The Dragonrider Heritage Second Series, page 77
Gods and Fates—that wind was coming from her.
Her expression seized, blood oozing from her nose as her lips moved and her eyes narrowed dangerously. Whatever she said, it was lost to the howl of the wind and screech of the beast as she twisted her hand and gave a single snap of her fingers.
CRAAACK!
Another shockwave ripped over us, kicking up a sandstorm that blotted out everything. All I could do was curl myself around Violet, shut my eyes tightly, and wait for it to be over.
The wind slowly calmed, dying away to a low hiss and then a gentle breeze that barely stirred the sand. Half-buried in the dunes, I dared to lift my head and look back to where Maylea had been standing only seconds before.
The monster—giant crab—whatever it was, had disappeared.
In its place, a huge mass of pale green vines, as thick around as tree-trunks, protruded from the ground and formed an entangled ball. They stood like an oversized ball of yarn, bristling with red-tipped thorns the length of swords, in the middle of the arid landscape.
Whoa …
Where, by all the gods, had that come from?
“What happened?” Violet gasped as she stared around with me, her face slowly draining of color. “Where is she? Reigh, where is Maylea?”
Oh no. I didn’t see her anywhere.
I shambled up, tripping and stumbling as I dragged myself free of the sand. I-I couldn’t see her. Or the monster. Just the tree and—
“REIGH!” Thatcher’s voice called out my name in pure panic. “HELP!”
There! I saw him sprinting away from the caravans toward the base of the tree.
I took off running over the dunes, too. My heart pounded, lodged in my throat so tight I couldn’t breathe. Gods, no. Please, no!
A few yards away, I saw Thatcher on the ground already, cradling the figure of a young girl who lay motionless in his arms. No glowing eyes.
“MAYLEA!” I shouted her name, but she didn’t move.
I fell to my knees at Thatcher’s side and immediately reached over to take her body into my arms. O-Oh gods. She was so pale. Her lips were blue and blood oozed from her nose and the corners of her mouth. I couldn’t stop my medically trained brain from whirling through every awful scenario. A head injury? What if she was bleeding into her brain? What could I do to stop it? How could I help her?!
All my thoughts, all my training, seemed to dissolve away into nothingness as I stared down at her. It was as though every strategy, every life-saving technique I had ever learned, had all been erased from my mind completely. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to help her. She’d overdone it with her power, hadn’t she? Curse it all. She wasn’t ready for a fight like this. She’d pushed things too far, and now I couldn’t do anything to—
Her eyes fluttered open, staring groggily up at me.
I sucked in a sharp breath.
“Uncle Reigh?” she asked hoarsely.
Tears flooded my eyes and I bowed my head, unable to speak. All I could do was bob my head once.
I flinched when Thatcher put his hand on my shoulder, almost like he was trying to share some of that mental burden. “It’s okay, Maylea. We’re here.”
“I-I’m okay,” she rasped again.
“No, you’re not,” I gasped sharply, unable to hide the broken panic in my voice as I carefully cradled her head. “You … you could have died. Do you even understand what you just did? If you push it too far, I can’t … I can’t do anything to …” Fear clamped down hard on my throat again and I had to look away.
Maylea squirmed in my gasp and made a face, coughing and wiping clumsily at her nose. She made a disgusted face when she noticed all the blood and blinked hard a few times. “I-I’m really okay, Uncle Reigh. I just had to do something. That thing was going to kill you. I had to stop it.”
I sank back some, practically falling onto my rear in the shady reprieve under the tree. She had stopped it. She’d turned that monster into a giant tree with a single snap of her fingers. Even if it had left her unconscious, I’d never seen anyone wield power like that. Not even Jaevid.
I didn’t even know if Arlan the Kinslayer was capable of something like that.
For a few minutes, all I could do was gape at her while my head threatened to explode with a tangled, spinning mixture of anger, awe, and all-consuming terror. Whatever this girl was becoming, she was a lot stronger than any of us had ever been. And I honestly didn’t know how to advise her when it came to using this power. I didn’t know what the risks would be. I didn’t know if it would eventually kill her.
