Straken

Twenty–Seven

Grianne Ohmsford took a quick step back as the dragon settled into place on the flats, its wings folding against its huge, scaly body. Steam rose off its back in clouds, and she could feel the heat of it from fifty feet away. The dragon flexed and undulated from head to tail, the spikes that ridged its back shivering like great stalks of grass blown in a wind. It coughed once and then exhaled a huge gout of fire and smoke.

An eerie silence settled over the landscape, and it felt to her in that instant as if everything living had disappeared from the earth save the dragon, the boy, and herself.

Then the head swung toward her and the maw parted to reveal rows of blackened teeth. The stench of its breath sent her backwards another few steps. Its yellow eyes narrowed and fixed on her.

Except they weren’t fixed on her, she realized suddenly. They were fixed on Pen, who was standing next to her.

« It’s the darkwand,” he said quietly. «It’s fascinated by the glowing runes.»

He was right. The dragon had settled down into a comfortable crouch and was staring intently at the staff. The runes carved into its surface were pulsating with hypnotic consistency in the gray mistiness of the afternoon.

« It’s been following me ever since I arrived,” Pen said.

She blinked at him. «You’ve encountered it before?»

« Twice.» He looked chagrined. «The first time was after I had walked into the passes leading down from the heights where I came into the Forbidding. I fell asleep, and it was there when I awoke, staring at me. Or at the staff. I couldn’t get rid of it at first, but finally I did. I thought I was done with it, but yesterday it reappeared here on the flats while I was trying to reach you. It came to my rescue, actually.»

« Your rescue?» She couldn’t hide her disbelief.

« I was trying to find somewhere to spend the night and I wandered into a nest of Harpies. They wouldn’t let me out again. They were going to eat me. But the dragon reappeared and ate them, instead.»

He saw the look on her face and shook his head. «It doesn’t have any interest in me. It doesn’t care about me one way or the other. It’s the runes.» He glanced over at the dragon, which was watching them contentedly. «Something about watching the glow of the runes makes it happy. Or fascinates it. I don’t know, Aunt Grianne. I just know that I can’t get rid of it.»

« Well, you managed to do so twice now,” she pointed out.

« It was the wishsong magic,” he said. «It surfaced after my bonding with the darkwand, but it was the dragon’s appearance that gave me a reason to test it. I didn’t know if the magic would work, but I was desperate. So I tried it out. I used it to send images of the runes off into the distance, like a lure. The dragon went after them, and I escaped.»

He paused for a moment, frowning. «The second time it was too busy eating the Harpies to pay much attention to me. I just slipped away. But I guess it came looking for me.»

« I guess it did.» She looked at the monster, at its huge bulk and great, hooked claws and muscular body.

She stared into its yellowed eyes and found them glazed and unfocused. A dragon mesmerized by bits of light—she would never have believed it. «Can you get rid of it now?»

« I don’t know. I can try.»

He began to hum softly, connecting with the wishsong, and as he did so the runes of the darkwand danced in response, growing brighter and more active as the music increased. Soon their glow was racing across the length of the staff in ever–changing and increasingly complex patterns. She glanced at the dragon. It was staring at the staff, satisfaction and delight mirrored in its lidded eyes. It was sitting up straight, head bent forward, as still as if it had been carved from stone.

Then the runes began to cast their images into the air, a kaleidoscope of fire bits whirling this way and that. The images spun and wove together, leaving tiny trails of light in the wake of their passing. The dragon’s jaws widened, and its breath came in grunts and snorts. Claws dug into the earth, and its tail coiled and uncoiled rhythmically. The images danced toward it, closing on it like tiny fireflies, then leapt away into the sky, speeding off into the horizon, a long line of them, beckoning with their comet light.

But the dragon didn’t move. It sat watching them intently for a moment, then turned back to Pen and the staff once more.

Pen kept at it a few moments longer then gave up. «It’s not working,” he said, breaking off with a tired gasp. «I don’t understand. Before, it would have flown after the images. Now it’s only watching them.»

