AutumnQuest

by Terie Garrison

  Shapes moved in the fog, and as I concentrated, they resolved into dragons. Many dragons. They seemed to be grouped around something, but I couldn’t see what.

  Life vibrations washed over me: vibrations of excitement and pleasure. Nothing like what I’d felt moments—or was it hours?—ago from Xyla. Who were these dragons? What had they done to my friend?

  As if my thoughts of her caused her to sense me, Xyla’s voice came into my head as if from a great distance. “Donavah?” She sounded joyous and carefree.

  Confused, I tried to frame my thoughts into words—one word—Xyla’s name. But before I could, something ripped me away again.

  My body began to disintegrate. I screamed.

  Then nothing. Blissful nothingness.

  I opened my eyes again. Bright golden light shone all around, like being inside the sun. Strands of silver pulsed through the gold, almost like thoughts or words traveling on the air. The colored candles glowed like molten lava spikes, though their flames were lost in the glow all around me. Then I realized that I no longer sat on the pile of leaves I’d made, but on a cushion of air, suspended at least a foot above the ground! Disoriented, I tried to move.

  With a sickening lurch, everything went black once again. Black and silent.

  Oleeda~

  The girl has gone. I failed to impress upon her the gravity of our mission or her place in it.

  More frightening still, the creature with whom she travels has grown to adulthood in a single night. I suspect but cannot confirm what magic has been used to effect this transformation, but I fear it does not bode well that she has matured outside the reach of our care.

  I tremble at the thought of what the coming days and months will bring. The whole world is askew, and all over a chit of a girl. If you can get away, please come and advise.

  ~Y~

  Upon waking, I immediately rolled over and vomited. A hand supported my head, but for several moments, I was too involved with emptying my stomach to notice.

  “That’s it,” said a high-pitched, crackly voice, “Get rid of it. You’ll feel much better.” She continued to chatter in rhythm with my retching.

  The odor rising from the bowl just seemed to make me more sick, but eventually, I lay back on the bed and stared weakly up at the ceiling of the room. Bed? Room? I tried to sit up, but a severe pain in my head forced me to slump back against the soft pillow.

  “Where?” It came out as a whisper.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of you. You’ll be fine soon.”

  “No. Really. Where am I?” The five short words felt like fire ripping through my throat. With every passing second, I seemed to discover a new pain in my body. My ears rang in two pitches. My back ached. Knees, ankles, shoulders, knuckles. Even my hair seemed to hurt. But I desperately needed to know where I was.

  The woman’s voice, which had been prattling on although I hadn’t heard a word she’d said, stopped. I breathed a sigh of relief. Then, “Penwick, my dear. You’re in Penwick. Now drink this.”

  A flexible reed was placed gently between my lips. “Drink,” she repeated. I sipped. A soothing, fruit-flavored liquid dribbled across my parched tongue and down my throat. Almost instantly, the pain went away, followed moments later by my consciousness.

  Waking up next time was like trying to swim through wool. I lay there, groggy, trying to remember where I was, and why. I felt more than heard movement, and a few moments later a dim light appeared near the bed on which I lay.

  I blinked a couple of times, and though tears came, I was pleased to find that my eyes didn’t actually hurt.

  “Are you better now?” said the same voice from before. “Yes. You are. Ralli tells me so.”

  “Who’s Ralli? Who are you?” And this time, it didn’t hurt to speak.

  A white cat jumped onto the foot of my bed and sat down with a prim twitch of his tail.

  “That’s Ralli. I’m Tebina.”

  “I’m . . .” I stopped, confused. Who was I?

  “Donavah. Yes. I know.”

  Hearing my own name seemed to bring me rushing back to myself. I closed my eyes against the strange sensation of thoughts filling up my head to replace a thick, grey mist. It didn’t occur to me to wonder how she knew my name.

  “Breyard!” I gasped. Once again, I struggled to sit up, but Tebina placed a hand on my chest. Her touch was warm and seemed to pulse in rhythm with my heart.

  “You must stay abed a few more days. You’ve barely begun to recover.”

  “I need to save my brother! How long have I been sick?” Terror that it might be too late clenched my heart.

  “Just a few days, Donavah. But you’ve been extremely ill. You must listen to me.”

  “No! You listen to me! My brother is going to die in a few days if I don’t do something to save him. There’s no way I’m going to let you or anyone else stop me.”

  This short speech left me weak and gasping for breath. Tears of frustration sprang to my eyes as I realized that my own body might well betray me—and after everything I’d done!

  “Donavah.” Tebina’s voice was quiet, tender. “You don’t understand what has happened. It’s little short of a miracle that you aren’t dead. I will explain when you are stronger. For now, you must eat this restorative soup I’ve made. I will do what I can to nurse you back to health, but you must bear some of the responsibility for yourself by following my instructions.”

  I gazed at her in the dim light. Her wrinkled face looked somehow both stern and kindly. One thing we agreed upon: I needed to regain my strength. So I nodded in agreement.

  Ralli padded up the bed and lay down next to my shoulder. Tebina helped me sit up, adjusted the pillow so I could lean back against it, and brought me a tray.

