Tan nodded. We came searching for the nymid.
She is not of the nymid.
Tan frowned. The udilm? I don’t know where to find them.
Tan wasn’t even certain whether the udilm still existed.
The draasin snorted. A flash of fire burst from its nostrils.
Tan raised a hand to his face to shield himself, but the fire didn’t burn him.
You speak to the nymid but you have not sought the udilm? The draasin seemed amused by the possibility.
Tan only nodded.
Then come. I will bring you to udilm.
You will bring me?
An image of him climbing atop the draasin flashed into his mind.
Tan took a slow breath. Speaking to one of the massive elementals was terrifying enough, now it wanted him to ride it?
What will you do? Why are you helping?
The draasin shook its head. Not what I do. It is what Little Warrior must do.
And what is that?
You must help save the youngest.
The draasin waited for Tan. It lowered its head, bringing its massive jaw close to the ground. Enormous teeth filled its mouth, and its golden eyes were nearly as large as Tan’s head.
The decision should be easy. Go with the draasin and get help for Elle. But what would the draasin require of him if he went? How could he help find the youngest?
And if Tan were right, doing so meant rescuing the draasin from Incendin. He wasn’t a shaper—not yet at least, and certainly not with any level of control; there was nothing he could do to save the youngest draasin.
Elle shook against him again, this time more violently.
The tremor lasted longer than the last time. As she shook, he held her, holding onto her head and neck so she didn’t injure herself. When the shaking stopped, he pulled her back. Blood trickled down her mouth. Tan pried open her lips and saw she’d bitten her tongue. A deep gouge worked through it, oozing blood.
Another tremor started.
He held her close again. He had to do something to help her. If he did nothing—if he refused the draasin’s offer—she would die.
You can find udilm quickly?
The draasin snorted. Quickly enough, Little Warrior. Come.
With a sigh, Tan stood and carried Elle toward the draasin. Heat rose from its spines. Tan held Elle away from the draasin, trying to protect her from its heat.
And then, grabbing onto one of the thick spines on its back, he climbed atop.
CHAPTER 22
Flight
The draasin’s huge wings beat against the air with rhythmic precision. Each flap of the thick wings sent the creature higher and launched it faster. Tan leaned against one of the thick, heated spines on its back, surprised the spine didn’t burn him.
He clung to Elle. She slumped across his lap, cradled and protected from the wind by the spines and the arch of the draasin’s neck. Tan worried most about the heat. Sitting atop the draasin felt like a furnace. Even taking a breath was difficult, his lungs practically screaming with the effort. What must it be like for Elle?
The draasin flew high into the sky. Streaks of brown streamed past below them. In a flash, they passed out of the desolate browns of Incendin and over lush green fields.
The speed was terrifying and intoxicating. Wind whistled and rushed past his ears. Pressure pushed against his head continually, like a steady shaping. He wondered if the draasin shaped as he did or if their power came from something else.
A dark shadow swooped in the distance before turning away. The other draasin.
Tan could not speak to the other draasin. Somehow, he had bonded only to this one. But could he? To save the youngest from Incendin, he might need to speak to the other draasin.
Why do I only speak to you?
The draasin arched its neck and one golden eye glanced back at him. Steam snorted from its nostrils. You have not tried speaking to the others.
Could I speak to them?
The draasin’s eyes shifted, almost as if arching its brows. It is possible.
How am I to help if I can’t speak to the youngest?
The draasin snorted in answer.
You don’t know, do you?
The draasin swung its head around and glanced at Tan. Then it turned to face forward again. We have been unable to save her.
Tan felt the frustration the great elemental felt at admitting its failure.
Where does the other go?
She cannot help in this. She will wait.
There was more, but the draasin shielded it from Tan.
They flew onward. The wind turned cooler, though it still gusted off the heated back of the draasin, leaving a misting spray in the air. The cool mist settled on Elle. She twitched, but the tremors had eased since leaving Incendin. She did not awaken and her breathing came slowly.
What would happen if the draasin were gone?
The draasin seemed annoyed by the suggestion. Draasin have been here since the first.
If you disappeared, would another take your place?
For a moment, Tan wasn’t sure the draasin would answer.
Fire is different than the others. The others battle for supremacy, but none can replace the draasin while we live.
Tan sensed he would get nothing more from him. What’s your name?
The draasin snorted again but did not look back.
Tan repeated the question. I would like to know what to call you.
The draasin’s massive tail swished behind it, sending them sliding toward the north. Names are meaningless to the draasin.
This time, Tan snorted. You call me ‘Little Warrior’. Names are not completely meaningless.
The draasin are True Fire. We do not have need of names.
Yet you use them. What is yours?
The draasin snorted again, this time in annoyance. I am called Asboel.
The name resonated in Tan, triggering a memory. Somewhere, he had heard that name before.
