Doom of the Dragon (27 page)

“Yes,” said Raegar wearily. “I told them Treia started hemorrhaging, which will explain the blood on the floor. She began running a high fever, grew delirious, and jumped into the sea. If the midwives had been with her, they might have saved her, but she insisted on being alone.”

He picked up the knife Treia had dropped and put it back onto the table.

Aelon brought over his son and handed the child to him.

Raegar held his child close. “I didn't mean to kill her.” He closed his eyes and buried his head in the baby's blanket.

“I know,” said Aelon in soothing tones. “Take the child back to your cabin. He is hungry. You need to summon that wet nurse.”

Raegar nodded. He was about to leave when he saw the dragon's spiritbone hanging from the wall. He turned to Aelon in alarm.

“What about the Dragon Fala? She will have to be told and she will be furious. She might leave.”

“I will deal with Fala,” said Aelon.

*   *   *

Raegar had recovered from his grief the next day and brought his son up on deck, where he received the condolences of his crew and soldiers. He thanked them for their service and told them that Treia would have wanted them to continue with their plans to defeat the Stormlords. Overhearing some of the men talking with admiration of his fortitude and courage, Raegar smiled.

The sun was shining brightly. The day was fine. No sign of rain. It seemed the Stormlords had given up.

Raegar received the daily report on their location from the navigator, who pointed to distant mountains, whose peaks were hidden in the clouds, and said that they were very near the destination.

While he was on deck, one of the slaves who had been sent to clean Treia's cabin discovered a beautiful casket lying on the deck with a name on the top that was decorated with flowers and serpents.

The slave could not read, so she had no idea who the casket might belong to, but she could see it was valuable. Fearful she might be accused of stealing, she carried the casket to Commander Eolus.

He recognized the name and realized that this must be some gift Treia had meant to give her husband.

“Poor man,” said Eolus. “This will only increase his grief.”

Eolus took the casket to Raegar's cabin, opened his sea chest, and buried the casket at the very bottom, thinking he would tell Raegar about it later.

As it happened, the small matter slipped the commander's mind.

 

CHAPTER

22

The Sea Goddess provided calm seas and a fair wind for the
Venejekar
and the four other dragonships and they sailed swiftly north. Farinn proved himself an apt pupil of Acronis. He took readings and charted their progress and when land came in sight, he was able to tell Skylan that they had reached the Spirit Coast, a long stretch of coastline on the eastern side of the Kharajis continent known as the Chimerian Downfall.

“To the west is the Desolation,” said Farinn. “The land north of that is uncharted. No one ventures there. Legend has it the fae claim those lands as theirs.”

“That's because the land
is
ours,” said Wulfe.

Skylan glanced at him. This was the first time the boy had talked to him since they had left Joabis's isle. Unhappy and withdrawn, Wulfe had spent most of his time gossiping with the oceanids.

“The Chimerian Downfall. What are chimera?” Skylan asked.

“Fae creatures, according to the old songs,” Farinn answered. “Part lion, part goat, and part serpent.”

Wulfe was nodding his head. “Fierce. Very fierce.”

“So why do they call this land Chimerian Downfall?” Skylan asked Wulfe.

“My grandmother says that in the First War, when we were fighting you Uglies, a group of chimera wanted this land and they attacked both the fae and the Uglies who lived here. The Uglies were frightened and ran away, but my people fought the chimera and drove them back into the Realm of Fire. Stupid Uglies,” Wulfe added sullenly, glowering at Skylan, then running off.

Skylan shook his head, then turned his attention to the map. Although he could not read the words, he was starting to understand the concept, which Farinn had once explained.

Imagine you are a dragon flying high in the air, as high as the clouds. If you look down at the land below, everything would seem very small. A river would look like a snake, mountains would look like teeth. The mapmaker has drawn what the dragon sees.

“Where are the Stormlords?” Skylan asked, trying to imagine he was a dragon.

“If we follow the coastline north, we will reach the realm of the Stormlords, which is located here,” Farinn said, putting his finger on a dot on the chart.

“What are these words beside it?” Skylan asked, pointing to some squiggles near the dot. “The name of their realm?”

