SpringFire (15 page)

“Are the other two here? In Dealron, I mean?”

“No. The younger one is with the rest of the youngsters at a place called Rinkam.”

“A dragon nursery?” The image that thought conjured made me smile.

Breyard smiled, too. “Yes, I suppose you could say that. The other one, the one I’m here with, well, as soon as Traz explained the situation, Botellin sent her away. She and a few other dragons went to Altan. She said she’ll come back once everything is resolved.”

It was a moment before the significance of what Breyard said sank in. “She said? You can speak to her?”

He bit his lower lip and gave me a sidelong look.

“You’re maejic, too!” I exclaimed.

He nodded slowly. “I discovered it when I was in Erno’s prison. One of the dragonmasters denounced me. It didn’t, shall we say, improve my plight.”

Halla came back just then carrying a tray with food on it. She shooed the boys away, promising they could come back after I’d eaten and rested a bit.

There was a thick soup that was tasty without being too savory; a bowl of red, green, and pale yellow beans with melted butter; two pieces of flatbread; and a cup of hot herb tea. I didn’t feel hungry until the aroma of the soup filled my nostrils. Halla watched with a satisfied look on her face as I began to eat.

She pointed to a small bell that hung from the wall next to the bed. “Just ring when you’re done, and someone will come to take the tray. Then I want you to try to sleep again.”

“But I’ve only just woken up. I’m not tired, and I’m feeling better every minute.”

She smiled in the kindly aggravating way of healers everywhere. “You might not feel tired now, but you need to rest a bit more before I’ll release you.”

“But I have to get back to Xyla—”

She put a finger to her lips. “Just eat. Then sleep. We’ll see after that.” She left my bedside.

I looked around the infirmary as I ate. There were only three others, though there were sixteen beds, and we were spread around the room as if to give as much privacy as possible. Two of the others were men. The older one sat up studying a piece of parchment while the younger one had a tray on which he was playing some sort of solitaire card game. The third person lay sleeping, and I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman.

When I finished eating, I rang the bell as Halla had instructed. It gave off a pleasant note that remained steady and didn’t die away until a dark girl about my age came to my bed and pointed at it.

“I’m Jinna,” she said with a cheery smile. “I’ll be your attendant while you’re here. Is there anything I can get for you before you sleep?”

“Well, actually … ” I started, feeling the first signs that the tea had gone right through me.

“Oh! Yes, of course,” Jinna said, immediately catching on. “I’ll take you.”

She helped me out of bed, producing a thin robe and slippers from under the bed. The facility was just a short walk away, but by the time I climbed back into my bed, I was worn out.

Jinna put the robe and slippers back where they came from, asked once again if I needed anything, then took the tray and left.

I lay for awhile, not sure whether I was tired enough to fall asleep. My mind was filled with too many thoughts to be able to catch hold of any of them. The journey to Delaron, everything that had happened with Rennirt, the rescue by the dragons, and now finding Breyard here. Trying to put all the pieces together made my head spin, and eventually I did drop off.

In my dream, I walked through a dark tunnel toward a dim light at the far end. When I came out, it was to step into a cave lit only by glowing embers. Something lay on the ground just ahead of me: a long, thin bundle wrapped in black cloth. I drew nearer.

The bundle moved, and I realized that it was me, sleeping. That brought me to a halt. Before I could puzzle out the meaning, a cloaked figure stepped from the shadows. It moved silently and smoothly, as if it were floating instead of walking.

It reached the sleeping me and crouched down, placing a hand on my head—a hand from which power flowed so thick I could see its tendrils encasing my whole upper body.

A voice floated on the air, and I strained to catch the words. “Your move.” Why was that familiar? “Your move.” The flavor of the words left behind a rancid aftertaste.

The crouching figure moved slightly, and I caught a glimpse of the person’s face. A handsome face with strong features. Rennirt! My heart almost stopped. But no. This person was shorter than he and wider in the shoulders. And had much lighter skin.

Anazian!

Yes. Now I recognized his chiseled features and well-groomed hair.

“No!” I cried out. “Get away from me!”

He looked up from the sleeping me to the watching me, and his gaze went straight to my heart like lightning. He rose to his feet, pulling back his hood. His smile lacerated my soul.

“No!” I cried out again.

His lips parted.

“Donavah.”

“No! Get away from me!” I wanted to flee but couldn’t seem to move.

“Donavah! Wake up!”

A half-played game of Talisman and Queen lies before me, the jewel pieces glowing as they sit on the black velvet, embroidered with glittering silver thread. The Queen’s Heart, made of lapis lazuli, gleams at the center. Ranged about are the Talismans: mine, topaz; my opponent’s, amethyst.

I cannot see against whom I play. Shrouded in shadow, the brooding presence stands, absorbing energy and my concentration. It seems to suck the very air from the room. I can scarce breathe.

The game is almost won. My heart tells me that with a single move, I will Secure the Queen’s Heart. But my brain is frozen, unable to make sense of the game pieces. A wrong move, and my enemy will take all.

A voice breaks the silence—a familiar male voice that echoes around the room growing in power instead of fading away.

