But this time, Sagittaria Wonder was more interested in getting away from Silver than in teaching her a lesson. Silver squinted into the darkness of the cave. There was a brief, strange thrill in being the hunter, rather than the hunted.
We saw her, Silver messaged to Hiyyan. Cut her off at the river rising. Be careful!
But before Hiyyan could respond, the thin mountain air was rent by a shrill scream, followed by a deathly silence. A single Snucker fled out of the river-cave opening and past Silver.
“What did you do?” Silver asked, keeping her legs safely tucked away.
The Snucker didn’t answer but seemed to laugh at Silver as it passed by with its teeth bared and its malevolent little red eyes flashing. She tightened her grip on Kirja. She knew that whatever made Sagittaria scream like that was not a pesky little Snucker.
“Kirja, we have to go in. Hiyyan’s stuck in there with whatever it is.”
Silver’s heart battered her chest as she realized what kind of monstrous creature could challenge someone as fierce as Sagittaria Wonder: There was another Screw-Claw awaiting Silver.
And her beloved Aquinder.
With Silver’s dagger in one hand and the other useless at her side, the duo crept carefully into the opening. Kirja paused, allowing Silver’s eyes to adjust to the low light. The scent of rotting flesh was strong. Something else was in the cave. Something that liked meat. When a warning growl filled the air, Kirja paused.
Silver said, “The Dwakka?”
Kirja nodded, brought her body low, and skulked forward, testing each step with a sniff of the air and a twitch of her ears. It wasn’t long before Silver spied the tip of the Dwakka’s tail in the distance. The water dragon’s muscles were stiff and its heads swayed side to side protectively, letting loose a steady stream of warning growls to something Silver couldn’t see.
Behind the Dwakka, sprawled on the ground and clutching her chest, was Sagittaria Wonder. As Silver and Kirja approached, the great dragon racer opened her eyes and curled her lip.
“I shouldn’t have turned back,” she snarled. “From a whelp like you? What could you do to me that … that…”
Sagittaria ended on a breathless note, pulling her arm back to reveal a glistening red slash across her torso. Silver gasped.
“No!” She slid from Kirja’s back and into the shallow river’s edge, crouching before Sagittaria. “We have to get you help.”
“You? You can’t even help your own water dragon.”
Silver sensed Hiyyan very close by. He dragged himself forward. Silver had trouble seeing, a green glow taking over her vision. All of Hiyyan’s movement had ramped up the spread of the poison, which must have been filling his lungs. He should have stayed at the Keep!
“I’m going to cure him. And you, too.” Silver tipped forward, then back, her words slurring.
“Even with her last breath…” The water dragon racing champion coughed out a laugh. “You really can’t decide if you hate me or not, can you, Desert Fox? Leave me here to d—”
“SCREEEEEE!” Two Dwakka heads let loose spine-tingling cries before lunging at something in the cave. Silver forced herself to her feet and ran forward blindly, hand gripping her dagger. Kirja flashed her fangs and marched forward. A silvery, furred beast glowed eerily on the other side of the Dwakka. It was smaller than the Screw-Claw Silver had faced beneath the glacier, but her breath still caught in her throat.
She swallowed hard and shuffled forward.
“Don’t let that thing bite you!” Silver shouted at the Dwakka.
Silver didn’t know why she was helping the Dwakka, just that she had to. She summoned her remaining strength, ran, and slid across gravel, slamming her dagger into one of the Screw-Claw’s legs before another leg kicked her in the side and into a wall.
“Guuunnnnggghh,” she moaned in pain.
But her move had given the Dwakka and Kirja enough time to home in on the ice dragon together, and while Silver was still struggling to her feet, they moved as one. Both Dwakka heads clamped onto two Screw-Claw front legs, and Kirja snapped her jaws onto its back legs. Kirja’s paws trembled as her broken talons tried to grip the cave floor. The Screw-Claw gnashed its teeth. It tried to slow them down with its hind legs. The two water dragons dragged the monster toward the cave entrance, out of Silver’s sight. She breathed heavily as she awaited their return.
