Western Shore ac-3

by Juliet E. McKenna

  concocted. How dangerous is it? How dangerous is a wizard with that creature's power to call on?

  Kheda glanced involuntarily at Velindre. The mage-woman was still sitting huddled, her eyes fixed on the cobalt dragon. Her ragged breath clouded in the stillness as if the air still held the chill of the dawn but Kheda was as hot as ever.

  The skull-faced mage shouted something to his opponent in the beaded cloak. The grey-haired mage shrugged once again, his gesture dismissive. The blue dragon shifted its feet slightly, lethal sapphire talons digging into the sandy soil.

  'Oh my,' murmured Naldeth.

  A grating noise like the first warning of a landslip echoed around the valley. Kheda looked at the crag above the tree-dwellers' encampment expecting to see rocks tumbling from the heights. There was nothing to be seen. Then there was something there. He blinked, not trusting his own eyes, before looking at Risala. She didn't notice, transfixed as she stared up at the crag, her mouth half-open.

  The shape of the outcrop had not altered. It was Kheda's perception that had changed, as if the harsh sound of stone against stone had somehow affected his eyes instead of his ears. Where he had seen dark stains trickling in meaningless patterns down the grey rock, now he saw the outlines of legs and a long, thick tail. Where the edge of the crag had been a random array of ragged stones silhouetted against the cerulean sky, now it was the curve of a dragon's spine, edged with regularly spaced razor-sharp scales. Shadows shifted to become a head rising up from a ledge. Kheda blinked again and the creature was transformed from a painted shape on the cliff to a living beast, not as long as the sky dragon but heavier, deeper in the chest and broader in the haunches.

  It sprang down from its perch to land just behind the wild wizard with the gaudy cloak of beads. Its shining armoured hide was black as jet save for its underside where dark steely-grey scales offered no hint of vulnerability. Claws the colour of ancient unrusted iron dug into the stream bed as it crouched low. It snarled silently, showing metallic teeth like newly forged swords as its long black tongue tasted the air. Even the inside of its mouth was black. Against such darkness, the vibrant amber of its eyes was all the more striking. It glowered, spines bristling around its blunter, broader head, its unblinking gaze burning with golden fire.

  No wonder these tree dwellers weren 't worried about being attacked.

  Risala reached for Kheda's hand, her grip crushing his fingers. Kheda looked hastily at Naldeth. The young mage was motionless, hands pressed to his face, mouth open in wonder. He glanced wide-eyed at Kheda. The warlord breathed a little more easily, seeing none of the dangerous thrall in the young mage's eyes that he had feared.

  He looked back at Velindre. Her eyes were closed as she sat still hugging her knees, her jaw clenched. Strain deepened every line and wrinkle in her face, aging her cruelly. Moisture condensed out of the dry air to bead her short-cropped hair like cold crystals, trickling down her temples like sweat.

  The wild wizard in the beaded cloak clapped his hands together. The black dragon reared upright on its hind legs and extended its wings. Sunlight flashed from silver membranes stretched between the black bones.

  The sky dragon reared up to match it, the draught from its outspread wings sending clouds of dust boiling into the air. The skull-faced mage was unbothered. None of the dust came within arm's length of his own people. The bound captives thrown into the space between the two

  wizards weren't so fortunate. They writhed and coughed as sand blew all around them, filling their eyes and ears.

  The beaded mage shouted angrily as the wind raised by the sky dragon's wings spread to set his people's tree-top dwellings swaying wildly. He raised his hand and the air around the platforms fell abruptly still. The black dragon sprang into the air with a brutal clap of its wings, swooping low over its opponent. It breathed an oily black mist at the blue dragon, which recoiled before leaping into flight itself. It spat white fog into the smoky stain on the air and the darkness dissipated, falling down to the earth. The skull-faced mage wheeled around, gesturing. He wasn't quite quick enough and black tendrils landed on two of his retinue. They fell choking to the sand, legs thrashing and hands clutching at their throats for an instant before being stilled in death.

