Fate of Dragons

Chapter Thirty-One, Part I

In the morning, Derol and Astrid trailed behind Amina on her way through the forest to the cave of doors. They padded silently on the path down to the stream in the valley in the middle of the forest. Gypsy followed, too, bounding along through the underbrush beside them, or from the trees, if she felt like it. The dragon would pop down onto the path before them from time to time, startling them from their silent march and earning giggles from Astrid, and stern looks from Derol and Amina.

Riders were still returning from their missions when Amina arrived to meet Emric in the cave. Many were scattered about the cave in various stages of rest.

Derol spotted Malía along with a handful of others pacing up and down before the doors. Not all of the riders had yet returned.

With a squeal and a bound, Gypsy broke away from their company and toward a hunched figure—Eriya. The small dragon covered her rider with ecstatic dragon-style kisses and nuzzles. She squirmed and wriggled in the excitement to see her rider had returned safely. Eriya fended off her dragon's affections with a wan smile and her arms raised half-heartedly.

"It's fine. I'm fine silly dragon," Eriya said out loud, presumably in response to Gypsy's words, which only she could hear. She looked up as Derol, Amina, and Astrid approached.

"It was harder than I thought it would be," she said before they could ask how her egg-hiding mission had gone. "The outpost was crawling with Karume!" She sniffed. "And they seem to have converted a good number of people since the takeover. My friends from— well, nevermind. I find it hard to believe that all of them have gone over willingly."

"They must protect themselves," Amina said. "Just as all of us would have had to, if we'd remained in Arethia and lacked the ability to fight."

Eriya nodded slightly at this, but her frown remained. Derol could sympathize. After seeing how his own farm hands benefited from serving the Karume, he too felt bitterness at their betrayal. He thought to try to convey some of this sentiment to Eriya, but before he could form the words, Emric had appeared in their midst.

"Are you ready?" he asked Amina.

"As prepared as can be expected," she said.

"Good," said Emric, and beckoned for her to follow him.

Derol and Astrid tagged along after bidding goodbye to Eriya, who left the caves with Gypsy to find breakfast at their riders' camp. Emric led them to a blank wall on one side of the cave. It was next to a row of the riders' doors, which were marked by symbols carved into the stone above the flat place where the door would appear. Emric waved a hand toward the blank, flat space on the wall.

"Good?" he asked.

"As good as any of the other spaces," Amina said. "As long as the door leads to the Onami in Yennar Lei." She knelt on the cave floor before a blanket spread out with an array of stones and gems on its surface. Emric knelt beside her.

Amina picked up a corner of the blanket and inspected it between her thumb and fingers.

"Senemi, eh?" she said with a grin toward Emric. He smiled.

"You noticed."

Amina's fingers traced along the patterns in the cloth. "Its magic will help us cast the door," she commented.

Emric nodded, giving her a measuring look. "Onami in Yennar Lei deny they use magic in their handwork," he said softly. "If they use it, the laws exempting them from registration at the temples should not apply."

Amina wagged a finger with a knowing smile. "And yet you said this was a Senemi cloth. If a Senemi has committed to settle down and commit to life in a particular country or city, they abide by the laws of their home."

"Even a Senemi who weaves bound magic into their cloth in Arethia, where bound magic was outlawed, before the Karume came to power?"

Amina dismissed this with a chuff and a wave of her hand. "The free mages of Arethia wouldn't even recognize this as magic, just as they refuse to acknowledge any Senemi or Onami as mages."

Emric tilted his head and gave a small "ah," before turning back to the stones he had lain out on the blanket before the cavern wall. "Then let us begin."

Derol shifted his weight from side to side as he watched their exchange, worried despite their smiles that some disagreement over the magic used would prevent them from creating the door. Instead, they seemed to have developed a rapport over their discussion of the realities and laws of magic in their respective countries.

Seeing that work on the door commenced, Derol turned to find that Astrid had left his side. She had joined Malía in pacing the floor before the doors, waiting for them to open and the riders to spill through. The girl watched intently as another door shimmered and an exhausted rider fell through, panting heavily.

Malía rushed forward and cradled the rider. "Were you seen?"

The woman shook her head. "It was close," she gasped. "But no one ever knew. My hiding place was good." A grin spread on her lips as her breathing calmed, and she allowed Malía to pass her on to a pair of less exhausted riders who were ready to take her away and care for her.

Derol touched Astrid's shoulder to get her attention. She turned and nodded before Derol could ask if she was ready for their own mission.

"Let's go," she said, her eyes shining and her tone determined.

Together, they left the cave and struck out into the forest, to return to where they had first met, the forests just outside the small town of Enval.