A Storm in the Desert: Dragonlinked Chronicles Voume 3

by Adolfo Garza Jr.

  Chapter 6

  Minday, Primory 1, 1875.

  Early Morning

  Aeron rolled on his side and curled up, covers pulled up to his chin. Just a few more minutes of toasty and warm and then he’d get ready for breakfast. He eyed Anaya through the door to the den. She was watching him, head resting on her forepaws. Their patrol was this evening, and he didn’t have another enchanting shift until tomorrow afternoon. He was glad that there was more time for naps and relaxation, now. There wasn’t nearly as much to worry about as there used to be.

  I am hungry. Anaya blinked at him. Willem already took Balam to hunt.

  I know. He grabbed the other pillow, breathed in Willem’s scent, and smiled. The dull throb of hunger emanating from the link could not be ignored, however. Alright, dear-heart. Let’s get you something to eat. Then I’ll grab a shower and my own breakfast.

  He climbed out of bed and put on his riding pants. He grabbed the riding shirt he’d worn yesterday and sniffed it. It didn’t smell bad. He slipped it on, put on his riding jacket, and grabbed the rest of his gear. Getting Anaya ready took nearly as little time, as practiced as he now was.

  Opening the dragon doors revealed an inch of snow covering the yard.

  Great. There’d be raking duty after breakfast. Still, everything looked amazing right after a snowstorm. He buttoned up his jacket as Anaya walked out. He could feel her delight through the link.

  We should jump in a big pile of it!

  He slid the doors closed. It seems like it was just another light snow, dear-heart. I’m not sure there are any piles big enough for you.

  She let out a sad rumble.

  A gasp of surprise from across the yard drew his attention.

  Polandra, snow in her hair, stared wide-eyed at Renata. “I can’t believe you did that!” She quickly squatted and grabbed a handful of the white stuff and flung it at her friend.

  Their happy squeals and screams as they ran after each other brought a smile to his face.

  “Don’t you dare bring that in my rooms!” Renata raced inside her study and Polandra chased after. Moments later, an outraged yell was followed by Xochi’s grunting laughter.

  Chuckling, Aeron climbed into the saddle. He patted Anaya on the neck. Let’s catch you something to eat, sweetie.

  There were a few tall clouds in the sky. The morning sun peeked through a bank of them. A glorious riot of reds, golds, and bright yellows blazed from the east. As Anaya made a slow turn around—it felt like she’d spied some prey—that same light shimmered through her massive wing, outlining the bones, tendons and veins in its thick membrane. Looking down, he saw a large deer about a quarter mile ahead of them in a gully between two fifty-foot walls of evergreens.

  Whoomp! Whoomp! Whoomp!

  The deep sound of Anaya’s wing beats increased in frequency as she raced for her meal. Aeron leaned low in the saddle and gripped its handholds.

  Whoomp! Whoomp! Whoomp!

  The air whipped past, and as Anaya angled lower into the ravine, trees flashed by in Aeron’s peripheral vision. Through the link, he felt Anaya’s entire attention focused on the animal they raced toward.

  Whoomp! Whoomp! Whoomp!

  She roared at it. Head whipping around, the deer saw them. Its tail lifted in alarm, and it began to race away, bounding down the ravine.

  Anaya’s wings stopped beating. She held them still in an attack glide. They gave off a quiet thrum from the rushing air passing over them. The ground was nothing but a blur below as they drew rapidly closer to the fleeing creature.

  Aeron’s heart pounded in his chest and he licked his lips. Closer and closer. Tree shadows flickered over them and cold air blasted his face.

  A loud, hollow thump, a clipped grunt, and it was over.

  Anaya lifted them into the sky, the dead deer dangling from her jaws and forepaws. He could feel her excitement through the link, her enormous heart pounding, and her slow, deep breaths.

  At first, he’d had her hunt without him. Now, though, she was clever and skilled enough that they hunted together.

  He’d prefer it, however, if she wouldn’t hunt things with horns. You know how I feel about male deer.

  I made sure to grab his neck in my jaws, and as I snapped it, I turned his head down and held it there. We were not in danger.

  Fine. But you’ve almost gotten gored by horns before. If you do, I will be very upset.

  I will be careful.

