Wyrmspire (Realm Keepers Book 2)

by Garrett Robinson

  “Be silent,” growled Bloodtooth.

  “You would forsake your clan?” said Blackscale. “You would abandon your family and the legacy of your father—our father?” His voice grew louder and louder with every note.

  Bloodtooth shot a look over his shoulder, peering all around. With dragon hearing, probably everyone on the mountain could hear him. “You are a fool for trusting the humans. You allow them to poison your mind, to twist you against your own people!” He whirled on Blackscale, baring his fangs and taking two steps forward.

  But Blackscale stepped right up to him, snout to snout, using his height to tower over his little brother. “And now you will spill the blood of an Elder? Is there no limit to your base spirit? Will you forfeit your life for her?”

  “Stop!”

  Sarah leapt forward, her voice cutting through the argument. Both dragons paused, looking down at her, but the snarls remained on their faces.

  “Please, Elder Blackscale,” said Sarah. “This is what we don’t want—violence. We’re not trying to cause tension or harm to human or dragon. If Elder Redwing wants to meet with us, we’ll meet with her. We’ve still got a couple of hours before the sun goes down.”

  “Danger lines this path,” said Blackscale. “I urge you to reconsider.”

  Sarah shrugged. Incredibly, with two massive dragons looming over her, I saw her smile a sad little smile. “Danger has lined every path we’ve walked since we came to this world. Some people want to kill us with swords, others with speeches. But we’ll talk with Elder Redwing if it will keep the peace on the mountain. There’s going to be plenty of time for war and fighting later.”

  There was a beat while Blackscale thought about that. Then he stepped away, stopped snarling, and bent low to touch his snout to the ground. “Your wisdom is a tribute to your race, Keeper of Earth,” he said. “In this matter, I will respect your wish.”

  He straightened again and turned to his brother. “Run, Bloodtooth. Run to your mistress and tell her she will have her audience. But do not think I have forgotten this. Do not think I will ever forget it if in the end I am proven right.”

  Bloodtooth turned away and flew off without a word.

  “So I’m guessing that what Bloodtooth and Redwing are…doing…is a very big no-no?” I said.

  Blackscale glanced at me. “It is of the Spire. Unless at great need, I would not discuss it.”

  I shrugged. “Fine by me, chief.”

  “We should get going,” said Sarah, giving me an evil look. “I don’t want him to have to come back.”

  Blackscale sighed and turned to walk toward the path that would lead us back toward the dragon nests. “Anything that can be used against you in the Council will be at the forefront of Redwing’s mind,” he said as he walked. He almost sounded like he was talking to himself, but his voice was plenty loud enough to carry back to us. “Every thought must be guarded. Every word must be carefully chosen. You must remember the high laws. If she can catch you in a lie, it will be the first thing she will bring to the Council. Then your lives are as good as lost.”

  “Understood,” said Sarah with a nod.

  “Tell her nothing of the temple, if you can help it,” said Blackscale. “It seems to me that it would be best if the Keeper of Earth were to be the strongest voice. I will help if I can.”

  “Help us talk, or help in case she tries to eat us?” I said.

  “Blade!” said Sarah.

  “Pledge has been given,” said Blackscale. “Not all will have heard, but enough will. Her life is forfeit if she touches you. Redwing is too self-serving to risk that.”

  The rest of our walk was in silence. We crossed the narrow path across the mountain’s face to reach the dragon nests again.

  “There lives Bloodtooth,” said Blackscale, swinging his nose in the general direction of a cave not far away. “Remember. Silence is best, when it can be managed. Words are a last result, and must be carefully chosen.”

  “Understood,” said Sarah. She looked back at the rest of us, eyes narrowed. We mumbled in assent.

  Bloodtooth lurked outside the entrance to the cave as we approached. Probably waiting to make sure we actually showed, I thought to myself. The cave was much, much bigger than Nightclaw’s. It was about twice as wide, and it went farther into the mountain than hers did. There was something else interesting: a wall that blocked the farther half of it, with a gap on the left side for a dragon to enter and exit, and a thick, heavy door. The door had no handle; dragons weren’t big on opposable thumbs. They probably pushed it open and closed with their snouts.

