The Binding Stone (The Dragon Below, Book 1) (10 page)

A harshness that crept into her voice surprised even her. Adolan's eyebrows twitched in surprise, but Geth actually cursed out loud. "Rat! Do you expect us to believe that?"

Dandra gave him an angry look. "Would you want to get caught by them?" She pointed over her shoulder, beyond the stones. "I can move fast and it's hard to track someone who doesn't leave footprints if she doesn't want to. They needed their herons to follow me."

"You were walking when we found you."

"I was exhausted!"

"Easy," said Adolan, raising a hand to both her and Geth. "Arguing isn't going to help us." The druid glanced at Dandra again. "Why did they take you?"

"Why me? I don't know," she answered. That much at least was the truth. She directed another mental prod toward Tetkashtai,
but the presence whined like a child and batted her away. "I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, maybe."

"Maybe they wanted you for a sacrifice to Khyber," suggested Singe.

Dandra nodded. "Maybe," she lied. Her hand shifted to wrap tight around the yellow-green crystal that hung from her neck. She could almost feel Tetkashtai stirring under her fingers.

The sudden patter of another shower of crossbow bolts shattered the tension of the moment and sent all of four of them cringing back under cover. "Ado, we have to do something!" Geth snarled. "They'll soon get lucky and hit something other than rocks. We can't stay here."

Adolan nodded and said, "You're right. You and Singe keep watch. Dandra, come with me." He beckoned her to follow as he moved deeper into the circle.

Dandra drew a sharp breath and scuttled after him. Her movement roused Tetkashtai as nothing else had.
Yes!
she shrieked.
Yes, run! Il-Yannah's light, please run!

The presence's fear rattled through her, so strong that Dandra almost stumbled as her legs started to respond to Tetkashtai's demands. She pushed back against her terror.
We can't run, Tetkashtai. We'd be abandoning Geth, Singe, and Adolan!

So?
Tetkashtai wailed.
Better them than us! They can distract the hunters while we escape
.

Dandra recoiled from the suggestion.
Tetkashtai! I can't do that!

The presence wrenched at her, yellow-green light harsh and bright.
When did your opinion start to matter? Run!

No!
Dandra thrust the presence away, then sent an image to her, a vision of what had happened while she huddled in fear.
The hunters are waiting for us
, she said.
The dolgrims have crossbows ready--

Tetkashtai stared at the vision--then whirled like an angry cat.
You told them!
she howled.
You told them what happened!

Dandra stumbled again, her shoulder scraping against cold rock.
You wouldn't answer me!
she protested.
I only told them what I had to
.

It was too much!
Tetkashtai raged. Dandra forced herself back to her feet, staggering through the presence's anger--and flinching as a hand gripped her arm. She looked up sharply.

Adolan held her upright, offering her support. His eyes met hers. They were blue, she noticed. Soft blue, clear and direct, a stark contrast to the green eyes that haunted her thoughts ...

"You fight a silent battle, Dandra," he said.

Tetkashtai froze in the midst of her rant, her fury shrinking to a deadly, hate-filled point.
He knows!
she hissed. A sudden vision of flames washed through Dandra's mind.
Kill him. Kill him!

The kalashtar's throat constricted and she shuddered, squeezing her eyes shut.
No
, she gasped.
No! I won't!
She gathered the flames and flung them back against Tetkashtai's venomous light. Startled by the force of her rejection, the presence backed down. Dandra groaned aloud in release and her body sagged. Adolan held her up.

When she opened her eyes, he was staring at the crystal around her neck. Dandra stiffened and pulled away reflexively. Adolan let her go. "How?" Dandra breathed. "How do you know?"

The druid shook his head. "Gatekeepers are attuned to the unnatural." He pointed at the psicrystal. "I don't understand your powers, Dandra, but I can tell that something is wrong. Is this why the Bonetree--"

Dandra clenched her teeth. "Don't say anything else," she told him harshly. "Just tell me why you needed me here."

Adolan's eyes widened, but he said nothing and motioned for her to turn around. Her body stiff, Dandra turned.

The stones of the Bull Hole clustered close together around the circle's center like old warriors closing rank. Symbols and drawings were etched into their cold surfaces, some trick of the pale moonlight making them seem fresh and new though they should have been weathered into illegibility by untold ages. The stones surrounded an open space less than ten paces across and carpeted in coarse grass. Lying on the ground at the very center of the circle was a thick, irregular slab as broad as Dandra's outstretched arms.

Breek perched on the slab. The bird's eyes were focused on the sky overhead. Dandra followed its gaze and saw the long, gangly shapes of two herons in the moonlit sky. Her breath caught.

"They're still watching us," said Adolan. The druid stepped around her and over to one side of the slab. "Breek would attack
them, but he knows that he would be a target as soon as he rose above the Bull Hole. We need to know what we're facing. Lend me a hand." He gestured and Breek hopped off the slab onto the ground. Adolan bent down, working his fingers between the soil and the stone.

Dandra looked at the slab and allowed herself a thin smile. "I think I can do better," she said. She focused her concentration on the stone and imagined the feel of its cold, dense surface under her hands, then drew that sensation into herself, wrapping her mind around it.
Tetkashtai, help me
, she said as she reached out to pull the presence closer to her.

Except that Tetkashtai wrenched herself away with a chilly disdain. Dandra's concentration wavered in surprise, her mental connection to the stone fading sharply. She sent a swift, angry thought toward the presence's yellow-green light.
Tetkashtai, what are you doing? I need your help. We have to move this rock
.

Why?
Tetkashtai drew herself up, her light gleaming harshly.
You know what I think needs to be done
.

