Dragon School_Dire Quest Read online

Go easy on the water, Raolcan reminded me. Remember last time?

  “Is that a map?”

  I spun to see Renn behind me, adjusting his chains and scarves with a confident grin. In the light of dawn, I saw tiny crinkling lines on his cheeks from all that smiling. His tightly-curled hair – in a very un-Dragon-Rider manner, was shorn very short and his eyes twinkled in the light.

  “Sort of,” I admitted, but then my eyes narrowed. “But it’s in code, so don’t even think of trying to take it.”

  He threw his hands up, and innocent expression on his face. “No need to take a map from my guide. You are going to guide me, am I right?”

  He was charming. I’d give him that. I was willing to bet he got his way most of the time with that grin.

  He does. He figures you’re already weak in the knees over it.

  Well, then he was adding things up all wrong. I crossed my arms over my chest. If he thought he could win me over with a smile, I’d ignore all his smiles

  “I think you should head back to the Dominion. This is a big gamble for me, and you don’t even have water with you,” I said.

  He smirked. “Looks like you have more than enough water for both of us.”

  “I was told that the key to success in this journey is having enough water. If I bring you, too, my water supply will be cut in half. Why don’t you go back to the mainland and get some water and then you can follow?”

  “And you’re going to wait here for me?” His knowing smile made my spine straighten.

  “I don’t have time to wait.”

  His grin showed white teeth. “Then I guess I don’t either.”

  “I’m not your guide!”

  “And yet, you’ll be guiding me...”

  I huffed and began to load our supplies back on Raolcan.

  Ouch! Don’t take your temper out on me!

  I finished loading him – more gently, this time.

  Barely.

  “I could take half that water for you,” Renn offered. As if I’d give him half our water just like that!

  If we’re going the same way, I could use a lighter load.

  Raolcan would be singing a different tune if we ran out half-way to our destination.

  Calm down. We’ll be fine.

  “Raolcan can carry it just fine, thank you,” I said stiffly.

  He smirked and sauntered off. I mounted Raolcan and started to cinch my straps up. The sun was low on the horizon. Time to start heading straight for it.

  You’re going to have to find some way to coexist with Renn. I don’t think he’s going anywhere soon. I generally find that the most irritable people can be the most helpful in the long run.

  So he was going to be best friends with Ahummal?

  You should hear his thoughts! He can go eat feet.

  That insult was starting to grow on me. I turned it over in my mind as Raolcan leapt into the air, shooting toward the blaze of the rising sun. Would he cook the feet first or just gnaw on them? Were we talking deer feet or chicken feet or did it matter?

  I barely even flinched at the whoop of delight from behind us as we dove toward the dawn.

  Chapter Eight

  By noon, I was getting worried. We were being buffeted by winds and staying on a correct course was a challenge. Worse, there was nothing in any direction but gray sea, rippling with white foaming waves. By now, we should be at the next waypoint. My mouth felt dry, but I was afraid to take a sip of water. I looked anxiously from side to side, squinting at the water below until my eyes ached. There was nothing. We’d come all this way and there was nothing!

  We’ll circle and look for it.

  We began in a small circle, spiraling outward. Renn looked confused when our path took us past him, but I didn’t signal to him. I didn’t want him following us in the first place. I didn’t know if I could trust him. He could be Dusk Covenant, or worse.

  There’s something worse?

  Ifrits.

  He doesn’t look like an Ifrit to me. He’s smaller, for starters. There’s no fire in his mouth. So far, he hasn’t tried to kill us.

  Oh, ha ha. But he’d succeeded in distracting me for a moment, long enough to calm my breath and the shaking of my hands, though I was still feeling the sting of sweat as it broke out on my forehead and back.

  We circled and circled and I gnawed at my lip. How long had we been doing this? An hour? Two?

  What did the notation say?

  It said to let the sun be my guide. Fat lot of good that was doing. I sighed as Renn and Ahummal fell into line behind us as our loop expanded.

