Even I’ll agree with that, Jaxi said. Though it would be moderately amusing to see you polishing a god’s scales. He probably likes his high priestesses to attend him so.
Have you seen any sign of Ridge? Sardelle asked, ignoring the teasing.
No, but I’m not the one with the tracking skills.
I do not sense anyone, high priestess, Bhrava Saruth announced.
How far can your senses extend?
Many miles. Forty? Fifty? Dragons do not use such measurements, but I can sense humans and settlements in the mountains. I have not found the one you seek.
Forty or fifty miles? It had been more than a week since the crash, so it was possible Ridge could have walked out of that range, but was it likely? If he was injured? Was she deluding herself and wasting everyone’s time in being out here?
“This terrain can lick dragon ass,” Therrik announced, his fists on his hips as he scowled down at the rocks. Kasandral hung diagonally across his back in its scabbard, and it glowed occasionally, the sickly green seeping out around the hilt.
“You haven’t found anything,” Sardelle said, another layer of defeat draping itself over her shoulders.
“Do not question me, woman,” Therrik growled, glaring over his shoulder at her. Kasandral’s glow intensified. Therrik turned, taking a step toward her.
“Meriyash keeno,” Sardelle said, directing the ancient words at the sword, the phrase that told it to stand down.
She wished Therrik had kept the blade in its box instead of wearing it openly, but he seemed proud and eager to be carrying it. She rested her hand on Jaxi’s pommel.
The green glow faded, and Therrik stopped before drawing close to her. His glare grew less intense, and an exasperated expression twisted his face.
“How do I tell it to make me pissed at the right targets?” he demanded.
“I’m not sure it’s necessary for you to be... pissed at any targets,” Sardelle said. “Wouldn’t you prefer to be calm and in control when you go into battle?”
“I’m always in control.” He glanced at the sword hilt poking above his shoulder. “I was always in control.”
“But not calm?” She smiled, trying to lighten the mood. She could feel the tension radiating from him, crackling in the air between them.
“I’m not a calm person.”
“No, you seem quite strained. I don’t know if that’s because of me, or if you’re always like that. As a healer, I could recommend some adaptogenic herbs that might help you modulate your stress levels. I could even make a tea that would relax you. You’d wake up feeling well rested and perky.”
Do we really want to see a perky version of Colonel Therrik? Jaxi asked.
Therrik was looking at Sardelle as if she had three heads. “Tea? Is that what you give Zirkander?”
“No, he never seems that tense or stressed.”
Therrik snorted. “He just makes other people feel that way.”
Sardelle frowned, not wanting Therrik speaking ill of Ridge, especially if he was—
“He came out here,” Therrik said, pointing to the riverbank.
“What?” She gaped.
“I should say someone was dragged out of the water here,” Therrik amended. “There’s no way to prove it was him, but who else would be idiotic enough to throw himself into this remote river?”
Sardelle walked toward him, pushing aside her irritation at the insult. If Ridge was alive, what did it matter what Therrik called him?
“What do you see?” she asked, looking at the damp rocks.
Therrik’s eyes narrowed as she came close to him, and she thought she might have to order the sword to stand down again, but he simply crouched to touch a rock, then another. “These have been disturbed. That one’s been flipped over.”
Sardelle couldn’t see the difference between one rock and the next, and it seemed scant proof of someone’s passing, but she wanted to believe so badly that she found herself nodding eagerly.
“Someone was dragged out here.” Therrik pointed.
“Dragged,” she murmured, tamping down some of her hope. That didn’t mean he had been alive when it had happened.
“Impossible to track them or see steps in this.” He waved at the rocks. Unlike dirt or mud, they held no prints. “But I looked around, and there’s no sign of horse or donkey droppings. Whoever pulled him out probably didn’t go far, not if they were carrying his cloud-humping ass.”
Sardelle found the news promising, though Therrik’s delivery could use some work. “Shouldn’t you call him general, since he outranks you and it’s possible he’s alive?”
“General Cloud-humping Ass?”
Was that humor gleaming in the man’s eyes? He needed far more than tea.
“I’ll keep looking.” Therrik gazed at the slopes to either side of the river. “See if I can find a cave or sheltered area where he might have been taken.”
“Thank you.”
Dare I hope, Jaxi? Sardelle asked.
That Therrik will start calling Ridge something flattering? Probably not.
That’s not what I was asking.
There’s nothing wrong with hope, Sardelle. This probably happened a week ago though. He must have been pulled out of the river during the storm, before we came looking.
Meaning he could be outside of Bhrava Saruth’s range by now. Still, a cave would be a starting place. If they found evidence that he had been there, evidence that he was alive, that would be more than she had dared hope twenty minutes ago. And if he was alive, he might already be making his way home. She might be reunited with him soon.
I’ve been thinking about that, Jaxi said.
Our joyous reunion?
Not exactly. Assuming he is alive, then why didn’t we sense him when we searched that morning? He must have been wounded, and it doesn’t sound like anyone could have carried him far. Was someone hiding him from us?
The sorceress? Sardelle wondered.
