SpringFire (3 page)

Now Grey went on. “Well, remember what I told you back when we first met, that my parents abandoned me because something was wrong with me?” I nodded. He took a deep breath. “Well, I’m maejic, too.”

A stab of excitement made me sit up even straighter, almost made me leap to my feet. “You’re joking! Why haven’t you said so before?” I stood up and started pacing back and forth in agitation. “But then, that explains so many things. Like how you always know what the dragons need. And—” understanding dawned on me “—back at your cabin. Chase told you how I was feeling and when I needed anything!” How had I not guessed before now?

Grey picked at his fingernails. “Well, not all the time,” he muttered. “Only when it was important. I wasn’t spying on you or anything.”

“I didn’t mean—” I stopped pacing and sat back down next to him. “Grey, this is great! I had no idea. How could I? But why didn’t you tell me before?”

He looked at me, his grey eyes piercing me. “How?” Grey’s eyes slid from mine. “I don’t know. I guess it’s just—” He let out a long sigh. “Well, I’ve always had to hide it from everyone except Malk.” He was the hermit who’d raised Grey after his parents abandoned him. “I guess I got into the habit, one that was hard to break.”

I understood that. I wanted to reach out and touch him, let him know that it was all right, but I couldn’t seem to figure out how to say the words without sounding stupid.

A silence grew between us. Grey eventually broke it. “None of that really matters now anyway. We need to figure out what’s going on. The last thing I remember is falling.” He shuddered.

“Me, too. I think we got hit by that lightning.

“What was all that, anyway? Do you know?”

The word came out as a whisper. “Dragonmasters.” It was my turn to shudder.

“Who are they?”

“They’re awful. They’re very powerful magicians who work for the king. They wear these black robes, and they move about as if they own the world. And the power just reeks off them. They attacked the mages a few times. That’s why we had to go into hiding. And,” I lowered my voice, “Xyla herself is afraid of them.”

He raised his eyebrows and looked over at her. “That’s saying something.”

“But how did they find our hiding place in the mountains?” I wondered aloud. “And how did they know Xyla was there? That shows how powerful they are, don’t you think?”

Grey turned his attention back to me. “All right, so they attacked, and as you said, some of their lightning must have hit us. Did it—I don’t know—move us backward in time or something?”

That took me aback. “Why do you say that?”

Grey let out an exasperated sigh. “Because it’s pretty obvious that no one’s been here for ages. It’s the same place—there’s the shelf of rock where all the cooking gear was kept, and the natural chimney is right here,” he pointed at the ceiling over the fire, “the same as before.”

“I don’t know. Is moving in time even possible?”

“I wouldn’t have thought so, but I can’t think of anything else. It doesn’t seem any more likely that we just all lay there unconscious for a few years. If your old dragonmasters had just left us and we didn’t wake up, we would’ve died.”

Just then, Xyla let out a groan that echoed around the cavern, making it sound even louder. I sprang to my feet and rushed to her.

“Xyla, are you all right?” I reached out and placed a hand on her jaw.

“Donavah? You are really here? I am not dreaming?”

That sounded so human I almost laughed. “No, Xyla, you’re not dreaming. I’m here. So’s Grey. And Traz. Wherever here is.”

“You do not know where we are?”

“Well, we’re in the cave. But everyone else is gone. We don’t know where to.”

She let out a long, slow breath that whistled past her nostrils and blew my hair away from my face. “You have not guessed?”

“Guessed what?” Now I was growing a little impatient with her.

“We are on Stychs.”

Your Royal Highness, Sir:

Per your command, sire, I have ventured to the Westfront Range. I am loathe to report that while the land itself is interesting and even fruitful, there is about it something uncanny and unsettling. An alien magic permeates the atmosphere. Never has any king taken this land, nor do I see that you would gain sufficient benefit therefrom to justify the cost in blood and treasure to conquer it.

I will report more fully upon my return. Until then, may all health and happiness be yours, my true King.

~Sir Condran, Knight Royal of the Realm

“What?” Grey and I exclaimed in unison, and he exploded to his feet. In no time, he was standing next to me.

