“Go,” Dar ordered Kale, pulling his sword from its sheath.
Kale turned away from the window and stood. She, too, pulled her small blade from its scabbard. She moved to stand next to Dar in front of the crumpled heap that was Leetu.
The bisonbecks advanced, taking their time. They obviously thought their prey was cornered. Kale felt a flutter at her leg and knew Seezle had joined them.
A heavy droning noise from beyond the wall grew louder. Seezle chuckled. The bisonbecks looked nervously toward the outside of the castle gardens. They took a few more uncertain steps toward Kale and her friends. The drone changed pitch, higher and piercing. People screamed, punctuating the inhuman buzz. The soldiers stopped and stared in the direction of the uproar.
A black mist appeared at the top of the wall, a thin trickle followed by a thick mass. At first Kale thought it was a mordakleep, but the darkness was not dense enough to be one of the swamp monsters. And mordakleeps were totally silent. The reverberating buzz came from the cloud.
With a yell of terror, the warriors turned and ran.
Seezle chuckled again.
“Hornets,” said Dar.
The swarm turned with a purpose and zoomed after the retreating soldiers.
“They won’t hurt us?” asked Kale.
“They pass over those wearing the protection of Paladin.”
Kale, totally confused, frowned at the doneel.
“The glean band, Kale.” Dar sounded patient. Kale had no idea what he was talking about. “On your wrist.”
She looked down at the thin, green rope bracelet he’d fastened on her arm when she first woke in the dungeon.
“Oh.” Kale watched as the last of the swarm disappeared in pursuit of the bisonbecks. “How did the hornets get here?”
“My people,” said Seezle with a impish grin on her tiny face. “We plucked hornet nests from forest trees and hurled them into the fray.” She hopped up and down and giggled.
The menacing hornet drone faded, along with the shrieks from the soldiers being stung.
Kale reached up to her shoulder. “Where’s Gymn?” She patted under the collar of her blouse where the baby dragon might have hidden himself. She began looking around on the ground.
“Here he is.” Dar handed her the limp creature. “He was under the window.”
“Fainted again?” Seezle shook her head in disbelief as she came closer. She put out a finger and touched the little beast cradled in Kale’s palm. “Is he all right? He did just faint, didn’t he?”
Kale squatted beside the kimen so Seezle could see better. The pale blue glow from Seezle’s clothing cast a light on Gymn. He breathed in and out. He twitched and curled more tightly into a ball. No marks scarred his body. He hadn’t been injured in any visible way.
Kale stroked his back. “I think he’s coming around.”
They watched as Gymn opened his eyes, blinked rapidly, and then lifted his head.
“He’ll be all right,” said Kale.
Standing before Kale, Seezle gave full attention to the dragon. Kale reached out with her other hand and tried to touch Seezle’s soft, flowing tunic. Her fingers passed through the “cloth.” She tried again. This time she paused as her hand entered the material. Light spilled across her palm as if she held it under the glow of a lantern. She wiggled her fingers and felt nothing but air.
Seezle jumped back. Kale looked at the kimen’s expression to see whether she was angry. The little face shone with laughter.
“Light!” Seezle exclaimed and twirled away. Kale looked over at Dar and refused to acknowledge the I-told-you-so look on his face.
“I’m hungry,” said Seezle.
Both Dar and Kale turned to stare at her.
“We will be passing through the kitchen to get to the well,” said the tiny creature. “We aren’t in any danger now. Don’t you think it would be nice to stop for tea?”
Kale turned to Dar. That was something she would expect him to suggest.
“Not this time.” He shook his head as he sheathed his weapon. “We still have to go down that well, follow an underground river, and jump onto a dragon flying by. Somehow that doesn’t do a thing to whet my appetite.”
28
LEAP OF FAITH
Getting down the well wasn’t as difficult as Kale anticipated. They sat Leetu in the bucket with her legs straddling the rope, then tied her on. Seezle rode down with Leetu, untied her, and then pushed her off onto the stone bank of the river. Kale climbed in the bucket next, and Dar lowered it. When she stood on the stone bank beside Leetu and Seezle, Dar came down hand over hand on the rope.