Farinn shook his head. “The mapmaker wrote, ‘Keep Away.' Acronis said that the Stormlords are dangerous people. They live in walled cities guarded by lethal magicks.”

“Yet my emperor cousin, Raegar, does not ‘keep away,'” Skylan muttered. “He has no fear of these magicks. He knows something, while I am in the dark, sailing blindfolded with my hands tied.”

He ordered the dragonships to hug the coastline and keep careful watch. The next day, just as dawn lit the horizon, Dela Eden hailed the
Venejekar
from her dragonship.

“My people have a small colony near here,” she shouted over the water. “They are friendly with the Stormlords and can give you the information you need.”

Skylan thanked her, but instead of being grateful he turned away, scowling.

“What is wrong?” Aylaen asked.

“I do not like these Cyclopes,” Skylan replied. “Dela Eden is on board another ship and yet she can still see into my head, know what I am thinking.”

The coastline appeared deserted and Skylan gave the order for the dragonships to land. Dela Eden suggested that the ogres remain on board their ships.

“Although an uneasy truce exists between our two races, brokered by the Gods of Raj, the sight of a large contingent of ogres on their land would certainly cause my people alarm,” said Dela Eden.

“We will ask Bear Walker to come with us,” said Skylan. “So he will know we are not plotting behind his back.”

Bear Walker agreed to come, and his shadow, Raven's-foot, tagged along. They were joined by Aylaen in her capacity as Kai Priestess.

She wore the robes she had worn to confront Aelon, now cleaned and mended, all traces of Treia removed. Skylan wore his armor and carried his sword, though he kept it sheathed. Bear Walker carried an axe in a harness on his back and Raven's-foot brought his gourd.

“A sensible precaution,” Skylan told Dela Eden, thinking she might object to the weapons. “We are going among strangers who have no love for us.”

Dela Eden grinned. “My people know you are Vindrasi. They will make allowances.”

On the beach lay several boats, along with a quantity of fishing net, buckets, knives, and spears that Dela Eden said were used to spear fish, not men. Skylan saw footprints in the sand, but no one was around except a few dogs investigating the buckets, hoping to find fish that had been left behind.

“Where is the village?” he asked.

“About two miles inland.” Dela Eden frowned. “Strange to find no one here. The men should be out fishing at this time of morning.”

Skylan felt a prickle of alarm and rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, while Bear Walker removed his axe from the harness.

“What do you think is wrong?” Aylaen asked Dela Eden.

Dela Eden shook her head. “I do not know. I will go find out.”

“I don't like the looks of this,” said Skylan, going to talk to Bear Walker. “I will go with Dela Eden. You return to the ships, warn the others.”

Bear Walker agreed and he and Raven's-foot went back to the dragonships. Skylan was going to send Aylaen back with the ogres, but she refused and before he could argue, she set off across the beach with Dela Eden, leaving Skylan to catch up. They headed inland over soft, white sand mixed with dirt and covered with sharp-bladed grass. Dela Eden walked rapidly and seemed to know where she was going.

“I have been here before,” Dela Eden answered, though Skylan hadn't asked. “I came many years ago when I was young. My husband had family here. We lived here until he died, and then I returned home.”

“This colony is far from the Cyclopes' homeland,” Skylan said. “How did your people come to settle here?”

“The Stormlords invited us,” said Dela Eden.

“I thought these wizards didn't like strangers,” said Skylan.

“They don't. But we are not strangers. Legend has it that once we did them a great favor and they gave us this land in return.”

“So your people don't live with them in their city,” said Skylan.

“Oh, no,” said Dela Eden with a glance at the sky. “We prefer living on the ground.”

“Not on the top of a mountain,” suggested Skylan.

“Not in the clouds,” said Dela Eden.

Coming to a sudden halt, she raised her hand in warning.

“What is wrong?” Skylan asked.

“There is the village,” said Dela Eden, pointing. “But I see no people. No one is about.”

With the sun blazing in the sky the heat was oppressive. The village was almost lost to sight, hidden among a large grove of odd-looking trees. The trees were enormous, each tree formed of a great many trunks that had all grown together. The houses were little more than huts with roofs made of grass.

