Embers at Galdrilene (51 page)

She watched, through Taela, as a Benduiren interrupted the reading. Taela denied being able to read it and walked away, fading from Maleena’s mind with each step.

Maleena’s eyes focused on her cup again and she looked up. Everyone stared at her. Mckale had a worried furrow between his eyes that matched the inner emotions she sensed in him.

Emallya cleared her throat. “What did you see?”

Maleena looked across the table at the older woman. “I saw two books. One, black as a Shadow Dragon with an upside down tree and one with a Di’shan star on its wooden cover.”

Emallya gasped. “The Ka’ti! The book with the Di’shan star is the Ka’ti. After all these years, we finally know where it is.”

Bardeck let out a heavy sigh. “Yes, the last place we would ever want it to be.”

“What else did you see?” Emallya asked.

“Taela wanted to open the book with the star, but she was afraid it would make the others more suspicious than they already are. So she opened the black book. There were symbols in it. I didn’t know what they meant, but she did.”

Bardeck and Emallya looked at her in stunned silence for a long moment. “She can read it? You are sure she understands what the symbols mean?”

Maleena nodded. “Yes, I’m very sure. I didn’t understand them, but I could see the translations in her mind. The black book is a spell book…an evil one.”

“If this woman turns out to be a Shadow Rider, they will have far too much power in their hands,” Bardeck said. “Does anyone else know she can read it?”

Maleena shook her head. “No. When the Benduiren asked, she denied the ability. I’m not sure he believed her.”

Vaddoc leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “What is this Ka’ti you mentioned Emallya?”

“Ka’ti means dragon sight in the dragon tongue,” Emallya answered. “The Ka’ti contains the history of Galdrilene and the history of dragons in this world. It also contains all of the spells of the Guardians. Not the smaller individual spells in the towers, but the big spells. The spells that do things like take people through a lake of the dead or that use all of the powers of the Dragon Riders together. The magic in the Ka’ti is neutral, just like the magic of Galdrilene. If the Shadow Riders find someone who can read it for them, they will be able to use those spells against us.”

“What is the black book?” Maleena asked. “It made Taela’s head hurt to read it. Why? It made my head hurt even though I wasn’t directly reading it, although not as much.”

Emallya rubbed a hand across her forehead. “That is the Kor’ti, it means black sight. It is the spell book of the Shadow Riders. It is full of evil and that is why you felt pain in association with it. Much like coming into contact with someone who is evil. It did not hurt you as much because you were not the one in direct contact with it and you have a shield, Taela does not.”

Mckale shifted uneasily in his chair. “What does this mean for Taela and for us? Does it change things?”

Bardeck nodded. “It changes everything. Where before we really couldn’t risk it, now we must. Whether we can help this young woman and her dragon–if they are truly Guardians–remains to be seen. But we have to retrieve the book. We cannot leave it in their hands. If we can retrieve the Kor’ti, or destroy it in the process, then so much the better.”

“When do we do this?” Mckale asked.

Bardeck shook his head. “We don’t. If we are able to figure a way to do this, you and Maleena will not be participating. You two will remain here.”

Mckale’s face was impassive, but Maleena knew he wasn’t happy with the older man’s statement. “Why must we remain?” His voice showed none of the emotion inside him. Maleena marveled again at his control.

Bardeck smiled slightly, a look of understanding in his eyes. “You and Maleena are the key to the survival of the Guardians. You’re the only viable bondmate pair. Nydara is the only dragon that can lay eggs and when she is ready to mate, she’ll only permit Tellnox to fly with her. Galdrilene and the Guardians cannot afford to lose either one of you. Galdrilene is beyond fortunate to end up with a bondmate pair out of this Hatching. Without you two the days of Galdrilene would be numbered.”

Maleena felt Mckale’s disappointment and understanding. It never occurred to her that she and Mckale were the keys to the Guardian’s future. From what she felt from him, Mckale never thought of it either. He nodded. “I can see the reasoning. I may not like staying behind, but one does not have to like their duty.”

“Try to keep contact to a minimum at this point, Maleena,” Emallya said. “Since we do not truly know where she stands, we do not want her to know too much.”

M
aleena climbed to her lair, an empty feeling in her stomach. She probably should have ate more, but the events at mid-day took her appetite away. Her previous plan to spend the afternoon at the Tower of Spirit no longer appealed. Maleena wanted to be in the air with Nydara. The freedom of flight, the feel of the wind in her face, and the closeness of her dragon…that is what she needed–time to sort out the tangle of emotions she felt.

She started to reach for the doors to the wardrobe and stopped. Before she did anything else, Maleena wanted to know what Taela looked like. She had looked through the woman’s eyes and shared her mind. Now Maleena wanted to see her face. She pulled her viewing bowl with its inky black interior from a shelf and set it on the floor. The same bowl she viewed Emallya and Mckale in that day at her grandmother’s house. Had it really been a year already?