I didn’t know how to help her.
But I knew someone who did.
2
CHAPTER TWO
We played things off to the rest of the caravan with much more confidence than we actually had. Giant monsters exploding out of the sand to kill us all? Meh. Almost dying? Boring. Divine power being wielded by a teenager? Mundane.
I didn’t have to fake disinterest when it came to discussing our next move with the caravan’s leader, though. Violet took over that debate while I went to look after my dragoness, who had shaken herself free of the sand and lay licking gingerly at her wing.
I couldn’t exactly try holding her down to examine it now like I had when she was tiny. That was a great way to get my face singed off. But she did let me take a look at the swollen, angry looking joint that served as her elbow. Based on my understanding of dragon anatomy, it didn’t seem like anything was broken. Sprained or possibly over-extended. She needed to rest it. Too bad a single night was probably all she would be able to get.
“Maybe some of that healing remedy you got from the Mistress of the Call would help her, too?” Thatcher suggested as he stood next to me, hands on his hips, studying Vexi’s injury.
“Worth a shot,” I agreed. “Otherwise, she’ll have to crawl along on the ground, and I’m not sure who would hate that more—her or me.”
I could feel his worried, sympathetic, quietly caring stare on my back as I turned away to start making my way back to the wagons. Ugh. I knew what came after that look, and I did not want to stick around for it. If he wanted to start making speeches about feelings, then he’d have to catch me first.
“You know you can’t save everyone, Reigh,” he said suddenly.
I stopped. Slowly, I turned back to stare at him. “What?”
“I know you would if you could. You want to because you’re a good man. You love helping people. That’s why you make such a good healer and medic. That’s also why you made a good teacher at the academy,” he said, fixing me with a strangely calm and contemplative stare. Not a look I’d ever seen him wear before. “But you can’t save everyone. Sooner or later, something will happen that’s beyond your control. Someone isn’t going to make it. And when that day comes, you need to understand that doesn’t make it your fault.”
I had no idea what to say to that. I just stood there, gaping at him and blinking owlishly like an idiot.
“I don’t doubt your skill or determination. And I’m not trying to be fatalistic. I’m just saying … people die. And this is a war, even if it’s not necessarily ours,” he amended quickly, raising his hands like he suspected I might be on the verge of an angry explosion.
Good call.
“Some would argue it is our war,” I countered. “You being a godling and all. I’d say that means you have a pretty big stake in it.”
He dropped his hands back to his sides and sighed. “I guess. I just … Reigh, you’re my friend. One of my very best friends. And I just don’t want to see it destroy you if one of us doesn’t walk away from this.”
I crossed my arms. Something in his tone, or maybe that sheepish way he wasn’t meeting my gaze, felt off. Like there was more he wanted to say. “Planning on dying or something?”
“No. Of course not.” He chuckled and shook his head, beginning to stroll my way so we could walk together toward the caravan. “You know Murdoc would never allow me to die before him.”
Fair enough.
I waited a few minutes, letting the silence clear the awkward air between us, to finally ask, “How is she? Maylea, I mean.” After all, he’d been sitting in one of the wagons with her until he came waddling over to gift me with that little speech.
“Tired, but that’s not surprising, is it? She’s been asking about you and Vexi. I promised her I’d check on both of you,” he replied.
Ah, so that was it.
“I’m worried about her, Reigh,” he continued, lowering his voice as though he were concerned someone else might overhear. “She’s been using that power a lot. First at the bridge, and now this? It’s getting stronger every time, too. A lot stronger than anything I’ve ever seen before. Did, uh, did Jaevid do these sorts of things back during the Tibran War?”
“He did some pretty incredible things, but nothing on this scale. Not that I witnessed. I don’t know, though. I always heard he did amazing feats of magic during the Gray War. Maybe it was something like this? Who knows,” I admitted, running a hand through my grit and filth-caked hair. Two long days in the desert, swimming in my own sweat, and I was already dying for another bath.
