The Awakening (3 page)

Towards the east side of town and only a few blocks from the gate that would be their exit, Jahrra found the general store. It was the largest building in the area and hosted several wooden signs that listed the variety of goods they sold and traded. Jahrra felt her heart sink, however, when she noticed that the glass adorning the front of the store was dark as well. A sign posted out front stated that the store didn’t open for another two hours. Biting her lip in frustration, Jahrra turned Phrym to begin walking back up the street. She didn’t think Jaax would want her waiting around for that long.

“Excuse me, sir? May I help you with something?”

Jahrra started and nearly frightened Phrym into bolting. There hadn’t been a soul around two minutes ago. She turned, thanking Ethoes for having the presence of mind to keep her hood low. She lifted her hood just enough to see who was speaking, a Nesnan man in the clean suit of a grocer’s assistant.

Clearing her throat and donning what she hoped was a more masculine voice, she said, “Ah, yes, I was hopin’ to make some purchases, but seeing as you’re not open yet . . .”

The young man tilted his head and glanced up and down the street. “If you know what it is that you want, I might be able to make an exception.”

Jahrra felt her heart race. “Yes, I have here a list.”

She pulled the list out of her saddlebag, grateful she had thought to write everything down, and handed it down to the young man.

He reached up, eyeing Phrym with interest. “That’s a fine looking semequin you’ve got there. Where are you from exactly?”

“Um,” Jahrra stalled.

Now what was she to do? If she acted gruff and secretive this grocer’s assistant was sure to remember her. But if she were only to give him a name of a place. Not Aldehren or Lensterans though. She needed a city where someone might own a semequin like Phrym.

“Kiniahn Kroi,” she blurted, almost forgetting to speak in a lower tone of voice.

The grocer’s assistant, who had been scanning the paper and nodding, glanced up with surprise.

“Kiniahn Kroi? What a small world this is. I once lived in Kiniahn Kroi. Worked as a servant in one of the nice houses up the north canyon. A wealthy landowner with a pair of twins. Perhaps you know them?”

Jahrra felt her face go slack with shock.
Eydeth and Ellysian
? Doing her best not to reveal her face, she squinted down into a suddenly familiar face: brown hair and laughing brown eyes. Her memory fought for only a moment but when it found the name, she blurted it without even remembering she was trying to pretend to be a boy.

“
Lahnehn
?!” she hissed.

Lahnehn jumped back in surprise, allowing the grocery list to fall into a puddle at his feet. “How do you know my name?”

He looked truly shaken, so Jahrra pulled back her hood just enough to reveal her face.

“It’s me, Jahrra! Though you probably don’t remember. I came to one of Eydeth’s and Ellysian’s parties and you helped me when I got caught up in a tree.”

The young man eyed her warily for a few moments, then his face lit with recognition.

“I remember you! Eydeth enticed you to climb up that canyon wall. You nearly broke your neck!”

He laughed lightly, shaking his head in disbelief. “What on Ethoes brings you to Glordienn?”

Jahrra sobered immediately and pulled her hood back over her head.

“A very long story,” she said gravely.

“Well, if you don’t mind regaling it while we seek out these supplies.”

He grinned and bent down to scoop up the muddy list.

Lahnehn let Jahrra into the back of the store, lighting lanterns and candles as he went. He explained that he was the manager and often came in early to restock the shelves or take inventory. As they scoured the aisles for the items on her list, Jahrra gave him a shortened version of what had happened to her since she left the twins’ house those many years ago. Her voice cracked a little when she told him about Hroombra.

“I’m so sorry, Jahrra,” Lahnehn paused in his search for ground pepper and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I know how much he meant to you. Even during those few hours we spent together in the kitchen of the twins’ mansion, I could tell that he had quite an influence.”

Jahrra smiled despite the sad memories and continued to help the young Nesnan man seek out spices and dried meats. She had told him much, but she hadn’t told him who exactly she was. She couldn’t. If she was being completely honest with herself, she hadn’t quite accepted the truth yet herself. She still saw herself as a poor Nesnan girl who had a tendency to pick up dragon guardians.

By the time they had everything packed up and ready to go the sun was just beginning to peak over the mountain ridge. Jahrra handed Lahnehn what she owed him, plus a tip for letting her in early. She was reluctant to leave him behind, for even though he had been a fleeting acquaintance from several years ago, he had helped her then and he was helping her now.

“Why did you leave your post at Eydeth’s and Ellysian’s house?” she asked from Phrym’s saddle.

“I grew tired of their uncaring nature towards others,” he answered simply.

Jahrra looked over her shoulder. The town was still quiet but she saw a few lights burning in the windows down the street. If she left now, no one but Lahnehn would have seen her. She turned back to the grocer.