  At this time of day, the sun is nearly above us.

  I looked up at the sun, squinting my eyes and letting my hand rise to shade my eyes for a little protection. The sun blared down, blindingly and I squinted further, trying to look-but-not-look at the yellow sun high above. Something just beneath it flickered – like the edge of a rainbow. I closed my eyes and tried again. Was that a faint ring of rainbow in the sky?

  You really shouldn’t be looking at the sun. You’ll see all kinds of ghosts in the air that way.

  No, it was definitely a ring of faint rainbow. What in the world could that be? Could Raolcan fly towards that?

  Fly toward your mirage? Sure. Why not. Let’s all be delusional together.

  What would make a rainbow like that? There was no rain. No ice in the air, which sometimes also produced rainbows – or so I heard. So, it had to be something unusual, right? Like a magical sign in the sky. Raolcan arched upward. He needed to aim just a little lower.

  It’s not like I can see your imaginary loop.

  There! That was a better trajectory. I shaded my eyes and took one last look around me. There was nothing but gray flashing sea rolling in white-tipped caps and that annoying Renn following on our tail like a bad smell.

  Ha! I like that analogy. Wait. Wait a second. Am I seeing a ring?

  If he wasn’t then he needed his eyes checked. I could see it plain as day. Raolcan leapt through it like a fish through a hoop – or what I imagined that would be like.

  We might as well be crazy together.

  Renn was right on our tail as Raolcan tucked his wings and arched through the circle. I shut my eyes, afraid to hope ...

  You can open them now.

  There was still sky and sea around us like before. Worse, my mind was tricking me, leading me to believe that the sea and sky were bluer. Just a trick of the eyes after staring so hard at the sun. Disappointment filled me. We’d have to go back. We’d have to take the trip back up the coast through the waging war like I’d thought originally, only now we were three days behind where we would have been. At least, Renn would stop following me.

  Look at the sun.

  Again?

  No, really look at it.

  It hurt my eyes. I bit back a curse.

  It’s lower in the sky. We’re not where we started.

  But we weren’t anywhere else, either. There was no island or coastline here.

  I think I see something in the distance.

  That’s just Renn. He was still following us like a dark rumor.

  That one’s funny, too. But no, I mean something on the sea. Let’s go investigate.

  Why not. After all, I could use a break before we turned back. Raolcan leaned slightly eastward, his neck curving toward his goal. I leaned into his swoop, glad to be doing something other than flying in circles. It had been making me dizzy.

  It’s not quite an island, but there’s room to set down on it. Let’s go look!

  It was long minutes before I could see what he was aiming at – a small blip on the horizon. And at least another hour before we reached what appeared to be a tangle of trees, their roots interwoven, and yellow fruit hanging heavy on their branches. They floated and bobbed on the water like the world’s strangest raft.

  Raolcan set down gently between the thick trunks, his wings held out like he was checking to see if it could bear his weight.

  Seems to hold. I’ve ne
ver been on one of these before.

  One of what? Ahummal set down on the other side of the tangle, plucking the yellow fruit off the nearest tree and flaring his frill.

  “A Brambaraft,” Renn said excitedly. “I’ve read about these. How far did you take us through that magical ring?”

  My cheeks heated. I didn’t want to admit that I had no idea where we were or what this was.

  It’s common to the Eastern Sea near the coast of Baojang. A floating raft made of trees that drink seawater to survive. Sometimes there are fish underneath – they chew at the roots. Sometimes birds in the branches. It’s like an oasis in the sea.

  How lucky were we to have found one?

  They are common in these parts – as common as ponds or streams inland. We should see many more on our trip to Baojang. But we are close now.

  How close?

  Brambarafts can’t survive the highest seas. They stay close to reefs or the shore. I suspect there is a reef nearby.

  “Fine, be silent. Even with that cranky attitude, you’re still the best guide I’ve ever had,” Renn said with a smile, grabbing one of the yellow fruit and biting in before giving me a pulpy grin. If he wasn’t so irritating, I’d say he was growing on me. I turned to the tree to grab my own fruit.