Grianne studied the dragon a moment. «It’s learned that flying after the images doesn’t do it any good. The images don’t last. It’s figured out that the source is the staff and that staying close to the staff is the best way to keep the images coming.» She shook her head. «It’s a brute, but it isn’t stupid.»

They stared at the dragon in silence. The dragon stared back. In Pen’s hand, the darkwand continued to glow and its runes to dance and pulse.

« What are we going to do?» Pen asked finally.

Grianne didn’t know. She could use the wishsong’s magic, but she was afraid of the reaction she would trigger. If she didn’t kill the dragon, it would be on them in a heartbeat. Even if she did kill it, using so much magic would draw the Straken Lord to them like a beacon of firelight in darkest night. Either result would be horrendous.

She was beginning to think she wasn’t going to be given a choice in the matter when a strange, barking cough sounded from somewhere in the distance, off toward the Dragon Line. It was rough and made her think of scraping metal and of old saws cutting green wood. She flinched in spite of herself.

But the dragon sat up immediately, head swinging away from the darkwand and its glowing runes, eyes peering out toward the sound.

Several minutes passed, and no one moved. Then the sound came again, farther away this time and more to the east. The dragon’s head swung toward it, lifting alertly. It huffed, and steam poured out of its nostrils. When the sound came a third time, the dragon roared with such ferocity that Grianne and Pen dropped to their knees in shock.

Seconds later, the monster was airborne, winging away in the direction of the sound, flying off without a backwards glance.

« What happened?» Pen breathed in confusion.

Grianne shook her head. «I don’t know, but let’s not stand around talking about it.» She glanced over. «Can you do something to quiet those runes? Can you stop them from glowing? If it comes back, I don’t want the staff to help it find us.»

« I’ll try,” he said. He slipped off his cloak and wrapped it carefully about the darkwand so that the glow of the runes was hidden. «There,” he said, satisfied.

They began walking again, heading toward the mountains, changing direction just enough that they were moving more north than west. More than once, Grianne peered off into the distance in the direction the dragon had taken, but there was no sign of it. No more than a mile ahead were hills that would offer them better cover. If they hurried, they would reach the hills before the dragon decided to come looking for them.

She wondered how far it was to where they could try to get back through the Forbidding. She glanced skyward. Night was approaching.

« Pen, why do the runes continue to glow even when you’re not using the wishsong?»

He shrugged. «They just do. They were glowing that first morning when I woke and the dragon was sitting there. They respond to me in a way that doesn’t involve me telling them what to do. I’m not even sure how much control I have over them. Not much, I think.»

Odd, she thought. The magic of the wishsong did not have a history of independent response. It came only when summoned and did only what it was asked to do. Its behavior here must have something to do with Pen’s bonding with the darkwand, with the melding of two magics. In some way, the wishsong had developed the ability to activate itself, to respond to the boy’s needs even when the boy wasn’t aware of exactly what they were.

Her magic, she thought, though far more powerful than his, had never been able to do that.

They had walked until they were almost into the hills when Weka Dart reappeared, arms flailing excitedly as he sprang out from behind a stand of heavy brush.

« Did you see? Did you see?» He jumped up and down and cackled as if gone mad. «It was completely fooled! I told you I would protect you, Straken Queen! I could see what would happen if I did not act, and so I used my brain and tricked it!»

She realized he was talking about the dragon. «What did you do, Weka Dart? What was that sound?»

He shrieked with laughter. «A mating call! What better way to get its attention than to give it something more important to think about than the two of you!»

« You know how to give a dragon mating call?»

« I was Catcher for Tael Riverine a long time! I learned how to give many kinds of calls! I would have been a poor Catcher otherwise, and I was the best that ever was! Did you like it? You had no idea what it was, did you? Did it make you wonder if maybe something was dying? That’s how dragons sound when they’re in love!»

