Dralin (34 page)

The girls exchanged puzzled glances before
looking at Hezzena in confusion. “If I could have, I would have
saved Rizzith already,” Pelya told her. “If you had just asked me,
I would have done so again gladly. I’ll still do it because I think
it’s the right thing to do.”

Hezzena stared at her for a minute and then
hung her head. “I am ashamed by my behavior, child. My treatment of
you is unacceptable, yet you still act with great honor. Please
forgive me.”

The sudden change in behavior surprised the
girls. Pelya stared for a moment then ran and gave Hezzena a hug.
Ebudae stared at them both, but rushed and joined the hug too. The
dragon looked at them in shock, but wrapped her arms tightly around
their shoulders. “Thank you. Thank you for forgiving me and thank
you for helping to rescue Rizzith.”

“Of course. There’s no way I would miss it!”
Ebudae said enthusiastically as they separated. “I know we can do
it now that you’ve told me everything you did.”

Hezzena pointed a finger at Ebudae. “You are
not to do anything I’ve forbidden you.” The sharp tip circled
warningly in the young wizardess’s face. She moved it in front of
Pelya. “I will tell you those things. If you don’t prevent your
friend from doing so, she will die from the casting.” Pelya nodded
while Ebudae crossed her arms stubbornly.

“I’ll make certain of it,” Pelya agreed,
glaring at her friend who stuck her tongue out.

“Good,” Hezzena said with a nod. “The first
problem we have is where to meet once you’ve rescued my son.” She
began pacing in a very human way. “The wards you described on the
secret hallway will prevent me from coming in that way. They were
made specifically to keep me, or any dragon whose help I might
enlist, from sensing my son or coming through. However, it is the
only way to get my son out since he cannot be brought up through
the city. Once you get past the door, I need you to meet me.”

“That sounds like a good plan, but I don’t
know how to get through the door,” Pelya replied thoughtfully.

“That’s the easy part,” Ebudae said. “The
problem is figuring out how to get to the ancient city from that
room. Then we need to figure out how to alert Hezzena and get her
there before something eats us so she can rescue Rizzith from the
cage, which is the hardest part, one that I’m not allowed to do.”
The wizardess folded her arms and stubbornly glared at both of
them.

“I don’t know where the passage will let
out,” Hezzena explained. “I can protect you against everything, but
only if I can find you in time.”

Pelya rubbed her stomach. It hurt from
throwing up and the potion wasn’t really settling well. “I can show
you the general area.”

They stared at her. “How can you do that?”
Hezzena asked suspiciously.

“Part of the training in the Dralin City
Guard is knowing where all the sewers are. I like studying the
maps, so I know them really well. They’re great for practicing all
the memorization I’m going to have to do as I advance. If we can
find one, I should be able to get you close to Lord Uylvich’s
estate.” She smiled enthusiastically. “I’ve been wanting to explore
them anyway, but I’m not allowed in them.”

“Aren’t the sewers above the runes that
protect the city?” Ebudae asked.

“I don’t know for sure,” Pelya said, holding
her arms out to the side. “But there are a lot of levels and the
lower ones should be below. I don’t have all of them memorized, but
I really think I can get you close.”

“Then we go now.” Hezzena grabbed Pelya’s
wrist and pulling her to the door.

“Wait!” Ebudae protested. “The sewers are
dangerous and we’ll have to go through the ruined city to get to
them, which is even more dangerous.” Hezzena just stared at the
wizardess, her face expressionless. Ebudae thought about her words
for a moment. “Oh . . . wait . . . you’re a dragon and probably
more dangerous than anything else . . .” Hezzena gave a single nod.
“Alright. I’m ready,” Ebudae said cheerfully.

The dragon rolled her liquid eyes, a neat
trick, and led them to the door, still dragging Pelya by the arm.
They exited the library, giving Ebudae a moment to re-lock the
door. The girls left their lanterns inside, deciding to rely on
Hezzena’s light orbs.

After a few steps, Pelya turned toward the
wall and threw up again. A single rainbow with feet on each end
marched across her mind, crashed against the inside of her skull
and turned into grey goop. “Pelya!” Ebudae grabbed her again when
the warrior’s knees turned to mush.

“You humans are so weak.” Hezzena let go of
the arm. “Especially when you’re young. We don’t have time for
this. You have to save Rizzith!”

