Fire Island: Book 3 of The Chatterre Trilody (Chatterre Trilogy) (27 page)

Nolan tapped the map with his index finger. "Since the population lives in the town and would need to go to the fields from there, it seems wise to place the controlling skull there."

"Perhaps we could even make the activation of the system part of the Solstice Ceremony," Cameron said.

Tem-aki listened and watched as the remaining plans were made, then she, Nolan, Thunder, Raine, Mica and Nimri moved aboard the strange craft. First, they took Thunder and Nolan to the shore, then they sailed across the harbor to the spot Larwin had deemed most desirable for the other staff to be placed. As Nimri dug a hole to plant her staff, Tem-aki input the code into her tricorder and leaned it against the back of the heavy skull, which was seated on a large, flat rock. It lit up.

Raising the binoculars, which Larwin had loaned her and adjusting the focus, she saw a second, somewhat larger shield shimmer into view.

Shortly after that, the remaining gold-garbed boys hurried to Sirocco's bow and began tugging on a thick rope and Kazza emerged from the galley, leaped overboard and began swimming toward them. As The Sirocco exited the harbor, the staff slipped from Nimri's fingers and went bouncing and rolling down the mountainside.

Tem-aki rushed after it, Nimri on her heels. With a flying leap, Tem-aki grabbed it, but she landed wrong and felt her ankle snap. Despite the jolt of pain, she didn't let go of the staff. How could Nimri have been so clumsy that she dropped it? No wonder her brother had told her she needed to help the incompetent woman.

~o~

Nimri slid to a stop next to Tem-aki, who had the staff clutched so tightly that her knuckles had already turned white. Her face looked white and in pain, too. Had she gotten hurt? Kneeling next to her, Nimri allowed her myst-energy to flow over Tem-aki.

In the distance, Shaka-uma roared.

It didn't take long to learn that the flowing golden robe covered a broken ankle. Lifting the fabric aside, Nimri studied the way the foot lay at an L angle to the leg. Nimri looked into Tem-aki's eyes. "You have a bad break, but I can heal it. Please breathe deeply because the oxygen will help."

"Fine, set it," Tem-aki barely moved her lips to speak.

Nimri firmly took the injured foot between her hands and repositioned it. She didn't need to hear Tem-aki's gasp of pain, to know she'd hurt her, but sometimes doing something painful was the only way to get to the point of healing.

When she glanced back at Tem-aki, her pale face was covered in perspiration. "I'm sorry for hurting you, but that was the worst part. I still need to mend the sinews and bone, but that won't hurt so much." Assurances said, Nimri began to use myst-energy to heal the torn bone and tissue. Though she was concentrating on her task, she also knew that Shaka-uma's bellowing had increased and that the ground even seemed to be trembling.

By the time the last damaged muscle had been mended, the ground seemed to have developed a steady shake.

Nimri sat up and stretched her back to ease the tension, then she looked around. Under the shield, Shaka-uma was lashing her scaly tail and stomping the ground, but now that the healing process was done, she should start calming down.

She didn't.

Tem-aki sat up, dried her face on her sleeve and looked toward shore. "Do you think it finally realized it was trapped?"

"It is reacting to the myst-energy I used to heal your foot."

Tem-aki gave her a look normally reserved for those who had consumed too much fermented juice. What had she ever done to Tem-aki to make her detest her so much that she couldn't even act appreciative after being healed?

Suddenly, there was such a large thud that not only did the earth shake, but small stones began to roll downhill. Nimri twisted to see what Shaka-uma had done. The madrox slashed her tail against the ground again. The earth shook.

More rocks bounced downhill.

Worse, the shield began to flicker, as if it had weakened. Then, abruptly, it totally winked out.

A backward glance showed that the skull was no longer illuminated. Nimri gasped, then pulled Tem-aki to her feet, "Quick, grab the staff and run to the boat. You must use it to protect Raine and Mica."

"You expect me to use that against a madrox?"

"The staff is our only hope." Nimri thrust it at her. "Please, protect your brother's son."

"And what are you going to do?"

"Try to fix whatever went wrong with the shield." Tem-aki opened her mouth, but Nimri had had enough talking. "Just go to Raine, both of you hold the staff and maybe you'll survive." With that, Nimri sprinted up the rise to the skull.

The lumpy black box had fallen off the rock and the skull had moved. She grabbed the box, adjusted the alignment of the skull and put the box back where Tem-aki had placed it, but the skull did not glow. Had the box gotten broken or had she arranged things incorrectly?

She bit her lip and looked from the skull to the dragon.

Released from its mother's warmth, the hatchling toddled around the shore, purposefully moving inland, in the same direction the mother had gone.

With a start, Nimri realized the baby dragon was going toward the rock with the large hole in it.

She heaved a sigh of relief, knowing that the hatching of the second one could have been what made the mother frantic.

Perhaps her use of myst-energy had not caused this problem, but it was still her responsibility to make it right.

Chapter 32

Tem-aki sat next to Raine on the deck of the flimsy craft and held onto the staff, as if it was the only thing that could save her. Not because the great and mighty Nimri had told her to do so, but because Cameron had considered it to be so important.

