WinterMaejic (6 page)

“My dear girl,
I
am almost fifty. Yallick is over eighty. And even that is not terribly old for a mage. Or have they not told you that long life is another part of the gift?”

Yallick was over eighty? I couldn’t believe it. He didn’t look much older than Papa.

“I was Yallick’s last apprentice. He said he would never take another, as I’d been so much trouble.” There was a long pause in which I expected him to laugh again, but he didn’t. Instead, he went on in a low voice, more to himself than to me. “I was quite surprised to hear he’d actually taken another.” He gave me a sidelong look.

Disconcerted with Anazian’s strange shifts of mood and conversation, I allowed myself to drift away from him.

We walked until about an hour after nightfall. I’d long lost track of both Yallick and Anazian in the ever-growing group. I hadn’t seen Traz for some time, either, although every once in awhile I heard his boyish laughter rise above the murmured conversations all around me.

In the short time I’d been at Yallick’s, I had met only a few of the other mages, and they were mostly the ones who lived nearby. As a result, I knew very few of the people now surrounding me, nor did they know me. Most would smile and perhaps nod if our eyes met, but no one seemed interested in speaking to me. I walked along and let my mind drift.

My fifth birthday. Breakfast, the traditional time for children to open their family gifts. Eight-year-old Breyard squirms excitedly in his chair, almost as if it’s his birthday instead of mine. Mama reprimands him several times for his misbehavior, but she never catches me making faces back at him. Finally, the meal ends. Papa hands me a large, brightly wrapped and beribboned gift. I shriek in delight when I open the box to find it filled with wooden animals of every kind, all skillfully carved by Papa himself. Except for the whale, Breyard points out with pride. Then he hands me his gift, a box about eight inches square and four high. The contents of the box seem to shift even as I hold it. Mama and Papa obviously don’t know what’s inside and watch in curiosity. Breyard stands close as I unwrap it, staring into my face. I tear off the wrapping and open the box, and out slithers a small green and yellow snake. It’s so sweet and soft. I let it twine around my fingers. This is apparently not the reaction Breyard expected, and his face falls.

CRACK!
The sharp, resounding noise startled me out of my reverie. A streak of orange lightning shot overhead. Another, and then another, all from different directions.

“Everyone down!” Yallick’s voice roared over the cries of surprise.

I heard the sound of running footsteps and then was knocked to the ground by something very large.

The final play is in motion now. Ah, how proud Wals, DragonLord of old, would be to know of the fruition of his plan. The assault on the mages has begun by now. Once we have disposed of them, it will be easy to overpower the king, obsessed as he is with throwing his self-indulgent temper tantrums over the loss of the red dragon. He is like the legendary shavelle-mouse, which would eat until it burst if so allowed. We have given Erno free rein, and he engorges himself.

But I digress. My son has done his duty and will be richly rewarded. To shake his hand, to clasp him to my breast, to look upon his face. All the long years of sacrifice are worth what we shall gain, but I look forward to being able to speak with him again, father to son, son to father.

Has he married? Have I grandchildren hitherto unknown? Our final victory will bring the answers to these and so many more questions. It will not be long now—by Spring, I predict. The mages certainly cannot hold out against us longer than that.

“Are you all right, Donavah?” Anazian’s voice whispered right next to my ear as he pushed himself off me and rolled aside. I couldn’t answer since he’d knocked the wind out of me. He placed an arm protectively over my shoulders. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to knock you down like that. I guess I misjudged in the dark.”

I didn’t say anything but just continued to lie there face-down, trying to get air into my lungs again and waiting to see what would happen. No more of the weird lightning bolts, but no one seemed inclined to rise until Yallick said it was all right. Next thing I knew, he was standing beside me, then crouching down, a hand on the middle of my back.

“Are you all right, Donavah?” By now I’d regained my breath, and I would have laughed at the way he asked me the exact same question Anazian just had, except that I was much too scared. The vibrations in the air all around exacerbated my fear, and the deep tension I sensed through Yallick’s touch made it even worse.

“Yes, yes. I’m fine,” I managed to whisper, my voice a little shaky. I pushed myself up onto an elbow and looked toward Yallick. “Anazian here was looking out for me.” There was enough light from the moon for me to see the glint in Yallick’s eyes as his gaze flicked to the other mage, then back to me.

