Two Renegade Realms (Realm Walkers Book 2) (31 page)

“Thank you very much,” Bixby told the mother.

Cantor, Bridger, and Bixby bowed their heads as Cantor thanked Primen for his provision and asked for help in finding the mor dragons.

The mother and children had stood quietly waiting, but at the mention of mor dragons, the woman drew in a sharp breath.

“Go outside now,” she said to the children when Cantor had finished. “Make sure none of the chickens have pushed through the fence and gotten into the garden.”

The children giggled and playfully bumped one another as they left the inn.

Bixby smiled. “What is your name?”

“I’m Mistress Cane.”

“I’m Bixby D’Mazeline. This is Cantor D’Ahma and Bridger-Bigelow.” Bixby tilted her head. “There’s something you want to tell us?”

She hesitated a moment. “How did you know?”

“I just noted little things. For instance, there must be a reason you suddenly cared so much about the chickens.”

Cantor stood. “Won’t you join us?”

He pulled out a chair then returned to his when Mistress Cane settled.

“There are only five mor dragons left.” She looked at Bridger. “Six.”

He nodded and took another fried pie.

Mistress Cane took in a shuddering breath. “They gathered at the Family. My husband knew they were there and went to introduce himself. We just bought the inn, and he wanted them to know we would be pleased to have their custom.”

She paused. Her teeth worried her lower lip. “Before he reached the spring, he saw men hiding and spying on those in the bowl. He thought that strange.”

Bixby and Cantor nodded, their attention fully on the innkeeper. Bridger poured himself another mug of tea. Then, showing his manners, refilled the two other mugs.

“So my husband, Makki, ducked down and spied on them — the ones who were spying on the mor dragons.”

At Bridger’s elbow, a pile of crumbs collected as he ate. Mistress Cane brushed the tiny bits off the edge of the table and into her waiting palm. “He couldn’t have stopped them. He counted a dozen ruffians as he followed them. But he was brave enough to follow them. Or foolhardy enough.”

She looked down in her lap where her hands rested, one clutching crumbs.

Bixby knew the disjointed sentences came from the woman’s distress. Using her ability to scope the woman’s thoughts, she got a clearer picture. The men had overcome the dragons and marched them out of the Family Springs. Her husband couldn’t stop them, so he followed.

She reached over and patted her arm. “Go ahead. You can tell us. We mean you no harm.”

“They’re keeping the dragons locked up. Makki’s been going there every day, to take them food and check on their welfare. He’d help them escape if he could. He’s there now.”

“Crista!”

Everyone turned to see a young man standing at the door to the back room. Bixby detected a strong mixture of outrage and fear for his family.

He strode into the inn. Tense muscles hardened his jawline as he stared at the group around the table. “What are you saying? Who are these people?”

Mistress Cane stood and went to his side. “It’s all right, Makki. They can help us.” She leaned closer. “I think they’re realm walkers.”

Makki groaned. “Oh, Crista, that could make matters worse. You’re too trusting.”

She took his hand and guided him to the table. Cantor stood. After Bixby kicked him under the table, Bridger stood as well.

“Pleased to meet you.” The dragon extended his hand.

Makki cautiously took it. When Bridger let go, the man examined his palm as though to determine if it were still intact.

Bixby bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. Obviously, Master Cane had never shaken the hand of a dragon before. He held his hand before him, marveling at not being scratched by those vicious-looking claws. But the man had been willing to invite the dragons to his inn. Fear unsettled him. It shivered around him.

Cantor shook his hand as well, but it was Bridger who talked. “My sister has been captured, they tell me. I wonder if she is with those who were kidnapped from the Family Springs.”

Bixby saw the young man start to question the dragon, then stop himself. She easily guessed his thoughts. He’d been on the brink of asking what the dragon’s sister looked like. A foolish question for a mor dragon. They shape-shifted.

Unlike Bridger, however, most mor dragons could shapeshift to only a limited number of things. And her friend Totobee-Rodolow, who spent too much time using her shapeshifting abilities to design and decorate her body, could only shift into different forms of herself.

