“And will you come with us to Vanika?” Ephretti had her fists on her hips. She was standing again – something that made me ache with jealousy, but when she tried to scowl she succumbed to a coughing fit.
Dax paused over his writing, hand quivering as it stayed poised over the paper as he spoke.
“I swore I’d never return there. I was stationed there before the fall of the city, you know. Or maybe you don’t. In the Dragon Rider cotes. I enjoyed my work. Had a friend there named Riv Breadcutter who I worked with. The day the city fell he wasn’t in the infirmary with me. When the fires began ... when the city finally fell ... there were so many who needed help. I spent days pulling survivors from the wreckage. Sometimes we were too late. People I knew. Children. Babies. I... I felt like something inside me was broken.” He set the pencil aside as if it had grown too heavy. He wiped a hand over his forehead. “I found Riv one night in the makeshift infirmary we’d set up. He had a knife. He was undoing all the work I’d done that day, taking all the lives we’d saved. I asked him why. Why would he do such a thing?” his voice shook, and he fished a handkerchief out of his pocket. Even Ephretti was frozen, a look of deep grief on her face. “’I’m stuck,’ he said. ‘This isn’t what I wanted.’ He was holding this leather purse like it held his life. When ... when what had to be done was done I took the purse form his body. It had a spiral on it with a diagonal line through the spiral.”
“What was inside?” Ephretti stood on the balls of her feet, as if she could lunge forward and seize the rest of the story right out of him.
“Dust.”
Dust. Hmmm. Precious dust. Strange. And yet ... Ifrits were dust demons, weren’t they?
“Dust? Are you kidding me? Did he have anything else on him?” Ephretti asked.
“Just a waterskin. Nothing significant. When we finished our work – helped all the people we could - I left for the Ruby Isles and I promised myself I’d never return. I just can’t look at that place without remembering the things I saw. I thought everyone would leave, but ... well, people have rebuilt, or so they say. A shantytown of rubble and desperation.”
“Which is why you won’t go with us,” Ephretti said, disappointed.
Dax’s voice was quiet but clear when he replied. “Which is why I will.”
Dust and water. Water and dust. I felt like I should know the answer to that riddle, like the solution was right in front of my eyes, but though I thought of it all night while Dax quietly showed me how he played the Pipe and as I combed over the Ibrenicus prophecies, nothing came to mind. There were mentions of water and dust in the prophecies I read but applying it to this felt like a stretch. Still, one section I had read rang in my mind when I finally fell asleep.
In dust and deception, I am made,
Bound by water and blood.
Who may retrain the dust storm or calm the call of water?
Who may feed the maw of the earth?
Is it not you, dark one?
Is it not your dusk descending upon us?
It was not a pleasant sentiment.
Chapter Four
I thought I’d found a neutral setting for the Pipe – or at least, nothing with wings had arrived, so it must be the neutral setting. I’d remembered it – suddenly – when I woke that morning. After blowing it carefully a few times, I’d settled into trying to copy Dax’s tune. It was hard to be patient and hard to stay still. I wanted to fly south immediately, but I wasn’t even sure that I could stay on Raolcan’s back if both my legs were ruined.
I will never let you fall.
Or that he could fly properly with just one eye.
I can do more with one eye than anyone else can do with two.
Could he land when he couldn’t see his spot accurately?
Seriously, this is getting insulting. Everything in life costs something. Sometimes it’s time. Sometimes it’s a physical wound. Sometimes it’s a huge gaping emotional pit inside you that never fills again. Sometimes those things are taken from you against your will, but sometimes you trade a little bit of your life for something glorious – something so worth it that the pain, the scars, the permanent change are nothing in comparison. Like when I traded freedom for you.
I had no words good enough in return to that, so I went back to my efforts with the Pipe. My piping – or practice at piping – eventually made it impossible for Dax to sleep and I watched him furtively as he rose, straightened his things and strode off into the bushes. Now was my chance. I glanced around to make sure no one was watching before carefully easing my crutch over from where Ephretti had put it beside Raolcan. Was she as anxious for me to finally be mobile as I was?
