Embers at Galdrilene (56 page)

At one time the air would have felt completely still to him, but now it was alive with currents. He felt them moving through each hall in the Kormai. The currents were curious about him. They approached and touched his face ever so lightly. When they were done he could feel them waiting to see what he would do.

He reached out to them, requesting their help. The currents were surprised to be asked. Used to being pushed and forced, they were happy to help one who thought to ask. They shifted around him and he felt them pulling at him.

“Kellinar, what are you doing?” Loki whispered.

“Feeling the air currents.”

“What air currents? The air is as still as death.”

Kellinar fed a little magic into the air, sending a request to the currents.

“Kellinar? What is going on?” Loki asked, worry in his voice.

“Do you feel them now?” he asked, his mind still focused on the air.

“Yes, and it feels strange.”

“You can feel them because I asked them to make themselves felt. Listen when they pull at you and follow them. They will lead you to the book. I’m going to find Maleena.”

Loki looked up at him. “We aren’t going together?”

“It will be faster if we split up. Don’t worry, the currents won’t abandon you and they will warn you of the approach of any of the inhabitants if you listen. From what Maleena said the book is in an alcove in the main chamber. It’s going to take someone small to slip in and get it. The currents will remain behind when you cross into the cavern so no magic surrounds you to alert anyone. They will be waiting for you when you exit the cavern and they will lead you back here. If I’m not back when you arrive, I want you to go ahead and leave. Wait for me by that last pile of rocks where we stopped for a drink.”

The boy nodded. “Be careful, Kellinar.”

“You be careful too, Loki. Listen to the currents.

Kellinar watched the boy disappear down the hall. When he could no longer see him, he turned and followed the currents in the opposite direction. They led him through several twists and turns, each taking him deeper into the Kormai. He passed several halls, well lit with marble floors and opulent decorations. Kellinar avoided those.

He walked another dimly lit corridor when the currents around him hummed with warning. Who would be in this hall? The rough walls and dirt floor combined with an air of disuse. He slipped into a dark doorway, waiting for the danger to pass.

A woman walked down the hall toward the doorway where he hid. He backed further into the room and hid behind a pillar. Her dark hair hung straight down her back and her blue eyes sat slanted in her round face. She was almost past the doorway when she stopped and turned toward it.

She crept into the room, searching the darkness as if she knew he hid there. In a voice barely more than a whisper she said, “I know there is someone in here. I can feel you. Who are you?”

Kellinar let out a careful breath; he was going to have to kill her. In one swift movement, he pulled one of his many knives and leaped at her, planning to clamp a hand over her mouth and slice her throat.

She moved in the same instant he did and danced beyond his reach, producing a knife of her own. “Who are you?”

Why didn’t she raise an alarm? He made another move and she dodged it again. How did she do that?

She smiled at him. “You are broadcasting your next move so loudly, I can’t help but see it.”

He eyed her warily and tried to think of his next move without actually thinking about. It wasn’t working too well. “You can read my mind?”

She kept her eyes on the hand he held the knife in. “No, you are well blocked. I can only read what is on the surface. You don’t belong here, who are you?”

Although she had a knife in her own hand, she hadn’t tried to harm him. Her moves were purely defensive. Who was she? The woman Maleena had connected with used Spirit magic. “Are you Taela?”

Her eyes turned guarded and she shifted toward the doorway. “Yes, I’m Taela. Why do you ask? Who are you?”

He felt a mixture of relief and irritation. “So you are the one who caused all of this. I’m Kellinar and I’m here for Maleena.” No sense saying anything about the book. At least if she decided to alert the others to his presence, she wouldn’t know anything about Loki. The currents would lead the boy back out. Loki would be safe.

Pain and sorrow chased each other across her face. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. Maleena tried to warn me. She tried to help me. She doesn’t deserve what Sadira has done to her.”

“Do you intend to let anyone know I am here?”

She shook her head, making the knife disappear up her sleeve. “I won’t tell anyone. I doubt it will do you much good, though. The only way out is through the main cavern. You will never make it past them with her. I can’t believe you even made it in.”

Taela seemed sincere enough, but he didn’t put his knife away. “Every place has more than one way in and out. I’m surprised you didn’t know that.”

She shrugged. “They don’t trust me. My dragon, Paki, isn’t black and Sadira doesn’t think I have what it takes to be a Shadow Rider.”

“What do you think?”

She looked at him sadly. “I think she is right.”

His eyes narrowed. “And this makes you sad?”

Tears swam in her eyes and her expression held utter devastation. “I’m not sad I can’t be a Shadow Rider. I’m sad because I can’t save Paki. She can only fool them for so long. When they find out she has her own soul, her own thoughts, they will kill her. I will do everything I can to protect her and in the end I will die, too.” The open pain in her eyes stunned him. “If there was a way I could give my life to make her safe without it killing her, I would do it.”

