didn’t have their boat or their boardwalk.

  “If it’s the last thing I do,” Jahrra said angrily as they left Lake Aldalis behind later that afternoon, “I’ll find a way to keep them away from Lake Ossar.”

  If being forced from her favorite retreat wasn’t bad enough, dealing with the twins’ recharged indignation at the schoolhouse was worse. Jahrra could only guess that this was Eydeth’s way of paying her back for his failed prank those few years ago in Kiniahn Kroi, and she was tempted to tell him that chasing them away from Lake Ossar was enough.

  Gieaun, as usual, talked some sense into her however.

  “The last thing you want to do is let him know just how much it bothers us.”

  So Jahrra was left to grit her teeth and bear the twins’ daily assaults in silence, which in turn forced her and her friends dangerously close to the breaking point; the three friends barely made it through the fall months without resorting to violence.

  The Solstice break offered them a chance to rise to the surface and take a breath, but it also somehow recharged Eydeth’s and Ellysian’s malice, if that was even possible. The second half of the school year was better, and in some ways worse, for Jahrra. One positive turn was the addition of Rhudedth and Pahrdh to their small group. Their presence helped increase the numbers against the twins and their fan club: it was harder to gang up on five instead of three, especially when the ginger-haired brother and sister constantly reminded the class of Eydeth’s attempt to kill Jahrra in Kiniahn Kroi.

  Jahrra was unfathomably grateful to her two new friends, but despite their added support, Eydeth and his sister refused to back down, especially when it came to her favorite retreat. The twins had made it a weekly habit to visit Lake Ossar, a routine that was worse than all of their horrible deeds combined. Jahrra had to be restrained on several occasions by her friends, for she had quite a few of Yaraa’s techniques she wanted to use on Eydeth.

  “No, Jahrra, it’ll only get you in trouble!” Gieaun breathed desperately as she and Scede struggled to hold her back.

  “I’m going to kill him, and his sister! I could flatten both of them in less than a minute!” Jahrra was livid, for Eydeth had done a very rude impersonation of her falling from the canyon wall in Kiniahn Kroi.

  “Don’t, Jahrra, it’s not worth it!” Rhudedth squeaked as she and her brother ran over to help diffuse the situation.

  As much as she wanted to pummel Eydeth to a pulp, Jahrra knew her friends were right. She gritted her teeth and took her anger out on a clump of grass in the corner of the schoolyard, kicking it until it ripped away from the earth. I’m going to get those two one of these days, but Gieaun and Rhudedth are right. I can’t just attack them, that’d be too easy.

  Jahrra sighed deeply, kicking the pulverized lump of grass one more time before climbing atop the granite boulder and slumping on her stomach. The great stone was hard and cold and Jahrra gladly welcomed its chill against her hot skin. As her anger ebbed, she watched as Eydeth and his sister moved to the other side of the yard, finally losing the audience that had grown tired of listening to their teasing. Someday, Jahrra thought once more, her irritation slowly becoming replaced with rancorous determination, someday you’ll pay for all of this.

  -Chapter Twenty-

  The Dare

  “Hey Nesnan . . .”

  The snide remark came from Eydeth, as usual.

  Jahrra sighed and rolled her eyes. It’d been a month since the end of winter break, two weeks since she’d almost attacked him after being mocked about the mishap in Kiniahn Kroi. Luckily, after that incident she’d remembered a way to deal with it. The meditation exercises she’d learned from Yaraa and Viornen had done wonders in the field of ignoring Eydeth and Ellysian, but today they’d been more resilient than usual, actually speaking to her and not about her. In fact, she’d grown rather bored with t
he twins’ redundant insults of late. Really, couldn’t they do any better?

  Jahrra was sitting in the corner of the schoolyard with Gieaun, Scede, Pahrdh and Rhudedth, trading stories about their various adventures over the break. That is, until Eydeth’s grating voice interrupted a rather intriguing anecdote Pahrdh was telling about an unfortunate run-in with a skunk. Pahrdh stopped speaking immediately and waited tensely for Eydeth to continue, wondering what insulting thing he would say next.

