She released her power and the rope fell limp. Dah’mir’s birds watched it for a moment more, then resumed their previous inscrutable poses.
“Ashi,” Dandra asked, “how intelligent are the herons?”
“Like dogs. Dah’mir bred them that way. They’ll take commands, search out specific people-the way they did when we tracked you into the Eldeen Reaches.”
“Has Dah’mir ever turned the herons against the Bonetree hunters?”
Ashi tilted her head. “No,” she said. “Even yesterday, they attacked Geth and Orshok, not me. They trust Bonetree hunters from the moment they’re hatched. I think that’s something else Dah’mir bred into them.”
“Good. That’s what I was hoping.” Dandra raised her chin in determination. “Geth, take care of Chain. Ashi and I are going onto the ship.”
Geth’s breath hissed between his teeth. “At least wait for Singe to get here. Or let me go.”
She shook her head. “You need to watch Chain-and my idea works best with two people.” She looked at Ashi. “If a Bonetree hunter approached the herons with a prisoner, what would happen?”
Ashi shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe nothing. I’d be more worried that Dah’mir or Vennet may have left orders for the crew.”
“Trust to il-Yannah. Geth, if something goes wrong, we’ll call.” Dandra handed her spear to Ashi. “Let’s make it look real. Take my arm as if you’re restraining me.”
They stepped out from behind the crates and crossed the docks. As they drew close to Lightning on Water, a number of the herons had turned their heads to stare directly at them. Dandra could feel the birds’ cold green eyes-so much like Dah’mir’s-on her. She tried to hang limp in Ashi’s grip, a defeated prisoner.
They’re not going to believe this, wailed Tetkashtai. We don’t even know that they understand what a prisoner is.
Dandra’s heart skipped. She hadn’t entirely considered that. As long as they still trust Ashi, we should be fine.
You fool! We’re going to be captured for certain!
At the bottom of the gangplank, Ashi paused. “Do we go on?” she asked softly.
“Yes.” Dandra took the first step onto the gangplank, expecting the herons to spread their wings and take to the air at any moment. Her head was pounding in time to Tetkashtai’s fear. She focused on putting one foot in front of the other, on climbing the gangplank. The temptation to look up was strong. She resisted it.
Then they were at the top of the gangplank and stepping onto the ship. And the birds hadn’t moved.
Silence clung to Lightning on Water. The deck was empty except for one haggard crewman who crouched in the shade of the captain’s cabin. He stared at them but moved no more than the herons had. Dandra eased herself from Ashi’s grip and squatted in front of him. His eyes-empty and dull-followed her.
“Where is the rest of the crew?” she asked.
“Below,” he said. His voice was hoarse.
“Did Vennet give you any orders before he left?”
“Obey Dah’mir.”
“And what did Dah’mir tell you?”
“To take day watch until he returned.”
Dandra’s eyes narrowed. “What about the others?”
“They wait.”
Ashi crouched down beside Dandra. “Can you release him?” she murmured.
“I’d rather try with someone I know.” She rose. “Let’s see if we can find Karth. He had a level head.”
They found the stairs that led below. Ashi went first, moving slowly and allowing her eyes to adjust. She kept her hand on the hilt of her sword. Dandra followed cautiously, her spear reclaimed and ready.
There was little reason for fear, though. The remaining crew of Lightning on Water sat or crouched or lay in motionless silence. Except for the faint sounds of breathing and the few heads that turned to look at the two intruders into the gloom, Dandra would have thought she walked among dead men.
Karth sat against the curve of the ship’s hull. Dandra remembered him as a big man, but he seemed strangely diminished. His eyes, though as dull as those of the man on deck, also held a haunted look in their depths. When Dandra spoke his name, he didn’t respond. She said it again, a little louder, then took him by the shoulders and shook him. “Karth!” There was slight flicker in the man’s eyes, but nothing more.
“Geth and I hit them when we fought yesterday and they didn’t wake,” Ashi said. “Can you reach inside his head?”
Medala could have touched Karth’s mind easily-that had been the focus of her powers. All Dandra had, though, was the kesh and the idea of linking her mind with one so deeply under Dah’mir’s influence was frightening. Just the thought of it made Tetkashtai shrink like an ember. Dandra’s gut clenched.
She had to try.
The sailor on the deck had said he and the others were following orders left by Dah’mir and Vennet-powerful suggestions rather than direct domination. Maybe she could jolt Karth free. “Watch me,” she told Ashi, “if I become like them, I’ve probably fallen to Dah’mir’s power. Get me out of here and back to Singe.”
“There’s no way to protect yourself?”
“It would take more than I’m capable of. Powerful psionics. Maybe magic. But not even Medalashana was able to shield herself from Dah’mir on her own.” Dandra gripped Ashi’s hand for a moment. “Wish me luck.”
Ashi returned her grasp silently, then let go. Dandra turned to Karth. Tetkashtai-
No!
Tetkashtai, help me! Dandra seized the presence and pulled her close, then looked directly into Karth’s haunted eyes. Karth, she called silently, pushing her mind toward his. Karth, can you hear me?
The kesh trembled between them, sliding across Karth’s thoughts without finding purchase, like walking on ice. Dandra could feel Dah’mir’s touch, the cold grasp of his domination. Karth’s mind was there, but locked away. He was struggling, though. She could sense it. Dah’mir’s power had been stretched thin, but it was too much for a human mind to break through alone-even she touched it and shied away. There was a lingering madness in the dragon’s presence that left her feeling unclean.
Beyond the barrier of his power, Karth shivered and seemed to fade, exhausted.
Dandra thrust out hard, wielding the kesh as she would her spear and pouring all of her will into one focused burst. Karth! she shouted.
The spear of her will stabbed deep into the cold barrier that held Karth prisoner-stabbed deep and pierced it. The kesh slipped through, drawing Karth to freedom. A hundred wild, desperate thoughts burst out of the man, flooding her. Dandra gasped and jerked back from him.
His hands reached out and caught her. “Dandra?” he gasped. “Dol Arrah bless you.” He was trembling.
“Karth, are you hurt?” She felt exhausted and exhilarated at the same time. Inside her mind, Tetkashtai cowered.
“I-” He swallowed. “The captain? Dah’mir?”
“Gone,” said Ashi.
Karth focused on her. “You … I chased you yesterday. You were with Geth. But the captain said you were …”
“Ashi is with us now, Karth.” Dandra eased her arms out of the man’s desperate grip, then pushed him gently back until he was sitting again. “Tell us what happened to you.”
When she’d been in Dah’mir’s power, the world had sped by her in a blur. Karth, however, remembered everything. His story flooded out of him as if it had been waiting for release. Dandra listened in dismay as he told of the appearance of the herons on the ship, of his discovery of Dah’mir in Vennet’s cabin and Dah’mir’s transformation from heron to man. Her stomach knotted at Vennet’s murder of his passengers so that the ship could be turned back to Zarash’ak. Through the days of the voyage, the crew had been held in thrall to Dah’mir’s presence, seeing and hearing everything, but unable to act against his or Vennet’s orders.