Tears of War (52 page)

“Of course.” She nodded.

“We have been doing this a lot lately, if you need to rest…”

Maleena smiled. “Mckale, I’m fine.”

Vaddoc looked between them, confused. “What does Maleena have to do? I figured this would be something to do with Earth magic.”

“It does,” Mckale said. “However, it will work better if I can weave heat into it. For that, I need Maleena to bind Kirynn and my powers together. I will also need a shield from you. In Calladar we borrowed Belynn for the fire and Brock for the shield. By the time we were done with fortifications on the border towns, Belynn and Brock were both exhausted and really needed to return to their dragons.”

“We’ve barely been in Taragen at all in the past couple of weeks. We’ve spent all of our time along the border,” Maleena said then rubbed her hands together. “This tower is down let’s get to work.”

Vaddoc watched her take a deep breath, as her eyes unfocused a little, and he knew she already worked to bind the powers together. Mckale walked over to where the tower had stood. He knelt and placed his palms on the ground
.

Medar gasped as the earth turned to something that looked like thick liquid. Gradually, the ground began to flow upwards like a slow moving river. As the sun passed slowly overhead the thick, liquid earth climbed higher, moving in a slow vortex until it was taller than the height of the old tower.

“Vaddoc, can I get a shield?” Mckale asked without looking away from his work.

Surprised, Vaddoc nodded at his friend. “How much of one?”

“Everything except my hands; they’ll be protected by Kirynn’s magic. Everyone else might want to step back, this is about to get very hot.”

Vaddoc reached out for his magic and wove a strong shield around Mckale, leaving only his hands exposed.

Gradually, the liquid earth began to heat until it glowed white hot. Tremendous heat waves poured off the vortex, forcing everyone except Mckale to step back. Vaddoc fed more magic into the shield. It was best to maintain the shield rather than set it. He would be able to tell if any part of it started to weaken sooner.

Vaddoc noticed silence from the direction of the dragons and turned to look, although most of his focus was on the shield that protected his friend. All four dragons were curled in sleep, their wings still spread out. In the shelter of their shade, the children of the town gathered like a large pack of puppies with Cat right in the middle of them. Lenya and several other younger ones were sound asleep, while the older children reclined on the grass talking quietly.

Annoc was asleep in the shadow next to Namir’s head, one pudgy little hand lying against the bottom edge of the gold’s jaw. Every now and then, one amber eye would open a crack as the dragon checked on his youngest charge. The rest of the town’s adults gathered not far from the dragons, watching Mckale work.

Kirynn settled crossed legged into the grass. When Vaddoc raised an eyebrow she shrugged. “I might as well relax; it isn’t as if I’m doing anything that requires concentration. I’m just a pass through for magic right now.”

Vaddoc watched as Mckale continued to sculpt the tower. He glanced at Maleena and though sweat rolled down the side of her face, she didn’t waver. After several more minutes, Anly got up and left, striding purposely into town. She returned quickly carrying a plain parasol. She went to stand next to Maleena, using the parasol to shade the shorter woman from the sun.

Finally, the vortex of molten earth slowed. It began to ripple like water moving over rocks as it spiraled upwards. “Kirynn, can you follow the weave and start to draw the heat out as I finish?” Mckale asked, his voice strained.

Kirynn stood up and brushed her hands off, her eyes on the forming tower. “I got it.”

Little by little, beginning at the bottom, the ripples smoothed out and hardened until the completed tower stood in the sunlight. Mckale remained kneeling for a moment, breathing heavy.

Maleena wiped her hand along her brow and took a shaky breath. She smiled at Anly. “Thank you.”

Vaddoc let go of the shield and eyed Maleena. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Yes. Binding that much power together for such a long time is tiring, but I’m alright. I could really use a drink though and once Mckale recovers, he will too. Maybe something to eat as well.”

Medar turned wondering eyes from the tower to her. “I welcome you to my inn. The ceilings are high and the temperature is quite comfortable. I will be happy to serve the mid-day meal.”