  As the horrible boy slowly strolled over to her side of the yard, looking like a dog ready to start a fight, Jahrra was determined to stay put on the lichen-covered boulder with her friends.

  “Rumor has it you live in the Wreing Florenn,” Eydeth continued once he was within ten feet of them. “That’s worse than swimming around in a mud-puddle with the Dune People!”

  A wave of laughter ensued and soon the rest of the class was drawn to what appeared to be another show put on to torture Jahrra. Jahrra tried to remain cool, desperately grasping in her mind for something smart to say. She hadn’t even bothered with her meditation exercises this time, and she could easily detect the frustration and anger in Eydeth’s voice. He’d been trying hard to break her for days, and today he seemed full of renewed determination. Well, Jahrra felt determined too. She decided to respond to him this time; she was tired of taking his verbal abuse.

  Gieaun and Rhudedth tensed up beside her as she drew breath to speak.

  “Actually, I lived on the edge of the forest, not in it. Past tense, Eydeth.”

  Jahrra slid off of her perch and stood in front of the glowering boy, smugly reminding herself that she still had to look down at him.

  “On the edge of the forest? How could you bear to live there? Mother says that only heathens and robbers live near the Wreing Florenn!” Ellysian said with delightful disgust as she joined her brother’s side, obviously paying no attention to what Jahrra had just said.

  Eydeth and Ellysian were enjoying this far too much, and just as Jahrra was about to comment on how dim-witted they were, Scede slid down to stand next to her.

  “I’d like to see you go within five miles of that forest, Eydeth. Jahrra lived there for eight years without being afraid, but I’ve seen the scared look on your face when Professor Tarnik describes what lurks in there.”

  He stretched himself as tall as he could and laced his arms across his chest, glaring at Eydeth as he continued, “You have some nerve standing there making fun of Jahrra for living near that forest, but let’s see you go within a hundred yards of it!”

  The whole class quieted down at Scede’s sudden outburst. He didn’t often speak so boldly in front of his classmates, but when he did it was to make a point.

  Jahrra smiled broadly in his direction and noticed that he looked even more irritated than she felt. He glared at Eydeth and Ellysian, looking like he was about to bite if they so much as blinked.

  “You couldn’t go near the Wreing Florenn if someone tied you up and dragged you there. That’s how afraid I think you are.”

  Suddenly the laughter of their classmates turned from Jahrra to Eydeth, whose eyes had darkened dangerously. Gieaun, Rhudedth and Pahrdh joined their two companions, all three donning a look of determination as if Scede’s insult had recharged them.

  Discomfited as he was, Eydeth wasn’t about to back down.

  “Fine, so you don’t live there anymore, but the only reason you did was because your dead parents couldn’t afford to live anywhere else. Besides, it’s not like you actually went into the forest. Only someone brave would go in there, not a lame little Nesnan like you.”

  Jahrra was suddenly livid, so she missed the tiny spark that flickered and vanished in Eydeth’s eyes; the hint of triumph that glimmered behind the hatred. She forced herself to calm down and drew upon her measly arsenal: Eydeth didn’t know about her little escapade with Gieaun and Scede after the unicorns. She knew she should let the evil boy’s accusation hang, but she couldn’t resist making him look like a fool in front of the entire class.

  “Oh, but you’re wrong,” she crooned, examining her fingernails in a bored manner. “I have been in the Wreing Florenn. It isn’t so bad, unless you’re afraid of trees, birds and butterflies.”

  A murmuring began bubbling around the crowd of children.

  “You!? Going into the Wreing Florenn? A lie for sure,” Eydeth spat venomously, his look of triumph vanishing as quickly as a dry leaf thrown into a fire. “You probably only went into Willowsflorn and thought it was the Wreing Florenn. The trees in Willowsflorn barely come over my head, what could be so frightening about that?”

  “Trust me, Eydeth,” Jahrra said with a sigh, her hands now placed squarely on her hips, “I would’ve noticed if I was taller than the trees.”

  Everyone suddenly burst out laughing, earning a poisonous glare from a red-faced Eydeth.

