Liberator (21 page)

She lifted her tunic, once again revealing her stomach from her navel to her lowest ribs. Her skin had stayed clear, but the miner couldn’t see the pain growing within. “This is what it did for me. I’m not sure if it’s a complete cure, but it helps.”

“It’s a lot better than nothing.” He stroked the girl’s head and ran his fingers through her hair. “Reesa doesn’t have much time.”

Pressing her lips together, Koren nodded. “I know. None of us do. Just try to be patient. The medicine will be here soon.”

Taushin set a wing on Koren’s back. “Let us go now to complete —”

“Wait!” Koren blinked. A vision from Exodus flowed into her mind, a dragon with fear in his eyes flying this way from the south. “I see a messenger dragon, one of yours. I think he bears bad news. He will be here soon.”

“Mother,” Taushin said, “guide me to a better viewing place.”

He and Mallerin flew down to the street, while Koren navigated the stairs. After avoiding several slaves, she reached the bottom and stood next to Taushin. Koren and Mallerin both looked up. Clouds drifted across Solarus, forcing it to peek through intermittent gaps.

After a minute or so, Taushin murmured, “Koren, have you been able to see Cassabrie?”

“Not yet. I’ve been scanning as far as I can to find her.”

“Either you are telling the truth, or you are a skillful liar.” Taushin settled to his haunches and said no more.

A few moments later, a drone flew toward them from the south. When it landed, it gasped for breath. “I found Fellina!”

“Where?” Taushin asked.

“She is down. Magnar has joined the battle against the Benefile near the closer mining mesa. Fellina is in the forest near that area, but I could not tell if she is dead. An old man is sitting with her, and they are out of the battle zone.”

“How are our dragons faring against the Benefile?”

“Not well. They have to battle the ice and the spears of the human army. They hoped to use the slave children as a shield, but the humans have thwarted that plan.”

A look of worry bent Taushin’s features. “Did you see Xenith?”

“Not in flight,” the drone said. “Several have fallen victim to the ice, but when covered in white, they are not recognizable.”

Taushin spread out his wings. “We must join them. Mother, you will be my eyes once again, but first, take the sword from the Darksphere human.”

While Mallerin shuffled toward Randall, Taushin touched Koren’s abdomen with a tip of his wing. “I hear churning within.”

Koren slid her hand under his wing and pressed her stomach. The pain was definitely getting worse.

“Your alliance with me will be tested now. Do not let me down.” Taushin waved a wing toward the dying slaves and set his eyebeams on her cheek. “It would be tragic if you lost these people after all you have gone through.”

“I know.” Koren looked away, dodging the beams. “Maybe you’d better hurry. Fellina needs you.”

Taushin waved a wing at the messenger. “Guide us to Fellina.” The messenger took off, followed immediately by Mallerin and Taushin.

The breeze from the three sets of beating wings blew back her hair and flapped her cloak. While she waited for them to fly out of sight, moans and cries rose all around. The miner called, “What will you do now, Koren?”

Koren took a step toward him. He sat in the same place with Reesa in his lap. With her face covered with sores and her hair falling out, she looked more dead than alive. “How is she?”

“She’s breathing. That’s all I can say.”

Letting out a sigh, Koren looked toward Arxad’s cave, then at the Zodiac’s entry doors. Taushin probably wouldn’t be gone long, and there was so much to do.

“Hold on. I will be back as soon as I can.” She ran to Randall and grabbed his arm. “Wake up! I need you!”

Randall shook his head hard. “Where am I?”

“I’ll explain later. Just come with me.” Tugging him along, she hurried up the portico’s stairs and marched through the Zodiac’s entry corridor. Randall staggered now and then, but his eyes seemed to grow clearer and clearer. As they neared the entry to the dome room, she spotted two ropes pinched between the floor panels and leading to one of the wall lanterns. She hadn’t noticed them while flying in and out with Taushin. Maybe he hadn’t seen them either.

When they arrived in the dome room, she stopped at the interior threshold and let go of Randall. “Follow if
you can. I’m in a hurry.” She ran to Jason and slid on her knees, stopping in front of him. She grabbed his hand in both of hers. “Oh, Jason! I’m so sorry about everything. I prayed that you’d come and rescue me from Taushin. I saw you in my vision, so I knew you were near. That’s why I let him get so close. I hoped you’d interfere before he took complete control, but at the last second, I saw Mallerin coming, and I didn’t want her to kill you. If she had seen you attacking Taushin, she might have burned you alive before I could stop her.”

She took a deep breath. “Do you understand?”

