by Kyle West
The stream opened into a lake that filled a wide valley surrounded on all sides by vibrant hills, and the water had a purplish hue.
“Is this it?” I asked.
Isaru considered for a moment. “The lake is supposed to be of ichor, so it seems that we need to travel further. Enrei said it was a two day journey.”
It was only late afternoon, so at best, we were about halfway there.
“This seems as good a place as any to set up camp,” Isaru said.
We did so in silence. The truth was, I was still a bit peeved that Isaru had gotten his way, which seemed to be the case more often than not. I tried not to think about my parents back in Colonia. My worst nightmare was arriving just a day late and Valance backing out on his deal. There was always the danger he’d back out, anyway, but there was still time to find a way to guard against that.
For now, though, I was stuck here and there was nothing I could do about it.
For dinner, we ate leftover roasted pheasant, stuffing it in the fresh bread Skandes had given us. It made a much better meal than anything we had managed to scrounge on the trail, and seeing that there was no other business to take care of, and the sun had just set over the western hills, we both lay down to sleep.
THE NEXT MORNING, WE were walking along the lake’s edge when, over the northern hills, a line of dragons appeared, seeming to fly straight for us.
We rushed to hide, but there was nowhere possible. The terrain was open, and the best we could do was find a rock that was nowhere near sufficient. We lay against the xen, even if I knew we’d stick out against it.
“We’re going to have to fight,” Isaru said.
He stood up and drew his katana, and I did the same. The dragons were much closer, now. Six of them from the looks of it.
And then, the lead dragon, a Radaska larger than the rest, landed adroitly on the shore of the lake, followed by the others. As if we weren’t even there, they stuck their heads in the water and drank.
Isaru and I looked at each other in disbelief.
We watched a moment longer before I walked forward. There were four adults and two smaller ones, all female. If these were Mindless, we would have been attacked already. Then again, Generational dragons could be dangerous in their own way, and if they perceived us to be a threat, they wouldn’t hesitate in killing us.
For that reason, I didn’t draw any closer. I stood still and waited for Isaru to catch up. Once he was by my side, the largest of the dragons turned just enough to where her angular head was profiled against the lake. She unfurled her wings, with only one eye looking out in our direction. She kept that eye on us, but otherwise didn’t do anything else.
The two younger dragons, however, were staring at us openly.
The largest dragon who had been keeping an eye on us turned around sharply to the dragonlings, and all of a sudden, both of their wings wilted, as if in guilt. Apparently, they were not supposed to engage with us in any way, but even among dragons, it seemed that the young had a harder time tempering their curiosity.
Isaru and I could both talk to dragons, though; a rare Gift, but a Gift we possessed nonetheless. The question was, was it wise to speak to them when they were making such an effort to ignore us?
Once all the dragons were done drinking, the lead dragon turned back to us, facing us fully, while the other two adults looked on in silence. Each of the adults were smaller than Jorla, but Jorla may have been atypically big. Even so, these dragons were massive – at least forty or fifty feet from tip to tail, and half again as tall, with wings equally wide that made them look all the larger. It was easy to forget that dragons were part of the same Xenofold humans were, and had been a part of it for far longer. As such, it made them Elekai. But it was strange to think of these dragons as such – their black scales, combined with angular features and spiked backs, made them seem something dark and evil.
At last, the lead dragon broke the silence, but how I could tell the words entering my head were coming from her, I couldn’t say.
What are you doing here, humans? There is nothing but death for you here. Against the evils of the north, a blade is of no consequence.
There was something commanding – even intimidating – in that communication. Dragons didn’t speak with words...not exactly. Rather, it was feelings and images that were translated into words that a human could understand. As she spoke, mixed in were sudden flashes of danger – swarms of crawlers and Mindless dragons, the dangers of the Northern Reversion.
Their way of “talking” always made speaking with a dragon seem like heavy conversation.
I waited for Isaru to answer, since it had been his idea to come up here in the first place. However, he seemed to be a bit tongue-tied, so I took it upon myself.
We’re trying to find Invia and Dreamlake. My friend is part of their tribe. We don’t intend to stay in these parts long. If this land is yours, then we ask for permission to cross it.
The Radaska’s wings fluttered, as if in agitation. This land belongs to no one, human. It is unfit for living, as its poison deepens each passing year. As for Invia...it has been gone for some time. Only the foundations of the buildings remain, and the only structure left standing is the Oracle on the Lake, though in all my passings, I have yet to see a human. Crawlers, at times, but never one of your kind. There is nothing to find there, and it is foolish to even go. Most of the Invi fled into the Northwood, and there are some that might still survive. We do not fly south often, so cannot say.
Isaru’s face fell. Clearly, he was disappointed by the news, but then again, it was something I had already told him, only with different words. Maybe it would be enough for him to see the pointlessness of his plan. Seeing him so disappointed did make me feel bad, but at the same time, what had he expected?
He looked at me. “What do you think?”
I would have to respond carefully. “I think the dragons know this land better than anyone, and I think finding Invia is a huge risk. One we don’t need to take.”