“She’s not doing it on purpose!” Ebudae
yelled at the dragon. “It’s your fault!”

Luckily, the dragon didn’t rumble that time.
It didn’t stop her from tapping a foot in annoyance though. Through
the sparkly fog that was beginning to develop in her mind, Pelya
got the impression the dragon was rapidly swishing its tail even
though she was in human form.

Hezzena squatted, took Pelya’s head in her
hands and looked deeply, making Pelya even dizzier than before.
“I’m not a White, but I should be able to fix it a little bit.” The
dragon reached into Pelya’s mind and tried to put things right.

Pelya wailed pitifully as the creature
crashed around in her head like a mad bull. “Stop it!” Ebudae
screamed, beating on the powerful creature. “Stop it! You’re
hurting her!”

After a moment of making everything worse,
Hezzena did stop. “I hate healing!” she exclaimed in a growl. Pelya
sank to the ground against the wall. She could barely see anything
but blurry outlines. Her mind felt wrong -- worse than the
rainbows. Things were cracked and she couldn’t move her arms or
legs. Ebudae knelt over her and took Pelya’s face in her hands.
They were much smaller and more pleasant than the dragon’s had
been. “Pelya! By the Gods, what have you done, you beast?!” the
wizardess screamed over her shoulder at Hezzena.

Pelya tried to reassure her friend, but
couldn’t speak anymore. She realized she was probably going to die.
It was very disappointing.

“Don’t close your eyes, Pelya!” Ebudae used
her thumbs to hold Pelya’s lids open. “Stay with me.” Turning back
to Hezzena, she demanded, “She’s dying! Fix it!” Hezzena snarled at
Ebudae and flashed her claws, but the little girl wasn’t daunted.
“You did this! She tried to help you and you killed her!”

Pelya internally objected to that statement.
She wasn’t dead yet and wanted to say so out loud, but nothing
worked. It occurred to her that she
would
be dead in a
moment, but that was beside the point. A shadow on Pelya’s left
caressed her neck in comfort while one on her right ran its fingers
through her hair. They let her know she would go somewhere safe
when she died. It made her feel better about her fate.

“Move aside,” Hezzena ordered. “I’ll fix
it.” When Ebudae glared at her suspiciously, she said, “You don’t
have any other options, now
move
!”

Ebudae did so, but continued glaring.
Hezzena took her place kneeling over Pelya. She pulled out a
shining white tooth from some unknown place. Then she gripped
Pelya’s jaw. “I’m doing this because I did make a mess of her head
and she’s going to die soon if I don’t, but also because I need her
to save my child. I’m angry and hungry and it’s causing me to make
mistakes.”

Pelya was beginning to slip away, feeling as
though she was falling into whatever hole the rainbows had slid
through. A white-hot burst of pain in her chest abruptly brought
her back to the hallway and she screamed in agony. Ebudae’s
horrified scream mingled with it as she watched Hezzena drive the
tooth into her friend’s heart.

Instead of killing Pelya, the tooth healed
her mind entirely. The warrior child stood when Hezzena did.
Everything felt perfect, or even better. Her mind was sharp and she
could see every detail in the room better than before. Hearing,
smell and taste were also heightened. In addition to that, she felt
well rested, free of hunger and thirst, stronger than ever before,
and completely healthy. “Wow!” she exclaimed. “What was that?” The
tooth was gone and there was no injury.

“That was amazing!” Ebudae responded in awe.
“I thought you were dead!”

Hezzena put taloned fingers under each of
their chins. “That was a white dragon tooth. It dissolves into the
blood and cures nearly anything. It is forbidden to tell anyone
that under penalty of death.” She looked pointedly at Pelya. “It is
also one of the rarest and most valuable items of magic in the
world. I’m fairly certain one has never been used on a human, let
alone a child.” Hezzena turned in disgust and began striding down
the hallway, mumbling to herself. “It’s my own fault for being
careless. Everything is my fault. I’ve done everything wrong and
it’s
all
my own fault. I deserve to die.” Ebudae and Pelya
exchanged worried glances. Then they took each other’s hands and
hurried along.

After exiting the ancient academy, Ebudae
re-locked the door. Hezzena stomped down the steps with the girls
close behind. They followed her while she continued mumbling about
how she deserved to die, about disobedient children, how humans
were the worst plague ever to be cast upon the world of Ryallon,
how she had lost her most valuable treasure, and about little human
girls that tried to die just because she tickled their mind a
bit.