“Come with us,” she blurted. “My, um, friend and I. We’re headed for a far greater city than this.”

She knew it was risky inviting him along without Jaax’s permission or knowledge. The Tanaan dragon would be furious if he knew. Despite their new-found, cautious respect for one another Jahrra couldn’t help but be overwhelmed and sometimes intimidated by the constant presence of her new Tanaan guardian.

Lahnehn shook his head. “No, I’m happy with my new life here. I hope to start a family soon and I’m sure my fiance would not wish to leave her family behind.”

Jahrra smiled, warmed that this kind person had found happiness.

“But I wish you luck, Jahrra, whatever your future might hold.”

Jahrra nodded and straightened in the saddle. She hesitated before pulling her hood back over her head.

“Lahnehn?”

The young man turned to look at her once again. He quirked an eyebrow and tilted his head. Jahrra swallowed.

“Thank you, for everything. For helping me six years ago and for helping me now.”

He shrugged and grinned. “No thanks are required.”

“But I must ask for one more favor,” Jahrra nearly whispered.

Lahnehn leaned closer. Jahrra took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Someone might come looking for me, someone who has connections with,” she almost said
connections with the Crimson King
, but stopped herself.

She hadn’t told him the whole truth about Hroombra’s death either, just that someone had attacked and killed him. She swallowed and tried again, “Those who killed Hroombra, they might come looking for me. If they come here can you act as if you never saw me?”

Lahnehn stepped closer and placed a hand against Phrym’s neck. The semequin whickered softly and pressed his nose against the grocer’s shoulder.

“Jahrra, are you in trouble?” he whispered.

“No, no, not really. My traveling companion is nearby, but he felt it best to stay outside the city boundaries.”

Lahnehn looked truly surprised and worried. “Jahrra, how well do you know your traveling companion?”

“Oh, quite well, I assure you. I’ve known him my whole life,” she assured with a laugh, though the aftertaste of untruth tainted her throat.

If you were being completely honest Jahrra, you would have said you really don’t know him that well at all
, she thought bitterly. But that would only worry Lahnehn and although she didn’t really know Jaax all that well, she did trust him, to some extent. Well, she trusted him to keep her alive at least.

“Well then, I swear I will keep your appearance secret,” Lahnehn said, holding up his right hand. “Now you had better go before the people of Glordienn get a good look at you.”

Jahrra smiled and reached down to shake Lahnehn’s hand. “Again, I thank you.”

Lahnehn shrugged and urged her to get moving. The eastern gate was only a few blocks away and as she passed through the wooden arch she glanced back over her shoulder to catch Lahnehn waving her on. She returned the gesture and kicked Phrym into a quicker pace, disappearing into the shade of the forest just before the morning guards took their posts.

-
Chapter Two
-

Into the Wilderness

Jahrra found Jaax standing behind a group of thick trees a mile outside of Glordienn.

“Were you able to get everything on the list?” he asked.

Jahrra moved Phrym off the road and gestured at the large bags hanging from his neck.

“Did many people see you?”

“No,” Jahrra said. “In fact, I think Ethoes might be watching out for me.”

Jaax cocked a scaly brow.

“The manager of the trading post is a young Nesnan man who used to work for Eydeth’s and Ellysian’s parents.”

The Tanaan dragon sucked in a breath and donned a look of worry.

Jahrra simply held up a hand. “No, you don’t understand. He helped me out of a confrontation with Eydeth once. He has no loyalties to that family.” She looked up at Jaax. “He was the only one who saw me and he swore not to speak of my presence in Glordienn.”

“And did he ask you why?” Jaax growled.

Jahrra glanced down and gingerly slid from the saddle. Her ankle felt better today but she didn’t want to risk upsetting it.

“I told him what happened to Hroombra but I didn’t tell him about you or who I really am. If the people who–”

Jahrra paused. She still had trouble speaking of her mentor’s death but if she wished to move on, she had to push the sorrow away, or at least learn to live around it. After a heartbeat she continued.

“If the people who killed Hroombra came looking for me, I asked him to act as if he never saw me.”

Jaax took a breath to say something, changed his mind, and simply nodded. “Very well. We had better keep moving then, before the road becomes crowded.”

He peered up the side of the hill and sighed. “We’ll stick to the hills and the back country, keeping the Raenyan River in sight. Perhaps your sudden luck will follow us.”

They traveled until late afternoon, moving farther and farther north and deeper into the foothills and mountains of eastern Oescienne. Before nightfall they made camp in a high, secluded clearing. Jaax felt it safe to risk a fire, so Jahrra was able to enjoy roasted meat for the first time in several days.

