Dragon Rigger (45 page)

She would do anything for her friends.

Including die for them?

For her friends . . . perhaps . . . as she had been willing to die for Highwing, when he'd been cast out of the realm. But just to bring the struggle to an end? Even if it meant the other side winning? No, she whispered to herself. That made no sense.

Somewhere in the net she felt that Ar was listening, and she clung to a hope that somehow,
somehow
, he would find a way to help her come to the right understanding.

Remember . . .
whispered a distant, lonely, voice.
Remember. . . .

(Forget,)
commanded Jarvorus.

Jael and the spaceship settled into the valley.

* * *

What now?
Jael breathed. She was on foot again, with the ship on her back. She stood before a dark opening in the side or a mountain, and Jarvorus apparently intended for her to walk in.

Her feet moved, in wordless answer to her question. Soon they were inside a narrow, twisty passage that seemed to lead deep into the mountain. Just a few rays of light filtered in from above. She felt an oppressive and dizzying weight towering over her. As she walked farther into the gloom, the passage suddenly opened up into a great, vaulting space. It was an enormous cave, something like Windrush's cavern, but larger and starker, and more coldly unfriendly. There was a yellowish light glowing from off to her right, near the wall, and she walked toward it, across the stone floor. As she drew close, she saw, perched on a recessed ledge, a strangely shaped vessel that appeared to be filled with a glowing liquid.

(This,)
Jarvorus murmured,
(is the Cavern of Spirits.
You will be safe here, with one of your fellow riggers. Like you, he has been deceived and exploited by the dragons.)

(What?)
Jael peered around in the gloom for some sign of a "fellow rigger." The place appeared utterly deserted.
(What do you mean? Have you captured someone else with your lying tricks?)

(I did not capture him,)
Jarvorus answered.
(The dragons did.
He is right there in front of you. His name is Hodakai. Ask
him
how trustworthy the dragons are!)

Jael suddenly realized what Jarvorus meant: the glowing vessel. Stepping closer, she saw that it looked like a large, multifaceted crystal, glowing from the inside. It looked alive; it was slowly changing shape, with a writhing kind of movement that made its facets shift like living mirrors. Peering carefully within, she saw a small figure of shadow moving somewhat more energetically, inside the glowing light. There was something striking about that shadow; it had a flickering, firelike presence—as if it were not shadow, but a flame of darkness.
(What in the world?)
she murmured.

WHO'S
THERE?
A harsh-sounding voice echoed all around her. Startled, she glanced around. The shadow-flame danced and pointed a dark limb in her direction.

What's going on?
shouted the voice.

Before Jael could answer, Jarvorus spoke aloud.
I've brought you company, Hodakai! A rigger!
Someone
to
talk to.

The shadow-flame contorted and squirmed. Its voice sounded a little less harsh, a little more . . . human.
A
rigger? What rigger?

A rigger and her ship!
said Jarvorus.
Look,
Hodakai! Look!

It took a moment for the twitching shadow to settle into a stable shape. Jael realized suddenly that it looked like an abstract figure of a man. It seemed to be staring at her, and past her. She was aware of her ship glimmering faintly behind her.
My name is Jael,
she found herself saying aloud, and her words seemed lost in a cottony haze even as she spoke.
Are
you
human? Are you really a rigger?

The figure jutted forward and seemed to grow in size.
Oh
,
my—!
It jabbed at her with a shape that was vaguely like a hand.
I'll
be damned! You're the one, aren't you? The one they've all been talking about—

Jael,
she repeated.

Yes—Jael. I'm surprised you told me. Everyone thinks names are very important around here. How'd you get caught? You're Windrush's . . . friend . . . aren't you? I knew it. Don't tell me this iffling is your—

It's not an iffling, it's a fake! Jael tried to cry, but couldn't quite.

The creature didn't seem to be listening, anyway.
I'm stuck here thanks to the dragons, myself, so I'm not exactly what you would call a
"
friend
"
of any of them. They didn't even give me a fighting chance—and they killed my buddy, too. But you—you got caught by an iffling!

