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WE FLEW FOR SO LONG in the dark that I had no idea where we were when we finally set down in a cluster of thick trees.
“Get some sleep. We’ll talk in the morning,” Hubric said, but it barely registered as I slid off the saddle and fell to the frozen earth.
Ugh. I should find somewhere warm, so I didn’t freeze to death, but I was so tired ... so very, very tired.
Something leaned up against me and then warmth flooded me. Oh, soup and biscuits – yes! That was nice. Mmmm. I was mostly asleep before I realized that I was being warmed by a fire-breathing dragon. A cranky, demanding fire-breathing dragon.
Just give the attitude a rest for a few seconds and get some sleep.
I woke to the smell of a wood fire.
I rolled over, regretting it immediately as the cold hit me like a vengeful hammer. Ngh! I blinked life into my eyes, scrubbing the crusty sleep out of the corners and sitting up.
We were camped on a rocky hillside looking over the pine forest below. Hubric was busy with a tiny wood fire and a kettle. It looked promising. I gathered my cloak around me and stood. Both dragons lay with heads on their forepaws, eyes shut to the world.
“They flew hard yesterday and both need to heal,” Hubric said, blowing gently on the tiny tongue of flame he’d created. “Caf?”
“Do you have any food?” I asked hopefully.
“Check your saddlebags. Remember when I filled them at the cabin?”
I walked stiffly to the Saboraak’s side, trying not to disturb her as I rummaged in the bags. Skies and Stars! There was food in here!
He couldn’t have said that before? There was also that cloth package Ephretti gave me. I grabbed it, too. This was the first chance I’d had to even look at it.
My stomach rumbled so loudly that I was afraid it would wake Saboraak as I returned to the fire, hard crackers and dried meat in hand. I was already stuffing them in my mouth as quickly as I could.
“Go easy on it,” Hubric warned. “I had expected to resupply at the post last night.”
I was holding more food than I’d seen in a week. There was no way I wasn’t going to eat it. I’d worry about finding more after I was done eating what I had.
Hubric cleared his throat and I looked up guiltily, my mouth stuffed so full with food that I could barely chew. He was only offering me a steaming tin mug. I accepted it gratefully, ducking my head in thanks since my mouth was full.
“What did you learn from last night?” he asked when my mouth was empty enough to talk.
Last night? I’d been too busy surviving to learn much – except that I was really beginning to hate Magikas.
“Those Magika guys are trouble. But if you’re fast you can get past their defenses.”
“And?”
“They said that they didn’t know who I was, but they seemed to have an interest in you.” Although, if Ephretti was to be believed, they had an interest in me, too. I would just have to keep my eyes open to see for myself. No point mentioning that, though. It would only make me sound crazy.
Hubric sipped his caf. “No surprise there. I’ve been more in the eye of the public than I ever asked to be.”
“I thought you were a spymaster.”
He laughed. “That’s still new. And I’m going to have to become more forgettable to make that work.”
“They took that friend of yours, didn’t they? Do you think they have her back at that house?”
“I don’t think so,” Hubric said thoughtfully. “That place was clearly a trap. They can’t stay there for long. There are only supplies for a short stay and no way to get more when they are on the run.”
“So where is your friend?”
“With other Magikas, somewhere in the north of here like they said. The man who admitted it was in too much pain to be lying.” I shivered at his words, remembering those squeals of pain. Hubric didn’t notice my reaction. “She’s a smart girl. Her name is Zyla. About your age. I recruited her as soon as I could trust her. Her parents were traders. They traded oddities all through the northlands as well as the Dominion. But in the war, a loose Ifrit slaughtered them in front of her.”
I shivered at my own memories of the dust demons. “Thank the skies and stars those things are gone now.”
Hubric frowned. “For now. There are other enemies and other dangers. Don’t get too comfortable or they’ll sneak up on you.”
“So, I should count on ulcers and digestive problems then, should I? A life of living on edge? No, thank you. I didn’t sign up for a life of terror.”
His smile was wry. “Zyla is the perfect recruit to spy on Ko’Torenth. I was planning to pair her up with you and send you both to Ko’Koren - one of their larger cities. She and I are already working on communication routes and protocols. But I expected to have time to help the two of you ... get to know each other.”
“And now she’s been kidnapped. Are you saying she can’t be rescued?”
“I’m saying that I’m not the one who can rescue her. They know me.”
They certainly did know him. They’d set that trap for him. The old codger must be more valuable than I ever thought.
“Worse,” Hubric continued. “Did you see that rod they used?”
“The one that hurt Saboraak?” I asked, glancing over at my dragon. She looked better in the morning light, but I hadn’t had a very good look at her wounds in the dark.
