by Andi Van
“And I appreciate the gesture, but you shouldn’t have knocked him down like that. You could have hurt him.” The immense beast turned his attention, and Trekelm could have sworn it smiled at him. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Vashk. The girl you have named Trivintaie….” The dragon paused, wincing a little at the name, though Trekelm couldn’t understand why. “The girl is my student.”
ZAREE WOKE with a start, gasping for breath as she sat up. Unlike the last few times she’d dreamed of Triv, this dream left her filled with hope instead of anguish. It hadn’t surprised her any less, but at least she wasn’t left crying for no reason. It was unnerving, though, knowing she was dreaming events that had actually occurred. And with this particular dream, there was the oddness of knowing that not long before these events, Triv had been Onai. A dragon. The dragon, from what Zaree gathered. Maybe she hadn’t been the Maker, but it was certainly close enough to make Zaree look at the mermaid in a whole new light. Unfortunately, the merfolk hadn’t yet returned, so at the moment no one there was looking at Triv at all. It had only been a couple of days, so Zaree wasn’t worried, but she would be if they stayed away much longer.
As she let her freshly awakened mind wander, there was a soft knock on her door. It was such a quiet sound, in fact, that Zaree nearly missed it. It was followed by Nabiha’s equally soft voice asking, “Zaree? Are you awake?”
Zaree liked the girl. Rather a lot, really. For all she was quiet as a mouse, she had a spine of steel. Her pure heart and her strength of soul was a comfort to every one of them. “I’m awake,” Zaree answered. “It’s okay, Nabiha. Come in.”
The door opened, and Zaree was delighted to see that Nabiha had brought her baby brother with her. Zaree held out her arms, and Nabiha gave her a warm smile, crossing the room to her bed and handing her Malik. The baby babbled delightedly, and Zaree was immediately surrounded by a flock of bright blue butterflies. They fluttered around her for a few seconds and then faded into nothingness, and Zaree held the baby close to her chest and kissed the top of his head. Zaree loved children, though of course she would never have any of her own. But she had often told Tasis she fully intended to adopt as many as she could. She didn’t have to give birth to them to love them. Once it was obvious that she and Tasis would be remaining in the guild, she’d mentioned to her brother that it might be wise, when things were calmer, to make the rounds of the orphanages they knew of in search of children with magical abilities. What better place for a child with no family to be raised than in the guild, surrounded by people who wanted to teach them and make them a part of a family?
“Did you sleep well?” Nabiha asked as she sat on the edge of the bed, smiling at the sight of Zaree doting on her brother.
“As well as can be expected,” Zaree answered, laughing as Malik grabbed her nose with his tiny hand. “I had another dream, but this one felt better. I don’t suppose Triv or the merfolk have returned, have they? If she’s back I’d like to talk to her about it.”
Nabiha’s expression turned troubled, and she shook her head. “Nothing yet. I asked Vashk if he knew where they were. He said yes, but he wouldn’t seek them out until Triv was ready to listen to his explanation. I imagine it must be very hard on her. I wonder what it would be like, to have not known where you came from all your life, only to find out you had been something beyond your wildest dreams. I’m worried she’ll be hurt if she starts to remember. Do you think she would regret not having that life anymore?”
Zaree leaned over and wrapped one arm around the girl in a hug, her other arm holding Malik tight. “You are one of the best people I know,” Zaree told her. “When you care about someone, you do it with your whole heart. We are all lucky to be able to call you friend.”
Nabiha hugged her in return and rested her head on Zaree’s shoulder. “Well, you know what kind of family life I came from. I was merely a tool for them. To find myself surrounded by people who love and respect me is a dream come true. One day, when magic is no longer a thing to be feared by people who don’t understand, this will be the place everyone wants to come. And I will be proud to say I helped build it. Even if all I did was look over a bunch of dusty old books.”
“I’m not sure dust even exists here,” Zaree said with a laugh. “I think it’s afraid of what Firea would do if she found it. Give yourself a little credit. I have no idea how you’re able to do the things you do. None of us would be able to find anything in that library if it weren’t for you. I think that’s going to come in handy far more than any of us can guess.”
