The girls stared at her in shock, but chose to obey.
Chapter 23
When they entered the ruins, Hezzena led them away a short distance and set down Rizzith. Then she turned and began casting another spell. Magical wind whipped her hair back as she molded orange energy in front of her. Pelya thought she was going to cast it forward, but instead, Hezzena inhaled deeply and breathed into it. It acted like a spark for the dragon’s breath and orange flames ripped forth against the entrance. The fire created a raging inferno over the stone and doors, melting them into liquid. The girls covered their faces from the blazing heat. There was no way anyone would be able to follow them.
When Hezzena was done, she led them back to the tunnel, their way lit by the supernatural orange fire behind them. First, she picked up Rizzith and tossed him casually to the top, alarming the girls. He landed easily on his feet and waited for the rest of them with a big grin on his face. Then Hezzena picked up the girls and jumped. She carried them to the hole and jumped back down into the sewer. After setting them down, she held out her arms for Rizzith who jumped into them happily. Hezzena used magic to close the access door and re-activate the runes on it. At Ebudae’s questioning look, she explained. “That will make it much harder for anyone to track us should they be inclined to do so.”
They walked back down the tunnel a ways until coming to different tunnel that turned south. “Is this the tunnel that leads to the plains?” she asked Pelya.
“No. It’s past where we go back to the academy. It will be twice as wide as this one. You’ll know it when you see it,” Pelya told her.
“Then you lead.” Hezzena gestured for her to go.
“Wait, aren’t you going to take us back to the academy?” Ebudae asked in alarm.
“No. You are guiding us to the plains. I will not take a chance of being stuck under this forsaken city,” she hissed at them.
Ebudae began to cry. Exhaustion, excitement and fear had taken their toll on both girls. Pelya wrapped an arm around the wizardess’s shoulder and led her forward. Secretly she was afraid that Hezzena might kill or eat them once free.
Pelya noticed when they passed the exit to the academy, but didn’t disturb her glassy-eyed friend with the information. A short while later, they reached the larger tunnel leading out of the city. She pointed. “This is it. It travels for twenty miles or so before exiting. The further you get the wider and deeper it becomes in order to handle all the sewage. There’s supposed to be a gate at the end to keep larger creatures from getting in, but I’m certain you can get through it.”
“I’m not so confident,” Hezzena disagreed. “Lead on.”
Pelya stared at the dragon woman. “Ebudae is tired. We can’t go on.” Tears were welling in her eyes again. She was weary of crying even though it was acceptable for little girls to do so in such terrible situations.
Hezzena gestured and spoke more magical incantations. Suddenly Pelya felt a burst of energy and Ebudae perked up. “There, that will last for a few hours. I was able to grab a snack before you opened the door. The creatures in the dark aren’t very tasty, but it will tide me over. We all feel wonderful now. Let’s go.”
“You’re going to get free and then eat us or kill us,” Pelya accused, planting her feet stubbornly.
A low rumble emitted from the dragon woman. “I am not going to eat or kill you. It’s forbidden to kill humans and I was only able to get away with it back there in order to save my child. Moreover, I would not kill someone who did me such a favor as the two of you have done. I am good by nature.”
She could have fooled Pelya. “Then how are we going to get home?” Pelya asked. “We can’t come back through these sewers and to the academy. It’s too dangerous.” She folded her arms. “Going into the city above ground is even more dangerous for us!” Ebudae was hiding behind Pelya’s shoulder, not willing to enter the disagreement.
“You will be fine!” Hezzena snapped. “I will see to it, you impudent little girl. If all human children are as disobedient and obstinate as you, then humans should eat their young. Now march!” she commanded, pointing a finger at the tunnel. Pelya considered herself to be fairly brave, but standing up to Hezzena was too much at that point. She turned around and marched while holding Ebudae’s hand.
The smell grew steadily worse as they traveled. Even with the boosting spell, the girls quickly lost energy and began trudging. Hezzena finally grew frustrated. She put Rizzith on her back and had him wrap his arms around her shoulders. Then she put the girls on her waist and had them hold on tight. When everyone was settled, Hezzena ran.
They held on tighter as the surroundings whipped by. The speed with which the dragon moved was faster than fifty horses combined. To Pelya, it felt like they were flying and she grinned in pleasure. She saw that Ebudae’s eyes were wide and there was a grin just as large on her face. The wizardess saw her looking and they smiled in excitement.
Hezzena was amazingly sure-footed even at blurred speeds. It shocked the girls when she went to running along the wall in order to pass obstacles such as broken walkways or large pieces of debris that had the sewer water clogged up over the path. Something about her abilities made it so they felt like gravity was always pulling them toward Hezzena’s feet even when she was sideways. After an hour, they had traveled the entire twenty miles to the gated end. When she finally set them all down, Hezzena was breathing heavily. The dragon woman took a few steps forward to the gate.
