“Your people.” Adept Oran stared at the big dragon. “Hmm.”
“It’s going well enough,” Polandra said. “Though the auditors have a concern about our being able to speak to our dragons directly.” An idea occurred to her. She turned to Adept Komako. “There is a dragon House in the South, House Peku. It is where Ikan is from and is hundreds of miles from anyone. If you’d like, I could take you two to speak with his mother. All the dragons there are unbonded.”
Adept Komako nodded. “That would suit our needs. Assuming you left us there and retreated beyond dragon and human communication range.”
Polandra tugged on her lip. “How about this. I take you both and leave one of you to speak with Nayra. I then retreat to our caves with the other so they can verify that I was not near. We then swap you two out and repeat. Would that suit?”
The auditors glanced at each other.
Adept Oran shrugged. “That would satisfy me. You?”
“Yes.” Adept Komako turned to Polandra. “When can we go?”
“You should take them this evening after lessons,” Liara said, “when you ask Isandath how Capu Cirtis’s efforts are going.”
“Good idea,” Polandra said, turning back to the auditors. “We can’t really do anything about your pale complexions, but we can at least get you robes. Tell me, have either of you ever had goat stew?”
+ + + + +
That is a lot of soldiers.
Fillion stared at the ranks below. It sure is. A hasty estimate put them at sixty or seventy.
“Set down over there.” Master Gella pointed to a relatively clear area near the National Transportation station.
He nodded and directed Coatl to the spot. When he’d picked her up in Delcimaar, she’d explained that her people had taken over the train station and would use it as a staging area for their trip into the flats and to the camp.
After dismounting, Master Gella made for the building. Fillion hopped off and took in the activity around the place. Surprisingly, only a few stopped and stared at the large dragon suddenly in their midst.
Along with the soldiers, there were sorcerers here, too, it seemed. At least that’s what he assumed they were. They had that look about them. Most were slim, some even skinny, and didn’t appear physically dangerous. Then you saw their eyes. No fear. The dozen or so magic users would definitely be a help at the camp.
Eight wagons stood in front of the building, loaded with supplies. Barrels of water, crates of what he guessed was food, maybe weapons, along with tents and sleeping equipment. Provisions for a long stay at the flats. There was another wagon, too, smaller, and loaded with very different chests and items. Fillion had no idea what those were for.
He took the four steps in two strides. As he approached the office, he heard the sound of horses from the other side of the building—snorting, pawing the ground, and whinnying. It seemed like there were a lot of them.
“We cannot wait much longer.” Inside, Master Gella was talking to a captain, at least by the looks of his leather and chain armor. “The longer it takes us to get there, the more chance there is that we get spotted and word reaches the camp before us.”
“I understand, ma’am. We should be ready to leave shortly.”
“Good. I’ll select a horse while we wait.” She turned and headed out of the office.
Master Gella walked among the horses, checking them over. Some horses, those that belonged to the officers or possibly the sorcerers, were tied to posts along the building. The rest of the horses were tied here along one of the many rope picket lines.
Fillion followed behind her. “Did they finish what they were working on in Stronghold?”
“Yes, everything is ready there. As soon as we take care of the mine, Tiberius will be arrested as well as several of the company’s managers. National Transportation’s ultimate fate could go either way. Many knew of the mining and selling of the Korovite.”
“I see.” Fillion glanced at everyone walking around the station. They seemed to be getting ready to head out. “I’m guessing all these people rode a National Transportation train from Stronghold? How many are they?”
Master Gella, checking over a nice-looking mare, said, “There’s almost a hundred. And about half of them are from Stronghold. The rest came from Delcimaar.”
“Delcimaar? How’d they get here?”
“Continental Transportation Company was kind enough to get them most of the way via train. I met with the company the day after you returned me to Delcimaar.”
“CTC?” Fillion chuckled. “I bet it cost you a few shiny marks for that service.”
“There was no charge.”
Fillion stared at her. “Lord Eldin did it for free? I’m surprised he’d do something like that without getting anything in return.”
She glanced at him. “Well, in our meeting, he did mention wanting to acquire National Transportation’s assets should they be forced into dissolution.”
And there it was. Fillion shook his head. “Just as I thought. That would give him rail lines everywhere on the continent.”
Her lips curved in a small smile, and she resumed her inspection of the horse. “You’ve met Lord Eldin, then.”
“Yeah. I’m dating his son, actually.”
Master Gella turned back to him. “Gregor is Lord Eldin’s son?”
Fillion’s brows rose. She was even more observant than he had given her credit for. “Yes.”
She chuckled. “Small world.”
He nodded. “It seems so.”
“This one should be fine.” Master Gella led the mare out of the picket lines. “She seems solid and steady.”
“How long do you think it will take you to get to the camp?”
“Four days. Maybe five. The wagons and especially this many people will keep us from going too much faster.”
“It sounded like you were in a hurry. What if you run across someone from National Transportation in that time?”
“I am in a hurry, but we can only go as fast as we can. Besides, we’re going to take a detour.”
“Oh?”
“Do you recall the salt farm?”
“Yeah.”
