And with that, he leapt into the air and put on a burst of hard flapping to gain altitude. “Hey!” I shouted as shoved my broom between my legs and hopped a few feet. I managed to leave the ground and zoom after him. “Cheater!”

  A slight breeze blew against me and pushed me to one side. Fortunately, the wind was only passing through and I righted myself to follow the winged figure that was the cheater. I leaned low against the broom handle and shot forward. The air swept over me and rattled my balance but I stayed focused on my target.

  We flew over the town and toward the hills north of the city. They featured steep walls made of broken boulders and random landslides. A few straggly trees dotted the hillside, testaments to their determination.

  Tegan aimed us toward a particularly bushy tree that sat on a small plateau of shattered stone. He landed on the plateau and he turned to face the town. Glistnia lay some mile away from his position. My landing wasn’t quite as elegant as his as my feet stumbled over the debris.

  Tegan caught me with a smile and a steady hand. “Welcome to my little hideaway.”

  I tossed my brow over my shoulder and turned in a circle. That is until my bristles caught in the crooked branches of the stumped tree. I struggled against the plant’s grip and finally yanked my ride out of its hideous hold. The branches rattled and I froze. I hadn’t felt a wind blow past us.

  Tegan clapped a hand on one of the thicker limbs and grinned at me. “I see you’ve met Matilda.”

  I blinked at him. “Who?”

  He shook his head. “Not who, but what. She’s a frond. A plant that helps humans.”

  I continued to stare at him as I held up a finger which I pointed at the tree. “You’re saying that thing’s alive? I mean, it can think?”

  The tree replied by rattling its branches. The sound reminded me of dry bones knocking together.

  Tegan chuckled. “Matilda has been helping me hide my spot since I was a young boy. She’s never failed me. And speaking of that-” He dug into his pocket and drew out a bag with a bulge in the bottom. “I have something for you.”

  He stooped and emptied the contents of the pouch. Black dirt spilled out and onto the roots of the plant. The tree rattled exuberantly and almost seemed to jump out of its roots.

  Tegan stood and grinned at it. “I knew you’d like that. Mother told me you hadn’t had any nutrients since spring.”

  “What is that?” I asked him.

  “It’s soil from the finest part of my mother’s garden,” Tegan revealed as he tucked the bag away. “She’s been coming up here to look after Matilda for me and she found that the tree reacts best to her dirt.”

  I cocked my head to one side and studied the tree. It looked like any other stunted plant. “How did it learn to understand our language?”

  “I’m not really sure,” Tegan told me as he swept his eyes over the little alcove in which we stood. I realized we were blocked from seeing the town. “Nature has a magic unto herself that brings life and it brings a little something more to some of the plants.”

  “So how did you two, um, meet?” I wondered.

  A fond smile spread across his face. “I found this place after my father died. It was my little getaway when things got tough. I got into the habit of talking to myself quite often and one day Matilda prodded me. Like you, it took me a little while to realize it was alive. That’s when I decided to hide my father’s treasure here. Well, that and this.”

  He stepped up to the rubble of the mountainside and brushed his hand over the debris. My mouth dropped open when he drew a canvas off a hidden hole. The gray-colored tarp had so perfectly fit that I hadn’t been able to notice it at all.

  “Something Mother made for me to hide the horde,” he explained as he nodded at the dark hole. “I found that one day after a rather nasty landslide. The dirt nearly sent Matilda down the hill and left this opening.”

  I leaned toward the hole and couldn’t see a damn thing. “Is it safe?”

  He grinned as he held up his hand and a fireball exploded out of his palm. “I’ll show you.”

  Tegan went first and dipped into the hole. The drop was quick but not vertical. I eased in after him and found the low height of the tunnel forced even me to stoop. The walls were rough and in some parts quite jagged. The air was a little stale but not unhealthy.

  We traveled for some fifteen yards before the path opened into a small cavern. Nature had left for itself a little nook inside the boulders that surrounded us. Tegan lifted his hand and revealed the huge blocks that were perched above our heads.

