Deeming his small project complete—it only needed installation—Trip headed to the door with it. He left the others sleeping for now, though it sounded like the team would be leaving soon. He wasn’t surprised. This wasn’t a good place to loiter. Given how many dragons seemed to be down here in the Antarctic, he was surprised the outpost had survived as long as it had without being attacked.
Outside, dawn had come, but clouds blanketed the sky, from icy white horizon to icy white horizon, so it wasn’t much lighter than it had been during the night. Kaika and Blazer faced Dreyak and… Rysha. Oddly, she was standing by the Cofah’s side.
“According to the map I found,” Rysha said, “there’s a big cave only five miles to the east.”
“The very direction that the dog sled tracks I found go.” Dreyak stood with his gloved hands on his hips. “Now that it is daylight, I will go after them, even if you won’t. It won’t take long.”
“You can take as long as you like,” Blazer said, “but we’re not waiting for you. If we’re feeling generous, we’ll fly back this way on our way out and see if you want a ride home.”
“There was blood in the snow. Many could be injured. It is not noble to leave without finding the survivors and seeing if they need help.” Dreyak thrust an arm toward the outskirts of the outpost. “There was a dragon attack. How can you abandon the people who suffered from it? You’ve seen what the dragons do.”
“Yes, which is why we have this mission to destroy their portal,” Blazer said. “That’s our priority.”
“If this was an Iskandian outpost, and those were your people, you would help them.”
“Not when I’ve got a time-sensitive mission,” Blazer said, though she didn’t sound entirely convinced.
“But, Major—” Rysha held up an old book, as well as a much newer journal, the kind of item that one could pick up at the corner market, “—I believe the Cofah may have already searched the site I gave you coordinates to. And, according to their notes, they didn’t find anything.”
Blazer frowned at her.
“I also found this very old book. It’s Dakrovian, but I can read it. It’s full of information on dragon artifacts. There’s nothing specific to portals, but it mentions some of the strengths and weaknesses of the metals the dragons favored, and also that they created special crystals to imbue with their power. I believe information in here may be crucial to destroying the portal when we find it. It’s possible that neither Captain Kaika’s explosives nor our swords will be enough.”
“Damn, are we talking about magic again?” Leftie grumbled, walking out of the building with a yawning Duck following behind him.
“You two have an enjoyable night together keeping each other company?” Kaika asked them. She smirked, though it didn’t seem heartfelt.
Trip sensed she was trying to lessen the tension radiating from Blazer and Dreyak.
“Dakrovian?” Blazer frowned at the book. “I’ve been to that continent for a mission. It’s primitive, even today. What would they have known about all that stuff?”
“They have powerful shamans,” Kaika said. “I remember Sardelle saying that their continent didn’t have purges of witches, the way ours and Cofahre did.”
Rysha nodded. “Archaeological evidence suggests that dragons may have originated in those jungles and that some of humanity’s earliest encounters with them happened on the continent.”
“Fine, take the book with us,” Blazer said. “You can read it while we fly.”
“That’s thievery,” Dreyak said, his eyes flaring.
“Nah, it’s borrowing. We can return it when we come back to pick you up. What’s the problem?”
Dreyak seethed in silent fury.
Jaxi? Trip thought. Are you awake?
Soulblades don’t sleep.
Oh? You’ve been quiet for a long time.
Watching you bend metal around and screw things into holes didn’t excite me enough to comment.
Sorry my work isn’t more exciting. I would have used a blowtorch if I’d been able to find one.
That would have been an improvement. The application of fire makes all projects better. As the glaring match between Blazer and Dreyak went on, Kaika, Rysha, Leftie, and Duck sharing uneasy looks with each other, Jaxi spoke again. I was also contemplating dragons and portals. Also, I have been missing Sardelle a little.
Sorry, Trip repeated, though there wasn’t much he could do to help a homesick soulblade. He felt bad that he’d brought Jaxi on this mission without her handler, though it wasn’t as if he’d had a choice.