Kale checked Leetu for any additional bruises. Even though Kale hadn’t been able to come up with a better plan, she hated the idea of Seezle shoving the emerlindian off and letting her fall on the rock. Holding Gymn, Kale let healing flow into Leetu. When she had done what she could under the circumstances, she turned, frowning at the kimen. The bucket on the well rope hung over the edge of the river, not over the stone ledge that served as the fast-moving river’s bank.
“How did you drop her onto the bank instead of into the river?” Kale asked. She spoke loudly over the rushing tumult of the water.
“We swung back and forth like a pendulum. Haven’t you ever ridden on a swing tied to a tree and jumped off?”
Kale closed her eyes and shuddered. What if the tiny kimen had lost her grip after she untied Leetu? What if Leetu had fallen into the swift-flowing river instead of onto the bank? She would have been pummeled against the stone ledges as the water mercilessly bore her to the end of the cavern. Then her body would have catapulted into midair to be hurled hundreds of feet down with tons of water roaring over the edge.
“Kale.” Dar’s sharp tone forced her to open her eyes. He stood before her, shaking his head. “We’ve got plenty to worry about. Don’t waste your time worrying about things that didn’t happen.”
Kale sat up straight and glared at him. “Dar, if I find out you read my mind after you told me you couldn’t, I’ll be mad as two wolves after the same chicken.”
She saw Dar’s face lighten with his chuckle, but she couldn’t hear his laugh over the water.
He threw her cape into her lap. “I don’t need to read your mind. Your face tells it all.”
I wonder if that is truly so, Mr. Dar. It seems to me that doneels are full of surprises and mysterious ways. You cook and sew and sing and play all sorts of instruments and fight and travel and seek adventure. You aren’t like anyone I ever met.
He grinned at her, and the open friendship in that smile melted her anger. She stood and swung the cape around her shoulders. It felt good to have it on again.
I like having Dar as a friend. And Leetu, and Seezle. I wonder if they think of me as a friend. When you’re a slave, you’re nobody’s friend. Not really.
I think I might like questing just a little, because I have comrades, and comrades are like friends.
They entered the huge cavern with the river running wildly beside them. Seezle’s bright light cast a shadow in front of the doneel and behind the o’rant girl. Above them, Leetu’s shadow danced on the rock ceiling. A constant mist rose from the tumbling waters. Every surface glistened with a slick sheen of moisture. Their boots slipped on the uneven stone underfoot. The spray mixed with perspiration on Kale’s face as she held tightly to Leetu.
“I see lights ahead,” said Dar.
They paused, and Seezle dimmed her light.
“I see them,” said Kale. “They’re like fireflies.”
“Kimens!” squealed Seezle. She hopped out from beneath Leetu’s middle so quickly that the pull of the emerlindian’s slight weight caused Dar and Kale to stumble a step closer together.
“Put her down gently,” Kale urged Dar as Seezle skipped ahead of them. Kale collapsed on the stone floor and leaned against the wet wall. Dar stood with his hands on his hips, watching as Seezle greeted her kin-folk and brought them back. The sound of their merry voices rose ove
r the raging water like melodious wind chimes. It reverberated against the cavern walls with ringing notes accented by laughter.
Every muscle in Kale’s body ached. She pulled Gymn into her hands and stroked him, knowing his healing powers would give her enough stamina to finish this trip.
She stood to greet Seezle’s friends. She held Gymn in her left hand with his head tucked under her chin. Seezle led four bright spots of orange light. The kimens glided over the rough passage.
Seezle hopped over the last small boulder. “Kale, meet Zayvion, Veazey, D’Shay, and Glim.” She pointed to each of her companions in turn. “They are the Trio family.”
“We got bored,” said one of the tiny men. Kale thought he was the kimen named Zayvion.
The second man, Glim, spoke up. “We’ve been waiting for you at the cliff. Nothing to do there, so we came to meet you.”
D’Shay bounced as she talked. “We can help you carry your warrior.”
