Bridge of Legends- The Complete Series

by Sarah K. L. Wilson

  “It reflects magic back,” she said, her concentration clearly on the shell and not his words. “And I saw ones like it in my visions of the past – Ram was using them to help trap the dragons. Maybe we can use this one for that.”

  “It’s a lot smaller than the one we saw them using in Choan,” Tamerlan said. It was a nice thought, but if they’d needed a big one to make a Legend, wouldn’t a big shell be needed to trap a dragon, too?

  She turned to the boy. “What’s your name?”

  “Rajit.” He seemed sullen.

  “And what are you doing in H’yi?”

  He shrugged.

  “Why didn’t you leave with everyone else?”

  “Is this some kind of a guessing game? Look, Scenter, I took you to help me find something, okay? Something I’m looking for. Or at least, something my benefactor is looking for.”

  “And you need a Scenter to find it?” she asked.

  “If I didn’t, then I would have found it by now. I’ve been looking since before this city burned. Looking since before the dragon rose into the sky. Looking since before Summernight.”

  “What are you looking for?” Marielle asked.

  “Like I’d tell you.”

  Tamerlan watched him. He really could be Jhinn’s brother. He was just as daring, just as quick – but twisted somehow. Untrustworthy. Although, when Tamerlan thought about it, Jhinn could be untrustworthy, too. Just never with him.

  “It might be a good adventure,” Tamerlan offered. If he was Jhinn’s brother, he wouldn’t be able to say no to this. “Here you are, trapped on top of a flying dragon in a burnt-out city – so close to your goal that you know it could be around any corner, and yet so far away. It must gnaw at you. It must make you angry to be so close and yet not to have it.” The boy’s eyes burned with anger. “And now here a Scenter drops in your lap. And she can find the thing you want. But only if you tell her. It’s both a blessing and a curse – and maybe an adventure. And that’s what you’re promised in life, right? An adventure?”

  “Who told you that?”

  “One of Queen Mer’s people.”

  He spat. “I hate them.”

  “But not enough to disagree.”

  He shrugged before looking at Marielle. “Stop threatening me with that knife and I’ll tell you.”

  Marielle took the knife from his throat and took a step back but she still held it in her clenched fist, as if ready to change her mind at any moment.

  “It’s a book. A chronicle, my benefactor said. Everything known about Ram the Hunter and how he first trapped the dragons, and it belongs to her.”

  “Put me down,” Etienne sighed and Tamerlan startled. He’d almost forgotten about him in the excitement. His shoulder protested as he carefully put Etienne down on his feet. Tamerlan expected him to take a moment to recover, but instead, he spun quickly, his hand shooting out and grabbing Rajit by the throat. “Your benefactor. Is it Allegra Spellspinner?”

  “Who’s asking?”

  Etienne laughed harshly and Tamerlan clenched his jaw. “The man who will squeeze the life out of you if you lie to me.”

  “Yes,” Rajit said. “It is.”

  “Fine. Then I’m taking over your contract. You work for me now.”

  “And who are you?” he asked, boldly, defiantly.

  “Allegra’s benefactor,” Etienne snarled. “Which means that you’ve always worked for me. And now we get to work. Find Marielle whatever she needs to hunt this book. I want it found before nightfall.”

  Tamerlan swallowed. The book would be good. If the Legends wouldn’t tell them what they needed to know, then finding it out themselves was essential. But he didn’t like having to trust this boy. He didn’t like that he’d tried to kidnap Marielle. His eyes drifted to her again and she stiffened her spine.

  “There were no others helping you, were there?” she asked Rajit coldly.

  “But you believed there were, and that’s all that counts,” he said with an impish grin.

  Tamerlan felt his temper flare up. Marielle’s narrowed eyes were all that he needed to see to know that she hadn’t been fooled, but he didn’t like that Rajit had tried to trick her. He didn’t like this little guttersnipe at all.

