Embers at Galdrilene (21 page)

“Have you always been able to feel other people?” she asked, although her senses told her that his power ran a different course.

“I’ve never felt anybody else. Just her.”

Emallya looked at him for a long moment. She should have been prepared for this possibility, but she never heard of a mating bond forming before an egg hatched. Shock, surprise and elation flashed through her. A silver without a bondmate was vulnerable. This girl would have the necessary shield once she reached Galdrilene.

She reached out and laid a hand on the girl’s forehead, delving into her mind just enough to ensure she wasn’t damaged from her folly. Emallya sighed and straightened. “Do not worry yourself unduly. What she has done requires more energy than a hundred battles. It was something she was unprepared for. Now she pays the price for her foolishness.”

A worry line creased his brow. “Do you know how long she will be like this?”

“A few hours, maybe more.”

“How do you know all of this?” he asked.

Memories made fresh by the appearance of Rylin’s spirit flashed through her mind. Desolation threatened to creep back in and she firmly shut the door on it. A sad smile touched her lips. “In due time. For now, let’s get her moved to my camp.”

She stood and turned to the others watching nearby. “Vaddoc, please go get this man’s mount for him. Kirynn, go fetch that poor frightened horse over there,” she pointed to the little mare standing on the hill.

As they moved to obey her, she turned back to the young man. “I am Emallya Lorant. How are you called?”

“I am Mckale Mandarran.” He looked past her at the others as if he had just seen them.

“And how is she called?”

“She is Maleena Wyndam.”

“Mckale, you have some serious wounds. Serena here will see to them.” Emallya beckoned the dark haired woman over before walking away to stand on the beach.

Serena knelt next to Mckale. He watched in interest as she laid a hand on Maleena’s brow. Her blue eyes intense, she sat as still as the lake for a moment before pulling her hand away and flashing him a reassuring smile.

“I’m Serena Cyen. Emallya’s right, you have several nasty wounds. This one on your arm in particular.”

Mckale held the pain throbbing in his upper arm under tight control. The muscles didn’t seem to work quite right and he sent a brief prayer to the Fates that there wouldn’t be permanent damage. The pain in his back and his legs told him more than his arm suffered significant wounds. He ignored the smaller, shallow injuries. They would heal on their own in time. The woman, Serena, looked young to be a healer. How skilled was she in her craft?

She laid her hands on him and again became very still. Heat spread through him. Warmth flowed through his veins, spread across his skin and seeped into his muscles. He felt it mending the injuries inflicted by the Kojen.

The warmth left and she pulled her hands away. He flexed the arm, working the muscles around. It appeared as though the Fates had answered him. Only a thin, white line remained as evidence of the wound and he felt no pain in his arm or anywhere else. Mckale looked at her in amazement, ignoring the trickle of fear that threaded its way through his body. It made no sense to be afraid of the woman. After all he could use magic, as could Maleena. “I guess using magic is something you can do, too.”

She shrugged. “We all can.” She pointed to each person in turn and gave their names then turned back to him. “We can do more formal introductions later, but at least for now you have our names.”

He looked around and noticed the amber eyed Shaderian, Vaddoc she’d called him, returning with his horse. The flame-haired woman, Kirynn if he remembered right, stood with Maleena’s mare.

Emallya turned away from the water and for a brief moment Mckale thought he saw tears glisten in her eyes, but she blinked and they were gone. A trick of the morning light perhaps. Her eyes rested on Maleena. “Let us get settled at the camp.”

Mckale nodded and eased himself up. Taking the reins from Vaddoc, he swung into the saddle. “Can you hand her up to me?” he asked the amber eyed man.

Vaddoc nodded and bent to lift the small woman. He carefully handed her up to Mckale who held her against him in the front of the saddle. The others began to walk back around the lake, Kirynn leading Maleena’s mare.

At the camp Mckale settled Maleena into her sleeping roll while Kirynn set a fire. They sat in silence as Kellinar made tea and Serena put together a morning meal.

Mckale watched a boy of about ten years pour the tea into small metal cups. Vaddoc offered him a cup. He accepted it with a nod of thanks and took a sip of the hot liquid. “Why does a child travel with you?”

Kellinar looked over at Loki. “He travels with us because the Keepers of Trilene tried to capture him.” He gave Loki a mock scowl. “And because he was a sneaky little scamp who followed us so far before we knew he was there, we really couldn’t send him back. Not that we would’ve anyway.”

Mckale looked around at them. “Only Serena has formally introduced herself. I am Mckale Mandarran. The woman I travel with is Maleena Wyndam.”