I leaned myself against the crutch on one side and Raolcan on the other and pushed myself up onto all fours. My injury twinged painfully and felt – strange – tight maybe? It was as if the injury was pulling at everything around it, grabbing at me so I wouldn’t move and would sit here forever. But I gently pushed up, refusing to surrender, so I was kneeling and holding both Raolcan and the crutch. So far, so upright.
This was the moment of truth.
I shifted slowly, carefully, into place and then pushed upward on my injured leg, grimacing at the pain, but refusing to let it stop me. With an effort, I made it to my feet. I leaned there on my crutch, gasping and huffing. I was going to need two crutches. The leg was holding me, but it was already trembling with the effort.
I looked around and squeaked when I caught Dax looking at me with a blank expression.
“I told you to wait.”
“I had to know.” My voice was small, but I wouldn’t apologize. I had the right to know how bad it was.
“Here.” He handed me a makeshift crutch with a twinkle in his eye. “It’s not a shining dragon-head crutch with a hidden weapon, but it’s the best I could come up with on short notice.”
“Thank you.” His smile warmed me. He knew I’d try! I slipped the other crutch under my arm and carefully tried a few steps. I was mobile!
Painful? Yes.
Stiff and sore? Yes.
But I could move.
I could feel my eyes misting with relief, but I sniffed away tears. I didn’t want Dax to catch me with tears in my eyes. He studied me carefully as I made a loop around the campsite.
“You’re moving well,” he said eventually. “The swelling is down, and the wound is closed, but you’ll be sore for a week at least. You need to build your strength up again. And that means lots of rest.”
“Can we leave today, then? It will take at least two days to get there.” Ephretti emerged from behind the pavilion, braiding her hair as she walked. “I should start packing now if we’re going to go.”
“Wait.” I pushed as much authority in my words as I could. It must have worked. Dax’s eyebrows shot up and Ephretti frowned, but she stopped walking and looked at me.
“Cabradis is closer than Vanika to our west. Croft and Dragon School are closer to the south of here. Why are you so insistent that we go to Vanika?”
Ephretti looked affronted. “What difference does it make as long as we are helping the cause?”
“I’m needed in the south,” I said it calmly, but tension coursed through me. I was certain she was holding something back.
“Vanika is where it all began.”
“So, you want to retake Vanika for poetic reasons?”
She scoffed.
“Ephretti, if you don’t give us a truthful answer, I won’t be going with you.” I kept my voice calm and quiet.
I could tell by her pursed lips and drawn eyebrows that she was angry, but seconds ticked out in awkward silence before she finally spoke.
“I just have a suspicion. When I lived in Vanika, there were rumors that under the city, on the ground – or maybe I should say in the ground, there was a passageway into the heart of the earth. I thought that perhaps if we retook Vanika, we could save weeks of travel for us and for the armies coming from Baojang. The rumor said that the passageway could take you inst
antly to a place near to Dominion City. If we managed it – well...”
It hit me like an arrow.
And you would know what that feels like.
“You don’t want to miss the battle to the south. You want to get there before ... before you die.”
Dax cleared his throat. “We still don’t know for sure that she’s dying.”
Ephretti rolled her eyes but then she nodded. “I just thought it might be a way to get your dragons there that much sooner – maybe even these Baojang allies, too.”
It’s brilliant. The warrens. The perfect way to move an army into place quickly.
I shivered. I did not have fond memories of the warrens.
“Well?” Ephretti was rocking forward and back like she truly couldn’t wait for my answer.
“It’s a good plan,” I said eventually. “And we’d be fools not to try.”
We could get there in time to help Savette. Maybe.
“Interesting,” was all Dax said, as he scribbled a note in his little book.
But as Dax and Ephretti made preparations to go and I sat on the ground sipping water and resting, little shivers of horror passed over me. My belly rolled too much to eat the fruit Ephretti brought me, even when Dax insisted that I needed it. I just kept seeing little bursts of memories in my mind’s eye. The warrens were not a place to which I wanted to return.
