Death's Mistress

CHAPTER 66

The attack of the shaksis made clear Victoria’s ruthless intent. The next morning, with an odd smile, Nicci nodded with satisfaction. “That means she is afraid of us.”

“And well she should be, my dear sorceress,” Nathan said as they worked their way into the tunnels beneath the damaged prophecy tower. “I would feel much more confident, though, if we can find the hidden volume that holds the means to destroy her.”

“It’s down here,” Mia said, winding them through the twisted, claustrophobic tunnels.

Down in the dusty vault, where the damaged ceilings were slumped and alarmingly uneven, Mia brought them to a small room where stone walls had melted like candle wax over stacks of books. With an intent expression, the mousy researcher pointed to one thick tome fused partway into the rock. She couldn’t hide her excitement. “This one! See the spine? It is exactly the book we’re looking for. It matches what was on the list.”

Nicci touched the volume and felt its extreme age. “The pages will be difficult to read,” she said, “since it is part of the wall.”

Nathan gave a futile tug, but could not break the grip of the stone. He looked at her. “Mia has a small amount of the gift, and I would generally encourage her to practice. In fact, under normal circumstances I would just do this myself.” He frowned at the trapped book. “But because of the importance, Sorceress, and since you are the only one with the proper control of magic, could you manipulate the stone and release the volume for us?”

“Agreed. This is not an instance where one should resort to dabbling.” Nicci ran her fingers over the binding, touched where the pages had seamlessly blended into the stone, and released her magic. A small flow pushed aside the rock, but did not separate the paper and the leather-bound cover from the stone matrix. She concentrated harder, working to extricate the fused elements. “The bond is not easily separable.”

“You never shy from difficult things,” Nathan said. “You can do it.”

“Yes, I can. Just not perfectly.”

She moved the fundamental grains of rock and released the locked pages, but some of the fibers remained intertwined. When she finally withdrew the damaged book from its rock prison, some of the pages were still stiff and powdery, as if the last reader had been a sloppy bricklayer with mortar on his hands. Nevertheless, Nathan took the volume from her and pored over the words with an eager Mia close beside him, under the glow of a flickering hand light.

“This is it. This is the deep life spell!” Mia grinned. “Just what we were looking for.”

“Good,” Nicci said. “Now tell me how we can neutralize Victoria.”

Nathan looked at her in alarm. “Dear spirits, it is not so simple as that!”

“It never is. Just tell me what to do.”

“This will require some study.” Nathan and Mia conferred over the damaged words on the brittle pages. “Ah, yes, that seems clear enough.” He looked up at Nicci, explaining, “What Victoria used was a deeply bound life spell, drawn from the bones of the world. That is where Life’s Mistress receives her energy, and that is the only way we can stop her.” He looked up. “The only way to shut off the valve from her uncontrollable flow of magic.”

Mia pulled the book closer to herself and pointed excitedly. “Some words on the bottom of the page are damaged, but the answer is clear.” She drew a quick breath. “It’s the way we can defeat Victoria.”

“I’m pleased to have a clear answer for once.” Nicci crossed her arms over her chest. “And what is the weapon?”

“A special bow,” Nathan said. “Such an enemy can be destroyed with an arrow, and the archer must be someone with a great command of the gift, a powerful wizard or sorceress.”

“That would be me,” Nicci said, already anticipating the task. “And I know how to use a bow.”

The wizard shook his head. “Alas, it is not so simple as that, Sorceress. The life spell itself is intertwined with the most ancient creatures, the very structure of the world. The arrow must be shot from a special bow—a bow made from the rib bone of a dragon.”

Nicci drew in a quick breath of the dusty, still air in the newly opened vault. The magical fire in her hand light flickered. “The rib of a dragon?”

Nathan’s voice became troubled as the excitement faded. “Indeed. I can see how that poses a problem.”

Mia’s disappointment was clear. “Dragons are extinct.”

Now that she had a potential answer, though, Nicci refused to give up hope. “Nearly extinct.”

* * *

The scholars gathered in one of the large meeting rooms. A fire of mesquite wood burned in the hearth, sending a warm, savory fragrance into the chamber. Nathan had shown the ancient volume to the intent researchers, and they were all abuzz with the possibility.

“We must take action, and soon.” The wizard spoke in a firm, serious tone. “The shaksis was only Victoria’s first foray against us. I think she meant to catch us in our sleep, but she may also have been testing us. The next attack will certainly be more dangerous.”

“And she grows stronger with every inch of territory she claims with that monstrous jungle,” Nicci said.

Bannon sat near the hearth, sharpening his sword and brooding. His face was grave. “After what I saw last night, I am convinced there is no other way. Those poor girls…” He swallowed hard. “There was no saving them. We have to do what’s right. If we don’t stop that rampant growth, Victoria will cause as much destruction as the Lifedrinker.”

“We have to protect Cliffwall.” Franklin sounded alarmed. “Should we block off the other side of the plateau? Seal the window alcoves? How do we make sure nothing can get in from the Scar? Like the shaksis.”

