by Lea Doué
“Could you tell the others I’m staying out in the open?” She wrapped her cloak around her and sat beside him. He didn’t respond other than to extend a wing just enough so she could scoot under it and stay dry. After a few minutes, Orin joined her. Too weary to speak, they leaned against each other and eventually dozed off.
*
Mel woke to a shout and scrambled to her feet. Leftover rain dripped from the canopy, and a soft light outlined a hundred trees and bushes. Dawn.
Keir.
She backed up and glanced at the basket, still firmly tied to his back. Vanda scrambled down the rope ladder, and Baz followed with the pack basket. Orin was already trying to untie the waterlogged ropes.
Keir growled softly as if to hurry them along.
The sky brightened second by second. They needed to get the baskets off him before he changed forms and got crushed.
“They’re too wet,” Orin said. “Just cut them!”
Mel drew a dagger and sawed at the nearest rope. Minutes seemed like hours before they finally cut the last one, and all four of them pulled the baskets off and dragged them away through the weeds. By that time, Keir’s transformation had begun, and Mel couldn’t take her eyes off him.
Like cracked mud in a dried-up riverbed, Keir’s hide split between each scale and a soft red glow shone through, creating a web-like pattern all over his body.Thrashing his head from side to side, he groaned and fell to the ground. As he shivered and twitched from nose to tail, the glow brightened and the cracks widened until a steaming red-orange substance oozed out. Lava, or something much like it, although Mel had only read about it in books.
Without warning, his whole body exploded in a violent spray of sparks and ashes and smoke.
Mel gasped, while Vanda hid her face in Baz’s chest. Orin flinched and pursed his lips like he might be sick.
The smoke thinned. Keir lay on the ground in his human form, covered in a thin layer of grey ash. Baz removed his cloak and covered his friend.
Mel’s eyes watered. Keir had endured this change every morning since Idris had woven the curse. The one she and her own sisters had endured was bad, but this was viciously cruel. Had Idris intended this part of the curse for Baz, or was it an accidental result of Gram’s weaver dragon being caught in the action? Either way, she didn’t understand Idris’s obsession with trying to ensnare royalty… unless he sought to gain a throne. Could it be as simple as that? No kingdom, not even Sotan, would allow a sorcerer to rule them ever again—the Dragon Wars had taught them all a few things—but if Idris were to gain control over an heir, then he would gain control over a kingdom.
She almost understood Tharius’s desire to get revenge on Idris—but she couldn’t condone his actions when it dragged her and everyone else into his schemes. Whatever they were. King Lotario needed to stop trying to take matters into his own hands and start helping them any way he could.
She wiped her eyes and took Vanda’s hand. “We should get his things out of the supply basket.”
Orin lifted True from her basket, and the little dragons stepped out cautiously, blinking in the early light and surveying the area. Hunter hopped into the air first, and the others followed, swooping joyfully among the trees and chirping to one another. They barely glanced at Keir, seemingly unconcerned with his recent change or any sorcery lingering in the air from it. True scolded them when they ventured too far, and they soon figured out the boundaries she’d established.
Mel shook her head. What did a goose know of boundaries? Orin certainly had a knack for picking pets.
She handed Orin the clothes she’d retrieved, and then she and Vanda set up one of the tents for Keir to rest in. The servants at Cliffside knew how to pack for travel. Everything in the supply basket had remained almost completely dry, thanks to waterproof coverings. She scooped a handful of feed and threw it down for True.
Keir glanced at her as he crawled into the tent. His eyes were narrowed in pain and exhaustion, but his expression bore no mark of embarrassment or shame for his transformation being so publicly witnessed.
Mel and Orin fed the dragons while Baz and Vanda hunted for firewood. Once they got a good blaze going, they made tea and sat around the fire sharing fruit-studded bread spread with soft cheese. They busied the dragons with the name game, adding in True and several edible plants nearby.
Hunter got distracted by the fire and backed up to it, warming his bottom.