Veazey grinned and blinked her eyes against a sudden spray off the river. “Paladin sent the Trio family, because we’re the best airborne escorts.”
“Trio?” asked Dar. “There are four of you.”
“Airborne?” asked Kale.
“The Trio family is made up of orphans,” said Zayvion. Kale liked his deep, strong voice, although it sounded funny coming out of his small body.
“Originally, there were only three,” explained Glim, pushing closer to Dar. “The three decided they didn’t like being orphans, and they joined together to make their own family.”
D’Shay, bouncing on her toes with her clothes flickering between shades of yellow and orange, added her part. “Any kimen orphan can come and apply for a position in the family.”
“No one has ever been turned down,” said Veazey.
“Gale was, and so was Sweptor,” objected Zayvion.
Veazey turned an annoyed face toward the outspoken male and planted her fists upon her hips. “That was two hundred years ago.”
“It still counts.” Zayvion frowned and looked stubborn. “As long as it happened, it happened. You can’t say no one was ever turned down if someone was turned down. Gale and Sweptor were both turned down on the same day in the same month in the same year. They were turned down together, and so you can’t say no one was ever turned down, because someone was turned down, Gale and Sweptor.”
D’Shay stepped between the two. “You’re right, Zay. Gale and Sweptor were wild and unruly, and of course they were turned down.” She patted his chest with her small hand, and sparks of blue and gold sprayed out at her touch. She turned to Veazey. “You’re right too, of course.” Her friendly smile drained the tension out of Veazey’s face. D’Shay sang her words in the strange melodic cadence of her race. “Gale and Sweptor calmed down and asked Paladin to forgive them for being such a problem. Then they applied to the family again and were not turned down.”
She touched her sister’s arm, and when she lifted her hand, a rainbow streamed from the palm of her hand to the place where it had rested. Kale blinked as the colored band faded away.
Kale said, “Do that again,” but the river noise drowned her request.
Zayvion crossed his arms over his chest. “Took Gale and Sweptor one hundred and sixty-two years to say they were sorry.”
D’Shay nodded, and her hair floated wildly around her head. “But Paladin forgave them.” She narrowed her eyes at Zayvion but didn’t finish her thoughts.
Kale knew what Mistress Meiger would have said. The old marione woman would have said variations of the same sentence for half a day beyond making her point. “If Paladin forgives someone, should another stand in unforgiveness? Does this other person who withholds forgiveness think he is greater than, smarter than, more important than Paladin? What folly!” Oh yes, Mistress Meiger could have scolded interminably on the subject. Kale gave thanks that the kimen was not as long-winded as her marione owner in River Away.
Veazey pointed at Kale. “She doesn’t know what we mean by airborne escort.”
“My name is Kale.” Kale frowned. I don’t like being called “she” anymore. When I was a slave, I wasn’t important enough for some people to remember my name. But since I’ve been away from my home, people have called me Kale, and I like it. Kale Allerion.
Veazey skipped closer and looked earnestly up into Kale’s face. “I’m sorry. Truly I am. I know you are Kale, the Dragon Keeper. Everyone knows about you. You’re famous. Paladin has said you are a fine servant. He said you are brave and true. We begged to be chosen as your escort.” She turned away and started spinning. Swirls of light came off her clothing as she danced. “We will be famous. The Trio family comes to the rescue, chosen to escort the great Kale, Dragon Keeper. Four of the intrepid Trio kimens joined the warrior Leetu’s rescuers and gave their airborne support as the doneel and o’rant jumped from the Risto cliff onto a passing dragon.” As she became more excited, her words turned into a song.
“They climbed, they rode, they intervened,
Zayvion, Veazey, D’Shay, and Glim.
When Paladin said, ‘Bring them to me.
Leetu, Dar, and Kale must be free,’
Paladin sent the Trio kin,
Zayvion, Veazey, D’Shay, and Glim.”
Zayvion and Glim stepped forward, laughing, and caught her as she whirled by. They pulled her toward the unconscious emerlindian.
