Dragon Legends (Return of the Darkening Book 2) (10 page)

Staring at them I wondered if I should go get Merik. But only one bell was ringing, and I found a tiny brass plaque underneath the bell had the words:
Northern Slopes 2
.

Where had I seen that designation before?

Then I remembered the maps of Dragon Mountain.

Most of the largest features were named, such as Tabbit’s Hollow or the Ridgeway, but there were still areas which were just given codes like northern slope or south-western reach. But what did the bell mean? We were being attacked?

From the enclosure, Kalax snuffed the air, and I could tell she had picked up on my rising worry.

I didn’t know if I should sound the Dragon Horns. But what if it was just a wild dragon that had somehow tripped the wires out there to ring the bell? I didn’t know, but a dragon could find out. As everyone knew, dragons had an excellent sense of smell. They knew different people from different dragons and other animals, and even tell what the person was wearing and where they had been. I glanced out the window to the enclosure and thought,
Can you fly out to—

Yes! Kalax hunt!
I glimpsed her red scales as she sprang into the air over the enclosure. She circled once and then headed to the north.

I waited nervously by the bell, wondering what was about to happen, what I was going to hear. The bell had stopped ringing.

Kalax had kept the connection between us open as she soared into the dark sky. I caught some of her feelings—a ripple of enthusiasm, joy for the flight, the feel of wind on her face and under her wings. Her size seemed to become mine. I stretched out my arms like they were wings.

On the far northern side of the mountain, the smell of snow carried to me on the breeze. It seemed as if I could smell everything—the cooling earth, the smell of the animals below. And I could hear them, too. Hearts pounding, little feet skittering as they saw my shadow blot out the stars and moon. I could have gasped. The experience was so much fuller than anything I could have imagined. I’d never known dragons were so sensitive. I could feel the tiniest breeze, and could sense when it was shifting. My leathery wings caught the smallest vibration from the land and sky. Even the clouds smelled differently—most were clean and wet, but some carried a hint of forest leaves or the salt of the ocean.

The smell of a thousand fires from the city wound into the sky, and I could smell cobbles and meals and unwashed clothes. It almost made me gag, until another, fainter scent caught at my mind—a hint of sand and incense.

The south—you can smell the Southern Realm?

When the wind blows right.
Kalax was proud and almost purring in my mind.
Now you know what flying is really like, little one.

Yes, now I knew, and I was amazed.

Kalax turned her attention to the ground below, scanning it for movement, picking out the wet-lanolin smell of huddled sheep, then the scent of a small herd of deer, their hearts pounding as they hid under some trees, and the disgruntled, annoyed yap of a dog-fox, who didn’t like his prey behind scared off. Kalax swept lower. She was showing off, I knew, showing me what she was really capable of.

I am tired of practice. I can fight better than any other.

I didn’t doubt it, but I thought back at her that the training wasn’t just for her—it was for me and Thea. Kalax gave a snort of laughter, and then I caught something, through our link—the scent of a human. The person carried dirt on him as if he’d spent a long time tramping through the woods, and something else—a collection of strange scents like herbs and flowers. Where had I smelled those before?

Kalax circled over the spot where the figure was—she could see far better than I could in the dark.
He’s going to the place where we go at night. Want me to stop him?

He’s going to the cabin?
No…don’t stop him,
I added quickly.

Clearly frustrated, Kalax thought back at me how easily she could capture people with her claws. She sent me an image that was more like a memory—one of her picking up Thea and then me.

I gasped with the thought of being able to share not just the senses and thoughts of a dragon, but a dragon’s memories? Was this what the affinity with dragons really could do?

Kalax told me she was flying away from the man who smelled of forests and herbs so he wouldn’t see her. But she also sent me an image of the man’s face—one I recognized. It was the bearded man whom I’d confronted in Torvald.

You want me to hunt this man?
Kalax wheeled in the air.

No, just see that he does go to the cabin. Then we’ll go there together.

Yes. You, me, and Thea hunt together!
Kalax broke the connection, and I slumped against the stone wall, feeling small and clumsy now. If I closed my eyes, I could almost remember the feel of wings growing out of my shoulders and the hint of the hot, southern trade winds to the sky.

Kalax sent a quick thought at me as sharp as a dart.
He goes to cabin. They smell the same.