“We know she is coming for us,” Mia said.

Nicci nodded. “Blocking the openings would help, but only as a temporary measure. Once Victoria’s jungle reaches the cliffs, her vines and heavy tree roots will crack open the mesa itself. We have to stop her before then.” She raked her gaze over them. “I don’t care how difficult it is. We must kill her.”

“And now we know how to do that,” Nathan said, “thanks to the lost volume that dear Mia and I found.” He smiled over at the attentive female scholar. The other memmers and scholars muttered uncertainly. Having lost both Simon and Victoria, their two factions were adrift, leaderless. “Our powerful sorceress needs to shoot Life’s Mistress with an arrow, using a bow made out of a dragon’s rib.” His voice faltered. “We only need to find a dragon.”

Most dragons had been gone for many years, especially in the Old World, and the devastating Chainfire spell had erased even the memory of dragons from humanity for a time, but they still existed. They had to exist.

Bannon let out a sad laugh. “Of course! It’s so simple. And once we find a dragon, we just have to slay it and cut a rib from its carcass.” He sat down heavily on the hearth. “Sweet Sea Mother, I don’t suppose that would take more than a day or two. What are we waiting for?”

“In the last days of the war against the Imperial Order, the witch woman Six flew on a great red dragon in her attacks on the D’Haran army,” Nicci said. “The dragon’s name was Gregory, but he is far away now, and we would never find him.”

Thistle had taken one of the large chairs, curling her knees up on the seat in an awkward but oddly flexible position. She scoffed at the young man, teasing him like a little sister. “We don’t need to find and kill a dragon. We just need a dragon rib.”

Nathan spoke in a professorial tone. “Dear child, dragon ribs come from dragons. How do you expect us to find a rib bone without finding a dragon?”

Thistle gave a groan of frustration. “I mean we don’t have to find a live dragon and kill it. We just need to find a rib bone. That means we’re looking for a dragon skeleton.”

Bannon looked annoyed. “Sure. That’s much easier. They must be lying all over the place.”

Nicci had a sudden memory of when she and her hostage Richard had crossed the Midlands as they made their way down to Altur’Rang. On their journey they had found the rotting carcass of a dragon. “I’ve seen such a skeleton, but it was far up in the Midlands.”

“Even if we could find it again, the journey alone would take months, if not years,” Nathan said.

The girl groaned again. “That isn’t where you’d look for dragon skeletons.” She gave an exasperated sigh.

“Where would you propose we look?” Bannon asked.

“Kuloth Vale, of course,” she replied, as if he were the uneducated child. “Everyone knows that.”

“We are not from here,” Nicci said. “What is Kuloth Vale?”

“In my village I grew up hearing stories about the great graveyard of dragons. Kuloth Vale.” Thistle looked around the room, and the scholars muttered, clearly expressing concern. Some of them, though, seemed familiar with the tale. Among the memmers, Gloria nodded.

“Kuloth Vale is far away,” said Mia, “a sheltered hanging valley in the mountains to the north, and it’s a dangerous place. That is where the dragons go to die.”

The scholars consulted among themselves. Franklin spoke with his eyes half closed, reciting from memory: “‘All dragons have an instinctive bond to the magical place of Kuloth Vale. The bones of hundreds of dragons lie there at rest.’” His voice became ominous. “‘No human has ever gone there and returned to tell the tale.’”

“Then how was the tale ever recorded?” Nathan asked.

Gloria nodded gravely. “That is a mystery yet to be explained.”

Nicci said, “If you know of this graveyard of dragons, then surely we can find a rib bone and come back swiftly.”

Though always eager for an adventure, even Bannon looked doubtful. “Sounds like chasing mist dancers on a foggy night.”

But Nicci had heard all she needed to hear. “Our alternative is to wait here while Victoria’s jungle keeps spreading, and hope that a dragon happens to fly by so we can kill it and take a rib.”

“I see. When you frame the debate in that way, Sorceress, even Kuloth Vale sounds like a preferable alternative,” Nathan said.

Thistle looked up at her with an intent gaze. “Kuloth Vale is real. I’ve heard stories all my life.”

Bannon rolled his eyes. “You’re not even twelve years old.”

Nicci turned to the gathered scholars. “You’ve been gathering maps to help us on our journey, Wizard. Have you found any that show the location of Kuloth Vale?”

“If no one has ever seen the graveyard of dragons, how could they make a map?” Bannon asked.

“Another unexplained mystery,” Franklin said.

Nicci did not give in to frustration. She would follow this lead, knowing it was their best chance. “While we are gone, the rest of you must shore up the defenses of Cliffwall in case Victoria sends more attackers against you.” Thistle slid off the chair, stretched her legs, and moved to stand by Nicci.

“The journey to Kuloth Vale will take many days,” Mia said, “across unknown terrain.”

“We have done that before,” Nicci said. “The sooner we leave, the sooner we will return. With a dragon rib.”