Gloria Oliver (43 page)
Authors: Cross-Eyed Dragon Troubles
After going in and finding anything which might prove useful, she held every intention of starting back toward the school.
planned
to kidnap her. How long had they known about the trouble before Lareen announced it? She stood up, shoving the question aside. Those things didn’t matter now; her only concern was getting back to the school.
The large trees loomed, the fresh scent of pine and fir strong in her nostrils. She felt a slight shiver as she gazed at their long limbs and thick foliage. There’d been so many changes in her life, what she saw around her being but one of many. Forests were something she’d heard of in stories, yet here she was, amidst one in an adventure of her own. At home, the most she ever ran across were clumps of trees, most of the fertile land converted to farmland. Yet here, on this mountain, the trees ran as far as she could see. If not for the fact she could see the mesa in the distance, she might have found herself inextricably lost. Trying not to dwell on it, she plodded on.
As the sun sank in the horizon, she sighed, the mesa looming a little closer but nowhere near as close as she’d hoped. That a few minutes in the air could have taken her so far was amazing. Though at the moment it was more bothersome than anything else—she was making her way back on foot after all.
Glad she’d thought to bring one of the blankets from the cabin as well as food, she nestled down against a large tree, and after eating a cold supper, tried to rest.
She didn’t sleep well. The strange night sounds kept bringing her awake, and when she did sleep, her dreams were filled with the indistinct forms of Maeloon.
Talia woke in the early morning hours, her back sore and her body stiff. She stretched, feeling in a foul mood, and tallied her discomforts as one more thing she would make the squire and dragon pay for once she got her hands on them. Her mood didn’t get better as she looked up at the sky at a small clearing and noticed the dark thick clouds gathering overhead. If it rained…
A light shower did catch her about midday, but she was able to find sufficient cover beneath the canopy of some thick trees and only became mildly damp. The scent of decaying leaves and wood doubled in strength around her as the air became very humid. She stared unhappily at the mesa, wondering if anyone had missed her yet. With all the magic at the school’s disposal, surely they could use some of it to find her if everything else failed. She could already picture the bombardment of questions and the rumors flying about from all this. She shook her head. Maybe she could make it back before it got real bad, though a part of her heavily doubted it.
By late afternoon, she was almost to the base of the mesa. Staring at its rising steep sides, she started to question whether her course was the best to take after all. She didn’t want to stay at the cabin and wait for Kel to come get her, but she wasn’t sure how she was going to make her way up the mesa’s side and up to the school on her own.
She was still trying to puzzle out her upcoming problem when a loud crash startled her from behind. She was in the midst of spinning around to find out what caused it when she suddenly found herself enveloped by cold metal arms.
“Thank the
gods
. You’re all right.” Kel’s relieved voice poured into her ear even as she spotted Clarence over his shoulder pulling himself out of the ruins of a toppled tree. The dragon disgustedly spit out a branch from his mouth. Kel’s helmet, with its dilapidated feathers sat looking forlorn on the ground.
Hello, Talia. Glad to see you are well.
Kel pulled back, holding her by the shoulders, his eyes eagerly searching her face to reassure himself she really was all right. “Why did you leave the cabin? I told you we’d be back for you. I was sure something horrible happened to you.”
Talia saw heartfelt concern and relief washing over his face. She felt her heart trying to soften toward him, but her day’s foul mood, the rough night, and her previous anger at both of them wouldn’t let it. With a shrug she stepped back out of his reach. “How dare you! Did you really just expect me to meekly wait for you after you dragged me off somewhere against my will? Who do you think you are that you can make my decisions for me?”
Kel stared at her, shock staining his features. “I—”
She cut him off. “Forget it! I’m in no mood to hear your excuses.” She knew she was being harshly unfair, but at the moment couldn’t stop herself. “If you don’t mind, I’ll be on my way now. I’ve got a long way to go before reaching the school.”