Jason stared at her, obviously focusing on her eyes. “Is Taushin looking at me?”

“No. No! He never got in.” She yanked at a manacle, but it held fast. “I have to get you out of here.”

Jason glanced toward the doorway. “Randall’s coming, but he looks dazed. Did you hypnotize him?”

“I did, but he’s shaking it off.” She jumped up and ran to the trunk. The lid still lay at the side, allowing easy access.

“Deference has been looking for the key,” Jason said. “She searched through that trunk three times.”

Koren picked up the sword she had laid behind the trunk. Fortunately she had remembered to block Mallerin’s view of it from the moment she picked it up until the moment she hid it. “If Deference is here, where is Madam Orley? It would be odd for them to be apart.”

“I have no idea. She didn’t mention Madam Orley.”

“Where is Deference now?”

“I don’t know. I think she’s still looking for the key, but I haven’t seen her in a while.”

“That’s Deference. She’ll do anything for you, but you don’t always know when she’s around.” Koren set the lid back on the trunk and scooted to Jason. Stooping, she laid a hand on the back of his head. “I’m really sorry about this.”

He pulled away. “Why were you making a covenant with him? If he has control over you, why should I trust you?”

“First of all, I didn’t make a covenant with him. He recited his part of the agreement, but I never said I’d do anything for him. I’m pretending to be on his side because he has a plan to hurt Cassabrie. He thinks I’m going to help him, but I’m really going to stop him.”

“And you can’t be sure you can stop him unless you stick by his side.”

“Exactly.” She raised the sword. “Let’s see if I can break one of the chains.”

Jason slid to the side and pulled on a manacle, stretching a chain across the floor. “The links look too thick.”

“I have to try.” Koren chopped down. The blade clanked against the chain and recoiled, vibrating painfully in her grip.

Randall shuffled up to them and crouched. “You just nicked the blade. You’ll never cut those links with a sword.” He mussed Jason’s hair. “Don’t worry. We’ll get you out of this.”

“I’m glad
you’re
confident.” Jason’s voice took on a skeptical tone. “Koren, do you have an alternate plan?”

“Just to get the key.” Still holding the sword, she patted Randall’s arm. “I’ll need your help.” As she and Randall headed for the entry corridor, she called back. “Jason, I don’t blame you at all for not trusting me. I’m not even
sure I can trust myself, and I know what Taushin’s up to. He’s crafty, and his influence has overwhelmed me before. I just have to be careful to keep my boots off.”

“Keep your boots off?”

“Never mind.”

“Where are you going?” Jason called, his voice muffled by the Zodiac’s walls.

“When I gave Elyssa the medicine ingredients, she told me where a copy of the master key is. It’s hard to get to, so I wanted to check the trunk again first.” She stopped at the middle of the corridor and looked up at the wall mural. A redheaded, green-eyed girl stood in the midst of Exodus. Wearing a Starlighter’s vestments—a white dress and blue cloak—she gazed toward the sky, her mouth open as if telling one of Starlight’s tales.

“The key’s up there, Randall.” Koren reached with the sword and touched one of the Starlighter’s hands. “In that little hole in her palm.”

Randall nodded. “I see it. Can you get it out with the tip of the blade?”

“I don’t think so. Even if I could, it’s not a good idea. Elyssa said the floor would open if we take it, and you already know what’s down there.”

“Sharp stakes and a stinky dead dragon.” Randall turned toward the dome room. “I found a lever that closes the floor, but I’m not sure it would work without the key in place. Too risky without a test.”

Koren rested the blade on her shoulder. “And we can’t test it without removing the key.”

“I have an idea.” Randall jogged to the rope’s pinch point near the interior door and began pulling one section
upward. It rubbed against the point, forcing Randall to pull harder. He gasped and paused, pressing a hand against his stomach, then set to work again. With light from the dome room framing him, he looked like a miner standing on top of a mesa hauling a bucket to the top. After several seconds, the rope snagged.

“Do you want me to cut it?”

“You’d better. I think we have enough.”

While Randall leaned to tighten the rope, Koren crouched and chopped at it horizontally. The sharp blade cut it cleanly.

Randall staggered to the wall and braced himself there. Wagging his head, he loosened the rope from the lantern post and fed it around the door’s highest hinge. As he walked backwards toward Koren, he pulled the rope, checking the new attachment’s strength. “It looks secure.”

“What are you planning?”

“I thought I’d boost you to the key while I hold the rope. When you get it out, I’ll swing with you to the doorway.”

“Over sharp stakes?”