“I just like being able to help,” Nabiha said with a shrug. “I can’t do magic like Tasis or Jorget….” Her eyes widened, and she stood abruptly. “I’m so sorry, Jorget actually sent me here to see if you were awake because he’s called a meeting. It sounded important. I didn’t mean to get distracted.”
Zaree laughed and waved a hand at her. “I’m pretty sure I’m the one that distracted you,” she assured the girl. She gave Malik one more kiss and handed him over to his sister. “Just tell them you had to wake me up or something. I’ll get dressed and be right there. Where are we meeting? The library?”
Nabiha gave her a nod. “I’ll let them know you’re on your way,” she said, leaving the room quickly and shutting the door behind her. Before she had it fully closed, there was another babble from Malik, and Zaree found herself surrounded by flowers.
There were worse ways to wake up, she decided with a smile. Unlike the butterflies, the flowers stayed, so she gathered them together and placed them on her bedside table before pulling back the covers and stepping out of bed. She hurried to wash and dress, then quickly made her way to the expansive room that they all seemed to be most comfortable in. They were all there, save for Tasis and Firea. Somehow, the warm space seemed colder without her brother. They looked up as she entered, and Kelwin answered the question he must have known she was thinking. “Firea is with him.”
She gave her future brother-in-law a nod and sat next to him, taking his hand as a show of support. He squeezed her hand in return and gifted her with the barest of smiles. It was more of a smile than she had seen on his face in the days since Tasis hadn’t awoken. It was probably a good sign, but she couldn’t help feeling sad when comparing it to his usual full grin. But the only thing that would bring that back, she knew, would be Tasis waking up.
“I spoke to Denekk this morning,” Jorget started. “I know we’ve been out of sorts without Tasis, but things have changed, and we need to start making our move without him. Yesterday Denekk received word that Reikos, Shan, and the rest of the guards who follow them are to be used as bait to bring us out into the open. I’m well aware it may be a ploy to force our hand, but I’m not willing to chance that. From everything I’ve heard, Reikos has done a lot for the guild, starting with keeping Tasis alive.”
Zaree’s heart lurched in her chest. She was well aware they all knew how she felt about Reikos, so she knew they would understand that she stood with Jorget on this. Reikos was a good man, if a little arrogant and quite a bit of a clown. But he’d also done everything he could to protect them, so now it was their turn to protect him. “I agree,” she said. “Do we have a plan for getting them out?”
Jorget bit his bottom lip nervously, pulling at it with his teeth before speaking again. “Denekk thinks it’s time for the magic users to vacate the castle,” he admitted. “Obviously, he does not include himself in that. If he leaves, there will be no stopping the executions. I was thinking….” He looked over at Yldost, who was in their small, feathered form that morning, curled up on top of Daro, who reclined at Kelwin’s feet. “Yldost,” he said hesitantly, “how do the gates work?”
The dragon’s head popped up, and they eyed Jorget. “The gatekeeper tells it where they want to go, and the gate opens.” They said it as though it was a very simple thing, but they had all learned that things Yldost thought were simple were often quite complicated.
“Can you be a little more specific?” Zaree as
ked. “Exactly how is it that the gatekeeper tells the gate where they want to go?”
The tiny dragon sat up and tapped their chest with one claw. “It comes from the heart,” they said, sounding confused as to why Zaree did not understand.
“I’m guessing they mean that the gatekeeper has to really want to go there for the gate to their destination to open,” Kelwin remarked. “I’m finding that a lot of things like that are very imprecise. Yldost, can our gate open to any of the other gates that are still in one piece, or are we limited to where we can go?”
“You are not limited,” Yldost confirmed. “But do you know where you want to go?”
Kelwin nodded, his face grim. “I think we should go back to the guild in the mountain and take care of Falcon first.”
“Falcon?” Emlynn asked. “Of course we wish to help her, but should we not be concentrating on other things first?”
Josephina’s eyes narrowed in thought as she looked over at Kelwin. “Falcon knows Chadar.”
