Ashes And Spirit (Book 3) (16 page)

He stood over the dead man in the empty training yard of Calladar, feeling no remorse. The man had failed. Mckale had survived the bolt to the chest. He glared at the corpse and the blood spreading from the slit throat. Known to be for hire to any of the houses, the man wore nothing that would point fingers. He would take the blame for the attempt on the Dragon Rider’s life.

He bent and wiped his blade on the dead man’s clothing. No one would know the truth. Kovan’s wishes could still be carried out. In a moment, he would call the guards and tell them this man had tried to kill him after he found him out. Then, once he was done here, he could return to the private chamber beneath his house where that delectable young woman waited. She wouldn’t be of use to him much longer and would never know freedom again. Soon, she would join the others that had been shuffled off to the Shadow Riders as servants.

After a heavy sigh at having to wait, he shouted several times for the city guard. At the sound of boots pounding closer, he arranged his features into an expression of astonished disgust and heavy with regret. No one was as good at hiding emotions or their true selves as he.

T
aela sat on the bed with her feet tucked up, her dress flowing over the edge of the mattress. Kellinar paced the width of the bedchamber, a small frown drawing his brows together.

“As much as I like the idea of seeing Anevay again, I’m not sure about a trip into Maiadar.” He glanced at her. “You’ve never been there, I have. It…” Kellinar shook his head. “I don’t even know how to explain it to you. To say it wasn’t the most comfortable experience would be an understatement.”

Taela sighed. “It’s the only way Kellinar. We have no choice. Without the weave, none of us will live.” It bothered her that she couldn’t tell him everything, but Maleena was right; everyone would be against it. Most assuredly Kellinar and Mckale. Kirynn and Jocelynn might see the practicality of it, but none of the others would.

He stopped pacing and ran a hand over his braids. “What about New Sharren? We can’t just abandon them.”

“If we don’t do this, there will be no point in building New Sharren. All will be lost.” Pausing to let that sink in, she continued, “There are other Dragon Riders who are just as capable of helping with New Sharren. And there are plenty of mages.” She studied him. “You alone are not responsible for them and their future.”

Kellinar let out a heavy sigh and dropped into a chair, his shoulders sagging. “The idea of a rebellion came from me. If I had left well enough alone—”

“The people of New Sharren would still be trapped in the Mallay slowing wasting away under the rule of Shadow Riders. If you take all of the responsibility for what happened, then you claim the victory for yourself.”

“It isn’t that I’m trying to claim anything or take anything from them. I just…gah!” He threw his hands in the air. “You sound like Dhovara.”

Taela smiled. “Dhovara is a wise woman. I will take that as a compliment.”

He glared at her, though it held no heat of anger. After several moments, resignation settled over his features and reflected through the bond. “Fine. If you insist it must be done, we will make a flaming trip into Fate-forsaken Maiadar.”

She stood and crossed the sleeping chamber to him. Putting her arms around him, she hugged him close. “You have to let go of what happened at Trilene and look forward. More than New Sharren is at stake if we fail.”

Kellinar pulled away and looked her in the eye for a long moment. “What are you hiding from me?”

Taela kept the sorrow from rising and smiled to reassure him. “Nothing of great importance to you. Female talk with Maleena. If you really want to know…”

“No! Fates, no.” Kellinar stood and backed away from her, his hands up in surrender. “I don’t need to hear it.”

“Then we should prepare for our journey. I don’t know how long it will be. We can pack extra on the dragons. Paki has already informed me that she has no intention of staying behind, and Maleena said having Paki along would help shield us from the pull of the lake.” She moved around the room, grateful to change the course of the conversation.

He nodded and began to pull clothing from the wardrobe. “Shryden intends to go with us as well.” Kellinar set the clothes on the bed. “If you take care of everything here, I will go speak with Marda. We are going to need food and drink on this trip…hopefully.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Kellinar chuckled darkly. “Exactly what it sounds like. The realm on the other side of the lake isn’t favorable to a good appetite. However, I will prepare as if it would be.”

Taela nodded, a small, uneasy feeling settling over her. How different could it possibly be? “Oh,” she called as he left. When he stepped back in the door she said, “Don’t let her go overboard. You know how Marda is. We don’t need a year’s supply of food to feed an army.”

“Sure, I will just rein her in.” He snorted and left the room.