Kellinar stared at her. Taela wasn’t a Shadow Rider. A Shadow Rider would never sacrifice themselves for another. Everything they did had some sort of personal gain behind it. Maleena wanted to rescue Taela and her dragon. Perhaps that could still happen. It complicated things, but he had to try.

He slipped his knife back into its hiding place. “Is there a way you can get Paki out of the main cavern?”

Taela’s brow furrowed, confusion in her expression. “Yes, she leaves the cave to eat. She’s already foraging beyond the canyon for food.”

“Tell her to circle around to the small canyons behind the Kormai. Tell her to wait there.” He allowed his wishes to communicate to the air currents. The look of surprise and wonder on her face told him she now felt the feather light touch of the air.

“What is that?” she asked.

He smiled. “Those are the air currents that flow through the Kormai. They have agreed to help me. Follow the currents. They will guide you out.”

He moved to the door and she asked, “Will you be able to find Maleena okay?”

Kellinar nodded. “The currents will lead me to her.”

“Watch out for Sadira. All of them are bad, but she is the worst.”

He nodded and started to step into the hall. Her voice stopped him. “Kellinar.” He looked back. “Thank you. Even if you aren’t able to get Paki and me out, thank you for trying.”

Kellinar cocked a grin at her. “I have to try. Maleena would kill me if I came all the way to the Kormai, met you while I was here, and then failed to try to get you and your Paki out.”

He slipped out into the hall and began following the air currents again. After meeting Taela, he sincerely hoped he could help her. She didn’t belong here anymore than Maleena did.

Kalila sat in the main chamber. Out the corner of her eye, she watched Sadira leave through one of the small doors. With Sadira gone, she was alone with her sisters. She looked out through the ornate mouth of the cave.

The canyon beyond beckoned her. The striped walls provided a backdrop to the oasis created by the narrow waterfall and stream. Flowers and small trees grew in abundance along the edge of the water. On the other side of the canyon from the stream, potted plants hung from the walls and stone benches sat on the broad paving stones.

Ironic that such beauty led to so much evil.

Kalila kept her fear under tight control. If she let it overwhelm her, she would end up like Larna and Drisa. Kalila glanced at her sisters. They huddled together, their eyes vacant. Kalila looked away. No matter how much Sadira threw at her, she would not be broken and would escape from here somehow.

She allowed her eyes to travel upward to where that ugly, black creature rested. Ranit stared at her with dull, red eyes. There would be no escape right now though. Not with that thing watching. Sadira had given the dragon permission to eat them if they tried to escape. Kalila, would use that as a choice of last resort. One way or another, she would be free of this place. But for now, she held on to her patience. A day would come when Sadira and Ranit wouldn’t be here to stop her.

Her thoughts traveled to the woman Oksana had captured. Maleena...that was her name. Kalila felt sympathy for the woman. Perhaps a distraction would arise from that and she would have her chance at escape. Maybe she could even find a way to take the woman with her.

A prickle ran through her as a strange sensation flooded her body. Something touched her all over. She looked around, but saw nothing. A light breeze caressed her. Was that it? No, it reminded her of the breeze, yet it was different. It felt like air currents, separate from the breeze, flowed all around her.

Kalila glanced at her sisters again. They hadn’t moved, their eyes still fastened to the floor in front of them. Someone was here that shouldn’t be. She scanned the massive chamber. How did she know someone was here? Kalila analyzed the feeling for a moment. It came from the air currents. They…told her? Maybe Sadira’s treatment was driving her crazy. She turned toward the alcove that held the two books.

Someone was there, right in front of the alcove’s arched entrance. She couldn’t see him, but he was there. He was going to steal the books or maybe only one. The connection or whatever it was she felt with the air was fading. The loss of either book would certainly put a twist in the Shadow Rider’s chain. She smiled and turned away to look out into the canyon again. She reached out to the currents, hoping her message of good luck would find the invisible person.

Kalila gazed out at the striped rock and the flowers. She hadn’t seen anything and knew nothing. She was going to have to work on getting her smile under control. Sadira would be back soon. She never left them alone long.

The currents led Kellinar through a warren of passages that grew smaller the farther they went until he reached a narrow set of stairs carved into the rock. He could just make out a doorway in the darkness at the bottom of the stairs.

He started down the steps, but a tortured scream stopped him. A dim light flickered somewhere beyond the doorway. The scream stopped only to start again. Maleena. He moved to leap down the stairs, intent on cutting whoever caused the scream, from navel to nose.

The air coalesced around him and he couldn’t move. He reached out for the currents. Why wouldn’t they let him help? He felt their reply. Too dangerous. He sagged. They wouldn’t let him go until Maleena was alone.

Her screams tore at him and he fought the urge to force the currents away. Severing ties with the currents would leave Loki alone and lost in the maze of tunnels. It would leave Taela with no idea of how to get out. And in the end, if the currents thought there was so much danger that they restrained him, then he would likely get himself killed. Everything would fall apart.