  The meat soup was fragrant with healing herbs, and a bread roll, so fresh it was almost too hot to touch, sat next to the bowl. I could almost feel my body absorbing the virtue from the food. When I’d finished eating the small meal, I felt quite full, but Tebina made me drink another draught before helping me slide back under the covers. Ralli, fast asleep, purred as I buried a hand in his fur. Within moments, I fell asleep, too.

  For two days, I did nothing but sleep and eat Tebina’s healing broths and stews. I quickly gained strength. It became more and more difficult for Tebina to keep me in bed, as my anxiety about Breyard grew.

  Finally, desperate that I should understand her concern and obey her, Tebina told me what had happened.

  She started out explaining that the three boulders between which I’d unwittingly decided to camp were the centerpiece of an ancient stone circle.

  “It was one of the most sacred maejic sites in this part of the world.”

  I sat up straight and looked warily at her. Was this a joke? Some kind of test? A trap? Tebina looked at me, her light brown eyes not flinching. I swallowed.

  “A magic site?” I asked, purposely using the wrong word.

  “You heard what I said the first time.”

  I stared at her, trying to decide what to say. A denial seemed easiest. “I’m not maejic.”

  She let out a snort of derision. “Denying it doesn’t make it less true. One cannot wish power away.” A pause before she muttered, almost under her breath, “Especially not power like yours.”

  “I’m not maejic,” I repeated. “I might be good with magic; I haven’t studied long enough to find out. But that’s it. Nothing more.”

  “And yet you talk to dragons.” The challenge in her voice was unmistakable.

  She had me there. “How . . . how do you know that?”

  A roll of her eyes. “Because you’re here. Don’t frown at me like that. Let me explain. When you meditated in the stone circle, you inadvertently activated a resonance vibration. Quite a strong one. Didn’t you hear voices
?”

  The memory came flooding back. Xyla. Oleeda. Yallick. Others I didn’t recognize. “Yes, I did.”

  “The entire maejic community on the continent—maybe beyond—tuned in.” She broke off, took a deep breath, and continued. “You couldn’t have known what you were doing, and it remains to be seen the full extent of the consequences.”

  That sounded ominous. “What do you mean, consequences? What happened?”

  She cleared her throat. “Xyla also felt your vibrations and tried to go to you. She’s been captured and is now captive in the stable for the fighting pits. She tried to free herself. But though the ancient power of the dragons is strong in her, it is still immature.”

  “It took her to Stychs once.” The words came out of my mouth as if by accident.

  Tebina’s eyes narrowed until all I could see were little pinpricks of reflected light. “Stychs?”

  I sighed. At least I didn’t have to worry about telling her too much, since I didn’t know much myself. “She went there to grow. When I went to bed one night, she was a tiny baby, and the next morning, there she was, full grown and everything.” I didn’t add that Yallick had been upset by the whole thing.

  She raised a hand to cover her mouth and started pacing up and down the room. Then she shook herself and stood in front of me again. “No matter. I can contemplate the significance of that later. For now, you must understand what happened. When Xyla tried to escape the dragonmasters—”

  “Dragonmasters?” I interrupted. “Who are they?”

  “They are Erno’s most powerful magicians. Their magic is strong enough to control the beasts, force them to do their will. You don’t think they would fight in the pits if they had a choice, do you?” I hadn’t actually thought about it at all, but I just shook my head.

  “When Xyla tried to escape and go to you, her power and the dragonmasters’ counterspells created a massive disturbance in the vibrational field. We felt you there, we felt Xyla, and of course we felt each other. We all exerted much energy to keep the field intact. Then suddenly both you and Xyla seemed to disappear into a rip of the fabric of the world. That broke the resonance vibration, and the connection shattered.” She reached out to stroke the cat, who arched up against her hand. “Ralli watched over me until I came to myself.”

  Ralli stared into my eyes. “I told her you were nearby,” he said. “I led her to you.”

  I scowled at the cat, then asked Tebina, “But what happened to Xyla? Where is she?” Dread soured my stomach and seemed to take my very breath away.

  “We don’t know,” came the unwelcome answer. “We have felt no trace of her since then.”

  “Do you think . . . she’s dead?” I swallowed over the lump that rose in my throat.

  Tebina sighed and seemed to shrink a little. “Now, please. Do as I say. We don’t want to risk losing you, too.”

  “I’m no one special, and I’m certainly not one of you.” I put as much stubbornness into my voice as I could summon.

  She gave me a long stare. “If you say so,” she said, though the words had an ironic tone. “Another healing draught and then more sleep for you.”

  When I awoke, the room was pitch black. No light, no sound. Tebina must have been sleeping. I sat up slowly. All right so far. I swung my feet over the side of the bed. No dizziness. I stood up. I felt a little weak, but that was it.

  In the dark, I felt around the room until I discovered a wood chair on which my clothes lay folded. They smelled fresh and clean. I put them on, then reached under the chair and, as I hoped, found my pack.

  The doorway, covered with a heavy curtain, was easy to slip past without making a sound. The room beyond was filled with moonlight, allowing me to move a little more freely without worrying about banging into something. I unlatched the front door, then took a quick look back. It was ungracious to leave like this, but I had no choice.