“And a stinky dragon.” Randall shrugged. “Unless you have another idea.”

A new voice piped up. “I have one.” Deference crawled along the wall like a spider until she settled next to the Starlighter’s palm. “I’ll drop the key to you. All you have to do is catch it and swing on the rope. It’ll be a lot easier than carrying Koren.”

Koren looked at Randall. His eyes were alert but bloodshot. “Let me swing,” she said. “You go to the door and catch me. I’m lighter, and you’re sicker than I am.”

“Are you sure?” He looked like a slave trying to choose between working while sick or taking a beating for claiming sickness.

“I’m sure.” She handed the sword to him. “I don’t think I could catch you if something goes wrong.”

Randall backed toward the dome room, letting the rope slide through his hand. “I appreciate the excuse.”

When he arrived at the doorway, he laid the sword down and set his feet. “Ready.”

Koren wrapped the rope around her waist, hung on with one hand, and extended her other toward Deference. “Let it drop.”

E
lyssa smoothed out the note on the table in Arxad’s kitchen and squinted at the messy script. As she read, her pendant dangled at the end of its chain, twirling one way and then the other over Uriel’s instructions.

Wallace stood beside her. He appeared to be his usual self, if a bit tired. He set a wood carving on the table, an exquisite representation of a girl with a feather cap, though only the top portion was finished. “Who is that?” she asked.

“A girl named Regina. It’s a long story. We’d better get started.”

“Well, she’s beautiful.” Elyssa pointed at a lantern on the floor. “I’ll need more light.”

Wallace picked up the lantern and held it close to the table, illuminating their makeshift surgical surface. A butcher’s knife lay next to Elyssa’s hand as well as the
finger box, the wax envelope, and a needle and thick black thread. The crucible, now unsealed, sat in a roasting pan over a fire in a brick oven embedded in a wall.

“It says to combine the gunpowder with the energy crystals by grinding them together in the crucible.” Elyssa touched the wax envelope. “Do you see anything to grind this with?”

“I’ll look.” Wallace rummaged through a basket of instruments. “Something hard with a rounded end?” Clinks and thunks echoed in the chamber.

“Yes.” Elyssa picked up the box from the table and opened it, revealing Cassabrie’s finger. From the tip to the second knuckle, it was intact, but tight stitches bound one end, obviously truncated.

Elyssa removed the finger from its velvet bed and set it next to the knife. Chopping off a section would be the hardest part of the procedure. The instructions called for using half the finger in hopes of saving some for another time, but if the mixture produced no blue smoke, they would have to use the rest immediately.

“This should work.” Wallace set a gray pestle on the table. “Right?”

“That’s perfect, exactly what I need.” Elyssa frowned at the note. “This is confusing. I think I was supposed to grind the crystals and the powder together before I put it over the fire.”

“That can’t be helped now.” Wallace grabbed a set of tongs and carried the crucible from the fire to the table. The particles within radiated brilliant light, too bright to stare at for more than a second.

Wallace set the lantern on the floor near the cave wall. “I don’t think we’ll be needing this.”

“Probably not.” Elyssa tore open the wax envelope and sprinkled half of the powder into the crucible. Yellow sparks sprayed in long arcs, and white smoke spewed toward the ceiling. She jumped back, batting sparks from her hands. After several seconds of spitting and popping, the reaction settled.

Wallace picked up the pestle and laid it in Elyssa’s hand. “Do you need gloves?”

“I don’t think so. The sparks didn’t hurt. They just startled me.” She pushed the pestle into the crystals and pressed down, twisting as she applied pressure. More sparks jumped. Heat from the crucible rose into her fingers and face, but not enough to cause pain.

“Does it say how long to do it?” Wallace asked.

Elyssa shook her head. “I just have to guess.” After nearly a minute, she lifted the pestle and laid it next to the finger. “Now the hard part.”

“I can cut it for you,” Wallace said. “I know how to handle a knife. I can stitch it up, too. I cut my foot once really deep. I sewed it up with fiber from a vine.”

Elyssa winced. “That must’ve hurt.”

“Not as much as a dragon’s whip. I had to get back to work.”

“Well, then you’re just the man for the job.” Elyssa smoothed out the note again. “According to this, we should stand back when we add the genetic material, so I’ll do that part.”

“That’s when I’ll do the stitching.” Wallace picked up the knife. “But first the cutting. Don’t look.”

Elyssa turned toward the cave entrance. Outside, a clamor of odd voices grew. A thunk sounded over the other noise. Elyssa cringed. She turned back to the table, but Wallace had already moved away to the other side of the cave, his back turned. “I’m stitching. Better get to it.”

