The Draykon Series (1-3)

Lokant: Chapter Thirteen

She found him in the conservatory. He was stretched out in her rocking chair, a paper in his hand and the ambient light-globes turned up to their brightest radiance. She blinked a few times as she entered, surprised by the strong light.

'Eyde,' she greeted, bending to kiss his cheek. 'I've a question for you.'

'You were a long time.' Vale pulled her onto his lap, heedless of the fate of his newspaper, and proceeded to kiss her thoroughly. Rikbeek gave a squeak of protest as Vale's embrace squashed his hiding place in the folds of Eva's skirt. She ignored him.

'A question,' she repeated when she could speak again. 'Tren works for you sometimes. Did you send him on an errand lately?'

'How lately?' Vale had that misty smile he often wore when he looked at her.

'As in, the day before yesterday.'

Vale shook his head. 'He was working with you, wasn't he?'

Eva wrinkled her nose, disgruntled. 'He was. He's taken himself off somewhere on an "urgent" errand. I was wondering if he'd been seconded away from his secondment.'

'Nothing to do with me,' Vale said. 'But if we're getting back to business, then here. I have something for you.' He rescued the crumpled newspaper and handed it to her. She took one glance at the paper and all thoughts of Vale, Tren and her upcoming wedding flew out of Eva's head.

The front page boasted an enormous picture of a patch of Glinnery forest. The wide caps of glissenwol trees were depicted, and ghosting through the well-lit skies above was a very large beast. The picture had only caught part of the creature, but the general nature of it was obvious. Scaled hide, clawed feet, wings of improbable size...

Skies Darken Over Glinnery

The skies darkened over Glinnery today when two winged reptilian creatures were spotted flying over the city of Waeverleyne. Multiple sightings have been reported, describing the creatures as larger than any other known species. One of the beasts (pictured) was grey in colour and its companion - an even larger animal! - was blue-green. The sightings have caused widespread panic in the Glinnish capital, though there has been no response at all from the Summoner Guild as yet. Do they know more than they're saying about these mysterious monsters?

Eva scanned the rest of the report quickly, her hands beginning to shake. The grey draykon must have been Llandry, but the fact that the other draykon had accompanied her was worrying. She couldn't forget the way it had snapped its fearsome jaws around Griel's robust form, almost breaking the sorcerer in half. And the way it had herded Llandry into the sky and taken her away...

The Summoner Guild in Waeverleyne had of course been notified about the re-emergence of the draykons, though Eva suspected they hadn't taken the tale very seriously. Well, they would now.

She handed the paper back to Vale, working to hide her alarm. 'I wonder if Llandry realises she's causing a panic in her hometown,' was all she said, in her mildest tone.

'The girl should never have appeared in Waeverleyne like that,' Vale grouched.

'I imagine she wanted to see her mother.'

'That could have been accomplished a little more subtly.'

'I doubt she's thinking very rationally at the moment. An experience like hers would be enough to overset the best of us, I think.'

Vale shrugged. 'Well, it's too late now. That report's all over the Seven already. The bulletins are about to broadcast an article on it - a slightly less alarmist format, of course, but there'll be unease. I wouldn't be surprised if you're summoned to Council tomorrow.'