  “Nice digs,” I mumbled. But even I felt the need to subdue my regular attempts at humor. We were in a lion’s den, and I knew it.

  Blackscale came in behind us. Bloodtooth followed him, laying his bulk down in the center of the doorway: a guard to prevent us from trying to escape, I supposed.

  From the back room emerged Redwing. Her eyes scanned the room, taking in each of us in turn before settling on Blackscale.

  “Elder Blackscale,” she said, giving the barest of nods. “I appreciate your cooperation in this matter. And in such a timely fashion.”

  Blackscale said nothing, just stared her down, his eyes thin slits.

  “Welcome, Realm Keepers,” said Redwing, inclining her head even less than she had for Blackscale. “Though Bloodtooth relayed my promise already, I give it again now: you are safe from me and mine within this place, and upon the mountain, until the Council decides what to do with you.”

  “Thank you,” said Sarah. She said it like she wanted to say something else, but decided against it at the last second. Clever girl, I thought.

  “I would like to speak with you,” said Redwing. “As Elder of my clan, it falls upon me to ask you questions, to ascertain your purpose for traveling all this way and request our assistance. I hope you find this agreeable.”

  “Of course. We’ll tell you anything you want to know,” said Sarah. I realized suddenly that she’d stopped the non-stop bowing she did with Blackscale and Cloudsplitter. I couldn’t help but smirk. I hoped Redwing noticed it, too.

  “I wish to speak to this one first,” said Redwing. She inclined her head, tilting her snout down and pointing it right at Tess.

  My hackles went up, and my hands clenched to fists at my side. “No way,” I said.

  “Blade,” Sarah warned.

  “Why me?” asked Tess. Her voice was even smaller than usual in the face of the massive dragon looming above her.

  “Scarcely have I heard more than five words from you since you arrived,” said Redwing, her lips peeling back from her teeth. “I am…curious about you.”

  “That was not the deal,” I said. “We’re all here to talk to you. Talk to all of us.”

  “Blade!” said Sarah. She stepped up to me, trying to catch my eye. I ignored her, looking over the top of her head at Redwing.

  “A private audience cannot be denied, surely?” said Redwing, her voice the picture of innocence. “How am I to know who to speak to? How can I know where best my questions may be placed? And I am sure that each of you has such…interesting stories to tell.” Her smile remained plastered on her face. I wanted to send a fireball straight into it.

  “You want to talk to someone alone, talk to me,” I said. “Or are you scared of anyone but the smallest, you pathe—”

  Sarah reached out and slapped me full in the face.

  I reeled back—not from pain, but from shock. My eyes came up blazing, and without even thinking I threw fire into my hands. Samuel leapt forward to place himself between us, while Cara, watching warily from the front of the group, ran to intercept.

  Sarah threw her hand to the side, and a wall of stone jutted from the floor to push Samuel out of the way. Another sprang up behind her, blocking Cara from interfering. It formed a corridor of stone with just her and me, the dragons looming above.

  “You are not helping,” said Sarah. “You’re not helping me, yourself, or Tess.” />
  I froze. My heart was thundering. My hands itched.

  “You are smarter than this,” said Sarah. “What you’re doing right now, is not thinking. So think.”

  Something in the back of my mind listened to her. Even though every fiber of my body wanted to react, something in my head ran through the scenario. Redwing had lured us here. She’d made us agree to this. If we refused to talk to her, we were liars. If we refused to talk to her alone, she’d call it off and complain to the Council that we’d refused to meet with her.

  If I kept pushing to take Tess’ place, that would only increase her interest in Tess. I’d probably already done irreparable damage now. Redwing knew that I didn’t want her in a room alone with Tess. Maybe she’d think it was because I was afraid for Tess’ safety. But the dragons had strict laws about giving your word, and she’d given her word not to harm her. So more likely, she’d think I didn’t want her to talk to Tess because Tess knew something. Something that would help Redwing in her case against us in the Council. And that meant that Redwing had to find out what it was, and wouldn’t let up on Tess until she did.