  More than that, he was frustrated. He wanted to scoop Marielle up in his arms and take her away to somewhere safe away from all of this, and then he wanted to wrap his arms around her and kiss her until she sighed his name.

  And yet, the closer he tried to get to her, the more he realized that he shouldn’t do any of that. If she needed protection from anyone, it was from the people in his head.

  He clenched his fists and closed his eyes fighting the tremble in his limbs that begged him to smoke. The scent of the spice sang to him, reminding him of how good it felt to take in just one breath – or not even good, just necessary.

  No, Marielle shouldn’t trust him. She shouldn’t want him. For too long he’d been a vessel of the Legends, and she should fear him. He was full of the spirits of their enemies and he couldn’t even promise he wouldn’t give in to them again, not just because he craved the herbs that brought them to life, but because in every action, every movement, they became more and more powerful and more and more capable of taking him by force.

  Even now, he thought that they might only be playing with him – pretending to let him run free when really he was their captive. One they could bend to their will at any time.

  She shouldn’t trust him and he shouldn’t trust himself. He needed to warn her of that while he still could.

  7: Scent of a Story

  Marielle

  “If they stole lanterns with oil, can you track that?” Etienne asked Marielle. He held Rajit by the upper arm.

  Tamerlan had drifted over to the map on the wall, studying it intently. She smiled slightly. Of course, he’d be as interested as she was about that. Any little bit of new knowledge fascinated him.

  “No more than I can already track them by their smells,” Marielle said. “But I can smell other things here. Preserves. Dried meat. This boy has a collection of food here and we promised Jhinn we would bring him some when we found it.”

  “That can wait,” Etienne said. “Daylight is fading. We need to find the Retribution before they do something hasty.”

  “No,” Tamerlan disagreed from beside the map. “Did you look at this?”

  Was he seeing something Marielle had missed?

  “Someone vandalized a map?” Etienne asked cynically. “So what? I’m sure there are plenty of destroyed things in the city.”

  “It was either Anglarok or Liandari,” Marielle said. “When they came here to steal, they couldn’t help but correct the map to add their lands across the sea. You can see the names of the cities.”

  Etienne stepped closer, dragging Rajit with him. “And what does that matter? So, there’s a map. I’ve seen these lands drawn before.”

  “He picked out the dragons under the cities on the Dragonblood Plains,” Tamerlan said, wonder painting his tone. “See how the head and tail are drawn in? And the wings sketched on each one. This took time.”

  “Everyone knows the dragons are real and sleep beneath the city. This tells us nothing,” Etienne said shortly. “If they took fire, then maybe they mean to set fire to the city again. Or maybe they mean to set fire to the clock. Or maybe they plan to drop fire into the wound on the dragon’s neck to try to kill it. Whatever they do, can only make things worse. They must be caught or stopped immediately.”

  “Look over here on their side of the world,” Tamerlan said. “They drew a dragon under their city.”

  Etienne froze. “What?”

  “And see here in the curve of the tail,” Tamerlan said, pointing to the map.

  Marielle leaned in close to see what he saw, trying to ignore the prickles of awareness in her skin as she brushed against him and the overwhelming scent of him that sang to her like a deadly addiction. He turned his head the barest fraction toward her, and his lips turne
d upward so slightly in the corners that she almost thought she imagined it as he breathed her in like a fellow Scenter might.

  She could still remember what it had been like in his head. His sense of scent had been so dull. But the colors he saw almost made up for it. Was that how he had noticed this detail she’s missed?

  “Is that what I think it is?” she asked, forcing her mind to ignore his scent.

  “An egg,” he breathed. “A dragon egg on the other side of the sea.”

  “All the more reason to find the Harbingers and destroy them,” Etienne said. “We’ll return for the food later. Jhinn won’t starve in a single day. And neither will we.”

  Tamerlan paused, head tilted to the side as if he were listening to something that none of the rest of them could hear. Marielle shivered and then felt herself flushing as Tamerlan’s face grew red. He could see her watching him listen to the voices in his head and he was embarrassed by that. Did he think that meant she was judging him? Did he mistake her concern for condemnation?