He danced about wildly, and then started away. «Hurry, come, come! We have to reach the Dragon Line by nightfall! We need to keep moving!» He wheeled back a moment. «It was good that I was close by and watching out for you, wasn’t it? I saved you both!»

Then he was off again, racing into the distance, a small, crook–limbed blur against the haze.

Grianne stared after him and thought in despair,There must be a way.

When the battle horns sounded, Kermadec was crouched in the shadow of a half–wall atop the gatehouse where Atalan and the other Rock Trolls were hiding. He hesitated only long enough to make certain he was not mistaken about what was happening, then leapt from his place of concealment to the floor below and raced for the gatehouse door.

After leaving Trefen Morys and Bellizen, the Trolls had made it down from the parapets and found their way to the base of the north wall and the gate that Grianne had always kept open for meetings.

But the gate was closed and sealed, and Kermadec could tell at a glance that it would take too much effort and make entirely too much noise to force it. Someone had taken a good deal of time and trouble to make certain that it would not be used again. More than likely it had been discovered by Shadea and her allies after they had dispatched the Ard Rhys into the Forbidding and assumed control of the Keep. Shadea would have been quick to recognize its significance.

So for the better part of two hours, the Trolls had hidden in the gatehouse next to it, a less–than–satisfactory location given what they were now faced with doing, but one that was unlikely to be visited anytime soon. But, with the gate of choice stoutly sealed, Kermadec and his Trolls would have to breach another gate. Since the next closest gate was some distance from where they hid, there was every possibility that they would be spotted long before they reached it.

There was nothing they could do about that. The only way the Trolls were going to take Paranor was by breaching the Druid defenses from the inside. That meant seizing and holding a gate long enough for the Trolls outside the walls to get inside.

Kermadec burst through the gatehouse door. All around him, the fortress of the Druids was erupting in a frenzy of wild shouts and charging men.

« They’ve arrived,” he informed the other Trolls, putting his back to the door and facing them across the tiny, shadow–streaked room.

Atalan’s face was a mask of excitement. «Now we’ll see how strong these walls really are!» he hissed. «Let’s go!»

« Not yet.» His brother blocked his way. «Give it a moment more. Let them get to the walls and settle in place. Let them all be looking at what threatens from without so they won’t be looking at us. Then we’ll take them.»

Atalan came right up against him. «Why wait, brother? Confusion serves us better than it serves them. Delay is for cowards and weaklings. We should take them now!»

Kermadec held his ground, his gaze steady. «You are too impatient, Atalan. You rush to do everything too quickly.»

Atalan spit. «If I am too impatient, you are too cautious. You delay everything too long. Move more quickly, and we might have better success. Are we here to help the Ard Rhys or not?»

« Don’t push too hard on me,” Kermadec said softly. «And do not question my commitment to the Ard Rhys. It is not your place to do so.»

« Shhh,” Barek hissed at them. He was standing at the shuttered window, keeping watch as dozens of Gnome Hunters charged past on their way to the parapets. «You’ll be heard if you keep this up!»

The brothers faced each other a moment longer, then Atalan turned away with a shrug. «You are Maturen, Kermadec. You are leader. The responsibility for what happens here is yours. Who am I to question you?»

He slouched back to the far wall and slumped down, staring at nothing. Seething with anger and embarrassment, Kermadec turned back to the door and ignored him.

It was dark by the time Grianne and Pen began the climb into the Dragon Line. Shadows thrown by the skeletal trees and distant peaks draped the land. West, the light was fading from gray to black, and the twilight hush that marked the transition from day to night was retiring the creatures of one and bringing out the creatures of the other. Sounds faded as if swallowed beneath the surface of an endless sea, and the world became a place for the quick and the dead.

Grianne’s eyes roamed the landscape on a ceaseless scour, alert for things that might be hunting them. The boy walked quietly beside her. They had not seen Weka Dart since he had departed, but she felt certain he was close, watching their progress, ready to save them once more should the need arise. Or save himself, perhaps. She knew enough of the Ulk Bog to appreciate that whatever his good intentions, he would always look after himself first.

