“Yes. I have not completely let go since the Hatching. My presence helps keep the young one focused. She and Taela are struggling. The one called Sadira is very suspicious and dislikes them intensely. Taela feels a great deal of fear toward the woman. I am afraid to leave Paki and her completely alone.”
“Does Taela know you are there?”
“Yes, it brings her much comfort.”
Maleena reached out along the path she remembered to Taela’s mind. It was early evening there and she paced in her quarters. Maleena felt for her. For the first several months she had slept no farther than the distance across the hatchling lair from Nydara. Even now, she and Mckale slept just on the other side of an open doorway from their two massive dragons. Maleena couldn’t imagine being forced to sleep away from Nydara. She didn’t make full contact with the other woman, but she did send comforting waves down the path to help ease her mind.
Nydara banked to the right and they left the waters behind, gliding out over the mountains and the forests. From the memory of what Maleena saw in the bowl, both she and Nydara could see in their minds the rock of the Kormai entrance and the canyon leading to it. A thin forest of tall black rocks rose straight up like sharp deadly fingers a short distance away.
A sudden pulling sensation drew a startled cry from Maleena. The world around them swirled and blurred into a confusion of colors then snapped back. Hot desert wind struck Maleena full in the face and took her breath away. Her skin tightened as sweat beaded from every pore.
Below them in the dimming light of evening, the black rocks of the Kormai reared up from the desert floor. Nydara roared in shock at the sight and was answered by the thunderous roars of those in the Kormai.
“Nydara,” Maleena tried to suppress rising panic as she battled through the red haze enveloping the dragon’s mind, “how are we here?”
Below, something large and dark lifted off from the canyon floor. “Shadows! Evil, tainted shadows! They must be burned back!” Nydara raged and dove toward the rising darkness.
“Nydara, no!” Maleena’s heart pounded in her chest. The hot wind stole her breath as the dragon dove. She focused her entire mind and strength on Nydara. “We must get away! How did we get here?” She pushed a picture of the bay, like they had seen it just moments before, into the dragon’s mind.
The sound of another set of wings beating the air drew her attention. A black dragon, its eyes gleaming green and despair beneath its wings, flew at them. Nydara coughed smoke and a small spout of fire before turning to flee. None of the dragons had flamed yet, but Nydara tried.
The Shadow Dragon spit a small amount of dark green flames. Agony seared through Maleena’s left side, thigh, and arm. Nydara screamed with shared pain and twisted away. Maleena beat at the flames, tears welling in her eyes from the sting of burning skin.
The picture of the bay solidified in Nydara’s mind. The air ahead of them rippled and swirled, then collapsed on itself. Again the dragon tried to form a fold to Slide through, but it too collapsed before it opened.
The silver jerked as the black dragon slammed into her. Its claws tore through her back leg. Nydara roared in pain as crimson blood splashed across her silver scales. She whipped around in the air. Her jaws closed over the black neck just behind the head. The Shadow Dragon roared and ripped free. It banked away. Black scales, torn loose by Nydara’s teeth, flew through the air.
Maleena clung to the saddle, the skin of her leg blistered from hip to ankle. Her heart pounded in her ears. Her stomach churned with fear, but still she held the picture of the bay clear in her mind. As the Shadow Dragon broke off, Nydara tried another Slide. It swirled, almost opened, and collapsed.
Two more shadows lifted off from the canyon floor.
The first Shadow Dragon came back around. Its mouth opened and more dark green flame spewed forth. Black flame flew from the rider’s hand, too. Nydara flipped to the side to shield Maleena. Black and green fire scored along her underside.
Unprepared for Nydara’s defensive move, Maleena’s weight was thrown against the straps burned by the flames. She fell from the saddle and felt the brief tug of the catcher strap on her leg before the burned leather gave way. Hot air rushed past her. Above, the shadow spit more unnatural flames, blackening Nydara’s wing.
She wove a quick net of magic and threw it at the rider of the Shadow Dragon. The black peeled away from Nydara, its rider screaming and clutching her head. The net wouldn’t last long. Nydara dove for Maleena. Ignoring the wind rushing in her ears as she fell through the sky, Maleena pushed the picture of the bay into Nydara’s mind. “Slide!”
