by D. H. Dunn
“No,” the Yeti said, simply.
Drew considered protesting when Lhamu returned, Nima right behind her. Both of them wore matching grins as Nima ran across the room to his side. She ran to his left side, then quickly pivoted and ran to his right, throwing her arms around his neck.
“Okay, okay,” Drew said, trying to keep his laughing to a level he could survive. “I’m happy to see you too! Heck, I’m happy to see anyone. I owe all that to Lhamu here.”
Lhamu blushed, Drew noticing a pinkish tint to the light from the girl’s crystal.
“Upala is back!” Nima said, finally releasing her hold on his neck.
Drew felt his heart jump at Upala’s name.
”She brought Kater with her. They are waiting at the main tent, where she is checking on Trillip. She wanted to see you first, but I wasn’t sure-”
Drew put his hand up. “That’s fine, little sister. I guess I can go if my large friend here says it is all right?”
The Speaker took a moment to look under Drew’s blanket. The Yeti’s large, clawed finger poked at his side, Drew hissing with the pain of each prod.
“At this stage, the poultice is setting. It would be best for you to be standing and moving slowly lest the mixture harden too quickly. If you would allow the Arrived to assist you?”
Drew looked at Nima, who looked back at him for several seconds before laughing.
“‘Arrived,’ right. I forgot that was me.” She put her arm out for Drew to grab on to. “Shall we?”
Nima helped him into a standing position, her smile somewhat making up for the pain. In another tent across Rogek Shad, there was another smile he wanted to see again, and he would be damned if some Dragon was going to keep him from that.
Nima yawned, the others in the tent turning to look at her. She had no idea what time it was, but she was sure it was after midnight, and she was exhausted. After the initial rush of seeing Drew and Upala again wore off, she just wanted to go to sleep.
Couldn’t they just decide what to do in the morning?
After sending a reluctant Lhamu off to bed with the Speaker’s assist, she had tried to stay interested while Drew and Upala filled each other in.
The large tent was mostly empty, she supposed when it was full they could fit a hundred people in there. Now it was just the four of them, Merin having left earlier to return to her children. She had said she would check on Trillip before going to sleep, and would see all of them in the morning.
Going to sleep sounded like a good idea to Nima. She couldn’t keep her eyes open much longer.
“Kater,” Upala said, her musical voice piercing Nima’s thoughts. “Please explain to the others what Tanira is doing.”
At Tanira’s mention, Nima sat up immediately.
Nima thought she could see a faint smile on Upala’s face, a smile she had worn a few times when telling Ama about something Pasang had done wrong.
Kater mumbled for a moment, Nima seeing his beard move but not hearing his words. She suspected they were Manad Vhan swears of some kind. After another scowl from his sister, Kater let out a huge sigh and faced the room.
“It is simple,” he said. “The Rakhum woman has an artifact. A helm. It is of my design, it was my intent to use it against the Dragons should they ever attack. If she can power it, it would grant her the ability to mentally control them.”
“Control the Dragons?” Drew asked, his eyes widening. “We saw her riding one, but it seemed to be acting on its own will, and she was not wearing any helm, just the armor of the Hero that we saw before.”
“That is . . . positive news,” Upala said with a sigh. “Perhaps she does not know how to activate the helm, or she does not have all the components yet. What Dragon was she riding? Can you describe it?”
“Long, very long,” Nima said. “Like a snake with wings. It was purple, it was pretty, actually.”
Kater nodded. “That sounds like it may have been-”
“The Thread,” Nima said. “Lhamu told me its name was the Thread. I thought she might be confused, that sounds like an odd name for a Dragon.” She looked from Kater to Upala, both of their faces showing disappointment. She supposed Lhamu had been right. “Is that bad?”
“The Thread is the link between the other Dragons,” Upala said. “Without the Thread, they would be uncoordinated. With its power, they can act as one unit, one mind.”