  “This place must have been created during an impressive landslide,” Tegan mused as he half-turned to me. “How are you doing?”

  “Tight places don’t bother me too much,” I mused as I swept my eyes over the area. “Just so long as there’s a way out.”

  Tegan grinned. “No need to worry. None of these stones have so much as shifted since I was a boy. Now to the prize.”

  He moved over to the farthest, darkest corner of the room. A half dozen wooden chests of various sizes sat atop one another with all their lids closed. Tegan grabbed the lid of the largest one with one hand and lifted the cover.

  My mouth fell open when he revealed a mountain of coins, gems, necklaces, bracelets, and countless other pieces and styles of jewelry. I staggered up beside him and gaped at the massive wealth. Tegan opened a smaller box and revealed a pile of only gemstones. Their many different colors sparkled in his fiery light.

  His twinkling eyes studied me. “What do you think?”

  I clapped my mouth shut and swallowed the frog in my throat. “I think I wish I would have gotten that dessert the other night.”

  Tegan laughed. “I’m glad you didn’t. I was completely out of coins.”

  He knelt and began grabbing handfuls of coins which he dumped into his very empty purse.

  I lifted up a beautiful gold necklace that held priceless gems. “So where does your horde come from?”

  “My father’s family,” Tegan explained as he picked up a particularly large gold coin and turned it over in his fingers. “They had great lands to the far southwest near the border of the Blutstein Empire.”

  I cocked my head to one side. “So why aren’t you there living the high life now?”

  He smiled and tucked the coin into the purse. “The vampires invaded the territory and annexed it. Anyone who didn’t swear fealty to the emperor was forced out. My father refused and sold his holdings. He became a wanderer after that and met my mother in Malartu. She was working tables at one of the local bars and they fell in love and had me.”

  My heart fell as I recalled the ending to their tale. “And came here to live happily ever after. . .”

  Tegan paused in his transfer and bowed his head. “Fate has a way of ruining those.”

  I set a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I really am.”

  He shook his head and smiled up at me. “As I said before, there’s no need for you or anyone close to me to apologize. The only ones who could have done that were burned by his fire twenty years ago.”

  “All of them?” I asked him.

  Tegan pulled the drawstrings tight or tried to. The bag was near to bursting. “As far as I know. Now let’s get out of this stale air. You don’t look too good.”

  His mention of my complexion brought my attention to it. I set a hand on my stomach and wrinkled my nose. “Now that you mention it, I do feel a little queazy.”

  “It’s probably the altitude,” he assured me as he led me out. “You’ll get used to it.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  We climbed out of the tunnel and found Matilda furiously waving her, um, arms. Tegan frowned. “Trouble?”

  The tree pointed one branch in the direction of the valley. We both looked that way and my heart skipped a beat when I beheld a column of black smoke. Tegan spun around and stuffed the coin sack into my hands before he looked me in the eyes. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

  “Wait, what?” I replied, but he had already opened his wings. “Wait a minute!” I shouted as I tried to snatch his arm.

  Tegan was too fast, however, and all I caught was air. He leapt into the sky and shot off across the green gap between the city and where I stood.

  “No, you don’t!” I snapped as I saddled my broom.

  I hopped across the ground and into the air or tried to. Something jerked my back to earth and I landed hard on my feet. I whipped my head about and found that Matilda had grabbed onto the bristles. At this rate, I’d have to cut them off.

  “Let go!” I demanded as I thrashed about in its hold. “Go on! Let go!”

  The tree shook from side to side. A definite no.

  That brought my already ill temper to a boiling temperature. I slapped my hand against its offending branch and a bright flash of light came from the connection. The bush shuddered and jerked its branch back, freeing me. I hopped off the platform and into the air.

  Tegan had a wide headstart on me, so much so that I couldn’t even see him. All I saw was the black smoke and the people in Glistnia scurrying out of their homes and toward the southern part of town to glimpse the problem.