“I don’t think it has any wards on it. The books didn’t say anything about it,” Pelya told her. “I know the outlets are a few hundred feet wide and hundreds of feet deep. They become rivers that drain into marshlands and the water eventually flows to the ocean beyond. She moved ahead of the dragon woman and pointed beyond the thick iron bars where the murky river glistened with oily residue. It spread out and became a wide, slowly moving morass of acrid gunk. The only reason they could handle the smell was because they had become somewhat used to it after being in the sewers for so long. It was still overwhelming and they all wanted to get out.
Pelya turned and saw the purple tendrils in Hezzena’s eyes. The dragon woman frowned. “There are no wards on this, although runes have been inscribed into the metal bars to keep them strong. This door is locked.” She motioned toward an iron woven door in the larger gate. It allowed workers to access the walkway that continued for a ways along the river of sewage outside.
“I can get that,” Pelya said, pulling out her picks. She was excited to be able to use them again so soon. After examining the lock carefully, she chose the picks she thought best. When they didn’t work right away, she was disappointed. The others seemed content to wait patiently in spite of the smell that was becoming as tiresome as it was putrid. Pelya had to try four different combinations of tools before it finally opened with a satisfying click.
“Well done, child. It took you a while, but you kept your patience. Persistence is a valuable quality to have and one most humans lack.” Hezzena squeezed her shoulder and smiled toothily. They walked out of the sewer and Pelya re-locked the door from the other side. Any good member of the Guard would do so, but more important, her father would.
“Let us find some place away from this wretched morass.” Hezzena led them along the stone walkway and it didn’t take long to reach stairs leading up to a ridge two hundred feet above the river. When they reached the last step, they could see the city in the distance to the north.
A lightly used dirt road came from the city and continued southward. There were no buildings for a long way in any direction, which made sense considering the stench. Trees dotted the grassy lands here and there. “We’ll go to that grove of trees,” Hezzena told them, pointing at a small wooded area far enough away to get them some fresh air.
The afternoon sun was high in the sky, beating down with heat that caused the overworked girls to wilt even worse than before. Hezzena didn’t pick them up, so they trudged more and more slowly until reaching a tree at the edge and
collapsing in its shade after barely managing to take off their packs. Hezzena stood a few feet away and stared at them, Rizzith at her side. Pelya ignored the dragon woman while trying to catch her breath. By that point, she just wanted to lie down and sleep. It wasn’t even important if they made it home first.
One moment, Hezzena was in the form of a human woman, the next she was in her true form, as was Rizzith. The girls stared slack-jawed at the enormous dragon looming over them. Comparing her size to Lady Pallon’s manor would be a disservice. Hezzena’s eyes alone were as round as the girls were tall, still made of the swirling liquid-silver.
The dragon was beautiful with brilliant orange scales layered over massive muscles along the length of her body. There were five thin spikes along her spine and two on the tail. Her teeth were sharp in perfect rows throughout her long snout. Hezzena stretched her leathery wings far to each side in a manner that reminded Pelya of how she stretched as tall as she could every morning. The long tail curled around to the left, wrapping around Rizzith in a maternally protective gesture.
She looked at the two girls sitting under the tree with their mouths open. “Take your tunic off and lay on your stomach, Pelya child. Take your dress off and do the same, Ebudae child,” she told them. Instead of obeying, the girls held onto each other and stared wide-eyed. Hezzena snorted. “Do not be foolish. There is no impropriety. Now do as you’re told.”
Neither had any intention of doing so. The disobedience upset the dragon. Pelya watched as Hezzena lifted a claw and made intricate designs. Words of power hissed through the air and the girls found themselves frozen. With a few more gestures, Ebudae’s dress flew off, leaving her in just leggings. The pendant of invisibility also came off and Hezzena took possession of it. Then the wizardess was rolled onto her stomach. Pelya wanted to help, but couldn’t move.
What happened next terrified Pelya. She watched as the dragon pinned Ebudae with the left claw and touched her spine just below the neck with a talon of the right claw. The talon glowed orange. Ebudae began to whimper and cry as the dragon’s talon slid down the length of the spine, making a cut that glowed the same orange. It was just the beginning.
Hezzena made intricate designs along the base of Ebudae’s back from hip to hip and then moved upward and along each rib to the sides, making more intricate designs. Pelya realized it was some sort of tattoo and the designs looked like feathered runes of some sort. By the time Hezzena was done, Ebudae’s back looked like it had wings from base to neck. The girl lay there crying, but unable to move even after the claw lifted.
Then the silver eyes turned their attention on Pelya, who didn’t wait for the claw’s touch to start crying. She felt her tunic pulled off magically and her body rolled onto the stomach. Her pendant was taken too. Pelya whimpered just like Ebudae when she felt one claw pin her down and the other begin cutting into her back. It didn’t touch the bones in the spine, but she could feel heat coming from it.
Through the burning pain, Pelya became aware that hers was different from Ebudae’s. Only her left side was being tattooed. Then Hezzena turned her over and continued the tattoo along the ribs to Pelya’s breastbone. More intricate designs were carved into the skin while Pelya stared at the leaves of the tree above her through eyes blurry with tears.
The talon finally stopped moving. Pelya struggled to breathe. Her entire body burned, but the hottest fire was where the tattoo was. It hurt more than any physical pain she had ever imagined. The talon touched them each in the middle of the forehead. “Stand up and put your tunic back on, Pelya child. Stand up and put your dress back on, Ebudae child.”