  Whatever I’d feared would happen to Tess, I’d probably just made it ten times worse.

  All of this went through my head in the space of a couple of seconds. My body relaxed. My arms fell to my sides, the flames dying out. The tension in my gut turned to roiling sickness. I thought I might throw up. I’d tried to help, but only ruined things.

  If only you would think about these things ahead of time, said an annoyingly familiar voice in my head, just think how much trouble you’d save yourself.

  Meridia, I swear to God, I’m going to…I couldn’t think of a good ending, so I decided to leave it.

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  Sarah flicked her wrist, and the stone walls sank into the floor, vanishing like they’d never been there. Without answering me, she turned back to Redwing.

  I couldn’t let this go. I had to do something. I stepped forward. Cara tensed, but I waved her away.

  “Please forgive me,” I said. “When the commander of the armies of Chaos attacked our city, I took Tess and left the city with her to try and kill him. I wanted to put an end to this war. It was stupid, but I’m not the smartest Realm Keeper we’ve got. With her powers of Mind, she got us all the way into his camp, just outside his tent. I attacked him, but he was too strong. We barely managed to get away in time. I feel…responsible for making sure she’s okay.”

  “He’s being modest,” said Sarah, picking up the thread. “Terrence knocked Tess out, and Blade fought through the camp alone, carrying her the whole way. It was only through his bravery and his quick thinking that they were able to escape alive. Ever since then, he’s felt particularly responsible for her safety. It can cloud his judgement sometimes, but can you really blame him? When two people go through an experience that intense, that dangerous, it binds them in a way that nothing else can. Emotion can confuse our minds sometimes. Don’t you think?”

  Sarah gave a furtive glance over her shoulder. Not at Blackscale, but at Bloodtooth sitting in the doorway.

  Oh, you sneaky, sneaky girl, I thought. From boiling mad at her thirty seconds ago, I felt a wave of admiration for Sarah wash over me. Not only was she giving a convincing argument for the way I’d acted, but she was subtly hinting that we knew about Redwing’s affair with Bloodtooth—if an “affair” was what you would call it.

  Redwing was silent a long moment before she answered. When she did, the tone of her voice wasn’t pretty. “Your stories and infighting do not concern me,” she growled. “Will this one come and speak with me, or will you leave? I would be most displeased to have to report to the Council that the Realm Keepers would not even deign to meet with me.”

  I realized that Tess was looking at me. Her eyes were awash with a mix of emotions: anxiety, concern, and relief. Once she caught my eye, she nodded, then turned back to Redwing. “I’ll speak with you if you like,” she said.

  Redwing turned without answering and went into the room. Tess followed her slowly. I watched her, waiting for her to give a final backward glance before going inside. She didn’t. The massive stone door swung shut behind her.

  I went to Sarah, but I couldn’t look her in the eye. So, gaze fixed firmly on the toes of my boots, I mumbled, “So…that happened.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her raise an eyebrow. “And you’re…”

  I sidestepped it. “Wishing I didn’t do that, that’s what.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Okay. I’m sorry I slapped you.”

  “I can neither confirm nor deny that you should have,” I said, rubbing my cheek. “Besides, you hit like a girl.”

  She shook her head and looked at the ceiling. “Honestly, Blade, sometimes…”

  “Yeah, I know,” I said.

  After that there was nothing to do but wait. So one by one, we sat ourselves down on the floor in a little cluster. Everyone tried not to look at the door at the end of the room. One by one, everyone failed.

  “Somehow, when I found out I was a wizard in another world, I didn’t see this on the list of things I’d have to deal with,” said Miles.

  “I don’t think any of us did, Miles,” said Sarah.

  “You’ve got to admit,” said Raven, “if anyone out there is ill-equipped to deal with diplomacy with a whole other species, it’s six high school kids from Earth.”

  “Well, until Greystone gets back on the line with us, I don’t think we’ve got too much choice in the matter,” said Calvin. “It could be worse.”

