Soar

Chapter 22

"Azadryn."

I groaned and tried to throw off the hand on my shoulder.

"Azadryn."

With a jolt, I woke to find Hatesa leaning over me, little more than a shadow. Hatesa was saying something, but I could not comprehend it. She moved away for me to sit up.

"Did you hear me?" she demanded in a tight whisper.

I had to swallow several times before I could speak. "N-no." The only light was what torchlight filtered through the curtains at the street-side window. It must be the middle of the night. Struck with a sudden thought, I threw off the covers and dove for my axes, hanging at the foot of my bed.

"It isn't an attack," Hatesa said.

I gripped the belt in both hands. "Then what?"

"General Soldor has summoned you to the armory."

For a moment all I could do was stare at her. "General.... The armory?"

Letting out a huff of breath, Hatesa tossed a skirt at me. In my haste to catch it, I dropped my belt. The axes hanging from it clattered as they slid to the floor.

"Get dressed," Hatesa said as she turned away. "Tryven is waiting."

She left me sitting on the edge of my bed, dazed and shivering. I stumbled about in the dark locating a shirt and my boots, then belting on my axes; I had several ideas to explain what Hatesa had said, and I wanted to hurry and have her prove that most of them were outrageous.

It had been several days since our near-discovery during flight practice and my arm was still sore. I forgot about it until I was hurrying down the ladder, when I put too much weight on it and it gave out. I barely kept my feet under me after sliding past the last few rungs.

"Easy there," Hatesa murmured from the table.

I looked past her to Tryven, standing by the closed front door. He was fully dressed and armed and his face was pale.

"What is going on?" I demanded, including Hatesa in my question.

Tryven shook his head. "Soldor sent a man to my house, who told me to get you and meet Soldor at the armory. He would not say why."

"But it's the middle of the night," I said.

Hatesa stood. "And Soldor does not like to be kept waiting." She waved toward the storage room door and the tunnel beyond. "Should I go with you, do you think?" she asked Tryven.

"He did not mention you," Tryven said, then pressed his lips into a line. "Hurry, Azadryn."

Darting past Hatesa and avoiding her searching gaze, I followed Tryven through the storage room.

"What do you think this is about?" I whispered as we entered the tunnel.

Tryven had brought a lantern. He considered the tunnel for a moment in its faint light and chose a course before answer. "I was thinking...." He glanced over his shoulder, showing wide eyes. "What if someone found out about us? Us and Vedis and Runedan?"

The thought had already crossed my mind, but hearing Tryven said it made me stop short. My heart started pounding. "Do you.... But what if.... Why Soldor? Why not the king? And the middle of the night?"

"Soldor commands the dragon soldiers." Tryven picked up his pace and said no more.

It could be no small matter for the general of the Shaderi army to wake two young people like us before dawn without any explanation and demand our presence. I followed Tryven's example of silence, but with every step toward the armory I was more and more certain that Soldor must know everything.