Maylin's Gate (Book 3) (16 page)

He tightened the grip on his hood and turned a wary eye on the low-hanging clouds. With a grunt, he trudged forward leaving the cabin behind. He glanced over his shoulder and made sure the general had remembered Moira’s cloak. “Have the cloak ready.”

“I need not be told twice human.” General Demos said betraying an edge of irritation.

Thigh-deep snow crunched beneath his fur-lined boots. He trudged forward, each step taking more effort than the last. With his head hung low, his gaze fell to the snow burying his legs.

The wind shifted and the acrid stench of burnt tar followed in its wake.

Spine prickling dread tightened his chest. Dragon fire. He would recognize the stench anywhere. But Moira didn’t breathe fire. Had something happened to her? He raised his head and squinted into the oncoming wind.

The cabin’s rear corner blocked the dragon from view.

A push came at his thoughts and he froze clutching at the hood like a lifeline.

The push came harder as if expectant. Urgent.

He opened his mind and stepped around the corner.

A dragon, the shade of a moonless sky, turned sapphire blue eyes on him and General Demos. Smoke curled from nostrils as broad as a man’s fist. The beast’s lips curled upward as if in greeting.

He relaxed while a deep hiss of warning flared behind him. He raised his hand and glanced over his shoulder. “He’s friendly.” He glanced toward the towering dragon. “Well…he’s mostly friendly.”

The nudge at his mind came again. “Silver Soul. It’s good to find you well.”

He spoke using the mind link. “Thoth, you look…bigger. Has Moira been feeding you an extra helping?”

“The sea offers a feast like I’ve never known. Thank you for noticing,” Thoth said. “Lady Rika’s not traveling with you? Is she well?”

“She’s fine. She took this trip off.” He glanced behind Thoth searching for Moira. “Did Moira come with you?”

“She did not,” Thoth said. “She sent me to retrieve you. This place is not safe.”

“Not safe?”

Thoth glanced past him and focused on General Demos standing beneath a mountain of dark fur. “What is he?”

He glanced at General Demos before returning his gaze to Thoth. “He’s my prisoner.”

“Should I slay him?”

He shook his head and chuckled. “No. I’m afraid I need him alive.”

“What sort of creature is he?”

“He’s from a land called Baerin,” he said. “He’s a general among his people. An honorable man it seems. But he’s intent on invading Meranthia and turning every human into a slave.”

Thoth’s massive head lowered and the dragon’s gaze met General Demos. Thoth’s nostrils flared and smoke billowed. The dragon’s mouth opened revealing rows of sharp teeth. Blue flame flickered deep in Thoth’s throat.

General Demos’s eyes widened. “Does the dragon intend to kill me?”

He grinned. “Only if you give him reason.” He gestured toward Thoth. “This is Thoth. He’s my friend.” He nodded to General Demos. “This is General Demos. Humanity’s scourge and all around bad guy.”

General Demos’s eyes narrowed. “Your people slaughtered mine in the name of humanity. Spare me your outrage.”

He wouldn’t argue. Not here. Not now. He needed to find Moira. “Thoth, why isn’t this place safe and where’s Moira?”

“There’s much to explain,” Thoth said. “And, it’s not my story to tell. Moira sent me here to retrieve you. She remains south on the High Maltha River Basin.”

“Where?”

“Can you communicate with that creature?” General Demos said.

He glanced over his shoulder.

General Demos studied Thoth’s eyes. Any anger the general displayed a moment ago vanished.

“Of course I can. You could too if he chooses to speak with you.”

“Will you abandon me here?” General Demos said.

His gaze drifted downward. He had no reason to bring General Demos. This place would serve better than any prison ever could. But, the act felt cruel and pointless. Other than their time in Porthleven, General Demos had treated him with honor and respect. Leaving the general behind would amount to murder, and he couldn’t live with the burden of guilt. He shook his head. “You’re stuck with me.”

“Thank you, human.”

“Don’t make me regret the decision,” he said.

“You will find a dragon saddle in Moira’s shed,” Thoth said. “We have many leagues to cover and the herd is in danger. Grab it and let us be gone.”

***

A week of flying over the Adris Mountains had revealed the central range's grandeur. A question that had riddled cartographers for centuries had an answer. The mystery of what lay beyond the Adris played out before Ronan’s eyes. On the mountain’s southern rim, the peaks gave way to green rolling foothills.

From Thoth’s saddle, he gazed across the lush hills.

On the horizon, sunlight glinted off an enormous body of water.

He pushed away his hood and stretched out his mind for Thoth's. "Have we reached the southern ocean? Where's Moira?"

"Not the ocean,” Thoth said through the bond. “Lake Cuna lies ahead."

"Lake Cuna?"

"Lake Cuna gives way to the great southern continent and lies at the heart of the Maltha River Basin," Thoth said.

An unknown continent? "What do you know of the southern continent?"

"The dragons understand little of the land," Thoth said. "Our kind traveled south to defend the gates. We discovered the land beyond a few short weeks ago."

"You're talking in riddles Thoth. What gates?"

"Moira will answer your questions. Be patient."

General Demos leaned forward in the saddle. "I see a lake. Have you asked —?”

"Yes," he said cutting off the line of questioning. "Lake Cuna. We've arrived. He says another continent lies beyond the mountains."

General Demos stiffened. "Another continent? Who lives in this land?"

"I don't know," he said. "A better question might be what lives there."

"Something is wrong." Thoth's wings beat faster and the dragon raced ahead.

"Moira?" He said.

"I don't yet know," Thoth said. "I sense many wounded dragons in the herd."

The foothills disappeared giving way to a vast plane of high green grass. Rivers, by the score, crisscrossed the landscape flowing south from the Adris. They cut across the grassland and fed Lake Cuna on the plane's distant edge.

