Sword of Fire and Sea (The Chaos Knight Book One) (28 page)

Ruby took a seat beside him, a thoughtful expression on her face. “If you gave the rubies to me, would they harass you so much?”

He blinked again, surprised. And again he searched her eyes for motivation, even as he felt a pang of regret for doing so. There was only a friend's concern in her eyes. “I'm not sure,” he said, opening the pouch. He reached inside slowly, touching the stones one at a time, and withdrew one of those that pulsed warm to his fingers. “Keeping them in separate packs doesn't seem to help.” Carefully, he extended his hand, holding it out to her.

Ruby accepted the stone with equal care, cradling it between her two cupped palms. She looked back at him and raised an eyebrow. “Any better?” When he shook his head ruefully, she grimaced and turned her attention back to the stone. As she pressed it between her palms, her eyes lit with surprise at its warmth, and she lifted it to the light, staring into it. “What
are
these things?”

“I've wondered that,” he said, drawing one of the storm sapphires from the pouch and resting it on his palm. By far the sapphires were the most volatile of the three types of elemental stone he'd seen firsthand. Physically they were identical in size to the rubies, but to his mind they felt “bigger,” as if they had more space inside them, however that was possible. “If they opened the mountain, and can open or close the gate, they must be keys of some sort, but it's related to their energy patterns, not anything physical.”

She snorted. “You sound like a priestess.”

“Or a gryphon,” he agreed, and she gave him a sharp look.

“Your sun emerald,” she said, before he could pursue the look, “the one you left with An'du.” Ruby's eyes had looked fit to pop out of her head when they'd told her, in the hospital, about their trip to the An'durin. “You said that it was bound to you, somehow.” He nodded cautiously, and she continued, “Could you bind this one to me?”

The swirl of his thoughts echoed through the storm sapphire, which flashed with ricochets of internal lightning.

“It's going to be mine anyway,” she said lightly, mimicking avarice. Then her voice lowered with seriousness. “And if it were bound to me, I suspect I could control it. You're going to need all the mind-strength you can get for what's coming, I'll wager.”

“I've only seen it done once,” he warned, “and I hadn't any sense at all at the time.”

Ruby laughed, a sudden shock of brightness in what had been a dark journey. “As if you do now.”

Vidarian punched her knee, then regretted it, as the sapphire echoed with a new round of thunder. “You know what I mean.” He looked at the sapphire in his hand, attempting to fathom its nature anew, aware of the headache that was growing in the back of his head as he reached with his mind to control it. They were becoming more frequent. “I could try,” he said at last.

She passed the ruby back to him, and he slipped the sapphire back into its place in the pouch. He lifted the ruby, looking through it and to Ruby herself beyond it, then stretched his senses into the stone. As it was warm to the touch, so it was warm to his mind—alive with a flickering energy that perpetually sought…something. He felt a sudden urge to touch Ruby's hand, but knew that Endera had not done so when she'd bound the emerald to him, and so he worked to keep his free hand at his side. He reached through the stone with his senses until he encountered Ruby's energy—a familiar tumbling roar, an ever-moving pattern of the living sea that lived just beneath her skin.

Carefully, he curved his own sense, siphoning a piece of that roiling pattern back toward himself, and into the stone. It surged into it, and Ruby gasped, closing her eyes—feeling, he was sure, the dropping of her heart that he had felt when Endera bound him to the sun emerald. For a moment he was gripped with a terror that he wouldn't be able to stop the transfer of her essence into the stone, that it might take all of her—but the stone seemed to “know” how much it should contain, and released her of its own accord.

When Ruby opened her eyes, an echo of the ruby's energy glowed in her pupils, and he knew it was done.

The craft shuddered, and both of them reached for the support rails, riding out the sudden movement.

//
VIDARIAN
, // Thalnarra barked, and as he looked forward Vidarian saw that the disruption had come from her agitatedly beating wings. //
Tell me you didn't just do what I think you did.
//

“We were discussing it for the last several minutes,” he said, stung. “I thought gryphons had superb hearing.”

//
This flying business is not as easy as it must look from back there
, // she snapped. //
I was
focusing. //

“It's fine,” Vidarian said hotly. In fact, it was better than fine. He passed the stone back to Ruby, who looked at it with renewed wonder. Now that it was bound to her, it did seem to be paying more attention to her than to the sapphires, if rocks could be said to have attention. “Isn't it?”

//
By luck only
, // Thalnarra growled. //
Binding magics can go awry more easily than you can imagine. And you knew nothing about that stone! Some elemental stones are extremely dangerous.
//

//
He is being the Tesseract
, // Arikaree offered, though the hesitancy in his voice said that he, too, questioned the wisdom of what Vidarian and Ruby had just done.

//
You're all going to be the death of me.
//

“W

The sudden wave of sympathy that emanated from the gryphons caught in his throat. It was a sudden sensation of soft wings enclosing him, and for a long moment he wanted to sink into their strength. That desperate yearning opened the crevasse of reality before his feet; he wanted to unmake the last several weeks, to do anything if it would mean her illness could be averted.

//
Her condition is grave
, // Altair said.