After introductions were made, Vaddoc glanced at Mckale’s swords. “By your weapons you are a Border Guard.”

Mckale stared at the cup in his hands. “I can no longer claim that title. I surrendered my Watch when I left my duties.”

Serena rolled her eyes. “Did you or didn’t you do battle with the Kojen today?”

Mckale looked at her in surprise. “Of course I did.”

“Then you did not surrender this Watch of yours, you only changed the location of it,” she stated flatly.

He opened his mouth to protest, but she continued before he could get a word out. “I understand you’re a Border Guard. Tell me where in your oath does it specify
where
you must Watch and
where
you must make your stand?”

Vaddoc frowned slightly. “It doesn’t.”

“Well then, there you go.” Serena gave a sharp nod as if that settled it.

Mckale stared at her, unable to find a way to refute her strange logic. Kirynn barked a short laugh. “She does have a point.”

He glanced at Emallya who sat by herself some distance from them. “Who is this woman who leads you and why do you follow her?”

Kellinar looked at the older woman and settled back, using his saddle as a back rest. “She offered to take us to a place where our magic will be welcome, although after today I begin to wonder where she takes us.” He scratched his ear and yawned. “As to who she is, who knows? Her name is Emallya. She seems to know a lot about everything, but won’t tell how she knows, and is more skilled with weapons than any of us have ever seen,” he paused and glanced at Kirynn, “and that’s saying something. Other than that, Emallya tells us little.”

Vaddoc smiled. “She could best all of us at once I would wager.”

“Are you trained in weaponry as well?” Mckale asked Serena.

“I’m still learning,” Serena said. “Emallya and Vaddoc started teaching me then Kirynn joined us and she has helped, too.”

Mckale raised an eyebrow at the Shaderian. “You are training a woman how to fight?”

“What’s wrong with a lady fighting?” Loki asked from where he sat next to Kellinar.

“Well nothing I suppose. It’s just not done along the border,” Mckale answered.

Vaddoc chuckled. “Yes, I am training a woman to fight. I admit the idea of going into battle with a woman took me a bit to get used to. Once you get the chance to spar with Kirynn, you will change how you think about women fighting.”

Kirynn looked at Vaddoc, a sparkle in her vibrant green eyes. “You never said anything about women not fighting.”

He shrugged. “By the time we met, I had already spent more than a month in the company of Emallya. I really didn’t think about it anymore.”

Mckale looked at his new companions, surprised he already felt a kinship with them. “How do you know I will get the chance to spar with any of you?”

Kirynn laughed. “I have no doubt that you will be traveling with us. After your friend’s display and your lack of reaction to it, I can tell you travel for the same reason we do.”

He looked at Maleena’s sleeping form for a moment before saying, “I didn’t see what she did. I was completely surrounded and unable to reach her. I could only feel her pain and her fear.” He looked back at the others. “What was that thing over the water? It looked like a
–
”

“Like a dragon,” Emallya’s voice made them all turn. “A silver dragon to be exact. It seems the time is now right.”

E
mallya’s words brought a sudden, palpable tension. Mckale shifted uncomfortably. Dragons were evil and the magic that went with them was evil. Wasn’t it? If this was the kind of magic he could use, did it make him evil? Did it mean Maleena was evil? He shook his head. Maleena wasn’t evil and he didn’t believe himself to be either.

“But,” Serena said, “dragons were black like the madness and evil powers they carried with them. And they are all gone anyway.”

Emallya sat down, a weary expression on her face as if she carried a great weight inside. “Dragons are not necessarily black. Oh there are black dragons and yes, they do carry the evil that begot them in the first place. But there are also colored dragons and they are not evil in any way. Once, a very long time ago, there were no black dragons, only colored.”

Kirynn paused in the act of taking a bite of her food. “I’ve never heard of colored dragons.”

“So much has been lost since the War of Fire. So much history twisted and stories changed.” Emallya shook her head sadly.

“What do you mean?” Serena asked.

“The dragon you saw was my dragon, Rylin. She was killed just before the last battle of the War of Fire. The pain of losing her stays with me still.”

They all looked at her as if she had lost her mind. Mckale’s breath caught and his mouth felt dry. If what she said was true…

Serena shook her head. “But that would make you–”

“Six hundred and sixty two years old,” Emallya finished for her.

“How is that possible?” Serena whispered.

“Dragons live a very long time. Their riders get the same longevity, along with other things, when they bond with a dragon.” Emallya sighed, sadness in her eyes. “Even if the dragon is killed, the rider still retains the gifts of the bond and so will have a long lifespan.”