It's
NOT
an iffling . . . !
Jael managed to say, through the molasses of the spell.

(Jael, don't—!)
Jarvorus whispered urgently, in a preoccupied voice from somewhat farther away. Whatever he was doing, he wasn't controlling her actions quite as closely as before.

What?
Hodakai suddenly became still.
What do you mean?

Jael forced the words out.
It's
a false-iffling! It did something to the real iffling, and tricked me.

The shadow-flame peered at her, and she heard astonishment in his voice.
That's . . . very strange. That's exactly what Windrush said! But I
wasn't
sure
if I
should
believe
him
.
I wonder—

WINDRUSH!
Jael cried, suddenly realizing that he had mentioned the dragon's name twice now.
You know Windrush?
Her heart leaped, even in the binding of the spell.
Have you talked to him? Where is he?
She fought to get the words out.
WHERE IS HE? PLEASE!

Hodakai pulled back, startled.
Well
,
hey—yeah. I mean—I know him after a fashion. He talks to me from a distance once in a while.
Hodakai seemed to angle a nervous glance one way
,
then another, as though afraid someone might be listening.
I expect he's pretty busy right now—with the war and all. Lot of fighting going on. But he's sure been heated up about looking for you, I'll tell you.

Looking
for
me?

Hodakai seemed to shiver.
Well, he knew you were coming, apparently. But they
haven't
been
doing
too
well—not
that
I
feel much sympathy for them, mind you. He's been after me to help, but I . . . I didn't want to get into it, really—and anyway, this—whatever this iffling-thing is—

It's
not
an
iffling!
Jael repeated.

Right—I got that, you don't have to keep saying it. Anyway, I
thought
it was an iffling, and it said that Windrush was going to make a slave of you, and me.

That's
crazy!
Jael cried.

Okay, but I believed it at first,
Hodakai said defensively.
How was I to know? Of course, it also said I should listen to Rent. Now, Windrush says Rent is a goddamn liar, which I admit is certainly possible. So I don't know anymore what to—

Wait, you're not making any—what are you talking about?

Hodakai fell silent. He twitched, and seemed to be looking past Jael. She glanced backward. For an instant, she thought she saw the glimmering form of a sharp-fanged animal, the shape that Jarvorus had taken at the Pool of Visions. Its eyes flickered briefly; then it flowed back into a blur of light, then vanished. But she had a strange feeling of a force shifting around her; it had done something to the binding spell. But Jarvorus was no longer occupying her thoughts; this might be her only chance. Jael turned back to Hodakai.
Tell me how I can reach Windrush!
she hissed urgently.

Even as she spoke, she felt a sudden, creeping chill, like a physical illness violating her from within. She shivered, and realized that the invisible molasses in which she was trapped was hardening around her. An image came to her mind, irresistibly, as though drawn by the power of Jarvorus' binding spell: an image of glacial ice forming to encase her in a clear, hard, impenetrable cell. As the image formed in her mind, a great mass of ice appeared physically, in the time it took to complete the thought—crystallizing out of nowhere to surround her in the cavern, encapsulating her in the Flux.

Scrawwwww—Jayl!
wailed the thin, distant voice of Ed, barely reaching her through the barrier. His cry was echoed by Ar's, even more remote.

Hodakai's shadow-flame shook in astonishment.
Ice! That's incredible! What were those voices? Do you have shipmates? What happened to your net? Why can't I see it?

Damaged
, Jael whispered, too shocked to say more.
Jarvorus
,
what have you—? Ar? Ed? Can you hear me?
Their voices were gone now. She was completely encased in the ice: Jarvorus' binding spell made solid and tangible. To Hodakai, she cried desperately,
Please! Help me reach Windrush!

The crystal-shape that held Hodakai altered shape in slow surges, and he flickered within it.
Reach
Windrush?
You can't reach him! Look at yourself! You're a prisoner here—just like me!

