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On the other side of the doorway, chaos reigned. This was why Ambrosia had not returned for us. She had her own problems here.
The cart with the doorway had been hauled through the rest of the mountain pass to the edge of the forest surrounding Questan. From the hillside road where it sat, I could see around the bowl of the valley as I stumbled through the door, Gran and Stef close behind me. I was still struggling to walk on my newly-thawed feet.
In the center of the valley, Questan loomed like a high platter on a stem, her thriving city full of life. Smoke curled up into the sky over the city and baskets hung from the underside. My heart lurched at the sight of the city. It was so vulnerable and so precious. And I’d seen how that could all turn for the worse.
I would have thought it was business as usual in Questan, except it was anything but that. I breathed a sigh of relief at the dragons flying rings around the city. They were still there, and they were still safe.
My relief lasted only a moment.
The golem army had already flooded the valley, surrounding the city. Flying golems swarmed over the heads of the creeping ones, not high enough to reach the city, but placing themselves as a protective cover over the wolf-golems. The reason why was immediately obvious.
A ring of Magikas surrounded the city, each at the head of teams of wolf-golems hitched to long chains. The chains were attached to the stem of the city. I could already see what they were planning in my mind’s eye. When the teams were ready, the Magikas would pull back and let them wrench the city apart – if that was even possible. Was it possible?
“Sweet mountains and cold winter save us,” Gran gasped.
Not my kind of cursing, but I agreed.
Why weren’t the dragons above the city soaring down and attacking?
“The flying golems are smart cover,” Gran said. I don’t think the people up there know what’s about to happen.”
I was about to open my mouth to say what we should do next when I felt a weak voice in my mind.
Tor?
Saboraak! I scanned the edges of the forest, looking for her and the next horrific scene scalded across my vision. My dragon and her wing of Green dragons were all strung in a long line hanging by their feet from one of those thick chains between two hillsides. On either hill, wolf-golems in groups of eight strained to keep the chain tight. Their heads were pinned to the ground with chains and their wings chained to their sides. With the dragons, a pair of oosquer were also chained. And was that Lenora’s Green dragon, too? And Lee’s Black dragon?
I took a step forward before I saw the long line of humans strung up just like the dragons only steps away, dangling head downward.
My friends.
Hung up like the people I had seen in the cavern beneath Apeq A’Kona’s House of Marvels. A gasp ripped through my throat.
I was moving before a clear thought surfaced.
I had to save them.
I had to do it now.
They hadn’t posted guards at the doorway – fools! But there were soldiers between me and the dragons – human soldiers. The golems were all gathered in ranks around the city, waiting for their chance to tear the innocent apart after the city fell – or at least that was how it felt. The actual golems probably felt nothing at all and the souls inside them did not see their victims as enemies.
“Stop! Will you stop, you fool?” An urgent whisper followed the tugging at my arm.
I turned, shaking the tugging hand off. “Those are my friends up there and I’ll do whatever it takes to get them out of that mess and safe again!
Gran Ti’wilren rolled her ancient eyes at me. “You’re thinking too narrowly!”
“It’s a narrow threat, Gran.”
She grabbed me and pulled me behind the cart. We hadn’t been noticed yet. Everyone’s attention and energy was focused on the innocent victims hanging from the chain or on the city they were about to destroy.
If that’s you, Tor, please hurry! I feel so weak ...
“Ignore the old woman and go save your dragon. Her mind is probably too muddled to know what’s happening,” my mimic said. “You only let her come so that the others would secure an empire for you back in Ko’Torenth.”
I tried to shake the old woman’s hands off. I needed to get to Saboraak! But she clung to me like lichen to a rock.
“Get a hold of yourself!” she whispered.
“Listen to Gran,” Stef agreed, poking me in the ribs with her staff.
We were all three huddled behind the cart – useless! – while our enemies had the chance to do whatever evil they wanted.
“Focus!” Gran grabbed my face between hands as strong as a vice. How had the old woman gotten so strong? I’d always thought old people were delicate. “You are going to run off like a fool and ruin everything. Don’t you see that there are two huge problems here?”
“Of course, I see!” I hissed. My heart was racing, panic choking me. I needed to get to Saboraak and I needed to get there now! I was going to be too late! “If I don’t rescue my dragon, I won’t be able to do anything about the city they are trying to collapse. Don’t you see? I need to get to her right now.”
I shook her off like a dog shaking off water.
“Please!” she begged. “Please listen! You are the Ko’roi! You can stop both things, but only if you listen.”
“What could an old woman say that matters?” the mimic asked, laughing. “You’re going to lose everything because you’re too nice to tell an old woman to go to – ”
“Talk fast,” I growled, forcing the mimic out of my head. He disappeared in a puff of black smoke. My hands were shaking, energy rushing through me like fire. I would give her a heartbeat to offer me a plan. If the mimic thought she was useless ... well, I’d done well in the past when I ignored his prejudices.
It hurts. Please, Tor!
Saboraak’s voice rang in my mind and my head whipped around to look through the cart toward her. I felt like I couldn’t think. The thought of her in pain made me crazy.
“You can tell all the golems to stop pulling the city and at the same time, you can send golems to stop what is happening to your dragon. The ring around your neck – it was called a “Yoke” when it was made – is powerful enough for that. But you must push away your panic and trust me. You must focus your mind. From the cart, you can see the whole valley. You can do this from there, but only if you listen. Stef and I will protect you while you work, just please listen!”
I felt like time had frozen. I had to make a decision and I had to do it now, but it would mean trusting an old woman I had only just met, and I wasn’t good at trusting. I was better at relying on myself and my own strength and cunning.
“You’d be a fool to trust her. You’ll lose everything,” the mimic wailed.
I tried to push him away, but his scoffing filled my ears instead. I was too weak. I gasped, anxiety welling up. I knew I should trust the old woman, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to solve this myself and every moment that I wasted thinking about it was a moment that I wasn’t doing it.
A gentle hand took mine and I had already followed a few steps before I realized that the old woman was leading me back up to the bed of the cart. She was humming a tune that sounded like a lullaby. In harmony. Oh, wait, that was Stef. Stef squared herself on the steps after we passed, taking her pack off and holding out her staff.
“Think now about channeling the power of the doorway into the Yoke and then push against the Yoke to harness it,” Gran said, still holding my hand.
I gritted my teeth and obeyed. I hated relying on someone else. Hated it so much. But what if she was right? What if I could do both things at once? What if I didn’t have to choose – for once?
“Now, grab a hold of the golems close to where your friends are in trouble. See them there?”
I could certainly see them. There were eight golems on each end of the chain that held the dragons. They kept it pulled taut. Two more held the chain from which the humans hung. Surrounding both chains were groups of Magikas and human soldiers.
“Get ready to tell those golems to relax the chain – but don’t do it yet!” Gran said. How did she know how to direct them? How did she know what to do? “And now find the souls in the golems surrounding the city – the ones with the chains. Can you feel them? Can you feel the Magikas directing them?”
I could feel them. Oddly enough, I could feel each one now, separate them out from the cloud of consciousness, feel their distinct flavors.
“Now ... stop them while you ask the others to ease the dragons and humans down to the ground. Focus. Focus.” Her words dissolved into her lullaby and the gentle hum of the lullaby calmed my mind as I focused on doing both things at once.
It was working! The golems eased the dragons and humans to the ground while the Magikas and soldiers around them scrambled like ants with an upturned hill.
The golems in the distance stopped dead against their chains.
My heart raced. It was working! It was really working!
“I knew you’d be back,” Eventen said, stepping out from around the edge of the cart. The look on his face was smug.