Sovereign Stone (27 page)

They did as she said, but Alexander still checked his sword. Marla went to the altar and opened a cabinet built into the square stone platform. She produced a cask of oil and poured a good quantity onto the bowl-like top of the altar. She withdrew her dragon medallion and kissed it before she began her incantation. After a few moments of soft, lilting chanting that sounded almost like a song, a small ball of fire materialized over her outstretched hand. With one final word, she cast the flaming sphere into the oil and it ignited with a whoosh.

Marla stood back and waited with her head held high. It wasn’t long before several dragons could be seen soaring gracefully around the mountains in the distance. Then there was a roar that echoed and reverberated off the peaks. Alexander could see the thrill of excitement building within Marla’s sturdy frame while she waited for her patron.

A dragon that was half again as big as any of the others emerged from the side of a mountain peak high above and glided smoothly toward them. She grew in size as she neared, the sun glinting off her golden-brown scales. She landed on the platform before the altar with a lightness that belied her size.

She was truly magnificent. Standing on her hind legs, Tanis towered a good forty feet over them. Her wings nearly reached to the statues perched a hundred feet apart on both sides of the temple platform. Her snout was long and her teeth looked razor sharp. She had a horned ridge that ran down the length of her spine and a long tail ending in a bone spike. She was beautiful and terrifying all at once. Most impressive were her eyes. They were golden brown with flecks of gold scintillating in her catlike irises, and they communicated a deep intelligence and a profound, ageless wisdom.

Alexander was caught between awe and terror. He looked up at the Dragon Queen and simply marveled at her presence in the world. He’d read stories about dragons in his childhood but even the vividness of his rich imagination failed to do them justice.

Tanis was truly worthy of worship. She was beyond human troubles or the mundane considerations of governments and nations—altogether above such things for reasons that were all too apparent.

More than anything else, her colors left him breathless. He’d never seen a creature or a person with such a rich, clear, powerful aura as Tanis. She was a creature of profound magic that radiated from her in waves of flowing color.

He wondered if he would be able to persuade her to help him or if he even had any right to. When he looked at his friends, he saw a mixture of reactions. Everyone had a look of awe but each was mixed with different emotions. Isabel was filled with innocent joy at seeing such a magnificent creature, Abigail looked like she was trying to reconcile her understanding of reality with the presence of such a creature, Anatoly had a look of wariness, Lucky smiled with simple joy, and Jack was clearly taking notes in his head for his next song.

Marla stood tall and proud before her patron but did not speak. Tanis looked at her for only a moment before her scrutiny turned to Alexander and his friends. She regarded them each in turn and then focused on Alexander. Her eyes narrowed and she sniffed at the air before she tipped her head back and roared with such sudden fury that it froze them all to the spot.

More frighteningly, Marla tensed at the roar and her colors turned to fear and dismay but still she said nothing. In the distance other dragons emerged from the mountains and began to approach but they remained high in the sky, circling over the temple rather than landing.

When Tanis spoke, her voice was a deep, resonate rumble that Alexander could feel in his chest. “Why have you brought dragonslayers to my temple?” She brought her head down and stared intently at Marla.

The druid stumbled back a step and shook her head in denial. “I have not, My Lady. These travelers saved my life. In return, I have agreed to help them seek passage to the Valley of the Fairy Queen. If they are dragonslayers, then they have deceived me.”

Tanis sniffed at the air and turned her eye to Alexander. “Bragador—I smell Bragador. How is it that you came to wear her scales, human?”

Alexander stepped forward, threw his cloak back and lifted his tunic to reveal the mail shirt he wore. “This armor is a gift given to me by the Guild Mage of New Ruatha and made from the scales of the dragon Bragador. He acquired those scales in a bargain after having met her tests.”

Tanis eyed him for a moment, then she saw the hilt of the Thinblade and withdrew her head and spread her wings. “How is it that you possess the Sword of Kings? There are few weapons capable of piercing the scales of a dragon, and that is one of them.”

“The Thinblade was left for me by Mage Cedric so that I might reunite the Isle of Ruatha,” Alexander said as he stepped up beside Marla. “Lady Tanis, I have no desire to harm you. My only reason for coming before you is to ask your help in reaching the Valley of the Fairy Queen. I am in great need of her assistance.”

“Lady Tanis, they saved my life,” Marla said. “I gave my word that they would be safe in your temple.”

She folded her wings with a skeptical look. “Very well, Priestess, your word will be honored until I have reason to act otherwise.”

“Thank you, My Lady,” Marla said. “I have much to report.”

Tanis nodded her approval and Marla continued. “Lady Tanis, this is Lord Alexander Ruatha, heir to the throne of Ruatha. He comes in search of the fairies in hopes that they will help him retrieve the Sovereign Stone.” Tanis’s eyebrow raised a bit at that but she didn’t interrupt. “They are being pursued by many soldiers who serve Prince Phane.”

Tanis frowned deeply and eyed Alexander more closely. “Why have you brought your war into my mountains?”

Alexander drew himself up and looked the dragon in the eye. “I do not bring war. Phane does. I have no wish to be a king or to fight the enemy that I face, but I’ve been chosen by powers far beyond my control to stand against him. A great many lives depend on the outcome of this struggle, so I will do what is necessary. Right now that means retrieving the Sovereign Stone before Phane does; if he gets to it first, the world will fall into darkness, and he will not stop until every one of the Seven Isles is under his boot.”

“He will not challenge me,” Tanis said.

“Perhaps not at first, but once he has built an army of wizards, he will subjugate even you. His lust for power is as without limit as his malice.”

