“It is said that they can see what you experienced,” Lucian affirmed. “And that it plays a part in their decision.”
“Their decision?”
“Whether they will choose you.”
“The chimera chooses the Warrior?”
Lucian smiled and stopped walking. “You choose each other.”
This made me laugh. “Why do I get the feeling that you’re not going to give me any information on how I’ll actually bond with a chimera?”
Instead of answering, Lucian took five steps to his right, shifted his gaze behind me, and grinned. “I won’t,” he said. “Because everything you need to know will be right in front of you.”
Thrilling at the sound of a roar, I turned back in the direction that he was facing. The large mound in front of me was obscuring the way ahead. I walked to the right as Lucian had, to see around it, and then I forgot how to breathe.
The entire top of the volcano loomed up ahead, though we were still hundreds of yards from its peak. Cut into the side of it was a cave large enough to hold four of the entire complexes of Yanartas. It glowed from within a fiery-red and orange; it was filled with all different sized platforms and gorges, openings and spouts of flame. In multiple corners there were cascades of lava, falling down and forming pools and streams. There was a small lake of water; it bubbled and branched into the rivers that ran down the mountain.
It was peering like into another world, completely open to view and wide enough to span ones entire range of vision. But most amazing of all were the hundreds of chimera diving in and out of the spaces. I had never seen so many animals, let alone granted animals. Some swam in the pools of water, some flew behind the falls of lava. Some chased each other around the spirals of stone. Some laid out on rock platforms and slept. The sizes differed much more than the chimera belonging to the Warriors back in the city. A few were almost twice as large as the others—the size of elephants. Their colors differed more as well. There were pale ones with cream hair, and pink feathers. There were ones with thick brown hair. As in the city, most of them were golden hued, but they shimmered many different colors. Turquoises and purples even.
I saw figures approaching the wide hole. They looked like ants in comparison, but I realized that they were the other pairs of apprentices and trainers. One of them held his hand out to a nearby chimera straightaway, as if it were something that he was used to. The chimera allowed itself to be stroked, then even more joined in to be petted.
I looked back at Lucian with a grin.
He had his arms crossed, our bags slung over his shoulders. With a toss of his arm he told me to go. I started running at top speed across the flat rock.
“Once you find it, don’t start riding until you’ve come to see me, alright?”
I waved a hand in the air in confirmation, but I didn’t turn around. I didn’t realize until I got close what it was really going to be like.
#
As dusk neared I still hadn’t touched any of the chimera. I’d watched the other apprentices play with them, but when I’d thought about approaching them myself my feet had held me back on their own accord in a very jittery fashion. Eventually Lucian had made me go inside the cave to get a closer look. I’d found a platform against the right wall of the cavern that was too narrow for the chimera to tend to loop around. From here I watched them and discovered they had personalities differing as greatly as humans. I also discovered that relations were visible—though these didn’t necessarily tend to stay near one another. There would be five or so that were copper with brown, distinguished streaks, then another five or so that were perfectly unmarked brownish-gold. The most noticeable family matched in cream with different saturated hues covering their manes and wing tips—the cream and pink female chimera was in this one.
The largest family of siblings were a dusky almost grayish color, and then they had gold on just the tips of their wings and their ears so that it almost clashed with the rest of them. Despite their plain bodies, their eyes were all vivid colors. From what I had determined they were all male, about fifteen or so. It was simple to tell the males and females apart from the shape of their bodies—the females were dramatically thinner at the waist, with smaller paws and generally shorter wings.
The large family of boys seemed to like to play more than all the others. They dived and chased each other upside-down and around holes. More than once they tackled each other to the ground. I found myself jumping back every time one got close.
For the first time, I noticed a trio of the cream chimera moving together. They were so stark compared to the others that it was impossible not to see them. After a moment I realized that they were all chasing a chimera that looked like it belonged to the family of boys—it had dusky hair and gold tips—only this one was obviously a girl. She made great chase for them, glancing back every once in a while. The ones following her were all males. I got so lost in watching them that I didn’t notice until they had wisped by me how near they’d come to my platform.
I raced backwards and fell over, just as the dusky female made a triple loop and lost the others. She stopped on a thin bridge that stood just across from me and roared in success. I gasped at its loudness. Her gold ear flicked my direction, then she looked at me.
My eyes widened, but I didn’t dare to rise or make any movement.
With a leap and a flourish of her wings she landed on the platform beside me. I jerked back in surprise. The weight of her body and her retracting talons shook the platform. Every inch of her stirred with life. She considered me with her head raised high. Like her brothers, her eyes were bright against her plain hair, they were turquoise. She had matching highlights of turquoise in her mane, though they weren’t visible until she was close, and they didn’t shimmer at all, they were just vivid.
She was getting closer, about ten or so feet, so I tried to stand up. As soon as I did, she turned sideways and dropped one of her wings to me.
I stared at her back, uncertain that she was offering what I thought she might be, but just in case I shook my head. She snuffed her nose and nodded to her back.
“I can’t,” I said. “No thank you.”
