by Jeanna Kunce
“That’s all the more reason to stick together,” Darien said. “You need all the help you can get. Besides, you are not leaving me alone to fight off more of those charlots or something even worse. I don’t know what kind of strange things might be living down there.”
Amani considered this for a moment, then agreed. “You’re right, I probably need your help, more than I want to admit. Just so you know, if I had any other choice, I would not be dragging a child into this. How the elders and pure-mates would laugh to think of big, proud Amani needing help from a little human girl,” he scoffed.
“You know what, Amani? They’re the ones who should be laughed at, for being foolish and old and stuck in their ways. After a while, they will all die out, and no one is going to remember them for their bravery or loyalty, just that they hid themselves away thinking they were better than everyone else. They should be ashamed that a little girl will try to do what’s right and they won’t. You shouldn’t even care what they might think— oh, look straight ahead, there,” Darien broke off, seeing the end of the trees a short distance in front of them.
Darien’s stomach clenched with nervousness. For a moment she wondered if, despite her brave words, she wasn’t making a huge mistake by going on this dangerous quest. She remembered how running from Grisha and fighting the charlots had made her feel weak and helpless, not brave at all. She reminded herself that this was really real, not an adventure from a book.
And she thought about how shocked her parents would be to see what she was doing. All the danger aside, they would never approve, even if she was trying to stand up for what was right.
A memory came back to her from the school playground the previous year. Darien had been sitting in her usual spot behind the big oak tree, absorbed in a new book, when she heard two older girls picking on her friend Holly. Because her parents didn’t have a lot of money, Holly was often the target of teasing: her clothes were usually secondhand, her hair was cut (a little crookedly) by her mother, and it was rumored that she didn’t even have a television at her house, though that wasn’t actually true. By the time Darien tuned in to what was going on, Holly’s hands were clenched at her sides and she was weakly trying to tell the girls to leave her alone. Darien set her book down, intending to help, when her mother’s voice called in her head.
“Don’t make waves, Darien,” the voice said. “Don’t cause any trouble at school, Darien. We expect you to behave, Darien.”
She sat still, undecided and torn. When she heard her friend begin to cry, Darien chose to help in spite of her mother’s voice, but by then it was too late and the older girls had walked away. She went to Holly’s side, and they hid in the bathroom to talk until the end of recess, but it bothered Darien that she had not stood up for her friend.
Later she had tried to explain to her parents what had happened.
“You did the right thing by staying out of it,” her mother said. “You don’t need to be associating with any troublemakers.”
“But you don’t understand—”
“Your mother’s right, Darien,” her father said. “You need to let the teachers handle these things; that’s part of what they’re there for. Besides, you should be worrying about your schoolwork, not these other kids.”
Darien had spent the next few days preoccupied and more confused than ever. All she knew for sure was that she felt guilty whenever she saw Holly, and it strained their friendship. It came as a relief when later that year Holly’s parents transferred her to a different school.
Darien’s parents’ words still tugged at her conscience. But now when she closed her eyes and pictured herself waiting alone in such a strange place, doing nothing like she had before, waiting for Amani to fight his hardest and still probably be captured or even killed, waiting for his parents to be killed, too, while she sat on the side, she gathered up all her courage and decided the only option was to stick with her friend.
“How high can you fly?” Darien asked. “I have an idea.”
* * *
From a great height, Amani and Darien circled in the sky. They knew they had just passed far overhead the massive opening to the underground mines of Mount Garddrock, but they were so high they could barely see the small groups of people coming and going or gathering to trade just beyond the watchful eyes of King Nevin Radburn and his guards. Hoping they wouldn’t be noticed, Amani began rapidly descending toward the barren hills beyond the gates.
“Please be really careful,” Darien said as she gripped Amani’s back. It was hard for her to believe that in just a few moments they would separate, each to face their own perilous journey alone. Darien forced herself to focus solely on her immediate task, instead of being overwhelmed by the unknown dangers sure to follow. She flattened herself as close to Amani as possible and knew the time had come to begin her part of the quest. Amani’s wings caught the air and they landed easily. Darien slid off the dragon’s back and started scrambling for cover, even though it was unlikely anyone at the gates would see them yet.
“Go, go!” Amani urged. He made as if to take off again, but then paused to rip a loose brown scale as large as Darien’s hand from his side. “Take this—use it only in an emergency. Kala’s luck be with you!” Amani said and rocketed into the sky. He flew as fast as possible to get away from Darien’s position so no one would have any reason to link them together, since their plan depended on Darien being able to enter the city unnoticed.
Darien hid behind scarce rocky cover until she could see that Amani was far enough away. She whipped off her shoes and tights, wincing as sharp stones jabbed into the soles of her feet, then scooped up the scale Amani left for her and wondered what to do next. There weren’t any pockets in her simple dress so she finally decided to hide the scale inside her shoe and wrap the shoes into a tight bundle, using her tights to hold everything together. It was fortunate that the scale was flexible since she had to curl it around to get it to fit.