  The dragons didn't care. The blue flapped its mighty wings and soared higher. The black pursued it a little way and then fell sideways through the air, cutting a wide circle above the watching savages. Sand rose from the stream bed as the dragon passed overhead, trailing behind it. The dust coalesced into a glittering line cutting through I he sky wherever the black dragon's tail flicked. The crea-lure flexed its wings and rose to join the blue dragon, which had been carving lazy circles in the sky, spinning wisps of cloud out of nothingness.

  The black dragon rolled backwards and lashed at the blue dragon with its tail. The shining trail of burning sand snapped like a whip and flung fiery droplets at the cloud dragon. It dodged deftly, though its skeins of cloud were thrown into disarray. Hissing, it spat white vapour at the burning drops, which promptly fell from the sky in a rain of hard black crystals.

  The beaded mage's people stood their ground and jeered as the skull-faced wizard's retinue flinched and

  ducked, even though he threw handfuls of vivid blue fire to shatter the black stones. A wind sprang up from nowhere to send the fragments tumbling away through the air.

  'It's using the sand to make glass,' said Naldeth excitedly.

  'But they're not fighting like the other dragons did.' Risala watched intently, as much fascinated as afraid.

  The black dragon swooped low over the stream bed again, looking up at the blue beast. The sky dragon began circling once more, drawing the tattered fragments of its clouds back together. Head outstretched on its long blue neck and tail thrust out behind it, its supple legs extended fore and aft. Suddenly it rolled sideways and curled up so that its pointed muzzle was almost touching the vicious spike tipping its tail. The clouds it had summoned followed obediently, spinning a wreath in the air that thickened and grew. The blue dragon twisted sharply away from the coiling vapours to leave a whirlwind gathering pace and substance as it sank to threaten the black beast.

  The jet dragon waited, hovering like a hawk, all its attention on the menacing spiral of cloud. The trees lining the dry stream bed thrashed in the downdraught and this time the mage in the beaded cloak did nothing to still them. In the last instant before the whirlwind touched it, the black dragon shot straight up into the sky. Taloned feet drawn close to its body, its silvered wings ripped through the air so close to the whirlwind that it seemed impossible the cloud would not touch them. But it didn't and, darting up the dry valley, the black dragon rapidly outstripped the relentlessly pursuing whirlwind. The blue dragon went chasing after both its foe and its magic, shrieking furiously.

  The black dragon stopped dead in midair before

  abruptly doubling back on itself to soar up over the whirlwind. Looking down, it breathed a shimmering grey smoke that fell into the heart of the spiral of cloud and melted it away like ice under the sun. The black dragon didn't pause to admire its success, wings pumping as it flew straight back down the valley. For a moment it looked as if it would collide head on with the blue dragon. At the last instant, it soared over its foe's back, head turning to breathe another noxious cloud down the length of its spine.

  Slick greyness folded around the blue dragon. It yelped, head and tail whipping this way and that as it fought to escape the miasma coating it. The greyness dulled the blue dragon's vibrant colours, dragging it inexorably down towards the ground. It hissed, breathing white smoke down its own flanks to burn through the cloying murk. Just as it seemed as if the blue dragon must crash into the stream bed, it fought its way free of the clinging remnants. Turning its back on the skull-faced mage, it departed, the strong beats of its powerful wings ripping through the air.

  The tree dwellers cheered loudly, with mockery in their laughter. The skull-faced wizard whirled around, his cloak of blue f
eathers swinging out wide behind him. The mage in the beaded cloak watched him depart with his retinue trailing behind him. The feather-crowned women hurried to catch him up, their shoulders hunched and heads hanging dispirited. The challengers made no attempt to take the hapless captives with them, still lying bound and half-choked with sand in the middle of the stream bed.

  The black dragon landed in the dry channel with a resounding thud and looked steadily at the mage in the beaded cloak. The other tree dwellers fell prostrate on the ground, some hiding their heads in their cradling arms. The beaded mage sank slowly to his knees, not taking his

  eyes off the dragon. The black beast crept towards the bound captives, steely belly low to the ground, mouth agape and black tongue tasting the air. The wild wizard shuffled backwards, his whole posture one of submission, though he still didn't take his eyes off the dragon for an instant.