“Not without you.”
She read determination in the dragon’s mind. “Slide. There are too many, they will kill you. Slide now!”
The two new black dragons sent small streams of green flame toward the silver. The air rippled like swirling heat waves in front of Nydara as the fold opened. The green fire arced across empty space as the silver disappeared into the Slide.
The wind roared in Maleena’s ears as pain and darkness enfolded her.
The cold breeze off the bay chilled Kellinar’s skin. The damp boards of the dock under his feet creaked with the push and pull of the water. With one hand shading his eyes against the afternoon sun, he watched the intertwining dance of every air current, alive and visible to his eyes. The natural winds and those created by the Weather mages wove together in the clear air. The careful balance of magic and nature was beautiful.
An anxious sending from Shryden disrupted his thoughts. “Something is wrong! Maleena and Nydara are gone from here!”
Kellinar’s pulse quickened as adrenaline poured into his veins. “What do you mean gone from here? Taken?”
“I do not know. Somehow they are not here. They are far to the east and under attack…shadows!” The last was accompanied by a roar. Even down on the docks, so far from the hold, the thunder of the combined dragon voices roaring in rage and fear, echoed across the water. Kellinar felt Shryden lifting off to fly to him. As he turned to look for his dragon, a ripple in the sky caught his attention. It looked like a large whirlpool of heat waves in the sky above the water.
It lasted only a moment before Nydara burst through it. Screaming in pain and loss, the silver fell through the air and crashed into the water several yards from the dock.
“Oh, no. No. No. No.” Blackened scales marred her neck and shoulder. Where was Maleena? In the distance, Tellnox bellowed. Through Shryden, Kellinar knew all of the dragons and riders were winging their way to the bay as fast as they could.
He didn’t bother to wait. He flung himself into the water and swam to the silver, who splashed blindly toward the shore. He reached her as she gained shallow water. Up close he saw the torn and blistered wing, the empty saddle with its burned safety straps. He laid a steadying hand on her neck.
“Shryden, hurry, help me. Nydara’s hurt pretty bad.”
“I see it and have passed the picture to Miya. She passed it on to Serena. She is prepared to heal Nydara. Do you see Maleena anywhere? Is she in the water?”
“No, the straps are burned. She wasn’t in the saddle when Nydara came back.”
Kellinar looked toward the hold. Shryden and the rest were almost to the bay. Kellinar stared beyond them, a sinking feeling in his stomach. A larger dragon rose from the hold. Mernoth’s damaged wings made it painful for him to do much more than lift himself to the crater rim. Despite that, he now flew toward them. How bad could the situation be? What would prompt the venerable dragon to put himself through the discomfort?
Nydara staggered partway onto shore and fell to the ground, her head on the sand. Her left wing lay limp in the water. One back leg was ripped open near the hip. Blood ran freely over the silver scales and into the water.
The other dragons’ wings whipped the air around him and the silver as they landed. Shryden settled himself in the water behind Kellinar. Mckale leaped out of the saddle as Tellnox landed next to Nydara. Kellinar shook his
head. The man hadn’t fastened any of his safety straps for the brief flight.
Mckale, his face expressionless, strode to Nydara. He knelt next her head and looked her in the eye. “What are they doing?” Kellinar sent to Shryden.
“She is replaying what happened for him.”
Within minutes Tellnox took what they had shared and passed it around. The sick feeling in Kellinar’s stomach grew. How had they ended up in the Kormai? Maleena fell so far, could she still be alive?
“I can’t feel her,” Mckale’s voice was strained. “Where she has always been, there is nothing.” The desolation in his friend’s silver eyes made Kellinar’s chest tighten. If Maleena was dead… He barely noticed the shaking beneath his feet at first. It started quietly and built until the groaning of the ground became a backdrop to the roar that tore from Mckale’s throat and was answered by the dragons.