Still, it seemed petty of her to think of him that way after he had lured off the dragon. She wished she could form a better opinion of the Ulk Bog, but she was too familiar with how he managed to get through life to do so.

It seemed only moments later that Weka Dart appeared out of the black, materializing so suddenly that she almost struck out at him.

« Straken!» he hissed at her in a clear tone of reprimand. «You cannot continue in the dark! Too many things hunt at night, and even I cannot see them all! We must stop and wait for morning!»

She was anxious to reach their destination and get out of the Forbidding for good. But the urgency in his voice gave her pause. «Is it really so dangerous? We are almost there.»

« You are not as close as you think. This is a different pass than the one you took down. Best not to repeat your steps when Tael Riverine is looking for you. No, Grianne of the powerful magic, you must stop now. You and the boy. Rest here. Wait for dawn.»

So they did, taking shelter in a cluster of boulders that gave them protection on three sides and provided an overhang as well. They would take turns keeping watch, they agreed. When first light appeared, they would set out again. The remainder of the journey would take only a couple of hours.

Then, Grianne told herself once again, she would be free.

« Weka Dart,” she said after they had settled into the rocks. She could barely see him in the hazy darkness, a dim shadow hunched down to one side. Only his eyes gleamed, watchful and steady. «I have something to tell you.»

She heard Pen exhale in anticipation of what was coming. She ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it back from her face, wondering how to put what she must say into words, and then deciding she should just say it.

« Penderrin tells me that the darkwand will not take you out of the Forbidding. It will only take him and me. No one else.»

Weka Dart snorted. «He is mistaken. Or if not mistaken, he underestimates the power of your magic. You can find a way to take me even if the staff does not wish it.»

She sighed. «I don’t think so. This is old magic, older than I am, and more powerful. The wall of the Forbidding cannot be broken by ordinary means. That is why it was so difficult for Tael Riverine to get his demon into the Four Lands. He had to work a switch to make that happen. You told me so yourself.»

« Perhaps you can switch the Moric back again in exchange for me,” he said brightly.

His enthusiasm was frustrating. «No, I can’t. I don’t know how. I don’t even know how this staff works. It responds to Pen, not to me. What matters is that the Faerie creature who told Pen about the staff was very explicit—it cannot bring anyone out of the Forbidding but us.»

Weka Dart was on his feet in an instant, arms pinwheeling. «But you promised! You said you would take me with you if I got you out of Tael Riverine’s prisons! You said you would! Did you lie? Is it true that all Strakens lie? Even you?»

She held up her hands. «I told you that I would do what I could to help you but that I didn’t even know if I could help myself! That was what I said. It was the truth, not a lie. If Pen hadn’t come with the staff, I couldn’t escape the Forbidding, either. I would be trapped here, as well.»

« Now you won’t be, will you?» he shrieked.

« No.»

« But I will! I will!»

« Not if we can—”

« You lied, you lied, you lied!»

Spitting at Penderrin, as if the situation were his fault, the Ulk Bog rushed out of the shelter, screaming invectives at both of them, and then disappeared into the night. But he was back again within minutes, trudging out of the inky black and flinging himself down where he had been sitting before. For a long time, he didn’t say anything. Grianne waited.

« Who will protect you from dragons, Grianne of the broken promises?» he whispered finally.

He said it with such sadness that it made her throat tighten in response. «There are no dragons in my world,” she answered.

« No dragons?» His head lifted from the cradle of his arms. «Well, who will protect you from the Furies, then? Or the giants, and ogres and Graumths? Who will warn you of their coming? Who will keep you from stumbling into their lairs?»

« There are no Furies, ogres, giants, or Graumths. All of those are here. They were all sent here in the time of Faerie, when the Forbidding was created.» She paused. «My world is nothing like yours, little Ulk

Bog. It is a very different kind of place.»

