Warrior (32 page)

Koren squeezed through the narrow opening. With a map of the room in her mind, she padded forward. Zena slept on the bed to her left. The conjuring table stood to the right, but with the dragon’s eyes dark, Zena’s collection of sorcerous oddities sat invisible. Straight ahead lay the storage cubbyhole where Petra’s half-length trousers waited along with a new pair of sandals Zena had provided. They would be essential for rugged travel, certainly better than bare feet.

Koren reached the alcove and crouched, probing the darkness with her hands. It seemed that eyes drilled into her back, but the chamber remained silent.

Ah! The trousers. Now for her boots and Petra’s sandals.

A grunt sounded from Zena’s bed. Koren froze.

“Koren?”

She stayed in her crouch, perfectly silent.

“Koren, are you still here?”

Again feeling for the sandals, Koren whispered, “Yes, Zena. I hope I didn’t disturb you. I’ll try to be quieter.”

“It doesn’t matter. I have to get up for Taushin’s coronation.”

“You still have time. Go ahead and sleep. I’ll wake you.”

“Thank you.” Zena yawned. “I am impressed that you stayed. I was concerned that you would use my swoon to do mischief.”

Koren blinked at the darkness. She wanted to scream that holding Petra’s life in the balance was a cruel motivator, but it didn’t make sense to continue the conversation. If Zena would just go back to sleep, everything would be fine.

After a few seconds of silence, Koren continued her search. Her finger touched a sandal. The other sandal and her boots would be lined up, making them easy to stack and collect.

Slowly, carefully, she picked up sandals and boots and gathered them into her arms. So far, so good. Perfectly quiet. She covered all four with the trousers and wrapped them into a bundle. Then, sliding her hands underneath from each side, she picked it up and rose in one motion.

She turned, stopped, and waited. The blackness seemed to throb. Her heartbeat and a rush of blood thumped in her ears. Nothing stirred. She raised a foot and set it softly a pace away. Now to glide out of the room and —

The dragon statue’s eyes flashed on. Bright and pulsing, the beams painted two blue ovals on her chest. A voice thrummed in her mind.
Koren, I see my statue. That means you are in Zena’s room.

She responded with an intentionally exaggerated nod, a movement Taushin could detect.

I want you to come to my chamber. The more time we spend together, the more certain will be our bond. Using Petra to induce your obedience is not something either of us wants to continue. Am I correct?

Focusing on the dragon, Koren nodded again. Looking at the rest of the room would reveal Petra’s absence.

Do you agree to submit without this threat hanging over you?

She kept her head still. Would lying be the right move? Agreeing too quickly might arouse suspicion.

I see that you are hesitant. I understand. Come to me and we will discuss it further.

She drew another map in her mind. Getting to the Zodiac to meet Tamminy and Petra required going through the incubator chamber first, but sneaking around the labyrinth of corridors between Zena’s room and that chamber, all without a light to guide her, might be impossible. Now she had an excuse to take a lantern. She gave him yet another nod.

Very well. We will be together in a few moments.
The dragon’s eyes faded but stayed on.

Koren reached through the stairway door opening, picked up the lantern with her free hand, and tiptoed into the corridor leading to the incubator room. After setting the lantern on the floor, she lit it and quickly turned it to its lowest setting. Then, keeping her eyes focused upward to avoid looking at her bundle, she picked up the lantern again and hurried on.

Staring straight ahead, she followed the corridor and turned to the right, then back to the left before scrambling up a short but steep stairway that ended at the incubator room. Now well away from Zena’s quarters, she set the lantern down and adjusted the flame to allow herself more light.

Brightness flooded the spacious chamber, illuminating the passage to the Zodiac on the far side where a large stone blocked the entrance. She quickly averted her eyes toward the ceiling. The hole was closed, the normal position when the incubator fountains were off.

She turned to the right and focused on a much larger doorway, the dragon-sized corridor leading to Taushin’s lair. As she shuffled toward it, she repainted the image of the Zodiac escape route in her mind. The stone left a sizeable gap between itself and the wall, proving that it had been placed there to prevent a dragon from using that route, but was the gap large enough for someone her size to crawl through?

