Dragonhold (Book 2) (6 page)

* * *

Kenward watched as the entrance to Dragonhold was effectively sealed, leaving Allette, Onin, and the dragons trapped outside with no access to food or water. Safety from the lightning was scarce. Kenward wasn't sure how long anyone would be able to survive trapped between the plasma barrier and the mountain. What had been only a matter of time for the dragons was now a matter of much less time. The few people who'd made it back were moved to an impromptu infirmary deeper within Dragonhold. No one ventured close to the front gates, afraid of being the lightning's next victim.

The keep resonated with a distorted note that warped the energy, making Kenward's teeth hurt. If he didn't get out of this place soon, he was going to go as crazy as most people thought he already was. Appearing to be a crazy fool had worked well for Kenward much of his life, but actually going insane was not a fate he relished. He'd seen powerful people, once vibrant and at the top of their mental games, reduced to shades of their former selves. Looking back at the gap between the stone spire and Dragonhold's gates, Kenward considered grabbing supplies and running through. Then he realized he could toss at least a few packs loaded with water, food, and other necessities through the narrow opening and remain unscathed.

Kenward raced for the kitchens, where Brother Vaughn was already explaining the situation to Miss Mariss, who looked more annoyed than ever.

"People just don't know when to leave well enough alone," she said.

Kenward would have defended their actions, but he knew better than to argue with Miss Mariss in her kitchen. It was the kind of thing you did only once. Despite her grumbling, Miss Mariss packed generous portions and included extra touches Kenward suspected were more for Onin's sake than Allette's. He was grateful when she handed him the packs and turned back to her work. He couldn't miss the worried look she gave him when he walked out.

"Don't go and do anything foolish!" she shouted after him.

He smiled. His aunt knew him well.

Though she'd given him water skins, he had to fill them himself. Not far from the kitchens was a small fountain perfect for the task. The things the ancients had built never failed to amaze him. Even as he filled the flasks, he imagined ways the wonders within Dragonhold might have been created. This led him to ponder how so much knowledge had been forgotten. Certainly things must have changed after Istra last departed, but that didn't explain how so much knowledge relevant to both Istran and Vestran phases had been lost. When he was honest with himself, he realized he was thinking about anything but Onin and Allette. Even if he could get supplies to them, what kind of existence would they have outside? Now more than ever, Kenward wished Catrin and her party success. Allette and Onin had both suffered enough in their lives, and Kenward wished no more hardships on them. His own memories proved just how painful such things could be, and he'd been lucky.

After capping the last water skin, Kenward walked back toward the Great Hall. Shouting and thunder quickened his step. When he turned the corner, two figures stood silhouetted against the fiery backdrop. Onin supported Allette, but even his strength was not enough to withstand the lightning. Dropping his burdens, Kenward ran toward them despite the fact that others were far closer than he. The lightning continued and the others slowed. Kenward did not.

It was a brave and foolish thing to do. Quicker than thought, a flash of light relieved him of control over his body. Through his pain, Kenward learned lightning's true nature and power. When finally the lightning relented, his body was slow to respond. Onin, the man he'd come to save, dragged both Kenward and Allette away from the entrance. One last time the lightning exacted its price for passage, sending all three to the stone. Other hands grabbed him then and pulled him to the infirmary.

He'd been fine moments before, but now his heart fluttered and his thoughts slowed. If this was how death felt, he liked it not at all. A woman he didn't recognize cut away his shirt to expose a charred wound, and Kenward cried out. His arms flailed at his sides against the shock of pain. His right hand met something warm and soft rather than the cold stone he'd expected. Calloused yet delicate fingers closed around his hand. Empathy and support flowed through the physical bond. Turning his head once he was able, he saw Allette staring back at him with pain-filled eyes. She'd given him strength when she was, herself, in great need. Kenward did what he could to communicate through touch, and he felt even worse when Allette gripped his hand hard, crying out in pain as someone tended her wounds. Her eyes rolled up into her head, and she passed out, her grip going limp in his hand.