The next morning was clogged with low clouds and a deep chill. Jahrra arose early and made her way to a tiny spring they had passed the day before. While she was gone, Jaax closed his eyes and mapped out the next leg of their journey in his mind. They would continue moving east, following the river into the Elornn Mountains, passing through the treacherous Raenyan Canyon.

This was where he planned on losing any of the Tyrant’s men, should they discover their trail and follow them. Few who had traveled along the steep, rocky cliffs above the turgid river had ever come out of that wilderness to tell their accounts. Jaax hoped that this would deter anyone who might be after them, or that the canyon’s reputation would cause them to believe it not an option for the dragon and his ward. Jaax knew it was risky but he had been through the canyon before and there were just some things dragons were better at than the other creatures of Ethoes. Making it through the dreaded Raenyan Canyon unscathed being one of them.

The crunch of underbrush told him that Jahrra had returned and he left his contemplating for later. She had braided her hair and changed into a fresh set of clothes but the dark circles under her eyes and her slight limp told him that she wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as he was to get moving.

“Will you be able to keep awake today?” he asked delicately.

Jahrra simply glared at him and gave a sharp nod. “How is today any different than all the other days?”

Jaax grimaced then gazed through the tree branches once again, his eyes narrowing as if he were trying to see something far off in the distance. He took a deep breath, then looked back at Jahrra.

“We’ll be entering the Raenyan Canyon.”

Jahrra crossed her arms and shifted her weight to her good ankle. “So?”

Jaax didn’t fight the grin that graced his mouth. He wondered what could have put her into such a foul mood this morning but it had been so long since Jahrra had behaved as her usual, stubborn self that seeing this small ray of light was a blessing. Even if that ray of light was more of a harsh glare than a warm sunbeam.

“The canyon is notorious for its dangers. I simply want to make sure you are at your best before we start edging along its sheer cliffs while trying to dodge boarlaques, dremmen wolves and sehnnas.”

Jahrra started and cast Jaax a fearful glance.

“Are you serious?” she breathed.

The Tanaan dragon merely nodded, his face grim.

“There is no other way?”

“There are several other ways, but taking this route is the best chance we have at shaking the Crimson King’s men.”

Jahrra’s shoulders drooped and she cast a glance at Phrym. The semequin stood in the fogginess of early morning, his mottled gray coloring making him seem like a natural part of the landscape.

Sensing her thoughts, Jaax took a weary breath and said, “Don’t worry. Phrym is a semequin. He has a far greater amount of sense and intelligence than any common horse.”

Jahrra still looked worried but then she thought of what Jaax had told her. It made sense to take the unpopular route. Even if the Tyrant’s men marched through Glordienn and Lahnehn kept his word and didn’t tell them of her passing, they could still pick up her trail. But that didn’t help ease her concern over Phrym. If she fell Jaax could always catch her, but if Phrym fell or was attacked . . . She shook her head and moved towards her bedroll, silently packing up for their day of travel.

By the time the sun reached midway through the sky, Jahrra and Jaax had started noticing the jagged pieces of granite that made up most of the great canyon of the Raenyan. The river itself, so sluggish and good-natured in the western part of Oescienne, had grown narrow and rapid as they moved farther into the mountains.

Jahrra was grateful she was riding and not walking, for if she didn’t have Phrym to rely on she might have stepped right off the narrow trail and plunged to the river hundreds of feet below her. Although the terrain was rough and treacherous, it was the sights and sounds that had her so distracted: rivulets crossing their path and cascading to the canyon floor, great, gnarled trees clinging for dear life to the granite, and the occasional crack and rumble of rocks breaking away and falling all around them. Twice, a sizeable collection of stones crashed into Jaax, forcing his feet to slip. He slid and scrabbled along the rocky incline, flapping his wings to stay balanced while glancing back at Jahrra at the same time.

“Stay back!” he shouted as one especially nasty landslide came to an end.

Jahrra obeyed, fearing he might be swept over the side, but then she remembered all he had to do was spread his wings and soar to another part of the trail. Jaax had told her the only reason he walked at all was to keep an eye on her and to loosen any rocks that might fall and trap her and Phrym against the canyon’s side.

After the first few slides, Jahrra made a point to be a little more focused on where they were going. Only the occasional emerald angler, it’s long, thread-like tail feathers flashing their blue eyed tips in the sunlight, distracted her long enough to cause any potential harm.

They made camp that first night right there on the narrow trail, the river rushing far below them and the sheer granite cliff rising for hundreds of feet more above. Jahrra guessed that the canyon was only a couple hundred feet across, and the opposite side was just as steep as their own.

“You and Phrym will both have to sleep up against me and beneath my wing tonight,” Jaax said as Jahrra watched the setting sun paint patterns on the rocky canyon walls.

Jahrra simply nodded. She still felt strange about the idea of sleeping so close to Jaax but on this trail, in this place, being tucked in against a dragon was probably the only way to keep from rolling off into space in the middle of the night.