I still don’t know why she would want him, but if it was she, maybe it’s possible that she has a skill like Tylie does and that she could hide herself and Ridge from our senses.
Sardelle didn’t know what to say to that. She wanted Ridge to be alive, but she didn’t want him to be in the clutches of their enemy. If that’s the case, then we’ll need Therrik’s tracking skills more than I realized. We’ll have to hope she left physical signs of their passing.
Better make him some tea then, if we’re going to remain in his company for a while.
You think some calming herbs will make him a better tracker? Or help him keep a leash on Kasandral?
Perhaps. Something to calm his libido too. He has an interesting mix of feelings toward you these days.
Define interesting, she said, a desolate feeling coming over her as she watched Therrik’s back.
Do you really want me to?
Perhaps not. She would be careful around Therrik and hope that they could find Ridge soon. She lifted her gaze, spotting the dragon soaring among the peaks. Bhrava Saruth? Would you mind also looking for nearby caves?
Certainly, high priestess. Will we return to the outpost tonight? I am disappointed that I did not get time to heal and bless the people there. They seemed rough and lost souls, in need of the guidance of a god.
I don’t doubt that. I don’t know if we’ll go back tonight, but I’ll be happy to return with you later if you want to heal people. Sardelle remembered the miner who had died trying to rescue her, the one who had possessed dragon blood. When there was time, she wanted to return to the outpost and figure out if there were any other criminals there with dragon blood, people who might have been condemned because of that blood rather than because they had committed true crimes.
I will help you search for them, Bhrava Saruth said. You could teach them of their heritage, and they could become my worshippers.
Yes, of course. For now, I need to find Ridge and a Cofah sorceress that may hold him prisoner.
Cofah! Those moose mole
sters.
Almost my exact thoughts.
Did you know Phelistoth is a Cofah dragon? Bhrava Saruth shot her the telepathic equivalent of a suspicious squint. I almost let him touch my crystal.
Yes, but we’re trying to woo him to our side. Perhaps you should let him touch your crystal.
He cannot be trusted.
Since Sardelle could not be certain about Phelistoth’s allegiance, she did not argue the point.
I see a cave, Bhrava Saruth announced. He had disappeared from sight. Around that bend. Up here. This way.
His directions leave something to be desired, Sardelle told Jaxi.
If he’s a god, maybe you’re supposed to follow him by his divine glow.
I don’t know about divinity, but I can sense him by his dragonly aura. I suppose that will do.
“Therrik?” she called. “There’s a cave around that bend. It may be what we’re looking for.”
He had been studying the ground. He lifted his head and frowned over at her. “How do you know?”
“The dragon told me.”
He looked toward the bend, back at the ground, then toward her again. “You’re a strange woman.”
As if it was her fault Bhrava Saruth chatted with her.
You were the one who originally opened up communications with him. Jaxi sounded amused.
That was a dire situation.
I’m not sure that invalidates Therrik’s statement.
You think I’m strange?
Yes, but so am I. We’re practically sisters.
Therrik’s forehead wrinkled. “Are you talking to it now?”
“The dragon? No.” Sardelle thought about stopping there, lest he have more reasons to find her strange, but what did it matter what he thought? She gave him an edged smile. “Now I’m talking to my sword.”
Jaxi offered a soft hum, so she must have approved.
“I’m going to investigate the cave,” Sardelle announced and headed off to find Bhrava Saruth.
• • • • •
Tolemek did not have much of a belly, but he sucked it in as a keelboat glided closer, its arrow-shaped prow parting the murky water. The evening shadows and the stout tree in front of him should hide him, but Kaika shared his tree, and he worried that one of their rifles or some of their gear might stick out and give them away. The men striding along the sides of the keelboat, maneuvering it through the swamp via poles that pushed off the bottom, had eyes that were far too alert as they regarded the banks.
Their presence should indicate that the city lay nearby. It was hard to imagine, given the water stretching everywhere and the dense canopy of vines, branches, and leaves that blocked out the sky, but this was the third boat that had gone by in the last half hour. One of them, a steam-powered paddleboat, had carried a crew of at least ten with twice as many passengers, men and women who had prowled the deck with rifles as they looked toward the branches. A pole had stuck up diagonally from the prow with a slab of meat tied to the end. Bait, Tolemek assumed, though for what he did not know. He didn’t want to know.
Creatures that sounded more like bats than birds kept making noise up in the treetops, but he had not seen what they were yet. They sounded much larger than bats. He much preferred it when they had been walking along the beach, an area mostly devoid of predators, but Colonel Quataldo had moved them inland for the last couple of miles to avoid the notice of the numerous fishing boats that had been coming in from deeper waters, angling for a delta farther up the beach. Of course, Quataldo had disappeared soon after that, as seemed to be his way. Scouting, he’d said.
Tolemek didn’t need a scout to be certain the animals here were more dangerous than anyone they were likely to run into in a fishing boat. Thus far, they had passed venomous bats and vipers, fanged spiders the size of his head, and they had run from two alligators intent on making them dinner. He was relieved that Phelistoth had gone off “to hunt” with Tylie, taking her up above the canopy and hopefully to a safer area, but he felt uneasy down here with only Captain Kaika at his side. He had never considered himself timid or cowardly, but in addition to the real dangers, the growls, squawks, hisses, and roars kept a man on edge.