Few things in this world impressed Kenward Trell, but reaching out to him in her greatest time of need and offering something of herself imprinted this woman on his very being. The rest had Allette Kilbor all wrong. This, Kenward was determined to change.

* * *

Walking beside Kendra, Sinjin could not believe what he heard. Even before they had split from the main party, the rumblings from deeper within the hold had begun. His mother had shown concern but said nothing. There had been speculation, but she had never confirmed or denied any of it. Now it was getting louder, and some was definitely not thunder, although Sinjin thought there had been legitimate thunder as well. This added to the confusion. High-pitched screams were a different matter altogether. The latest one sounded nearby, and Kendra grabbed Sinjin's arm, an instinctive defensive measure. She reached for what she treasured most.

With a lump in his throat, Sinjin cleared his sword from the scabbard. He made more noise than Kendra did performing the same motion, which made him blush. Next came a series of rumbling booms as if a god snored. It was impossible to know exactly what it was, but Sinjin's mind conjured gruesome images that made him sweat. He and Kendra were not untrained or unarmed but were no match for what Sinjin imagined waited in the darkness. There was something about exploring a place no human had seen in thousands of years. At every junction Catrin's party had come across, they had split up until broken down into pairs. No one was to go off alone. Despite the large number of people in the party, they got down to pairs surprisingly fast.

At first Kendra and Sinjin occasionally reencountered others who searched the halls, but there had been no signs of other humans in hours. Being in a constant state of alert took its toll on them, and Kendra motioned for him to sit and rest. She wrapped her herald globe more tightly in cloth to dim the light. Getting Trinda to provide the globes had been difficult, and the child queen continued to surprise. After sending one of her guards to retrieve the globes, she'd disappeared.

"Can you believe she just ran away?" Kendra asked, looking down at the glowing bundle in her lap.

"At least she gave us some of the herald globes before going wherever it is she went."

"You think he was telling the truth about not knowing where the rest are?" Kendra asked.

"I wouldn't put it past Trinda to hide them all over the keep and not tell anyone where they all are," Sinjin said as quietly as he could. Rumbling thunder obscured his words. Echoes danced within Dragonhold in strange ways. Sometimes the stone simply absorbed the sound, leaving people stranded where no one could hear them, and other sounds carried deep into the hold.

"What do you think we're going to find?" Kendra asked.

Sinjin shrugged, not wanting to reveal his fears. The question had come up before, and he hadn't answered then either. Knowing his wife as he did, Sinjin expected the question to come again. She wouldn't relent until he answered. She knew his weaknesses, yet he still wanted to be strong for her. Most of the time, she projected strength, but he knew her every weakness as well, and there were times she needed him. He'd let her down in the past and never wanted to feel that way again.

Reaching out, he squeezed her hand. After appearing confused at first, she looked up and smiled. Without warning, Dragonhold itself trembled and shook, tossing them helplessly about. When at last the tremors ceased, Sinjin jumped to his feet and helped Kendra up. Something was wrong. Sinjin's hair and teeth hurt, making him feel as if he'd been rung like a bell. When the feeling didn't abate, he looked to his wife, struggling as well, her eyes squinted from pain. Resonating within the halls and permeating the air around them, a discordant note threatened to debilitate them both. Like bees boring into Sinjin's ears, the feeling was inescapable. It nagged at him. High-pitched, panicked screams accompanied deep rumblings. If there were other creatures living within Dragonhold, surely now they were on full alert.

Moving as quickly as they could, they found the note more prevalent in some places than others and stopped to recuperate in a place where it was not overpowering.

"I can only imagine what your mom is going through," Kendra said.

Sinjin tried not to think about it. There was little he could do to help his mother, and thinking about her pain brought him physical and emotional anguish. It was a feeling no one should know, though many did.

So far Kendra and Sinjin had found little that was useful in their current circumstances. They found a beautiful fountain in full operation, though in need of a good cleaning, and they had discovered rooms filled with sealed clay jars as big as Sinjin. Halls cut in stone were indistinguishable from each other, the pebbles they dropped near each junction all they had to lead them back out. The deeper they went, the less likely they would ever make it back. The weight of the stone above pressed down upon them.

