The Dragondain (21 page)

“Giants?” Darce chuckled. “Really?”

“Yes,” affirmed Lily testily. “Giants, from the moon Min Tar.”

Darce pursed her lips like she was trying not to smile. “So,” she began in a more serious tone. “I don’t understand why they aren’t underwater.”

“When Castle Fendragon was first built, the fens were as they are now. It wasn’t until after the pumps were built and the fens drained that the beacons were no longer needed. But there is a succession of lesser lamps leading down a grand stair. As the fens receded, the Perianthians kept building new docks, lower and lower. The idea was to drain the fens to the point where nothing was left but fields and a few canals. I don’t remember any tales where they ever completed the task, though.”

“And I know of none where they aren’t completed,” returned Darce. “Our fathers—and our fathers’ fathers—grew up never knowing it any other way . . . until Wrengfoul attacked, destroying the great pumps and locks.”

A shudder rippled through the wooden decking of the boat, as if something had scraped the bottom of it. Nye lay down on the bow, formed his peerin, and looked through it over the side.

“What was that?” asked Darce.

“I’m not certain.” Nye pushed himself up on his elbows, still keeping his peerin intact and spied across the water toward Perianth. “But I’m seeing dark shapes looming out of the water.”

“Are they moving?” gasped Annora.

“No.”

“What do you think they are?” asked Darce.

“Roofs, from the look of it.”

“Roofs?” said Lily.

“Yes,” said Nye. “The lower townships, even the ones on the hill, are well underwater, but the tallest structures—those closest to the wall that surrounds the middle city, and higher up the hill—would be tall enough to rise above the water. Navigating through them will be tricky. We could easily run aground on one of the larger ones. We’ll want to proceed with caution.”

“I thought you said this boat had charms that would keep us from running into anything,” said Darce to Newlin.

“The wards only work when the pegs are in place. Once I released them, we became, basically, a normal boat.”

“How tall is the wall around the middle city?” Darce asked, turning back to Nye.

“We’re still too far away to tell. I don’t know how high the waters have reached, but the wall around the middle city was built to keep the fens out long before they were ever drained. If you take into account storm surges . . . it could be quite tall.”

Darce and Annora exchanged glances.

“Then we still need to dock at the great docks. We’ll just need to come in at more of an angle, so we aren’t directly in the light of those lamps.”

Lily didn’t like the sound of this.
“Rymee,”
she thought.
“They still plan to enter at the docks.”

“You can’t let them!”
said Rymee.
“They’ll be seen!”

“Excuse me,” said Lily, “but won’t we be seen once we get out? I mean, don’t you think the docks themselves will be well lit?”

Darce squinted into the glowing haze of the docks.

“These mists should cover us. And once we’re into the city, it’ll be plenty dark.”

Lily repeated this in her mind to Rymee.

“I tell you, they’ll be seen! The mists are only thick over the water. The city is not affected by them.”

“Well, what else can I tell them?”
thought Lily.

There was a long pause. She heard Darce give the order for Falin and Grimm to loose the sail.

“Lily, I don’t want you trying to save me. You’ll get caught—all of you. Promise me you won’t try and save me.”

Lily knew she would never be willing to keep that kind of promise. But she had other ways to avoid making it.
“Rymee, I’m not in charge!”

“Then promise me you won’t come looking for me alone.”

Lily had no intentions of leaving the party for so much as a second. If she were going to save Rymee, she would want to have everyone with her.

“I promise I won’t come alone. But you could come to us. You could leave tonight.”

“No. I don’t want to go. This is my home. I know where to hide. I know secret places. They’ll never find me.”

“Rymee, they found your family, didn’t they?”

No answer.

“Rymee, they’ve unfurled the sail. They’re sailing for the docks.”

“You can see the glow of the docks?”

“Yes.”

“Where is Castle Fendragon in relation to you?”

“The castle is to the right of the docks.”