I straightened. To be honest I was almost grateful not to share more with Kalax right now. The dragon’s senses had left me a little confused, as if I wasn’t Sebastian at all, but Kalax. I shook my head and rubbed my cheeks. Then I hurried out. Thea was going to be waiting for me at the back gate and I still needed to get my gear.

*

Seb was late. I stood in the darkness by the rear gate, my kit already on my shoulder. Tonight I was going to bring some snacks as well as another blanket. I still wondered if Commander Hegarty had used this to keep us busy—but maybe it was better than hunting up rocks that weren’t the Armor Stone. I was also angry that neither of my brothers had trusted me enough to tell me where they were going. Ryan and Reynalt were about as important as anyone could be, and they still acted like I was their kid sister who tagged after them.

I shuffled my feet and wished I had put on my thicker breeches. There was a frost to the air tonight, and this afternoon I’d even seen a flurry of snow. But it was clear now, and I had no intention of missing out on anything that might happen tonight. I also had no intention of opening the box my mother had sent me.

I knew what it held. I had opened the note from her and had read that she was sending me a selection of gowns for the ball. I was to choose two—one for the formal meal and one for dancing. She’d written that it was only two nights until the Winter Ball—much that I cared—and had underlined that part several times.

I was tempted to write back a note that I would wear the academy dress uniform. But I knew that wouldn’t work. Once she saw me dressed as a Dragon Rider, she’d just nag me until I changed.

“May the First Dragon strike me down if I ever, ever wear anything flouncy,” I whispered to the skies. I also wasn’t sure if I even remembered how to dance. I knew a two-blade fighting stance, and how to move with a staff, but the Jokozan or the Twimble Three-Step were only distant memories for me. I’d learned them when I was six, and that seemed almost another lifetime ago. Visions of me falling over in ridiculous, high-heeled shoes encrusted with diamonds left me shuddering. I didn’t like that Mother seemed to be putting so much effort into one ball—as if my future hung on this one event. Was she like everyone else—worried about me? That I’d die again?

A voice from behind startled me and I turned fast.

“Hey,” Seb said, stepping from the darkness, his saddle slung over his shoulder. He grinned at me. “You would not believe what just happened. It was amazing! Although a little bit uncomfortable. But amazing!”

“Do I want to hear this? Was it a spectacularly good apple pie tonight?” I asked. We headed out, latching the gate behind us. Seb, I knew, would have a key that would get us back in again.

Seb proceeded to tell me how Kalax had shared not just thoughts, but all her sensations of flying and even memories with him. I nodded, but I couldn’t help but feel a little left out, as if Kalax like Seb better than she liked me. I pushed the idea away and asked, “So you think this is the same man who has been following you?” We climbed up the mountain path to where Kalax sat waiting for us, her eyes bright even in the dim starlight.

Seb started to harness Kalax. “He has to be. But he doesn’t know that we’re watching him. He just thinks that he’s watching us. And then there was the smell on him. Well, the smell that Kalax picked up and then I smelled it, but I didn’t realize what it had reminded me at the time.”

“What?” I asked. I had my saddle in place and mounted Kalax. She leaped from the ground with a powerful thrust. The cold air hit my face.

Seb turned to me. “Instructor Mordecai’s laboratory,” he said. “When he made me that medicine.”

I gave another shiver, and not just for the cold.

We quickly reached Tabbit’s Hollow, and I could feel Kalax’s desire to hunt up this man and have battle. My heart answered with a fast jump and I smiled.

But Seb coaxed Kalax into a landing, and told her, “No. We have to wait and watch, like last time.”

Kalax cocked her head sideways to look at me, and I nodded. I knew she could sense what I was thinking about doing, and she approved.

I turned to find our path back through the overgrown and crowded woods between us and the answers we were seeking.

“Hey, Thea, wait.” Seb followed behind me, crashing through the brambles. “We’re supposed to be quiet. Slow down.”

In just a few more minutes, I saw the dark shape of the log cabin ahead. One window was framed with a faint, orange glow. I glanced at Seb and then settled my kit behind the fallen where we’d kept watch on the other nights.

“Thea?” Seb said his voice soft, but also thick with worry.

I faced him. “Seb, this guy attacked you. He’s been following you. And while you might be content to keep waiting, I’m not.” I hopped over the log and reached for my sword.

“Thea, the commander said—”

“The commander’s been saying a lot of things that don’t always make sense. I’m not going to wait for this man to catch you alone again.” Turning, I headed for the cabin at a fast, soft run.

