by DM Fike
Vernal dismounted from his horse as everyone from camp gathered around him. “Lord Emerson has ordered scouts to send aid to any caravans fleeing the dragon attacks.”
Vernal’s horse held saddle sacks full of food. Spirits lifted as everyone received slices of dried pink fruit and jerky to supplement their watery dinner. Vernal also brought good news, that a makeshift Covert K outpost was only a day’s ride away. They had a whole storehouse full of supplies, as well as better vehicles to transport the injured. This cheered the previously divided camp considerably, and suddenly, no one talked of Jentry. Kay wanted to travel immediately, but Desert Rose convinced them to stay the night, saying it would be much too difficult to keep track of their group in the dark.
Even night falling couldn’t penetrate the cheery mood of the camp. Children, once whining and complaining, played games of tag around their smiling parents. A group of teenagers threw stones across a nearby pond, their laughter accentuating the mood. Desert Rose went to bed early, volunteering for the second watch. Isolde also opted to retire early. Vernal and Kay huddled around a campfire at the edge, feeling relaxed with strong spirits Vernal shared from his personal canteen. Avalon listened to their conversation from a distance as she cleaned up a few dinner bowls.
“Your arrival could not have been better timed,” Kay said after his long sip. “A real morale boost to a people who have experienced great loss and uncertainty.”
Vernal retrieved the canteen. “Well, I am glad of that.”
Kay caught the troubled tone in his words. “Has something gone wrong?”
“The refugee caravans are arriving at an alarming rate. That’s why Lord Emerson sent the scouts and ordered the storehouse. The frequency of dragon attacks has more than doubled.”
Kay’s face fell at this statement. “Does anyone know why?”
Vernal rubbed the canteen between his palms absentmindedly. “No. These are not the Primordial Dragons of old that one can reason with. They kill everything with beast-like efficiency. Some of the survivors say they root through the debris of their destruction, searching for something.”
Kay leaned toward Vernal. “Any sign of Scawale?”
Vernal shook his head. “Not at any of the human cities. General Shinkai sent a few scouts into Hamad and the surrounding territory to look for her, but we’ve only heard word that the jungle is too dense to do any thorough investigation.” Vernal directed his gaze more pointedly at Kay. “And what about you, Sir Marcus? Your mission to the boulder elves…” his voice trailed off as Avalon finished her cleaning duties and sat down next to them. “Perhaps we should discuss this later.”
Kay waved his hand dismissively. “Miss Benton can hear anything we discuss.”
Vernal shrunk a little into himself. “Those are not my orders, sir.”
Kay’s tone darkened slightly. “What are your orders, Sir Vernal?”
Vernal could not quite meet the fairy’s eyes as he said, “That Miss Avalon Benton, while not our enemy, is also not to be considered our ally. She should be treated with suspicion.”
Avalon cringed while Kay asked, “On whose authority?”
Vernal squirmed in his seat. “I saw Miss Benton’s magic during the fight with Scawale, remember? The Guardians were forced to provide me full details on who she is so that I would keep my silence.”
Avalon had forgotten all about the fireball she had thrown to save Vernal from Bedwyr’s army. While Vernal had always been her escort at Emerged Falls, he had never been given the complete story of her background. Only the leaders of Emerged Falls knew Avalon had been injected with pieces of the Jaded Sprite Statue. Apparently, he was now in on the secret.
“I wielded that magic to save you, Vernal.”
“Aye, and I am grateful,” Vernal quickly agreed. “That’s not why I cannot disclose further information to you. General Emerson has ordered me to keep you at arms’ length given your relationship to the gremlin Nobody.”
Kay snarled. “And what does Lord Emerson have to say about that?”
“Lord Emerson was outnumbered when General Shinkai backed up General Emerson’s opinion.”
Kay rubbed his temples. “Of course, she did. And I take it my parents were unavailable?”
“They have been called back to Emerged Falls but have yet to arrive, sir.”
Avalon folded her arms. “It’s the same argument all over again. Maybe going to Emerged Falls isn’t a great idea after all.”
Kay threw his arms out wide to indicate the entire camp. “We still have a duty to the refugees.”