Kelwin nodded. “I’ve seen the map Nabiha found that shows the locations of the gates,” he said. “That would be the safest and closest place for us to move back and forth from the castle. Bahz said there were ruins of a guild on the lake near Chadar castle.” He paused and looked at the massive bird perched on Emlynn’s shoulder, and Bahz nodded in agreement. “But just because the guild is in ruins doesn’t mean the portal is. If we can activate it, we can probably get into Archai relatively undetected. Especially if Falcon is willing to help.”
Because she knows shortcuts and routes others wouldn’t, Bahz said. Even me. That’s very clever.
“Even if she’s not willing, at least she’d be in her right mind again,” Kelwin added.
Yldost made a distressed noise and hung their head. “I really didn’t mean to do her any harm.”
“You weren’t exactly in your right mind, either,” Zaree pointed out. “I think she’ll forgive you if she’ll listen to your story.”
Agreed, Bahz said. Falcon was a bit hot-tempered, but she certainly wasn’t a bad person. I think she’ll be willing to listen. Even if she doesn’t necessarily want to get involved, she’d probably be willing to provide you with information.
“That’s what I’m hoping,” Kelwin said. “As you all can imagine, I don’t like the idea of leaving Tasis’s side. But I also don’t like the idea of him waking up to discover everything in ruins again. We can’t let that happen.”
“He won’t be alone,” Aldris said. “Firea will be with him, as will I. I’m far too old to join you, but I can still be of help.”
“You have always been of help,” Kelwin told his mentor.
“If my son is too old, I suppose I shouldn’t run toward adventure, either,” Josephina said with a sigh. This made them all at least smile, which had probably been her intention.
“I’ll be here too,” Nabiha said. “And Malik. He seems to calm everyone around him. Maybe that will help Tasis even while he sleeps.”
“Thank you,” Kelwin said, his voice gruff. “I know he’ll be in good hands. I just hate leaving him.”
“He’ll appreciate the stories you’ll have when he’s awake,” Zaree said. “Even if he’ll be mad that he missed all the excitement.”
Kelwin gave her another fleeting smile before letting out a heavy sigh. He rested his elbows on his knees and looked down toward his feet where Daro lay. “Even if just Rin would wake up,” he said in a low voice. “At least then we’d have some idea what’s going on. It’s the not knowing that I can’t stand.” He slouched back against the sofa and crossed his arms over his chest in an effort to comfort himself.
If it helps, I think moving forward and doing something instead of sitting around and waiting for something to happen is the right thing to do, Daro said. We can’t expect answers to come to us. This is one of those dark places I told you that you must walk through in order to find light. And in this case, Tasis is your light. When you have your answers, he’ll be waiting for you on the other side of the darkness. Of that, I am sure.
I believe this is where Rin would tell you that you’re trying too hard to be inspirational, and that if you continued he would cough up a hairball, Bahz observed. I’m giving you his warning in his place. Except I’ve been hunting mice this morning, and what I would cough up would be far less pleasant.
“Ew,” Zaree said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. “I’m glad I haven’t had breakfast yet.”
“We’re in agreement, then?” Jorget asked. “We start with Falcon and go from there?”
“I believe we are,” Emlynn said. “When do we leave?”
Part of Zaree hoped the young man would tell them they were leaving right then. The other part of her wanted time to put something in her empty stomach and see if Triv had returned. She wanted to see if the mermaid had any idea why her memories might have been ending up in Zaree’s dreams. It bothered her, more than she’d like to admit. Tasis had dreamed of Triv because of the spell on the pendant. Not only had Triv poured a large part of herself into the spells necessary to rebuild the guild, those dreams had been part of what spurred Tasis into looking for the isle in the first place. It made sense after the fact that he had had them. The fact Zaree was dreaming about Triv now, and about a part of her life that had no bearing on current events, made no sense. Unlike Tasis, she had no blood tie to the woman.
“May I make a suggestion?” Aldris asked. “Why don’t you wait until after lunch? This will give you all time to prepare, but still allow you to set forth today. From what I gather, the trip is instant, like walking from one room to the other.”