“Your move,” it says.

A bright light shines, exploding the darkness.

“Perhaps you should give up and go home. Yes, that would be a plan. Home, where all is not as you left it,” the voice says again, taking the last of the air with it.

I fall into a black pit of nothingness.

And then I awake.

I snapped out of my dream with a start that left me breathless. Breyard was leaning over me, hands on my shoulders, gently shaking me. I could hear my own ragged, shuddering breaths as I gulped the air.

Eyes dark with concern, Breyard asked, “Are you all right?”

I closed my eyes and reopened them just to make sure I’d really woken up.

“Yes,” I said, my voice dry and harsh. “Bad dream.”

Breyard, who I now saw was wearing strangely bright clothes made of some shiny fabric that gleamed even in the dimly lit infirmary room, let go and poured me a cup of water from the pitcher on the bedside table. “Here. Maybe this will help.”

I sat up and took the cup. The water tasted sweet and cooled the fever of my dream.

“Want to tell me about it?” Breyard asked.

“It was so weird,” I replied.

“Oh, and most dreams aren’t?”

I shot him a look of surprise, only to find him grinning. He turned the chair so that he could sit facing me. “All right, I’ll shut up and let you tell.”

I took a deep breath and let it out in an audible sigh. “It was Anazian.”

“Who or what is that?”

Right. Breyard wouldn’t know about that. And I realized I couldn’t tell him, because when he returned to Hedra, the whole thing would be part of his future. I’d have to keep the details vague.

“He’s a mage. Back home. But the thing is that he said something to me that I’d been dreaming about before we came here.” I told Breyard about the strange dreams of playing Talisman and Queen, and my opponent saying, “Your move.”

“Do you think it means anything?” Breyard asked.

I shook my head slowly. “I don’t know what it could mean.”

He took my hand in both of his, which were warm and comforting. “Then forget it. It’s probably nothing. I came by to check on you, see how you’re doing.” His eyes flicked to my left cheek, but he left
that
question unasked.

“I’m all right. I just want to get back to Xyla. And back home.” A lump rose in my throat. Home. To Mama and Papa. Where I could be safe.

As if to stave off my impending tears, Breyard guffawed. “Home? And miss all this excitement?”

His strategy didn’t work. My heart was still too raw. “Excitement?” It came out of me like a river bursting a dam. “Excitement? Being attacked by traitors and dragonmasters? Being chased into a whole other world? Being imprisoned and … and … ” I yanked my hand out of his and covered my cheek “ … having someone cut into your face? If that’s the kind of excitement you’re after, you can have it!” By this time, tears were streaming down my face.

Breyard looked stricken. “That’s not … oh … ” He moved to sit on the edge of the bed, and he gathered me into his arms. I wept. And wept. All the bitterness of those long, dark hours came spewing out of me. Breyard simply held me, patting my back every once in awhile or whispering, “It’ll be all right,” in a soothing way.

Eventually the storm calmed. I still clung to my brother in a way I hadn’t done for years, not since we were small. It felt good to be held in his strong arms, almost as good as it had felt to be held by Grey, although in a very different way.

Grey! What was he going to think when he saw me next? Had I not spent all my tears, the image of him turning away from me in disgust would’ve set me off again.

Exhausted, as one always is after an emotional release, I finally let go of Breyard and leaned back against my pillow. Using the end of his sleeve, he wiped first my right cheek and then my left. Was it my imagination, or did his hand falter as it touched the mark on my face? It might not burn anymore the way Rennirt had made it do, but it burned in my imagination all the same.

“Go back to sleep,” Breyard said, his voice gentle and full of caring. “We’ll talk more later.”

I saw now that curtains had been drawn over the windows, most of the lamps were out, and the other three patients all lay sleeping—or, if my outburst had awakened them, perhaps pretending to sleep. I nodded.

“Want me to sit with you a bit longer?”

I almost shook my head, not wanting to appear needy. But the truth was that, for now at least, I did need him. “Yes, please,” I whispered, then lay down. He pulled the light blanket up over me, stroked my hair, and sat back down.

Once or twice before I fell asleep, I opened my eyes a crack, and he sat there, still as a statue, an inscrutable look on his face.

If I dreamt the rest of the night, I didn’t remember it when I awoke. At which time I found Traz, wearing bright yellow pajamas, sitting where Breyard had been.

The lamps no longer burned, and daylight set the still-closed curtains aglow. The other patients slept.

Traz broke into a grin when he saw me looking at him. “You’re awake,” he whispered.

“That’s what usually happens when the sun rises,” I said, then I yawned. “How long have you been here watching me?”

“Not long,” he said, still speaking softly. “I snuck down because I want to tell you something privately. Breyard was here dozing, so I sent him off to sleep and said I’d look after you.” He rolled his eyes. “As if you need any looking after.”

I sat up cross-legged in bed facing Traz, and we spoke in whispers.

“I still don’t understand why you’re here. What happened at the way station? Last I knew, those guards had half-kicked you to death.”