'I wonder where it's going," Raine said, as the mother-dragon soared into the low-lying clouds.

"Who cares, as long as it isn't coming our direction?"

"I care." Raine glared at her over Mica's head. "Thunder and Nolan headed that way."

Tem-aki jerked her head in Nimri's direction. "She told me this staff would protect us. Thunder had the other one. Won't that protect him, too?"

Raine visibly brightened. "I'd forgotten that. Thanks for reminding me."

Surprise rippled through Tem-aki. "You really believe this skinny piece of wood can protect us from a madrox!" More likely it would burst into flames.

"If Nimri said it will protect us, it will."

Did the woman brainwash everyone? Tem-aki's jaws clenched so hard her molars hurt. "Right, you think she is so honest." Tem-aki felt like spitting. "She told me I'd broken my leg and the next thing she told me was to run down here." Tem-aki pulled up her robes. "Does that look broken to you? Could I have gotten up and run on it, if it had been?"

"She is an excellent healer," Raine said. Tem-aki stared at her. How blind could anyone be? "Don't you realize that she told you the truth?"

"About what?"

"Everything." Raine made a helpless gesture. "I've never known her to lie."

"Everyone lies."

"On our worlds, yes, but not here." Raine put her hand on top of hers, so they both held the staff. "I know that you haven't had much time to get to know her, but Nimri is a woman of honor and she would not knowingly lie."

"Boy does she have you brainwashed."

Raine shook her head. "Given time, you will get to know her, as I have."

Unbelievable! "So you think that in the few short weeks that you have known her that you can tell when she is lying. Are you willing to bet your life on that?"

"What do you mean?"

"If she is telling the truth and this stick can protect us from the madrox. Mind you, I don't buy that, but since it seems to be the only option, I'll hang onto it... But if it is the only protection, and her energy signature is the thin air that attracts the beast, then explain to me why she gave the stick to me and went the other direction."

"Did she tell you why?"

"She just told me to take it to you and Mica."

"Well, there you have the answer to your question."

"Excuse me?"

"Nimri is a mother, who is willing to lay her life on the line to protect her child." Raine gave her a level look. "If Mica was yours, would you do any less?"

Tem-aki opened her mouth to retort, but no sound came out.

"That's what I thought," Raine said. "You're one of those people who can dish out venom, but don't know how to deal with the truth. Well, get this, if Nimri said your leg was broken, it was broken. If she said this so-called-stick would protect us, it will protect us. Right now, she's up on that hill probably trying to fix whatever is broken and I hope for her sake that she doesn't need to use her myst-energy to do it, because I don't know how she can protect herself, while she's protecting everyone else."

~o~

"If you believe that you can, it becomes possible," Nimri muttered as she fiddled with the confusing black box.

"Need some help with that?"

She jerked upright, surprised that someone had managed to sneak up on her. Even Kazza rarely managed to do that.

"Yes," she thrust the box at Tem-aki. "This fell off the rock and now it isn't working. Is it broken?"

"Probably just needs recalibrating." Tem-aki knelt down next to her and punched a few knobs. Suddenly, white symbols glowed. "That should do it, but I don't know if it helps, now that the madrox is gone."

"It will return."

"How can you be sure?"

"Do you know many species that abandon their young?"

"Yes." Nimri raised a brow. "Many reptiles do and amphibians, as well," Tem-aki said."I'm sure they aren't amphibians."

"Reptiles?" Nimri asked.

Tem-aki shrugged. "Madrox look a lot like they could be some sort of reptile."

Nimri frowned. "Judging by its response when the other three approached its hatching, I strongly doubt that it is gone for good. If you'd like to test that theory, feel free to go touch the baby." Putting her hand to shade her eyes, she scanned the sky.

"No thanks."

"Wise choice, particularly when I suspect that its returning, now." She pointed into the distance. "You'd better get back to the boat."

"I'd rather take my chances here."

Nimri gave her a long look, as she wondered what had changed, then she shrugged and realized that it didn't matter. "As you wish."

They sat side by side on the rocky ground and watched the dragon approach. "Do you think Thunder and Nolan are okay?"

"Yes."

Tem-aki looked at her in surprise. "You didn't even pause to think about your answer."

"Thunder has Cameron's staff and knows how to use it." She turned to study Tem-aki. "Do you care if they're all right?"

"Of course."

"Why?" This time, Tem-aki didn't seem to have an answer. Nimri grimaced, "Not so easy knowing why, is it?"

Tem-aki shook her head. "Do you always understand why you do what you do?"

"I try to do what it correct, which is why I'm trying to find a way to do as Cameron asks and still protect both human and dragon lives."

"Have you always been so focused on helping others?"

"It's what I was raised to do."

Tem-aki laughed, but when she didn't join her, she got a strange look on her face. "You're serious."

Nimri nodded. "My ancestors have been our tribe's healers and keepers of the peace since we came to this world."

"Cameron said his people arrived on this world 1,066 years ago."