“We have reinforcements now. We could leave it to them.”
Kay frowned at her. “It’s our duty to guide them to safety. And besides, once my parents arrive, the generals will be outvoted.”
Vernal’s head flipped back and forth as if watching a tennis match, expression filled with confusion. “What vote?”
“A vote to decide whether to imprison me or not,” Avalon answered, her tone clipped so as not to encourage further questions.
Vernal took the hint and the trio went silent. The conversation had killed their jovial mood, although the rest of the camp stayed active. Avalon declared she’d get in a little nap before first watch, exiting with as much grace as possible. Kay looked like he wanted to talk to her, but instead turned in early.
As Avalon spread out her borrowed blankets for the night, she caught sight of Isolde, not asleep but sitting upright on her blankets. The elf had found a pad of paper from somewhere, scribbling on it furiously, a determined expression plastered her face. Avalon was happy to see her friend active for a change, but it didn’t change the sick twisting in her stomach. She burrowed underneath the fabric, throwing the blanket over her face both to ward off the night chill and to hide from everyone else.
* * *
Avalon began the first watch after moonrise. She sauntered along the camp’s edges, scanning the woods around them, all peaceful. Everyone had settled into a nighttime quiet, most asleep save a few toddlers crying out for their haggard mothers and the teenagers from the pond whispering to themselves. Each circuit around the camp took ten minutes, half of which faced the road that would lead them toward Emerged Falls and the other half on the forest side. She soon lost track of time as she made her monotonous rounds.
At one point, she rounded the corner where Kay slept not far from the smoldering ashes where they had chatted only hours before. She hoped she could roam free around Emerged Falls, not as a prisoner, but did it really matter either way? Avalon rubbed her right arm absentmindedly above the Miasmis bruise. She was useless without her magic.
A movement in the shadows caught the corner of her eye. A figure darted into the bushes, not far away. It was too large to be a child but moving too quickly to be an adult lumbering in the dark to relieve themselves. Avalon pursued it, plunging into the tree line not far from Desert Rose’s sleeping form.
The moonlight barely filtered through the canopy above, casting odd shadows. Avalon nearly tripped on a large tree branch, cursing under her breath as she managed to land on her feet. She heard a rustle behind a tree not far away and groped her way toward it.
She collided right into someone.
Avalon grunted as the person’s head hit her shoulder, pushing her backward into a pile of dead leaves. The person let out a half-yelp, landing not far from her. Thinking herself under attack, she waved her hands about, trying to deflect any weapons.
“Stop!” the person protested. “It’s me!”
A scratching sound pierced the dark and then a lantern lit up the bushes and trees around them. Isolde held its handle, her face ghost-like as the flame flickered underneath her chin. She had brushed her hair back into tight pigtails and wore a makeshift backpack.
“Isolde? What are you doing out here?”
“I apologize, Avalon. I meant to leave quietly, on my own. You need not concern yourself with this.” Isolde took a step backward toward the woods.
“Wait!” Avalon got ba
ck on her feet. “Isolde, slow down. You can’t just walk off.”
“Sure I can. I’m not wanted anywhere.”
“Oh, Isolde.” Avalon felt a familiar wave of sadness wash over her. “I know things must be bad for you.”
“You cannot understand how I feel.”
Avalon placed a hand gently on Isolde’s shoulder. “I lost everyone too. My mother to Miasmis. My father…” her voice trailed off. She tried not to think about his part in her experimentation. “I’m a criminal on Earth. I have almost the same status here. If anyone understands what you’re going through, it’s me.”
Isolde startled Avalon by jerking her hand away. “I can’t!”
“Can’t what?”
“Go to Emerged Falls.” Isolde trembled. “Not where my fa…not where he is.”
Understanding dawned on Avalon. “You don’t have to tell Lord Emerson anything. You don’t even have to meet with him. You can come as a refugee.”
Isolde stared at Avalon with hollow eyes. “But what if he knows and he rejects me?”
“I guess that’s possible,” Avalon replied slowly, “but I doubt it. He didn’t seem to recognize you before. He even let you roam about the castle library, remember?”
