"I don't quite understand you, Onyx," Led said, his own dark head shaking in response to Onyx's. "First you make it sound like I'd be a fool not to join this army, yet you condemn its system, then defend the goddess who banished her own dragons. You're a bag of contradictions, Onyx." Led's green eyes sparkled as he reached out unexpectedly to stroke her dusky cheek. "I'm glad you're my ally, not my enemy."
Onyx realized distantly that he'd actually insulted her, but the thought was chased away by the sensations his touch evoked in her. Knocking his pipe against a rock to extinguish it, he leaned forward and brushed his lips in a warm trail where his fingers had just passed. His calloused hands took her by the shoulders. His fingers slid down her arms, lingering on her wrists. He continued downward and rubbed her slim fingers between his rough ones.
Onyx froze. For the first time in her life no instinct she understood told her how to react. As a dragon, her thoughts ran almost exclusively to the basics: satisfying hunger, seeking shelter, acquiring treasure. These tasks were colored only by the indulgent joy she got from flying or swimming.
But she noticed a much greater range of sensations as a human. The texture of cloth or the feel of cold air on bare skin, the distinct flavors of cooked food, the way her pulse quick shy;ened from an admiring glance. The only looks she'd received as a dragon were fearful or envious, both of which pleased her greatly, but in a very different way…"You're a beautiful enigma, Onyx," Led said again softly, his whiskers tickling her cheek. His warm breath was a pleas shy;ant mingling of sweet wine and pungent pipe smoke. "I like solving a good mystery."
Onyx self-consciously took a pull on the wineskin, aware that the trees beyond their fire pit were already listing in her watery sight. She fought against the effects of the wine, even as she felt his fingertips dance down her spine through the thin cloth of her tunic. The young woman gave a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold.
Led pressed his lips ever gently down the bridge of her nose. "I'd kill any man who tried to harm you," he said in a husky voice, moving to sink his teeth into the lobe of her left ear in a manner even more disturbing than his unexpected possessiveness.
Some voice inside warned Onyx not to trust him. But dizzy from wine, she could not see how trust entered into these feel shy;ings he aroused. She trusted no one but herself anyway. She was in control and could stop this at any time. Besides, she told herself, if she was to learn in the qhen way what it was to be human, she must experience all that she could as a human. Live for the moment.
Onyx gave in to the wine, to Led, and dismissed her self-control. Instinct far different than she'd experienced as a dragon brought her dark, slim hand up to the back of Led's neck and pulled his bearded face down to hers.
Under a black, starless sky Onyx's senses spun away to the heights she had reached only in dragon flight.
Chapter 7
Onyx and Led rolled apart at last and fell into exhausted slumbe'r as the night sky began to lighten. Curled under a fur blanket, Onyx did something she hadn't since waking from the Sleep as a dragon-she dreamed.
She was a dragon again, flying; Led rode upon her back, a sword in his hand. Together they commanded a vast army that cut down foe after faceless foe. Dragon and rider toppled tow shy;ers, chased knights from their castles, and finally stood majes shy;tically before a conquered throng. The vision filled her unconscious mind with a great sense of satisfaction. Smiling in her sleep, Onyx hugged the covers closer and settled in for an agreeably vivid show.
The disguised dragon was almost surprised to awaken to the scent of damp ashes and the feel of a cold, hard boulder for a headrest. She was still a woman, still resting near the fire pit, now extinguished. It had all been just a dream. Not all of it, though, she thought smugly, flexing her stiff muscles at the memory of her night with Led. Still groggy, she kept her eyes tightly closed as if to recapture the fantasy. Neither sleep nor the dream returned.
Strange, Onyx thought, that this should be my first dream since waking from the magical Sleep. She began to wonder if the word "dream" was correct for what she'd experienced. Another thought came to mind, a possibility both frightening and fascinating.
Could it have been a vision of the future from Takhisis? Her geetna had predicted she would do great service for the queen. Perhaps it had been fate, not accident, that the nyphids awak shy;ened her and directed her toward Led. Was it Takhisis's wish that Onyx and Led fight as one for her glory? She paused. Where was Led, anyway?