Kirja’s words reached Silver before she saw the Aquinder. Screw-Claw smart. It run. Away.
And then, another Aquinder’s voice: Silver.
“Hiyyan!” Silver rose, then fell, then rose again, determined to rush to Hiyyan as he emerged from the shadows. His breath came as grunts, and his feet dragged, making the tops of his paws muddy.
“Oh good, a full reunion.” Sagittaria tried to stand but stumbled and fell back into the mud, clutching her chest wound. “Are you hiding an island prince in here, too?”
“They’re poisonous,” Silver said.
“Yes, island princes can have that quality.”
“The Screw-Claw.”
“How opportune for you, then,” Sagittaria said with a dark grin.
“I won’t let you die. I won’t let any of us die. There has to be a medicine out there, an antivenom. With help from my heartstone, I’m going to find it. So give it back!”
“In time?” Sagittaria said. “Your Aquinder has only moments left, girl.”
Silver crawled to Hiyyan, running her palms over his scales. She refused to believe Sagittaria. “I told you, I—”
“Will be the hero to save us all. Yes, I know. Desert Fox. Racing champion. Finder of rare antidotes. Saver of Sagittaria Wonder? Ha! I’d rather decompose slowly in this vile cave than give you the satisfaction.”
Silver frowned. “Return the heartstone before you wither, at least.”
Sagittaria laughed. “I don’t have it.”
Silver froze. “What do you mean you don’t have it? You took it from the tray!”
“And then I gave it away.”
Silver recalled the grinning Snucker, the way the water dragon’s teeth had flashed violet. No, not teeth. A dragon heartstone.
“Convinced our little friend to take it to the coast.” Sagittaria smirked. “With the promise of much food, once I found my way there and met up with it. Snuckers are easily persuaded.”
Silver hadn’t found them to be, but what did that matter now? They had to chase down the heartstone again. She looked at Kirja.
Then at Hiyyan.
Then at Sagittaria Wonder. Silver couldn’t leave her to die in this cave.
The decision tore her in half. Even her legs couldn’t make up their minds; they were spread, with one foot pointing to the cave entrance and one to Sagittaria.
“Grruuugghhh!” Silver growled, slapping her hand against her thigh. “We can’t leave you here.”
Hiyyan sighed.
I mean, if you think that’s the right thing to do. Silver ducked her head, searching for the warm sensation that would tell her Hiyyan agreed with her or the cold that revealed he didn’t. Her ankles tingled, her working palm slowly heated as though she was approaching a fire after a long day in the snow.
“Go, Desert Fox. I would.”
“I won’t!” Silver spun on Sagittaria, lost her balance, and fell to the ground. “I refuse to be like you.”
“Being merciful won’t get you very far in this world, or the racing world, girl. Go. Get your heartstone.”
Sagittaria Wonder’s Dwakka, normally a nasty thing, lay low to the ground, both of its heads sporting worried expressions. Turned out, even the nastiest creatures might have a heart.
Silver rifled through her bag, pulling out a few meat pastries, which she offered to Kirja. “I know you’re tired, but can you please fly back to the Keep? Bring Lers, if you can.”
Kirja munched the treats, nuzzled Silver once, and retreated from the cave. Silver watched the beautiful Aquinder check left and right for danger, spread her wings gracefully, and take to the
sky.
Now … what? Hiyyan bond-said.
“Nothing to do but wait.” Silver tore her underlayer into strips to use as bandages. She worked over Sagittaria Wonder, who was too weak to protest, although she still gave Silver a reproachful look. Silver ignored her and wrapped the cloth around Sagittaria’s chest tightly, hoping the pressure would stall the bleeding.
The Dwakka hovered over Silver, both heads assessing Silver’s every move. It felt like dune beetles crawling up the back of her neck.
“Can’t you find something else to do?” Silver finally snapped.
The Dwakka sat back on its haunches. The smiling face swiveled toward Silver and reached out in pleasant tones: Poison. Not. Bad.
“Yes, the poison is very bad,” Silver said.
This time, it was the angry face that swerved close.
No. Its voice in her head was gravelly. Poison. Not … problem.