  I looked at him in disbelief. “How? How could it be worse?”

  Calvin shrugged with a smile. “Oh, come on, it could be lots worse. What if the prophecy said that all of us were going to die if we were going to beat Chaos? What if we’d lost the siege of Morrowdust? If you think about it, I think we’re actually doing pretty okay.”

  “Oh, sure,” said Miles. He gave Bloodtooth an ugly look. “We’re here trying to convince an entire mountain full of dragons not to eat us. And if we survive that, it’s just us and a few scattered armies against the unending horde of Chaos. Who, by the way, are led by a guy who has the powers of all six elements.”

  “Ah,” said Calvin, holding up a finger. “But we don’t have to fight all the ex-Realm Keepers.”

  You all are not so dense as that, are you? said Meridia. Don’t tell me you…Chaos below, you don’t know?

  I glared at the ring on my finger. “What are you talking about, Meridia?”

  Sarah glanced at me. “What? What did she say?”

  I looked at her. “She didn’t talk to all of you?”

  Of course I didn’t. I didn’t want to make you all feel foolish.

  Just me, huh? I thought angrily.

  I can’t believe that you, of all people, didn’t put the pieces together, said Meridia.

  “Blade?” said Sarah.

  “Hold on,” I said out loud. What pieces? What are you talking about? I said in my head.

  The lich. The creature you fought on the walls of the Runehold during the siege of Morrowdust.

  Yeah? What about him?

  Not him, you simple-minded fool. Her.

  Before I could ask what she meant, my mind filled with images. I saw Terrence standing over a body in a cave. Behind him were four others on stone slabs. I saw a tall black man, a shorter, pale, red-haired woman. I saw a man with olive skin and a thin mustache, and finally a tall man with pale skin and blonde hair.

  But the body that Terrence loomed over commanded my attention. It was a woman. Slightly greater than average height, an Asian face, and long dark hair that fell well below her shoulders. She wore robes that were entirely too familiar: Realm Keeper robes, with a blue collar, cuffs and belt.

  She was once known as Reiko, the Keeper of Water, said Meridia

  I felt a chill seep through my blood. Was? What are you talking about?

  Terrence produced a glass orb from the shadows that was half-fille
d with water. But something was…wrong with it. It took me a moment before I realized that the water was sitting in the top half of the orb, rather than resting on the bottom.

  Terrence muttered words I couldn’t understand, even with my Realm Keeper enchantment. He spoke on and on, concentrating furiously on the woman’s face. And as he spoke, a light began to shine from the orb. But to call it a light was almost wrong. It was more like a radiating darkness. It sprang from the orb and became tendrils, tendrils that seeped into the woman’s body. It sank into the pores of her skin.

  Terrence raised her from the dead using Wyrdspeech and the power of an ancient artifact said Meridia. An artifact much like the one you now hold me in.

  The woman’s eyes snapped open. They were pale, misted by death. Sightless.

  I’d seen them before. At the Runehold, in the siege of Morrowdust.

  As though my thought had been a command, I saw the creature marching toward us in the siege. The same dead eyes. Pale, wasted skin. Silver armor that made her look taller. Now that I was looking for it, I saw the black hair tumbling out from under the back of the helmet.

  She screamed in fury as she summoned Water from the air and drove it into the Runehold’s outer wall. She froze the ice like I’d seen Miles do a thousand times before, making it expand and shatter the stone around it.

  The images flashed away, and I was back in the nest with the others.

  It took me a second to find my voice. “Oh my God, guys. Terrence—”

  Say nothing of this!

  I stopped short. What? Why? The others should know.

  Her name was Lady Reiko. She was the Keeper of Water. She was also Barius’ wife. Knowing this would destroy him.

  I glanced at Barius. His eyes were fixed on me like everyone else’s. For some reason, I expected to see suspicion in his eyes. Somehow I thought I could imagine him hearing what I was thinking, even though there was no way that was possible.

  He should know the truth.

  Do you know the pain it would cause him? Do you know how it feels to lose the one dearest to him? To whom he was married longer than you have been alive?