She pulled her wing back where it had been. Suddenly another chimera came sweeping by at my side. I yelped, though it flew away immediately. The chimera beside me reared her head and snorted. I ducked away from her as well. She considered me for a long moment, then glanced at the cavern. I in turn, looked for Lucian on the flat rocks outside. He was standing beside the other two trainers, but from what I could tell, showed no signs of coming in to rescue me.
The female chimera started curving around my position. She kept her head down as she moved. I turned so that I would stay facing her. With a little roar, she moved closer.
I put my hands up.
This only dissuaded her for a moment, then she nudged me further backwards.
My body was shaking. “Look, I don’t want to play,” I said.
Her gaze shifted behind me, and then she pounced forward and roared, her jaw as wide as my body. I jumped back, and unfortunately that was the end of the line. I hit the air instead of ground. I had a second in motion to think about using my disappearing power, before a soft body landed under me and swept me up into the air with it. Her body was warm and humming with life. She roared and I felt the vibration through her back.
Before she dived into a tight turn, I got a hold of her hair and hung on tight, pressing my body against hers as I screamed.
I heard distant voices calling to me. I imagined it was Lucian, who had told me not to ride right away. I tried to shout back.
“It’s not my fault. I can’t get—off!” I screamed the last word as the chimera increased her speed. She twisted her body free of the cavern, then dove up into the open air.
I barely got a moment’s look at the wide, blue, sky before the chimera flipped upside down. I screamed as I started to fall through the air towards the glowing orange volcano, but I hadn’t fallen very far befor
e she came back around to catch me.
My heart raced as I clung to her fur. I thought it was over, but then she flipped upside-down once more. I went falling towards the ground. She caught me. I fell again; she caught me again. She kept doing it until I stopped screaming, and then all of a sudden I found myself laughing. She roared loudly, then swooped into a high rise towards the clouds.
Clinging tight to her mane, with my legs around her torso, I looked around bravely at our view. The horizon was fading pink into the ocean. I could feel the heat rising from the volcano. The most amazing thing was the wind, rushing by so fast that it felt as if it were blowing right through me.
The chimera leveled out, gave one long flap of her wings, then glanced back at me. As her turquoise eyes held and considered mine I started to grow a grin. She roared and dived into another drop. I screamed, but then it turned into more into a cheer of exhilaration. It wasn’t that I wasn’t scared anymore, it just didn’t seem to matter.
*
CYRIC:
*
It was dawn when Tosch and I reached the councilman’s fort. We stopped a good distance away. Mist uncharacteristic to Akadia lingered in the air and across the fields. From our position the fort looked like a small castle. It wasn’t more than two stories high at its peak—except for the wide tower connected at its back. There was a courtyard at the front, encompassed by a wall.
Tosch clopped his hooves, shifting his body nervously.
I put a steady hand on his neck, and then I flicked his reigns and we sped across the field. I led him to the back of the fort, where the side of the tower joined the wall surrounding everything else.
He whinnied as I dropped down.
I shushed him, literally putting my hand over his mouth. Oftentimes this was the only to get him to calm down.
“You wanna get us killed?” I whispered angrily.
His silver eyes were darting in all directions. I could feel his heart racing, but even so it wasn’t nearly as fast as mine. I took a deep breath, and then I sighed. I wrapped his reigns around his saddle. I turned my attention to the fort. I took a quick glance up the tower, then got a grip on the wall and started scaling. The rock was cold to touch, but the stones were so unevenly placed that it was an easy climb to the highest tower window. I took a look inside, but there were no torches lit so I slipped through.
The moment my feet landed on stone, I heard the sound of steady breathing. I made out my surroundings as best as I could. It was a small room. There was an open door in the corner, with a row of spiraling steps beyond it. The bed was large and pressed with the headboard against the wall. There was a trunk at the end of it; laid out on top was a suit of armor.
I walked closer and touched the chest-plate. I had expected the councilman to be up here, but this was Raand’s armor. I told myself this was good news; it would make it easier.
Shifting my gaze to the bed, I pulled out my sword and crept to the side. Raand’s weapon was laid out under his pillow. He wore only a cloth tunic, which was supremely foolish given his situation.
I placed one hand on the hilt of his sword, then slid it free.
I told myself all I had to do was raise my sword and strike. It was that simple. I’d told Lox I would. I had to. Raand was a traitor. He deserved to die. Soldiers killed all the time, that was their job—this was the same thing.
I thought of Lox telling me he would make me his lieutenant after Karatel was destroyed. I thought of him telling me not to come to the battle unless Raand and Jaxom were dead. I thought of Scanth being promoted to Commander. I thought of King Savras condemning criminals to die.
I put my sword to Raand’s neck.
There was only one path left for me now.
~ ~ ~
CHAPTER NINE
ELLIA:
*
I awoke with a start. For a moment I didn’t know where I was. I could only remember my nightmare and who it had been about. But then I saw the Yanartian fire-pit in front of me, and felt soft fur and feathers behind me. I knew I was on the mountain where I’d spent the night with my chimera. Her body was rising and falling calmly. I looked up at her, expecting to find her still asleep, but her bright turquoise eyes were already on me.