“Tell them to set a heading to straight for the castle, then bear right, hugging the wall until they find the breach.”

“What breach?”

“Some of Wrengfoul’s handiwork. His sea monsters destroyed a section of wall. No one lives there anymore. All of the middle city is underwater.”

“All of it? How deep is the water?”

“The middle city was built after they started draining the fens. They leveled and graded it to be flat, so the wall around the upper city seems much taller. I should think five to ten feet deep, all the way to the wall surrounding the upper city. But don’t worry. Once you’re through the breach, I can guide you over the streets. Sometimes they place guards on the upper wall that faces the docks, but most everyone else is here. The castle, however, and many of the streets leading to it, are too well lit. Without my help, you will be seen for sure.”

The sail filled with wind, tilting the boat larboard. Lily wondered if the white mists would help hide the sail.

“I don’t know what they plan to do once we reach the castle itself, but they brought quite a bit of rope. They could be planing to scale the wall to the upper city somewhere. They’re very determined to sneak in and find out what’s going on.”

“Just bring them through the breach. After that, I might have a better way. Let me think about it. Whatever you do, keep them away from the docks!”

Lily thought hard about how she was going to deliver this directive. As far as her companions knew, she had no inside knowledge of Perianth. She needed a lie, a good one. Finally, a lifetime of getting into and out of trouble would come in handy.

“Darce,” said Lily suddenly, “I remember something else from one of my Uncle’s tales that could help us.”

“Well then, speak up.”

“The middle city wall has a hidden gate,” Lily lied. “Far from the docks. There’s a mark upon the brick that can be revealed with . . . um . . . a peerin. Once revealed, it will open to a spoken phrase—I know the phrase.”

“And where is this hidden gate?” asked Darce.

“Head straight for the castle, then bear right and hug the wall.”

“Grimm!” shouted Darce. “Bring us about to starboard! Keep an eye out for buildings, take us up close to the wall, and see what the wind is like.” She gave Lily a look that—even in the darkness—bored into her. “You have anything else you want to share?” Darce asked Lily pointedly.

“I might . . . later,” said Lily with a feeble smile.

Darce grimaced. “Everyone with a free hand grab a pole. The bottom here is deep, but if we’re going over a roof, I want to know about it.”

Twenty minutes later they came up alongside the first of many tall structures that rose above the surface of the dark waters. Time had not been good to them. Battered by wind and wave, many were nothing more than broken portions of brick and stone wall, shot through with skeletal wooden beams. A few loomed several stories tall. The gaping black windows just above the water line looked like open doors.

“We’re over an old street!” shouted Nye, aiming his peerin into the dark waters. He called out directions, attempting to keep them over the middle of the street.

The blackmage’s boat glided between the derelict buildings, but the wind there was less reliable. Falin and Grimm poled off the building’s walls to keep the boat from scraping against them. When they reached the wall that once protected the middle city from the water of the fens, they were surprised to discover how tall it was. No buildings were nearby. Nye suggested this might signify a wide road running underneath them that had once ringed the wall. The wind was stronger here and drove against the sails. Between making short tacks against the wind and poling off the wall, they managed a pace faster than Lily would have thought possible. They were a highly determined and capable bunch.

Ren, holding her open peerin before her, stood alone on the bow, examining the passing wall for the mark Lily had invented.

“Lily,”
came Rymee’s voice.
“What’s taking you so long?”

“We’re doing the best we can. I’ll let you know when we reach the breach.”

An hour went by, and several times Darce and Annora argued over the choice to skirt the docks. To Darce, any time lost was worth the risk. Surprise was everything, and if it was true that the docks were being watched, disembarking there would remove any chance of surprise.

Suddenly, Nye called out. Darce and Annora ran to the bow. On their last tack, a vast black opening appeared where there should have been wall.

“What could do that much damage?” asked Nye.

“So much for your secret gate, Lily,” said Darce.

Lily nodded.
“We’re here,”
thought Lily to Rymee.
“Now what?”

