Part 21 (1/2)

The air erupted with a thunderous commotion as the dragons reacted to her cry. They flew one way and another around the riggers, rumbling and billowing fire. Jael sensed Ar's alarm. Ed was beside himself, squawking,Graggons, graggons! Jael was speechless; this was hardly what she'd been expecting. The dragons, too many and too fast to follow, swarmed closer and closer, filling the air with smoke and fire.

She remembered now that this was how it had happened the first time, until she'd made peace with Highwing. Perhaps she could make peace again.

Please!she shouted.We want to talk to you!A gnarled-faced dragon wheeled around from the front. Jael started to speak - but a billow of flame and sparks erupted in her face and a voice rumbled in her mind,DO YOU THINK TO MEDDLE AGAIN IN THIS PLACE, RIGGER? The dragon sheared away, rocking the net with turbulence. Jael gasped, struggling to maintain control.

No!she yelled.Ar, be ready for a fight! Fireproof us! Ed, stay behind me and be still!

As he a.s.sisted Jael in strengthening the bubble of the net that surrounded them, Ar asked worriedly,Jael, what's going on? Are these real, or are they from your memory?

Were they real? she thought in anguish. Of course they were! And yet - she remembered her false image of Mogurn, and just for an instant, doubted. Could this all be a manifestation of her own fears?

Highwing? she cried out desperately, hoping to drive fear from her thoughts.

Another blast of flame splashed over the net, and a great dark shape rocked them as it flew past.Begone!

it snorted contemptuously.

Or do you think yourself a guest here?laughed another, pa.s.sing just as close.

Fear began to give way to anger.We are here to see Highwing! she shouted, as Ar strained to hold the net firm. She was well aware of their reduced strength in the net and had no idea how long they could survive a real attack.

A new voice seemed to echo from the cliffs.IF YOU HAVE COME TO SPEAK THAT ACCURSED NAME, THEN YOU TOO WILL DIE!.

Jael s.h.i.+vered, and following Ar's push on the stern-position, helped him veer away from two dragons that were rising from below. The creatures shot upward, past them, a.s.seneca rolled into a dive. Flames blossomed around them, but only for an instant.Jael, we have to know! Ar shouted.Is this real or isn't it?

REEEL! IT'S REEEL!Ed shrieked, taking flight over their heads.TERRIBLE! TERRIBLE! FLY AWAY!

FLY AWAY!.

Ed, stay down, d.a.m.n it!Jael shouted.Yes, it's real! I don't know what's wrong! She did not dare cry out for Highwing again. The best thing she could do was to get them out of here. But how? Above them soared a sky fall of dragons. The horizon offered only barren peaks where they would be as vulnerable as lambs. Below them loomed cliffs and jagged slopes, and they were moving too fast to spy a hiding place, even if one existed.

I'm changing the image,Ar said, and Jael offered no objection. She felt a moment of lightheadedness, and her vision blurred perilously - they were too d.a.m.ned close to those rocks now!

She heard a squawk.That way! That way! Hrapletely absorbed in finding a way through this labyrinth of darkness. They pa.s.sed a patch of wall that glowed dimly, perhaps from phosph.o.r.escent lichen or moss. It was an eerie sight, and she s.h.i.+vered as she turned to watch the ghostly light disappearing behind them.I know we're in danger, she said finally, her voice echoing softly.But I owe him, Ar. More than I can say. If there's any way I can help him, I have to try.

When Ar didn't answer immediately, she took his silence as deliberation. There was a change in him, and she thought she knew what it was. It was that he believed her now. He had seen the dragons, seen their fury - not as a tale, but as reality. And he wanted to get away from it; he didn't like the dragon reality,didn't like it at all. But now, it seemed, they would have to make some choices. And her choices might not be the same as his.

She had no idea how far they had traveled through the body of the mountain, when Ed squawked, fluttering his wings,Aarrk. Coming out, coming out.

Jael peered ahead, and indeed there was a vague lessening of the darkness, and a fresher smell to the air.

But would dragons be waiting for them on the outside?We must be very careful coming out. I suggest we stay small, until we know we are in the clear. Ar didn't answer, and she a.s.sumed control as they neared the exit point. The rocks widened, became a gloomy cave, slowly brightening. They were still in the form of a bat, quick and maneuverable in flight.

They emerged from the mountain, gulping in the fresh air, then began a slow, zigzagging flight. They searched the sky in all directions; there were no dragons visible, or anything else living. A smoky red sun was going down behind a line of mountains to their left. They had emerged, apparently, deep within the range. Which way should they go? Toward the sun? That might take them out of the range, Jael thought, out of the dragon realm altogether. She wasn't sure. She hesitated, thinking of Highwing. Peering to the right, she saw nothing in particular, but felt something, a small familiar twinge. She turned that way, on a heading that would take them even deeper into the mountains. Ar followed silently.

