'Off,' he whispered.
I edged back and hoisted my bad leg over the side of the beast, sliding down in a tangle of emerald silk robe. I hit the ground and stumbled on the uneven surface, falling on my hands and knees with a soft grunt.
He landed lightly beside me and motioned me to sit. 'Wait.'
I sat, more from a sudden trembling in my thighs than obedience. Silently, he led the horse into the bushes. I dug my hand into the joint of my hip, massaging the hot pain. The strain and the sudden lack of Sun drug had made the ache flare into agony.
It seemed an age before Ryko squatted beside me. He placed his finger across his lips then pointed to our left and held up two fingers.
'Two men?' I mouthed.
He shook his head. I watched his lips. Twenty.
The air around me contracted.
He pointed to our right, planing his hand low along the ground. We were going to crawl to the Dragon Hall? Ahead of twenty soldiers? I doubted my hip would last the distance. I looked at the cold professionalism in Ryko's face. He would carry me if I asked, but I would do this myself. I would prove I was still Lord Eon.
Ryko rose and moved silently into a gap in the undergrowth. I followed him, carefully pushing my way along a sliver of overgrown track that was made more from his imagination than cleared foliage. I was already sweating in the heavy Story Robe, but at least it was dark green and blended into the night colours. Every now and again, Ryko slopped and listened, his face growing grimmer. My ears were not as well (ruined; all I heard were the calls of animals and the brush of leaves and branches in the warm wind. But by the way Ryko quickened our pace, the soldiers were gaining ground. I struggled behind him, my teeth clenched against the pain of each step.
Then I heard it: the crack of a breaking branch.
Ryko pulled me down into the dirt and leaves.
I held my breath, squinting into the darkness. Where were they? I couldn't see anyone. My senses reached out: the smell of our sweat, the hard jab of twigs in my flesh, and the sour taste of fear. Beside me, I heard the snick of Ryko's arm blades springing from their sheaths. Then his hand was on mine, laying a knife in it, closing my fingers around the handle. I met his eyes. Was it to fight with or die by? But all I saw was the hunter in his face.
He turned his head to the left, to the right, listening.
A soft guttural call. From our right. Just behind us. An animal? Ryko frowned, concentrating.
It came again.
Suddenly he threw back his head and copied it, a broad smile cutting the sound short.
Around us, shadows in the undergrowth surged and shifted into human shapes.
'For the Pearl Emperor,' a voice whispered.
'Solly?'
'Ryko?'
A face appeared in a gap in the undergrowth: pig-eyed, big-jawed with a broken-toothed smile. I lurched back, holding up my knife. Was it some kind of demon?
'Ryko, you scared the piss out of us,' the face whispered. 'We thought you were army scouts.'
It was just a man, although the ugliest I had ever seen. I lowered the blade, relief slumping through me. Ryko's Resistance.
'I didn't know if you'd make it,'Ryko said.
'Nearly didn't. Not sure how many of the others got through.'
'Solly, I have Lord Eon with me,' Ryko said quickly.
So, he had not told them the truth about me. Who was only giving half the story now?
Solly's tiny eyes widened. 'Lord Eon?' He quickly bobbed into a fervent bow. 'My lord, an honour.'
I nodded, transfixed by the man's ugliness.
'1 counted you as twenty,' Ryko said. 'Is that right? Are you all armed?'
Solly held up a large metal hook and grinned. All armed. What do you need?'
'We must get to the Rat Dragon Hall and then back to the palace.'
'We'll get you there,' Solly said. He turned to me, bobbing his head again. 'We'll get you there, Lord Eon.'
'Thank you, Solly,' I said. 'You're from the island Resistance, aren't you?'
'Yes, my lord. We came when Ryko, here, called.' His smile shifted into a strange shyness.
'We all know you're the one who's got the way of beating Sethon. We'll serve you, lord. To the death. For the Pearl Emperor.'
Ryko's eyes flicked across to me, but I ignored his hard look.
'For the Pearl Emperor,' I said.
'Let's get going,' Ryko said sourly. 'Solly, fan out. Once we get to the wall, stay hidden. And send someone back for our horse.'
