The Draykon Series (1-3)

Orlind: Chapter Twelve

One look at her face told him enough. He wrapped her in a quick hug, heaving a brief sigh. 'Well, that's good as well as bad,' he said. She'd left Sigwide with her father, thinking that he wouldn't bear the long flight very well. The orting expressed his relief at seeing her by sticking his nose in her ear and scratching her face with his small claws.

Ouch, she told him.

Sorry, Sigwide said, full of remorse. He wagged his stubby tail, tucked himself into the carry-pouch she always wore at her waist, and went back to sleep.

'How's it going in here, Pa?'

He shrugged. 'No idea. We're developing a few ideas, but whether they'll do the job is guesswork. Haven't got a clear idea of the weak points on those beasts.'

'Hm.' An idea occurred to her, and she sneaked a sideways glance at Pensould. For all his attempts to hide it, he was exhausted. But maybe after he'd slept...

'Would it help if you had some expert assistance?' she said to her father.

'Course.'

Llan looked up at Pensould. This was a difficult question to ask of him. The invading draykoni were still his people. Fighting them as individuals was one thing; sharing the weaknesses of all draykonkind with a human might well be another.

Fortunately he read the question in her eyes, and she didn't have to ask it. He hesitated, then sighed. 'For you, Minchu, yes.' To her surprise, he cupped her face in his hands and dropped a light kiss on her mouth. Then he turned to her father.

'I must sleep, a little. Then I will return to assist your team.'

Aysun's weary face registered a flicker of relief. 'Thank you.'

Pensould nodded. Taking Llan's hand, he led her away from the workshop.

'I'm sorry, Pensould,' she began, but he waved her apology away.

'This was not of your making. We will all have to make some difficult choices before the end.'

Llandry woke a few hours later, still tired but more alert. She'd relayed her findings to Eva via her father's voice-box, and now the problem of the missing draykoni lay in Eva's hands. Her ladyship had promised to do everything possible to determine whether the disappearance had anything to do with Krays. For her part, Llandry couldn't think of anything else she and her fellow hereditaries could do to discover them. She'd have to leave it alone for now.

But the draykoni weren't their only problem. The burned forests and ruined buildings of Waeverleyne were crawling with beasts driven mad. The city's summoners had been working tirelessly, day after day, to control the situation, but their options were limited. Only a handful were as powerful as Lady Eva, or as Llandry herself; the rest lacked the strength to control the more powerful creatures for long. They'd teamed up with the sorcs to get gates opened and beasts dispatched back to Iskyr, but this was only a temporary solution. Holes were still ripping their way through the flimsy barriers between the worlds, forming rogue gates which brought more beasts through to Glinnery. For every animal sent back, at least one more appeared somewhere else. The beasts were causing a lot of damage: they kept the defenders of Waeverleyne too busy to rest and prepare themselves for the return of the enemy.

But there was Rheas. Llandry's puzzling grandfather had untold tricks up his sleeves, things he'd learned during his twenty-something-year sojourn in the Upper Realm of Iskyr. Somehow he'd managed to keep his own home free of the raging creatures, and Llan was determined he'd show her how to do the same in Waeverleyne.

And if he knew of a way to calm them down altogether, he'd tell her that, too.

She found him camped out in the remains of someone's house, near to Aysun's home. At her indignation Rheas merely shrugged. 'They aren't using it anymore.'