Onyx rolled up onto her elbow, and her fur blanket slipped away. She felt her first twinge of modesty as she remembered she was unclothed. Cinching the fur up tightly under her armpits, the young woman discovered with dismay that she, alone, still lay close to the fire pit. She heard mingled sounds of activity and sat up to investigate.
Onyx's acute hearing detected splashing water. Following the noise through the snow-covered branches of the pine trees, Onyx saw Led in the distance, bobbing in the chill mountain stream, slapping water on his bare chest. The sight brought a blush to her cheeks and a smile to her lips.
Hearing orders being barked in the opposite direction, Onyx's gaze fell next on Yoshiki Toba. He was at the other end of the oblong clearing, running the ogres through a routine drill in hand-to-hand and weapons combat. They wore no armor, but many had round wooden bucklers strapped to their thick arms. Spiked clubs and crudely made spears appeared to be their weapons of choice.
If Led was bathing in the stream, and Toba was engaged in morning drill, then who was watching-Onyx's gaze shot to the left. The wagon was parked out of the way, far back in the trees between the fire pit and the lanky lieutenant. There was no guard in sight.
Onyx sprang to her feet, yanked on her cotton batting, and tugged up her leather boots. Forcing herself to stroll, she cir shy;cled the wagon. She had seen Toba leave the ogre's fire pit with a plate of food last night, headed for the rear of the wagon. Onyx hastened to the back and searched the flat wooden panel from top to bottom with her hands, but found no latch or crack to suggest an opening.
Onyx chewed her lip, thinking. There were only two sides she hadn't examined. The top of the wagon would be risky, since she would be in clear view up there. Dropping to her knees, she ducked under the frame. But the box hung so low to the ground that she had to turn onto her back and kick her feet into the dirt to push herself beneath it. The wagon was sup shy;ported by thick metal straps and the two axles that stretched between the wheels.
Near the middle of the wagon was a small trapdoor, held shut by a dead bolt. Onyx carefully slid the bolt aside, then grabbed at the wooden door before it could swing down and bang into the metal strap.
Still on her back, Onyx gripped the edge of the wooden slot and pulled her head and shoulders toward the opening. It was so narrow that her face scraped the side when she managed at last to poke her head into the bottom of the wagon. Onyx peered around, calling on her dragon sight in the lightlessness. There, huddled in a corner, was a small heap covered by a dirty fur.
"Dela?" Onyx whispered.
The lump shifted slightly at the sound. The fur began to slip. Onyx caught a glimpse of disheveled blond hair. Her heart hammered in expectation.
Something grabbed Onyx by the feet. Her jawbone slammed into the rough opening as the hands around her boots labored to haul her from under the wagon. After three jarring tugs, her bruised face cleared the hole. The hands tugged again, and the back of Onyx's head dropped painfully onto the hard, frozen ground. She scrabbled and clawed to escape, but all she man shy;aged was to roll onto her front, so that she was pulled from beneath the wagon on her face. A blade-tipped boot kicked her in the side, rolling her onto her back again. Onyx looked up the legs that formed an inverted Y above her.
"Lose something, Onyx?" Yoshiki Toba's breath ringed his head as white steam. "If thaf s even your name." He snugged his feet closer to her sides, trapping her.
Onyx looked up at Toba's yellow-skinned face, speechless. Almost seeing Dela, Toba catching he
r spying-it had hap shy;pened so fast she could scarcely think of what to say, how to explain away her presence under the wagon. She saw the anger in his eyes and knew there would be no fooling the watchful overlord.
"Got nothin' to say?" Toba chuckled. "I knew from the start there was something strange about you. Led's always had a soft spot in his melon for pretty women." He grabbed Onyx by the left arm and nearly tugged it from the socket. "Maybe you'll find your voice in time to explain to your paramour what you were doing under there."
Led! He'd throw her out of his band for sure. Then it would be impossible to free Dela in her human form. And what about her dream? She had to silence Toba before he told their leader. She had no weapons, nothing on but her batting and boots. She searched her mind for a spell that would kill him instantly, without a trace, but her magical skills simply weren't that developed yet. If she were a dragon, she could call on her breath weapon___
Holding Onyx's arm tightly with one hand, Toba bent down and reached under the wagon. He fumbled until he found the trap door, then shut and bolted it. He straightened and glared at her with sinister eyes.