But Xyla fell back into her stupor.

My blood pounded in my ears, and I had to take calming breaths to try to gather my thoughts.

“I need to make a bow,” Grey said, irrelevantly. “Whatever is wrong with her isn’t going to get better if she’s not eating.”

I just nodded numbly. What did I care about some stupid bow? We were on Stychs, wherever … whatever that was. I wanted to shake the dragon awake and make her explain it to me.

But the sense of Grey’s comment eventually penetrated my thoughts. He was right. We all needed to eat. I could at least get water heating, ready for Traz’s return.

I filled my saucepan with the last of the water from my waterskin. While it heated, I went to a nearby stream where melted snow from the mountaintops made its bubbling, sparkling way to the valley far below.

And the stream was right where it should be. That made me feel a little more grounded. Xyla must be wrong. We couldn’t be anywhere but back home. Two different places simply couldn’t be identical. Could they?

I shook these thoughts out of my mind. Several splashes of the cold water onto my face made me feel more awake and clearheaded. Whatever happened had just muddled all of our thinking, even Xyla’s. Poor thing. If she’d been hit by lightning, no wonder she was disoriented.

When I got back to the cave, Traz stood there holding four rabbits, but with a worried expression on his face. When he saw me, it dissolved into relief.

“Where’d you go?” he demanded. “I got back and no one was here … ” His voice trailed off. So, I thought, he was unsettled, too.

“Just filling my waterskin.” I held it up. “Hey, good catch!”

He shrugged. “Where’s Grey?”

“Went to find some wood to make a new bow. You’re not going to be able to keep a dragon fed, even if you are the deadliest shot in the world.”

“I could bring down an elk as good as Grey can,” he said with an indignant look.

“Yes, yes,” I said quickly, “I’m sure you can. And Grey will be able to use your help.”

“Use his help with what?” Grey came striding in carrying a long, curved branch.

“With the hunting. Traz has already caught us a good meal.”

Traz raised the rabbits so Grey could see, then went outside to skin them. I hoped he’d hurry so we could get them roasting quickly.

“I don’t need his help,” Grey said, a bit bad-temperedly as he sat down near the fire and started fiddling with the branch, turning it this way and that and testing its flex. “I can’t believe I just dropped my best bow like that. This one won’t even come close.”

After awhile Traz came back in with the rabbits ready to cook. He’d made a spit, which he tended with great care. He’d been a kitchen boy at Roylinn Academy, where my brother Breyard and I had studied magic before we’d been caught up with Xyla and the mages, and he was a much better cook than I was. Soon, the delicious odor of roasting meat filled the air, making me feel light-headed with hunger.

Without warning, Grey snapped, “When is that meat going to be ready?” By now, he’d started working on the branch with one of his knives, and a pile of wood shavings lay in front of him.

“Be patient,” Traz said, just as testily. “It takes awhile to cook it to a proper succulence.”

“I don’t care about succulence!” The vehemence in Grey’s tone surprised me. I’d never seen him lose patience with anyone or anything before.

“Fine,” said Traz, reaching for one of the sticks holding a rabbit. He removed it from the spit, being careful not to let the others drop into the fire. He held the stick out to Grey, who took it a little hesitantly. “Don’t complain to me if it’s undercooked. You want yours now, too, Donavah?”

I glanced from one to the other, the tension thick between them. “Uh, no, that’s all right. I’ll wait.”

Grey set the partly whittled branch on the ground and went outside. I took a step to follow him, but then Traz made an impatient sound and said, “Jerk. He always ruins everything.”

“He does not! He’s just hungry.”

“And we’re not?”

“Who’s being surly now? Look, Traz, we’re all hungry and tired and confused. Can’t you hurry those rabbits up a bit? We’ll feel better once we’ve eaten.”

With a sigh, he turned back to the fire.

After Traz and I had finished eating, I went outside to talk to Grey but couldn’t find him. Wondering where he’d gone—and why—I went back inside where it was warmer. I took my meditation kit out of my pack and went deeper into the cave. It was too dark to tell what colors the candles were until I lit them, when I found that I’d somehow picked two that were the same: ivory for peace. Using a matched pair, although the tradition among magicians, wasn’t the most powerful use of magic, so I blew one out and selected another: lavender for clarity.

