6.0 - Raptor

  Go ahead, Jaxi said. I’ll keep the barrier up. You know I don’t know shurako from a shako. Swords are indifferent to healing.

  You were indifferent to healing even before you became a sword.

  True. I always found the healing arts to be… oh, what’s the word?

  Too challenging to be mastered by someone with an impatient mind? Sardelle suggested.

  I was going to say boring. Jaxi spread a protective barrier, the field overlapping with Sardelle’s.

  Ah, I can see why such an uncommon vocabulary word would have eluded you.

  Hush. I was trying to find a more tactful word, since healing is your career and passion.

  A more tactful word that still means boring?

  Essentially, yes.

  Sardelle decided not to dwell on the fact that Jaxi being tactful usually meant she believed the end was near. With her now holding back the rocks, Sardelle knelt beside Tylie, who had her eyes closed, her chin to her chest.

  “We’ll do it together,” Sardelle whispered, not sure if Tylie would hear or if she was already focused on her link with Phelistoth.

  For the first time, Sardelle stretched out with her senses and examined the dragon. His pain washed over her, and she understood what Jaxi had meant, about his presence being so overpowering that it was hard to reach out to another. She cataloged his injuries, including broken ribs and a cracked skull. His scales and muscles protected him, but they weren’t as massive and thick as she had expected. A dragon’s magic must protect it more than its natural armor, which made her realize that if they could ever come upon their golden enemy sleeping, it would be a lot easier to kill him. Too bad they had to figure out how to escape this crypt before they could test that hypothesis.

  Under the scales and muscle, Phelistoth’s bones were hollow, like a bird’s. Almost fragile.

  You see the cracked ribs? Sardelle asked Tylie.

  Yes. But his head…

  I’ll work on that. The swelling in his brain would take a delicate touch, but he would likely regain consciousness once that was relieved. I showed you how to enhance the body’s own regenerative abilities. Focus on the bones, please. I’ll teach you about the complexities of organs another time.

  All right.

  Though Sardelle had told Tylie to avoid the shurako technique, she used it herself. Most healing involved channeling and enhancing the patient’s own energy, but with two people working on different parts of the same body, that could dangerously drain the patient’s system. Trusting Tylie to use the standard technique, since that was all she knew, Sardelle dribbled her own life’s force into knitting the bone of the dragon’s skull, then on soothing the inflamed tissue in his brain. This most delicate of organs was always a challenge to work on, and though she had healed animals before, as well as humans, the dragon’s brain was different from both and alien to her. Still, her techniques worked eventually, and the swelling gradually receded. When she sensed more blood flowing to his brain, she guessed he would rouse soon. She backed away, believing he could finish healing his own injuries once he woke.

  Before she could withdraw completely, something grasped onto her incorporeal being, like someone gripping her arm and keeping her from stepping back. Fear flooded into her, fear that he would think she had been attacking him and react before he was fully awake and understood the truth. She started to raise her mental shields, trying to break the contact and protect her mind.

  No, Phelistoth rumbled in her thoughts.

  Sardelle froze, not certain if the no was a warning not to raise her defenses or a promise that he wouldn’t attack. His aura draped over her, and for a confusing moment, she sensed the world through him, and she found herself looking down at Tylie from another perspective, watching as she worked hard to heal his ribs. She needed a lot more practice before she would be fast and proficient, but her sheer determination and focus helped her make progress. Phelistoth brushed her aura, the part of her touching him, healing him, and Sardelle sensed his appreciation and even something that might be called love, though there was an alienness to him and his thoughts, just as there was to his anatomy. Still, Sardelle was pleased that he seemed to genuinely care for Tylie. Pleased, but also a little uncomfortable, since she felt like she was intruding upon them now.

  I was foolish, human, Phelistoth said into her mind, the power of his words more muted than usual.

  She did not know if that was because the injuries had weakened him, or because he was being considerate, so his words wouldn’t ring painfully in her head. His entire demeanor was muted, chagrined. She’d never sensed such an emotion from him.