  The dragon snapped at the nearest captive, cutting the unfortunate in two with a single bite. The wild wizard continued retreating and now all the tree dwellers did the same, wriggling backwards through the dust on their knees and elbows. The dragon ate a second prisoner, turning its full attention to the task. The wild mage got warily to his feet and walked backwards to the shelter of the trees. Another captive died with a whimpering gurgle as the dragon hooked it closer with its lethal talons. The tree dwellers scurried back to their settlement. Women emerged from the shadows, paying no heed to the slaughter continuing in the stream bed, going instead to check on their fire pit and resuming whatever tasks they had been about. A low murmur of voices drifted across the dry valley, and the occasional burst of relieved laughter, broken only by the gruesome crunching as the dragon continued feeding.

  'The dragons didn't want to fight.' Naldeth was sweating profusely but his voice was steady.

  'They wanted to see who was most powerful.' Velindre looked up, shivering uncontrollably. 'But they weren't about to risk serious injury to do it.'

  'Are you all right?' Kheda reached for the mage-woman's shoulder. She was so cold to the touch that his fingers burned and he snatched them back. 'And what about the savage mages?'

  'What about them?' Velindre's laugh had a hysterical edge. 'They have no power over those dragons. The beasts just know that where there are mages, there'll be

  easy meat. You have jungle cats in the Archipelago, don't you? They're quite happy to trail a hunting party and steal its kill if they can. It's less effort than hunting for themselves.'

  'And as long as the wild mages can keep the dragons content with easy meat —' Naldeth's face twisted with distaste '— they have all the power of the dragons' auras to draw on for their own magic, for whatever their own purposes might be.'

  'How can you be sure of this?' Risala looked from one wizard to the other.

  'You felt it?' Velindre looked at Naldeth, half-shamefaced.

  'Oh yes,' he assured her, a catch in his voice.

  'You both held your own magic in check.' Kheda didn't know what else to say. 'That counts for something.'

  'Where's the dragon?' asked Risala suddenly.

  Kheda looked back to find the stream bed empty. 'Where did it go?'

  All that was left of the erstwhile captives were gruesome tatters of crimson flesh and white bone amid dark, bloody stains on the sand.

  'Naldeth—' Velindre began cautiously.

  'It's not back up there.' He peered up at the crag beyond the platforms in the trees. 'But it's somewhere close. I can feel it.' He looked at Velindre, biting his lip. 'And it'll feel us if we move, I'm certain of that. It's on the alert in case that skull-faced mage comes back.'

  Kheda looked out at the stream bed. Ridges and rocks teased him, mimicking the lines of the vanished beast before looking as innocent as they had done before. 'We can't hide here until some savage gathering wood trips over us.'

  'Then brace yourself,' Velindre said with sudden decision.

  White light blinded Kheda as the air crackled with the tinny odour of lightning. He gasped as dizzying enchantment swept all sensation away. He gritted his teeth until the light fled and he fell to his knees, still dazzled. He spread his hands on the ground and felt hot, dry earth. Opening his eyes, he squinted at the unwelcome barrenness of the savages' island. There was no sign of the dry valley or the grassy plain they had visited, nor of the rocky bluff above the cave where the Zaise was safely hidden.

  'Where are we?' he rasped, his mouth dry.

  'I have no idea.' Fear equalled the chagrin in Velindre's answer.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Kheda wheeled around in a slow, measured circle. He realised he was gripping his sword hilt so hard his knuckles ached and forced himself to slacken his fingers.

  Losing my temper is not going to improve matters.

  As his first furious impulse to berate Velindre subsided, he registered the sound of surf crashing on rocks and noticed the land falling precipitously away on their western side. The dusty rock beneath his feet was redder than the darker cliffs beyond the river mouth. 'We're still on the coast at least.'

  'We passed by here earlier.' Naldeth's eyes were strangely vacant. 'Velindre, what went wrong with your spell?' He sounded simply curious rather than condemnatory.

  'I drew the skeins of element around me easily enough,' she said thoughtfully, 'only the air twisted back out of my control and flung me away. Flung us all away to the south.' Her voice strengthened. 'I hadn't realised just how all-encompassing that blue dragon's influence would be. That's a useful lesson learned, if nothing else.'

  Kheda bit back a sharp retort and scanned the unhelpful rocks for any familiar landmark. 'Are you saying the dragon wanted rid of us?'