Elyssa stared at the table. Half the finger, from the tip to the slice, lay next to the crucible, dark blood oozing. Sucking in a breath, she scooped it up and dropped it into the crucible in one motion.

A sizzle erupted. It lasted for several seconds, then died away.

“Did you see any blue smoke?” Elyssa asked.

Wallace turned and shook his head. “I wasn’t looking.”

“Give me the rest.” Elyssa held her hand out but didn’t bother to look. As soon as the finger touched her palm, she dropped it into the crucible.

This time a loud whoosh sounded. Blue smoke shot into the air and spread out like a vertically hovering blanket. An image of Fellina appeared, lying motionless on her side in a forest. Tibalt lay nestled against her, his eyes closed and a hand pressed against her belly. A large bird hopped toward them and leaped up to Fellina’s wing. With another hop, it landed on Tibalt’s back. One of Fellina’s wings twitched, and Tibalt’s brow furrowed, but they offered no resistance.

The sizzling faded, and the smoke shrank toward the table. It took the shape of a pendant on a chain, then dispersed.

Elyssa touched her pendant. “Fellina and Tibalt need me.”

“I saw that, but do you know how to get there?”

“No. Did you recognize the area?”

Wallace nodded. “I hid there a couple of times trying to get away from a beating.”

“How do I find it?”

Wallace drew in the air with his finger. “The stream comes from the mining mesa, flows through the forest, and into the main river. Just follow the stream from the point it enters the forest.”

“I know where the stream is.” Elyssa touched the rim of the crucible, now merely warm. The crystals inside had congealed into pink salve. Using her finger, she scooped out a large dollop and began rolling it into a ball between her palms. Whether or not it would be enough for a human and a dragon was anyone’s guess.

Wallace dipped his finger in and lifted a dab. “It’s hot, and it’s getting hotter.”

“It’s the stardrop energy.”

“Ow!” Wallace smeared the dab on the edge of the table, then gave Elyssa an apologetic look. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just take the rest to your people. Maybe at least it will keep some from dying.”

Wallace picked up the crucible. “I’ll deliver it, but maybe I should show you that spot.”

“I can’t afford to wait, but if you can catch up to me, that’ll be fine.” Now clutching the ball of salve, Elyssa ran out of the cave. To her left, the Zodiac sat at the top of a rise beyond a low wall, blocking the dying slaves from view. Jason likely still sat in chains inside, but that couldn’t be helped. At least he was alive. By the time she reached Fellina and Tibalt, they might not be.

She turned to the right and ran. The plateau lay before her, the closer mining mesa in view. About two hundred
paces ahead and to the right, dragons flew over the edge of the forest, three white and the rest of them darker. They battled in the sky with blasts of orange and white. The stream lay beyond the battle scene, so finding Fellina would require getting past the storm of fire and ice.

Slowing her pace, she tried to steady her rapid breaths. How could anyone run through such a gauntlet without getting fried or frozen? Yet, she had no choice. Fellina would die without help.

A man dashed out of the forest and threw a spear at one of the Southlands dragons. It wedged between two scales but didn’t penetrate deeply. The dragon grabbed the shaft in its teeth and crunched it into splinters. During those few seconds, a line of children dashed out behind the man and ran toward the path to the village.

A white dragon sprayed the speared dragon with ice, freezing him in mid-flight. He fell like a stone and smacked the ground near the line of children.

They ran on, the spearman now running alongside, coaxing them with shouts of “Hurry!” and “We’re almost there!”

Elyssa stopped and waved her arms. “This way!”

Several seconds later, the man arrived, gasping for breath, while the children gathered around, panting and groaning. “Elyssa! I didn’t think I’d see you here.”

Elyssa cocked her head. Even though a beard and dozens of abrasions disguised his face, there was no mistaking a son of Edison Masters. “Frederick!”

“Greetings later. Help me get these kids to Arxad’s cave while I fend off the dragons.”

“But I have to—” She shook her head. “Never mind.” She laid a hand on one of the bigger girls. “Everyone follow me!”

She ran while looking back over her shoulder. Wearing barely any clothes, the children pumped their skinny arms and legs, puffing as they struggled against the incline. Frederick trailed at the end of the line, his sword raised. Farther back, at least forty soldiers ran out of the forest and began ascending the hill at a rate that would soon overtake the line of panting children.

From the plateau, dragons swooped over the soldiers, shooting fireballs and knocking the men down with their massive bodies. The soldiers, some with sleeves or trousers aflame, jabbed with their spears and swords while still on the run.

