Edward clenched the strap on his shield. This wasn’t about honor.
He ran toward the opposite edge of the hilltop and found a treeless slope. Dropping his shield to the deepening ice, he sat inside it and pushed against the ground until the shield began sliding on its own. He plunged down the hill, pushing Barlow’s sword on either side to dodge stumps and holes as he careened toward a narrow brook in the distance. When he came to a halt at the muddy bank, he jumped out, grabbed his shield, and waded across the water, exchanging swords in his scabbard, feeling much more comfortable with his lighter blade.
A muddy path on the other side led into dense forest, but, for the most part, the trail stayed clear of obstacles. He ran under the shelter of the forest canopy until he came upon a sheer cliff face, a wall of granite with mossy growth in its crevices. As he slowed to examine each dark recess in the cliff, he tried to calm himself. “Okay, the cave’s around here somewhere. Just take it slow and easy. You don’t want Makaidos thinking you’re a danger to him.”
“Are you?” a deep voice called from behind him.
Edward spun around and swung his sword, barely missing the snout of a huge red dragon. The dragon slapped the sword away with his tail. “Has a boy come to try to slay the king of the dragons?”
Edward backed away, trembling. “Ma . . . Makaidos?”
Another voice answered from behind him. “Do not hurt him, my dear. He is harmless.”
Edward spun again. Another dragon, a beige one, sat in his path. He raised his shield, first toward Makaidos, then toward the female. “I . . . I’m not here to slay you. I’m here to ask for help.” He cleared his throat and steadied his voice. “His Majesty, King Arthur, requests that you join him in our battle against the barbarians from the north.”
Makaidos twitched his ears, glancing at Thigocia as he replied to Edward. “With or without riders?”
“Uh . . . I don’t know. The king didn’t say. Does it make a difference?”
“We need riders. Ever since the fall of the tower, I have trained my sons and daughters to follow only the commands of humans when fighting in a group. They would be severely handicapped without experienced riders, and we have had no need to train any riders since before Arthur’s coronation.”
“Then how will we find riders?” Edward asked.
Makaidos moved his head up and down, examining Edward. “How old are you? Sixteen? Seventeen?”
Edward squared his shoulders. “Eighteen.”
“Old enough. You will begin training immediately.”
“Me?” Edward said, pointing at himself. “Why?”
“Because you are at hand. Do you know anyone else who is brave enough?”
“My best friend, Newman, but he ”
“Then for your first lesson, you will ride Thigocia to send my acceptance to King Arthur. After that, you will pick up Newman and return here. While the two of you are training, I will summon those who are still loyal to me.”
“I am willing,” Edward said, glancing around for his sword, “but won’t we need more riders than just Newman and me?” Finding his weapon, he hoisted it up to his shoulder.
“I know of three retired soldiers who battled from our backs before Arthur’s time. Perhaps they would be willing to relive their glory days. With them and five dragons, we should have enough to defeat a band of savages.”
“Will you also summon Clefspeare?” Thigocia asked. “We could always use a sixth, especially if it is he.”
Makaidos pawed the muddy ground and snorted. “How can I be sure we can trust him?”
“He is not like his father. You know that. And he will not need a rider.”
Makaidos scowled. “Will not accept one, you mean.”
“Let us not go over this again. Not in front of the human. Clefspeare is a great warrior, and his loyalty to you is unquestioned.”
“Very well,” Makaidos said, sighing. “I will ask him to join us.”
Edward stepped between the two dragons. “I beg your pardon, Makaidos. Another knight joined me in this quest to find you, but Goliath captured him with his tail and flew away with him. Is there any way we can conduct a search?”
Makaidos’s eyes flamed. “Captured him with his tail?”
“Yes. His shield got caught ”
“Ahem!”
Edward turned toward the sound. Barlow emerged from the trees, sleeveless and brushing a coat of thistles from his vest. “There is no need to go into details,” he said, his face reddening. “I survived.”