“We’re going to take that wagon trail leading deeper into the flats, to that salt farm. If anyone runs across our tracks, hopefully they’ll think the salt farmers left them. Once we reach the farm, we’ll then head south from there. Taking a different route to the camp should keep us from meeting anyone until we’re nearly there.”
Several people began untying horses and leading them away. It looked like it was time.
“Master Gella?” The captain stood on the platform.
“Yes? Are we ready?”
“Just about, ma’am. We’re hitching the horses to the wagons now.”
“Good.” She turned to Fillion. “Thank you for the lift. I should be done at the mine in about a week. After that, I’ll see what I can do to help the guild. In the meantime, I’ll let the Guildmaster know if I need anything more.”
“Alright.”
Master Gella began saddling the mare. Fillion watched her for a moment, then made his way back to Coatl.
What is wrong?
Fillion twisted his lips in a scowl. With this case coming to a close, there won’t be much investigating anymore. I already miss it, I guess.
Once she has something else to check into, I am sure she will want our help.
Do you think?
Of course. We make a good team. Besides, she thinks I am magnificent.
Fillion chuckled. You are so full of yourself.
Coatl’s grunting laugh drew a few stares. Come. If we get back soon, there may be more applicants I can help with. It is fun to see which are candidates.
Fillion climbed into the saddle. You really like doing that, don’t you?
My memories are full of fear—fear of humans, fear of other dragons, fear of anything from outside the House. They were afraid of so many things. Not being complete is a terrible thing
. Finding humans who are candidates and who want to bond, are excited to bond, will help more dragons be complete. It is is a good thing.
Fillion raised his brows. That was kind of poetic. He leaned down and stroked his bond-mate’s neck. Are you feeling okay?
Coatl laughed and launched them into the sky.
+ + + + +
“Can you take this?” Polandra held out the end of the measure tape.
Adept Komako blinked, then grabbed the tip of the thin strip.
“Now, hold it right here.” Polandra tapped the spot in the middle of Ikan’s shoulders.
The Animal Craft auditor reached up and held down the tape on Ikan’s back.
“Perfect.” Polandra began unrolling. This measure tape was longer than the ones Liara and Gregor used on their younger dragons. It had to be.
Ikan, wings spread and crouched a little so the short auditor could reach his back, watched Polandra walk along, trailing unwound tape.
“Can I—” Adept Oran lifted a finger. “Can I help?”
Polandra suppressed a smile. The young man was nervous about flying, but he was nevertheless very interested in dragons. “Thank you, that would be perfect. It will allow me to write down the measurements more easily.”
Adept Oran trotted over and took the rolled end from her. “To where are you measuring?”
“Here, to start with.” She indicated the tip of the large wing, and he held the tape there.
Polandra jotted down the information in her dragon logbook.
“Great,” she said, looking up. “Now, Adept Komako, if you could take your end to the tip of Ikan’s other wing, we’ll get the full wingspan.” She looked at Adept Oran. “Unroll as she goes, please.”
Taking measurements on the larger dragons like Ikan always took a little longer, but soon enough, they were done with that and with weighing him.
“There,” Polandra said, closing the logbook. “Now we can get ready for the trip south.”
The metal platform of the weight scale creaked as Ikan stepped off of it.
“I’d like to look over the dragon logs,” Adept Komako said, eyeing the notebook in Polandra’s hand, “when convenient.”
“Sure.” Polandra nodded. “We keep them in the office.” She glanced at the sun. “For now though, we need to hurry and change.”
Adept Komako frowned. “I understand the robe, but must we wear the skirt?”
The woman had been surprised earlier, when Polandra showed them the clothing they’d wear. Especially the skirts. She’d been trying to come up with reasons not to wear it all day.
“The a’sano?” Polandra said. “Yes. We need to wear proper clothing. We don’t want to raise suspicions while meeting with Isandath. If he is suspected of working with outsiders, we would lose our contact in the Order.”
“You can’t see through the robe, so why couldn’t we wear pants?”
“The bottom of the pants would occasionally be visible below the robe, and besides, the hang of the robe would reveal a different silhouette from the a’sano. No, we must wear proper clothing.”
Adept Komako sighed. “Fine. But I am changing in your rooms here. I am not walking through the Caer while wearing that clothing.”
Polandra shrugged. “Alright.”
As the woman headed for Polandra’s stable, Adept Oran leaned closer. “I really don’t understand Komako’s reluctance. They’re about the same length as the swim shorts that are in fashion for women now. Actually, the a’sano is a little longer.”
Polandra recalled Aeron’s reaction to the skirt. “Some people may still feel they are too short. Though, if that’s the case, I’d like to see how the adept would react if she had to wear a pesan uniform.”
“A what?”
Polandra chuckled. “Never mind.”
Adept Oran made use of her rooms as well, when Adept Komako returned. He took a lot less time, though.
“The clothing is comfortable,” he noted, “and offers a great deal more freedom of movement.”
“Which is especially handy if you need to fight,” Polandra said. “Something I hope we won’t have a need to confirm.”
“It’s chilly.” Adept Komako’s lips were turned down.
