Part 22 (2/2)
<that is=”” acceptable=”” to=”” us.=”” take=”” us=”” to=”” the=”” poison.=””> I motioned at Sam and the others to stay behind; they could start setting up camp. A handful of sylph came with us, melting snow and ice from our path.
Besides, I wouldn't subject Sam to another dragon ride if I didn't have to. It seemed like we were safest if Sam and the dragons stayed far away from one another.
”Be careful with the canisters,” I cautioned. ”If they open before we're ready, we've lost. There's only one chance.”
The dragons decided to wait until evening to take the canisters, but they stayed far out of our way the entire time they were in the area. We only heard them from a distance, cras.h.i.+ng through trees and rumbling. Even the buzzing din of their dialogue was far away, allowing us to pick through the wreckage of the lab for a few hours in peace.
Little was salvageable. Stef found a few things she wanted to keep, and I found the canister that had been filling when we left the lab. There was nothing in it nowa”the poison had dispersed long agoa”and there were no others lying around. So the lab had been destroyed shortly after we left.
I called Sarit to update her, and as evening fell, dragon thunder cracked the sky. We all went outside to watch Acid Breath and his friends take off, our hope clasped in their teeth and talons. Their bodies slithered through the air, scales reflecting the last rays of sunlight as they climbed higher and higher.
When they were out of sight, Sam's posture relaxed, and we both retreated into the tent where sylph warmed our sleeping bags and heated a pot of soup.
-Animals are leaving Range.- Cris's song was low, worried. The others hummed their concern, too.
They curled around us, closer than our own shadows, and in the heat I saw flashes of snow-choked forest with deer trails but no deer, trees with bird nests but no birds, and hollows with small animal dens but no small animals. Dry riverbeds, drained ponds with fish rotting in the bottom, and watering holes with prints stamped into the cracked mud. Hot springs were gone. Mud pools had hardened. Geysers hissed steam and nothing more.
-Range is falling apart. There will be little to eat until we reach Heart.- And then there'd be whatever was in warehouses, no doubt closely rationed by Deborl. Sarit hadn't mentioned she was going hungry, so I hoped she was doing all right. Water, we could at least get in the form of melted snow.
”Thanks, Cris.” Sam dropped to our sleeping bags and ma.s.saged his temples. Lines of weariness crossed his face, and circles darkened under his eyes. He needed a shower and shave. I couldn't imagine I looked much better. ”I'm so glad the dragons are gone.”
I sat next to him and rested my hand on his knee. ”Me too. Though I'm relieved they're helping, even if it's because they're trying to get rid of you.”
He winced. ”It's hard to accept that for the last five thousand years, they've been coming to Heart to find out whether I'm still alive, and then kill me.”
”Not just kill you, but destroy the place where your reincarnation happens. How do they know that?”
”I wish I knew.”
”And furthermore, how do they identify you every lifetime? Acid Breath made it sound like he could see the song in you, but what does it look like? How does he know? And is he the only one?”
Sam opened his mouth, but I wasn't finished.
”He said they don't reincarnate, but do they live longer than humans? Why are they so afraid of the phoenix song? They've made your death a priority for thousands of years, and not only is that rude, it's just so focused. I just don't understand. And you know, if they didn't spend so much time trying to kill you, we might never have figured out that you have the phoenix song.”
He gave a soft snort. ”I can give you a few answers, but there's a lot we don't know about dragons, and probably never will.
”I hate not knowing the truth.”
”That's one of the things I love most about you. Your endless quest for the truth.” Sam wrapped his arm around my waist and hugged me close. ”Well, they do live longer than humans. It appears that they're effectively immortala”until they're killed. There are a few we think are as old as Heart. Maybe older.”
”Maybe that's why they're so afraid of the phoenix song.” I glanced toward my flute case. ”It seems to me those who think they'll never die are the most afraid of death.”
”In some cases.” He brushed a strand of hair off my face. ”And sometimes we finally grow wise enough to understand life is a gift that can'ta”shouldn'ta”last forever.”
”And the phoenix song . . . ends life?”
Sam shrugged. ”I don't know. The translations from the book are all over the place. Builds and destroys. Life and death. Consumes. Or maybe it's none of those things.”
Maybe it was all.
His mouth brushed my cheek, then he leaned forward to ladle bowls of soup for each of us. ”You played your flute for the dragons twice. What did you play?”
”My songs.”
He shot me a look. ”They're nota””
”I know.” I gave him the most innocent smile I could muster.
He chuckled and shook his head. ”And hold your flute up straight while you're at it.”
I grinned and accepted a bowl. ”First I played my minuet. Then I played the one from the demonstration on market day.”
”None of mine.” Mostly he looked curious, but there was a tinge of hurt in his voice. ”Why?”
”I wanted to do it on my own. With my music.” It hadn't been completely on my own. The sylph had been there, as well as Sam's influence. ”I just needed to do it myself, as much as I could.”
”I understand.” His mouth turned up in a half smile. ”I was curious if they'd reacted to the music at all, if there was anything in it we could use to figure out the phoenix song.”
”Whatever it is, it's not in my music. It's not in any of the parts you helped me clean up.” I closed my eyes, remembering sitting at the piano with him, music resounding around the parlor until it overpowered all my senses and made my whole body vibrate with life. ”I'll do what I said I would before: listen to your music and read the scores. Make note of any trends.”
Stef and Whit came in while we were was.h.i.+ng our faces. They both looked grim and exhausted.
”I've been intercepting a few messages from within Heart.” Stef held up her SED. ”Three dragons were sighted just north of the city, landing in Templedark Memorial. No one has mentioned canisters, but if anyone goes out there . . .”
”Maybe Acid Breath will think to hide them.” My optimism sounded forced even to me.
”Maybe.” Stef checked her SED again as she sat in front of the soup. ”Guards have been on alert since the dragons flew over yesterday. They're worried about another attack. Usually it's a small attack followed by a much larger one, but these have broken the pattern. The same three dragons have come by twice and not attacked either time, so as you can imagine, Deborl is telling people everything they're afraid to hear.”
Whit nodded and filled bowls for both him and Stef. ”Deborl is saying the dragons are coming because of Janan's ascensiona”they want to stop hima”but Janan will protect them.”
”By now, of course,” Stef went on, ”everyone publicly opposed to Janan's ascension has left or been thrown in prison. So everyone Deborl is talking to is happy to listen to him, or too afraid not to.”
How many people were opposed? Enough to be worth attempting to contact them? Or free them?
”Has there been any talk about what Deborl sent Merton to gather?” Sam asked.
Stef glanced at her SED and scowled. ”Nothing about what it is, just that he's obtained the item and is on his way back to Heart. We'll be hearing more about whatever it is pretty soon, I a.s.sume.”
Great. So whatever Janan needed to help him ascend, he had coming. ”I wonder what it is.”
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