After a few minutes of walking through the
dark streets with only glowing plants and six orange orbs casting
an eerie light to see by, the girls were getting nervous. They were
much farther into the depths than would be safe for them without a
dragon escort. Neither had a clue whether or not Hezzena was
leading them in the right direction and neither was willing to
disturb her angry mumbling.

A pack of yellow-eyed creatures like the
ones that had chased the girls the week before appeared from a
street to the left. The girls got closer to Hezzena who seemed
oblivious to the presence of the monsters. Then one of the beasts
let out a high-pitched squeal.

That drew the dragon’s attention. She
stopped and looked at the long, low-slung creatures. There were
seven of the monsters. Pelya still had the magical sword Ebudae had
given her and the wizardess could do spells, but they just weren’t
emotionally capable of fighting at that moment, so they held onto
each other.

It wasn’t necessary for them to fight. In a
blur, Hezzena went from where she stood to just in front of the
first monster. She backhanded it, hurtling it into the side of the
nearest building a hundred feet away. Its body broke from the
initial blow. It shattered upon hitting the wall.

Neither girl had ever seen a singular
display of such strength. Then Hezzena shrieked in rage and began
tearing apart the creatures. She picked the next one up by the
snout and used it to beat the ever-loving snot out of the third.
Hezzena grabbed the fourth by the tail and slammed it back and
forth against the ground a few times. Everything was done so
quickly that the others hadn’t had time to react. The fifth finally
decided to try to escape, but Hezzena cast something from her hands
that was both fire and electricity combined. The creature exploded
within an instant, splattering in an arc away from the dragon.
Hezzena’s hands turned into dragon-sized claws that scratched and
shredded the sixth one to tatters. She lifted the last into the air
and thrust it at violent speed to splatter into the dark ceiling
far above. It landed with a thud a distance away shortly
thereafter.

Hezzena’s claws changed back into taloned
hands and she stood there huffing in anger. Then she inhaled
deeply. The roar that came forth was much vaster than the body it
emitted from. It was a full dragon roar filled with rage and
anguish. The underground world shook and Pelya wondered if the city
above could avoid hearing it.

A few minutes later, the last of the
rumbling ended and Hezzena came back to them with shoulders
slumped. There wasn’t a drop of blood or goo on her from the
creatures she had killed, which impressed Pelya. “There’s a sewer
ahead,” she told them, pointing weakly in the direction they were
traveling. Her head was down and she walked at a much slower pace.
Pelya came up and took Hezzena’s hand. When the dragon looked at
her in surprise, Pelya smiled encouragingly. Ebudae took the other
hand and smiled as well. It made all the difference in the world
and Hezzena stood straighter, even giving them a toothy smile of
her own.

The sewer was an enormous stone tunnel forty
feet high, running through ruins. “This is one of the lower outlet
tunnels that go all the way to flood plains in the south.” Pelya
explained.

“If we followed it, we could get out of the
city that way?” Hezzena asked suddenly.

“I don’t think this one goes out of the
city, but it connects to others that do. Luckily, it hasn’t rained
much recently or it would be full and we’d die before getting
anywhere. Even with that, it’s dangerous and stinky,” Pelya told
them. She pointed to a shaft going upward. “There are thousands of
those leading up to higher levels. They have ladders in them. Once
again it’s dangerous.”

“You learned all that in books?” Ebudae
asked, impressed by the knowledge.

“Yes. Learning the sewers is the single
hardest part of the Guard’s education after the Tower District, so
I started early. Legally, only the Guard is allowed to enter the
sewers, but criminals use the higher levels a lot.” She looked at
the tunnel. “I have no idea how to get into them though.”

“That’s very interesting. Getting into the
ruins below the city was extremely difficult. Getting out the way I
came in isn’t an option. Let me look for a way to get into the
tunnel,” Hezzena said. The rust-colored tendrils filled her eyes
again while she looked to the left and right. Purple tendrils
replaced them for a moment before going back to normal. “There are
iron access doors on top that we can use. They’re protected by
runes that will be easy for me to bypass.” She reached around their
waists. “Hold onto me.” They did so and she leaped to the top of
the tunnel.