Kel frowned, the pain at her words still lingering in his eyes. “But, it’s almost nightfall. And the cliffs…”
Her eyes flashed. “What about them?” she demanded.
The squire glanced back at Clarence but the dragon only stared off to the side, as though not wanting to get involved.
“We’ll take you back,” Kel said softly. “We did bring you here after all.” He seemed unsure of himself.
“It doesn’t matter,” she told him. A part of her kept insisting she was being an idiot, that she was being as stubborn as she normally accused them of being. It wasn’t as if she honestly had any clue on how she was going to get back. It made no difference though—her anger was in control. “I’ll get back on my own.”
She started to turn away.
“No! Talia…” Kel reached out to grab her by the shoulder. As his gauntlet touched her, she jerked roughly away. Her shirt caught in one of the gauntlet’s folds and she heard the fabric rip.
“Now look what you’ve done!” She glared at the squire, even more annoyed than before.
Kel stared from his hand and where the bit of cloth still hung to her and back again. Then suddenly his eyes grew wide with something akin to horror. “No!”
He lunged at her, driving her down even as a dark form crashed into him from the other side. Talia landed hard, the breath knocked out of her, as Kel and the intruder rolled away. As soon as she got a look at the attacker, her blood turned cold. The five-fingered claws, the barbed tail, the insane looking smile—it was a Maeloon. It was more ghastly than she ever imagined. “Kel!”
The two continued thrashing on the ground. She heard Clarence cracking more trees as he struggled to get closer.
It had lunged at her and Kel had saved her. But what was it doing here? Kel said he and Clarence were taking her somewhere far from the fighting. Was it one of the reasons he seemed so worried for her?
Because they’d found out about more than the ones they’d been told of? Before she knew it, her dagger was in her hand. Even as she struggled to get back on her feet, her gaze swept the darkening area looking for others. Seeing none, her attention turned back to Kel and the creature he was still struggling to keep from tearing his unprotected throat.
Talia, stay back
.
She didn’t listen, as Clarence slithered forward, both trying to find an opening to help Kel.
Laughing snarls filled the air, and the Maeloon suddenly disengaged from Kel, leaping gracefully backwards. Its human looking eyes locked on her. She shuddered as she stared into the face of madness. She was suddenly unsure her small dagger would be enough.
“Get back here.” Kel lunged desperately at the Maeloon, having noticed where it was aiming its attentions. The Maeloon avoided him easily, making for her.
She felt her breath come in harsh gasps, even as she brought her dagger forward to meet it. The Maeloon leapt.
No, you don’t
. Clarence’s head snaked out and his large jaws clamped about the Maeloon’s body, snatching it from midair. A scream of pain filled the air for a moment, then ceased. Clarence spit out the Maeloon’s body, almost split in three, onto the ground.
Talia barely spared it a glance, running instead toward Kel. The squire was doing the same thing and met her half way. “Are you all right?” they asked one another at the same time.
She laughed, tears rising in her eyes in relief. It filled her with unexpected warmth to see him as relieved as she was.
A haunting howl cut through the trees from the direction the Maeloon originally came from, killing the warmth and replacing it with dread. Another answered the first and then a third.
“Are those more of them?” She was sure she wouldn’t like the answer.
They’re close.
“We’ve got to go.” Kel held his hand out for hers. After a moment’s hesitation, she took it. Together, they ran toward Clarence, skirting the cooling Maeloon body.
Kel helped her up onto Clarence’s back and then followed after her. After they’d strapped themselves in as quickly as possible, Clarence lifted off as several dark bodies appeared before them. Snarling, the Maeloon jumped up, trying to clamp on to the fleeing dragon. Clarence batted one aside with his tail and then was too high for them to reach him. Talia glanced down and watched in horror as three of them leapt on the body of their battered comrade and tore it apart. She forced herself to look away.
The three of them reached the school before long and Clarence brought them in for a landing. “Over there.” Kel pointed in the direction of Nertak’s cave, where lanterns were being lit one by one as darkness descended. Clarence rushed off the runway with her and Kel on board, heading for the lights.
