Soulblade (11 page)

Did he say he was a
god
or a
dog
?
Jaxi asked.

Hush
. Sardelle did not want to insult him, especially not when he was helping her.

I just thought he might be confused. If it helps, I don’t sense Ridge nearby. But as before, my senses are muddled by his divine presence.

Sardelle did not sense much, either, beyond marmots hiding in the rocks.

I detect a faint scent from the cockpit
, Bhrava Saruth announced,
but rain has come and washed away most of the signs
.

Sardelle eyed the lifeless power crystal and wondered if that had been the reason Ridge crashed. Had the dragon destroyed it while he was in the air? She looked to the side, spotting the tip of the ammo belt that fed bullets into the machine gun. She thought some of Tolemek’s special ammunition might remain, the bullets with his acid in the tips, acid capable of doing damage to dragon scales.

She couldn’t get down and fiddle around in the cockpit by hand, but she unfastened the belt with her mind and floated the remaining ammo up to her hand. There weren’t more than thirty or forty bullets left, but maybe they would make a difference in the future, or maybe Tolemek could use them as a model to craft more. She carefully tucked them into her pack.

Can you take me over to the edge of the rockslide area? Where it levels out a bit?
Sardelle doubted anyone could have walked across the slope and reached the less treacherous ground, but Bhrava Saruth flew her to the area. She slid off and walked around, studying the stark ground as if she knew what she was doing or might find a clue so obvious that even a tracking neophyte might recognize it.

Perhaps this would be the time to get Therrik
, Jaxi said.

Sardelle sighed and looked toward the canyon, where she could hear the river flowing past far below.
You’re right. At the least, we’d have more eyes on the ground.

She would have preferred not to need him, but with the king’s orders, Therrik shouldn’t object too much. She directed Bhrava Saruth to take them back into the air, feeling quite presumptuous every time she made a request. She rarely asked
people
for favors. To ask a dragon to cart her around felt strange indeed.

How are we going to keep the miners from shooting at him—and us?
Jaxi asked as they sailed around Goat Mountain and the outpost came into view.

A valid concern. Sardelle knew the cannons and rocket launchers poised on the walls wouldn’t get past Bhrava Saruth’s defenses, but he might not feel welcome if he was greeted with a barrage of weapons fire.

A distant wailing reached her ears, the alarm being sounded in the valley. She stretched out with her mind, searching for the one person down there who could stop the alarm and the attack that had to be imminent. So what if he happened to be the one person who would least appreciate a sorceress speaking telepathically to him?

Maybe it would be better to land shielded and use your lips with him
, Jaxi suggested.

I’m not sure he wants anything to do with my lips either.
Sardelle found Therrik’s aura among the soldiers on the wall just before he came into sight. Bhrava Saruth had slowed down and was coasting in.

She reached out to the man, sensing his grumpy disposition even before she fully touched his mind. He was so different from Ridge. She braced herself for the discomfort before she sent her words to him.
Colonel Therrik? It’s Sardelle. I have orders for you from the king. This is the dragon that helped us defeat Morishtomaric. He and I would appreciate it if you commanded your men not to fire.

A long pause came, followed by a single word.
Shit.

I don’t think he’s changed as much as the king thinks he has,
Jaxi said.

Bhrava Saruth, not appearing concerned by the weapons on the towers or the soldiers on the wall, banked and descended, heading for the rooftop in the courtyard that the fliers used for landing. Out of habit, Sardelle prepared her own defenses, even though the dragon’s would likely protect her. Bellowing came from the parapet. Judging by the gruffness, it originated with Therrik.

She wasn’t sure whether he was yelling for his men to fire or not to fire. Bhrava Saruth flexed his wings and floated down to the rooftop. A lot of tense faces followed his flight, but nobody fired. Sardelle let out a slow breath.

Good morning, humans,
Bhrava Saruth announced cheerfully. It took Sardelle a moment to realize he wasn’t just addressing her. Was he speaking to the entire outpost?
If you are in need of healing or blessings, please come to me. There is no need to be alarmed by the god, Bhrava Saruth, but if you are uncomfortable speaking to me, you may address my high priestess, and she will direct you on my behalf.