Taela had to admit the idea of restraining Marda was as futile as trying to lift a dragon. She packed several clean undergarments but didn’t bother with extra outer clothing. It was doubtful they would need them. Just because they had dragons to carry most of it didn’t mean they needed to be excessive. She laughed at the changes in herself. There was a time when she wouldn’t have packed like this, when she would have had numerous trunks and an entire retinue with her.

Her thoughts drifted to Anevay with a mixture of hope and sorrow in her heart. The weave to save them all aside, it would be wonderful to see her bondsister once more—provided they could even find her. But how hard it would be to say goodbye…again.

Kellinar walked slowly toward the main hall. Anevay… He longed for this journey and at the same time it terrified him. How many nights had he dreamt of her? Dreams so real he could smell her hair, see her face glowing with a smile so clear it was as if she were really there. How many times had those dreams dissolved into nightmares filled with smoke and blood as her dark eyes shimmered with tears? Of Serena weeping as she told him she couldn’t heal death. How many times had Latia whispered, “I love you” in his mind before she faded? Could he really say goodbye again so soon?”

With a heavy heart full of uncertainty, he found Marda and made a request for food for the trip. If he didn’t do this, he would lose Shryden and everyone else. An image of Maleena and Mckale with little Emmaleen swam through his mind. Of Loki and Merru, both having grown up in such a short time. Of Kirynn, Vaddoc, Serena, and all of the other Dragon Riders. Refusing to go wouldn’t save him any pain.

Sooner than he would have liked, he was climbing onto Shryden. Both dragons had hunted well and eaten heavily just a few hours before. Though the sun shone bright, the air held the sharp tang of winter. A storm laden with snow was on its way. The air currents swirled around Kellinar, bringing him the news.

Jocelynn, the last to bid him farewell, reached up and clasped arms with him. She shook her head. “I’m glad it’s you and not me, my friend. I’ve heard enough about that flaming place to prefer waiting until death to visit.”

He smiled at her though it held little mirth. “Have fun in the downlands.”

“Someone has to keep it straight.”

It was nice to see the easy-going Jocelynn coming back. She had been mostly absent since Trilene. Kellinar envied her in some respects. It must be some kind of blessing to separate the horror of that battle from her feelings. To be able to look at those memories and not feel the emotions. To be able to dream at night without waking up in a cold sweat.

As she backed away from the dragon, he glanced at Maleena. In spite of the beautiful baby in her arms, a touch of sadness lingered in her eyes. When he’d asked Mckale about it, the Borderman shrugged and said it had something to do with a talk she’d had with Taela. Women’s stuff. Maybe she felt bad for sending them to find Anevay on the heels of their grief. Either way, both women were hiding something they wanted to keep to themselves. Kellinar shrugged inwardly, who was he to pry into whatever was between them?

Shryden lifted off at the same time as Paki. The silver spun the Slide open and in moments they were above the rolling plains northeast of Markene. Below them, the lake lay in a perfect circle, the water as still as death in spite of the sharp, cold wind that whipped over the prairie. A light blanket of snow crunched under the feet of the dragons when they landed. The sand of the perfect shore remained free of the layer of white. Apparently even moisture from the sky avoided the lake.

Taela jumped down, a scroll in her hand. With a groan, Kellinar followed suit. He moved to stand next to her on the unnatural sand. She studied the symbols for a long moment. Kellinar glanced at the scroll but could make no sense of the jumble of lines written on it. “Will you use the same symbols Emallya did?”

She shook her head. “No, I’ve seen that scroll. What Emallya used was specifically to take you along the edge of Maiadar. We need to cross that boundary and go deep inside.”

“Wonderful, just what I always wanted to do.”

“Quit griping, Kellinar and be quiet so I can concentrate.”

She rolled the scroll and held it in one hand while she crouched next to the lake. With one finger, she touched the surface. Silver pooled under her fingertip, and she quickly drew several symbols on the surface, then stood.

The symbols seemed to sink into the water as if being absorbed. A silver sheen spread over the surface and the water underneath turned so dark it was almost black. Taking a deep breath, Kellinar followed her into the water with the dragons right behind them. He tried not to think as it rose silently around him. Even two massive dragons couldn’t disturb the mirror-like surface.

And then Taela stopped. She looked at him with a slight smile. “See you on the other side.”

He nodded. “I’ll be there.”

Taela stepped forward and disappeared. Paki was right behind her. Kellinar glanced up at Shryden.
“You ready for this?”

“I have to be.”

“Might as well get a move on then.”
Kellinar took several deep breaths and stepped forward.