“We have to be a part of the rescue,” said Glim, “before we can be famous and have ballads composed in our honor.”
Veazey held up one small arm and cheered. “To the end of the river cavern!”
D’Shay twirled toward the others with both arms raised. “Celisse awaits us.” Sprays of light flew off her dress, splattering the walls with tiny colored dots that hit, exploded, and died away.
Kale quickly put Gymn back in his pocket-den. Dar bent to pick up Leetu’s feet. Kale hoisted up Leetu’s shoulders. The five kimens crowded underneath.
“Do you hear me, Kale?”
Yes, Seezle.
“The Trio family members are always flamboyant, but they do their jobs well. Don’t worry. Paladin trusts them.”
Do you think it’s true?
“What?”
That Paladin said those nice things about me.
“Why, of course. I also heard him praise you.”
But he doesn’t know me.
“Wulder knows you, and Paladin knows what Wulder knows. They think like one person, because they know each other so well.”
A glow of well-being spread through Kale. Gymn had taken the soreness from her muscles. The Trio kimens had lifted her spirits with their silly disagreement and their enthusiasm. Leetu felt extremely light. Kale felt she was doing little more than holding her friend’s head while the others carried most of the weight.
As the kimens marched, the colored lights of their garments shifted continuously. Did this reflect their moods? Did they play with the lights on purpose, perhaps to keep boredom at bay? Kale watched with fascination, and the end of the river cavern came quickly.
The sight took Kale’s breath away. Beside them, the water plummeted off the cliff edge in a roaring cascade. In front of them, the valley shadows stretched for miles in velvety dark shades of green, blue, purple, and black. Above them, the stars pierced the darkness with tiny pricks of white sparkle. The moon lit the few wisps of clouds with luminous light.
Kale let go of Leetu and pressed her back against the solid rock wall of the cliff. Seezle smoothly moved enough to support the emerlindian’s head. Kale breathed heavily. Nothing had prepared her for the immensity of the open space confronting her after the closed-in feeling of the cavern.
The river cascading over the edge made it impossible to converse. They laid Leetu on the ledge, and, to Kale’s horror, the four Trio kimens promptly sat down on her as if she were a log.
Kale heard Seezle’s light laughter in her mind. “They are keeping her warm. It is cool out here.”
We should wrap her in the moonbeam c
ape. Kale started unbuttoning her cloak.
“No, the kimens need to be able to hold her securely when they jump with her to Celisse’s back. Keep your cape.”
I hear Celisse. She’s coming.
“Tell the others.”
Kale mindspoke to Dar and the four kimens at once. A flurry of activity followed. Everyone seemed to know how to help except her. She watched them lift Leetu and carry her away from the waterfall along a shelf to a place where it narrowed into nothing more than a thin lip jutting from the rock face. The five kimens lined up on the narrow ledge of granite and held their burden like a long sack of potatoes across their shoulders.
Seezle gave last-minute instructions to Kale.
“Celisse will carry Leetu and the kimens to Paladin, and then we’ll return for you.”
Kale felt a moment of panic.
“Wait here with Dar. Shimeran and I will return for you as soon as we can.”
In the distance, a black shape approached from high over the valley. Kale could see Celisse’s huge wings beating slowly. Kale felt the tension in the dragon’s desire to make the pass close to the wall, pick up her passengers, and veer away before hitting the wall of water. From the kimens, Kale picked up an air of excitement that trembled through her as if she would be jumping as well. But Kale couldn’t block the horror that clenched her heart with the thought of stepping off the cliff and hoping to land on Celisse’s back.
One moment the kimens stood on the shelf, and the next they were gone. Kale fell face forward and looked over the edge. In place of the usual saddle, a netting of white ropes covered Celisse’s entire torso. Kale breathed a sigh of relief as she recognized small, lighted shapes clinging to the apparatus. The kimens dotted the dragon’s back with a large dark shape pinned in their midst. Celisse made the turn and glided past the waterfall.
They’re safe.
“Now we wait,” answered Dar.
Kale turned her head and saw he was lying beside her, also watching the dragon fly away.