Page 48

V ahly spit the taste of ocean water from her mouth as they hiked.

Sloping ground ran from the coastline upward into the hills and mountains.

At the base of the game trail they followed, a rock ledge had fallen from the higher elevations to form a shallow cave system.

A curtain of akoli grapevines grew over a north-facing opening into the dark shelter.

The vines had probably once been tended by Vahly’s kynd and used to create the ruby-colored wine she had seen in a few human illustrations in the Lapis library.

The vines tangled and sprouted wild shoots of bright green leaves. Vahly plucked a cluster of the grapes and ate one. Sourness burst over her tongue, and her lips puckered.

Nix took a grape from Vahly’s outstretched hand. “If they make you look like that, I’ll probably love them.”

Nix devoured the rest of the fruit as Arc pushed the vines away from the entrance and disappeared into the cave.

Vahly trailed him, grabbing another cluster of grapes.

Light filtered through a space between the fallen ledge and the side of the rocky rise.

Fingers of sunlight drew lines across Arc’s ebony hair and his strong nose.

“Does this suit you?” he asked, glancing at Nix and Vahly.

Vahly handed him the grapes. “It’s good. No rogues would see us from overhead.”

She tucked her satchel into a far corner, but as soon as the egg was away from her, an uneasy feeling turned her around.

Lifting the pack, she breathed a sigh of relief.

The egg would have to stay with Nix on the coast when Vahly went into the sea.

The earth magic in Vahly’s veins wanted the egg as close as possible.

Arc ate three grapes. “I’m painfully curious about this link you have with your egg.”

“Same here. I have no idea what’s driving this, aside from my magic. But to what end? What is the point?”

Nix peeled moss from a rock and set it beside more of the green growth near the entrance, creating a bedding of sorts. “It’ll be a grand surprise. I almost wish I could find my own little egg to cart about.”

Vahly grinned as they left the shelter and returned to the seashore. In full dragon form, dragons laid eggs shortly after mating, but Vahly couldn’t imagine Nix dealing with a youngling. She was caring and kind, but she would tire of the constant care they needed.

“Arc, what was it you were thinking earlier?” Vahly asked. “Something about blood?”

Nix sat on a boulder and crossed her legs daintily. Her wings stretched wide, then settled back into place.

Arc crouched by Nix and held out a wrist. “Cut me here, please. It will be much easier if you do it.”

Had he lost his mind?

Nix shrugged and swiped a talon across Arc’s burnished skin. Bright blood welled along the gash.

Arc turned to Vahly. “May I?” He dipped a finger in the blood on his wrist.

“Uh. Sure?”

Eyebrows drawing together in focus, Arc dotted his blood on each of her temples, her chin, and just above her Blackwater mark.

“This is very dramatic, but I hate to break it to you: I don’t feel a thing.” Aside from the earth urging her to go back into the sea, of course. That tug was insistent to the point of pain.

“I’ll cast the air spell again. I think this time my blood will help it keep a hold on you.”

Nix patted the egg inside Vahly’s satchel. “Ah. That might work.”

“You really think so?” Vahly opened the bag’s flap to check on the egg, then closed it again.

“Dragons used to sell the blood of elves,” Nix said. “Actually, the vials were filled with pomegranate juice and beetle’s blood, and every merchant who dealt in it was a fraud, but still.”

Vahly glanced at Arc. “Did you know about this?”

“It does not surprise me.” He didn’t seem offended, only focused on the task at hand.

“I like that not many things get your hackles up.” Vahly patted him on the arm, enjoying the feel of his bicep.

Arc had left off spellwork and instead was perusing the plants in the vicinity. “If one is quick to anger, one wastes too much energy on that which does not improve life.”

Nix snorted. “Can I get that on a plaque to put up in the cider house? If my Breakers could get that through their thick heads, I’d save a year’s worth of spilled drink over stupid arguments. What are you looking for, Arcturus?” She went to help him, and Vahly joined in.

“There is a plant our children use on their eyes when they go underwater,” he said.

“It eases the sting of minerals to which their flesh is not accustomed. Once they are five or so, their bodies strengthen and the plant is not necessary for underwater swimming. The plant is called eyewort, and it is dark purple. Grows in bunches.”

“Delightful name.” Vahly pushed a yellowed shrub aside and found an anthill. “Am I going to have to cram the lovely growth into my eyeballs?”