“Do you think this is where the gate was, Lily?” asked Annora.

“Doesn’t really matter, does it?” said Lily.

Lily climbed up on the small bow and stood next to Ren. While listening to Rymee’s running commentary, she surveyed the dark canals that now covered the streets of the middle city.

“Once through the breach,”
said Rymee,
“you’ll be directly above a wide road that heads diagonally toward the upper city. Stay on it until you see a huge round building with pillars of . . .”

Lily pointed into the darkness and relayed the directions as they were given to her. No one questioned her knowledge. Beyond the breach, the water covering the streets was less than ten feet deep. The sail went slack, and poling became their main source of propulsion. Structures large and small jutted out of the water: darkened, flooded houses; tall buildings; the top portions of sculptures. Streets crisscrossed in all directions, and even Lily was unsure whether their path would eventually lead them to the wall surrounding the upper city.

Half an hour later they glided into a wide park filled with statuary.

“Can you see the tall one?”
asked Rymee.
“Two dragons frolicking and laughing?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Head for it. You’ll want to line up over one of the old canals there.”

Suddenly, the memory of a painting overlaid what Lily was looking at. She was standing at a different angle, and it was night, and instead of a flooded park, there had been trees, canals, and sunlight. But it was unmistakably the same spot.

“Yes,”
thought Lily.
“The old canals ran all through Perianth.”

“Just the middle city, really. When the fens were first being drained, and the middle city was forming, people used the canals to get around. But as the waters retreated, the old canals were converted to roads. The few canals that remained were chosen for their beauty and the importance of the buildings they connected. It was a completely closed system, as the water level of the fens was well below it by then. Only lords and important merchants were allowed canal access.”

“You sure know a lot about the canals.”

“I’ve lived here all my life. And there are libraries here in the castle, though many are no longer intact. I love to read. Although there aren’t many story books. Most are filled with facts, figures, drawings, and history.”

“Okay, so where is our canal?”

“You should be able to see the two long rows of statues that once lined the sides of the canal. Or at least you should be able to see the tops of them. I want you to align your boat over the canal and follow it all the way to the wall that surrounds the upper city.”

“What then?”
thought Lily, but Rymee didn’t answer.

“Lily,” said Darce. “You’re leading us to a wall.”

“I know. Don’t stop until we reach it.”

“Furl the remaining sail,” called Darce. “Pole us to that far wall and hold steady.”

Slowly, they glided between oversized heads and shoulders of men and women, some helmeted, some with flowing hair, a few with arms raised in a beckoning gesture or holding a bow, pike, sword or shield. Most commonly, though, the figures held actual lamps, their glass panes shattered and birds’ nests spilling out.

As they neared the wall, they could make out two enormous dragoyles twenty feet apart, each holding two lamps in its upheld claws. Three of the four lamps were destroyed. The remaining one, covered in grime, produced only a feeble light.

“You’re children,”
whispered Rymee.

“You can see us?”
thought Lily.

“Well, Lily?” said Darce. “Is this as far as you can take us? Nye thinks he sees a staircase winding up to the right. At this point, I would think all stairs leading up must go to the upper city.”

“You have to go back, Lily,”
said Rymee.
“This is no place for children.”

“We’re not children! And you’re just a child yourself, Rymee.”

“That’s different! I grew up here.”

“They think they see a stairway, and they plan to use it.”

“Oh, no, that won’t do.”

“Rymee, there’s no way I’m going to be able to stop them.”

“Okay,”
began Rymee, in a tone suddenly full of determination.
“I’ll bring you in. And I’ll help you have a look around. But only on one condition: you must go only where I tell you to, and nowhere else. After you’ve seen what there is to see, you must leave.”

“They’ll leave when they have an idea of what’s going on in the castle. They’re very interested in not being seen, of that much I’m certain.”

“Fine. I will guide you to a vantage point high above the upper city, within a rarely used tower of the castle, but you must listen to me carefully.”