Chapter Five
I think you’re getting the hang of it. It’s sounding less like a dying rabbit all the time.
Oh, ha ha. I adjusted myself carefully in my seat. Both of my legs hurt, and we hadn’t even taken off yet. Ephretti had checked my safety straps four times – as if I couldn’t do it myself – and now I was trying to ignore the fact that she was tying another rope around me. Mounting Raolcan had been worse. I could pull myself only about three-quarters of the way up with my arms and when Ephretti stuck a shoulder under me and pushed me up with both hands on my bottom I felt like I was about two years old. My face was still hot with the humiliation of it.
Next time I’ll help you. I think I could get you most of the way up without help.
I was a Dragon Rider, not a sack of wheat. Or at least, I used to be one...
“Hold still, we don’t want you falling off mid-flight. And you’d better stop playing with that pipe and get it ready to call the dragons to follow us. I’ve had a talk with the people here and set them up for while we’re gone, but we can’t leave these wild dragons here. They make everyone nervous and we will need them to retake Vanika.”
I managed to suppress the irritation building up inside and simply say, “As you say, Ephretti.”
She coughed, spitting black goo on the ground when she caught her breath and I felt my cheeks grow hot. I should be kinder to her. She was just trying her best. She just wanted her life to mean something while she still had a life to live. Besides, wouldn’t it be nice to shave days or even weeks off of our trip south? And it would save that – wouldn’t it?
Feeling better about using the warrens again?
The same terrified sickening sensation of being squeezed against Raolcan as we wriggled through a tunnel rushed over me and I shivered. No, I was not feeling better.
“Hold still! I need to get these ropes right or they’ll chafe you!”
Was Raolcan ready for dealing with warrens again?
Ready for action!
Really?
Fear is the one great sin. It will make you do terrible things and winnow you away until you’re nothing but a shadow.
Dax trotted up on the back of a sleek white dragon. Its skin gleamed in the light, just translucent enough to make me shiver at memories of Troglodytes but still opaque enough to be a White and not a Trog. This one had a frilly mane with long white tendrils floating in the breeze.
“What’s your dragon’s name, Dax?” I asked, noting that he was leading Tyalmae with him. Ephretti’s dragon seemed healthy and strong. Hmmm. That was interesting, wasn’t it? She was sick, but he seemed fine.
“Idlosias,” Dax said, a smile on his face as he patted the White’s neck. The dragon didn’t seem to notice.
Typical White.
What did that even mean?
“Are you just about finished, Ephretti?” Dax asked.
“Just one more knot,” Ephretti said, cinching it so that I grunted from the sudden jerk. “It would take a lot to knock you off of Raolcan now!”
The second she was done, Raolcan launched into the air.
See? No need for two eyes!
I gripped his saddle with both hands, trying to keep doubt from my thoughts. He needed my assurance that everything would be fine – just as I needed his. Ephretti and Dax leapt into the air behind us, Ephretti gesturing wildly. She made me feel anxious all the time. Could she not just rest for a moment?
I think she wants you to blow the pipe and call the dragons to follow us.
Oh. That made sense. I gently adjusted the arm on the Pipe, took a steadying breath and tried to play the simple song that Dax taught me as we circled up, up, up into the heavens. Below us, the Healing Arches and the new settlement became small – a tiny dot of life on a green landscape.
As I played, hundreds of tiny specks leapt into the air like a cloud of dust. I watched the multi-colored cloud as it coalesced and then began to follow us in a bubbling cloud of enthusiasm. The tune carried me into an almost trance like state so that – despite my terrible musical skills – all I could hear with the notes of the Pipe ringing in my ears.
STOP.
I froze, the pipe still on my lips. I swallowed and pulled it back to my lap. What had I done to draw the Troglodytes notice? The icy stab of their communication still rang through me.
To my right, an angry Ephretti signed rapidly. Something about ‘are you trying to get us killed’ if I understood correctly. I looked to the left and saw Dax shaking his head. We led a cloud of dragons, their eyes misted over as if they, too, were in a trance. What did that mean?
