The Dragon Hunter and the Mage (59 page)

“Intilla, he knows about Fabian.”

“Yes.” The High Marshal’s head sunk slightly, but he quickly straightened back up. “That, unfortunately, could not be avoided. Vigild has infiltrated the Rebellion
and
the Scriptorium. We knew that, but when we were forced to look for the Prince among the prisoners… Well, Fabian exposed himself. There was no other way. He was aware of that.”

“Oh Goddess,” Cassia said, covering her mouth. “Can’t you do anything? Can’t you
help
him?”

Intilla shook his head. “That would only serve to incriminate me as well,” he replied. “The Emperor still needs me.”

“
Needs
you?” Cassia could not believe it. “After all this, you’re
still
remaining loyal? After helping me and Fadan?”

“Cassia, my loyalty to the throne is absolute,” Intilla said.

“No, it’s not. If it was, I would still be up in my room. Or Goddess knows where…”

“That’s different.”

“Different?” Cassia asked. “What about Fadan? You know where he is, what he’s doing.”

A smile grew at the corner of his mouth. “I said my loyalty is to the
throne
, not the Emperor.”

Cassia sighed, exasperated.

“I know you will never understand, but I’m the High Marshal of the Legions,” Intilla explained. “I will not abandon my oath. Now, enough talk. You must hurry before your absence is noted.” He turned to the soldiers around the carriage. “Empress’ own, you know your orders.”

There was a loud clank as every one of the soldiers smashed their fists against their breastplate.

“Empress’ own?” Cassia echoed.

“A long standing Imperial tradition,” Intilla replied. “One only Tarsus is known to have broken. These are your soldiers now. They will die for you if they have to.” He looked at the troops. “But they’re supposed to stay alive. Understood?”

“YES SIR!”

“Now, go,” Intilla insisted, taking the sword from Cassia’s hand.

“The High Marshal is right,” Venia said. “We should hurry.”

The Empress stood motionless for a moment, then lunged into Intilla’s arms.

“Thank you!” she said. “I owe you everything.”

Intilla waved dismissively as they stepped apart, but did not really say anything. Instead, he turned to the soldiers once again, and Cassia had the feeling he was hiding his eyes from her.

“Empress’ own, mount up!” Intilla said, his voice as firm as always.

Chapter 22

Aric’s cloak flapped around him as he stared at the desert down below. The Dragon had carved a gaping hole in the mountain, exposing five floors of the fortress’ inner structure. That corridor, for example, used to stretch for at least another dozen paces. Now, instead of shining through the window, moonlight was pouring through the whole width of the passage.

“You called?” Leth said, stepping to his side.

Aric nodded absently. “How’s the work going downstairs?” he asked.

Leth inspected the wreckage around him. From where they were standing, it was possible to peer down into the two floors below them. Tapestries, banners, and pieces of furniture still smoldered everywhere.

“It’s going,” Leth replied. “We already filled two crates, but the blood just keeps pouring.”

“It’s a big Dragon,” Aric noted.

“It was,” Leth said. “And it had a lot of fun in here.” 

Aric confirmed that with a nod, then stretched an arm towards a room to their right that was missing half of its walls, ceiling, and floor. “That’s where Eliran recovered,” he said.

“I know,” Leth replied.

“Think that’s a coincidence?” Aric asked.

Leth shrugged. “That cleaning cupboard over there got smashed as well. So did everything else two floors above and below us.”

“Sure,” Aric said, “but this is a very big mountain.”

“Can’t argue with that.” There was a silence before Leth added, “I know what you’re thinking. You want to go after her.”

“You disapprove?”

“I’m not sure,” Leth replied. “I don’t even know what she took.”

“You don’t even know if she’s the one who took it.”

“You’re right, I don’t,” Leth said. “But it is the likelier scenario. What evidence do we have this Sohtyr isn’t just fiction?”

