She guided him through the building, and he saw a half-dozen shelves stretching from floor to ceiling, no more than that, and while there were plenty of books on the shelves, there weren’t nearly as many as he had seen in similar places within the empire.

  Despite that, the knowledge that would be here would be ancient. It would be incredible, a storehouse of knowledge that would define the Deshazl. That knowledge could be tapped into, could be borrowed from, and as he looked around, he wondered if perhaps they might find the answers that they had been searching for.

  Jesla guided him to a table near the back wall. There he came across Jayell, her head bowed as she poured over a book, flipping pages slowly, scanning through them. A stack of similar-sized books rested on the corner of the table, and there was another stack on the floor.

  Jesla cleared her throat as she approached and Jayell looked up. “Is it time for me to leave?”

  Jesla shook her head. “No. I brought your friend to join you.”

  “Fes. I probably should have joined you before now, but I got caught up in my study.”

  “Did you find anything?”

  “There isn’t much here that I can make sense of. I tried, but the language is difficult.”

  Fes leaned over her shoulder, looking down at the page. The words were written in a strange scrawl, and they looked to be symbols more than anything else. He glanced over at Jayell. “How are you able to make out anything from this?”

  “They provided me with a guidebook,” she said, tapping a small book that rested near her. “Without that, I probably wouldn’t have been able to decipher anything. Even with it, I’m not able to decipher much.” She glanced up at Jesla. “The librarians have been helpful, but they had to leave a little while ago.”

  “They did. All within the city must attend the Festival of Fire.”

  Her eyes widened slightly. “Oh. I’m sorry. Am I keeping you from the festival?”

  Fes glanced over at Jesla, laughing softly. “I think that it’s over, though I might be wrong.”

  “Did I miss anything?”

  “You’re not Deshazl,” Jesla said.

  “Would that matter?”

  Fes frowned. “It might not. I don’t really know.”

  “What was it like?”

  “It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before,” Fes said. Even now, he tried to think back to what he’d experienced during the song, but it seemed to be a blur. In some ways, it reminded him of how his mind had felt when he had been Called by the Damhur. It was almost as if they had Called each other, drawing their power out, but perhaps that wasn’t what it was at all. “Have you found anything?”

  “Unfortunately, nothing that might be of much use. The library isn’t nearly as impressive as what I would’ve expected.”

  “From what I understand, when the Damhur departed, they took many of the oldest works.”

  Jayell sat back, sliding the book forward. She kept her hand on one page as the other pages began to close around her, and she breathed out heavily. Her eyes looked weary, and wrinkles along the corners of them caught the shadows. “If it’s not here, then I don’t know how we’re going to find anything.”

  “Short of going to Javoor,” Fes said.

  “That won’t be safe.”

  He shook his head. “Probably not. You were there when Valenahr was. He wants to Call me, and I got the sense that he still thinks that I should be controlled.”

  “If that’s going to provide the information that we need, then maybe we need to go anyway.”

  Fes nodded. “It might be necessary, but…”

  “You don’t want to go.”

  “I don’t know if I can. I don’t trust anyone in Javoor, and certainly not one of the Trivent, to not harm us.”

  “What now, then?”

  Fes didn’t know. He had been struggling with what they needed to do, and the longer that he thought about it, the less confident he was. Now that he knew the dragons weren’t destroyed—the strange Deshazl song having shown him that—he thought that he needed to discover more about these creatures.

  “What if we join the empire?” she asked.

  “We have joined the empire,” Fes said.

  “Not like that. I’m thinking more along the lines of the meeting that Ellorayne is having with them.”

  “I don’t know that it’s the right idea.” He could imagine Azithan’s reaction were he to go. “Besides, I don’t know where that is.”

  “I do. I was working with Azithan, and he told me where they were going to meet.”

  Fes frowned. Could they do that? With the right negotiation tactic, it might be possible to get that information from the Damhur. And then they could stop these strange creatures from attacking the dragons.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Morning came slowly. Fes struggled to sleep, finding it challenging to settle his mind after everything that he had seen and been through, and by the time sunlight first crested over the distant mountains, he felt no more rested than he had when the night had started. If anything, he felt a little bit worse, though at least now his stores of power had replenished somewhat.

  Crawling out of the small room that he’d been given by the Deshazl, Fes stepped out onto the street, stretching as he looked around. In the early morning, a faint breeze gusted through the city, carrying with it the strange sense of the distant Dragon’s Eye. There was something familiar about that smell, an aroma that reminded him of Azithan, of all people. Fes smiled to himself and looked around. There was no movement at this time of the morning, though smoke drifted from dozens of chimneys throughout the strange city. The smell of the smoke added to that drifting off the distant Dragon’s Eye, making the city have its own distinct aroma. Surprisingly, Fes felt a sense of warmth, of welcome, almost as if this could be home in a way that Anuhr had never been to him.

  Jayell slipped her arm underneath his, joining him out on the street. “What is it?” she asked. She had a thick, striped multicolor blanket wrapped around her, and she drew it tight over her shoulders as she stared at the street with him.

