Dragon Trials (Return of the Darkening Book 1) (12 page)

He glanced at me sideways. “I thought you knew all those old children’s stories?”

I pressed my lips tight so I wouldn’t bite off his head. I didn’t want to admit that I knew way too little. I was also not going to go and ask my brothers. They’d only make fun of me, and Mother had made it clear that if they ever told me those stories and she found out—well, my brothers were far more terrified of Mother than they ever had been of Father. And asking any of the other cadets or instructors was out too—I did not want to look a fool in front of any of them.

Pulling in a breath, I let it out and said, “Seb—focus. We need to go see the travelers.”

He leaned against the saddle and the corner of his mouth lifted. “But, you know, isn’t that breaking the rules. I thought you wanted to be the perfect cadet? Top of your class? Best ever?”

I hated that he was throwing my words at me—and that, yes, I still wanted that. Letting my arms fall to my side, I asked him, “what’s more important—the rules or learning what we need to know to survive? If…and that’s a big if…the Darkening, or whatever that is, has come back, and we know less than most children know, then we’re not going to be able to fight it. That means we’re going to be the first ones dead. And Kalax, too.”

I saw Seb’s throat work. He straightened. I hated to hit him where it hurt most—I knew how much he cared for our dragon, how close a bond he had formed. Much more than the one I had made. But I also knew I was right. The only place we were going to find out what we needed to know was with the gypsies.

“Tonight,” I repeated, making my voice firm. “We’ll go in the hours after dinner and before bedtime like we’re out for a training run. Everyone expects me to put in extra runs, and I’ll drag you with me. And it’s not breaking the rules if we’re back early enough.”

Seb looked like he wanted to protest—I could see the doubt in his eyes—but I was having none of it. I walked away, giving him no opportunity to back out of my plan. We were going to talk to the gypsies and I was going to hear these stories for myself. And then we could figure out how to train so we could be ready.

Waiting for Thea was never fun. I paced nervously by the side of an equipment shed, making sure to stay in the shadows and making no sound. Already I had seen four Dragon Riders walk past me on their way to the kitchens for food and wine. From the keep, I could hear the noise of singing and loud talk as cadets and riders had gathered to sit in front of the fire in the great hearth or to play cards or swap stories or just to sit and doze or eat a good meal.

The last few hours of the night were officially leisure hours for everyone, except the most essential staff within the Academy. Many of the Dragon Riders would come by to spend time with the cadets, and the instructors sometimes stopped by to share a word of wisdom or comment on how the day’s training had gone. It was usually a time I looked forward to, but some cadets looked down on it, preferring to go into town for an hour or two. I knew we wouldn’t be missed if we didn’t show our faces.

I gathered my old woolen cloak closer. I’d dressed again in my old clothes, and I wondered if Thea would as well, or if she would wear her cadet uniform. That might spook the gypsies, but then again, maybe they would be impressed to meet a real soon-to-be Dragon Rider. I didn’t know. Luckily, it was a warm evening. The sky had gone a dusky purple and the moon was rising early, a sliver of silver above the walls and the trees just now. I had packed a small knapsack of things we might need—baked goods taken from the kitchen to share with the gypsies, a striking flint, just in case we needed light, and an extra, oil-treated blanket in case it rained.

“Psst!”

I jumped at the hissing sound and turned to see someone who looked a scullery maid walking toward me. But Thea’s golden hair, glinting in the torch light from the keep, gave her away. She had dressed in a large, unkempt cloak, skirts and a blouse. I was going to guess she had borrowed these from one of the staff. She had had even gone so far as to mess up her hair and smudge a bit of ash on her face as if she’d gotten dirty from sweeping out the fireplaces.

“What happened to you looking like you were going out for a run?” I asked.

“Come on,” she hissed, not stopping as she passed me. I caught up with her as she was striding purposefully out of the front gate.

The guards on duty saw us and nodded, saying nothing. We must look a pair of Academy staff, returning home for the night. A sudden thrill of freedom chased down my spine. The Academy always felt to me like everyone was watching me, judging me. Now, outside on the mountain, I could breathe in and not worry what anyone thought. The air cooled. The wind rose with no barrier of a wall to hold it back.

I kept pace with Thea until we had rounded the first turn in the lane. Grabbing her cloak, I pulled her behind the boulder and onto the goat path that led up and away over the ridge.

“You never told me we were climbing up there,” Thea said, her voice low. “I would have picked warmer clothes.”