“Captain Barlow! Your chain mail came off?”
“Yes.” Barlow picked a thumb-sized beetle from his undergarment and flicked it away. “The mail caught in the strap, so I stripped it off. Such a pity. That was my best shield.”
“You can ride with Edward,” Thigocia said. “I will take both of you home.”
Barlow gave her a slight bow, apparently too sore to bend lower. “I appreciate your offer, dragoness, but after the ride I’ve been on, I would rather walk.”
Edward pulled Barlow’s sword from his scabbard and handed it to him. “What about Goliath? He’s sure to be looking for you.”
“I will take the long way through the forest,” Barlow said, sliding his sword into its scabbard. “Fortunately, I wore my thick undergarments, so I should not be too uncomfortable.”
Edward clapped Barlow on the shoulder. “Thank you for protecting me. I am forever in your debt.”
“Think nothing of it.” Barlow clenched wrists with Edward. “I’ll look forward to seeing you and the dragons on the front lines.”
As Barlow walked away, Thigocia dipped her head low. “First lesson, a neck mount. It’s the safest and easiest. You will learn other methods later.”
Edward stepped up close to the dragoness’s neck. “Why would I need to mount any other way?”
“Well, it sounds as though Barlow very nearly succeeded with the most difficult maneuver of all, and with Goliath, no less. If I had trained him to perform a tail mount in midflight, he might not be walking home in his underwear.”
Chapter 2
The Lady of the Lake
Sapphira sat at the side of the pool, gazing at the Ovulum. Even though it had been silent for centuries, she kept bringing it back to the healing waters every few days . . . hoping . . . hoping to feel love once again.
Holding it close to her lips, she whispered, “Elohim?” but, as usual, there was no answer. She dropped her hands to her lap and sighed. She didn’t dream it. She really was healed. Whoever was inside really did sing that heavenly song that told her of Elohim’s love.
She gazed at her reflection in the pool. The same fourteen-year-old girl stared back at her the same smooth, pale skin and stark white hair. Morgan had warned her that the tower’s dimensional rift could have altered their plane of existence, but she didn’t expect not to age at all.
Still, the spawns kept growing, though very slowly, and she would have to rise early to prepare the newest candidate for mobility training. She slid the Ovulum back into her pocket and rose to her feet, grabbing her lantern on her way up. As she strolled through the corridor, she waved her hand over the flaming wick. “Come on,” she said. “You can get brighter than that.” The lantern responded with a flash and burned steadily, brightening the entire tunnel as she marched on.
Watching her own shadow on the tunnel wall, she pictured the humanoid plants attempting to walk on their spindly green legs, tired and wobbly as they exercised to the beat of a slave-driving drummer. But when she tried to imagine a face on the shadowy mirage, she could only see Yereq’s, sad and thin as he toiled in silence.
As she slid down into her dugout, a tear formed in each eye. Yereq still came to mind every day, especially the hate-filled look in his eyes when Morgan finally sent him to the mobility room for good. What was he doing now? Could he be a fully formed giant? He had enough time to grow that much. But he had neve
r shown up as a slave driver in the magnetite trenches or taken a shift as the lift operator. What might his job be?
Sapphira set the lantern on the floor, illuminating the two stone bunks. Paili sat in hers, her tiny feet brushing the floor as they swung back and forth. She formed her words slowly and carefully. “The lantern is very bright.”
Sapphira waved her hand over the flame. “Sorry.” The lantern slowly dimmed.
“If Morgan catches you doing that . . . you will be . . .” Paili rolled her eyes upward, apparently in search of a word.
“In big trouble?” Sapphira offered.
Paili nodded.
Sapphira wiggled her fingers at the lantern, and the flame waved its pointy head back at her. “I think she’s already suspicious about my power, but it doesn’t matter. I’m not afraid of her anymore.”
“You should be afraid. If she . . . catches you trying to break into . . .” Paili glanced upward again, but this time, she just shook her head and sighed. “Too many words.”