"Then, they must be some of the ones my tribe calls the lost." Nimri ran her hand over the smooth top of the skull. "This Summoning Skull has been taken care of by members of my family since then, but until you and GEA-4 managed to activate the one here and tell us where you were, I had no clue how they worked. In truth, I was surprised to learn that they could create a cone of protection."

"Summoning Skull? I like the name."

Nimri grinned, "That's the official one, but Bryta always called it the Skull of Doom." Nimri looked Tem-aki in the eye. "I never understood why, but now that I've learned that Cameron's tribe had one, I suspect that sometime in history, people lost the knowledge of what the skulls' purpose or perhaps they assumed the lost tribes had met a horrible fate."

"Sounds reasonable," Tem-aki said, but her attention was now on the dragon, which had begun flying in looping circles around the two hatchlings. She gripped the lumpy black box, as if it was a lifeline, and Nimri wondered if she was even breathing. "I don't think it plans to land, so I can trap it."

Nimri watched the beast circle wide, dipping low over the flimsy boat, where Raine clung to the staff and Mica. As the dragon's wings beat the air, the calm water in the harbor seemed to boil. Even if the staff could protect them from the dragon, Nimri wasn't certain it would protect them from drowning, if the boat collapsed.

Something had to be done, and the only thing she could think of doing was use herself as bait. Nimri took a deep breath, to calm her racing heart. "Get ready. I'll get it to land."

"How will you-"

~o~

"-do that?" Tem-aki finished lamely, as Nimri's body briefly glowed, then slumped, apparently lifeless, to the ground.

Overhead, the madrox bellowed.

Tem-aki lightly pressed her fingers against Nimri's neck. Despite appearances, her life-force seemed steady.

Again, the madrox shrieked. As she turned her attention to the sky, it nearly got its wings tangled, by turning too quickly. "What the heck?" she said aloud. Tem-aki stared, as the madrox's suddenly adversarial behavior. Squinting against the sunlight, she thought she saw an unnatural glimmer of light zigzagging through the air.

Could what she thought she was seeing actually be happening?

She blinked several times, then tried to refocus, but now, thought she saw two unexplainable glimmers. Tem-aki looked from the sky to the crumpled form next to her.

If her eyes were telling her the truth, Nimri could do some amazing things. And she'd said she would get the creature to land and to be ready. Tem-aki made a couple small adjustments, then waited for the promised opportunity.

~o~

As Nimri ducked into a fat white cloud, she spotted Kazza's myst-energy. She'd wondered where he'd gone and was glad to have his help.

Once inside the cloud's cool humidity, she changed direction and soared upward, then, as the dragon's heat passed below, she shot down, onto the back on its neck. She quickly knelt on its shaley hide. Was it her imagination, or was this dragon much cooler than the other one had been? Pushing the thought aside, she worked her fingers beneath the closest scale and yanked.

The creature cried out.

She pulled harder.

The dragon twisted and turned, but Nimri held on, all the time pulling at the scale in order to distract it from Mica and buy herself time to figure out a plan to get it to land. Suddenly, the dragon dove earth-ward. She tried to leap free, but a wing slapped her, then, before she knew what happened, they entered a dark, cold area.

By the time Nimri kicked free of the tangled wings, she realized the dragon had gone head-first into the harbor. She could only imagine the waves its dive had made. Fighting her way to the surface, she frantically looked for the boat, but it was nowhere to be seen.

With a scream, she returned to her body.

Tem-aki was staring, mouth open, at the harbor.

Nimri sat upright, still looking for Raine and Mica. "Where is the boat?"

Tem-aki literally jumped. "How did you do that?"

Nimri grabbed her upper arm. "The boat. What happened to it?"

Tem-aki's eyes widened in horror, as she looked where it should be tied. "I don't know. I was watching the madrox, ready to set the shield, then suddenly, it dove straight into the middle of the harbor and water splashed everywhere." She turned huge eyes to her. "How did you do that?"

Without pausing to answer her, Nimri scrambled to her feet and ran downhill to where the boat should be.

Mica had to be alive, he just had to be!

"Watch out," Tem-aki screamed, "There's something going on in the water."

Nimri noticed that it seemed to be boiling in the middle, and that made her run faster. Arriving at the shore, all she saw of the boat was shredded rope tied to a boulder.

Mica had to be down there, somewhere.

And she would find him.

Nimri dove in.

~o~

Tem-aki watched helplessly, as Nimri went head-first into the water, where they had last seen the boat and in the middle of the harbor, a familiar golden nose emerged.

Then the head, followed by the shoulders.

The water boiled with beating wings, but the creature seemed unable to fly.

Hadn't someone said that water supposedly killed madrox?

It didn't look very dead to Tem-aki. In fact, the scarlet eyes looked furious.

Shivering, she wondered if she should try to trap the dragon in the water, but just as quickly, she decided that would be a bad choice, since she didn't know if the shield-thing worked in the water.

Fortunately, the madrox splashed its way to the far shore, pulled itself out of the water and began to drag itself toward the hatchlings.

Tem-aki turned back to where she had last seen Nimri. There was nothing but furiously lapping water.