“Arkady and his people were camping up here, but I told him to head to Hammal Lake to see the dragons fly, so they might have moved there.” After our flying lessons ended, the dragons were released and allowed to swoop and dive down over the cold surfaces of the water, seizing the salmon and other fish that spawned in the lake in huge numbers. I hoped the gypsies had seen the dragons fishing, like gigantic sea eagles, and had stayed to camp at the lake. The travelers might be fishing there, too.

Thea grumbled about the climb, but I could tell she didn’t mean it. Unlike me, she never ran out of breath. We climbed until my thighs started to burn. Cresting the ridge that ran behind the Academy, I paused for a moment and turned. Beyond the enclosure where the dragons lived and the towers and walls of the Academy, the city spread in circles of firelight. The dark shadows of evening spreading over the valleys, leaving the farms in darkness and the peaks and tops of trees picked out in light. It was like looking at one of the aerial maps.

I heard Thea’s sigh, and glanced over. She was looking up at the sky and the stars now popping out like a river of light. The air was so clear and cold that each star glittered as bright as sparks from the hottest forge, sparkling and glinting.

After a moment of wonder, the cold roused me. I bumped Thea’s arm and we went down the other side of the mountain, our steps quick now to keep warm. We crossed into the scrubby woodlands and high meadows of the wilder, northern side of the mountain.

It wasn’t long before we saw the sheen of Hammal Lake, ringed by the black trees. The smell of roasting fish and mutton carried to us on the night breeze along with a faint tune played on a whistle and followed by a fiddle. The song seemed a sad, lonely one.

Both mine and Thea’s stomachs grumbled, and we shared a quick look. Thea grimaced. I shrugged. The walk had made us both hungry. We crossed down to the woods, and followed the smell of cooking to a small, sandy shore along one of the coves at the lake’s edge.

“Ho, Arkady! Sansha,” I called out. I could see the glimmer of a campfire through the trees now.

“Seb! Our wandering herdsman.” Arkady laughed and sprang up. “I hope you have not come to collect a missing sheep. You see, this one was very old and near the end of its prime anyway.” He grinned and nodded at his brother Turri.

“No, Arkady, not looking for any stray lambs. I’m just here to share your fire and repay you for your kindness of the night.” I stepped out of the shadows. Arkady and Turri stood by the fire as they had the other night. This time, Sansha tending to the spit and roast, and to a pan of fish. Afiyah once again sat on a large log near the fire and had her fiddle out and Roluz lowered a small, penny whistle.

I pulled the baked goods—sourbread and oat muffins—from my knapsack. Sansha, her eyebrows lifted high and her dark eyes bright in the firelight, rose to take them and asked, “Who is this? You didn’t tell us you had a sweetheart?” Sansha waved Thea to the fire.

“Oh, we’re not…” I started to stumble over the words, thankful for the shadows so that they would not see my face flame.

Thea shot me a hard stare and said, “My name is Thea. I’m his…sister.”

I almost choked. Thea looked nothing like me. Her hair was golden and fine. My dark and always stuck up. She was finely made, with small hands. My hands and feet always seemed too big for me.

Arkady looked from one of us to the other and shook his head. “Ah, never mind, never mind. The more the merrier, I say. And today we saw the most spectacular sight. Dragons as large as three, four, five caravans swooping and skimming the surface of the lake, seizing fish as if they were tidbits and flying off.” He mimed the movement, flapping and swooping his arms.

“And then, after they had their fill, they would land in the lake and roll over, cleaning their wings and paddle through the water as if they were swans.” He let out a breath. “Ah, it was such a sight. But come…let us eat first, and then we’ll have stories to share.”

Afiyah and Roluz put away the fiddle and the whistle. Again, there were no plates. Sansha cooled the pan and then it was passed around, and fish taken from the pan with fingers. Bread was passed. Turri and Arkady cut off hunks of meat from the roast and these were passed around as well.

After the feast, Arkady leaned back and patted his stomach. “Really, I have to thank you for being so welcoming, shepherd of Mount Hammal. I never thought I would get to show my children the dragons. If there is anything that the people of Shaar can do for you, then tell us now.”

Thea sat up. “Actually, sir, apart from your excellent company and music, we came to hear—I came so I might hear your stories.”

“Anything, child,” Arkady said.

“The Darkening,” she said. “I want you to tell me more about the Darkening. What is it? Where is it?”

Arkady frowned. He pulled on his long moustaches. “And your brother can’t tell you? This is grave talk for such a merry night.”

“But we need to know. I want to hear this for myself,” Thea said and spread her hands wide.

Arkady glanced at me. “You have a sister who has her own mind, eh?”

I spread my hands and muttered, “You have no idea.”

He looked to Turri and then Sansha. Turri shrugged and walked way, muttering, “I will water the horse.”