  She landed and proceeded to have her breakfast. And lunch, and dinner, and the same for a couple of days. The meal would last her that long. A deer this size used to last longer, but with the flying patrols, all the dragons were eating more frequently.

  Aeron stood several feet away, watching. Normally, he’d have skinned the deer and taken the hide back to Willem for his craft hall, but Anaya was in no mood this morning to delay eating that long. She’d been very hungry lately, for some reason.

  Anaya, partially-split tongue licking blood from her lips and jaws, gave out a very satisfied half-grunt, half-sigh.

  Aeron smiled. Feeling better, dear-heart?

  Much.

  When she finished her after-meal grooming, he opened a portal back to the Caer and they flew through. Below, Willem was scraping the snow from in front of their stables with a shovel.

  Aeron hopped off Anaya. “You know that the rest of us will be clearing the courtyard after breakfast, right?”

  Willem looked up. “Yeah, but Balam wanted to lay in the sun after eating. I thought I’d clear part of it for him now. I have to head to my enchanting shift right after breakfast, so I won’t be able to help you guys clear the yard. This way, I can help a little, at least.”

  “Anaya would probably like to lay in the sun, too, so I’ll help and we can clear enough for them both.” He picked up the snow broom. “You shovel a bit more and I’ll sweep the cleared spot, then we can swap.”

  It didn’t take them long. Anaya and Balam both gave it rumbles of approval. She curled up at one end of the cleared area, gave out a quiet burp, and closed her eyes. Balam curled up next to her and gave Willem a chirp before closing his golden eyes as well.

  “You guys finished?”

  The rest of the dragonlinked were standing behind them in the courtyard.

  “Oh.” Aeron smiled at Sharrah. “Yeah.”

  “Great,” she said. “Let’s get breakfast.”

  “Might as well leave those out,” Jessip said, pointing at the tools. “We’ll be needing them when we get back.”

  Aeron glanced about the yard. “Yeah. Yeah, we will.” He frowned. A shower before breakfast would have been better, but hunting food for Anaya had taken a little longer than expected. He’d grab one after.

  Once they were back from breakfast, Willem and Balam left. Aeron put showering off again until after the yard work. Might as well get this done first. Everyone grabbed a tool and got to it.

  Looking around at the others, Aeron noticed he wasn’t the only one moving carefully. The hand-to-hand training had worked many of his muscles, and shoveling and sweeping the hard ground after was aggravating a few of them.

  “I’m sore in places I didn’t even know had muscles.” Liara leaned back, hands at the small of her back, stretching.

  Polandra watched her, smiling.

  “So glad I’m not the only one.” Grimacing, Sharrah massaged her arms.

  “Don’t get me wrong,” Liara said, hands raised at Polandra and Renata, “I love the training. I’ll just be happy when my body gets used to it.”

  Aeron liked the training as well. Though he wasn’t getting the hang of it as fast as Willem was. Liara, too, was impressing him with how quickly she was learning the stances and moves.

  “I love it.” Cheddar shoved a pile of snow to the side. Leaning on the shovel, he said, “There’s not a lot of exercise in Archive Craft. I love how the training makes me feel. Besides,” he waved his arms around and made strange noises, almost like animal cries, “if I can do even half o
f what Renata and Polandra can do, I’ll be happy.”

  A pained expression on her face, Sharrah asked, “Was that supposed to be some kind of fight move? And what was that sound? A battle cry?”

  Several of them started laughing, including Aeron.

  “You’re just jealous.” Cheddar smiled and returned to shoveling snow.

  Gregor and Guildmaster Millinith walked into the courtyard. As they headed for the office, he turned to them and said, “Sorry I’m late. I’ll be right out to help.”

  A few minutes later, he joined them, broom in hand.

  “Planning the next Animal Craft lessons?” Fillion said. He leaned to one side and lifted a shoulder, then leaned to the other side and lifted the other shoulder, stretching his back muscles.

  Gregor shook his head. “No. My father wants to sign a contract with the guild to patrol his rail tracks.”

  “Really?” Renata looked surprised.

  “Yeah. He sent me maps showing the extent of the tracks. The Guildmaster wants to look them over to see if we have enough dragonlinked to take on new patrols along with those we do now.”