She took the pitcher off the table and poured water into the bowl until it shimmered on the verge of flowing over the edge. Settling herself in front of it, she closed her eyes and centered her thoughts, allowing her mind to quiet. When the quiet was completed she focused on Taela. Her eyes drifted open. She stared into the bowl and whispered, “Show me.”

Colors began to swirl through the still water as her power flowed into it, twisting around in intricate patterns before settling. The image of the Kormai formed in the water. The mouth of the cave at the floor of a canyon. The mountain peak rose into a cloudless sky. The water swirled and blurred into random colors and settled again.

A woman with long, straight black hair replaced the Kormai. Her dark blue eyes were tilted in her slightly round face. Maleena searched the face. She didn’t think Taela was evil. She had shared thoughts with the woman, would she really have missed that? Maleena sighed and pulled her power back from the bowl. Rising to her feet, she dumped the water and placed the bowl back on the shelf before opening the wardrobe.

She changed into clothes that resembled Kirynn’s style of dress. She had tried divided riding skirts, but found the excess material flapped in the wind in an annoying fashion. Kirynn’s style of loose pants gathered at the ankle worked so much better. Emallya said it was a favorite style among female riders before the fall of Galdrilene.

Boromar and Galdrilene had once been close, friendly neighbors. Immediately after word of Galdrilene’s demise, the warriors of Boromar started wearing the style in honor and remembrance of their fallen Dragon Rider friends. The style stuck and became tradition, though the reason behind it faded.

Mckale stepped into the room as she wove her thick hair into a braid. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, watching her quietly. Maleena felt his concern. She finished her braid and turned to him. “She didn’t pull me along unwilling. Up until the actual hatching of her dragon, I could have broken contact at any time. I might have been able to during the Hatching if I had concentrated on it.”

“I don’t like that she was able to access you without your permission,” he said.

“I was surprised, but it wasn’t without my permission. I allowed the contact. You have no reason to worry.”

He regarded her for a long moment. “I do have reason. Whether you allowed it or not, it still took you by surprise. And although Emallya has warned you against it, you still want to maintain mental contact with her. I can feel it through our bond.”

Maleena shook her head. “I may want to, but I won’t have any more contact than necessary with Taela.”

He ran a hand through his dark, shoulder-length hair. “Kellinar doesn’t look happy with all of this,” he said.

She nodded. “Kellinar has some very valid worries.”

Mckale’s eyebrows rose slightly. “And what worries are those?”

“He doesn’t see any reason to put any of us in danger–particularly Shryden–so we can rescue someone we really don’t know enough about. Someone who hatched a dragon in the Kormai. To him, the only reason that justifies what is going to be done is the retrieval of the Ka’ti.”

He crossed the room and put his arms around her, his voice gentle, “He is right, you know. I would hate to rescue this girl only to lose one of our friends in the process. With the hatchings of the black dragons, eventually we are all going to be facing grave danger whether we wish it or not. I’m not sure we should go looking for swords to throw ourselves on.”

“I know,” she sighed and leaned her forehead against his chest. “I’ve already thought of all the reasoning and rationale. Besides, we won’t be throwing ourselves on any swords. We will have to stay behind while our friends do it.” She pulled away from him reached for her heavy cloak and gloves. “I’m going flying with Nydara. I think the cold wind and being close to her will ease my mind.”

“Would you like Tellnox and I to fly with you?”

“No, I think I just need to be with Nydara for now.”

“Fly safe then, my heart.” He brushed her lips with a light kiss. “I’ll return to the training fields with Vaddoc and see if the newest batch of recruits will remember anything we taught them this morning.”

Maleena smiled. “It’s very nice of you two to help Yaakov with the training of the soldiers.”

He shrugged. “It gives us something to do. Since the hatching of the black dragons, they are getting more trainees than they have trainers.”

They walked together until they reached the Great Hall where they split ways. Mckale turned toward the front entrance on his way back to the practice fields. Maleena turned the opposite direction and walked out onto the inner terrace where Nydara already waited, her massive body stretched out on the sun-warmed stone.

“You are troubled,”
Nydara sent as Maleena settled the saddle on her.

Maleena nodded and began securing the saddle straps.
“I want to rescue Taela. I know she isn’t evil, but it’s not fair to ask others to risk their lives for her. I understand the need to get the Ka’ti back. I wish I could justify the risk of getting Taela and her Paki out as well.”

Maleena felt frustration in Nydara as she secured the final saddle strap and fastened the catcher strap on her left ankle. Using Nydara’s leg, she boosted herself into the saddle and set the leg straps over her thighs. She had flown enough that it only took her a few minutes from the moment she placed the saddle until she was ready to fly.

There was no need to give Nydara any signals, they were connected, they were one. As soon as Maleena was ready, Nydara leaped into the air and brought her powerful wings down in a rush. In seconds they were in the air and rising fast. When they reached a comfortable altitude, the silver spread her wings out and coasted on an updraft.

“Your attention seems divided. Why?
” she asked the dragon.

“I can feel Paki’s struggle to behave as a filthy shadow. Paki is not a shadow. As you shared Taela’s mind during the Hatching and after, so did I share Paki’s. They are both in such danger.”