The Hungering Flame (20 page)

“
Yahaa!
”
Warren shouted from somewhere not far away.

Garrett looked back to see the vampire boy’s gaunt rising from the clouds with wisps of fog trailing from its wingtips. Warren sat, hulking over the slim pilot in front of him.

“
It’s a good thing your friend’s bat is that big,
”
Garrett laughed.

An angry, chittering, hiss erupted from Marla’s gaunt, and she soothed it with draconic words before turning to speak to Garrett,
“
They’re called
gaunts
Garrett.
”

“
Your friend’s gaunt,
”
Garrett corrected himself,
“
Sorry.
”

Marla turned again to look back at Garrett.
“
I can’t believe we...
”
her words froze on her lips, and her eyes widened in fear.

Garrett turned to look behind them and his blood went cold at the sight.

An impossibly large, dark shape moved beneath the lambent surface of the cloud ocean, gaining on them fast. As quickly as Garrett knew it for what it was, the dragon lifted from the clouds, its black wings booming against the chill night air. Its shriek split the night, causing Marla’s gaunt to pitch and waiver beneath them.
Graelle
sat, hunched in the saddle across the dragon’s back, his eyes locked on Garrett.

“
Fly!
”
Claude shouted from his gaunt,
“
I’ll lead him away!
”

Marla leaned forward, and her gaunt dropped like a stone into the clouds below. Garrett had never been so grateful that both his stomach and bladder were empty. He looked back to catch one final glance of the big gaunt with Warren and the vampire swinging in front of the enormous dragon, trying to draw its attention. Then the clouds closed over Garrett and he saw nothing but the pale light of the moon, diffused by the mist.

A muffled roar sounded through the clouds and then the screech of a gaunt, somewhere above them. Garrett’s heart pounded with fear, and he squeezed Marla tight, gasping for breath against her back.

A crack of lightning dazzled his senses, and then he felt a vast shadow fall across his back. Marla screamed as her gaunt rolled suddenly to the right. A searing heat washed over Garrett as great black jaws snapped shut, ripping a gap in the thin membrane of the gaunt’s left wing. Marla seized Garrett’s sleeve in one hand, holding him tightly to her as the gaunt jerked like a kite in a thunderstorm.

The dragon groaned, its hot breath singeing the bristly hairs of the gaunt’s tail. It snapped again, teeth the size of Garrett’s forearm clashing together on empty air.

“
Hold on!
”
Marla shouted as the gaunt spread its wings, rising suddenly. The dragon lifted its head to follow it, but the gaunt suddenly folded its wings and tumbled backwards as the dragon rushed by beneath.

Garrett stared directly into the startled blue eyes of the dragon rider as they passed within arm’s reach of one another. Then the dragon’s long, coiling tail whipped past Garrett’s head and the dragon and rider disappeared into a cloudbank.

Marla wasted no time. Her gaunt spread its wings and climbed for altitude again.

“
Garrett,
”
Marla said,
“
You have to do something for me.
”

“
What?
”
he asked.

“
Hold me,
”
she said,
“
Hold me tight, no matter what!
”

Garrett locked his arms around her body, the scroll case pressed into the crook of his elbow.
“
I won’t let go!
”
he said.

They climbed above the clouds once again, the full moon shining down on them.

“
He’ll see us!
”
Garrett cried.

“
He has to,
”
Marla answered.

Garrett looked back just as the dragon exploded from the clouds behind them, its black wings booming like thunder and its jaws gaping open, illuminating the mist with a cherry red glow.

Marla lifted her left wrist to her lips and tugged a gap between her sleeve and glove with her teeth. She pressed her lips against her pale skin, her eyes tightening as she bit down. Garrett watched in sick fascination as she withdrew her wrist. Two dark beads of blood welled up from her skin, quivering in the wind.

Marla lifted her fist skyward, and two dark streaks whipped away into the night as she trailed her blood through the air behind her.

“
Na’La Un’Vedre, Kiribeth An’Un!
”
Marla screamed, twisting her body in Garrett’s arms to look back at the dragon so close behind.

Garrett turned to see the beast, its baleful golden eyes blazing with rage, its black scales glistening in the moonlight.

Marla’s blood dashed across its nostrils. The dragon’s burning left eye snapped shut as a fleck of blood struck it.

“
Kiribeth An’Un!
”
she shouted,
“
Kiribeth An’Un!
”

Garrett’s skin tingled, sensing the power of something vast and old, a type of magic he had never felt before. His breath faltered at the sight of what happened next.

The dragon jerked its head back. Its left eye opened again, blinking twice, only the eye now glowed a bright blue, the color of a summer sky.

“
Kiribeth An’Un!
”
Marla screamed, her voice going hoarse.

The dragon blinked again, shaking its head, tears of azure flame streaming from its eyes. Its black scales shimmered, waves of light pulsing across its skin.