"You know Valterius is going to knock you down with his tail for months once you're reunited, right?"

Sinjin smiled and even laughed. It was the perfect thing to say at that moment. He loved his wife.

Chapter 6

Information from the past is changing our future.

--Brother Milo, Cathuran monk

* * *

Pelivor walked alongside Catrin in a state of disbelief. He'd mourned the loss of her, and she'd been returned to him. He'd lamented her previous marriage, and now his relief over Prios's absence in Catrin's life shamed him.

His old friend captured him with her eyes, just as she always had. She'd been his first kiss, and nothing could ever change that. He'd dreamed of her for years, which made him flush deeply. She spoke to him with softness in her eyes. Despite all the pain and danger, she still had a smile for him. Being so close to the very thing he desired was sweet torture, and he found himself staring too long.

"We somehow manage to find ourselves in the most dangerous situations," she said.

Smiling and nodding, Pelivor agreed. All along, he'd planned to stay by Catrin's side, and no one had challenged him. His pairing with her for this exploration had been at his desire, but she'd made no move to change it. That was the same as wanting it in his perception, and he tried to restrain his overeager heart. If Catrin hadn't been looking at him, he'd slap himself in the face. He should be thinking of ways to get them out of this colossal mess, yet he was acting like a foolish boy.

"I'm hoping all these dangerous situations will one day lead us to a peaceful existence," he said.

Catrin nodded. "Such a thing does exist."

Pelivor laughed. "What would you do?" he asked, knowing it was a silly question.

"Do you really want to know?" she asked, somehow managing to look innocent and fragile despite being the most powerful person on the planet, even if caught in a spider's web. "It's rather boring, actually."

Without realizing what he was doing until it was too late, Pelivor asked wordlessly, using only his facial expression. A flash of pain clouded Catrin's beautiful face. It was gone in an instant. Prios had always used a similar expression to coax words from people, and Pelivor had temporarily forgotten where he'd learned it. The result was that he'd made Catrin think of her dead husband. No matter how he tried, Pelivor always found a way to say the wrong thing around her.

The keep continued to rumble; the noise unidentifiable. Pelivor and Catrin exchanged a glance.

"Didn't Chase say Trinda had guards posted farther in than this?" Pelivor asked.

Catrin nodded. "He did. She's been monitoring the stone forest, and Chase said he thought she might have guards posted beyond there as well."

"I can't picture this forest," Pelivor said. "How much farther is it? It doesn't seem like a place this big should exist."

"Not that much farther," Catrin said. "The keep could go on for miles. I'm fairly certain the ancients exploited natural formations. The river that runs through this place is a big part of why the keep exists at all. It has worn away the soft rock over the millennia."

"You really are a know-it-all," Pelivor said, elbowing her in the ribs. The physical contact, no matter how minimal was thrilling.

"Sorry. I spent a lot of time studying, and I find these kinds of things interesting."

"Don't be sorry. That's one of the things I love about you."

The words were said before Pelivor could take them back, and the silence that hung after his statement was increasingly awkward. Searching for words, he drew a breath. Catrin gave him a sad smile, and he was about to apologize when someone knocked the world sideways. There were things in life that were part of the background, like the ringing in his ears, but when suddenly amplified and shifted to a frequency that set everything on edge, those things became unbearable. Reeling from the sudden change in the energy around them, Pelivor caught a glimpse of Catrin, her head cradled in her hands. He could not imagine how much worse it must be for her.

For years Pelivor had struggled to eke enough power from the air to fly the
Dragon's Wing
, and he couldn't even imagine how it must feel to have access to all the power all the time. The small amount he was able to draw was an elixir that left one wanting more. He knew the extent of Catrin's powers, and it frightened him if he thought too much about it.

"What is it?" Pelivor asked without realizing he was speaking.

"That fool Allette," Catrin said. "I think she damaged the Fifth Magic without actually disabling it. Why doesn't anyone listen to me?" She didn't give him a chance to answer. "We are powerless to do anything about the barrier. It's still there but now it's distorted; I can feel it. We must press on and hope we find some other way out soon."