“I’ll create a paste and paint it across your eyelids.”

“If it helps with the burning and the clarity of sight, I’m all for worting up my vision.”

Arc stopped searching and heaved a breath, looking into the higher elevations a few ticks north. “I think we would have better luck looking there.”

Vahly nodded, and they gathered the bags to go.

The incline grew steeper as the clouds went black.

Nix muttered something behind Vahly.

“What is it?” Vahly dropped back.

“We are crossing into Jade territory.” Nix’s pupils shrank as she regarded Vahly, her stare loaded with warning.

Arc bent to check a cluster of dark green flowers. “And you are worrying about those rogue Jades.”

“I am,” Nix said.

Vahly sped up, taking the lead toward the very top of the rise.

They spread out, searching the patches of growth between the rocky expanses and boulders. The storm had drifted back out to sea, but it would return. It had that kind of twisting wind to it.

“I’m going to fill our water skins.” Vahly said. “Why don’t you two rest?”

A fallen branch lay under an olive tree that had been stripped of its lower leaves by an animal, a deer perhaps. Vahly took the skins from Arc and Nix, then hung them from the branch and set it across her back.

“You are certain you don’t want company?” Arc bit off a corner of bread from his pack. Chewing, he lifted an eyebrow at her in question.

“I need some time to breathe.”

Nix gave her a smile, sat, and began to rub her right calf. “Keep a low profile, Queenie.”

Nodding, Vahly headed toward a stretch of low shrubs and mossy stones that spoke of water.

The mountain range extended in all directions from her vantage point.

Shades of hickory and slate undulated toward the faraway Jade palace, the peaks growing more jagged the farther north they went.

A hazy line of pale landscape showed the pass that led into the remote northern lands, just east of the Jades’ home.

No one lived that far north because nothing grew there and prey was scarce.

There were times when an empty territory sounded perfect to Vahly.

At least in a place like that, she’d be able to sleep without keeping one eye open.

Shaking off her mental fatigue, she shoved through the low growth and found the spring wetting the bright green moss at her feet. She wouldn’t have a good night’s sleep for a long, long while, if ever, and there was no use whining about it.

Vahly returned to Nix and Arc, her back aching. The water skins swinging from the long branch across her shoulders sloshed. When she spotted them, she jerked to a stop.

Nix, in her human form, blew dragonfire at Arc.

One water skin slid free and plopped onto the ground.

Heart snapping in fear, Vahly dropped the branch and the rest of the skins and ran.

“Nix!”

What could have happened to destroy their relationship in the time she’d been gone?

Arc had his back to Vahly. He held up a hand. “It’s all right. Stay back, please.”

Nix’s fire had lessened in strength at Vahly’s shout, but she increased its intensity now. The air filled with crackling pops. Wind rushed past Vahly’s ears, and the smell of dragon magic combined with Arc’s natural, elven scent.

The tongues of dragonfire spooled around twisting fingers of light and dark air magic. The elements created an eddy of power.

What were they up to?

Vahly wiped her sweating palms on her trousers.

If Nix raised her head just a few inches, Arc would be roasted. Vahly didn’t think Nix would intentionally hurt him, but accidents happened in the realm of dragons. Lots of accidents.

“Down,” Arc called out, his hands held apart, his fingers curling above the gust and snap of their combined magic.

They directed the whirling mass of fire and color toward the ground.

Chunks of dirt, prickly snakeweed, and tiny rocks flew from their creation, but most of the ground dissolved into black smoke on contact.

Vahly stepped closer. A rock pinged against her cheek, but she kept on. Her ears roared with the noise.

“So much for keeping this quest quiet,” she called out, hands extended in a gesture of helplessness.

The rogues would hear this chaos if they were anywhere nearby.

Half of her wanted to look over her shoulder in case they were already approaching, barreling toward them with talons out and fire blazing.

But the other half of her was far too entranced with this new magic to turn away for even a moment.

Arc lifted his hands and met Nix’s gaze, and as one, they ceased their spellwork. The easy sounds of sea, breeze, and birds reigned again.

Vahly rushed over.

Between them, a great hole extended into the earth, deep enough to hide all three of them, one on top of the other.