"Stand," he ordered. When she refused to plant her feet or lock her knees, he kicked her viciously in the legs.
Onyx felt herself start to panic. Then, quite suddenly, some shy;thing burned the skin of her neck, and she cried aloud. The maynus. Pulling the choker by the vine with her free hand, she settled the tiny swords and globe atop her purple tunic. The maynus scorched her even through the cloth. It was the bril shy;liant blue-white of the hottest fire. Onyx had never seen the source of Dela's magic do that before. The faces in the light shy;ning bolts flashed through Onyx's mind. She heard Kadagan's voice from months ago: "We commanded it to lift thee."
She touched a hand to the scalding maynus. "Take him, and leave no trace/' she whispered, not sure what to expect.
"Hey, what-?" Toba's muttered question was cut off when a white-hot bolt of lightning leaped from the globe. It snapped around his trunk like a lasso, pinning his arms to his sides. The wiry man's eyes went wide and fearful. He was too startled to scream at first. He wasn't given the chance later.
Toba's prominent cheekbones twisted and contorted, and his whole body seemed to melt into colorful, swirling vapor. Crackling, the branch of lightning pulled him toward its source, the globe at Onyx's collarbone. The churning mass that Toba had become withdrew into the maynus with a hollow sucking sound.
Stunned, Onyx peered down her chin to the globe. It had cooled to pale blue. Lightning bolts again danced and rico shy;cheted within. To her further amazement, she thought she could see the vague outline of Toba's face pressing against the glass from the inside. Had she killed the human, Onyx won shy;dered, or just trapped him in the magical globe? Either way, he couldn't talk to Led now. Onyx frowned. At least she didn't think he could communicate from inside the globe. She knew so little about the nyphids' artifact.
Rustling from inside the wagon brought Onyx's attention back to Dela. She could free the nyphid now. Dela would know what to do with Toba, too. Onyx dropped to her knees again and flipped onto her back to scoot beneath the wagon.
"Yoshiki Toba, you miserable scut, why have you left the ogres lumbering like aimless zombies in the clearing?" Led called from the stream, his voice bright with humor. "You'd better be making my breakfast. Onyx, are you awake yet?"
Half under the wagon, Onyx froze with indecision. She was so close to freeing Dela. Yet, if she didn't answer Led and he found her here, she'd be in the same spot she'd been with Toba. Only, strangely, she didn't want to kill Led, or even draw him into the globe. The dream was too insistent, its promise of glory too fresh in her mind.
Onyx clambered from under the wagon. Brushing vainly at her muddy clothing, she strode purposefully along the right side of the cart and back to the fire pit.
Led emerged from the trees on the beaten snowy path that came from the stream. Scrubbing his wet hair with a nubby cloth, he was still bare to the waist, his skin red with cold. See shy;ing Onyx, he smiled in warm greeting. "There you are." He let the cloth drop to his shoulders. "Good morning."
"And to you," she said, forcing a wan smile in return.
He peered at her curiously. "You're a mess. And your face is all scratched up. What have you been doing?"
Onyx hitched up her pants and managed a meaningful, blushing look over her shoulder to the woods behind the wagon. "I was … well, I unfortunately chose a very muddy patch. A branch snapped out, and, uh, you know___"
Led nodded slowly. He frowned and looked about. "Where's Toba?"
Onyx shrugged, unconsciously tucking the silent, still-blue maynus back beneath the neckline of her tunic. If Toba was in there, he wasn't talking.
Led swore under his breath. "He knows we're in a hurry to get to Kernen."
"Maybe he's occupied as I was," Onyx suggested, looking to the woods.
"Could be," said Led a bit dubiously. He kicked the ashes to life in the fire pit, adding a handful of twigs to the smoldering pile. "If I have to fix my own grub because of it, he'll pay the price. Say, you're a woman. Don't you know how to cook?"
"Uh, no. I've never had to, actually."
"You probably just magic it up." Led sat on a boulder, pulled off his boots, and held his toes to the fire. "Nothing like a bath in a fresh mountain stream. Leaves you with cold feet, though."
Led shrugged on a tunic over his damp, curling hair. He glanced with disdain at the ogres across the clearing. "Wish I could get them to bathe once in a while. They think if 11 make 'em sick."
