“There aren’t any more chances,” I say, louder than I intended, and Runa jumps. More quietly, I add, “It’s over, Runa. This isn’t something we can fix.”
Runa drops to the ground beside me and wraps an arm around my shoulders. “It’ll be okay. I know it will. Somehow it will work out.”
I sniff and drop my head on her shoulders. “I was supposed to win. I knew I was meant to be a Seeker.”
“I know,” Runa murmurs.
“All that work. Everything you did to help me. Passing the first trial. All of it was for nothing.”
“Not nothing,” she says fiercely. “You showed everybody in this village that a girl can compete to be a Seeker. I bet there are other girls in the village who will compete next time, because you proved to them that it was possible.”
I sit up with a sniff and look at her. “You’re getting dirt on your dress,” I say. Unlike me, Runa actually cares about keeping her clothes clean.
She laughs. “I think it’ll survive, just this once.”
“Can I stay here for a while? I don’t want to go home.”
“Of course,” she says. “But fair warning, Mama’s making me weed this whole garden. If you stay, you’ll be put to work.”
“That’s okay. I don’t mind.”
Runa stands and brushes the dirt from her dress, then offers me a hand up. “I admit I might have an ulterior motive,” she says with a grin. “If you use your gift on these weeds, this will go a lot faster.”
“I think I can make that happen.” I manage a small smile in return. “I’m pretty sure I owe you one.”
Runa grins. “I’m pretty sure you owe me way more than one,” she says, “but this is a good place to start.”
* * *
Papa is waiting for me when I get home.
He sits on the garden bench and watches silently as I open the gate and walk toward him.
“Seeker Larus was here,” he says finally.
In a way, it’s a relief that I don’t have to tell him myself. That I don’t have to watch the horrible moment when the news sinks in. But on the other hand, I have no idea what Seeker Larus said or how bad he made it sound. And of course, he doesn’t know about Ari.
“It’s not what you think,” I say.
His eyebrows rise. “And what do I think?”
“You think I was careless and I broke the rules and I lied to you and I cheated to win the competition.”
Papa doesn’t react for a moment. “And did you?”
“No. Well, I did some of it. But it wasn’t like that. It was Ari who started it.”
“Ari?”
I tell Papa almost everything. How Ari was the one who found Lilja, how he offered to help me after Seeker Agnar kicked me out of training, how he said he needed someone to help look after her. I admit to sneaking out at night and training with Ari in secret.
But I do not tell him about how Ari got Lilja’s egg or our suspicions about the Vondur and one of the Seekers. If I tell him, he’ll go straight to Seeker Larus, and I still don’t think it’s safe to do that until we know for sure who stole Lilja’s egg in the first place.
Papa doesn’t say anything for a long time. “Why didn’t you tell me, Bryn? When Seeker Agnar told you that you couldn’t train, when Ari told you about the dragon, why didn’t you come to me for help? Why did you lie?”
“I don’t know,” I say. “I was embarrassed, I guess. I hated how I was being singled out like that, how I was the only one who wasn’t allowed to train. I didn’t want to admit what happened. And then when Ari showed up with this dragon, it just… It just seemed like the perfect solution to everything. It only seemed fair, that I could have a way to train just like the boys did. And we both took really good care of Lilja. I promise we did. We found the cave for her and put up boundary spells and made sure that she was safe and that she wouldn’t wander too far. We weren’t being reckless, honestly.”
“You were,” Papa says gravely. “For two twelve-year-olds who haven’t completed training to handle a dragon on their own is incredibly dangerous, Bryn. You could have been hurt.”
“She’s just a baby,” I say. “And she’s friendly, and—”
“And none of that matters,” he says sternly. “Anything can happen when working with magical creatures, even those that you trust. I thought I taught you better than that.”
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I just thought… I thought that I’d become a Seeker and that none of it would matter.”
Papa exhales heavily. “Go inside,” he says finally. “Your mother and I will discuss your punishment.”