“Stay here. Do not move until I return for you.” Then he raised his voice just a little, and even though he was still whispering, he somehow projected his voice to everyone. “Remain as you are. I will investigate.”

There were brief murmurs of conversation here and there, but Anazian didn’t say anything to me. The minutes seemed to stretch into hours. I was sure it must be almost dawn before Yallick came back. And when he did, it was as if he appeared from thin air between eye blinks.

“All around is clear,” Yallick announced in that same soft voice that carried to everyone. “We must move on quickly now.”

He reached down a hand to help me to my feet. I’d grown stiff and cold sitting on the ground, and I was grateful for his assistance this time. “Stay by my side, Donavah,” he said, taking my hand and leading me to the front of the group before letting go. I sensed that the responsibility for almost two hundred people weighed heavily on him, so I stayed near him despite a strong wish to find Traz.

Yallick didn’t speak as everyone got underway again. I walked at his side, trying hard not to yawn and not succeeding very well. Then, after we’d been moving somewhat less than an hour, I heard Xyla’s voice inside my head.

“Donavah? Something is wrong.”

“What?” I asked her as my heart started racing again.

“Not with me. With you. What has happened?”

I explained quickly about the lightning bolts, then asked how far away from her we were.

“Not far. Close enough for you to hear me and me to hear you.”

“Thanks for that, Xyla. I hadn’t noticed.” And I grinned.

Indeed, it wasn’t long before we arrived at the rendezvous point to find the red dragon waiting patiently. She lay curled up, as usual, but I could see her eyes watching us. I ran to her and spread out my arms along her shoulder—the nearest I’d ever get to embracing her.

A lump rose in my throat when I thought back to the day, scarcely three months ago for me but who knew how long for her, when I held her, newly hatched on my lap. Neither of us had known then what our futures held together. But later she’d gone away, to Stychs, to mature and grow so that she’d be big enough to help me try to save my brother. A new thought struck me, and I leaned away from Xyla’s shoulder and looked first at her belly and then at her head. Stychs must be where she’d gotten pregnant. Why hadn’t I realized before?

I heard her chuckle inside my head.

“You sly lizard, you!” I slapped her affectionately.

Leaves rustled behind me and I turned to see Yallick approaching. Behind him, there was a flurry of activity as the mages set up camp for the night. I looked up at the stars and saw that it wasn’t nearly as late as I’d thought.

“Xyla, my dear,” Yallick said aloud, and that surprised me; why did he want me to hear what he said to her? “How do you fare?”

“Well,” she said. “And you?” It took a moment for that to sink in. I was hearing her speak to Yallick. That had never happened before.

“It has been a tiring day,” the mage continued aloud. “And more to come.” His glance fell on me. “Donavah has told you what happened?”

“Strange lightning.” And she actually shuddered.

“Yes. I do not know for certain what it means, but I fear . . . the worst. You must fly far ahead tonight. Not just a day’s walk for a human. You must go to the mountains immediately. Tonight if you can get that far. Then send a bird back with word where we can find you.”

I opened my mouth to object, but Yallick raised a hand to silence me.

“I understand,” Xyla said, and there was fear in her tone. What could frighten a dragon?

We stepped back several paces as Xyla rose and stretched her wings. She leaned her head down over me, and I felt her breath stir my short-cropped hair.

“Be safe, child mage,” she said. And with a great leap, she was gone. I wondered whether Yallick had heard what she said to me. He didn’t speak as he turned back to the clearing where a number of fires crackled merrily. I followed him, almost in a daze.

At a fire a little apart from the others, Traz sat tending some concoction. He might be only ten, but his days serving as a kitchen boy at Roylinn Academy had turned him into an excellent cook. Before long, our supper was ready, and we all three dug in. I wanted desperately to ask Yallick why he’d sent Xyla so far ahead and out of reach, but I sensed that for now, he wished me not to say any more about it.