One of the dragons dove at the rear of the line of children, blasting fire across the stragglers and igniting their hair. Amidst the children’s high-pitched screams, Frederick leaped and grabbed one of the dragon’s back legs.

Elyssa held her breath. The furious dragon thrashed his legs and snapped at Frederick, only to be beaten back by his slashing sword. Rising higher into the air, the dragon sailed toward the front of the line, as the children helped each other swat away the flames left by his attack.

Frederick swung his sword and chopped off the dragon’s hind foot. As he dropped, his legs pumping as his momentum carried him forward, he threw the sword down at Elyssa’s feet. He hit the ground running well up the rise but fell into a tumble.

The crippled dragon landed next to Frederick and stomped him with his truncated leg, pinning him to the ground.

Elyssa sprinted that way. “Let him go!”

The dragon shot fire at her. She leaped to the side and rolled back down the hill until the children stopped her. A white dragon sailed only inches over their heads and blew a stream of ice over both the crippled dragon and Frederick, instantly freezing them.

The white dragon landed next to Elyssa and spoke in a smooth, sultry tone. “Your passage to safety is now assured. Take these innocent ones where you must.”

Elyssa waved the children on. “You have to help Frederick!” she shouted. “Thaw him out!”

“The human?” The white dragon glanced Frederick’s way. “He was infected with the disease. Any who are infected must be eliminated. We will protect the human species from the contagion.”

Elyssa pointed up the rise and called to the children. “Do any of you know where Arxad’s cave is?”

An older girl near the front of the line raised her hand. “I do. I’ll take them.”

As they hurried along, Elyssa eyed the young escapees. Those without shirts bore the telltale signs of early disease on their torsos — sores from their navels upward. Stripes of various length and age crisscrossed some backs, especially those of the thinnest children.

Holding the medicine in one hand and the sword in the other, Elyssa stormed toward the white dragon. Maybe a distraction would keep it from guarding the children
too closely, at least for a while. “Get back! I have to save Frederick!”

The white dragon blinked at her. “You are risking contagion. You must have the disease as well.”

“I don’t. I’m immune.” Elyssa stopped within a sword’s length of the dragon’s snout and lifted her tunic in front enough to show her stomach. When the dragon lowered its head to look, she swung the sword at its neck.

Just as the blade neared its pasty skin, something grabbed her wrist and bowled her over to the side. Still clutching both the medicine and the sword, she leaped to her feet. Edison Masters stood between her and the white dragon, holding one hand up and supporting himself with the other on his knee. “You don’t understand!” he said, gasping. “It’s helping us!”

Elyssa pointed at the white dragon. “But that thing just froze your son!”

“I know. I know.” While he braced himself, coughing, the other soldiers breezed past and began escorting the children up the hill, some men scooping up the slower ones along the way. A few men shook their scorched arms or batted residual sparks, but they marched on with powerful leg strokes.

The white dragon lifted into the air effortlessly, smiling as if unaware of Elyssa’s attack.

Edison waved a hand. “Come. We’ll see about Frederick.”

Above, the dragon battle raged directly overhead. Ice intermixing with sparks rained down on Elyssa and Edison as they ran past the frozen dragon and knelt at Frederick’s side. Frosty ice covered his body from head to toe. Edison brushed away the frost from Frederick’s
face. With his cheeks slack and his lips blue, he appeared to be dead.

As roars and shrieks pierced the air, Elyssa shouted, “Do we just break it?”

“No choice.” Edison drew a dagger from a hip sheath and rammed the butt end against the ice over Frederick’s chin. A chip flew from the contact point, but the ice stayed intact. He switched to using the point of the blade and jabbed with it again and again, mumbling, “We need some heat!”

Elyssa opened her hand and looked at the little ball of medicine. Putting part of it into Frederick’s mouth would probably provide a lot of heat, especially if she were to straddle him and use her manna wood pendant to try to heal him. If Edison could punch a hole, maybe it would work. Still, the medicine was meant for Fellina and Tibalt. This small amount might not be enough for them already, much less if she shared it with Frederick.

“Heat,” she whispered. “I know how to get it.” She leaped up and waved her sword. “Dragons! Let’s see how much fire you can send down here.”

A Southlands dragon broke away from the battle and flew toward her. She shoved Edison out of the way and spread her body over Frederick, her face to the sky. Fire gushed from the dragon’s mouth. Elyssa lunged to the side and into Edison’s arms. The flames splashed over Frederick’s body, raising a plume of white vapor.