The human's head snapped around toward the forest. "Toba! Where in the Abyss are you, man?"
After a few moments of awkward silence, Onyx sat on the boulder next to his and reached toward Led's own pack. "I'm starving. Do you have any more of that jerky?"
"Yeah, sure," Led said. He plunged his hand into the leather sack and retrieved a strip of the blackened meat, as well as a wineskin. He offered both to Onyx. "If s not breakfast, but if s better than nothing."
Onyx took the wineskin and drank greedily. "Thaf s it," snarled Led abruptly, slapping his knees. "I'm gonna take a look around for Toba's bony yellow hide." He pulled his leather armor from his horse and strapped it on, adding stiff leather cuisses to his thighs. Next, he gingerly slipped a chain mail coif over his head and adjusted it into position. Over that he placed a massive metal helm that dropped to his shoulders in the back, and came low over his brow and swept in from the sides to cover both cheeks. Last, he strapped his girdle around the chain mail at his waist and settled his sword so that the hilt was within easy reach.
Onyx gulped wine nervously as she watched him dress. She tried to slow her breathing to calm herself in the qhen way, but couldn't seem to focus as completely in her human form as she had as a dragon. Her breathing remained shallow, her pulse racing. Led walked the perimeter of the clearing, calling Toba's name into the trees. The human stopped and spoke to a green-skinned ogre who sat idly with the others where Toba had left them.
Onyx looked wide-eyed into Led's stormy face when he returned to the fire. "No luck?"
"It's just not like Toba to disappear for this long without telling me what he's up to. The ogres say they saw him head shy;ing this way. Didn't you see him?"
"No. I was probably still sleeping. Maybe he went out look shy;ing for food and wandered farther than he thought." "Doubtful. He knows we have enough stores to last…" Onyx idly traced a seam in her boot, unable to look Led in the eye. "Could he simply have run off?"
Led scratched his head. "I can't see it. He knew how much we stand to gain when we deliver the wagon. No, Toba's too greedy to just up and abandon his share."
Onyx took a long pull on the wineskin. "The fact remains that he's gone. How long are you willing to wait for him?"
"That depends." Led rubbed his chin. "Say, do you know some kind of spell that can find a missing person?"
Onyx stopped in midgulp, the crimson liquid splashing her lips. She handed him the s
kin and wiped her mouth on the cuff of her batting. "Yes," she lied. "I don't have all the things I need to cast the enchantment, though. But I can probably find the right kinds of roots and funguses in the woods. I'll go into the forest and give it a try."
Led watched her finger the odd choker. "Whatever. Just be careful. We don't know what happened to him, so keep your eyes open. In fact, maybe I should come along, too."
"No," snapped Onyx. "I can concentrate better if I'm alone. I can protect myself, if you're worried. I know magic, remem shy;ber? Besides, someone needs to watch the ogres."
Led couldn't argue with that logic. He helped Onyx put on her brigandine armor. Pulling her horse around by the bit, Onyx put her left toe in the stirrup and swung her other leg over, then set the horse's head downhill.
Led tossed the wineskin to her. Sunlight streaked across his brilliant green eyes, and he snarled with annoyance. "With or without Toba, we've got to get back on the trail quickly. Come back as soon as you know anything."
Nodding, Onyx slipped the strap of the skin over her head and shoulder, then dug her heels into the black mare's ribs. They shot off down the rough-cut trail at a gallop. Onyx gave the horse its head. It stayed with the narrow trail that paral shy;leled the same stream by the clearing.
Khisanth was grateful the lie had succeeded. She didn't use components to cast spells, but she was desperate to get away and think. She seemed unable to control her own actions as a human, particularly with Led's penetrating eyes on her. What had happened to her qhen training? Though it was causing her no end of problems now, she was not sorry she had-well, done whatever she'd done to Toba. It had been rash, definitely not qhen, but even Kadagan would have agreed that she'd had no choice.
The problem was what to tell Led that would make him abandon his lieutenant? Worse still, now that she was almost certain Dela was in the wagon, how was she going to free the captive nyphid? That was the point of this whole foray as a human, after all. She seemed to have lost sight of that goal recently, along with her qhen training.
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