| |
I found our contact! I could hardly believe it!
Maybe because it isn’t true, trout. I found our contact when you thought he was a petty criminal.
We flew into the dragon cotes, Saboraak’s annoyance making her flying more choppy. I’d never seen a dragon cote before, though I tried to look nonchalant as the huge honey-comb structure filled my vision. Dragons filled most of the rock structures. Their scales were bright in the dawn. Who would have thought there were so many people from the Dominion in the city?
It’s a huge city. You could live here for months and never meet any of them.
They dragons in the cotes seemed excited about something. Gusts of flames puffed from the openings and more than one snapped his jaws.
A sudden headache hit me and I put a hand to my forehead, but surprisingly, as it faded, so did the excitement in the cotes.
“If you aren’t Zyla-” Apeq began.
I waved a hand irritably, cutting him off and spoke in my normal voice. “Hold onto your dragon, Apeq. Give us a minute and we’ll get you to your girl.”
His silence worried me, but our cote was close. I could see Zyla hurrying to the front of it, a lantern held high in her hand as Saboraak slowed, gliding on raised wings. Saboraak’s huge foreclaws reached out and she grabbed the lip of the cote, pulling us into the open-sided room with the ease of practice.
Zyla bounced from one leg to the next, her face flickering through emotions as we dismounted. She must realize this was Saboraak to be so calm about our landing. When had she realized that Saboraak could change colors?.
“Rumors are tearing through the dragon cotes!” She said as soon as our feet hit the ground. “They say that the signs of destiny were revealed tonight – the Ko! I’ve been listening to stories about them all my life. Do you know what this means?”
“The time of Legends is upon us,” Apeq said gravely.
Zyla met his gaze and they were both nodding – true believers in some faith I didn’t share.
“Legends will walk among us, touching our fates and drawing us along in their current,” Zyla agreed. Her eyes were bright, and her mouth trembled slightly. Somehow, the intense emotion made her look even prettier – and also crazier. Don’t get involved with crazy, Tor. Crazy kills.
“The time when magic will change forever and a new generation will rise up to take the place of the old,” Apeq continued.
“The signs will show us the way.”
“You are Zyla Cloudbender,” Apeq said excitedly. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“You are my contact from Hubric?” Zyla asked, her head tilted to the side.
“One and the same. The boy exchanged the password with me. I am Apeq A’kona of the Jadefire House of Marvels.” Apeq’s smile widened and I found myself looking him over, judging what I saw. He was about thirty, which was a lot older than Zyla or I. I figured she was about seventeen and I was only a hair older than that.
He shouldn’t be smiling at her so confidently. That was my job, not the job of an old man who sold jade carvings.
Jealous much?
Of that old guy? Of course not.
But the way Zyla smiled at him stung. It made no sense. I’d only known her a few days. What did it matter to me if she wanted to smile at an old man? I bet he didn’t jump off a platform last night and stun a whole city with the sheer guts of a move like that.
You should play that back for yourself in your mind. If that doesn’t sound jealous to you then you need to adjust your mindset.
Dragons! And girls! Frustrating – all of them.
I stormed to the back of the cotes, wrenching the veil and skirt off. There was a half-wall set up. Maybe the saddlebags were back there. Last I checked, there was bread in one of them and I was still starving. Zyla could go ahead and get googly-eyed over Apeq – what kind of a name was Apeq? – I didn’t care. I was going to find something to eat.
There was a pair of cots behind the half-wall along with a set of hooks for gear and a small cook area. Dragon Riders must camp out in these places when they didn’t have coin for inns or anything else.
This place took coin. Surprisingly, Zyla had some hidden in her boot sole. Enough to pay for a week here. I think that was all she had.
Saboraak’s tack was hanging on the hooks. I opened the saddlebags carefully, searching for bread. There was only a tiny piece left. Thanks, guys. It crumbled in my fingers, but I ate it sourly. Crumbled or whole, I needed the strength food could provide. I was dog tired, bone cold, and hungry.
There was a wide metal dish full of red embers between the two cots. A brazier. I guess they heated these places that way. What I wouldn’t give to throw myself into one of those cots, but right now they were occupied by a snoring Zin and a sick looking Bataar. He mumbled in his sleep, tossing back and forth.
I wandered over to him curiously, still licking the crumbs off my fingers. Why was he so sick? Saboraak had been hit by magical lightning.
I’m a dragon. I am built differently than humans are. I’m stronger.
Way to rub it in. But that point wasn’t valid. I had also been hit by the lightning in the heel.
I sat on a small crate at the end of the cramped space and pulled my boot off, looking at my heel. It still stung, and the skin on my heel was glassy and smooth, painful to the touch. It formed a circle about the size of my thumb. The boot leather was burnt in the same place, leaving a hole about the same size as the wound on my foot. It was healing like a burn would heal - hurting, but not insufferable. I needed new boots when I could get them. Hmmm...
The lightning that hit us was not natural lightning. It was magic lightning. Dragons can be hurt and die from that, but it takes a lot to kill us. A human? I am surprised that Bataar is still alive.
And me?
Perhaps it is your luck at play ...
If it was, then I was very lucky.
If it’s not luck, then there is some other factor. Have you considered those marks on your arms – the ones that have the city in uproar – might have something to do with it?
I shrugged awkwardly and put my boot back on. I hoped that the marks had nothing to do with anything. I hoped no one ever brought them up again. I would have to be careful from now on. I would have to keep them hidden.
But if they provide you some shielding from magical attacks, that can only be to your advantage.
We had no proof of that.
You and Bataar were each hit by a magical lightning bolt at the same time. You have a minor burn. He’s struggling for breath in a cot. Proof? If that’s not proof, then I don’t know what is.
She made a compelling point.