I didn’t tell Seb what else I was thinking—that if we managed to get some answers out of this man, we might also earn our way into the Black Claws.

Bounding up onto the wooden steps outside, I kicked open the door. I could hear Seb behind me, his sword hissing as he pulled it out, and Kalax took flight, heading to the cabin to help us.

The door sprang backwards with a crash to reveal a long, narrow room crowded with shelves. A small candle lay on a worktable, and in a chair sat a large man with a pepper-and-black beard and a graying cloak, a book open in front of him.

“Stop where you are, old man,” I shouted, leveling my sword at him. He put one hand in the air, and his face twisted. I thought I’d frightened him, but then I realized he was making an ‘I have been frozen’ face like a travelling actor might do at one of the summer festivals. “Stop that.”

Kalax’s roar rattled the cabin’s shutters.

“No, Kalax, pull back,” Seb shouted.

The old man straightened and smoothed his cloak. “Make up your mind. Stop? Go? No? What?” He stood, moved to one of the wooden barrels at the back of the cabin and started to uncork it.

I stepped closer. “Leave that alone.”

The man glanced at me. “Your dragon is hungry, isn’t she? Of course she is. Dragons are always hungry.” He popped open the barrel and the smell of salted lake fish wafted up, making my stomach growl even though I’d had dinner. That seemed a long time ago now, and I loved salted lake fish.

Fish?

I heard Kalax’s thoughts. She landed nearby, branches cracking and breaking under her. Seb stepped up to my side, holding his sword out to match mine. “I feed my dragon, not you. Now…don’t you recognize me?”

The man laughed as if we were children he’d known for years. “A dragon will feed itself, with or without its rider’s consent!” He pulled out a large fish, took a chunk and popped it into his mouth. “See, it is fine. I wouldn’t poison myself, would I?”

I’ll judge if food is bad.

Kalax’s nose pushed into the doorway and she huffed out a long, hot breath.

“There’s a well-spirited one!” The man laughed. “I bet she’s a beautiful flier, too.”

Seb’s eyes narrowed, but I could see the blush of pride on his cheeks. “The best.”

“I’m sure she is.” He threw the salted fish to Kalax. Even within the narrow doorway, she managed to catch the fish and gulp it down.

She pulled back and announced
Fish good.

“And yes, young Sebastian, the smith’s son, I know you. Just as I know you, Lady Agathea Flamma.” The man wiped his hands on a cloth and smoothed his beard, before nodding at Seb and bowing deeply to me. “My brother told me to expect you two.”

I glanced at Seb and back to the man. Seb’s sword tip dropped, but I kept mine up. “What do you mean your brother?”

The man smoothed his beard. “I am very sorry for any harm I may have caused you the other night, Sebastian, but I couldn’t afford to be caught by the city watch. Those dullards would have kept me from important work. The whole game would be ruined!”

“Game? You think this is a game?” I waved my sword in front of him. “We came for answers.”

“And you shall have some.” He sat down again at the worktable and waved to an unlit fireplace where a group of rickety stools sat. “My name is Jodreth and Commander Hegarty is my younger brother.”

Staring at him, I could see some resemblance. Both men had clear, gray eyes, and both shared a similar muscular build. But this man seemed taller. I also knew it was easy enough to claim blood ties. “Why hasn’t he told anyone about you?”

Jodreth laughed. “Well, we had different fathers, which is why he is so short. But we shared the same mother.” He looked at Seb. “We grew up in similar circumstances to you, young man, as it happens. But take a seat and we’ll get down to business. We must be done before dawn touches the horizon.”

“Done with what?” I kept my sword up. I still didn’t feel we should trust this man.

He nodded and smiled. “My brother told me to expect you—he knew the academy was being watched, and he did not trust talking to you directly. We do not want to put you in danger of the Memory Stone being used against you—and that will happen if someone on the other side finds out I am here.”

His words sent a chill through me, and my sword wavered.

Seb put a hand on my shoulder. “Thea, I think he’s telling the truth—Kalax at least seems to believe that he is. She just told me this man smells like the commander.”

I lowered my sword, but I told Jodreth, “Someone already used the Memory Stone. On a friend of ours—and we suspect on the prince as well.”

Jodreth’s shoulders slumped. “It’s worse than we knew then. For not only has the Memory Stone been stolen, it’s in the hands of our enemies again.”

*