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Authors: Joanne Bertin

Dragon and Phoenix (71 page)

BOOK: Dragon and Phoenix
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It was nearly dark when
Shima pulled up Je’nihahn. Maurynna stopped beside him, lost amid this land of stone canyons. They dismounted.
He called out something in his own language. “Now we wait,” he said to her. From somewhere nearby, Maurynna heard water gurgle; a spring, she thought.
Then came the sound of leather on stone, and two shadows stepped away from the walls. Even though she’d been expecting it, she still drew a sharp breath.
The shadows turned into young Tah’nehsieh men. They spoke quickly and urgently with Shima.
He turned to her. “Zhantse sent a fast messenger on ahead of us, and everything’s arranged. My cousin Amura in the slave camp is expecting us; Rasse,” he tilted his head toward one of the the men, “got a message to him earlier. Rasse and Omasua will care for the Llysanyins until we get back. They’ve been warned about them.”
“Did you hear that?” she said to Boreal.
The Llysanyin nodded. She passed the reins to Rasse, then dug into her saddlebag for Dharm Varleran’s sword. She belted it around her waist, glad the long-ago Dragonlord hadn’t carried a greatsword as Linden did. Her
jelah
covered this one nicely. “How far?” she said, picturing a long, long walk ahead of them.
“Not very,” Shima said. At her startled look, he explained, “The temple soldiers don’t like to come out here; it isn’t safe for them in these winding little canyons.”
Maurynna looked around; she could well believe it. This was wonderful country for setting ambushes.
“Then let’s get started. The sooner this is over, the happier I’ll be.”
And I can find Linden again, which will make me happiest of all.
“This way, then,” Shima said, and set off. She followed.
It wasn’t much more than two candlemarks later, she guessed, that they came out on a ridge looking down into a narrow valley strewn with enormous boulders.
Across it, the valley wall rose up into a high plateau. Below them were low buildings of stone; barracks and the slave quarters, she guessed. A road ran along the floor of the valley; it ended at a huge set of doors in the opposite side of the valley.
Gods, they’re big enough to get a dragon in
—
Suddenly she realized she looked upon Pirakos’s prison at long last. She went cold inside.
“Hsst!” a nearby voice said.
Maurynna turned as a man crawled out of the darkness.
“Hello, Amura,” Shima said.
“Hurry,” Amura said in Jehangli. “They’ve been as nervous as cats since the Zharmatians started raiding—not that they’d raid here. We never know anymore when a patrol will come past. And there’s a rumor that the priests have chosen a new
nira
—and that means they’ll be going into the main tunnel soon.”
 
Amura spoke quickly as he led his cousin and the mysterious northern stranger along the valley road. “There’s a small opening down this way. We’ve found it’s the safest way to the caverns under Mount Kajhenral. A recent earth tremor ripped away the rock concealing it. There are unlit torches waiting for you just inside.”
“Thank you,” the northerner whispered. The message had said she was a Dragonlord; Amura remembered his aunt’s tales, and wished he could see this woman Change. Lark had said the northern dragons were nothing like Miune.
They were scrambling over the rocks to the opening when they were spotted by a patrol. At the first shout, Amura yelled, “Go around that rock and straight ahead. I’ll lead them away.”
He turned and ran, making certain the patrol saw him. He didn’t dare look to see how his cousin and the Dragonlord fared. He could only pray that they made it safely; and when a second and third patrol joined in the chase, he prayed that
he
would make it to a hiding spot before the Jehangli soldiers could catch him.
 
Maurynna stooped and snatched at the torches; they were right where Amura, bless him, had said they’d be. But they didn’t dare stop and light them; the patrol would be sure to notice a light where no light should be.
There was, she realized, enough moonlight filtering in for her dragonsight to see for a fair distance. Passing a torch to Shima, she said, “Grab hold of my shoulder; I can see enough to lead you in for a way. We’ll light the torches when they can’t be seen.”
Shima did as she bade him, and they set out into the bowels of Mount Kajhenral.
 
 
They were well into the mountain before the second torch sputtered and died. Maurynna stopped. The dark here seemed solid as a wall; she thought that if she stretched out a hand she would bruise it on the utter blackness before her.
She slid a foot forward, questing. “Ow!” Then, before Shima could worry, she explained, “Stubbed my toes.”
She steadied herself with one hand on Shima’s shoulder and rubbed her aching toes. Damn these soft boots, she thought. If only they had more torches … . Ah, well; no use whining over a missed tide as her old first mate used to say. At least this was something she could remedy.
Whether it was a good idea or not … She would
not
think about that.
“This is stupid. We’ll kill ourselves stumbling through here in the dark, and what good would we do Pirakos then? This place already reeks of magic because of him; I’m going to risk some coldfire. No one will notice it,” she said, and hoped she was right.
She raised a hand and drew a small ball of coldfire from the air. The Tah’nehsieh gasped. Maurynna set the coldfire to hover close to the ground. It revealed a path strewn with rocks and crevices, all waiting to turn an unwary ankle.
Rank stupidity indeed to try this trail blind. Maurynna called the coldfire to her and held it out to Shima. “Would you like this one?”
She had to smile at the wonder revealed on his face by the faint glow. No doubt she had looked the same when she’d first seen coldfire. The memory brought with it an ache of longing. To be back in her aunt’s garden once more, Linden by her side … She pulled herself back to the present. This was no time to lose herself in wishes and memories.
“Go ahead, take it,” she urged. “It won’t burn you.”
Shima’s dark eyes were huge as he stared at the coldfire. He reached out, hesitated; then, after a quick glance at her, stretched out a hand with more confidence. He cradled the glowing ball in his hands. The light pulsed with his heartbeat and shone through his fingers, the glow red with his living blood.
“Beautiful,” he whispered.
Her hand twisted again in the air, capturing another ball of coldfire from nothingness. Maurynna paused, listening, though for what, she could not have said.
All was silent; the mountain did not cave in on them; no army of priestmages appeared behind them. They were safe, thank the gods—or at least as safe as they could be. “I wonder how far away Pirakos is,” she said. “I hope Zhantse is right and that this is the way.”
“He is,” Shima averred. “You’ll see.”
Maurynna stared down the narrow tunnel revealed by the coldfire’s light.
Like walking down a whale’s throat.
Ah, well; nothing for it but to go on.
But before she had gone three paces, Shima pushed in front. “I should go
first,” he insisted. “If there’s something evil in these tunnels, better that you have some warning.” He was away before she could protest … .
Or ask him about the tremor she heard in his voice. Did he know of something lurking in these tunnels that Zhantse had not warned her of? Her hand sought the sword hidden beneath her Tah’nehsieh garb. The feel of the hilt reassured her.
Not that a short sword would be much use against, say, a mountain troll from one of Otter’s stories—
Stop that!
She followed Shima.
 