It took them three more days to make it through the canyon, a trip that would normally take only a day or two if not for the gorge’s treacherous terrain. That next morning dawned cold and bright, the sound of the river an ever present roar reminding them of how very close death could be. The trail grew rockier and less passable as they climbed into the mountains. Jahrra wondered how Jaax managed to keep his footing at all and encouraged Phrym as often as possible as he maneuvered past loose rocks and slick patches of moss, ice and old snow.

On the third night, Jahrra was torn from her sleep by a horrific cry piercing the darkness. With her heart beating out of her chest, she put a hand out and touched Phrym, a warm mass lying next to her. He let out a quiet, nervous whinny but stayed put.

“Jaax?” Jahrra hissed when the sound carried through the night again.

She wiggled her way closer to his elbow and spoke louder through the opening where his wing tucked against his neck.

“Jaax!”

The dragon exhaled and turned his head so that he could see her. “What is it?”

The roar sounded again, closer, reverberating against the canyon walls.

“What was that?”

Taking a breath, Jaax grumbled, “Boarlaque. But don’t worry, it won’t bother us.”

Jahrra felt a shiver run through her. Hroombra had once told her about boarlaques. They were larger than a bear and had long, wicked fangs and claws meant to tear apart logs and animals that threatened them. She knew they lived in the mountains of Felldreim and Oescienne but she never thought to actually encounter one. She hoped Jaax was right about the creatures not taking an interest in them. Reluctantly, she crawled back to her bed roll, nestled up against Phrym and fell back into an uneasy sleep.

On the fourth day after they started up the canyon, Jahrra noticed that the oaks, sycamores and cottonwoods had left them long behind and now the only trees that dotted the landscape were scraggly, wind-worn pines and spruces. The trail had also flattened out and the cliffs had seemed to recede.

When they crested one last incline in the trail and found themselves staring out into a vast high mountain meadow, Jaax breathed a sigh of relief and said, “We are through the worst of it. Now we’ll follow the Raenyan until it meets the Cornaith and from there we’ll follow that river until it takes us to Lake Runess.”

Jahrra gazed at the wonder before her, noting the large amount of snow that was still upon the ground. They took their time crossing the great meadows for Jaax assured her that they had a sizeable head start on their enemies and that anyone who might be trailing them would easily be seen from this point onward. Many times they stopped to admire the scarlet and blue alpine flowers or to allow Phrym a taste of the new grasses growing where the ground wasn’t covered in ice. The air was chilly but it held the promise of spring. They camped the first night in the wide open and Jaax built up a fire. The stars were so much clearer this high in the Elornn Mountains and guardian and ward passed the time trading the stories of the constellations; the stories that Hroombra had taught them.

It took them several more days of rough travel through finicky, late winter weather in order to reach the Cornaith River, a wide, turbulent rush of water that, according to Jaax, split the Thorbet Range on its race to the great southern ocean. A few days after that the river, if possible, became swifter. Jahrra didn’t notice the sound of booming water until the falls were nearly upon them. When she did, however, she gasped, jerking back on Phrym’s reins. The semequin whickered in surprise but made no other sound of protest.

The falls weren’t tall but they were wide, a great white ribbon pouring from a natural rock dam. Jaax nodded towards what appeared to be an old, narrow trail leading up the side of the small cliff.

“At the top the river smoothes out and widens again, and beyond that, Lake Runess spreads on forever.”

Jahrra nodded, not really listening to Jaax’s words, but when they reached the top of the trail she gasped. The Tanaan dragon had not been exaggerating. The land was flat for a while, pocked with small pools and marshes where the broad Cornaith River didn’t cut a wide course. But a mile or so off she noticed the great expanse of water Jaax had been speaking of. She couldn’t even see the other side of it and doubted she would be able to once they moved closer.

Jaax uncovered an old road that followed what Jahrra could only assume was the point of land highest above the lake when it was at its fullest. Overgrown and seldom used like the other trails they had followed, the road hugged the curves of the small hills that rose above the water, twining in and out of shallow canyons lined with old trees.

That night they camped in one of those small canyons tucked into the hillside. Jaax grunted approvingly at the large rocks scattered about, clearly pleased with their position in regards to the road. They built up a small fire and Jahrra ate wild rabbit, easily caught and roasted by Jaax an hour before. As she settled down for bed the dragon cast her a querulous look and lifted one wing. He had settled closer against the hillside furthest from the road. Jahrra stared at him for a moment and then it dawned upon her.

“Oh, no, it’s alright Jaax. It feels warmer tonight.”

He huffed a breath of smoky air through his nose in reply.

“That is not the reason I want you close to me,” he said.