  My inexperience flying at fast speeds soon reared its ugly novice head. The broom handle shook beneath me as my own wind tossed me about. I pushed the front downward and dropped to the cobblestones where I joined the throngs of curiosity-seekers.

  I rushed through the crowd as best as I could manage and a familiar face appeared among the crowd of strangers. “Kate!” Fia shouted at me. We swam the current of humanity and ended up side by side. Fia looked about me with worried eyes. “Where’s Bael?”

  I nodded ahead of us. “He flew toward the smoke.”

  Her face grew pale and she fell silent. I couldn’t blame her. We raced across the town and out into the green pastures that surrounded the metropolis. A huge crowd had already gathered near the edge but they were blocked from continuing by Frae and a band of flyers new and old.

  Frae floated several feet above the crowd on his broom which he deftly stood on. His booming voice spoke over the bustle and din. “Quiet! Quiet, everyone!” The crowd quieted and he lowered his arms. “I won’t mince words with you. We’ve heard reports that the scima have attacked some of the farms on the outskirts of the valley. Our men are there now fending them off and evacuating the folks.”

  “Will they come this way?” someone shouted.

  “Only if they have wings,” Frae told them as he pointed down at the hillside. “There’s a sight of distance between here and there. We’d be fending them off at the bottom long before they climbed the path.”

  “But they’ve done it before!” another chimed in. A murmur arose from the tense crowd as all the older folks recalled that harrowing time.

  Frae pursed his lips. “Listen, I know you’re worried and that’s a good thing. Complacency is a greater enemy than rushing headlong into battle. Now if you want to do something then get some supplies and rooms prepared for the poor folk who had to leave their homes. We’ll take in the whole valley if we have to. In the meantime, the rest of you can get back to what you were doing. Whatever these damned demons intend to do, let’s not give them the satisfaction of ruining our lives with just their plotting.”

  His broom lowered and he stepped off onto the ground. The crowd talked among themselves as they disbursed and more than one pair of eyes glanced toward the black smoke before returning to the town. We joined Frae and he gave us a bitter smile.

  “Come to see the show, too?”

  “It’s a show nobody wanted to miss,” Tegan quipped as he nodded at the billowing smoke. “Do you really think they won’t come here soon?”

  Frae ran a hand through his disheveled hair and shook his head. “I wish I had as much confidence as the words I just spoke, but if the truth has to be told then I’d say the days are ticking down to trouble we haven’t seen in many years.”

  “Do you know anything about this scima group?” Tegan wondered.

  Frae shook his head. “Not a thing except that we don’t think we’ve seen the leader. Whenever anybody’s fought back the group just kind of scatters to the four winds like they’re just toying with us.”

  “What makes you think they’re not?” Tegan asked him.

  “That’s just want I’ve been thinking,” Frae admitted as he tucked his broom under one arm. “But if you’ll excuse me, if I don’t join the others they’ll start thinking I’m spinning yarns.”

  “Aren’t you?” Tegan challenged his old friend.

  Frae sighed. “Perhaps I am, but every good yarn has a hero and maybe thinking of past yarns will make a hero out of one of them.” He tipped his head and moved off.

  Tegan stepped forward close to the edge of the plateau. I joined him and studied his tense face. “I know what you’re thinking.”

  A crooked smile slipped onto his lips. “Oh?”

  “You’re thinking about your dad and whether or not you could do the same,” I told him.

  Tegan turned to me and his eyes glittered with pride and more than a little doubt. “You know me too well.”

  “And I know you well enough to know that you’d try to fight them on your own,” I added as I folded my arms over my chest. “And you know I’m not going to let you do that alone, so if you throw yourself in front of them then know that I’ll be right beside you.”

  Tegan chuckled. “Unfortunately, I completely believe you. That is why you and I are going to visit the valley.”

  My face drooped. “Right now?”