Surely they’d been walking for days already. And here was yet another turn in this cursed, unending tunnel; this one was so sharp they couldn’t see beyond it. Maurynna sent her globe of light around the bulge of rippled stone that forced the detour. It bobbed warily around the obstacle, the light growing softer as it advanced a short way along the route. Then—
The coldfire died. Just—died. To Maurynna it felt as if it had been swallowed.
But by what?
“Why did you—” Shima began.
“That was none of my doing,” Maurynna whispered, shaken. “Something … Something …
ate
it.”
They clasped hands instinctively, listening. Maurynna held her breath, knew Shima did the same so that whatever had taken the coldfire would not find them. She thought of retreat, but her limbs would not obey her. All she could do was hold to the slight comfort of the hand gripping hers and wait.
A thought struck her. What if whatever it was sought light? She doused the coldfire Shima held lest it draw evil upon them.
The darkness fell, a thousand times heavier than before. Shima gasped; his grip tightened convulsively. The moment stretched on and on until Maurynna feared she would go mad from the suspense.
But nothing came for them.
She drew in a deep, shuddering breath. The air in the tunnel, so dusty and stale before, was sweet in her lungs. She leaned against an outcropping of stone, gasping. Shima’s fingers slid from her hand; she heard him sit down.
Part of her mind railed at her,
Coward! You’re a Dragonlord—you shouldn’t be afraid!
But, her fears argued,
What good does being a Dragonlord do me in here? There’s no room to Change.
Another thought ghosted across her mind:
Even if I could Change.
… She crushed it and the wave of self-loathing that always followed it, but not quickly enough.
Only her will made her face that feeling and name it for what it was.
So I’m the least of the Dragonlords; so be it. That’s as the gods will. But being a full Dragonlord wouldn’t help me here; there’s no room to Change—not even for Lleld.
If she couldn’t Change, she could at least do what any other Dragonlord could do. She would go on. In defiance, she called forth another globe of coldfire.
Her heart nearly stopped at the sight before her. For Shima lay curled tight as a hedgehog on the uneven floor of the tunnel, shaking violently. She dropped down on one knee beside him. Gods help them—what had happened to him?
“Shima!” She laid a hand on his shoulder; the skin was cold and slick with sweat. He made no answer.
Nearly sick with fear, Maurynna wondered what had befallen her companion. A poisonous snake? No; one wouldn’t go this deep underground. Something else equally deadly?
“Shima! What’s wrong?”
Against all hope he answered. “The walls … . They’re falling.”
His voice was so weak and muffled, she could barely hear him. Even so, the stark fear in it made her blood run cold.
What was he talking about? Had he heard something she missed? Terror rose in her to answer his; like a gale wind it threatened to overwhelm her.
Then, from somewhere deep inside, simple common sense rose to save her.
Silly goose, it said. How on earth could a truehuman hear something that a Dragonlord couldn’t? Especially something as loud as rocks falling!
Simple truth; it saved her. “The walls are not falling, Shima,” she said firmly, gripping his shoulder. The skin beneath her hand was still cold and clammy. “They’ve been here since the world was born, and will be here when it ends.”
He uncurled a little, though he still shivered. Now his words came clearer. “The feeling … . Help me.”
She stared down at him, puzzled. The ‘feeling?’” What on—
Suddenly Maurynna understood. One of her cousins’ friends had the same fear of enclosed spaces; poor Romnis couldn’t sleep in a room with a closed door without panicking.
For a moment Maurynna felt sorry for Shima—then exasperated. Damn it all, the man must have known what he was getting himself into with this route! And if he didn’t, Zhantse certainly must have.
She burst out, “Then why did you come with me if you’re afraid of being trapped? You must have known!” In pure annoyance, she grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him upright so that he sat against the wall. “Look at me!”
He opened his eyes; his face looked grey in the coldfire’s glow. Shaking his head as one throwing off a daze, Shima said, “It doesn’t always happen. It will pass.”
“But if you’ve been like this all your life, surely—”
He cut her off. “But it hasn’t been all my life, I tell you,” he said, fear and anger—anger at himself, Maurynna realized—edging his voice like a knife. “It’s happened only recently—the past two seasons—and strikes without reason.” He struggled to his feet. “See? I’m well now.”
He
did
look better, Maurynna conceded. Like a newly dead corpse instead of one a few days old. She had a good mind to send him back. Then she remembered the patrols they’d left behind them.
BOOK: Dragon and Phoenix
4.52Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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