  I know you need my help, but I see that you would have healed me, regardless. Phelistoth stared into her naked soul, reading her as if she were broadcasting her every thought. Pull her back and stand ready to protect yourself from the rocks again, he said.

  I will. Sardelle backed away—this time he allowed it—and grew aware of their small chamber again.

  Tylie’s tongue was tucked into the corner of her mouth, the concentration that had been visible in her aura just as visible on her face.

  Sardelle touched her shoulder. He can handle it from here.

  Tylie muttered something indistinguishable, but did not stop. She was determined to finish healing those ribs. Sardelle still had a sense of Phelistoth’s thoughts, whether because he wasn’t keeping his shields up right now or because they had been so close when she’d been healing him. Amusement touched him, in addition to the contentedness and appreciation he felt for Tylie’s ministrations. If he cared that his body was still smothered under tons of rock, it did not come through in his thoughts.

  After a few more minutes, Tylie finished. Sweat beaded on her brow, but she smiled in triumph.

  Stand back, Phelistoth instructed.

  One of the soldiers gasped, so Sardelle assumed everyone had heard the order.

  Might want to reinforce that barrier, Jaxi. I have a feeling he’s going to melt rocks again, and woe to anything unshielded that’s nearby.

  Yes, I haven’t noticed that dragons have a lot of subtly in their attacks—or meltings.

  Busy reinforcing the barrier, Sardelle refrained from commenting that Jaxi also tended to be on the zealous side when she attacked or melted something.

  Please. I can fry the butt hair off a flea, if I so choose.

  Before Sardelle could contemplate a response, a reddish-orange light surrounded them, the power so intense that closing her eyes and shielding them with her hand wasn’t enough. She dropped to her knees, with her arms around her head and her face buried against the ground. She kept the shield up, but so much power railed against it that she was left breathless. Worse, the display of power was not brief. It went on and on, battering at her barrier. Sweat dampened the back of her shirt and dripped down the sides of her face to spatter onto the rocks. No heat made its way past her shield, but the drain of keeping the barrier up was akin to that of sprinting up the side of a mountain.

  The roar of another rockfall pummeled her ears. Even without looking, she sensed fresh boulders pummeling the barrier. The light disappeared, but several moments passed before the barrage of rocks stopped.

  As the bangs slowed to a trickle, Sardelle lifted her head. As far as she could tell, little had changed. Rocks still pressed in on them from all sides.

  One thing changed, Jaxi said. Look to your right.

  The tail was gone, and Phelistoth stood next to Tylie in his human form, inside of the barrier. When had he slipped through, and how? She hadn’t felt the intrusion.

  He melted lots and lots of rocks, then dove in here with us before the next layer fell and crushed him again.

  How many layers are there? Sardelle stood up, fighting back a groan. The muscles in her shoulders and upper back ached, as if she had taken a few of those boulders herself. Her whole body was stiff and drained from the magic use. On all sides of her barrier, molten rock glowed red in the cracks between the boulders that had just fallen.


  Layers may not have been the best word to describe the jumble that exists above us. It suggests organization that isn’t there.

  Phelistoth slumped against the wall, his human form appearing far more weary than Sardelle had ever seen it. Tylie clasped his hand and leaned next to him.

  “Anyone want to explain what’s going on?” Sergeant Jenneth asked, his voice squeakier than usual.

  “No,” the private said.

  “Anyone else just pee down his leg?” Jenneth looked back and forth from the tunnel where Phelistoth’s tail had been to the human version of Phelistoth standing next to Tylie. Had he seen the dragon-turned-human walk inside?

  “No.”

  “Oh. Me neither.”

  The good news is that his aura isn’t smothering me like an elephant lying on a mouse anymore, Jaxi said, sharing this image, as well as the words. I can see what’s going on up there now.

  Is it bad? Maybe Sardelle shouldn’t ask.

  Yes.

  Naturally.

  First off, Ridge can’t do anything to help us in a timely matter.

  And second?