“Your father?” Thatcher guessed.
Huh. Yeah, he was probably right about that. My father, Felix, had been his best friend and comrade during all that. He likely knew better than any of us how much power Jaevid had slung around back then. Too bad I had no way of asking about any of that now. I’d heard stories and fables, of course. But over time, it was hard to tell how much of that was the truth and what had been embellished for entertainment value.
“Let’s just keep a close eye on her,” I suggested, keeping my tone low and cautious now, too. “I’ll see if I can pull her aside for a little reality-check chat about the dangers of using too much divine power. But if she’s anything like her father, she won’t just come out and admit that she’s having issues. He was always one to keep his own suffering bottled up.”
Thatcher cast me a cattish, sideways grin. “Gee, that sounds familiar. I wonder why?”
“I’ll hit you, you know,” I grumbled.
“I’m not scared of your punches, mortal,” he laughed again.
I flapped a hand at him dismissively. Gods, I was beyond ready to find something that resembled a bed to fall face-first into it. After the potion for my dragon, though. Potion first. Sleep later. Maybe food somewhere in between.
I’d take what I could get at this point, so long as it didn’t involve anything else trying to kill me today.
“When we get to Salnis, I need to find Clysiros’s temple,” I murmured quietly, knowing Violet would hear every word even at a whisper.
Sitting around a campfire underneath the new, gigantic briar patch, I stared around at all the other members of our caravan group. They talked as they gathered around the six or seven small fires surrounding the base of it. Their soft conversations filled the cool night air as they cooked dinner and warmed themselves in the glow of the flames.
“Do you expect her to be helpful?” Violet’s voice was tinged with sarcasm. Not that I disagreed with her suspicion of the mysterious and usually conniving goddess of death, but I was standing at a crossroads now, whether I liked it or not. I had to choose a path. A side, according to Noh. And Maylea’s future might just depend on which one I took.
All of our futures might.
“No,” I muttered, “I expect her to be extremely interested in furthering her own agenda, as usual. But there might be a point where her agenda matches up with ours. If that’s the case, then I’m willing to hear her out,” I explained as I reached for the nearest waterskin and uncorked it. “Besides, I just got shown up in a fight by a fourteen-year-old. I need to step up my game, don’t you think?”
Violet gave a snort and swiped the waterskin from my hand before I could even take a sip. She took three long swigs from it and then passed it back, smirking proudly. “Lucky that wonderful potion from the Mistress of the Call works on dragons, as well, or you might even be forced to walk, like the rest of us poor peasants. How shameful.”
Riiight. I guess a few near-death experiences had her in a teasing mood this evening. Fine. Two could play that game, and I was better at it than she seemed to want to give me credit for.
I swirled the waterskin, eyeing the opening she’d just used and wiping it off before I took my own drink from it. “That reminds me, I seem to recall a lot of terrified screaming coming from your general direction during our flight.”
Her smile faded a little at the corners.
“Don’t tell me a few aerial maneuvers actually cracked that steely spy resolve of yours? Those weren’t even difficult ones. We put fledgling students through much worse than that their first year of training,” I quipped.
Her eyes narrowed a little, mouth beginning to pinch up sourly.
“You should have told me you were afraid of flying. I would have been gentler.” I grinned and turned to take a long, satisfying drink from the waterskin.
Water hit my face in a cold rush as she reached over and squeezed the waterskin with both hands, making it all gush out at once. I choked and sputtered as I wiped my eyes.
“You’re an idiot,” she fumed quietly.
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. Still shaking water out of my hair, I leaned in closer and gave her my most smug, satisfied grin, even waggled my eyebrows. “At least I’m not scared of flying.”
She opened her mouth to protest. “I am not scared of—!”
She didn’t get a chance to finish.