More images of Adolan wreathed in flames, of herself fleeing the circle and leaving Singe and Geth to face the Bonetree hunters, flashed through Dandra's head. She clenched her teeth.
I'm not going to do that
.

Then you can move that stone with your hands like a dumb human
. Tetkashtai pulled back. Dandra's jaw dropped open in shock.

"Dandra?" asked Adolan. He was staring at her in concern. "Are you all right?"

The kalashtar closed her mouth. "I'm fine," she said. In her mind, she snarled at Tetkashtai.
Help me!

No. Move it yourself
.

Dandra's hands curled into fists.
All right
, she spat. She stared at the slab, then stretched out her mind and wrapped her thoughts around it once more. "Step back," she told Adolan. A startled look crossed the druid's face. He snatched his fingers out from under the stone and scuttled backward away from it. Dandra turned her will against the slab, pushing against it in the same way that she pushed against the ground when she chose to glide above it.

There was a word for the invisible force involved in attempting to move something with willpower alone:
vayhatana
. It literally meant "ghost breath," a good word for something that was at the same time subtle, powerful--and often elusive.

The slab didn't move, but Dandra's feet slid back and she almost fell to her knees. In the darkness of her mind, Tetkashtai sneered.
Pathetic
.

Dandra didn't answer her. Climbing to her feet, she focused on the slab again. When she rose above the ground, the
vayhatana
that she used was soft and gentle, taking no real energy at all. This time, though, she hardened the
vayhatana
, throwing it against the slab while willing herself to remain where she was. Without Tetkashtai's aid, directing her powers was difficult, but the raw strength behind them--that was her own. Dandra wrenched at the core of her being, dredging up all of her reserves, and
heaved
at the stone.

Nothing happened. She strained harder, like any human hauling at a great weight. A shudder shook her body, flesh faltering beneath the strength of her will. Tetkashtai flinched, though she still managed to mock her.
Stop this!
she said imperiously.
You can't move that. Who do you think you are?

Anger flickered in Dandra's heart. Her teeth grinding together with aching pressure, she seized it, weaving it into her effort, focusing the
vayhatana
until it was like a cocoon spun around the slab. She lifted her hand slowly and held her palm out toward the slab. She could feel the stone, feel the way it rested against the ground. It only needed something to slide on to make it move, the way that just a thin layer of water could make tiles slippery. Or the way that a gentle force could send her gliding over the ground ...

It took less than a thought to draw the cocoon of
vayhatana
under the slab, slipping invisible energy between stone and soil. The fingers of her hand pressed forward slightly.

A faint ripple of force shimmered through the air. Dandra didn't even dare to breathe as, with the slightest of tremors, the slab slid smoothly away from her. A few inches ... a foot ... another foot.

Tetkashtai was silent in her head. On the other side of the slab, Adolan stared and moved his mouth in choked words of wonder. The moving stone revealed the edge of a hole in the ground. Adolan managed to find his voice again. "Open it all the way if you can."

Dandra gave a slight nod and pushed a little harder. Like a child's toy boat set down on smooth water, the slab floated aside. When the hole--no larger around than the ring of her own arms--was fully exposed, she took a breath and pulled her mind away from it. The slab settled back to the ground with a soft thud that brought a squawk from Breek. As Adolan hastened to kneel at the edge of the hole, Dandra lowered her hand. A hot pride spread through her--a pride that turned swiftly to shame. Tetkashtai's entire attention was turned toward her, the presence's light as cold as a winter dawn. Without a word, Tetkashtai retreated, shrinking into a yellow-green spark, no brighter than a star.

Dandra felt more empty and alone than she ever had before. She swallowed and stepped quickly to Adolan's side.

The druid was peering intently into the hole, his lips moving in quiet murmurs. Sounds were returning from the hole as well, though, soft, almost animal sounds like the lowing of a cow. Or a bull. Cautiously, Dandra peered over Adolan's shoulder, down into the hole. It might not have been very big around, but it was clearly deep. Far, far deeper than she would have expected. Frighteningly deep. She could feel a power in the hole, too, something very old and very primitive. Something that hated the abominations that had intruded upon the valley, something that remembered the ancient war that Adolan had described. The strength of that hatred seized her, pulled at her, tried to drag her down into the primal deeps. Dandra gasped and reeled back desperately, trying to escape it. Adolan's hand reached up to steady her.

"Easy," he said.

She swallowed, trying to recover her breath. "What is that?" she gasped. "If that's what the Bonetree worship ..."

Adolan shook his head sharply. "The cults of the Dragon Below worship the powers of Khyber. The spirit of the Bull Hole was
placed in the depths by the Gatekeepers to help make sure that they stay there." He rose to his feet, his face grim

"You were talking with it," Dandra said.

"The Bull Hole knows things," the druid replied. "It told me what we face."

"The dolgrims? The Bonetree clan?" Dandra asked.

Adolan shook his head. "The dolgrims, yes, but not the Bonetree--the Bull Hole only sees unnatural creatures. No, there's something else in the valley. Something worse than the dolgrims."

Acid-green eyes flashed in Dandra's memory and fear rose in her throat. "What?" she asked with dread.

"Ado!" Geth's voice rose from the outer ring of the circle before the druid could answer. "You'd better see this! Something is happening out there!"

"You and Singe keep watch. Dandra, come with me."

Geth's eyes narrowed as Adolan beckoned Dandra to follow him, then moved off among the stones toward the center of the Bull Hole. A growl rumbled into his throat. He twisted away from both druid and kalashtar before it could fight its way free.