Solly turned to his men and issued soft instructions as Ryko held his hand out to me. I pushed it away and stood, straightening the Story Robe.
'Here,' I said, offering him the knife.
He stared down at it. 'Have you ever stabbed anyone?'
'No.'
'This is the best place.' His hand lightly touched the top of my sash over the delta of charisma.
Aim up and you'll reach the
heart. The knife is long enough.' He turned away. 'Thrust hard and do not be surprised by the resistsnce ol skin and muscle.'
A memory leaped forwards: Ryko ramming a blade up under Ranne's armour. Was this the knife that had killed Ranne? Pushing away the dark memory, I carefully secured the knife between the thick folds of my sash.
Solly ordered his men into their positions. I followed Ryko as he started the push through the undergrowth, taking some solace in the fact that our backs were now well guarded. Although the brief stop had rested my hip, the good effect was soon worn away by Ryko's relentless pace. There was nothing I could do to ease the pain, but if someone had offered me a dose of Sun drug, I would have eaten it dry
I was wheezing by the time we broke out of the heavier brush into the sparser covering opposite the Rat Dragon Hall. Ryko signalled to Solly, and he and his men suddenly seemed to blend back into the denser foliage. I peered at the place where two of the men had stood a moment ago. There was no sign of them, although I knew they were in there somewhere, watching and waiting for our return. It was a comforting thought.
Ryko scanned the top of the huge wall for any guards. 'We'll go through the same gate as before.' He looked at me more intently Are you all right?'
I nodded, taking two deep breaths before managing to say, 'It will be locked.'
He shrugged. 'Locks are no problem. It is the number of guards that worry me.'
'Most of them will be...' I forced the words out, '...at the other Dragoneye Halls.'
Ryko's face held the same haunted question as my own: how many of the Dragoneyes were already dead?
'Come on,' he said. 'Keep low.'
We crossed the dangerously open space between forest and hall, making for the safety of the dark shadow cast by the wall. I
hiti the rough stone with my back, gulping for air, but Ryko was already moving towards the gate set further along. I stayed pressed against the wall. He would need time to pick the lock
— time for me to recover.
Slowly, the squeeze and fold of my heartbeat evened into a less frantic rhythm. Ryko was still crouched in front of the gate lock. 1 crept along the wall, watching him work with the focus of a craftsman. The small hiatus had crowded my mind with the problems that faced us. Had Lord Ido returned the folio to his library or did he have it with him? How were we going to get back to the palace? And was it even going to be possible to reach Lady Dela?
I squatted beside Ryko. 'Nearly there,' he whispered.
The mechanism clicked. He smiled then pulled the two pieces of wire out of the lock and turned the latch, easing the metal gate open. I held my breath as he stepped through the narrow opening. He beckoned me through.
I slipped through the space and followed Ryko up the long alleyway. We pressed ourselves against the stone wall and scanned the courtyard. It was lit as it had been before; the yellowish light from the bronze lamps casting deep shadows across the cumquat trees. But the sounds of normal hall life were strangely absent. Even the kitchens were dark. I shifted until the arch o
f the back corridor came into my line of sight. Beyond that was the library. And — I hoped —the folio.
Ryko leaned his head back against the wall.
'Either the household has fled or they have moved to a safer location,' he said. 'It is possible Lord Ido has not been back here.'
I looked at him, aghast. 'Then the folio will still be with him.'
Ryko nodded.
I tried to breathe through the swell of desperation. How was I going to get the folio away from Ido without calling on the Rat Dragon?
'We have to check the library,' I said. 'Just in case.'
He eyed me, unconvinced. 'Every moment we waste is costing lives.'
'We have to check it,' 1 insisted.
Ryko studied the courtyard again. 'Come on'
Bending low, I followed Ryko to the row of cumquats, and then across to the archway.