  Two pale green lights appeared near the floor, and I almost cried out aloud. Then Ralli strolled into the room.

  “May you have success.” And to my surprise, he didn’t try to stop me leaving.

  “Thank you,” I replied without thinking.

  I went outside, carefully closing the door behind me.

  My son~

  Something disturbs the feel of the game. I suspect that I, too, begin to become cognizant of our opponent’s unfolding strategy. We must soon determine our countermove, lest this opportunity to win be lost for our lifetime. The long ages of careful moves must not be allowed to go for naught. We must play our final piece soon, though as you say, carefully and without haste.

  I await your word to move the Dagger and the Crown.

  ~Your father

  The first thing I noticed outside was that the cold seemed to have arrived. I rushed down the front path to the street, barely noticing the cottage garden in bloom.

  Once clear of the windows of Tebina’s house, I stopped, dug my cloak out of my pack, and huddled into the heavy fabric. Then I looked around to get my bearings. Glancing at the stars, I saw that the sky was deep blue, signaling that sunrise would be soon.

  I needed to get to the arena. Xyla had said something about being enclosed far from the sky, so she must have been underground, and it seemed likely that they would keep the dragons near the huge arena.

  As before, I kept following the streets that led uphill. Before long, the effects of my illness began to tell on me. I hadn’t been walking fast, just briskly enough to keep warm, but a sudden wave of nausea washed over me. I leaned against a wall, waiting for the feeling to subside. When it had, I moved on, now worried about one more thing—whether my strength would last.

  The sky began to lighten, and soon, a few people appeared in the streets. Heat pouring out of the open door of a bakery was irresistible. I stopped, soaking up the warmth until my joints began to loosen. But basking in a warm doorway wasn’t going to get me any closer to my goal, and I forced myself to move on.

  Eventually, I reached the market next to the arena. The buzz from the traders setting up their stalls seemed more excited than I would have expected. I meandered through the market, wondering what was causing the stir. Then I heard the high-pitched voice of a newsboy.

  “Emancipation Day’s feature fight: the traitor. Guilty of stealing a dragon egg, he faces a dragon today.”

  I felt the blood drain from my face, and my knees almost buckled. In just a few hours, everything I’d been dreading would happen, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I rummaged in my pack, hoping to find a few coppers to pay the newsboy for the full story, but instead, my fingers closed on my meditation candles. Once again, days had passed since I’d meditated.

  I headed out of the market. Walking around the arena, I looked for a likely place where I could sit out of sight and out of the breeze. About two-thirds the way around the huge stone structure, there was a short passageway that ended with an ancient door. I walked down the passageway, then kicked aside some of the thick layers of dried, dead leaves. This would be perfect.

  I pulled the meditation kit from my pack and dumped the small candles into my hand. Even in the dim light, their colors gleamed. Forest green for strength and red for love. I picked those candles out of the bunch and placed them in the silver Autumn and copper Winter candlesticks. Then I lit them and began my routine.

  In my distraction of the upcoming events, it took time to find my calm center. My breathing slowed. I settled.

  Anguish! Hopelessness! Imprisonment! My emotions twisted out of control, wrenched away by some unseen force. Anger smouldered, a rage so deep that once it burst forth, its flames would consume the world. And there, a tiny thread of consciousness that felt like Xyla. It had to be dragons! I must have been right above their stable. Or prison, more like.

  With an effort that practically left me prostrate on the ground, I grasped h
old of my thoughts to drag them free of the dragons’ clutches. Tears streamed down my face as I tried to return to my calm center. My breath came in gasps. After struggling for several minutes against the pull of the dragons, I finally regained control of myself. I concentrated on taking deep, regular breaths. In, out. In, out.

  Calm settled over me, and I opened my eyes to see the candlelight flickering delicately on the walls of the passage. Rising to my feet in one fluid motion, almost as if an unseen hand helped me up, I grabbed the doorknob and turned it. To my surprise, the door swung silently open.

  I peered inside. It wasn’t pitch black as I’d expected. I turned back to my candles, blew them out, put everything into my pack, and passed through the door. It clicked softly closed behind me, and I walked down this new passage.

  It was more like a tunnel with a spot of light blazing from the far end. The air was fresh, though tinged with an almost earthy odor I didn’t recognize. On either side were doorways. I tried each one, but they were all locked, and the handles felt grimy and disused.

  Finally, I drew near the opening to the outside. Sunlight poured in, making me blink. A huge flat field stretched out in front of me, and all around rose rank upon rank of stands. A few workers were in the distance, no doubt taking care of a few last preparations for the day’s fights. For Breyard’s fight.

  I shrank back into the tunnel, not wanting to be noticed. Against the odds, I’d managed to get inside the arena with no money; I didn’t want to get caught now. Before long, the workers disappeared.

  I stepped out into the sunlight, wishing it were warmer. No sign of movement anywhere. I found the nearest stairway and started to make my way up it.

  The wide seats on the lower rows gave way first to backed benches, then to backless benches, and finally, as I rose higher, to rows with nothing but the ground to sit on. These must have been the cheap seats, where people stood to watch the events far below.