“
Kiribeth An’Un!
”
Marla cried, her voice failing as her body slumped in Garrett’s arms,
“
Kiribeth An’Un!
”

Garrett leaned forward, holding her up as the gaunt descended into the clouds beneath them. The dragon fell away behind them, its body twisting as though wracked in pain. For a single moment, its scales blazed like purest silver in the moonlight. Then the shadow fell across it again, its scales tarnished black once more.

Garrett squeezed his eyes shut, wishing that he could stop his ears against the dragon’s scream, an almost-human wail of utter despair. The clouds rushed past, and the horrible cry receded into the distance.

Marla’s head bobbed weakly. She moaned as though lost in a troubled dream.

“
Marla!
”
Garrett shouted,
“
Wake up!
”

Marla’s eyes fluttered, and Garrett thought he saw in them a flash of blue light for a moment. Then she blinked, clearing her head, and a tear streaked across her cheek.

“
Marla, what happened,
”
Garrett said,
“
Did you kill it?
”

Marla shook her head.
“
No,
”
she said,
“
I just made him remember.
”

Garrett wanted to ask more, but just then, they dropped below the clouds. Ahead of them and slightly to the right flew Claude and Warren astride their large, somewhat singed gaunt.

“
Lady Veranu!
”
Claude shouted,
“
Lady Veranu!
”

“
Hey, Garrett!
”
Warren said, lifting an arm in an attempt at a quick wave before he thought better of it, hanging on tight as Claude’s gaunt swooped in.

“
I’m all right,
”
Marla said, her voice trembling a little.

Claude’s jaw tightened, his lips a thin line of concern.
“
Follow me!
”
he said.

Marla’s gaunt fell into line behind its larger mate, and they skimmed low over the dark treetops of the Astorran forest.

“
I’m all right, Garrett,
”
Marla said, smiling back at him,
“
You don’t have to hold me so tightly anymore.
”

“
Oh,
”
Garrett said, loosening his grip around her middle,
“
sorry.
”

Marla patted his arm lightly.

The treetops rushed past on either side as the gaunts descended into the forest, folding their wings at last to skip along the ground on their claws, coming to a stop in the shadow of the trees.

Garrett looked around, his eyes going wide at a dark shape that bounded toward him out of the forest.

The dire wolf knocked Garrett from the back of Marla’s gaunt and pinned him to the ground, slathering his face with a long wet tongue.

“
Ghausse!
”
Marla shouted,
“
Stop that!
”

“
So this is he, the killer of kings!
”
a strange woman’s voice called out from the darkness.

Garrett pushed Ghausse’s big head to the side, patting him weakly. He saw a short, slender woman wearing a hooded robe of blue silk over a dark gray, long-sleeved dress. She stepped gracefully from the shadows, her hips swaying as she walked. Hauskr the wolf trotted out beside her, his tongue lolling.

“
I didn’t kill anyone!
”
Garrett said.

The woman lifted her gloved hands to her hood and threw it back, revealing her face. Large green eyes sparkled against red fur. Dainty white fangs glistened beneath her dark snout when she smiled. Large, triangular ears, tipped with cream-colored down, twitched atop her head. It was no mask. She had the face of a fox.
“
You should never run from a rumor, boy,
”
she said,
“
People are going to believe it anyway, so you may as well enjoy your new reputation.
”

“
Garrett, this is Ymowyn,
”
Warren said, helping Garrett to his feet,
“
She’s the one that told me what happened to you. Did you know there were ghouls in Astorra?
”

Ymowyn sighed.
“
We’re not ghouls, dearling,
”
she said,
“
The
Kirikin are something entirely different.
”

“
Yeah, whatever you call yourselves,
”
Warren laughed,
“
You smell like a ghoul to me.
”

“
I
think
you mean that as a compliment,
”
she said with a crooked smile.

Warren shrugged.
“
Yeah, what else would it be?
”

Ymowyn smiled sweetly. She turned her attention to Marla.
“
Is she well?
”
Ymowyn asked.

Claude was helping Marla down from the gaunt’s back.
“
What did you do, my lady?
”
he asked.

“
I’m all right,
”
Marla said, smiling wanly,
“
See to Garrett’s wounds. He’s been through a lot.
”

Garrett
smiled and tried to ask for a drink of water, but his tongue was not working properly anymore. He felt a bit dizzy and looked down only to find the ground suddenly not so far away as it should have been.

The light of
late afternoon
shone
through the branches of the trees above. Garrett chuckled to himself, thinking of how sad Johann Prex must be to
have
miss
ed
out on the chance to burn him. His belly ached. He had drunk too much water, too fast and wolfed down a hunk of brown bread until he felt he might burst. Still, he was glad to have the taste of dust out of his mouth. He dabbed his tongue against the crack in his lip, wincing.

“
Stop playing with it,
”
Ymowyn said. The fox woman knelt before him as he sat in the crook between two great tree roots. She had rolled up her sleeves and tied them back, revealing her long, slender arms, covered with short reddish fur. Her deft fingers, tipped with tiny black claws, worked a tingling balm into the raw flesh of Garrett’s wrists. She wiped her hands on a kerchief and ti
lt
ed her head as she studied the wound on Garrett’s head.