Isaru nodded, and I almost sighed with relief. He was actually agreeing with me.
“I was stupid for bringing us up here,” he said. “I’m sorry. It was...selfish.”
“It’s okay,” I said. I was reminded of something my father used to tell me. “Just because we’ve gone the wrong direction doesn’t mean we can’t correct the mistake.”
Isaru nodded, but didn’t respond.
“We have to remember, despite our training, we aren’t invincible,” I went on. “The mission we have is already impossible enough.”
Isaru nodded. “You’re right. I know you’re right.” He turned to face the dragon. Thank you for the warning.
Even so, you are not safe until you are behind the walls of Northold.
Is it really that dangerous? I asked.
The dragon’s glowing white eyes considered me. The Mindless are advancing. We are flying south to stay with our brethren at Dragonspire, in the Southern Wild. Soon, the North will not be safe, even for us. It is no place for a dragon to raise her young; the Askaleen we have already moved.
You’re abandoning your home?
We have little choice. Some remain, but there are fewer places than ever for us dragons to rest our wings. We would have gone sooner, were it not for my dragonlings, who are just now strong enough to make the journey.
The smaller dragons looked at us curiously, but remained silent – probably by their mother’s orders.
The South isn’t entirely safe, either, with the Covenant and the Novans, but still safer than the North. But we must be on our way. If you do decide to continue north, do not stray far from this lake. Outside it, the land turns evil and there are many crawlers. And as soon as crawlers take up a chase, they will not stop until their prey is dead and their bones picked clean.
And, as if the dragon had not said the most horrifying thing possible, she added, Safe travels, humans.
Within moments, all six dragons took wing and flew into the air,
the dragonlings flying directly behind the larger ones. We watched them until they were small against the southern blue sky.
“Let’s go,” Isaru said. “If what she said was true...I want to be back in the Northwood by nightfall.”
I resisted the urge to tell him “I told you so,” and just contented myself with the barest of nods.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
IT WAS HARD NOT TO be a bit frustrated on the way back, seeing all the same land we had already passed. We traveled by night, using the xen-covered landscape as our light source. We could have been halfway to Northold by now. Late that night, we were probably past Auberin, and Isaru even suggested going up there for a bed, but I couldn’t face the embarrassment, especially after Elder Enrei had told us not to go north.
So instead, we finally set up camp out a mile or so south of Auberin with our usual small fire. We decided to eat the venison, since it would go bad eventually, but the meat was tough, tasteless, dry, and altogether hard to stomach after the dinner we had gotten last night. We’d save the few meals we’d gotten from the Watchers for an especially hard day.
Isaru got what sleep he could. I truly drew the short end of the stick; even if it was his fault we set up camp this late, I was the one on watch, which meant I would be getting no sleep. It wasn’t really fair, but then again, I’d remind Isaru of it tomorrow and I’d make him take an extra watch so I could catch up.
What was left of the night was surprisingly chilly, and a low fog clung to the forest floor. It got to be so thick that I couldn’t see ten feet ahead of me.
The perfect time to be attacked by crawlers, I thought.
I kept the fire stoked while staring out into the thick mist, unable to shake the feeling that something was staring back. There was no need to wake Isaru; not yet. Still, I kept my hand on my blade, and the longer the minutes stretched, the more I felt something was going to happen.
Focus.
Despite myself, I was finding it harder and harder to remain alert. But I couldn’t sleep if something was out there. And with this fog, there was no way of knowing if there was anything out there.
I sat up, hoping it would dispel my drowsiness, but it didn’t do much.
I’m just imagining things.
Isaru and I had slept for weeks out here, rarely setting a watch. There was no way of knowing whether I needed to watch, or not. But if it was between losing a night’s sleep or my life, I knew which one I had to choose.
So, I sat there. I stayed awake. I waited. I kept my eyes open, because I knew that if I closed them, it might be for the last time.
I looked out to see nothing but fog – cold, wet, and miserable. But as the hours passed, I could see a little further than I could before.
It was there that, at last, I fell fast asleep while sitting with my back against the tree.
AND IT WAS SEEMINGLY a second later that Isaru was waking me. The fog had mostly lifted, and without complaint, I got up and helped break camp.
After a light breakfast, we headed south through the trees. I was pretty miserable, but I didn’t want to tell Isaru that I was up all night because I was scared of something in the dark.
The sun burned away what was left of the fog and the air became comfortably warm. At last, it was beginning to feel more like spring. The forest broke from time to time into meadows filled with fungal stalks and the blooms of flowers, but it was hard to appreciate the beauty when all I wanted to do was sleep.
We came across the Pilgrimage Road, following it south through the forest. After that, our travel became much quicker. The path, signified by a slight depression in the xen, was also narrow, barely wide enough for a single horse and cart to use.
For some reason, Hasar crossed my mind, and I was wondering if he was who I felt was watching us last night.
“Do you think he’s still following us?” I asked.
Isaru considered for a moment. “Probably. But what can we do about it?”
“I got the feeling we were being watched last night. With that fog, anything could have been out there.”