Maleena inclined her head. “Thank you, Medar. Your hospitality is most welcome.”

Vaddoc turned to examine the new tower. Built entirely of seamless, gray-speckled stone, it was functional and beautiful at the same time. Single petal roses climbed the outside of it, each petal so detailed it seemed as if they would shift in the next breeze. As he looked closer, he noticed tiny, life-like dragons among the thorns. A staircase wound around the outside of the tower to the top where the lookout area was covered with a round peaked, stone roof.

One side of the roof held the dragon and crossed swords of Galdrilene in raised relief. The other held the standard of Shadereen, three circles linked together in a triangle with a lion tail scimitar through them—a symbol of their defense of the border—and the eternal watch of the three sister nations, though one nation no longer existed.

Mckale rose slowly to his feet and stood straight, though weariness showed on his face. “Medar, please lead the way to your inn. I will need to rest a short time before I can tackle the next tower. The rock layer is much deeper here in Shadereen, it took considerable effort to draw it up.”

Medar nodded and motioned for them to follow. “Right this way.” He glanced at the tower again then looked at Mckale as they followed him into town. “Will it withstand the Shadow Dragons?”

Mckale shrugged. “Not indefinitely. It will have to be remade at some point. It’s made of solid granite. Maleena binding Kirynn’s Fire magic to mine allowed me to superheat it and draw it up easier. It also allowed me to infuse it with a weave that requires the two powers to work. It will keep Shadow fire from eating away at it like it does other stone. Eventually, if subjected to repeated Shadow fire, the weave will break down and the tower will start to suffer damage. However, it should be a few years before that’s necessary.”

Medar shook his head. “I wish all structures were made that way.”

“A lot of them used to be made in this manner, except for the weave. That wasn’t discovered until recently, thanks to another Guardian named Anevay who has the very rare ability to create new weaves.”

Anly stopped to gather the sleeping Annoc. “Thank you, Namir, for taking such good care of him.”

Namir rumbled softly as she turned and walked toward a small house. Vaddoc smiled as he stepped through the door of the inn into the cool interior. It seemed the dragons had made permanent friends in this village.

They sat down to a simple meal of stew and warm, soft bread. Medar offered them a pitcher of water and another of wine. Maleena and Mckale struggled a little with the twin sticks offered as eating utensils. Mckale worked at learning them while Maleena gave up and used one of the sticks to stab the pieces of food in the soup.

Vaddoc savored the familiar tastes and textures of the food. He glanced at Kirynn as she ate the stew with obvious relish.

He smiled at her. “It is good, is it not?”

“It’s delicious. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything quite like it.” She plucked a small piece of meat out of it with the twin sticks she had finally mastered. “What is this? It has an interesting flavor, good but different.”

Vaddoc hesitated, should he tell her what the small chunks of “meat” were? “That would be ‘meat’ harvested from an adult sand spider.”

Kirynn dropped the sticks as if they had bitten her. They splashed into her soup and she nearly knocked over her chair in her leap to avoid being touched by the broth. Her green eyes narrowed at him. If looks could kill he would have dropped dead. Another glance at her face told him she was seriously considering using more force than a look any moment.

Testing his luck, he chuckled and popped another bite of the meat in his mouth. Maleena glared at him from across the table. “That wasn’t nice, Vaddoc.”

She looked at Kirynn. “You’re very angry with him right now; however, you will regret it with every fiber of your being if you follow through with what you’re thinking.” She stabbed another vegetable, avoiding the meat chunks. Then she glanced at Kirynn and said, “Although you will likely not regret what you’re thinking now,” before turning her glare back on Vaddoc.

Vaddoc looked at Mckale who studiously ate everything in his bowl as if it required his absolute attention. “Not going to come to my aid, my fellow Borderman?”

Humor flashed in Mckale’s silver eyes when he looked up and shook his head. “I’m not getting between you and Kirynn. Tellnox would be very upset if I died. Besides, you have angered my bondmate and I have to live with her.” He flashed Maleena a smile when she turned her glare on him. “She is not happy with you right now.”

