Chapter Nine

Vadin knelt, using a piece of rock to carve a small circle of arcane symbols into the hard-packed ground. It might not be pretty, but the magic would still function. Although he missed his staff, spell books, and other ritual implements, they weren’t essential.

“How does the locating spell work?” Valla asked, a mixture of curiosity and distrust evident in her face. “Will it draw a map for us?”

“No.” He closed his eyes, trying to remain focused.

“Will it paint a big arrow in the sky, pointing the way?”

“Be quiet. I need to concentrate.”

“But I thought you were so powerful, you didn’t need all—”

“Hush!” He opened his eyes and glared at her. “If you must know, the spell will give me a vision, one in which I see the empress and where she stands in relation to this place. If I’m not focused, I might miss something important. Now, go, do something useful like catching more eels.”

“Yes, your lordship.” She gave a mock bow, before turning and jogging toward the lake.

As she ran, her shape expanded, transforming from a tall athletic woman, to a great fire-breathing beast. Over the years, he’d seen dragons shift many times, but it still left him awestruck.

In drake form, her wings spanned more than thirty feet, with each leg as thick around as a tree trunk. Blue-green spikes adorned her head, neck, and serpentine tail, while her iridescent scales glinted in the sun.

She dove into the water, soon disappearing under the rippling jade surface. Apparently swimming came as easily to her as flying and fighting. He couldn’t deny she was an impressive creature. And like it or not, she had saved his life.

If not for Valla, snatching him up in her mighty jaws, he’d have been overcome by the empress’ horde. Each time he considered using sorcery on her, that fact arose. Without her he would be dead. At the very least, he owed her the honor one accords a respected adversary. He would not break his promise.

Drawing his focus back to the locating spell, he began an incantation. The circle of symbols ignited in the ground, giving off a dull glow. There wasn’t as much power as he would have liked, but it would have to do.

He closed his eyes, using his inner sight to ride the spell, as it shot like an arrow, straight for the empress. His awareness raced over the vast white plain, following the thread of magic. He flew past tall cliffs, forests of blood-colored trees, and dark barren hills.

Up ahead, he saw a castle—if you could call such an unlikely structure by that name. It looked to be made of hollowed out crystals, on a scale so massive, he knew magic must be responsible. The semi-transparent castle perched on an outcropping of rock, at the crest of a steep ridge, towering over the surrounding landscape.

Clearly this empress liked to make an impression. Her fortification was visually stunning and nearly impregnable. It held the highest ground, and the sheer crystal walls would be treacherous, if not impossible, to breach.

He rode the spell closer, hoping for a glimpse of his quarry. Before he could see her, a burst of energy blazed from the castle, sizzling back along the locating thread, catching him in the chest. He felt a tugging pain, as if someone snagged him with a fishing hook and line.

In the blink of an eye, Vadin’s spell reversed, snaring him in the empress’ magic. Given another few moments, she might locate him. He had to break contact before that happened. She was too dangerous, by far.

Shouting words of severing, he leapt up, scuffing his boot heel across the magic symbols, opening the circle and dissolving the spell. His heart raced, and sweat beaded his brow. How had she turned the tables on him so quickly?

“Is everything good?” Valla asked, approaching from the lake shore, hands full of dripping green eels. He’d been submerged in the spell trance longer than anticipated.

He simply nodded, not trusting his voice to sound calm. There was no point telling her what had happened. It would only complicate matters.

“So you found the empress?”

“Yes.” He cleared his throat and gestured in the opposite direction from the lake. “She’s that way, what I’d call north, based on the movement of the sun.”

“Do you think those are the same hills we saw when the portal opened?” Valla pointed to a dark smudge, running along the horizon line.

“No. That’s a cliff, at least a mile high and many more across.”

“How do you know?”

“I saw it in my vision. Beyond that cliff the terrain changes to wooded hills. They go on for many leagues. I don’t know precisely how far, but it doesn’t matter. As long as we keep heading north, I’ll recognize our route.”

“If you say so.” She looked skeptical.

“You don’t believe me?” He couldn’t keep the irritation from his voice.

“Just once, I’d like to be the one having visions, so I’d see with my own eyes and know for sure.”

“Unfortunately, you don’t have the talent. So, you’ll have to accept my word.”

“Wonderful.” Her eyes narrowed. “You’d better not be leading me down a false path. Because if you are—”

“Remember, I want to find the empress as much as you do.”

“And why is that, exactly?

“My reasons needn’t concern you.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Your reasons do concern me, very much. I want to know what you’re after. Why did you open the portal in the first place, and what are you planning now that we’re here?”

“I have no intention of discussing my affairs with you.” He crossed his arms. “In the meantime, we’re wasting precious daylight. I say we get on our way, while there are still a few hours till nightfall.”

She grumbled something under her breath but offered no further argument.

“It’ll be faster if you shift to a drake,” he said, “and I’ll sit on your back.”

