6.0 - Raptor (28 page)

Chapter 11

S
ardelle couldn’t reach Ridge. Had he heard the cave-in up there? Did anybody know she and the others had been buried? Would help be coming, or would they be on their own? Even if Ridge had people clearing the cave-in right now, it would take days for them to reach all the way back here, if not weeks. Mundane mining methods weren’t speedy, and she and the others did not have food or water to last that long. Not that supplies mattered when her shield would give out long before they starved to death. Their air might run out even before that.

You’re full of cheery thoughts
, Jaxi said.

I know. Can you tell Ridge what happened? I’d feel cheerier if I knew Captain Bosmont was working on a way to dig us out.

I can’t reach Ridge, either
.
Phelistoth is exuding pain and doesn’t have his mental shields up. His aura is trampling all over everything, making it hard for me to get past the noise. Why couldn’t he have gotten himself squashed in human form?

He must have thought he’d be more likely to survive in his natural form.

Maybe it would be better if he
hadn’t
survived.

Don’t be uncharitable. Besides, I think we’re going to need his help to get out of here.
Sardelle pushed herself to her feet, grimacing at bloody scrapes on her palms. Dirt and grit stuck to the fresh wounds, and she gingerly brushed them off.

The two soldiers watched her, but not with hostility or fear, not anymore. They seemed to have realized their predicament and that she would be the only one who might get them out of it. If only she could.

“He’s hurting,” Tylie whispered. She crouched on the other side of the bubble of protection, her arms wrapped around her knees as she stared at Phelistoth’s unmoving tail, the two inches of it that they could see sticking out from under all the rubble.

Good
, Jaxi thought.

Ssh.
“He should be able to heal himself, so long as he’s conscious. He
is
still breathing, isn’t he?” Sardelle eyed the wall of boulders that hid the rest of Phelistoth from them. From everything she had read and seen herself thus far, it took a lot to kill a dragon, but even they weren’t immortal.

“Barely.”

Tylie stood up, padding barefoot to Sardelle’s side. Where she had lost her sandals, Sardelle didn’t know, but she was no longer surprised to find her without footwear. Tylie rested her hand on Sardelle’s dirty sleeve, looking up with large, imploring eyes.

“Can you teach me to heal him?” she asked. “To perform
shurako
?”

“Did he ask for that?” Sardelle had never shared the term with Tylie before. “Healing through a mind link? Transferring your life’s energy to him?”

“No, he didn’t ask for it. He’s not answering me. I don’t think he’s awake. But he told me about it once before. He said I wasn’t ready to learn it, but he needs it now, Sardelle. He didn’t get his defenses up in time—he was too focused on something up there.” Tylie waved toward the ceiling. “The mountain is crushing him. What if he doesn’t ever wake up?”

Sardelle rubbed the back of her neck, certain Tylie didn’t know the ramifications of what she was asking. “Can you try to heal him normally, with what I’ve shown you? I can’t while I’m focusing on this.” She nodded toward the barrier above them, with the boulders and dirt pressing against it, ready to crush them if she released it for an instant. “His own body is strong. He probably doesn’t need too much of your energy to heal.”

Tylie looked dubiously at the visible nub of tail.

“If you’re not practiced at
shurako
, you could hurt yourself.”
Kill
yourself, Sardelle almost said, but most people passed out before that happened, at least when healing other humans. She had no idea how much more demanding it might be to transfer energy into a dragon. It would be like trying to fill a well with an eyedropper. She did know the term arose from those ancient times when dragons and human riders had shared links.

“I’ll try.” Tylie returned to crouching, as close to Phelistoth’s tail as she could get without touching the barrier. Whether she meant to try healing or the transfer of energy was not clear, and Sardelle almost reached out with her mind to watch.

Go ahead
, Jaxi said.
I’ll keep the barrier up. You know I don’t know
shurako
from a shako. Swords are indifferent to healing.

You were indifferent to healing even before you became a sword.

True. I always found the healing arts to be… oh, what’s the word?

Too challenging to be mastered by someone with an impatient mind?
Sardelle suggested.

I was going to say boring.
Jaxi spread a protective barrier, the field overlapping with Sardelle’s.

Ah, I can see why such an uncommon vocabulary word would have eluded you.

Hush. I was trying to find a more tactful word, since healing is your career and passion.

A more tactful word that still means boring?

Essentially, yes.

Sardelle decided not to dwell on the fact that Jaxi being tactful usually meant she believed the end was near. With her now holding back the rocks, Sardelle knelt beside Tylie, who had her eyes closed, her chin to her chest.

“We’ll do it together,” Sardelle whispered, not sure if Tylie would hear or if she was already focused on her link with Phelistoth.

For the first time, Sardelle stretched out with her senses and examined the dragon. His pain washed over her, and she understood what Jaxi had meant, about his presence being so overpowering that it was hard to reach out to another. She cataloged his injuries, including broken ribs and a cracked skull. His scales and muscles protected him, but they weren’t as massive and thick as she had expected. A dragon’s magic must protect it more than its natural armor, which made her realize that if they could ever come upon their golden enemy sleeping, it would be a lot easier to kill him. Too bad they had to figure out how to escape this crypt before they could test that hypothesis.

Under the scales and muscle, Phelistoth’s bones were hollow, like a bird’s. Almost fragile.

You see the cracked ribs?
Sardelle asked Tylie.

Yes. But his head…

I’ll work on that.
The swelling in his brain would take a delicate touch, but he would likely regain consciousness once that was relieved.
I showed you how to enhance the body’s own regenerative abilities. Focus on the bones, please. I’ll teach you about the complexities of organs another time.

All right.