Now Hiyyan’s voice filled her mind. Dumb Dwakka.
Both Dwakka heads snarled.
“Not a problem? Look at her!”
By the time Silver finished, Sagittaria seemed to be in a trance, her eyes facing up but unfocused, her breathing slow and rattling. Silver loosened Sagittaria’s collar, then sat back against Hiyyan and watched her warily. The Dwakka snaked around Sagittaria.
“How did you know I was at the Keep?” Silver whispered.
The racing champion’s words slurred. “I had a dream … saw you … near Keep.”
Silver frowned. Sagittaria Wonder had never seemed the type to give any importance to things like dreams. Too practical, too driven to live in the real world.
Hiyyan nudged the back of Silver’s arm until she lifted it and let his head sneak through to rest in her lap. He didn’t fit, his jaw hanging over Silver’s legs, but she simply rubbed his forehead and tipped her head against his mane.
“Try to rest, Hiyyan,” she said faintly. Her head was spinning as Hiyyan grew weaker.
With a last surge of energy, Hiyyan grinned at his human. His teeth glowed green, then he went limp.
As the poison greedily ate its way through their veins, Silver slumped over, too.
EIGHTEEN
Silver’s sleep was brief and disturbed.
In her dreams, she was surrounded by darkness. The shadows moved, shimmering like water at night. Silver squinted, and the darkness cracked. Tiny fissures all over, each one filled with a menacing orange glow. Somehow the darkness screamed, and the air became too hot to bear, blowing on her face until she thought she would burn to ashes.
Desperation and hopelessness overwhelmed her. All joy had gone from the world. She closed her eyes, but her eyelids seared with fire. So she opened them again, just to a squint, but that was enough to see that, very far away, a thin ring of light was sluicing through the darkness. When she blinked, she realized creatures were in the light. Hundreds and hundreds of them, swimming and flying and swooping, creating rainbows of color beyond the bitter darkness close by.
Water dragons!
“Help me!” she called to the dragons.
But they didn’t hear her. She opened her eyes wide. There was more than dragons. There were people, too. Dragon riders. And fire. Everywhere the dragons went, slashing their claws or ripping their fangs at the blackness surrounding Silver, flames followed, erupting from the horrible darkness, engulfing the beautiful creatures of light. She reached her hands out and caught a palmful of ash.
“Stop! Stop fighting!”
But on and on the darkness and flames went. In and out the water dragons swooped, some surviving their attacks, others falling into nothingness. Silver threw her own arms and legs out, battling the darkness. Her body fell through space and kept falling and falling and falling.
“Help me!” she screamed. The rainbow of dragons was now completely gone.
A single great beast reared over her. It was as black as starless night, with those strange orange cracks in its hide. When it opened its mouth to finish her off, Silver could see a vast chasm of nothingness inside.
“No!”
Silver, wake!
Silver jolted up. The serene Dwakka head stared down at her. Possibly … worried? The moment Silver thought she saw any emotion on the Dwakka’s face, it turned away.
Silver eased back and reached down to touch Hiyyan, pressing her palm to his face. He didn’t move, but still the connection was electric, stirring her heart to race even faster than before. Silver took a slow breath.
“I didn’t mean what I said before. I will always want to be bonded to you. It’s the most precious thing to me.”
She would do anything for that wonderful Aquinder, even if it meant going to the molten depths of the earth.
Even if it meant following him into the grave.
Silver stood and took a short stroll to loosen her stiff joints as they waited for Kirja to return with Lers. Each step was painful and forced, and she winced each time she bent her knees or wound her ankles in slow circles. A pale light met her at the entrance to the cave, and she silhouetted herself there, surprised. Had they slept a half day and whole night?
When she’d retraced her steps, Silver knelt next to Sagittaria Wonder, whose breathing had settled in the night. Silver lifted a bit of bandage, then a bit more. Her mouth fell open.
At some point in the night, the wound had scabbed over and new skin had grown. There was no sign of poison or lingering infection.
“Looked your fill yet?” Sagittaria Wonder’s voice was cranky but strong. She coughed once, then sat halfway up and looked down.