“I don’t think he means any harm if he’s following us,” Isaru said. “If he had meant to kill us, he would have let us die in the canyon two weeks ago.”
Around noon, the trees broke to reveal a sight we had been hoping to see for days.
“Well,” Isaru said, “I think we’ve found Northold.”
About a mile distant, at the top of a hill surrounded by trees, rose a wooden wall, gleaming silver in the late morning light. Forest wrapped the entirety of the hill, while a wide plain of xen stretched between us and it for about a mile, a plain studded with small plots of growing crops and farmers’ cabins. Higher hills rose just beyond the city’s western perimeter, shining pink in the bright sunshine. The road ran boldly across the plain, cutting up the hill, to the gates themselves. The sky above the town was tinged slightly gray from all the rising smoke.
We left the shade of the trees and followed the road south. We began to pass farmhouses built far off the road, along with long rows of slightly elevated xen from which crops were sprouting. Wagon ruts began to appear in the road at about this point. I noticed a lot of the farms had stakes along their northern edges, a rudimentary defense. Life was definitely different up here. It wasn’t long before we had reached the hill itself, where we began to weave our way back and forth until, before long, we stood before its wide, wooden gates.
Now closer, Northold was bigger than I had first thought. I was imagining something about the size of Nava, but Northold was a good deal larger. Up here, the xen had been cleared, leaving dirt streets, on either side of which rose silver, wooden buildings, most being two stories.
We passed under the shade of the wooden gatehouse and took stock of our surroundings. The town seemed to be laid out in a circular fashion, with an outside perimeter road which ran along the wall, while having its interior roads arranged in a grid. Ahead, beyond the few people who were out and about, the road ended at the height of the hill, on which stood a tall stand of Silverwoods, the only sign of nature within the walls.
We just stood there for a long moment. Now that we were here, after all this time, I had no idea what we were supposed to do next. It was still early enough in the day that we couldn’t justify stopping.
“We should try to find a place to resupply,” Isaru said.
“With what money?”
Isaru grunted. “Yeah, good point.”
I had never actually had any Elekai money in my hands before, which was a strange thought. At the Sanctum, everything was provided, and the Sanctum was the only Elekai place in which I had spent any amount of time, so I hadn’t thought about money often. Elekai money was composed of ichor beads. There was just one kind, and they could vary in size, as there was no central mint setting standards. It was a bit primitive, compared to Colonia, but if it worked, then it worked.
“We could just, you know...steal,” I said.
We hadn’t had to do that in a while, mostly because in the Exiled Lands, there hadn’t been many people to steal from.
“Not here” Isaru said.” We still have the food from Auberin, and the venison. If we get lucky, then that should be enough to...”
“Shanti?”
It was a voice I hadn’t expected to hear. Not in a thousand years. Not in this place, not at this time. And yet, I did hear it.
I turned around to see Isa staring at me with wide-eyed shock.
SUCH WAS MY SHOCK THAT I was at a loss for words. She looked the same as she always had, with her blonde hair and blue eyes, though her plain cotton shirt and brown pants made her look different from her usual Sanctum robe. She held a basket filled with vegetables, which she promptly dropped as she ran up to me and nearly choked me with a tight hug.
I just stood there, completely frozen and unbelieving, and looking at Isaru, he was similarly flabbergasted and at a loss.
“I thought you were dead, with how you never came back and...” Isa stepped back and lo
oked at me, and seemed to notice Isaru was there, too. Her cheeks reddened, before she nearly stammered, “Prince Isaru, forgive me, I didn’t even recognize you. You seem...please forgive me.”
She gave an awkward bow. Apparently that crush still hadn’t gone away.
“Seem what?”
She looked at us both; now it just wasn’t surprise, but sadness in her eyes. “You are both so...thin. Thin, and haggard. Gods, where have you been? What are you doing here? Everyone thinks you’re dead, or imprisoned, or worse. Elder Isandru went off to Colonia to find you both, and the Elders asked me so many questions and I was forced to tell them where you had gone, and...”
“Slow down,” I said. “We’ll tell you everything, but maybe somewhere else?”
“Half the Wild is looking for you! Maybe even more. There might even be war with the Covenant if Prince Isaru isn’t found.”
“War?” I asked. “Why would there be war, what are you talking about?”
“You really don’t know anything. Where have you two been? King Taris believes the Covenant is holding Isaru hostage, based on what I told the Elders. And until now, I believed it, too.”
Something in Isa’s voice told me to give her a reason not to tell people we were both here, given the circumstances.
“Let’s get somewhere safe where we can talk,” Isaru said. “Clearly, we have a lot of catching up to do. I will tell you, there is a good reason for all of this.”
Her face suddenly firmed. “It better be a good reason, because I’ve been worried sick about you both, and so has everyone else. When I left the Sanctum, some people were placing bets on whether you guys were dead.”
Of course, I was wondering what Isa was doing here herself. She had told me, in one of my first nights at the Sanctum, that she was from a place called Coyal, a village not too far from here, unless I was misremembering.