“It’s bad, isn’t it?” he asked in a resigned tone.
“I’ve never seen down this…knotted.” She chose the word with clear distaste. “I’ll try to sort it out as gently as I can.”
“I’m in your care,” he answered with a crooked smile, revealing canines.
With fingers and dowel, she set to it, and she did have to pull a few places that earned a wince from him. Still, he uttered not a word of complaint as she righted twisted primary feathers and even plucked out a few broken ones. The state of his wings made her want to curse. It hurt her heart that he’d been in this state with no one to help him. Future Shunlei adored their preening sessions.
Shaking the thought off, she worked steadily along and noticed that while he occasionally flinched, he steadily sprawled out completely on his belly. He’d started off a little uneasy and cautious, as any dragon would be with a person he barely knew preening him. But as her hands worked through the knots, releasing those pin-pricks of pain, his body language slowly relaxed, sending him splayed across the grass in boneless pleasure. Preening sent him into a dreamy state most of the time, and it amused her each time, seeing him nearly comatose in pleasure. Preening for a dragon must be like a massage for a human. By the time she finished and his wings folded back in, Mei Li wasn’t entirely convinced he was conscious.
Coming back around to his nose, she rubbed that one spot right below the ridge that always got him to thrum at her. His eyes opened a mere slit so he could look at her. Teasing gently, she asked, “Is that better?”
“Marry me,” he sighed.
That got her laughing, head thrown back. “Oooh, marriage proposals. You must feel better. Don’t let your wings get into that state again, alright? As long as you need it, I’m willing to preen you.”
“Prepare yourself. I’ll shamelessly take advantage of your generosity.”
“I’m prepared,” she responded, still laughing.
“If dragons only knew how nice that felt, they’d befriend humanity instantly,” he said, still in that dreamy state.
“How about you fight them to a standstill, and I’ll preen them? We’ll conquer your race in an instant.”
A wicked curve slanted his mouth up. “Let’s do it.”
Mei Li knew Shunlei’s wife had done this very thing. Their tag-team duo of stick and carrot had worked so well they’d tamed most of the dragons during their marriage. Mei Li didn’t see the harm in helping him until his bride-to-be showed up. Frankly, even though she knew he succeeded bringing the dragons around, the man could use all the help he could get.
They started out early the next morning. This time, Hawes did not lead from the front, switching out with Melchior and riding alongside Mei Li’s right. He directed most of his conversation to the man riding behind her, expression open and curious.
“Tell me how it all started. Your taming of your race, I mean. No offense, but you seem a bit young for such an ambitious goal.”
Shunlei snorted but didn’t sound insulted by the observation. “Isn’t it because I’m young? That’s what two broodmothers have told me, anyway. That I’m too young to know any better, and that’s why I’m willing to try it.”
Hawes grinned at him. “Praise youth, then! But truly, what made you start?”
There was a long pause. For a moment, Mei Li wondered if he would answer, that’s how long the pause stretched. She could see everyone else intently listening, even Kiyo, who steadfastly stared ahead.
“It was a culmination of things, really. I saw the industry of the world, always watching from the shadows. But I couldn’t join in. I couldn’t partake of the revolutions in technology or magic you’ve all created. I couldn’t even easily stroll into a town and buy a book or a sweet cake. For years, I practiced switching to human form, speaking your languages, trying to mimic it all as closely as possible so I could be mistaken as one of you. This was easier before I turned Red,” he added, with a wave toward himself. “My skin tone now tells people that I am not human.”
“No, makes you look like an elemental,” Hawes agreed, stroking his beard. “But go on.”
“One day, some three years or so ago, I was in this form while traveling through a town. There was a grand festival in process, and I was enjoying myself immensely trying all the foods. Then I came to the center of it and realized what the festival was for—a dragon had been killed. He’d razed the fields of the area and taken off with so much of the people’s flocks that they’d taken him down like a rabid animal.
“I stood there for the longest time, petrified, staring at his corpse. It horrified me in many ways. And it was that display that showed me the future. Unless my people changed their ways, unless we became friends instead of foe, that would be our fate. Slaughtered and displayed like trophies.”
He sounded so heartbroken and upset that Mei Li wanted to turn and tell him: It’ll be alright. You’ll fix this. What you’re imagining now will never come to pass. You win this battle of attrition. She had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from blurting this out. She leaned into him, wanting to give comfort. Shunlei went taut against her—startled, perhaps? She almost thought better of the gesture before he settled into it.
It was, unexpectedly, Nord who spoke. He twisted in his saddle to look at Shunlei directly. “When the gods first created the world, they had a purpose for each race. We were meant to keep within balance of each other, to achieve overall harmony. Many now say the dragons were here to test the mettle of the other races. But I’ve studied the ancient records, and this is incorrect. Dragons were always meant to be mankind’s ally. In fact, they were given domain over the skies to help safeguard those on the ground.”
Shunlei sucked in a deep, startled breath. “Truly?! My people do not keep records aside from oral stories. I fear much has been lost because of it. I would love to hear more of this, Lord Nord.”