« Are there Ulk Bogs like me?»

« No. There are no Faerie kind at all, save Elves.»

« I hate Elves,” he muttered. «Elves enslaved the Jarka Ruus.»

« Weka Dart,” she said quietly. «We will try to take you with us, just as I promised. I will keep my word.

I just want you to know that I may not be able to break you free. I may not have the power to do that.»

He was silent a long time. «No Ulk Bogs?»

« No.»

He squirmed around in the dark, shifting positions, trying first one, then another, so restless that she thought there was something wrong with him. «Are you all right?»

« I might not come with you after all,” he said suddenly. «I might stay here. Your world sounds boring. It sounds as if there is nothing to do. I might be better off staying right where I am.»

She stared at him. «I thought you said you couldn’t do that. I thought you said Tael Riverine would kill you if you stayed.»

« He might take me back, now that Hobstull is dead.» Weka Dart’s voice was small and contemplative. «He will need a new Catcher.»

« No!» she said at once. «The Straken Lord will have you killed, Weka Dart! He will find out what you have done and that will be the end of you!»

« He might not. He might think me too valuable now.»

She wanted to shake him so hard his teeth rattled. «If this is a threat meant to get back at me for telling you the truth, for telling you what I thought you had a right to know, then it is a poor one! Don’t be such a fool! You cannot talk about going back to Tael Riverine! Going back is suicide!»

« Or maybe I will go west, where I said I wanted to go when we met.» He shrugged. «Maybe I will go to Huka Flats and find a place where I will be accepted.»

She didn’t know what to say. She wanted him to quit talking the way he was. She wanted to tell him that they would find a way to get him out of the Forbidding. She wanted him to wait until they knew for sure what was going to happen when they used the darkwand. But Weka Dart was already sifting his expectations in his mind, rethinking his life and his plans for the future, accepting better than she, perhaps, the realities.

« Don’t decide anything tonight,” she said to him. «Wait until we have a chance to test the staff. Will you do that?»

He was silent for a long time. «I will sleep on it, Straken Queen. I will give it the thought it deserves.»

« I wouldn’t ask for more than that,” she said.

« I would be a good Catcher for you. Is there was anything to catch over there? Or to protect you from? There must be something.»

« There are enemies,” she assured him. «There are always enemies.»

She watched him lie down and curl into a ball. «I will keep you safe from your enemies,” he said softly. «I will protect you.»

« I know.»

She sat staring out into the night, her thoughts dark and threatening, pushing back her weariness. She should be able to do more for him than what she believed she could. She should be able to help him. But she didn’t know where to start. She didn’t know how to do what was needed. She felt weak and impotent.

« I will be there for you,” he whispered.

Then he said nothing more.

She awoke with the dawn, the silvery tinge of its breaking a faint blush on the eastern horizon. The sky was overcast and the clouds thick and roiling across the Pashanon. A storm was building to the southwest, and there was a screen of rain where it swept eastward out of Huka Flats.

She looked around. Pen was sound asleep at her side, the darkwand cradled in his arms. Weka Dart was nowhere to be found. She took a moment to scan the countryside, but didn’t see him. Apparently, he had left early to scout the pass.

She roused Pen, and after eating the remainder of the roots Weka Dart had provided for their evening meal, they set off. She felt an urgency about doing so, a need to reach their destination quickly. She was aware of how fragile she was. Still unhealed from her experiences at the hands of Tael Riverine, her strength came mostly from the knowledge that she was close to being free of him for good. If she could escape the Forbidding, as well, she might recover herself. If she could put enough distance between herself and what had been done to her, she might be able to shore up her uncertain psyche. The memories would never leave her but, perhaps, she could take the edge off them. She was holding herself together mostly through cobbled–together bits and pieces of determination, stubbornness, and pride. She was still Ard Rhys, but to become anything like whole again, she must regain her hold on the position as well as the title.