“Fire,” Orin said. “Be careful, or you’ll burn your tail off.”
Lessons over, Fleet and Jade found a mud hole and wallowed in it, slinging mud at each other and competing to see who could get the filthiest. Mel would have to dunk them in the stream later.
A drop of water dripped onto her head and marked a trail down her neck and back. She cringed and pulled up her hood. “Do either of you find it suspicious that we were caught a second time in a storm while flying? A storm that came up too fast for us to go around it? Keir should have been able to see something like that brewing at least a league away.”
“What do you mean?” Baz asked.
“I think I can guess.” Orin stared at her for a moment. “You think Tharius was involved.”
Vanda’s eyes widened. “Is he that powerful, to be able to summon a storm?”
“I believe so.” Mel sipped her tea. “It probably wouldn’t be as difficult this time of year, since the area is prone to rain showers.”
“Why would Tharius care to use so much power to call up a storm… ?” Baz trailed off and then answered his own question. “He wanted to force us to land, to slow us down so he could catch up on his rock dragon.”
“Exactly. They’re fast, but not as fast as a black dragon in the air.” She wished Orin would stop staring at her like she’d done something suspicious herself. “I bet he’ll show up today… but only if I’m alone.”
“No.” Orin set his cup down. “Mel, no. I know what you’re thinking, and I don’t want you going off on your own to meet with him. We still don’t know what he’s after, but we know what he’s capable of.”
“I can handle Tharius.” She stood up and paced. Fleet, still in the mud puddle, copied her. “I’m tired of being manipulated by him. For whatever reason, he wants to hang around and offer his—well, I won’t accept his help outright—so, his advice. We need to stop trying to outrun him, because it’s getting dangerous. Here’s what I’m thinking. I want to find him and arrange to meet at a designated spot tomorrow morning so he won’t feel the need to slow us down with a storm. I don’t have any desire to fly again, but especially not in storm conditions.”
“There’s no chance he’ll agree to that,” Orin said. “He doesn’t trust us any more than we trust him.”
“It can’t hurt to ask. Whatever he wants has something to do with getting revenge on Idris, not something personal regarding me or my family.”
“You don’t know that for sure, and I find it fishy that he hasn’t said what he wants, other than it has to be from you.” Orin kicked a rock into the fire.
Hunter stopped warming himself long enough to pick up a pebble and throw it in the flames. Like his siblings, he had no respect for the seriousness of the conversation.
Orin ignored the little dragon. “Why is Tharius so keen on helping all of a sudden, and why won’t he talk to anyone besides you? And why are you constantly running off to meet with him?”
“I don’t know! But I won’t run from him anymore.” She paused. “And I’m not constantly running off to meet with him. Those were chance encounters, and you know it.”
“Well… there’s no need for you to go hunting for him now.”
Her face burned. “Well, it’s not your choice.”
“It’s not really yours, either,” Baz said.
“What?” She crossed her arms and glared at him.
“You might not have asked to be put in this situation, but you admitted that your initial goal in traveling north was to track down the curse and break it. Your choices now h
ave to be for the greater good, not just what you want yourself.”
She huffed. Meddling prince. Vanda tried to hide a smile.
“I happen to agree with you, though,” Baz said. “You, or someone, should find Tharius and confront him with our own terms.”
“What?” Orin said.
“I’m not sure Tharius is our enemy at the moment. The man is actually trying to help us gain our goal, judging by the advice he’s given Melantha so far.”
“Wait a minute,” Orin said. “Tharius never admitted to the first storm. He might not even be responsible for this one or be anywhere nearby, for that matter.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Mel said.
“Oh? And how do you expect to find him in these woods?”
She pointed to Hunter, who still stood in front of the fire, gazing over his shoulder at the flames. “Hunter will find him.”
Vanda finally spoke. “But he’s never met Tharius or learned his name.”
“Messenger dragons rely on more than just their sight, or even maps, once they learn to read them. Hunter will find Tharius’s fire.”