No, and it’s not your fault you’re not Sardelle. Though you could at least try to be a little more interesting.
I’ll work on that.
Thank you.
“There’s something else,” Rysha said into the frosty silence. This time, she held up the journal. “This is full of notes about the searches the scientists were doing. Though they were careful not to explicitly state what they were seeking, one gets the feeling they weren’t looking for old tools and potsherds. Also, there’s a page at the end of the journal that’s missing. The last page of writing.” She held the journal open to show the remains of a page that had been torn hastily from the back.
Dreyak narrowed his eyes at her, as if he objected to the fact that she’d been investigating here. Or snooping around, as he might consider it.
Trip found himself walking over to stand closer to Rysha, as if his not-so-intimidating form could keep Dreyak from glaring at her.
Instead, Rysha jerked in surprise, her hand twitching toward Dorfindral and irritation flashing in her eyes.
Trip halted. He kept forgetting about that sword—and his vow to give her space.
Rysha moved her hand away from the hilt and smiled at him, though it had a forced aspect to it.
“Are we ready to go, Captain Trip?” Blazer waved toward the fliers but frowned at the object in his hands. “Or does that need to be installed? What is that?”
“Uhm.” Trip hadn’t particularly wanted to unveil it in front of everyone, mostly because he anticipated being mocked. But everyone looked expectantly at him. “Lieutenant Ravenwood mentioned having trouble keeping her rifle from slipping out when she was flying with Leftie. I thought to build a simple gun rack into the side of the seat well, but that would have been… Well, I had an idea to add more versatility.”
“It doesn’t have drink holders, does it?” Rysha’s smile grew more genuine, even though a faint green glow slipped from Dorfindral’s scabbard, a sure sign the sword was reminding her that it wanted to slay him.
“No, but I’ll mount it on the side of the seat well, like this.” Trip shifted the rack and demonstrated its features as he spoke. “It’ll secure the rifle when down in this position, but it can unfold and pop up when you need to fire. Very simple. There’s a swivel here, so you can point your rifle anywhere on that side of the flier, but you can unlatch it here if you need to point at a target on the opposite side or up overhead. Also, this little lock will keep it in place if you need to alternate between firing and using the sword.”
A few people blinked at him and at the contraption. Leftie dropped his face into his gloved hand.
“Trip, Trip, Trip, don’t you know you’re supposed to give a woman you like flowers and chocolate, not gun holders?”
Heat flared in Trip’s cheeks, more at this public announcement that he “liked” Rysha than at the admonition itself.
“Uh.” Kaika lifted a finger. “I’d rather have a gun holder than flowers.”
“Hells, yes, me too.” Blazer seemed to forget her feud with Dreyak and walked over with Kaika to examine the new contraption.
Trip, more interested in what Rysha would rather have, looked at her with hope.
She bit her lip, still smiling back at him. He found that expression promising.
“I don’t think the women here are representative of the sex as a whole,” Leftie announced.
“That’s not a bad thi
ng,” Duck said.
“I’m going to search for the wounded people,” Dreyak said, sending a scathing glare at all of them. “Leave if you feel that is the honorable thing to do.”
“No,” Rysha blurted. “We all need to go. Major, I’m convinced the scientists have information that could shave a lot of time off our search.”
“Didn’t you say they haven’t found the portal yet?” Blazer asked. “And that you’re not even positive that’s what they’re looking for?”
“The location of the portal could be on the missing page. The missing page that someone tore out, folded up, and stuffed into a pocket.”
Blazer scowled at her.
“It doesn’t sound like it would take long to check,” Trip said.
“I agree,” Duck said, “and if there are wounded people, I think it would be the right thing to help them. All the way down here, what does it matter if they’re Cofah or Iskandian?”
“It matters,” Blazer grumbled. “And we aren’t taking a vote. This isn’t a damned democracy.”
