The Gate of Bones (32 page)

Rich put his hands on his chest. “Wounded! And mortally, too, I think.”

Ting giggled as Rich staggered back and leaned dramatically against a kitchen counter before adding breathlessly, “I agree with Bailey, though. I hate being left behind.”

Heavy footsteps sounded in the hallway. “There's a reason for that,” Gavan told her, as he and Tomaz entered. “They already have two of our more precious Magickers. We don't intend to hand them two more.”

“I can take care of myself!” Bailey tossed her head again, ponytail swinging from side to side.

“We don't want to take that chance, and our lives are going to depend on the three of you. I don't see Henry complaining.”

Henry looked up, round face emphasized by his round glasses. “It—it's just that I goof up, and I know I do. I'm better off here, out of the way.” He gestured, and his brown hair seemed to go in every direction as he did.

“You don't goof up, but your Talent of Fire is pretty powerful and still needs training. None of us wants to go up in a puff of smoke.” He patted Henry's shoulder. “Be that as it may,” Gavan said. “Tomaz and I are finished talking. And this is what we've decided. The pieces we've been waiting for are in place, Midnight carried a message from Renart.” He paused, looking over the table at each of them, one by one. “We move tomorrow. I've already sent to Avenha, asking for mounts, and they should arrive in the morning.”

Stef let out a whoop. He jabbed a fist at the air. Gavan shook his head slowly at them.

“This is a dangerous situation. It may be a pitched battle like we fought at the opening of the Dragon Gate.”

“And we're more ready for it than ever,” Trent said evenly. “We've all been training. We know what Jonnard and the crew are capable of. Besides,” and he flashed a grin. “Madame Qi has been running our butts off.”

That drew a chuckle from Tomaz despite his solemn expression. He hooked his thumb in his turquoise-and-silver belt. “You are all nearly as tall as I am now,” he said, glancing at all of them. “But that does not mean I'm ready to let you take shots I should be taking. That being said, Gavan and I have talked. If anything happens, our primary instruction is to fall back to the academy and have Jason reach Khalil. We know the other Council members, we know that of all of them, even Aunt Freyah, Khalil is the most capable of handling matters here. So, protect yourselves, protect Jason. If we lose our Gatekeeper, we are trapped here.”

“We all go in,” stated Stefan, “we all come out.”

“Hopefully.” Gavan took out his map tube, and unrolled his map, laying it out in front of them. “Look it over, memorize what you can of it, so you can Crystal safely. Remember the basic rules so that no one ends up where they don't want to be.” He tapped the map. “The obsidian-marked tower is the basic landmark and it's not changed much, but we don't want the fortress. We want this valley pass here, about a quarter of a day's travel from the fortress. This outcropping of rock and grove are fairly visual, plus they have an advantage of being good cover for an ambush. Midnight and Snowheart have scouted it, so Tomaz has a good mental picture of it. He'll be leading us in, but you have to remember it on your own, just in case.” Gavan tapped another corner of the map. “They'll be out of reach from their own horsemen for immediate aid, and not so far that we can't regroup and get the caravan to the warehouse Renart has secured for us. It's not going to be a hand-to-hand combat, it's going to be crystal to crystal.” He lifted his chin to Ting and Bailey. “On that note, let me warn you. Our young ladies here have been looking into some matters and have some statistics which indicate that crystals being used are drained of their focusing power and any magic we have charged into them about four times faster than they should be. We don't know why or, more importantly, how, but someone's tapped into the energy. Be careful. Don't overextend yourself or depend on a reservoir of charge that may not be there. Back each other up and stay in communication.” He lifted his hands and let the map roll up naturally, restoring it to its tube. “Any questions?”

“Just one.” Jason shifted his weight. “What if it fails?”

“If it fails, we go after Eleanora and FireAnn. And we don't look back.”

“You're sure?”

Something undefinable passed through Gavan's clear blue eyes. “I've never been more sure of anything in my life.”

“Good enough.” He put his hand out. “Team shake.”