“Dragons heal remarkably quickly if they can get deep sleep,” Hubric said, sipping his caf. “And yes, that’s the one I mean. I’ve never seen an object that was magical. Magic is something that Magikas use to tap the life force of the earth and use it to alter the world.”
“Mostly with colorful fireballs. Yes, I’ve noticed.” My tone was dry.
“That is a weak use.”
“You sound like an expert. And a fairly haughty expert at that.” I tried the caf to hide my grin at calling him out. Skies and stars, it was bitter! Who chose to drink this stuff? I put it down and grabbed the cloth packet Ephretti gave me.
“I’ve seen things that would make your hair curlier than a sheep’s, boy. Magic great enough to level armies and build statues as tall as a sky city.”
“Keep talking old man,” I said with a laugh. I could use some entertainment. I loosened the strings on the cloth packet and carefully unfolded it. The cloth was white and of a fine weave. I was going to keep it as a handkerchief. It had been a while since I had one of those.
“You saw what Ephretti did when she saved Vanika. She rose up out of fires that should have killed her and saved us.”
Point for Hubric. I couldn’t deny that what Ephretti did was somehow magical. I paused in unwrapping her gift.
“She fulfilled a prophecy.”
Hubric nodded, his eyes serious. “I’ve seen bigger prophecies than that fulfilled.”
Now I was feeling awkward. “I don’t know about prophecies.”
“Maybe you should learn.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a slender book, bound in red leather and shoved it into my hand. A book? Really? For all my spare time?
“What’s this?”
“The Ibrenicus Prophecies. This copy belonged to Savette Leedris.”
“Never heard of her.”
Hubric rolled his eyes. “Just take it and try to learn something from it. At any rate, there are other magics, like I was saying. Truth magic – which is a powerful bending of what is to what should be. And deception magic, a mirror magic. There are others still that I’ve never seen. Tonight, I saw what I think might be artifact magic. The magic of ancient items. Someone needs to fly south and warn the Dominar that it is loose in her lands. Maybe that someone should be you.”
Was he kidding? I was meant to have adventures, not get myself stuck helping fancy court ladies in and out of carriages. “I’m not going to talk to any Dominar!”
Hubric laughed. “Well, someone needs to do the harder task. Someone needs to fly north to the border of Ko’Torenth and the Dominion. There is a camp of Magikas there. Someone needs to sneak in and rescue Zyla.”
“That’s not a tall order or anything.”
“Or they could attack the camp head on and hope she survives the carnage.” The glint in his eye told me he was teasing. “But don’t worry. I knew you weren’t up for that.”
“How many of them do you think there are?” I looked back at the package to avoid his gaze. Inside the cloth was a fine silver chain with an oblong stone the thickness of my thumb hanging from it. It rippled in the light from golden to dark brown like a boiled candy.
He shrugged. “More than there are here. Is that Tiger’s Eye from Ephretti? It seems to suit you.”
I slipped the chain over my neck and hid the stone in my shirt as I thought. No one had ever given me such a fine gift. It was a reminder that I was in this now. I’d made commitments I couldn’t wriggle out of and people were counting on me. And if I was stuck helping people out, I should at least find a way to do it my way. Something inside me seemed to solidify.
“Stop and think, Hubric. Which of us is better at hiding? Which of us has a chameleon for a dragon? It’s not you, old man. You go south and bow to Castelans and Dominars. I’m going north to rescue the girl.”
“If that’s how you feel about it.” He was watching me sidelong as if he was waiting for something. If he thought I was going to chicken out or change my mind, he could think again!
“And how will I know this Zyla girl?”
“She has golden eyes like that stone you just put in your shirt. That’s the only distinctive thing about her.”
“You must just kill with the ladies using those complimentary descriptions.”
“I don’t compliment people.”
“I’ve noticed.”
He looked awkward for a moment as if he was thinking of something else but then he turned back to me.
“If you succeed in rescuing her, she’ll know what to do next.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Saboraak will know what to do next.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You know, Hubric, you could go ahead and tell me. I’m great at keeping secrets. I can even keep secrets from myself if you want.”
“Best to focus on one thing at a time.”
“And if I end up separated from both Saboraak and Zyla?”
Hubric’s eyes narrowed. “Then you’d better be dead, or I’ll make you wish you were. They are your responsibility now.”
I sighed. “I don’t like responsibility.”
“I know.”
“Then how do you know that I won’t just get up and run.” I tried to make my voice sound defiant, but I knew it was no use. I was tangled up in this now.
He smiled. “I have my reasons to believe in you, boy. Oh, and Tor?”
“Yes?”
“Not to put to much pressure on you, but the world might hang in the balance. What we do now, could push it one way or another.”
Yeah. There was no pressure there. None at all.