“I’ll build you a gun mount if you say we can go, Major.” Trip offered a smile, though he utterly lacked Leftie’s knack for smiling at women, flirtatiously or otherwise.
Dreyak sent a why-was-I-sent-on-a-mission-with-these-heathens look toward the heavens.
“Fine,” Blazer finally said. “Four hours. That’s all you’re getting. That should be plenty of time to walk five miles and back.”
Trip, having no idea how extensive the cave system was, didn’t think that left much time for actually searching for the scientists, but he did not object.
“Walk?” Rysha asked. “Can’t we fly?”
“Not if we wish to follow the tracks. There is no proof they went to this cave of yours.” Dreyak, already wearing his weapons and gear, strode off across the snow without waiting.
Blazer strode up to Trip, and he expected her to chastise him for trying to manipulate her. Or a glower as her dragon-slaying sword suggested she attack him.
All she did was point at his fancy gun rack. “I want to see a sketch on paper before you build anything. I want to have some input.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Thanks, Trip,” Rysha whispered, then grinned and waved at him before she jogged to the flier to grab her pack.
He gazed after her, warmth spreading through his limbs despite the frigid wind sweeping across the ice fields. He didn’t mind one bit that he’d just made extra work for himself.
“No kiss for that, either?” Leftie asked, stopping at his shoulder. “Trip, you definitely need to work on The Look.”
“Is there a class I can sign up for back in the capital?” Maybe Trip could hunt for it while he was signing up for magicking lessons with Sardelle.
“You better hope there is. You need more help than I can give you.” Leftie walked away, shaking his head.
• • • • •
A soft snow fell as Rysha and the others strode across the field, slipping and skidding on the treacherous ground as they attempted to catch up to their determined tracker. Thus far, it had been easy to follow the parallel prints from the dog sleds, along with the paw prints themselves, but if that snow continued to fall, it would soon obscure the trail. The map showed where the cave was, but she didn’t have any proof that the scientists had gone there. Maybe they had some other outpost or hideout that wasn’t on the map.
Maybe they had all been eaten.
Rysha looked back at Trip and Leftie, who strode side-by-side at the end of their little column. Even though Dorfindral continued to ooze disgruntled thoughts about Trip’s presence, she kept murmuring the stand-down order at it whenever he came around. So far, it was working, though she had to watch for a tendency to feel irritation or flashes of anger toward him. And toward Dreyak, too, but she wasn’t entirely sure she should blame the sword for that. The man was irritating. Or at least obstinate. Not like Trip.
She looked back at him again, and this time, she caught his gaze, and he lifted a hand. She waved back. When he’d shown her the gun mount he’d made, describing it with as much enthusiasm as she explained things she was passionate about, she’d wanted to hug him and thank him profusely, but everyone had been looking at them. And then Leftie had made that stupid comment. And then Blazer and Kaika came over. Hugs had been out of the question, but she vowed to find a moment for one later.
Dorfindral sent out another wave of disgruntlement, as if determined to warn her that Trip was an enemy. She wondered if there were any texts on the chapaharii that she hadn’t yet read. A lot of the Iskandian and Cofah books related to the magical had been destroyed long ago by people who feared they would be used as grimoires or who knew what to teach people to become witches.
Too bad the Dakrovians had few written texts—they relied largely on oral histories. She’d been delighted to find that book in the outpost and couldn’t wait to read it. In truth, she already was reading it. Any time the footing grew easy enough that she could manage it, she flipped open the pages to devour as much of the information as possible.
“In the elite troops,” Kaika said, walking at her side while Duck and Blazer strode ahead, with Dreyak farther ahead still, “you’re expected to be perpetually alert. Scanning the horizon, watching for any indications of an enemy’s passing, listening for hints of an ambush, and sniffing the air for traces of gunpowder or kerosene or even chewing gum—anything that might suggest humans are nearby.”