“Do Mama and Elisa know?”
“They know what Seeker Larus told us,” Papa says. “But I will tell your mother about Ari.”
“Don’t turn him in to the Seekers, please.”
Papa looks surprised. “Why not? He broke the same rules you did.”
“I know. But if he gets disqualified, then neither one of us can look after Lilja. Someone needs to check on her in the Realm and make sure she’s okay. If I can’t win, then it ought to be Ari.”
“By all rights, both of you should be disqualified,” Papa says.
“I know.”
Papa is quiet for several agonizing seconds. “I will admit,” he says, “that I didn’t know about Seeker Agnar keeping you from training. That was wrong, and it was unfair. But that doesn’t make it okay for you to decide that some of the rules don’t apply to you, Bryn.”
“I know,” I say again.
“Go on, then.”
I run inside and flop down on my bed without looking at Mama or Elisa. I can’t bear that right now. I bury my face in the pillow and stay that way.
Later, Mama and Elisa enter, and Mama tucks my sister into the bed beside me. I don’t stir, and they leave me alone.
But as soon as Mama’s gone, Elisa taps my shoulder. “Bryn? Are you awake?”
“No,” I say.
“I’m sorry about your dragon,” she whispers.
“Me too.”
“Are you sad now?”
“Yes.”
Elisa is quiet for a second. “Next time we play dolls, yours can have the pink unicorn if she wants.”
I roll over to face her and give her hand a squeeze. “Thanks, El.”
She falls asleep first, her hand still tucked into mine. I close my eyes and try not to think about anything.
* * *
In the morning, Mama forces me out of bed, and I help her make breakfast. She’s surprisingly quiet. We work in companionable silence until Elisa wakes up and fills the kitchen with her chatter. It could almost be a normal morning as we eat breakfast, except for the fact that everyone keeps darting glances at me when they think I’m not looking, and neither Mama nor Papa ever really looks me in the eye.
By the time breakfast is over, I can’t stand the quiet anymore, so I bring it up myself. “How much trouble am I in?”
It’s Mama who answers. “You are grounded indefinitely and are not to leave this hut until I say otherwise.”
“But can I—”
“But nothing. You’ve been lying and sneaking out, and you can consider yourself lucky if I don’t make you stay in this hut until you’re thirty-five.”
I open my mouth, but Papa shakes his head. “Listen to your mother, Bryn.”
“Fine.” I sigh.
Mama is as good as her word. She keeps me busy inside all day with chores, and I never get the chance to go out. She never even lets me go to the well for water—she goes herself instead, assigning me something to do in the hut in the meantime.
All I really want to do right now is talk to Ari. I want to say I’m sorry for losing our dragon and to wish him luck in the third trial. And I want to know if he’s learned anything more about the Vondur, or the Seekers, or how they found out about Lilja. But the only way I can think of to see him is to sneak out of the house again.
Unfortunately, my parents are way ahead of me on that one. After Mama has tucked me and
Elisa into bed, Papa drags his chair in front of the hut’s door and falls asleep in front of it, effectively barring anyone from leaving until morning.
“Go to sleep, Bryn,” he says when he sees me watching him, and I do.
The rest of the week passes the same way. I don’t get to go anywhere. I don’t get to see Ari, or Runa, or Lilja.
I will never see Lilja again.
And I will never be a Seeker.
THIRTY
The morning of the third trial, I help Mama make breakfast, and she ushers Elisa into the kitchen.
“Hurry up, now,” Mama says when Elisa starts playing with her spoon. “We have a competition to get to.”
I nearly spit out my oatmeal in surprise. “What?”
“Your mama thinks it’s best,” Papa says softly, “if we attend the final trial today.”
“Why? I won’t be competing.”
Mama looks at me, really looks at me, for the first time all morning. “The rest of the village will be there,” she says finally. “We’re not going to hide in our hut like we’re ashamed. They’re the ones who should be ashamed, doing everything they can to force you out of this competition and favoring the boys with half your skill. No. We’re going to walk into that arena with our heads high, and we’re going to congratulate the winner, and we’re going to make all of them remember how they treated you.”
