Back to the Missing City

16

At Linsha’s plea, Crucible swam directly to the nearest island, a large mountainous chunk of land called Karthay, the northernmost island of the Blood Sea chain. Linsha was dismayed to learn it was only half a day’s swim from where they had landed in the ocean. If Sirenfal had lasted a mere half-day longer, they would have made landfall. Not that it would have helped prolong the dragon’s life, but at least she would not have died thinking she had failed Linsha and Callista.

They found a small cove where a stream poured down from the mountains into the sea, and they made camp that night in the shelter of a rock outcropping.

The women bathed in the fresh water, drank their fill, and filled the water bag while Varia went hunting. For dinner that night they ate roast duck and wild berries and finished the last of the Tarmak bread. It was, Linsha decided, one of the best meals she had ever had.

Late into the night they sat by a large fire and talked, telling their stories of escape and rescue and friends. In a small place behind her pleasure in the evening, Linsha wished Crucible would change into his human form so she could see Lord Bight. But he did not. He crouched by the fire beside her, his large body acting as a windbreak for the wind that swept in from the sea. Perhaps he did not want to chance her ire this night, or perhaps he did not have the strength.

“I still do not fly well,” he told her. “Danian healed my wounds and repaired my wings, but he said it would be months before I could fly long distances, and even then there has been too much damage to expect a complete return to my normal flights.”

“Then how did you come so far?” Callista asked, marveling at his journey.

“I swam most of it. I can fly short distances, then I have to swim.”

“Have you had any ill effects from the barb?” Linsha asked. The death of Sirenfal rode heavily in her mind that night, and the thought that there might be splinters left in Crucible made her queasy with dread.

He shook his head. “None that I know of, besides an ache between my shoulders once in a while. Danian said you must have removed the entire thing. How did you know how to do it?”

Linsha’s eyes fell to her hands in her lap and the scars that still discolored her palms and fingers. “Iyesta came to me in a vision at the Grandfather Tree. She gave me two leaves from the tree and told me I could help you.”

The dragon dipped his head in thanks and gently nudged her. “But tell me what happened to you? I thought you were with the other centaur and he would bring you.”

Once again Linsha told her tale from the battle on the Red Rose to the death of Sirenfal. She told him and Varia about the Tarmaks, Malawaitha, the Akeelawasee, and Afec. She thought for a moment about skimming over Lanther and their marriage, but she knew Crucible had to know that it happened and why, so she told about that too, as well as the death of the dragon embryo and the experiments done on Sirenfal. Crucible sat quietly through the entire telling without interrupting, and when she was finished he continued to sit and contemplate the fire.

Varia, on the other hand, could not contain her anger at Lanther or her joy that Linsha was free of him.

Linsha cast a worried glance at the enigmatic dragon and gently ruffled Varia’s feathers. “What happened to you?” she asked. “How did you get away from the Tarmaks?”

“That was easy,” the owl said disdainfully. “They kept me in a cage in the headquarters and put a warrior in charge of me who was being punished for something.”

“One of the dog warriors?” Linsha asked curiously.

“Yes. I just waited until late one night when he was not paying strict attention as he fed me and I removed part of his finger. When he pulled his hand out, he didn’t close the cage door fast enough and I flew out. Once I made it out of the city, I went to find Crucible.”

“How did you know where to find me?”

“I listened to the Tarmaks. They talked about the Drathkin’kela going to Ithin’carthia to marry the Akkad-Dar and I knew it had to be you. Then, one afternoon, I heard your voice call me.”

Linsha sat up a little straighter in surprise. “What? When?”

They counted the days and the hours, and Linsha remembered the night she had fought Malawaitha and sent a mental cry into the night. She and the owl looked at one another and smiled in wonderment.

“Would you have gone all the way to Ithin’carthia, if we hadn’t escaped?” Linsha asked Crucible. She tilted her head to look at his horned face in the firelight.

“That was our intention,” Crucible said, his deep voice a muted rumble in his chest. “You saved my life. I could not leave you there to suffer slavery or worse.”

“But all the way across the Courrain Ocean?” said Callista. “That’s incredible. You must really-”

Linsha abruptly reached across the courtesan for the leaf bowl holding the last of the berries and bumped her hard with her elbow, cutting off the words Callista was about to say next. “Not now,” she muttered sharply. It seemed obvious to her that Crucible did not want to talk about anything more than simple subjects. If that was the case, then the last thing she wanted to discuss in front of Varia and Callista at this time was his feelings and motives for helping her. She wondered now if he had come to her rescue out of a lingering affection and respect for Iyesta and an ordinary obligation to the person who pulled the bolt from his back. After all, hadn’t he just said so?

Callista stared at her curiously, but she finished the sentence with, “You must be really tired.”

The dragon remained silent, his deep amber eyes glowing with firelight.

“Since you have seen Danian,” Linsha went on, a little too brightly, “I am guessing Wanderer’s tribe still survives?”

Varia bobbed her head, her “ear” feathers stiff with the importance of her news. “Oh, yes! That man is cleverer than a desert fox. He has a hidden fortress deep in the desert that the Tarmaks haven’t found yet, and he’s been gathering all the remaining warriors from tribe and clan to wage a clandestine war against the Tarmaks. Falaius is with him and the remaining militia.”

“What about Sir Hugh and Leonidas?”

“Leonidas is fine. He took Crucible out of the battle to find Danian then stayed with Wanderer’s group. There are some fine looking fillies there that I think have caught his eye.”

“And Sir Hugh?” Linsha prompted.

Varia blinked and reluctantly answered, “I don’t know where Sir Hugh is. He did not return after the battle and he has not shown up anywhere.”

“He’s dead?” Callista gasped.

Varia blinked again. “I don’t know. I heard in the Tarmak headquarters that a large group of prisoners and slaves had been brought back for the Akkad-Dar. Maybe he is there.”

“We will have to look for him when we go back for the eggs,” Linsha announced.

Owl, woman, and dragon looked at her in surprise, but no one said anything about her plan, not yet anyway. They were all too tired and the night was growing late. While Callista curled close to the warmth of the fire and Varia found a perch on Crucible’s back, Linsha crawled up to the dragon’s warm side and lay down beside him as close as she could get. He peered down at her for a little while until she was asleep, then he curved his neck and tail around her and enclosed her in the protection of his body. He slept, too-deep and well for the first time since the day she had disappeared.

The next day they left Karthay on wing and flew south as far as the island of Mithas before Crucible had to rest his wings and swim. The bronze dragon was an excellent swimmer and had the streamlined body, the powerful tail with the webbed ridges, and the webbed feet that enabled him to move quickly through the water. He usually swam underwater, but with the two women and the owl on his back, he stayed on the surface and cruised south like a dragon-prowed warship, dolphins racing playfully beside him. Even on the surface he could still move faster than any man-made ship, and he had the great southern current to help speed him along.