Nothing else moved or made a sound. At the end of the passageway, we stopped and studied the garden in front of us. This time there were no Twelfth Day festival lamps in the blossom trees. There were no lamps at all; the path was lit only by the weak moonlight that silvered paving and pond. The smell of jasmine was still strong in the air, and beyond the bridge and pavilion I could make out the hulking shadow of the library
'Not all the household has left,' Ryko said quietly
I peered into the garden, finally making out the figures of two guards near the pavilion.
Ryko held out his hand. 'Give me the knife.'
I pulled it free from my sash and passed it to him.
'Do you remember Solly's call?' he asked, releasing the other blade from its arm sheath.
I nodded.
'When you hear it, come to the library'
Soundlessly, he ran across the grass, blending into the shadows. I pressed myself back against the passage wall, listening for his call, knowing that two men were about to die. So many people were dying for this scramble for power. My mind skittered into a sick imagining of Lord Tyron's head falling from his shoulders. I shook off the raw images. Better to think of what we had to do. Get the folio. Get the power. Stop Ido.
Or did I really mean, kill Ido?
Kill him, or be killed.
Kill or be killed.
I jerked my head back, away from the words and hit the wall. The sharp impact with the stone made me gasp, but at least it stopped the dreadful mind knell.
Thru I heard something; a hollow grunt. Not the call. Some part of me knew what it was, but I didn't want to think about it.
Another sound. This time it was the signal.
1 ran across the grass in a limping lope. In the dim light, I jumped real and imagined dips and rocks, quickly passing the pavilion and joining the pathway. The library loomed with two dark shapes on the ground. Two slumped bodies. I focused on Ryko standing on the path and tried to ignore the silhouettes at the corner of my vision.
'The dragon's illusion is still in place,' Ryko said as I reached him. 'I'll need your help.' He held out his hand.
I hesitated. I did not have the red folio with me and it was too dangerous to force a connection with the Rat Dragon. There was only one way to find out if I could still protect Ryko. I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the protected area. We both froze, waiting. He blew out a relieved breath, the illusion obviously held at bay.
'You didn't look convinced,' he said drily
'I don't know how it works,' I admitted.
He grunted and pulled me forwards. We ran the distance to the metal library door. As before, it was padlocked. This time, however, Ryko was not writhing in pain, unable to pick it. He/
kneeled and, with my hand gripping his shoulder for protection, deftly manipulated a thin piece of metal into the lock. The mechanism released with a soft click.
He glanced up at me. 'Luckily one of us knows how things work.'
Pocketing the piece of metal, he unhooked the padlock from the latch and pushed open the door, quickly stepping into the safety of the dark passage.
Ahead was the inner door. The twelve-circle design etched on its surface was barely discernible in the dim yellowish light that spread from under its base. Someone had left lamps burning inside. Ever cautious, Ryko stood in front of the door and listened. I heard the siss of sliding metal, His knife was back in his hand. Had he heard something inside? He saw the question on my face and shook his head, Pressing the lach, he sent the door swinging soundlessly open.
Blue carpet, huge reading table, stacks of wooden scroll boxes along the wall, and that same sour resonance of power. Nothing seemed to have changed from our last visit, except this time the oil lamps along the table were lit, giving the room a mellow warmth. Ryko stepped across the threshold.
'It'll be at the back,' I said, following him. 'I'll get —'
He came from the left, head down, straight into Ryko. A low tackle that took them crashing into the wall of scrolls. Boxes and parchments spun into the air, smashing down around me.
Ryko wrenched his attacker to the floor, landing on top. I saw a flash of a sickly, desperate face — Dillon. Ryko lifted his knife, his other hand holding my friend's throat.
I lunged, catching Ryko's foot. 'Stop! It's Dillon!'
Ryko froze, the knife still poised for the down thrust.
'I thought you were him,' Dillon gasped. 'I thought you were him.'
'Ido?' Ryko's face was still tense with fight.
Dillon nodded. Ryko let go of his throat and lowered the knife, easing back onto his knees.
Suddenly, he grabbed Dillon's jaw, ignoring the boy's terrified flinch, and turned his face to the light. Dillon's skin was yellowed, even the whites of his eyes, and the rash on his neck was twice the size. He struggled under Ryko's hand.
'Let go of me.'