“Aye, there are the noble heroes! Reveling in their mighty victory! Just kiss her and be done with it, already!” An older man, probably one of the merchants transporting goods in our caravan, gave my back a hard pat and shoved me directly into Violet.
Our foreheads cracked together with a thud that made my vision swim. And, er, well … my mouth mashed right into hers.
It didn’t last more than a second. But that single, horrifying moment—staring directly into her wide, mortified eyes with my mouth smashed unceremoniously against hers—felt like an eternity. A terrible eternity that probably shaved ten years off my life.
I snatched back immediately, sputtering and stammering as I tried to speak. “I-I … that … uh, I’m … I-I’m so … I didn’t mean to!”
Violet pulled back, too, and immediately looked away. She covered her mouth with her hand and turned so I couldn’t see her face at all.
Oh Gods, was she furious? It wasn’t intentional! She knew that, right? It wasn’t my fault! Someone pushed me! Gods and Fates, I-I would never just—
Violet suddenly snapped to her feet and whirled around, keeping her face angled away as she walked briskly toward the wagons. Her other hand stayed straight at her side, rigid and clenched so hard her knuckles turned white.
My shoulders dropped. My stomach plummeted, twisting into a thousand throbbing knots as I watched her storm off without a single word. Great. Fantastic. How could I even apologize for something like this?
Turning back to the fire, I wiped my mouth and rubbed at my jaw. What a mess. Thatcher could say whatever he wanted about my leadership skills, but Jaevid had never done anything this stupid. At least, not that I’d ever heard about.
While my mind whirled with every possible terrible outcome—Violet slitting my throat in my sleep or abandoning us at the next city—my gaze drifted upward to where Thatcher, Maylea, and Lukani sat on the other side of the campfire. I guess they were oblivious to what had just happened. Thank the gods for small miracles, I guess.
Reaching Salnis promised to be its own special bundle of problems and challenges already. This certainly wasn’t going to help. Now that Nar’Haleen was on the offensive and actively attacking cities in Rienka, things would only get more complicated for us going forward. Monsters I could handle. But another invading emperor backed by thousands upon thousands of soldiers and war machines? Yeah. That sat on my mind like a red-hot coal, sizzling away at all my sanity with each passing minute.
And if that wasn’t fun enough on its own, Salnis was right on the border between the two squabbling kingdoms but had apparently sworn itself to Rienka’s side years ago. No doubt, they had heard what was happening in the bay islands and were already bristled for the first sign of any trouble. I wondered if that would pose a problem when it came to bringing my dragon into the city proper. Most of the cities and villages in Maldobar were used to enormous, scaly, fire-breathing visitors. That wasn’t the case here, and I wasn’t sure how we would be received. A foreign war beast randomly appearing in the city on the heels of a Nar’Haleenan invasion on their neighbors? Yeah. That was bound to raise some eyebrows. Best not to anger the locals in a city already bracing for a potential invasion. It certainly wouldn’t serve to make our efforts discreet.
But what other choice was there? Camping outside the city? Having Vexi keep her distance? I didn’t like either of those options, and now I couldn’t even discuss them with Violet, who probably knew better than anyone what the best choice was.
I sighed and hung my head. My temples throbbed, and my hair still dripped with water. I stared at the scuffed-up toes of my boots, chasing those thoughts and worries like smoke in my brain. Before I worked any of this out, I needed to see to another problem. Something more important.
Sitting more than ten feet away on the other side of the fire, her fair face blank of any expression and her green-blue eyes as wide as moons, Maylea looked like she might faint at any moment.
She’d been awfully quiet these last few days, even before that showdown with the crab monster, and it was hard to miss the circles under her eyes that seemed to be growing darker by the day. Obviously, what had happened in that fight hadn’t helped. I hadn’t seen her eat much more than a few cups of soup. She didn’t even seem to be all snuggled up to Lukani anymore. She was pulling away. Diving deep into herself. That was a path I knew all too well—just like that haunted, empty, and quietly mortified expression on her face.