“Of course. I’m equally fascinated by dragon physiology. As we ride, perhaps we can exchange information.”
“I will be glad to do so.”
Nord dropped back to ride at Mei Li’s other side. They ended up spanning the width of the road in this configuration. Someone would have to move if they encountered anyone else on the road, but for now it was fine.
Mei Li was happy to just listen as the two men exchanged notes. Much of it she already knew due to her own studies. Still, as repetitive as it was, she was happy to hear Nord speaking more than three words at a time.
They rode in this manner for several hours, the group changing up around Mei Li’s gelding as Kiyo got dragged into the conversation. Hawes moved ahead so he was still within earshot but allowing Kiyo to more easily converse with the others.
It was nearing noon when the first whiff of trouble passed their way. A logger with a full team of horses approached them with a troubled frown, his pace quicker than a walk as he hurried his team along. As he spied them, he waved one hand energetically, flagging them down.
Melchior stopped and addressed the man. “Ho, friend.”
“Good sir,” the logger said with an uneasy glance behind him, “I wouldn’t suggest continuing down this road. Unless you’re part of a guard or army?” His dark eyes roved over them uncertainly, hands tugging at the bushy hair trailing out from underneath his brown cap.
Hawes urged his stallion forward to answer. “We’re a team of magical troubleshooters, organized under the Prince of Horvath. What trouble lays ahead, sir?”
“Prince of Horvath?” The logger muttered something not quite audible under his breath but seemed to take this at face value. “Well, I’m not sure what’s going on, but it’s something strange, for sure. I’d say it was dragon fire, but the trees are still standing. See, there’s a virgin wood ahead. If you follow this road straight up, till the fork, you’ll see the tip of it. I’ve been logging around the edges of it, and intended to go straight in today, but it’s strange today. Yesterday, it was green and flourishing, like an Elven forest of the stories. But today? It’s like a cu
rsed and haunted wood. All the leaves are gone, the bark of the trees looks blackened and cursed, and there’s not an ounce of noise coming out of it. Not birdsong, insect, not even the rustle of wind through the branches. Too eerie for me. I’m not going in there.”
“Huh. Does sound strange, I grant you.” Hawes half-turned to face the rest. “Cursed?”
“Perhaps.” Kiyo put a finger to her lips thoughtfully. “But why curse a virgin forest? Good sir, is there anything else in this area?”
“Just a logging town, a river that meets up with the road, and a few small settlements.”
“Nothing of value or remark?”
“No, not that I can think of.”
“Then this is all the stranger,” Kiyo observed. “You said it didn’t look like dragon fire to you?”
The logger nodded immediately. “I’ve seen dragon fire in a forest. Nothing standing afterward but ash. The trees are all still there. And it doesn’t smell of smoke.”
“Hmm. Hawes, I believe we need to take a look.”
Hawes nodded in agreement. “Yes. Thank you, sir, we’ll investigate it.”
The logger looked doubtful. “Just…take a care.”
“We will, thank you.”
He urged his team in motion, no doubt eager to get home and away from the strange, cursed forest.
Hawes turned his horse to face the team as a whole. “Well? Any thoughts on this? Or do you want to take a look first?”
“I’m all for taking a look first,” Mei Li admitted. “That description wasn’t enough to tell us what’s going on.”
“Agreed.” Kiyo nodded firmly. Nord echoed the movement.
“Then let’s go forward.”
They did, but with considerably more caution than before. There was no chatter this time, the mood quiet and oppressed for the next hour. The logger’s directions were accurate to a fault, but even without them they would have found the cursed forest in question easily. It was impossible to miss.
The line of trees on the side of the road was in stark contrast to the forest dead ahead of them. What was green and vibrant with life to their left showed spring in its fullness. The area ahead was…not. It wasn’t dead so much as utterly still. The trees were massive, reaching far into the sky, their branches spreading in all directions and twining with each other. The ground underneath was entirely barren—not a single shrub, fern, or flower to be seen. Only piles of dead leaves that smelled of decay even from the road. It was as if the woods had shirked the blooms of spring and immediately shut down into the defenses of winter all at once.
Mei Li shuddered a little looking at it. “The more I stare at it, the more I’m waiting for something to pop out of the shadows. It truly does look haunted.”
Melchior grunted agreement, eyes narrowed as he stared hard. “Is it magical, the cause?”
“No—” Mei Li started.
“Yes—” the three mages said at once.
“That clarifies matters,” Shunlei drawled.
Kiyo gave Mei Li an irritated look. “There is magic there.”
“There is, I see it, but I don’t think the magic caused this. Not directly.” Mei Li didn’t know of this particular case that the team had solved. Not every problem had been recorded, after all. Just the ones that had to be re-sealed or had a time limit before they needed to be addressed again. That said, she did have a hint regarding this situation because of the location.
Unless she missed her guess, this was Nidffer Wood.
Nord gave her a steady regard, a study. “You see the blood magic. This is the cause.”
“Yes, that’s foul and easy to see,” she said with a grimace of distaste. It was impossible to mistake—this inky, dark film that laid over every surface. “But that’s not directly the cause of the forest looking like this. Hawes, is this Nidffer Wood?”