Someone on the keelboat cried out, and a rifle fired. Tolemek’s instinct was to lean out and see if he could help, but Kaika gripped his forearm. She held a finger to her lips.
Wood crunched. More shots fired, someone cursed, and another man cried out, this time in pain. The hair on the back of his neck pricked up, and he felt certain someone was using magic. The thrashing of something hitting the water repeatedly drowned out everything else. For several long seconds, it continued. Finally, the noise stilled. Grunts, pants, and a loud scrape-thump sounded next, followed by chatter in a language Tolemek could not understand. It sounded oddly cheerful.
He contained his curiosity for another ten seconds, but then he had to poke his head around the tree and look. The keelboat had continued onward, and the pushers’ backs were to him, so he felt safe. The sight of a huge alligator—seven gods, did that alligator have wings?—draped over the cabin roof made his jaw fall open. A bite had been taken out of the rear of the keelboat, a large bite.
“Hunting’s good today, it seems,” Kaika murmured.
“Is that what these boats are out for? Seems suicidal.”
“Someone has to gather specimens for scientists from distant lands.” The boat disappeared behind a copse of trees leaning out over the water, and Kaika waved that they could continue on. “Don’t you pay handsomely for your powders and potions?”
“Chemicals, formulas, and ingredients,” he grumbled.
She raised her eyebrows.
“And yes, I do pay well for the imported ones.” He had, however, never ordered an ingredient derived from a winged alligator, at least insofar as he knew.
Shaking his head, Tolemek followed her as they continued skirting the swamp toward a pair of posts that marked the first of the legendary rope bridges he’d always heard associated with Tildar Dem. The rope-linked wooden slats extended for as far as he could see, crossing water of indeterminate depth. Occasional pairs of posts kept the boards from slumping to the surface, though no part of the bridge was more than a couple of feet above it. Given the willingness of the local fauna to eat through wood, he found the frailness of the route alarming. The openness was also discouraging. Even with the deepening gloom of twilight, they would have trouble hiding if more boats came along.
“Are we crossing here?” Tolemek asked when Kaika halted at the entrance. Trees loomed on either side, with support cables from the bridge wrapped around their bases.
“Yes, but we should wait for—”
A hiss sounded inches from Tolemek’s ear, his only warning. He resisted the urge to look, instead dropping to the ground and rolling away. His elbow clunked against the bridge, sending a stab of pain up his arm, as he yanked out his pistol. From his back, his hair dangling in the water, he aimed at—
Colonel Quataldo stood where he had been a second before, one hand wrapped around the throat of the viper that had hissed in Tolemek’s ear. It struggled in his grip, but he calmly lifted his other hand and snapped its spine.
“Avert your firearm, please,” Quataldo said.
Tolemek had already lowered it, but he waited to be positive the snake wouldn’t move again before holstering the weapon. He kept himself from glowering at the colonel—he wished he could have handled the snake by himself. He was hardly some damsel in need of rescue, no matter what the mud dripping from his hair implied.
“Been anywhere exciting, sir?” Kaika asked. She looked like she might yawn. She hadn’t moved from her spot at the start of the bridge.
Tolemek pushed himself to his feet, wondered if he could say anything to appear more manly and less in need of saving, and decided he couldn’t.
“Scouting.” Quataldo let go of the snake, leaving it dangling from the tree. A rare smile crossed his face. “I also found an unfertilized egg.”
?
??What?” Tolemek asked.
Kaika did not appear surprised. “Alligator?”
Quataldo carefully removed a large, dark green egg. “It looks like an emu egg, but this isn’t the right habitat for emus.”
“So you don’t know what it is?” Tolemek frowned at it. He was familiar with a wide variety of reptiles and birds, but this wasn’t his native continent, and he couldn’t have said for certain what type of egg it was either. “Is it wise to take it along? How can you tell if it’s been fertilized or not without breaking it open?”
“I can tell.”
Tolemek shook his head. The man was either a loon, or maybe a few drops of dragon blood lurked in his veins. He would ask Sardelle, if they all survived this mission. Would she be enthused or intimidated by teaching a soldier who specialized in killing how to access his power?
“What are you going to do with it?” Tolemek asked.
“Carve it, of course.”
Quataldo tucked the egg back into his pouch, the insides insulated, then shrugged off his pack. He drew a small wooden box from a side pocket and unlatched it to reveal a padded inside, as well as tiny carving tools tucked under the lid. A yellow egg lay nestled inside, part of the shell carved away. Tolemek leaned close, trying to tell more about the design—was that some large bird standing on one leg? The poor light made it difficult.
“When you’re in the elite forces,” Kaika said, “you spend a lot of time sitting, standing, perching, and crouching while waiting for your enemies to do something. The colonel carves eggs while he waits.”
“A unique hobby,” Tolemek said, not seeing the point of making something that was purely decorative.
“He sells them for hundreds of nucros, if not thousands, right, sir?”