Kellinar staggered to Mckale’s side and grabbed his shoulder. “You have to stop this,” he shouted over the noise. “Shaking Galdrilene apart is not going to deliver her to you, my friend.” Seeing Mckale lose control of his emotions was almost as frightening as seeing Nydara burst out of the sky, injured and minus her rider.
Serena marched across the shaking ground as if it shook every day and she was used to walking on such. She stopped in front of Mckale and smacked him across the face with a full armed swing. The shaking stopped. Mckale looked at her with the same stunned expression on his face that Kellinar knew must be on his own.
She planted her fists on her hips and studied him for a moment through narrowed eyes before giving a sharp nod. “That should do. Sometimes you just have to smack the shock out of people, it’s the only healing that will work.” She stabbed a finger into Mckale’s chest. “That will be enough of that from now on. Is that understood? I know you’re worried about Maleena, but shaking Galdrilene and terrifying those who live here, not to mention possibly causing injuries, is not the way to show it. It sure doesn’t help me heal Nydara.”
“I can’t feel her. She is gone,” Mckale’s said in a ragged whisper.
“Then she must be unconscious.”
“Nydara can’t feel her either. What if she is…?”
Serena shook her head, exasperation written on her face. “Be practical and think with your mind, not your heart, Mckale. Nydara is alive and strong. She’s not fading. We are our dragon’s anchors in this world. As long as Nydara lives, so does Maleena.”
Mckale nodded and seemed to accept Serena’s reasoning. Kellinar let go of Mckale’s shoulder as Serena pushed past them. “Now out of my way; Nydara needs healing.”
Kellinar watched Serena lay her hands on the silver’s wing. He couldn’t see the magic that flowed from Serena, he didn’t have Healing magic, but he could see the results. The blisters disappeared. The ragged tear in her wing and along her hip slowly closed. The blackened scales faded back to silver. Or almost silver.
He narrowed his eyes. No, it wasn’t a trick of the light. The burned scales looked dull and gray. Why? He would have to ask Serena when they had time to discuss it.
Nydara turned her head when it was done, her large, violet eyes tragic, and looked at her wing. She folded it and unfolded it several times as if to make sure it was right again.
Mernoth made a slow descent, landing a little away from where Kellinar and the others were gathered. Emallya rode in front of Bardeck for the flight down. She normally avoided flying as much as possible. She said it reminded her too much of what she lost. The return of a riderless Nydara must be enough for her to fly.
As soon as all four of Mernoth’s clawed feet were on the ground, and Bardeck let loose the tight grip around her waist, Emallya leaped down. She ran across the beach and knelt next to Nydara.
“What, in the name of the Fates happened Emallya? How did they end up over the Kormai?” Kellinar asked her.
“They Slid.”
“They what?”
Emallya sighed. “They had to have a clear picture of where they were going and I am guessing they got it from Taela’s mind.”
Vaddoc frowned. “I thought our dragons were too young,”
“We have never heard of a dragon under the age of two Sliding. But then we have never known a dragon under two to flame either and Nydara has done both today. You have all–both riders and dragons–matured, grown, and progressed at a much faster rate than we have ever seen before. We expected this would also happen sooner, but not quite this soon.”
“How–” Kellinar started to ask but Emallya cut him off.
“Now is not the time for how, that will have to be discussed later before we move to rescue her.” She turned her attention to the silver. “Lend me your strength and perhaps together we can find what has become of your rider.” She laid her hands on the silver’s massive head.
To Kellinar, time seemed to stop. As if everything around them paused and waited to hear Emallya’s verdict. Beside him, Mckale stood still as stone, his face devoid of expression. Kellinar turned away from the deadly calm and the promise of violence he saw in the steely eyes of his friend. Vaddoc stood in an almost identical stance. The two were like coiled springs. Kellinar was very glad they were on his side. Serena stood close to Nydara, worry written on her face.
Kirynn lounged next to Syrakynn. To the crowd of Galdrilene inhabitants who gathered along the docks and farther up the shore, Kellinar supposed Kirynn appeared completely at ease. But after a year spent in close company with the woman, Kellinar knew she was just as ready and more deadly than either of the bordermen.