“The beginning of spring is always cool.” Adept Oran looked from the other auditor to Polandra. His lips were pressed together in a thin line.
He was not alone in tiring of the woman’s tetchy attitude. “It will be warmer in the South,” Polandra said.
Adept Komako also balked at wearing a riding belt. After seeing Polandra and Adept Oran strap them on, however, and after Polandra explained how painful it would be to fall from hundreds of feet in the air, she followed suit, though not without more dallying.
She is making excuses because she is nervous.
She is pissing me off, is what she’s doing.
Different people react differently to their fear of flying.
Polandra raised her brows and turned to Komako. “You’re scared of flying?”
The woman’s face grew pale. “How did—”
I will not drop you, Adept Komako.
“Worry not,” Adept Oran said. “The ride on him was a lot less terrifying than I thought it would be, and I, too, am disturbed by heights.”
The woman glanced from Adept Oran to Ikan and swallowed. She took a breath and let it out. “Less terrifying?”
“Oh, it’s still scary, mind you, but Ikan is a steady lad. If you hang in there, you’ll see.”
She nodded and straightened her shoulders. “Well, I’ve wasted enough of our time with my foolishness. Let’s be off.”
Maybe she’s not so bad, after all.
A rumble was all the response Polandra got.
Ikan hovered for a bit after they emerged from the portal. Polandra guessed he was letting everyone have a chance to admire the beautiful view of the land below. With a little over an hour until sunset, Suule bathed everything in gold light.
We must hurry. The auditors and I still have to walk to the tavern.
As you wish. Ikan turned to the southwest and made for a ravine below. They’d fly within several large arroyos on their way to Pashi.
Polandra glanced over her shoulder. She’d put Komako behind her, so the woman would have Polandra in front and Oran behind. Being tucked in the middle should hopefully help her feel safer. It seemed to have worked. Most of the fear had left Komako’s eyes. She took in the desert below with apparent interest.
As they continued on their way, Polandra even noticed her lean over one or twice to spy the dry riverbed racing past under them.
She seems to be handling her fear pretty well.
Indeed.
They found a nice secluded bend in a ravine and set down. Polandra unstrapped and hopped to the ground.
“Alright,” she said. “We’ll set off from here on foot. We should be at the tavern within the hour.”
She returned the riding belts to the saddle bags and slapped Ikan on the neck. “We’ll be back soon.”
He chirped at her and lay his chin on his forepaws. I shall nap until then. We have a long flight ahead.
That we do.
She and Ikan had decided it would be best to fly the entire way to House Peku so that the auditors could see just how far it was. Portals would be used after, once the actual distance involved was revealed. The auditors agreed. They were well on the way to being convinced, but they wanted to remove as many reasons for doubt as possible regarding their findings.
Polandra grabbed her new bo to use as a walking stick. The one she’d taken from Bataan-Mok was manisi issue and might be recognized as such, so she’d had this one made for her trips to visit Isandath.
“Let’s go.” She headed down the gravel riverbed.
“I’ve never seen anyplace like this.” Adept Komako walked to Polandra’s left. “There are no trees, no forests. The land seems almost naked. And yet, it is beautiful in its stark desolation.”
“Naked beauty.” Polandra grunte
d. “That’s actually a good description for this region.”
“How do people survive in this climate?”
Polandra glanced at Adept Oran. “Perseverance.” She smiled. “It may not seem like it, but there is water to be had. It’s deeper underground in some places and shallower in others. Wells provide what the villages need.”
She spent some time explaining about farming in a desert, about raising livestock, about foraging and taking advantage of what the land has to offer. There was also the Corpus Order and what they provided, which, once she put it to words, was more than she had realized.
“I can see why keeping the Order and changing it would be preferable to having it destroyed,” Adept Oran said.
“Exactly.”
The sun was setting when they arrived at the tavern. Polandra and Komako sat on one side of a booth in the back, while Oran sat on the other. She’d asked them not to seem too interested in anyone else. No need to draw attention by acting the tourist, as Aeron had called it.
“The food smells fantastic,” Adept Komako murmured. “The savory aromas are reminding my stomach how long it has been since lunch.” She glanced up. “Is that him?”
It was. Polandra smiled as Isandath slid into the booth next to Oran.
“Hello Polandra. New friends?”
“Yes. That is Sorcerer Adept Oran.”
The young man bowed his head. “Sir.”
“And this is Zoologist Adept Komako.”
She bowed her head as well.
Polandra lowered her voice. “They are working with the Dragon Craft Guild. I’m taking them to meet Nayra after we eat.”
“I see. It is a pleasure to meet you both. And speaking of food . . .” He waved down a server and they ordered four bowls of stew.
Not much was talked about before the food arrived, and nothing at all was said while they ate.
Finally, Adept Oran pushed the bowl away from him and leaned back in the booth. “That was spectacular.”
“It was quite good.” Adept Komako dabbed the corners of her mouth with a napkin.
Polandra wiped the last bits of the tasty stew up with a piece of flat bread and tossed it in her mouth. She glanced at Isandath. “How go Capu Cirtis’s plans?”
A Storm in the Desert: Dragonlinked Chronicles Voume 3 Page 51