  “Just a sense that I had.”

  “What sense is that?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  She pulled him toward her, forcing him to meet her gaze. “Why wouldn’t it matter?”

  “It’s just…”

  “It’s just what?”

  Fes turned away from her, looking out at the street. The way that he felt didn’t even make sense. It wasn’t that he had come looking for some new home. He had been content within Anuhr, not minding the fact that he had often felt as if he didn’t entirely belong, and even here, in a city that seemed ready-made for him, he didn’t feel as if he belonged, but… The sense of belonging was stronger here than it had been within Anuhr. If nothing else, there was something very much about this place that fit him.

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  She smiled, squeezing his hands and drawing them toward her. “You would stay here.”

  “I don’t know that I could stay here.”

  “No? You’ve been welcomed by the people. You share in their ability. You have been tested by their customs. It seems to me that you very much could stay here.”

  “Not until all of this is resolved.”

  “At some point, Fes, you’re going to have to decide if you have to be the one to take care of all of this or if others can do so.”

  “I’m hopeful that at some point, it won’t be necessary.”

  If nothing else, he wanted to reach a point where the Deshazl no longer had to fear their ability, where they no longer had to be concerned about the Damhur Calling them. Eventually, he wanted to get to the place where people—his people—no longer had to hide.

  And almost as much, he wanted the dragons to rejoin the world without fearing that they might be Called. That was as important to him as anything else. Especially now that he had played such an instrumental role in returning the dragons to the world. Until then, he had to be concerned about what was taking place, and his role in it. Until then, he needed to take an active position, doing whatever was necessary to ensure that his people—and the dragons—were unharmed.

  They stood arm in arm for a few moments. In those moments, there was a sense of peace, of belonging, and despite how foreign and strange this city might feel, it also suited him in a way that so many other places did not.

  Taking a deep breath, Fes turned back to Jayell. “Delaying does nothing.”

  “Are you concerned about what needs to happen today?”

  “I don’t know that I can be.” They were limited in how much time they had before the envoy of fire mages from the empire reached the envoy from Javoor.

  It was more than just reaching them at the same time, and if he didn’t manage to negotiate a certain part of it, they might lose out, needing to find another way to understand these creatures that were attacking.

  “I wonder if we need to check on the dragons before we do anything else.”

  “You are the one who said that the dragons were unharmed.”

  He took a deep breath. “It seemed that the Deshazl song showed me that, but I can’t detect them very well, and—”

  Jayell squeezed his hand. “You might not be able to detect them, but do you doubt that the power flowing through you was wrong?”

  Fes focused on the memory, the sense of power that had flowed through him when the song had been there. There had been a distinct element to it that had felt right. There was no other way to describe it. The power had been there, and in that power, he had known the sense of the dragons.

  “No. I don’t think it was wrong.”

  “Then focus on what you know you must do.”

  He smiled. Peeling the blanket from her shoulders, he folded it up, throwing it over his arm, and motioned for her to follow. They made their way through the city. Every so often, a gust of wind would pull at his dragon-scale cloak, tugging at it and sending it fluttering in such a way that it almost seemed as if a dragon was flying near him. Fes focused on Larshon, searching for evidence of the distant dragon. He was there, and Fes could feel him, but he was not flying overhead.

  As they reached the edge of the older part of the city, nothing more than the wooden structures lingering in the distance, Fes slowed. Near the shore of the Dragon’s Eye, he found Larshon. The dragon rested with most of his body in the water, only his head and neck on the shore. The great dragon kept his eyes open, watching as Fes approached, and as he did, he emerged, shedding the liquid from his wings. It steamed from his body, the water dripping thicker than it usually should be.

  “Larshon?” Fes asked as they approached.

  The dragon shook himself, sending the splattering of Dragon’s Eye water all around. “I was resting and restoring myself.”

  “In the Dragon’s Eye?”

  “There is something about it that is welcoming.”

  Fes approached the shore and crouched near the Dragon’s Eye. Ever since he had been submerged, he’d only been in the pool of strange liquid one other time. There was something about it that gave off the hint of power. He could feel it, and if he were to draw upon his Deshazl connection, Fes suspected that he would be able to use it, though some distant part of him knew he should not.

  “We intend to find the empire where they are meeting with Javoor.”

  “I felt your concern,” the dragon said.

  “Then you recognize why I’m concerned?”

  “You fear that they might attempt to Call me.”

  “I don’t know if they will be able to do so or not, but when we met with the Damhur before, there was a man who had enough power that he nearly overpowered my ability to resist.”

  “I fail to see your reason for concern.”

  “He nearly overpowered me, Larshon.”

  “Exactly. Nearly is not the same as having done it. You are a strong Deshazl, Fezarn. You have become stronger in the time that we have worked together. I don’t fear that you will lose yourself to someone like that.”

  “I have concern for myself and more concern for—”

  “For me.”

  “Yes.”

  “And have you not shown me that there is no reason for concern?”

  “I’m able to protect myself, Larshon, but I still worry what would happen if one of the dragons were Called. We saw what happened when they tormented you the last time.”