Bixby decided to help the conversation along. “Totobee-Rodolow is a fashionable dragon, usually decked out in jewels and brilliant colors.”

Makki’s eyebrows rose. “I know Totobee-Rodolow.” His gaze wandered back to Bridger. “This dragon is brother to Totobee-Rodolow? That’s hard to believe.”

Bridger nodded. “Totobee-Rodolow got all the looks.” Smug and self-satisfied, he looked directly at Makki. His fearsome grin showed pointed teeth. “And I got all the talent.”

FIVE DRAGONS — FIVE BARRELS

T
hey were herded into a small cavern. Soon after the ruffians had them trapped, the King's Gaurd showed up.”

Makki pointed to a dark shadow in the face of the cliff. The moon shone much too brightly for this rescue mission, but Cantor knew they didn’t have time to wait for the moon to wane. Crouched behind Bixby and beside Bridger, he listened carefully to their guide’s layout of the land.

“We can enter from over there.” Makki pointed to the end of a trailing rock formation that looked somewhat like a tail coming off a huge sprawling beast. “I doubt the King’s Guard even know of its existence. I’ve been going in and out of the cavern through that tunnel all four days that they’ve been in there.”

Bixby spoke quietly at Cantor’s elbow. “Why don’t the dragons shift shape and leave?? Surely one of them could get out and procure a key or go for help.”

Cantor shook his head. Makki needed to know more about
the dragons. “They must not have the ability to shift into things small enough to ease their escapes. We know Totobee-Rodolow can’t.”

“I think they’re drugged,” Makki said.

“Why?”

“They don’t seem to be upset that they’re being held against their will. In fact, at times, I think they don’t even realize they aren’t allowed to leave.”

“Drugged, for sure,” said Bridger. “My sister hasn’t been shopping in four days. That’s not natural.”

Makki pointed in the other direction. “That’s where the beast comes from. The hole that looks like an eye socket on the skull of a steer.”

The cave had a rock ledge before it, but other than that, it was a sheer drop to the ground below.

“It flies?” asked Bixby.

“Yes.”

“Then it’s a dragon.” Cantor stated his opinion as fact. He didn’t care for the fanciful interpretation Makki had put on the animal. The innkeeper thought it resembled a demon’s dog.

Makki shook his head. “It doesn’t look like a dragon.”

“But it has wings?” Cantor asked.

“Yes.”

“It’s big, you say?”

Makki nodded, the muscles in his jaw tensing.

Cantor worked to keep his tone patient. He really wanted to snap this man out of his delusion. But when a realm walker came into a situation that required his help, there was no room for lording over the people in need.

“Can you think of any animal that has wings to fly?”

Makki sighed. “Just dragons.”

Bixby had been biting her lower lip. A sure sign of deep thought. “Maybe it’s a dragon who has shape-shifted into this beastlike thing.”

Bridger growled. “That would be abhorrent to any mor dragon. We are raised to fulfill a destiny. There are a few who’ve gone astray. But they chose to live far, far away rather than face the scorn of the rest of the clan.”

A shrieking cry echoed off the walls of the cliff and sent painful shivers along Cantor’s arms. Bumps on his skin rose where he’d felt each of the stinging pricks. His eyes sought the cave of the beast. No bird had made that strident sound.

The creature made no appearance, however, and Cantor soon forced his mind back to the task at hand. “Makki, you lead the way to the tunnel. Bixby, you’re with us. Bridger, you keep that beast off our tails should he come out ready to tear us up.”

Bridger nodded and shifted into a mountain goat. He nimbly passed over the rocky terrain, heading for the beast’s cave.

Cantor had to poke Makki to bring him out of his stunned reaction to the dragon’s turning into a goat. They began their stealthy trek. Bixby followed Makki. He moved confidently, having traversed this ground every day. The entrance to the tunnel was small, but once through the narrow way, they could easily stand. Inside, cool damp air smelled clean and fresh.

