Dragon's Wings

Chapter 32

The thing that had grabbed Tadeo wanted revenge. Tadeo had figured this out pretty quickly. If it didn't want revenge, then it wanted something to do with the One From Cracked Lava at the very least. It thought it could get the One From Cracked Lava's attention by grabbing Tadeo.

However, it also knew that the One From Cracked Lava might take ages to resurface, and so hadn't done anything to Tadeo. But it was a capricious thing and quick to anger, quicker to hurt and lash out. Tadeo did his best to keep his head down, tried to survive. He learnt quickly.

It was like working, Tadeo imagined, without the whole paid aspect to it. He had to complete tasks, make himself useful, and it was hard. Because those he was around were spirits and so didn't have his limits. There was nothing to do but swallow his complaints and figure out different ways to do things though, and so that's what Tadeo did.

He wasn't alone. And that was somehow surprising. Many of the others had also been taken, mainly due to revenge for one reason or another. They were ones who had been favoured by a spirit, but often they had simply been in the way and been Taken.

They weren't happy with their situation and that was something Tadeo felt he could use. He tried his best to fade into the background but otherwise spoke to the others. There was a system already in place. These lesser spirits, captured and contained, were not happy and they were waiting for a chance to change things. They welcome Tadeo into their midst, though made no mention of the fact he wasn't a spirit.

What they couldn't tell him was how the trades worked, but Amor had explained that and Tadeo knew that his friends were all coming. For one, Amor would always come for him, he knew that much. Secondly, the others were unlikely to leave without him. He mightn't have known them for very long, but they were good people.

The spirits were trapped within the boundaries of the One Who Rages' region, but that didn't mean they couldn't trade. There were small trades—a scrap of treasured fabric for a piece of wire, things that were easy and felt like something Tadeo was used to, something human. And then there were the big trades—a memory of a campfire swapped for the ability to know when the One Who Rages was coming.

Tadeo was good at the big trades. He'd quickly figured out what things he didn't mind losing—without losing anything he cared deeply for. He hoarded things that were powerful. Some things had worth and some things did not. But worth, Tadeo knew, was subjective. And if you were clever, and good at wordplay, things often favoured you.

Except Tadeo had to be careful, because clever wordplay was appreciated as long as it wasn't used against the same spirit too often. He had learnt this from a trade that had gone sour, not the deal itself, but he'd gotten himself an injury instead. He'd forgotten that spirits were dangerous and now he was without weapons to defend himself. They could harm him but he couldn't do the same.

Not until he managed a few more trades, at least.

***

Tadeo looked up as a spirit scrambled towards him. It was Beholden With Wings who had been nabbed by the One Who Rages whilst flying and had its wings crippled. One wing was bent awkwardly, bone healed wrong, and the other was held out and looked to be in perfect condition if one ignored the atrophied muscles.

"One Who Rages is a host," Beholden With Wings said, wings twitching with its movements. It wasn't human and couldn't have the same body language applied to it, but by now Tadeo had a good idea of how to tell what it was feeling. It was feeling excited and worried right now. "And it hosts a group led by one who calls themself the Summoned."

Amor! It had to be. Tadeo's heart pounded.

"Were there others with them?" Tadeo asked urgently. "There should be four others along with the Summoned."