Vaddoc turned to his tiny friend. “Would you have preferred I lied to her? I will admit it was amusing to watch the fearless Kirynn run from her food though.”

Kirynn growled and sat back in her chair. With deliberate movements she grabbed the sticks and plucked a chunk of meat out of the bowl and tossed it into her mouth and proceeded to chew, her eyes locked on his.

Vaddoc laughed. “Think of it as payback. They scare you, you eat them.”

The last of their meal was interrupted by a loud horn sounding from the other tower. The thunderous roars of the dragons drowned out the horn and shook the walls of the inn. Kirynn leaped to her feet and ran out the door with Vaddoc close behind her.

In the sky above the town, three whirlpools swirled and turned black. Vaddoc raced down the street to Namir. He yanked the catcher strap down, fastened it with quick movements and leaped into the saddle. Children piled out from under his wing screaming in fear. They ran as a group toward the houses, the older carrying the younger.

Black dragons burst into the air. Maleena hadn’t made it to her dragon, but Nydara didn’t wait. She leaped into the air with a powerful down stroke of her wings and landed in front of the group of children as a Shadow dove toward them. The silver whipped her head around and shot a stream of fire at it while the children dashed under her. She held her wings low to better cover them. With a shriek, the black broke out of the dive and climbed into the air, the scales on its face and neck smoking. As it continued to climb, Cat streaked out from under Namir and raced across the grass to the safety of Nydara.

Maleena stopped in front of Nydara, cautioning the children to stay beneath the dragon. She stood with her hand on the silver’s breastplates, concern clear in her violet eyes.

Namir, Syrakynn, and Tellnox rose to meet the trespassers. The riderless black dragons splintered away from each other. Vaddoc felt the gold shift to go after one of them. It turned in the air and spit sickly green fire at them. The safety straps held him in the saddle as Namir made a tight roll to avoid it. The gold breathed a wall of bright-orange flame but missed by inches.

Tellnox streaked across the sky in pursuit of another Shadow. The black in front of Namir spat more green fire at them, but again the gold dodged and retaliated, this time scoring a long burn on the black’s side before dodging more green fire.

Vaddoc wove his magic in a tight weave, trusting the dragon completely to keep them alive for the moment. As Namir came out of the roll, Vaddoc threw the weave up.

A large square of light sprang into the air; too late for the Shadow to avoid it. It hit the shield head on with a smack. Dazed, it tumbled part way to the ground before opening a Jump and disappearing into the foul blackness of the whirlpool.

Namir turned to find another, but they too were already entering their Jumps. The last one losing a chunk of its tail to Syrakynn as it ripped free of the red. Namir glided toward the ground as people poured out of their houses and ran to the children still huddled under Nydara.

The silver lifted her wings and looked at each child as if ensuring they were all there and safe. Anly made it to the dragon first and scooped Lenya into her arms, tears running down her face. The children ran to their parents as cries of relief went up.

Medar watched Namir and the other two land. He approached the riders as they dismounted, obviously shaken by the brief but intense battle in the sky. “I am at a loss on how to properly thank all of you.” He looked at Nydara. “You especially. You acted so quickly. I hate to think how many of the children we would have lost if you had not.” Medar turned back to Vaddoc. “You truly are so very different from the Shadow Riders and their dragons. Earlier, when Namir said he would protect Annoc with his life, I am not sure I wholly believed it. After seeing the silver one place herself directly in the path of danger to do just that…” He rubbed the top of his head for a moment before continuing, “please forgive me for ever doubting.”

Vaddoc clapped the innkeeper-mayor on the shoulder and smiled as Cat rejoined ‘his’ dragon. Namir rumbled in pleasure at finding the feline safe and unharmed. “There is nothing to forgive, Medar. We were raised with the same tales as everyone else. It is hard to believe when you have not seen it for yourself.”