Shadow (13 page)

‘It’s too hot to cook on at the moment,’ she said, ‘but Fire tells me it will be fine in a couple of minutes, and should continue to give off heat for some time. He says
it’s not the best rock for holding heat, but it will suffice for our needs. Who’s going to do the cooking?’

‘I will,’ Kira replied. ‘I’ve never cooked on a hot rock before.’

She watched, mildly amused, as Elian bowed and thanked Firestorm for his efforts. He was so polite it was funny sometimes.

‘He says it was his pleasure,’
Nolita informed Elian.

Nolita ran her fingers through her hair. The gesture was not like that of most girls. Rather than a subconscious preening, it almost looked as if she were digging gouges into her scalp with her
fingernails. Kira had seen Nolita do it before – normally immediately after communicating with her dragon.

That must be it, Kira thought. It’s another of her little cleansing rituals. What she thinks it will do, heaven only knows!

A few minutes later the aroma of sizzling meat filled the cave. Elian drew in a deep breath and sighed happily. Pangs of jealousy tweaked at Kira’s heart. He looked so comfortable.

‘Any ideas on how we approach the enclave, Elian?’ she asked, deliberately dispelling the contented feeling of the moment.

His brows furrowed. ‘Not really,’ he admitted. ‘We could just fly up to the entrance and ask to see Pell, I suppose.’

‘We could, but I suspect that would end our hopes of completing the quest,’ Kira replied, trying hard to keep the scorn she felt from her tone. The idea of offering up such an
ill-thought-out suggestion appalled her.

Nolita nodded. ‘Fire says he can’t go anywhere near the enclave and hope to stay safe.’ She sounded relieved.

‘Fair enough,’ Elian said, pursing his lips. ‘Ra tells me that the same goes for her and Fang, though surely Fang would have the best chance of getting close without being
noticed. Especially if he approaches at dusk, when his camouflage is at its most effective.’

Kira looked into the darkness towards where she knew her dragon was lying.
‘What do you think, Fang?’
she asked silently.
‘Could you get into the
enclave?’

‘I could get you in, but I would not be able to stay,’
he replied.
‘I could not conceal my presence for long. The night dragons would sense me, even with my
camouflage at full effectiveness.’

‘He says he could get me in, but then he’d have to leave or the night dragons would find him,’ she relayed to the others.

‘Get
you
in?’ Elian said immediately. ‘Don’t think for a heartbeat that you’re leaving me behind, Kira. Fang managed to carry us both when he was injured.
I’m sure he can carry us both now he’s back to full strength.’

‘You’re not going to leave me here alone with . . .’ Nolita didn’t finish her sentence, but she did not need to. The fear in her voice filled in the missing words.

‘It would be a lot safer here, Nolita,’ Kira said soothingly.

‘I don’t care,’ Nolita replied immediately. ‘I want to come with you. Could Fang carry me too?’

‘I can carry you all,’
Fang confirmed to Kira.
‘The enclave is not far from here. It is in a box canyon off this main valley a little way to the south. The problem
will be getting you out again. I will not be able to remain close enough to hear you call if you get into trouble.’

Kira related this information to the others and silence fell as they thought through possible solutions. To Kira’s surprise, Nolita was first to offer up a possibility.

‘Fire tells me that there’s no chain or prison that could hold Shadow captive,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘So if they’ve imprisoned Pell, they’ll be holding him
somewhere that Shadow can’t reach him. Shadow would never abandon Pell, so he’d effectively be tethered to the enclave until Pell found a way out.’

‘That sounds logical,’ Elian replied. ‘But I don’t see how it helps us.’

‘Well, if Fang thinks he can get us in, then Shadow could fly us all out,’ she said. ‘She’s much bigger than Fang. I imagine she could carry the three of us, and Pell,
with ease. If we don’t find Pell the quest will fail, but if we can get him to Shadow then we’ll still have a chance.’