  He turned his eyes to the smoke. The column was now more of a mist.

  “We’ll see if we can help those who were evacuated,” Tegan suggested as he nodded at the town. “And I know just the place to get them a good bite to eat come their arrival.”

  I lifted the purse that he had handed to me. “And it’s on me.”

  Tegan smiled as we strolled back to town. “That’s very generous of you.”

  My eyes twinkled. “I aim to please.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  We returned to town and found the mood subdued. Cart drivers now glanced at the valley and the dissipating smoke, and more than one business had closed shop. Fia waited for us just inside the low wall. One of her hands lay on the stones and a tense smile lay on her lips.

  “I’m sorry your visit is so fraught with trouble,” she told us.

  Tegan smiled and shook his head. “We’re the ones who should be apologizing. Trouble seems to find us. Besides, I wouldn’t have you face this trouble on your own.”

  She grasped one of his hands and pursed her lips as she studied her face. “Promise me you will keep yourself safe.”

  Tegan set his other hand on hers and nodded. “I swear it on Father’s grave.”

  A weight seemed to lift from her shoulders and she smiled. “Thank you. Now then-” Her mood brightened and she looked at the two of us, “-what do you say to some lunch?”

  “I was going to take Kate to the Dragon Arms,” Tegan told her. “You’re welcome to join us.”

  She laughed and shook her head. “No, I believe I would only be in the way. You two go and enjoy yourselves.” She raised herself on her toes and pecked a light kiss on Tegan’s cheek. “And take care of yourselves.”

  “We will,” he promised.

  We made our farewells and wandered off to one of the inner rings of the town. The lunch hour was heralded by an increase in traffic. People loitered about with wraps and burger-like sandwiches in their hands chatting away about the topic that was on everyone’s mind: the smoke and its meaning.

  “It means nothing but trouble is coming,” one of the men commented before he took a bite of his sandwich. He waved the gnawed meal at his two compatriots. “Mark my words, they’ll be coming for that horde.”

  One of his companions scoffed. “I wish the fools would stop believing in that nonsense. There never was any gold or any big dragon.”

  “Big dragon?” I asked my local guide as we continued on our way.

  “Part of the legend of the horde,” he told me. “The tales say that a huge dragon settled on this brow and stowed its enormous collection of gold and jewels in a bowl in the earth. A great storm took place not too long after caused by the vengeful souls of the previous owners of its ill-gotten treasure and buried the dragon and gold deep inside the earth, trapping it there forever.”

  I lifted an eyebrow. “Is that why you guys call that green mist spirits?”

  He nodded. “The people of the town used to believe they were the souls of the dead and they tried to supplicate them with food offerings and a celebration. The celebration still happens but the ‘spirits’ are captured for their medicinal purposes.”

  “Like what?”

  Tegan stopped and nodded at a nearby building. A pair of open doors led into the dimly lit interior where people waited on benches against the wall. Many sports bandages and others coughed into handkerchiefs. A young boy of eight with a sling over one arm came out with his mother grasping his other hand. The bandage was stained green but the boy couldn’t have looked any happier.

  “The spirits are mixed with alcohol to make a salve that soothes wounds and makes them heal faster,” Tegan explained as we strolled across the street and up to the clinic. He peeked inside and looked around. “Doc Sefte? You in here?”

  “Where else would I be?” came the bemused and mild rebuke. A man in an apron came out of a side room and was in the middle of drying his clean hands. He was about forty with a bright, open face and short disheveled hair. “Please tell me you haven’t come home just to seek my care.”

  Tegan laughed. “Not this time, Doc. I was just showing my friend here around the town and thought she’d like to see something of the special poultice you use.”

  “Then let me show you right now,” the doc offered as he looked about at the half dozen people waiting for his care. His gaze stopped on a burly man with a swollen hand. “Mr. Grunde, I believe it’s your turn.” Grunde quickly hopped to his feet and strode into the room the doctor had just left.

 

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