And he still hadn’t seen her. Had she been at the camp? If she had, why hadn’t she attacked? If not, where would she have been?
Every time they attempted to turn south again, trying to veer back toward the rebels, they encountered evidence of more of the mercenaries. Most of the time, they heard them, but there was one time when Fes had damn near run into one of their sentries and nearly collided with the man. It had taken a quick attack, slipping a dagger into his belly before he could cry out, to keep from ending up on the wrong end of things.
It was almost as if they were herded to the north.
“I’m going to need to rest,” Fes said.
“We can take a break if you need it,” Talmund said.
Had someone told Fes that he would be the one needing a break before the priest, he wouldn’t have believed it. Somehow, it was almost as if the priest was energized, revitalized the longer they trudged into the dragon lands.
Talmund guided him to a larger rocky section. In the growing daylight, Fes was better able to make out the different types of rock in the dragon fields and still marveled at how bleak everything looked. The particular section that he sat on was slick and smooth and reminded him of his daggers. The rock was warm, though not unpleasantly so. Surprisingly, the longer that they traveled, the more Fes seem to be adjusting to the strange warmth.
“Who is she?” Fes asked the priest.
Talmund stared at him for a moment. “Reina?” When Fes nodded, the priest shook his head. “She’s a fire mage who has managed to acquire significant power. It has made her dangerous.”
“Does she serve the empire?”
Talmund watched him a moment. “Would that matter?”
He’d never seen Azithan act the way Reina had, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be cruel like that. Could all fire mages?
“It matters,” he finally said.
“I don’t know,” Talmund answered.
“And by power, you mean dragon relics.”
He nodded. “Dragon relics. She is a fire mage, after all.”
“And what are you?” Fes smiled at Talmund. “I saw the way that you stopped whatever it was that she did while in the campsite. I saw the way you extinguished the flames she threw at me. That tells me that you’re either some sort of fire priest as well, or that there’s something more to you than is easily explainable.”
“We are not so different, her and I.”
“And why is that?”
“Both of us can manipulate the power stored in the dragon relics. The difference is the intent we have behind it.”
“I don’t know anything about intent. All I know is that you and her both seem to have the same abilities.”
“It’s difficult to explain. What I do, and what others like me do, is a way of harnessing the power trapped within the relics. We don’t destroy it; we simply redirect it. Fire mages extract power from within dragon relics and use it for their own purpose. Sometimes, it’s something as simple as creating flames such as what you saw today. That is often the path of least resistance, and when they are incredibly skilled, they can use the natural state of power from within the dragon bones and force it out into the world.”
“And that natural state is fire,” Fes said.
He nodded. “That natural state is fire. It takes much less power to transfer fire from a relic like that, though there is still the need for talent. Not all have the talent.”
“Nothing you’ve said tells me how you and her are all that different.”
The priest looked at him and smiled. “To some, we wouldn’t be that different. We use the same source of power. The priests seek to preserve the power within the relics while the mages do not care.”
Fes stared at him. As the sun began to rise, it seemed as if light reflected off Talmund strangely, leaving him with an almost hazy glow around him. That was his imagination, Fes was sure of it, but it lent the priest a certain supernatural quality.
“Why?” Fes leaned forward, trying to ignore the fatigue that was starting to overcome him. “Why would you serve the dragons? They have been gone for a thousand years. Everything I’ve seen about them tells me they shouldn’t return.”
“Because I don’t believe that.” Talmund took a seat on the rock next to him and looked over. “What do you think that people living a thousand years ago would have said had we told them that the dragons would be destroyed? What do you think they would have said were we to tell them that the empire has existed ever since the destruction of those dragons? What do you think that those people would have said were we to tell them that the magic of the dragons seeped out into the land and was stolen by those who defeated them?” The priest smiled sadly.
“What will bringing that magic back accomplish?” Fes asked.
“I think that it will bring about change,” Talmund said.
“And are you certain that’s the kind of change we need? Are you certain it’s the kind of change we want to experience?”
“Those of us who have lived outside of the city have a very different experience with the empire than those of you who have lived in the city.”
“The empire is the empire,” Fes said.
“The empire is not only the empire. You have seen Anuhr, but you haven’t seen anything else. You haven’t seen the way that they treat those who live outside of the city. You haven’t seen anything.”
“I’ve seen enough to know the empire provides order.” The empire—or Azithan, at least—had rescued him.
“As I said, you haven’t seen much outside Anuhr. And if you were to understand who you are—who you really are—you wouldn’t question. That which allowed you to cross the dragon plains is a power that fills you. It grants you the strength of the dragons. You might not know it yet, but that power burns within you.” Talmund studied him a moment. “Are you rested?”