This is ridiculous, Kira decided. These two have no idea what they’re talking us into.

‘If
we can find Pell.
If
we can free him.
If
we can get him to Shadow. That’s a lot of ifs,’ Kira said aloud, her tone sour.

‘Have you got any better suggestions, Kira?’ Elian asked. ‘I’m not sure we’ve got much choice. Nolita’s plan isn’t watertight, but it could
work.’

‘It sounds about as full of holes as a colander,’ she grumbled. ‘But if I can’t think of anything better by dusk, then I suppose we’ll have to try it.’

Chapter Eleven

Kira watched silently as Elian ran through the sequence of sword strokes she had taught him. She had not wanted to get involved, but Elian had got the blade out and started
waving it around as something to do whilst they were waiting for the sun to set.

It was a fine weapon. Kira had recognised that much from the moment she first saw it. The blade, once the property of the dragonhunter who had dogged their steps all the way from Racafi, was
shaped from a length of dragonbone and was harder than any metal. Elian had picked it up from the meadow where, in their final confrontation, Shadow had eaten the dragonhunter. The man had taken
Elian’s sword from him during their first encounter, so there was a sense of justice in his keeping this one.

At first, Elian’s efforts were painful to watch. To her eye he was now improving rapidly, though she was hardly qualified to judge. Few in her tribe carried swords, and none of those were
masters with a blade. Hunters favoured spears and bows and had little time for close-quarter weapons.

She smiled slightly as memories of her own lessons surfaced. She had nagged Bemi, one of the more friendly hunters, to teach her swordplay. He had been kind enough to humour her, and they had
spent many hours fencing with sticks, laughing at one another’s mistakes and cheering the victories. It had been fun.

The smaller children often gathered to watch, so she and Bemi played to their audience. When defeated, the loser had to ‘die’ the most spectacular death they could, bringing squeals
of delight from the young ones.

For Elian, however, drawing his blade would have more deadly consequences. How he would fare if faced with someone actually trying to kill him, she did not want to think about. His footwork
looked all right when he was moving forwards and he was getting much faster with the practice patterns she had shown him. But when moving backwards he still looked clumsy and uncomfortable. The one
major thing that would weigh in Elian’s favour in a real fight was his sword. There was little that could stop a dragonbone blade. If he swung it hard enough, it would sheer straight through
a metal one. Any swordsman would be thrown off guard by having his blade chopped in two.

The gloomy shadows around the mouth of the cave were beginning to deepen. It was time to go.

‘Give it up, Elian,’ she said, as he stumbled again during a retreating sequence. ‘It’s time we made a move.’

‘It’s no good,’ he replied, slowing down and running through the sequence in slow motion one last time. ‘I just can’t seem to make my feet go where I want them
to.’

‘You won’t learn to fence in a day,’ Kira laughed. ‘Much as I hate to admit it, you’re doing a lot better than I did when my friend taught me. I don’t
recommend getting into any fights just yet, though. You’d be sliced and diced by any half-competent swordsman. You need proper lessons if you’re going to be any good. I’ve only
ever played with sticks.’

‘How comforting!’ he said sarcastically, carefully sheathing the sword and slipping the straps over his shoulders so that the scabbard seated comfortably against his back.
‘I’ll try to bear that in mind.’

The three young riders dressed themselves in the darkest colours they possessed. Their riding jackets were all made of similar dark grey leather, the perfect colour to blend in against the rocky
crags. As a final effort at camouflage they each took strips of dark cloth cut from one of Kira’s tunics and used them to cover the lower half of their faces and their foreheads, leaving just
a slit for their eyes. Together they moved outside and Fang followed, leaving Firestorm and Aurora to rest.

‘I’ll take the saddle,’ Kira said, her voice muffled by the cloth. ‘Nolita, you sit behind me and Elian can sit behind you. I’d offer you the saddle, but I think
you’ll feel better being sandwiched between us when Fang uses his camouflage. It’s quite unnerving the first time your ride disappears from under you!’