“I'm told,” Vidarian said, forcing air past the lump in his throat, “that she can be cured by the opening of the gate.”

If Thalnarra's irregular wingbeat had disrupted the craft, the surprised pitching of all three of them nearly threw Ruby and Vidarian out of it entirely. They grasped for handholds, and Ariadel murmured in her sleep as the craft slewed first to one side, then the other.

“I really wish you wouldn't do that,” Ruby said between clenched teeth. He wasn't sure who she meant—probably all of them.

Once they recovered their flight pattern, all of the gryphons spoke at once: //
Who told you this?
// from Thalnarra, //
When did this happen?
// from Altair, and //
It is deceiving, would tell you so
, // from Arikaree.

“I think you know,” Vidarian said.

//
The Starhunter
, // Thalnarra said, and in her voice it was an epithet. //
Have you learned so little, to listen to her? She has no domain of her own, and preys upon those of the four true goddesses. What else would she tell you?
//

Nothing the goddess could have said would refute this, but her laugh, full of satisfaction, sealed its answer in Vidarian's heart.

“She knows I would do anything to deny her what she wants,” Vidarian said, his heart sunken, “except this.” He looked across the craft to where Ariadel slept fitfully, her face pale and body hunched in for warmth even beneath Thalnarra's warmth spell.

//
Don't you think you owe it to her to ask if she would have you open the gate?
// Thalnarra said, a hot anger simmering beneath the smoke of her voice.
Betrayal
, her thoughts whispered, with that cloud of concepts that lingered beyond human language.

Vidarian looked again at Ariadel. Did he know what her answer would be? “I—”

Ruby cried out behind him, stopping his thoughts. When he turned, she was pointing aft behind them, to the north.

There against the mountains, a dark cloud was rising, too fast and dense to be weather. As it spread out and came closer, tiny wings could be discerned on each particle. The sheer number of them set his stomach ill at ease.

“Gryphons?” Vidarian asked.

//
No
, // Altair said.

//
Horses
, // Thalnarra said. //
Winged horses, and riders.
//

“Sky knights!” Ruby breathed, turning to Vidarian. “From the empire? What are they doing here?”

“There was a disagreement,” Vidarian began, and Ruby's eyes widened with incredulity—which was something, coming from a renegade warleader whose people had been fighting the empire for over a century.

//
And coming over mountains
, // Arikaree added. Vidarian realized he was right—they hadn't taken the dragonspine tunnel, but had come up and over the mountain range. It shouldn't have been possible.

But the bottom line was: “Then they'll be exhausted.” He turned to each of the gryphons. “Can you fly higher?”

In response, they angled their wings again, gradually ascending.

“Make them work for it,” he said grimly.

The knights closed like an inexorable slow tide.

//
They're carrying healers!
// Altair exclaimed. The gryphons’ ability to see details of their pursuers long before Ruby or Vidarian could hope to was an advantage, but it was hard not to be unsettled by it. //
They must be feeding energy to the horses—that's what's keeping them going.
//

//
I've heard it done, but it's reckless
, // Thalnarra agreed. //
With that endurance and one of the remaining relics of Siane, they could have opened the everstorm. The Company must mean to do anything to stop you. What exactly did you
say
to them?
//

Everyone kept asking that, Vidarian thought irritatedly. As if saying something could cause an entity so large to empty its coffers trying to detain you. Or stop it from doing so.

His spirit sank within him as he took in their sheer numbers. They were close enough now for a human to count, not just a gryphon. Three flights closed on them—an entire wing, if his dull memory of imperial air organization held true; close to fifty horses and riders. And they couldn't have come from the imperial city—not this fast. Which meant they were bordermen, accustomed to rough conditions. Dangerous and hungry.

“I have to talk to them,” he said, and the three gryphons at once sent him a pulse of surprise and unhappiness. They were
afraid
, he realized, with a shock like ice water. On even footing, a gryphon wouldn't fear even a flight of Sky Knights—but here, harnessed to the flying craft, they were vulnerable themselves, to say nothing of the wingless passengers. “We're too far from the ground,” he argued. “They could knock all of us down. If I can talk them into landing, we have a chance.”

//
Their intentions are not peaceful
, // Altair warned, and Thalnarra and Arikaree radiated agreement.

“You can read that from their thoughts?” Ruby asked, surprised; an edge of her previous suspicion toward gryphons had returned to her voice.

//
The horses
, // Thalnarra said. //
We can smell their readiness. The riders encourage them for battle.
//

How exciting!
the Starhunter whispered. Vidarian managed to ignore her. “I have to try,” he said only. The gryphons were not pleased, but also not arguing. Vidarian's ears were popping as they continued to ascend. The knights’ horses were following, but slowly. Gradually, the gryphons leveled off, allowing the knights to catch up.

When the group drew close, one of their number split off and approached, guiding his horse up within a few wing-lengths of the port bow. It was not the commander; she was still flanked by a chevron of knights in the center of the wing, distinctive by the gold pauldrons at her shoulders and the glimmering purple iridescence of the coat and feathers of the royal she rode.