Still moving slowly toward Taushin’s abode, she imagined herself running to the Zodiac passage and sliding through the gap. How long would it take for him to figure out where she had gone before pursuing her?

She reached the new corridor and paused, her back to the Zodiac passage. The time had come. Her mentally drawn map had better not fail her now.

Closing her eyes, she blew out the lantern, but it slipped in her hand. The flame burned her skin, and she let it fall. In the midst of its clatter, she dashed toward the Zodiac passage, tracing the route on her map. With one arm free now, she reached out a hand, slowing as her instincts told her she was drawing near. With darkness prevailing, she opened her eyes, but that didn’t help at all.

Her fingers touched stone, then the gap. Lying on her stomach, she shoved the bundle through and squeezed herself in sideways, wiggling as she inched her way forward. After a few seconds, her shoulders wedged. Trying not to grunt, she pushed her feet against the floor. No help. Without a sliver of light, it seemed impossible to know which way to squirm.

She reached ahead and grasped the far side of the stone. Gritting her teeth, she jerked her body forward and into the clear.

A thud sounded. Koren gulped. She stared toward the incubator room, trying not to breathe.

“Koren?”

Zena’s voice. Taushin must have alerted her that his precious Starlighter hadn’t shown up, or maybe the lantern falling had awakened her. A light passed from left to right, filtering through each gap along the way.

Koren inched back, just enough to avoid it. How close was the lantern? Zena might be shining it from across the room or from just a step away. Yet, she couldn’t have seen anyone squeeze through the hole. Her eyesight was too poor, and it had been dark then.

Dark then?

Koren clapped a hand over her eyes. How stupid! Taushin could see where she was!

Since it was too late to fool them now, she lowered her hand from her eyes and peered through the gap. Lantern light drew closer. Zena was coming.

Scooping up her bundle, Koren dashed along the corridor’s descending tunnel. Air billowed her cloak, pulling against the clasp at her chest. As light from behind faded, her path grew dark, treacherous, but she couldn’t stop, and she couldn’t turn back. Chains awaited—horrible, heavy chains.

Maybe she could get to the Zodiac fast enough for Tamminy to fly them to a hiding place. Maybe she and Petra could wait in safety until their pursuers gave up.

As darkness enveloped her, she slowed her pace. Her cloak settled around her body, weighing down her shoulders. It wouldn’t work. Not with Taushin watching. She couldn’t possibly keep her eyes closed for that long.

Foolish girl,
Taushin said in her mind.
You cannot hide. The Zodiac will offer no sanctuary. Arxad is not there to protect you.

Koren pushed his intruding thoughts away. She had to keep him out and guard her own thoughts. So far he seemed to be unable to hear her spoken words, and since he had asked questions earlier, he still couldn’t read her mind, at least not easily.

Soon, a light appeared in the distance. She broke into another dash. Since they knew where she was, it didn’t matter what she looked at now, with one exception. She had to be ready to protect Tamminy.

She closed in on the light, an opening into another chamber. Placing her hand a few inches in front of her eyes, she looked down at her feet and slowed to a quick march. “Tamminy!” she called. “Are you there?”

“Here, child.”

Keeping her shield in place, she scanned the floor. A dragon’s body appeared to her left, sprawled across the stone in a pool of liquid.

She gasped and jerked her head away. “It’s … it’s—”

“Thortune,” Tamminy said. “I do not know who did this. It is a tragedy, but it actually aids our cause. He would have questioned our presence here.”

As Koren turned away from the carnage, she caught a glimpse of Tamminy’s shadow ahead and to her right. “They know I’m trying to escape and which way I went.”

“We have some safeguards that will slow them down,” Tamminy said as his shadow shifted and disappeared. “Still, we should hurry. Come with me.”

A hand slid into Koren’s and squeezed her fingers gently.

Koren adjusted her shield enough to see Petra’s bare feet sticking out past the bottom of her cloak. “Lead the way.”

Pulling gently, Petra guided her along a stony floor and into a darker area. Koren longed to explore with her eyes, but any glimpse of Tamminy could mean a death sentence for him.