  “I’m still angry at him for the way he talked about us at the approval meeting.” Fillion’s lips were pressed into a thin line.

  Aeron wasn’t fond of the man either and wasn’t sure how he felt about working with him.

  Gregor shrugged. “That’s just the way he is about many things, unfortunately. Not that I’m making excuses for him.”

  Another ten minutes and the yard was cleared, the snow in several piles outside the fences.

  “Now that that’s done,” Gregor said, “who can take me to see Kisa? I want to check on her before class.”

  “I should check on Mia as well.” Liara was frowning. “She sleeps most of the day, so mornings and evenings before she eats are the only chances I get to catch her awake, it seems.”

  Aeron chuckled. “That’s exactly how it’ll be, at least for a month or so.”

  “I’ll take y’all,” Fillion said. “Just let me put this broom away and saddle Coatl.” He trotted to his stable.

  “I’ll help.” Gregor followed after.

  Polandra said,“I’d like to see the young ones again.” She glanced at Liara and Renata. “My Ikan was fully grown when we bonded, so I missed his youth. I find the little ones very charming.” With an exasperated look on her face, she turned to her stable and put her hands on her hips. “Oh, hush. I still love you, you big beast. Who do you think is going to take me to the caves, anyway?” She turned to Liara and rolled her eyes. “They never actually grow up, it seems.”

  “I’d like to see them, too.” Renata smiled. “They’re so adorable at that age.” She turned to Jessip. “Want to come ?”

  “I wish I could, but Zolin has been complaining since breakfast that I didn’t take him hunting.” He made his voice deep, in imitation of his dragon. “Balam and Anaya’s bond-mates took them hunting today, why didn’t you take me? I’m hungry.” The last he whined.

  A rumble came from their stable.

  “You were, too, whining!” Jessip said, facing the dragon doors. “Don’t forget, I can feel exactly how hungry you really are.” He turned back to the others, a smile on his face. “He’s such a lovable goof. At any rate, I’ll have to visit them tonight, I’m thinking. If I don’t hunt him now, Zolin will mope all day.”

  “Don’t take too long,” Aeron said. “Lessons start in half an hour. And speaking of which, I need to grab a shower beforehand, so I’ll see you all in class.”

  Balam was gone with Willem, but Anaya still lay curled up in the sun just outside the stable. It was cold out here, as was the ground, but dragons could heat themselves when needed. Besides, the stables sheltered the yard somewhat, kept off the wind near them, so the sun on their backs was plenty to keep the dragons warm. Aeron smiled and checked her through the link—she was merely dozing, not very deep asleep—then he nodded at the guard in passing and entered his study. He grabbed a change of clothes and headed to the Bath Hall.

  The tub room was nearly deserted. Most people bathed before breakfast or after dinner, so the rest of the time there were plenty of tubs and showers available. He was in a bit of a hurry, however, so a good soak would have to wait until another day.

  Choosing a shower near the end, he set his carryall down on the wooden bench nearby and undressed. He adjusted the temperature of the water to be fairly hot. A quick, toasty shower would ease his muscles somewhat. Not as good as a steaming soak in a tub, but it would do for now.

  He stood under the heavy fingers of water—he’d set the water volume high, too—and let them play over his back and shoulders.

  Ahhhhh.

  A few minutes under the soothing streams was all he could afford, however. He got some shampoo and rubbed it in, lathering it up. Then he grabbed a bar of soap and proceeded to scrub himself clean. Not too long after, he stepped back under the relaxing hot water for a rinse. Feeling much better, he toweled off and got dressed.

  As he entered the courtyard, he saw that it was empty, save for Anaya. Everyone had yet to return from their various trips. Anaya lay in the same place she was. She looked so peaceful. He couldn’t help but smile. Gods, she was beautiful.

  Aeron was again nodding to the guard near his door when shouts came from the east, from behind the stable. Three short whistle blasts revealed the reason: Fire. There hadn’t been a building fire in nearly a year. As the alarm repeated again, Guildmaster Millinith burst from the office.

  She spied Aeron. “Let’s go!”

  His brain finally reacted. He dropped his satchel and they ran around his dragon stable, the guards on their heels.

  Across the street, the east loading stables were on fire. The blaze seemed to be concentrated on the stacked hay bales on the north side of the building but was starting to spread to the structure itself.