“Take your time.” Sapphira stroked Paili’s hair. She was still an eight-year-old in body, and perhaps even younger in mind, even after over a thousand years of training. “You’ve come a long way, Paili. Don’t get discouraged.”
Paili forced out her words as though each one tortured her throat. “I was . . . doing better. Something . . . is wrong.”
“Yes, I know. I’m still trying to figure out what’s holding you back.” She sat on the floor next to Paili’s bed, using her toes to pinch a stale morsel of bread near the “mouse” hole. A dozen or so other morsels lay strewn around the opening.
Sapphira tickled Paili’s foot. “How’s our food supply?”
Paili just sighed and pulled her leg up to her bed.
Sapphira winced. “Oh. Sorry. Yes or no questions.” She kicked one of the morsels toward her hand and swept it into her fingers. “Do we have enough dried fruits and vegetables for another week?”
“No.”
“Another day?”
“Yes.”
“Is Naamah still bringing fruit from the bad tree for you to cook?”
“Yes.”
“Has she said anything about when Morgan might come back?”
“Yes. Tomorrow.”
Sapphira pulled her knees up to her chest. “That means tonight’s my last chance to search her castle. Whenever I’m anywhere near the portal, she doesn’t let me out of her sight.”
Paili grabbed Sapphira’s arm and pulled. “No! Don’t!”
“Paili!” Sapphira jerked her arm away. “I have to find Elam.”
“He is dead!” Paili moaned.
“Maybe not. Just because we don’t need bricks anymore doesn’t mean they killed him.”
Paili spread out three fingers. “Taalah is dead. Qadar is dead. . . . Elam is dead.”
“No!” Sapphira said, wrapping her hand around Paili’s fingers. “We didn’t see Elam get hauled off to the chasm like all the girls.”
Paili scowled. “You . . . never see Elam.”
Sapphira drooped her head and sighed. “I know.” With a flick of her wrist, she tossed the bread back at the hole. Then, reaching under Paili’s bunk, she withdrew a blossom and caressed one of its seven petals, as white and supple as the day she found her living gift centuries ago. “Elam’s not an underborn,” she said, laying the blossom on her bed, “so he probably died of old age a long time ago.”
“Yes. So you . . . stay here tonight.”
“No.” Sapphira rose to her feet and smacked her palm with her fist. “I haven’t looked everywhere, and I can’t ignore the feeling that someone’s being held prisoner in Morgan’s house. Even if it’s not him, I have to keep looking.”
Paili grabbed her forearm. “No!” she cried, squeezing tightly. “If you die . . . I am alone.”
Sapphira jerked free. “I won’t die!”
The lantern’s dim light reflected in Paili’s tears, two long streams running down her cheeks. Sapphira sighed and sat next to her, stroking her hair again. “Paili, everything will be okay. Elohim hasn’t brought me this far to let me die now. Why would he give me my power if he just wanted me to die down here?”
Paili pulled in her bottom lip and frowned.
“This will be the last time. I promise.” Sapphira picked up her lantern and headed for the hovel’s exit, whispering to the flame. “A bit lower, please.”
As the lantern’s glow diminished, she checked for the Ovulum in her pocket and climbed out into the corridor, tiptoeing in front of her own stalking silhouette. So far, so good. Morgan lurked somewhere in the overworld, Naamah was probably sleeping by now, but where might Mardon be? Since he never wanted her to leave the hovel at night, it seemed that he was hiding some terrible secret. Who could tell how late he might be working in the control room . . . or watching from the surrounding shadows?
As she approached the control room, the door swung open, and Mardon bustled out, studying a page of parchment as he strode toward her. She flattened herself against a wall and snuffed her flame with a quick wave. As he passed by, the light from Mardon’s lantern brushed across her eyes, but he never looked up from his work. She waited a few seconds, then continued on, not bothering to summon her fire again. After several centuries, the winding, upward path was all too familiar, even in total darkness.