  Scede took advantage of the opportunity of the horrible boy’s moment of defeat.

  “I’ve been in the Wreing Florenn too, and so has Gieaun!” he insisted. “We’ve all been in the forest, and Jahrra is right. You’d have to be a mouse to be afraid!”

  The entire class continued sniggering at Eydeth while nodding their heads in apparent respect for the three courageous friends who had braved the Wreing Florenn.

  Eydeth immediately overcame his embarrassment and snarled, “They’re obviously lying! Remember how she lied about me pulling her down when we had the climbing contest at our Solstice party!”

  It was right then that Jahrra realized what he was doing. He’s trying to coax me into going back into the forest. Fine, I’m not afraid, let him challenge me then. Jahrra was partly eager to show the class that she wasn’t afraid of the twins, and she partly wanted to let out all of her pent up frustration about everything he and his sister had done to her and her friends over the years.

  Instead of just walking away like she should have, Jahrra glanced around and noted that the majority of the class seemed to believe her story and not Eydeth’s. An overwhelming feeling of self-satisfaction overcame her, drowning out the tiny voice of caution in the back of her mind. For once she had Eydeth cornered, and she was going to milk it for all it was worth. Her enemy was vulnerable, and now was her chance to make him look like the buffoon for once.

  “You just can’t handle the fact that I, the Nesnan, am braver than you. That’s why you keep telling everyone I’m lying. You’re afraid and jealous, and I can prove it.” Jahrra plowed on with a sudden burst of self-confidence, “Dare me to go into the forest, Eydeth. Go on. I’m absolutely sure there isn’t one single animal or plant in there that could be even remotely dangerous. In front of the whole class I’ll prove that you aren’t as brave as a Nesnan.”

  Eydeth stood there speechless for awhile, everyone’s eyes darting nervously between the Nesnan girl and Resai boy. Jahrra could feel her friends tense up next to her, but she ignored them. They would say she had been too bold, that she’d not thought this through. But what was the big deal? They’d been in the Wreing Florenn before, and it was perfectly peaceful.

  After a while, Eydeth opened his mouth and said, disbelievingly, “Anywhere in the Wreing Florenn?”

  Jahrra nodded. “I’ll even travel to Edyadth, taking the scary road that passes through the center of it.”

  She wiggled her fingers spookily and exaggerated her voice, receiving a few more chuckles from the crowd. She smiled broadly, enjoying this far too much.

  Then she saw the gleam of spiteful victory in Eydeth’s eyes and the evil grin of satisfaction on Ellysian’s face. Jahrra changed the expression on her own face immediately. She’d almost forgotten about Ellysian, who’d remained oddly silent during this whole confrontation. Why do they look so triumphant? she wondered apprehensively. I’m the one who’s going to prove them wrong!

  After awhile, Eydeth spoke up, his voice quavering with anticipation, “Very well, I choose for you to travel into the Black Swamp. It’s wi
thin the borders of the Wreing Florenn, and you said anywhere. You can refuse if you want, but that just proves you were lying all along.”

  Gieaun grabbed Jahrra’s arm tightly as if trying to prevent her from stepping off a cliff. Scede made a strange choking sound in the back of his throat, and Rhudedth and Pahrdh, along with the entire class, gasped in shock.

  Eydeth was grinning like a jackal and Jahrra could feel her face fading to white. Oh no! she thought furiously, remembering how haughty she’d been. Oh no, oh no, oh no!!! You should’ve thought before speaking, you should’ve known they had something more devious planned! The Wreing Florenn is one thing, but the Black Swamp is quite another! she told herself, panic welling up in her stomach like a thick, oily bubble.

  She now understood why Eydeth had looked so victorious earlier. It wasn’t because he was sure she hadn’t been in the Wreing Florenn, it was because he knew that if he kept at it long enough he could con her into traveling into the deepest, darkest, most fearful part of the dangerous wood. The entire time he’d been acting scared he’d really been baiting her. He wasn’t as dumb as she had so complacently convinced herself. She gave herself a mental kick. How could I have been so stupid?!