  The other dragon is up there, and I think he’s figured out that Phelistoth is alive and down here.

  • • • • •

  When the door to Tolemek’s lab opened, he grabbed a pistol and spun toward the intruder. Having that assassin sneak in had left him twitchy. He did not aim it at the person in the doorway, which turned out to be a good choice since it was General Ort.

  Ort raised his eyebrows, and Tolemek laid the weapon aside.

  “We’re done with this.” Ort walked in and held out the capped vial of the truth serum. “Thank you.”

  Tolemek accepted the vial, the contents significantly lowered, and returned it to the rack. “Did you find out anything else?”

  He did not know if Ort would tell him if he had, or if the general considered the confessions of prisoners to be military secrets. Still, Tolemek had a reason to be interested in the assassin and whether they had extracted more information from him. He was curious about the questioning of the Cofah soldiers too. He had worked through most of the night on his experiments, and wouldn’t have wanted to leave them in order to attend interrogations even if he had been invited, but he couldn’t help but wonder what had come out.

  “Not from your new friend, but we focused on questioning the Cofah soldiers we captured.” Ort stepped back, as if that was all he meant to reveal, but he paused to consider Tolemek. “Maybe this will make more sense to you. As a whole, they’re confused as to how they came to be in the middle of Iskandian territory. They were happy enough to engage us once our airship showed up, but unless your serum is faulty, none of them remember why or how they came to be here, and none of them had any recollection of bombing the mountain. They also didn’t know what I was talking about when I questioned them in regard to how their craft came to be invisible. Only one of the men remembers the sorceress being with them on the ship.”

  “My serum isn’t faulty,” Tolemek said. “We used it on the assassin just a few hours ago.”

  Ort nodded. “I believe you. We questioned a lot of them, and their stories were too similar for me to suspect they were a part of some coordinated mass lie.” His gaze flicked toward the rack of vials. “As someone who apparently has some experience with magic, what do you think? Could the sorceress have been controlling their minds? All of them? Between the two ships, there were fifty people. We captured twenty-five and questioned fifteen. It’s extraordinary to imagine one person not only controlling that many people but then making it so they remembered nothing of the experience. The last any of these men knew, they were aboard routine patrol ships that keep an eye on Iskandia from out over the sea.”

  “I’m afraid my experience is only with creating formulas,” Tolemek said. “I don’t think Sardelle could fiddle with the minds of fifty men, at least not all at once, but I don’t have a strong grasp of her capabilities.”

  “Not all at once?” Ort grimaced.

  Yes, the idea of someone being able to manipulate another’s mind, even one-on-one was alarming. Perhaps Tolemek shouldn’t have implied that Sardelle could do that at all, especially since he wasn’t positive she could.

  “I always dismissed the sensationalist articles that claimed a witch was controlling Zirkander,” Ort said. “I’m sure Sardelle isn’t, but it’s alarming to think that it could even be a possibility.”

  “I imagine that if she controlled Zirkander, he would be more polite, like she is.”

  Ort grunted. “Yes, I guess we’ll know his mind isn’t his own when he stops strolling into my office, flopping down on my leather chairs, and slinging his dirty boots over the armrests.”

  “You would need to ask Sardelle about what this sorceress might be able to do. She’s a healer, and I know that required very specialized training. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were other paths the sorcerers of old could take that would lead to different careers. Perhaps there were those who specialized in mind manipulation. Although…” Tolemek rubbed his jaw.

  “What?”

  “From what I’ve seen of this one, she seems more like the magical version of Captain Kaika. It’s hard to imagine her sitting down to patiently learn how to do a more subtle form of magic.”

  “I don’t know that Captain Kaika would find your comparison flattering.”

  “Perhaps not, but they both like to make things burst into flame. Wouldn’t you think that would appeal to one particular personality? The personality of someone who would be bored pursuing a more sedate field?”

  “I don’t know. I’m completely ignorant on this subject.” Ort shook his head and started for the door. He paused before leaving and looked back. “Would you be able to tell if that sorceress was nearby?”