“Those are fire pits,” said Dela Eden, indicating holes that had been dug in the ground. “The women should be preparing the midday meal. There should be children playing and going about their chores.”

Skylan saw kettles for cooking and plates and bowls made of wood stacked neatly off to one side of the fire pits. Bright colored blankets lay on the ground.

“They weren't attacked,” said Skylan. “There are no bodies, and the village was not ransacked. The fire pits are cold.”

Dela Eden cupped her hands around her mouth and whistled, sounding so much like a bird that Skylan almost mistook her for one.

The whistle was evidently a signal of some sort, for a male Cyclopes emerged from the trees. He was practically naked, wearing nothing except a strip of cloth tied around his thighs. He carried a bow with a quiver of arrows slung over his shoulder. At the sight of the strangers, the Cyclopes moved with remarkable speed, nocking an arrow to his bow and aiming it at Skylan's heart.

“It is me, Kamau. Dela Eden,” she called.

“You walk in strange company, Dela Eden,” said Kamau.

“We come as friends,” Dela Eden told him. “We fought a great battle together against the forces of Aelon.”

Kamau lowered the bow, though he kept a wary eye on Skylan, who made certain to keep his hands well clear of his sword.

“The Gods of Raj be with you, Kamau,” said Dela Eden.

The two touched their foreheads together, third eye to third eye, an exchange of greetings. She introduced Skylan and Aylaen. Kamau gave them polite, though cold, greeting.

“Many years have gone by since you were last among us,” said Kamau. “Sadly you come back in troubled times.”

“What has happened?” Dela Eden asked.

“A messenger from the Stormlords warned us to seek safety in the hills. A large army is sailing from Oran to attack them.”

“The army of the Emperor Raegar,” said Dela Eden with a glance at Skylan. “We learned of this ourselves. That is why we are here. How did the Stormlords find out?”

“The wizards discovered the bodies of two of Aelon's spies in one of the stormholds. The Stormlords returned their corpses to the emperor and warned him to stay away.”

“Good for them!” said Skylan, laughing.

“You find violent death amusing?” Kamau asked in stern tones.

“He is Vindrasi,” said Dela Eden.

“Ah, of course,” said Kamau. “The wizards believe that the emperor's army will attempt to capture one of the stormholds and use it to enter and conquer Tsa Kerestra. Once the emperor has the Kingdom Above, he will send his armies to lay claim to the Spirit Coast. Aelon has no love for us. The emperor will enslave us or, more likely, simply destroy us.”

“What will you do?” Dela Eden asked, concerned.

“We have made plans to sail back to our homeland,” said Kamau.

“Aelon's reach is long,” said Dela Eden gravely. “It stretches far across the sea. Nowhere is safe from him.”

Kamau gave a shrug. “What else can we do?”

Skylan was about to tell him what the Cyclopes could do: they could fight. Aylaen cast him a warning glance, reminding him that this was none of their business, and he kept silent.

“Let the emperor capture a stormhold,” Dela Eden was saying. “Much good it will do him. He does not know the secret of the magic.”

“On the contrary, the Stormlords believe that Aelon's spies discovered the secret of the magic and how to dismantle it.”

“Even if that were true, the spies did not live to tell what they found,” said Dela Eden.

“The spies had ways to communicate with priests in Oran. The Stormlords found references to the magic and how it works, and evidence that the spies shared this secret with the priests in Oran before they died.”

Looking grave, Dela Eden turned to Skylan and Aylaen. “This is very bad news, my friends.”

“I do not understand,” Skylan said. “What is a ‘stormhold' and what is this secret that is so valuable?”

“The stormholds are located in the kingdom of Tsa Terestra, the Kingdom Below. They guard the keys to the gate of the kingdom of Tsa Kerestra, the Kingdom Above. If Aelon's soldiers know the secret, they can use it to open the gate, and nothing will stop the enemy from entering Tsa Kerestra.”

“The army of these Stormlords will stop them,” said Skylan. “And your army and our army will fight with them, join them in their shield wall.”