Bixby passed out light orbs. A whiff of air trailed over Cantor’s cheeks and out the small entry behind him. He sniffed the air. Fresh — a good omen.

He held up his light. “Let’s get on with our plan.”

“Step around that shaft.” Makki pointed to a hole in the ground right in the middle of their path. “I don’t know how deep it is, but there’s water at the bottom. I dropped a rock in and heard it splash.”

Cantor felt a measure of comfort. Once they’d convinced the innkeeper and his wife of their integrity, Makki had turned out to be a valuable man to have on their side. He knew this area well. And he was eager to free the dragons. Alone, Cantor’s party would have wasted a lot of time. With Makki’s help, they could hope to rescue the kidnapped dragons before dawn.

The rock walls were carved out of limestone, not by man but by water. The height varied, and Cantor minded his head to keep his scalp from being scraped against the low places. The path cut back and forth, showing where the water had traveled the course of least resistance. Uneven places in the floor cropped up at intervals and caused Bixby and Cantor to stumble.

Makki took them along the main passageway and then turned off to the right. “The barrels are down here.”

Cantor heard the waterfall before they rounded a corner and saw it. Only about five feet tall, the steady flow fell from halfway up the side wall and disappeared into a huge crack at the base.

Five barrels stood against a weeping wall. Puddles dotted the jagged floor. Cantor smiled at the thought of Dukmee. Their friend would have become engrossed in the geological formations, theorizing about how the water had changed the inside of the mountain over the years. Cantor allowed himself a moment to wonder how Dukmee and Chomountain were doing on their mission.

Makki picked up one empty barrel and thrust it under the spout of water. “I’ve only been able to take each dragon one barrel of water each day, but with three of us, we could probably manage two. They always seem more awake a little after drinking.”

“Another reason to suspect drugs.” Cantor moved to a second cask, rolling it closer to be filled next.

With water lapping against the brim of the first barrel, Makki and Cantor shoved it out of the way and set up the next to fill. Bixby took on the task of fastening a tight lid into the opening of the full container.

When the second lid slipped into place, Bixby looked at the two men. “Now what?”

Makki tipped a barrel over on its side. “We roll them to the dragons.”

Cantor hadn’t been able to visualize Makki’s description of the opening between this tunnel and the small cavern where the dragons waited. Now he could see the roots tangling in the gap. Makki had hacked away enough to be able to stuff the casks through one at a time.

Bixby leaned as far into the other side as she could without actually going in. “They’re all asleep.”

Makki scratched the back of his neck. “I usually come in the afternoon. I prefer to be with my family when night falls.”

Bixby backed out of the hole. She looked at Cantor. “I’ll go through and wake Totobee-Rodolow.”

“There’s no guard in the cavern.” Makki leaned against a wall. “Miss Bixby probably won’t see any of them. The dragons have told me they keep to themselves at the entrance. The guards do bring back food and water, but I’ve never seen them in the cavern itself.”

Bixby pulled out a hamper.

“I haven’t said you can go, Bix.” Cantor wanted to think through this change in plans.

She stopped all motion, with eyes wide and mouth open.

“Why couldn’t I go? What’s wrong with my going? I’m
small enough to fit through. Totobee-Rodolow knows me, and I daresay I know some dragons in there. I met them when visiting with her two years ago, along with many of her other dragon friends who aren’t mor dragons. Look, Cantor, we need to get the dragons awake without making a lot of noise. When they wake up and see me, whom they know” — she emphasized this point with individual words distinctly pronounced — “they won’t put up a fuss, thinking I’m part of those who kidnapped them.”

“Hush for a minute and let me think.”

“Why do you have to think?”

“Why do you have to talk?”

She planted her fists on her hips, pressed her lips into a thin line, and glared at him.

He sat on his heels, mulling over the things they knew. All of their information came from Makki. Everything he’d said so far had proven true, but the guards were an unpredictable element. Even if they had never entered the cavern before, tonight might be the time one of them wandered in.