Before I can speak, Mama adds, “Well, your father and your sister and I will. You will be staying here. You’re still grounded.”
“But you just said—”
“No arguing. Finish your breakfast.”
I sigh. I didn’t really want to go to the competition anyway, I guess. I think Ari stands a better chance of winning than Tomas or Johann, but even so, I can’t stomach the thought that one of them might become the next Seeker. And I know I can’t bear the stares of all the villagers.
Mama makes me do all of the breakfast dishes while everyone else gets dressed. She bundles Elisa into her coat and rushes her out the door.
Papa gives me a hug before he leaves. “Don’t worry. It will all work out.”
I nod, unconvinced, and he leaves.
By the time I finish the dishes, the village bells are ringing loudly, signaling the start of the final trial. I’m probably the only person not in attendance. Ari and Tomas and Johann are probably walking into the arena right this second.…
To distract myself from the thought, I start tidying up the hut. My coat is still lying in a crumpled heap under the bed, where I flung it the other day; I couldn’t stand to look at it knowing I wasn’t going to go outside anytime soon. I pick it up, preparing to hang it on the clothesline—
And a starflower falls out of the pocket.
Of course. With everything that happened, I never did tell Mama that I got some starflowers for Elisa. We’re completely out of starflower paste, and Elisa might have a coughing fit at any time. I should grind these up and get them to her right away, just in case. I know Mama said not to leave the hut, but in this instance, I think she’d approve. After all, Elisa had to leave during the previous trial because of her fits. If she has another one, and no one has any paste with them to help…
Quickly I gather up the starflowers and get to work. I’ve watched Mama grind them up a hundred times, so I know exactly what to do. I add water to Mama’s prescribed mixture of chamomile, onion, and thyme oil, then stir with the ground starflower leaves until it’s all mixed together. I dump the finished paste into the jar and screw the lid on tightly.
Without bothering to clean up my mess, I throw my coat over my shoulders, tuck the jar into my coat pocket, and run toward the arena.
The village is completely deserted and eerily silent as I pass through it, but the sounds of the crowd can be heard as I make my way down to the arena. I doubt the trial has started yet, but I try not to think about it.
I crest the top of a hill and stop to catch my breath. The arena is in view, just down the path. To my right, the sea glimmers in the sunshine. The wind has picked up, tossing the waves and the sails of the boats—
The boats?
There shouldn’t be anyone out on the water today. Everyone is in the arena. All of the ships should be docked in the harbor on the other side of the village. Why would there be so many here, so close to the shore?
I crane my neck and squint, trying to get a better look. Two ships have pulled ashore, and two more are pulling up behind them. Red flags fly proudly above their masts.
The Vondur flag.
My blood runs cold. I leave the path and race down the side of the hill, darting behind some bushes to get a closer look. What could they possibly be—
Two figures are walking down the beach, away from the ships. My view was blocked by the arena before, but now I can see what they’re doing. Their arms are wrapped around heavy iron chains.
And at the other end of the chains is a dragon.
I creep behind the rocks at the top of the hill, trying to get a closer look.
The dragon is only a baby—in fact, it looks like it’s about the same size as Lilja. But it’s skinny, and its scales are a deep crimson red, and the crests along its spine are ashy black. A heavy iron shackle is clamped around its neck, connecting it to the chains that the Vondur are hauling forward. It limps a little on its back leg, like it’s wounded. As I watch, the dragon makes a high, pitiful sound, like a desperate cry for help, and my heart leaps into my throat.
It must not be old enough to breathe fire yet, or these Vondur never would’ve been able to chain it like this. But how did they get this dragon? And what are they doing with it now?
It doesn’t matter. Whatever it is, it can’t be good. I have to warn the Seekers. I have to warn everyone.