She looked around with haunted eyes. The oppressiveness of the world of the Jarka Ruus closed about her. Another day in the Forbidding, and she could not say for certain that she would not give way to the madness that had threatened to claim her ever since her arrival. Time was growing increasingly short for her. She could listen to the sound of its passing in the beating of her heart.

They climbed steadily into the pass, frequently looking back over their shoulders to the plains, which were disappearing in the sweep of the storm. But there appeared to be no pursuit and no indication of anything dangerous coming their way.

And there was still no sign of Weka Dart.

It was nearing midday when they gained the forested heights of the Dragon Line and began to head west, toward the place where they had entered the Forbidding. The day had gone very dark as the storm clouds continued to roll eastward. The wind had picked up, and the first sprinkles of rain blew into their faces. Not wanting to be caught in the storm, they pressed on. Grianne chose their path; her sense of where she was stronger now. The boy walked silently beside her, the staff covered and out of sight.

In the distance, thunder rumbled in long, rolling peals and lightning flashed on the plains.

Then, quite unexpectedly, they emerged from the trees into a clearing, and Grianne recognized it as the place they had been searching for. She took Pen’s arm and nodded to him without speaking. The boy grinned, a disarming response that made her smile, as well. It was almost over.

She looked around for Weka Dart, but still he wasn’t there.

Pen saw the look on her face. «Where is he, Aunt Grianne? I thought he would be waiting for us.»

She took a long moment to study the trees, to peer through the gloom not only of the day but also of her own realization of what had happened.

« He isn’t coming,” she said.

The boy stared at her. «Why wouldn’t he come? Doesn’t he want to get out of here?»

She shook her head. «I don’t know. I’m not sure he knows. I think he’s afraid. Of failing to get out, if the darkwand won’t take him. Of getting out and finding it isn’t what he expects. Maybe something else altogether.»

Penderrin looked away. «I wouldn’t stay here if I were him. I would take the chance that there might be something better.»

She took a deep breath. She could use her magic to try to find the Ulk Bog. He might be close still, waiting to see if they would look for him. He might be testing her. But she knew in her heart that he wasn’t, that he was far away, that he had put her behind him. She would be someone he had known and helped, someone he could brag about. But she would be only a memory.

Would he try to go back to Tael Riverine and become his Catcher once more? Would he take the chance that the Straken Lord either did not know of his participation in her escape or would forgive him for it? With the Ulk Bog, it was impossible to tell.

Weha Dart.

She spoke his name in her mind, conjuring up images of him that she thought she would carry with her to the grave.

« We have to go,” she told Pen abruptly. «We can’t wait on him. Use the staff.»

The boy brought out the darkwand and set it butt–downward against the earth, his hands wrapped around its carved surface. The runes were glowing softly, pulsing bright red in the darkness of the midday storm.

« Place your hands with mine,” he said.

She started to do so, and then stopped. «Pen, listen to me. They will be waiting for us when we come through—Shadea a’Ru and those who have allied themselves with her. They will have figured out where you went and be prepared for the possibility that you might get back again and bring me with you. They will know where to look for us. They will attack the moment they see us. They will try to put an end to both of us. So I want you to be ready. I want you to get behind me and stay there until you have a chance to get clear. Any chance. As soon as you see one, you are to take it. Don’t wait for me. Don’t even think about me. Just run and keep running. Do you understand?»

He nodded, but looked uncertain.

She put her hands on his shoulders. «You showed great courage in coming here to save me. I don’t know anyone else who could have done what you did, except perhaps your father. I owe it to him to do for you what you have done for me. I want you safe and sound when this business is finished, Penderrin. Tell me you will do as I have asked.»

He nodded again, more firmly this time. «I will, Aunt Grianne.»

She took her hands from his shoulders. «Are you ready?»

He took a deep breath. «I am.»

« Then let’s go home.»

She wrapped her hands on the staff and held tight.