“The library,” Isolde breathed. Her demeanor shifted, from one of despair to another obsessed. “I almost forgot! That’s really why I must go!”
Avalon watched in dismay as the reinvigorated Isolde leaped into the woods. If she hadn’t held her lantern, Avalon might have lost her to the darkness. As it was, she barely caught up with the more agile elf in a larger clearing.
“Isolde!” she called before the elf could disappear again into the trees. “Tell me where you’re going!”
To Avalon’s relief, the elf paused in her tracks, allowing her to catch up. Isolde waited until Avalon came gasping along beside her, not winded at all by the short sprint.
“I’m going to the Temple of the Heavens,” Isolde said in a steel voice.
Avalon had all but forgotten about Isolde’s obsession with that place. “We could go together after we escort the Jentry folk to Emerged Falls.”
Isolde set her jaw. “Nay. It can’t wait. I’m useless here.”
A new sarcastic voice rang out. “You got that right.”
Avalon and Isolde twirled around to find Desert Rose behind them. “Sadus, the racket you two produced made me think something important was going on.”
Avalon scowled at the Covert K knight. “Something important is going on. Isolde’s trying to leave on her own.”
Desert Rose shrugged. “She’s a free Aossi. She can do what she wants.”
While Avalon tried to glare Desert Rose into the ground for her callousness, Isolde seized the conversation. “It’s not just about me leaving. I’ve been trying to convince you that the Temple of the Heavens is a gateway to Gaea, creator of the Jaded Sprite Statue. Even if we couldn’t unlock all its mysteries, it would likely contain knowledge about the statue itself. Why wouldn’t we go?”
This piqued Desert Rose’s interest. “Because we don’t know the way?”
“I can find it.” Isolde relayed her story about the boulder elf who had escaped Scawale’s wrath in Hamad and how Isolde had heard him repeat directions to the temple at Mt. Hornley.
Avalon shivered at the name of the mountain. “It’s a bad idea, Isolde.”
But Desert Rose said at the same time, “You should go.”
Avalon’s jaw dropped. “What?”
Desert Rose cocked her head to one side. “Her story checks out with what I gleaned while investigating Bedwyr on Earth.”
“You mean, playing double agent?” Avalon muttered.
Desert Rose continued as if Avalon were mute. “I heard accounts of how Bedwyr mined pieces of the statue from the bowels of Mt. Hornley itself. Some claimed to have uncovered an ancient temple there, although Bedwyr allowed only a select few to explore it.”
Avalon raised a doubtful eyebrow. “And why would he do that?”
“Because that’s where the Guardians, my parents, fought Kryvalen.”
Isolde let out a half-gasp, half-whistle. “Where Kryvalen absorbed Braellia as the Child of the Statue? Where he created the dragons of today?”
Desert Rose nodded. “The final showdown between Kryvalen and the Guardians happened on Mt. Hornley, but only the Guardians know exactly where. Kryvalen found the Temple of the Heavens buried deep within the mountain. He would not have been able to control Braellia without the gateway there. The Guardians knew that too, which is why they never told anyone they had found the temple. Instead, they locked away or destroyed all knowledge they could find leading to the place so no one else could replicate Kryvalen’s steps.”
Isolde’s eyes widened. “That explains the missing pages of Bawain’s Historical Reference Book of Temples.”
Desert Rose gave her an icy stare. “Are you referring to the forbidden text in the Emerged Falls library?” Isolde had the sense to look sheepish.
“Who cares about that?” Avalon interjected. “Why would you want Isolde to go there by herself?”
“Who said she should go alone?” Desert Rose asked. “You should go with her.”
This took the other two women aback. “Together?” Avalon asked.
Desert Rose assumed her air of leadership. “Let’s face it, you are not worth much to the refugees at the moment. You have no powers and few useful skills. If you return to Emerged Falls, at best you will cause a political rift among the Guardians.”
Avalon’s face grew hot. “If your parents had more sense, they wouldn’t treat me as an enemy.”
