Fate of Dragons

Chapter Twenty-Six, Part II

When Orrie returned, he brought Tesa and Derol to shore. Amina and Maira rode ashore on Torun. The egg mother and her dragon went to work supervising the nesting of the eggs as riders removed them from the sacks of raw wool that had protected them all this way.

Tesa hiked farther inland along a path that had been trampled down by those who had arrived before them. The beach gave way to a grassy field, then a forest backed by more cliffs like those in Saldive. The camp had been set up among the trees of the forest, and dragons lounged and rolled in the grass beneath the warm tones of the sunset.

Tesa was surprised to see that among those who had come from the spires were several Yennar-Leian mages.

"Healers," said Neela, who'd stood to greet Tesa as she arrived. "They always have a calling, don't they? Can't just follow the rules and stay out of others' business." A slight grin tinged her lips.

Tesa laughed, remembering that she and Neela had met as healers who had gone deliberately out of their way to skirt the rules. They'd healed the rock dragons that had been enchanted by the Karume, the poor creatures the Karume had tested their spells on before going after the real dragons.

"Welcome to home sweet home," Neela said, sweeping her arm to encompass the whole camp. "At least for awhile," she added.

"Actually, about that," Tesa said. She could tell Neela of her idea.

But Neela's eyes went distant, and she put up a hand to signal to Tesa to wait.

"Sorry, Tesa," she said, coming back to herself. "Aerix is calling me over there." She waved goodbye and jogged onto the path leading to the beach.

Tesa slumped and stared around the camp. A few groups still worked at setting up tents, and another small group appeared to be preparing dinner. Tesa thought about going back to the beach to find somewhere she could help, but she felt tired. Surely masquerading as a trader and kidnapping the eggs back from the Yennar Lei temple was enough work for one day?

Then Tesa saw Glenna sitting by herself in front of a fire, slumped over with her head in her hands. Tesa joined her, but didn't say anything yet.

Glenna peeked at her and smiled a bit, but the smile didn't linger.

"My mother's patrol group hasn't come back yet," Glenna said sullenly. "Nobody's sent word to them that we've moved. What if they get caught by Yennar Lei when they come to Saldive? What if something's happened and they aren't coming to Saldive?"

"Have you told Malía?" Tesa asked. The Yennar Lei mages had helped them get word to all of the dragon rider patrols when they'd first discovered the eggs. But now they'd cut ties with Yennar Lei by stealing back the eggs. Except for Emric.

"Oh!" Tesa said, putting a hand to her pocket. "I still have this." She drew out the stone that Emric had given them for the egg rescue mission. Would it work from this far away?

Cupping the stone in her hands, she used a little bit of energy to activate it. She didn't even have to use magesight to trigger the spell. The stone began to glow a slight blue.

Not a good time, came Emric's voice, clipped and rushed. I'll contact you soon.

And then the stone went dark.

"Did you hear that?" Tesa asked Glenna. Glenna nodded. The look of hope that had kindled in her eyes faded, and she slumped her shoulders again.

"Your mom and her patrol are strong riders," Tesa said, knowing this to be true even though she didn't know Glenna's mom that well. "They'll take care of themselves."

Glenna nodded, then sighed. "It's not just that, either. I feel...I miss Linnie. At least, I miss the old Linnie." She looked across camp, where a small tent had been erected, no doubt with a magic barrier around it. Another small tent stood on the other side of camp. Neither Linnie nor Berick were to be seen, but Tesa knew that Malía had ordered for them to be taken along to the island.

"Do you think she regrets it?" Tesa asked.

"If you had asked me before, I would have said yes. I thought I knew her. But I never would have thought she'd do something like that, either. How could a rider betray the dragons like that?"

They'd offered her magic, Tesa thought. Something she wanted but couldn't have. Bound magic let anyone do magic, and it was banned in Arethia.

"The Karume became good at drawing people in to their cause, didn't they?" Tesa said, almost more to herself than to Glenna.

Glenna snorted. "Until they didn't need to anymore. When they had enough power."

"Exactly," Tesa said, leaning in.

Glenna's eyes narrowed. "What are you thinking?"

Tesa smiled, her idea once again growing and taking light in her mind. "Torun said that the eggs would hatch again in their true home, right? That's Arethia. We need to get them back there."

"But the Karume would destroy them." Glenna shuddered. "Or experiment on them. Try to enslave them again. Besides, they've taken over with bound magic. The eggs won't hatch."

"The eggs will hatch when the conditions are right," Tesa said. Her mind was spinning through possibilities. "What if we hide them? Bring them back to Arethia, and keep them safe until conditions are right for them to hatch again?"

"What if that never happens?"

"It will. I just know it. It just might not be for a very long time."

Glenna pursed her lips, staring at Tesa. "It might not be for years. Decades, maybe."

"Or longer. I know. That's where the other part of my plan comes in."

"You know, when I said I missed Linnie, I didn't say I missed the scheming and plotting," Glenna said.

Tesa laughed. "Don't worry, I'm just running it by you first. I'll propose it officially to Malía. It won't be something we can do alone."

"Okay, so what's the next part of your plan?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

Tesa leaned in and began to put words to the thoughts that had begun to bubble in her head. The sun sank as the two talked, but in the light of the fire, Tesa saw hope kindle in Glenna's expression. Now, if only it instilled the same hope in Malía, and most of all, the dragons.