Pelya did as commanded. Somehow, the dragon was controlling her. Ebudae was back in her dress and came to stand next to Pelya who had her tunic and belt in place.
Hezzena lowered her head and looked deep into their minds. “Grab your packs, walk back to the manor where Ebudae child lives and then go to sleep. No one will disturb you or notice you.”
The girls immediately turned and grabbed their packs, knowing that the instructions were complete. They walked past Hezzena toward the dirt road by the sewer river. Neither of them looked back or up when the dragon put Rizzith on her neck and leapt into the sky, although they could feel the massive gust of wind from her wings as she flew away.
When Pelya and Ebudae reached the road, they turned north. For hours, they walked the miles back to Dralin. Their exhausted bodies protested and the heat from the tattoos caused them to sweat terribly, but it made no difference. It was well past midnight, when Dralin was most dangerous, before they reached the Tannery District. It smelled worse than the sewers, but the girls paid no attention to that. They spent nearly a full hour walking through it because it was one of the largest districts in Dralin.
Pelya was able to realize that no one was paying attention to two young girls walking alone through the streets. At some point, they should have been kidnapped, yelled at or at least noticed. Something the dragon had done was protecting them. She also noticed that the pain from the tattoo was still fierce, but it didn’t slow either of them down.
They finally reached the Merchant District just before sunrise. The shadows moved alongside Pelya, concerned for her safety. She wanted to reassure them that she was alright, but couldn’t speak.
They entered the secret entrance from the alley and went down the stairs in the wall to the passage. A few minutes later, they were back in Ebudae’s lab. Instead of collapsing, they dropped the packs and continued until they were in Ebudae’s bedroom. Both girls changed into nightgowns. As they got under the covers and clung to each other for dear life, Pelya wished they could take a bath and eat. The thought faded as they closed their eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
***
They woke after sunset that night. Both their stomachs growled from neglect. Before the noisy bellies could be satisfied, the girls grabbed each other tightly and drowned themselves in tears. Everything they had been through finally caught up to them. It seemed like the obvious thing to do.
When the tears died down, they got their aching bodies out of bed. Pelya’s tattoo still felt like it was on fire. She looked underneath the nightgown and saw the lines glowing a dim orange. Ebudae put an arm on Pelya’s shoulder and opened her mouth to say something. When no words came out, she frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Pelya asked. Ebudae opened her mouth again, but the words refused to come forth. Pelya opened her mouth to ask if it was about the tattoo, but suddenly she was silenced. They both tried to talk, but when it came to the tattoos, neither of them could say a single word about it. Eventually, Pelya asked, “Shall we get some food?” As long as it was about anything else, the words came forth.
Ebudae nodded miserably. “Yes. I’ll have Tina run us a bath after she gets our food.” It looked like she was going to say more, but nothing came out. The wizardess hit her thigh in frustration. Pelya took her hand and gave her an understanding look and then they headed downstairs.
No one said anything about them having been gone. In fact, they didn’t seem to have noticed. After eating, they took the bath and scrubbed the grime and stench off furiously. They stared at each other’s tattoos, but when they reached out to touch them, they always lost interest and did something else instead. Realization sunk in that they would never be able to discuss them. Every time Pelya wondered about what they did, she quickly lost interest. It was upsetting her to the point of tears, but she couldn’t help it.
They went back to bed after the bath and fell asleep immediately between fresh clean sheets Tina had put on. The next night, they woke up, ate, bathed and fell back asleep. The glowing lines had almost disappeared by that point although the girls could still feel them in their skin and bones. For the rest of the week they rested in bed or in the gardens. Neither of them had any desire to go on another adventure.
The tattoos were invisible when Frath came to pick up Pelya. Lady Pallon and Frath had to peel the girls apart because they were holding onto each other fiercely.
Both girls cried miserably when the tall man put his daughter over a shoulder and carried her off.
***
Things eventually settled back to routine. Pelya was allowed to go back to training, but on a limited basis. She could still study and read as much as possible and even began to work on learning extra languages as well as memorizing every detail of the sewers.
Ebudae continued learning magic. Even though she was still too young, it was no longer having harmful effects on her body. She was able to handle more powerful spells than ever before. The young wizardess also continued to study, delving into the books and learning more and more ancient writings.
Every chance possible, the two of them got together. Ebudae started teaching Pelya some basics of magic while Pelya taught the wizardess self defense and basic exercises that would help keep her fit in order to better handle magical energies flowing through her body. They didn’t go into the secret passages for the next few months before eventually working up the courage. Within a couple of years, they had explored the entire academy as well as some of the tunnels under the buildings in the backyard. They didn’t venture out into the ancient city though. The thought of running into anything else that rumbled in the darkness was too much for them.
They remembered the dragon tattoos every once in a while, but only briefly and never told anyone about them. They couldn’t have done so if they tried.
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Books 2 and 3 of the Dralin Trilogy, “Ebudae” and “Pelya”, are available where you found this.
Dralin Page 28