Sardelle felt her mouth dangling open, but she couldn’t quite manage to close it. She wasn’t sure whether the humans to which he spoke would charge up to see him or would run for the tram cars in the hope of cowering down in the mines.

The first person to appear, climbing the stairs to the roof, was Therrik. Sardelle slid off the dragon’s back, her hand already dipping into her satchel so she could retrieve the envelope that held his orders.

“What in all the levels of hell is going on here?” he demanded.

She noted with great relief that he wasn’t striding around with Kasandral. “I need the help of a tracker, and King Angulus recommended you.” She pulled out the envelope and held it toward him.

He had come up the stairs to greet Sardelle—and the dragon—by himself, with nothing but a rifle in hand, but he seemed reluctant to approach. His jaw worked back and forth as he glanced toward the courtyard, then toward the envelope, and finally toward Bhrava Saruth, whose wings, when spread, extended farther than the sides of the building under them.

He is thinking unkind thoughts toward me, high priestess
, Bhrava Saruth said.
I do not believe he would make a good worshipper.

Perhaps some of the other people here could use your help and would be grateful for it.

Finally, Therrik squared his shoulders and strode toward them. He accepted the envelope, then stepped back, careful not to touch her. Sardelle suspected he was thinking unkind thoughts toward her too.

I get the sense that he thinks unkind thoughts toward
everyone, Jaxi said.

“Tracking what?” he asked as he pulled out the page.

“I want to see if there’s any chance that Ridge is still alive. Also, the king thought you might like to get out Kasandral and help me find the sorceress.”

His gaze jerked up, fastening onto her face for the first time. His nostrils flared, and his eyes burned, alert and intent. Even with Jaxi at her hip and a dragon behind her, Sardelle shifted uneasily, not sure how to read that sudden intensity. Was he imagining that he might get his chance to use the blade to kill her?

Actually, he’s getting excited by the idea of killing Eversong and redeeming himself in the king’s eyes,
Jaxi said.

Oh. He wouldn’t mind working with us if he got his chance to do that?
One confrontation with the powerful sorceress had been enough for Sardelle. She would be happy to aim Therrik and the dragon-slaying blade in the right direction while standing back to assist.

I doubt you’d want to turn your back to him when he’s polishing Kasandral around the campfire at night, but he’s not fantasizing about killing you at the moment.

That’s an improvement.

I’ll say. The man does have a lot of violent urges. One wonders about his childhood.

“The king is tired of Eversong wandering around in his country and causing mischief,” Sardelle added, feeling the need to say something since several moments had passed since Therrik had spoken.

He stirred, looking down at the orders again. “I can understand that. All those damned witches ought to be killed.”

A deep rumble sounded from behind Sardelle. Was that a growl? Did dragons growl?

Bhrava Saruth’s neck stretched past Sardelle’s shoulder, his sleek golden head huge next to hers. He glared at Therrik with cold, green reptilian eyes as his tail twitched, then curled about to rest on the ground between Therrik and Sardelle. She blinked a few times in surprise, realizing he was protecting her. It was strange but a little exhilarating too. Was that what Tylie felt when Phelistoth protected her? She wondered why Bhrava Saruth would bother. She wasn’t a Receiver and hadn’t spent years sharing a mind link with him, the way Tylie had with Phelistoth.

You’re his only high priestess right now
, Jaxi said dryly.

Therrik looked up, fear flashing in his dark eyes as he realized that growl had been for him. He quickly turned the emotion into a sneer of defiance, or perhaps contempt. “Oh, not her. She’s Angulus’s witch. I mean the ones that make trouble.”

Ah, he’s promoted you from Zirkander’s witch to the king’s witch
, Jaxi said.
Your career is advancing nicely.

Sardelle knew it was a joke, but it filled her with bleakness. She had no interest in being anyone’s “witch” except for Ridge’s.

“We have to track Zirkander first?” Therrik had taken a few more steps back from Bhrava Saruth to finish reading the note. “I thought they were positive he was dead.”