“They don’t treat you as an enemy, they treat you as a threat, which you are. Or were. But without any magic, you’re merely human. At the Temple of the Heavens, though, you could be recognized as a Child of the Statue. Perhaps you could be of use there.”
Isolde nodded, warming up to the idea. “Now that you mention it, lots of ancient temples have hidden rooms and passageways that can only be accessed by people of a certain heritage. The same could be true of Avalon at the Temple of the Heavens.”
Avalon glanced back and forth between them, as if both had grown two heads. “You’ve got to be joking. You think the two of us should go on a wild goose chase and possibly get mauled by dragons, just to track down a temple which may or may not help us get more answers?”
Desert Rose huffed. “Do you want to pour soup for the next week? You’ll probably make it to Mt. Hornley and back to Emerged Falls about the same time we get there. As for dragons”—her mouth turned up in a mirthless smirk—“you’ve already slain one, so another one should give you no trouble.”
Isolde pulled on Avalon’s sleeve. “We’ll cut across to the southern shoreline and nab a boat at Lumport. I can navigate us to Forgotten Bend from there in a day or two.”
Avalon felt her resolve cracking. Maybe they had a point. She latched onto her final argument. “There is no way Kay would let us go by ourselves.”
Desert Rose snorted. “I’m not sure what his opinion has to do with any of this, but I’ll tell him where you have gone. I doubt he would object. He wants this whole dragon business ended as much as I do.”
Isolde adjusted the pack on her shoulders. “One way or the other, I’m leaving now. You’re either coming with me or staying behind.”
Avalon bit her lip, eyes skyward as if they would give her a clue as to what to do. The entire plan was nuts, and she hated to leave Kay without telling him. She also hated to agree with Desert Rose on anything.
But as Isolde strode back into the woods, Avalon threw one last glance at Desert Rose. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
Desert Rose leaned down to her level. “You have two choices in life: either seize every opportunity or sit on the sidelines and let doubt rule your mind.”
Spoken like a true mercenary, Avalon thought. And yet, her feet followed in Isolde’s wake.
CHAPTER 15
ISOLDE’S LANTERN BOUNCED throug
h the bitter night, an unsteady beacon as they wound their way through the woods. After staying up so long, keeping up with a boulder elf on uneven terrain brought a weariness to Avalon’s bones. She hated to ask Isolde to slow down, but she did in lieu of being left behind. Isolde seemed to have limitless energy now that she had purpose.
Just when Avalon wondered if she should have come at all, Isolde brought them to a road. Though made of dirt, it lightened the load on Avalon’s aching calves. The smoother surface created a new problem, though: monotony. Avalon’s eyelids closed in spite of herself, and she found herself walking stretches of time blind, half asleep.
“I’m glad you joined me,” Isolde announced loudly, jolting Avalon awake. It was their first words in hours.
“Oh,” Avalon yawned. She stretched her arms out in front of her. “Thanks.”
Isolde gave her a side smile. “I know you’re asleep on your feet. I want to make it a few more miles down the road before we stop. There’s an inn I frequent not far away, only an hour outside Lumport. We’ll get some rest there.”
The image of an actual bed increased Avalon’s pace considerably. She talked to keep herself alert. “I hope Kay won’t go nuts when he finds out I left.”
“What does ‘go nuts’ mean?”
“Act crazy, be mad, you know, like a squirrel,” Avalon said.
“‘Squirrel?’”
Earth idioms were clearly getting her nowhere. “Like Nobody in a panic.” Her heart sank at the gremlin’s name.
“I’d forgotten all about him. Where is that shifty Aossi?”
Avalon halted in her tracks, fighting back tears. She couldn’t bring herself to voice the answer.
Isolde noticed her despair and threw her hand over her mouth. “I knew he’d been injured in Hamad, but I had hoped he survived. Are you sure?”
Avalon took a deep, calming breath. “When I teleported the rest of you to safety, I could no longer feel dark magic. It was as if it just”—her voice cracked—“vanished.”
Isolde patted Avalon’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry. You two were close.”
“He… he was…” A prankster. A pain in her backside. But a friend. Avalon couldn’t bear to think of him in the past tense.