Last night I’d named her Luffie, which was a common Shaundakulian name. Because of the way that our minds were connected, it had been as much her choice as mine. Now I wondered if she couldn’t see my dreams just as easily.
I brought a hand up to touch her mane. She allowed it without reaction.
“Today the Warriors will accept me as the princess,” I said. “Then you’ll be proud of me.”
She nudged her head into my hand. I smiled.
*
We weren’t able to fly down the mountain—apparently flying wasn’t supposed to happen at all without a saddle—but we all made it back to the city by noon. Luffie and I hadn’t been the only ones to stay up on the summit. Each Warrior had stayed with their respective chimera, as was tradition. Even the trainers stayed with theirs. I’d found out then that nearly half of the chimera I’d see flying around in the volcano already belonged to warriors. I wondered how many of Luffie’s brothers were paired with a Warrior already.
When we got back, the six of us headed straight for the Warrior’s chamber. Our chimera remained on the platform that preceded it.
Lucian let us know that it would take a while for all of the first order Warriors to gather, but to everyone’s surprise when we entered the chamber they were all already there. Only they were standing in a pack at the center rather than sitting in their chairs. They froze and turned our direction when we entered. Their expressions were all grave. Lucian was the first to speak.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
Baraduce waved a hand. “This is no time for assessments. All of you must go.”
“Except for Lucian,” Lodan amended.
I noticed more than a few gazes on me. While the others slowly headed out, I hesitated.
“Ellia,” Lodan added, “you must—”
“I’ve bonded with a chimera,” I broke in. “According to the test you set before me, you’ll acknowledge me as Ellia Solidor now, won’t you?”
“As Baraduce has said, this is not the time.”
“I heard someone mention Akadia,” I protested. “Has something happened? I have a right to know.”
“For the sake of flight,” swore Baraduce, “just allow it. We’ve more important things to discuss.”
Lucian turned a dark look on me, but I ignored it and followed him as he approached the group of Warriors.
Amalia was the first to speak. I hadn’t noticed her until then. “News has just arrived from Karatel, Lucian. King Milos has been assassinated. It happened nearly two weeks ago.”
My eyes went wide. This was a name I recognized. Karatel was the only foreign city I’d ever been too before Uldin Keep had been destroyed. My father had taken me when I was just a child. I had met King Milos, among others. Though vastly different from Shaundakul, Karatel had been a wonderful place. It possessed an open marble palace that was very much a part of its city. I could easily recall its many horses.
“There’s more,” Amalia said, “Lodan was just telling us…”
“The Akadian army is marching of Karatel,” Lodan declared. “According to Prince Nain, Milos’s successor, the Akadians crossed into their borders without warning. They refuse to respond to any of his messengers. Worst of all, they’re travelling with goblins.”
I felt my chest constrict in shock. Whether the first order Warriors had already heard this part or not, I didn’t know. Their faces were just as dark as when we’d come in. I told myself that I shouldn’t be surprised. They’d already done this. They were evil, and they would keep doing it. But for it to be happening so soon…
“Does Nain think they will attack the city?” Lucian asked.
I thought of Prince Nain. The last time I’d seen him he’d been thirteen. He was only a few years older than me. H
e would still be young.
“Undoubtedly they will have reached it by today,” Alek confirmed.
“Then we must act,” said Lucian.
“We were just discussing this,” said Alek. “We must consult with the chimera.”
“I don’t need to leave this room to know mine is ready to fight,” said Lodan. “Surely all of you must feel the same? There’s no time to be spared.”
Each of the Warriors hesitated; they grew distant expressions, and I wondered if they were communicating with their chimera to some degree. I looked outside, and thought of Luffie. With Kraehe the bond had so formal; deep, but wordless. If I was sensing things right, I could hear Luffie asking me what was going on. I tried to explain it to her in pictures and memories. She displayed a picture for me as well, of the boy I had dreamt of last night dressed in Akadian red. I swallowed, but couldn’t bear to confirm the question. The Warriors called my attention back to the room.
“How soon can the third order be prepared?” Alek asked Lucian.
“We could leave within the hour.”
“So be it,” Alek ordered. Brown-haired Tory, who was standing beside him, squeezed his hand tight.
“Wait,” I interjected, before Lucian could leave. “You must know, if there are goblins, there will be wyverns.”
The Warriors exchanged looks. I recalled that when I’d said before the goblins had wyverns, some of them hadn’t believed me.
“How many were there?” asked Baraduce.
“In Shaundakul they had seven or eight.”
“Was there anything else?” asked Lodan. “Creatures? Weapons?”
I thought a moment. “They have machines, on the ground, that can take down flying beasts. They shoot harpoons.”
Alek looked to Lucian. “Once you’ve gathered the third order Warriors, we’ll depart. We’ll use the time in flight to strategize. Ellia, you will tell us then all you know about the goblins. If you have your chimera, you’re ready to ride, I presume?”
I nearly toppled at the words. I was going to fight? I was actually going to fight? My mind spun with all this meant. “Yes. I want to help.”
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