Nolita nodded silently, but from what Kira could see of her eyes she could tell the girl was thankful. They all mounted, and Fang camouflaged before moving out into the open to begin his
take-off run.

Kira would have preferred to leave Nolita behind. She suspected the girl would be a liability, but could not find it in her heart to force the issue. One look at Nolita’s face when she
thought she was going to be left alone with the two dragons, and Kira knew they had to take her with them.

The blond rider held tight around Kira’s waist from the moment she took her place on Fang’s back, but squeezed even tighter when they started to move. Kira tensed her stomach against
the pressure, but said nothing until they were safely airborne and climbing along the centre of the valley.

‘You can ease off the death hug now, Nolita,’ she called over her shoulder. ‘There’s very little wind. It shouldn’t be too bumpy.’

Her prediction was correct. The air was smooth, though Kira soon grew to feel a little grateful for Nolita’s closeness. She had not flown much by night and little enough at sundown. The
mountains loomed larger than ever in the fast fading light of dusk, hulking over them, dark and menacing. There was a sense of brooding awareness hanging in the air that Kira knew to be her
imagination playing tricks. Nevertheless, it felt as if at any moment one of the great peaks might reach out with an enormous rocky arm and crush them like bugs.

Don’t be a fool, Kira, she told herself. You’re far too old to be afraid of the dark.

They tracked along the great valley at speed. All sense of texture on the mountainsides gradually disappeared, leaving only deep black shadowy walls that seemed to climb away for ever. This was
amplified when Fang suddenly plunged into the dark abyss of a narrow valley.

Kira instinctively held her breath as they entered the pitch-black void and she heard Nolita gasp behind her. The narrow band of sky above them was the only ribbon of reality. How Fang could see
where he was going Kira had no idea, but he powered on and she sensed no hesitation in him through the bond. His confidence bolstered hers and for once she was truly glad of the intimacy of her
alliance with Fang.

‘Nearly there,’
Fang warned.

For a moment Kira thought her mind was playing tricks on her, because there was something strange about his voice.

‘No, you’re not imagining it,’
Fang said immediately.
‘I’ve consciously narrowed our bond to reduce the chance of stray thoughts being picked up by the
night dragons. The valley will open out when we round the next bend. I can already sense the presence of many dragons ahead, so I’ve shielded my thoughts to prevent our being
discovered.’

‘That makes sense,’
Kira replied, surprised to hear that her own mental voice had the same echoing quality as Fang’s.

‘I’ve also managed a quick private exchange with Shadow,’
he continued.
‘She is delighted that we’ve come to help. She and Pell arrived yesterday. Pell
went in to see Segun, but she’s had no contact with him since. She is worried that something has happened to him. She’s going to cause a disturbance to draw the attention of the other
dragons to let me get you in. Apparently Segun and five other senior riders left the enclave early this morning, but Widewing, Segun’s dragon, would tell Shadow nothing about what was going
on.’

‘I think I can guess.’

‘Yes, it seems we were right,’
Fang observed.
‘Shadow has given me an image of where Pell entered. She says the outer part of the cave appears empty now that Segun
has left. Dropping you there is the best I can do. Find Pell and Shadow will try to bring you all back to where Firestorm and Aurora are resting. I will meet you there.’

‘And if we can’t find Pell?’
Kira asked.

‘Shadow won’t leave without him.’

‘Great! No pressure then.’

‘We knew it wouldn’t be easy, Kira,’
Fang said, his voice calm.
‘I have confidence in your abilities. You are a trained hunter. Use your skills. You will
find him.’

It was so dark by now that Kira did not even realise they were turning left until the valley opened out ahead and the area of sky above lent more light to their path. As Fang levelled his wings,
Kira experienced a strange feeling of disorientation. Her sense of balance told her that they were now turning right, but her eyes showed them to be flying straight. Her brain began to turn
somersaults, trying to resolve the conflicting messages.