  'What about the black one?' Risala searched the sky. 'Is either of those dragons about to come sniffing after you?'

  Naldeth stooped awkwardly to press a hand to the ground. 'I don't sense the earth dragon anywhere close.' He

  stood up, brushing his hands together. 'Velindre, were you more susceptible to the dragon's influence because the air is your element, or was it the spell that was vulnerable in itself, as a working with elemental air?'

  'You can discuss your theories later,' Kheda said sharply. 'Velindre, is the blue dragon anywhere near?'

  'No. It's headed inland.' Velindre gazed into the sere interior of the island where the wind scoured dull green land riven with dry gullies and backed by the crumpled flanks of copper-coloured mountains.

  'You're certain?' Kheda demanded.

  'Oh yes,' Velindre assured him, with the sensuous shiver of a woman surprised by a lover's caress. 'I can feel it.'

  Disquieted, Kheda pulled the little ivory star circle out of his pocket. 'I'd say we're quite some way south of that river.'

  'How long a walk is it back to the Zaise?' Risala looked to the north.

  Kheda scowled at Velindre. 'Will that wild mage wearing the skull have been caught up in whatever this dragon did? Will he know you're here?'

  'The dragon's humiliated and spoiling for a fight.' Velindre spoke slowly, still distracted. 'It failed in its challenge to the black dragon so it's circling its territory, to make sure no other rival is tempted to think it is weakened.'

  'How many dragons are there here?' Risala couldn't hide her alarm.

  Velindre looked puzzled. 'I can't be sure.'

  Kheda was most concerned with the immediate threat. ''Can you tell what this sky dragon is thinking?'

  The magewoman struggled for the right words. 'I can feel the impulses driving it, through the resonance of the elements. It's a very odd sensation,' she added frankly.

  'Why aren't they fighting each other?' Risala wanted

  to know. 'That's what you said dragons do. That's how we saved Chazen, by setting two dragons on each other.'

  'It was enough for that black dragon to display his superior magic' Naldeth plainly approved. 'He didn't have to risk bodily injury to prove himself stronger than the blue.'

  'Like a matia?' Velindre was incredulous.

  'A what?'
Naldeth looked bemused.

  'A small furry beast that hunts snakes,' Kheda explained. 'They never fight to wound each other, because a wounded matia will soon be dead and none of them want to risk that. The males chase each other up and down the biggest trees to prove who's the most agile.'

  'And the most cunning,' continued Risala slowly. 'They aim to trap their rivals on some branch too high and exposed to offer escape. When the winner relents, the defeated one slinks off.'

  'And sometimes the winner doesn't relent until an eagle has spotted the treed matia and plucked it off the branch to feed its chicks,' Kheda added.

  'Which is considered a notable omen.' Risala looked at him, her expression bleak.

  'But dragons aren't matia.' Velindre reached for her own flask and gulped down half her water. 'Let's not forget that.'

  'True enough, but that black dragon was certainly out to defeat a rival.' Naldeth spoke with complete conviction.

  'Will it see you two as a threat if we use magic to try to get back to the ZaiseV Kheda looked from Naldeth to Velindre. 'Will it find you out?'

  'When the fire dragon came to Chazen, it hunted Dev like a hound on a ripe scent.' Risala plainly shared his concern. 'And it was looking to kill him, not just to prove it could work more impressive magic or chase him off.'

  'Maybe fire dragons are different. Fire mages have a

  reputation for volatility, even if Naldeth here proves the rule by exception. Maybe it just didn't like Dev. He could be pretty objectionable when he put his mind to it.' Velindre's smile was a wry blend of pain and affection. 'All I can tell you is that blue dragon isn't the least bit interested in pursuing me.'

  'I don't suppose you look much of a threat when it can snatch a simple translocation spell away from you so easily,' Naldeth commented incautiously.

  'My instincts didn't wholly fail me,' retorted Velindre waspishly. 'We didn't land out on those reefs, did we?' She flicked a hand towards the lethal seas foaming beyond the cliff edge.

  'Are we going back to the ship?' Risala took a drink and screwed the cap back on her water flask. 'Or somewhere else?'