  People were running over from everywhere. The stable hands, young girls and boys mostly, were leading horses from the stables to the road, and a bucket line was forming between the work sink at the other end of the long building and where the fire was.

  As he watched the smoke and cinders rising high into the air, Aeron remembered hearing about fighting fire with sorcery. He didn’t know the spells, though, so he ran over to join Guildmaster Millinith in the bucket line. The guard, Ramsey, queued up behind him. Their other guard was in line two people behind him.

  Buckets heavy with water came down the line, and Aeron grabbed them and passed them on. Within moments everyone was soaked from splashed water. He was soon freezing. His hands started to hurt after several hand-offs, as well. The wire metal handles were painful and clumsy for freezing hands. As the buckets reached the end of the line, three people there flung the water, two at the base of the fire, the other at the wooden parts of the building in an effort to keep the fire from spreading.

  Master Doronal suddenly appeared. A woman Aeron didn’t know and a young man, Sorcerer Adept Louis, stood with him. They stared at the blaze a few seconds, then an enormous globe appeared centered on the fire. It was visible more by how it distorted the orange light and diverted the smoke than anything else. When the spell began, the fire had been silenced, though Aeron could see it continue to dance. Without the flame’s roar, the heavy breathing from those in the bucket line was now audible. Aeron stood with them, mutely watching.

  The sphere began to shrink. The flames licked it’s inner surface but were contained within. As the nearly invisible orb continued to get smaller, the flames seemed to falter, flickering, sputtering, and growing feeble. By the time the sphere was half it’s original size, the flames had disappeared. Aeron watched as the three sorcerers maintained the sphere, ensuring the fire was well and truly dead.

  He let out a sigh of relief and turned to smile at Ramsey.

  Aeron! Surprise and momentary fear came through the link.

  Anaya? A jab of pain shot through from her. Anaya!

  He is trying to kill me! Surprise came through
the link and then anger.

  “Millinith! Master Doronal! Someone’s trying to kill Anaya!” He didn’t wait to see if he’d been heard. Grabbing the guard by the arm, he raced for the courtyard. I’m coming!

  As they ran along the side of his stable, he felt a pulse of magic get cut off. What was happening? Was someone from the Magic Craft Hall trying to hurt Anaya? It made no sense!

  Rounding the corner, Aeron and the others stopped and stared. A man lay on the ground, unconscious. Anaya stood over him, growling.

  “Where were you hurt? I felt pain.” Aeron ran to her and looked her over for any sign of injury or blood.

  “The fire was a distraction.” Guildmaster Millinith’s eyes were narrowed.

  My chin hit the ground. That is all. I am fine. I am angry, though, and confused. Why would someone want to hurt me?

  “That’s a damn good question.” Aeron turned on the man. There was something familiar about him, but Aeron could figure out what it was. He was about to wake him with a kick when people came running up.

  “Is that him?” Master Doronal and the two sorcerers stared at the man.

  “Yes. I think I felt him using magic.” Aeron glanced at the man before looking back at Master Doronal.

  “I don’t recognize him.” The master sorcerer turned to his assistants. “Do either of you?”

  Louis shook his head. “No, sir.”

  “Nether do I.” The woman tilted her head. “He does kind of look like those two dragonlinked girls from the South. Older, though.”

  Aeron sucked in his breath. Of course! “A manis?” He stared at the man. His hair was of the same style. His skin coloration was the same as the girls, too. “Gods be good, Polandra was right.”

  “Can Anaya tell you exactly what happened?” The Guildmaster stared at the tawny dragon.

  I was half asleep when I felt someone near. Anaya spoke in group, Aeron supposed, so they all could hear. I opened my eyes and looked at the man. His emotions were tangled. Surprised to see me watching him, he took a step back. I stood and started walking to him. Then he cast a binding spell on me, locking my front legs to the ground. My forward motion made me fall, and my chin hit the ground. I felt pain. And anger. He was thinking about killing me. He had been the whole time, but he was conflicted. Seeing me bound, he approached. When he got close enough, I countered the binding spell. His surprise at that gave me a few seconds to attack. I swung my tail around for his head. He was casting another spell when my tail hit him, knocking him to the ground. Then you came.