Sansha rose as well and took the pan with her, telling the children to come with for a wash in the lake.

Arkady sat down next to me on the log and looked from me to Thea. “Fine. I will tell you what stories and tales I have already told your…told to Seb, though that is not a lot,” he warned.

Sitting forward, elbows on her knees, Thea nodded.

He told the same story he’d told me of the Darkening. “Some call it a sickness, and some an army of darkness. It has not been seen for the last hundred years, but the old tales were always of how it made villages disappear and people forget. Some legends even say the Darkening is caused by a magic, that a stone the size of your fist and the color of grass can make men’s mind go blank and women lose the memory of even their own children’s names. Others say the Darkening is the fault of a wizard who tried to take over the world with his spells.”

Thea was frowning and opened her mouth as if she might say something insulting. I jumped in before she could. “And the Dragon Riders can beat this—right?”

“So the stories say. In all the tales, only the Dragon Riders with their fire and might could burn out the Darkening and restore the people’s memory. They could turn the magic to good uses.”

Thea glanced at me and rolled her eyes. I knew what she was thinking. This sounded like a fairy tale to me, too. How could a dragon burn someone and give them their memory back? Getting caught by dragon fire would kill anyone.

Arkady pulled out his pipe, but he did not put tobacco in it or light it. “One tale my grandmother told me said that the Darkening came with an evil army of black dragons, and that it was the battle between black dragons and Dragon Riders which drove off this terrible thing.” He shrugged. “I do not know. But in all the tales, there is always a battle, and fire, and lots of people are hurt.”

Thea nudged me and stood. “Thank you. We wish you luck on your travels.”

It seemed rude to me to hurry off, but I had no choice other than to say goodnight and leave with her. I hurried to catch up with her and then walked next to her in silence. I didn’t know if she believed the stories—I still wasn’t sure I did. I was only certain that Thea, just like I, was as caught up in thoughts of darkness, war and fire.

*

The moon had set by the time we crept back into the Academy. The gates stood open, but we had to wait for a moment when the guards had walked across the gap and turned to look out past the walls before we could slip across the walls. We crossed the open training area, heading for the kitchens. The staff would be asleep, and we could sneak in the back. Inside the kitchen, I pulled off my cloak.

Thea put her hand on my arm. “Thank you. For tonight, I mean. For taking me to hear the stories myself.”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure what good they are. I mean, if Dragon Riders had magical stones, why don’t they have them still? Why don’t we know about them?”

She frowned and shook her head.

A sudden square of light fell over us. We looked to the doorway to see Mordecai standing there, a lantern above his head. In the dim light, he looked even grimmer and meaner than usual. His hair lank about his face, his shoulders hunched, and two angry spots of color high on his cheeks. He pulled a cloak tighter around his shoulders. “By the first dragon, what—are you stealing food?”

We both froze. There was nothing we could do now we’d been seen. I waited, tense and nervous, as he came into the kitchen. Was it worse to be sneaking in or to be thought to be stealing food?

He pushed the door open wide and stepped forward, peering at us. “What are you doing, sneaking around like a thief? This is your second mark against you, isn’t it, cadet? One more and you’re out of the Academy. But perhaps you should be charged with two marks? Both for thieving and sneaking.”

I lifted my chin. “I’m not a thief. I’ve never taken anything that wasn’t given to me.”

His lip curled. “But you don’t deny the sneaking, do you. How dare you think the rules do not apply to you? As for you…” He turned and jabbed a finger at Thea. “I’d thought better of you, Cadet Flamma. Your brother Ryan was a bit of a handful in his time, but I thought you had the dash of Reynalt about you. Serious, dedicated. I see you’re just as willful as your partner. Doesn’t seem to matter to either of you to put your minds to learning the skills of Dragon Riding.”

Thea opened and closed her mouth. Her eyes brightened. I didn’t want her to be kicked out—but I didn’t want to go either. I couldn’t bear the idea of never seeing Kalax again. I stepped forward. “It wasn’t her fault, Instructor Mordecai. It was mine. I had this idea about using stars to navigate at night, and we went up to the ridge so I could show her. We weren’t…it wasn’t…we were talking dragons and flying…and just lost track of time.”

Mordecai turned to me, lifting the lantern higher. “So you took it upon yourself to try to teach Cadet Flamma skills you haven’t even been taught? Of all the arrogance. I should ask for both of you to be sent home. How do you expect to be Dragon Riders if you cannot manage to follow even the simple rules of the Academy? What will you do when you have orders to follow and lives depending on you to do what you are asked to do?” He shook his head.