Ashes And Spirit (Book 3) (14 page)

Kellinar reclined against one side of the cushioned bench with Taela curled between his legs, her head resting on his chest. His fingers traced through her hair while his gaze drifted across the gathered riders. The peace that flowed through Galdrilene itself seeped into his soul.

The laughter and quiet conversation filled the evening and brought them together as the family they were. He realized now his return to Galdrilene had been long overdue. They should have come back weeks ago. He and Taela both would have benefited from it.

Though Kellinar was keenly aware of the gaps in their group where Emallya, Bardeck, Anevay, Tallula, and Tania should have been, it didn’t hurt as much as it had only a short time ago. Looking at them all, it became obvious that the past couple of weeks spent in Galdrilene had been needed by everyone. A chance to reconnect for the older riders and a chance to feel included by the newer riders. Several of them would be Sliding out of Galdrilene soon and joining in the danger along the border. A task he knew they looked forward to for reasons he couldn’t fathom. Given the option, Kellinar would prefer never to see a battle again. But then, they hadn’t been there for Trilene, hadn’t witnessed the horror that was a fight with Shadow Riders.

It would come soon enough. He turned his thoughts away from the dark possibilities of the future and focused on the warmth and comfort of the present, surrounded by those who were far closer to family than friends.

The wind whipped over them as Keta and Merru, with Sumara and Loki astride their backs, streaked overhead. Sumara’s green Keta was by far the fastest, most agile dragon in Galdrilene. The next fastest was Merru and the two dragons and their riders took great delight in competing against each other. Though Merru and Loki inevitably lost every time, they never failed to rise to the challenge or give up hope that one day they would beat the dark-skinned rider and her green.

Cheers went up from the group gathered on the terrace as everyone yelled encouragement to one, the other, or both. The other dragons, some on their ledges, the rest lounging by the lake, raised their voices in bulging roars that reverberated off the sides of the rim. Keta put on a new burst of speed and did a twisting flip that nearly made Merru turn inside out trying to keep up with her. With a rumble of dragon laughter, Keta shot across the sky in the opposite direction with the golden Merru over two dragon-lengths behind.

Kellinar chuckled as he watched them and for the first time since the Battle of Trilene, he didn’t feel guilty for finding pleasure and happiness in the moment. Tomorrow they would scatter again, back to where they were needed in the rest of the world. But for tonight, Galdrilene was their world.

K
irynn and Vaddoc stood in the town center of Basc. She swallowed hard and took shallow breaths, the stench overwhelming. The water fountain tinkled merrily, at odds with the carnage around it. This explained why no one had received word from the Border Guard outpost for several days.

The wet, ripping sounds of vultures tearing strips off rotting bodies underscored the loud buzzing of thousands of flies crawling over one another in a moving, pulsing blanket. The small, dark insects clung to blood-stained walls, covered the edges of the fountain, and massed on the putrid remains of what had been the town’s people.

The corpses against the wall, stripped of almost all identifying features except for some remnants of clothing, identified them as females. A few remaining blackened and blistered body parts revealed the manner of their death.

Nothing Kirynn had witnessed, not even Trilene, prepared her for the scene or the smell. Bile rose strong and quick in the back of her throat. Despite the comfortable temperature of winter in southern Shadereen, sweat broke out on her brow. Her stomach heaved as she bent over and vomited onto the hard-packed dirt. The sound of retching behind her told her Vaddoc too was unable to control his reaction. Another wave of nausea swept through her, and she bent over again.

When there was nothing left to bring up, Kirynn opened the small leather bag of water and rinsed her mouth. After taking a small sip to dull the burn in her throat, she passed it to Vaddoc. Flies, drawn by the odor of the vomit, gathered close. They landed on her sweaty skin with their sticky legs. She brushed them away with a shiver, trying to suppress the thought of what else the nasty things had landed on.

As much as she wanted to leave, they had to investigate. They knew who killed the women, but what had killed the men? Not Sadira, it was obvious by what was left of them that they hadn’t died by Sadira’s shadows. Kirynn pulled the neck of her shirt up and pressed it against her nose and mouth, hoping to dampen the stench.