“She must have been to the Vault on Ish Selot already then,” Kater said. “She would require the armor of the Hero to enter, but that does not mean she has the Helm. Perhaps-”
“Kater,” Upala cut in. “The Helm is gone from your fortress. The guards outside are dead. I think it is obvious you allowed the Line to know of this and-”
“I allowed the Line! Of all the-”
“Great,” Drew said, his tone one Nima was quite familiar with. It was Drew’s ‘I’m not happy, but let’s move on’ tone. “So let’s assume she has the Helm, but its not working yet. Why not, Kater? What does she need?”
“She needs to collect the essence of the Thread and the Voice,” he said, walking to his right. Nima noticed Kater always stayed as much on the opposite side of the room from Drew as he could. “Once she has those, the Helm is powered and can be used to control the Dragons.”
The idea that some hat could allow you to control even one of the amazing creatures Nima had seen over the bridge was pretty incredible. They were so big, so powerful!
“How many can she control?” Nima asked. She thought she had heard there were fourteen Dragons. Was controlling two harder than one?
“The girl makes a good point!” Kater said, pointing across the room at Nima.
Nima didn’t like Kater, but she smiled just the same. A good point was still a good point.
“The Helm was designed for Manad Vhan, for me. She may not be able to handle the strain.”
“Let us assume she can,” Upala said. “Answer Nima’s question.”
“I do not know,” Kater replied. “I did not have an opportunity to test it. My plan was to only release the Dragons I needed, I never intended to try and control all fourteen at once!”
“After the Thread and Voice, where would you have gone, Kater?” Upala glared at her brother, a look Nima had given Pasang more than once, though here the circumstances were very different.
“Terminus, obviously. He is by far the most powerful. Once I had Terminus, what would I need with the other Dragons? Besides, his vault is right on Ish Rav Partha. Yet she does not have the Voice yet, that should be our goal.”
Nima found herself nodding. Why give up now?
“Shouldn’t we stop Tanira from getting to this Voice? If she can’t power the hat then she never gets to do anything else.”
Kater pointed at Nima a second time.
“Again, she is right. Why concede defeat? Stop her now. Though it is a ‘helm’ not a ‘hat.’”
“Nima,” Upala said “Tanira already has a Dragon that seems willing to help her. She has the means to fly to Ish Kalum where the Voice is. We have been unable to defeat her in two engagements.”
“Yeah,” Drew said, wincing as he stepped a bit closer to Upala. “Our only advantage here would be to guess her next move, try to stop her before she can get started. We can’t get to the Voice before Tanira does, but we can get to Everest. I mean Ish Rav Partha. We can stop her ability to free this Terminus and maybe set a trap for her before she gets there.”
Nima shook her head. Sometimes the dangerous route was the only path, yet she knew Drew would not change his mind. Drew always wanted to keep everyone safe, even when there was no way to do that. It made no sense to Nima to allow Tanira to get more powerful without trying to stop her.
“Fortunately,” Kater said. “I do not have to listen to your counsel, Adley. You and the rest can do what you want. Our enemy is injured as well, and I can get myself to Ish Kalum via my own means, and I shall do so. First light of the morn. Go to Ish Rav Partha if you like, cede her this victory if
that is your choice. If I am successful, then it will be me wearing the Helm when you see me next, and not this fool Rakhum girl.”
“I am going with him,” Nima said, surprising herself. She didn’t want to admit it, but she agreed with Kater, as awful as he was.
“Nima!”
Drew hobbled his way across the tent, Nima already guessing all the things he was going to say. He walked close to her, sweat forming on his brow from the effort.
He leaned in and whispered in her ear. “I know you’ll go anyway, even if I tell you not to. I know you can take care of yourself. I’ll feel better knowing you’re there to keep an eye on him.”
Nima’s eyes grew damp, her big brother giving her the answer she never expected.
He gave her a soft kiss on her head, then groaned as she pulled him in for a hug.
“Sorry. I’ll see you when we get back,” she said with a smile and a wink. “Keep Lhamu safe for me.”
