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himself, was probably why it frightened my father so badly. That did not make
what his father did right, but it did make it a little easier to accept.
"Josh," Eliahu put his hand on the sailor-mage's arm, pulling him from his
musings. "Are you still certain we did the right thing staying behind?" he
asked gently, searching the younger man's face. Of the three mages, only
Laurelyanne had gone with Tagalong. And Clemmerick had stayed behind to offer
what protection he could to Eliahu and Josh.
"Yes," Josh's voice was soft and a little distant. "I sensed an enchantary
gate in Dragonshead a moment before I hit Margren. I think it leads to Castle
Rowan. Castle Rowan is closer than Dragonshead. If we can find the gate, we
may get there before Margren kills Aejys."
* * * *
Aejys came to herself in the hard grip of two stone trolls, dragging her
toward a long, wide table arrayed with various implements of torture. For an
instant she thought she was back in Bucharsa and a scream welled to the back
of her throat to die unreleased when she remembered Mephistis taking her in
the Odaren's camp. The stench of blood and mold rose from the straw rustling
around her bare feet. She could feel the aura of death lingering in the dank,
gray stone walls of the chamber: many people had died here. She raised her
head a fraction, seeing Margren standing by the table to her left, a smile of
incredible cruelty on her generous lips. Margren held a heavy mace, stroking
the blunt head as if it were a favored pet.
"So glad you are awake, sister," Margren purred. "I wanted you to feel this."
Aejys lifted her head fully, staring straight into her face without speaking.
She knew she could not break the stone trolls' grip and she would not play the
coward by struggling. They shoved her hands and arms up to the elbow on the
table, pinning them there.
Margren lifted the mace. "These hands have long offended me," she purred
softer still, then laughed as if she had said something witty. She brought the
mace down on Aejys' right hand shattering the bones.
Aejys' face twisted as she fought back another scream, determined not to
grant Margren the satisfaction of giving vent to her agony.
Margren frowned and broke the other hand. Aejys fainted.
* * * *
Talons woke Blackbird in the wee hours of the morning, her face a stony mask
despite her urgent tone. "Margren has taken Aejys. I'm going to Dragonshead."
"Hell shitting damnation!" Blackbird started awake. The bedclothes slid down
around her waist as she sat up. "You're still in rocky shape, Talons. That
isn't the smart thing to do."
Talons smiled thinly. "Life has rarely given me choices, my friend."
"Then take one of the girls with you." Blackbird swung her feet over the bed,
reaching for her clothes that lay across a chair near the nightstand beside
the bed. She realized with a jolt that she had reached with her right hand. In
the weeks since Paunys dosed her with Dynanna's elixir she had begun gradually
getting some feeling back in her fingers, but to actually reach without
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thought was more than she had ever hoped for.
"What's wrong?" Talons asked.
"Not wrong. Right. I just moved my hand and arm!"
A small true smile touched Talons' face, and then disappeared. "That is a
miracle, my friend. Now wish one for me." She turned, heading for the door.
"Wait. Take one of the girls."
"No," Talons answered without turning. "There are people heading for
Dragonshead already. I don't want your girls seen with me. For their sake.
Their safety." Then she was out the door and gone before Blackbird could rise
to follow her.
With her shadow cape pulled close around her, Talons slipped out of the city
unnoticed. Dawn broke as she reached the forest beyond the walls. In a
secluded spot, far from any eyes that might watch, she pulled a whistle from
her pocket. She blew a single high long note, waiting for three heartbeats
before blowing it again. A high shriek responded. Talons raised her head. A
saddled gryphon spiraled down toward her. Her grandsire had sent Little Bit to
her once he knew that Armaten was clear of Golds.
"You weren't thinking of doing this alone, now were you?" A sweet male tenor
asked.
The scent of roses caught her as she spun to face him, claws out. "Dynarien."
The yuwenghau smiled with pleasure. "So you figured out who I am?"
"The Rose Warrior." Her voice was cool, almost casual as she sheathed her
claws. "You died back when Shaurone was still a scattered group of squabbling
tribes with a common tongue. You and Tros Willodarusson were chasing Waejonan.
He got both of you. Willodarus cursed Waejonan for your deaths. That's why
Waejontor's forests teem with life, nearly all of it deadly. I asked my
grandsire. His priests told him."
"Very good," Dynarien gave her a courtly bow, his midnight blue cloak sliding
around his left shoulder. "So, going alone?"
"Not if you want to come."
Dynarien's smile widened. "I must admit a selfish interest. My sister wants
the contents of the soul vault."
"Your sister..."
"Uh uh," he wagged a friendly finger at her. "If you have not figured out the
true nature of my bond with Dynanna, I am not going to tell you."
"So be it." Talons mounted first and Dynarien sat pillion behind her. She
snapped the reins and they rose into the sky, making for Dragonshead. As they
reached the bluffs Talons saw the ruins, which had been standing when she
visited them months past, strewn in rubble beneath them. "What in Seven
Hells?"
"Hell had nothing to do with it," Dynarien said pleasantly. "One of Dynanna's
experiments with captured souls was the reincarnation of Josiah Abelard."
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Talons glanced sharply at Dynarien. "The Mage Master?"
"Same."
"He did this..."
"Yes."
Talons sent the gryphon spiraling down into a wooded area near the edge of
the bluffs.
Dynarien alighted, turning to help Talons dismount he put his hands on her
waist.
Talons went completely still, staring pointedly at his hands. "Remove them
now or I'll see if gods bleed."
Dynarien raised an eyebrow questioningly as he dropped his hands and stepped
back. "As you wish. You are angry with me?"
"I just realized what you did to Birdie." Talons' voice was cold, utterly
without feeling, her face was still, betraying nothing. "No. I've seen the way
her hands drift to her stomach. She's pregnant. You shoved one of those
reclaimed souls inside her."
Dynarien gave her a long appraising look. "Yes. She carries a heroic soul,
fit to do battle with the darkness."
"She is just thirteen."
Dynarien's face flushed and he turned his back to Talons. "It was not rape. I
have never forced a woman."
"Undue influence then. You're a God, she's a child. With anyone else the
kyndi would have prevented her becoming pregnant this young."
"She agreed to have my child... She is strong. I will visit her again after
this child is born to give her another. Perhaps many. Dynanna wishes to bring
as many heroes as possible back to fight Bellocar. If this is not done, then
Bellocar will find a way to kill this world again."
Talons fell silent. She could not argue with that point, despite her concern
for Birdie. "From this soul vault?"
"Yes. The soul vault at Dragonshead is the largest that ever existed. Will
you help us?"
"Why do you need me?"
"Only a human can open the vault. Dynanna's spies have found the vault, but
cannot open it."
"Spies. You have spies inside the citadel?" Her surprise showed in her voice
before she could catch herself.
Dynarien was looking earnestly at her, his expression hopeful. "The catkin.
That is how we knew to send Blackbird to rescue you."
Talons fell silent again, thinking and remembering that day on the bluffs,
replaying it and inserting the new pieces. Because the catkin had seen her,
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