Massive wings pulsed against the wind, driving them higher and higher into the sky. As they did, Tan realized why he recognized the name and had Amia to thank for it. It was a word derived from the ancient language, a word meaning ancient and fire and power and strength all mixed together. If not for the ancient language, he would have no word for this draasin’s name.
But he had also seen the name Asboel before.
In the book about the draasin, it was one of the words that stood out, a word he hadn’t recognized even after receiving Amia’s gift that allowed him to understand the ancient language. Something had been written in that book about this draasin, if only he could remember what it was.
I am Tannen.
The draasin snorted again. Tan sensed it trying to use his name and failing.
You are Maelen.
Tan frowned, struggling to decipher the word, saying it a few times before making the translation.
The draasin helped, sending an image of a tiny barbed creature battling against the draasin. The barbed creature didn’t back down before the draasin and used its barbs to pierce the soft places around the draasin’s nose.
Tan laughed. You may call me Maelen. How much longer, Asboel?
Fire erupted from the draasin’s nose. A spray of steam washed over him, somehow failing to burn the flesh from his face.
Tan looked down. Far beneath him was a vast expanse of blue. He didn’t know when they had left the grassy plains to soar above the ocean, for there was little doubt in Tan’s mind they flew above the ocean. From where they were, he saw no sign of land. How will you find udilm?
The draasin laughed softly. Maelen must call udilm.
Tan blinked. He would have to call the udilm. Only—he didn’t know how.
Asboel stretched his wings wide and tipped them, letting them glide. They slowly started to descend, swirling in a steady circle as the draasin took them closer and closer to the water.
Tan had no idea how he would call the udilm. He’d never spoken to them�
��had only really spoken to the nymid and the draasin—but Asboel seemed convinced he should be able to do so.
I don’t know how—
Elle started shaking, more violently than before.
Tan grabbed her, pulling her against his chest. The tremor wracking her this time shook her nearly so hard as to throw her off the back of the draasin. Tan held her head, hoping to keep her from biting her tongue as she convulsed.
Her flame grows weak, Little Warrior. You must summon udilm.
Tan looked at the draasin, wishing he could explain himself better. How to explain ignorance to a creature that seemed to know everything? How to explain feeling weak and helpless? In time, Tan might have the capacity to become a shaper, but he did not have the knowledge or experience necessary, especially not now that Elle needed him.
I have never spoken to udilm. I do not know how.
The draasin chuckled. This time, the sound did not come in Tan’s head, but as a deep rumbling from the back of the draasin’s throat. He felt it through the thick spines of the draasin’s back as the sound slowly rolled through its body.
You must learn to embrace your strength, Maelen. There is much fire within you or else I would never have heard you.
What does that mean?
The other warriors were not quite so ignorant.
I am not a warrior.
The draasin chuckled again. Perhaps not by your standards. You fear the unknown but should not. The Mother has a purpose.
Tan tried to think of what he knew of speaking to water. How had he connected to the nymid, and was there anything he could do that would let him talk to udilm?
He knew of only one way.
Elle might not survive. He might not survive.
But she would certainly die if he did nothing.
Do not go far, he instructed Asboel.
The draasin snorted. You do not command the draasin.
Tan listened for what else might come through the connection. When he was convinced the draasin was not angry, he turned and dove from its back.
Wind swirled around him as he fell, holding Elle in his arms. He imagined tiny, translucent faces appearing in the wind, almost grinning at him as he dropped from the draasin toward the shimmering water below.
The fall took only seconds, but in that time, the temperature dropped significantly.
And then they plunged into icy water.
The sudden cold sucked all the air out of his lungs. Tan kicked, trying to stay near the surface, but huge rolling waves kept threatening to pull him back under.
Another wave crested over his head.
Tan glanced up. Asboel circled, bright golden eyes staring down at him. Steam rose from his nostrils, and his long, barbed tail swished behind him, swinging in time with the slow beating of his wings keeping him hovering in place.
The wave hit, blocking everything else from view.
Elle slipped from his grip.
Tan kicked, trying to grab her but missing.
The wave tossed him. He had a moment where his head was above water and he sucked in a deep breath of air and then the wave crashed down on him once more. The weight of the water forced him down, deeper and deeper into the cold.
With nothing but blackness all around him, he couldn’t find Elle.
What had he been thinking to jump into the water? Even in the lake at the place of convergence, the water had nearly drowned him. What made him think he would survive in the ocean? And with Elle?
Tan felt something near his leg and reached for it, praying to the Great Mother it was Elle. When his hand reached where he thought he felt something, whatever he’d felt was gone.
With lungs burning, he tried kicking back to the surface but couldn’t. The water resisted him, pulling him deeper.
Panic washed through him.
He kicked, flailing against the water.
Draasin! Silence answered his call. Asboel!
The connection felt faint, weaker than it had ever felt while in Ethea.