Raolcan? What did that mean?
He was silent and after a moment I realized why. Tyalmae and Idlosias looked just as vacant-eyed as they flew. My hands trembled slightly. What if I’d just kept playing?
This Pipe had too much power. It shouldn’t be able to take free will away from dragons. I shivered. I must be very, very careful with this thing. It was far too dangerous – possibly even immoral. I placed a hand on Raolcan’s neck as an apology. Sorry, old friend. This is no way to treat you.
What if the Trogs hadn’t noticed and stopped me in time? How had they noticed, for that matter? They said that they watched me – was it through the eyes of the dragons or by some other means? It made me nervous to feel like I was being watched all the time – but also a little less alone. At least I couldn’t completely mess things up if someone was watching and yelling in my mind when I made a mistake.
Fortunately, we were heading in the right direction before the trance set in. I was still nervous, though, and I didn’t stop being nervous until an hour later when Raolcan shook himself lightly.
I gripped the saddle, grateful for Ephretti’s extra caution with the ropes. My teeth chattered together as he jostled me and my injured leg flared with pain.
Now that was intense. Maybe just a note or two next time, hmmm? It’s ... powerful. More powerful when it’s an actual tune, it seems.
Was he okay?
Right as rain.
He seemed to be, but I didn’t stop worrying about him as we flew for the rest of the day, or when we set up camp on the hills just past Cabradis. I could see the sky city from here, but with black holes in the distant structure, all did not appear to be well. Some sort of encampment had been set up at the base of the city and riders from there rode in our direction.
“We’ll sleep for four hours and then set out again,” Ephretti declared as we landed. “The horses won’t get here before then. And this time be more careful. I don’t want to ride a dragon who can’t think for himself. You’re their guide, not their master.”
“It was a mistake,” I replied, bristling a little. Ephretti was just so ... certain of herself all the time and certain that whatever I was doing just wasn’t good enough. Oddly, it made me want to impress her, which was strange. Shouldn’t I just want to strangle her?
I sort of do sometimes. She keeps on looking at my missing eye like I won’t catch her doing it since I only have half my vision.
I gently caressed his neck as I gathered myself to dismount.
“Don’t unsaddle him,” Ephretti commanded. “We don’t have time for that. We’ll have to eat a cold supper and just sleep.
Oh, thanks for asking, Ephretti. Yes, I can sleep in a saddle since you asked so nicely.
“I’ll help you down,” she said.
“I can do it myself.” If Raolcan helped me.
“You’re going to reopen the wound if you aren’t careful,” Dax said from beside Idlosias. “Let her help you.”
But I waved Ephretti away, slapping her hand when she tried to help me. She sighed and went to pull a cold dinner out of her bag, but her eyes stayed on me.
I finished untying the ropes and shuffled to the edge of Raolcan’s back, carefully pulling my shot leg over the side of his back and gripping his neck tightly as I slid off to the ground. I slid faster than I’d expected and hit the ground too hard. A gasp escaped through my teeth and my head felt light. I’d have to be more careful next time.
Ephretti shook her head but no one said anything as I reached for my crutches and blanket.
The company that evening was as uninviting as the camp. Dax and Ephretti were silent as we ate our cold food, drank our cold water, and they set up cold tents. I lay against Raolcan, glad for something hot in a sea of cold, but I was still worried about him, and worried about the broken, occupied city not far from here, and worried – most of all – about conquering what was left of Vanika and entering the warrens again. I couldn’t stop thinking of it as I drifted off and my dreams were all nightmares of fear and darkness.
Chapter Six
I was so tired by the time we reached Vanika that I wasn’t thinking straight. Ephretti woke me just three hours after we fell asleep with mutters about misjudging how fast the horses were. I had to submit to her hoisting me up on Roalcan – there wasn’t time to object – but it still took too long to get airborne. We were in the air just minutes before Baojang cavalry charged over the hillside, screaming battle cries and waving weapons.
Dragon School: Dragon Piper Page 2