The Magickers pushed close around the table to slap their hands on his. Jason felt the briefest moment of knowing something he had never realized before, of the unity of all of them, something he told himself time and again, but for the first time really
felt
as they all touched. Their hands dipped down on his and rose upward, as they shouted, “Magickers!”

He could not answer for anyone but himself, but he was ready.

I
F ANY OF THEM SLEPT AT ALL, the before-dawn pounding at the front doors, accompanied by the wailing of the alarms woke them. Jason and Trent threw themselves downstairs, having slept in all but their boots, but they didn't beat Gavan who threw the door open in welcome. The others stampeded in behind them, crowding the threshold as it opened.

Pyra stood at the academy steps, her face tilted up toward them, her father's second-in-command Flameg at her flank. Both looked armed to the teeth and ready for anything, as she said quietly, “My father sent me in response to your call for aid.”

“That can't be good,” Rich muttered, then blushed to the roots of his red hair as she fixed a stare at his forehead.

“Do you question my ability?”

“No, no,” Gavan interjected smoothly. “Your father does us much honor by sending his best. Rich means, I think, that . . . well, knowing of Renart's . . . hmmm . . . feelings for you, we are obliged to take good care of you.”

Pyra's face glowed for a moment, and she swapped the longbow from one hand to another. “It is I who shall take care of you.” She gestured a hand behind her. “We brought horses, as requested. I know only that you have a raid planned?”

“Indeed, we do. Come, sit, have tea with us, and Tomaz will sketch out the plans.”

Tomaz had been standing quietly with the others, listening, but as his name was mentioned, he cast the crow he carried on his wrist skyward, freeing it for the moment, and nodded gravely in the direction of the Avenhans. “We have a plan,” he said. “Any thoughts you have regarding it will be appreciated as we make ready.”

“And haste is needed. The sun is barely up, but the convoy should be sent out soon.”

Pyra's eyebrow lifted. “Convoy?”

“Come and we'll tell you.”

In the end, it was all of them putting in suggestions, hurriedly, even as they dressed in the gear they'd put together, and Pyra left off sitting and drinking tea to help Stef affix his weapons belt and to show Rich how to tie his herb bags so they would not affect his movements. Tomaz had Jason and Trent outside going over the horses to check the length of the stirrups and the tightness of the girths, and then inspecting the hooves for small stones.

Flameg nodded at Gavan. “A bold move, but one that should set them back.” A man trained for such action, his eyes shone with approval and the anticipation of a fight. This was why Mantor had sent for the Magickers. This was the reckoning for the damage to his village and others. He tightened his baldric as he spoke, in readiness.

“So we determine.”

He stood, eying Pyra with the same approval. “Your women fight as ours do?”

Bailey put her chin up. “Sometimes! Today we fight from here.”

Pyra said softly, “Magic has different boundaries,” as if defending that decision.

Flameg gave a curt bow. “Well enough, then.”

Gavan touched Ting's and Bailey's hands, and repeated his words of the evening, as if to take the sting out of leaving them behind. “The moment you feel the crystals going, reach us. Without time to test your ideas, all we can do is rely on you two. You five here are our anchors, our backup.” His gaze swept Rebecca, Madame Qi, and Henry as well as the girls.

They nodded solemnly.

“Let's go, then.”

“I hope you've got a horse big enough for me,” muttered Stefan as they headed out the door.

“Oh, we do. I made sure I brought the fattest, sturdiest pony in the herd.” Pyra's mouth twitched.

Stef grunted, and the Avenhan gave in to the laughter shaking her shoulders as he stomped past, and she threw Bailey and Ting a merry wink before following him.

Bailey reached for Ting's hand as she watched the last of them go out the door. As it shut, and she heard the muffled sounds of horses being mounted and then ridden off, leaving them behind, she noted, “I must be growing up. This is the first time ever I've been truly afraid to see anyone go . . . worried that they might not come back.”

Ting squeezed her hand. “Me, too.”