Pelivor let the silence hang. The initial shock of the ringing was wearing off, and now it felt as if his teeth were going to crack. Catrin leaned on him for a moment; he put his arm around her. Why did it have to be so hard for them, he wondered, but he carried on nonetheless.

Only when they reached the stone forest did Pelivor really see the world around him again. His sole purpose was to take Catrin to the infernal ringing's source and make it stop. Thousands of trees, painstakingly carved with unmatched accuracy and detail, temporarily made the pain go away. For a moment the majesty erased all other thought. No guard could be seen, but evidence of their presence remained. Supplies and foodstuffs were stacked nearby, a cot tucked into a side hall not far from where the forest began.

Trinda might have recalled the guard, but Pelivor wasn't so sure. Perhaps it was the lifelike forest, or maybe it was the occasional carved inhabitants of those trees that unnerved Pelivor. Either way, he felt as if they were being watched. The hairs on his neck stood.

Neither wished to prolong this exploration, and they ate strips of dried beef while walking through the silent grove. Catrin unnecessarily motioned for silence. Others would be listening across the world in places just as improbable as this. Instantaneous global communications pushed the limits of imagination, yet it existed and Pelivor stood inside it.

While the high-pitched whine threatened to relieve Pelivor of his sanity, other noises indicated more immediate threats. No matter what anyone said, some of those deep booms were not thunder. Catrin had never said they were, and both knew the kind of danger they might face. It gave Pelivor great pride to walk beside Catrin into the unknown. They had fought overwhelming odds before, and though they hadn't always won, they had survived.

When Catrin drew a sudden breath and grabbed his arm, Pelivor wasn't certain they would again.

* * *

The maze beneath the Black Spike appeared to have been built by someone who was losing his sanity. Many tunnels went nowhere, some ending in vertical shafts. The construction was far rougher than what Durin had seen within Dragonhold or even Windhold.

"I knew a smith who made art by pouring molten silver into anthills," Strom said as if to chase away the ever-impinging darkness. "This place reminds me of the many tunnels and chambers the ants create."

Markers, presumably left by Catrin, saved them from exploring the entire place. Durin had to assume she was the one guiding them. Any other thought was just too frightening to bear.

"I'm convinced this place is the work of Ain Giest," Osbourne said. Strom glared at him as if mentioning the name might summon the immortal madman himself.

Durin wasn't certain he believed the old tales about Enoch and Ain Giest merging their consciousnesses and going mad, but someone built this impossible place. If Osbourne was correct, they were walking into the lair of the most notorious character in Godsland's history. Even the possibility gave Durin the crawls. They could do nothing to prepare and were essentially defenseless against whatever they encountered. Beyond the statuettes' light, darkness shifted and moved. Strom kept the figurines glowing low, afraid of discharging them too quickly, although there had been no perceptible lessening of the light they provided. Durin wished to see farther into the distance; not knowing if they were walking up on some ancient monster made his stomach hurt.

"If it was Ain," Osbourne continued, "I believe we are safe. He was never malicious as much as he perceived the world differently than others. No one can say what it must have been like always having his grandfather in the back of his mind, controlling his breathing, heart rate, and other functions. His frailty was the price of Enoch's folly. He was the one who'd taught so many of his people to heal themselves, not knowing how dire the consequences would be."

"No one should ever get into someone else's head," Strom said. "It's against nature and just wrong."

Durin could see his point, knowing Strom's experience with Kyrien was a driving factor behind his stance on the matter. There were others, though, who had benefitted from direct communication with the mind of another, sometimes across great distances. Had Prios not spoken in Sinjin's mind, assassins might well have succeeded in killing him. Some things were dangerous and needed to be used with care was what Durin took away from the conversation.