Fes didn’t have anything to say. There was a power that burned within him. If that was Deshazl, then so be it. If it was something else… “I’m as rested as it seems I get to be,” Fes said.
Talmund guided them, leading them across the dragon plains, their path taking them ever closer to the mountains. They were something that Fes had not expected to come quite so close to. “Will it work?” Fes asked while they were walking. The idea that they could resurrect one of the dragons seemed impossible, though Talmund believed.
“That’s just it. We don’t know. There have been reports of dragon hearts before, but none that are reliable. For all we know, this will be the first one we’ve ever found.”
“Anything that’s in the dragon plains belongs to the empire.”
“That’s what they would have you believe.”
"And you’ll steal it.”
The priest turned to him. “I seem to recall how you stole from me the very first time that I met you.”
Fes looked at him, unblinking. “As far as I know, you had stolen that from the empire.”
The priest met his glare for a moment before smiling. “You’re right. I did.”
Fes cocked his head to the side. “You did?”
“I did. Certain items should not be in the possession of the empire, and that is one of them.”
“Because it’s a bone?”
“Because it’s a bone that we need.”
Fes shook his head. “That’s right. For your dragon reconstruction.”
“You don’t have to believe in it. That doesn’t mean it is any less true.”
“Your belief in it doesn’t make it true, either.”
They fell into a silence, and every so often, Fes swore that he heard the sound of footsteps along the stone, and he would turn but found nothing there. Through the haze of the dragon fields, he wasn’t sure that he would see anything.
“There was a time when all of these lands were covered in bones,” the priest said. “No one knew then what we do now. No one understood the power stored in the bones, and if they did, I imagine that much would have been different.”
“Wha
t happened then?”
“After the dragons were slaughtered, the empire was still young. They sent their servants through here, and they collected bones, and they scattered them.”
“The empire did that?”
“The empire tried, but they found that they weren’t able to do so very easily. Only those who are descended from these lands, people whose blood came from these rocks, were able to enter the dragon fields and move the relics. They were known as dragonwalkers, a term that many speak with derision now, but at that time they were looked upon with something bordering on awe. To be a dragonwalker was something incredible. It meant that you were connected to those dragons, and that you could handle the artifacts, and that you could provide a glimpse into a world that others could not.”
“Your people must’ve been dragonwalkers.”
The priest looked over. “My people were never dragonwalkers. They had a different purpose.”
“And what purpose was that?”
“They were asked to preserve the relics.” He stared at Fes for a long moment. “The longer that we went from the time of the war, the more it became clear that the empire was using that power in unfortunate ways. They twisted it, taking what the dragons had protected, and forced it on the world, destroying everything that they came into contact with. You wonder why we oppose the empire, but that is the reason. We oppose because it is necessary. We oppose because it is the right thing to do. We oppose because we have no choice but to do so.”
“What are the Deshazl?” Fes asked.
He wasn’t certain that the priest would answer. When he had asked that of the rebellion commander, he hadn’t gotten a straight answer.
“The Deshazl are the dragonwalkers,” the priest said. “I assume you asked because you heard it from Reina?”
Fes nodded. “She said I was Deshazl.”
“As I suspect you are. That is the reason I wanted you on this journey.”
“Why?”
The priest looked over at him. “Tell me what do you feel when you are in the dragon plains?”
Fes shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s hot, and the steam rising everywhere makes it difficult for us to see anything, but other than that…” He shrugged again.
“You have traveled across the dragon plains for longer than many who dared to risk it,” Talmund said.
“Because we came for you.”
“You did, though I am certain that Alison chose you for a particular reason.”
“And what is that?”
“Most people who come to the dragon plains feel the heat from the fields. Most are unable to tolerate it for more than a few hours. Some don’t even tolerate it that long. But you have been out here for a day at least. Maybe longer. And you seem to show no ill effects other than fatigue that one would expect from spending so much time walking.”
“Alison came with me. Alison didn’t have any difficulty.”
“Alison shares the same heritage I do. She would be able to tolerate it, but not more than that.”
“What about those who came with the mercenaries?”
“You’ve already seen the way they managed to survive the crossing.”
“Reina?”
“Reina borrows the power from the dragons as a fire mage. She’s able to push back the effects and temporarily grant others passage. Without her—or someone like her—the mercenaries, as you call them, would not have been able to survive.”
“But the rebellion intends to cross.”
“Have you not wondered why that is?”
“Are you trying to tell me that all of those in the rebellion are Deshazl?”
“Not Deshazl. Many within the rebellion are Settlers. They have a natural resistance, but the power of this place does not live within their blood, not the way that it does for the Deshazl.” Talmund glanced over at him. “You don’t have to believe, Fezarn. All you need to do is allow yourself to keep an open mind. Let the rest of us believe.”