Hawes pulled out his ever-handy map from the top of his saddle-bags, unrolling it across his arched pommel, and took a moment to look it over with a deep hum. “Yes. I believe it is.”
Mei Li nodded, not surprised. “This forest is sentient.”
Head snapping around, Kiyo took a deeper look at the situation. Not satisfied with her eyes, she pulled out a jar from one of the many pouches on her belt and applied a thick smear on the top of each eyelid before putting it away and peering again. Nord joined her. Mei Li assumed it was some kind of enhancement cream and didn’t question it.
“Ah,” Nord uttered in a tone of enlightenment. “Yes, of course. That makes perfect sense with what we’re seeing.”
“The forest is not cursed, but rather in a defensive mode.” Kiyo took a few steps forward, leaning over her pommel to stare at the forest from an even closer vantage point. “Much like a turtle that has withdrawn into its shell. I would say it has reacted like this in order to protect itself from the blood ritual magic being enacted within.”
Melchior asked the obvious question. “So, if we just bull inside the forest, what are the odds we’ll be recognized as the rescuers? Or will the forest fight our intrusion?”
“It might,” Mei Li allowed, already resigned to a very rough few days ahead. “And we of course have to be aware that whoever was stupid enough to set up shop inside a sentient forest will be quite paranoid about defending the area. There’s likely booby-traps all over the place.”
Groaning, Melchior stated rhetorically to the air, “I’m not going to like this. Not one little bit.”
Shunlei lifted a hand, shifting around so he could speak over her shoulder. “I can go up and scout from the air.”
That was an excellent idea, and Mei Li was all for it. “Yes, let’s do that. Take me up with you.”
“Oh.” Shunlei sounded excited. “You want to fly with me?”
Tilting her head back, she tried to look at his face. Was it really that strange…no, of course it was. She might be the first ever to fly with a dragon in this age. “I rather need to. You won’t be able to see everything, as you can’t see magic.”
His face fell a little. “Yes, of course.”
“And flying’s fun,” she added to put the smile back on his face. “I won’t miss the opportunity.”
There was that happy smile again. It stretched from ear to ear and made him look like a giddy child. “Yes, yes, it is. For such a short flight as this, I’m confident I can hold you with one arm.”
“If you drop me, I’ll never let you live it down,” she warned teasingly.
Hawes seemed alright with this plan and urged them on. “We’ll settle over here, off the side of the road, and wait. Try not to make more than two passes, Shunlei. The first time overhead, whoever is inside will dismiss it as a dragon simply traveling. But more than that, you might tip our hand.”
“I’ll swing wide on the return trip,” Shunlei promised.
Mei Li gave him a hand down, then swung free of the saddle herself before handing Melchior the reins. She did pause long enough to grab a blank talisman and write a quick and dirty spell that would enable her to see longer distances. She’d need it up in the air. Her eyes couldn’t begin to compete with a dragon.
Shunlei had shifted into dragon form by the time she had this written out and waited patiently on her. She went confidently into the arm he extended, tucking the talisman into her bodice for now. She’d need both hands until they were in the air. His arm wrapped around her back, massive claw fitting under her thighs, and she put both arms around the base of his neck with confidence.
“Ready?” There was no mistaking the emotion in his voice. He was happy and pleased she wanted to fly with him.
“Ready. Let’s go.”
Mei Li was very, very glad of the firm hold Shunlei had on her. She’d never tell him so, but being in the air like this without a physical carrier around her unnerved her on some level. But she had faith he wouldn’t drop her. His strength was carefully leashed so he didn’t squish her, but there was no mistaking the iron grip of his claws.
“Alright?” he asked her in Long-go.
There was no time to talk about it, as the forest was fast approaching. Shunlei had flown around, coming in from a different direction to get his speed up. She had no idea where in the wood the blood mage had set up camp and hoped they could find it on the first flight in. Otherwise they’d have to set down, wait a few hours, and try again in order to avoid raising suspicion.
Retrieving one of her hands, she pulled out the talisman in a strong grip. Shunlei was not flying fast, but the wind still swirled around her, tugging at her hair and clothes. If she wasn’t careful, the talisman would be ripped free of her fingers.
“I’m going as low as I dare,” Shunlei informed her, dipping and slowing his pace a step.
“Don’t go too low,” Mei Li warned. “A blood mage is not something we want to tangle with in the air.”
“Understood.”
Mei Li held the talisman firmly over her eyes like a blindfold, and the world took on a sharper focus. It was distinct where she concentrated and fuzzy around the edges. She’d always imagined this was how an eagle’s eyesight worked, but of course she could hardly ask for a comparison. She combed the ground as they flew, trying to see between the branches. It did help that the limbs were stripped bare. If there had been leaves still attached, this would have been an impossible task.
Something smelled up here. She caught whiffs of it as the wind flew and snatched around them. It also carried the hint of smoke, burned flesh, and that acrid aftertaste of dark magic. The blood mage was definitely doing rituals in here somewhere.
First of Tomes (The Tomes of Kaleria Book 2) Page 5