General Demos's tongue flickered. "I taste death on the winds."

He tightened the grip on Thoth's saddle and leaned over peering across the basin.

In a riverbed a hundred feet below, sunlight reflected off a dragon's blue scales. Another green dragon lay motionless in the tall grass fifty yards to the right. A half-dozen dragons littered the river basin on a path leading to the lake.

A presence tugged on his mind. A dragon's attempt to start a conversation. He opened his thoughts hoping for Moira's presence, but another mind filled the void.

Shadows flashed overhead. A red dragon and its gold companion came into view. They appeared at Thoth's right and left. Abzu and Tiamat.

A strange voice came through the bond. Abzu, the red dragon he'd met atop Dragon's Peak. "You must follow me Silver Soul," Abzu's leathery voice said through the bond.

His skin prickled. "What's wrong Abzu? What happened here?"

"It's Moira," Abzu said. "She's wounded."

He dug his heels into Thoth's side and leaned forward. "Fly faster." He spoke the words out loud forgetting the mind link.

Thoth bellowed releasing a gout of blue fire. The dragon pitched right and followed Abzu toward Lake Cuna.

Cool wind whipped across his face, and he squinted across the great lake below.

Water stretched to the horizon making the lake's far side impossible to discern.

"What's wrong?" General Demos yelled above the roaring wind.

"Moira," he said. "She's hurt and the dragons need my help."

A long pause preceded General Demo's next question. "You can heal her?"

Could he? Three weeks ago he would've said yes without reservation. "I don't know," he said deciding on the truth.

Thoth descended buzzing low over charred grass and ravaged earth. A dozen dragons cried out bleeding and broken.

He wanted to stop and heal them all, but the herd needed Moira. He needed Moira. Without her guidance, he might never regain control of his magic.

Abzu turned right following Lake Cuna's sandy shoreline. Gentle waves lapped against the shoreline gleaming under a clear blue sky. Thoth followed clinging to Abzu's tail.

Ahead, a white mound of flesh and scales lay half in and half out of the lake.

His stomach dropped and he reached for Elan's magic. "Hurry Thoth. Please hurry." Like a wet bar of soap, he held the magic for a moment and then it slipped away. For all his power, he was useless.

"Moira is the white dragon?" General Demos's voice hissed over his right shoulder. An edge of surprise laced the general's words.

He half glanced over his shoulder. "She's a shape shifter, like the guardians."

General Demos peered over the basin. Dragon's by the score glided overhead while others flew low over Lake Cuna. "Can they all channel magic?"

"Of course," he said and held General Demos's stone-eyed gaze.

General Demos gazed past him at Moira's still body. "I'm sorry about your friend."

He turned from the general and focused on Moira.

Surrounding Moira, a dozen dragons stood vigil. Their heads turned and tracked Thoth, Abzu, and Tiamat's descent.

Thoth's wings unfurled and the herd of Moira's protectors moved aside. With talons extended, Thoth sank onto the soft sand.

He slid from the saddle and tossed away the fur gloves. Cool lake water splashed across his body and soaked into his boots. He sprinted across the beach until he reached Moira's side.

A dozen dragons looked on, their eyes filled with hope. Each stepped aside and allowed him room to work. Room to perform his magic.

He settled a trembling hand on Moira's snout.

The dragon's snout felt cool and ragged breaths passed through Moira's wide nostrils.

He opened his mind to Moira's but the gentle prodding wouldn't come. "I'm here old girl. I'm here."

Moira stirred under his touch, but the dragon's eyes remained shut.

General Demos appeared beside him and a deep rumbling hiss passed among the dragons.

General Demos turned a nervous eye on the herd, but ignored the threat. "Can I assist you human?"

"I'm not even sure if I can help. She's barely hanging on."

General Demos's wary gaze fell across the gathered dragons. "For both our sake, I hope you can."

With eyes closed, he reached deep inside and prayed the magic wouldn't slip from his grip. He found it lurking. Taunting him. He'd channeled a thousand times. Like grabbing a slippery eel he hooked Elan's magic and yanked it toward him. Pain, like a hangman's noose, ripped through his head and neck. His face contorted in agony and his eyes shot open.

With every color of the rainbow, the dragon's auras blazed. Fat soul threads, unlike any he'd seen, ran to each. So much power. An almost unlimited supply.

The power, so sweet and tempting, reached for him begging for release. "No." He mumbled and pressed his hand flat against the beach steadying himself against a wave of nausea. Sweat rolled over his scalp and down his forehead. His tunic, damp with perspiration, clung to his back beneath his fur cloak.

A strong hand gripped his arm and the gathered dragon's hissed a sharp warning.

He braced himself against General Demos's steady hand and sank forward to his knees. Elan's magic, like a trapped badger, writhed against his touch. A primal scream came from deep inside him and white magic flowed across his fingertips.

Tremors rocked his hand and arm. He spread his palm flat against Moira's side and pulled on the magic commanding it to yield.

White magic flowed across Moira. It seeped between her scales and coiled through her nostrils.

Blackness crept around his vision and pain flared. His scream deepened. Something inside him snapped with a sickening crunch of finality. Elan's magic slipped from his grip.

The world melted into a jumble of color and sound. His body lurched and his face met the soft sand. Cool water lapped at his face and consciousness slipped away.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Ghost Town

A half-mile ahead, Mara sparkled beneath the desert sun.

Danielle breathed a sigh of relief. The last two weeks spent navigating the desert without Brees or Keely had proved difficult. Without Arber’s guidance, the journey would’ve been impossible. That she hadn’t overtaken Brees and Keely or detected any sign of their path had concerned her. None of that mattered now. She’d reached Mara. She would land on Brees’s doorstep in minutes.