'Steady' Ryko said, releasing him. 'You've got Sun drug poisoning. Any more and it's going to kill you.'
'It doesn't matter.' Dillon caught Ryko's wrist in a trembling grip. 'He's going to kill me anyway. He's going to kill all the Dragoneyes.' His eyes found mine, but there was nothing left of Dil!on, only mad hate. 'He told me what you are, what he's going to do. You've brought disaster on us all.' He lurched at me, his hands clawed. Ryko grabbed his shoulder.
'The drug's got hold of him,' Ryko said to me. '(jet the book. We need to get out of here.'
Shocked by Dillon's venom, I stumbled past the reading table. Behind me, I heard Ryko reassuring Dillon that we'd get him out, and Dillon's voice, quick and fevered, ranting about Ido's power. The grating energy in the room pressed into the base of my skull, crawling across my skin. No doubt Dillon was feeling its effects too.
1 ran up to the plain wooden case at the end of the room. Some defeated part of me expected the red folio to be missing. Like my dragon. But it was there. Next to the black folio. I shivered; even the sight of the other book sickened me. I pushed the glass lid back on its hinges and grabbed the red volume. As though suddenly woken from sleep, the black pearls around it stirred then burrowed into my wide sleeve, binding the folio against my arm in a tight clicking embrace. The surge of victory made me sway The book was mine, not Ido's. I stroked the tail of the dusky pearls, trying to ignore the darker presence still in the case. But I knew what I had to do. I reached in with my left hand, hesitating over the black leather. The white pearls shifted. I licked my lips, remembering Ryko's yelp when he'd reached for the folio. This was going to be painful. But I couldn't leave it here. I snatched up the book and held it at arm's length, bracing myself for the stinging lash. The pearls reared, curled, then suddenly swarmed up my left arm, binding the black folio over my sleeve.
'Have you got it?' Ryko demanded.
'Yes,' I said, my voice cracking. Why hadn't the white pearls attacked me? Gingerly, I poked the rope of gems. They tightened.
'Then let's get out of here,' he said.
He pulled Dillon to his feet. The boy held himself as if something was very wrong inside.
'I'm all right,' he said roughly, pushing Ryko's hands off him.
The islander stepped back, I take it you can get through the Rat Dragon's illusion?'
Dillon's voice was low and vicious, 'ldo may he draining my connection, but I can still call my dragon.'
They both turned as I walked stiflly up to them.
'He's draining your power?' I asked. Was that what he had done to me? Was it something he could do to anyone?
Dillon nodded and pointed at the black folio. 'He learned it from that.' Then he smiled, his teeth bared like an injured animal. 'He won't like losing it.'
Ryko eyed the folio uneasily. 'Well, it's good that we have it now Perhaps it can be used against him.'
He herded us towards the door. Dillon forged ahead, eager to be out of his prison. I followed him with Ryko bringing up the rear. The pressure in my head slowly eased as I got further along the short stone corridor. Just as we stepped outside, I felt Ryko grip my shoulder.
Then something hit me in the chest, crushing the breath out of me. I collapsed onto my hands and knees. I had no air. Through a haze of red panic, I saw Ryko a length away, writhing in agony, caught in the Rat Dragon's illusions. A sharp pain seared through my arm. I tried to find the breath to scream.
'Let go of it.'
My eyes focused: it was Dillon, shouting at me, pulling at the black folio.
Dillon had hit me.
My chest finally opened. I sucked in a deep breath. He swung his leg over my body and straddled my chest, his fingers digging under the white pearls.
'What are you doing?' I gasped, bucking under him. He landed heavily on my hips, sending a spear of pain streaking down my bad leg.
'1 need something he wants.' He worked his fingers in deeper. 'Something to bargain with.'
His stupidity forced a rush of angry energy through me. 'Bargain?' I yelled. 'You idiot.'
I swung my fist at his face. He jerked his head back, my blow skimming his ear. With the strength of madness, he forced my hand down and clamped it under his knee. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ryko crawling towards us, his eyes bulging with agony.
'Ido's not going to bargain with you,' I spat. 'He's going to kill you.'