Emallya let out her breath and pulled away from Nydara. Bardeck, his eyes full of concern, stepped to her side and put an arm around her waist. “Did you find her?”
Emallya leaned into him and nodded. “It was difficult, even with my and Nydara’s combined strength and magic. She is unconscious–which is why it was so difficult–and in pain even so.” A cry went up from several of the people crowded around.
Kellinar glanced at Mckale. Only the flexing of muscles as his jaw clenched and unclenched showed the reaction in his friend. Kellinar thought maybe he preferred the man who shouted and shook the earth. He looked back at Emallya. “Anything else?”
Emallya shook her head and sighed. “No. I wish there was. We cannot even mount a rescue until we know more.”
“Why not?” Mckale asked, his voice quiet.
Vaddoc moved to stand next to Mckale. “We do not know where to rescue her from, my friend.”
“We know she was above the Kormai,” Mckale said.
Bardeck nodded. “Yes, but we know nothing after that. Is she outside the Kormai, which would be preferable or captured and taken within?”
Mckale turned toward Nydara, who raised her head up and stared at him. There was a long silence before he spoke again. “She was captured and taken within. She is bleeding from a wound on her head and in a cell.”
Emallya stepped away from Bardeck, her eyes intense. “How do you know this? Is Maleena awake?”
“No, but Taela is.”
“The woman who connected with her?”
“Yes. Nydara said up until they Slid, she kept a link with the newly hatched dragon. She was so shocked at first she lost the link and then forgot about it in the midst of all that happened. She completed the link again and asked Taela, through her draclet Paki, what became of Maleena.”
Emallya pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “We know where she is, now we must get back to the Dragon Hold. You must all learn to Slide before we can help her.” She turned toward the riderless dragon. “Even you Nydara. You have Slid twice by accident, now you must learn to do it at will.” She walked toward Mernoth. “Come, we do not have much time.”
Kirynn stepped forward and caught Emallya by the arm. “But there has never been a successful rescue of someone taken inside the Kormai.”
Emallya sighed. “I know, but we have to try. It is no longer just the book. It is the very future of Galdrilene we must try to rescue.”
Kellinar stared at Nydara’s empty saddle. “How are the safety straps supposed to help us in battle if they can be burned like that?”
Emallya followed his gaze. “These are training saddles. They were never meant to go into battle. Your permanent saddles will have spells laid on them to keep them from burning so easily.”
“I will accompany you when you fly for the Kormai,” Mckale said, the tone of his voice leaving no room for argument.
Emallya nodded. “Of course.”
Bardeck climbed up on Mernoth and helped Emallya up in front of him after securing his safety straps. He glanced at Mckale. “Don’t forget your straps this time borderman; you will do Maleena no good if you fall from your saddle. Kellinar, since Shryden took off before we could get his saddle on, you will need to fly carefully or preferably, with another.”
Kellinar boosted himself up on the blue. “I will fly careful.”
As a group they lifted into the air. Nydara flew close to Mckale and Tellnox. The burned catcher strap swung in the air below her, emphasizing the empty saddle on her back.
Maleena struggled through the heavy fog in her mind. With great effort, she pushed through the dark confusion. A rough surface pressed against her back. Cold, clammy air clung to her skin. Her head throbbed and sharp pain stabbed at her ribs. Her eyes opened. She lay on her back on the floor in a dim room. Iron bars crisscrossed the only opening. A cell. How long had she been there? Nydara. Where was Nydara?
Deep shadows pooled in the back of the cell. Somewhere beyond the bars a fitful torch flickered. The light danced across the rough-hewn ceiling and walls. She turned her head to look around and pain pierced her skull. With a moan she reached up to grab her head. More pain stabbed into her ribs. She cried out and rolled to her side, curling her legs up.
Maleena tried to reach out for Nydara, but her thoughts shattered. Her breath came in shallow gasps around the agony in her side. She must have broken a rib, maybe two. Thirst made her tongue feel swollen and she licked at her lips, wincing when her tongue ran across the split in her lower lip. The skin on her left side felt like it was on fire from ankle to waist.
Embers at Galdrilene Page 33