A Storm in the Desert: Dragonlinked Chronicles Voume 3 (48 page)

Millinith and the others trailed behind, letting Zolin take as much time as needed with his nervous mother. Once in the clutching room proper, however, Xochi bounded onto the sand.

Is it not the best?
She rolled in the sand and then jumped to her feet.

Nenet took her time looking about the room. She glanced at Xochi and the sand before making her way over to it. She sniffed at the soft powder and then stood upon it.

T–The room is nice. But it does not s–smell right. Life has never been brought forth in here. I–I would prefer to use the cavern again, i–if that is okay?

“Of course it’s okay,” Jessip said. “Whatever you prefer.”

I am sorry.

“There is no need to apologize,” Millinith said. “It is your child. You decide where to bear it.” She turned to Jessip. “Why don’t you and Zolin go with her to the cavern. Renata and Xochi can take me back to the Caer. Once I get back, I’ll speak to the captain and have guards stationed at the sinkhole again.”

He nodded and handed her the board. “Sounds good. Come on Zolin, let’s take Nenet over so she can start to settle in.”

Millinith watched them leave and sighed. “So much for bringing this along.”

Renata glanced at the board. “What was it for?”

“We need to have some kind of sign at the main entrance of this room. It will indicate when an unbonded dragon is clutching in here. At those times, unsupervised access should be restricted. We don’t want just anyone coming in and frightening the dragon. Candidates would be allowed supervised visits, and of course, they’d be allowed in when the eggs hatch.”

Renata nodded. “That makes sense. What if a parent or friend wants to watch a candidate try for a bond-mate? Will we let them in?”

Millinith frowned. “I hadn’t really thought about that.” She looked about the chamber. Where would they put them?

“It could help foster goodwill, having kin here to witness the bonding. And for those candidates who are passed over, having family and friends here to console them would be a blessing, I think.”

Millinith faced the door to the Guildhall proper. “What do you think? A sort of gallery on each side of the entrance? We could enchant tiered seats, benches, say five rows deep? At least to start.”

“Yeah. We can see how many want to attend a bonding and increase the seating as needed.”

Millinith rubbed the space between her brows. “Where will we house them?”

Renata chuckled. “I sense an adjustment to the housing plans coming soon.”

“We’re going to need more guest rooms.” Millinith sighed.

“Those can be anywhere, though, as long as the way to the clutching room is fairly easy to navigate. Don’t want people to get lost.”

Millinith nodded. After a moment, she glanced back into the room. “What do you suppose Nenet meant about it not smelling right? Did any of our dragons mention anything of the sort?”

Renata shook her head. “No, not at all. They loved it in here and couldn’t wait to lay their eggs here.”

Millinith grunted. “This whole place was solid rock a few months ago.”

“True. And there isn’t much to the sand we ported over from the deep desert. I suppose to a dragon, this place could seem a bit sterile and lifeless.”

Millinith glanced at the ceiling and walls. “All the more reason to get started on Aeron’s idea about moss and lichen in here. Do you suppose the places unbonded dragons go to lay their young have been used for centuries?”

Renata shrugged. “I could ask Xochi to check her memories, but that’s probably true.”

Wild dragons probably used the same places over and over. Except for Anaya’s mother. But she’d been running away from House Yaot.

Thinking of Malina brought to mind Anaya and Aeron’s predicament, and that reminded Millinith of another thing that had been bothering her. Aeron’s plan called for using the portal in a way that had never been done before.

She picked up the writing board. “Let’s get back to the Caer. I want to do a test with the gateway spell. A trial run, if you will, of Aeron’s idea.”

It took almost an hour to get everything together. Dragonlinked and the dragons stood or sat around the courtyard, waiting. When Renata returned from her errand, they all stood and moved to the middle of the yard in a loose circle by Millinith.

“Sorry it took so long,” Renata said. “I had a heck of a time catching a fly.” She held up a wire-frame glass box. “But I finally got one.” Inside, the insect flew around, landing briefly on one side of the box or another.

“Excellent.” Millinith turned to Sharrah and pointed to a spot on the ground. “If you could place the squash there?”

Once she set it down, Sharrah stepped back. “I hope this works.”

“As do we all.” Willem stared at the squash. “I never even considered that his idea might be dangerous.”

“It very well might not be,” Millinith said. “But as it has never been used this way, I want to test the spell beforehand.”

Willem nodded. “I’m glad you thought to do so.”

“Alright.” Millinith looked about and pointed to the side. “Let’s keep that area over there clear, as well. That will be the destination.”

People and dragons took a few steps back from the area.

“Sharrah, if you could observe and take notes?”

“Yes, ma’am.” She removed a notebook, a pencil, and after a few brief scribbles, looked at the squash, waiting.

Millinith took a breath. “This is test one of in situ gateway activation. Willem? If you and Balam would do the honors? Origin is the squash. Let’s make them about two feet in diameter. Destination is there.” She pointed.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Millinith felt a surge of power when the spell began.

“Here we go,” Willem said, looking at Sharrah. “Completing the spell . . . now.”

A large pulse of magic washed over Millinith and the small portals began to form. Most of the origin portal was visible, but about a third of it was below the ground. The entire destination portal floated about a foot or so above the yard. When the translucent plates faded, leaving only the swirling mist, there was a soft sound, almost like a green branch cracking.

Millinith’s stomach clenched. What in hells was that? There was never any sound with a portal.

From the destination gateway, two items fell: an oddly-shaped chunk of soil, and the squash. The soil hit the ground and the large squash landed on the crumbling pile of dirt, letting out a quiet thump. It rolled to the side a few feet before coming to a stop.