Ahead twisted carvings of trees materialized from the pervasive darkness. Winged gargoyles watched from glistening black branches as they moved deeper into a nightmare. Artfully carved, the trees may have once been accurate representations of nature. Now they looked as if they had been turned to wax, melted, then turned to stone. The creatures who occupied the upper branches were angular in comparison, lifelike images of things Durin prayed did not actually exist. And if they did, he hoped there were none within this place, which was horrible enough on its own.

Shuffling noises up ahead made Durin want to run and hide. Strom stopped them with a raised hand, and all three were on full alert. The light they bore would make them stand out to anything living in that darkness and might even drive some away. Durin didn't want to consider which of the creatures he'd seen in the trees might have been real, especially since far more terrifying monstrosities waited deeper within the twisted forest. Wings and tails emerged from human-looking torsos. Durin thought he might faint if one moved.

Nothing gave any indication of how large the forest was or if there were other tunnels leading out of the place.

Strom continued forward, as if drawn by magic, and Durin wondered if it might be true. He knew better than to ask the man. Strom was uncomfortable with his powers, and asking him would only make him defensive about it. Better to let the big man lead and follow his instincts. Durin smiled. He was finally starting to understand how to work with other people. He'd never known it could be so complicated or rewarding.

When Strom stopped without warning, holding up his hand again, Durin wasn't prepared and walked into Strom's back. He grunted loudly from the impact, and both Strom and Osbourne cast him scathing glances, demanding silence. When Durin recovered himself, he understood why. Voices came from not far ahead. Who in the world could possibly be at the bottom of this forsaken place, Durin asked himself, liking none of what his imagination conjured.

Strom quietly led them deeper into the nightmare forest, the pool of light giving them away to anything with eyes. Durin, too, felt compelled to move in silence. Someone or something else was there. The odds of its being friendly were decidedly slim.

No more voices came. Low rumblings and something akin to a growl were all that could be heard. Highly alert, all three jumped upon hearing a sudden intake of breath. Startled, terrified, and confused, Durin searched for a tree to hide behind but could find none that didn't bear some creature from his nightmares.

A mighty growl split the air, followed by a grunt, but Durin saw nothing. He exchanged confused glances with Strom and Osbourne but then remembered the tales of keystones. Sinjin had told him about them and had used them himself, so Durin knew such things really existed.

Grunts and cries filled the air but no words. Still, Durin felt some sort of connection. Even across the distance, he knew, even before Pelivor shouted, "Look out, Cat! Behind you!"

Though Durin was not there in physical form, Catrin's foes didn't know that. He made up his mind. "For Catrin!" he shouted with all the authority he could muster. Strom and Osbourne took a moment to understand his goal, but then they charged into the empty darkness, shouting battle cries that reverberated through the Black Spike.

* * *

Stopping cold when Catrin grabbed his arm, Pelivor held his breath. A hulking, shadowy form stepped into the light and did not shy away. Another approached from a different direction. Pelivor grabbed Catrin's collar and turned her back the way they had come. A third demon stepped into their path. There was a chance they could retreat through the stone forest, dashing between the trees to lose the enemy, but there were likely more where these had come from. Without their most potent weapons, they were in serious trouble.

His grip on Catrin loosened, and she darted away from him, dividing the monsters' focus. Charging toward the first one they'd seen, which wasn't far away, Catrin leaped into the air, executing a flying kick at the demon's knee. Too slow to react, the demon went down with a loud
crack.
The dark monster growled and thrashed in anguish but would pursue them no farther.

"Look out, Cat! Behind you!" Pelivor shouted. A mace made from a small tree trunk missed Catrin's head by a hair's width, but Pelivor had his own problems. The demon closing on him carried no weapons; instead, the foul beast wore twisted ironworks more like hammers than gloves. One soared past Pelivor's head, crashing into a stone tree, desecrating the eons-old masterpiece. Even as he sought to save his own life, Pelivor was aware of the beauty around him. What had seemed like a miss proved an effective attack, when a heavy branch came crashing down on Pelivor. Her eyes defiant, Catrin stood in the mace-wielding demon's path. Having no time to process what he saw, Pelivor rolled away. Two mighty hammers raced toward him, and there was little else he could do to defend himself.