I wish I knew what was happening here,Jael muttered, as they sailed slowly through an evening gathering into night, guided only by starlight and by intuition.I wish I knew what was wrong.

Ar's voice betrayed his tension.One thing I know is that we don't belong in this place. It's not our territory, Jael. And what about our s.h.i.+p? We're responsible for the vessel, you know.

She nodded, but had no answer. She knew that Ar's fear was intensified by his newly shaken a.s.sumptions about reality. At least that was what she told herself. Maybe she was endangering her crewmates and s.h.i.+p by proceeding on this heading, but she didn't know that for sure, and she didn't want to think about it. Her concern now was for Highwing. She felt certain that he must be in some terrible danger, that nothing else would have kept him from coming to her. She refused to consider the possibility that he might be dead. And if he was alive, she was determined to find him.

But how? She was afraid to call out again. Something about this place felt fundamentally wrong; she could not tell exactly what, but something in her heart, some intuition told her that this place had somehow been twisted andmade wrong. It was not just the behavior of the dragons. She felt it in the air, in the darkness, even in the starlight reflecting off the mountains, and in the clouds scooting overhead; something was not right here. Ed seemed to sense it as well; he seemed quiet but skittish, as though he were expecting sudden disaster. She remembered the dragon magic that Highwing had once shared with her. Now, she thought she sensed another magic, similar in its power maybe, but dark and brooding, a power that did not approve of her presence here. She felt that they were being watched as they flew through these night-shrouded mountains, and she did not like her feeling of what might be watching them.

Highwing would know what to make of it, if he were here. If he could hear her call.Highwing, she whispered, almost silently.Friend of Highwing. And she swallowed, afraid that even that soft murmur would attract the wrong sort of attention.

A ma.s.sive peak loomed off to the left. Ahead and to starboard, a ridge of peaks seemed to stretch out forever. Ar was humming softly as he steered, wielding the tiller of a sailing s.h.i.+p at sea - a sea of air - riding what breeze there was, as Jael smelled and evaluated the air. Ed was perched beside her, turning his head alertly.Smell something, Ed?

The parrot made a guttural sound, then said distinctly but softly,Lizards. Graggons. Nearby.Jael felt a chill of fear ... and hope.Do you know ... can you sense ... whether they are friendly or not?

Hraww. Nope.The parrot lifted his beak.Smell them. Close.

Jael sensed Ar taking a deep breath, then settling back. He was no longer humming. He was afraid, she knew - terribly afraid of what she was getting them into. Nevertheless, he was willing to follow.

Whatever she did now ... she was responsible for his life and Ed's, as well as her own. She drew a breath and said, raising her voice just above a whisper,I am Jael, friend of Highwing. Who knows where is Highwing?

The night answered with utter silence.

The dragons came in silence, as well. Ed make a choking sound, and an instant later, Jael saw starlight reflected in the eyes of a great winged serpent as it swept across their bow, shaking them violently. Jael helped Ar to steady the s.h.i.+p, and as she did so, she heard a voice like thunder, calling, DI-I-I-I-I-E-E-E ... LIKE HIM-M-M ....

She could not see their foe, or foes, in the night. But she heard a scream of rage - and she and Ar, terrified, drew the net in tight - as a blast of fire lifted them and hurled them downwind.Ar, hold on! I AM A FRIEND OF HIGHWING! she bellowed, knowing that it was stupid and futile.

A dragon shot past, its wingtip catching them and flipping them into a dive, its own body illuminated by a glow of dragon fire.AWAY, BROTHER! Jael heard, as another dragon thundered past, raking the first with flame. She and Ar struggled to pull out of the dive, cursing the sluggishness of the damaged net; and only after they were level again did it register in her mind that she had seen one dragon attacking another!

She turned to look. A pair of gleaming dragon eyes was bearing down on them from above and behind.

What do you want? she screamed, ashamed of the fear in her voice, but unable to keep it out.

There was no answer; there was only a dark, reeking wing blotting out the night and enveloping them, with a control so total that there was no hope of escape. Then a voice roared,I CLAIM THESE RIGGERS AS MINE! And in reply, there were loud blasts of fury; but Jael, barely able to see beyond the dragon's wing, thought that she sensed the other creatures veering away, leaving them uncontested to their captor.

She and Ar struggled to free themselves. She felt a flash of hope as the wing opened and the night air washed over them, but the hope vanished again as the dragon caught them with its powerful talons. Jael grunted as the net absorbed the force, and she felt a woolly darkness growing around her as the dragon did something to the s.p.a.ce surrounding her.

As she lost sight of the mountains and the night, she heard a dragon's throaty voice murmur,Why do you call out to my father, you foolish riggers?