Everyone stared.

“Yrdra’s tits,” Jessip said, “what happened?”

“Language,” Millinith said.

“Sorry, ma’am.”

“But that
is
a good question. Willem, if you could end the spell?” When it faded, Millinith stared at where the origin portal had been. Part of the ground was . . . missing. It looked as if someone had scooped it out with an enormous iced cream scoop, or pressed a large ball into the ground causing a spherical indentation. She squatted down and examined the bowl-shaped pit closer. Its surface was as smooth as glass.

“The gateway anchors are spheres,” Sharrah said. “It appears that when the spell activates, anything on the edge of the sphere is cut, sliced clean through, and transferred to the opposite portal.”

Millinith nodded. “Of course. It follows that this should occur. Normally, the anchors are in the air, so there is no indication that this is happening.”

“Gods,” Willem said. “Can you imagine if someone had been standing there?”

Millinith walked to the squash and examined it. “Even with the thump it took from the drop, it seems to be unharmed.” She turned to Jessip. “The knife?”

He ran over with the butcher knife and handed it to her.

“Let’s see how it looks inside.” After slicing it open, she could find nothing amiss within. “Nothing unusual. It seems to have made the trip without incident.” She set one half aside and stuck the knife into it. The other, she took back to the origin area and placed it on the ground next to the pit.

“Renata? If you could set the box on top?”

She nodded and placed the glass container atop the squash half, stepping back after.

“Now for test two. A live animal subject. When you’re ready, Willem.”

Dirt, half a squash, and the glass display box fell from the destination portal, tumbling the short distance to the ground.

Renata ran over and checked on the fly. “It seems fine. It’s buzzing around as if nothing is wrong.” She handed the box to Millinith.

After studying it a moment, Millinith gave it to Sharrah. “You can observe the fly while we ready the next test.” She turned to Gregor. “If you would?”

He twisted his lips. “Well, since the fly seems to have made it through with no issues . . .” Walking to the two small pits, he set a saucer on the ground next to them and filled the small dish with milk.

Fillion carried Snow to the saucer and set him down, petting him until he started to lap at the milk. Fillion looked up at Millinith, brows drawn together. “He’d better not get hurt.”

“The fly seems fine,” Sharrah said and set the glass box down. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t recommend further tests.”

“Nor would I,” Millinith said. “That’s why we’re doing graduated tests. We started with simple life, and are moving on to more complicated forms as previous tests are successful.”

“I don’t want your cat to come to harm, either,” Willem said, “but it’s better to find out now if there is a problem with using a portal this way, rather than when Aeron and Anaya try.”

Fillion twisted his lips in a frown and looked at Snow. “You
sure
the fly’s okay?”

“He’s fine,” Sharrah said, “flying around without a care in the world.”

Fillion nodded. Then, after a quick stroke of the cat’s head, he stood and stepped back. Gregor took his hand.

Millinith looked at the white cat. She didn’t want him to come to harm either, but things stood just as Willem had said. They needed to know. And based on the fly, it seemed the cat should be fine. Should be.

“Final test,” she said and nodded to Willem.

At the destination, another chunk of dirt, the saucer, and Snow, fell to the ground. Milk spilled, and once his paws hit the courtyard, Snow sprinted to Coatl and jumped behind his forelegs. The mahogany dragon let out a low croon, lowered his head, and touched his nose to the frightened cat. A plaintive yowl was followed by quick glances about the yard, then Snow stretched up and rubbed his face against Coatl’s nose.

Fillion let out a loud breath. “Okay. He seems fine, if not a little startled.”

Millinith let out her own breath, though quietly. “Excellent. Do keep an eye on him, however, and let me know if you notice anything out of the ordinary.”

“We will,” Gregor said.

“It looks like Aeron and Anaya should be fine,” Sharrah said, closing the notebook.

“Well,” Cheddar said, “as long as they keep clear of the sphere’s edge.”

“I’ll let them know about this,” Willem said, “when I visit them tonight.”

“Good. Using the portal spell was meant to save them, not kill them.” Millinith looked at their faces. “All of you need to be careful, though. It would not do to rescue them only to have someone else be captured.” She was definitely going to have a talk with their Animal Craft auditor, and soon. Something needed to be done about dragons being considered animals. Once they were considered the same as people, then laws already in place would protect them, too.

Polandra nodded. “We’ll all keep it in mind, Guildmaster.”

+ + + + +

Staring at the ceiling, Aeron went over the fight again and again, but came up with nothing that he could have been done differently.

I think you did very well against five people. If I did not have the other hand chasing me, I could have helped counter spells on you.

I just wish I could have gotten away. I was able to separate most of them from me with the barrier, but unfortunately, they were still able to cast spells.

That is true. The barrier does not block your view.

Aeron narrowed his eyes. Was it possible to modify Francisco’s Barrier so that the sorcerous wall was opaque?

The memory of how difficult it was to make things out at Ghost Flats through the heat shimmers came to mind, making him sit up. The barrier didn’t have to be opaque. It just had to distort vision enough so that placing an anchor on the other side was impossible.

The large door opening interrupted his thoughts.

Two people entered, replacements, from the looks of them, for his watchers. One moved to the right while the other went left. Taking up their positions, they stared at Aeron. The previous watchmen then left, and the door closed behind them. The heavy sound it made caused his heart to sink a little lower in his chest.

I can’t wait to see Willem again, to hear his voice.

It is terrible that they keep you locked in that room, alone. At least I have company.

People still come to see you? What am I asking, of course they do.