Fes chuckled. “All I want to do is see this task completed.”
“And yet you continue to do more than is necessary to complete it.”
“I told Alison that I would help. She asked, and…”
“You have a connection. I appreciate that she had the insight to recognize that you might be the only person who would be able to successfully get me free.”
“At least, without sacrificing all of the rebellion,” Fes said.
The priest studied him for a moment. “You asked about the dragon heart. I suspect that you wonder whether it is real, or whether it is what you heard described.”
“I heard there was a flower growing in these lands,” Fes said.
“That’s what the Bayars tell us. It can’t be left anywhere that the empire can reach it. If the empire gains the dragon heart, they will gain something incredibly powerful.”
“And what is that?”
“A source of power that will forever change what we can do. If the empire resurrects the dragons, they will try to control them, breed them, and have an endless supply of power for the fire mages. They can’t be allowed to do that.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Night had fallen, and Fes needed to sleep. He was tired and hungry and thirsty, a combination that left him irritable, but more than that, it left his mind feeling hazy, the same sort of haze that hung over everything here in the dragon fields. How much longer would he be able to keep this up? How much longer would he be able to hold this pace? He doubted that he would be able to keep at it for much longer, and the moment that he began to let up would be the moment that Carter and her mercenaries would get to him.
The longer that they traveled, the more that Fes was determined to stay ahead of Carter. But could he?
He wasn’t even sure, not anymore. As much as he wanted to stay ahead of her, and as much as he wanted only to find this dragon heart, he no longer knew whether there was anything that he could do to get it before Carter and the mercenaries did. The longer they wandered, the more he began to wonder if perhaps he should even try to stop them. If Reina served the empire…
“How much longer is it before we reach the dragon heart?”
“I’m not bringing you to the dragon heart.”
Fes shot the priest a hard look. “What have we been doing if not heading toward the dragon heart?”
“I’m leading you away from the dragon heart. And you are leading the mercenaries away from it.”
“I’m not leading anyone,” Fes said.
“And yet they have been following us for the last day,” Talmund said.
Was he using him again? Was it all because they believed him to be Deshazl?
“What is your plan?”
“I plan to bring the mercenaries far enough away that the rebellion can get around them.”
“You didn’t think this was necessary to share with me?”
Talmund paused. Fes waited, but as the silence went on for more than a beat, his attention was caught, again, by the land around them. The ground had not changed from what they had been crossing over for the last day. All around was the barren rock, and it was amazing to think that at one point, this had been something else. It was amazing to believe that life had once lived here, and amazing enough that Fes wasn’t sure that he could even believe that it had. Maybe it had never been anything more than what it was, this unending bleakness, leading up to the mountains.
“I thought you would have recognized I could not lead you so close to the dragon heart, especially with Reina after us.”
“Is it your intent to lead to a confrontation?”
“Not if we can avoid it, but if we cannot, then we will do what must be done.”
Fes stared at him. “You haven’t said anything about Alison. Aren’t you concerned about what happened to her?”
“Alison is much more talented than you give her credit for.”
“I give her plenty of credit for her talent,” Fes said. “But against as many men as were in that camp?”
“It was as you said. She drew them away. If everything went as she would have planned, I imagine that she reached the rest of the rebellion, and they are in pursuit.”
Fes tried to think about what they had done. If she believed that he was Deshazl, she would have thought that he could cross the dragon field without difficulty.
“Where would you have this attack take place?”
Talmund paused. Every so often, the wind would pick up and carry away some of the haze hanging over the field. When it did, the heat dissipated, leaving a strange chill washing over everything. It wasn’t unpleasant, but then, Fes didn’t really find the heat terribly unpleasant, either. It was surprisingly comforting.
“I intend for us reach the pass. From there, there won’t be any way for the mercenaries to put up much of a defense.”
“The Draconis Pass,” he said. Talmund nodded. The commander had mentioned it, but Fes hadn’t expected them to travel so far. It was beyond the central part of the dragon plains and beyond where their journey was supposed to take them.
It was a place where nearly a dozen dragons were said to have died, all heading to one spot, almost as if drawn there. According to rumors, it was a narrow section of land, hidden in valleys and near the base of the mountain. It created the northernmost separation to the dragon fields. Beyond the Draconis Pass, the mountains began to rise, and life began to return.
“There’s another reason for heading for the pass. What do you think can be accomplished there?”
The priest stared at him for a moment. “Nothing other than a chance for us to get ahead of our attackers. Isn’t that enough?”
“How do you intend to handle Reina?”
“Reina isn’t nearly as difficult as she would like us to believe that she is.”
“She managed to capture you.”
“She didn’t capture me. The mercenaries did. With enough men, anyone can be captured, even you.”
Dragon Bones (The Dragonwalker Book 1) Page 26