After hurrying through the old green portal chamber, she felt for the entry to the next corridor and crept through, helped by the glow in the distance from the guard’s lantern and the swirling eddies emanating from the newer portal’s blue column. As she neared the chamber, she tiptoed and called out her usual warning, having learned that it’s never wise to startle a guardian giant. “Anak? It’s Sapphira.”
Just as she stepped into the chamber, the giant’s deep voice echoed off the distant walls and ceiling. “More night reading, daughter of the earth?”
Sapphira cringed. No matter how many times he taunted her with that name, it never failed to sting. Firming her chin, she strode into the towering giant’s shadow and crossed her arms over her chest. “At least I can read, son of putrefaction.”
Anak roared with laughter, making his muscular torso quiver. “A new insult from the queen of glib tongues.” He reached down and patted her on the head. “Morgan must keep you around for entertainment. I would have fed your carcass to the birds by now.”
Sapphira kept a stony face under the giant’s condescending hand. “She keeps me around, because I was smart enough not to teach Mardon everything I learned while he was gone. Without me, her garden of giants would produce nothing but fools like Anak and his sons.” She moved her hands to her hips. “If I remember the story Morgan told me, one of your sons lost his head at the hands of a shepherd boy.”
“Acid-tongued wench!” Anak wrapped his huge, six-fingered hand around her face and shoved her backwards, making her flop down on her buttocks. “David and his sons rot in their tombs while I live on.”
Sapphira climbed slowly to her feet and pulled out her coif. “Only by Morgan’s black arts.” As she spoke, she crept nearer, tying on her covering and keeping her eyes locked on Anak’s. “What would happen if you passed through the portal back to the land of the living?” She began tucking her hair into her coif, slowly making a circle around the portal. Anak’s gaze followed her, his body turning with his head. “If you went there, you would be a rotting corpse, because you died in that dimension, just like Mardon, and you’re stuck here because Morgan uses her arts to keep you from passing on to your eternal reward.”
Anak glared at her. “What do you know about eternal rewards? You’re stuck in this hellhole with me.”
With slow, furtive steps, she passed by him and eased closer to the swirling column of pale blue light. “I can’t argue with that. But at least I have hope. I have never died.” She withdrew the Ovulum from her pocket and laid it in her palm, pausing for a moment to make sure the giant moved his gaze to the egg’s mirror-like surface as i
t reflected the portal’s dancing light.
The moment he looked down, Sapphira leaped for the portal, but with a lightning fast sweep of his arm, Anak snatched her right out of the air and threw her to the ground. She tumbled head over heels and slid to a stop, scraping her elbow.
Anak extended his long arm and pointed at her. “Devious vixen! Get your scrolls and be gone!”
Sapphira rose slowly and brushed herself off, taking a second to examine the trickle of blood oozing down her forearm. It stung pretty badly, but at least she had managed to cling to her Ovulum. She slid it carefully back into her pocket and headed toward the tower, making a wide circle around the scowling Anak. As she passed through the broken doors, she clenched her fists. She had gotten so close! Just a few more inches, and she would have been on her way back to the upper realms, to the land of the living!
Keeping well away from the tree in the center and its twelve saluting statues, Sapphira shuffled to the outer wall and grasped the sides of one of the tall ladders that lined the stacks of shelves. Putting one foot on the first step, she paused and looked back at the portal’s bluish glow. What if she had made it into the column? Would it really have led to the upper world? Morgan had expressed her doubts long ago, and she was usually right about things like that. Still, it might be worth exploring if she could ever get past Anak, but would she be able to find her way home? And if she got lost in another dimension, what would Morgan do to Paili?
Sapphira slapped the side of the ladder and whispered to herself, “You should have thought of that earlier.” She began climbing the ladder, skipping over the familiar weakened rungs as she scurried upward. At least with this journey, having tried it before, she knew where she was going and how to find her way back, and so far no one else seemed to know about the museum’s exit at the very top.