Ting's grandmother spoke from the other side of the kitchen where her presence had not been noted, and her voice startled them a little. “With age and experience comes the ability to know sorrow and regret. It is our hope that, with our help, every generation knows less and less of it.”

Rebecca entered then, holding Lacey by the scruff of the little rodent's neck. Lacey's tufted tail hung down dejectedly.

“This little pack rat is going to highly regret coming into my room if she's not careful!”

“Oh! You found her! I wondered where she'd scampered off to.”

“She was pillaging my jewelry box.”

“Lacey!” scolded Bailey, as she liberated her from her mother's hold. “That's a bad rodent!” Lacey managed an indignant chirp as if protesting her innocence as Bailey stuffed her in her pocket.

Rebecca sat down at the table and poured a cup of tea, making a face as she drank it. “Lukewarm,” she explained. “Everyone is gone, then?”

Ting nodded as she seated her grandmother at the table.

“Then,” said Bailey's mom, looking eerily like an adult echo of her daughter, with her golden-brown hair in a ponytail. “Our real work begins.”

“Mom?”

She looked at all of them. “Madame Qi has been teaching me a little of the Hidden Ways, and I'm here to help as well. I can do much more than be a den mother to all of you.” She reached out and tweaked Bailey's nose. “Do you think that Talent in your veins just sprang up out of nowhere? I think it's run in our family for a long time, and although you got the lion's share, I am here to offer whatever I can.”

Henry looked at her with unabashed admiration in his round face. “Wish my mom could say something like that.”

“She probably has, Henry. You just have to know when to listen.”

“Each generation builds on the other.” Madame Qi nodded in agreement to her own words. “Nothing flowers that does not come from the seed of another blossom, sometime, somewhere.” She laid her bamboo cane down on the table. “Now. We need to organize.” In a few short moments, she had assigned watchers for the crystals, Henry to keep an eye on the academy and the Iron Mountains, and herself and Rebecca to boil water and make other preparations for wounded and to keep an eye on Bailey and Ting as they anchored. “And now,” she finished. “We wait.”

 

The Havenites from Avenha proved to have quite a sense of humor. Rich's borrowed horse was as tall and skinny and bony as Stef's was short, broad, and sturdy. He frowned at Pyra's back as she rode in front of him, her own mount sleek, well-groomed, and trained, while his seemed to jolt with every step, and even the saddle could not keep from bruising him. It was a good thing they would Crystal most of the ride. He said as much to Stef.

“At least you don't have to ride with your legs looking like a turkey wishbone being pulled in two directions!” His legs stuck out from his pony's girth, one foot headed west, the other east.

Rich shot him a wide grin. “Don't be falling off!”

“The head handles are the only things I have to hold onto.” And, true to his words, Stef held one hand tightly wrapped in his pony's black wiry mane as he bounced along and the other in the reins, unable to bend his legs well enough to grip with them. He glared at Pyra's back as she rode ahead of them, her head bowed in serious discussion with Gavan and Tomaz, but he could swear her shoulders still shook now and then with laughter.

They rode just far enough to get out of the valley, beyond their own warding system, to avoid any backlash from the magical energies they planned, then Gavan circled them up, and they linked. Tomaz thought of the lands his crows had scouted. Jason got a swooping vision of dark green trees springing abundantly beside a deeply cut brook that must swell with rainwater in the early spring, the rock bed holding it was so deeply etched. He drew the crows' eye view of the site deeply inside of him to be his own guide should either Gavan or Tomaz fail to Crystal the journey.

He thought of Bailey's and Ting's warnings, tightened his own grip on his mount's reins, and then they were
between.
Frightened, the horses thrashed a bit, and around him, he could hear the very, very faint calls of each rider to calm them, and then the
between
opened into the grove, and the sound of rushing water filled his ears.

“Very good,” murmured Tomaz. He dismounted immediately and led his horse around a bit to steady him. He glanced up at Gavan, adding, “We may have to fight on foot. These horses aren't used to it, while the Dark Hand has been raiding for months.”