  Watch for adders. They sometimes lurk in the trees.

  I shivered and drew my hand back.

  “Gotcha!” Renn said suddenly, holding up a red snake he’d speared on the tip of his knife. He flung it into the sea. “No fire tonight, unfortunately, but I’m excellent at stringing hammocks. Want me to tie one up for you?”

  I rolled my eyes. How was I going to be rid of this guy?

  Do you really want to be rid of him? You were complaining about doing this on your own. Now you have a friend.

  But he could be an enemy.

  You could try asking him some questions to see whether he is or not. I generally prefer to know who my enemies are. It’s better not to put people in that category unless you really have to.

  “Can you teach me?” I asked Renn. He was already pulling out a rope.

  “Sure. Come on over here and I’ll show you how to start.”

  I hobbled over to where he was working between our dragons. He’d already tied the first knot.

  “You can pay me in water,” he said as he spooled the rope out.

  “Pay you?”

  “I teach you a skill, you give us some water. Seems fair.”

  “What about guiding you here?”

  He tapped the side of his nose. “Doesn’t count if you didn’t do it on purpose.”

  Figured. Of course, he’d want something from me. But I did need to find out why he was here, and I wasn’t going to find that out by being difficult. Besides, Raolcan was right, it wasn’t right to think of an enemy before I’d really investigated whether he was.

  “Of course, we’d be happy to share our water.” I really hoped we were close to Baojang.

  We worked side by side as he showed me the knots and weaving to make a solid hammock. How could I work the conversation around to asking him why he was so desperate to get to Baojang? As if he had read my mind, he looked up at me with another one of his nearly-constant grins.

  “You want to know why I’m following you.” It wasn’t a question. “You want to know if you can trust me, so you’re asking me to show you how to make a hammock.”

  Whatever else he was, he wasn’t stupid. I wasn’t sure what to say, though. Subtlety and craftiness were Hubric’s expertise, and I’d thought I’d have longer to watch him before I had to learn them, too.

  He didn’t make me wait too long in suspense. “There are ... people ... in Baojang. Friends. I’m going to find them.”

  “What kind of friends?” I asked.

  “The secret kind.”

  I sighed. “Why bother opening up to me if you aren’t going to even answer my questions?”

  He laughed. “No, that’s what they’re called. ‘The Secret – or ‘Ya’kar’ in the language of Baojang.’”

  I’d never heard of them. Were we talking about yet another hidden group? Like the Dusk Covenant or the Lightbringers? How would I know whether they were good or bad?

  “Why are you looking for your friends?”

  “Because I plan to end this war.”

  Chapter Nine

  This was great! He wanted the same things I did! Maybe we could help each other and do this together!

  Whoa! There are many ways to stop wars. One way is to win. You don’t know he’s on your side just because he wants the war to end. Maybe he wants to defeat the Dominion to win it.

  Well, couldn’t Raolcan just read his mind to figure out what side he was on?

  He’s very guarded. It’s hard to get a strong read on him.

  Uh oh. I wasn’t guarded because I had nothing to hide. What was Renn hiding?

  It could be innocent enough. Some people are just more closed than others. You aren’t closed at all, which is part of your charm, of course.

  I smiled.

  “So, you trust me, then?” Renn asked.

  “How are you going to stop the war?” I wasn’t ready to promise to trust him. Not with Raolcan’s warnings in my mind.

  “I’m a Gold. We negotiate. It’s what we do. So, when my friend died in Casaban-”

  “The Purple rider?”

  We’d moved on to the next hammock. For the first time, his grin slipped as he nodded.

  “I know it’s weird to have a Purple for a friend. Purples like to be on their own. I know you didn’t want me along, but Golds are people-people. We like to be around others. We don’t usually fly alone.”

  “But you’re flying alone,” I prompted.

  He tried another grin, but it fell flat. He looked at me seriously and then looked away, studying his hands.