Chapter Thirteen
Mel grinned as Orin’s brows lifted in realization that they could actually find Tharius in the woods using their dragons.
Baz gathered their cups. “I’ll stay here with Keir.”
Orin stood, arms crossed. “Well, I’m going with Mel.”
“Of course you’re coming. Hunter is your dragon.”
His arms dropped to his sides. “Oh. Right.” He fetched his bow and arrows from the supply basket, buckled on his sword, and scooped up Hunter. “Which way?”
She pointed the direction they’d come from. “Southeast.”
After they’d walked barely a half dozen yards from camp, True honked wildly and limped after them. She stopped halfway, glancing back and forth as if torn between staying and going. She wanted all her babies together and obviously didn’t understand why they needed to take Hunter away.
“You’d better come with us, Vanda,” Mel said. “We’ll take True and the other dragons.” No need to stress the goose.
She rubbed most of the mud off Fleet and Jade with a blanket. Vanda put the basket on her shoulders, whispered something to Baz while pointing to the supplies, and then joined Orin. Mel lifted True into the basket, and the cleaned-up dragons joined their foster mother. Hunter seemed to know he was on a special mission and chirped at them before pointing his snout forward.
“Onward, then,” Mel said. Tharius would hear them coming a mile away.
Spongy underbrush squished beneath their boots. Hunter glanced at a couple of tree hopper dragons jumping in the canopy, their pale green hides clearly visible among the darker leaves. Their antics showered droplets of water on the travelers.
“How do we know Hunter won’t just lead us back to our own fire?” Vanda asked.
Wet ferns brushed Mel’s knees. She watched for slippery mushrooms, tasty but also an easy way to twist an ankle. “We’re essentially backtracking. I doubt Tharius would have passed us, so his fire will be far enough from ours to be distinct. Although it’s entirely possible he hasn’t even made camp yet.”
“Then why are we out here looking for him?” Orin said.
“Because that’s what I came here to do.”
Orin rounded on her. “You came to Mazereon to search for Tharius?”
“What? No! That’s not what I meant.” She sighed. “Baz was right. I wanted to break the curse myself and prove that I can do something worthwhile, since I’m no good at being a princess.”
“Who said you’re no good at being a princess?” Orin’s pitch rose, offended, as if someone had insulted a puppy.
She huffed. “It’s rather obvious.”
“Not to me.”
“Me either,” Vanda added. “I’d be happy to be half the princess you are.” A split second later, apparently realizing what she’d implied, she ducked her head and studied her boots.
Mel grinned. “My sisters would like you.” Her sisters. With Gwen married, and Lily and Hazel engaged, the twelve princesses of Ituria was becoming a thing of the past. So where did that leave her?
Just where she’d been when she’d left. She was Princess Melantha, Fourth Daughter of Ituria, twin of Mara, dagger thrower, chocolate eater, dragon trainer, and friend to one very strange goose. Not to mention the goose boy.
And that wasn’t a bad place to be.
“The curse might not be what I’d expected,” she said, “but I can still do my part to end it. For everyone. And getting Tharius off our backs is the next step towards that goal.”
“I’m not so sure your plan will work,” Orin said, “but I’m here to help.”
Jade poked her head out of the basket, and Mel scratched under her chin. “Good, because I can’t do this alone. I don’t want to.” She’d set out to break the curse on her own, but her friends, both new and old, now felt indispensable. She couldn’t be happier that her plans hadn’t turn out as expected in that regard. She turned to Vanda. “And you’re not alone, either. Don’t feel you have to stay with Baz once this is all over. You can go to my sisters in Ituria, or to Gwen in Osha. Any of them would welcome you and your family and find a place for you.”
Vanda blinked rapidly and rubbed a finger under her nose.