Their approacher rode a young beast—a grey, its feathers still banded. His armor was provincial, not standard to the imperial city, confirming Vidarian's suspicion that they'd sent a border wing. He signaled his mount to hover, which it did with a toss of its head and feathered tail, and lifted his visor.

“Second Vadron Illinsvar, Imperial Sky Knights, Hawkstorm Wing.” When he named the wing, the knights behind Illinsvar lifted their lances and gave low shouts that were picked up by the rest. The lieutenant smiled slightly and Vidarian cursed to himself. A young, stupid cowherd with ambitions. Fantastic. He was eyeing the gryphons with speculation and excitement.

//
He doesn't know we're intelligent
, // Thalnarra growled in his mind alone, anger and satisfaction coloring her words. //
Don't enlighten him.
//

“Greetings, Captain,” Vidarian called, intentionally mistaking his rank to puff his ego. “How can we assist you?”

“The Hawkstorm wing is dispatched to escort one Vidarian Rulorat to the imperial city. If you are he, I am instructed to take you into custody.”

“I'm afraid we can't agree to that,” Vidarian said. “Perhaps we could discuss this on the ground?”

“To allow you to land would be allowing you further progress toward the gate,” the knight said, with another irritating half-smile. Thalnarra fixed his horse with one sharp red eye, and Vidarian knew only he and the horse heard the word //
Snack
// she directed at it. The beast tossed its head, backwinging, and Thalnarra clicked her beak at it. The knight snarled. “You should control those creatures!”

“I apologize,” Vidarian called. “They're just impossible sometimes.” He directed unhelpful thoughts at Thalnarra.

“We are instructed first to negotiate with you and seek a peaceful solution,” Illinsvar said. “But my orders are clear: we are to detain you by any means necessary. No living knight is permitted to allow you to reach the gate.” The way he emphasized “living” made Vidarian's skin crawl.

“Why?” Vidarian called. “What are they afraid I'll do?”

The knight pulled back on the reins of his mount, which tossed its head and snorted in response, backwinging. “Why should the empire—”

“You mean the Company!”

“—allow one man to decide the fate of millions?”

He doesn't know
, the Starhunter whispered.
Leave the poor toy alone
.

“This from you?” Vidarian muttered.

“Will you come peacefully?” the knight called, lowering his lance. The others along the forward line behind him followed suit, facing the
Destiny
with an arc of knife points. Illinsvar kneed his mount, and it hovered closer to the flying craft, bringing the tip of his lance closer to Arikaree's flank.

Thalnarra hissed, and the horse's mane and tail burst into flame. The creature shrieked in unison with its rider's angry shout, and the knights behind them wasted only a moment on raw shock before charging forward.

//
Climb!
// Thalnarra shouted, and the three gryphons immediately angled their wings and began ascending. Thalnarra herself aimed upward at the sharpest angle, and the craft tipped steeply. Ruby and Vidarian scrambled for safety holds, and as he did so Vidarian leaned forward across the craft to check the safety straps around Ariadel. For a blessing, they held, and though Ariadel's forehead creased and she murmured uncomfortably in her sleep, she was not otherwise disrupted.

Arrows were hissing around them as the gryphons rose higher in the air. In the commotion among the knights—acrid smoke still rose from beneath them, with the scent of burning horsehair, and the panicked screams of the inflicted animal—they'd gained several lengths on their pursuers in altitude, but not clearance. The gryphons were strong, but the knights had the advantage in both encumbrance and number. Soon, Vidarian knew, their breath would begin to labor at this pace.

“You have to get me to their commander!” he shouted. “They won't fight without her!”

//
We can't maneuver the craft so close to her
, // Thalnarra argued, then released a shriek and a lance of searing fire as a knight passed beneath them, firing a bow up at her. She twisted, catlike, in the air, and snatched the arrow, breaking it in half between her talons before it could touch her, and the craft lurched sickeningly with her movement. //
I can't move in this bloody thing!
// she cursed.

//
There is a way
, // Altair said, //
if you have the heart for it.
//

“Tell us!” Vidarian shouted, untying a ballast bag from the craft's side and slinging it down at the pursuing knights.

//
The craft can be maintained by two gryphons
, // Altair said, and Vidarian's stomach plummeted as he realized what the gryphon was suggesting. //
With the aid of the Breath of Siane, I can carry you to the knight-commander.
//

//
Madness!
// Thalnarra barked.

//
No
, // Altair said with icy calm. //
Madness was lighting that beast's hair on fire within range of their lances.
//

//
Only an air-brained
— // Thalnarra began.

“I'll do it!” Vidarian shouted, pulling the whistle from his shirt and clenching it in his fist. “What do we do?”

By way of answer, Altair twisted in the air, and, to Vidarian's horror (and Ruby's, by her cry of shock), sliced through the primary harness strap that bound him to the craft. The craft tilted sideways for a split second, but then the riven strap slithered through a set of rings in the rigging below, caught, and swung the craft to the right. Arikaree gave a squawk of surprise as they slid into place before him—the craft itself now rested between him and Thalnarra. They slowed, but mostly out of surprise.