  “The last time will be the last time.”

  “I hope so.”

  “Just the two of you are going?”

  “I don’t know that any others need to go.”

  “What about her?”

  Fes turned and saw an old friend. The stooped form of Arudis approached, leaning on a cane, her silver hair pulled back into a bun and the dragon-scale cloak hanging from her shoulders more brightly colored than the one Fes wore. She seemed slower than the last time he’d seen her.

  “Fezarn,” she said, smiling as she approached him. She tapped her cane on the ground and the sharp sound echoed in the early morning. “I thought that I would see you, but you were planning to leave before then?”

  “Much needs to be done.”

  “There is always much that needs to be done, Fezarn. Of all the messages that I would have you learn from me, I suppose that is perhaps the most important. You have always served our people well, but you haven’t always served yourself nearly as well.”

  “I’m just trying to do what’s right.”

  “As you always do.” She smiled, stepping toward him, and then tapped him with her cane. “When you first came to me, you likened yourself to a common criminal, but even then, you were acting selflessly.” Her gaze drifted to Jayell, and she smiled. “I doubt that I ever would have believed that this is the person you would have become, and yet… It suits you, Fezarn. Knowing you as I do, I believe this is what you were meant to do.”

  Something to the words struck a chord with Fes. “I met Valenahr.”

  The corners of her eyes tightened briefly. “Where?”

  “With the contingent of Damhur summoned by Jesla.”

  “Valenahr is dangerous,” she said.

  “I had that sense from him. He attempted to Call me.”

  “I thought you said that the Dragon’s Eye protected us from the Damhur. Even from the Trivent.”

  “And it should.” Fes glanced beyond her. There was no movement at the edge of the city, but other Deshazl from within Thoras had begun to move along the streets. Everyone was a little bit slow, almost as if the festival from the night before had taken something out of them, but for Fes, it seemed to have given him something. It gave him a sense of purpose and strength, and it gave him an awareness of the rest of the Deshazl that he had been missing. Not only that, but there was a welcome that came with it. “When he attempted to Call me, it was different than when I had been Called before. I was aware of what he was trying, and because of that, I was able to resist it in a way that I had not been able to do so before.”

  “It troubles me that he should have come here.”

  “From what I was able to understand, he came under the impression that the Deshazl would return with him. He seemed to believe that most of the Deshazl could return to their servitude of the Damhur.”

  “He must have gotten that impression somewhere.”

  “I doubt he got it from Jesla,” Fes said. But then, maybe she had provided him that impression, if only to coax him into coming. He could easily see her doing something like that to try to convince him, mostly because she believed that there was a need for the Damhur and the Deshazl to come back together.

  Would she have been willing to sacrifice their people on behalf of that belief?

  Fes didn’t think so, but what if she would?

  “Jesla often acts from a different set of priorities than the rest of us,” Arudis said.

  “You would say that even though she’s been willing to work with you?”

  Arudis smiled at him. “I would say that because she has been willing to work with me. I recognize someone who shares my sentimentality.”

  “And what sentimentality is that?”

  “That of one who wants nothing but the best for her people. There is a practicality to Jesla that I have always shared.”

  “I don’t have a sense of practicality from her. The sense I have from her is more one of trying to restore greatness.” And he wasn’t entirely sure that was an appropriate or accurate description. She wanted the people to better understand where they came from and wanted them to know what Thoras had once been like, and Fes suspected that she believed they wouldn’t be able to do so without working together the way they once had.

  “Where are you going now?” Arudis asked.

  “I am going to see what I can learn from the Damhur,” he said.

  “Why?”

  “Something has happened, Arudis. Something that makes me uncomfortable, and it should make you uncomfortable.”

  “What is it?”

  “There was an attack, but it’s one that we don’t really understand.”

  “And you think the Damhur are responsible?”

  “I’m not sure if they are. It’s just that if they aren’t, they might be the only ones who have information that could help us.”

  “I’m troubled by this,” she said.

  “As am I.”

  “Where do you intend to meet them?”

  “The empire is meeting with the Damhur.”

  She clasped her hands together, meeting his eyes for a moment. “They seek a peace treaty.”

  “They do.”

  “Even though they understand what the Damhur might do?”

  “I think the peace treaty is to prevent the Damhur from doing anything like that again.”

  “The emperor is not a fool. He must know that the Damhur can’t be trusted.”

  “I’m not sure that it’s about trust. I think in his mind, it’s more about ensuring stability. Safety. If he can buy time before the next attack, the emperor would want to do so.”

  “And during that time, the Damhur will prepare.”

  “According to Azithan, it also gives the empire an opportunity to prepare.” And it might work. At least in this case, the emperor and the empire might not be blinded to the fact that there were other dangers. The empire had known about Javoor, and they had known about the Asharn, but they had viewed them as a distant threat, not one that would ever be likely to cause any real trouble within the empire. Would Javoor take the long game approach again? It wouldn’t surprise Fes to learn that they would, that they would be willing to wait, spending decades to centuries once again to capitalize on the empire’s willingness to just wait.

 

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