That would be the hardest part, she knew. Lhamu would be furious, as she would be in her place. That Dragon had murder in its eyes when it attacked her, and Nima could not let the girl near the beast. Just like Merin with her children, Nima would have to hope Lhamu would understand.
“I guess that’s it then,” Drew said in a louder voice. “Upala and I will leave for Ish Rav Partha in the morning, maybe we can get to this Terminus before Tanira does and find a way to keep her out. Kater and Nima can go try to stop Tanira--without being killed, please. If you are not able to, try to get back to us before she does.”
Drew was already walking toward the exit at the far side of the tent, Upala rushing over to allow him to throw his arm around her shoulder for support.
Kater gave Nima a toothy grin as he too rose. “I applaud your wisdom, girl. I do not need you, but if you do not slow me down I shall allow you to accompany me. Do not expect me to keep you alive. I will leave at dawn.”
Nima gave Kater a wink, which she knew he had no idea how to interpret. He reminded her a bit of Jang, and Jang was not someone she would have left out of sight. If not for the Line, it might be better to let Tanira have this hat rather than Kater. Either way, she wanted to be in a position to take action. She wouldn’t need Kater to keep her alive. Nima knew how to do that for herself.
Drew stopped at the flap outside the tent the Speaker had been healing him in, the small dwelling near the outskirts of the city. He could hear the sounds of the Umbuk River rushing not far off, could feel the chill of the air as it ran down Ish Rav Partha and into the plains, yet these were not the senses he was focused on.
He cared only for his eyes, which were focused on her, and the feeling of her hand in his.
“Thank you for walking me back to my tent,” he said to Upala. The moonlight reflected off her olive skin, the stars in her hair competing with the ones above them.
“Oh, I have no intention of leaving you or your tent, Drew.” She laughed, the music he had longed to hear since they had returned to this world. “Not until the morning anyway.”
He frowned. Certainly, even as tired as he was, there was nothing he wanted more than being with her. His ache for her was more than lust now, more than physical.
“Upala, are you sure this is a good idea?” Drew said. “I mean, the rasi sakta-”
She shook her head, her dark hair swaying in the night winds.
“I have felt no trace of the rasi sakta since we returned to Aroha Darad, and I do not think you have either, have you?”
“No, nothing.” His worries for Upala, his admiration and growing affection for her had all seemed genuine since they had arrived in the Yeti cave. He had felt none of the mania that had been there before. “I guess that means I am fully Manad Vhan now? Does that break the curse?”
“Let us test that theory,” Upala said, leaning toward him.
Her hands encircled his neck as his went to her waist, the kiss coming like a wave washing upon the shore. He waited for the moment that had happened before, the feeling of sinking into her, of being pulled underwater by a tempting tide. Yet there was only the nice warmth of her mouth on his, the feeling of closeness between the two of them. As if nothing could break them apart.
“See,” she said with a smile. “No more rasi sakta, no more curse. Now for tonight, for this one night, may I suggest no more worrying? No brothers or little sisters, no Yeti. No Dragons.”
“I think. . .” He allowed a sigh to escape, taking with it all his tension. He smiled and gave her another kiss. “I think that is a wonderful idea.”
Taking her hand, he led her into the small tent. The blanket he had woken on was still lying on the ground. He allowed her to remove his shirt, and then lay back on the blanket as she straddled his waist.
Inching forward, she knelt astride him and put her hand on his chest. Drew winced as her fingers brushed against the bandage the Speaker had applied.
“Oh, I am sorry,” she said, pulling away. “I do not want to hurt you.”
Drew reached up and grinned, ignoring the pain as he pulled her close to him.
“Tonight, it would hurt me more not to touch you.”
She smiled that smile he saw between blinks and in dreams, and when she came to him it was a sunrise over crisp winter peaks, pure and beautiful.
18
Nima sat in the snow, looking at Kater hunched over and wheezing for breath. The noon sun overhead brought her some warmth as she peered ahead of them at the vista of peaks on the far horizon. She could see many of them from her vantage point on the lower reaches of Ish Kalum. She gauged the mountain corresponded to Makalu on her world and according to Kater this would be where Tanira would try to free a Dragon called the Voice.