  “I don’t know if I should trust you, either. That’s the problem. Neither of us knows. Neither of us can afford to just say openly what we’re doing ... can we?”

  I nodded, sadly.

  “What should we do?” He looked sad, too. I could probably like him. If I knew him and what he was up to, I bet he’d grow on me. He was a bit too happy, and he certainly didn’t listen to others, but he grew on you.

  “Why don’t I get you some water?”

  I unsaddled Raolcan, setting his saddle and our various burdens in the branches of the interwoven trees.

  That’s better.

  We should probably settle in for the night. The next clue was as vague as the last one had been and there was no way to know how far we would have to fly before we reached the next destination. We should get some rest. Maybe by the end of the journey, I could figure out whether to trust Renn Woelran. As if thinking his name was enough to call him over, Renn materialized. Together, in companionable silence, we gave water to our dragons and placed our bedrolls on the hammocks. We were returning the waterskins we’d emptied for the dragons when I reached for one we could share.

  “I know I could use a good drink of water,” I said, as I reached for the waterskin. “I hope it lasts the whole journey.”

  “Stop!” Renn’s eyes were wide and his face white.

  I hadn’t stopped fast enough. Searing pain filled my forearm and I looked down to see a red tail sticking out of my leather sleeve. Renn darted forward, cut the leather of my sleeve with his belt knife and peeled the leather back.

  Light shone out of the sleeve as the sign of the Lightbringers was revealed. In the center of it, a red adder was latched on to my skin. Renn grabbed his head, spearing it with his knife and then carefully removing it. My arm was already red and puffy. I bit my lip and struggled to focus. Now was not the time to pass out. Was there a remedy to red adder bites?

  Renn’s wide-eyed look suggested there wasn’t. He stumbled backward, took one more look at me and then dove into the sea. I sat down heavily. My face felt hot and wet. My arm felt as heavy as an anchor.

  Hold on. Help comes.

  Help? For what? My th
oughts were muzzy. It was hard to hold on to them. Slippery like fish. Or was that lizards? Snakes? Why did I hate the idea of snakes? Renn was above me, his face blurry in my vision. He was chewing something. A broad, purple face hovered over him. Raolcan? Why was he underwater?

  You’re delusional. It’s not a good idea to let snakes bite you.

  Renn spat something into his hand and then his hand was around my jaw.

  Open up.

  I wasn’t hungry. I just needed to sleep.

  Open.

  I really didn’t need to.

  NOW!

  I opened my mouth at the shock of his mental yell and Renn shoved something soft and mushy in my mouth. I gagged at the taste of fish and rot mixed together.

  Swallow.

  Not a chance.

  NOW!

  I wanted to cry and slap him all at once. I hated these mind yells. Didn’t he realize I had a headache?

  Please.

  I swallowed, very reluctantly. Renn was holding my mouth shut. I couldn’t spit it out. Maybe swallowing was all I could do to get rid of the taste. No. It didn’t help. My mouth felt furry.

  Hold on. Wait for the antidote to take effect. Clever Renn! This isn’t his first time in these parts.

  My vision slowly began to clear. After long moments, Renn released my jaw.

  “Are you back with us?”

  I gagged, swallowed, reached for the waterskin. He handed it to me and I took a long drink.

  “Yes,” I rasped. My mouth felt swollen. “What was that?”

  “A red adder. They are deadly. You have to watch more carefully.”

  It wasn’t worth it to stay here.

  I don’t think there are any more.

  That didn’t sound like a definite ‘no.’

  “The taste...”

  “That’s the antidote. Bramba root mash. Tastes like death but stops the poison.”

  “Erg.” I spat a few more times, but at least it was only the root. Renn watched me in a guarded manner, like I was the red adder, not the thing he killed.

  “That mark,” he began, before pausing. “The one that glows.”

  I looked at him blearily. My mind still wasn’t tracking right.

  He cleared his throat. “Tell me that’s not a Lighbringer mark.”