Jael stared at him through the thick layer of ice. She could not so much as gesture with a hand. It was as if the very currents of the Flux had frozen around her.
Prisoner
 . . . she murmured. Of course. Had she supposed that Jarvorus would let her go? He seemed to be gone now, but she had no hope of escaping. Only her thoughts were free.

I'm
not
saying that Windrush
couldn't
come
here, of course,
Hodakai continued.
Probably not in body, though.

What do you mean?

Well, he does seem to get around pretty well through the underrealm.

Jael struggled to comprehend.

Hodakai flexed in his vessel.
The underrealm.
You know it? It's—hard to explain.
You might think of it as the next level down in the Flux, below the ordinary reach of your net. That's the best I can explain it. It's where the dragons and . . . others . . .
do their magic. Where they draw the power for spells. They can travel in it, too—in spirit, I
mean
.

You mean—in thought? Can you do that?

Well—mostly just to talk to Rent,
Hodakai admitted.
I'm imprisoned here in this jar. I might be a spirit, but . . . I'm pretty well stuck here for eternity, as far as I can see.

Jael stared at Hodakai, and his vessel.
Do you mean,
she whispered,
that you are
only
spirit now? You have no physical . . .
Her words trailed off.

Hodakai trembled in his jar.

Jael was shocked into silence. She thought of his words, and finally asked,
Who's . . . Rent?

Hodakai guffawed unhappily.
Rent? He's a rigger, too. Do you believe it?

Rigger?
Jael asked dumbly.

Or was. He's a
mean
son-of-a-bitch, though. He's not . . . like this, either. He has a
body,
courtesy of Tar-skel. I expect you'll be meeting him soon enough.

Jael shuddered.

Don't ask me what they're planning, though,
Hodakai added.
I have no idea.

They—?

Rent. Tar-skel. The drahls. The . . . false-ifflings,
I guess.
They're all in this together.

Jael closed her eyes, overwhelmed by the sheer weight of everything that had gone wrong. She was not just overwhelmed, she was angry, she was
furious . . .
about Jarvorus and her captivity, about bringing Ar and Ed into this, about letting Windrush down . . . and the rest of the dragons, even if she had no idea what it was they needed of her . . .

And I guess you could say I've been stuck in the middle of it, too, ever since Kan-Kon and I hit the Flux thinking, Hey!—let's try something a little different this time—

If only she could talk to Ar, or Ed! She ached for their presence. She could just barely sense Ed, outside the ice, staring in at her . . .

—
and damn-diddly, was that a mistake—

And now she thought she sensed Ar, farther away, whispering frantically. To her? She remembered the Pool of Visions, when he'd gotten a cry through to her, too late. She strained to listen, and thought she heard the words,
Pay attention . . . !
But now Hodakai was drowning him out again.

—
had us completely helpless, lambs to the slaughter, and then some ifflings came and prattled on about prophecy, but a lot of good that did us—they grabbed me and I didn't even see them kill Kan-Kon. But Rent said they did.

Something clicked in her mind.
WHAT
did you just say?
she cried.

The shadow-flame twitched.
What do you mean? When?

Just now! Who did you say you were with?

The dragons?
My
partner?

Your partner!

Kan-Kon was his name.
You wouldn't know him. That was a long time ago, and he got killed by the dragons—not even saved here like me—which, mind you, is probably just as w—

KAN-KON? Your partner was KAN-KON?

Yes, you wouldn't—
Hodakai broke off suddenly, and his flickering form leaned toward her, causing the shape of his prison to distort.
Wait a minute! What are you saying?

Jael heard a rushing like a waterfall in her head.
Is
your name—
She groped helplessly in her memory, before retrieving Kan-Kon's partner's name.
Hoddy? Is that your name? Hoddy?

The spirit flinched as though stung.
How do you—how do you know—?

Of course! she thought. Hodakai. Besides, how many captured riggers could there be in the dragon realm? If only Kan-Kon had known that his friend was not dead!