He shuddered. “Yeah. They tied me up like a trussed pig, then left me there to die. But Shandry, well, like I said before, she was on watch when it happened. She felt some sort of threat, you know, the way you sometimes do with the vibrations and all that. She went out to investigate, and when she saw Rennirt and the guards, she hid outside.

“When they left with you in the morning, she rescued me, and we lit out for here as fast as we could.”

“So Shandry turns out to be the hero in the end,” I said, trying not to let my voice sound as sour as I felt.

Traz just said, “Yeah, she really is. She led one group of dragons to Xyla, and Breyard insisted on going with Botellin—that tall man you rode Kelben with, and he’s the leader here—to get you. The plan was to take you straight to Xyla, too, but it turned out that you were too sick, so they brought you back here.”

“Sick? I’m not sick.”

“Or whatever. I don’t know all this healing stuff. How are you feeling today, anyway?”

“Better,” I replied. “But curious about another thing now. Why did you stay here? Why didn’t you go with Shandry and the others?” He adored Xyla, and I couldn’t imagine what would keep him here when he could go to her.

His face lit up and he leaned closer to me. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. Remember about the sittack and everything?”

“The sittack? Oh, right. That legendary beast you caught.”

“Yeah, well, it turns out that what Shandry said was right. I’m a sage! And I can danse.”

It was true that he looked as if he were going to spring up from his seat and break into a jig of excitement. I couldn’t help but grin at his infectious enthusiasm.

“You’re a sage! That’s brilliant news! How did you find out?”

Just then a boy a little older than Traz walked in. He smiled at the two of us but didn’t say anything as he pulled back the curtains and opened the windows. Traz wriggled with impatience until the other boy left. The air quickly freshened with the morning breeze, and the occasional sound of a bird singing or people walking past floated in as we talked on.

“It was amazing. When Shandry and I got here to Delaron, we found everyone gathered as if they knew we were coming. Which I thought was pretty weird. But they
did
know we were coming.”

“How could they? Could Shandry, I don’t know, communicate with the dragons or something?”

Traz shook his head, his face very serious now. “My staff.”

“Huh?”

“My staff. It turns out it’s an artifact of the danse. A powerful one. And the sages didn’t know who or what was coming, but they’d felt the power of it. They’d just gathered to discuss whether to have one of the dragons investigate when we arrived.”

“I don’t understand. What is this danse you keep talking about? And how could you find something from Stychs in the middle of nowhere on Hedra?”

“Well, the danse is a powerful form of magic here—like maejic is back home. But I haven’t had time to learn much more than that yet. That’s why I stayed here instead of going with Shandry. I want to study danse.

“And the staff, well, no one knows for sure how it got to Hedra from here. There’s some old legend about a danse master and dragon who disappeared. The staff was his at the time. When the sages learned that we’d come from Hedra, they decided that that ancient master and dragon went there.”

I nodded, trying to follow everything. “I guess that makes sense. They didn’t take it away from you, did they?”

He chuckled as he reached down and picked it up. “No. I was afraid they might, too. Lini was pretty intense about the whole thing, examining it and testing it and all.”

“Lini?” I prompted.

“Oh, the danse master here. She’s taken me on as a student. I thought she wanted the staff for herself, but she explained that it always chooses its keeper.”

I wished he’d slow down a bit and explain things so I could follow him. On the other hand, it was clear that he could hardly contain his enthusiasm. And knowing how badly he’d wanted to be maejic, I didn’t want to dampen his happiness.

The others began to stir just then, and, as if on cue, Halla came in. She made a stern face at Traz, but her eyes twinkled. He returned a look of mock innocence that almost made me burst out laughing.

The healer attended the others first. Traz said he was glad to see me looking so much better and that he’d be back later, then disappeared out the door. When Halla got to me, I was back under the covers but sitting propped up against my pillow.

“Well,” she said with a smile, “your color has returned and you’ve a spark back in your eye. I daresay the worst of your shock is over, and perhaps a walk outside later can be allowed.”

“So I can go to Xyla now?” My heart leapt at the thought of seeing her again, then promptly plunged again when I realized that Grey would be there, too—along with Shandry.

Halla put a cool hand on my forehead. “Not quite yet,” she said. “Soon. Perhaps another day or two.”

“But—”

“I know you feel better now, but I want to make sure you have your strength back before you go traipsing off into the mountains. Is not an extra day here better than falling sick there?”

Her eyes held mine until I nodded. “Yes, ma’am,” I said in a dull way that I hoped sounded more acquiescent than I felt.

She left the infirmary then. I chafed in frustration. Knowing Xyla needed help, how could I just stay here cooped up with nothing to do? Even talking to Breyard and Traz didn’t keep my mind entirely off Xyla. What if she died? Would we ever get home again?

I loved Xyla. She was as dear to me as my best friend, as my own family. We’d been through so many things the past months, each helping the other. I couldn’t imagine life without her any more than I could imagine life without my sight. Nor did I want to.

I picked at the threads in my blanket, noticing for the first time just how thin it was—scarcely more than a sheet. And I noticed, too, how warm it was in the room.