“We found his crashed flier, but we never found him.”

“Huh. You think the witch has him?”

Sardelle started to say no, but her lips froze before the word fully formed, the thought leaping into her mind again. Was it possible? If Jaxi had sensed Eversong nearby and she had been on the way to the outpost, might she have diverted when she saw the dragon battle? What if she had gotten to him first?

We discussed this,
Jaxi said.
Why would she bother? I assume it was the crystal or something else in the old Referatu stronghold that drew her here, the same as the dragons. Why divert to get a crashed pilot instead?

I’m not saying it’s likely, just that it’s possible. Ridge was the second-highest-ranking military man in the area then, and he knows all about the outpost. He probably knows a lot of military secrets too—how defenses are laid out here and back at home in the capital. She could have wanted him to...
She trailed off, grimacing as her mind finished the sentence. Imagining Eversong dragging him off to torture him for information was almost as bad as imagining him dead.

Therrik was staring at her, waiting for an answer.

“I don’t know,” Sardelle said, “but I want to start with him. If he
is
out there, he may not have much time. Angulus said you were a good tracker.” She smiled, hoping he might be more amenable to working with her if she proved herself pleasant. She wouldn’t flatter him unduly, but Angulus
had
said Therrik had survival skills.

Instead of looking pleased, he scowled. “You’re on a first-name basis with him, are you?”

What?
Everyone
called him Angulus. Granted, they usually prefaced it with King, but even the newspapers referred to him by first name.

She shrugged and said, “He’s asked me to work in the castle as a healer.” Maybe that would explain the familiarity to Therrik’s satisfaction.

All he did was grumble and turn his back. “Twenty years I’ve served him, blood and soul, and who does he trust? Some strange witch woman who’s been here for three months and climbed into his bed.” He stalked away as he spoke, disappearing down the stairs.

“That’s hardly accurate,” Sardelle said.

No, we’ve been here six months now.

He is surly
, Bhrava Saruth observed.
I don’t believe he will be bringing me an offering.

He’s getting the sword
, Jaxi said a few minutes later.

Not to use on us, I trust
, Sardelle said.

Probably not. He’s stuffing underwear into a pack too. It appears he’s getting ready for a trip.

Good.
Sardelle gazed toward Goat Mountain and the white-capped peaks looming behind it.
We’re coming, Ridge.

• • • • •

After clunking his knee against three stumps and a rock, Tolemek found Cas standing guard beside a tree overlooking the river. If not for his growing ability to sense people the way Sardelle did, he might have stumbled into the water before finding her, assuming she hadn’t said anything. Between the layers of thick foliage and the clouds that had rolled in, blotting out the stars, the night was darker than the inside of a dragon’s stomach.

“Are you looking for me?” Cas murmured. “Or for a private place to relieve yourself?”

“I wouldn’t have come this far for that.”

“We’re only ten meters from camp.”
Camp
was an ambitious term for what they had, which was the camouflaged fliers parked in the mud and people hunkered on the lumpy mangrove roots, the only dry things around, aside from the patch of land they had turned into their prison.

“What’s your point?”

Tolemek couldn’t see Cas crinkle her nose, but when she said, “Men are gross,” he had no trouble imagining it.

“Does that mean you’re not interested in cuddling?”

“Probably not when I’m standing watch. You’re supposed to be sleeping so you can leave before dawn. Colonel Quataldo said you, he, and Kaika have to get an early start.”

“I heard. I suppose you, Blazer, Duck, and Pimples get to sleep in.”

Tolemek understood why the pilots would be staying behind, since they had to be able to swoop in and pick up the kidnappers once they had collected the emperor, but he wasn’t tickled at the idea of going in without Cas. He would have preferred to stay behind and let the two elite forces soldiers handle sneaking in on their own, but Colonel Quataldo wanted him—and his collection of grenades and salves—along. Tolemek did not know whether he should feel honored or not. He had a hunch the colonel also wanted to ensure Tylie—and Phelistoth—would stay nearby, something that might be more likely if he went.