“What about Beryl or Sable?” a Legionnaire called out.
“What about them? I cannot believe either of them would be happy by Thunder’s move. So where does that leave us?”
“Caught between the Pinnacle of Panic and the Abyss of Doom,” said the same voice. Several people laughed. Most didn’t. It was too close to the truth.
“An apt description. Which is why we should move quickly to destroy Thunder’s totem before he can finish it. I would rather deal with a dragon like Thunder than a monster like Malys.”
“But where is this totem?” shouted a man’s voice.
Linsha peered through the darkness toward the speaker, but Lanther rose to his feet and answered for her. “I have spoken to several prisoners who told me Thunder has broken into Iyesta’s treasure chamber. He plans to bring his collection of skulls from his lair and erect his totem in the chamber, under heavy guard.”
Someone else asked, “Do you know where the dragon eggs are?”
“Not yet.”
The questions, comments, and advice came faster and faster until almost everyone was talking at once. Lanther gave up trying to say anything and sat down with Mariana. Falaius and Dockett fielded questions and tried to keep order.
Standing in the darkness with Crucible beside her, Linsha felt a sudden surge of energy. She had had her say and told the people what they needed to hear. They had to make their own decision from here. In the meantime, she wanted to get out of this stifling canyon, to do something useful, to do what she was good at-gathering information.
To say they were going kill the dragon and destroy his totem was one thing. To actually do it was something else again. They needed information on his whereabouts, his guards, his preparations for the totem, his plans for the eggs. Something Lanther had said came back to her thoughts-Find his weapon and use it against him. Thunder had used something to kill those brasses. Neither Iyesta nor Purestian had suffered the burns characteristic of a lightning attack. Something had killed them quickly and effectively. If someone could just find that weapon, the chances of killing Thunder and living to tell about it would be much greater. She wanted to find it.
Linsha quietly edged off the rock and walked past Crucible into the darkness. She heard him turn around and come after her, she heard Lanther call her name, but she acknowledged neither of them until she had left the cave and the noise far behind and was enveloped by the solitude and darkness. She whistled a soft, lonely call and held her arm out. She felt rather than saw the owl float silently from night and land on her arm. Only then did she turn around to the bronze dragon and say, “Want to go hunting?”
The Brute Camp
22
You don’t have to go with me. You hurt your leg yesterday. It needs to heal.”
Linsha crouched at the foot of a large outcropping outside the mouth of Scorpion Wadi. Crucible lay behind her, his long body flattened against the ground. They had bypassed the sentries in the canyon and now waited for Varia to return and tell them all was clear.
“Someone has to keep you out of trouble,” he whispered. “Just what do you intend to do?”
Linsha hesitated. While she felt determined to do something and strong enough to do it, she hadn’t really considered exactly what she should do.
“I gave my word to Iyesta that I would protect her eggs,” she said after a while. “We need to find them. But first, I want to look for the weapon Thunder used to kill Iyesta. It’s possible the enemy has not yet found the back entrance to the labyrinth-the one in the palace grounds. We could go there and look for-”
Crucible cut her off with a sharp sound. “Quiet! I hear hoofbeats.”
They froze, listening to the staccato rhythm of a horse approaching at a fast trot. An almost silent flutter of wings brought Varia to land on the rocks by Linsha’s head. “It is the young centaur,” she hooted.
“Leonidas?” Linsha’s voice warmed with pleasure. She stepped out into the open where he could see her and called his name softly.
There was a clatter of hooves on stone, then silence. “Lady Linsha?” The relief in his voice almost overwhelmed the wariness of the question. He moved forward until he could see her in the starlight. “What are you doing out here?”
She heard something heavy move behind her and saw the glow of golden light illuminate the rocks around her and gleam on the centaur’s pale hide, then it flashed out leaving nothing but spots dancing in her night vision. The centaur’s eyes grew huge. He reared up, his hand reaching for a weapon behind his back. “No, no it’s all right,” she reassured him. “It’s just a friend of mine.”
Leonidas pranced back several steps and shook his mane. “You keep interesting friends, Lady Knight. What was that light?”
“A shapechanger. We were going to go on patrol.”
“Then I am glad to find you. Once again we meet in darkness and need.”
“It does seem to be a habit of ours,” she agreed with a dry laugh. “Were you looking for me?”
“I came to find the militia and to tell someone what we have found.”
“Who is this ‘we’?”
The life seemed to drain out of him. His shoulders sagged and his hands fell to his sides. “We are all that is left of my troop-three of us, the younger ones who got thrust to the back during the heat of the fighting to help the wounded, retrieve arrows, and run messages. We were running errands for our lord when our lines were overwhelmed. We found each other but no one else. We tried to go back to our position and were cut off. It wasn’t until late last night that the Brutes moved on and we were able to get into the barricades to see… they were all dead. Uncle Caphiathus… everyone. The wounded, too. All killed. The Brutes left no one.”
His voice sounded so grief-stricken that Linsha moved beside him and put a hand on his wither. His hide was grimy and wet with sweat, and he smelled of smoke, blood, and sweaty horse.
“No one but you three. Caphiathus would be pleased you survived.”
Leonidas did not seem to hear her. “Since then we have been hiding. Watching.”
Linsha’s ears pricked up. “Watching what?”
“Those painted warriors mostly.” He shuddered. “They are brutally efficient.” He paused and looked up the trail to the Wadi. “Is anyone else still alive? Where is General Dockett? A scout found us and told us some soldiers were coming here.”
“He was right. They’re in the Wadi. The General and Falaius are planning a counterattack. We must try to destroy Thunder’s totem.”
“You mean that horrible pile of skulls?”
Linsha grabbed his arm in excitement. “Yes! Where is it?”
“In the palace. We were in the gardens this afternoon trailing the Brute general. He came to talk to Thunder and was there when the dragon brought in the first few skulls.”
The Rose Knight heard an insistent meow and felt the tomcat twine around her ankles. She picked him up. “Thank you, Leonidas,” she said and strode purposefully toward the feeble glow of light to the south that marked the Missing City.
Her sudden move took the centaur by surprise. “Wait! Where are you going?”
“To the palace.”
“But what about the militia?”
“They are busy. They have much to do before they can attack an unarmed camp, not to mention a conquered city. What they need is information.”
He swung around in front of her and offered a hand. “Then get on. I’ll take you.”
She took it and, clutching the cat, mounted his strong back once more. “Crucible, this is Leonidas. He has helped me several times these past ten days. Leonidas, this is Crucible. Remember what he looks like. It may be important. And don’t be deceived by his size.”