We finished eating, and I started gathering up the dishes. When Traz and I had traveled together, we’d agreed that one would cook and the other would wash up, so it seemed natural to fall into that pattern now. Yallick offered to help and picked up half the dinner things while I stood there speechless. In the dark, I couldn’t tell if the look he shot me was mocking or pleading, so I just shrugged and went in the direction Traz pointed.

When we arrived at the noisy stream, Yallick nodded as if satisfied about something. “I know that you do not understand my purpose in sending Xyla so far away.”

I crouched down and set my load of dishes in the water at the edge of the stream. “Yes, that’s right. I don’t. But you have a reason.” A statement, not a question.

“I do. And I will share it with you. But I must ask you not to speak of it to anyone, not even to Traz. Do I have your word?”

I nodded, then spoke my agreement. “I won’t tell anyone.” I could feel his eyes staring intently at me, as if he were trying to read my mind. Or my heart.

“I doubt I should tell even you. But if I do not, I know that it will worry you to obsession, and I do not need that kind of energy distracting me.”

I felt myself blush and was glad it was dark so he couldn’t see. Whatever else I might think, I had to admit that Yallick understood me. A lot of the time, anyway.

He glanced around and moved closer to me. “Let us make as much noise as we can washing the dishes,” he said softly. “Listen carefully.” That definitely piqued my curiosity, but also made my stomach turn in fear. “I am afraid that Xyla would be in grave danger if she stayed in this area. I believe that it is not the Royal Guard who are after us, but,” his voice dropped to a whisper I had to strain to hear, “the dragonmasters.”

I dropped the pot I’d been scrubbing with a loud splash. Dragonmasters! Just the thought of those black-robed magicians who could control dragons frightened me. They’d captured Xyla once before with their magic; they could do it again. Yallick reached into the icy water and retrieved the pot for me. A rush of questions crowded my mind, but all that came out was, “How?”

“That, indeed, is the question. And if I knew the answer, I would not be half as fearful as I am now. The mages have lived for centuries unhindered. Then, almost upon the heels of Xyla’s arrival, we are betrayed. And on our very first day journeying, we come under attack. I do not know what is happening, and it is unsettling me as I have never been before in my long life.”

A spoon I held in one hand began to clank rhythmically on the pot I held in the other, and I couldn’t tell whether it was fear or cold that caused the shaking. Yallick took my hand in his. Somehow, despite washing dishes in cold water, his hand was warm, and the warmth spread to me, up my arm and further, making my hair feel almost as if it were standing out from my head.

“I have sent Xyla away to keep her safe. But we will not be able to join her until we have shaken the pursuit, and that will be difficult with such a large group, mages though we all be.”

If Yallick had meant to put me at ease, he failed. I tossed and turned all night, and while that was bad enough in one’s own bed, it was infinitely worse when camping out on the ground in Winter.

In the morning, I yawned through breakfast and breaking camp. At first I walked with Traz, listening to him grumble about not seeing Xyla tonight. It was hard to resist telling him why Yallick had sent her on. How could it hurt to tell Traz? But I’d given my word, so all I said was, “Yallick must have his reasons.”

Traz looked at me and rolled his eyes. “Yeah. He’s grouchy and wants to make the rest of us that way.”

I laughed but dropped the subject.

When the sun was well and truly up and everyone’s mood seemed to have improved, Yallick called me to join him. I noticed how the nearby mages slowed down a bit, allowing the space to grow between Yallick and me in the lead and the rest of the group. Anazian was nearest, and he had to be at least twenty feet back.

“I do not know how long we will be on the move, and I do not want to neglect your studies any more than necessary. We cannot do much, but what we can do, we shall.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Yallick gave me a sharp look, as if in disapproval of my light tone, but he didn’t remark on it. “How are you bearing up under all the tension in the air?”

“What tension in the air?” And then I caught my breath. I had always been extremely sensitive to the life vibrations all around me. But until Yallick mentioned it, I hadn’t even noticed their absence the past few days.

He frowned. “Do you not feel it? Between this gaggle of mages and the forest itself, the cacophony is palpable.”

“I . . . I don’t understand. I don’t feel anything. That’s very strange.”

For several moments, Yallick looked deep in thought. Then his eyebrows shot up. “Try this. I know you cannot close your eyes as we walk, so it might not work. But try anyway. Clear your thoughts.”