  “We learned before that chasing people only leads to disappointment. Besides, we want to save Anglarok – and Liandari – if we can, not destroy them,” he said dryly. “I think it would be better to go after this book that Rajit is speaking of – the Chronicles of Ram the Hunter. The hidden book. They’ll be looking for it, too.”

  “How do you know?” Etienne asked.

  “Because the Legends who have Liandari and Anglarok in their grip also knew Ram the Hunter on the other side of the Bridge of Legends. They will want to know how he trapped the dragons. And they will want to get this book before we can. They’ll be looking. If we find it first, they’ll come looking for us.”

  “And the fire? The lantern? You don’t think that is what they’re planning to use to kill H’yi?” Etienne asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “If they’re planning to set fire to the city, then all the more reason to find this book first. If it escaped the first fire, it may not escape the second.”

  “Any ideas on where it is, street rat?” Etienne asked Rajit and Marielle frowned. He wasn’t going to get anywhere using violence or insults. That was clearly all the boy knew. Besides, if he really worked for Allegra, he would be a trained liar. She had certainly been practiced at spinning the truth.

  “If I knew, I’d already have it,” Rajit said with a wicked glitter in his eye. “Maybe you should leave me here. I’ll only slow you down.”

  “Keep dreaming,” Etienne said, shoving him forward, but sweat was forming on the former Lord Mythos’ brow. Had he captured some of Jingen’s magic? Was containing it putting a strain on him? Or was the Grandfather’s voice in his mind too strong even for him?

  “Why don’t you let me tend to the boy,” Marielle suggested. “You and Tamerlan don’t need my nose to find the book. You need to think about where it is hiding and both of you know libraries better than me.”

  “Just don’t let him slip away,” Etienne said sourly, thrusting the boy at her.

  Marielle took his arm in one hand and led him over to his supply heap.

  “Let’s put some of that food in a sack,” she said quietly. “In this city, anything you stash could be gone before you return.”

  “It’s like you’ve been here before,” Rajit said sourly.

  In the background, Marielle could hear Tamerlan and Etienne debating libraries.

  “It should be in the palace library,” Etienne was saying. “Anything important would be there.”

  “I doubt it,” Tamerlan disagreed. “The Guild of Librarians would never release such a treasure. It will be in one of the more prestigious libraries in the University District. The Timeless Library, perhaps, or Doomsayer’s Library.”

  “Have you ever been to either of those?” Etienne demanded.

  “I’ve read about them.”

  Marielle tuned them out as she and Rajit filled a small sack with dried meats and a wheel of hard cheese. There was a small oilcloth-wrapped packet of dried fruit they added, too.

  “Too bad we can’t bring the cask,” she said with a smile at the barrel of salted fish he had to one side. “It would be too heavy, and heavy as it is there wouldn’t be enough fish in such a small barrel to warrant it.”

  “Do you think the barrel is small?” Rajit asked, meeting her eyes and for a moment he looked vulnerable.

  She nodded, wondering at his change in expression.

  “I remember a barrel like this. In another lifetime,” he said.

  “When you were one of Queen Mer’s people,” Marielle stated.

  He flinched. “I was never really one of those fanatics.”

  “What do you think of the Retribution – Queen Mer’s people from over the sea?” Marielle pressed. She’d always wondered why the Waverunners and Retribution hated each other so much. Maybe this angry boy could shed some light on it.

  “I haven’t met them, but if they walk on land without thinking it will kill them, then I suppose they might be all right.” He snorted. “Do you know what it’s like to grow up never leaving a boat? Never running, never climbing, never standing on solid ground?”

  “No.”

  “It’s terrible. It’s like being dead your whole life,” he said. “That’s why I owe Allegra. She saved me from that. I’m going to find that book and get it to her.”