“Yes, ma’am. But if we find the Cofah scientists, I’ll feel obligated to give them their book back.” Rysha lifted the open tome, having no doubt as to why Kaika had offered that particular bit of advice. “I want to memorize it first, if possible.”
“Memorize? It’s four hundred pages.”
“Closer to five hundred. Isn’t it wonderful? I noticed a section on chapaharii tools—well, the Dakrovians called them something else, but they work in a similar manner—and I can’t wait to read it, but I’m forcing myself to check on everything that could be useful in regard to the portal first.”
“Memorize?” Kaika asked again, eyeing the text doubtfully.
“Well, not really. I mean, I’m going to familiarize myself with it. I’ll only memorize pertinent passages.”
“So, what? Only a hundred pages?”
Rysha didn’t think there was anything mean-spirited behind Kaika’s teasing, but she always felt a little self-conscious when people pointed out that her interests were on the all-consuming side. “I bet you could recite a hundred pages’ worth of information on all the different explosives out there.”
“After almost twenty years of working with them, I imagine so. Not after an hour of reading information in a book. While walking. Through the snow.”
Rysha brushed some of that snow off the pages. “I could teach you some memorization techniques sometime if you want. There are all kinds of tricks for speeding up the process.”
“Good to know.” Kaika smiled as she faced forward again, picking up their pace since the snow fall was growing heavier, partially obscuring Dreyak from sight. Duck and Blazer had picked up the pace too.
Rysha shut the book as they hurried to close the gap. She slipped on the ice, but caught her balance before pitching over. She was glad she hadn’t fallen flat on her face while she’d been reading. Balance had always been one of her strengths, perhaps thanks to the tumbling and trampolining she’d done as a child—a former circus acrobat had come out to tutor her and her brothers for several summers. She hadn’t put that on her application for the elite troops, figuring it would mostly be seen as a sign that she’d come from a noble family with too much money to spend on their children.
“Do you think I’ve got a shot at making it, ma’am?” Rysha asked. “Into the elite troops. Or am I… not close enough to the mold?”
“You’re not even sitting in the same room where the molds are stored.”
“Oh.”
Kaika patted her on the shoulder. “It’s not bad for the army to hav
e people with diverse backgrounds in it, and the same goes for the elite troops. The more kinds of expertise your people have, the more the unit has to draw upon. If you can pass the physical stuff—and I’ll be the first to admit, it’s challenging—then I think your only problem may be in carrying out missions that involve killing people. You have a gentle soul. That could be problematic.”
“Ah.”
At least Kaika hadn’t said her passions would be the problem. Unfortunately, Rysha feared there might be some truth in the rest. If Dorfindral hadn’t been so busy giving her nightmares about stalking and slaying Trip, she was sure she would be having bad dreams about killing that sorceress, about the look in her eyes as she’d died upon the sword.
“Does it get easier?” Rysha asked, though she had a feeling the answer would disturb her either way. “Killing people?”
“You do get hardened to it all after a while. If you’re lucky, you’ll get commanders who realize that your best assets don’t have anything to do with assassination, and you won’t be sent on those kinds of missions, but… you probably need to brace yourself for anything. You’ll end up working for someone like Colonel Therrik at least once in your career. Trust me.”
“Nothing I’ve heard about that man makes me want to meet him.”
Kaika grinned. “You just have to know how not to pull his triggers. He’s better now, if you can believe that, since he got himself married to a nice professor. You’d like his wife, I bet. She’s a paleo… something. Studies old bones.”
“Paleontologist.”
“Yup, that.”
“I’m surprised, from what I’ve heard about Therrik, that he would fall for an academic.”
“She has nice squishy bits.”
“Well, that’s important.”
“And she stands up to him. Not many people do. She’s a civilian, so that’s allowed. You’d better not try it.”
“No, ma’am. And thank you.” Rysha wasn’t sure she felt better after their talk, but she appreciated that Kaika was willing to answer her questions and address her doubts.