“I think your fear of him has distorted your estimation of his power,” Tanis said. “Even with an army of wizards, he will find waging war against the Pinnacles to be more trouble than it’s worth.”

“Lady Tanis, as much as I would like to have your help against Phane, that’s not why I’ve come before you,” Alexander said. “I’m here only to ask for safe passage through the Pinnacles so that I may seek out the fairies and enlist their aid.”

Tanis actually laughed—a great rumbling sound that reverberated through the stone of the mountain itself.

“What makes you believe that Ilona will help you? She is even less interested in the wars of men than I.”

“I’ve spoken to one of her fairies and have been invited to present my request to the Fairy Queen,” Alexander said.

Tanis looked a bit surprised to hear that. “It would seem that you are at the center of momentous events, human. I will not aid you in this war but I am indebted to you for saving my priestess, so I will grant your request for safe passage.”

She reached into her mouth, broke off the tip of a tooth and carefully placed it on the altar. “Take this tooth. Present it to any of the powers within the Pinnacles and they will allow you to pass without harm. But be warned, there are many dangers in the mountain wilds that recognize no authority. My talisman of safe passage will be of no use with them.”

Alexander took the piece of Tanis’s tooth, which was about six inches long and as sharp as a spear at the point. He bowed formally and said, “You honor me. Thank you for your generous hospitality within your home.”

She snorted at the flattery, then turned to Marla. “Be well, Priestess, and be more careful with your life. It is dear to me,” Tanis said before she launched herself into the air with one great stroke of her wings. She wheeled away from the temple platform and tipped into a gentle dive to gain speed before she started her ascent toward her mountain lair.

“You have my love always, Lady Tanis,” Marla said to her departing patron. She looked at Alexander with a smile and a tear of joy and pride in her eye.

“You were right,” Alexander said. “She is the most magnificent creature I’ve ever seen. Thank you for introducing us to her.”

Chapter 24

They made good time traveling downhill away from the Dragon Temple. It was a clear and bright day with still air and a warm sun. Alexander was tired but he pressed on, trying to gain as much ground as possible. Every step brought him closer to greater safety for Isabel. He knew she wouldn’t get much sleep tonight, so he wanted to get as close to the meadows as possible. Once they reached the skymeadow vine, they could make camp and she could rest. After that he could turn his attention back to the purpose of his journey, but as long as Isabel was in danger, he just couldn’t focus on anything else.

During the afternoon, Isabel pointed out the five ravens floating high in the sky. When Alexander looked at them, he saw the same color of magic he’d seen the day before. He was sure of it now—the birds were tracking them. He suspected that Commander P’Tal had enlisted the assistance of another wizard, maybe even more than one. Alexander worried that the journey to the Dragon Temple had allowed the soldiers to gain ground on them and decided to look in on them once they made camp.

They wound down the mountains and into the deep valleys. The air warmed and the foliage returned. The trees were short and slender. The ground cover was low and hardy and the rock of the mountains frequently protruded through the dirt.

Here and there they found cold, narrow little mountain streams running from the higher peaks and meeting to form small, fast-moving rivers. They came into a valley late in the afternoon with a stream meandering down the middle and cliffs rising sharply on both sides.

The valley floor was covered with a thick carpet of green and speckled with wildflowers of every color. It was stunning in its simple beauty, and Alexander found himself drifting away from his worries and into his childhood daydreams while they walked. Then he heard an odd buzzing sound and his focus snapped back to the present.

In the distance, he saw a cloud of insects swarming toward them and then he saw the dark and unnatural colors of the demon. He stared in confusion for a moment. It was one thing for a creature of the netherworld to possess a horse or a cat but quite another to possess thousands of bees. Everyone stopped and looked at the angry cloud as it undulated through the air toward them.

Alexander broke through his confusion and shouted a warning. “Demon!” he yelled, pointing toward the swarm.

Anatoly cursed. Lucky started rummaging around in his bag.

Alexander watched the bees with a growing sense of helplessness. He’d faced many enemies in the past several months but none like this. He felt an instinctual need to draw his sword but knew it would do no good. He quickly ran through an inventory of all of the weapons he had at his disposal but none was equal to this enemy.

He stood helplessly and watched it come.

Lucky produced a couple of flasks of oil and a fire pot from his bag, then he too looked around with a growing realization of helplessness. The fire he could muster wouldn’t be enough.

Then Isabel screamed and slumped to her knees with her hands on her head. Alexander ran to her. She was huddled on the ground and trembling. Her breath came in tight gasps and her eyes were shut tight.

The cloud of bees approached.

“Isabel, I’m here with you. Be strong. Resist the darkness. It has no power over you unless you let it in.”

Alexander wasn’t even sure if the things he said were true, but he needed so badly to believe they were that he said them anyway.

Lucky quickly dumped the flasks of oil around Alexander and Isabel. “It’s after you, Alexander. Fire may keep it at bay.”

Alexander nodded as he drew up his hood and wrapped his cloak around himself and Isabel.

Lucky couldn’t cast spells in general but there were a few minor spells he was capable of. One of those few was the ability to create a very small flame from the tip of his finger that lasted only long enough to light a candle. He used that simple spell now to ignite the ring of oil around Alexander and Isabel. It went up with a whoosh and surrounded them in brightly burning fire.

The rest of the party scattered. The bees came for Alexander, and he and Isabel huddled under his cloak as they swarmed around them. The fire protected them from the sides and kept the bulk of the swarming bees away, but many were still able to get to them and deliver their tiny, yet startlingly painful, attack.

Alexander focused on the dispassionate place in his mind where the witness lived and watched the little explosions of sharp pain detonate throughout his body as, one by one, the bees found their way past his hasty defenses.