  Jahrra’s internal battle was interrupted by a cold voice.

  “The Black Swamp.” The words rolled off of Eydeth’s tongue like ice water. “I’ve heard that there are monsters living in there, and we all know the stories about the witch. The bravest of men won’t go within a mile of it, and I heard from the most reliable of sources that even dragons are afraid of it. Who would’ve thought, a dragon being afraid of a witch? But you aren’t afraid, Nesnan, oh no, you’re brave.”

  Everyone started murmuring again, but it was a low, secretive murmur that suggested they were exchanging their own personal fears and terror tales of the swamp. Jahrra burned with humiliation and horror, coming close to tears.

  No, I won’t cry in front of them! she thought, her fury suddenly engulfing her mortification. She tried hard to focus on anything else but the children sniggering and whispering about her, but all she could hear were Eydeth’s words repeating themselves in her head: I’ve heard that there are monsters living in there, and we all know the stories about the witch. The bravest of men won’t go within a mile of it, and I heard from the most reliable of sources that even dragons are afraid of it. Who would have thought, a dragon being afraid of a witch? But you aren’t afraid, Nesnan, oh no, you’re brave . . .

  For some reason or another, one line in particular rung louder than the others: Even dragons are afraid of it . . . Are dragons really afraid to enter the borders of the Black Swamp? Jahrra wondered, grateful for something, anything that would distract her from the fear, aggravation and shame she felt for snaring herself in Eydeth’s trap. Her common sense told her that this was a lie invented by the twins, yet she couldn’t help but remember the time she and Hroombra had visited the Castle Ruin and his fear of lingering in the woods after dark.

  Jahrra suddenly pictured Jaax being afraid of going into the dreaded swamp, but as hard as she tried, she couldn’t get a clear image of that particular dragon being afraid of anything. Has he ever gone into the Black Swamp of Oescienne? she wondered. No, she told herself with a slight tinge of bitterness left over from her last encounter with the dragon, he’s never around long enough to stretch his wings let alone explore the haunted corners of the province. But this is something he would definitely disapprove of.

  Eydeth continued to stare Jahrra down, waiting for her to back out, but she was feeling braver by the minute. How bad could it be? she wondered, I’ve been taking defense lessons and I’m much more prepared than I normally would be to face anything that might be in there. Jahrra shivered when she remembered the stories about the witch, though. Those frightening tales had caused her more nightmares than any of the others combined. But they are just stories, she reminded herself firmly.

  Whether her face showed it or not, she couldn’t tell, but Jahrra decided right then and there that she would accept the twins’ challenge. If there was a monster or hag in the swamp she would just have to face it; there was no way she could back down after her overdrawn display of conceit.

  She looked over at Gieaun and Scede and she could almost feel their eyes begging her not to accept. They’d be angry with her for her decision, but they didn’t understand. She had to do this, she had to defeat Eydeth and Ellysian this time. As unfair as their dare might’ve been, she had to prove to herself she could be just as brave as she claimed.

  “Well, Nesnan?”

  The sudden question snapped her out of her train of thought. Eydeth gazed in her direction with a cold emptiness in his eyes. I can’t let him win, she thought miserably. I’ve got to see this through.

  “Do you think you’re brave enough to go into the swamp?” he asked coolly. “Or are you just like all the other Nesnans around here, content with slaving away all day and giving into their superstitions? Do you think you’re braver than a dragon?”

  Jahrra shot Eydeth a fiery look, despising the way that he belittled everyone who was even remotely different or less fortunate than himself. She looked again at Gieaun and Scede, and Rhudedth and Pahrdh. She could see that even though their gazes begged her not to accept, there was a glint of knowledge in their eyes; they knew exactly what she was going to do.

  Jahrra returned her stormy eyes to Eydeth and tried as hard as she could to look through him as he did her, and answered, “Name the time and the place.”

  The Resai twins bared their vile grins.

  “Tomorrow morning,” Eydeth said sadistically, “an hour after sunup, at the forest’s edge on the bank of the Danu Creek. Don’t be late.”