  “I did have a strange feeling of something—perhaps a presence—nearby before we were attacked. I may have been sensing the magic used to form that invisibility field on the closer airship.” Except that Tolemek distinctly remembered feeling the same way he did when Phelistoth came close to him. On the other hand, he didn’t usually feel anything when Sardelle stood next to him performing magic. It might be that the sorceress’s magic was simply stronger, strong enough for someone with ill-honed senses to discern. “I don’t know. It might have been nothing. I’m sure I couldn’t track her, if that’s what you’re hoping.”

  “I would just like to know if she’s stowing away on our ship somewhere.”

  “I wouldn’t think so. We never actually landed to let the infantrymen down. She would have had to fly to make it up here.”

  “Are we sure witches can’t do that?” Ort asked.

  Tolemek opened his mouth to say yes, but he paused. Did he truly know? “She had to be flown off the fortress when it started to fall apart. In a flier. That should mean she can’t turn into a bird or sprout wings at will.”

  “I’ll try to take some solace in that. While I walk around with flour in my pocket.”

  “It was talc, and there might be some left in that cupboard there. General?” he asked before Ort could leave. “You didn’t mention what the man who remembered her had to say.” Maybe Ort hadn’t intended to. “If I had more information, I might be able to come up with some idea as to what motivates the sorceress.” In truth, he mostly wanted the information for his own curiosity. And so he could be better prepared in case she showed up again, especially if she showed up to hurl fireballs at Cas.

  “This man was the captain of the first airship, and he seemed fiercely loyal to her. He was certain he was supposed to be there, but he couldn’t remember when he’d received orders assigning him and his airship to her command. He did know that she only returned to the empire briefly after the defeat of the sky fortress and was sent—or chose to come of her own accord—back here. The emperor supposedly told her Iskandia is hers if she can secure it, and that she’ll rule as his governor, reporting to him, but able to do whatever she wants with our country.”

  To
lemek nodded. Some of that had come out when he and Sardelle—mostly Sardelle—had battled the woman.

  “Despite the emperor’s generosity in offering her our country—” Ort paused to make an expression of distaste, “—he wouldn’t give her any troops, aircraft, or naval vessels to assist her in her quest to conquer us.”

  “Which explains why she was here with two airships fully staffed by soldiers,” Tolemek said dryly. He raised his eyebrows, expecting more of an explanation.

  “For the second time,” Ort said. “She had several soldiers and a couple of fliers when we encountered her out here a few weeks ago. One wonders if she’s borrowing people from the emperor unbeknownst to him. I’m still flabbergasted at the idea that someone might be able to wave a hand and take possession—body and mind—of an entire military unit.”

  “We’ll definitely have something to discuss with Sardelle. I do know she said the woman is extremely powerful, so she can do things that nobody else left alive in the world can do.”

  Ort grimaced. “Comforting.”

  “She must have some limitations, or she could simply walk into the king’s castle with her sword, kill Angulus, and take over the government.”

  “Eh, taking over or destroying an entire government wouldn’t be easy. Or at least I would hope it wouldn’t be. King Angulus is important to us, but the system carries on, whether he’s there or not, so a simple assassination wouldn’t work. The rest of the ruling council is spread out in the capitals of the regions across the nation.”

  Tolemek thought the “system” had lost some of its effectiveness when Angulus had been kidnapped, but he agreed that an assassination wouldn’t be enough to let some foreign woman step in and take over. As powerful as she was, the Iskandians could probably turn their entire military might upon her and wear down her defenses sooner or later.

  “So, why was she out here and trying to level your mountain?” Tolemek waved in the direction of the Ice Blades.

  “That’s what I’m wondering. She obviously knows about the dragon statues since she was the one to discover them, but we thought she’d finished with them when she tortured Morishtomaric and apparently didn’t convince him to join her. It’s possible she thinks she didn’t blow things up sufficiently last time and came to ensure we’d never get back into that chamber. I’m sure she doesn’t want Iskandians to have dragon allies.”