Nima stood and paced around, kicking at the snow. Kater was on his knees still, pulling in huge gulps of air just as he had done after each of their uses of his blink tube.
“Hey, Kater,” she called over to him, tapping her feet in the snow. “If you can’t be hurt, how come you get out of breath so easily? The way you are wheezing, you seem hurt.”
Kater looked over at her from his kneeling position, furry eyebrows clenching at her.
“Fool girl,” he replied, stopping to pull in more air. He only seemed to be able to speak a few words at a time. “The porting. It uses your breath. Why are. You not. Out of breath?”
“I don’t know,” Nima said, shrugging her shoulders. “I was for a minute. Then I breathed again. Westerners say my people do better in the mountains, in the thin air. Maybe that’s why.”
“Perhaps,” Kater said, pulling himself upright.
He looked humorous to Nima in his cold-weather clothes, a big red cloak with lots of stitching. He looked like he wanted to be important, which struck Nima as funny.
Nima looked up the stretch of the great mountain, seeing the glint of red far above them. Upala said the doors to the Dragon’s Vault would be red, so that would have to be it. The path to the door looked manageable to Nima, a few free climbs, but mostly just uphill walking. Under normal conditions it might take her and Drew half a day. With Kater though, it looked like it would take forever.
“Ready for another blink?” she asked, pulling the leather waterbag Merin had given her and taking a drink. The snow here was more melty than on the mountains of her world, she figured she could fill it back up later if she needed to.
Kater looked back at her annoyed, but he always looked annoyed. He coughed again, an echo of the brutal coughs she had heard the old man suffer from on Everest. Back when she thought he was Carter. A whole bunch of lies ago.
“Do I look like I am ready?” He scowled at her and sat in the snow. “I must take time to reclaim my breath.”
“I don’t get why,” Nima said, looking around. She wondered if Tanira had been here. The snow under her feet was fresh enough that even a Dragon might have landed there, and the evidence would be buried. “I mean, you heal everything. You can’t be hurt. How can you be out of breath?”
“I just am,” Kater said, his tone the s
ame annoyed one her mother had often given her.
Nima walked over to him, blocking the sun as she stood with the snow crunching under her boots.
“I don’t get that. I mean, if you have to breathe then can’t you die? Like what if I held you underwater? Would you die?”
“That is a foolish question,” Kater grunted. “My body would heal the damage, as it always does when it is necessary. My fatigued lungs are an annoyance, but not life-threatening so-”
“Whatever. I bet you never tested it. What about eating? I’ve seen you eat and Upala eat. What if you couldn’t eat? Would you starve?”
“Would I . . .?” the man sputtered his words, his hands clenched. “I just answered this question in another form, fool girl! My body will-”
“I wonder if you poop,” Nima said. She had been wondering this, but hadn’t wanted to ask Upala. “I mean, you eat, right? So you must poop. I wonder if it would kill you if you couldn’t poop. . .”
Kater glared up at her, looking even angrier than he had before. It was hard for Nima not to laugh, it should feel dangerous to prod Kater in this way, but something about the man made her want to do it.
“If you would like to test which of us can kill the other one, I would be happy to have that contest with you, fool girl.”
“See?” Nima said, spreading her arms. He wanted her to be afraid, but she wasn’t going to give him that. “That’s another thing. You’re so mean all the time, to everyone! Why? ‘Fool girl’, why talk like that? Why be mean when it is so much easier to be nice? Being mean is work!”
“I wouldn’t be. . . mean if you would cease pestering me with questions. I am stunned to admit this, but you make me wish Adley had come in your place!”
“I ask questions because I want to know,” Nima said. “Drew says I’m ‘curious’ and that makes me unusual. Besides, your forehead does this funny thing when you get angry, there’s a big line that pops out.”
He stood, brushing the snow off his cloak. He peered down at her.