Nix dusted her hands and smoothed her hair. “That was decidedly not dull, Arcturus. In fact, I might now be quite in love with you and your ridiculously creative mind.”

Vahly crouched to touch a scorched stone at the edge of the pit.

A surprised laugh bubbled out of her. “Arc, if we do survive the Sea Queen, do you know how much gold the dragon guilds will pay for this magic? They can fire-drill into rock just fine, but earth? They have a tough time with digging out earthworks. You’ll be as rich as Amona. ”

She stood and patted his shoulder. He was practically glowing with what she assumed was happiness at what his experiment had wrought.

“If you live through all the horrors I’m sure to heap on you, that is,” she added.

Arc flexed his fingers, and his excited gaze locked onto her. “We should repeat this trial with your earth magic, then compare the results.”

Nix lounged on a patch of verdigris-hued plants, adjusting her wings to avoid the nearby snakeweed. “He doesn’t seem to care about his potential fortune, Vahly. I suggest we get his apathy on this issue in writing.” She winked at Arc.

Vahly’s cheeks lifted in a smile. Here was another glimpse of the old Nix, more valuable than any measure of coin.

“How can we use this to fight the sea folk?” she asked Arc.

“I don’t have any solid ideas on that yet. But are you willing to try our three magicks together?”

“Definitely.”

“It may result in an unwieldy storm of power.”

“Oh!” Nix brushed her sleeve free of debris. “Can that be your nickname for me?”

Arc raised one dark eyebrow. “Aren’t nicknames supposed to be shorter than one’s given name?”

“Pssssh.” Nix waved a hand. “You and your rules.” Her stomach growled.

“Stones, Nix,” Vahly said. “You inhaled three deer last night. How on earth are you hungry?”

“Experimenting with dangerous elven magic demands that one consume a full herd of deer.”

“I do hope not.” Arc chuckled and patted his own flat stomach.

“Your lesser digestion capabilities are not my problem,” Nix said.

“But your greater stomach needs might well become his if you are too tired to hunt,” Vahly joked.

Nix rolled onto her stomach and set her chin on her folded arms. Her scales threw sunlight toward the sky. “I believe Arc has been holding back on his abilities with those throwing knives. Now, scurry off, my lovelies, and slaughter all the adorable animals in the vicinity for me.”

Arc shook his head, grinning. “Such a ghastly beast.” He helped Vahly pick up the water skins she had dropped.

“And, Blackwater curse me, how I adore her,” Vahly said.

They started off again, searching for the plant Arc wanted to use on Vahly.

Two boulders the size of Amona in full dragon form hulked over what looked like a small spring, complete with a few thickly leaved trees and an area of high grass.

Vahly scanned the area, keeping an eye out for the Jade rogues. “Perhaps if the rogues spot me with all this blood on my face, they’ll think twice about threatening us.”

“They should,” Arc said.

Vahly huffed. “Ha. They’re dragons.”

“I said they should . Not that they would .”

“I heard that.” Nix flew into sight and landed behind Arc.

“Weren’t you going to take a nap?” Vahly wouldn’t have blamed her, what with the healing wing and all. She seemed to be flying fairly well though.

Nix waved a hand, her rings sparkling. “I couldn’t let you have all the fun.”

The spring gurgled as the wind picked up, smelling like sea and metal. The coming storm kicked dust and fallen leaves around Vahly’s legs and into her eyes. She rubbed her face, then bent to search the area below an olive tree.

“See anything?” Vahly asked Arc.

Lightning cracked, making Vahly jump. She glanced at Nix, who was staring into the sky wistfully. Nix had to be wishing she were up there in the lightning, relishing her fire magic’s secondary source.

“I see what might be the correct plant.” Arc pointed beyond the boulders to a hill covered in the color of bruises.

“That’s eyewort?” Vahly handed her pack to him, then scaled the nearest boulder to get a better view. It was a similar color to the vivanias she’d plucked from the cliffs on a day that felt very long ago indeed.

Beside the plants and their hill, a flash of bright emerald green showed in a rocky pass.

Vahly’s heart seized.

A chill ran down her back.

A Jade dragon? She flattened herself on the boulder. She hadn’t seen enough to know if it had just been a blowing cluster of leaves, a Jade in human-like form, or a fully shifted dragon.

Vahly? Arc said inside her mind. Is it the rogues?

If it was, we are in a heap of trouble.