  “Aren’t Queen Mer’s people all the same?” Marielle pressed. “Why do some live peaceably and refuse to leave the water while others demand retribution from the plains and walk the land to mete it out?”

  He laughed. “Is that what they’re doing? Good for them. Let me tell you what I know.”

  “Come on,” she said, leading him to follow her. Tamerlan and Etienne had settled their disagreement and were motioning her to follow. “Tell me on the way.”

  It was strange to listen to his tale as they picked their way through the ruins of the city, clutching their fur cloaks around them in the frigid blasts of wind that tore across the city and grasping for stability at the buildings nearby every time the dragon shifted in the air and sent them flying off their feet. With every movement of the dragon, Marielle felt more and more nervous. Eventually, he would have to land. And what would they do then?

  “Queen Mer rescued us from the Orange Wars – the civil wars of her time. You know about those of course,” Rajit said. He seemed to almost relax as he told the story of his people – as if admitting they were his people and reciting their history helped soothe his anger. He told it as if by rote – perhaps he’d learned to tell it this way as a child. “So many children were sacrificed to keep the dragons quiet. So many men and women died in bloody battles as the people of the cities revolted against the way the Legends chose to deal with the dragons of their time.

  “And Queen Mer – well, she started just as a fisherwoman and then when her husband died and she took over his fishing company, she had dozens of ships and she bought out more and more as the chaos ruled and people turned desperately to anyone who would take the rudder for them. It was too hard for people to brace against the winds on their own. It was too hard for them to choose to buck the waves without giving over to greater hands to set the sails. And soon, Queen Mer’s faction was the strongest in the city and when the civil wars erupted in Choan, she stomped them out with the weight of her power.

  “But when the city was in her hands, she finally realized what it would take to hold the dragon and the great creature of the sea who had risen against them – how she would have to give her life to do it. She feared for what that would mean for the people who sided with her. Would the people of Choan turn on them when their leader was gone? Would waiting mean the great creature of the depths plucked every ship of hers from the salt of the sea and crushed it?

  “So she set them a task – to find the missing story – the story needed to destroy the dragons forever – or at least that’s what she said. Really, I think she was just trying to keep them safe. They were to sail forever without stopping until they found it.

&n
bsp; “In the years that followed, everything she predicted came to pass in Choan. She gave her life to bind the sea creature and save the ships. The people rose up and killed those left in her faction. And the People of Queen Mer floated on the seas, keeping their vow to her that they would not set foot on land until they found the story. That they would rule the seas and shelter her memory and find the story.

  “But after the first generation, when living in the ships became hard, and when they had found every port and every island and spoken to people far and wide in a dozen different languages, the people formed two groups – the ‘faithful’ and the pragmatic. The pragmatic realized that they could not rule the seas if they never left the ships. They were at the mercy of traders in the ports who could set any price and demand any concession just to provide basic supplies. And their wealth and influence were dwindling. They decided that to fulfill the latter half of the promise – to rule the seas and find the story – they would have to set foot on land.

  “The ‘faithful’ were not pleased. Determined to fulfill the first half of the promise, they decided that to rule the seas simply meant to survive them. And so, they broke away from the others, calling themselves the ‘Waverunners of the Faithful’, and ‘Queen Mer’s True People.’ They kept searching for the story until supplies gave out and a plague hit them, and then one boat after another, they made their way back to the cities of the Dragonblood Plains, taking up their residence like rats in the gutters, in the canals of the cities and living a parasite life on the populations there, making coin as gondoliers and hauling supplies in their family boats.”

  “And the story?” Marielle asked, awed by the bitterness in his voice.

  “There is no story. Or if there is, then it is long gone. Personally, I think it was just an excuse Queen Mer invented to keep them away until the fighting in the cities was long over. And she was right to do that. The People of Queen Mer – the pragmatic ones, that is, thrived. They filled the shores to the east. They established ports and outposts, forts and trade routes. They are powerful, magical, and dominant thanks to her and her small lie.”