She snorted. “Are you sure you’re up for that? It could be a wild ride.”

“I’ll manage.”

“You’ll have to figure out some way to carry these, if you still want them.” She thrust the slippery eels at him. “I already ate my fill.”

As slimy and unappealing as the eels looked, he knew they tasted surprisingly good. And he wasn’t in a position to be picky. Anything that kept him fed, in this strange land, was worth holding onto.

“Just a moment.” He gestured for her to wait, while he cast a quick spell. With a popping noise, the eels vanished.

Valla’s jaw dropped, as she stared at her empty hands.

“I sent them to a small pocket dimension,” he explained, seeing no harm in sharing benign information. “When I want to cook one, I’ll cast another spell to call them back again. In the interim, I can use both hands for hanging on while we’re flying.”

“I suppose that’s for the best.” She shook her head. “You have quite a bag of tricks. Any others I should know about?”

“Not at this time.” He enjoyed the expression on her face, bafflement and worry, mixed with a little awe. It was good to keep the upper hand with her.

“All right then.” She gave him a final piercing look then moved several yards away, to shift.

Whirls of magic spun around her as she morphed into a drake. She tucked her wings out of his way, close to her gleaming flanks, and crouched low so he could climb on. Even in such an unthreatening pose, she looked daunting.

Steeling his courage, Vadin walked over and hoisted himself onto her back. Her scales were unexpectedly warm and supple, more like leathery hide than rigid armor. He grabbed two neck spines and told her he was ready.

She surged into the air, her azure wings beating powerfully. Vadin forced himself to breathe, as the ground dropped away. They sped upwards, angling toward a silvery fan of clouds stretching across the northern sky.

Once they gained enough altitude for Valla to level off, he began to enjoy the ride. This was a spectacular way to travel. She covered a full league in a matter of minutes, each wing-beat devouring another mile.

Moving north, they passed a slow winding river. He saw a herd of hoofed animals, each with four horns spiraling from the top of their heads. They scattered as Valla raced by, some of them plunging into the river, while others fled across the plain.

He laughed, caught up in the rush of flying. Wind tore at his hair, streaming it out behind him. The landscape sped by, a dizzying distance below. It echoed his experiences with trance visions, only this was much more visceral, his body and all five senses fully engaged.

As the sun sank lower, they reached the high cliff at the edge of the plains. The great craggy wall rose up and up, seeming to block half the sky. Valla climbed, wings pumping, sleek muscles moving rhythmically under her scaly hide. The sensation reminded him of riding a galloping horse but more thrilling, by far.

She soared over the cliff top, and Vadin’s gaze snapped northward. A flock of alien flying creatures headed toward them, approaching at an alarming speed. From this distance it was difficult to pick out details, but they didn’t look like any birds he’d seen before. The body shape was all wrong.

Valla changed direction, veering westward, and the creatures adjusted, maintaining their collision course. As they drew closer, he could see they weren’t birds at all, but flying insects. Their bodies reminded him of centipedes, cylindrical with many legs on each side, while their wings looked like those of dragonflies.

Ominous clicking and whirring sounds carried from the swarm as it neared. Each creature appeared to be the size of a large cat, with wide mandibles and clawed feet. The possibility they might be venomous sent a chill down Vadin’s spine.

Had they been sent because of his locating spell? Was the empress still linked to him in some way, using him as a homing beacon for her monsters?

In another moment the swarm attacked, enveloping him and Valla in a pulsating cloud. She whipped her head back and forth, blasting the creatures with fire, but there were too many.

They focused on her wings, clawing and biting through the vulnerable membranes. She roared and jerked violently, trying to shake the monsters off. It was no use. When one fell off, three more swooped in. Soon, she began to lose altitude her wing-beats failing under the onslaught.

For some unknown reason, the insects didn’t harm Vadin. They surrounded him in a mass of black armored bodies, but stopped short of touching him. Their bulbous metallic eyes appeared devoid of intelligence, and yet he felt certain someone observed him. Was it a swarm master, similar to the pack boss who came through the portal? Or was it the empress herself?

The answers to his questions would have to wait. Valla was being forced to the ground, and things looked bad. He had to do something fast.

Summoning the last of his dwindling power reserves, he worked a potent spell. It was difficult, without magic implements or a ritual circle, but he had no choice. The spell exploded out from him, sending a shockwave through the swarm.

Every single insect turned to ice.

He cried aloud the ancient word for breaking, and they shattered into a billion fragments. Tiny ice crystals caught on the wind, glinting in the last rays of the setting sun.

Groaning, he bent forward, his body protesting the massive force he’d channeled. His vision blurred, and his limbs shook with fatigue. He clung desperately to Valla’s neck spines, his knuckles turning white with effort.

You need to land! I can’t hold on much longer. He sent the words to her, hoping her mind link was open to him. If not, he had a long way to fall.