After a short walk, Petra paused, tugging Koren to a halt beside her. Ahead, Tamminy barked out a draconic word that meant
sanctum,
easy to recognize but impossible for a human to repeat. A grinding noise sounded, and a brighter light illuminated the floor. After taking several more steps, Petra stopped next to Tamminy’s shadow. Again Tamminy said something, this time the dragon word for
refuge.
The grinding returned. Koren glanced back in time to see a wall sliding closed.

“I will now step out of the way so that you may behold this sight,” Tamminy said. “Fear not that Taushin will behold it with you. With Arxad gone, he would eventually find her.”

“Her?” When the shadow drifted to her left and disappeared, Koren opened her eyes. A shining girl floated between the floor and ceiling. Dressed in a Starlighter’s gown and cloak, she radiated streams of effervescent light. Her red hair flowed around her as if blown by a gentle breeze, and her green eyes sparkled.

Koren felt her jaw dropping open, but she couldn’t help it. “Is …” She swallowed. “Is she Cassabrie?”

“She is. We cannot stay long. Although I am more immune to her powers than others, I should not risk overexposure. I assume that you are impervious, but Petra will likely succumb in a few moments. She is not in danger, mind you, but in a dizzied state she will not be able to ride on my back.”

“Is Cassabrie dead?”

“Quite dead. When Magnar had her executed, Arxad removed her spirit and took it to the Northlands, where she likely resides even now.”

“Then why doesn’t her body deteriorate?”

“That is the most important part of the secret. If you will look in the ceiling above her head and at the floor beneath her feet, you will see the power that keeps her body whole.”

Koren walked toward Cassabrie slowly, reverently. The dragon password was appropriate. This place felt like a sanctum, similar to the sacred spring at the edge of the wilderness where a few slaves sometimes gathered to pray. Since it was too far away to visit very often, she had been there only twice. Yet the peacefulness of the place returned easily to her memory, as did its beauty. The water in the deep pool was so clear, it seemed invisible.

Kneeling, Koren looked at the floor under Cassabrie’s dangling feet. A circular disc had been embedded in the midst of the irregular tiles. About twice the diameter of a human head and as transparent as the sacred spring’s water, it displayed an array of brilliant spheres arranged in an incomplete circle, each sphere no bigger than a fingertip.

She counted them out loud, ending with an emphatic, “Six.”

“Six?” Tamminy said from behind her. “There should be seven.”

After counting again, she set her finger over a space in the circular arrangement. “It looks like one is missing.”

“I fail to see how that is possible. Arxad has waited many years for someone who could use these to carry out his plan. The floor panel is designed so that none but a gifted human can penetrate the surface, and an ungifted human would burn terribly if he or she held one of the spheres for more than a moment.”

“What did he want me to do with them, and why didn’t he tell me about them?”

“Arxad and Magnar have long battled over the best way to save this world and its dragon inhabitants. When Arxad rescued Cassabrie, the white dragon in the Northlands provided this ingenious device, which no one can dismantle without self-destruction. We have not the time for me to explain the details, but the stardrops you see come from a hibernating star that dwells within this planet. The energy from that star gives a Starlighter her power, so Cassabrie’s body stays whole as long as she is in their presence. Arxad believes that if a Starlighter ingests one of these, she will have immense power, enough to put an end to the plans Taushin has in store.”

Koren looked at Petra. She stood against a wall, one hand over her eyes, resting her head back as if dizzy. The effect on her was rapidly taking hold. Asking more questions would further delay them, but Koren had to know more. “What is Arxad’s plan?”

“I am unsure. Arxad kept the details of his theories to himself, but I am sure he hoped to prevent Taushin from training you in your gifts. Once Taushin had you under complete control, he would use you to rule all of Starlight and perhaps even Darksphere. Magnar knew about Cassabrie’s presence here, but once she was in place, he could do nothing about it except post a guard who would keep you or anyone else from coming near her.”

“Where is that guard now?” Almost before the words slipped out, the image of the dead dragon broke through. “Never mind.”

She refocused on the shining, pearl-like spheres. “It doesn’t make sense. If I ingest one of these, how could I defeat Taushin’s plans to use me? I can’t fight myself.”

“I did not say if
you
ingested it. I said if a Starlighter ingests it. Arxad hoped to resurrect Cassabrie.”