“We don’t have any,” Aric sighed. “But I have something else. I… I’ve been having these dreams, ever since I got here. And most of them ended up happening. Not really, but kinda…” He shook his head as if it sounded silly even to him. “I dreamt of seeing Eliran in the desert, and then I did. The night you showed me the secret door, I dreamt of her opening it. Which we know also happened. Or at least, kind of. A few weeks back, I even dreamt I was with her in this same corridor, and guess what happened in the dream…” He gestured at the gaping hole in front of them.

“I see…” Leth murmured.

“Even the color of the Dragon was the same! Red, just like the one downstairs.”

“A Cyrinian Crimson-back,” Leth said, lost in thought. “According to Tharius.”

Aric exhaled forcefully. “I can’t know if she lied about Sohtyr or not. Maybe she did trick us, I don’t know. But what I
do
know is that I have to go after her.”

“Damn,” Leth said. “It must be so confusing to be you.”

Aric had everyone in the Company before him. Even Geric had decided to show up. The only exception was Prion, who was still missing.

The Hunters were packed into a group, some standing, others sitting on the five crates they had just filled with Dragon blood. Behind them, the gigantic corpse of their fallen prey still loomed in the middle of the main hall, taking up nearly half of the cavernous space.

“What does Leth think of this?” Ashur demanded when Aric had finished talking.

“I think our Captain is insane,” Leth replied. He was sitting on the great staircase behind Aric, leaning back on his shoulders. “But he’s not a liar. If he says he had these dreams, it’s because he did.”

“But those could be just more of his hallucinations,” Ashur argued.

“The thing is, though, that he wasn’t hallucinating before,” Leth said. “The Witch exists, and she confirmed everything Aric said he saw.”

“Wait,” Irenya said. “Did Ashur just ask for Leth’s opinion?”

“Yeah,” Trissa mused. “I think we’re all hallucinating.”

There were chuckles and giggles.

“Settle down!” Aric called out, raising a hand. “This is serious, and we don’t have much time. If we are to believe the conversation between Eliran and her boss, then this Sohtyr is about to unleash something terrible into the world, and I will not allow it. However,” he paused, indicating his Lieutenant behind him, “Leth believes that conversation was just a little theater for our benefit. Although, to be honest, I can’t find a good reason for them to do such a thing.”

“To throw us off maybe?” Dothea suggested.

“Then we’ll just find the Frostbound empty, save for its usual inhabitants,” Trissa said. “Doesn’t seem like much of a reason not to go.”

Dothea didn’t have an answer for that. Neither did anyone else for that matter.

“Clea,” Aric continued. “You were there as well. What do you think?”

Clea did not reply right away. “I think it’s impossible to know for sure if we were tricked or not. Doesn’t matter what I believe,” she said at last. “However, I also think we can’t risk just standing here if there is even a remote chance that a Dragon God is about to be awoken.”

Aric agreed with a solemn nod.

“Okay, sure,” Ashur told Clea. “But can we actually
do
anything about it?”

“Oh, stop being a coward, will you?” Trissa said.

“What did you say!?” Ashur tried forcing his way through the group, but the others held him back.

“You didn’t hear me?” Trissa asked provokingly. “Come on over. I’ll whisper it into your ear.”

“Trissa, please,” Aric pleaded. “Ashur makes a good point. There’s no way to know if we can stop this from happening even if we try. For all we know, this could be a one-way trip. If anyone wishes to join me, they have to understand that.”

“I’m sure none of you care,” Leth said, standing up, “but I already agreed to go.”

“I’m going too,” Clea said, lifting a finger.

“Me too,” Tharius added.

Nahir and Trissa piled on. Then Athan, Dothea, Irenya, and Orisius. It was flattering that so many of them had grown to trust him this much. Still, Aric couldn’t help but wonder if they realized what they were signing up for. Or even himself, for that matter.

“Alright,” Aric said. “All those not going ca
n
‒
‒
”

Lyra cut him off. “Oh Goddess damn you all,” she said. “I can’t just stay here. I’m in too.”

“You should stay, Lyra,” Aric said. “Take care of Jullion.”

“Oh, he’s fine,” Lyra said, waving a dismissive hand. “There’s no sign of infection and the splint will keep his stupid arm in place.”

“If you’re going then I’m going too,” Ergon told her.