It was hard to clear my mind, harder than ever before. I could feel the rhythm of life, but couldn’t seem to align myself to it. I concentrated harder, thinking that if I could only catch the beat, I would be able to proceed with the meditation routine.

Cacophony pressed in on me. For a moment, I thought I would go mad from the disruption of my spirit. The sound tugged me in opposite directions, threatening to rip my sanity to pieces.

Lights of red, green, and blue spiraled around me, driving me to distraction without providing illumination.

Then the gentlest of touches on my psyche. I focused on it, willing myself not to lose contact. I didn’t question what it was. It had a sweet taste and sensuous odor that drew me toward it.

Bit by bit, my spirit moved through the ether, nudging itself into rhythm with this world. With each passing moment, I felt more and more at one, once again, with nature around me.

Then, with a psychic jolt, my soul fell into the proper rhythm, and the world blossomed around me. Overcome with the richness of it all, my senses momentarily closed up and everything went black.

And quiet. And still.

I floated on the nothingness.

Then a whisper of wind formed into melodious words.

“Ah. What have we here? Who are you?”

I said nothing.

“Such power. Power that is raw and young and beautiful. Such power as I crave. Where are you?”

And still I said nothing.

“You refuse to answer? I have tasted you. I shall find you.”

Tentacles of thought exploded the blackness. My spirit recoiled, and my body crashed to the floor.

I sat up, feeling a bit dizzy. When I scrunched my eyes closed, the whole world felt like it was spinning, but it wasn’t much better with them open.

I put out the candles and sat for a few minutes, waiting for everything to return to normal.

Then Grey was there. He placed a supportive hand on my back and said, “Are you all right?”

A different sort of confusion flooded through me. All of my attention focused on his touch.

“Donavah? Are you all right?” he repeated.

“Um, yeah,” I finally managed to say. “I think so.”

“Come to the fire where it’s warmer.” He stood up and reached a hand down to me. I took it and let him pull me to my feet. “Your hands are as cold as ice! Let me make you something warm to drink.”

I left the candles where they were and went with him, Grey still holding my hand in his.

Traz frowned at us from where he sat near the fire. He scowled without saying a word as Grey wrapped my cloak around my shoulders and helped me to sit down, then made me tea.

I was glad Grey didn’t ask again about my meditation session, because for now, I didn’t want to talk about it. Who did that voice belong to? It had been so soft and quiet I couldn’t even tell if it was male or female. And what did it mean, “I shall find you”? The whole idea of meeting a stranger’s spirit while meditating made me feel uneasy, as if someone had been poking around inside me.

Eventually, while Traz watched Grey working once again on his bow, I curled up next to the fire and went to sleep.

I woke up twice in the night. Once, the fire had burned down to embers, so I arose and stoked it up. The second time, just an hour or so before dawn, the fire was roaring and Grey was sitting up, working on his bow again. I pushed myself up onto one elbow. He glanced at me, then back at his work.

“The stars,” he said, his voice so quiet that I barely heard him.

“What? What about the stars?”

“They’re all in the right places.”

I sat up and moved closer to him so we could talk without waking Traz up. “I’m not following you.”

“Xyla said we were on another world, this Stychs place, but all the stars are exactly where they should be for this place at this time of year.”

“Oh.” The enormity of that hit me. “Then what do you think she meant?”

He looked over at her, a frown furrowing his brow. “I don’t know. It’s not like Malk taught me any dragon lore.”

I yawned hugely.

“Sorry,” he said with a half-smile. “I didn’t mean to bore you.”

“No, no,” I said quickly. “Not bored. Just tired.”

“Go back to sleep, then. We can talk more in the morning.”

When I awoke, Xyla still lay exactly where she’d stopped the night before, no change in her condition. Her tail did give a tiny flick when I placed a hand on her neck, though, and I took that as an encouraging sign. Traz was nowhere to be seen, and I guessed he was hunting again. Grey was outside, taking some practice shots with the now-completed bow.