I scramble to my feet and rush forward, keeping myself hunched low behind the rocks so that they won’t see me from the shore. The path to the arena winds around here, so as soon as I get past the next bend they won’t be able to see me—
No. I’m too late. An entire row of soldiers, carrying Vondur-style spears and even silver swords, are blocking the entrance to the arena. An uproar rises from inside—whatever’s happening, everyone in the village already knows. But no one is emerging. No one is coming out to fight the Vondur, to force them away.
My heart skips several beats, and my body goes cold like I’ve dropped into a glacial lake. No one is going to come out of the arena, because they can’t.
The Vondur have trapped them inside.
Somehow they must have known about the competition today. Somehow they knew that everyone in the village would be in the arena, that they could easily trap them all in the same place.
There’s only one reason the Vondur would do this. For years, there’s been only one thing about our island that truly interests them.
They’ve come to conquer the Wild Realm.
I look up, scanning the sky, and see exactly what I feared. The thin red dragon is now charging through the main entrance of the arena. I can’t see if there are any riders on its back at this distance, but I’m sure there are. I’m sure their soldiers are going to fight the Seekers while they’re trapped in the arena. And once they’re out of the way, there will be no one to stop the Vondur from entering the Realm.
Except me.
I have to do something, and I have to do it fast. But what? I can’t fight off an army of Vondur soldiers alone, especially when they have a dragon and I don’t. Maybe if I had Lilja, but she’s somewhere in the Realm now, on the other side of the mountains.
Unless…
I have no doubt that the Seekers have already created new boundary spells to keep Lilja from returning to the cave, but they don’t prevent the dragons from flying out over the ocean to fish. And dragons can be creatures of habit. Lilja will want to hunt in the same place she always has, at least until she gets more used to the Realm. As soon as the Seekers released her there, she probably tried to find her way back to the beach, or went hunting for fish in the water.
Which means there’s a chance—a tiny, infinitesimal chance—that she’s still there, or at least nearby.
It’s the only chance I have.
I run, no longer caring if the Vondur see me as I race back over the hill and into the deserted village. Lilja’s beach is far from here, on the other side of the bay, and I don’t know how I’m going to make it. Past Johann and his family’s hut, past our own hut, past Runa’s farm, through the woods…
I make it to the beach in record time. I don’t spy any dragons overhead, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t nearby. I need to get as close to the Realm as I can, so that she can hear me. Which means climbing.
I make my way up to Lilja’s cave first, then find another handhold and continue moving above it, scaling the side of the cliff. The waves crash far below me, and I don’t dare look down.
Finally, I can climb no farther. There are no more ledges or handholds, just a smooth sheet of rock above me. I can’t go up, and I’m not even sure I can find my way back down. This plan had better work, because there’s nowhere else to go.
I throw my head back, suck in air, and whistle as loudly as I can. Three sharp, piercing notes. The same ones that Ari taught her, the signal she’s responded to ever since.
I hold my breath, listening for the beat of a dragon’s wings, but there’s nothing. I try again, whistling as loud as I can. Again, again, again. My lungs start to heave. My hands are still slick and sticky with starflower paste, and I’m losing my grip on the rocks.
With the last of my breath, I yell. “Lilja! Lilja, I’m here!”
My voice echoes, bouncing around the rocks.
And a shadow appears on the horizon.
Lilja charges right toward me, the sunlight glimmering off her silver scales, more beautiful than she has ever been. Her eyes are wide with excitement, and she drives straight toward me—
And pulls up short, her wings flapping frantically, as a violet shield shimmers in the air above me, preventing her from getting closer. A new boundary spell. The Seekers have sealed this area off. They probably did it as soon as they found out I’d been hiding Lilja here.
I don’t have the defender gift, and I am not a Seeker. I have never undone another person’s spell before, let alone someone as powerful as a Seeker. But none of that matters. I am strong, and I am desperate, and that’s enough.
Seekers of the Wild Realm Page 26