They continued walking. Mel skirted thorn bushes, contemplating what exactly it did mean to be a princess. Mother had always encouraged them to learn useful skills, preferably ladylike skills. Embroidery, calligraphy, painting, dinner planning. Still, she hadn’t objected much when Mel veered in a different direction than her older sisters and trained with weapons, helped raise palace hounds and messenger dragons, learned to hunt and to make her own maps. Skills not geared towards traditional palace life.
Had Mother known all along what Melantha had only discovered herself?
She shelved the thought for later. Deep thinking while trying to avoid mud puddles was a disaster waiting to happen. She needed to focus on finding Tharius.
“I think we’ve covered enough distance to let Hunter have a go at finding the campfire.”
Orin stopped and turned, his expression a little softer than when they’d left camp. “You’re the expert. How do we do this, then?”
Her shoulders relaxed, and she stepped up to him. “Hold Hunter out in front of you and repeat the word fire a few times. When you have his attention, tell him to find the fire. His body language will tell us which way to go.”
Orin followed the instructions. Hunter chirped and looked around, tilting his head.
Jade perked up, knowing a lesson when she saw one, although she hadn’t been paying attention to the fire at camp. Mel took her out and let her perch on her shoulder. Jade clasped onto her braid to balance.
“Find the fire,” Orin said. Hunter glanced back the way they’d come and patted his backside as he’d done at camp.
Mel snorted.
Orin glared at her, but his eyes twinkled. “No, not that one. Find a new fire.”
Hunter concentrated, nostrils flaring as he sniffed in all directions. He glanced at Orin.
“That’s right. Fire. Where’s the fire?”
Perhaps she’d been right, and Tharius hadn’t yet made camp. Perhaps he hadn’t followed them at all. A girl could hope.
Hunter sneezed and extended his wings, flapping them excitedly. He glanced at Orin and then looked over to the left. He chirped and squawked at Jade, who perked up and answered back.
“Are they talking to each other?” Vanda whispered.
“Most likely. As far as anyone can tell, they do communicate, reinforcing words and commands they’ve learned. No one’s sure how detailed their discussions get.”
Orin and Hunter led the way, and before too long, Mel smelled the campfire, too.
“Wait,” she said. “I want to meet with Tharius alone first, instead of everyone barging in on him all at once.”
Orin huffed. “I don’t see why we should offer hi
m such a courtesy when he’s been causing storms and who knows what other kinds of trouble.”
Her stomach knotted. She didn’t want to argue. “Please, Orin. We need to remember he’s a sorcerer, and we don’t want to get on his bad side.”
“Because he’s a sorcerer is exactly why I don’t want you to go ahead alone.”
She looked him straight in the eyes. “I appreciate you wanting to keep me safe, but what do you think you could do against him?”
His expression darkened, and his jaw clenched. He wouldn’t admit she was right. Who wanted to admit they were helpless?
“He needs something from me, which means I may have more sway over him than anyone. Just give me ten minutes and then join me. All right?”
He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, letting his fingers brush along her jaw. He cupped her head in his hand, leaned down, and kissed her. “Tell him I’ve got dragons, and I’m not afraid to use them.”
Grinning broadly, she coaxed Jade back into the basket and walked towards Tharius’s campsite.
As soon as she spotted smoke, she slowed. There was a slight chance the campfire belonged to a hunter or some other traveler and not Tharius at all. She pulled two daggers and approached slowly. The fire itself came into view, then a dark-haired man sitting on a tree root and watching her every move. Tharius. And through the trees behind him, barely visible among the branches, the grey hide of his rock dragon. It appeared to be eating something large. She itched to see one close up, but she pulled her attention back to the sorcerer.
He sat drooped forward, elbows resting on his knees and hands dangling. He looked tired. Drained. She took a few more steps. The blue orbs around his neck glowed brighter than ever, if that were possible, the ruby in Sissi’s ring glinting purple beside them. The gloves covered his hands, but he’d tossed his cloak over the saddle next to him and wore his shirt open at the neck. His dark hair glistened either from the rain or a bath, and his lips quirked up in a barely-there smirk.