“You know what?” Ashur said. “You’re all a bunch of idiots. You’ll either take a huge trip for nothing or get yourselves killed for nothing. No thanks.” He crossed his arms stubbornly, waiting for some retort, but none came.

“Fair enough,” Aric said after a small silence. “Ashur and Jullion will stay and watch over the fortress. The rest of you get ready. We leave right away.”

To make sure they didn’t get lost, Aric borrowed one of the maps from Sylene’s study. All of Lamash’s horses had been taken, forcing them to take the whole trip on foot. It was a harsh desert run. Pressed for time, Aric decided to skip sleep altogether, and they spent the whole night sprinting across the dunes beneath the silvery moonlight. At least the air was fresh.

As dawn came and the dunes turned gold, temperatures quickly spiked. They stopped to rest beneath the shadow of a large, brown rock formation. Lyra looked like she was about to faint, and Athan didn’t look much better. They swallowed a few bites of bread and washed it down with some water, but didn’t rest for long. As soon as no one was gasping for air, Aric ordered them to resume their journey.

The sun climbed steadily across the sky, bringing back the familiar, searing temperatures of the Mahar.

The jagged edges of the Frostbound valley appeared in the distance around an hour after midday, and the wind began to slowly cool down. At first, it felt like a fresh morning breeze, but it quickly became a frigid blizzard. The Company was still warm from the long run, but it didn’t take long before everyone started shaking, steam forming before them, billowing out with their every breath. Spots of white snow began to blotch the yellow dunes, and the sound of their footsteps became a crunch as ice covered rocks gradually replaced the sand.

Occasional rock formations were common in the Mahar, but in some regions sand was as rare as water, and the dunes gave way to sprawling mountain ranges and plateaus. The Frostbound was one such region, where sand could only be found on the deep end of ravines.

Aric ordered the Company to slow down as they entered a narrow chasm. Shadows engulfed them, and the wind howled between the massive walls around them. Slowly, quietly, they pushed through the ravine. The hairs on the back of their necks prickled, and they swung their eyes from one side to the other. Was someone watching them?

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Tharius said, shivering.

“Be quiet, you fool!” Trissa whispered urgently.

Aric had been confident that he could find the entrance to the tunnels up until that moment. Everything around him looked unfamiliar, alien even. Not only that, but it had also been far less scary the last time around. Of course, at the time they hadn’t been aware of the frozen Dragon God buried deep beneath the surface.

On the other side of the ravine stood a small plateau of sorts, surrounded by several peaks as sharp as a Dragon’s teeth. Aric climbed onto a rock, trying to get a better view of their surroundings. Covering his eyes, he studied the snow covered landscape. It was as if they had just climbed the Shamissai Mountains.

“Over there,” Clea told Aric, aiming south. “We came through that way the last time.”

“Are you sure?” Aric asked. “How can you remember?”

Clea shrugged. “I just can.”

It wasn’t much of an answer, but it was the only one he had.

“Alright, south it is then.” Aric jumped down from the rock. “Clea, you have the lead. Get us there.”

Clea nodded and, without another word, sprinted ahead. The young Hunters followed her across the craggy terrain, trying their best to keep up with her fast pace without making any sound or tripping on the slippery ice. Clea’s relentless advance finally came to a stop when she reached the edge of a massive crater.

“It’s over there,” Clea said as Aric reached her side. “The tunnel’s entrance.”

Aric remembered the large crater they had emerged into after their trial in the tunnels. The senior Guildsmen called it “the valley” because of the tall peaks surrounding it. Right in its middle stood the entrance itself.

However, the stone slab that once had covered it had been smashed to pieces, leaving a gaping black hole in the middle of the snow covered sand of the crater.

“We clearly did not get here first,” Aric noted.

Leth came to his side, thin white clouds forming with his breath. “She’s in a hurry.”

Aric glanced sideways at him. “Or he…”

“Or they,” Clea added. “Doesn’t matter. Shall we?”

Aric looked over his shoulder. Everyone was accounted for, even Geric, but something was wrong with the cat. His body was tense, his ears flattened and his head low.