Vaddoc moved around one side of the center while she worked the other. As they explored, they disrupted the vultures and flies—flapping wings and rustling feathers competed with the constant buzz. They met on the far side of the fountain. He glanced around before settling his gaze on the water. She didn’t blame him. It was by far the safest place to look.

“Only two magics were used here,” Vaddoc said, his voice muffled by the fabric over the lower half of his face.

Kirynn nodded in agreement. “We need to search every house for survivors, though by the looks of the bodies it appears everyone down to the newest babe is dead.”

“We have to check anyway.” Vaddoc swept his gaze over the buildings. “You take the northern half of town, I will take the southern.”

Nodding, Kirynn turned and worked her way through the town center, her eyes on the buildings. Their empty windows stared back like sockets as dead as their owners. The first house was a small affair. A central room, a cooking alcove, and two sleeping rooms. Curtains shifted in the faint breeze. Charred remains of a loaf of bread inside the cold oven. A child’s doll in the middle of the floor where it had been dropped. A pitcher of water on the table next to a bag of tea leaves.

Outside another door stood a washtub filled with water and clothes. The last item on the dry line was only half hung. Inside that house, she found more of the same. Everywhere she looked were the reminders of lives that had suddenly stopped mid-task. But no signs of life other than rodents picking over food left behind by the dead. Not even family pets had been spared.

House after house, shop after shop, she searched. It was the same, always the same.

When Kirynn finished and returned to the town center, Vaddoc wasn’t there. In all likelihood, still searching. She couldn’t wait for him there. Couldn’t be among all the death a moment longer. As she strode down the street toward the edge of town where the dragons waited, she reached out to Syrakynn.
“Have Namir let Vaddoc know I’m with you two. I can’t be inside the town anymore.”

“I will. And I understand.”

When she reached the red, Kirynn leaned her head against the dragon’s side and closed her eyes. At least out here where the breeze moved better, the smell wasn’t as bad.
“I should have hung onto the detachment a while longer I guess.”

“Even with it, I think you would have struggled with this. If you hadn’t, I would have worried about you,”
came the return.
“Vaddoc comes.”

Kirynn opened her eyes and turned to see the ashen-faced Borderman walking toward them.

“I found no one left alive,” he said when he reached her.

“I found the same.”

Vaddoc looked back at the town. “Why? What would provoke such action against Basc?”

Kirynn sighed and began fastening the catcher strap. “I don’t think ‘why’ can be answered when it comes to Shadow Riders.”

“There is nothing here though. No chance at gaining power, no resources to take, nothing. Basc only contained a little over five hundred people, not including the Border Guards stationed here.”

“You’ll drive yourself crazy trying to rationalize it. It was done because the Shadow Riders are sick and twisted. Nothing more, nothing less. There’s no way to reason it,” Kirynn said and pulled herself into the saddle. “All we can do is try to patrol the border more and hope that no others suffer this fate.”

When Vaddoc gained the saddle and had his safety straps secured, the dragons lifted off. Kirynn took a deep breath of the fresh air well above the town. The red opened a Slide, and Kirynn could feel the dragon’s relief at leaving the town behind.

They came out of the Slide over Marden. To the north, where a wide river cut through the scanty grass on its way to the Blood River, numerous narrow channels cut through the landscape like long spokes. In-between the spokes grew row upon row of trees with their orange, yellow, and green fruits along with rows of vegetable crops. Far to the south, where the grass grew thicker, herds of sheep and geese grazed. To the east, in the scrubbier areas, goats grazed on the thorny brush.

The sun sparkled off the waterways as Syrakynn glided toward the massive keep. Kirynn couldn’t wait to get a bath. It wouldn’t be as nice as a bath in Galdrilene but even a bucket of water and soap would do right now. Anything to wash the stench from her skin and clothes. If only the images could be washed from her mind as easily. They would be Sliding back to Galdrilene soon. She could get a proper bath then.

K
alila rubbed her temples and suppressed a groan. Hours of listening to the whining Heads of Houses had given her a splitting headache. Lord Haden’s voice echoed as he ranted about the loss of life at the battle of Trilene, pacing the length of the table where the other Heads sat. A battle he continued to claim was none of Markene’s business. He’d been ranting about this for three months.