By the time she was done, Darien began to hear shouts from the people near the gates and knew that Amani had been spotted, just as they had planned. She began to make her way toward the gates, still careful not to be seen and hoping that during the commotion over the dragon’s arrival she could walk unobserved into the underground city.
Darien picked her way cautiously down the side of the mountain. Amani had reassured her that it was doubtful anyone would ever suspect a human child would be helping a dragon or that the dragon would be accepting such help. In fact, he didn’t think getting in would even be a problem; it would be getting out with his parents free that would, of course, be the most difficult part. Despite that, Darien thought her timing had to be just right, when people would be coming out to see or chase the dragon but they weren’t organized enough to notice her or be on their guard yet.
Now the critical time was upon her; Amani dove toward the gates, bellowing an incredible angry roar, sending most of the people who were outside running for safety. A group of large, leathery-skinned animals that vaguely resembled oxen were being hastily herded into a covered pen on the opposite side of the gate from where Darien watched, the herdsmen frantically shouting and pushing against the beasts’ massive hindquarters.
At the last moment, Amani pulled out of his attack and retreated to the sky. Darien knew he would come around again, and so she prepared to move. On the second attack, a group of guards in shabby purple tunics ran to engage the dragon and try to capture him with large nets, while the people ducking for safety scurried for the gates. Darien emerged from her hiding place and walked briskly toward the people. Everyone’s attention was focused completely on either the gates or the dragon. In the confusion, nobody noticed one small girl slipping in from the hills.
When Darien got close enough to the swarm of people, she began to run toward the gates and pretended to look fearfully over her shoulder at Amani. When she saw he was still safe, she looked back at the gates but gave a l
ittle wave above her head, the signal to Amani that she was all right and he was free to cut off his feigned assault as soon as he could.
Darien now took a closer look at the enormous metal gates rising up in front of her. It was harder to see now that there were more and more people jostling to get inside, but from what she could see there weren’t any guards posted, nor were the others being stopped or questioned. Amani had told her there wouldn’t be any kind of entry restriction or identification required of her, but of course they hadn’t known for sure. He did say that there would be no protection from the king’s guards if they chose to question her, so she would have to do her best to blend in with the crowds once she reached the city.
As Darien passed through the gates, a hundred questions flooded into her head. She wondered where to go, how she would find her way to the captive dragons, how she would blend in with the others when she didn’t know a thing about their world. She couldn’t even begin to think of a cover story for herself. Suddenly, all the unfamiliar sights, sounds, and people overwhelmed Darien, making her feel dizzy and lightheaded. She stumbled and would have fallen if not for the woman walking behind her. The stranger pulled Darien out of the current of people and led her to the side of the cavern where there was a large wooden drum of water.
The rather plain-looking woman helped Darien sit against the cool wall and she wet a tan scarf from her waistband using a spigot on the side of the drum.
After a few moments with the cool cloth against her face and neck, Darien’s head cleared enough to apologize for nearly tripping the woman. Darien wondered if she was going to be put on the spot so soon and the woman was going to expect an explanation from her.
“Don’t feel bad,” the woman said as she stood up to leave. “It happens to a lot of people when they come in from the dry heat outside. Rest, and take a drink of water. You’ll be fine in a few minutes.”
Inwardly, Darien breathed a sigh of relief. She thanked the woman and offered to give the scarf back, but the woman waved it away.
“Keep it,” she said. “It’s just an old rag.”
It’s an old rag to you, Darien thought, but it might be just what I need to help disguise myself. The woman began to walk away, then turned back with a slight frown on her face.
“Are you going to be all right here? You’re not alone are you?” she asked, with just a hint of suspicion.
“Oh, no,” Darien answered. “I mean, I’m not alone. My family will be along soon.” She attempted a reassuring smile and hoped she wouldn’t need to give any more details. The woman must have believed her because she smiled back, then walked on her way, disappearing quickly in the throng of people still coming in.
Luckily, nobody else seemed to give Darien a second look. She took a few minutes to take a deep drink of the mineral-tasting water and focus her thoughts. As she rested, she watched the passing people and tried to study how they looked. It was definitely a good idea that she had removed her tights and shoes. None of the women wore any type of leggings or pants, only dresses or skirts of all different lengths. Most wore brown shoes on their feet, either soft moccasins or thin-soled sandals, so Darien’s black buckled shoes would have looked clearly out of place. She was luckier that her muted green dress blended better with the washed-out colors and earth tones of the women’s dresses, although the cotton of her dress seemed softer and finer than the coarse weave of the others. And while many of the women wore their hair up under wrapped scarves or in complicated twists, Darien judged it would be good enough to do a quick braid and tie it up with her headband.