“Do you always heal so quickly?” Silver asked.
“Impressed?” Sagittaria gave a smug half smile. “Still can’t get those stars out of your eyes.”
Silver’s cheeks heated, but her retort was interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps.
“Kirja,” Silver cried out as the water dragon ducked her head and entered the cave, Lers on her back. She shook off a thin layer of frozen rain.
The healer dismounted and strode right over to Sagittaria Wonder. “She don’t look too bad,” he said.
“She was worse last night.” Silver paused to catch her breath. “I didn’t think she would live.”
“Huh,” he said, probing with his hand.
“Keep your hands off me,” Sagittaria snapped as Lers took a piece of bandage, brown with dried blood, in his fingers. “Who are you?”
“Lers. Keeper of the Keep.” His beard rose on both sides as he surveyed Silver. “I never got to say that to you, girl, but I always like saying it.” Lers turned his back on Sagittaria and went to Hiyyan, inspecting his wing thoughtfully. “I know something about medicine. You grew antibodies, and quick-like, too. That’s odd. Generally a thing what happens o’er generations, between breeds evolvin’ together. But it’s awful useful now.”
“I’m not interested in being useful.” Sagittaria climbed onto the back of her Dwakka, its two heads back to being one gentle and one surly, and slipped into the river. “I have a meeting with a Snucker.”
“Xxxxssshhhh,” Kirja hissed, splashing into the river and blocking Sagittaria’s way out of the tunnel. Useful woman not leave.
“Stay!” Silver cried out. She tried to stop Sagittaria but collapsed at the riverbank with exhaustion.
“He looks real bad,” Silver heard Lers say as he hauled her up by her arms, helping her to a seated position. “And so do you.”
Silver’s lashes fluttered, her eyes threatening to close. She willed them to stay open, to search for Hiyyan. He was an unmoving heap propped against a wall, just a few steps from Silver. She tried to move a foot toward him, but couldn’t. Her lungs seized with every breath. Silver noticed that Lers was looking peculiarly at Sagittaria, and she tried to figure out what the keeper was thinking. When it hit her, she threw herself prostrate in front of the Dwakka.
“Dwakka have poison!” she said.
“Venom in sacs to disburse at will. A useful tool in many circumstances,” Sagittaria snarled as b
oth Dwakka heads reared back.
“How long … did it take you … to build up … immunity?” Every word felt like a lifetime, but she would push through. For Hiyyan!
The Dwakka heads swayed left to right as Sagittaria contemplated Silver. “Almost a decade. One drop, and then two, and then three, every recovery taking less time and effort than the one before. Do you know how many Dwakka riders have died of bites from their own dragons? Pathetic.”
“But not … you. You … are strong.”
“And smart.” Sagittaria patted her Dwakka’s neck, her eyes glinting in the low light. “No other could have compelled a Dwakka to give up some of their precious poison stores.”
Silver remembered from her careful research that Dwakka produced venom in their first year only, and after that stored the liquid in glands in their mouths. Once it was used up, it was gone forever.
“Yes, smart. Which is why … you can’t leave!”
“You can’t stop me. Not from leaving, and not from getting your heartstone from that Snucker.”
Silver narrowed her eyes and curled one fist. “You made an antivenom and … You. Owe. Me.”
“Urour?” Kirja laid her wings over Hiyyan protectively.
Lers nodded. “It’s in ’er blood. The cure.”
Kirja made a clicking noise. Villain. Bad blood.
“We need your blood,” Silver and Lers said at the same time. Sagittaria barked a laugh.
“Wouldn’t hurt much.” Lers brandished a small vial and a knife. “If we can transfer summat antibody-rich blood from her to Hiyyan—”
“You are not cutting me, keeper,” Sagittaria snapped.
“Oh.” Silver crawled one inch toward Sagittaria. “He.” Silver crawled more. “Is.”
Silver gathered her strength and lurched upward, grabbing on to a dangling Dwakka rein and yanking down a Dwakka head as hard as she could.
Race for the Dragon Heartstone Page 15