Lareen is not here, but Nertak has returned to pick up supplies. He’s inside.
Startled glances followed them as Clarence rushed up toward the entrance of the cave. Students dived to get out of his way. By the time he came to a stop, Kel had already released his restraints and leapt down to run into the cave’s interior. Talia was not far behind him.
“Master Nertak!” Kel brushed brusquely past a number of students, wedging his way further into the cave. Moving in his wake, she noticed a lot of surprised faces as well as a few hostile ones as they realized who was there.
Kel headed toward the back, behind the newly rebuilt counter. The old man came out, the narrow-faced young man who’d asked her not to feed Kel close behind him. The student didn’t look pleased to see him.
“Clarence just told me you were coming. What’s wrong?” Nertak waved the student aside as he tried putting himself menacingly between the Kel and the older man. Kel paid the boy no attention at all. Talia could tell neither made the student happy.
“A number of Maeloon are almost on top of the school,” said Kel. “They’re coming from the forest to the east. I didn’t see any mercenaries, but they could be out there as well.”
“You’ve got a lot of nerve,” the narrow faced student said. “Why the heck should anyone listen to a stuck-up, murderous, loony like you?” A number of students crowded around to see what was going on.
“He’s not lying. I saw them, too.” She felt her anger trying to get the best of her.
“You’re a first-year, what would you—”
“Billa, that’s more than enough out of you.” Nertak turned cold eyes on the student. “You might show a lot of promise for my guild, but in some areas you have a long way to go.”
The young man stared at Nertak as if he’d been slapped. “Sir?”
“Now make yourself useful and get to the camp and pass this information on to Lareen. And tell it as you heard it, without any extra commentary.”
Billa hesitated a moment, but after throwing Kel an odd look, he turned around and ran back toward the back of the cave and the transportation circle there. Murmurs were springing up all around.
Nertak ducked down to search through a bin behind the counter. “Ah, thought I left it here.” He brought up a scroll and unrolled it on the counter. It was a map of the school’s intermediate area up to the border.
He pointed to a place close to the line. “This is where the Maeloon and the squadron were engaged. I was thinking things went a little easy there. Now where did you see them?”
Kel pointed to the mountain on the eastside of the mesa. “It was about here. We only spotted them because we were on the ground. The woods are so thick there you can’t really see anything from the air.
It didn’t help the sun was going down, either.”
Nertak frowned at the map, obviously not liking what he was seeing. “It would seem their intended target might be the school.” Gasps rang all around.
“But how would they scale the mesa?” Talia thought the feat daunting at best.
“The creatures are five-fingered and have claws. Scaling the walls would be easier for them than most, and they’re insane enough to try it in the dark.”
Kel took off one of his gauntlets and reached inside his armor to scratch below his neck. “With our attentions diverted and most of our people gone, if they sneaked up here at night, they could take the school before anyone was the wiser.”
Talia felt a chill at the thought. If Kel hadn’t kidnapped her, if she hadn’t decided to come back on her own … “What are we going to do?”
Nertak looked up, smiling. “Why, we’re going to stop them, of course.” He actually looked quite happy.
“About now I expect the Maeloon and the men at the village will have rallied and mounted some heavier resistance than up to this point. This would keep everyone quite busy there and keep them from returning to the school. But, now that we know what they’re up to, we won’t be caught unprepared. We’re going to show them even students of the guild are to be reckoned with.
“Kel, I want for you and Clarence to be my eyes and ears out there. I need to know where they are and where they’re coming from.”
Kel nodded.
Nertak glanced out toward the other students there. “As for the rest of you, listen up. I want each and every one of you to return to your quarters and put on your armor. When you’re done, take yourselves down to the armory. You’ll be given a weapon there. Take something you can handle, this is no time for stupidity. If you see any watchers or teachers, tell them to come see me here. Once you’re done, meet in the dining hall for further instructions. Now go.”