Could the water obstruct him from connecting to the draasin? Even were he able to communicate with the draasin, what could he do? Could he plunge into the water and save him?
Was there anything he could do?
Water swirled around him, streams of black and blue and shimmery. The pain in his chest became unbearable, but if he took a breath, he would suck in nothing but water.
Survival overwhelmed any attempt to shape.
And then he couldn’t kick any longer.
The pressure in his chest—the burning pain—overwhelmed him.
Breath whispered from him, sucked away by the swirling current.
And then he saw light.
CHAPTER 23
Restored
He had no words for the flickering lights around him. Translucent blues and greens and pinks blended together, sparkling in their intensity. Shimmery shapes moved around him in swirls, looping like cresting waves. Tan had the sense of immense power.
The udilm.
With the realization, he reached out.
Help me.
He sent the request with the same intensity he’d used when speaking to the nymid. There, the pale green movement had swum through the water, slipping and sliding like something small and alive. What he sensed here was massive, larger even than the draasin.
Tan’s vision began to fade. The colors drifted away.
Udilm!
He sent the request with more urgency, tinged with the same edge he used with the draasin. But there was a difference this time, and he sent the request like a surging wave.
Who disturbs?
The thought came slow and steady, pressing into his mind until it crested to the front.
Tannen Minden. He used his full name, though did not know if it mattered to the elementals. A friend of mine suffers and needs your help.
The water parted slowly and Elle drifted closer to him.
Arms splayed apart, hanging off to her sides, her head lolled back on her neck. Her mouth hung open and her eyes stared blindly.
Elle was gone.
But the water elemental could save her as the nymid had saved him.
Please. She is a child of water.
The water swirled, sliding over her slowly, deliberately, before withdrawing. Tan had the sensation of a wave rolling against the shore.
Darkness has touched her.
Twisted Fire. A shaping Asboel did not recognize.
The water surged more urgently at the mention of his name. You speak to the draasin?
Yes.
The wave receded, pulling away from him and leaving him floating.
He didn’t open his mouth or attempt to breathe. Like the last time he’d been beneath the water—when rescued by the nymid—he’d not had the need to breathe underwater. Whatever shaping they did kept him alive in spite of that.
Could they—and would they—do the same for Elle?
Water rushed back toward him, slamming around him. Tan did not fight. Nothing he could do would matter anyway, not against the onslaught from the udilm.
You did not fear coming.
Like the others, the thought built slowly until filling his head.
I knew fear.
But still you came.
I know the power of water. I have spoken to the nymid.
Water receded again, this time for much longer than before.
He was left staring at Elle, watching her pale face with the water streaming around, her hair hanging limply around her head and her long dress swirling around her. Tan touched her hand and it felt cold. Could even the udilm do anything to save her now?
Then water crashed against him.
Tan held tightly to Elle’s hand.
He Who is Tan.
Tan smiled. As the draasin had a name for him, so did the nymid.
You speak to the nymid?
A low rumbling of water swirled around him. All is connected, He Who is Tan.
Can you help her?
The
udilm washed over Elle, separating him from her. Colors swirled around her, infusing her with the same translucent light he saw elsewhere around him. You speak truly, He Who is Tan. She is a child of water. She will be restored.
And with that, Elle’s eyes flickered.
Steam rose from her body, pressing out through her mouth and ears, as if the udilm pressed out a shaping that burned through her. Arms and legs twitched, but differently than before, finally moving slowly through the water, swimming in place.
A smile crossed her face.
Elle?
You found them.
Her voice echoed loudly in his head, more loudly than ever before.
Not me. The draasin.
He shaped a vision in his mind of them atop Asboel, rising high above the clouds.
I rode a draasin?
Tan laughed and nodded.
The smile spread across her face and she looked upward, as if to see through the water into the sky. Thank you.
He heard the thanks radiate all around, directed not only at him, but at the udilm as well.
Water swelled over them, swirling around her.
What now? Tan asked.
She may stay, the udilm answered. She has questions. We will see her returned in time.
And me?
You committed to the Eldest.
With the comment, water surged, sending Tan up in a rush.
The change in pressure built around him and water slid from him. He streaked up through the water, cresting from the peak of a wave and flying higher.
His lungs burned. This time, he remembered to take a breath.
And then heated mist pressed upon him.
He looked up to see Asboel swooping from the sky, diving beneath him and twisting until Tan landed on his back, nestled between a pair of thick, hot spikes.
The draasin pulled up from the dive, streaking back into the sky, powerful wings beating the air. Tan leaned back against the draasin’s spikes and tried sending a message to Elle but felt nothing in return. The water obscured the connection.
She lives.
Tan looked up to see Asboel watching him, his head tipped in such a way so that one enormous eye could see him. He blinked and then turned back to watch where he flew.
Bound by Fire (The Cloud Warrior Saga Book 2) Page 18