With her hair arranged as well as she could without a mirror (it was a good thing Kari had taught her how to french-braid last year during study hall) and the damp cast-off rag draped over her shoulders like a shawl, Darien moved into the thinning group of people traveling into the city. She felt a twist of fear in her stomach as she saw more and more people headed out of the city carrying weapons, but she forced herself to stay focused on her own daunting task.
8
The Twisted Man
Time was hard to judge in the underground city. There was almost no natural daylight; the city was lit by long curving tubes attached to the walls and ceiling that glowed with different colors. At first Darien thought these were a kind of neon, but upon closer inspection she found they contained a shimmery liquid and billions of tiny, luminescent, fishlike creatures with odd faces and bulging eyes. The glowing fish from the bright orange tube crowded together to look at her with their protruding gazes but scattered and went back to their slow swimming when she turned away.
The noise from the crowd and vendors was an endless low roar that never seemed to change, giving no clues as to when regular mealtimes might be occurring. Darien had no idea how long she had already wandered through the enormous street-fair area, but her stomach was telling her that, regular mealtime or not, she was hungry.
Unfortunately, though the people of Garddington were free with their water supply, they were very careful with their money and food. At first, Darien just roamed from booth to booth, trying to identify what food each was selling, but the more she smelled the exotic scents, the hungrier she got.
The obvious problem was that she had no money. She certainly wasn’t desperate enough to pull out the dragon scale yet, especially since she didn’t have any idea how much it might be worth; it might buy an apple or a whole fruit stand. Also, none of the other people appeared to be using scales as currency; they were using gold coins of various sizes to pay for their goods. To her frustration, Darien couldn’t find even one coin left lying on the ground, no matter how hard she looked. She knew that she might have to begin asking for food if she had to stay in this place for long, but it didn’t seem like a very good option since she hadn’t seen any other people begging for either food or money, at least here in the open marketplace. She wondered if there might even be a law against it.
Soon Darien realized she didn’t have the luxury of being picky about these unfamiliar foods—she would need to eat whatever she could get. She tried to ask a few times for a sample taste from the vendors, but they all firmly turned her away, and she quit asking before she aroused suspicion. She started casually hanging around families and younger people who were willing to let her try bites here and there, but it was a lot of work for not much food, and it was awkward asking for food from strangers.
In the end, Darien was most successful simply slipping in when the patrons walked away from the stone benches where they ate, often leaving behind an oily paper wrapper and a piece of whatever they had been eating. It was unpleasant to be eating other people’s leftovers, and the food tasted rather spicier than Darien liked, but at last she had some luck when a family with two young children left almost an entire wrap filled with some kind of roasted vegetables. Despite the heat of the spices, she still had to force herself to savor the food and not stuff it all down in three messy bites. No wonder the kids didn’t want this, Darien thought, puffing her breath out and wishing she had time to go back for one more drink of water.
The one benefit of Darien’s long search for her supper was how much she was able to learn about her new surroundings just by listening to the conversations around her. No one seemed to be aware of the lone girl keeping her head down and her ears open. From the bits and pieces she overheard, she found out that if she traveled beyond the food market she would find a tent city for visitors and then a loading area with carts to transport people and goods. Further in toward the heart of the mountain, if she somehow gained entrance, was the royal palace, located on a rocky island in an underground lake. Darien was excited to hear that she might be able to travel to the palace in a comfortable cart, until she also heard people grumbling that they were hard wooden carts with no seats and one had to pay to ride. Disappointed, she kept listening for information that might help her and hoped an opportunity would come her way soon.
Over and over, Darien heard the vendor
s talking about getting their food ready for delivery to the palace. When she heard a trio of rough looking men talking in low voices about this night’s spectacle of the “giant lizards,” she knew she had to find a way into one of the food carts. (The king would have had the men killed outright, had he known how careless they were being with their gossip, but Darien didn’t know that.) She was momentarily relieved to confirm that Amani’s parents were still alive at least, but she knew she would have to hurry and watch for every opportunity to make it into the palace unnoticed.
Darien began by observing the food vendors. Most were still occupied serving customers, but a few had started setting food aside in large crates, and these Darien watched intently. Soon those vendors closed up their booths, and more of the others started the packing process. The moment she saw the first vendor take a crate and leave his booth, Darien followed.
The rapid beating of her heart pounded in Darien’s ears as she frantically tried to follow the man through the noisy crowd. He was tall but not extremely so, his clothes were in the same drab, rumpled state as everyone else’s, and if he hadn’t had a ponytail of such red hair Darien might easily have lost him. The farther they went, however, the more the mass of people began to thin out. So as hard as it had been to keep track of him through the busy marketplace, it became just as hard to stay with him after they reached the rows of temporary residential tents, because Darien could no longer blend with the crowd. But the man seemed focused on carrying his heavy load and didn’t notice the girl quietly trailing him.