Though Sardelle had told Tylie to avoid the
shurako
technique, she used it herself. Most healing involved channeling and enhancing the patient’s own energy, but with two people working on different parts of the same body, that could dangerously drain the patient’s system. Trusting Tylie to use the standard technique, since that was all she knew, Sardelle dribbled her own life’s force into knitting the bone of the dragon’s skull, then on soothing the inflamed tissue in his brain. This most delicate of organs was always a challenge to work on, and though she had healed animals before, as well as humans, the dragon’s brain was different from both and alien to her. Still, her techniques worked eventually, and the swelling gradually receded. When she sensed more blood flowing to his brain, she guessed he would rouse soon. She backed away, believing he could finish healing his own injuries once he woke.

Before she could withdraw completely, something grasped onto her incorporeal being, like someone gripping her arm and keeping her from stepping back. Fear flooded into her, fear that he would think she had been attacking him and react before he was fully awake and understood the truth. She started to raise her mental shields, trying to break the contact and protect her mind.

No
, Phelistoth rumbled in her thoughts.

Sardelle froze, not certain if the
no
was a warning not to raise her defenses or a promise that he wouldn’t attack. His aura draped over her, and for a confusing moment, she sensed the world through him, and she found herself looking down at Tylie from another perspective, watching as she worked hard to heal his ribs. She needed a lot more practice before she would be fast and proficient, but her sheer determination and focus helped her make progress. Phelistoth brushed her aura, the part of her touching him, healing him, and Sardelle sensed his appreciation and even something that might be called love, though there was an alienness to him and his thoughts, just as there was to his anatomy. Still, Sardelle was pleased that he seemed to genuinely care for Tylie. Pleased, but also a little uncomfortable, since she felt like she was intruding upon them now.

I was foolish, human
, Phelistoth said into her mind, the power of his words more muted than usual.

She did not know if that was because the injuries had weakened him, or because he was being considerate, so his words wouldn’t ring painfully in her head. His entire demeanor was muted, chagrined. She’d never sensed such an emotion from him.

I know you need my help, but I see that you would have healed me, regardless.
Phelistoth stared into her naked soul, reading her as if she were broadcasting her every thought.
Pull her back and stand ready to protect yourself from the rocks again
, he said.

I will.
Sardelle backed away—this time he allowed it—and grew aware of their small chamber again.

Tylie’s tongue was tucked into the corner of her mouth, the concentration that had been visible in her aura just as visible on her face.

Sardelle touched her shoulder.
He can handle it from here.

Tylie muttered something indistinguishable, but did not stop. She was determined to finish healing those ribs. Sardelle still had a sense of Phelistoth’s thoughts, whether because he wasn’t keeping his shields up right now or because they had been so close when she’d been healing him. Amusement touched him, in addition to the contentedness and appreciation he felt for Tylie’s ministrations. If he cared that his body was still smothered under tons of rock, it did not come through in his thoughts.

After a few more minutes, Tylie finished. Sweat beaded on her brow, but she smiled in triumph.

Stand back
, Phelistoth instructed.

One of the soldiers gasped, so Sardelle assumed everyone had heard the order.

Might want to reinforce that barrier, Jaxi. I have a feeling he’s going to melt rocks again, and woe to anything unshielded that’s nearby.

Yes, I haven’t noticed that dragons have a lot of subtly in their attacks—or meltings.

Busy reinforcing the barrier, Sardelle refrained from commenting that Jaxi also tended to be on the zealous side when she attacked or melted something.

Please. I can fry the butt hair off a flea, if I so choose.

Before Sardelle could contemplate a response, a reddish-orange light surrounded them, the power so intense that closing her eyes and shielding them with her hand wasn’t enough. She dropped to her knees, with her arms around her head and her face buried against the ground. She kept the shield up, but so much power railed against it that she was left breathless. Worse, the display of power was not brief. It went on and on, battering at her barrier. Sweat dampened the back of her shirt and dripped down the sides of her face to spatter onto the rocks. No heat made its way past her shield, but the drain of keeping the barrier up was akin to that of sprinting up the side of a mountain.

The roar of another rockfall pummeled her ears. Even without looking, she sensed fresh boulders pummeling the barrier. The light disappeared, but several moments passed before the barrage of rocks stopped.

As the bangs slowed to a trickle, Sardelle lifted her head. As far as she could tell, little had changed. Rocks still pressed in on them from all sides.

One thing changed
, Jaxi said.
Look to your right.

The tail was gone, and Phelistoth stood next to Tylie in his human form,
inside
of the barrier. When had he slipped through, and how? She hadn’t felt the intrusion.

He melted lots and lots of rocks, then dove in here with us before the next layer fell and crushed him again.

How many layers are there?
Sardelle stood up, fighting back a groan. The muscles in her shoulders and upper back ached, as if she had taken a few of those boulders herself. Her whole body was stiff and drained from the magic use. On all sides of her barrier, molten rock glowed red in the cracks between the boulders that had just fallen.

Layers may not have been the best word to describe the jumble that exists above us. It suggests organization that isn’t there.

Phelistoth slumped against the wall, his human form appearing far more weary than Sardelle had ever seen it. Tylie clasped his hand and leaned next to him.

“Anyone want to explain what’s going on?” Sergeant Jenneth asked, his voice squeakier than usual.

“No,” the private said.

“Anyone else just pee down his leg?” Jenneth looked back and forth from the tunnel where Phelistoth’s tail had been to the human version of Phelistoth standing next to Tylie. Had he seen the dragon-turned-human walk inside?

“No.”

“Oh. Me neither.”

The good news is that his aura isn’t smothering me like an elephant lying on a mouse anymore
, Jaxi said, sharing this image, as well as the words.
I can see what’s going on up there now.

Is it bad?
Maybe Sardelle shouldn’t ask.

Yes.

Naturally.

First off,
Ridge can’t do anything to help us in a timely matter.

And second?