“If it is done correctly,” Yldost agreed with a nod of their feathered head. “This trip, though, should not be as rough as Kelwin’s first. He has a slightly better idea of what to expect now.”
“So long as we don’t end up feeling like we’ve shattered every one of our bones by the time we get to the other side again, it has to be an improvement,” Jorget said dryly before giving Kelwin an apologetic grin. “No offense intended.”
Kelwin let out a humorless laugh. “None taken. I prefer to avoid that myself. But I think Aldris has the right idea. Let’s go early this afternoon. It may sound melancholy of me, but I’d like to spend a little more time with Tasis before we leave.”
“I believe we’re all in agreement,” Emlynn said. “I have a couple things I’d like to research in here before we go. There may be some spells we haven’t tried that could come in handy.” She gave Nabiha a smile that was so sweet it made Zaree want to smile too. “Will you help me?”
“Of course,” Nabiha said, returning the smile in equal measure. Both girls turned to look at Jorget, who went red at their attention. “You’re helping too, aren’t you?”
“Um, yes?” It was more of a question than a statement, but Jorget managed to get his point across.
“I’ll see you at lunch, then,” Kelwin said, standing and striding out of the room, Daro at his heel. Zaree guessed he was heading straight for Tasis, and she couldn’t blame him for that.
Once he was gone, Aldris let out a heavy sigh. “I hope we see that boy smile again someday.”
“Yeah,” Zaree said softly. “Me too.”
Chapter 7
IT HAD seemed so easy when they set out. Go through the portal, let Yldost fix Falcon, enlist her help, and go free Reikos. It was such a basic plan. Even opening the portal had ended up being a simple thing. As Kelwin had guessed, it was just a matter of wanting to go to a place. It had been anticlimactic, really. They’d stepped up to the portal hidden in the back of the cavern, and, after verifying with Yldost that the opening of the portal went only one way and wouldn’t allow Falcon to attack the isle, Kelwin simply said, “We wish to go to Mountaindeep.”
The name had made Zaree laugh a little when she’d seen the map of the portals that Nabiha had found, because it seemed like such a simple, plain name. But she supposed the isle wasn’t any better, given that it was named the Dragon’s Claw based on its sh
ape. So why shouldn’t the guild near the giants be named for the fact it was, in fact, deep within the mountain? It certainly made remembering the name easier, which likely made it simpler for travel. If the place had been named anything more exotic, it would probably mean carrying a copy of the map with you when you traveled by portal.
A shaft of light had shot up from the floor within the stone circle, and Yldost, in their full draconic height, had stepped through first. When nothing bad happened, Zaree gave Kelwin a nod. “I’ll go.”
“Be careful,” he warned her. “For all we know, Falcon may be in the room when you get there. I have to go through last, because apparently a gatekeeper going through is what shuts the portal.”
“I’ll be fine,” Zaree said, making sure her pack was secure against her back before gesturing at her quarterstaff. “I came prepared for conflict.”
“Let’s hope you don’t need it,” Kelwin muttered. Zaree didn’t reply, just gave him a nod, took a deep breath, and stepped into the light.
She was grateful the sensation was not as Kelwin had described his first trip through. She did not feel as though she was falling through a deep pit. She did, however, nearly end up facedown on the ground by the time she came to the other side. She hadn’t even had time to step out of the stone circle when Yldost let out a cry of warning. Before she could even see what they were warning her about, she was hit hard in the back, and would have ended up breaking her face on the stone floor if she hadn’t been as agile as she was. She managed to roll, still somehow holding on to her staff, and found herself face-to-face with the creature who could only have been Falcon. If she hadn’t been trying to kill Zaree, she would have been a pitiable thing. Really, she didn’t appear to be the monster that the others had described so much as she was a being who had neglected herself for far too long. Unfortunately, this was not something Zaree had time to dwell on. Instead, she was forced to punch Falcon in the face hard enough to stun her and give Zaree time to shove her away. She was up again before Zaree had managed to gain her footing, but Yldost attacked from her side before she could lunge again. Falcon fought back, but the dragon outweighed her, and she screamed her displeasure as Yldost kept her pinned to the floor.
