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YOU CAN’T SPY FROM inside an isolated cave. That was the first thing that occurred to me as I drifted off in the cot beside the fire. Saboraak had crawled over to place her muzzle along the side of the cot as I fell asleep. Oddly, it felt nice to have her acid-smelling breath beside me. No one snored like a dragon, but even that was comforting. When I woke in the night with wispy memories of friends I hadn’t seen since they died, of fire ravaging my city, of falling through the air – well, a dragon snore is a very solid thing.
We were going to have to leave the hideout to discover things. And we were going to have to gather information. It had taken me hours to decide if I would really trust Bataar last night. He had napped in the cot while I finished cooking the potatoes and investigating the other rooms.
Read his mind for me, I urged Saboraak. Tell me if I can trust him.
It’s harder than you might think. Sometimes you just have to take a gamble with people, Tor.
I liked gambles, but not where people were concerned. It was too hard to cut your losses if things went bad.
When we were eating the baked potatoes I eventually said, “Do you still want to go to the Dominion?”
Bataar sighed. “What’s it to you?”
“I’m still worried I can’t trust you.”
“But?”
“But I have to trust someone. I’m worried about Zyla and Zin and I have a ... task ... to accomplish.”
“Are you saying that if you can trust me then you’ll let me help with the task?” His eyes had a surprising light in them.
That’s hope.
“Sure,” I agreed with a shrug. I didn’t really want help, but I didn’t really want to be stabbed in the back either, and having him nearby meant I could keep an eye on him.
Bataar surprised me, rolling up his sleeve to show me the bare skin underneath. “Follow me.”
He led me to the door and showed me the skin again, standing out with the silver-bright tattoo his arms had when I looked before. I noticed – now that I could see the whole thing – that it was a stylized bird soaring over mountains. The Ko.
“I received these Ko at the Door of Heaven in Ashadana of Kav’ai. By these marks I swear, you can trust me.”
I scratched my own arm awkwardly. There was no way I was going to show mine.
“Okay, so I’ll trust you. But why do you want to work with me?”
“You’re spying for the Dominion, right? My people are threatened by Ko’Torenth, too. Maybe if I help you, I won’t need to fulfill any moldy old prophecies. We can overthrow this place with just human actions. No magic. Just ingenuity.”
I put my hands up. “Whoa! No one said anything about overthrowing anything!”
“Don’t be naïve. Your Dominar wouldn’t have sent spies if she wasn’t planning on moving on Ko’Torenth. If she attacks, they’ll forget about the Kav’ai, and I won’t have to be the Ko Bearer. I can just be Bataar Bayanen – son of Mynaar, son of Lataar, Chief of the Stone Basin Kav’ai and my people can continue their traditions in peace.”
“What are your traditions?”
“Like I’d tell you!”
I shook my head trying not to sigh. “You can keep your secrets, Bataar, so long as you tell them to me if it turns out I need to know them.”
I needed to know everything. I hated that he wouldn’t tell me, but he would slip up eventually and his secrets would all come tumbling out. I just needed patience.
People never really kept secrets. Secrets were like mice. You could box one up, but it was always looking to get out and the second it saw an opportunity it would be squeezing through whatever crack it found and scrambling all through the house.
Bataar’s secrets were no different. They wanted to get out and show themselves to old Tor. I just needed to be patient and let them do the work.
“Deal,” Bataar said. His first mistake. I always turned deals to my advantage.
But we went to sleep in peace and the next morning we were both more cheerful as I cooked breakfast over the fire. I’d washed and then found a fresh set of clothes that I rather liked. They were certainly grander than anything I’d worn before. I was almost certain that the white shirt was made of real Baojang silk and the close-fitting leather trousers, knee-high boots, bracers, and leather vest were well made and durable with just enough buckles and trim to make them fashionable. My clothes were fine enough to pass for nobility or a well-to-do merchant, but plain enough that they wouldn’t look strange on a craftsman or traveling bard. I even found a new fur-lined cloak to wear when I went out. The clothing alone made the trip to this cave worth it.
For my part, I think I will shift to a new pattern, Saboraak said in my mind. I have never liked Gold.
To be honest, it didn’t really suit her.
Over on her side of the room, she morphed from Gold to Black – it really didn’t matter which color she chose. The war had dispersed dragons in every direction as they fled wholesale defeat at the hands of Ifrits and Dusk Covenant that any color of dragon may have ended up here. The frill around her head disappeared and large horns sprouted from her head and chin.
I grinned wickedly at Bataar’s shriek of fear.
“It’s a demon!” he yelled, leaping onto his cot.
“It’s Saboraak,” I said calmly, scooping porridge into bowls and handing him one.
“He – ”
“She,” I corrected.
“She just changed her shape and color!”
“She does that.” I took a bite of porridge, keeping my face straight. I was enjoying this.
“This is the same dragon that saved us before from the tents of Shabren?”
“You didn’t know that?”
“I thought this was a different dragon!”
I laughed.
“Do they all do that?” Bataar asked.
“You mean the other dragons?”
“Yes!” He got down off the cot gracelessly. I liked that. Bataar was always so smug about his good looks and flowing graceful movements that it was nice to see him thrown off his game. He was dressed like me in clothing found in the back room, but instead of a leather vest and bracers, he wore a fine red brocade coat that made him look even nobler than I did.
“They’re all male out there. Only the females can shift color and shape – and now that you know that you are my Secret Bearer. So, don’t tell anyone.”
He snorted. “Secret Bearer is a sacred title. You can’t just swear someone to secrecy with it.”
“Okay, let’s put it this way,” I said, taking a bite of porridge. “Keep the secret or Saboraak will make you regret it.”
She hissed dramatically, baring her teeth.
You know I won’t hurt him.
He didn’t know that, though. Bataar looked pale as his gaze danced from Saboraak’s snarl to my stern gaze.
“Of course, her secret is safe with me. She makes the perfect spy, though, doesn’t she? No one can tell which dragon she is at any time. If you got to know which dragons are in the cotes, she could impersonate any of them. Especially if one had a rider who looked anything like you.”
Now that was an idea with potential. I mulled on it as we finished our breakfast and prepared for the day. This time, I packed little items like a pocket knife and a flint and steel in a small belt pouch. Some of Hubric’s gold made its way into the pouch, too. Things on this mountain were unpredictable, and I didn’t want to be caught out again.
My last trip was up a winding staircase to where doves were housed in a small dovecote. It was open so they could come and go. Was that normal? Hopefully, the dove I chose would actually take the message to Hubric and not just fly off. I carefully attached the handwritten scrap of paper I’d prepared to the leg of one healthy-looking dove.
It read: In Ko’Koren. Ko revealed. Door of Heaven found. Magikas gathering. Collecting more information. T.
It would have to do for now.